initial commit of ebook 13356HEADmain

21 files changed, 54593 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/13356-0.txt b/13356-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1507910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,10645 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13356 ***
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE
+
+By
+
+FRANK R. STOCKTON
+
+_With a Memorial Sketch by Mrs. Stockton_
+
+
+1903
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+      I. OLIVE
+     II. MARIA PORT
+    III. MRS. EASTERFIELD
+     IV. THE SON OF AN OLD SHIPMATE
+      V. OLIVE PAYS TOLL
+     VI. MR. CLAUDE LOCKER
+    VII. THE CAPTAIN AND HIS GUEST GO FISHING AND COME HOME HAPPY
+   VIII. CAPTAIN ASHER IS NOT IN A GOOD HUMOR
+     IX. MISS PORT TAKES A DRIVE WITH THE BUTCHER
+      X. MRS. EASTERFIELD WRITES A LETTER
+     XI. MR. LOCKER IS RELEASED ON BAIL
+    XII. MR. RUPERT HEMPHILL
+   XIII. MR. LANCASTER'S BACKERS
+    XIV. A LETTER FOR OLIVE
+     XV. OLIVE'S BICYCLE TRIP
+    XVI. MR. LANCASTER ACCEPTS A MISSION
+   XVII. DICK IS NOT A PROMPT BEARER OF NEWS
+  XVIII. WHAT OLIVE DETERMINED TO DO
+    XIX. THE CAPTAIN AND DICK LANCASTER DESERT THE TOLL-GATE
+     XX. MR. LOCKER DETERMINES TO RUSH THE ENEMY'S POSITION
+    XXI. MISS RALEIGH ENJOYS A RARE PRIVILEGE
+   XXII. THE CONFLICTING SERENADES
+  XXIII. THE CAPTAIN AND MARIA
+   XXIV. MR. TOM ARRIVES AT BROADSTONE
+    XXV. THE CAPTAIN AND MR. TOM
+   XXVI. A STOP AT THE TOLL-GATE
+  XXVII. BY PROXY
+ XXVIII. HERE WE GO! LOVERS THREE!
+   XXIX. TWO PIECES OF NEWS
+    XXX. BY THE SEA
+   XXXI. AS GOOD AS A MAN
+  XXXII. THE STOCK-MARKET IS SAFE
+ XXXIII. DICK LANCASTER DOES NOT WRITE
+  XXXIV. MISS PORT PUTS IN AN APPEARANCE
+   XXXV. THE DORCAS ON GUARD
+  XXXVI. COLD TINDER
+ XXXVII. IN WHICH SOME GREAT CHANGES ARE RECORDED
+XXXVIII. "IT HAS JUST BEGUN!"
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Portrait of Frank B. Stockton _Etching by Jacques Reich from a
+photograph._
+
+The Holt, Mr. Stockton's home near Convent, N.J.
+
+Claymont, Mr. Stockton's home near Charles Town, West Virginia.
+
+A corner in Mr. Stockton's study at Claymont.
+
+The upper terraces of Mr. Stockton's garden at Claymont.
+
+
+
+
+A MEMORIAL SKETCH
+
+As this--The Captain's Toll-Gate--is the last of the works of Frank R.
+Stockton that will be given to the public, it is fitting that it be
+accompanied by some account of the man whose bright spirit illumined
+them all. It is proper, also, that something be said of the stories
+themselves; of the circumstances in which they were written, the
+influences that determined their direction, and the history of their
+evolution. It seems appropriate that this should be done by the one who
+knew him best; the one who lived with him through a long and beautiful
+life; the one who walked hand in hand with him along the whole of a
+wonderful road of ever-changing scenes: now through forests peopled with
+fairies and dryads, griffins and wizards; now skirting the edges of an
+ocean with its strange monsters and remarkable shipwrecks; now on the
+beaten track of European tourists, sharing their novel adventures and
+amused by their mistakes; now resting in lovely gardens imbued with
+human interest; now helping the young to make happy homes for
+themselves; now sympathizing with the old as they look longingly toward
+a heavenly home; and, oftenest, perhaps, watching girls and young men as
+they were trying to work out the problems of their lives. All this, and
+much more, crowded the busy years until the Angel of Death stood in the
+path; and the journey was ended.
+
+In regard to the present story--The Captain's Toll-Gate--although it is
+now after his death first published, it was all written and completed by
+Mr. Stockton himself. No other hand has been allowed to add to, or to
+take from it. Mr. Stockton had so strong a feeling upon the literary
+ethics involved in such matters that he once refused to complete a book
+which a popular and brilliant author, whose style was thought to
+resemble his own, had left unfinished. Mr. Stockton regarded the
+proposed act in the light of a sacrilege. The book, he said, should be
+published as the author left it. Knowing this fact, readers of the
+present volume may feel assured that no one has been permitted to tamper
+with it. Although the last book by Mr. Stockton to be published, it is
+not the last that he wrote. He had completed The Captain's Toll-Gate,
+and was considering its publication, when he was asked to write another
+novel dealing with the buccaneers. He had already produced a book
+entitled Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coasts. The idea of writing a
+novel while the incidents were fresh in his mind pleased him, and he put
+aside The Captain's Toll-Gate, as the other book--Kate Bonnet--was
+wanted soon, and he did not wish the two works to conflict in
+publication. Steve Bonnet, the crazy-headed pirate, was a historical
+character, and performed the acts attributed to him. But the charming
+Kate, and her lover, and Ben Greenaway were inventions.
+
+Francis Richard Stockton, born in Philadelphia in 1834, was, on his
+father's side, of purely English ancestry; on his mother's side, there
+was a mixture of English, French, and Irish. When he began to write
+stories these three nationalities were combined in them: the peculiar
+kind of inventiveness of the French; the point of view, and the humor
+that we find in the old English humorists; and the capacity of the Irish
+for comical situations.
+
+Soon after arriving in this country the eldest son of the first American
+Stockton settled in Princeton, N.J., and founded that branch of the
+family; while the father, with the other sons, settled in Burlington
+County, in the same State, and founded the Burlington branch of the
+family, from which Frank R. Stockton was descended. On the female side
+he was descended from the Gardiners, also of New Jersey. His was a
+family with literary proclivities. His father was widely known for his
+religious writings, mostly of a polemical character, which had a
+powerful influence in the denomination to which he belonged. His
+half-brother (much older than Frank) was a preacher of great eloquence,
+famous a generation ago as a pulpit orator.
+
+When Frank and his brother John, two years younger, came to the age to
+begin life for themselves, they both showed such decided artistic genius
+that it was thought best to start them in that direction, and to have
+them taught engraving; an art then held in high esteem. Frank chose
+wood, and John steel engraving. Both did good work, but their hearts
+were not in it, and, as soon as opportunity offered, they abandoned
+engraving. John went into journalism; became editorially connected with
+prominent newspapers; and had won a foremost place in his chosen
+profession; when he was cut off by death at a comparatively early age.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.]
+
+Frank chose literature. He had, while in the engraving business, written
+a number of fairy tales, some of which had been published in juvenile
+magazines; also a few short stories, and quite an ambitious long story,
+which was published in a prominent magazine. He was then sufficiently
+well known as a writer to obtain without difficulty a place on the
+staff of Hearth and Home, a weekly New York paper, owned by Orange Judd,
+and conducted by Edward Eggleston. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge had charge of
+the juvenile department, and Frank went on the paper as her assistant.
+Not long after Scribner's Monthly was started by Charles Scribner (the
+elder), in conjunction with Roswell Smith, and J.G. Holland. Later Mr.
+Smith and his associates formed The Century Company; and with this
+company Mr. Stockton was connected for many years: first on the Century
+Magazine, which succeeded Scribner's Monthly, and afterward on St.
+Nicholas, as assistant to Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, and, still later, when
+he decided to give up editorial work, as a constant contributor. After a
+few years he resigned his position in the company with which he had been
+so pleasantly associated in order to devote himself exclusively to his
+own work. By this time he had written and published enough to feel
+justified in taking, what seemed to his friends, a bold, and even rash,
+step, because so few writers then lived solely by the pen. He was never
+very strong physically; he felt himself unable to do his editorial work,
+and at the same time write out the fancies and stories with which his
+mind was full. This venture proved to be the wisest thing for him; and
+from that time his life was, in great part, in his books; and he gave
+to the world the novels and stories which bear his name.
+
+I have mentioned his fairy stories. Having been a great lover of fairy
+lore when a child, he naturally fell into this form of story writing as
+soon as he was old enough to put a story together. He invented a goodly
+number; and among them the Ting-a-Ling stories, which were read aloud in
+a boys' literary circle, and meeting their hearty approval, were
+subsequently published in The Riverside Magazine, a handsome and popular
+juvenile of that period; and, much later, were issued by Hurd & Houghton
+in a very pretty volume. In regard to these, he wrote long afterward as
+follows:
+
+"I was very young when I determined to write some fairy tales because my
+mind was full of them. I set to work, and in course of time produced
+several which were printed. These were constructed according to my own
+ideas. I caused the fanciful creatures who inhabited the world of
+fairy-land to act, as far as possible for them to do so, as if they were
+inhabitants of the real world. I did not dispense with monsters and
+enchanters, or talking beasts and birds, but I obliged these creatures
+to infuse into their extraordinary actions a certain leaven of common
+sense."
+
+It was about this time, while very young, that he and his brother
+became ambitious to write stories, poems, and essays for the world at
+large. They sent their effusions to various periodicals, with the result
+common to ambitious youths: all were returned. They decided at last that
+editors did not know a good thing when they saw it, and hit upon a
+brilliant scheme to prove their own judgment. One of them selected an
+extract from Paradise Regained (as being not so well known as Paradise
+Lost), and sent it to an editor, with the boy's own name appended,
+expecting to have it returned with some of the usual disparaging
+remarks, which they would greatly enjoy. But they were disappointed. The
+editor printed it in his paper, thereby proving that he did know a good
+thing if he did not know his Milton. Mr. Stockton was fond of telling
+this story, and it may have given rise to a report, extensively
+circulated, that he tried to gain admittance to periodicals for many
+years before he succeeded. This is not true. Some rebuffs he had, of
+course--some with things which afterward proved great successes--but not
+as great a number as falls to the lot of most beginners.
+
+The Ting-a-Ling tales proved so popular that Mr. Stockton followed them
+at intervals with long and short stories for the young which appeared in
+various juvenile publications, and were afterward published in book
+form--Roundabout Rambles. Tales out of School, A Jolly Fellowship,
+Personally Conducted, The Story of Viteau, The Floating Prince, and
+others. Some years later, after he had begun to write for older readers,
+he wrote a series of stories for St. Nicholas, ostensibly for children,
+but really intended for adults. Children liked the stories, but the
+deeper meaning underlying them all was beyond the grasp of a child's
+mind. These stories Mr. Stockton took very great pleasure in writing,
+and always regarded them as some of his best work, and was gratified
+when his critics wrote of them in that way. They have become famous, and
+have been translated into several languages, notably Old Pipes and the
+Dryad, The Bee Man of Orne, and The Griffin and the Minor Canon. This
+last story was suggested by Chester Cathedral, and he wrote it in that
+venerable city. The several tales were finally collected into a volume
+under the title: The Bee Man of Orne and Other Stories, which is
+included in the complete edition of his novels and stories. During the
+whole of his literary career Mr. Stockton was an occasional contributor
+of short stories and essays to The Youth's Companion.
+
+Mr. Stockton considered his career as an editor of great advantage to
+him as an author. In an autobiographical paper he writes:
+"Long-continued reading of manuscripts submitted for publication which
+are almost good enough to use, and yet not quite up to the standard of
+the magazine, can not but be of great service to any one who proposes a
+literary career. Bad work shows us what we ought to avoid, but most of
+us know, or think we know, what that is. Fine literary work we get
+outside the editorial room. But the great mass of literary material
+which is almost good enough to print is seen only by the editorial
+reader, and its lesson is lost upon him in a great degree unless he is,
+or intends to be, a literary worker."
+
+The first house in which we set up our own household goods stood in
+Nutley, N.J. We had with us an elderly _attaché_ of the Stockton family
+as maid-of-all-work; and to relieve her of some of her duties I went
+into New York, and procured from an orphans' home a girl whom Mr.
+Stockton described as "a middle-sized orphan." She was about fourteen
+years old, and proved to be a very peculiar individual, with strong
+characteristics which so appealed to Mr. Stockton's sense of humor that
+he liked to talk with her and draw out her opinions of things in
+general, and especially of the books she had read. Her spare time was
+devoted to reading books, mostly of the blood-curdling variety; and she
+read them to herself aloud in the kitchen in a very disjointed fashion,
+which was at first amusing, and then irritating. We never knew her real
+name, nor did the people at the orphanage. She had three or four very
+romantic ones she had borrowed from novels while she was with us, for
+she was very sentimental.
+
+Mr. Stockton bestowed upon her the name of Pomona, which is now a
+household word in myriads of homes. This extraordinary girl, and some
+household experiences, induced Mr. Stockton to write a paper for
+Scribner's Monthly which he called Rudder Grange. This one paper was all
+he intended to write, but it attracted immediate attention, was
+extensively noticed, and much talked about. The editor of the magazine
+received so many letters asking for another paper that Mr. Stockton
+wrote the second one; and as there was still a clamor for more, he,
+after a little time, wrote others of the series. Some time later they
+were collected in a book. For those interested in Pomona I will add,
+that while the girl was an actual personage, with all the
+characteristics given to her by her chronicler, the woman Pomona was a
+development in Mr. Stockton's mind of the girl as he imagined she would
+become, for the original passed out of our lives while still a girl.
+
+Rudder Grange was Mr. Stockton's first book for adult readers, and a
+good deal of comment has been made upon the fact that he had reached
+middle life when it was published. His biographers and critics assume
+that he was utterly unknown at that time, and that he suddenly jumped
+into favor, and they naturally draw the inference that he had until then
+vainly attempted to get before the public. This is all a misapprehension
+of the facts. It will be seen from what I have previously stated, that
+at this time he was already well known as a juvenile writer, and not
+only had no difficulty in getting his articles printed, but editors and
+publishers were asking him for stories. He had made but few slight
+attempts to obtain a larger audience. That he confined himself for so
+long a time to juvenile literature can be easily accounted for. For one
+thing, it grew out of his regular work of constantly catering for the
+young, and thinking of them. Then, again, editorial work makes urgent
+demands upon time and strength, and until freed from it he had not the
+leisure or inclination to fashion stories for more exacting and critical
+readers. Perhaps, too, he was slow in recognizing his possibilities.
+Certain it is that the public were not slow to recognize him. He did,
+however, experience difficulties in getting the collected papers of
+Rudder Grange published in book form. I will quote his own account,
+which is interesting as showing how slow he was to appreciate the fact
+that the public would gladly accept the writings of a humorist:
+
+"The discovery that humorous compositions could be used in journals
+other than those termed comic marked a new era in my work. Periodicals
+especially devoted to wit and humor were very scarce in those days, and
+as this sort of writing came naturally to me, it was difficult, until
+the advent of Puck, to find a medium of publication for writings of this
+nature. I contributed a good deal to this paper, but it was only partly
+satisfactory, for articles which make up a comic paper must be terse and
+short, and I wanted to write humorous tales which should be as long as
+ordinary magazine stories. I had good reason for my opinion of the
+gravity of the situation, for the editor of a prominent magazine
+declined a humorous story (afterward very popular) which I had sent him,
+on the ground that the traditions of magazines forbade the publication
+of stories strictly humorous. Therefore, when I found an editor at last
+who actually _wished_ me to write humorous stories, I was truly
+rejoiced. My first venture in this line was Rudder Grange. And, after
+all, I had difficulty in getting the series published in book form. Two
+publishers would have nothing to do with them, assuring me that although
+the papers were well enough for a magazine, a thing of ephemeral nature,
+the book-reading public would not care for them. The third publisher to
+whom I applied issued the work, and found the venture satisfactory."
+
+The book-reading public cared so much for this book that it would not
+remain satisfied with it alone. Again and again it demanded of the
+author more about Pomona, Euphemia, and Jonas. Hence The Rudder Grangers
+Abroad and Pomona's Travels.
+
+The most famous of Mr. Stockton's stories, The Lady or the Tiger?, was
+written to be read before a literary society of which he was a member.
+It caused such an interesting discussion in the society that he
+published it in the Century Magazine. It had no especial announcement
+there, nor was it heralded in any way, but it took the public by storm,
+and surprised both the editor and the author. All the world must love a
+puzzle, for in an amazingly short time the little story had made the
+circuit of the world. Debating societies everywhere seized upon it as a
+topic; it was translated into nearly all languages; society people
+discussed it at their dinners; plainer people argued it at their
+firesides; numerous letters were sent to nearly every periodical in the
+country; and public readers were expounding it to their audiences. It
+interested heathen and Christian alike; for an English friend told Mr.
+Stockton that in India he had heard a group of Hindoo men gravely
+debating the problem. Of course, a mass of letters came pouring in upon
+the author.
+
+A singular thing about this story has been the revival of interest in it
+that has occurred from time to time. Although written many years ago, it
+seems still to excite the interest of a younger generation; for, after
+an interval of silence on the subject of greater or less duration,
+suddenly, without apparent cause, numerous letters in relation to it
+will appear on the author's table, and "solutions" will be printed in
+the newspapers. This ebb and flow has continued up to the present time.
+Mr. Stockton made no attempt to answer the question he had raised.
+
+We both spent much time in the South at different periods. The dramatic
+and unconsciously humorous side of the negroes pleased his fancy. He
+walked and talked with them, saw them in their homes, at their
+"meetin's," and in the fields. He has drawn with an affectionate hand
+the genial, companionable Southern negro as he is--or rather as he
+was--for this type is rapidly passing away. Soon there will be no more
+of these "old-time darkies." They would be by the world forgot had they
+not been embalmed in literature by Mr. Stockton, and the best Southern
+writers.
+
+There is one other notable characteristic that should be referred to in
+writing of Mr. Stockton's stories--the machines and appliances he
+invented as parts of them. They are very numerous and ingenious. No
+matter how extraordinary might be the work in hand, the machine to
+accomplish the end was made on strictly scientific principles, to
+accomplish that exact piece of work. It would seem that if he had not
+been an inventor of plots he might have been an inventor of instruments.
+This idea is sustained by the fact that he had been a wood-engraver only
+a short time when he invented and patented a double graver which cuts
+two parallel lines at the same time. It is somewhat strange that more
+than one of these extraordinary machines has since been exploited by
+scientists and explorers, without the least suspicion on their part that
+the enterprising romancer had thought of them first. Notable among these
+may be named the idea of going to the north pole under the ice, the one
+that the center of the earth is an immense crystal (Great Stone of
+Sardis), and the attempt to manufacture a gun similar to the Peace
+Compeller in The Great War Syndicate.
+
+In all of Mr. Stockton's novels there were characters taken from real
+persons who perhaps would not recognize themselves in the peculiar
+circumstances in which he placed them. In the crowd of purely
+imaginative beings one could easily recognize certain types modified and
+altered. In The Casting away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine he
+introduced two delightful old ladies whom he knew, and who were never
+surprised at anything that might happen. Whatever emergency arose, they
+took it as a matter of course, and prepared to meet it. Mr. Stockton
+amused himself at their expense by writing this story. He was not at
+first interested in the Dusantes, and had no intention of ever saying
+anything further about them. When there was a demand for knowledge of
+the Dusantes Mr. Stockton did not heed it. He was opposed to writing
+sequels. But when an author of distinction, whose work and friendship he
+highly valued, wrote to him that if he did not write something about the
+Dusantes, and what they said when they found the board money in the
+ginger jar, he would do it himself, Mr. Stockton set himself to writing
+The Dusantes.
+
+I have been asked to give some account of the places in which Mr.
+Stockton's stories and novels were written, and their environments. Some
+of the Southern stories were written in Virginia, and, now and then, a
+short story elsewhere, as suggested by the locality, but the most of his
+work was done under his own roof-tree. He loved his home; it had to be a
+country home, and always had to have a garden. In the care of a garden
+and in driving, he found his two greatest sources of recreation.
+
+[Illustration: CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST
+VIRGINIA.]
+
+I have mentioned Nutley, which lies in New Jersey, near New York. His
+dwelling there was a pretty little cottage, where he had a garden, some
+chickens, and a cow. This was his home in his editorial days, and here
+Rudder Grange was written. It was a rented place. The next home we
+owned. It stood at a greater distance from New York, at the place called
+Convent, half-way between Madison and Morristown, in New Jersey. Here we
+lived a number of years after Mr. Stockton gave up editorial work; and
+here the greater number of his tales were written. It was a much larger
+place than we had at Nutley, with more chickens, two cows, and a much
+larger garden.
+
+Mr. Stockton dictated his stories to a stenographer. His favorite spot
+for this in summer was a grove of large fir-trees near the house. Here,
+in the warm weather, he would lie in a hammock. His secretary would be
+near, with her writing materials, and a book of her choosing. The book
+was for her own reading while Mr. Stockton was "thinking." It annoyed
+him to know he was being "waited for." He would think out pages of
+incidents, and scenes, and even whole conversations, before he began to
+dictate. After all had been arranged in his mind he dictated rapidly;
+but there often were long pauses, when the secretary could do a good
+deal of reading. In cold weather he had the secretary and an easy chair
+in the study--a room he had built according to his own fancy. A fire of
+blazing logs added a glow to his fancies.
+
+I may state here that we always spent a part of every winter in New
+York. A certain amount of city life was greatly enjoyed. Mr. Stockton
+thus secured much intellectual pleasure. He liked his clubs, and was
+fond of society, where he met men noted in various walks of life.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: Edward Gary, the secretary of the Century Club, in the
+obituary notice of Mr. Stockton written by him for the club's annual
+report, says of Mr. Stockton as a member: "It was but a dozen years ago
+that Frank R. Stockton entered the fellowship of the Century, in which
+he soon became exceedingly at home, winning friends here, as he won them
+all over the land and in other lands, by the charm of his keen and
+kindly mind shining in all that he wrote and said. He had an
+extraordinary capacity for work and a rare talent for diversion, and the
+Century was honored by his well-earned fame, and fortunate in its share
+in his ever fresh and varying companionship."]
+
+I am now nearing the close of a life which had had its trials and
+disappointments, its struggles with weak health and with unsatisfying
+labor. But these mostly came in the earlier years, and were met with
+courage, an ever fresh-springing hope, and a buoyant spirit that would
+not be intimidated. On the whole, as one looks back through the long
+vista, much more of good than of evil fell to his lot. His life had been
+full of interesting experiences, and one of, perhaps, unusual happiness.
+At the last there came to pass the fulfilment of a dream in which he had
+long indulged. He became the possessor of a beautiful estate containing
+what he most desired, and with surroundings and associations dear to his
+heart.
+
+He had enjoyed The Holt, his New Jersey home, and was much interested in
+improving it. His neighbors and friends there were valued companions.
+But in his heart there had always been a longing for a home, not
+suburban--a place in the _real_ country, and with more land. Finally,
+the time came when he felt that he could gratify this longing. He liked
+the Virginia climate, and decided to look for a place somewhere in that
+State, not far from the city of Washington. After a rather prolonged
+search, we one day lighted upon Claymont, in the Shenandoah Valley. It
+won our hearts, and ended our search. It had absolutely everything that
+Mr. Stockton coveted. He bought it at once, and we moved into it as
+speedily as possible.
+
+Claymont is a handsome colonial residence, "with all modern
+improvements"--an unusual combination. It lies near the historic old
+town of Charles Town, in West Virginia, near Harpers Ferry. Claymont is
+itself an historic place. The land was first owned by "the Father of his
+Country." This great personage designed the house, with its main
+building, two cottages (or lodges), and courtyards, for his nephew
+Bushrod, to whom he had given the land. Through the wooded park runs the
+old road, now grass grown, over which Braddock marched to his celebrated
+"defeat," guided by the youthful George Washington, who had surveyed the
+whole region for Lord Fairfax. During the civil war the place twice
+escaped destruction because it had once been the property of Washington.
+
+But it was not for its historical associations, but for the place
+itself, that Mr. Stockton purchased it. From the main road to the house
+there is a drive of three-quarters of a mile through a park of great
+forest-trees and picturesque groups of rocks. On the opposite side of
+the house extends a wide, open lawn; and here, and from the piazzas, a
+noble view of the valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains is obtained.
+Besides the park and other grounds, there is a farm at Claymont of
+considerable size. Mr. Stockton, however, never cared for farming,
+except in so far as it enabled him to have horses and stock. But his
+soul delighted in the big, old terraced garden of his West Virginia
+home. Compared with other gardens he had had, the new one was like
+paradise to the common world. At Claymont several short stories were
+written. John Gayther's Garden was prepared for publication here by
+connecting stories previously published into a series, told in a garden,
+and suggested by the one at Claymont. John Gayther, however, was an
+invention. Kate Bonnet and The Captain's Toll-Gate were both written at
+Claymont.
+
+[Illustration: A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON'S STUDY AT CLAYMONT. Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.]
+
+Mr. Stockton was permitted to enjoy this beautiful place only three
+years. They were years of such rare pleasure, however, that we can
+rejoice that he had so much joy crowded into so short a space of his
+life, and that he had it at its close. Truly life was never sweeter to
+him than at its end, and the world was never brighter to him than when
+he shut his eyes upon it. He was returning from a winter in New York to
+his beloved Claymont, in good health, and full of plans for the summer
+and for his garden, when he was taken suddenly ill in Washington, and
+died three days later, on April 20, 1902, a few weeks after Kate Bonnet
+was published in book form.
+
+Mr. Stockton passed away at a ripe age--sixty-eight years. And yet his
+death was a surprise to us all. He had never been in better health,
+apparently; his brain was as active as ever; life was dear to him; he
+seemed much younger than he was. He had no wish to give up his work; no
+thought of old age; no mental decay. His last novels, his last short
+stories, showed no falling-off. They were the equals of those written in
+younger years. Nor had he lost the public interest. He was always sure
+of an audience, and his work commanded a higher price at the last than
+ever before. His was truly a passing away. He gently glided from the
+homes he had loved to prepare here to one already prepared for him in
+heaven, unconscious that he was entering one more beautiful than even he
+had ever imagined.
+
+Mr. Stockton was the most lovable of men. He shed happiness all around
+him, not from conscious effort but out of his own bountiful and loving
+nature. His tender heart sympathized with the sad and unfortunate, but
+he never allowed sadness to be near, if it were possible to prevent it.
+He hated mourning and gloom. They seemed to paralyze him mentally until
+his bright spirit had again asserted itself, and he had recovered his
+balance. He usually looked either upon the best, or the humorous side of
+life. Pie won the love of every one who knew him--even that of readers
+who did not know him personally, as many letters testify. To his friends
+his loss is irreparable, for never again will they find his equal in
+such charming qualities of head and heart.
+
+[Illustration: THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON'S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.]
+
+This is not the place for a critical estimate of the work of Frank R.
+Stockton.[2] His stories are, in great part, a reflex of himself. The
+bright outlook on life; the courageous spirit; the helpfulness; the
+sense of the comic rather than the tragic; the love of domestic life;
+the sweetness of pure affection; live in his books as they lived in
+himself. He had not the heart to make his stories end unhappily. He knew
+that there is much of the tragic in human lives, but he chose to ignore
+it as far as possible, and to walk in the pleasant ways which are
+numerous in this tangled world. There is much philosophy underlying a
+good deal that he wrote, but it has to be looked for; it is not
+insistent, and is never morbid. He could not write an impure word, or
+express an impure thought, for he belonged to the "pure in heart," who,
+we are assured, "shall see God."
+
+[Footnote 2: I may, however, properly quote from the sketch prepared by
+Mr. Gary for the Century Club: "He brought to his later work the
+discipline of long and rather tedious labor, with the capital amassed by
+acute observation, on which his original imagination wrought the
+sparkling miracles that we know. He has been called the representative
+American humorist. He was that in the sense that the characters he
+created had much of the audacity of the American spirit, the thirst for
+adventures in untried fields of thought and action, the subconscious
+seriousness in the most incongruous situations, the feeling of being at
+home no matter what happens. But how amazingly he mingled a broad
+philosophy with his fun, a philosophy not less wise and comprehending
+than his fun was compelling! If his humor was American, it was also
+cosmopolitan, and had its laughing way not merely with our British
+kinsmen, but with alien peoples across the usually impenetrable barrier
+of translation. The fortune of his jesting lay not in his ears, but in
+the hearts of his hearers. It was at once appealing and revealing. It
+flashed its playful light into the nooks and corners of our own being,
+and wove close bonds with those at whom we laughed. There was no
+bitterness in it. He was neither satirist nor preacher, nor of set
+purpose a teacher, though it must be a dull reader that does not gather
+from his books the lesson of the value of a gentle heart and a clear,
+level outlook upon our perplexing world."]
+
+
+MARIAN E. STOCKTON.
+
+CLAYMONT, _May 15, 1903_.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER I_
+
+_Olive._
+
+
+A long, wide, and smoothly macadamized road stretched itself from the
+considerable town of Glenford onward and northward toward a gap in the
+distant mountains. It did not run through a level country, but rose and
+fell as if it had been a line of seaweed upon the long swells of the
+ocean. Upon elevated points upon this road, farm lands and forests could
+be seen extending in every direction. But there was nothing in the
+landscape which impressed itself more obtrusively upon the attention of
+the traveler than the road itself. White in the bright sunlight and gray
+under the shadows of the clouds, it was the one thing to be seen which
+seemed to have a decided purpose. Northward or southward, toward the gap
+in the long line of mountains or toward the wood-encircled town in the
+valley, it was always going somewhere.
+
+About two miles from the town, and at the top of the first long hill
+which was climbed by the road, a tall white pole projected upward
+against the sky, sometimes perpendicularly, and sometimes inclined at a
+slight angle. This was a turnpike gate or bar, and gave notice to all in
+vehicles or on horses that the use of this well-kept road was not free
+to the traveling public. At the approach of persons not known, or too
+well known, the bar would slowly descend across the road, as if it were
+a musket held horizontally while a sentinel demanded the password.
+
+Upon the side of the road opposite to the great post on which the
+toll-gate moved, was a little house with a covered doorway, from which
+toll could be collected without exposing the collector to sun or rain.
+This tollhouse was not a plain whitewashed shed, such as is often seen
+upon turnpike roads, but a neat edifice, containing a comfortable room.
+On one side of it was a small porch, well shaded by vines, furnished
+with a settle and two armchairs, while over all a large maple stretched
+its protecting branches. Back of the tollhouse was a neatly fenced
+garden, well filled with old-fashioned flowers; and, still farther on, a
+good-sized house, from which a box-bordered path led through the garden
+to the tollhouse.
+
+It was a remark that had been made frequently, both by strangers and
+residents in that part of the country, that if it had not been for the
+obvious disadvantages of a toll-gate, this house and garden, with its
+grounds and fields, would be a good enough home for anybody. When he
+happened to hear this remark Captain John Asher, who kept the toll-gate,
+was wont to say that it was a good enough home for him, even with the
+toll-gate, and its obvious disadvantages.
+
+It was on a morning in early summer, when the garden had grown to be so
+red and white and yellow in its flowers, and so green in its leaves and
+stalks, that the box which edged the path was beginning to be
+unnoticed, that a girl sat in a small arbor standing on a slight
+elevation at one side of the garden, and from which a view could be had
+both up and down the road. She was rather a slim girl, though tall
+enough; her hair was dark, her eyes were blue, and she sat on the back
+of a rustic bench with her feet resting upon the seat; this position she
+had taken that she might the better view the road.
+
+With both her hands this girl held a small telescope which she was
+endeavoring to fix upon a black spot a mile or more away upon the road.
+It was difficult for her to hold the telescope steadily enough to keep
+the object-glass upon the black spot, and she had a great deal of
+trouble in the matter of focusing, pulling out and pushing in the
+smaller cylinder in a manner which showed that she was not accustomed to
+the use of this optical instrument.
+
+"Field-glasses are ever so much better," she said to herself; "you can
+screw them to any point you want. But now I've got it. It is very near
+that cross-road. Good! it did not turn there; it is coming along the
+pike, and there will be toll to pay. One horse, seven cents."
+
+She put down the telescope as if to rest her arm and eye. Presently,
+however, she raised the glass again. "Now, let us see," she said, "Uncle
+John? Jane? or me?" After directing the glass to a point in the air
+about two hundred feet above the approaching vehicle, and then to
+another point half a mile to the right of it, she was fortunate enough
+to catch sight of it again. "I don't know that queer-looking horse," she
+said. "It must be some stranger, and Jane will do. No, a little boy is
+driving. Strangers coming along this road would not be driven by little
+boys. I expect I shall have to call Uncle John." Then she put down the
+glass and rubbed her eye, after which, with unassisted vision, she gazed
+along the road. "I can see a great deal better without that old thing,"
+she continued. "There's a woman in that carriage. I'll go myself." With
+this she jumped down from the rustic seat, and with the telescope under
+her arm, she skipped through the garden to the little tollhouse.
+
+The name of this girl was Olive Asher. Captain John Asher, who took the
+toll, was her uncle, and she had now been living with him for about six
+weeks. Olive was what is known in certain social circles as a navy girl.
+About twenty years before she had come to her uncle's she had been born
+in Genoa, her father at the time being a lieutenant on an American
+war-vessel lying in the harbor of Villa Franca. Her first schooldays
+were passed in the south of France, and she spent some subsequent years
+in a German school in Dresden. Here she was supposed to have finished
+her education but when her father's ship was stationed on our Pacific
+coast and Olive and her mother went to San Francisco they associated a
+great deal with army people, and here the girl learned so much more of
+real life and her own country people that the few years she spent in the
+far West seemed like a post-graduate course, as important to her true
+education as any of the years she had spent in schools.
+
+After the death of her mother, when Olive was about eighteen, the girl
+had lived with relatives, East and West, hoping for the day when her
+father's three years' cruise would terminate, and she could go and make
+a home for him in some pleasant spot on shore. Now, in the course of
+these family visits she had come to stay with her father's brother, John
+Asher, who kept the toll-gate on the Glenford pike.
+
+Captain John Asher was an older man than his brother, the naval officer,
+but he was in the prime of life, and able to hold the command of a ship
+if he had cared to do it. But having been in the merchant service for a
+long time, and having made some money, he had determined to leave the
+sea and to settle on shore; and, finding this commodious house by the
+toll-gate, he settled there. There were some people who said that he had
+taken the position of toll-gate keeper because of the house, and there
+were others who believed that he had bought the house on account of the
+toll-gate. But no matter what people thought or said, the good captain
+was very well satisfied with his home and his official position. He
+liked to meet with people, and he preferred that they should come to him
+rather than that he should go to them. He was interested in most things
+that were going on in his neighborhood, and therefore he liked to talk
+to the people who were going by. Sometimes a good talking acquaintance
+or an interesting traveler would tie his horse under the shade of the
+maple-tree and sit a while with the captain on the little porch. Certain
+it was, it was the most hospitable toll-gate in that part of the
+country.
+
+There was a road which branched off from the turnpike, about a mile from
+the town, and which, after some windings, entered the pike again beyond
+the toll-gate, and although this road was not always in very good
+condition, it had seen a good deal of travel, which, in time, gave it
+the name of the shunpike. But since Captain Asher had lived at the
+toll-gate it was remarked that the shunpike was not used as much as in
+former times. There were penurious people who had once preferred to go a
+long way round and save money whose economical dispositions now gave way
+before the combined attractions of a better road, and a chat with
+Captain Asher.
+
+It had been predicted by some of her relatives that Olive would not be
+content with her life in her uncle's somewhat peculiar household. He was
+a bachelor, and seldom entertained company, and his ordinary family
+consisted of an elderly housekeeper and another servant. But Olive was
+not in the least dissatisfied. From her infancy up, she had lived so
+much among people that she had grown tired of them; and her good-natured
+uncle, with his sea stories, the garden, the old-fashioned house, the
+fields and the woods beyond, the little stream, which came hurrying down
+from the mountains, where she could fish or wade as the fancy pleased
+her, gave her a taste of some of the joys of girlhood which she had not
+known when she was really a girl.
+
+Another thing that greatly interested her was the toll-gate. If she had
+been allowed to do so, she would have spent the greater part of her time
+taking money, making change, and talking to travelers. But this her
+uncle would not permit. He did not object to her doing some occasional
+toll-gate work, and he did not wonder that she liked it, remembering how
+interesting it often was to himself, but he would not let her take toll
+indiscriminately.
+
+So they made a regular arrangement about it. When the captain was at his
+meals, or shaving, or otherwise occupied, old Jane attended to the
+toll-gate. At ordinary times, and when any of his special friends were
+seen approaching, the captain collected toll himself, but when women
+happened to be traveling on the road, then it was arranged that Olive
+should go to the gate.
+
+Two or three times it had happened that some young men of the town,
+hearing their sisters talk of the pretty girl who had taken their toll,
+had thought it might be a pleasant thing to drive out on the pike, but
+their money had always been taken by the captain, or else by the
+wooden-faced Jane, and nothing had come of their little adventures.
+
+The garden hedge which ran alongside the road was very high.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER II_
+
+_Maria Port._
+
+
+Olive stood impatiently at the door of the little tollhouse. In one hand
+she held three copper cents, because she felt almost sure that the
+person approaching would give her a dime or two five-cent pieces.
+
+"I never knew horses to travel so slowly as they do on this pike!" she
+said to herself. "How they used to gallop on those beautiful roads in
+France!"
+
+In due course of time the vehicle approached near enough to the
+toll-gate for Olive to take an observation of its occupant. This was a
+middle-aged woman, dressed in black, holding a black fan. She wore a
+black bonnet with a little bit of red in it. Her face was small and
+pale, its texture and color suggesting a boiled apple dumpling. She had
+small eyes of which it can be said that they were of a different color
+from her face, and were therefore noticeable. Her lips were not
+prominent, and were closely pressed together as if some one had begun to
+cut a dumpling, but had stopped after making one incision.
+
+This somewhat somber person leaned forward in the seat behind her young
+driver, and steadily stared at Olive. When the horse had passed the
+toll-bar the boy stopped it so that his passenger and Olive were face
+to face and very near each other.
+
+"Seven cents, please," said Olive.
+
+The cleft in the dumpling enlarged itself, and the woman spoke. "Bless
+my soul," she said, "are you Captain Asher's niece?"
+
+"I am," said Olive in surprise.
+
+"Well, well," said the other, "that just beats me! When I heard he had
+his niece with him I thought she was a plain girl, with short frocks and
+her hair plaited down her back."
+
+Olive did not like this woman. It is wonderful how quickly likes and
+dislikes may be generated.
+
+"But you see I am not," she replied. "Seven cents, please."
+
+"Don't you suppose I know what the toll is?" said the woman in the
+carriage. "I'm sure I've traveled over this road often enough to know
+that. But what I'm thinkin' about is the difference between what I
+thought the captain's niece was and what she really is."
+
+"It does not make any difference what the difference is," said Olive,
+speaking quickly and with perhaps a little sharpness in her voice, "all
+I want is for you to pay me the toll."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pay any toll," said the other.
+
+Olive's face flushed. "Little boy," she exclaimed, "back that horse!" As
+the youngster obeyed her peremptory request Olive gave a quick jerk to a
+rope and brought down the toll-gate bar so that it stretched itself
+across the road, barely missing in its downward sweep the nose of the
+unoffending horse. "Now," said Olive, "if you are ready to pay your
+toll you can go through this gate, and if you are not, you can turn
+round and go back where you came from."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pay any toll," said the other, "and I don't want to go
+through the gate. I came to see Captain Asher.--Johnny, turn your horse
+a little and let me get out. Then you can stop in the shade of this tree
+and wait until I'm ready to go back.--I suppose the captain's in," she
+said to Olive, "but if he isn't, I can wait."
+
+"Oh, he's at home," said Olive, "and, of course, if I had known you were
+coming to see him, I would not have asked you for your toll. This way,
+please," and she stepped toward a gate in the garden hedge.
+
+"When I've been here before," said the visitor, "I always went through
+the tollhouse. But I suppose things is different now."
+
+"This is the entrance for visitors," said Olive, holding open the gate.
+
+Captain Asher had heard the voices, and had come out to his front door.
+He shook hands with the newcomer, and then turned to Olive, who was
+following her.
+
+"This is my niece, my brother Alfred's daughter," he said, "and Olive,
+let me introduce you to Miss Maria Port."
+
+"She introduced herself to me," said Miss Port, "and tried to get seven
+cents out of me by letting down the bar so that it nearly broke my
+horse's nose. But we'll get to know each other better. She's very
+different from what I thought she was."
+
+"Most people are," said Captain Asher, as he offered a chair to Miss
+Port in his parlor, and sat down opposite to her. Olive, who did not
+care to hear herself discussed, quietly passed out of the room.
+
+"Captain," said Miss Port, leaning forward, "how old is she, anyway?"
+
+"About twenty," was the answer.
+
+"And how long is she going to stay?"
+
+"All summer, I hope," said Captain John.
+
+"Well, she won't do it, I can tell you that," remarked Miss Port.
+"She'll get tired enough of this place before the summer's out."
+
+"We shall see about that," said the captain, "but she is not tired yet."
+
+"And her mother's dead, and she's wearin' no mournin'."
+
+"Why should she?" said the captain. "It would be a shame for a young
+girl like her to be wearing black for two years."
+
+"She's delicate, ain't she?"
+
+"I have not seen any signs of it."
+
+"What did her mother die of?"
+
+"I never heard," said the captain; "perhaps it was the bubonic plague."
+
+Miss Port pushed back her chair and drew her skirts about her.
+
+"Horrible!" she exclaimed. "And you let that child come here!"
+
+The captain smiled. "Perhaps it wasn't that," he said. "It might have
+been an avalanche, and that is not catching."
+
+Miss Port looked at him seriously. "It's a great pity she's so
+handsome," she said.
+
+"I don't think so; I am glad of it," replied the captain.
+
+Miss Port heaved a sigh. "What that girl is goin' to need," she said,
+"is a female guardeen."
+
+"Would you like to take the place?" asked the captain with a grin.
+
+At that instant it might have been supposed that a certain dumpling
+which has been mentioned was made of very red apples and that its
+covering of dough was somewhat thin in certain places. Miss Port's eyes
+were bent for an instant upon the floor.
+
+"That is a thing," she said, "which would need a great deal of
+consideration."
+
+A sudden thrill ran through the captain which was not unlike a moment in
+his past career when a gentle shudder had run through his ship as its
+keel grazed an unsuspected sand-bar, and he had not known whether it was
+going to stick fast or not; but he quickly got himself into deep water
+again.
+
+"Oh, she is all right," said he briskly; "she has been used to taking
+care of herself almost ever since she was born. And by the way, Miss
+Port, did you know that Mr. Easterfield is at his home?"
+
+Miss Port was not pleased with the sudden change in the conversation,
+and she remembered, too, that in other days it had been the captain's
+habit to call her Maria.
+
+"I did not know he had a home," she answered. "I thought it was her'n.
+But since you've mentioned it, I might as well say that it was about him
+I came to see you. I heard that he came to town yesterday, and that her
+carriage met him at the station, and drove him out to her house. I
+hoped he had stopped a minute as he drove through your toll-gate, and
+that you might have had a word with him, or at least a good look at him.
+Mercy me!" she suddenly ejaculated, as a look of genuine disappointment
+spread over her face; "I forgot. The coachman would have paid the toll
+as he went to town, and there was no need of stoppin' as they went back.
+I might have saved myself this trip."
+
+The captain laughed. "It stands to reason that it might have been that
+way," he said, "but it wasn't. He stopped, and I talked to him for about
+five minutes."
+
+The face of Miss Port now grew radiant, and she pulled her chair nearer
+to Captain Asher. "Tell me," said she, "is he really anybody?"
+
+"He is a good deal of a body," answered the captain. "I should say he is
+pretty nearly six feet high, and of considerable bigness."
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Miss Port, "I'd thought he was a little dried-up sort
+of a mummy man that you might hang up on a nail and be sure you'd find
+him when you got back. Did he talk?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the captain, "he talked a good deal."
+
+"And what did he tell you?"
+
+"He did not tell me anything, but he asked a lot of questions."
+
+"What about?" said Miss Port quickly.
+
+"Everything. Fishing, gunning, crops, weather, people."
+
+"Well, well!" she exclaimed. "And don't you suppose his wife could have
+told him all that, and she's been livin' here--this is the second
+summer. Did he say how long he's goin' to stay?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And you didn't ask him?"
+
+"I told you he asked the questions," replied the captain.
+
+"Well, I wish I'd been here," Miss Port remarked fervently. "I'd got
+something out of him."
+
+"No doubt of that," thought the captain, but he did not say so.
+
+"If he expects to pass himself off as just a common man," continued Miss
+Port, "that's goin' to spend the rest of his summer here with his
+family, he can't do it. He's first got to explain why he never came near
+that young woman and her two babies for the whole of last summer, and,
+so far as I've heard, he was never mentioned by her. I think, Captain
+Asher, that for the sake of the neighborhood, if you don't care about
+such things yourself, you might have made use of this opportunity. As
+far as I know, you're the only person in or about Glenford that's spoke
+to him."
+
+The captain smiled. "Sometimes, I suppose," said he, "I don't say
+enough, and sometimes I say too much, but--"
+
+"Then I wish he'd struck you more on an average," interrupted Miss Port.
+"But there's no use talkin' any more about it. I hired a horse and a
+carriage and a boy to come out here this mornin' to ask you about that
+man. And what's come of it? You haven't got a single thing to tell
+anybody except that he's big."
+
+The captain changed the subject again. "How is your father?" he asked.
+
+"Pop's just the same as he always is," was the answer. "And now, as I
+don't want to lose the whole of the seventy-five cents I've got to pay,
+suppose you call in that niece of yours, and let me have a talk with
+her. Perhaps I can get something interesting out of her."
+
+The captain left the room, but he did not move with alacrity. He found
+Olive with a book in a hammock at the back of the house. When he told
+her his errand she sat up with a sudden bounce, her feet upon the
+ground.
+
+"Uncle," she said, "isn't that woman a horrid person?"
+
+The captain was a merry-minded man, and he laughed. "It is pretty hard
+for me to answer that question," said he; "suppose you go in and find
+out for yourself."
+
+Olive hesitated; she was a girl who had a very high opinion of herself
+and a very low opinion of such a person as this Miss Port seemed to be.
+Why should she go in and talk to her? Still undecided, she left the
+hammock and made a few steps toward the house. Then, with a sudden
+exclamation, she stopped and dropped her book.
+
+"Buggy coming," she exclaimed, "and that thing is running to take the
+toll!" With these words she started away with the speed of a colt.
+
+An approaching buggy was on the road; Miss Maria Port, walking rapidly,
+had nearly reached the back door of the tollhouse when Olive swept by
+her so closely that the wind of her fluttering garments almost blew
+away the breath of the elder woman.
+
+"Seven cents!" cried Olive, standing in the covered doorway, but she
+might have saved herself the trouble of repeating this formula, for the
+man in the buggy was not near enough to hear her.
+
+When Olive saw it was a man, she turned, and perceiving her uncle
+approaching the tollhouse, she hurried by him up the garden path,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left.
+
+"A pretty girl that is of yours!" exclaimed Miss Port. "She might just
+as well have slapped me in the face!"
+
+"But what were you going to do in here?" asked Captain Asher. "You know
+that's against the rules."
+
+"The rules be bothered," replied the irate Maria. "I thought it was Mr.
+Smiley. He's been away from his parish for a week, and there are a good
+many things I want to ask him."
+
+"Well, it is the Roman Catholic priest from Marlinsville," said Captain
+Asher, "and he wouldn't tell you anything if you asked him."
+
+The captain had a cheerful little chat with the priest, who was one of
+his most valued road friends; and when he returned to his garden he
+found Miss Port walking up and down the main path in a state of
+agitation.
+
+"I should think," said she, "that the company would have something to
+say about your takin' up your time talkin' to people on the road. I've
+heard that sometimes they get out, and spend hours talkin' and smokin'
+with you. I guess that's against the rules."
+
+"It is all right between the company and me," replied the captain. "You
+know I am a stockholder in a small way."
+
+"You are!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Well, I've got somethin' by comin'
+here, anyway." Stowing away this bit of information in regard to the
+captain's resources in her mind for future consideration, she continued:
+"I don't think much of that niece of your'n. Has she never lived
+anywhere where the people had good manners?"
+
+Olive, who had gone to her room in order to be out of the way of this
+queer visitor, now sat by an upper window, and it was impossible that
+she should fail to hear this remark, made by Miss Port in her most
+querulous tones. Olive immediately left the window, and sat down on the
+other side of the room.
+
+"Good manners!" she ejaculated, and fell to thinking. Her present
+situation had suddenly presented itself to her in a very different light
+from that in which she had previously regarded it. She was living in a
+very plain house in a very plain way, with a very plain uncle who kept a
+tollhouse; but she liked him; and, until this moment, she had liked the
+life. But now she asked herself if it were possible for her longer to
+endure it if she were to be condemned to intercourse with people like
+that thing down in the garden. If her uncle's other friends in Glenford
+were of that grade she could not stay here. She smiled in spite of her
+irritation as she thought of the woman's words--"Anywhere where the
+people had good manners."
+
+Good manners, indeed! She remembered the titled young officers in
+Germany with whom she had talked and danced when she was but seventeen
+years old, and who used to send her flowers. She remembered the people
+of rank in the army and navy and in the state who used to invite her
+mother and herself to their houses. She remembered the royal prince who
+had wished to be presented to her, and whose acquaintance she had
+declined because she did not like what she had heard of him. She
+remembered the good friends of her father in Europe and America, ladies
+and gentlemen of the army and navy. She remembered the society in which
+she had mingled when living with her Boston aunt during the past winter.
+Then she thought of Miss Port's question. Good manners, indeed!
+
+"Well," said the perturbed Maria, after having been informed by the
+captain that his niece was accustomed to move in the best circles, "I
+don't want to go into the house again, for if I was to meet her, I'm
+sure I couldn't keep my temper. But I'll say this to you, Captain Asher,
+that I pity the woman that's her guardeen. And now, if you'll help my
+boy turn round so he won't upset the carriage, I'll be goin'. But before
+I go I'll just say this, that if you'd been in the habit of takin'
+advantage of the chances that come to you, I believe that you'd be a
+good deal better off than you are now, even if you do own shares in the
+turnpike company."
+
+It was not difficult for the captain to recognize some of the chances to
+which she alluded; one of them she herself had offered him several
+times.
+
+"Oh, I am very well off as I am," he answered, "but perhaps some day I
+may have something to tell you of the Easterfields and about their
+doings up on the mountain."
+
+"About her doin's, you might as well say," retorted Miss Port. "No
+matter what you tell me, I don't believe a word about his ever doin'
+anything." With this she walked to the little phaeton, into which the
+captain helped her.
+
+"Uncle John," said Olive, a few minutes later, "are there many people
+like that in Glenford?"
+
+"My dear child," said the captain, "the people in Glenford, the most of
+them, I mean, are just as nice people as you would want to meet. They
+are ladies and gentlemen, and they are mighty good company. They don't
+often come out here, to be sure, but I know most of them, and I ought to
+be ashamed of myself that I have not made you acquainted with them
+before this. As to Maria Port, there is only one of her in Glenford,
+and, so far as I know, there isn't another just like her in the whole
+world. Now I come to think of it," he continued, "I wonder why some of
+the young people have not come out to call on you. But if that Maria
+Port has been going around telling them that you are a little girl in
+short frocks it is not so surprising."
+
+"Oh, don't bother yourself, Uncle John, about calls and society," said
+Olive. "If you can only manage that that woman takes the shunpike
+whenever she drives this way, I shall be perfectly satisfied with
+everything just as it is."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER III_
+
+_Mrs. Easterfield._
+
+
+On the side of the mountain, a few miles to the west of the gap to which
+the turnpike stretched itself, there was a large estate and a large
+house which had once belonged to the Sudley family. For a hundred years
+or more the Sudleys had been important people in this part of the
+country, but it had been at least two decades since any of them had
+lived on this estate. Some of them had gone to cities and towns, and
+others had married, or in some other fashion had melted away so that
+their old home knew them no more.
+
+Although it was situated on the borders of the Southern country, the
+house, which was known as Broadstone, from the fact that a great flat
+rock on the level of the surrounding turf extended itself for many feet
+at the front of the principal entrance, was not constructed after
+ordinary Southern fashions. Some of the early Sudleys were of English
+blood and proclivities, and so it was partly like an English house; some
+of them had taken Continental ideas into the family, and there was a
+certain solidity about the walls; while here and there the narrowness of
+the windows suggested southern Europe. Some parts of the great stone
+walls had been stuccoed, and some had been whitewashed. Here and there
+vines climbed up the walls and stretched themselves under the eaves. As
+the house stood on a wide bluff, there was a lawn from which one could
+see over the tree tops the winding river sparkling far below. There were
+gardens and fields on the open slopes, and beyond these the forests rose
+to the top of the mountains.
+
+The ceilings of the house were high, and the halls and rooms were wide
+and airy; the trees on the edge of the woods seemed always to be
+rustling in a wind from one direction or another, and a lady; Mrs.
+Easterfield; who several years before had been traveling in that part of
+the country; declared that Broadstone was the most delightful place for
+a summer residence that she had ever seen, either in this country or
+across the ocean. So, with the consent and money of her husband, she had
+bought the estate the summer before the time of our story, and had gone
+there to live.
+
+Mr. Easterfield was what is known as a railroad man, and held high
+office in many companies and organizations. When his wife first went to
+Broadstone he was obliged to spend the summer in Europe, and had agreed
+with her that the estate on the mountains would be the best place for
+her and the two little girls while he was away. This state of affairs
+had occasioned a good deal of talk, especially in Glenford, a town with
+which the Easterfields had but little to do, and which therefore had
+theorized much in order to explain to its own satisfaction the conduct
+of a comparatively young married woman who was evidently rich enough to
+spend her summers at any of the most fashionable watering-places, but
+who chose to go with her young family to that old barracks of a house,
+and who had a husband who never came near her or his children, and who,
+so far as the Glenford people knew, she never mentioned.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Easterfield was a very fine woman, both to look at and to
+talk to, but she did not believe that her duty to her fellow-beings
+demanded that she should devote her first summer months at her new place
+to the gratification of the eyes and ears of her friends and
+acquaintances, so she had gone to Broadstone with her family--all
+females--with servants enough, and for the whole of the summer they had
+all been very happy.
+
+But this summer things were going to be a little different at
+Broadstone, for Mrs. Easterfield had arranged for some house parties.
+Her husband was very kind and considerate about her plans, and promised
+her that he would make one of the good company at Broadstone whenever it
+was possible for him to do so.
+
+So now it happened that he had come to see his wife and children and the
+house in which they lived; and, having had some business at a railroad
+center in the South, he had come through Glenford, which was unusual, as
+the intercourse between Broadstone and the great world was generally
+maintained through the gap in the mountains.
+
+With his wife by his side and a little girl on each shoulder, Mr. Tom
+Easterfield walked through the grounds and the gardens and out on the
+lawn, and looked down over the tops of the trees upon the river which
+sparkled far below, and he said to his wife that if she would let him do
+it he would send a landscape-gardener, with a great company of Italians,
+and they would make the place a perfect paradise in about five days.
+
+"It could be ruined a great deal quicker by an army of locusts," she
+said, "and so, if you do not mind, I think I will wait for the locusts."
+
+It was not time yet for any of the members of the house parties to make
+their appearance, and it was the general desire of his family that Mr.
+Easterfield should remain until some of the visitors arrived, but he
+could not gratify them. Three days after his arrival he was obliged to
+be in Atlanta; and so, soon after breakfast one fine morning, the
+Easterfield carriage drove over the turnpike to the Glenford station,
+Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield on the back seat, and the two little girls
+sitting opposite, their feet sticking out straight in front of them.
+
+When they stopped at the toll-gate Captain Asher came down to collect
+the toll--ten cents for two horses and a carriage. Olive was sitting in
+the little arbor, reading. She had noticed the approaching equipage and
+saw that there was a lady in it, but for some reason or other she was
+not so anxious as she had been to collect toll from ladies. If she could
+have arranged the matter to suit herself she would have taken toll from
+the male travelers, and her Uncle John might attend to the women; she
+did not believe that men would have such absurd ideas about people or
+ask ridiculous questions.
+
+There was no conversation at the gate on this occasion, for the
+carriage was a little late, but as it rolled on Mrs. Margaret said to
+Mr. Tom:
+
+"It seems to me as though I have just had a glimpse of Dresden. What do
+you suppose could have suggested that city to me?"
+
+Mr. Tom could not imagine, unless it was the dust. She laughed, and said
+that he had dust and ballast and railroads on the brain; and when the
+oldest little girl asked what that meant, Mrs. Margaret told her that
+the next time her father came home she would make him sit down on the
+floor and then she would draw on that great bald spot of his head, which
+they had so often noticed, a map of the railroad lines in which he was
+concerned, and then his daughters would understand why he was always
+thinking of railroad-tracks and that sort of thing with the inside of
+his head, which, as she had told them, was that part of a person with
+which he did his thinking.
+
+"Don't they sell some sort of annual or monthly tickets for this
+turnpike?" asked Mr. Tom. "If they do, you would save yourself the
+trouble of stopping to pay toll and make change."
+
+"I so seldom use this road," she said, "that it would not be worth
+while. One does not stop on returning, you know."
+
+But notwithstanding this speech, when Mrs. Easterfield returned from the
+Glenford station, one little girl sitting beside her and the other one
+opposite, both of them with their feet sticking out, she ordered her
+coachman to stop when he reached the toll-gate.
+
+Olive was still sitting in the arbor, reading. The captain was not
+visible, and the wooden-faced Jane, noticing that the travelers were a
+lady and two little girls, did not consider that she had any right to
+interfere with Miss Olive's prerogatives; so that young lady felt
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to see what was wanted.
+
+"You know you do not have to pay going back," she said.
+
+"I know that," answered Mrs. Easterfield, "but I want to ask about
+tickets or monthly payments of toll, or whatever your arrangements are
+for that sort of thing."
+
+"I really do not know," said Olive, "but I will go and ask about it."
+
+"But stop one minute," exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield, leaning over the side
+of the carriage. "Is it your father who keeps this toll-gate?"
+
+For some reason or other which she could not have explained to herself,
+Olive felt that it was incumbent upon her to assert herself, and she
+answered: "Oh, no, indeed. My father is Lieutenant-Commander Alfred
+Asher, of the cruiser Hopatcong."
+
+Without another word Mrs. Easterfield pushed open the door of the
+carriage and stepped to the ground, exclaiming: "As I passed this
+morning I knew there was something about this place that brought back to
+my mind old times and old friends, and now I see what it was; it was
+you. I caught but one glimpse of you and I did not know you. But it was
+enough. I knew your father very well when I was a girl, and later I was
+with him and your mother in Dresden. You were a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, going to school, and I never saw much of you. But it is either
+your father or your mother that I saw in your face as you sat in that
+arbor, and I knew the face, although I did not know who owned it. I am
+Mrs. Easterfield, but that will not help you to know me, for I was not
+married when I knew your father."
+
+Olive's eyes sparkled as she took the two hands extended to her. "I
+don't remember you at all," she said, "but if you are the friend of my
+father and mother--"
+
+"Then I am to be your friend, isn't it?" interrupted Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I hope so," answered Olive.
+
+"Now, then," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I want you to tell me how in the
+world you come to be here."
+
+There were two stools in the tollhouse, and Olive, having invited her
+visitor to seat herself on the better one, took the other, and told Mrs.
+Easterfield how she happened to be there.
+
+"And that handsome elderly man who took the toll this morning is your
+uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my father's only brother," said Olive.
+
+"A good deal older," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, yes, but I do not know how much."
+
+"And you call him captain. Was he also in the navy?"
+
+"No," said Olive, "he was in the merchant service, and has retired. It
+seems queer that he should be keeping a toll-gate, but my father has
+often told me that Uncle John does not care for appearances, and likes
+to do things that please him. He likes to keep the tollhouse because it
+brings him in touch with the world."
+
+"Very sensible in him," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think I would like to
+keep a toll-gate myself."
+
+Captain Asher had seen the carriage stop, and knew that Mrs. Easterfield
+was talking to Olive, but he did not think himself called upon to
+intrude upon them. But now it was necessary for him to go to the
+tollhouse. Two men in a buggy with a broken spring and a coffee bag laid
+over the loins of an imperfectly set-up horse had been waiting for
+nearly a minute behind Mrs. Easterfield's carriage, desiring to pay
+their toll and pass through. So the captain went out of the garden-gate,
+collected the toll from the two men, and directed them to go round the
+carriage and pass on in peace, which they did.
+
+Then Mrs. Easterfield rose from her stool, and approached the tollhouse
+door, and, as a matter of course, the captain was obliged to step
+forward and meet her. Olive introduced him to the lady, who shook hands
+with him very cordially.
+
+"I have found the daughter of an old friend," said she, and then they
+all went into the tollhouse again, where the two ladies reseated
+themselves, and after some explanatory remarks Mrs. Easterfield said:
+
+"Now, Captain Asher, I must not stay here blocking up your toll-gate all
+the morning, but I want to ask of you a very great favor. I want you to
+let your niece come and make me a visit. I want a good visit--at least
+ten days. You must remember that her father and I, and her mother, too,
+were very good friends. Now there are so many things I want to talk over
+with Miss Olive, and I am sure you will let me have her just for ten
+short days. There are no guests at Broadstone yet, and I want her. You
+do not know how much I want her."
+
+Captain Asher stood up tall and strong, his broad shoulders resting
+against the frame of the open doorway. It was a positive delight to him
+to stand thus and look at such a beautiful woman. So far as he could
+see, there was nothing about her with which to find fault. If she had
+been a ship he would have said that her lines were perfect, spars and
+rigging just as he would have them. In addition to her other
+perfections, she was large enough. The captain considered himself an
+excellent judge of female beauty, and he had noticed that a great many
+fine women were too small. With Olive's personal appearance he was
+perfectly satisfied, although she was slight, but she was young, and
+would probably expand. If he had had a daughter he would have liked her
+to resemble Mrs. Easterfield, but that feeling did not militate in the
+least against Olive. In his mind it was not necessary for a niece to be
+quite as large as a daughter ought to be.
+
+"But what does Olive say about it?" he asked.
+
+"I have not been asked yet," replied Olive, "but it seems to me that
+I--"
+
+"Would like to do it," interrupted Mrs. Easterfield. "Now, isn't that
+so, dear Olive?"
+
+The girl looked at the captain. "It depends upon what you say about it,
+Uncle John."
+
+The captain slightly knitted his brows. "If it were for one night, or
+perhaps a couple of days," he said, "it would be different. But what am
+I to do without Olive for nearly two weeks? I am just beginning to
+learn what a poor place my house would be without her."
+
+At this minute a man upon a rapidly trotting pony stopped at the
+toll-gate.
+
+"Excuse me one minute," continued the captain, "here is a person who can
+not wait," and stepping outside he said good morning to a bright-looking
+young fellow riding a sturdy pony and wearing on his cap a metal plate
+engraved "United States Rural Delivery."
+
+The carrier brought but one letter to the tollhouse, and that was for
+Captain Asher himself. As the man rode away the captain thought he might
+as well open his letter before he went back. This would give the ladies
+a chance to talk further over the matter. He read the letter, which was
+not long, put it in his pocket, and then entered the tollhouse. There
+was now no doubt or sign of disturbance on his features.
+
+"I have considered your invitation, madam," said he, "and as I see Olive
+wants to visit you, I shall not interfere."
+
+"Of course she does," cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing to her feet,
+"and I thank you ever and ever so much, Captain Asher. And now, my
+dear," said she to Olive, "I am going to send the carriage for you
+to-morrow morning." And with this she put her arm around the girl and
+kissed her. Then, having warmly shaken hands with the captain, she
+departed.
+
+"Do you know, Uncle John," said Olive, "I believe if you were twenty
+years older she would have kissed you."
+
+With a grim smile the captain considered; would he have been willing to
+accept those additional years under the circumstances? He could not
+immediately make up his mind, and contented himself with the reflection
+that Olive did not think him old enough for the indiscriminate caresses
+of young people.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IV_
+
+_The Son of an Old Shipmate._
+
+
+When Olive came down to breakfast the next morning she half repented
+that she had consented to go away and leave her uncle for so long a
+time. But when she made known her state of mind the captain laughed at
+her.
+
+"My child," said he, "I want you to go. Of course, I did not take to the
+notion at first, but I did not consider then what you will have to tell
+when you come home. The people of Glenford will be your everlasting
+debtors. It might be a good thing to invite Maria Port out here. You
+could give her the best time she ever had in her life, telling her about
+the Broadstone people."
+
+"Maria Port, indeed!" said Olive. "But we won't talk of her. And you
+really are willing I should go?"
+
+"I speak the truth when I say I want you to go," replied the captain.
+
+Whereupon Olive assured him that he was truly a good uncle.
+
+After the Easterfield carriage had rolled away with Olive alone on the
+back seat, waving her handkerchief, the captain requested Jane to take
+entire charge of the toll-gate for a time; and, having retired to his
+own room, he took from his pocket the letter he had received the day
+before.
+
+"I must write an answer to this," he said, "before the postman comes."
+
+The letter was from one of the captain's old shipmates, Captain Richard
+Lancaster, the best friend he had had when he was in the merchant
+service. Captain Lancaster had often been asked by his old friend to
+visit him at the toll-gate, but, being married and rheumatic, he had
+never accepted the invitation. But now he wrote that his son, Dick, had
+planned a holiday trip which would take him through Glenford, and that,
+if it suited Captain Asher, the father would accept for the son the
+long-standing invitation. Captain Lancaster wrote that as he could not
+go himself to his old friend Asher, the next best thing would be for his
+son to go, and when the young man returned he could tell his father all
+about Captain Asher. There would be something in that like old times.
+Besides, he wanted his former shipmate to know his son Dick, who was, in
+his eyes, a very fine young fellow.
+
+"There never was such a lucky thing in the world," said Captain Asher to
+himself, when he had finished rereading the letter. "Of course, I want
+to have Dick Lancaster's son here, but I could not have had him if Olive
+had been here. But now it is all right. The young fellow can stay here a
+few days, and he will be gone before she gets back. If I like him I can
+ask him to come again; but that's my business. Handsome women, like that
+Mrs. Easterfield, always bring good luck. I have noticed that many and
+many a time."
+
+Then he set himself to work to write a letter to invite young Richard
+Lancaster to spend a few days with him.
+
+For the rest of that day, and the greater part of the next, Captain
+Asher gave a great deal of thinking time to the consideration of the
+young man who was about to visit him, and of whom, personally, he knew
+very little. He was aware that Captain Lancaster had a son and no other
+children, and he was quite sure that this son must now be a grown-up
+young man. He remembered very well that Captain Lancaster was a fine
+young fellow when he first knew him, and he did not doubt at all that
+the son resembled the father. He did not believe that young Dick was a
+sailor, because he and old Dick had often said to each other that if
+they married their sons should not go to sea. Of course he was in some
+business; and Captain Lancaster ought to be well able to give him a good
+start in life; just as able as he himself was to give Olive a good start
+in housekeeping when the time came.
+
+"Now, what in the name of common sense," ejaculated Captain Asher, "did
+I think of that for? What has he to do with Olive, or Olive with him?"
+And then he said to himself, thinking of the young man in the bosom of
+his family and without reference to anybody outside of it: "Yes, his
+father must be pretty well off. He did a good deal more trading than
+ever I did. But after all, I don't believe he invested his money any
+better than I did mine, and it is just as like as not if we were to show
+our hands, that Olive would get as much as Dick's son. There it is
+again. I can't keep my mind off the thing." And as he spoke he knocked
+the ashes out of his pipe, and began to stride up and down the garden
+walk; and as he did so he began to reproach himself.
+
+What right had he to think of his niece in that way? It was not doing
+the fair thing by her father, and perhaps by her, for that matter. For
+all he knew she might be engaged to somebody out West or down East, or
+in some other part of the world where she had lived. But this idea made
+very little impression on him. Knowing Olive as he did, he did not
+believe that she was engaged to anybody anywhere; he did not want to
+think that she was the kind of girl who would conceal her engagement
+from him, or who could do it, for that matter. But, everything
+considered, he was very glad Olive had gone to Broadstone, for, whatever
+the young fellow might happen to be, he wanted to know all about him
+before Olive met him.
+
+Captain Asher firmly believed that there was nothing of the matchmaker
+in his disposition, but notwithstanding this estimate of himself, he
+went on thinking of Olive and the son of his old shipmate, both
+separately and together. He had never said to anybody, nor intimated to
+anybody, that he was going to give any of his moderate fortune to his
+niece. In fact, before this visit to him he had not thought much about
+it, nor did it enter his mind that Olive's Boston aunt, her mother's
+sister, had favored this visit of the girl to her toll-gate uncle,
+hoping that he might think about it.
+
+In consequence of these cogitations, and in spite of the fact that he
+despised matchmaking, Captain Asher was greatly interested in the coming
+advent of his shipmate's son.
+
+When the same phaeton, the same horse, and the same boy that had brought
+Maria Port to the tollhouse, conveyed there a young man with two
+valises, one rather large, Captain Asher did not hurry from the house to
+meet his visitor. He had seen him coming, and had preferred to stand in
+his doorway and take a preliminary observation of him. Having taken
+this, Captain Asher was obliged to confess to himself that he was
+disappointed.
+
+The first cause of his disappointment was the fact that the young man
+wore a colored shirt and no vest, and a yellow leather belt. Now,
+Captain Asher for the greater part of his active life had worn colored
+shirts, sometimes very dark ones, with no vests, but he had not supposed
+that a young man coming to a house where there was a young lady
+accustomed to the best society would present himself in such attire. The
+captain instantly remembered that his visitor could not know that there
+was a young lady at the house, but this did not satisfy him. Such attire
+was not respectful, even to him. The leather belt especially offended
+him. The captain was not aware of the _negligé_ summer fashions for men
+which then prevailed.
+
+The next thing that disappointed him was that young Lancaster, seen
+across the garden, did not appear to be the strapping young fellow he
+had expected to see. He was moderately tall, and moderately broad, and
+handled his valise with apparent ease, but he did not look as though he
+were his father's son. Dick Lancaster had married the daughter of a
+captain when he was only a second mate, and that piece of good fortune
+had been generally attributed to his good looks.
+
+But these observations and reflections occupied a very short time, and
+Captain Asher walked quickly to meet his visitor. As he stepped out of
+the garden-gate he was disappointed again. The young man's trousers were
+turned up above his shoes. The weather was not wet, there was no mud,
+and if Dick Lancaster's son had not bought a pair of ready-made trousers
+that were too long for him, why should he turn them up in that
+ridiculous way?
+
+In spite of these first impressions, the captain gave his old friend's
+son a hearty welcome, and took him into the house. After dinner he
+subjected the young man to a crucial test; he asked him if he smoked. If
+the visitor had answered in the negative he would have dropped still
+further in the captain's estimation. It was not that the captain had any
+theories in regard to the sanitary advantages or disadvantages of
+tobacco; he simply remembered that nearly all the rascals with whom he
+had been acquainted had been eager to declare that they never used
+tobacco in any form, and that nearly all the good fellows he had known
+enjoyed their pipes. In fact, he could not see how good fellowship could
+be maintained without good talk and good tobacco, so he waited with an
+anxious interest for his guest's answer.
+
+"Oh, yes," said he, "I am fond of a smoke, especially in company," and
+so, having risen several inches in the good opinion of his host, he
+followed him to the little arbor in the garden.
+
+"Now, then," said Captain Asher, when his pipe was alight, "you have
+told me a great deal about your father, now tell me something about
+yourself. I do not even know what your business is."
+
+"I am Assistant Professor of Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College,"
+answered the young man.
+
+Captain Asher put down his pipe and gazed at his visitor across the
+arbor. This answer was so different from anything he had expected that
+for the moment he could not express his astonishment, and was obliged to
+content himself with asking where Sutton College was.
+
+"It is what they call a fresh-water college," replied the young man,
+"and I do not wonder that you do not know where it is. It is near our
+town. I graduated there and received my present appointment about three
+years ago. I was then twenty-seven."
+
+"Your father was good at mathematics," said Captain Asher. "He was a
+great hand at calculations, but he went in for practise, as I did, and
+not for theories. I suppose there are other professors who teach regular
+working mathematics."
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the young man, with a smile, "there is the Professor
+of Applied Mathematics, but of course the thorough student wants to
+understand the theories on which his practise is to be based."
+
+"I do not see why he should," replied the other. "If a good ship is
+launched for me, I don't care anything about the stocks she slides off
+of."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Lancaster, "but somebody has to think about them."
+
+In the afternoon Captain Asher showed his visitor his little farm, and
+took him out fishing. During these recreations he refrained, as far as
+possible, from asking questions, for he did not wish the young man to
+suppose that for any reason he had been sent there to undergo an
+examination. But in the evening he could not help talking about the
+college, not in reference to the work and life of the students, a
+subject that did not interest him, but in regard to the work and the
+prospects of the faculty.
+
+"What does your president teach?" he asked. "I believe all presidents
+have charge of some branch or other."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster, "our president is Professor of Mental and
+Moral Philosophy."
+
+"I thought it would be something of the kind," said the captain to
+himself. "Even the head Professor of Mathematical Theories would never
+get to the top of the heap. He is not useful enough for that."
+
+After he had gone to bed that night Captain Asher found himself laughing
+about the events of the day. He could not help it when he remembered how
+his mind had been almost constantly occupied with a consideration of his
+old shipmate's son with reference to his brother's daughter. And when he
+remembered that neither of these two young people had ever seen or heard
+of the other, it is not surprising that he laughed a little.
+
+"It's none of my business, anyway," thought the captain, "and I might as
+well stop bothering my head about it. I suppose I might as well tell
+him about Olive, for it is nothing I need keep secret. But first I'll
+see how long he is going to stay. It's none of his business, anyway,
+whether I have a niece staying with me or not."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER V_
+
+_Olive pays Toll._
+
+
+It is needless to say that Olive was charmed with Broadstone; with its
+mistress; with the two little girls; with the woods; the river; the
+mountains; and even the sky; which seemed different from that same sky
+when viewed from the tollhouse. She was charmed also with the rest of
+the household, which was different from anything of that kind that she
+had known, being composed entirely, with the exception of some servants,
+of women and little girls. Olive, accustomed all her life to men, men,
+men, grew rapturous over this Amazonian paradise.
+
+"Don't be too enthusiastic," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for a while you may
+like fresh butter without salt, but the longing for the condiment will
+be sure to come."
+
+There was Mrs. Blynn, the widow of a clergyman, with dark-brown eyes and
+white hair, who was always in a good humor, who acted as the general
+manager of the household, and also as particular friend to any one in
+the house who needed her services in that way. Then there was Miss
+Raleigh, who was supposed to be Mrs. Easterfield's secretary. She was a
+slender spinster of forty or more, with sad eyes and very fine teeth.
+She had dyspeptic proclivities, and never differed with anybody except
+in regard to her own diet. She seldom wrote for Mrs. Easterfield, for
+that lady did not like her handwriting, and she did not understand the
+use of the typewriter; nor did she read to the lady of the house, for
+Mrs. Easterfield could not endure to have anybody read to her. But in
+all the other duties of a secretary she made herself very useful. She
+saw that the books, which every morning were found lying about the
+house, were put in their proper places on the shelves, and, if
+necessary, she dusted them; if she saw a book turned upside down she
+immediately set it up properly. She was also expected to exert a certain
+supervision over the books the little girls were allowed to look at. She
+was an excellent listener and an appropriate smiler; Mrs. Easterfield
+frequently said that she never knew Miss Raleigh to smile in the wrong
+place. She took a regular walk every day, eight times up and down the
+whole length of the lawn.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield gave herself almost entirely to the entertainment of
+her guest. They roamed over the grounds, they found the finest points of
+view, at which Olive was expert, being a fine climber, and they tramped
+for long distances along the edge of the woods, where together they
+killed a snake. Mrs. Easterfield also allowed Olive the great privilege
+of helping her work in her garden of nature. This was a wide bed which
+was almost entirely shaded by two large trees. The peculiarity about
+this bed was that its mistress carefully pulled up all the flowering
+plants and cultivated the weeds.
+
+"You see," said she to Olive, "I planted here a lot of flower-seeds
+which I thought would thrive in the shade, but they did not, and after a
+while I found that they were all spindling and puny-looking, while the
+weeds were growing as if they were out in the open sunshine, so I have
+determined to acknowledge the principle of the survival of the fittest,
+and whenever anything that looks like a flower shows itself I jerk it
+out. I also thin out all but the best weeds. I hoe and rake the others,
+and water them if necessary. Look at that splendid Jamestown weed--here
+they call it jimson weed--did you ever see anything finer than that with
+its great white blossoms and dark-green leaves? I expect it to be twice
+as large before the summer is over. And all these others. See how
+graceful they are, and what delicate flowers some of them have!"
+
+"I wonder," said Olive, "if I should have had the strength of mind to
+pull up my flowers and leave my weeds."
+
+"The more you think about it," said Mrs. Easterfield, "the more you like
+weeds. They have such fine physiques, and they don't ask anybody to do
+anything for them. They are independent, like self-made men, and come up
+of themselves. They laugh at disadvantages, and even bricks and
+flagstones will not keep them down."
+
+"But, after all," said Olive, "give me the flowers that can not take
+care of themselves." And she turned toward a bed of carnations, bright
+under the morning sun.
+
+"Do you suppose, little girl," said Mrs. Easterfield, following her,
+"that I do not like flowers because I do like weeds? Everything in its
+place; weeds are for the shady spots, but I keep my flowers out of such
+places. This flower, for instance," touching Olive on the cheek. "And
+now let us go into the house and see what pleasant thing we can find to
+do there."
+
+In the afternoon the two ladies went out rowing on the river, and Mrs.
+Easterfield was astonished at Olive's proficiency with the oar. She had
+thought herself a good oarswoman, but she was nothing to Olive. She
+good-naturedly acknowledged her inferiority, however. How could she
+expect to compete with a navy girl? she said.
+
+"Are you fond of swimming?" asked Olive, as she looked down into the
+bright, clear water.
+
+"Oh, very," said Mrs. Easterfield. "But I am not allowed to swim in this
+river. It is considered dangerous."
+
+Olive looked up in surprise. It seemed odd that there should be anything
+that this bright, free woman was not allowed to do, or that there should
+be anybody who would not allow it.
+
+Then followed some rainy days, and the first clear day Mrs. Easterfield
+told Olive that she would take her a drive in the afternoon.
+
+"I shall drive you myself with my own horses," she said, "but you need
+not be afraid, for I can drive a great deal better than I can row. We
+must lose no time in seizing all the advantages of this Amazonian life,
+for to-morrow some of our guests will arrive, the Foxes and Mr. Claude
+Locker."
+
+"Who are the Foxes?" asked Olive.
+
+"They are the pleasantest visitors that any one could have," was the
+answer. "They always like everything. They never complain of being
+cold, nor talk about the weather being hot. They are interested in all
+games, and they like all possible kinds of food that one can give them
+to eat. They are always ready to go to bed when they think they ought
+to, and sit up just as long as they are wanted. Of course, they have
+their own ideas about things, but they don't dispute. They take care of
+themselves all the morning, and are ready for anything you want to do in
+the afternoon or evening. They have two children at home, but they never
+talk about them unless they are particularly asked to do so. They know a
+great many people, and you can tell by the way they speak of them that
+they won't talk scandal about you. In fact, they are model guests, and
+they ought to open a school to teach the art of visiting."
+
+"And what about Mr. Claude Locker?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "Oh, he is different," she said; "he is so
+different from the Foxes that words would not describe it. But you won't
+be long in becoming acquainted with him."
+
+The road over which the two ladies drove that afternoon was a beautiful
+one, sometimes running close to the river under great sycamores, then
+making a turn into the woods and among the rocks. At last they came to a
+cross-road, which led away from the river, and here Mrs. Easterfield
+stopped her horses.
+
+"Now, Olive," said she, for she was now very familiar with her guest, "I
+will leave the return route to you. Shall we go back by the river
+road--and the scenery will be very different when going in the other
+direction--or shall we drive over to Glenford, and go home by the
+turnpike? That is a little farther, but the road is a great deal
+better?"
+
+"Oh, let us go that way," cried Olive. "We will go through Uncle John's
+toll-gate, and you must let me pay the toll. It will be such fun to pay
+toll to Uncle John, or old Jane."
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Easterfield, "we will go that way."
+
+When the horses had passed through Glenford and had turned their heads
+homeward, they clattered along at a fine rate over the smooth turnpike,
+and Olive was in as high spirits as they were.
+
+"Whoever comes out to take toll," said she, "I intend to be treated as
+an ordinary traveler and nothing else. I have often taken toll, but I
+never paid it in my life. And they must take it--no gratis traveling for
+me. But I hope you won't mind stopping long enough for me to say a few
+words after I have transacted the regular business."
+
+"Oh, no," said Mrs. Easterfield, "you can chat as much as you like. We
+have plenty of time."
+
+Olive held in her hand a quarter of a dollar; she was determined they
+should make change for her, and that everything should be done properly.
+
+Dick Lancaster sat in the garden arbor, reading. He was becoming a
+little tired of this visit to his father's old friend. He liked Captain
+Asher and appreciated his hospitality, but there was nothing very
+interesting for him to do in this place, and he had thought that it
+might be a very good thing if the several days for which he had been
+invited should terminate on the morrow. There were some very attractive
+plans ahead of him, and he felt that he had now done his full duty by
+his father and his father's old friend.
+
+Captain Asher was engaged with some matters about his little farm, and
+Lancaster had asked as a favor that he might be allowed to tend the
+toll-gate during his absence. It would be something to do, and,
+moreover, something out of the way.
+
+When he perceived the approach of Mrs. Easterfield's carriage Lancaster
+walked down to the tollhouse, and stopped for a minute to glance over
+the rates of toll which were pasted up inside the door as well as out.
+
+The carriage stopped, and when a young man stepped out from the
+tollhouse Olive gave a sudden start, and the words with which she had
+intended to greet her uncle or old Jane instantly melted away.
+
+"Don't push me out of the carriage," said Mrs. Easterfield,
+good-naturedly, and she, too, looked at the young man.
+
+"For two horses and a vehicle," said Dick Lancaster, "ten cents, if you
+please."
+
+Olive made no answer, but handed him the quarter with which he retired
+to make change. Mrs. Easterfield opened her mouth to speak, but Olive
+put her finger on her lips and shook her head; the situation astonished
+her, but she did not wish to ask that stranger to explain it.
+
+Lancaster came out and dropped fifteen cents into Olive's hand. He could
+not help regarding with interest the occupants of the carriage, and Mrs.
+Easterfield looked hard at him. Suddenly Olive turned in her seat; she
+looked at the house, she looked at the garden, she looked at the little
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse. Yes, it was really the same place.
+For an instant she thought she might have been mistaken, but there was
+her window with the Virginia creeper under the sill where she had
+trained it herself. Then she made a motion to her companion, who
+immediately drove on.
+
+"What does this mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Who is that young
+man? Why didn't you give me a chance to ask after the captain, even if
+you did not care to do so?"
+
+"I never saw him before!" cried Olive. "I never heard of him. I don't
+understand anything about it. The whole thing shocked me, and I wanted
+to get on."
+
+"I don't think it a very serious matter," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Some
+passer-by might have relieved your uncle for a time."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," replied Olive. "Uncle John would never give
+the toll-gate into the charge of a passer-by, especially as old Jane was
+there. I know she was there, for the basement door was open, and she
+never goes away and leaves it so. That man is somebody who is staying
+there. I saw an open book on the arbor bench. Nobody reads in that arbor
+but me."
+
+"And that young man apparently," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I agree with
+you that it is surprising."
+
+For some minutes Olive did not speak. "I am afraid," she said,
+presently, "that my uncle is not acting quite frankly with me. I noticed
+how willing he was that I should go to your house."
+
+"Perhaps he expected this person and wanted to get you out of the way,"
+laughed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Well, my dear, I do not believe your uncle is such a schemer. He does
+not look like it. Take my word for it, it will all be as simple as a-b-c
+when it is explained to you."
+
+But Olive could not readily take this view of the case, and the drive
+home was not nearly so pleasant as it would have been if her uncle or
+old Jane had taken her quarter and given her fifteen cents in change.
+
+That night, soon after the family at Broadstone had retired to their
+rooms, Olive knocked at the door of Mrs. Easterfield's chamber.
+
+"Do you know," she exclaimed, when she had been told to enter, "that a
+horrible idea has come into my head? Uncle John may have been taken
+sick, and that man looked just like a doctor. Old Jane was busy with
+uncle, and as the doctor had to wait, he took the toll. Oh, I wish we
+had asked! It was cruel in me not to!"
+
+"Now, that is all nonsense," said Mrs. Easterfield. "If anything serious
+is the matter with your uncle he most surely would have let you know,
+and, besides, both the doctors in Glenford are elderly men. I do not
+believe there is the slightest reason for your anxiety. But to make you
+feel perfectly satisfied, I will send a man to Glenford early in the
+morning. I want to send there anyway."
+
+"But I would not like my uncle to think that I was trying to find out
+anything he did not care to tell me," said Olive.
+
+"Oh, don't trouble yourself about that," answered Mrs. Easterfield. "I
+will instruct the man. He need not ask any questions at the toll-gate.
+But when he gets to Glenford he can find out everything about that
+young man without asking any questions. He is a very discreet person.
+And I am also a discreet person," she added, "and you shall have no
+connection with my messenger's errand."
+
+After breakfast the next morning Mrs. Easterfield took Olive aside. "My
+man has returned," she said; "he tells me that Captain Asher took the
+toll, and was smoking his pipe in perfect health. He also saw the young
+man, and his natural curiosity prompted him to ask about him in the
+town. He heard that he is the son of one of the captain's old shipmates
+who is making him a visit. Now I hope this satisfies you."
+
+"Satisfies me!" exclaimed Olive. "I should have been a great deal better
+satisfied if I had heard he was sick, provided it was nothing dangerous.
+I think my uncle is treating me shamefully. It is not that I care a snap
+about his visitor, one way or another, but it is his want of confidence
+in me that hurts me. Could he have supposed I should have wanted to stay
+with him if I had known a young man was coming?"
+
+"Well, my dear," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not send anybody to find
+out what he supposed. But I am as certain as I can be certain of
+anything that there is nothing at all in this bugbear you have conjured
+up. No doubt the young man dropped in quite accidentally, and it was his
+bad luck that prevented him from dropping in before you left."
+
+Olive shook her head. "My uncle knew all about it. His manner showed it.
+He has treated me very badly."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VI_
+
+_Mr. Claude Locker._
+
+
+The Foxes arrived at Broadstone at the exact hour of the morning at
+which they had been expected. They always did this; even trains which
+were sometimes delayed when other visitors came were always on time when
+they carried the Foxes. They were both perfectly well and happy, as they
+always were.
+
+As rapidly as it was possible for human beings to do so they absorbed
+the extraordinary advantages of the house and it surroundings, and they
+said the right things in such a common-sense fashion that their hostess
+was proud that she owned such a place, and happy that she had invited
+them to see it.
+
+In their hearts they liked everything about the place except Olive, and
+they wondered how they were going to get along with such a glum young
+person, but they did not talk about her to Mrs. Easterfield; there was
+too much else.
+
+Mr. Claude Locker was expected on the train by which the Foxes had come,
+but he did not arrive; and this made it necessary to send again for him
+in the afternoon.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield tried very hard to cheer up Olive, and to make her
+entertain the Foxes in her usual lively way, but this was of no use;
+the young person was not in a good humor, and retired for an afternoon
+nap. But as this was an indulgence she very seldom allowed herself, it
+was not likely that she napped.
+
+Mr. Fox spoke to Mrs. Fox about her. "A queer girl," he said; "what do
+you suppose is the matter with her?"
+
+"The symptoms are those of green apples," replied Mrs. Fox, "and
+probably she will be better to-morrow."
+
+The carriage came back without Mr. Locker. But just as the soup-plates
+were being removed from the dinner-table he arrived in a hired vehicle,
+and appeared at the dining-room door with his hat in one hand, and a
+package in the other. He begged Mrs. Easterfield not to rise.
+
+"I will slip up to my room," said he, "if you have one for me, and when
+I come down I will greet you and be introduced."
+
+With this he turned and left the room, but was back in a moment. "It was
+a woman," he said, "who was at the bottom of it. It is always a woman,
+you know, and I am sure you will excuse me now that you know this. And
+you must let me begin wherever you may be in the dinner."
+
+"I have heard of Mr. Locker," said Mr. Fox, "but I never met him before.
+He must be very odd."
+
+"He admits that himself," said Mrs. Easterfield, "but he asserts that he
+spends a great deal of his time getting even with people."
+
+In a reasonable time Mr. Locker appeared and congratulated himself upon
+having struck the roast.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he said, "we will now all begin dinner together.
+What has gone before was nothing but overture. If I can help it I never
+get in until the beginning of the play."
+
+He bowed parenthetically as Mrs. Easterfield introduced him to the
+company; and, as she looked at him, Olive forgot for a moment her uncle
+and his visitor.
+
+"Don't send for soup, I beg of you," said Mr. Locker, as he took his
+seat. "I regard it as a rare privilege to begin with the inside cut of
+beef."
+
+Mr. Locker was not allowed to do all the talking; his hostess would not
+permit that; but under the circumstances he was allowed to explain his
+lateness.
+
+"You know I have been spending a week with the Bartons," he said, "and
+last night I came over from their house to the station in a carriage.
+There is a connecting train, but I should have had to take it very early
+in the evening, so I saved time by hiring a carriage."
+
+"Saved time?" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I saved all the time from dinner until the Bartons went to bed, which
+would have been lost if I had taken the train. Besides, I like to travel
+in carriages. One is never too late for a carriage; it is always bound
+to wait for you."
+
+In the recesses of his mind Mr. Fox now said to himself, "This is a
+fool." And Mrs. Fox, in the recesses of her mind, remarked, "I am quite
+sure that Mr. Fox will look upon this young man as a fool."
+
+"I spent what was left of the night at a tavern near the station,"
+continued Mr. Locker, "where I would have had to stay all night if I
+had not taken the carriage. And I should have been in plenty of time for
+the morning train if I had not taken a walk before breakfast. Apparently
+that is a part of the world where it takes a good deal longer to go back
+to a place than it does to get away from it."
+
+"But where did the woman come in?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, she came in with some tea and sandwiches in the middle of the
+afternoon," said Mr. Locker. "I was waiting in the parlor of the tavern.
+She was fairly young, and as I ate she stood and talked. She talked
+about Horace Walpole." At this even Olive smiled. "It was odd, wasn't
+it?" continued Mr. Locker, glancing from one to the other. "But that is
+what she did. She had been reading about him in an old book. She asked
+me if I knew anything about him, and I told her a great deal. It was so
+very interesting to tell her, and she was so interested, that when the
+train arrived I was too much occupied to think that it might start again
+immediately, but it did that very thing, and so I was left. However, the
+Walpole young woman told me there was a freight-train along in about an
+hour, and so we continued our conversation. When this train came I asked
+the engineer how many cigars he would take to let me ride in the cab. He
+said half a dozen, but as I only had five, I promised to send him the
+other by mail. However, as I smoked two of his five, I suppose I ought
+to send him three."
+
+"This young man," said Mr. Fox to himself, "is trying to appear more of
+a fool than he really is."
+
+"I have no doubt," said Mrs. Fox to herself, "that Mr. Fox is of the
+opinion that this young man is making an effort to appear foolish."
+
+That evening was a dull one. Mrs. Easterfield did her best, Claude
+Locker did his best, and Mr. and Mrs. Fox did their best to make things
+lively, but their success was poor. Miss Raleigh, the secretary, sat
+ready to give an approving smile to any liveliness which might arise,
+and Mrs. Blynn, with the dark eyes and soft white hair, sat sewing and
+waiting; never before had it been necessary for her to wait for
+liveliness in Mrs. Easterfield's house. A mild rain somewhat assisted
+the dullness, for everybody was obliged to stay indoors.
+
+Early the next morning Olive Asher went down-stairs, and stood in the
+open doorway looking out upon the landscape, glowing in the sunshine and
+brighter and more odorous from the recent rain. Some time during the
+night this young woman had made up her mind to give no further thought
+to her uncle who kept the toll-gate. There was no earthly reason why he,
+or anything he wanted to do, or did not want to do, or did, should
+trouble and annoy her. A few months before she had scarcely known him,
+not having seen him since she was a girl; and, in fact, he was no more
+to her now than he was before she went to his house. If he chose to
+offer her any explanation of his strange conduct, that would be very
+well; if he did not choose, that would also be very well. The whole
+affair was of no consequence; she would drop it entirely from her mind.
+
+Olive's bounding spirits now rose very high, and when Claude Locker came
+in with his shoes soaked from a tramp in the wet grass she greeted him
+in such a way that he could scarcely believe she was the grumpy girl of
+the day before. As they went into breakfast Mrs. Fox remarked to her
+husband in a low voice that Miss Asher seemed to have recovered entirely
+from her indisposition.
+
+In the course of the morning Mr. Locker found an opportunity to speak in
+private with Mrs. Easterfield. "I am in great trouble," he said; "I want
+to marry Miss Asher."
+
+"You show unusual promptness," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Not at all," replied Locker. "This sort of thing is not unusual with
+me. My mind is a highly sensitive plate, and receives impressions almost
+instantaneously. If it were a large mind these impressions might be
+placed side by side, and each one would perhaps become indelible. But it
+is small, and each impression claps itself down on the one before. This
+last one, however, is the strongest of them all, and obliterates
+everything that went before."
+
+"It strikes me," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that if you were to pay more
+attention to your poems and less to young ladies it would be better."
+
+"Hardly," said Mr. Locker; "for it would be worse for the poems."
+
+The general appearance of Mr. Locker gave no reason to suppose that he
+would be warranted in assuming a favorable issue from any of the
+impressions to which his mind was so susceptible. He was small, rather
+awkwardly set up, his head was large, and the features of his face
+seemed to have no relation to each other. His nose was somewhat stubby,
+and had nothing to do with his mouth or eyes. One of his eyebrows was
+drawn down as if in days gone by he had been in the habit of wearing a
+single glass. The other brow was raised over a clear and wide-open
+light-blue eye. His mouth was large, and attended strictly to its own
+business. It transmitted his odd ideas to other people, but it never
+laughed at them. His chin was round and prominent, suggesting that it
+might have been borrowed from somebody else. His cheeks were a little
+heavy, and gave no assistance in the expression of his ideas.
+
+His profession was that of a poet. He called himself a practical poet,
+because he made a regular business of it, turning his poetic
+inspirations into salable verse with the facility and success, as he
+himself expressed it, of a man who makes boxes out of wood. Moreover, he
+sold these poems as readily as any carpenter sold his boxes. Like
+himself, Claude Locker's poems were always short, always in request, and
+sometimes not easy to understand.
+
+The poem he wrote that night was a word-picture of the rising moon
+entangled in a sheaf of corn upon a hilltop, with a long-eared rabbit
+sitting near by as if astonished at the conflagration.
+
+"A very interesting girl, that Miss Asher," said Mr. Fox to his wife
+that evening. "I do not know when I have laughed so much."
+
+"I thought you were finding her interesting," said Mrs. Fox. "To me it
+was like watching a game of roulette at Monte Carlo. It was intensely
+interesting, but I could not imagine it as having anything to do with
+me."
+
+"No, my dear," said Mr. Fox, "it could have nothing to do with you."
+
+After Mrs. Easterfield retired she sat for a long time, thinking of
+Olive. That young person and Mr. Locker had been boating that afternoon,
+and Olive had had the oars. Mr. Locker had told with great effect how
+she had pulled to get out of the smooth water, and how she had dashed
+over the rapids and between the rocks in such a way as to make his heart
+stand still.
+
+"I should like to go rowing with her every day," he had remarked
+confidentially. "Each time I started I should make a new will."
+
+"Why a new one?" Mrs. Easterfield had asked.
+
+"Each time I should take something more from my relatives to give to
+her," had been the answer.
+
+As she sat and thought, Mrs. Easterfield began to be a little
+frightened. She was a brave woman, but it is the truly brave who know
+when they should be frightened, and she felt her responsibility, not on
+account of the niece of the toll-gate keeper, but on account of the
+daughter of Lieutenant Asher, whom she had once known so well. The thing
+which frightened her was the possibility that before anybody would be
+likely to think of such a thing Olive might marry Claude Locker. He was
+always ready to do anything he wanted to do at any time; and for all
+Mrs. Easterfield knew, the girl might be of the same sort.
+
+But Mrs. Easterfield rose to the occasion. She looked upon Olive as a
+wild young colt who had broken out of her paddock, but she remembered
+that she herself had a record for speed. "If there is to be any running
+I shall get ahead of her," she said to herself, "and I will turn her
+back. I think I can trust myself for that."
+
+Olive slept the sound sleep of the young, but for all that she had a
+dream. She dreamed of a kind, good, thoughtful, and even affectionate,
+middle-aged man; a man who looked as though he might have been her
+father, and whom she was beginning to look upon as a father,
+notwithstanding the fact that she had a real father dressed in a uniform
+and on a far-away ship. She dreamed ever so many things about this
+newer, although elder, father, and her dream made her very happy.
+
+But in the morning when she woke her dream had entirely passed from her
+mind, and she felt just as much like a colt as when she had gone to bed.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VII_
+
+_The Captain and his Guest go Fishing and come Home Happy._
+
+
+When Dick Lancaster told Captain Asher he had taken toll from two ladies
+in a phaeton he was quite eloquent in his description of said ladies. He
+declared with an impressiveness which the captain had not noticed in him
+before that he did not know when he had seen such handsome ladies. The
+younger one, who paid the toll, was absolutely charming. She seemed a
+little bit startled, but he supposed that was because she saw a strange
+face at the toll-gate. Dick wanted very much to know who these ladies
+were. He had not supposed that he would find such stylish people, and
+such a handsome turnout in this part of the country.
+
+"Oh, ho," said Captain Asher, "do you suppose we are all farmers and
+toll-gate keepers? If you do, you are very much mistaken, although I
+must admit that the stylish people, as you call them, are scattered
+about very thinly. I expect that carriage was from Broadstone over on
+the mountain. Was the team dapple gray, pony built?"
+
+"Yes," said Lancaster.
+
+"Then it was Mrs. Easterfield driving some of her company. I have seen
+her with that team. And by George," he exclaimed, "I bet my head the
+other one was Olive! Of course it was. And she paid toll! Well, well, if
+that isn't a good one! Olive paying toll! I wish I had been here to take
+it! That truly would have been a lark!"
+
+Dick Lancaster did not echo this wish of his host. He was very glad,
+indeed, that the captain had not been at the toll-gate when the ladies
+passed through. Captain Asher was still laughing.
+
+"Olive must have been amazed," he said. "It was queer enough for her to
+go through my gate and pay toll, but to pay it to an Assistant Professor
+of Theoretical Mathematics was a good deal queerer. I can't imagine what
+she thought about it."
+
+"She did not know I am that!" exclaimed Dick Lancaster. "There is
+nothing of the professor in my outward appearance--at least, I hope
+not."
+
+"No, I don't think there is," replied the captain. "But she must have
+been amazed, all the same. I wish I had been here, or old Jane, anyway.
+But, of course, when a stranger showed himself she would not have said
+anything."
+
+"But who is Olive?" asked Lancaster.
+
+"She's my niece," said the captain. "I don't think I have mentioned her
+to you. She is on a visit to me, but just now she is staying at
+Broadstone. I suppose she will be there about a week longer."
+
+"It's odd he has not mentioned her to me," thought Lancaster, and then,
+as the captain went to ask old Jane if she had seen Olive pass, the
+young man retired to the arbor with a book which he did not read.
+
+His desire to inform his host that it would be necessary to take leave
+of him on the morrow had very much abated. It would be very pleasant, he
+thought, to be a visitor in a family of which that girl was a member.
+But if she were not to return for a week, how could he expect to stay
+with the captain so long? There would be no possible excuse for such a
+thing. Then he thought it would be very pleasant to be in a country of
+which that young woman was one of the inhabitants. Anyway, he hoped the
+captain would invite him to make a longer stay. The great blue eyes with
+which the young lady had regarded him as she paid the toll would not
+fade out of his mind.
+
+"She must have wondered who it was that took the toll," said old Jane.
+"And there wasn't no need of it, anyway. I could have took it as I
+always have took it when you was not here, and before either of them
+came."
+
+"Either of them" struck the captain's ear strangely. Here was this old
+woman coupling these two young people in her mind!
+
+The next morning Captain Asher sat on his little piazza, smoking his
+pipe and thinking about Olive driving through the gate and paying toll
+to a stranger. But he now considered the incident from a different point
+of view. Of course, Olive had been surprised when she had seen the young
+man, but she might also have wondered how he happened to be there and
+she not know of it. If he were staying long enough to be entrusted with
+toll-taking it might--in fact, the captain thought it probably
+would--appear very strange to her that she should not know of it. So
+now he asked himself if it would not be a good thing if he were to write
+her a little note in which he should mention Mr. Lancaster and his
+visit. In fact, he thought the best thing he could do would be to write
+her a playful sort of a note, and tell her that she should feel honored
+by having her toll taken up by a college professor. But he did not
+immediately write the note. The more he thought about it, the more he
+wished he had been at the toll-gate when Mrs. Easterfield's phaeton
+passed by.
+
+Captain Asher did not write his note at all. He did not know what to
+say; he did not want to make too much of the incident, for it was really
+a trifling matter, only worthy of being mentioned in case he had
+something more important to write about. But he had nothing more
+important; there was no reason why he should write to Olive during her
+short stay with Mrs. Easterfield. Besides, she would soon be back, and
+then he could talk to her; that would be much better. Now, two strong
+desires began to possess him; one was for Olive to come home; and the
+other for Dick Lancaster to go away. There had been moments when he had
+had a shadowy notion of bringing the two together, but this idea had
+vanished. His mind was now occupied very much with thoughts of his
+beautiful niece and very little with the young man in the colored shirt
+and turned-up trousers who was staying with him.
+
+Dick Lancaster, in his arbor, was also thinking a great deal about
+Olive, and very little about that stalwart sailor, her uncle. If he had
+merely seen the young woman, and had never heard anything about her,
+her face would have impressed him, but the knowledge that she was an
+inmate of the house in which he was staying could not fail to affect him
+very much. He was puzzling his mind about the girl who had given him a
+quarter of a dollar, and to whom he had handed fifteen cents in change.
+He wondered how such a girl happened to be living at such a place. He
+wondered if there were any possibility of his staying there, or in the
+neighborhood, until she should come back; he wondered if there were any
+way by which he could see her again. He might have wondered a good many
+other things if Captain Asher had not approached the arbor. The captain
+having been aroused from his mental contemplation of Olive by a man in a
+wagon, had glanced over at the arbor and had suddenly been struck with
+the conviction that that young man looked bored, and that, as his host,
+he was not doing the right thing by him.
+
+"Dick," said the captain, "let's go fishing. It's not late yet, and I'll
+put my mare to the buggy, and we can drive to the river. We will take
+something to eat with us, and make a day of it."
+
+Lancaster hesitated a moment; he had been thinking that the time had
+come when he should say something about his departure, but this
+invitation settled the matter for that day; and in half an hour the two
+had started away, leaving the toll-gate in charge of old Jane, who was a
+veteran in the business, having lived at the toll-gate years before the
+captain.
+
+As they drove along the smooth turnpike Lancaster remembered with great
+interest that this road led to the gap in the mountains; that the
+captain had told him Broadstone was not very far from the gap; and that
+the river was not very far from Broadstone; and his face glowed with
+interest in the expedition.
+
+But when, after a few miles, they turned into a plain country road
+which, as the captain informed him, led in a southeasterly direction, to
+a point on the river where black bass were to be caught and where a boat
+could be hired, the corners of Dick Lancaster's mouth began to droop. Of
+necessity that road must reach the river miles to the south of
+Broadstone.
+
+It was a very good day for fishing, and the captain was pleased to see
+that the son of his old shipmate was a very fair angler. Toward the
+close of the afternoon, with the conviction that they had had a good
+time and that their little expedition had been a success, the two
+fishermen set out for home with a basket of bass: some of them quite a
+respectable size; stowed away under the seat of the buggy. When they
+reached the turnpike the old mare, knowing well in which direction her
+supper lay, turned briskly to the left, and set out upon a good trot.
+But this did not last very long. To her great surprise she was suddenly
+pulled up short; a carriage with two horses which had been approaching
+had also stopped.
+
+On the back seat of this carriage sat Mrs. Easterfield; on one side of
+her was a little girl, and on the other side was another little girl,
+each with her feet stuck out straight in front of her.
+
+"Oh, Captain Asher," exclaimed the lady, with a most enchanting smile,
+"I am so glad to meet you. I was obliged to go to Glenford to take one
+of my little girls to the dentist, and I inquired for you each time I
+passed your gate."
+
+The captain was very glad he had been so fortunate as to meet her, and
+as her eyes were now fixed upon his companion, he felt it incumbent upon
+him to introduce Mr. Richard Lancaster, the son of an old shipmate.
+
+"But not a sailor, I imagine," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, no," said the captain, "Mr. Lancaster is Assistant Professor of
+Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College."
+
+Dick could not imagine why the captain said all this, and he flushed a
+little.
+
+"Sutton College?" said Mrs. Easterfield. "Then, of course, you know
+Professor Brent."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster. "He is our president."
+
+"I never met him," said she, "but he was a classmate of my husband, and
+I have often heard him speak of him. And now for my errand, Captain
+Asher. Isn't it about time you should be wanting to see your niece?"
+
+The captain's heart sank. Did she intend to send Olive home?
+
+"I always want to see her," he said, but without enthusiasm.
+
+"But don't you think it would be nice," said the lady, "if you were to
+come to lunch with us to-morrow? It was to ask you this that I inquired
+for you at the toll-gate."
+
+Now, this was another thing altogether, and the captain's earnest
+acceptance would have been more coherent if it had not been for the
+impatience of his mare.
+
+"And I want you to bring your friend with you," continued Mrs.
+Easterfield. "The invitation is for you both, of course."
+
+Dick's face said that this would be heavenly, but his mouth was more
+prudent.
+
+"It will be strictly informal," continued Mrs. Easterfield. "Only myself
+and family, three guests, and Olive. We shall sit down at one. Good-by."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was entirely truthful when she said she was glad to
+meet the captain. Her anxiety about Olive and Claude Locker was somewhat
+on the increase. She was very well aware that the most dangerous thing
+for one young woman is one young man; and in thinking over this truism
+she had been impressed with the conviction that it was not well for Mr.
+Claude Locker to be the one man at Broadstone. Then, in thinking of
+possible young men, her mind naturally turned to the young man who was
+visiting Olive's uncle. She did not know anything about him, but he was
+a young man, and if he proved to be worth something, he could be asked
+to come again. So it was really to Dick Lancaster, and not to Captain
+Asher, that the luncheon invitation had been given.
+
+The appointment with the Glenford dentist had made it necessary for her
+to leave home that afternoon. To be sure, she had sent the Foxes with
+Olive and Claude Locker upon the drive through the gap, and, under
+ordinary circumstances, and with ordinary people, there would have been
+no reason for her to trouble herself about them, but neither the
+circumstances nor the people were ordinary, and she now felt anxious to
+get home and find out what Claude Locker and Olive had done with Mrs.
+and Mr. Fox.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VIII_
+
+_Captain Asher is not in a Good Humor._
+
+
+The next morning was very bright for Captain Asher; he was going to see
+Olive, and he did not know before how much he wished to see her.
+
+When Dick Lancaster came from the house to take his seat in the buggy
+the sight of the handsome suit of dark-blue serge, white shirt and
+collar, and patent-leather shoes, with the trousers hanging properly
+above them, placed Dick very much higher in the captain's estimation
+than the young man with the colored shirt and rolled-up trousers could
+ever have reached. The captain, too, was well dressed for the occasion,
+and Mrs. Easterfield had no reason whatever to be ashamed of these two
+gentlemen when she introduced them to her other visitors.
+
+She liked Professor Lancaster. Having lately had a good deal of Claude
+Locker, she was prepared to like a quiet and thoroughly self-possessed
+young man.
+
+Olive was the latest of the little company to appear, and when she came
+down she caused a genuine, though gentle sensation. She was most
+exquisitely dressed, not too much for a luncheon, and not enough for a
+dinner. This navy girl had not studied for nothing the art of dressing
+in different parts of the world. Her uncle regarded her with open-eyed
+astonishment.
+
+"Is this my brother's daughter?" he asked himself. "The little girl who
+poured my coffee in the morning and went out to take toll?"
+
+Olive greeted her uncle with absolute propriety, and made the
+acquaintance of Mr. Lancaster with a formal courtesy to which no
+objection could be made. Apparently she forgot the existence of Mr.
+Locker, and for the greater part of the meal she conversed with Mr. Fox
+about certain foreign places with which they were both familiar.
+
+The luncheon was not a success; there was a certain stiffness about it
+which even Mrs. Easterfield could not get rid of; and when the gentlemen
+went out to smoke on the piazza Olive disappeared, sending a message to
+Mrs. Easterfield that she had a bad headache and would like to be
+excused. Her excuse was a perfectly honest one, for she was apt to have
+a headache when she was angry; and she was angry now.
+
+The reason for her indignation was the fact that her uncle's visitor was
+an extremely presentable young man. Had it been otherwise, Olive would
+have given the captain a good scolding, and would then have taken her
+revenge by making fun of him and his shipmate's son. But now she felt
+insulted that her uncle should conceal from her the fact that he had an
+entirely proper young gentleman for a visitor. Could he think she would
+want to stay at his house to be with that young man? Was she a girl from
+whom the existence of such a person was to be kept secret? She was very
+angry, indeed, and her headache was genuine.
+
+Captain Asher was also angry. He had intended to take Olive aside and
+tell her all about Dick Lancaster, and how he had refrained from saying
+anything about him until he found out what sort of a young man he was.
+If, then, she saw fit to scold him, he was perfectly willing to submit,
+and to shake hands all around. But now he would have no chance to speak
+to her; she had not treated him properly, even if she had a headache. He
+admitted to himself that she was young and probably sensitive, but it
+was also true that he was sensitive, although old. Therefore, he was
+angry.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was disturbed; she saw there was something wrong
+between Olive and her uncle, and she did not like it. She had invited
+Lancaster with an object, and she did not wish that other people's
+grievances should interfere with said object. Olive was grumpy up-stairs
+and Claude Locker was in the doleful dumps under a tree, and if these
+two should grump and dump together, it might be very bad; consequently,
+Mrs. Easterfield was more anxious than ever that there should be at
+least two young men at Broadstone.
+
+For this reason she asked Lancaster if he were fond of rowing; and when
+he said he was, she invited him to join them in a boat party the next
+day to help her and Olive pull the big family boat. Mr. Fox did not like
+rowing, and Mr. Locker did not know how.
+
+On the drive home Captain Asher and Lancaster did not talk much. Even
+the young man's invitation to the rowing party did not excite much
+interest in the captain. These two men were both thinking of the same
+girl; one pleasantly, and the other very unpleasantly. Dick was charmed
+with her, although he had had very little opportunity of becoming
+acquainted with her, but he hoped for better luck the next day.
+
+The captain did not know what to make of her. He felt sure that she was
+at fault, and that he was at fault, and he could not see how things
+could be made straight between them. Only one thing seemed plain to him,
+and this was that, with things as they were at present, she was not
+likely to come back to his house; and this would not be necessary; he
+knew very well that there were other places she could visit; and that
+early in the fall her father would be home.
+
+Dick Lancaster walked to Broadstone the next morning because Captain
+Asher was obliged to go to Glenford on business, but the young man did
+not in the least mind a six-mile walk on a fine morning.
+
+All the way to Glenford the captain thought of Olive; sometimes he
+wished she had never come to him. Even now, with Lancaster to talk to,
+he missed her grievously, and if she should not come back, the case
+would be a great deal worse than if she had never come at all. But one
+thing was certain: If she returned as the young lady with whom he had
+lunched at Broadstone, he did not want her. He felt that he had been in
+the wrong, that she had been in the wrong; and it seemed as if things in
+this world were gradually going wrong. He was not in a good humor.
+
+When he stopped his mare in front of a store, Maria Port stepped up to
+him and said: "How do you do, captain? What have you done with your
+young man?"
+
+The captain got down from his buggy, hitched his mare to a post, and
+then shook hands with Miss Port.
+
+"Dick Lancaster has gone boating to-day with the Broadstone people," he
+said.
+
+"What!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Gone there again already? Why it was only
+yesterday you took dinner with them."
+
+"Lunch," corrected the captain.
+
+"Well, you may call it what you please," said Maria, "but I call it
+dinner. And them two's together without you, that you tried so hard to
+keep apart!"
+
+"I did not try anything of the kind," said the captain a little sharply;
+"it just happened so."
+
+"Happened so!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Well, I must say, Captain Asher,
+that you've a regular genius for makin' things happen. The minute she
+goes, he comes. I wish I could make things happen that way."
+
+The captain took no notice of this remark, and moved toward the door of
+the store.
+
+"Look here, captain," continued Miss Port, "can't you come and take
+dinner with us? You haven't seen Pop for ever so long. It won't be
+lunch, though, but an honest dinner."
+
+The captain accepted the invitation; for old Mr. Port was one of his
+ancient friends; and then he entered the store. Miss Port was on the
+point of following him; she had something to say about Olive; but she
+stopped.
+
+"I'll keep that till dinner-time," she said to herself.
+
+Old Mr. Port had always been a very pleasant man to visit, and he had
+not changed now, although he was nearly eighty years old. He had been a
+successful merchant in the days when Captain Asher commanded a ship, and
+there was good reason to believe that a large measure of his success was
+due to his constant desire to make himself agreeable to the people with
+whom he came in business contact. He was just as agreeable to his
+friends, of whom Captain Asher was one of the oldest.
+
+The people of Glenford often puzzled themselves as to what sort of a
+woman Maria's mother could have been. None of them had ever seen her,
+for she had died years before old Mr. Port had come into that healthful
+region to reside; but all agreed that her parents must have been a
+strangely assorted pair, unless, indeed, as some of the wiser suggested,
+she got her disposition from a grandparent.
+
+"That navy niece of yours must be a wild girl," said Miss Port to the
+captain as she carved the beef.
+
+"Wild!" exclaimed the captain. "I never saw anything wild about her."
+
+"Perhaps not," said his hostess, "but there's others that have. It was
+only three days ago that she took that young man, that goggle-eyed one,
+out on the river in a boat, and did her best to upset him. Whether she
+stood up and made the boat rock while he clung to the side, or whether
+she bumped the boat against rocks and sand-bars, laughin' the louder the
+more he was frightened, I wasn't told. But she did skeer him awful. I
+know that."
+
+"You seem to know a good deal about what is going on at Broadstone,"
+remarked the captain, somewhat sarcastically.
+
+"Indeed I do," said she; "a good deal more than they think. They've got
+such fine stomachs that they can't eat the beef they get at the gap, and
+Mr. Morris goes there three times a week, all the way from Glenford, to
+take them Chicago beef. The rest of the time they mostly eat chickens,
+I'm told."
+
+"And so your butcher takes meat and brings back news," said the captain.
+"The next time he passes the toll-gate I will tell him to leave the news
+with me, and I will see that it is properly distributed." And with this,
+he began to talk with Mr. Port.
+
+"Oh, you needn't be so snappish about her," insisted Maria. "If you are
+in that temper often, I don't wonder the young woman wanted to go away."
+
+The captain made no answer, but his glance at the speaker was not
+altogether a pleasant one. Old Mr. Port did not hear very well; but his
+eyesight was good, and he perceived from the captain's expression that
+his daughter had been saying something sharp. This he never allowed at
+his table; and, turning to her, he said gently, but firmly:
+
+"Maria, don't you think you'd better go up-stairs and go to bed?"
+
+"He's all the time thinkin' I'm a child," said Miss Maria, with a grin;
+"but how awfully he's mistook." Then she added: "Has that teacher got
+money enough to support a wife when he marries her? I don't suppose his
+salary amounts to much. I'm told it's a little bit of a college he
+teaches at."
+
+"I do not know anything about his salary," said the captain, and again
+attempted to continue the conversation with the father.
+
+But the daughter was not to be put down. "When is Olive Asher coming
+back to your house?" she asked.
+
+The captain turned upon her with a frown. "I did not say she was coming
+back at all," he snapped.
+
+Now old Mr. Port thought it time for him to interfere. To him Maria had
+always been a young person to be mildly counseled, but to be firmly
+punished if she did not obey said counsels. It was evident that she was
+now annoying his old friend; Maria had a great habit of annoying people,
+but she should not annoy Captain Asher.
+
+"Maria," said Mr. Port, "leave the table instantly, and go to bed."
+
+Miss Port smiled. She had finished her dinner, and she folded her napkin
+and dusted some crumbs from her lap. She always humored her father when
+he was really in earnest; he was very old and could not be expected to
+live much longer, and it was his daughter's earnest desire that she
+should be in good favor with him when he died. With a straight-cut smile
+at the captain, she rose and left the two old friends to their talk, and
+went out on the front piazza. There she saw Mr. Morris, the butcher, on
+his way home with an empty wagon. She stepped out to the edge of the
+sidewalk and stopped him.
+
+"Been to Broadstone?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," said the butcher with a sigh, and stopping his horse. Miss Port
+always wanted to know so much about Broadstone, and he was on his way to
+his dinner.
+
+"Well," said Miss Port, "what monkey tricks are going on there now? Has
+anybody been drowned yet? Did you see that young man that's stayin' at
+the toll-gate?"
+
+"Yes," said the butcher, "I saw him as I was crossing the bridge. He was
+in the big boat helping to row. Pretty near the whole family was in the
+boat, I take it."
+
+"That's like them, just like them!" she exclaimed. "The next thing we'll
+hear will be that they've all gone to the bottom together. I don't
+suppose one of them can swim. Was the captain's niece standin' up, or
+sittin' down?"
+
+"They were all sitting down," said the butcher, "and behaving like other
+people do in a boat." And he prepared to go on.
+
+"Stop one minute," said Miss Port. "Of course you are goin' out there
+day after to-morrow?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Morris. "I'm going to-morrow. They've ordered some extra
+things." Then he said, with a sort of conciliatory grin, "I'll get some
+more news, and have more time to tell it."
+
+"Now, don't be in such a hurry," said Miss Port, advancing to the side
+of the wagon. "I want very much to go to Broadstone. I've got some
+business with that Mrs. Blynn that I ought to have attended to long ago.
+Now, why can't I ride out with you to-morrow? That's a pretty broad seat
+you've got."
+
+The butcher looked at her in dismay. "Oh, I couldn't do that, Miss
+Port," he said. "I always have a heavy load, and I can't take
+passengers, too."
+
+"Now, what's the sense of your talkin' like that?" said Miss Port.
+"You've got a great big horse, and plenty of room, and would you have
+me go hire a carriage and a driver to go out there when you can take me
+just as well as not?"
+
+The butcher thought he would be very willing. He did not care for her
+society, and, moreover, he knew that both at Broadstone and in the town
+he would be ridiculed when it should be known that he had been taking
+Maria Port to drive.
+
+"Oh, I couldn't do it," he replied. "Of course, I'm willing to oblige--"
+
+"Oh, don't worry yourself any more, Mr. Morris," interrupted Miss Port.
+"I'm not askin' you to take me now, and I won't keep you from your
+dinner."
+
+The next morning as Mr. Morris, the butcher, was driving past the Port
+house at rather a rapid rate for a man with a heavy wagon, Miss Maria
+appeared at her door with her bonnet on. She ran out into the middle of
+the street, and so stationed herself that Mr. Morris was obliged to
+stop. Then, without speaking, she clambered up to the seat beside him.
+
+"Now, you see," said she, settling herself on the leather cushion, "I've
+kept to my part of the bargain, and I don't believe your horse will
+think this wagon is a bit heavier than it was before I got in. What's
+the name of the new people that's comin' to Broadstone?"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IX_
+
+_Miss Port takes a Drive with the Butcher._
+
+
+As the butcher and Miss Port drove out of town the latter did not talk
+quite so much as was her wont. She seemed to have something on her mind,
+and presently she proposed to Mr. Morris that he should take the
+shunpike for a change.
+
+"That would be a mile and a half out of my way!" he exclaimed. "I can't
+do it."
+
+"I should think you'd get awfully tired of this same old road," said
+she.
+
+"The easiest road is the one I like every time," said Mr. Morris, who
+was also not inclined to talk.
+
+Miss Port did not care to pass the toll-gate that day; she was afraid
+she might see the captain, and that in some way or other he would
+interfere with her trip, but fortune favored her, as it nearly always
+did. Old Jane came to the gate, and as this stolid old woman never asked
+any questions, Miss Port contented herself with bidding her good
+morning, and sitting silent during the process of making change.
+
+This self-restraint very much surprised old Jane, who straightway
+informed the captain that Miss Port was riding with the butcher to
+Broadstone--she knew it was Broadstone, for he had no other customers
+that way--and she guessed something must be the matter with her, for
+she kept her mouth shut, and didn't say nothing to nobody.
+
+As the wagon moved on Miss Port heaved a sigh. Fearful that she might
+see the captain somewhere, she had not even allowed herself to survey
+the premises in order to catch a glimpse of the shipmate's son. This was
+a rare piece of self-denial in Maria, but she could do that sort of
+thing on occasion.
+
+When the butcher's wagon neared the Broadstone house Miss Port promptly
+got down, and Mr. Morris went to the kitchen regions by himself. She
+never allowed herself to enter a house by the back or side door, so now
+she went to the front, where, disappointed at not seeing any of the
+family although she had made good use of her eyes, she was obliged to
+ask a servant to conduct her to Mrs. Blynn. Before she had had time to
+calculate the cost of the rug in the hall, or to determine whether the
+walls were calcimined or merely whitewashed, she found herself with that
+good lady.
+
+Miss Port's business with Mrs. Blynn indicated a peculiar intelligence
+on the part of the visitor. It was based upon very little; it had not
+much to do with anything; it amounted to almost nothing; and yet it
+appeared to contain certain elements of importance which made Mrs. Blynn
+give it her serious consideration.
+
+After she had talked and peered about as long as she thought was
+necessary, Maria said she was afraid Mr. Morris would be waiting for
+her, and quickly took her leave, begging Mrs. Blynn not to trouble
+herself to accompany her to the door. When she left the house Maria did
+not seek the butcher's wagon, but started out on a little tour of
+observation through the grounds. She was quite sure Mr. Morris was
+waiting for her, but for this she did care a snap of her finger; he
+would not dare to go and leave her. Presently she perceived a young
+gentleman approaching her, and she recognized him instantly--it was the
+goggle-eyed man who had been described to her. Stepping quickly toward
+Mr. Locker, she asked him if he could tell her where she could find Miss
+Asher; she had been told she was in the grounds.
+
+The young man goggled his eye a little more than usual. "Do you know
+her?" said he.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Maria; "I met her at the house of her uncle, Captain
+Asher."
+
+"And, knowing her, you want to see her"
+
+Astonished, Miss Port replied, "Of course."
+
+"Very well, then," said he; "beyond that clump of bushes is a seat. She
+sits thereon. Accept my condolences."
+
+"I will remember every word of that," said Miss Port to herself, "but I
+haven't time to think of it now. He's just ravin'."
+
+Olive had just had an interview with Mr. Locker which, in her eyes, had
+been entirely too protracted, and she had sent him away. He had just
+made her an offer of marriage, but she had refused even to consider it,
+assuring him that her mind was occupied with other things. She was busy
+thinking of those other things when she heard footsteps near her.
+
+"How do you do" said Miss Port, extending her hand.
+
+Olive rose, but she put her hands behind her back.
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Port, dropping her hand, but allowing herself no verbal
+resentment. She had come there for information, and she did not wish to
+interfere with her own business. "I happened to be here," she said, "and
+I thought I'd come and tell you how your uncle is. He took dinner with
+us yesterday, and I was sorry to see he didn't have much appetite. But I
+suppose he's failin', as most people do when they get to his age. I
+thought you might have some message you'd like to send him."
+
+"Thank you," said Olive with more than sufficient coldness, "but I have
+no message."
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Port. "You're in a fine place here," she continued,
+looking about her, "very different from the toll-gate; and I expect the
+Easterfields has everything they want that money can more than pay for."
+Having delivered this little shot at the reported extravagance of the
+lady of the manor, she remarked: "I don't wonder you don't want to go
+back to your uncle, and run out to take the toll. It must have been a
+very great change to you if you're used to this sort of thing."
+
+"Who said I was not going back?" asked Olive sharply.
+
+"Your uncle," said Miss Port. "He told me at our house. Of course, he
+didn't go into no particulars, but that isn't to be expected, he's not
+the kind of man to do that."
+
+Olive stood and looked at this smooth-faced, flat-mouthed spinster. She
+was pale, she trembled a little, but she spoke no word; she was a girl
+who did not go into particulars, especially with a person such as this
+woman standing before her.
+
+Miss Port did not wish to continue the conversation; she generally knew
+when she had said enough. "Well," she remarked, "as you haven't no
+message to send to your uncle, I might as well go. But I did think that
+as I was right on my way, you'd have at least a word for him. Good
+mornin'." And with this she promptly walked away to join Mr. Morris,
+cataloguing in her mind as she went the foolish and lazy hammocks and
+garden chairs, the slow motions of a man who was sweeping leaves from
+the broad stone, and various other evidences of bad management and
+probable downfall which met her eyes in every direction.
+
+When Miss Port approached the toll-gate on her return she was very
+anxious to stop, and hoped that the captain would be at the gate.
+Fortune favored her again, and there he stood in the doorway of the
+little tollhouse.
+
+"Oh, captain," she exclaimed, extending herself somewhat over the
+butcher's knees in order to speak more effectively, "I've been to
+Broadstone, and I've seen your niece. She's dressed up just like the
+other fine folks there, and she's stiffer than any of them, I guess. I
+didn't see Mrs. Easterfield, although I did want to get a chance to tell
+her what I thought about her plantin' weeds in her garden, and spreadin'
+new kinds of seeds over this country, which goes to weeds fast enough in
+the natural way. As to your niece, I must say she didn't show me no
+extra civility, and when I asked her if she had any message for you, she
+said she hadn't a word to say."
+
+The captain was not in the least surprised to hear that Olive had not
+treated Miss Port with extra civility. He remembered his niece treating
+this prying gossip with positive rudeness, and he had been somewhat
+amused by it, although he had always believed that young people should
+be respectful to their elders. He did not care to talk about Olive with
+Miss Port, but he had to say something, and so he asked if she seemed to
+be having a good time.
+
+"If settin' behind bushes with young men, and goggle-eyed ones at that,
+is havin' a good time," replied Miss Port, "I'm sure she's enjoyin'
+herself." And then, as she caught sight of Lancaster: "I suppose that's
+the young man who's visitin' you. I hope he makes his scholars study
+harder than he does. He isn't readin' his book at all; he's just starin'
+at nothin'. You might be polite enough to bring him out and introduce
+him, captain," she added in a somewhat milder tone.
+
+The captain did not answer; in fact, he had not heard all that Miss Port
+had said to him. If Olive had refused to send him a word, even the
+slightest message, she must be a girl of very stubborn resentments, and
+he was sorry to hear it. He himself was beginning to get over his
+resentment at her treatment of him at the Broadstone luncheon, and if
+she had been of his turn of mind everything might have been smoothed
+over in a very short time.
+
+"Well?" remarked Maria in an inquiring tone.
+
+"Excuse me," said the captain, "what were you saying?"
+
+Miss Maria settled herself in her seat. "If you and that young man
+wastin' his time in the garden can't keep your wits from
+wool-gatherin'," said she, "I hope old Jane has got sense enough to go
+on with the housekeepin'. I'll call again when you've sent your young
+man away, and got your young woman back."
+
+Maria said little to the taciturn butcher on their way to Glenford, but
+she smiled a good deal to herself. For years it had been the desire of
+her life to go to live in the toll-gate--not with any idea of ousting
+Captain Asher--oh, no, by no means. Old Mr. Port could not live much
+longer, and his daughter would not care to reside in the Glenford house
+by herself. But the toll-gate would exactly suit her; there was life;
+there was passing to and fro; there was money enough for good living and
+good clothes without any encroachment on whatever her father might leave
+her; and, above all, there was the captain, good for twenty years yet,
+in spite of his want of appetite, which she had mentioned to his niece.
+This would be a settlement which would suit her in every way, but so
+long as that niece lived there, there would be no hope of it; even the
+shipmate's son would be in the way. But she supposed he would soon be
+off.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER X_
+
+_Mrs. Easterfield writes a Letter._
+
+
+When Miss Port had left her, Olive was so much disturbed by what that
+placid spinster had told her that she totally forgot Claude Locker's
+proposal of marriage, as well as the other things she had been thinking
+about. These things had been not at all unpleasant; she had been
+thinking of her uncle and her return to the toll-gate house. Her visit
+to Broadstone was drawing to a close, and she was getting very tired of
+Mr. Locker and Mr. and Mrs. Fox. She found, now her anger had cooled
+down, that she was actually missing her uncle, and was thinking of him
+as of some one who belonged to her. Her own father had never seemed to
+belong to her; for periods of three years he was away on his ship; and,
+even when he had been on shore duty, she had sometimes been at school;
+and when she and her parents had been stationed somewhere together, the
+lieutenant had been a good deal away from home on this or that naval
+business. When a girl she had taken these absences as a matter of
+course, but since she had been living with her uncle her ideas on the
+subject had changed. She wanted now to be at home with him: and as
+Broadstone was so near the toll-gate she had no doubt that Mrs.
+Easterfield would sometimes want her to come to her when, perhaps, she
+would have different people staying with her.
+
+This was a very pleasant mental picture, and the more Olive had looked
+at it, the better she had liked it. As to the reconciliation with her
+uncle, it troubled her mind but little. So often had she been angry with
+people, and so often had everything been made all right again, that she
+felt used to the process. Her way was simple enough; when she was tired
+of her indignation she quietly dropped it; and then, taking it for
+granted that the other party had done the same, she recommenced her
+usual friendly intercourse, just as if there had never been a quarrel or
+misunderstanding. She had never found this method to fail--although, of
+course, it might easily have failed with one who was not Olive--and she
+had not the slightest doubt that if she wrote to her uncle that she was
+coming on a certain day, she would be gladly received by him when she
+should arrive.
+
+But now? After what that woman had told her, what now? If her uncle had
+said she was not coming back, there was an end to her mental pictures
+and her pleasant plans. And what a hard man he must be to say that!
+
+Slowly walking over the grass, Olive went to look for Mrs. Easterfield,
+and found her in her garden on her knees by a flower-bed digging with a
+little trowel.
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," said she, "I am thinking of getting married."
+
+The elder lady sprang to her feet, dropping her trowel, which barely
+missed her toes. She looked frightened. "What?" she exclaimed. "To
+whom?"
+
+"Not to anybody in particular," replied Olive. "I am considering the
+subject in general. Let's go sit on that bench, and talk about it."
+
+A little relieved, Mrs. Easterfield followed her. "I don't know what you
+mean," she said, when they were seated. "Women don't think of marriage
+in a general way; they consider it in a particular way."
+
+"Oh, I am different," said Olive; "I am a navy girl, and more like a
+man. I have to look out for myself. I think it is time I was married,
+and therefore I am giving the subject attention. Don't you think that is
+prudent?"
+
+"And you say you have no particular leanings?" the other inquired.
+
+"None whatever," said Olive. "Mr. Locker proposed to me less than an
+hour ago, but I gave him no answer. He is too precipitate, and he is
+only one person, anyway."
+
+"You don't want to marry more than one person!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+"No," said Olive, "but I want more than one to choose from."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield did not understand the girl at all. But this was not to
+be expected so soon; she must wait a little, and find out more.
+Notwithstanding her apparent indifference to Claude Locker, there was
+more danger in that direction than Mrs. Easterfield had supposed. A
+really persistent lover is often very dangerous, no matter how
+indifferent a young woman may be.
+
+"Have you been considering the professor?" she asked, with a smile. "I
+noticed that you were very gracious to him yesterday."
+
+"No, I haven't," said Olive. "But I suppose I might as well. I did try
+to make him have a good time, but I was still a little provoked and felt
+that I would like him to go back to my uncle and tell him that he had
+enjoyed himself. But now I suppose I must consider all the eligibles."
+
+"Why now?" asked Mrs. Easterfield quickly; "why now more than any
+previous time?"
+
+Olive did not immediately answer, but presently she said: "I am not
+going back to my uncle. There was a woman here just now--I don't know
+whether she was sent or not--who informed me that he did not expect me
+to return to his house. When my mother was living we were great
+companions for each other, but now you see I am left entirely alone. It
+will be a good while before father comes back, and then I don't know
+whether he can settle down or not. Besides, I am not very well
+acquainted with him, but I suppose that would arrange itself in time. So
+you see all I can do is to visit about until I am married, and therefore
+the sooner I am married and settled the better."
+
+"Perhaps this is a cold-blooded girl!" said Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+"But perhaps it is not!" Then, speaking aloud, she said: "Olive Asher,
+were you ever in love?"
+
+The girl looked at her with reflective eyes. "Yes," she said. "I was
+once, but that was the only time."
+
+"Would you mind telling me about it?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Not at all," replied the girl. "I was between thirteen and fourteen,
+and wore short dresses, and my hair was plaited. My father was on duty
+at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and we lived in that city. There was a
+young man who used to come to bring messages to father; I think he was a
+clerk or a draftsman. I do not remember his name, except that his first
+name was Rupert, and father always called him by that. He was a
+beautiful man-boy or boy-man, however you choose to put it. His eyes
+were heavenly blue, his skin was smooth and white, his cheeks were red,
+and he had the most charming mouth I ever saw. He was just the right
+height, well shaped, and wore the most becoming clothes. I fell madly in
+love with him the second time I saw him, and continued so for a long
+time. I used to think about him and dream about him, and write little
+poems about him which nobody ever saw. I tried to make a sketch of his
+face once, but I failed and tore it up."
+
+"What did he do?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Nothing whatever," said Olive. "I never spoke to him, or he to me. I
+don't believe he ever noticed me. Whenever I could I went into the room
+where he was talking to father, but I was very quiet and kept in the
+background, and I do not think his eyes ever fell upon me. But that did
+not make any difference at all. He was beautiful above all other men in
+the world, and I loved him. He was my first, my only love, and it almost
+brings tears in my eyes now to think of him."
+
+"Then you really could love the right person if he were to come along,"
+said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Why do you think I couldn't? Of course I could. But the trouble is he
+doesn't come, so I must try to arrange the matter with what material I
+have."
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield left the garden she went rapidly to her room.
+There was a smile on her lips, and a light in her eye. A novel idea had
+come to her which amused her, pleased her, and even excited her. She sat
+down at her writing-table and began a letter to her husband. After an
+opening paragraph she wrote thus:
+
+"Is not Mr. Hemphill, of the central office of the D. and J., named
+Rupert? It is my impression that he is. You know he has been to our
+house several times to dinner when you invited railroad people, and I
+remember him very well. If his name is Rupert will you find out, without
+asking him directly, whether or not he was engaged about seven years ago
+at the navy-yard. I am almost positive I once had a conversation with
+him about the navy-yard and the moving of one of the great buildings
+there. If you find that he had a position there, don't ask him any more
+questions, and drop the subject as quickly as you can. But I then want
+you to send him here on whatever pretext you please--you can send me any
+sort of an important message or package--and if I find it desirable, I
+shall ask him to stay here a few days. These hard-worked secretaries
+ought to have more vacations. In fact, I have a very interesting scheme
+in mind, of which I shall say nothing now for fear you may think it
+necessary to reason about it. By the time you come it will have been
+worked out, and I will tell you all about it. Now, don't fail to send
+Mr. Hemphill as promptly as possible, if you find his name is Rupert,
+and that he has ever been engaged in the navy-yard."
+
+This letter was then sent to the post-office at the gap with an
+immediate-delivery stamp on it.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield went down-stairs, her face still glowing with the
+pleasure given by the writing of her letter, she met Claude Locker,
+whose face did not glow with pleasure.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" she asked.
+
+"I feel like a man who has been half decapitated," said he. "I do not
+know whether the execution is to be arrested and my wound healed, or
+whether it is to go on and my head roll into the dust."
+
+"A horrible idea!" said Mrs. Easterfield. "What do you really mean?"
+
+"I have proposed to Miss Asher and I was treated with indifference, but
+have not been discarded. Don't you see that I can not live in this
+condition? I am looking for her."
+
+"It will be a great deal better for you to leave her alone," replied
+Mrs. Easterfield. "If she has any answer for you she will give it when
+she is ready. Perhaps she is trying to make up her mind, and you may
+spoil all by intruding yourself upon her."
+
+"That will not do at all," said Locker, "not at all. The more Miss Asher
+sees of me in an unengaged condition the less she will like me. I am
+fully aware of this. I know that my general aspect must be very
+unpleasant, so if I expect any success whatever, the quicker I get this
+thing settled the better."
+
+"Even if she refuses you," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Yes," he answered; "then down comes the axe again, away goes my head,
+and all is over! Then there is another thing," he said, without giving
+Mrs. Easterfield a chance to speak. "There is that mathematical person.
+When will he be here again?"
+
+"I do not know," replied Mrs. Easterfield; "he has merely a general
+invitation."
+
+"I don't like him," said Locker. "He has been here twice, and that is
+two times too many. I hate him."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because he is unobjectionable," Locker answered, "and I am very much
+afraid Miss Asher likes unobjectionable people. Now I am
+objectionable--I know it--and the longer I remain unengaged the more
+objectionable I shall become. I wish you would invite nobody but such
+people as the Foxes."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because they are married," replied Locker. "But I must not wait here.
+Can you tell me where I shall be likely to find her?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield, "she is with the Foxes, and they are
+married."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XI_
+
+_Mr. Locker is released on Bail._
+
+
+Nearly the whole of that morning Dick Lancaster sat in the arbor in the
+tollhouse garden, his book in his hand. Part of the time he was thinking
+about what he would like to do, and part of the time he was thinking
+about what he ought to do. He felt sure he had stayed with the captain
+as long as he had been expected to, but he did not want to go away. On
+the contrary, he greatly desired to remain within walking distance of
+Broadstone. He was in love with Olive. When he had seen her at luncheon,
+cold and reserved, he had been greatly impressed by her, and when he
+went out boating with her the next day he gave her his heart
+unreservedly. When people fell in love with Olive they always did it
+promptly.
+
+As he sat, with Olive standing near the footlights of his mental stage
+and the drop-curtain hanging between her and all the rest of the world,
+the captain strolled up to him.
+
+"Dick," said he, "somehow or other my tobacco does not taste as it ought
+to. Give me a pipeful of yours."
+
+When the captain had filled his pipe from Dick's bag he lighted it and
+gave a few puffs. "It isn't a bit better than mine," said he, "but I
+will keep on and smoke it. Dick, let's go and take a walk over the
+hills. I feel rather stupid to-day. And, by the way, I hope you will be
+able to stay with me for the rest of your vacation. Have you made plans
+to go anywhere else?"
+
+"No plans of the slightest importance," answered Lancaster with joyous
+vivacity. "I shall be delighted to stay."
+
+This prompt acceptance somewhat surprised the captain. He had spoken
+without premeditation, and without thinking of anything at all except
+that he did not want everybody to go away and leave him. He had begun to
+know something of the pleasures of family life; of having some one to
+sit at the table with him; to whom he could talk; on whom he could look.
+In fact, although he did not exactly appreciate such a state of things,
+some one he could love. He was getting really fond of Dick Lancaster.
+
+As for Olive, he did not know what to think of her; sometimes he was
+sure she was not coming back, and at other times he thought it likely he
+might get a letter that very day appointing the time for her return. He
+stood puffing his pipe and thinking about this after Dick had spoken.
+
+"But it does not matter," he said to himself, "which way it happens. If
+she doesn't come I want him here, and if she does come, he is good
+enough for anybody, and perhaps she may be pleased." And then he
+indulged in a little fragment of the dream which had come to him before;
+he saw two young people in a charming home, not at the toll-gate, and
+himself living with them. Plenty of money for all moderate needs, and
+all happy and satisfied. Then with a sigh he knocked the tobacco from
+his pipe and said to himself: "If I hear she is coming, I will let her
+know he is still here, and then she must judge for herself."
+
+As they walked together over the hills, Dick Lancaster was very anxious
+to know something about Olive's return, but he did not like to ask. The
+captain had been very reticent on the subject of his niece, and Dick was
+a gentleman. But to his surprise, and very much to his delight, the
+captain soon began to talk about Olive. He told Dick how his brother had
+entered the navy when the elder was first mate on a merchant vessel; how
+Alfred had risen in the service; had married; and how his wife and
+daughter had lived in various parts of the world. Then he spoke of a
+good many things he had heard about Olive, and other things he had found
+out since she had lived with him; and as he went on his heart warmed,
+and Dick Lancaster listened with as warm a heart as that from which the
+captain spoke.
+
+And thus they walked over the hills, this young man and this elderly
+man, each in love with the same girl.
+
+During all the walk Dick never asked when Miss Asher was coming back to
+the tollhouse, nor did Captain Asher make any remarks upon the subject.
+It was not really of vital importance to Dick, as Broadstone was so
+near, and it was of such vital importance to the captain that it was
+impossible for him to speak of it.
+
+The next day the bright-hearted Richard trod buoyantly upon the earth;
+he did not care to read; he did not want to smoke; and he was not much
+inclined to conversation; he was simply buoyant, and undecided. The
+captain looked at him and smiled.
+
+"Why don't you walk over to Broadstone?" he said. "It will do you good.
+I want you to stay with me, but I don't expect you to be stuck down to
+this tollhouse all day. I am going about the farm to-day, but I shall
+expect you to supper."
+
+When he was ready to start Dick Lancaster felt a little perplexed. His
+ideas of friendly civility impelled him to ask the captain if there was
+anything he could do for him, if there was any message or missive he
+could take to his niece, or anything he could bring from her, but he was
+prudent and refrained; if the captain wished service of this sort he was
+a man to ask for it.
+
+The first person Dick met at Broadstone was Mrs. Easterfield, cutting
+roses.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Professor Lancaster," said she, as she put
+down her roses and her scissors. "Would you mind, before you enter into
+the general Broadstone society, sitting down on this bench and talking a
+little to me?"
+
+Dick could not help smiling. What man in the world, even if he were in
+love with somebody else, could object to sitting down by such a woman
+and talking to her?
+
+"What I am going to say," said Mrs. Easterfield, "is impertinent,
+unwarranted, and of an officious character. You and I know each other
+very slightly; neither of us has long been acquainted with Captain
+Asher, you have met his niece but twice, and I have never really known
+her until what you might call the other day. But in spite of all this, I
+propose that you and I shall meddle a little in their affairs. I have
+taken the greatest fancy to Miss Asher, and, if you can do it without
+any breach of confidence, I would like you to tell me if you know of any
+misunderstanding between her and her uncle."
+
+"I know of nothing of the kind," said Dick with great interest, "but I
+admit I thought there might be something wrong somewhere. He knew I was
+coming here to-day--in fact, he suggested it--but he sent Miss Asher no
+sort of message."
+
+"Can it be possible he is cherishing any hard feelings against her?" she
+remarked. "I should not have supposed he was that sort of man."
+
+"He is not that sort of man," said Dick warmly. "He was talking to me
+about her yesterday, and from what he said, I am sure he thinks she is
+the finest girl in the world."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," said she, "but it makes the situation more
+puzzling. Can it be possible that she is treating him badly?"
+
+"Oh, I could not believe that!" exclaimed Dick fervently. "I can not
+imagine such a thing."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled. He had really known the girl but for one day,
+for the first meeting did not count; and here he was defending the
+absolute beauty of her character. But the assumption of the genus young
+man often overtops the pyramids. She now determined to take him a little
+more into her confidence.
+
+"Miss Asher has intimated to me that she does not expect to go back to
+her uncle's house, and this morning she made a reference to the end of
+her visit here, but I thought you might be able to tell me something
+about her uncle. If he really does not expect her back I want her to
+stay here."
+
+"Alas," said Dick, "I can not tell you anything. But of one thing I feel
+sure, and that is that he would like her to come back."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I am not going to let her go away at
+present, and if Captain Asher should say anything to you on the subject,
+you are at liberty to tell him that. From what you said the other day, I
+suppose you will soon be leaving this quiet valley for the haunts of
+men."
+
+"Oh, no," exclaimed Dick. "He wants me to stay with him as long as I
+can, and I shall certainly do it."
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Easterfield, rising, "I must go and finish cutting my
+roses. I think you will find everybody on the tennis grounds."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield had cut in all twenty-three roses when Claude Locker
+came to her from the house. His face was beaming, and he skipped over
+the short grass.
+
+"Congratulate me," he said, as he stepped before her.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped her roses and her scissors and turned pale.
+"What do you mean?" she gasped.
+
+"Oh, don't be frightened," he said. "I have not been acquitted, but the
+execution has been stopped for the present, and I am out on bail. I
+really feel as though the wound in my neck had healed."
+
+"What stuff!" said Mrs. Easterfield, her color returning. "Try to speak
+sensibly."
+
+"Oh, I can do that," said Mr. Locker; "upon occasion I can do that very
+well. I proposed again to Miss Asher not twenty minutes ago. She gave me
+no answer, but she made an arrangement with me which I think is going to
+be very satisfactory; she said she could not have me proposing to her
+every time I saw her--it would attract attention, and in the end might
+prove annoying--but she said she would be willing to have me propose to
+her every day just before luncheon, provided I did not insist upon an
+answer, and would promise to give no indication whatever at any other
+time that I entertained any unusual regard for her. I agreed to this,
+and now we understand each other. I feel very confident and happy. The
+other person has no regular time for offering himself, and if any effort
+of mine can avail he shall not find an irregular opportunity."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "Come pick up my roses," she said. "I must go
+in."
+
+"It is like making love," said Locker as he picked up the flowers,
+"charming, but prickly." At this moment he started. "Who is that?" he
+exclaimed.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield turned. "Oh, that is Monsieur Emile Du Brant. He is one
+of the secretaries of the Austrian legation. He is to spend a week with
+us. Suppose you take my flowers into the house and I will go to meet
+him."
+
+Claude Locker, his arms folded around a mass of thorny roses, and a pair
+of scissors dangling from one finger, stood and gazed with savage
+intensity at the dapper little man--black eyes, waxed mustache, dressed
+in the height of fashion--who, with one hand outstretched, while the
+other held his hat, advanced with smiles and bows to meet the lady of
+the house. Locker had seen him before; he had met him in Washington; and
+he had received forty dollars for a poem of which this Austrian young
+person was the subject.
+
+He allowed the lady and her guest to enter the house before him, and
+then, like a male Flora, he followed, grinding his teeth, and indulging
+in imprecations.
+
+"He will have to put on some other kind of clothes," he muttered, "and
+perhaps he may shave and curl his hair. That will give me a chance to
+see her before lunch. I do not know that she expected me to begin
+to-day, but I am going to do it. I have a clear field so far, and nobody
+knows what may happen to-morrow."
+
+As Locker stood in the hallway waiting for some one to come and take his
+flowers, or to tell him where to put them, he glanced out of the back
+door. There, to his horror, he saw that Mrs. Easterfield had conducted
+her guest through the house, and that they were now approaching the
+tennis ground, where Professor Lancaster and Miss Asher were standing
+with their rackets in their hands, while Mr. and Mrs. Fox were playing
+chess under the shade of a tree.
+
+"Field open!" he exclaimed, dropping the roses and the scissors. "Field
+clear! What a double-dyed ass am I!" And with this he rushed out to the
+tennis ground; Mrs. Easterfield did not play.
+
+Before Mrs. Easterfield returned to the house she stood for a moment
+and looked at the tennis players.
+
+"Olive and three young men," she said to herself; "that will do very
+well."
+
+A little before luncheon Claude Locker became very uneasy, and even
+agitated. He hovered around Olive, but found no opportunity to speak to
+her, for she was always talking to somebody else, mostly to the
+newcomer. But she was a little late in entering the dining-room, and
+Locker stepped up to her in the doorway.
+
+"Is this your handkerchief?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she, stopping; "isn't it yours?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, "but I had to have some way of attracting your
+attention. I love you so much that I can scarcely see the table and the
+people."
+
+"Thank you," she said, "and that is all for the next twenty-four hours."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XII_
+
+_Mr. Rupert Hemphill._
+
+
+That afternoon it rained, so that the Broadstone people were obliged to
+stay indoors. Dick Lancaster found Mr. Fox a very agreeable and
+well-informed man, and Mrs. Fox was also an excellent conversationalist.
+Mrs. Easterfield, who, after the confidences of the morning, could not
+help looking at him as something more than an acquaintance, talked to
+him a good deal, and tried to make the time pass pleasantly, at which
+business she was an adept. All this was very pleasant to Dick, but it
+did not compensate him for the almost entire loss of the society of
+Olive, who seemed to devote herself to the entertainment of the Austrian
+secretary. Mrs. Easterfield was very sorry that the young foreigner had
+come at this time, but he had been invited the winter before; the time
+had been appointed; and the visit had to be endured.
+
+When the rain had ceased, and Dick was about to take his leave, his
+hostess declared she would not let him walk back through the mud.
+
+"You shall have a horse," she said, "and that will insure an early visit
+from you, for, of course, you will not trust the animal to other hands
+than your own. I would ask you to stay, but that would not be treating
+the captain kindly."
+
+As Dick was mounting Mr. Du Brant was standing at the front door, a
+smile on his swarthy countenance. This smile said as plainly as words
+could have done so that it was very amusing to this foreign young man to
+see a person with rolled-up trousers and a straw hat mount upon a horse.
+Claude Locker, whose soul had been chafing all the afternoon under his
+banishment from the society of the angel of his life, was also at the
+front door, and saw the contemptuous smile. Instantly a new and powerful
+emotion swept over his being in the shape of a strong feeling of
+fellowship for Lancaster. It made his soul boil with indignation to see
+the sneer which the Austrian directed toward the young man, a thoroughly
+fine young man, who, by said foreigner's monkeyful impudence, and
+another's mistaken favor, had been made a brother-in-misfortune of
+himself, Claude Locker.
+
+"I will make common cause with him against the enemy," thought Locker.
+"If I should fail to get her I will help him to." And although Dick's
+brown socks were plainly visible as he cantered away, Mr. Locker looked
+after him as a gallant and honored brother-in-arms.
+
+That evening Claude Locker fought for himself and his comrade. He
+persisted in talking French with Mr. Du Brant; and his remarkable
+management of that language, in which ignorance and a subtle facility in
+intentional misapprehension were so adroitly blended that it was
+impossible to tell one from the other, amused Olive, and so provoked the
+Austrian that at last he turned away and began to talk American
+politics with Mr. Fox, which so elated the poet that the ladies of the
+party passed a merry evening.
+
+"Would you like me to take him out rowing to-morrow?" asked Claude apart
+to his hostess.
+
+"With you at the oars?" she asked.
+
+"Of course," said Locker.
+
+"I am amazed," said she, "that you should suspect me of such
+cold-blooded cruelty."
+
+"You know you don't want him here," said Claude. "His salary can not be
+large, and he must spend the greater part of it on clothes--and oil."
+
+"Is it possible," she asked, "that you look upon that young man as a
+rival?"
+
+"By no means," he replied; "such persons never marry. They only prevent
+other people from marrying anybody. Therefore it is that I remember what
+sort of a boatman I am."
+
+"My dear," said Mr. Fox, when he and his wife had retired to their room,
+"after hearing what that Austrian has to say of the American people, I
+almost revere Mr. Locker."
+
+"I heard some of his remarks," she said, "and I imagined they would have
+an effect of that kind upon you."
+
+When the Broadstone surrey came from the train the next morning it
+brought a gentleman.
+
+"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox, when from the other side of the lawn she saw
+him alight. "Another young man with a valise! It seems to me that this
+is an overdose!"
+
+"Overdoses," remarked Mr. Fox, "are often less dangerous than just
+enough poison."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield received this visitor at the door. She had been waiting
+for him, and did not wish him to meet anybody when she was not present.
+After offering his respectful salutations, Mr. Hemphill, Mr.
+Easterfield's secretary in the central office of the D. and J.,
+delivered without delay a package of which he was the bearer, and
+apologized for his valise, stating that Mr. Easterfield had told him he
+must spend the night at Broadstone.
+
+"Most assuredly you would do that," said she, and to herself she added,
+"If I want you longer I will let you know."
+
+Mr. Rupert Hemphill was a very handsome man; his nose was fine; his eyes
+were dark and expressive; he wore silky side-whiskers, which, however,
+did not entirely conceal the bloom upon his cheeks; his teeth were very
+good; he was well shaped; and his clothes fitted him admirably.
+
+As has been said before, Mrs. Easterfield was exceedingly interested;
+she was even a little agitated, which was not common with her. She had
+Mr. Hemphill conducted to his room, and then she waited for him to come
+down; this also was not common with her.
+
+"Mr. Locker," she called from the open door, "do you know where Miss
+Asher is?"
+
+The poet stopped in his stride across the lawn, and approached the lady.
+"Oh, she is with the Du Brant," said he. "I have been trying to get in
+some of my French, but neither of them will rise to the fly. However, I
+am content; it is now three hours before luncheon, and if she has him
+to herself for that length of time, I think she will be thoroughly
+disgusted. Then it will be my time, as per agreement."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was a little disappointed. She wanted Olive by herself,
+but she did not want to make a point of sending for her. But fortune
+favored her.
+
+"There she is," exclaimed Locker; "she is just going into the library.
+Let me go tell her you want her."
+
+"Not at all," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Don't put yourself into danger of
+breaking your word by seeing her alone before luncheon. I'll go to her."
+
+Mr. Locker continued his melancholy stroll, and Mrs. Easterfield entered
+the library. Olive must not be allowed to go away until the moment
+arrived which had been awaited with so much interest.
+
+"I am looking for a copy of _Tartarin sur les Alps_. I am sure I saw it
+among these French books," said Olive, on her knees before a low
+bookcase. "Would you believe it, Mr. Du Brant has never read it, and he
+seems to think so much of education."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield knew exactly where the book was, but she preferred to
+allow Olive to occupy herself in looking for it, while she kept her eyes
+on the hall.
+
+"Wait a moment, Olive," said she; "a visitor has just arrived, and I
+want to make him acquainted with you."
+
+Olive rose with a book in her hand, and Mrs. Easterfield presented Mr.
+Hemphill to Miss Asher. As she did so, Mrs. Easterfield kept her eyes
+steadily fixed upon the young lady's face. With a pleasant smile Olive
+returned Mr. Hemphill's bow. She was generally glad to make new
+acquaintances.
+
+"Mr. Hemphill is one of my husband's business associates," said Mrs.
+Easterfield, still with her eyes on Olive. "He has just come from him."
+
+"Did he send us this fine day by you?" said Olive. "If so, we are
+greatly obliged to him."
+
+The young man answered that, although he had not brought the day, he was
+delighted that he had come in company with it.
+
+"What atrocious commonplaces!" thought Mrs. Easterfield. "The girl does
+not know him from Adam!"
+
+Here was a disappointment; the thrill, the pallor, the involuntary
+start, were totally absent; and the first act of the little play was a
+failure. But Mrs. Easterfield hoped for better things when the curtain
+rose again. She conducted Mr. Hemphill to the Foxes and let Olive go
+away with her book; and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she read
+the letter from her husband.
+
+"With this I send you Mr. Hemphill," he wrote. "I don't know what you
+want to do with him, but you must take good care of him. He is a most
+valuable secretary, and an estimable young man. As soon as you have done
+with him please send him back."
+
+"I am glad he is estimable," said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. "That
+will make the matter more satisfactory to Tom when I explain it to him."
+
+When Dick Lancaster, properly booted and wearing a felt hat, returned
+the borrowed horse, he was met by Mr. Locker, who had been wandering
+about the front of the house, and when he had dismounted Dick was
+somewhat surprised by the hearty handshake he received.
+
+"I am sorry to have to tell you," said the poet, "that there is another
+one."
+
+"Another what?" asked Dick.
+
+"Another unnecessary victim," replied Locker. And with this he returned
+to the front of the house.
+
+At last Olive came down the stairs, and she was alone. Locker stepped
+quickly up to her.
+
+"If I should marry," he said, "would I be expected to entertain that
+Austrian?"
+
+She stopped, and gave the question her serious consideration. "I should
+think," she said, "that that would depend a good deal upon whom you
+should marry."
+
+"How can you talk in that way?" he exclaimed. "As if there were anything
+to depend upon!"
+
+"Nothing to depend upon," said Olive, slightly raising her eyebrows.
+"That is bad." And she went into the dining-room.
+
+The afternoon was an exceptionally fine one, but the party at Broadstone
+did not take advantage of it; there seemed to be a spirit of unrest
+pervading the premises, and when the carriage started on a drive along
+the river only Mr. and Mrs. Fox were in it. Mrs. Easterfield would not
+leave Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and she did not encourage them to go.
+Consequently there were three young men who did not wish to go.
+
+"It seems to me," said Mr. Fox, as they rolled away, "that a young
+woman, such as Miss Asher, has it in her power to interfere very much
+with the social feeling which should pervade a household like this. If
+she were to satisfy herself with attracting one person, all the rest of
+us might be content to make ourselves happy in such fashions as might
+present themselves."
+
+"The rest of us!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox.
+
+"Yes," replied her husband. "I mean you, and Mrs. Easterfield, and
+myself, and the rest. That young woman's indeterminate methods of
+fascination interfere with all of us."
+
+"I don't exactly see how they interfere with me," said Mrs. Fox rather
+stiffly.
+
+"If the carriage had been filled, as was expected," said her husband, "I
+might have had the pleasure of driving you in a buggy."
+
+She turned to him with a smile. "Immediately after I spoke," she said,
+"I imagined you might be thinking of something of that kind."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was not a woman to wait for things to happen in their
+own good time. If possible, she liked to hurry them up. In this Olive
+and Hemphill affair there was really nothing to wait for; if she left
+them to themselves there would be no happenings. As soon as was
+possible, she took Olive into her own little room, where she kept her
+writing-table, and into whose sacred precincts her secretary was not
+allowed to penetrate.
+
+"Now, then," said she, "what do you think of Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"I don't think of him at all," said Olive, a little surprised. "Is there
+anything about him to think of?"
+
+"He sat by you at luncheon," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I know that," said Olive, "and he was better than an empty chair. I
+hate sitting by empty chairs."
+
+"Olive," exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield with vivacity, "you ought to
+remember that young man!"
+
+"Remember him?" the girl ejaculated.
+
+"Certainly," said Mrs. Easterfield. "After what you told me about him, I
+expected you would recognize him the moment you saw him. But you did not
+know him; you did not do anything I expected you to do; and I was very
+much disappointed."
+
+"What are you talking about?" asked Olive.
+
+"I am talking about Mr. Hemphill; Mr. Rupert Hemphill; who, about seven
+years ago, was engaged in the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and who came to
+your house on business with your father. From what you told me of him I
+conjectured that he might now be my husband's Philadelphia secretary,
+for his name is Rupert, and I had reason to believe that he was once
+engaged in the navy-yard. When I found out I was entirely correct in my
+supposition I had him sent here, and I looked forward with the most
+joyous anticipations to being present when you first saw him. But it was
+all a fiasco! I suppose some people might think I was unwarrantably
+meddling in the affairs of others, but as it was in my power to create a
+most charming romance, I could not let the opportunity pass."
+
+Olive did not hear a word of Mrs. Easterfield's latest remarks; her
+round, full eyes were fixed upon the wall in front of her, but they saw
+nothing. Her mind had gone back seven years.
+
+"Is it possible," she exclaimed presently, "that that is my Rupert, my
+beautiful Rupert of the roseate cheeks, the Rupert of my heart, my only
+love! The Endymion-like youth I watched for every day; on whom I gazed
+and gazed and worshiped and longed for when he had gone; of whom I
+dreamed; to whom my soul went out in poetry; whose miniature I would
+have painted on the finest ivory if I had known how to paint; and whose
+image thus created I would have worn next my heart to look at every
+instant I found myself alone, if it had not been that my dresses were
+all fastened down the back! I am going to him this instant! I must see
+him again! My Rupert, my only love!" And with this she started to the
+door.
+
+"Olive," cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing from her chair, "stop, don't
+you do that! Come back. You must not--"
+
+But the girl had flown down the stairs, and was gone.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIII_
+
+_Mr. Lancaster's Backers._
+
+
+Olive found Mr. Hemphill under a tree upon the lawn. He was sitting on a
+low bench with one little girl upon each knee. He was not a stranger to
+the children, for they had frequently met him during their winter
+residences in cities. He was telling them a story when Olive approached.
+He made an attempt to rise, but the little girls would not let him put
+them down.
+
+"Don't move, Mr. Hemphill," said Olive; "I am going to sit down myself."
+And as she spoke she drew forward a low bench. "I am so glad to see you
+are fond of children, Mr. Hemphill," she continued; "you must have
+changed very much."
+
+"Changed!" he exclaimed. "I have always been fond of them."
+
+"Excuse me," said Olive, "not always. I remember a child you did not
+care for, on whom you did not even look, who was absolutely nothing to
+you, although you were so much to her."
+
+Mr. Hemphill stared. "I do not remember such a child," said he.
+
+"She existed," said Olive. "I was that child." And then she told him
+how she had seen him come to her father's house.
+
+Mr. Hemphill remembered Lieutenant Asher, he remembered going to his
+house, but he did not remember seeing there a little girl.
+
+"I was not so very little," said Olive; "I was fourteen, and I was just
+at an age to be greatly attracted by you. I thought you were the most
+beautiful young man I had ever beheld. I don't mind telling you, because
+I can not look upon you as a stranger, that I fell deeply in love with
+you."
+
+As Mr. Hemphill sat and listened to these words his face turned redder
+than the reddest rose, even his silky whiskers seemed to redden, his
+fine-cut red lips were parted, but he could not speak. The two little
+girls had been gazing earnestly at Olive. Now the elder one spoke.
+
+"I am in love," she said.
+
+"And so am I," piped up the younger one.
+
+"She's in love with Martha's little Jim," said the first girl, "but I am
+in love with Henry. He's eight. Both boys."
+
+"I wouldn't be in love with a girl," said the little one contemptuously.
+
+This interruption was a help to Mr. Hemphill, and his redness paled a
+little.
+
+"Of course you could not be expected to know anything of my feelings for
+you," said Olive, "and perhaps it is very well you did not, for business
+is business, and the feelings of girls should not be allowed to
+interfere with it. But my heart went out to you all the same. You were
+my first love."
+
+Now Mr. Hemphill crimsoned again worse than before. He had not yet
+spoken a word, and there was no word in the English language which he
+thought would be appropriate for the occasion.
+
+"You may think I am a little cruel to plump this sort of thing upon
+you," said Olive, "in such a sudden way, but I am not. All this was
+seven years ago, and a person of my age can surely speak freely of what
+happened seven years ago. I did not even know you when I met you, but
+Mrs. Easterfield told me about you, and now I remember everything, and I
+think it would have been inhuman if I had not told you of the part you
+used to play in my life. You have a right to know it."
+
+If Mr. Hemphill could have reddened any more he would have done so, but
+it was not possible. The thought flashed into his mind that it might be
+well to say something about her having found him very much changed, but
+in the next instant he saw that that would not do. How could he assume
+that he had ever been beautiful; how could he force her to say that he
+was not beautiful now, or that he still remained so?
+
+"I am very glad I have met you," said Olive, "and that I know who you
+are. And I am glad, too, to tell you that I forgive you for not taking
+notice of me seven years ago."
+
+"Is that all of your story?" asked the elder little girl.
+
+"Yes," said Olive, laughing, "that is all."
+
+"Well, then, let Mr. Hemphill go on with his," said she.
+
+"Oh, certainly," said Olive, jumping up; "and you must all excuse me
+for interfering with your story."
+
+Mr. Hemphill sat still, a little girl on each knee. He had not spoken a
+word since that beautiful girl had told him she had once loved him. And
+he could not speak now.
+
+"You look as if you had a plaster taken off," said the younger little
+girl. And, after waiting a moment for an answer, she slipped off his
+knee; the other followed; and the story was postponed.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield heard Olive's account of this incident she was
+utterly astounded. "What sort of a girl are you" she exclaimed. "What
+are you going to do about it now?"
+
+"Do?" said Olive quietly. "I have done."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was in a state of great perplexity. She had already
+asked Mr. Hemphill to stay until Saturday, three days off, and she could
+not tell him to go away, and the awkwardness of his remaining in the
+same house with Olive was something not easy to deal with.
+
+During Olive's interview with Mr. Hemphill and the little girls Claude
+Locker had been sitting alone at a distance, gazing at the group. He was
+waiting for an opportunity of social converse, for this was not
+forbidden him even if the time did not immediately precede the luncheon
+hour. He saw Hemphill's blazing face, and deeply wondered. If it had
+been the lady who had flushed he would have bounced upon the scene to
+defend her, but Olive was calm, and it was the conscious guilt of the
+man that made his face look like a freshly painted tin roof. This was an
+affair into which he had no right to intrude himself, and so he sat and
+sighed, and his heart grew heavy. How many ante-luncheon avowals would
+have to be made before she would take so much interest in him, one way
+or the other!
+
+Mr. Du Brant also sat at a distance. He was reading, or at least
+appearing to read; but he was so unaccustomed to holding a book in his
+hands that he did it very awkwardly, and Miss Raleigh, who was looking
+at him from the library window, made up her mind that if he dropped it,
+as she expected him to do, she would get the book and rub the dirt off
+the corners before it was put back into the bookcase. But when Olive
+left Mr. Hemphill she went so quickly into the house that the Austrian
+was unable to join her, and he, therefore, went to his room to prepare
+for dinner.
+
+Dick Lancaster had also been waiting, although not watching. He had
+hoped that he might have a chance for a little talk with Olive. But
+there was really no good reason to expect it, for he knew that two, and
+perhaps three, young men had stayed at home that afternoon in the hope
+that they might have the same opportunity. The odds against him were
+great.
+
+He began to think that perhaps he was engaged in a foolish piece of
+business, and was in danger of making himself disagreeably conspicuous.
+The other young men were guests at Broadstone, but if he came there
+every day as he had been doing, and as he wanted to do, it might be
+thought that he was taking advantage of Mrs. Easterfield's kindness. At
+that moment he heard the rustle of skirts, and, glancing up, saw Mrs.
+Easterfield, who was looking for him.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield's regard for Lancaster was growing, partly on account
+of the confidence she had already reposed in him. In her present state
+of mind she would have been glad to give him still more, for she did not
+know what to do about Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and there was no one with
+whom she could talk upon the subject; even if she had known Dick better
+her loyalty to Olive would have prevented that.
+
+"Have you found out anything about the captain and Olive?" she asked.
+"Has he spoken of her return?"
+
+"No," replied Dick; "he has not said a word on the subject, but I am
+very sure he would be overjoyed to have her come back. Every day when
+the postman arrives I believe he looks for a letter from her, and he
+shows that he feels it when he finds none. He is good-natured, and
+pleasant, but he is not as cheerful as when I first came."
+
+"Every day," said Mrs. Easterfield, as they walked together, "I love
+Olive more and more."
+
+"So do I," thought Dick.
+
+"But every day I understand her less and less," she continued. "She is
+truly a navy girl, and repose does not seem to be one of her
+characteristics. From what she has told me, I believe she has never
+lived in domestic peace and quiet until she came to stay with her uncle.
+It would delight me to see her properly married. I wish you would marry
+her."
+
+Dick stopped, and so did she, and they stood looking at each other. He
+did not redden, for he was not of the flushing kind; his face even grew
+a little hard.
+
+"Do you believe," said he, in a very different tone from his ordinary
+voice, "that I have the slightest chance?"
+
+"Of course I do," she answered. "I believe you have a very good chance,
+or I should not have spoken to you. I flatter myself that I have
+excellent judgment concerning young men, and I am very fond of Olive."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," exclaimed Dick, "you know I am in love with her. I
+suppose that has been easy enough to see, but it has all been very quick
+work with me; in fact, I have had very little to say to her, and have
+never said anything that could in the slightest degree indicate how I
+felt toward her. But I believe I loved her the second day I met her, and
+I am not sure it did not begin the day before."
+
+"I think that sort of thing is always quick work where Olive is
+concerned," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think it likely that many young
+men have fallen in love with her, and that they have to be very lively
+if they want a chance to tell her so. But don't be jealous. I know
+positively that none of them ever had the slightest chance. But now all
+that is passed. I know she is tired of an unsettled life, and it is
+likely she may soon be thinking of marrying, and there will be no lack
+of suitors. She has them now. But I want her to marry you."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," exclaimed Dick, "you have known me but a very little
+while----"
+
+"Don't mention that," she interrupted. "I do quick work as well as other
+people. I never before engaged in any matchmaking business, but if this
+succeeds, I shall be proud of it to the end of my days. You are in love
+with Olive, and she is worthy of you. I want you to try to win her, and
+I will do everything I can to help you. Here is my hand upon it."
+
+As Dick held that hand and looked into that face a courage and a belief
+in himself came into his heart that had never been there before. By day
+and by night his soul had been filled with the image of Olive, but up to
+this moment he had not thought of marrying her. That was something that
+belonged to the future, not even considered in his state of inchoate
+adoration. But now that he had been told he had reason to hope, he
+hoped; and the fact that one beautiful woman told him he might hope to
+win another beautiful woman was a powerful encouragement. Henceforth he
+would not be content with simply loving Olive; if it were within his
+power he would win, he would have her.
+
+"You look like a soldier going forth to conquest," said Mrs. Easterfield
+with a smile.
+
+"And you," said he impulsively, "you not only look like, but you are an
+angel."
+
+This was pretty strong for the young professor, but the lady understood
+him. She was very glad, indeed, that he could express himself
+impulsively, for without that power he could not win Olive.
+
+As Dick started away from Broadstone on his walk to the toll-gate he
+heard quick steps behind him and was soon overtaken by Claude Locker.
+
+"Hello," said that young man, "if you are on your way home I am going to
+walk a while with you. I have not done a thing to-day."
+
+When Dick heard these words his heart sank. He was on his way home
+accompanied by Olive--Olive in his heart, Olive in his soul, Olive in
+his brain, Olive in the sky and all over the earth--how dared a common
+mortal intrude himself upon the scene?
+
+"There is another thing," said Locker, who was now keeping step with
+him. "My soul is filled with murderous intent. I thirst for human life,
+and I need the restraints of companionship."
+
+"Who is it you want to kill?" asked Dick coldly.
+
+"It is an Austrian," replied the other. "I will not say what Austrian,
+leaving that to your imagination. I don't suppose you ever killed an
+Austrian. Neither have I, but I should like to do it. It would be a
+novel and delightful experience."
+
+Dick did not think it necessary that he should be told more; he
+perfectly understood the state of the case, for it was impossible not to
+see that this young man was paying marked attention to Olive, while Mr.
+Du Brant was doing the same thing. But still it seemed well to say
+something, and he remarked:
+
+"What is the matter with the Austrian?"
+
+"He is in love with Miss Asher," said Locker, "and so am I. I am
+beginning to believe he is positively dangerous. I did not think so at
+first, but I do now. He has actually taken to reading. I know that man;
+I have often seen him in Washington. He was always running after some
+lady or other, but I never knew him to read before. It is a dangerous
+symptom. He reads with one eye, while the other sweeps the horizon to
+catch a glimpse of her. By the way, that would be a splendid idea for a
+district policeman; if he stood under a lamp-post in citizen's dress
+reading a book, no criminal would suspect his identity, and he could
+keep one eye on the printed page, and devote the other to the cause of
+justice. But to return to our sallow mutton, or black sheep, if you
+choose. That Austrian ought to be killed!"
+
+Dick smiled sardonically. "He is not your only obstacle," he said.
+
+"I know it," replied Locker. "There's that Chinese laundried fellow,
+smooth-finished, who came up this morning. He must be an old offender,
+for I saw her giving it to him hot this morning. I am sure she was
+telling him exactly what she thought of him, for he turned as red as a
+pickled beet. So he will have to scratch pretty hard if he expects to
+get into her good graces again, and I suppose that is what he came here
+for. But I am not so much afraid of him as I am of that Austrian. If he
+keeps on the literary lay, and reads books with her, looking up the
+words in the dictionary, it is dangerous."
+
+"I do not see," said Lancaster, somewhat loftily, "why you speak of
+these things to me."
+
+"Then I'll tell you," said Locker quickly. "I speak of them to you
+because you are just as much concerned in them as I am. You are in love
+with Miss Asher--anybody can see that--and, in fact, I should think you
+were a pretty poor sort of a fellow if you were not, after having seen
+and talked with her. Consequently that Austrian is just as dangerous to
+you as he is to me. And as I have chosen you for my brother-in-arms, it
+is right that I tell you everything I know."
+
+"Brother-in-arms?" ejaculated Dick.
+
+"That is what it is," said Locker, "and I will tell you how it came
+about. The Austrian looked upon you with scorn and contempt because you
+rode a horse wearing rolled-up trousers and low shoes. As you did not
+see him and could not return the contempt, I did it for you. Having done
+this, a fellow feeling for you immediately sprang up within me. That is
+what always happens, you know. After that the feeling became a good deal
+stronger, and I said to myself that if I found I could not get Miss
+Asher; and it's seventy-six I don't, for that's generally the state of
+my luck; I would help you to get her, partly because I like you, and
+partly because that Austrian must be ousted, no matter what happens or
+how it is done. So I became your brother-in-arms, and if I find I am out
+of the race, I am going to back you up just as hard as I can, and here's
+my hand upon it."
+
+Dick stopped as he had stopped half an hour before, and gazed upon his
+companion.
+
+"Now don't thank me," continued Locker, "or say anything nice, because
+if I find I can come in ahead of you I am going to do it. But if we work
+together, I am sure we need not be afraid of that Austrian, or of that
+fiery-faced model for a ready-made-clothes shop. It is to be either you
+or me--first place for me, if possible."
+
+Dick could not help laughing. "You are a jolly sort of a fellow," said
+he, "and I will be your brother-in-arms. But it is to be first place for
+me, if possible." And they shook hands upon the bargain.
+
+That evening Mr. Hemphill found Olive alone. "I have been trying to get
+a chance to speak to you, Miss Asher," said he. "I want to ask you to
+help me, for I do not know what in the world to do."
+
+Olive looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"Since you spoke to me this afternoon," he went on, "I have been in a
+state of most miserable embarrassment; I can not for the life of me
+decide what I ought to say or what I ought to do, or what I ought not to
+say or what I ought not to do. If I should pass over as something not
+necessary to take into consideration the--the--most unusual statement
+you made to me, it might be that you would consider me as a boor, a man
+incapable of appreciating the--the--highest honors. Then again, if I do
+say anything to show that I appreciate such honors, you may well
+consider me presumptuous, conceited, and even insulting. I thought a
+while ago that I would leave this house before it would be necessary for
+me to decide how I should act when I met you, but I could not do that.
+Explanations would be necessary, and I would not be able to make them,
+and so, in sheer despair, I have come to you. Whatever you say I ought
+to do I will do. Of myself, I am utterly helpless."
+
+Olive looked at him with serious earnestness. "You are in a queer
+position," she said, "and I don't wonder you do not know what to do. I
+did not think of this peculiar consequence which would result from my
+revelation. As to the revelation itself, there is no use talking about
+it; it had to be made. It would have been unjust and wicked to allow a
+man to live in ignorance of the fact that such a thing had happened to
+him without his knowing it. But I think I can make it all right for
+you. If you had known when you were very young, in fact, when you were
+in another age of man, that a young girl in short dresses was in love
+with you, would you have disdained her affection?"
+
+"I should say not!" exclaimed Rupert Hemphill, his eyes fixed upon the
+person who had once been that girl in short dresses.
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, "there could have been nothing for her to
+complain of, no matter what she knew or what she did not know, and there
+is nothing he could complain of, no matter what he knew or did not know.
+And as both these persons have passed entirely out of existence, I think
+you and I need consider them no longer. And we can talk about tennis or
+bass fishing, or anything we like. And if you are a fisherman you will
+be glad to hear that there is first-rate bass fishing in the river now,
+and that we are talking of getting up a regular fishing party. We shall
+have to go two or three miles below here where the water is deeper and
+there are not so many rocks."
+
+That night Mr. Hemphill dreamed hard of a girl who had loved him when
+she was little, and who continued to love him now that she had grown to
+be wonderfully handsome. He was going out to sail with her in a boat far
+and far away, where nobody could find them or bring them back.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIV_
+
+_A Letter for Olive._
+
+
+The next morning, about an hour after breakfast, Mr. Du Brant proposed
+to Olive. He had received a letter the day before which made it probable
+that he might be recalled to Washington before the time which had been
+fixed for the end of his visit at Broadstone, and he consequently did
+not wish to defer for a moment longer than was necessary this most
+important business of his life. He told Miss Asher that he had never
+truly loved before; which was probably correct; and that as she had
+raised his mind from the common things of earth, upon which it had been
+accustomed to grovel, she had made a new man of him in an astonishingly
+short time; which, it is likely, was also true.
+
+He assured her that without any regard to outside circumstances, he
+could not live without her. If at any other time he had allowed his mind
+to dwell for a moment upon matrimony, he had thought of family,
+position, wealth, social station, and all that sort of thing, but now he
+thought of nothing but her, and he came to offer her his heart. In fact,
+the man was truly and honestly in love.
+
+Inwardly Olive smiled. "I can not ask him," she said to herself, "to say
+this again every day before dinner. He hasn't the wit of Claude Locker,
+and would not be able to vary his remarks; but I can not blast his hopes
+too suddenly, for, if I do that, he will instantly go away, and it would
+not be treating Mrs. Easterfield properly if I were to break up her
+party without her knowledge. But I will talk to her about it. And now
+for him.--Mr. Du Brant," she said aloud, speaking in English, although
+he had proposed to her in French, because she thought she could make her
+own language more impressive, "it is a very serious thing you have said
+to me, and I don't believe you have had time enough to think about it
+properly. Now don't interrupt. I know exactly what you would say. You
+have known me such a little while that even if your mind is made up it
+can not be properly made up, and therefore, for your own sake, I am
+going to give you a chance to think it all over. You must not say you
+don't want to, because I want you to; and when you have thought, and
+thought, and know yourself better--now don't say you can not know
+yourself better if you have a thousand years in which to consider
+it--for though you think that it is true it is not"
+
+"And if I rack my brains and my heart," interrupted Mr. Du Brant, "and
+find out that I can never change nor feel in any other way toward you
+than I feel now, may I then----"
+
+"Now, don't say anything about that," said Olive. "What I want to do now
+is to treat you honorably and fairly, and to give you a chance to
+withdraw if, after sober consideration, you think it best to do so. I
+believe that every young man who thinks himself compelled to propose
+marriage in such hot haste ought to have a chance to reflect quietly
+and coolly, and to withdraw if he wants to. And that is all, Mr. Du
+Brant. I must be off this minute, for Mrs. Easterfield is over there
+waiting for me."
+
+Mr. Du Brant walked thoughtfully away. "I do not understand," he said to
+himself in French, "why she did not tell me I need not speak to her
+again about it. The situation is worthy of diplomatic consideration, and
+I will give it that."
+
+From a distance Claude Locker beheld his Austrian enemy walking alone,
+and without a book.
+
+"Something has happened," he thought, "and the fellow has changed his
+tactics. Before, under cover of a French novel, he was a snake in the
+grass, now he is a snake hopping along on the tip of his tail. Perhaps
+he thinks this is a better way to keep a lookout upon her. I believe he
+is more dangerous than he was before, for I don't know whether a snake
+on tip tail jumps or falls down upon his victims."
+
+One thing Mr. Locker was firmly determined upon. He was going to try to
+see Olive as soon as it was possible before luncheon, and impress upon
+her the ardent nature of his feelings toward her; he did not believe he
+had done this yet. He looked about him. The party, excepting himself and
+Mr. Du Brant, were on the front lawn; he would join them and satirize
+the gloomy Austrian. If Olive could be made to laugh at him it would be
+like preparing a garden-bed with spade and rake before sowing his seeds.
+
+The rural mail-carrier came earlier than usual that day, and he brought
+Olive but one letter, but as it was from her father, she was entirely
+satisfied, and retired to a bench to read it.
+
+In about ten minutes after that she walked into Mrs. Easterfield's
+little room, the open letter in her hand. As Mrs. Easterfield looked up
+from her writing-table the girl seemed transformed; she was taller, she
+was straighter, her face had lost its bloom, and her eyes blazed.
+
+"Would you believe it!" she said, grating out the words as she spoke.
+"My father is going to be married!"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped her pen, and her face lost color. She had
+always been greatly interested in Lieutenant Asher. "What!" she
+exclaimed. "He? And to whom?"
+
+"A girl I used to go to school with," said Olive, standing as if she
+were framed in one solid piece. "Edith Marshall, living in Geneva. She
+is older than I am, but we were in the same classes. They are to be
+married in October, and she is to sail for this country about the time
+his ship comes home. He is to be stationed at Governor's Island, and
+they are to have a house there. He writes, and writes, and writes, about
+how lovely it will be for me to have this dear new mother. Me! To call
+that thing mother! I shall have no mother, but I have lost my father."
+With this she threw herself upon a lounge, and burst into passionate
+tears. Mrs. Easterfield rose, and closed the door.
+
+Claude Locker had no opportunity to press his suit before luncheon, for
+Olive did not come to that meal; she had one of her headaches. Every one
+seemed to appreciate the incompleteness of the party, and even Mrs.
+Easterfield looked serious, which was not usual with her. Mr. Hemphill
+was much cast down, for he had made up his mind to talk to Olive in such
+a way that she should not fail to see that he had taken to heart her
+advice, and might be depended upon to deport himself toward her as if he
+had never heard the words she had addressed to him. He had prepared
+several topics for conversation, but as he would not waste these upon
+the general company, he indulged only in such remarks as were necessary
+to good manners.
+
+Mr. Du Brant talked a good deal in a perfunctory manner, but inwardly he
+was somewhat elated. "Her emotions must have been excited more than I
+supposed," he thought. "That is not a bad sign."
+
+Mrs. Fox was a little bit--a very little bit--annoyed because Mr. Fox
+did not make as many facetious remarks as was his custom. He seemed like
+one who, in a degree, felt that he lacked an audience; Mrs. Fox could
+see no good reason for this.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield went up to Olive's room she found her bathing her
+eyes in cold water.
+
+"Will you lend me a bicycle" said Olive. "I am sure you have one."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement.
+
+"I want to go to my uncle," said Olive. "He is now all I have left in
+this world. I have been thinking, and thinking about everything, and I
+want to go to him. Whatever has come between us will vanish as soon as
+he sees me, I am sure of that. I do not know why he did not want me to
+come back to him, but he will want me now, and I should like to start
+immediately without anybody seeing me."
+
+"But a bicycle!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "You can't go that way. I
+will send you in the carriage."
+
+"No, no, no," cried Olive; "I want to go quietly. I want to go so that I
+can leave my wheel at the door and go right in. I have a short
+walking-skirt, and I can wear that. Please let me have the bicycle."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield made Olive sit down and she talked to her, but there
+was no changing the girl's determination to go to her uncle, to go
+alone, and to go immediately.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XV_
+
+_Olive's Bicycle Trip._
+
+
+Despite Olive's desire to set forth immediately on her bicycle trip, it
+was past the middle of the afternoon when she left Broadstone. She went
+out quietly, not by the usual driveway, and was soon upon the turnpike
+road. As she sped along the cool air upon her face refreshed her; and
+the knowledge that she was so rapidly approaching the dear old
+toll-gate, where, even if she did not find her uncle at the house, she
+could sit with old Jane until he came back, gave her strength and
+courage.
+
+Up a long hill she went, and down again to the level country. Then there
+was a slighter rise in the road, and when she reached its summit she
+saw, less than a mile away, the toll-gate surrounded by its trees, the
+thick foliage of the fruit-trees in the garden, the little tollhouse and
+the long bar, standing up high at its customary incline upon the
+opposite side of the road. Down the little hill she went; and then,
+steadily and swiftly, onward. Presently she saw that some one was on the
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse; his back was toward her, he was
+sitting in his accustomed armchair; she could not be mistaken; it was
+her uncle.
+
+Now and then, while upon the road, she had thought of what she should
+say when she first met him, but she had soon dismissed all ideas of
+preconceived salutations, or explanations. She would be there, and that
+would be enough. Her father's letter was in her pocket, and that was too
+much. All she meant to do was to glide up to that piazza, spring up the
+steps, and present herself to her uncle's astonished gaze before he had
+any idea that any one was approaching.
+
+She was within twenty feet of the piazza when she saw that her uncle was
+not alone; there was some one sitting in front of him who had been
+concealed by his broad shoulders. This person was a woman. She had
+caught sight of Olive, and stuck her head out on one side to look at
+her. Upon her dough-like face there was a grin, and in her eye a light
+of triumph. With one quick glance she seemed to say: "Ah, ha, you find
+me here, do you? What have you to say to that?"
+
+Olive's heart stood still. That woman, that Maria Port, sitting in close
+converse with her uncle in that public place where she had never seen
+any one but men! That horrid woman at such a moment as this! She could
+not speak to her; she could not speak to her uncle in her presence. She
+could not stop. With what she had on her mind, and with what she had in
+her pocket, it would be impossible to say a word before that Maria Port!
+Without a swerve she sped on, and passed the toll-gate. She only knew
+one thing; she could not stop.
+
+The wildest suspicions now rushed into her mind. Why should her uncle
+be thus exposing himself to the public gaze with Maria Port? Why did it
+give the woman such diabolical pleasure to be seen there with him? With
+a mind already prepared for such sickening revelations, Olive was
+convinced that it could mean nothing but that her uncle intended to
+marry Maria Port. What else could it mean? But no matter what it meant,
+she could not stop. She could not go back.
+
+On went her bicycle, and presently she gained sufficient command over
+herself to know that she should not ride into the town. But what else
+could she do? She could not go back while those two were sitting on the
+piazza. Suddenly she remembered the shunpike. She had never been on it,
+but she knew where it left the road, and where it reentered it. So she
+kept on her course, and in a few minutes had reached the narrow country
+road. There were ruts here and there, and sometimes there were stony
+places; there were small hills, mostly rough; and there were few
+stretches of smooth road; but on went Olive; sometimes trying with much
+effort to make good time, and always with tears in her eyes, dimming the
+roadway, the prospect, and everything in the world.
+
+"There now!" exclaimed Maria Port, springing to her feet. "What have you
+got to say to that? If that isn't brazen I never saw brass!"
+
+"What do you mean?" said the captain, rising in his chair.
+
+"Mean?" said Maria Port, leaning over the railing. "Look there! Do you
+see that girl getting away as fast as she can work herself? That's your
+precious niece, Olive Asher, scooting past us with her nose in the air
+as if we was sticks and stones by the side of the road. What have you
+got to say to that, Captain John, I'd like to know?"
+
+The captain ran down the path. "You don't mean to say that is Olive!" he
+cried.
+
+"That's who it is," answered Miss Port. "She looked me square in the
+face as she dashed by. Not a word for you, not a word for me. Impudence!
+That doesn't express it!"
+
+The captain paid no attention to her, but ran into the garden. Old Jane
+was standing near the house door. "Was that Miss Olive?" he cried. "Did
+you see her?"
+
+"Yes," said old Jane, "it was her. I saw her comin', and I came out to
+meet her. But she just shot through the toll-gate as if she didn't know
+there was a toll on bicycles."
+
+The captain stood still in the garden-path. He could not believe that
+Olive had done this to treat him with contempt. She must have heard some
+news. There must be something the matter. She was going into town at the
+top of her speed to send a telegram, intending to stop as she came back.
+She might have stopped anyway if it had not been for that
+good-for-nothing Maria Port. She hated Maria, and he hated her himself,
+at this moment, as she stood by his side, asking him what was the matter
+with him.
+
+"It's no more than you have to expect," said she. "She's a fine lady, a
+navy lady, a foreign lady, that's been with the aristocrats! She's got
+good clothes on that she never wore here, and where I guess she had a
+pretty stupid time, judgin' from how they carry on at that Easterfield
+place. Why in the world should she want to stop and speak to such
+persons as you and me?"
+
+The captain paid no attention to these remarks. "If she doesn't want to
+send a telegram, I don't see what she is going to town for in such a
+hurry. I suppose she thought she could get there sooner than a man could
+go on a horse," he said.
+
+"Telegram!" sneered Miss Port. "It's a great deal easier to send
+telegrams from the gap."
+
+"Then it is something worse," he thought. Perhaps she might be running
+away, though what in the world she was running from he could not
+imagine. Anyway, he must see her; he must find out. When she came back
+she must not pass again, and if she did not come back he must go after
+her. He ran to the road and put down the bar, calling to old Jane to
+come there and keep a sharp lookout. Then he quickly returned to the
+house.
+
+"What are you going to do" asked Miss Port. "I never saw a man in such a
+fluster."
+
+"If she does not come back very soon," said he, "I shall go to town
+after her."
+
+"Then I suppose I might as well be going myself," said she. "And by the
+way, captain, if you are going to town, why don't you take a seat in my
+carriage? Dear knows me and the boy don't fill it."
+
+But the captain would consider no such invitation. When he met Olive he
+did not want Maria Port to be along. He did not answer, and went into
+the house to make some change in his attire. Old Jane would not let
+Olive pass, and if he met her on the road or in the town he wanted to be
+well dressed.
+
+Miss Port still stood in the path by the house door. "That's not what I
+call polite," said she, "but he's awful flustered, and I don't mind."
+
+Far from minding, Maria was pleased; it pleased her to know that his
+niece's conduct had flustered him. The more that girl flustered him the
+better it would be, and she smiled with considerable satisfaction. If
+she could get that girl out of the way she believed she would find but
+little difficulty in carrying out her scheme to embitter the remainder
+of the good captain's life. She did not put it in that way to herself;
+but that was the real character of the scheme.
+
+Suddenly an idea struck her. It was of no use for her to stand and wait,
+for she knew she would not be able to induce the captain to go with her.
+It would be a great thing if she could, for to drive into town with him
+by her side would go far to make the people of Glenford understand what
+was going to happen. But, if she could not do this, she could do
+something else. If she started away immediately she might meet that
+Asher girl coming back, and it would be a very fine thing if she could
+have an interview with her before she saw her uncle.
+
+She made a quick step toward the house and looked in. The captain was
+not visible, but old Jane was standing near the back door of the
+tollhouse. The opportunity was not to be lost.
+
+"Good-by, John," said she in a soft tone, but quite loud enough for the
+old woman to hear. "I'll go home first, for I've got to see to gettin'
+supper ready for you. So good-by, John, for a little while." And she
+kissed her hand to the inside of the house.
+
+Then she hurried out of the gate; got into the little phaeton which was
+waiting for her under a tree; and drove away. She had come there that
+afternoon on the pretense of consulting the captain about her father's
+health, which she said disturbed her, and she had requested the
+privilege of sitting on the toll-gate piazza because she had always
+wanted to sit there, and had never been invited. The captain had not
+invited her then, but as she had boldly marched to the piazza and taken
+a seat, he had been obliged to follow.
+
+Captain Asher, wearing a good coat and hat, relieved old Jane at her
+post, and waited and waited for Olive to come back. He did not for a
+moment think she might return by the shunpike, for that was a rough
+road, not fit for a bicycle. And if she passed this way once, why should
+she object to doing it again?
+
+When more than time enough had elapsed for her return from the town, he
+started forth with a heavy heart to follow her. He told old Jane that if
+for any reason he should be detained in town until late, he would take
+supper with Mr. Port, and if, although he did not expect this, he should
+not come back that night, the Ports would know of his whereabouts. He
+did not take his horse and buggy because he thought it would be in his
+way. If he met Olive in the road he could more easily stop and talk to
+her if he were walking than if he had a horse to take care of.
+
+"I hope you're not runnin' after Miss Olive," said old Jane.
+
+The captain did not wish his old servant to imagine that it was
+necessary for him to run after his niece, and so he answered rather
+quickly: "Of course not." Then he set off toward the town. He did not
+walk very fast, for if he met Olive he would rather have a talk with her
+on the road than in Glenford.
+
+He walked on and on, not with his eyes on the smooth surface of the
+pike, but looking out afar, hoping that he might soon see the figure of
+a girl on a bicycle; and thus it was that he passed the entrance to the
+shunpike without noticing that a bicycle track turned into it.
+
+Olive struggled on, and the road did not improve. She worked hard with
+her body, but still harder with her mind. It seemed to her as though
+everything were endeavoring to crush her, and that it was almost
+succeeding. If she had been in her own room, seated, or walking the
+floor, indignation against her uncle would have given her the same
+unnatural vigor and energy which had possessed her when she read her
+father's letter; but it is impossible to be angry when one is physically
+tired and depressed, and this was Olive's condition now. Once she
+dismounted, sat down on a piece of rock, and cried. The rest was of
+service to her, but she could not stay there long; the road was too
+lonely. She must push on. So on she pressed, sometimes walking, and
+sometimes on her wheel, the pedals apparently growing stiffer at every
+turn. Slight mishaps she did not mind, but a fear began to grow upon her
+that she would never be able to reach Broadstone at all. But after a
+time--a very long time it seemed--the road grew more level and smooth;
+and then ahead she saw the white surface of the turnpike shining as it
+passed the end of her road. When she should emerge on that smooth, hard
+road it could not be long, even if she went slowly, before she reached
+home. She was still some fifty yards from the pike when she saw a man
+upon it, walking southward.
+
+As Dick Lancaster passed the end of the road he lifted his head, and
+looked along it. It was strange that he should do so, for since he had
+started on his homeward walk he had not raised his eyes from the ground.
+He had reached Broadstone soon after luncheon, before Olive had left on
+her wheel, and had passed rather a stupid time, playing tennis with
+Claude Locker, he had seen but little of Mrs. Easterfield, whose mind
+was evidently occupied. Once she had seemed about to take him into her
+confidence, but had suddenly excused herself, and had gone into the
+house. When the game was finished Locker advised him to go home.
+
+"She is not likely to be down until dinner time," he had said, "and this
+evening I'll defend our cause against those other fellows. I have
+several good things in my mind that I am sure will interest her, and I
+don't believe there's any use courting a girl unless you interest her."
+
+Lancaster had taken the advice, and had left much earlier than was
+usual.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVI_
+
+_Mr. Lancaster accepts a Mission._
+
+
+When Dick Lancaster saw Olive he stopped with a start, and then ran
+toward her.
+
+"Miss Asher!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? What is the
+matter? You look pale."
+
+When she saw him coming Olive had dismounted, not with the active spring
+usual with her, but heavily and clumsily. She did not even smile as she
+spoke to him.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Mr. Lancaster," she said. "I am on my way back to
+Broadstone, and I would like to send a message to my uncle by you."
+
+"Back from where? And why on this road?" he was about to ask, but he
+checked himself. He saw that she trembled as she stood.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "you must stop and rest. Let me take your wheel
+and come over to this bank and sit down."
+
+She sat down in the shade and took off her hat; and for a moment she
+quietly enjoyed the cool breeze upon her head. He did not want to annoy
+her with questions, but he could not help saying:
+
+"You look very tired."
+
+"I ought to be tired," she answered, "for I have gone over a perfectly
+dreadful road. Of course, you wonder why I came this way, and the best
+thing for me to do is to begin at the beginning and to tell you all
+about it, so that you will know what I have been doing, and then
+understand what I would like you to do for me."
+
+So she told him all her tale, and, telling it, seemed to relieve her
+mind while her tired body rested. Dick listened with earnest avidity. He
+lost not the slightest change in her expression as she spoke. He was
+shocked when he heard of her father; he was grieved when he imagined how
+she must have felt when the news came to her; he was angry when he heard
+of the impertinent glare of Maria Port; and his heart was torn when he
+knew of this poor girl's disappointment, of her soul-harrowing
+conjectures, of her wearisome and painful progress along that rough
+road; of which progress she said but little, although its consequences
+he could plainly see. All these things showed themselves upon his
+countenance as he gazed upon her and listened, not only with his ears,
+but his heart.
+
+"I shall be more than glad," he said, when she had finished, "to carry
+any message, or to do anything you want me to do. But I must first
+relieve you of one of your troubles. Your uncle has not the slightest
+idea of marrying Miss Port. I don't believe he would marry anybody; but,
+of all women, not that vulgar creature. Let me assure you, Miss Asher,
+that I have heard him talk about her, and I know he has the most
+contemptuous opinion of her. I have heard him make fun of her, and I
+don't believe he would have anything to do with her if it were not for
+her father, who is one of his oldest friends."
+
+She looked at him incredulously. "And yet they were sitting close
+together," she said; "so close that at first I did not see her;
+apparently talking in the most private manner in a very public place.
+They surely looked very much like an engaged couple as I have noticed
+them. And old Jane has told me that everybody knows she is trying to
+trap him; and surely there is good reason to believe that she has
+succeeded."
+
+Dick shook his head. "Impossible, Miss Asher," he said. "He never would
+have such a woman. I know him well enough to be absolutely sure of that.
+Of course, he treats her kindly, and perhaps he is sociable with her. It
+is his nature to be friendly, and he has known her for a long time. But
+marry her! Never! I am certain, Miss Asher, he would never do that."
+
+"I wish I could believe it," said she.
+
+"I can easily prove it to you," he said. "I will take your message to
+your uncle, I will tell him all you want me to tell him, and then I will
+ask him, frankly and plainly, about Miss Port. I do not in the least
+object to doing it. I am well enough acquainted with him to know that he
+is a frank, plain man. I am sure he will be much amused at your
+supposition, and angry, too, when I tell him of the way that woman
+looked at you and so prevented you from stopping when you had come
+expressly to see him. Then I will immediately come to Broadstone to
+relieve your mind in regard to the Maria Port business, and to bring
+you whatever message your uncle has to send you."
+
+"No, no," said Olive, "you must not do that. It would be too much to
+come back to-day. You have relieved my mind somewhat about that woman,
+and I am perfectly willing to wait until to-morrow, when you can tell me
+exactly how everything is, and let me know when my uncle would like me
+to come and see him. I think it will be better next time not to take him
+by surprise. But I would be very, very grateful to you, Mr, Lancaster,
+if you would come as early in the morning as you can. I can wait very
+well until then, now that my mind is easier, but I am afraid that when
+to-morrow begins I shall be very impatient. My troubles are always worse
+in the morning. But you must not walk. My uncle has a horse and buggy.
+But perhaps it would be better to let Mrs. Easterfield send for you. I
+know she will be glad to do it."
+
+Dick assured her that he did not wish to be sent for; that he would
+borrow the captain's horse, and would be at Broadstone as early as was
+proper to make a visit.
+
+"Proper!" exclaimed Olive. "In a case like this any time is proper. In
+Mrs. Easterfield's name I invite you to breakfast. I know she will be
+glad to have me do it. And now I must go on. You are very, very good,
+and I am very grateful."
+
+Dick could not say that he was more grateful for being allowed to help
+her than she could possibly be for being helped, but his face showed it,
+and if she had looked at him she would have known it.
+
+"Miss Asher," he exclaimed as she rose, "your skirt is covered with
+dust. You must have fallen."
+
+"I did have one fall," she said, "but I was so worried I did not mind."
+
+"But you can not go back in that plight," he said; "let me dust your
+skirt." And breaking a little branch from a bush, he proceeded to make
+her look presentable. "And now," said he, when she had complimented him
+upon his skill, "I will walk with you to the entrance of the grounds.
+Perhaps as you are so tired," he said hesitatingly, "I can help you
+along, so that you will not have to work so hard yourself."
+
+"Oh, no," she answered; "that is not at all necessary. When I am on the
+turnpike I can go beautifully. I feel ever so much rested and stronger,
+and it is all due to you. So you see, although you will not go with me,
+you will help me very much." And she smiled as she spoke. He truly had
+helped her very much.
+
+Dick was unwilling that she should go on alone, although it was still
+broad daylight and there was no possible danger, and he was also
+unwilling because he wanted to go with her, but there was no use saying
+anything or thinking anything, and so he stood and watched her rolling
+along until she had passed the top of a little hill, and had departed
+from his view. Then he ran to the top of the little hill, and watched
+her until she was entirely out of sight.
+
+The rest of the way to the toll-gate seemed very short to Dick, but he
+had time enough to make up his mind that he would see the captain at the
+earliest possible moment; that he would deliver his message and the
+letter of Lieutenant Asher; that he would immediately bring up the
+matter of Maria Port and let the captain know the mischief that woman
+had done. Then, armed with the assurances the captain would give him, he
+would start for Broadstone after supper, and carry the good news to
+Olive. It would be a shame to let that dear girl remain in suspense for
+the whole night, when he, by riding, or even walking an inconsiderable
+number of miles, could relieve her. He found old Jane in the tollhouse.
+
+"Where is the captain" he asked.
+
+"The captain?" she repeated. "He's in town takin' supper with his
+sweetheart."
+
+Dick stared at her.
+
+"Perhaps you haven't heard that he's engaged to Maria Port," said the
+woman; "and I don't wonder you're taken back! But I suppose everybody
+will soon know it now, and the sooner the better, I say."
+
+"What are you talking about" exclaimed Dick. "You don't mean to tell me
+that the captain is going to marry Miss Port?"
+
+"Whether he wants to or not, he's gone so far he'll have to. I've knowed
+for a long time she's been after him, but I didn't think she'd catch him
+just yet."
+
+"I don't believe it." cried Dick. "It must be a mistake! How do you know
+it?"
+
+"Know!" said old Jane, who, ordinarily a taciturn woman, was now excited
+and inclined to volubility. "Don't you suppose I've got eyes and ears?
+Didn't I see them for ever and ever so long sittin' out on this piazza,
+where everybody could see 'em, a-spoonin' like a couple of young people?
+And didn't I see 'em tearin' themselves asunder as if they couldn't
+bear to be apart for an hour? And didn't I hear her tell him she was
+goin' home to get an extry good supper for him? And didn't I hear her
+call him 'dear John,' and kiss her hand to him. And if you don't believe
+me you can go into the kitchen and ask Mary; she heard the 'dear John'
+and saw the hand-kissin'. And then didn't he tell me he was goin' to the
+Ports' to supper, and if he stayed late and anybody asked for
+him--meaning you, most probable, and I think he might have left
+somethin' more of a message for you--that he was to be found with the
+Ports--with Maria most likely, for the old man goes to bed early?"
+
+Dick made no answer; he was standing motionless looking out upon the
+flowers in the garden.
+
+"And perhaps you haven't heard of Miss Olive comin' past on a bicycle,"
+old Jane remarked. "I saw her comin', and I knew by the look on her face
+that it made her sick to see that woman sittin' here, and I don't blame
+her a bit. When he started so early for town I thought he might be
+intendin' to look for her, and yet be in time for the Ports' supper, but
+she didn't come back this way at all, and I expect she went home by the
+shunpike."
+
+"Which she did," said Dick, showing by this remark that he was listening
+to what the old woman was saying.
+
+"But he cut me mighty short when I asked him," continued old Jane. "I
+tried to ease his mind, but as I found his mind didn't need no easin', I
+minded my own business, just as he was mindin' his. And now, sir, you'll
+have to eat your supper alone this time."
+
+If Dick's supper had consisted of nectar and the brains of nightingales
+he would not have noticed it; and, until late in the evening, he sat in
+the arbor, anxiously waiting for the captain's return. About ten o'clock
+old Jane, sleepy from having sat up so long, called to him from the door
+that he might as well come in and let her lock up the house. The captain
+was not coming home that night. He had stayed with the Ports once
+before, when the old man was sick.
+
+"I guess he's got a better reason for stayin' tonight," she said. "It'll
+be a great card for that Maria when the Glenford people knows it, and
+they'll know it you may be sure, if she has to go and walk the soles of
+her feet off tellin' them. One thing's mighty sure," she continued. "I'm
+not goin' to stay here with her in the house. He'll have to get somebody
+else to help him take toll. But I guess she'll want to do that herself.
+Nothin' would suit her better than to be sittin' all day in the
+tollhouse talkin' scandal to everybody that goes by."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVII_
+
+_Dick is not a Prompt Bearer of News._
+
+
+When the captain reached Glenford, and before he went to the Ports' he
+went to the telegraph-office, and made inquiries at various other
+places, but his niece had not been seen in town. He wandered about so
+long and asked so many questions that it was getting dark when he
+suddenly thought of the shunpike. He had not thought of it before, for
+it was an unfit road for bicycles, but now he saw that he had been a
+fool. That was the only way she could have gone back.
+
+Hurrying to a livery-stable, he hired a horse and buggy and a lantern,
+and drove to the shunpike. There he plainly saw the track of the bicycle
+as it had turned into that rough road. Then he drove on, examining every
+foot of the way, fearful that he might see, lying senseless by the side
+of the road, the figure of a girl, perhaps unconscious from fatigue,
+perhaps dead from an accident.
+
+When at last he emerged upon the turnpike he lost the track of the
+bicycle, but still he went on, all the way to Broadstone; a girl might
+be lying senseless by the side of the road, even on the pike, which at
+this time was not much frequented. Thus assuring himself that Olive had
+reached Broadstone in safety, or at least had not fallen by the way, he
+turned and drove back to town upon the pike, passing his own toll-gate,
+where the bar was always up after dark. He had promised to return the
+horse that night, and, as he had promised, he intended to do it. It was
+after nine o'clock when, returning from the livery-stable, he reached
+the Port house, and saw Maria sitting in the open doorway.
+
+She instantly ran out to meet him, asking him somewhat sharply why he
+had disappointed them. She had kept the supper waiting ever so long. He
+went in to see her father, who was sitting up for him, and she busied
+herself in getting him a fresh supper. Nice and hot the supper was, and
+although his answers to her questions had not been satisfactory, she
+concealed her resentment, if she had any. When the meal was over both
+father and daughter assured him that it was too late for him to go home
+that night, and that he must stay with them. Tired and troubled, Captain
+Asher accepted the invitation.
+
+As soon as he could get away from the Port residence the next morning
+Captain Asher went home. He had hoped he would have been able to leave
+before breakfast, but the solicitous Maria would not listen to this. She
+prepared him a most tempting breakfast, cooking some of the things with
+her own hands, and she was so attentive, so anxious to please, so kind
+in her suggestions, and in every way so desirous to make him happy
+through the medium of savory food and tender-hearted concern, that she
+almost made him angry. Never before, he thought, had he seen a woman
+make such a coddling fool of herself. He knew very well what it meant,
+and that provoked him still more.
+
+When at last he got away he walked home in a bad humor; he was even
+annoyed with Olive. Granting that what she had done was natural enough
+under the circumstances, and that she had not wished to stop when she
+saw him in company with a woman she did not like, he thought she might
+have considered him as well as herself. She should have known that it
+would give him great trouble for her to dash by in that way and neither
+stop nor come back to explain matters. She must have known that Maria
+Port was not going to stay always, and she might have waited somewhere
+until the woman had gone. If she had had the least idea of how much he
+wanted to see her she would have contrived some way to come back to him.
+But no, she went back to Broadstone to please herself, and left him to
+wander up and down the roads looking for her in the dark.
+
+When the captain met old Jane at the door of the tollhouse her
+salutation did not smooth his ruffled spirits, for she told him that she
+and Mr. Lancaster had sat up until nearly the middle of the night
+waiting for him, and that the poor young man must have felt it, for he
+had not eaten half a breakfast.
+
+The captain paid but little attention to these remarks and passed in,
+but before he crossed the garden he met Dick, who informed him that he
+had something very important to communicate. Important communications
+that must be delivered without a moment's loss of time are generally
+unpleasant, and knowing this, the captain knit his brows a little, but
+told Dick he would be ready for him as soon as he lighted his pipe. He
+felt he must have something to soothe his ruffled spirits while he
+listened to the tale of the woes of some one else.
+
+But at the moment he scratched his match to light his pipe his soul was
+illuminated by a flash of joy; perhaps Dick was going to tell him he was
+engaged to Olive; perhaps that was what she had come to tell him the day
+before. He had not expected to hear anything of this kind, at least not
+so soon, but it had been the wish of his heart--he now knew that without
+appreciating the fact--it had been the earnest wish of his heart for
+some time, and he stepped toward the little arbor with the alacrity of
+happy anticipation.
+
+As soon as they were seated Dick began to speak of Olive, but not in the
+way the captain had hoped for. He mentioned the great trouble into which
+she had been plunged, and gave the captain his brother's letter to read.
+When he had finished it the captain's face darkened, and his frown was
+heavy.
+
+"An outrageous piece of business," he said, "to treat a daughter in this
+way; to put a schoolmate over her head in the family! It is shameful!
+And this is what she was coming to tell me?"
+
+"Yes," said Dick, "that is it."
+
+Now there was another flash of joy in the captain's heart, which cleared
+up his countenance and made his frown disappear. "She was coming to me,"
+he thought. "I was the one to whom she turned in her trouble." And it
+seemed to this good captain as if he had suddenly become the father of a
+grown-up daughter.
+
+"But what message did she send me?" he asked quickly. "Did she say when
+she was coming again?"
+
+Dick hesitated; Olive had said that she wanted her uncle to say when he
+wanted to see her, so that there should be no more surprising, but this
+request had been conditional. Dick knew that she did not want to come if
+her uncle were going to marry Miss Port; therefore it was that he
+hesitated.
+
+"Before we go any further," he said, "I think I would better mention a
+little thing which will make you laugh, but still it did worry Miss
+Asher, and was one reason why she went back to Broadstone without
+stopping."
+
+"What is it" asked the captain, putting down his pipe.
+
+Dick did not come out plainly and frankly, as he had told Olive he would
+do when he mentioned the Maria Port matter. In his own heart he could
+not help believing now that Olive's suspicions had had good foundations,
+and old Jane's announcements, combined with the captain's own actions in
+regard to the Port family, had almost convinced him that this miserable
+engagement was a fact. But, of course, he would not in any way intimate
+to the captain that he believed in such nonsense, and therefore, in an
+offhand manner, he mentioned Olive's absurd anxiety in regard to Miss
+Port.
+
+When the captain heard Dick's statement he answered it in the most frank
+and plain manner; he brought his big hand down on his knee and swore as
+if one of his crew had boldly contradicted him. He did not swear at
+anybody in particular; there was the roar and the crash of the thunder
+and the flash of the lightning, but no direct stroke descended upon any
+one. He was angry that such a repulsive and offensive thing as his
+marriage to Maria Port should be mentioned, or even thought of, but he
+was enraged when he heard that his niece had believed him capable of
+such disgusting insanity. With a jerk he rose to his feet.
+
+"I will not talk about such a thing as this," he said. "If I did I am
+sure I should say something hard about my niece, and I don't want to do
+that." With this he strode away, and proceeded to look after the
+concerns of his little farm.
+
+Old Jane came cautiously to Dick. "Did he tell you when it was going to
+be, or anything about it?" she asked.
+
+"No," said Dick, "he would not even speak of it."
+
+"I suppose he expects us to mind our own business," said she, "and of
+course we'll have to do it, but I can tell him one thing--I'm goin' to
+make it my business to leave this place the day before that woman comes
+here."
+
+Dejected and thoughtful, Dick sat in the arbor. Here was a state of
+affairs very different from what he had anticipated. He had not been
+able to hurry to her the evening before; he had not gone to breakfast as
+she had invited him; he had not started off early in the forenoon; and
+now he asked himself when should he go, or, indeed, why should he go at
+all? She had no anxieties he could relieve. Anything he could tell her
+would only heap more unhappiness upon her, and the longer he could keep
+his news from her the better it would be for her.
+
+Olive had not joined the Broadstone party at dinner the night before.
+She had been too tired, and had gone directly to her room, where, after
+a time, Mrs. Easterfield joined her; and the two talked late. One who
+had overheard their conversation might well have supposed that the elder
+lady was as much interested in Lieutenant Asher's approaching nuptials
+as was the younger one. When she was leaving Mrs. Easterfield said:
+
+"You have enough on your mind to give it all the trouble it ought to
+bear, and so I beg of you not to think for a moment of that absurd idea
+about your uncle's engagement. I never saw the woman, but I have heard
+of her; she is a professional scandal-monger; and Captain Asher would
+not think for a moment of marrying her. When Mr. Lancaster comes
+to-morrow you will hear that she was merely consulting him on business,
+and that you are to go to the toll-gate to-morrow as soon as you can.
+But remember, this time I am going to send you in the carriage. No more
+bicycles."
+
+In spite of this well-intentioned admonition, Olive did not sleep well,
+and dreamed all night of Miss Port in the shape of a great cat covered
+with feathers like a chicken, and trying to get a chance to jump at her.
+Very early she awoke, and looking at her clock, she began to calculate
+the hours which must pass before Mr. Lancaster could arrive. It was
+rather strange that of the two troubles which came to her as soon as she
+opened her eyes, the suspected engagement of her uncle pushed itself in
+front of the actual engagement of her father; the one was something she
+_knew_ she would have to make up her mind to bear; the other was
+something she _feared_ she would have to make up her mind to bear.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+_What Olive determined to do._
+
+
+Olive was very much disappointed at breakfast time, and as soon as she
+had finished that meal she stationed herself at a point on the grounds
+which commanded the entrance. People came and talked to her, but she did
+not encourage conversation, and about eleven o'clock she went to Mrs.
+Easterfield in her room.
+
+"He is not coming," she said. "He is afraid."
+
+"What is he afraid of?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"He is afraid to tell me that the optimistic speculations with which he
+tried to soothe my mind arose entirely from his own imagination. The
+whole thing is exactly what I expected, and he hasn't the courage to
+come and say so. Now, really, don't you think this is the state of the
+case, and that if he had anything but the worst news to bring me he
+would have been here long ago?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked very serious. "I would not give up," she said,
+"until I saw Mr. Lancaster and heard what he has to say."
+
+"That would not suit me," said Olive. "I have waited and waited just as
+long as I can. It is as likely as not that he has concluded that he can
+not do anything here which will be of service to any one, and has
+started off to finish his vacation at some place where people won't
+bother him with their own affairs. He told me when I first met him that
+he was on his way North. And now, would you like me to tell you what I
+have determined to do?"
+
+"I would," said Mrs. Easterfield, but her expression did not indicate
+that she expected Olive's announcement to give her any pleasure.
+
+"I have been considering it all the morning," said Olive, "and I have
+determined to marry without delay. The greatest object of my life at
+present is to write to my father that I am married. I don't wish to tell
+him anything until I can tell him that. I would also be glad to be able
+to send the same message to the toll-gate house, but I don't suppose it
+will make much difference there."
+
+"Do you think," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that my inviting you here made
+all this trouble?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "It was not the immediate cause, but uncle knows I do
+not like that woman, and she doesn't like me, and it would not have
+suited him to have me stay very much longer with him. I thought at first
+he was glad to have me go on account of Mr. Lancaster, but now I do not
+believe that had anything to do with it. He did not want me with him,
+and what that woman came here and told me about his not expecting me
+back again was, I now believe, a roundabout message from him."
+
+"Now, Olive," said Mrs. Easterfield, "it would be a great deal better
+for you to stop all this imagining until you hear from Mr. Lancaster,
+if you don't see him. Perhaps the poor young man has sprained his ankle,
+or was prevented in some ordinary way from coming. But what is this
+nonsense about getting married?"
+
+"There is no nonsense about it," said Olive. "I am going to marry, but I
+have not chosen any one yet."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield uttered an exclamation of horror. "Choose!" she
+exclaimed. "What have you to do with choosing? I don't think you are
+much like other girls, but I did think you had enough womanly qualities
+to make you wait until you are chosen."
+
+"I intend to wait until I am chosen," said Olive, "but I shall choose
+the person who is to choose me. I have always thought it absurd for a
+young woman to sit and wait and wait until some one comes and sees fit
+to propose to her. Even under ordinary circumstances, I think the young
+woman has not a fair chance to get what she wants. But my case is
+extraordinary, and I can't afford to wait; and as I don't want to go out
+into the world to look for a husband, I am going to take one of these
+young men here."
+
+"Olive," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "you don't mean you are going to marry
+Mr. Locker?"
+
+"You forget," said Olive, "that I told you I have not made up my mind
+yet. But although I have not come to a decision, I have a leaning toward
+one of them. The more I think of it the more I incline in the direction
+of my old love."
+
+"Mr. Hemphill!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Olive, you are crazy, or
+else you are joking in a very disagreeable manner. There could be no
+one more unfit for you than he is."
+
+"I am not crazy, and I am not joking," replied the girl, "and I think
+Rupert would suit me very well. You see, I think a great deal more of
+Rupert than I do of Mr. Hemphill, although the latter gentleman has
+excellent points. He is commonplace, and, above everything else, I want
+a commonplace husband. I want some one to soothe me, and quiet me, and
+to give me ballast. If there is anything out of the way to be done I
+want to do it myself. I am sure he is in love with me, for his anxious
+efforts to make me believe that the frank avowal of my early affection
+had no effect upon him proves that he was very much affected. I believe
+that he is truly in love with me."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield's sharp eyes had seen this, and she had nothing to say.
+
+"I believe," continued Olive, "that a retrospect love will be a better
+foundation for conjugal happiness than any other sort of affection. One
+can always look back to it no matter what happens, and be happy in the
+memory of it. It would be something distinct which could never be
+interfered with. You can't imagine what an earnest and absorbing love I
+once had for that man!"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sprang to her feet. "Olive Asher," she cried, "I can't
+listen to you if you talk in this way!"
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, "if you object so much to Rupert--you must not
+forget that it would be Rupert that I would really marry if I became the
+wife of Mr. Hemphill--do you advise me to take Mr. Locker? And I will
+tell you this, he is not to be rudely set aside; he has warm-hearted
+points which I did not suspect at first. I will tell you what he just
+said to me. As I was coming up-stairs he hurried toward me, and his face
+showed that he was very anxious to speak to me. So before he could utter
+a word, I told him that he was too early; that his hour had not yet
+arrived. Then that good fellow said to me that he had seen I was in
+trouble, and that he had been informed it had been caused by bad news
+from my family. He had made no inquiries because he did not wish to
+intrude upon my private affairs, and all he wished to say now was that
+while my mind was disturbed and worried he did not intend to present his
+own affairs to my attention, even though I had fixed regular times for
+his doing so. But although he wished me to understand that I need not
+fear his making love to me just at this time, he wanted me to remember
+that his love was still burning as brightly as ever, and would be again
+offered me just as soon as he would be warranted in doing so."
+
+"And what did you say to that?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I felt like patting him on the head," Olive answered, "but instead of
+doing that I shook his hand just as warmly as I could, and told him I
+should not forget his consideration and good feeling."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sighed. "You have joined him fast to your car," she
+said, "and yet, even if there were no one else, he would be impossible."
+
+"Why so?" asked Olive quickly. "I have always liked him, and now I like
+him ever so much better. To be sure he is queer; but then he is so much
+queerer than I am that perhaps in comparison I might take up the part
+of commonplace partner. Besides, he has money enough to live on. He told
+me that when he first addressed me. He said he would never ask any woman
+to live on pickled verse feet, and he has also told me something of his
+family, which must be a good one."
+
+"Olive," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I don't believe at all in the necessity
+or the sense in your precipitating plans of marrying. It is all airy
+talk, anyway. You can't ask a man to step up and marry you in order that
+you may sit down and write a letter to your father. But if you are
+thinking of marrying, or rather of preparing to marry at some suitable
+time, why, in the name of everything that is reasonable, don't you take
+Mr. Lancaster? He is as far above the other young men you have met here
+as the mountains are above the plains; he belongs to another class
+altogether. He is a thoroughly fine young man, and has a most honorable
+profession with good prospects, and I know he loves you. You need not
+ask me how I know it--it is always easy for a woman to find out things
+like that. Now, here is a prospective husband for you whose cause I
+should advocate. In fact, I should be delighted to see you married to
+him. He possesses every quality which would make you a good husband."
+
+Olive smiled. "You seem to know a great deal about him," said she, "and
+I assure you that so far as he himself is concerned, I have no
+objections to him, except that I think he might have had the courage to
+come and tell me the truth this morning, whatever it is."
+
+"Perhaps he has not found out the truth yet," quickly suggested Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+Olive fixed her eyes upon her companion and for a few moments reflected,
+but presently she shook her head.
+
+"No, that can not be," she answered. "He would have let me know he had
+been obliged to wait. Oh, no, it is all settled, and we can drop that
+subject. But as for Mr. Lancaster, his connections would make any
+thought of him impossible. He, and his father, too, are both close
+friends of my uncle, and he would be a constant communication between me
+and that woman unless there should be a quarrel, which I don't wish to
+cause. No, I want to leave everything of that sort as far behind me as
+it used to be in front of me, and as Professor Lancaster is mixed up
+with it I could not think of having anything to do with him."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was silent. She was trying to make up her mind whether
+this girl were talking sense or nonsense. What she said seemed to be
+extremely nonsensical, but as she said it, it was difficult to believe
+that she did not consider it to be entirely rational.
+
+"Well," said Olive, "you have objected to two of my candidates, and I
+positively decline the one you offer, so we have left only the diplomat.
+He has proposed, and he has not yet received a definite answer. You have
+told me yourself that he belongs to an aristocratic family in Austria,
+and I am sure that would be a grand match. We have talked together a
+great deal, and he seems to like the things I like. I should see plenty
+of court life and high society, for he will soon be transferred from
+this legation, and if I take him I shall go to some foreign capital. He
+is very sharp and ambitious, and I have no doubt that some day he will
+be looked upon as a distinguished foreigner. Now, as it is the ambition
+of many American girls to marry distinguished foreigners, this alliance
+is certainly worthy of due consideration."
+
+"Stuff!" said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+Olive was not annoyed, and replied very quietly: "It is not stuff. You
+must know young women who have married foreigners and who did not do
+anything like so well as if they had married rising diplomats."
+
+Mrs. Blynn now knocked at the door on urgent household business.
+
+"I shall want to see you again about all this, Olive," said Mrs.
+Easterfield as they parted.
+
+"Of course," replied the girl, "whenever you want to."
+
+"Mrs. Blynn," said the lady of the house, "before you mention what you
+have come to talk about, please tell one of the men to put a horse to a
+buggy and come to the house. I want to send a message by him."
+
+The letter which was speedily on its way to Mr. Richard Lancaster was a
+very brief one. It simply asked the young gentleman to come to
+Broadstone, with bad news or good news, or without any news at all. It
+was absolutely necessary that the writer should see him, and in order
+that there might be no delay she sent a conveyance for him. Moreover,
+she added, it would give her great pleasure if Mr. Lancaster would come
+prepared to spend a couple of days at her house. She felt sure good
+Captain Asher would spare him for that short time. She believed that at
+this moment more gentlemen were needed at Broadstone, and, although she
+did not go on to say that she thought Dick was not having a fair chance
+at this very important crisis, that is what she expected the young man
+to understand.
+
+Just before luncheon, at the time when Claude Locker might have been
+urging his suit had he been less kind-hearted and generous, Olive found
+an opportunity to say a few words to Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"A capital idea has come into my head," she said. "What do you think of
+holding a competitive examination among these young men?"
+
+"More stuff, and more nonsense!" ejaculated Mrs. Easterfield. "I never
+knew any one to trifle with serious subjects as you are trifling with
+your future."
+
+"I am not trifling," said Olive. "Of course, I don't mean that I should
+hold an examination, but that you should. You know that parents--foreign
+parents, I mean--make all sorts of examinations of the qualifications
+and merits of candidates for the hands of their daughters, and I should
+be very grateful if you would be at least that much of a mother to me."
+
+"No examination would be needed," said the other quickly; "I should
+decide upon Mr. Lancaster without the necessity of any questions or
+deliberations."
+
+"But he is not a candidate," said Olive; "he has been ruled out.
+However," she added with a little laugh, "nothing can be done just now,
+for they have not all entered themselves in the competition; Mr.
+Hemphill has not proposed yet."
+
+At that instant the rest of the family joined them on their way to
+luncheon.
+
+The meal was scarcely over when Olive disappeared up-stairs, but soon
+came down attired in a blue sailor suit, which she had not before worn
+at Broadstone, and although the ladies of that house had been astonished
+at the number of costumes this navy girl carried in her unostentatious
+baggage, this was a new surprise to them.
+
+"Mr. Hemphill and I are going boating," said Olive to Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Olive!" exclaimed the other.
+
+"What is there astonishing about it?" asked the girl. "I have been out
+boating with Mr. Locker, and it did not amaze you. You need not be
+afraid; Mr. Hemphill says he has had a good deal of practise in rowing,
+and if he does not understand the management of a boat I am sure I do.
+It is only for an hour, and we shall be ready for anything that the rest
+of you are going to do this afternoon."
+
+With this, away she went, skipping over the rocks and grass, down to the
+river's edge, followed by Mr. Hemphill, who could scarcely believe he
+was in a world of common people and common things, while he, in turn,
+was followed by the mental anathemas of a poet and a diplomat.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIX_
+
+_The Captain and Dick Lancaster desert the Toll-Gate._
+
+
+When Captain Asher, in an angry mood, left his young friend and guest
+and went out into his barnyard and his fields in order to quiet his soul
+by the consideration of agricultural subjects, he met with but little
+success. He looked at his pigs, but he did not notice their plump
+condition; he glanced at his two cows, cropping the grass in the little
+meadow, but it did not impress him that they also were in fine
+condition; nor did he care whether the pasture were good or not. He
+looked at this; and he looked at that; and then he folded his arms and
+looked at the distant mountains. Suddenly he turned on his heel, walked
+straight to the stable, harnessed his mare to the buggy, and, without
+saying a word to anybody, drove out of the gate, and on to Glenford.
+
+Dick Lancaster, who was in the arbor, looked in amazement after the
+captain's departing buggy, and old Jane, with tears in her eyes, came
+out and spoke to him.
+
+"Isn't this dreadful" she said to him. "Supper with that woman and there
+all night, and back again as soon as he can get off this mornin'!"
+
+"Perhaps he is not going to her house," Dick suggested. "He may have
+business in town which he forgot yesterday."
+
+"If he'd had it he'd forgot it," replied the old woman. "But he hadn't
+none. He's gone to Maria Port's, and he may bring her back with him,
+married tight and fast, for all you or me knows. It would be just like
+his sailor fashion. When the captain's got anything to do he just does
+it sharp and quick."
+
+"I don't believe that," said Dick. "If he had had any such intention as
+that he certainly would have mentioned it to you or to me."
+
+The good woman shook her head. "When an old man marries a girl," she
+said, "she just leads him wherever she wants him to go, and he gives up
+everything to her, and when an old man marries a tough and seasoned and
+smoked old maid like Maria Port, she just drives him wherever she wants
+him to go, and he hasn't nothin' to say about it. It looks as if she
+told him to come in this mornin', and he's gone. It may be for a
+weddin', or it may be for somethin' else, but whatever it is, it'll be
+her way and not his straight on to the end of the chapter."
+
+Dick had nothing to answer. He was very much afraid that old Jane knew
+what she was talking about, and his mind was occupied with trying to
+decide what he, individually, ought to do about it. Old Jane was now
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to attend to a traveler, but when she
+came back she took occasion to say a few more words.
+
+"It's hard on me, sir," she said, "at my age to make a change. I've
+lived at this house, and I've took toll at that gate ever since I was a
+girl, long before the captain came here, and I've been with him a long
+time. My people used to own this house, but they all died, and when the
+place was sold and the captain bought it, he heard about me, and he said
+I should always have charge of the old toll-gate when he wasn't
+attendin' to it himself, just the same as when my father was alive and
+was toll-gate keeper, and I was helpin' him. But I've got to go now, and
+where I'm goin' to is more'n I know. But I'd rather go to the county
+poorhouse than stay here, or anywhere else, with Maria Port. She's a
+regular boa-constrictor, that woman is! She's twisted herself around
+people before this and squeezed the senses out of them; and that's
+exactly what she's doin' with the captain. If she could come here to
+live and bring her old father, and get him to sell the house in town and
+put the money in bank, and then if she could worry her husband and her
+father both to death, and work things so she'd be a widow with plenty of
+money and a good house and as much farm land as she wanted, and a
+toll-gate where she could set all day and take toll and give back lies
+and false witness as change, she'd be the happiest woman on earth."
+
+It had been long since old Jane had said as much at any one time to any
+one person, but her mind was stirred. Her life was about to change, and
+the future was very black to her.
+
+When dinner was ready the captain had not yet returned, and Dick ate his
+meal by himself. He was now beginning to feel used to this sort of
+thing. He had scarcely finished, and gone down to the garden-gate to
+look once more over the road toward Glenford, when the man in the buggy
+arrived, and he received Mrs. Easterfield's letter.
+
+He lost no moments in making up his mind. He would go to Broadstone, of
+course, and he did not think it at all necessary to stand on ceremony
+with the captain. The latter had gone off and left him without making
+any statement whatever, but he would do better, and he wrote a note
+explaining the state of affairs. As he was leaving old Jane came to bid
+him good-by.
+
+"I don't know," said she, "that you will find me here when you come
+back. The fact of it is I don't know nothin'. But one thing's certain,
+if she's here I ain't, and if she's too high and mighty to take toll in
+her honeymoon, the captain'll have to do it himself, or let 'em pass
+through free."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was on the lawn when Lancaster arrived, and in answer
+to the involuntary glance with which Dick's eyes swept the surrounding
+space, even while he was shaking hands with her, she said: "No, she is
+not here. She has gone boating, and so you must come and tell me
+everything, and then we can decide what is best to tell her."
+
+For an instant Dick's soul demurred. If he told Olive anything he would
+tell her all he knew, and exactly what had happened. But he would not
+lose faith in this noble woman who was going to help him with Olive if
+she could. So they sat down, side by side, and he told her everything he
+knew about Captain Asher and Miss Port.
+
+"It does look very much as if he were going to marry the woman," said
+Mrs. Easterfield. Then she sat silent and looked upon the ground, a
+frown upon her face.
+
+Dick was also silent, and his countenance was clouded. "Poor Olive," he
+thought, "it is hard that this new trouble should come upon her just at
+this time."
+
+But Mrs. Easterfield said in her heart: "Poor fellow, how little you
+know what has come upon you! The woman who has turned her uncle from
+Olive has turned Olive from you."
+
+"Well," said the lady at length, "do you think it is worth while to say
+anything to her about it? She has already surmised the state of affairs,
+and, so far as I can see, you have nothing of importance to tell her."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Dick, "but as she sent me on a mission I want to
+make known to her the result of it so far as there has been any result.
+It will be very unpleasant, of course--it will be even painful--but I
+wish to do it all the same."
+
+"That is to say," said Mrs. Easterfield with a smile that was not very
+cheerful, "you want to be with her, to look at her and to speak to her,
+no matter how much it may pain her or you to do it."
+
+"That's it," answered Dick.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sat and reflected. She very much liked this young man,
+and, considering herself as his friend, were there not some things she
+ought to tell him? She concluded that there were such things.
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," she said, "have you noticed that there are other young
+men in love with Miss Asher?"
+
+"I know there is one," said Dick, "for he told me so himself."
+
+"That was Claude Locker?" said she with interest.
+
+"And he promised," continued Dick, "that if he failed he would do all he
+could to help me. I can not say that this is really for love of me, for
+his avowed object is to prevent Mr. Du Brant from getting her. We
+assumed that he was her lover, although I do not know that there is any
+real ground for it."
+
+"There is very good ground for it," said she, "for he has already
+proposed to her. What do you think of that?"
+
+"It makes no difference to me," said Dick; "that is, if he has not been
+accepted. What I want is to find myself warranted in telling Miss Asher
+how I feel toward her; it does not matter to me how the rest of the
+world feels."
+
+"Then there is another," said Mrs. Easterfield, "with whom she is now on
+the river--Mr. Hemphill. He is in love with her; and as he can not stay
+here very long, I think he will soon propose."
+
+"I can not help it," said Dick; "I love her, and the great object of my
+life just at present is to tell her so. You said you would help me, and
+I hope you will not withdraw from that promise."
+
+"No, indeed," said she, "but I do not know her as well as I thought I
+did. But here she comes now, and without the young man. I hope she has
+not drowned him!"
+
+Without heeding anything that had just been said to him Dick kept his
+eyes fixed upon the sparkling girl who now approached them. Every step
+she made was another link in his chain; Mrs. Easterfield glanced at him
+and knew this. She pitied him for what he had to tell her now, and more
+for what he might have to hear from her at another time. But Olive saved
+Dick from any present ordeal. She stepped up to him and offered him her
+hand.
+
+"I do not wonder, Mr. Lancaster," she said, "that you did not want to
+come back and tell me your doleful story, but as I know what it is, we
+need not say anything about it now, except that I am ever so much
+obliged to you for all your kindness to me. And now I am going to ask
+another favor. Won't you let me speak to Mrs. Easterfield a few
+moments?"
+
+As soon as they were seated, with the door shut, Olive began.
+
+"Well," said she, "he has proposed."
+
+"Mr. Hemphill!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Rupert," Olive answered, "yes, it is truly Rupert who proposed to me."
+
+"I declare," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "you come to me and tell me this as
+if it were a piece of glad news. Yesterday, and even this morning, you
+were plunged in grief, and now your eyes shine as if you were positively
+happy."
+
+"I have told you my aim and object in life," said the girl. "I am trying
+to do something, and to do it soon, and everything is going on smoothly.
+And as to being happy, I tell you, Mrs. Easterfield, there is no woman
+alive who could help being made happy by such a declaration as I have
+just received. No matter what answer she gave him, she would be bound
+to be happy."
+
+"Most other women would not have let him make it," said Mrs. Easterfield
+a little severely.
+
+"There is something in that," said Olive, "but they would not have the
+object in life I have. I may be unduly exalted, but you would not wonder
+at it if you had seen him and heard him. Mrs. Easterfield, that man
+loves me exactly as I used to love him, and he has told me his love just
+as I would have told him mine if I could have carried out the wish of my
+heart. His eyes glowed, his frame shook with the ardor of his passion.
+Two or three times I had to tell him that if he did not trim boat we
+should be upset. I never saw anything like his impassioned vehemence. It
+reminded me of Salvini. I never was loved like that before."
+
+"And what answer did you make to him?" asked Mrs. Easterfield, her voice
+trembling.
+
+"I did not make him any. It would not have been fair to the others or to
+myself to do that. I shall not swerve from my purpose, but I shall not
+be rash."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield rose suddenly and stepped to the open window; she could
+not sit still a moment longer; she needed air. "Olive," she said, "this
+is mad and wicked folly in you, and it is impertinent in him, no matter
+how much you encouraged him. I would like to send him back to his desk
+this minute. He has no right to come to his employer's house and behave
+in this manner."
+
+Olive did not get angry. "He is not impertinent," said she. "He knows
+nothing in this world but that I once loved him, and that now he loves
+me. Employer and employee are nothing to him. I don't believe he would
+go if you told him to, even if you could do such a thing, which I don't
+believe you would, for, of course, you would think of me as well as of
+him."
+
+"Olive Asher," cried Mrs. Easterfield in a voice which was almost a
+wail, "do you mean to say that you are to be considered in this matter,
+that for a moment you think of marrying this man?"
+
+"Yes," said Olive; "I do think of it, and the more I think of it the
+better I think of it. He is a good man; you have told me that yourself;
+and I can feel that he is good. I know he loves me. There can be no
+mistake about his words and his eyes. I feel as I never felt toward any
+other man, that I might become attached to him. And in my opinion a real
+attachment is the foundation of love, and you must never forget that I
+once loved him." The girl now stepped close to Mrs. Easterfield. "I am
+sorry to see those tears," she said; "I did not come here to make you
+unhappy."
+
+"But you have made me very unhappy," said the elder lady, "and I do not
+think I can talk any more about this now."
+
+When Olive had gone Mrs. Easterfield hurried down-stairs in search of
+Lancaster. She did not care what any one might think of her
+unconventional eagerness; she wanted to find him, and she soon
+succeeded. He was sitting in the shade with a book, which, when she
+approached him, she did not believe he was reading.
+
+"Yes," said she, as he started to his feet in evident concern, "I have
+been crying, and there is no use in trying to conceal it. Of course, it
+is about Olive, but I can not confide in you now, and I do not know that
+I have any right to do so, anyway. But I came here to beg you most
+earnestly not to propose to Miss Asher, no matter how good an
+opportunity you may have, no matter how much you want to do so, no
+matter how much hope may spring up in your heart."
+
+"Do you mean," said Dick, "that I must never speak to her? Am I too
+late? Is she lost to me?"
+
+"Not at all," said she, "you are not too late, but you may be too early.
+She is not lost to anybody, but if you should speak to her before I tell
+you to she will certainly be lost to you."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XX_
+
+_Mr. Locker determines to rush the Enemy's Position._
+
+
+The party at Broadstone was not in what might be called a congenial
+condition. There were among them elements of unrest which prevented that
+assimilation which is necessary to social enjoyment. Even the ordinarily
+placid Mr. Fox was dissatisfied. The trouble with him was--although he
+did not admit it--that he missed the company of Miss Asher. He had found
+her most agreeable and inspiriting, but now things had changed, and he
+did not seem to have any opportunity for the lively chats of a few days
+before. He remarked to his wife that he thought Broadstone was getting
+very dull, and he should be rather glad when the time came for them to
+leave. Mrs. Fox was not of his opinion; she enjoyed the state of affairs
+more than she had done when her husband had been better pleased. There
+was something going on which she did not understand, and she wanted to
+find out what it was. It concerned Miss Asher and one of the young men,
+but which one she could not decide. In any case it troubled Mrs.
+Easterfield, and that was interesting.
+
+Claude Locker seemed to be a changed man; he no longer made jokes or
+performed absurdities. He had become wonderfully vigilant, and seemed to
+be one who continually bided his time. He bided it so much that he was
+of very little use as a member of the social circle.
+
+Mr. Du Brant was also biding his time, but he did not make the fact
+evident. He was very vigilant also, but was very quiet, and kept himself
+in the background. He had seen Olive and Mr. Hemphill go out in the
+boat, but he determined totally to ignore that interesting occurrence.
+The moment he had an opportunity he would speak to Olive again, and the
+existence of other people did not concern him.
+
+Mr. Hemphill was walking by the river; Olive had not allowed him to come
+to the house with her, for his face was so radiant with the ecstasy of
+not having been discarded by her that she did not wish him to be seen.
+From her window Mrs. Easterfield saw this young man on his return from
+his promenade, and she knew it would not be many minutes before he would
+reach the house. She also saw the diplomat, who was glaring across the
+grounds at some one, probably Mr. Locker, who, not unlikely, was glaring
+back at him. She had come up-stairs to do some writing, but now she put
+down her pen and called to her secretary.
+
+"Miss Raleigh," said she, "it has been a good while since you have done
+anything for me."
+
+"Indeed it has," said the other with a sigh.
+
+"But I want you to do something this minute. It is strictly confidential
+business. I want you to go down on the lawn, or any other place where
+Miss Asher may be, and make yourself _mal à propos_. I am busy now, but
+I will relieve you before very long. Can you do that? Do you
+understand?"
+
+The aspect of the secretary underwent a total change. From a dull,
+heavy-eyed woman she became an intent, an eager emissary. Her hands
+trembled with the intensity of her desire to meddle with the affairs of
+others.
+
+"Of course I understand," she exclaimed, "and I can do it. You mean you
+don't want any of those young men to get a chance to speak to Miss
+Asher. Do you include Mr. Lancaster? Or shall I only keep off the
+others?"
+
+"I include all of them," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Don't let any of them
+have a chance to speak to her until I can come down. And hurry! Here is
+one coming now."
+
+Hurrying down-stairs, the secretary glanced into the library. There she
+saw Mrs. Fox in one armchair, and Olive in another, both reading. In the
+hall were the two little girls, busily engaged in harnessing two small
+chairs to a large armchair by means of a ball of pink yarn. Outside,
+about a hundred yards away, she saw Mr. Hemphill irresolutely
+approaching the house. Miss Raleigh's mind, frequently dormant, was very
+brisk and lively when she had occasion to waken it. She made a dive
+toward the children.
+
+"Dear little ones," she cried, "don't you want to come out under the
+trees and have the good Mr. Hemphill tell you a story? I know he wants
+to tell you one, and it is about a witch and two pussy-cats and a
+kangaroo. Come along. He is out there waiting for us." Down dropped the
+ball of yarn, and with exultant cries each little girl seized an
+outstretched hand of the secretary, and together they ran over the grass
+to meet the good Mr. Hemphill.
+
+Of course he was obliged to want to tell them a story; they expected it
+of him, and they were his employer's children. To be sure he had on mind
+something very practical and sensible he wished to say to Miss Olive,
+which had come to him during his solitary walk, and which he did not
+believe she would object to hearing, although he had said so much to her
+quite recently. As soon as he should begin to speak she would know that
+this was something she ought to know. It was about his mother, who had
+an income of her own, and did not in the least depend upon her son. Miss
+Olive would certainly agree with him that it was proper for him to tell
+her this.
+
+But the little girls seized his hands and led him away to a bench,
+where, having seated him almost forcibly, each climbed upon a knee. The
+good Mr. Hemphill sent a furtive glare after Miss Raleigh, who, with
+that smile of gentle gratification which comes to one after having just
+done a good deed to another, sauntered slowly away.
+
+"Don't come back again," cried out the older of the little girls. "He
+was put out in the last story, and we want this to be a long one. And
+remember, Mr, Rupert, it is to be about a witch and two pussy-cats--"
+
+"And a kangaroo," added the other.
+
+At the front door the secretary met Miss Asher, just emerging. "Isn't
+that a pretty picture" she said, pointing to the group under the trees.
+
+Olive looked at them and smiled. "It is beautiful," she said; "a
+regular family composition. I wish I had a kodak."
+
+"Oh, that would never do!" exclaimed Miss Raleigh. "He is just as
+sensitive as he can be, and, of course, it's natural. And the dear
+little things are so glad to get him to themselves so that they can have
+one of the long, long stories they like so much. May I ask what that is
+you are working, Miss Asher?"
+
+"It is going to be what they call a nucleus," said Olive, showing a
+little piece of fancy work. "You first crochet this, and then its
+ultimate character depends on what you may put around it. It may be a
+shawl, or a table cover, or even an apron, if you like crocheted aprons.
+I learned the stitch last winter. Would you like me to show it to you?"
+
+"I should like it above all things," said the secretary. And together
+they walked to a rustic bench quite away from the story-telling group.
+"So far I have done nothing but nucleuses," said Olive, as they sat
+down. "I put them away when they are finished, and then I suppose some
+time I shall take up one and make it into something."
+
+"Like those pastry shells," said Miss Raleigh, "which can be laid away
+and which you can fill up with preserves or jam whenever you want a pie.
+How many of these have you, Miss Asher?"
+
+"When this is finished there will be four," said Olive.
+
+At some distance, and near the garden, Dick Lancaster, strolling
+eastward, encountered Claude Locker, strolling westward.
+
+"Hello!" cried Locker. "I am glad to see you. Brought your baggage with
+you this time, I see. That means you are going to stay, of course."
+
+"A couple of days," replied Dick.
+
+"Well, a man can do a lot in that time, and you may have something to
+do, but I am not sure. No, sir," continued Locker, "I am not sure. I am
+on the point of making a demonstration in force. But the enemy is always
+presenting some new force. By enemy you understand me to mean that which
+I adore above all else in the world, but which must be attacked, and
+that right soon if her defenses are to be carried. Step this way a
+little, and look over there. Do you see that Raleigh woman sitting on a
+bench with her? Well, now, if I had not had such a beastly generous
+disposition I might be sitting on that bench this minute. I was deceived
+by a feint of the opposing forces this morning. I don't mean she
+deceived me. I did it myself. Although I had the right by treaty to
+march in upon her, I myself offered to establish a truce in order that
+she might bury her dead. I did not know who had been killed, but it
+looked as if there were losses of some kind. But it was a false alarm.
+The dead must have turned up only missing, and she was as lively as a
+cricket at luncheon, and went out in a boat with that tailor's
+model--sixteen dollars and forty-eight cents for the entire suit
+ready-made; or twenty-three dollars made to order."
+
+Dick smiled a little, but his soul rebelled within him. He regretted
+that he had given his promise to Mrs. Easterfield. What he wanted to do
+that moment was to go over to Captain Asher's niece and ask her to take
+a walk with him. What other man had a better right to speak to her than
+he had? But he respected his word; it would be very hard to break a
+promise made to Mrs. Easterfield; and he stood with his hands in his
+pockets, and his brows knit.
+
+"Now, I tell you what I am going to do," said Locker. "I am going to
+wait a little while--a very little while--and then I shall bounce over
+my earthworks, and rush her position. It is the only way to do it, and I
+shall be up and at her with cold steel. And now I will tell you what you
+must do. Just you hold yourself in reserve; and, if I am routed, you
+charge. You'd better do it if you know what's good for you, for that
+Austrian's over there pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French
+because that Raleigh woman doesn't get up and go. Now, I won't keep you
+any longer, but don't go far away. I can't talk any more, for I've got
+to have every eye fixed upon the point of attack."
+
+Dick looked at the animated face of his companion, and began to ask
+himself if the moment had not arrived when even a promise made to Mrs.
+Easterfield might be disregarded. Should he consent to allow his fate to
+depend upon the fortunes of Mr. Locker? He scorned the notion. It would
+be impossible for the girl who had talked so sweetly, so earnestly, so
+straight from her heart, when he had met her on the shunpike, to marry
+such a mountebank as this fellow, generous as he might be with that
+which could never belong to him. As to the diplomat, he did not
+condescend to bestow a thought upon such a black-pointed little
+foreigner.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXI_
+
+_Miss Raleigh enjoys a Rare Privilege._
+
+
+Miss Raleigh was very attentive to the instructions given her by Miss
+Asher, and while she exhibited the fashion of the new stitch Olive
+reflected.
+
+"I wonder," she said to herself, "if Mrs. Easterfield has done this. It
+looks very much like it, and if she did I am truly obliged to her. There
+is nothing I want so much now as a rest, and I didn't want to stay in
+the house either. Miss Raleigh," said she, suddenly changing the
+subject, "were you ever in love?"
+
+The secretary started. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
+
+"I don't mean anything," said Olive. "I simply wanted to know."
+
+"It is a queer question," said Miss Raleigh, her face changing to
+another shade of sallowness.
+
+"I know that," said Olive quickly, "but the answers to queer questions
+are always so much more interesting than those to any others. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Yes, they are," said Miss Raleigh thoughtfully, "but they are generally
+awfully hard to get. I have tried it myself."
+
+"Then you ought to have a fellow feeling for me," said Olive.
+
+"Well," said the other, looking steadfastly at her companion, "if you
+will promise to keep it all to yourself forever, I don't mind telling
+you that I was once in love. Would you like me to tell you who I was in
+love with?"
+
+"Yes," said Olive, "if you are willing to tell me."
+
+"Oh, I am perfectly willing," said the secretary. "It was Mr. Hemphill."
+
+Olive turned suddenly and looked at her in amazement.
+
+"Yes, it was Mr. Hemphill over there," said the other, speaking very
+tranquilly, as if the subject were of no importance. "You see, I have
+been living with the Easterfields for a long time, and in the winter we
+see a good deal of Mr. Hemphill. He has to come to the house on
+business, and often takes meals. He is Mr. Easterfield's private and
+confidential secretary. And, somehow or other, seeing him so often, and
+sometimes being his partner at cards when two were needed to make up a
+game, I forgot that I was older than he, and I actually fell in love
+with him. You see he has a good heart, Miss Asher; anybody could tell
+that from his way with children; and I have noticed that bachelors are
+often nicer with children than fathers are."
+
+"And he?" asked Olive.
+
+Miss Raleigh laughed a little laugh. "Oh, I did all the loving," she
+answered. "He never reciprocated the least little bit, and I often
+wondered why I adored him as much as I did. He was handsome, and he was
+good, and he had excellent taste; he was thoroughly trustworthy in his
+relations to the family, and I believe he would be equally so in all
+relations of life; but all that did not account for my unconquerable
+ardor, which was caused by a certain something which you know, Miss
+Asher, we can't explain."
+
+Olive tried hard not to allow any emotion to show itself in her face,
+but she did not altogether succeed. "And you still--" said she.
+
+"No, I don't," interrupted Miss Raleigh. "I love him no longer. There
+came a time when all my fire froze. I discovered that there was--"
+
+"I say, Miss Asher--" it was the voice of Claude Locker.
+
+Olive looked around at him. "Well?" said she.
+
+"Perhaps you have not noticed," said he, "that the tennis ground is now
+in the shade, and if you don't mind walking that way--" He said a good
+deal more which Miss Raleigh did not believe, understanding the young
+man thoroughly, and which Olive did not hear. Her mind was very busy
+with what she had just heard, which made a great impression on her. She
+did not know whether she was affronted, or hurt, or merely startled.
+
+Here was a man who loved her, a man she had loved, and one about whom
+she had been questioning herself as to the possibility of her loving him
+again. And here was a woman, a dyspeptic, unwholesome spinster, who had
+just said she had loved him. If Miss Raleigh had loved this man, how
+could she, Olive, love him? There was something repugnant about it which
+she did not attempt to understand. It went beyond reason. She felt it
+to be an actual relief to look up at Claude Locker, and to listen to
+what he was saying.
+
+"You mean," said she presently, "that you would like Miss Raleigh and me
+to come with you and play tennis."
+
+"I did not know Miss Raleigh played," he answered, "but I thought
+perhaps--"
+
+"Oh, no," said Olive. "I would not think of such a thing. In fact, Miss
+Raleigh and I are engaged. We are very busy about some important work."
+
+Mr. Locker gazed at the crocheted nucleus with an air of the loftiest
+disdain. "Of course, of course," said he, "but you really oblige me,
+Miss Asher, to speak very plainly and frankly and to say that I really
+do not care about playing tennis, but that I want to speak to you on a
+most important subject, which, for reasons that I will explain, must be
+spoken of immediately. So, if Miss Raleigh will be kind enough to
+postpone the little matter you have on hand--"
+
+Olive smiled and shook her head. "No, indeed, sir," she said; "I would
+not hurt a lady's feelings in that way, and moreover, I would not allow
+her to hurt her own feelings. It would hurt your feelings, Miss Raleigh,
+wouldn't it, to be sent away like a child who is not wanted?"
+
+"Yes," said the secretary, "I think it would."
+
+Mr. Locker listened in amazement. He had not thought the mature maiden
+had the nerve to say that.
+
+"Then again," said Olive, "this isn't the time for you to talk business
+with me, and you should not disturb me at this hour."
+
+"Oh," said Locker, bringing down the forefinger of his right hand upon
+the palm of his left, "that is a point, a very essential point. I
+voluntarily surrendered the period of discourse which you assigned to me
+for a reason which I now believe did not exist, and this is only an
+assertion of the rights vested in me by you."
+
+Miss Raleigh listened very attentively to these remarks, but could not
+imagine what they meant.
+
+Olive looked at him graciously. "Yes," she said, "you are very generous,
+but your period for discourse, as you call it, will have to be
+postponed."
+
+"But it can't be postponed," he answered. "If I could see you alone I
+could soon explain that to you. There are certain reasons why I must
+speak now."
+
+"I can't help it," said Olive. "I am not going to leave Miss Raleigh,
+and I am sure she does not want to leave me, so if you are obliged to
+speak you must speak before her."
+
+Mr. Locker gazed from one to the other of the two ladies who sat before
+him; each of them wore a gentle but determined expression. He addressed
+the secretary.
+
+"Miss Raleigh," said he, "if you understood the reason for my strong
+desire to speak in private with Miss Asher, perhaps you would respect it
+and give me the opportunity I ask for. I am here to make a proposition
+of marriage to this lady, and it is absolutely necessary that I make it
+without loss of time. Do you desire me to make it in your presence?"
+
+"I should like it very much," said Miss Raleigh.
+
+Mr. Locker gave her a look of despair, and turned to Olive. "Would you
+permit that?" he asked.
+
+"If it is absolutely necessary," she said, "I suppose I shall have to
+permit it."
+
+Mr. Locker had the soul of a lion in his somewhat circumscribed body,
+and he was not to be recklessly dared to action.
+
+"Very well, then," said he, "I shall proceed as if we were alone, and I
+hope, Miss Raleigh, you will at least see fit to consider yourself in a
+strictly confidential position."
+
+"Indeed I shall," she replied; "not one word shall ever--"
+
+"I hope not," interrupted Claude, "and I will add that if I should ever
+be accidentally present when a gentleman is about to propose to you,
+Miss Raleigh, I shall heap coals of fire upon your head by
+instantaneously withdrawing."
+
+The secretary was about to thank him, but Olive interrupted. "Now,
+Claude Locker," said she, "what can you possibly have to say to me that
+you have not said before?"
+
+"A good deal, Miss Asher, a good deal, although I don't wonder you
+suppose that no man could say more to you of his undying affection than
+I have already said. But, since I last spoke on the subject, I have been
+greatly impressed by the fact that I have not said enough about myself;
+that I have not made you understand me as I really am. I know very well
+that most people, and I suppose that at some time you have been among
+them, look upon me as a very frivolous young man, and not one to whom
+the right sort of a girl should give herself in marriage. But that is a
+mistake. I am as much to be depended upon as anybody you ever met. My
+apparently whimsical aspect is merely the outside--my shell, marked off
+in queer designs with variegated colors--but within that shell I am as
+domestic, as sober, and as surely to be found where I am expected to be
+as any turtle. This may seem a queer figure, but it strikes me as a very
+good one. When I am wanted I am there. You can always depend upon me."
+
+There was not a smile upon the face of either woman as he spoke. They
+were listening earnestly, and with the deepest interest. Miss Raleigh's
+eyes sparkled, and Olive seemed to be most seriously considering this
+new aspect in which Mr. Locker was endeavoring to place himself.
+
+"Perhaps you may think," Claude continued, "that you would not desire
+turtle-like qualities in a husband, you who are so bright, so bounding,
+so much like a hare, but I assure you, that is just the companion who
+would suit you. All day you might skip among the flowers, and in the
+fields, and wherever you were, you would always know where I was--making
+a steady bee-line for home; and you would know that I would be there to
+welcome you when you arrived."
+
+"That is very pretty!" said Miss Raleigh. And then she quickly added:
+"Excuse me for making a remark."
+
+"Now, Miss Asher," continued Locker, "I have tried, very imperfectly, I
+know, to make you see me as I really am, and I do hope you can put an
+end to this suspense which is keeping me in a nervous tingle. I can not
+sleep at night, and all day I am thinking what you will say when you do
+decide. You need not be afraid to speak out before Miss Raleigh. She is
+in with us now, and she can't get out. I would not press you for an
+answer at this moment, but there are reasons which I can not say
+anything about without meddling with other people's business. But my
+business with you is the happiness of my life, and I feel that I can not
+longer endure having it momentarily jeopardized."
+
+At the conclusion of this speech a faint color actually stole into Miss
+Raleigh's face, and she clasped her thin hands in the intensity of her
+approval.
+
+"Mr. Locker," said Olive, speaking very pleasantly, "if you had come to
+me to-day and had asked me for a decision based upon what you had
+already said to me, I think I might have settled the matter. But after
+what you have just told me, I can not answer you now. You give me things
+to think about, and I must wait."
+
+"Heavens" exclaimed Mr. Locker, clasping his hands. "Am I not yet to
+know whether I am to rise into paradise, or to sink into the infernal
+regions?"
+
+Olive smiled. "Don't do either, Mr. Locker," she said. "This earth is a
+very pleasant place. Stay where you are."
+
+He folded his arms and gazed at her. "It is a pleasant place," said he,
+"and I am mighty glad I got in my few remarks before you made your
+decision. I leave my love with you on approbation, and you may be sure I
+shall come to-morrow before luncheon to hear what you say about it."
+
+"I shall expect you," said Olive. And as she spoke her eyes were full of
+kind consideration.
+
+"Now, that's genuine," said Miss Raleigh, when Locker had departed. "If
+he had not felt every word he said he could not have said it before me."
+
+"No doubt you are right," said Olive. "He is very brave. And now you see
+this new line, which begins an entirely different kind of stitch!"
+
+In the middle distance Mr. Du Brant still strolled backward and forward,
+pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French. He seldom removed his eyes
+from Miss Asher, but still she sat on that bench and crocheted, and
+talked, and talked, and crocheted, with that everlasting Miss Raleigh!
+He had seen Locker with her, and he had seen him go; and now he hoped
+that the woman would soon depart. Then it would be his chance.
+
+The young Austrian had become most eager to make Olive his wife. He
+earnestly loved her; and, beyond that, he had come to see that a
+marriage with her would be most advantageous to his prospects. This
+beautiful and brilliant American girl, familiar with foreign life and
+foreign countries, would give him a position in diplomatic society which
+would be most desirable. She might not bring him much money; although he
+believed that all American girls had some money; but she would bring him
+favor, distinction, and, most likely, advancement. With such a wife he
+would be a welcome envoy at any court. And, besides, he loved her. But,
+alas, Miss Raleigh would not go away.
+
+About half an hour after Claude Locker left Olive he encountered Dick
+Lancaster.
+
+"Well," said he, "I charged. I was not routed, I can't say that I was
+even repulsed. But I was obliged to withdraw my forces. I shall go into
+camp, and renew the attack to-morrow. So, my friend, you will have to
+wait. I wish I could say that there is no use of your waiting, but I am
+a truthful person and can't do that."
+
+Lancaster was not pleased. "It seems to me," he said, "that you trifle
+with the most important affairs of life."
+
+"Trifle!" exclaimed Locker. "Would you call it trifling if I fail, and
+then to save her from a worse fate, were to back you up with all my
+heart and soul?"
+
+Dick could not help smiling. "By a worse fate," he said, "I suppose you
+mean--"
+
+"The Austrian," interrupted Locker. "Mrs. Easterfield has told me
+something about him. He may have a title some day, and he is about as
+dangerous as they make them. Instead of accusing me of trifling, you
+ought to go down on your knees and thank me for still standing between
+him and her."
+
+"That is a duty I would like to perform myself," said Dick.
+
+"Perhaps you may have a chance," sighed Locker, "but I most earnestly
+hope not. Look over there at that he-nurse. Those children have made him
+take them walking, and he is just coming back to the house."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXII_
+
+_The Conflicting Serenades._
+
+
+Mrs. Easterfield worked steadily at her letter, feeling confident all
+the time that her secretary was attending conscientiously to the task
+which had been assigned to her, and which could not fail to be a most
+congenial one. One of the greatest joys of Miss Raleigh's life was to
+interfere in other people's business; and to do it under approval and
+with the feeling that it was her duty was a rare joy.
+
+The letter was to her husband, and Mrs. Easterfield was writing it
+because she was greatly troubled, and even frightened. In the indulgence
+of a good-humored and romantic curiosity to know whether or not a
+grown-up young woman would return to a sentimental attachment of her
+girlhood, she had brought her husband's secretary to the house with
+consequences which were appalling. If this navy girl she had on hand had
+been a mere flirt, Mrs. Easterfield, an experienced woman of society,
+might not have been very much troubled, but Olive seemed to her to be
+much more than a flirt; she would trifle until she made up her mind, but
+when she should come to a decision Mrs. Easterfield believed she would
+act fairly and squarely. She wanted to marry; and, in her heart, Mrs.
+Easterfield commended her; without a mother; now more than ever without
+a father; her only near relative about to marry a woman who was
+certainly a most undesirable connection; Olive was surely right in
+wishing to settle in life. And, if piqued and affronted by her father's
+intended marriage, she wished immediately to declare her independence,
+the girl could not be blamed. And, from what she had said of Mr.
+Hemphill, Mrs. Easterfield could not in her own mind dissent. He was a
+good young man; he had an excellent position; he fervently loved Olive;
+she had loved him, and might do it again. What was there to which she
+could object? Only this: it angered and frightened her to think of Olive
+Asher throwing herself away upon Rupert Hemphill. So she wrote a very
+strong letter to her husband, representing to him that the danger was
+very great and imminent, and that he was needed at Broadstone just as
+soon as he could get there. Business could be set aside; his wife's
+happiness was at stake; for if this unfortunate match should be made, it
+would be her doing, and it would cloud her whole life. Of herself she
+did not know what to do, and if she had known, she could not have done
+it. But if he came he would not only know everything, but could do
+anything. This indicated her general opinion of Mr. Tom Easterfield.
+
+"Now," said she to herself, as she fixed an immediate-delivery stamp
+upon the letter, "that ought to bring him here before lunch to-morrow."
+
+When Olive saw fit to go to her room Miss Raleigh felt relieved from
+guard, and went to Mrs. Easterfield to report. She told that lady
+everything that had happened, even including her own emotions at
+various points of the interview. The amazed Mrs. Easterfield listened
+with the greatest interest.
+
+"I knew Claude Locker was capable of almost any wild proceeding," she
+said, "but I did not think he would do that!"
+
+"There is one thing I forgot," said the secretary, "and that is that I
+promised Mr. Locker not to mention a word of what happened."
+
+"I am very glad," replied Mrs. Easterfield, "that you remembered that
+promise after you told me everything, and not before. You have done
+admirably so far."
+
+"And if I have any other opportunities of interpolating myself, so to
+speak," said Miss Raleigh, "shall I embrace them?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "I don't want you to be too obviously
+zealous," she answered. "I think for the present we may relax our
+efforts to relieve Miss Asher of annoyance." Mrs. Easterfield believed
+this. She had faith in Olive; and if that young woman had promised to
+give Claude Locker another hearing the next day she did not believe that
+the girl would give anybody else a positive answer before that time.
+
+Miss Raleigh went away not altogether satisfied. She did not believe in
+relaxed vigilance; for one thing, it was not interesting.
+
+Olive was surprised when she found that Mr. Lancaster was to stay to
+dinner, and afterward when she was informed that he had been invited to
+spend a few days, she reflected. It looked like some sort of a plan, and
+what did Mrs. Easterfield mean by it? She knew the lady of the house
+had a very good opinion of the young professor, and that might explain
+the invitation at this particular moment, but still it did look like a
+plan, and as Olive had no sympathy with plans of this sort she
+determined not to trouble her head about it. And to show her
+non-concern, she was very gracious to Mr. Lancaster, and received her
+reward in an extremely interesting conversation.
+
+Still Olive reflected, and was not in her usual lively spirits. Mr. Fox
+said to Mrs. Fox that it was an abominable shame to allow a crowd of
+incongruous young men to swarm in upon a country house party, and
+interfere seriously with the pleasures of intelligent and
+self-respecting people.
+
+That night, after Mrs. Easterfield had gone to bed, and before she
+slept, she heard something which instantly excited her attention; it was
+the sound of a guitar, and it came from the lawn in front of the house.
+Jumping up, and throwing a dressing-gown about her, she cautiously
+approached the open window. But the night was dark, and she could see
+nothing. Pushing an armchair to one side of the window, she seated
+herself, and listened. Words now began to mingle with the music, and
+these words were French. Now she understood everything perfectly. Mr. Du
+Brant was a musician, and had helped himself to the guitar in the
+library.
+
+From the position in which she sat Mrs. Easterfield could look upon a
+second-story window in a projecting wing of the house, and upon this
+window, which belonged to Olive's room, and which was barely perceptible
+in the gloom, she now fixed her eyes. The song and the thrumming went
+on, but no signs of life could be seen in the black square of that open
+window.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was not a bad French scholar, and she caught enough of
+the meaning of the words to understand that they belonged to a very
+pretty love song in which the flowers looked up to the sky to see if it
+were blue, because they knew if it were the fair one smiled, and then
+their tender buds might ope; and, if she smiled, his heart implored that
+she might smile on him. There was a second verse, much resembling the
+first, except that the flowers feared that clouds might sweep the sky;
+and they lamented accordingly.
+
+Now, Mrs. Easterfield imagined that she saw something white in the
+depths of the darkness of Olive's room, but it did not come to the
+front, and she was very uncertain about it. Suddenly, however, something
+happened about which she could not be in the least uncertain. Above
+Olive's room was a chamber appropriated to the use of bachelor visitors,
+and from the window of this room now burst upon the night a wild,
+unearthly chant. It was a song with words but without music, and the
+voice in which it was shot out into the darkness was harsh, was shrill,
+was insolently blatant. And thus the clamorous singer sang:
+
+    "My angel maid--ahoy!
+    If aught should you annoy,
+        By act or sound,
+        From sky or ground,
+        I then pray thee
+        To call on me
+    My angel maid--ahoy,
+    My ange--my ange--l maid
+    Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!"
+
+The music of the guitar now ceased, and no French words were heard. No
+ditty of Latin origin, be it ever so melodious and fervid, could stand
+against such a wild storm of Anglo-Saxon vociferation. Every ahoy rang
+out as if sea captains were hailing each other in a gale!
+
+"What lungs he has" thought Mrs. Easterfield, as she put her hand over
+her mouth so that no one should hear her laugh. At the open window, at
+which she still steadily gazed, she now felt sure she saw something
+white which moved, but it did not come to the front.
+
+A wave of half-smothered objurgation now rolled up from below; it was
+not to be readily caught, but its tone indicated rage and
+disappointment. But the guitar had ceased to sound, and the French love
+song was heard no more. A little irrepressible laugh came from
+somewhere, but who heard it beside herself Mrs. Easterfield could not
+know. Then all was still, and the insects of the night, and the tree
+frogs, had the stage to themselves.
+
+Early in the morning Miss Raleigh presented herself before Mrs.
+Easterfield to make a report. "There was a serenade last night," she
+said, "not far from Miss Asher's window. In fact, there were two, but
+one of them came from Mr. Locker's room, and was simply awful. Mr. Du
+Brant was the gentleman who sang from the lawn, and I was very sorry
+when he felt himself obliged to stop. I do not think very much of him,
+but he certainly has a pleasant voice, and plays well on the guitar. I
+think he must have been a good deal cut up by being interrupted in that
+dreadful way, for he grumbled and growled, and did not go into the
+house for some time. I am sure he would have been very glad to fight if
+any one had come down."
+
+"You mean," said Mrs. Easterfield, "if Mr. Locker had come."
+
+"Well," said the secretary, "if Mr. Hemphill had appeared I have no
+doubt he would have answered. Mr. Du Brant seemed to me ready to fight
+anybody."
+
+"How do you know so much about him?" asked Mrs. Easterfield. "And why
+did you think of Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"Oh, he was looking out of his window," said Miss Raleigh. "He could not
+see, but he could hear."
+
+"I ask you again," said Mrs. Easterfield, "how do you know all this?"
+
+"Oh, I had not gone to bed, and, at the first sound of the guitar, I
+slipped on a waterproof with a hood, and went out. Of course, I wanted
+to know everything that was happening."
+
+"I had not the least idea you were such an energetic person," remarked
+Mrs. Easterfield, "and I think you were entirely too rash. But how about
+Mr. Lancaster? Do you know if he was listening?"
+
+Miss Raleigh stood silent for a moment, then she exclaimed: "There now,
+it is too bad! I entirely forgot him! I have not the slightest idea
+whether he was asleep or awake, and it would have been just as easy--"
+
+"Well, you need not regret it," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think you did
+quite enough, and if anything of the kind occurs again I positively
+forbid you to go out of the house."
+
+"There is one thing we've got to look after," said Miss Raleigh,
+without heeding the last remark, "this may result in bloodshed."
+
+"Nonsense," said Mrs. Easterfield; "nothing of that kind is to be feared
+from the gentlemen who visit Broadstone."
+
+"Still," said Miss Raleigh, "don't you think it would be well for me to
+keep an eye on them?"
+
+"Oh, you may keep both eyes on them if you want to," said Mrs.
+Easterfield. Then she began to talk about something else, but, although
+she dismissed the matter so lightly, she was very glad at heart that she
+had sent for her husband. Things were getting themselves into unpleasant
+complications, and she needed Tom.
+
+There was a certain constraint at the breakfast table. Mr. Fox had heard
+the serenades, although his consort had slept soundly through the
+turmoil; and, while carefully avoiding any reference to the incidents of
+the night, he was anxiously hoping that somebody would say something
+about them. Mrs. Easterfield saw that Mr. Du Brant was in a bad humor,
+and she hoped he was angry enough to announce his early departure. But
+he contented himself with being angry, and said nothing about going
+away.
+
+Mr. Hemphill was serious, and looked often in the direction of Olive. As
+for Dick Lancaster, Miss Raleigh, whose eye was fixed upon him whenever
+it could be spared from the exigencies of her meal, decided that if
+there should be a fight he would be one of the fighters; his brow was
+dark and his glance was sharp; in fact, she was of the opinion that he
+glared. Claude Locker did not come to breakfast until nearly everybody
+had finished. His dreams had been so pleasant that he had overslept
+himself.
+
+In the eyes of Mrs. Easterfield Olive's conduct was positively charming.
+No one could have supposed that during the night she had heard anything
+louder than the ripple of the river. She talked more to Mr. Du Brant
+than to any one else, although she managed to draw most of the others
+into the conversation; and, with the assistance of the hostess, who gave
+her most good-humored help, the talk never flagged, although it did not
+become of the slightest interest to any one who engaged in it. They were
+all thinking about the conflict of serenades, and what might happen
+next.
+
+Shortly after breakfast Miss Raleigh came to Mrs. Easterfield. "Mr. Du
+Brant is with her," she said quickly, "and they are walking away. Shall
+I interpolate?"
+
+"No," said the other with a smile, "you can let them alone. Nothing will
+happen this morning, unless, indeed, he should come to ask for a
+carriage to take him to the station."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was busy in her garden when Dick Lancaster came to her.
+"What a wonderfully determined expression you have!" said she. "You look
+as if you were going to jump on a street-car without stopping it!"
+
+"You are right," said he, "I am determined, and I came to tell you so. I
+can't stand this sort of thing any longer. I feel like a child who is
+told he must eat at the second table, and who can not get his meals
+until every one else is finished."
+
+"And I suppose," she said, "you feel there will be nothing left for
+you."
+
+"That is it," he answered, "and I don't want to wait. My soul rebels! I
+can't stand it!"
+
+"Therefore," she said, "you wish to appear before the meal is ready, and
+in that case you will get nothing." He looked at her inquiringly. "I
+mean," said she, "that if you propose to Miss Asher now you will be
+before your time, and she will decline your proposition without the
+slightest hesitation."
+
+"I do not quite understand that," said Dick. "Would she decline all
+others?"
+
+"I am afraid not."
+
+"But why do you except me?" asked Dick. "Surely she is not engaged. I
+know you would tell me at once if that were so."
+
+"It is not so," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Then I shall take my chances. With all this serenading and love-making
+going on around me and around the woman I love with all my heart. I can
+not stand and wait until I am told my time has come. The intensity and
+the ardor of my feelings for her give me the right to speak to her.
+Unless I know that some one else has stepped in before me and taken the
+place I crave, I have decided to speak to her just as soon as I can. But
+I thought it was due to you to come first and tell you."
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," said Mrs. Easterfield, speaking very quietly, "if you
+decide to go to Miss Asher and ask her to marry you, I know you will do
+it, for I believe you are a man who keeps his word to himself, but I
+assure you that if you do it you will never marry her. So you really
+need not bother yourself about going to her; you can simply decide to do
+it, and that will be quite sufficient; and you can stay here and hold
+these long-stemmed dahlias for me as I cut them."
+
+A troubled wistfulness showed itself upon the young man's face. "You
+speak so confidently," he said, "that I almost feel I ought to believe
+you. Why do you tell me that I am the only one of her suitors who would
+certainly be rejected if he offered himself?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped the long-stemmed dahlias she had been holding;
+and, turning her eyes full upon Lancaster, she said, "Because you are
+the only one of them toward whom she has no predilections whatever. More
+than that, you are the only one toward whom she has a positive
+objection. You are the only one who is an intimate friend of her uncle,
+and who would be likely, by means of that intimate friendship, to bring
+her into connection with the woman she hates, as well as with a relative
+she despises on account of his intended marriage with that woman."
+
+"All that should not count at all," cried Dick. "In such a matter as
+this I have nothing to do with Captain Asher! I stand for myself and
+speak for myself. What is his intended wife to me? Or what should she be
+to her?"
+
+"Of course," said Mrs. Easterfield, "all that would not count at all if
+Olive Asher loved you. But you see she doesn't. I have had it from her
+own lips that her uncle's intended marriage is, and must always be, an
+effectual barrier between you and her."
+
+"What" cried Dick. "Have you spoken to her of me? And in that way?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I have. I did not intend to tell you, but
+you have forced me to do it. You see, she is a young woman of
+extraordinary good sense. She believes she ought to marry, and she is
+going to try to make the very best marriage that she possibly can. She
+has suitors who have very strong claims upon her consideration--I am not
+going to tell you those claims, but I know them. Now, you have no
+claim--special claim, I mean--but for all this, I believe, as I have
+told you before, that you are the man she ought to marry, and I have
+been doing everything I can to make her cease considering them, and to
+consider you. And this is the way she came to give me her reasons for
+not considering you at all. Now the state of the case is plain before
+you."
+
+Dick bowed his head and fixed his eyes upon the dahlias on the ground.
+
+"Don't tread on the poor things," she said, "and don't despair. All you
+have to do is to let me put a curbed bit on you, and for you to consent
+to wear it for a little while. See," said she, moving her hands in the
+air, as if they were engaged upon the bridle of a horse, "I fasten this
+chain rather closely, and buckle the ends of the reins in the lowest
+curb. Now, you must have a steady hand and a resolute will until the
+time comes when the curb is no longer needed."
+
+"And do you believe that time will come?" he asked.
+
+"It will come," she said, "when two things happen; when she has reason
+to love you, and has no reason to object to you; and, in my opinion,
+that happy combination may arrive if you act sensibly."
+
+"But--" said Dick.
+
+At this moment a quick step was heard on the garden-path and they both
+turned. It was Olive.
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," she cried, "I want you; that is, if Mrs. Easterfield
+can spare you. We are making up a game of tennis. Mr. Du Brant and Mr.
+Hemphill are there, but I can not find Mr. Locker."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield could spare him, and Dick Lancaster, with the curbed
+chain pressing him very hard, walked away with Olive Asher.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+_The Captain and Maria._
+
+
+When the captain drove into Glenford on the day when his mind had been
+so much disturbed by Dick Lancaster's questions regarding a marriage
+between him and Maria Port, he stopped at no place of business, he
+turned not to the right nor to the left, but went directly to the house
+of his old friend with whom he had spent the night before.
+
+Mr. Simeon Port was sitting on his front porch, reading his newspaper.
+He looked up, surprised to see the captain again so soon.
+
+"Simeon," said the captain, "I want to see Maria. I have something to
+say to her."
+
+The old man laid down his newspaper. "Serious?" said he.
+
+"Yes, serious," was the answer, "and I want to see her now."
+
+Mr. Port reflected for a moment. "Captain," said he, "do you believe you
+have thought about this as much as you ought to?"
+
+"Yes, I have," replied the captain; "I've thought just as much as I
+ought to. Is she in the house?"
+
+Mr. Port did not answer. "Captain John," said he presently, "Maria isn't
+young, that's plain enough, considerin' my age; but she never does seem
+to me as if she'd growed up. When she was a girl she had ways of her
+own, and she could make water bile quick, and now she can make it bile
+just as quick as ever she did, and perhaps quicker. She's not much on
+mindin' the helm, Captain John, and there're other things about her that
+wouldn't be attractive to husbands when they come to find them out. And
+if I was you I'd take my time."
+
+"That's just what I intend to do," said the captain. "This is my time,
+and I am going to take it."
+
+Miss Port, who was busy in the back part of the house, heard voices, and
+now came forward. She was wiping her hands upon her apron, and one of
+them she extended to the captain.
+
+"I am glad to see you--John," she said, speaking in a very gentle voice,
+and hesitating a little at the last word.
+
+The captain looked at her steadfastly, and then, without taking her
+hand, he said: "I want to speak to you by yourself. I'll go into the
+parlor."
+
+She politely stepped back to let him pass her, and then her father
+turned quickly to her.
+
+"Did you expect to see him back so soon?" he asked.
+
+She smiled and looked down. "Oh, yes," said she, "I was sure he'd come
+back very soon."
+
+The old man heaved a sigh, and returned to his paper.
+
+Maria followed the captain. "John," said she, speaking in a low voice,
+"wouldn't you rather come into the dinin'-room? He's a little bit hard
+of hearin', but if you don't want him to hear anything he'll take in
+every word of it."
+
+"Maria Port," said the captain, speaking in a strong, upper-deck voice,
+"what I have to say I'll say here. I don't want the people in the street
+to hear me, but if your father chooses to listen I would rather he did
+it than not."
+
+She looked at him inquiringly. "Well," she answered, "I suppose he will
+have to hear it some time or other, and he might as well hear it now as
+not. He's all I've got in the world, and you know as well as I do that I
+run to tell him everything that happens to me as soon as it happens.
+Will you sit down?"
+
+"No," said the captain, "I can speak better standing. Maria Port, I have
+found out that you have been trying to make people believe that I am
+engaged to marry you."
+
+The smile did not leave Maria's face. "Well, ain't you?" said she.
+
+A look of blank amazement appeared on the face of the captain, but it
+was quickly succeeded by the blackness of rage. He was about to swear,
+but restrained himself.
+
+"Engaged to you?" he shouted, forgetting entirely the people in the
+street; "I'd rather be engaged to a fin-back shark!"
+
+The smile now left her face. "Oh, thank you very much," she said. "And
+this is what you meant by your years of devotion! I held out for a long
+time, knowing the difference in our ages and the habits of sailors, and
+now--just when I make up my mind to give in, to think of my father and
+not of myself, and to sacrifice my feelin's so that he might always
+have one of his old friends near him, now that he's got too feeble to go
+out by himself, and at his age you know as well as I do he ought to have
+somebody near him besides me, for who can tell what may happen, or how
+sudden--you come and tell me you'd rather marry a fish. I suppose you've
+got somebody else in your mind, but that don't make no difference to me.
+I've got no fish to offer you, but I have myself that you've wanted so
+long, and which now you've got."
+
+The angry captain opened his mouth to speak; he was about to ejaculate
+Woman! but his sense of propriety prevented this. He would not apply
+such an epithet to any one in the house of a friend. Wretch rose to his
+lips, but he would not use even that word; and he contented himself
+with: "You! You know just as well as you know you are standing there
+that I never had the least idea of marrying you. You know, too, that you
+have tried to make people think I had, people here in town and people
+out at my house, where you came over and over again pretending to want
+to talk about your father's health, when it did not need any more
+talking about than yours does. You know you have made trouble in my
+family; that you so disgusted my niece that she would not stop at my
+house, which had been the same thing as her home; you sickened my
+friends; and made my very servants ashamed of me; and all this because
+you want to marry a man who now despises you. I would have despised you
+long ago if I had seen through your tricks, but I didn't."
+
+There was a smile on Miss Port's face now, but it was not such a smile
+as that with which she had greeted the captain; it was a diabolical
+grin, brightened by malice. "You are perfectly right," she said;
+"everybody knows we are engaged to be married, and what they think about
+it doesn't matter to me the snap of my finger. The people in town all
+know it and talk about it, and what's more, they've talked to me about
+it. That niece of your'n knows it, and that's the reason she won't come
+near you, and I'm sure I'm not sorry for that. As for that old thing
+that helps you at the toll-gate, and as for the young man that's
+spongin' on you, I've no doubt they've got a mighty poor opinion of you.
+And I've no doubt they're right. But all that matters nothin' to me.
+You're engaged to be married to me; you know it yourself; and everybody
+knows it; and what you've got to do is to marry, or pay. You hear what I
+say, and you know what I'm goin' to stick to."
+
+It may be well for Captain Asher's reputation that he had no opportunity
+to answer Miss Port's remarks. At that instant Mr. Simeon Port appeared
+at the door which opened from the parlor on the piazza. He stepped
+quickly, his actions showing nothing of that decrepitude which his
+dutiful daughter had feared would prevent him from seeking the society
+of his friends. He fixed his eyes on his daughter and spoke in a loud,
+strong voice.
+
+"Maria," said he, "go to bed! I've heard what you've been saying, and
+I'm ashamed of you. I've been ashamed of you before, but now it's worse
+than ever. Go to bed, I tell you! And this time, go!"
+
+There was nothing in the world that Maria Port was afraid of except her
+father, and of him personally she had not the slightest dread. But of
+his dying without leaving her the whole of his fortune she had an
+abiding terror, which often kept her awake at night, and which sent a
+sickening thrill through her whenever a difficulty arose between her and
+her parent. She was quite sure what he would do if she should offend him
+sufficiently; he would leave her a small annuity, enough to support her;
+and the rest of his money would go to several institutions which she had
+heard him mention in this connection. If she could have married Captain
+Asher she would have felt a good deal safer; it would have taken much
+provocation to make her father leave his money out of the family if his
+old friend had been one of that family.
+
+Now, when she heard her father's voice, and saw his dark eyes glittering
+at her, she knew she was in great danger, and the well-known chill ran
+through her. She made no answer; she cared not who was present; she
+thought of nothing but that those eyes must cease to glitter, and that
+angry voice must not be heard again. She turned and walked to her room,
+which was on the same floor, across the hall.
+
+"And mind you go to bed!" shouted her father. "And do it regular. You're
+not to make believe to go to bed, and then get up and walk about as soon
+as my back is turned. I'm comin' in presently to see if you've obeyed
+me."
+
+She answered not, but entered her room, and closed the door after her.
+
+Mr. Port now turned to the captain. "I never could find out," he said,
+"where Maria got that mind of her'n. It isn't from my side, for my
+father and mother was as good people as ever lived, and it wasn't from
+her mother, for you knew her, and there wasn't anything of the kind
+about her."
+
+"No," said Captain Asher, "not the least bit of it."
+
+"It must have been from her grandmother Ellis," said the old man. "I
+never knew her, for she died before I was acquainted with the family,
+but I expect she died of deviltry. That's the only insight I can get
+into the reasons for Maria's havin' the mind she's got. But I tell you,
+Captain John, you've had a blessed escape! I didn't know she was in the
+habit of goin' out to your house so often. She didn't tell me that."
+
+"Simeon," said the captain, "I think I will go now. I have had enough of
+Maria. I don't suppose I'll hear from her very soon again."
+
+The old man smiled. "No," said he, "I don't think she'll want to trouble
+you any more."
+
+Miss Port, whose ear was at the keyhole of her door not twelve feet
+away, grinned malignantly.
+
+Soon after Captain Asher had gone Mr. Port walked to the door of his
+daughter's room, gave a little knock, and then opened the door a little.
+
+"You are in bed, are you?" said he. "Well, that's good for you. Turn
+down that coverlid and let me see if you've got your nightclothes on."
+She obeyed. "Very well," he continued; "now you stay there until I tell
+you to get up."
+
+Captain Asher went home, still in a very bad humor. He had ceased to be
+angry with Maria Port, he was done with her; and he let her pass out of
+his mind. But he was angry with other people, especially with Olive.
+She had allowed herself to have a most contemptuous opinion of him; she
+had treated him shamefully; and as he thought of her his indignation
+increased instead of diminishing. And young Lancaster had believed it!
+And old Jane! It was enough to make a stone slab angry, and the captain
+was not a stone slab.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+_Mr. Tom arrives at Broadstone._
+
+
+After the conclusion of the game of tennis in which Olive and three of
+her lovers participated, Claude Locker, returning from a long walk,
+entered the grounds of Broadstone. He had absented himself from that
+hospitable domain for purposes of reflection, and also to avoid the
+company of Mr. Du Brant. Not that he was afraid of the diplomat, but
+because of the important interview appointed for the latter part of the
+morning. He very much wished that no unpleasantness of any kind should
+occur before the time for that interview.
+
+Having found that he had given himself more time than was necessary for
+his reflections and his walk, he had rested in the shade of a tree and
+had written two poems. One of these was the serenade which he would have
+roared out on the night air on a very recent occasion if he had had time
+to prepare it. It was, in his opinion, far superior to the impromptu
+verses of which he had been obliged to make use, and it pleased him to
+think that if things should go well with him after the interview to
+which he was looking forward, he would read that serenade to its object,
+and ask her to substitute it in her memory for the inharmonic lines
+which he had used in order to smother the degenerate melody of a
+foreign lay. The other poem was intended for use in case his interview
+should not be successful. But on the way home Mr. Locker experienced an
+entire change of mind. He came to believe that it would be unwise for
+him to arrange to use either of those poems on that day. For all he
+knew, Miss Asher might like foreign degenerate lays, and she might be
+annoyed that he had interfered with one. He remembered that she had told
+him that if he had insisted on an immediate answer to his proposition it
+would have been very easy to give it to him. He realized what that
+meant; and, for all he knew, she might be quite as ready this morning to
+act with similar promptness. That Du Brant business might have settled
+her mind, and it would therefore be very well for him to be careful
+about what he did, and what he asked for.
+
+About half an hour before luncheon, when he neared the house and
+perceived Miss Asher on the lawn, it seemed to him very much as if she
+were looking for him. This he did not like, and he hurried toward her.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "I wish to propose an amendment."
+
+"To what?" asked Olive. "But first tell me where you have been and what
+you have been doing? You are covered with dust, and look as hot as if
+you had been pulling the boat against the rapids. I have not seen you
+the whole morning."
+
+"I have been walking," said he, "and thinking. It is dreadful hot work
+to think. That should be done only in winter weather."
+
+"It would be a woeful thing to take a cold on the mind," said Olive.
+
+"That is so!" he replied. "That is exactly what I am afraid of this
+morning, and that is the reason I want to propose my amendment. I beg
+most earnestly that you will not make this interview definitive. I am
+afraid if you do I may get chills in my mind, soul, and heart from which
+I shall never recover. I have an idea that the weather may not be as
+favorable as it was yesterday for the unveiling of tender emotions."
+
+"Why so?" asked Olive.
+
+"There are several reasons," returned Mr. Locker. "For one thing, that
+musical uproar last night. I have not heard anything about that, and I
+don't know where I stand."
+
+Olive laughed. "It was splendid," said she. "I liked you a great deal
+better after that than I did before."
+
+"Now tell me," he exclaimed hurriedly, "and please lose no time, for
+here comes a surrey from the station with a gentleman in it--do you like
+me enough better to give me a favorable answer, now, right here?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "I do not feel warranted in being so precipitate as
+that."
+
+"Then please say nothing on the subject," said Locker. "Please let us
+drop the whole matter for to-day. And may I assume that I am at liberty
+to take it up again to-morrow at this hour?"
+
+"You may," said Olive. "What gentleman is that, do you suppose?"
+
+"I know him," said Locker, "and, fortunately, he is married. He is Mr.
+Easterfield."
+
+"Here's papa! Here's papa!" shouted the two little girls as they ran out
+of the front door.
+
+"And papa," said the oldest one, "we want you to tell us a story just as
+soon as you have brushed your hair! Mr. Rupert has been telling us
+stories, but yours are a great deal better."
+
+"Yes," said the other little girl, "he makes all the children too good.
+They can't be good, you know, and there's no use trying. We told him so,
+but he doesn't mind."
+
+There was story-telling after luncheon, but the papa did not tell them,
+and the children were sent away. It was Mrs. Easterfield who told the
+stories, and Mr. Tom was a most interested listener.
+
+"Well," said he, when she had finished, "this seems to be a somewhat
+tangled state of affairs."
+
+"It certainly is," she replied, "and I tangled them."
+
+"And you expect me to straighten them?" he asked.
+
+"Of course I do," she replied, "and I expect you to begin by sending Mr.
+Hemphill away. You know I could not do it, but I should think it would
+be easy for you."
+
+"Would you object if I lighted a cigar?" he asked.
+
+"Of course not," she said. "Did you ever hear me object to anything of
+the kind?"
+
+"No," said he, "but I never have smoked in this room, and I thought
+perhaps Miss Raleigh might object when she came in to do your writing."
+
+"My writing!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Now don't trifle! This is no
+time to make fun of me. Olive may be accepting him this minute."
+
+"It seems to me," said Mr. Easterfield, slowly puffing his cigar, "that
+it would not be such a very bad thing if she did. So far as I have been
+able to judge, he is my favorite of the claimants. Du Brant and I have
+met frequently, and if I were a girl I would not want to marry him.
+Locker is too little for Miss Asher, and, besides, he is too flighty.
+Your young professor may be good enough, but from my limited
+conversation with him at the table I could not form much of an opinion
+as to him one way or another. I have an opinion of Hemphill, and a very
+good one. He is a first-class young man, a rising one with prospects,
+and, more than that, I think he is the best-looking of the lot."
+
+"Tom," said Mrs. Easterfield, "do you suppose I sent for you to talk
+such nonsense as that? Can you imagine that my sense of honor toward
+Olive's parents would allow me even to consider a marriage between a
+high-class girl, such as she is--high-class in every way--to a mere
+commonplace private secretary? I don't care what his attributes and
+merits are; he is commonplace to the backbone; and he is impossible. If
+what ought to be a brilliant career ends suddenly in Rupert Hemphill I
+shall have Olive on my conscience for the rest of my life."
+
+"That settles it," said Mr. Tom Easterfield; "your conscience, my dear,
+has not been trained to carry loads, and I shall not help to put one on
+it. Hemphill is a good man, but we must rule him out."
+
+"Yes," said she, "Olive is a great deal more than good. He must be
+ruled out."
+
+"But I can't send him away this afternoon," Tom continued. "That would
+put them both on their mettle, and, ten to one, he would considerately
+announce his engagement before he left."
+
+"No," said she. "Olive is very sharp, and would resent that. But now
+that you are here I feel safe from any immediate rashness on their
+part."
+
+"You are right," said Mr. Tom. "My very coming will give them pause. And
+now I want to see the girl."
+
+"What for?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I want to get acquainted with her. I don't know her yet, and I can't
+talk to her if I don't know her."
+
+"Are you going to talk to her about Hemphill?"
+
+"Yes, for one thing," he answered.
+
+"Well," said she, "you will have to be very circumspect. She is both
+alert, and sensitive."
+
+"Oh, I'll be circumspect enough," he replied. "You may trust me for
+that."
+
+It was not long after this that Mrs. Easterfield, being engaged in some
+hospitable duties, sent Olive to show Mr. Tom the garden, and it was
+rather a slight to that abode of beauty that the tour of the rose-lined
+paths occupied but a very few minutes, when Mr. Easterfield became
+tired, and desired to sit down. Having seated themselves on Mrs.
+Easterfield's favorite bench, Olive looked up at her companion, and
+asked:
+
+"Well, sir, what is it you brought me here to say to me?"
+
+Mr. Tom laughed, and so did she.
+
+"If it is anything about the gentlemen who are paying their addresses
+to me, you may as well begin at once, for that will save time, and
+really an introduction is not necessary."
+
+Mr. Easterfield's admiration for this young lady, which had been
+steadily growing, was not decreased by this remark. "This girl," said he
+to himself, "deserves a nimble-witted husband. Hemphill would never do
+for her. It seems to me," he said aloud, "that we are already well
+enough acquainted for me to proceed with the remarks which you have
+correctly assumed I came here to make."
+
+"Yes," said she, "I have always thought that some people are born to
+become acquainted, and when they meet they instantly perceive the fact,
+and the thing is accomplished. They can then proceed."
+
+"Very well," said he, "we will proceed."
+
+"I suppose," said Olive, "that Mrs. Easterfield has explained
+everything, and that you agree with her and with me that it is a
+sensible thing for a girl in my position to marry, and, having no one to
+attend wisely to such a matter for me, that I should endeavor to attend
+to it myself as wisely as I can. Also, that a little bit of pique,
+caused by the fact that I am to have an old schoolfellow for a
+stepmother, is excusable."
+
+"And it is this pique which puts you in such a hurry? I did not exactly
+understand that."
+
+"Yes, it does," said she. "I very much wish to announce my own
+engagement, if not my marriage, before any arrangements shall be made
+which may include me. Do you think me wrong in this?"
+
+"No, I don't," said Mr. Easterfield. "If I were a girl in your place I
+think I would do the same thing myself."
+
+Olive's face expressed her gratitude. "And now," said she, "what do you
+think of the young men? I feel so well acquainted with you through Mrs.
+Easterfield that I shall give a great deal of weight to your opinion.
+But first let me ask you one thing: After what you have heard of me do
+you think I am a flirt?"
+
+Mr. Tom knitted his brows a little, then he smiled, and then he looked
+out over the flower-beds without saying anything.
+
+"Don't be afraid to say so if you think so," said she. "You must be
+perfectly plain and frank with me, or our acquaintanceship will wither
+away."
+
+Under the influence of this threat he spoke. "Well," said he, "I should
+not feel warranted in calling you a flirt, but it does seem to me that
+you have been flirting."
+
+"I think you are wrong, Mr. Easterfield," said Olive, speaking very
+gravely. "I never saw any one of these young men before I came here
+except Mr. Hemphill, and he was an entirely different person when I knew
+him before, and I have given no one of them any special encouragement.
+If Mr. Locker were not such an impetuous young man, I think the others
+would have been more deliberate, but as it was easy to see the state of
+his mind, and as we are all making but a temporary stay here, these
+other young men saw that they must act quickly, or not at all. This,
+while it was very amusing, was also a little annoying, and I should
+greatly have preferred slower and more deliberate movements on the part
+of these young men. But all my feelings changed when my father's letter
+came to me. I was glad then that they had proposed already."
+
+"That is certainly honest," said Mr. Tom.
+
+"Of course it is honest," replied Olive. "I am here to speak honestly if
+I speak at all. Now, don't you see that if under these peculiar
+circumstances one eligible young man had proposed to me I ought to have
+considered myself fortunate? Now here are three to choose from. Do you
+not agree with me that it is my duty to try to choose the best one of
+them, and not to discourage any until I feel very certain about my
+choice?"
+
+"That is business-like," said Mr. Easterfield; "but do you love any one
+of them?"
+
+"No, I don't," answered Olive, "except that there is a feeling in that
+direction in the case of Mr. Hemphill. I suppose Mrs. Easterfield has
+told you that when I was a schoolgirl I was deeply in love with him; and
+now, when I think of those old times, I believe it would not be
+impossible for those old sentiments to return. So there really is a tie
+between him and me; even though it be a slight one; which does not exist
+at all between me and any one of the others."
+
+For a moment neither of them spoke. "That is very bad, young woman,"
+thought Mr. Tom. "A slight tie like that is apt to grow thick and strong
+suddenly." But he could not discourse about Mr. Hemphill; he knew that
+would be very dangerous. He would have to be considered, however, and
+much more seriously than he had supposed.
+
+"Well," said he, "I will tell you this: if I were a young man,
+unmarried, and on a visit to Broadstone at this time, I should not like
+to be treated as you are treating the young men who are here. It is all
+very well for a young woman to look after herself and her own interests,
+but I should be very sorry to have my fate depend upon the merits of
+other people. I may not be correct, but I am afraid I should feel I was
+being flirted with."
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, giving a quick, forward motion on the bench,
+"you think I ought to settle this matter immediately, and relieve myself
+at once from the imputation of trifling with earnest affection?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" cried Mrs. Easterfield. "Not at all! Don't do anything
+rash!"
+
+Olive leaned back on the bench, and laughed heartily. "There is so much
+excellent advice in this world," she said, "which is not intended to be
+used. However, it is valuable all the same. And now, sir, what is it you
+would like me to do? Something plain; intended for every-day use."
+
+Mr. Tom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "It does not appear to
+me," he said, "that you have told me very much I did not know before,
+for Mrs. Easterfield put the matter very plainly before me."
+
+"And it does not seem to me," said Olive, "that you have given me any
+definite counsel, and I know that is what you came here to do."
+
+"You are mistaken there," he said. "I came here to find out what sort of
+a girl you are; my counsels must depend on my discoveries. But there is
+one thing I want to ask you; you are all the time talking about three
+young men. Now, there are four of them here."
+
+"Yes," she answered quickly. "But only three of them have proposed;
+and, besides, if the other were to do so, he would have to be set aside
+for what I may call family reasons. I don't want to go into particulars
+because the subject is very painful to me."
+
+For a moment Mr. Tom did not speak. Then, determined to go through with
+what he had come to do, which was to make himself acquainted with this
+girl, he said: "I do not wish to discuss anything that is painful to
+you, but Mrs. Easterfield and I are very much disturbed for fear that in
+some way your visit to Broadstone created some misunderstanding or
+disagreeable feeling between you and your uncle. Now, would you mind
+telling me whether this is so, or not?"
+
+She looked at him steadily. "There is an unpleasant feeling between me
+and my uncle, but this visit has nothing to do with it. And I am going
+to tell you all about it. I hate to feel so much alone in the world that
+I can't talk to anybody about what makes me unhappy. I might have spoken
+to Mrs. Easterfield, but she didn't ask me. But you have asked me, and
+that makes me feel that I am really better acquainted with you than with
+her."
+
+This remark pleased Mr. Tom, but he did not think it would be necessary
+to put it into his report to his wife. He had promised to be very
+circumspect; and circumspection should act in every direction.
+
+"It is very hard for a girl such as I am," she continued, "to be alone
+in the world, and that is a very good reason for getting married as soon
+as I can."
+
+"And for being very careful whom you marry," interrupted Mr.
+Easterfield.
+
+"Of course," said she, "and I am trying very hard to be that. A little
+while ago I had a father with whom I expected to live and be happy, but
+that dream is over now. And then I thought I had an uncle who was going
+to be more of a father to me than my own father had ever been. But that
+dream is over, too."
+
+"And why?" asked Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"He is going to marry a woman," said Olive, "that is perfectly horrible,
+and with whom I could not live. And the worst of it all is that he never
+told me a word about it."
+
+As she said this Olive looked very solemn; and Mr. Tom, not knowing on
+the instant what would be proper to say, looked solemn also.
+
+"You may think it strange," said she, "that I talk in this way to you,
+but you came here to find out what sort of girl I am, and I am perfectly
+willing to help you do it. Besides, in a case like this, I would rather
+talk to a man than to a woman."
+
+Mr. Tom believed her, but he did not know at this stage of the
+proceedings what it would be wise to say. He was also fully aware that
+if he said the wrong thing it would be very bad, indeed.
+
+"Now, you see," said she, "there is another reason why I should marry as
+soon as possible. In my case most girls would take up some pursuit which
+would make them independent, but I don't like business. I want to be at
+the head of a household; and, what is more, I want to have something to
+do--I mean a great deal to do--with the selection of a husband."
+
+The conversation was taking a direction which frightened Mr. Tom. In the
+next moment she might be asking advice about the choice of a husband.
+It was plain enough that love had nothing to do with the matter, and Mr.
+Tom did not wish to act the part of a practical-minded Cupid. "And now
+let me ask a favor of you," said he. "Won't you give me time to think
+over this matter a little?"
+
+"That is exactly what I say to my suitors," said Olive, smiling.
+
+Mr. Tom smiled also. "But won't you promise me not to do anything
+definite until I see you again?" he asked earnestly.
+
+"That is not very unlike what some of my suitors say to me," she
+replied. "But I will promise you that when you see me again I shall
+still be heart-free."
+
+"There can be no doubt of that," Mr. Tom said to himself as they arose
+to leave the garden. "And, my young woman, you may deny being a flirt,
+but you permitted the addresses of two young men before you were upset
+by your father's letter. But I think I like flirts. At any rate, I can
+not help liking her, and I believe she has got a heart somewhere, and
+will find it some day."
+
+When Mr. Tom returned to the house he did not find his wife, for that
+lady was occupied somewhere in entertaining her guests. Now, although it
+might have been considered his duty to go and help her in her hospitable
+work, he very much preferred to attend to the business which she had
+sent for him to do. And walking to the stables, he was soon mounted on a
+good horse, and riding away southward on the smooth gray turnpike.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXV_
+
+_The Captain and Mr. Tom._
+
+
+Captain Asher was standing at the door of the tollhouse when he saw Mr.
+Easterfield approaching. He recognized him, although he had had but one
+brief interview with him one day at the toll-gate some time before. Mr.
+Easterfield was a man absorbed in business, and the first summer Mrs.
+Easterfield was at Broadstone he was in Europe engaged in large and
+important affairs, and had not been at the summer home at all. And so
+far this summer, he had been there but once before, and then for only a
+couple of days. Now, as the captain saw the gentleman coming toward the
+toll-gate he had no reason for supposing that he would not go through
+it. Nevertheless, his mind was disturbed. Any one coming from Broadstone
+disturbed his mind. He had not quite decided whether or not to ask any
+questions concerning the late members of his household, when the
+horseman stopped at the gate, and handed him the toll.
+
+"Good morning, captain," said Mr. Easterfield cheerily, for he had heard
+much in praise of the toll-gate keeper from his wife.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Easterfield," said the captain gravely.
+
+"I am glad I do not have to introduce myself," said Mr. Easterfield,
+"for I am only going through your gate as far as that tree to tie my
+horse. Then, if convenient to you, I should like to have a little talk
+with you."
+
+The captain's mind, which had been relieved when Mr. Easterfield paid
+his toll, now sank again. But he could not say a talk would be
+inconvenient. "If I had known that you were not going on," he said, "you
+need not have paid."
+
+"Like most people in this life," said Mr. Easterfield, "I pay for what I
+have already done, and not for what I am going to do. And now have you
+leisure, sir, for a short conversation?"
+
+The captain looked very glum. He felt not the slightest desire now to
+ask questions, and still less desire to be interrogated. However, he was
+not afraid of anything any one might say to him; and if a certain
+subject was broached, he had something to say himself.
+
+"Yes," said he; "do you prefer indoors or out of doors?"
+
+"Out of doors, if it suits," replied the visitor, "for I would like to
+take a smoke."
+
+"I am with you there," said the captain, as he led the way to the little
+arbor.
+
+Here Mr. Easterfield lighted a cigar, and the captain a pipe.
+
+"Now, sir," said the latter, when the tobacco in his bowl was in a
+satisfactory glow, "what is it you want to talk about?" He spoke as if
+he were behind entrenchments, and ready for an attack.
+
+"We have two of your guests with us," answered Mr. Easterfield,
+"Professor Lancaster, and your niece."
+
+"Oh," said the captain, evidently relieved. "I thought perhaps you had
+come to ask questions about some reports you may have heard in regard to
+me."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said Mr. Easterfield. "I would not think of
+mentioning your private affairs, about which I have not the slightest
+right or wish to speak. But as we have apparently appropriated two of
+your young people, I think, and Mrs. Easterfield agrees with me, that it
+is but right you should be informed as to their health, and what they
+are doing."
+
+The captain puffed vigorously. "When is Dick Lancaster coming back" he
+asked.
+
+"I can't say anything about that," replied Mr. Easterfield, "for I am
+not master of ceremonies. We would like to keep him as long as we can,
+but, of course, your claims must be considered."
+
+"I should think so," remarked the captain.
+
+"Professor Lancaster is a remarkably fine young man," said the other,
+"and as he is a friend of yours, and as I should like him to be a friend
+of mine, it would give me pleasure to talk to you more about him. But I
+may as well confess that my real object in coming here is to talk about
+your niece. Of course, as I said before, it might appear that I have no
+right to meddle with your family affairs, but in this case I certainly
+think I am justified; for, as Mrs. Easterfield invited the young lady to
+leave you and to come to her, and as all that has happened to her has
+happened at our house, and in consequence of that invitation, I think
+that you, as her nearest accessible relative, should be told of what has
+occurred."
+
+The captain made no answer, but gazed steadily into the face of the
+speaker.
+
+"Therefore," continued Mr. Easterfield, "I will simply state that my
+wife and I have very good reason to believe that your niece is about to
+engage herself in marriage; and I will only add that we are very sorry,
+indeed, that this should have occurred under our roof."
+
+A sudden and curious change came over the face of the captain; a light
+sparkled in his eye, and a faint flush, as if of pleasure, was visible
+under his swarthy skin. He leaned toward his companion.
+
+"Is it Dick Lancaster?" he asked quickly.
+
+Mr. Easterfield answered gravely: "I wish it were, but I am very sorry
+to say it is not."
+
+The light went out of the captain's eye. He leaned back on his bench and
+the little flush in his cheeks was succeeded by a somber coldness. "Very
+good," said he; "I don't want to hear anything more about it, and, what
+is more, it would not be right for you to tell me, even if I did want to
+know. It is none of my business."
+
+"Now, really, Captain Asher," began Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"No, sir," the captain interrupted. "It is none of my business, and I
+don't want to hear anything about it. And now, sir, I would like to tell
+you something. It is something I thought you came here to ask about, and
+I did not like it, but now I want to tell you of my own free will, in
+confidence. That is to say, I don't want you to speak of it to anybody
+in your house. I suppose you have heard something about my intending to
+marry a woman in town?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Easterfield, "I can not deny that I have, but I
+considered it was entirely your own affair, and I had not--"
+
+"Of course," interrupted the captain, "and I want to tell you--but I
+don't want my niece to hear it as coming from me--that that whole thing
+is a most abominable lie! That woman has been trying to make people
+believe I am going to marry her, and she has made a good many believe
+it, but I would rather cut my throat than marry her. But I have told her
+what I think of her in a way she can not mistake. And that ends her! I
+tell you this, Mr. Easterfield, because I believe you are a good man,
+and you certainly seem to be a friendly man, and I would like you to
+know it. I would have liked very much to tell everybody, especially my
+own flesh and blood, but now I assure you, sir, I am too proud to have
+her know it through me. Let her go on and marry anybody she pleases, and
+let her think anything she pleases about me. She has been satisfied with
+her own opinion of me without giving me a chance to explain to her, or
+to tell her the truth, and now she can stay satisfied with it until
+somebody else sets her straight."
+
+"But this is very hard, captain," said Mr. Easterfield; "hard on you,
+hard on her, and hard on all of us, I may say."
+
+The captain made no answer to these words, and did not appear to hear
+them. "I tell you, Mr. Easterfield," he said presently, "that I did not
+know until now how much I cared for that girl. I don't mind saying this
+to you because you come to me like a friend, and I believe in you. Yes,
+sir, I did not know how much I cared for her, and it is pretty hard on
+me to find out how little she cares for me."
+
+"You are wrong there," said Mr. Easterfield. "My wife tells me that Miss
+Asher has frequently talked to her about you and her life here, and it
+is certain she has--"
+
+"Oh, that does not make any difference," interrupted the captain. "I am
+talking about things as they are now. It was all very well as long as
+things seemed to be going right, but I believe in people who stand by
+you when things seem to be going wrong, and who keep on standing by you
+until they know how they are going, and that is exactly what she did not
+do. Now, there was Dick Lancaster; he came to me and asked me squarely
+about that affair. To be sure, I cut him off short, for it angered me to
+think that he, or anybody else, should have such an idea of me, and,
+besides, it was none of his business. But it should have been her
+business; she ought to have made it her business; and, even if the thing
+had stood differently, I would have told her exactly how it did stand;
+and then she could have said to me what she thought about it, and what
+she was going to do. But instead of that, she just made up her mind
+about me, and away went everything. Yes, sir, everything. I can't tell
+you the plans I had made for her and for myself, and, I may say, for
+Dick Lancaster. If it suited her, I wanted her to marry him, and if it
+suited her I wanted to go and live with them in his college town, or
+any other place they might want to go. Again and again, after I knew
+Dick, have I gone over this thing and planned it out this way, and that
+way, but always with us three in the middle of everything. Do you see
+that?" continued the captain after a slight pause, as he drew from his
+pocket a dainty little pearl paper-cutter. "That belongs to her. She
+used to sit out here, and cut the leaves of books as she read them. I
+can see her little hand now as it went sliding along the edges of the
+pages. When she went away she left it on the bench, and I took it. And
+I've kept it in my pocket to take out when I sit here, and cut books
+with it when I have 'em. I haven't many books that ain't cut, but I've
+sat here and cut 'em till there wasn't any left. And then I cut a lot of
+old volumes of Coast Survey Reports. It is a foolish thing for an old
+man to do, but then--but then--well, you see, I did it."
+
+There was a choke in the captain's voice as he leaned over to put the
+paper-cutter in his pocket and to pick up his pipe, which he had laid on
+the bench beside him. Mr. Easterfield was touched and surprised. He
+would not have supposed the captain to be a man of such tender
+sentiment. And he took him at once to his heart. "It is a shame," his
+thoughts ran, "for this man to be separated from the niece he so loves.
+She is a cold-hearted girl, or she does not understand him. It must not
+be."
+
+Had he been a woman he would have said all this, but, being a man, he
+found it difficult to break the silence which followed the captain's
+last words. He did not know what to say, although he had no hesitation
+in making up his mind what he was going to do about it all. He arose.
+
+"Captain Asher," he said, "I have now told you what I thought you should
+know, and I must take my departure. I would not presume for a moment to
+offer you any advice in regard to your family affairs, but there is one
+thing Mrs. Easterfield and I will interfere with, if we can, for we feel
+that we have a right to do it, and that is any definite and immediate
+engagement of your niece. If she should promise herself in marriage at
+our house we shall feel that we are responsible for it, and that, in
+fact, we brought it about. Whether the match shall seem desirable to you
+or not, we do not wish to be answerable for it."
+
+"Oh, I need not be counted in at all," said the captain, who had
+recovered his composure. "It is her own affair. I suppose it was the
+news of her father's intended marriage that put her in such a hurry."
+
+"You are right," said Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"Just like her" the captain exclaimed. "And I don't blame her. I'm with
+her there"
+
+When Mr. Tom reached Broadstone he dismounted at the stable, and walked
+to the house. Nobody was to be seen on the grounds. It was a warm
+afternoon when those whose hearts were undisturbed by the turmoils of
+love were apt to be napping, and those who were in the tumultuous state
+of mind referred to, preferred to separate themselves from each other
+and the rest of the world until the cause of their inquietude should
+consider the heat of the summer day as sufficiently mitigated for her to
+appear again among her fellow beings.
+
+Mr. Easterfield did not care to meet any of his guests, and hoped to
+find his wife in her room, that he might report, and consult. But, as he
+approached the house, he saw at an upper window a female head. It stayed
+there just long enough for him to see that it was Olive's head; then it
+disappeared. When he reached the hall door there stood Olive.
+
+Mr. Tom was a little disappointed. He wanted to see his wife
+immediately, and then to see Olive. But he could not say so.
+
+"Well," said the girl, coming down the steps, "it looks as if we had
+arranged to meet. But although we didn't, let's take a little walk. I
+have something I want to say to you."
+
+Mr. Easterfield turned, and walked away from the house. He was a
+masterful man, and did not like to have his plans interfered with.
+Therefore he made a dash, and had the first word. "Miss Asher," said he,
+"I am glad to hear anything you have to say, but first you must really
+listen to me."
+
+Olive looked at him with surprise. She also was a masterful person, and
+not accustomed to be treated in this way. But he gave her no chance.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "I have come to you to speak for one of your
+lovers, the truest, best lover you ever had, and I believe, ever will
+have."
+
+Olive looked at him steadfastly, and her face grew hard. "Mr.
+Easterfield," she said, "this will not do. I have told you I will not
+have it. Mrs. Easterfield and you have been very good and kind, and I
+have told you everything, but you do not seem to remember one thing I
+have said. I will not have anybody forced upon me; no matter if he
+happens to be an angel from heaven, or no matter how much better he may
+be than anybody else on earth. I have my reasons for this determination.
+They are good reasons, and, above all, they are my reasons. I don't want
+you to think me rude, but if you persist in forcing that gentleman upon
+my attention, I shall have to request that the whole subject be dropped
+between us."
+
+"Who in the name of common sense do you think I am talking about?"
+exclaimed Mr. Tom. "Do you think I refer to Mr. Lancaster?"
+
+"I do," she said. "You know you would not come to plead the cause of any
+one of the others."
+
+He looked down at her half doubtfully, wondering a little how she would
+take what he was going to say. "You are mistaken," he said quietly. "I
+have nothing whatever to say about Mr. Lancaster. The lover I speak of
+is your uncle."
+
+Then her face turned red. "Why do you use that expression? Did he send
+you to say it?"
+
+"Not at all. I came of my own free will. I went to see Captain Asher
+immediately after I left you. Perhaps you are thinking that I have no
+right to intrude in your family affairs, but I do not mind your thinking
+that. I had a long talk with your uncle. I found that the uppermost
+sentiment of his soul was his love for you. You had come into his life
+like the break of day. Every little thing you had owned or touched was
+dear to him because it had been yours, or you had used it. All his plans
+in life had been remade in reference to you."
+
+They had stopped and were standing facing each other. They could not
+walk and talk as they were talking.
+
+"Yet, but," she exclaimed, her face pale and her eyes fixed steadfastly
+upon him, "but what of that--"
+
+"There are no yets and buts," he exclaimed, half angry with her that she
+hesitated. "I know what you were going to say, but that woman you have
+heard of is nothing to him. He hates her worse than you hate her. She
+has imposed upon you; how I know not; but she is an impostor."
+
+At this instant she seized him by the arm. "Mr. Easterfield," she cried,
+and as she spoke the tears were running down her cheeks, "please let me
+have a carriage--something covered! I would go on my wheel, for that
+would be quicker, but I don't want anybody to speak to me or see me!
+Will you have it brought to the back door, Mr. Easterfield, please? I
+will run to the house, and be waiting when it comes."
+
+She did not wait for him to answer. He did not ask her where she was
+going. He knew very well. She ran to the house, and he hurried to the
+stable.
+
+Having given his orders, Mr. Tom went in search of his wife. The moment
+had arrived when it was absolutely necessary to let her know what was
+going on.
+
+He found her in her own room. "Where on earth have you been?" she
+exclaimed. "I have been looking everywhere for you."
+
+In as few words as possible he told her where he had been, and what he
+had done.
+
+"And where are you going now?" she asked.
+
+"I am going to change my coat," said the good Mr. Tom. "After my ride
+to the toll-gate and back this jacket is too dusty for me to drive with
+her."
+
+"Drive with her" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "It will be very well for
+you to get rid of some of that dust, but when the carriage comes I will
+drive with Olive to see her uncle."
+
+And thus it happened that Mr. Tom stayed at home with the house party
+while the close carriage, containing his wife and that dear girl, Olive
+Asher, rolled swiftly southward over the smooth turnpike road.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVI_
+
+_A Stop at the Toll-gate._
+
+
+The four lovers at Broadstone walked, and wandered, and waited, after
+breakfast that morning, but only one of them knew definitely what he was
+waiting for, and that was Mr. Locker. He was waiting for half-past
+twelve o'clock, when he would join Miss Asher, if she gave him an
+opportunity; and he was sure she would give him one, for she was always
+to be trusted. He intended this interview to be decisive. It would not
+do for him to wait any longer; yes or no must be her word. She had been
+walking down by the river with the best clothes on the premises, and he
+now feared the owner of those clothes more than anybody else. He was a
+keen-sighted young man, for otherwise how could he have been a poet, and
+he assured himself that Miss Asher was taking Hemphill seriously.
+
+So Mr. Locker determined to charge the works of the enemy that day
+before luncheon. When the conflict was over his flag might float high
+and free or it might lie trampled in the dust, but the battle should be
+fought, and no quarter would be asked or given.
+
+As for Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Du Brant, they simply wandered, and waited,
+and bored the rest of the company. They did not care to do anything, for
+that might embarrass them in case Miss Asher appeared and wished to do
+something else; they did not want to stay in the house because she might
+show herself somewhere out of doors; they did not want to stay on the
+grounds because at any moment she might seat herself in the library with
+a book; above all things, they wanted to keep away from each other; and
+their indeterminate peregrinations made sick the souls of Mr. and Mrs.
+Fox.
+
+The diplomat did not know what he was going to do when he saw Miss Asher
+alone; everything would depend upon surrounding circumstances, for he
+was quick as well as wary, and could make up his mind on the instant.
+But good Rupert Hemphill had not even as much decision of purpose as
+this. He had already spent half an hour with the lady of his love, and
+he had not been very happy. Delighted that she had permitted him to join
+her, he had at once begun to speak of the one great object which
+dominated his existence, but she had earnestly entreated him not to do
+so.
+
+"It is such a pity," she had said, "for us never to talk of anything but
+that. There are so many things I like to talk about, especially the
+things of which I read. I am now reading Charles Lamb--that is, whenever
+I get a chance--and I don't believe anybody in these days ever does read
+the works of that dear old man. There is a complete set of his books in
+the library, and they do not look as if they had ever been opened. Did
+you ever read his little essays on Popular Fallacies? Some of them are
+just as true as they can be, although they seem like making fun,
+especially the one about the angry man being always in the wrong. I am
+inclined to side with the angry man. I know I am generally right when I
+am angry."
+
+Mr. Hemphill had not read these little essays, nor had he admitted that
+he had never read anything else by Mr. Lamb; but he had agreed that it
+was very common to be both angry and right. Then Olive had talked to him
+about other books, and his way had become very rough and exceedingly
+thorny, and he had wished he knew how to bring up the subject of some
+new figures in the German. But he had not succeeded in doing this. She
+had been in a bookish mood, and the mood had lasted until she had left
+him.
+
+Now he began to think that it would be better for him to give up
+wandering and waiting and go into the library and prepare himself for
+another talk with Olive, but he did not go; she might see him and
+suspect his design. He would wait until later. He took some books to his
+room.
+
+Dick Lancaster wandered and waited, but he was full of a purpose,
+although it was not exactly definite; he wanted to find Mrs. Easterfield
+and ask her to release him from his promise. He could not remain much
+longer at Broadstone, and Olive's morning walk with Hemphill had made
+him very nervous. She knew that these young men were in love with her,
+and he had a right to let her know that he was also. It might be
+imprudent for him to do this, but he could not see why it would not be
+as imprudent at any other time as now. Moreover, there might come no
+other time, and he had control of now.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield had not joined her guests because of her anxiety about
+Olive. Mr. Easterfield did not appear. For a time he was very
+particularly engaged in the garden. Mr. Fox grew very much irritated.
+
+"I tell you, my dear," said he, "every one who comes here makes this
+place more stupid and dull. I can't see exactly any reason for it, but
+these lovers are at the bottom of it. I hate lovers."
+
+"You should be very glad, my dear," replied Mrs. Fox, "that I was not of
+your opinion in my early life."
+
+But things changed for the better after a time. It is true that Mrs.
+Easterfield and Olive did not appear, but Mr. Easterfield showed
+himself, and did it with great advantage. The simple statement that his
+wife and Miss Asher had gone to make a call caused a feeling of relief
+to spread over the whole party. Until the callers returned there was no
+reason why they should not all enjoy themselves, and Mr. Easterfield was
+there to show them how to do it.
+
+As the Broadstone carriage rolled swiftly on there was not much
+conversation between its occupants. To the somewhat sensitive mind of
+Mrs. Easterfield it seemed that Olive was a little disappointed at the
+change of companions, but this may have been a mere fancy. The girl was
+so wrapped up in self-concentrated thought that it was not likely that
+she would have talked much to any one. Suddenly, however, Olive broke
+out:
+
+"Mr. Easterfield must be a thoroughly good man" she said.
+
+"He is," assented the other.
+
+"And you have always been entirely satisfied with him?"
+
+"Entirely," was the reply, without a smile.
+
+Now Olive turned her face toward her companion and laid her hand upon
+her arm. "You ought to be a happy woman," she said.
+
+"Now, what is this girl thinking of?" asked Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+"Is she imagining that any one of the young fellows who are now
+besieging her can ever be to her what Tom is to me? Or is she making an
+ideal of my husband to the disparagement of her own lovers? Whichever
+way she thinks, she would better give up thinking."
+
+But the somewhat sensitive Mrs. Easterfield need not have troubled
+herself. The girl had already forgotten the good Mr. Tom, and her mind
+was intent upon getting to her uncle.
+
+"Will you please ask the man to stop," she said, "before he gets to the
+gate, and let me out? Then perhaps you will kindly drive on to the
+tollhouse and wait for me. I will not keep you waiting long."
+
+The carriage stopped, and Olive slipped out, and, before Mrs.
+Easterfield had any idea of what she was going to do, the girl climbed
+the rail fence which separated the road from the captain's pasture
+field. Between this field and the garden was a picket fence, not very
+high; and, toward a point about midway between the little tollhouse and
+the dwelling, Olive now ran swiftly. When she had nearly reached the
+fence she gave a great bound; put one foot on the upper rail to which
+the pickets were nailed; and then went over. What would have happened if
+the sharp pales had caught her skirts might well be imagined. But
+nothing happened.
+
+"That was a fine spring" said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. "She has
+seen him in the house, and wants to get there before he hears the
+carriage."
+
+Olive walked quietly through the garden to the house. She knew that her
+uncle was not at the gate, for from afar she had seen that the little
+piazza on which he was wont to sit was empty. She went noiselessly into
+the hall, and looked into the parlor. By a window in the back of the
+room she saw her uncle writing at a little table. With a rush of air she
+was at his side before he knew she was in the room. As he turned his
+head her arms were around his neck, and the pen in his hand made a great
+splotch of ink upon her white summer dress.
+
+"Now, uncle," she exclaimed, looking into his astonished face, "here I
+am and here I am going to stay! And if you want to know anything more
+about it, you will have to wait, for I am not going to make any
+explanations now. I am too happy to know that I have a dear uncle left
+to me in this world, and to know that we two are going to live together
+always to want to talk about whys and wherefores."
+
+"But, Olive" exclaimed the captain.
+
+"There are no buts," she interrupted. "Not a single but, my dear Uncle
+John! I have come back to stay with you, and that is all there is about
+it. Mrs. Easterfield is outside in her carriage, and I must go and send
+her away. But don't you come out, Uncle John; I have some things to say
+to her, and I will let you know when she is going."
+
+As Olive sped out of the room Captain Asher turned around in his chair
+and looked after her. Tears were running down his swarthy cheeks. He
+did not know how or why it had all happened. He only knew that Olive was
+coming back to live with him!
+
+Meantime old Jane was entertaining Mrs. Easterfield at the toll-gate,
+where no money was paid, but a great deal of information gained. The old
+woman had seen Miss Olive run into the house, and she was elated and
+excited, and consequently voluble. Mrs. Easterfield got the full account
+of the one-sided courtship of the captain and Miss Port. Even the
+concluding episode of Maria having been put to bed had somehow reached
+the ears of old Jane. It is really wonderful how secret things do become
+known, for not one of the three actors in that scene would have told it
+on any account. But old Jane knew it, and told it with great glee, to
+Mrs. Easterfield's intense enjoyment. Then she proceeded to praise Olive
+for the spirit she had shown under these trying circumstances; and, in
+this connection, naturally there came into the recital the spirit the
+old woman herself had shown under these same trying circumstances, and
+how she had got all ready to leave the minute the nuptial knot was tied
+and before that Maria Port could reach the toll-gate, although it was
+like tearing herself apart to leave the spot where she had lived so many
+years. "But," she concluded, "it is all right now. The captain tells me
+it's all a lie of her own makin'. She's good at that business, and if
+lies was salable she'd be rich."
+
+Just as the old woman reached this, what seemed to her unsophisticated
+mind, impossible business proposition, Olive appeared. Mrs. Easterfield
+was surprised to see her so soon, and, to tell the truth, a little
+disappointed. She had been greatly interested and amused by the old
+woman's rapid tale, which she would not interrupt, but had put aside in
+her mind several questions to ask, and one of them was in relation to
+her husband's late visit to the captain. She had had no detailed account
+from him, and she wondered how much this old body knew about it. She
+seemed to know pretty much everything. But Olive's appearance put an end
+to this absorbing conversation.
+
+"Has you come to stay, dearie?" eagerly asked old Jane, as Olive grasped
+her hand.
+
+"To be sure I have, Jane! I have come to stay forever!"
+
+"Thank goodness!" exclaimed the old woman. "How the captain will
+brighten up! But my! I must go and alter the supper!"
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," said Olive, when the old woman had departed, "you
+will have to go back without me. I can not leave my uncle, and I am
+going to stay here right along. You must not think I am ungrateful to
+you, or unmindful of Mr. Easterfield's great kindness, but this is my
+place for the present. Some day I know you will be good enough to let me
+pay you another visit."
+
+"And what am I to do with all those young men?" asked Mrs. Easterfield
+mischievously. She would have added, "And one of them your future
+husband?" But she remembered the coachman.
+
+Olive laughed. "They will annoy you less when I am not there. If you
+will be so good as to ask your maid to pack up my belongings, I will
+send for my trunk." She glanced at the coachman. "Would you mind taking
+a little walk with me along the road?"
+
+"I shall be glad to do so," said Mrs. Easterfield, getting out of the
+carriage.
+
+"Now, my dear Mrs. Easterfield," said Olive when they were some distance
+from the toll-gate and the house, "I am going to ask you to add to all
+your kindness one more favor for me."
+
+"That has such an ominous sound," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that I am not
+disposed to promise beforehand."
+
+"It is about those three young men you mentioned."
+
+"I mentioned no number, and there are four."
+
+"In what I am going to ask of you one of them can be counted out. He is
+not in the affair. Only three are in this business. Won't you be so good
+as to decline them all for me? I know that you can do it better than I
+can. You have so much tact. And you must have done the thing many a
+time, and I have not done it once. I am very awkward; I don't know how;
+and, to confess the truth, I have put myself into a pretty bad fix."
+
+"Upon my word," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "that is a pretty thing for one
+woman to ask of another!
+
+"I know it is," said Olive, "and I would not ask it of anybody but the
+truest friend--of no one but you. But you see how difficult it is for me
+to attend to it. And it must be done. I have given up all idea of
+marrying, I am going to stay here, and when my father comes with his
+young lady he will find me settled and fixed, and he and she will have
+nothing to do with making plans for me. Now, dear Mrs. Easterfield, I
+know you will do this favor for me, and let me say that I wish you would
+be particularly gentle and pleasant in speaking to Mr. Locker. I think
+he is really a very kind and considerate young man. He certainly showed
+himself that way. I know you can talk so nicely to him that perhaps he
+will not mind very much. As for Mr. Du Brant, you can tell him plainly
+that I have carefully considered his proposition--and that is the exact
+truth--and that I find it will be wise for me not to accept it. He is a
+man of affairs, and will understand that I have given him a
+straightforward, practical answer, and he will be satisfied. You must
+not be sharp with Mr. Hemphill, as I know you will be inclined to be.
+Please remember that I was once in love with him, and respect my
+feelings as well as his. Besides, he is good, and he is in earnest, and
+he deserves fair treatment. I am sorry that I have worried you about
+him, and I will tell you now that I have found out he would not do at
+all. I found it out this morning when I was talking to him about books.
+His mind is neither broad nor cultivated."
+
+"I could have told you that," said Mrs. Easterfield, "and saved you all
+the trouble of taking that walk by the river."
+
+"And then there is one more thing," continued Olive; "it is about
+Professor Lancaster. I am sure you will agree with me that it will not
+do for him to come back here. I am just going to start housekeeping
+again. I've got the supper on my mind this minute. You can't imagine how
+everything has turned topsy-turvy since I left. I suppose he will be
+wanting to go North, anyway. In fact, he told me so."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. She did not believe that Mr. Lancaster would
+want to go North, or West, or East, although South might suit him. But
+she saw the point of Olive's request; it would be awkward to have him at
+the tollhouse.
+
+"Oh, I will take care of him," she said, "and he shall continue his
+vacation trip just as soon as Mr. Easterfield and I choose to give him
+up."
+
+"You see," said Olive in an explanatory way, "I have not anything in the
+world to do with him, but I thought he might want to come back to see
+uncle again. And, really," she added, speaking with a great deal of
+earnestness, "I don't want to be bothered with any more young men! And
+now I will call uncle. You know I had to say all these things to you
+immediately."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield walked quickly back to her carriage, but she did not
+wait to see Captain Asher. As a hostess it was necessary for her to
+hurry back home; and as a quick-witted, sensible woman she saw that it
+would be well to leave these two happy people to themselves. This was
+not the time for them to talk to her. So, when the captain, unwilling to
+wait any longer, appeared at the door of the house, these two dear
+friends had kissed and parted, and the carriage was speeding away.
+
+On her way home Mrs. Easterfield forgot her slight chagrin at what her
+husband had not done, in her joy at what he had accomplished. He had
+neglected to take her fully into his confidence, and had acted very much
+as if he had been a naval commander, who had cut his telegraphic
+connections in order not to be embarrassed by orders from the home
+government. But, on the other hand, he had saved her from the terrible
+shock of hearing Olive declare that she had just engaged herself to
+Rupert Hemphill. If it had not been for the extraordinary promptness of
+her good Tom--a style of action he had acquired in the railroad
+business--it would have been just as likely as not that Olive would have
+accepted that young man before she had had an opportunity of finding out
+his want of breadth and cultivation.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVII_
+
+_By Proxy._
+
+
+About half-past twelve Claude Locker made his appearance in the spacious
+hall. He looked out of the front door; he looked out of the back door;
+he peered into the parlor; he glanced up the stairway; and then he
+peeped into the library. He had not seen the lady of the house since her
+return, and he was waiting for Olive. This morning his fate was to be
+positively decided; he would take a position that would allow of no
+postponement; he would tell her plainly that a statement that she was
+not prepared to give him an answer that day would be considered by him
+as a final rejection. She must haul down her flag or he would surrender
+and present to her his sword.
+
+Claude Locker saw nothing of Miss Asher, but it was not long before the
+lady of the house came down-stairs.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Locker," she exclaimed, "I am so glad to see you! Come into the
+library, please."
+
+He hesitated a minute. "I beg your pardon," said he, "but I have an
+appointment--"
+
+"I know that," said she, "and you may be surprised to hear that it is
+with me and not with Miss Asher. Come in and I will tell you about it."
+
+Claude Locker actually ran after his hostess into the library, both of
+his eyes wide open.
+
+"And now," said she, "please sit down, and hear what I have to say."
+
+Locker seated himself on the edge of a chair; he did not feel happy; he
+suspected something was wrong.
+
+"Is she sick?" he asked. "Can't she come down?"
+
+"She is very well," was the reply, "but she is not here. She is with her
+uncle."
+
+"Then I am due at her uncle's house before one o'clock," said he.
+
+"No," she answered, "you are due here."
+
+He fixed upon her a questioning glance.
+
+"Miss Asher," she continued, "has deputed me to give you her answer. She
+can not come herself, but she does not forget her agreement with you."
+
+The young man still gazed steadfastly. "If it is to be a favorable
+decision," said he, "I hope you will be able to excuse any exuberance of
+demeanor on my part."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled. "In that case," she said, "I do not suppose I
+should have been sent as an envoy."
+
+His brow darkened, and instinctively he struck one hand with the other.
+"That is exactly what I expected!" he exclaimed. "The signs all pointed
+that way. But until this moment, my dear madam, I hoped. Yes, I had
+presumed to hope that I might kindle in her heart a little nickering
+flame. I had tried to do this, and I had left but one small match head,
+which I intended to strike this day. But now I see I had a piece of the
+wrong end of the match. After this I must be content forever to stay in
+the cold."
+
+"I am glad you view the matter so philosophically," said Mrs.
+Easterfield, "and Olive particularly desired me to say--"
+
+"Don't call her Olive, if you please," he interrupted. "It is like
+speaking to me through the partly open door of paradise, through which I
+can not enter. Slam it shut, I beg of you, and talk over the top of the
+wall."
+
+"Miss Asher wants you to know," continued Mrs. Easterfield, "that while
+she has decided to decline your addresses, she is deeply grateful to you
+for the considerate way in which you have borne yourself toward her. I
+know she has a high regard for you, and that she will not forget your
+kindness."
+
+Mr. Locker put his hands in his pockets. "Do you know," said he, "as
+this thing had to be done, I prefer to have you do it than to have her
+do it. Well, it is done now! And so am I!"
+
+"You never did truly expect to get her, did you, Mr. Locker?" asked Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+"Never," he answered; "but I do not flinch at what may be
+impossibilities. Nobody, myself included, can imagine that I shall rival
+Keats, and yet I am always trying for it."
+
+"Is it Keats you are aiming at?" she said.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "it does not look like it, does it? But it is."
+
+"And you don't feel disheartened when you fail?" said she.
+
+Mr. Locker took his hands from his pockets, and folded his arms. "Yes,
+I do," he said; "I feel as thoroughly disheartened as I do now. But I
+have one comfort; Keats and Miss Asher dropped me; I did not drop them.
+So there is nothing on my conscience. And now tell me, is she going to
+take Lancaster? I hope so."
+
+"She could not do that," answered Mrs. Easterfield, "for I know he has
+not asked her."
+
+"Then he'd better skip around lively and do it," said Mr. Locker, "not
+only for his own sake, but for mine. If I should be cast aside for the
+Hemphill clothes I should have no faith in humanity. I would give up
+verse, and I would give up woman."
+
+"Don't be afraid of anything like that," said Mrs. Easterfield,
+laughing. "It may be somewhat of a breach of confidence, but I am going
+to tell you nevertheless; because I think you deserve it; that I am also
+deputed to decline the addresses of Mr. Hemphill, and Mr. Du Brant."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Locker. "Mrs. Easterfield, I envy you; and if you don't
+feel like performing the rest of your mission, you can depute it to me.
+I don't know anything at this moment that would give me so much joy."
+
+"I would not be so disloyal or so cruel as that," said she. "But I shall
+not be in a hurry. I shall let them eat their lunch in peace and hope."
+
+"Not much peace," said he. "Her empty chair will put that to flight. I
+know how it feels to look at her empty chair."
+
+"Then you really love her?" said Mrs. Easterfield, much moved.
+
+"With every fiber," said he.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield found herself much embarrassed at the luncheon table.
+She had made her husband understand the state of affairs, but had not
+had time to enter into particulars with him, and she did not find it
+easy satisfactorily to explain to the company the absence of Miss Asher
+without calling forth embarrassing questions as to her return, and she
+wished carefully to avoid telling them that her guest was not coming
+back for the present. If she made this known then she feared there might
+be a scene at the table.
+
+Mr. Hemphill turned pale when, that afternoon, his hostess, in an
+exceedingly clear and plain manner, made known to him his fate. For a
+few moments he did not speak. Then he said very quietly: "If she had
+not, of her own accord, told me that she had once loved me, I should
+never have dared to say anything like that to her."
+
+"I do not think you need any excuse, Mr. Hemphill," said Mrs.
+Easterfield. "In fact, if you loved her, I do not see how you could help
+speaking after what she herself said to you."
+
+"That is true," he replied. "And I love her with all my heart!"
+
+"She ought never to have told you of that girlish fancy," said his
+hostess. "It was putting you in a very embarrassing position, and I am
+bound to say to you, Mr. Hemphill, that I also am very much to blame.
+Knowing all this, as I did, I should not have allowed you to meet her."
+
+"Oh, don't say that!" exclaimed Mr. Hemphill. "Don't say that! Not for
+the world would I give up the memory of hearing her say she once loved
+me! I don't care how many years ago it was. I am glad you let me come
+here. I am glad she told me. I shall never forget the happiness I have
+had in this house. And now, Mrs. Easterfield, let me ask you one
+thing--"
+
+At this moment Mrs. Easterfield, who was facing the door, saw her
+husband enter the hall, and by his manner she knew he was looking for
+her.
+
+"Excuse me," she said to Hemphill, "I will be back in an instant."
+
+And she ran out. "Tom," she cried, "you must go away. I can not see you
+now. I am very busy declining the addresses of a suitor, and can not be
+interrupted."
+
+Mr. Tom looked at her in surprise, although it was not often Mrs.
+Easterfield could surprise him. He saw that she was very much in
+earnest.
+
+"Well," said he, "if you are sure you are going to decline him I won't
+interrupt you. And when you have sealed his fate you will find me in my
+room. I want particularly to see you."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield went back to the library and Hemphill continued: "You
+need not answer if you do not think it is right," said he, "but do you
+believe at any time she thought seriously of me?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled as she answered: "Now, you see the advantage of
+an agent in such matters as this. You could not have asked her that
+question, or if you did she would not answer you. And now I am going to
+tell you that she did have some serious thought of you. Whatever
+encouragement she gave you, she treated you fairly. She is a very
+practical young woman--"
+
+"Excuse me," said Hemphill hurriedly, "but if you please, I would rather
+you did not tell me anything more. Sometimes it is not well to try to
+know too much. I can't talk now, Mrs. Easterfield, for I am dreadfully
+cut up, but at the same time I am wonderfully proud. I don't know that
+you can understand this."
+
+"Yes, I can," she said; "I understand it perfectly."
+
+"You are very kind," he said. As he was about to leave the room he
+stopped and turned to Mrs. Easterfield. "Is she going to marry Professor
+Lancaster?" he asked.
+
+"Really, Mr. Hemphill," she replied, "I can not say anything about that.
+I do not know any more than you do."
+
+"Well, I hope she may," he said. "It would be a burning shame if she
+were to accept that Austrian; and as for the other little man, he is too
+ugly. You must excuse me for speaking of your friends in this way, Mrs.
+Easterfield, but really I should feel dreadfully if I thought I had been
+set aside for such a queer customer as he is."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield did not laugh then; but when Hemphill had gone, and she
+had joined her husband, they had a good time together.
+
+"And so they all recommend Lancaster," said he.
+
+"So far," she answered; "but I have yet to hear what Mr. Du Brant has to
+say."
+
+"I think you have had enough of this discarding business," said Mr.
+Tom. "You would better leave Du Brant to me."
+
+"Oh, no," said she; "I promised Olive. And, besides, I think I like it."
+
+"I believe you do," said Mr. Tom. "And now I want to say something
+important. It is not right that Broadstone should be given up entirely
+to the affairs of Miss Asher and her lovers. I think, for instance, that
+our friend Fox looks very much dissatisfied."
+
+"That is because Olive is not here," she replied.
+
+"Not only that," he answered. "He loses her, and does not get anything
+else in her place. Now, we must make this house lively, as it ought to
+be. Let Du Brant off for to-day and let us make up a party to go out on
+the river. We will take two boats, and have some of the men to do the
+rowing. Postpone dinner so we can have a long afternoon."
+
+Mr. Du Brant did not go on the river excursion. He had some letters to
+write, and begged to be excused. He had not asked when Miss Asher was
+expected back, or anything about her return. He did not understand the
+state of affairs, and was afraid he might receive some misleading
+information. But if she should come that afternoon or the next day he
+determined to be on the spot. After that he might not be able to remain
+at Broadstone, and it would be a glorious opportunity for him if she
+should come back that afternoon.
+
+It was twilight when the boating party returned. Under the genial
+influence of Mr. Tom and his wife they had all enjoyed themselves as
+much as it was possible for them to do so without Olive.
+
+When Claude Locker, a little behind the others, reached the top of the
+hill he perceived, not far away, Mr. Du Brant strolling. These two had
+not spoken since the night of the interrupted serenade. Each of them had
+desired to avoid words or actions which might disturb the peace of this
+hospitable home, and consequently had very successfully succeeded in
+avoiding each other. But now Mr. Locker walked straight up to the
+secretary of legation, holding out his hand.
+
+"Now, Mr. Du Brant," said he, "since we are both in the same boat, let
+us shake hands and let bygones be bygones."
+
+But the young Austrian did not take the proffered hand. For a moment he
+looked as though he were about to turn away without taking any notice of
+Locker, but he had not the strength of mind to do this. He turned and
+remarked with a scowl:
+
+"What do you mean by same boat? I have nothing to do with you on the
+water or on the land!"
+
+Mr. Locker shrugged his shoulders. "So you have not been told," said he.
+
+"Told!" exclaimed Du Brant, now very much interested. "Told what?"
+
+"That you will have to find out," said the other. "It is not my business
+to tell you. But I don't mind saying that as I have been told I thought
+perhaps you might have been."
+
+"Told what?" exclaimed Mr. Du Brant again, stepping up closer to the
+other.
+
+"Don't shout so," said Locker; "they will think we are quarreling.
+Didn't I say I am not the person to tell you anything, and if you did
+not understand me I will say it again."
+
+For some seconds the Austrian looked steadily at his companion. Then he
+said, "Have you been refused by Miss Asher?"
+
+"Well," said Locker with a sigh, "as that is my business, I suppose I
+can talk about it if I want to. Yes, I have."
+
+Again Du Brant was silent for a time. "Did she tell you herself?" he
+asked.
+
+"No, she did not," was the answer. "She kindly sent me word by Mrs.
+Easterfield. I suppose your turn has not come yet. I was at the head of
+the list." And, fearing that if he stayed longer he might say too much,
+Mr. Locker walked slowly away, whistling disjointedly as he went.
+
+That evening Mrs. Easterfield discovered that she had been deprived of
+the anticipated pleasure of conveying to Mr. Du Brant the message which
+Olive had sent him. That gentleman, unusually polite and soft-spoken,
+found her by herself, and thus accosted her: "You must excuse me, madam,
+for speaking upon a certain subject without permission from you, but I
+have reason to believe that you are the bearer of a message to me from
+Miss Asher."
+
+"How in the world did you find that out?" she asked.
+
+"It was the--Locker," he answered. "I do not think it was his intention
+to inform me fully; he is not a master of words and expressions; he is a
+little blundering; but, from what he said, I supposed you were kind
+enough to be the bearer of such a message."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield; "not being able to be here herself, Miss
+Asher requested me to say to you that she must decline--"
+
+"Excuse me, madam," he interrupted, "but it is I who decline. I bear
+toward you, madam, the greatest homage and respect, but what I had the
+honor to say to Miss Asher I said to her alone, and it is only from her
+that it is possible for me to receive an answer. Therefore, madam, it is
+absolutely necessary that I decline to be a party to the interview you
+so graciously propose. It breaks my heart, my dear madam, even to seem
+unwilling to listen to anything you might deign to say to me, but in
+this case I must be firm, I must decline. Can you pardon me, dear madam,
+for speaking as I have been obliged to speak?"
+
+"Oh, of course," said Mrs. Easterfield. "And really, since you know so
+much, it is not necessary for me to tell you anything more."
+
+"Ah," said the diplomat, with a little bow and an incredulous
+expression, as if the lady could have no idea what he might yet know, "I
+am so much obliged to you! I am so thankful!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVIII_
+
+_Here we go! Lovers Three!_
+
+
+The three discarded lovers of Broadstone--all discarded, although one of
+them would not admit it--would have departed the next day had not that
+day been Sunday, when there were no convenient trains. Mr. Du Brant was
+due in Washington; Mr. Hemphill was needed very much at his desk,
+especially since Mr. Easterfield had decided to spend a few days with
+his wife; and Claude Locker wanted to go. When he had finished the thing
+he happened to be doing it was his habit immediately to begin something
+else. All was at an end between him and Miss Asher. He acknowledged
+this, and he did not wish to stay at Broadstone. But, as it could not be
+helped, they all stayed over Sunday.
+
+Mr. Easterfield planned an early afternoon expedition to a mission
+church in the mountains; it would be a novel experience, and a
+delightful trip, and everybody must go.
+
+In the course of the morning Mr. Du Brant strolled in the eastern parts
+of the grounds, and Mr. Locker strolled over that portion of the lawn
+which lay to the west. Mr. Du Brant did not meet with any one with whom
+he cared to talk, but Mr. Locker was fortunate enough to meet Miss
+Raleigh.
+
+"I am glad to see you," said he; "you are the person above all other
+persons I wish to talk to."
+
+"It delights me to hear that," said the lady, her face showing that she
+spoke the truth.
+
+"Let us go over there and sit down," said he. "Now, then," he continued,
+"you were present, Miss Raleigh, at a very peculiar moment in my life, a
+momentous moment, I may say. You enjoyed a privilege--if you consider it
+such--not vouchsafed to many mortals."
+
+"I did consider it a privilege, you may be sure," exclaimed Miss
+Raleigh, "and I value it. You do not know how highly I value it!"
+
+"You heard me offer myself, body and soul, to the lady I loved. You were
+taken into our confidence, you saw me laid upon the table--"
+
+"Oh, dreadful!" cried the lady. "Don't put it that way."
+
+"Well, then," said he, "you saw me postponed for future consideration.
+You promised you would regard everything you heard as confidential; by
+so doing you enabled me to speak when otherwise I might not have dared
+to do so. I am deeply grateful to you; and, as you already know so much
+about my hopes and my aspirations, I think it right you should know all
+there is to know."
+
+The conscience of Miss Raleigh stirred itself very vigorously within
+her, and her voice was much subdued as she said:
+
+"I am sure you are very good."
+
+"Well, then," said Locker, "the proposal you heard me make has been
+declined. I am discarded; and not directly in a face-to-face interview,
+but through another by a message. It would have been inconvenient for
+Miss Asher personally to communicate the intelligence, so as Mrs.
+Easterfield was coming this way she kindly consented to convey the
+intelligence."
+
+"I declare," exclaimed Miss Raleigh, "I had not heard of that! Mrs.
+Easterfield made me her confidant in the early stages of this affair, or
+I should say, these affairs. But she has not told me that."
+
+"She will doubtless give herself that pleasure later," said Locker.
+
+"No," said she, "she will not think any more about it. I am of no
+further use. And may I ask if you know anything about the two other
+gentlemen?"
+
+"Both turned down," said Locker.
+
+"I might have supposed that," answered the lady; "for if Miss Asher
+would not take you she certainly would not be content with either of
+them."
+
+"With all my heart I thank you," said Locker warmly. "Such words are
+welcome to a wounded heart."
+
+For a moment Miss Raleigh was silent, then she remarked, "It is very
+hard to be discarded."
+
+"You are right there!" exclaimed Locker. "But how do you happen to know
+anything about it?"
+
+"I have been discarded myself," she answered.
+
+The larger eye of Mr. Locker grew still larger, the other endeavored to
+emulate its companion's size; and his mouth became a rounded opening.
+"Discarded?" he cried.
+
+"Yes," said she.
+
+The countenance of the young man was now bright with interest and
+curiosity. "I don't suppose it would be right to ask you," said he,
+"even although I have taken you so completely into my confidence--but,
+never mind. Don't think of it. Of course, I would not propose such a
+question."
+
+"Of course not," said she, "you are too manly for that." And then she
+was silent again. Naturally she hesitated to reveal the secrets of her
+heart, and to a gentleman with whom her acquaintance was of such recent
+date; but she earnestly wanted to repose confidence in another, as well
+as to receive it, and it was so seldom, so very seldom, that such an
+opportunity came to her.
+
+"I do not know," she said, "that I ought to, but still--"
+
+"Oh, don't, if you don't want to," said Locker.
+
+"But I think I do want to," she replied. "You are so kind, so good, and
+you have confided in me. Yes, I was once discarded, not exactly by word
+of mouth, or even by message, but still discarded."
+
+"A stranger to me, of course," said Locker, his whole form twisting
+itself into an interrogation-point.
+
+"No," said she, "and as I have begun I will go on. It was Mr. Hemphill."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed. "That--"
+
+"Yes, it was he," said she, speaking slowly, and in a low voice. "He was
+Mr. Easterfield's secretary and I was Mrs. Easterfield's secretary, and,
+of course, we were thrown much together. He has very good qualities; I
+do not hesitate now to say that; and they impressed themselves upon me.
+In every possible way I endeavored to make things pleasant for him. I do
+not believe that when he was at work he ever wanted a glass of cold
+water that he did not find it within reach. I early discovered that he
+was very fond of cold water."
+
+"A most commendable dissipation," interrupted Locker.
+
+"He had no dissipations," said Miss Raleigh. "His character was
+unimpeachable. In very many ways I was attracted to him, in very many
+ways I endeavored to make life pleasant for him; and I am afraid that
+sometimes I neglected Mrs. Easterfield's interests so that I might do
+little things for him, such as dusting, keeping his ink-pots full,
+providing fresh blotting-paper, and many other trifling services which
+devotion readily suggested."
+
+Locker heaved a sigh of commiseration which she mistook for one of
+sympathy.
+
+"I will not go into particulars," she continued, "but at last he
+discovered that--well, I will be plain with you--he discovered that I
+loved him. Then, sir--it is humiliating to me to say it, but I will not
+flinch--he discarded me. He did not use words, but his manner was
+sufficient. Never again did I go near his desk, never did I tender him
+the slightest service. It was a terrible blow! It was humiliating"
+
+"I should think so," said Locker, "from him"
+
+"But I will say no more," she remarked with a sigh. "I have told you
+what you have heard that you may understand how thoroughly I sympathize
+with you, for all is over with me in that direction, as I suppose all
+is over with you in your direction. And now I must go, for this long
+conference may be remarked. But before I go, I will say that if ever
+you--"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" interrupted Locker, "it would not do at all! I really
+have begun to believe that I was cut out for a bachelor."
+
+"What!" said Miss Raleigh, with great severity. "Do you suppose, sir,
+that I--"
+
+"Not at all, not at all" cried Locker. "Not for one moment do I suppose
+that you--"
+
+"If for one moment," said she, "I had imagined you would suppose--"
+
+"But I assure you, Miss Raleigh, I never did suppose that you would
+imagine I would think--but if you do suppose I thought you imagined I
+could possibly conceive--"
+
+"But I really did think," said Miss Raleigh, speaking more gently. "But
+if I was wrong--"
+
+"Nay, think no more about it," Locker interrupted, "and let us be
+friends again."
+
+He offered her his hand, which she shook warmly, and then departed.
+
+It had been arranged that Lancaster was not to leave Broadstone on the
+next day. He had expected to do so, but Mr. Easterfield had planned for
+a day's fishing for himself, Mr. Fox, and the professor, and he would
+not let the latter off. The ladies had accepted an invitation to
+luncheon that day; the next day some new visitors were expected; and in
+order not to interfere with Mr. Easterfield's plans, evidently intended
+to restore to Broadstone some of the social harmony which had recently
+been so disturbed, Dick consented to stay, although he really wanted to
+go. He could not forget that his vacation was passing.
+
+"Very well, then," Mrs. Easterfield remarked to him that Sunday evening,
+"if you must go on Tuesday, I suppose you must, although I think it
+would be better for you if I were to keep my eye on you for a little
+while longer."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Lancaster, "but the time has come when curb-bits,
+cages, and good advice are not for me. I must burst loose from
+everything and go my way, right or wrong, whatever it may be."
+
+"I see that," said she; "but if it had not been for the curbed bit and
+all that, you would be leaving this place a discarded lover, like the
+rest of them. They depart with their love-affairs finished forever,
+ended; you go as free to woo, to win, or to lose as you ever were. And
+you owe this entirely to me, so whatever else you do, don't sneer at my
+curbs and my cages; to them you owe your liberty."
+
+The professor fully appreciated everything she had done for him, and
+told her so earnestly and warmly. But she interrupted his grateful
+expressions.
+
+"It would have been very hard on me," she said, "if Olive had asked me
+to carry to you the news of your rejection. That is what I did for the
+others, I suppose you know."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster; "Locker told me."
+
+"I might have supposed that," said she. "And now I feel bound to tell
+you also, although it is not a message, that Olive does not expect to
+see you at her uncle's house. She infers that you are going to continue
+your vacation journey."
+
+"I have made my plans for my journey," said he, "and I do not think,
+Mrs. Easterfield, that you will care to have me talk them over with
+you."
+
+"No, indeed," she replied; "I do not want to hear a word about them, but
+I am going to give you one piece of advice, whether you like it or not.
+Don't be in a hurry to ask her to marry you. At this moment she does not
+want to marry anybody. Her position has entirely changed. She wanted to
+marry so that her plans might be settled before her father and his new
+wife arrive; and now she considers that they are settled. So be careful.
+It is true that the objections she formerly had to you are removed, but
+before you ask her to marry you, you should seriously ask yourself what
+reason there is she should do so. She does not know you very well; she
+is not interested in you; and I am very sure she is not in love with
+you. Now you know, for I have told you so, that I would be delighted to
+see you two married. I believe you would suit each other admirably, but
+although you may agree with me in this opinion, I am quite sure she does
+not; at least, not yet. Now, this is all I am going to say, except that
+you have my very best wishes that you may get her."
+
+"I shall never forget that," said he, "but I see I am not to be free
+from the memory, at least, of the curb and the cage."
+
+After breakfast on Monday the three discarded lovers departed in a
+dog-cart, Mr. Du Brant in front with the driver, and Claude Locker and
+Hemphill behind. For some minutes the party was silent. If
+circumstances had permitted they would have gone separately.
+
+As long as he could see the mansion of Broadstone, Claude Locker spoke
+no word. When the time had come to go he had not wanted to go. When
+taking leave of Dick Lancaster he had congratulated that favored young
+man upon the fact that he had not been rejected, and had assured him
+that if he had remained at Broadstone he would have done his best to
+back him up as he had said he would.
+
+Hemphill was not inclined to talk. Of course, Locker did not care to
+converse with the young diplomat, and consequently he found himself
+bored, and to relieve his feelings he burst into song. His words were
+impromptu, and although the verse was not very good, it was very
+impressive. It began as follows:
+
+    "Here we go,
+        Lovers three,
+    All steeped deep
+        In miseree."
+
+At this Mr. Hemphill turned and looked at him, while a deep grunt came
+from the front seat, but the singer kept on without much attention to
+meter, and none at all to tune.
+
+    "This is so,
+        Here we go,
+    Flabbergasted,
+        Hopes all blasted,
+    Flags half-masted.
+        While it lasted,
+    We poor--"
+
+"Look here," cried Du Brant, turning round suddenly, "I beg you desist
+that. You are insulting. And what you say is not true, as regards me at
+least. You can sing for yourself."
+
+"Not true!" cried Locker. "Oh, ho, oh ho! Perhaps you have forgotten
+yourself, kind sir."
+
+This little speech seemed to make Du Brant very angry, and he fairly
+shouted at Locker: "No, I haven't forgotten myself, and I have not
+forgotten you! You have insulted me before, and I should like to make
+you pay for it! I should like to have satisfaction from you, sir"
+
+"That sounds well," cried Locker. "Do you mean to fight?"
+
+"I want the satisfaction due to a gentleman," answered the young
+Austrian.
+
+"Good," cried Locker, "that would suit me exactly. It would brighten me
+up. Let's do it now. I am not going to stop at Washington, and this is
+the only time I can give you. Driver, can we get to the station in time
+if we stop a little while?"
+
+The person addressed was a young negro who had become intensely
+interested in the conversation.
+
+"Oh, yes, sah," he answered. "We'll git dar twenty minutes before de
+train does, and if you takes half an hour I can whip up. That train's
+mostly late, anyway."
+
+"All right," cried Locker. "And now, sir, how shall we fight? What have
+you got to fight with?"
+
+"This is folly," growled Du Brant. "I have nothing to fight with. I do
+not fight with fists, like you Americans."
+
+"Haven't you a penknife" coolly asked Locker. "If not, I daresay Mr.
+Hemphill will lend you one."
+
+Du Brant now fairly trembled with anger. "When I fight," said he, "I
+fight like a gentleman; with a sword or a pistol."
+
+"I am sorry," said Locker, "but if I remembered to bring my sword and
+pistol I must have put them in the bottom of my trunk, and that has gone
+on to the station. Have you two pistols or swords with you? Or do you
+think you could get sufficient satisfaction out of a couple of piles of
+stones that we could hurl at each other?"
+
+Du Brant made no English answer to this, but uttered some savage remarks
+in French.
+
+"Do you understand what all that means?" inquired Locker of Hemphill,
+who had been quietly listening to what had been going on.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "he is cursing you up hill, and down dale."
+
+"Oh," said Locker, "it sounds to me as if he were calculating his last
+week's expenses. But when he gets to French cursing, I drop him. I can't
+fight him that way."
+
+The colored boy now showed that he was very much disappointed. He had
+expected the pleasure of a fight, and he was afraid he was going to lose
+it.
+
+"I tell you, sah," he said to Locker, "why don't you try kick-shins? Do
+you know what kick-shins is? You don't know what kick-shins is? Well,
+kick-shins is this: one fellow stands in front of the other fellow, and
+one takes hold of the collar of the other fellow, and the other fellow
+takes hold of his collar, and then they kicks each other's shins, and
+the one what squeals fust, he's licked, and the other one gits the gal.
+You've got pretty thin shoes, sah," addressing Du Brant, "and your feet
+ain't half as big as his'n, but your toes is more p'inted."
+
+"No kick-shins for me," said Locker. "I've got to be economical about my
+clothes."
+
+Du Brant's rage now became ungovernable. "Do you apologize," he cried,
+"or I take you by the throat, and I strangle you."
+
+Hemphill, who had been smiling mildly at the kick-shin proposition, now
+turned himself about. "You will not do that," he said, "and if you don't
+sit quiet and keep your mouth shut, I'll toss you out of this cart, and
+make you walk the rest of the way to the station."
+
+As Hemphill looked quite big and strong enough to execute this threat,
+and as he was too quiet a man to be ignored, Du Brant turned his face to
+the horse, and said no more.
+
+"I did not know you were such a trump" cried Locker. "Give me your hand.
+I should hate to be strangled by a foreigner!"
+
+When they took the train Du Brant went by himself into the smoking-car,
+and Locker and Hemphill had a seat together.
+
+"Do you know," said Locker, "I am beginning to like you, although I must
+admit that before this morning I can remember no feeling of the sort."
+
+"That is not surprising," said Hemphill. "A man is not generally fond of
+his rival."
+
+"We will let it go at that," said Locker, "we'll let it go at that! I
+should not wonder, if we had all stayed at Broadstone; and if the
+central object of interest had also remained; and, if I had failed, as
+I have failed, to make the proper impression; and if the professor, whom
+I promised to back up in case I should find myself out of the combat,
+should also have failed; I should not wonder if I had backed up you."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIX_
+
+_Two Pieces of News._
+
+
+It was nearly two weeks after Mrs. Easterfield drove away from the
+captain's toll-gate before she went back there again. There were many
+reasons for thus depriving herself of Olive's society. Mr. Tom had
+stayed with her for an unusually long time; a house full of visitors,
+mostly relatives, had succeeded the departed lovers, and Foxes; and,
+besides, Olive was so very busy and so very happy--as she learned from
+many little notes--cleaning the house from garret to cellar, and loving
+her uncle better every day, that it really would have been a misdemeanor
+to interfere with her ardent pursuits.
+
+But now Olive had written that she wanted to tell her a lot of things
+which could not go into a letter, and so the Broadstone carriage stopped
+again at the toll-gate.
+
+Two great things had Olive to tell, and she was really glad that her
+uncle was not at home so that she might get at once to the telling.
+
+In the first place, old Mr. Port was dead, and Captain Asher was in
+great trouble about this. Of course, he could not keep away from the
+deathbed of his old friend, nor could he neglect to do all honor to his
+memory, but it was a terrible thing for him to have to go into the
+house where Maria Port lived. After what had happened it was almost too
+much for his courage, although he was a brave man. But he had conquered
+his feelings, and he was there now. The funeral would be to-morrow.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield heard all that Olive had to tell her about Maria
+Port, her heart went out to that brave man who kept the toll-gate.
+
+The next thing that Olive had to tell was that she had heard from her
+father, who wrote that he would soon arrive in this country; that he
+would then go West, where he would marry Olive's former schoolmate; and
+that, on their wedding tour, he would make a little visit at the
+tollhouse so that Olive might see her new mother.
+
+"Now, isn't this enough," cried Olive, "to make any girl spread her
+wings and fly to the ends of the earth? But I have no wings; they have
+all gone away in a dog-cart. But I don't feel about that as I used to
+feel," she continued, a little hardness coming into her face. "I am
+settled now just the same as if I were married, and father and Edith
+Malcolmsen may come just as soon as they please. They shall make no
+plans for me; I am going to stay here with Uncle John. This house is
+mine now, and I am seriously thinking of having it painted. I shall stay
+here just as if I were one of those trees, and my father and my new
+mother--"
+
+Here tears came into Olive's eyes and Mrs. Easterfield stopped her.
+
+"Olive," said she, "I will give you a piece of advice. When your father
+and his young wife come here, treat her exactly as if she were your old
+friend. If you do so I think you will get along very well. This is
+partly selfish advice, for I greatly desire the opportunity to treat
+your father hospitably. He was my friend when I was a girl, you
+remember, and I looked up to him with very great admiration."
+
+And so these two friends sat and talked, and talked, and talked until it
+was positively shameful, considering that the Broadstone horses were
+accustomed to be fed and watered at noon, and that the coachman was very
+hungry.
+
+When, at last, Mrs. Easterfield drove home, and it must have been three
+in the afternoon, she left Olive very much comforted, even in regard to
+the unfortunate obligations which had fallen upon her uncle. For now
+that her old father had gone, all intercourse with the Port woman would
+cease.
+
+But in her own mind Mrs. Easterfield was not so very much comforted. It
+was all well enough to talk about Olive and her uncle and the happiness
+and safety of the home he had given her, but that sort of thing could
+not last very long. He was an elderly man and she was a girl. In the
+natural course of events, she would probably be left alone while she was
+very young. She would then be alone, for her father's wife could never
+be a mother to her when he was at sea, and their home would never be a
+home for her when he was on shore. What Olive wanted, in Mrs.
+Easterfield's opinion, was a husband. An uncle, such as Captain Asher,
+was very charming, but he was not enough.
+
+During this pleasant afternoon, when Captain Asher was in town
+attending to some arrangements for the burial of Mr. Port, Miss Maria
+was sitting discreetly alone in her darkened chamber. She had a great
+many things to think about, and if she had allowed her conscience full
+freedom of action, there would have been much more upon her mind. She
+might have been troubled by the recollection that since her father's
+very determined treatment of her when she had endeavored to fix herself
+upon the affections of Captain Asher, she had so conducted herself
+toward her venerable parent that she had actually nagged the life out of
+him; and that had she been the dutiful daughter she ought to have been
+he might have been living yet. But thoughts of this nature were not
+common to Maria Port. She had made herself sure that the will was all
+right, and he was very old. There was a time for all things, and Maria
+was now about to begin life for herself. To her plans for this new life
+she now gave almost her sole attention.
+
+She had one great object in view which overshadowed everything else, and
+this was to marry Captain Asher. This she could have done before, she
+firmly believed, had it not been for her old father and that horrid
+girl, the captain's niece. As for the elderly man who kept the toll-gate
+she did not mind him. If not interfered with, she was sure she could
+make him marry her, and then the great ambition of her life would be
+satisfied.
+
+Unpretentious as was her establishment in town, she did not care to
+spend the money necessary to keep it up, and although she was often an
+unkind woman, she was not cruel enough to think of inflicting herself
+as a boarder upon any housewife in the town. No, the toll-gate was the
+home for her; and if Captain Asher chose to inflict himself upon her for
+a few years longer, she would try to endure it.
+
+One obstacle to her plans was now gone, and she must devote herself to
+the work of getting rid of the other one. While Olive Asher remained at
+the tollhouse there was no chance for her in that quarter.
+
+The funeral was over, and when the bereaved Miss Port took leave of
+Captain Asher she exhibited a quiet gratitude which was very becoming
+and suitable. During the short time when he had visited the house every
+day she had showed him no resentment on account of what had passed
+between them, and had treated him very much as if he had been one of her
+father's old friends with whom she was not very well acquainted and to
+whom she was indebted for various services connected with the sad
+occasion.
+
+When he took final leave of her he shook her hand, and as he did so he
+gave her a peculiar grasp which, in his own mind, indicated that he and
+she had now nothing more to do with each other, and that the
+acquaintance was adjourned without day. She bade him a simple farewell,
+and as he left the house she grinned at his broad back. This grin
+expressed, to herself at least, that the old and rather faulty
+acquaintance was at an end, and that the new connection which she
+intended to establish between herself and him would be upon an entirely
+different basis.
+
+He did not ask her if there was anything more that he could do for her,
+for he did not desire to mix himself up with her affairs, which he knew
+she was eminently able to manage for herself, and it was with a deep
+breath of relief that he got into his buggy and drove home to his
+toll-gate.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXX_
+
+_By the Sea._
+
+
+When Lieutenant Asher and his bride arrived at his brother's toll-gate
+they were surprised as well as delighted by the cordiality of their
+greeting. Each of them had expected a little stiffness during the first
+interview, but there was nothing of the kind, although young Mrs. Asher
+was bound to admit, when she took time to think upon the subject, that
+Olive treated her exactly as if she had been a dear old schoolmate, and
+not at all as her father's wife. This made things very pleasant and easy
+at that time, she thought, although it might have to be corrected a
+little after a while.
+
+Things were all very pleasant, and there never had been so much talk at
+the tollhouse since the first stone of its foundation had been laid. The
+day after the arrival of the newly married couple Mrs. Easterfield
+called upon them, and invited the whole family to dinner.
+
+"I have never realized how much she must have thought of my parents!"
+said Olive to herself, as she gazed upon her father and Mrs.
+Easterfield. "They are so very glad to see each other!"
+
+She did not know that Lieutenant Asher had been to the present Mrs.
+Easterfield almost as much of a divinity as Mr. Hemphill had been to
+her girlish fancy; the difference being that the young cadet was well
+aware of the adoration of this child, not yet in long dresses, and
+greatly enjoyed and encouraged it. When, a few years later, the child
+heard of his marriage, she had outgrown the love with the lengthening of
+the skirts. But she had a tender recollection of it which she cherished.
+
+The dinner the next day was a great success, and after it the lieutenant
+and Mrs. Easterfield earnestly discussed Olive when they had the
+opportunity for a _tête-à-tête_. She was so much to each of them, and he
+was grateful that his daughter had fallen under the influence of this
+old friend, now a charming woman.
+
+"She is so beautiful," said the lady, "that she ought to be married as
+soon as possible to the most suitable bachelor in the United States."
+
+"Not so fast! Not so fast" said the lieutenant. "Edith and I are going
+to housekeeping very soon, and then we shall want Olive."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled, but made no reply.
+
+When the lieutenant and his wife, with Olive, came a few days afterward
+to make their proper dinner call, he found an occasion to speak to their
+hostess.
+
+"Do you know," said he, "that this is a strange girl of mine?" She
+positively refuses to come and live with us. We had counted upon having
+her, and had made all our arrangements for it. She is as good and nice
+as she can be, but we can not move her."
+
+"You ought not to try," said Mrs. Easterfield; "it would be a shame for
+her to go away and leave her uncle. You have one young lady, and you
+should not ask for both. Olive must marry, and the captain must go and
+live with her."
+
+"Have you arranged all that?" said he. "I remember you were a great
+schemer when quite a little girl."
+
+"I am as great as ever," said she. "And I have selected the gentleman."
+
+"Oh, ho!" cried the lieutenant. "And is that all settled? Olive should
+have told me that."
+
+"She could not do it," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for it is not all
+settled. There are some obstacles in the way; and the greatest of them
+is that she does not love him."
+
+The lieutenant laughed. "Then that is settled. I know Olive."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield flushed, and then laughed. "I doubt that knowledge. It
+is certain you do not know me! The young man loves her with all his
+heart; there is no objection to him; and I am most earnestly in favor of
+the match."
+
+"Ah" said the lieutenant, with a bow; "if that is the case, I must get a
+pencil and paper and calculate what I can give her for her trousseau. I
+hope the wedding will not come off very soon, for I am decidedly short
+at present, on account of recent matrimonial expenses. Would you mind
+telling me his name? Is he naval?"
+
+"Oh, no," said she; "he is pedagogy."
+
+"What!" he cried, his eyes wide open.
+
+Then she laughed and told him all about Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Of course," concluded Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not ask you not to
+speak to _anybody_ about what I have told you, but I do hope you will
+prevent its getting to Olive's ears. I am afraid it would make a breach
+between us if she knew that I was trying to make a match for her. And,
+you see, that is exactly what I am doing."
+
+"And you are right," said the lieutenant; "and what is more, I am with
+you! You don't know," he added in a softer tone, "how grateful I am to
+you for your care of Olive now that my dear wife is gone!"
+
+For the moment he totally forgot that his dear wife had merely gone to
+the edge of the bluff with the captain and Olive to look at the river.
+
+That evening, as they sat together, Lieutenant Asher told his brother
+all that Mrs. Easterfield had confided to him about Dick Lancaster. The
+captain was delighted.
+
+"That is what I have wanted," he said, "almost from the beginning, and I
+want it more than ever now. I am getting to be an old fellow, and I want
+to see her settled before I sail."
+
+"You know, John," said the lieutenant, "that I find Olive is a little
+more of a girl of her own mind than she used to be. I don't believe she
+would rest quietly under the housekeeping of a girl so nearly her own
+age."
+
+The captain gave some vigorous puffs. "I should think not!" he said to
+himself. "Olive would have that young woman swabbing the decks before
+they had been out three days! You are right," said he aloud, "but we
+must all look out that Olive does not hear anything about this."
+
+It was not until they were continuing their bridal trip that Lieutenant
+Asher considered the subject of mentioning Dick Lancaster to his wife.
+Then, after considering it, he concluded not to do it. In the first
+place, he knew that he was getting to be a little bit elderly, and he
+did not care about discussing the perfections of the young man who had
+been selected as a suitable partner for his wife's school friend. This
+was all very foolish, of course, but people often are very foolish.
+
+Thus it was that Olive Asher never heard of the tripartite alliance
+between her father, her uncle, and her good friend at Broadstone.
+
+When Captain Asher learned, a few days after his brother had left, that
+the Broadstone family had gone to the seashore, he sat reflectively and
+asked himself if he were doing the right thing by Olive. The season was
+well advanced; it was getting very hot at the toll-gate, and at many
+other gates in that region; and this navy girl ought to have a breath of
+fresh air. It is wonderful that he had not thought of it before!
+
+At breakfast the next morning Olive stopped pouring coffee when he told
+her his plans to go to the sea.
+
+"With you, Uncle John!" she cried. "That would be better than anything
+in the world! You sail a boat?" she asked inquiringly.
+
+"Sail a boat!" roared the captain. "I have a great mind to kick over
+this table! My dear, I can sail a boat, keel uppermost, if the water's
+deep enough! Sail a boat!" he repeated. "I sailed a catboat from Boston
+to Egg Harbor before your mother was born. By the way, you seem very
+anxious about boat sailing. Are you afraid of the water?"
+
+She laughed gaily. "I deserve that," she said, "and I accept it. But
+perhaps I have done something that you never did. I have sailed a
+felucca."
+
+"Very good," said the captain; "if there's a felucca where we're going
+you can sail me in one."
+
+They went to a Virginia seaside resort, these two, and left old Jane in
+charge of the toll-gate.
+
+Early in the day after they arrived they went out to engage a boat. When
+they found one which suited the captain's critical eye, he said to the
+owner thereof: "I will take her for the morning, but I don't want
+anybody to sail me. I will do that myself."
+
+"I don't know about that," said the man; "when my boat goes out--"
+
+He stopped speaking suddenly and looked the captain over and over, up
+and down. "All right, sir," said he. "And you don't want nobody to
+manage the sheet?"
+
+"No," interpolated Olive, "I'll manage the sheet."
+
+So they went out on the bounding sea. And as the wind whistled the hat
+off her head so that she had to fling it into the bottom of the boat,
+Olive wished that her uncle kept a toll-gate on the sea. Then she could
+go out with him and stop the little boats and the great steamers, and
+make them drop seven cents or thirteen cents into her hands as she stood
+braced in the stern; and she was just beginning to wonder how she could
+toss up the change to them if they dropped her a quarter, when the
+captain began to sing Tom Bowline. He was just as gay-hearted as she
+was.
+
+It was about noon when they returned, for the captain was a very
+particular man and he had hired the boat only for the morning. Olive had
+scarcely taken ten steps up the beach before she found herself shaking
+hands with a young man.
+
+"How on earth!" she exclaimed.
+
+"It was not on earth at all," he said; "I came by water. I wanted to
+find out if what I had heard of the horrors of a coastwise voyage were
+true; and I found that it was absolutely correct."
+
+"But here!" she exclaimed. "Why here? You could not have known!"
+
+"Of course not," he answered; "if I had known I am sure I would have
+felt that I ought not to come. But I didn't know, and so you see I am as
+innocent as a butterfly. More innocent, in fact, for that little
+wagwings knows where he ought not to go, and he goes there all the
+same."
+
+Captain Asher was still at the boat, making some practical suggestions
+to her owner; who, being not yet forty, had many things to learn about
+the sails and rigging of a catboat.
+
+"Mr. Locker," said Olive, looking at him very intently, "did you come
+here to renew any of your previous performances?"
+
+"As a serenader?" said he. "Oh, no! But perhaps you mean as a
+love-maker?"
+
+"That is it," said Olive.
+
+Mr. Locker took off his hat, and rubbed his head. "No," said he, "I
+didn't; but I wish I could say I did. But that's impossible. I presume
+I am right in assuming this impossibility?"
+
+"Entirely," said Olive.
+
+"And, furthermore, I truly didn't know you were here. I think you may
+rest satisfied that that flame is out, although--By the way, I believe I
+could make some verses on that subject containing these lines:
+
+    "'I do not want the flame,
+    I better like the coal--'
+
+meaning, of course, that I hope our friendship may continue."
+
+She smiled. "There are no objections to that," she said.
+
+"Perhaps not, perhaps not," he said, clutching his chin with his hand;
+"but some other lines come into my head. Of course, he didn't want the
+coal to go out.
+
+    "'He blew too hard,
+    The flame revived.'"
+
+"That will do! That will do!" cried Olive. "I don't want any more of
+that poem."
+
+"And the result of it all," said he, "is only a burnt match."
+
+"Nothing but a bit of charcoal," added Olive.
+
+At this moment up came the captain. Olive had told him all about Mr.
+Locker, and he was not glad to see him. Olive noticed this, and she
+spoke quickly. "Here's Mr. Locker, uncle; he has dropped down quite
+accidentally at this place."
+
+"Oh" said the captain incredulously.
+
+"You know he used to like me too much. But he knows me better now."
+
+"Charming frankness of friendship!" said Locker.
+
+"And as I like him very much, I am glad he is here," continued Olive.
+
+The young man bowed in gratitude, but Olive's words embarrassed him
+somewhat, and he did not know exactly what would be suitable for him to
+say. So he took refuge in a change of subject. "Captain," said he, "can
+you fish?"
+
+A look of scornful amazement showed itself upon the old mariner's face.
+"I have tried it," said he.
+
+"And so have I," cried Locker, "but I never had any luck in fishing
+and--some other things. I am vilely unlucky. I expect that's because I
+don't know how to fish."
+
+"It is very likely," said Olive, "that your bad luck comes from not
+knowing where to fish."
+
+The young man took off his hat and held it for a little while, although
+the sun was very hot.
+
+During the course of that afternoon and evening Captain Asher grew to
+like Claude Locker. The young man told such gravely comical stories,
+especially about his experiences in boats and on the water, that the
+captain was very glad he had happened to drop down upon that especial
+watering-place. He wanted Olive to have some society besides his own,
+and a discarded lover was better than any other young man they might
+meet. He knew that Olive was a girl who would not go back on her word.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXI_
+
+_As good as a Man._
+
+
+The next day our three friends went fishing in a catboat belonging to
+the young seaman of forty, and they took their dinner with them,
+although Mr. Locker declared that he did not believe that he would want
+any.
+
+They had a good time on the water, for the captain had made careful
+inquiries about the best fishing grounds, and the mishaps of Locker were
+so numerous and so provocative of queer remarks from himself, that the
+captain and Olive sometimes forgot to pull up their fish, so preengaged
+were they in laughing. The sky was bright, the water smooth, and even
+Mr. Locker caught fish, although it might have been thought that he did
+everything possible to prevent himself doing so.
+
+When their boat ran up the beach late in the afternoon the captain and
+Olive were still laughing, and Mr. Locker was as sober as a soda-water
+fountain from which spouts such intermittent sparkle. Dear as was the
+toll-gate, this was a fine change from that quiet home.
+
+The next morning, upon the sand, Claude Locker approached Olive. "Would
+you like to decline my addresses for the second time?" he abruptly
+asked.
+
+"Of course not" she exclaimed.
+
+"Well, then," said he, extending his hand, "good-by!"
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Olive. "What does this mean?"
+
+"It means," said he, "that I have fallen in love with you again. I think
+I am rather worse than I was before. If I stay here I shall surely
+propose. Nothing can stop me--not even the presence of your uncle if it
+is impossible for me to see you alone--and, if you don't want any of
+that, it is necessary that I go, and go quickly."
+
+"Of course I don't want it," she said. "But why need you be so foolish?
+We were getting along so nicely as friends. I expected to have lots of
+fun here with you and uncle."
+
+"Fun!" groaned Locker. "It might have been fun for you and the captain,
+but what of the poor torn heart? I know I must go, and now. If I stay
+here five minutes longer I shall be at your feet, and it will be far
+better if I take to my own. Good-by!" And, with a warm grasp of her
+hand, he departed.
+
+Olive looked after him as he walked to the hotel. If he had known how
+much she regretted to see him go he would have come back, and all his
+troubles would have begun again.
+
+"Hello!" cried the captain when Locker had entered the house, "I was
+looking for you. We can run out, and have some fishing this morning. The
+tide will suit. You did so well yesterday that I think to-day. I can
+even teach you to take out a hook."
+
+"Take out a hook?" said Locker. "I have a hook within me which no man
+in this world, and but one woman, can take out. And as this she must not
+even be asked to do, I go. Farewell!"
+
+"What's the matter with the young man" asked the captain of Olive a
+little later.
+
+"Oh, he has fallen in love with me again," said Olive, with a sigh,
+"and, of course, that spoils everything. I wish people could be more
+sensible."
+
+The captain looked down upon her admiringly. "I don't see any hope for
+people," he said. And this was the first personal compliment he had ever
+paid his niece.
+
+When Claude Locker had gone, Olive missed him more than she thought she
+could miss anybody. Much of the life seemed to have gone out of the
+place, and the captain's high spirits waned as if he was suffering from
+the depression which follows a stimulant.
+
+"If that young fellow had been better-looking," said the captain, "if he
+had more solid sense, and a good business, with both his eyes alike, I
+might have been more willing to let him go."
+
+"If he had been all that," asked Olive with a smile, "why shouldn't you
+have been willing to let him stay?"
+
+The captain did not answer. No matter what young Locker might have been,
+he could never have been Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Uncle," said Olive that afternoon, "where shall we go next?"
+
+"I don't know," said he, "but let's go to-morrow. I don't believe I like
+so many strangers except when they pay toll."
+
+They traveled about a good deal; and in a general way enjoyed
+themselves; but they were both old travelers, and mere novelty was not
+enough for them. Each loved the company of the other, but each would
+have liked to have Locker along. It grieved Olive to think that she
+wanted him, or anybody, but she would not even try to deceive herself.
+The weather grew cooler, and she said to her uncle: "Let us go back to
+the toll-gate; it must be perfectly beautiful there now, with the
+mountains putting on their gold and red."
+
+So they started for home, planning for a stop in Washington on their
+way.
+
+Brightness and people were coming back to Washington. The air was
+cooler, and city life was stirring. Olive and her uncle stayed several
+days longer than they had intended; as most people do who visit
+Washington. On one of these days as they were returning to their hotel
+from the Smithsonian grounds, where they had been looking at autumn
+leaves from all quarters of this wide land; many of them unknown to
+them; they looked with interest from the shaded grounds on one side of
+the street to the great public building on the other side, which they
+were then passing, and at the broad steps ascending from the sidewalk to
+the basement floor.
+
+As they moved on thus slowly they noticed a man standing upon the upper
+steps of one of these stairs. His back was toward them; and, as their
+eyes fell upon him he stepped upon the upper sidewalk. He was walking
+with a cane which seemed to be rather short for him. He stood still for
+a moment, and appeared to be waiting for some one. Then, suddenly his
+whole frame thrilled with nervous action; he slightly lowered his head,
+and, in an instant, he brought his cane to his shoulder, as if it had
+been a gun. The captain had seen that sort of thing before. It was an
+air-gun. Without a word he made a dash at the man. He was elderly, but
+in a case like this he was swift. As he ran he glanced out in the
+direction in which the gun was aimed. Along the broad, sunlighted avenue
+a barouche was passing. On the back seat sat two gentlemen,
+well-dressed, erect. Even in a flash one would notice an air of dignity
+in their demeanor.
+
+There was not time to strike down the weapon, but before the man had
+heard steps behind him the captain gave him a tremendous blow between
+the shoulders which staggered him, and spoiled his aim. Then the captain
+seized the air-gun. There was a whiz, and a click on the pavement. Then
+the man turned.
+
+His black eyes flashed out of a swarthy face nearly covered with beard;
+his soft hat had fallen off when the captain struck him, and his black
+hair stood up like bristles on a shoe-brush. He was not a large man; he
+wore a loose woolen jacket; his sleeves were short, and his hands were
+hairy.
+
+All this Olive saw, for she had been quick to follow her uncle; but the
+captain, who firmly held the air-gun, saw nothing but the glaring face
+of a devil.
+
+The man jerked furiously at the gun, but the captain's grasp was too
+strong. Then the fellow released his hold upon the gun, and, with a
+savage fury, threw himself upon the older man. The two stood near the
+top of the steps, and the shock of the attack was so great that both
+fell, slipping down several of the stone steps.
+
+Olive tried to scream, but in her fright her voice utterly left her. She
+could not make a sound. As they lay upon the steps, the captain beneath,
+the man seized his victim by the neck with both hands, pressing his
+great thumbs deeply into his throat. Apparently he did not notice Olive.
+All the efforts of his devilish soul were bent upon stifling the voice
+and the life out of the witness of his attempted crime. Olive sprang
+down, and stood over the struggling men. Her uncle's eyes stared at her,
+and seemed bursting from his head. His face was growing dark. Again
+Olive tried to scream; and, in a frenzy, she seized the man to pull him
+from the captain. As she did so her hand fell upon something protruding
+under his woolen jacket. With a quick flash of instinct her sense of
+feeling recognized this thing. She jerked up the jacket, and there was
+the stock of a pistol protruding from his hip pocket. In an instant
+Olive drew it.
+
+A horrid sound issued from the mouth of Captain Asher; he was choking to
+death. In the same second that she heard it Olive thrust the muzzle of
+the pistol against the side of the man's head and pulled the trigger.
+
+The man's head fell forward and his hairy hands released their grip, but
+they still remained at the captain's throat. The latter gave a great
+gasp, and for an instant he turned his eyes full upon the face of his
+niece. Then his lids closed.
+
+Now there were footsteps, and, looking up, Olive saw a negro cabman in
+faded livery and an old silk hat, who stood staring. Before she could
+speak to him there came another man, a policeman, who, equally amazed,
+stared at the group below him. Only these two had heard the pistol
+shots. There were no other people passing on the avenue, and as it was
+past office hours there was no one in the great public building.
+
+Until they reached the top of the steps the policeman and cabman could
+see nothing. Now they stood astounded as they stared down upon an
+elderly man lying on his back on the steps; another man, apparently
+lifeless, lying on top of him with his hands upon his throat; and a girl
+standing a little below them with a smoking pistol in her hand.
+
+Before they had time to speak or move Olive called out, "Take that man
+off my uncle."
+
+In a moment the policeman, followed by the negro, ran down the steps and
+pulled the black-headed man off the captain, and the limp body slipped
+down several steps.
+
+The policeman now turned toward Olive. "Take this," she said, handing
+him the pistol. "I shot him. He was trying to kill my uncle."
+
+The two men raised the captain to a sitting position. He was now
+breathing, though in gasps, with his eyes opened.
+
+The policeman took the pistol, looked at it, then at Olive, then at the
+captain, and then down at the body on the steps. He was trying to get an
+idea of what had happened without asking. If the negro had not been
+present he might have asked questions, but this was an unusual
+situation, and he felt his responsibility, and his importance. Olive now
+stepped toward him, and in obedience to her quick gesture he bent his
+head, and she whispered something to him. Instantly he was quivering
+with excitement. He thrust the pistol into his pocket, and turned to the
+negro. "Run," said he, "and get your cab! Don't say a word to a soul and
+I will give you five dollars."
+
+The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
+There, on the upper step." Then she went to her uncle and sat down by
+him.
+
+"Are you hurt?" she said. "Can you speak?"
+
+The captain put his arm around her shoulder, fixing a loving look upon
+her, and murmured, "You are as good as a man!"
+
+The policeman picked up the air-gun, and gazed upon it as if it had been
+a telegram in cipher from a detective. Then he tried to conceal it under
+his coat, but it was too long.
+
+"Let me have it," said Olive; "I will put it behind me."
+
+She had barely concealed it when the cab drove up.
+
+"Now," said the policeman, "you two must go with me. Can you walk, sir?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the captain in a voice clear, but weak.
+
+Olive rose, holding the air-gun behind her, and the policeman and the
+cabman helped the captain to the carriage. Olive followed, and the
+policeman, actuated by some strong instinct, did not look around to see
+if she were doing so. He had no more idea that she would run away than
+that the stone steps would move. When he saw that she had taken the
+air-gun into the carriage with her, he closed the door.
+
+"Did your fall hurt you, uncle?" said Olive, looking anxiously into his
+face.
+
+"My throat hurts dreadfully," he said, "and I'm stiff. But I'll be
+stiffer to-morrow."
+
+The policeman picked up the hat of the black-haired man, and going down
+the steps, he placed it on his head. "Now help me up with this
+gentleman," he said to the cabman; "we must put him on the box-seat
+between us. Take him under the arms, and we'll carry him naturally. He
+must be awfully drunk!"
+
+So they lifted him up the steps, and, after much trouble, got him on the
+box-seat. Fortunately they were both big men. Then they drove away to
+police headquarters. The officer was the happiest policeman in
+Washington. This was the greatest piece of work he had known of during
+his service; and he was doing it all himself. With the exception of the
+driver, nobody else was mixed up in it in the least degree. What he was
+doing was not exactly right; it was not according to custom and
+regulation. He should have called for assistance, for an ambulance; but
+he had not, and his guardian angel had kept all foot-passengers from the
+steps of the public building. He did not know what it all meant, but he
+was doing it himself, and if that black driver should slip from his seat
+(of which he occupied a very small portion) and he should break his
+neck, the policeman would clutch the reins, and be happier than any man
+in Washington.
+
+There were very many people who looked at the drunken man who was being
+carried off by the policeman, but the cabman drove swiftly, and gave
+such people very little opportunity for close observation.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXII_
+
+_The Stock-Market is Safe._
+
+
+There was a great stir at the police station, but Olive and her uncle
+saw little of it. They were quickly taken to private rooms, where the
+captain was attended by a police surgeon. He had been bruised and badly
+treated, but his injuries were not serious.
+
+Olive was put in charge of a matron, who wondered greatly what brought
+her there. Very soon they were examined separately, and the tale of each
+of them was almost identical with that of the other; only Olive was able
+to tell more about the two gentlemen in the barouche, for she had been
+at her uncle's side, and there was nothing to obstruct her vision.
+
+When the examination was ended the police captain enjoined each of them
+to say no word to any living soul about what they had testified to him.
+This was a most important matter, and it was necessary that it be hedged
+around with the greatest secrecy.
+
+When Olive retired to her plain but comfortable cot she was tired and
+weak from the reaction of her restrained emotions, but she did not
+immediately go to sleep for thinking that she had killed a man. And yet
+for this killing there was not in this girl's mind one atom of regret.
+She was so grateful that she had been there, and had been enabled to do
+it. She had seen her uncle almost at his last gasp, and she had saved
+him from making that last gasp. Moreover, she had saved the life of the
+man who had saved the most important life in the land. She knew the face
+of the gentleman in the barouche who sat on the side nearest her; she
+knew what her uncle had done, and she was proud of him; she knew what
+she had done for him; and she regarded the black-haired man with the
+hairy hands no more than she would have regarded a wild beast who had
+suddenly sprung upon them. She thought of him, of course, with horror,
+but her feelings of thankfulness for her uncle's safety were far too
+strong. At last her grateful heart closed her eyes, and let her rest.
+
+There were no letters found on the body of the black-haired man which
+gave any clue to his name; but there were papers which showed that he
+was from southern France; that he was an anarchist; that he was in this
+country upon a mission; and that he had been for two weeks in
+Washington, waiting for an opportunity to fulfil that mission. Which
+opportunity had at last shown itself in front of him just as Captain
+John Asher rushed up behind him.
+
+This information was so important that extraordinary methods were
+pursued. Communications were immediately made with the State Department,
+and with the higher police authorities; and it was quickly determined
+that, whatever else might be done, the strictest secrecy must be
+enforced. The coroner's jury was carefully selected and earnestly
+admonished; and, early the next morning, when the captain and Olive were
+required to testify before it, they were made to understand how
+absolutely necessary it was they should say nothing except to answer the
+questions which were asked them. The coroner was eminently discreet in
+regard to his questions; and the verdict was that Olive was acting in
+her own defense as well as that of her uncle when she shot his
+assailant.
+
+Among the officials whose positions enabled them to know all these
+astonishing occurrences it was unanimously agreed that, so far as
+possible, everybody should be kept in ignorance of the crime which had
+been attempted, and of the deliverance which had taken place.
+
+Very early the next afternoon the air was filled with the cries of
+newsboys, and each paper that these boys sold contained a full and
+detailed account of a remarkable attempt by an unknown foreigner upon
+the life of Captain John Asher, a visitor in Washington, and the heroic
+conduct of his niece, Miss Olive Asher, who shot the murderous assailant
+with his own pistol. There were columns and columns of this story, but
+strange to say, in not one of the papers was there any allusion to the
+two gentlemen in the barouche, or to the air-gun.
+
+How this most important feature of the occurrence came to be omitted in
+all the accounts of it can only be explained by those who thoroughly
+understand the exigencies of the stock-market, and the probable effect
+of certain classes of news upon approaching political situations, and
+who have made themselves familiar with the methods by which the
+pervasive power of the press is sometimes curtailed.
+
+In the later afternoon editions there were portraits of Olive, and her
+uncle. Olive was broad-shouldered, with black hair and a determined
+frown, while the captain was a little man with a long beard. There were
+no portraits of the anarchist. He passed away from the knowledge of man,
+and no one knew even his name: his crime had blotted him out; his
+ambition was blotted out; even the evil of his example was blotted out.
+There was nothing left of him.
+
+When they were released from detention the captain and Olive quickly
+left the station--which they did without observation--and entered a
+carriage which was waiting for them a short distance away. The fact that
+another carriage with close-drawn curtains had stopped at the station
+about ten minutes before, and that a thickly veiled lady (the matron)
+and an elderly man with his collar turned up and his hat drawn down (one
+of the police officers in plain clothes) had entered the carriage and
+had been driven rapidly away had drawn off the reporters and the
+curiosity mongers on the sidewalk and had contributed very much to the
+undisturbed exit of Captain and Miss Asher.
+
+These two proceeded leisurely to the railroad-station, where they took a
+train which would carry them to the little town of Glenford. Their
+affairs at the hotel could be arranged by telegram. There were calls at
+that hotel during the rest of the day from people who knew Olive or her
+uncle; calls from people who wanted to know them; calls from people who
+would be contented even to look at them; calls from autograph hunters
+who would be content simply to send up their cards; quiet calls from
+people connected with the Government; and calls from eager persons who
+could not have told anybody what they wanted. To none of these could the
+head clerk give any satisfaction. He had not seen his guests since the
+day before, and he knew naught about them.
+
+When Miss Maria Port heard that that horrid girl, Olive Asher, had shot
+an anarchist, she stiffened herself to her greatest length, and let her
+head fall on the back of her chair. She was scarcely able to call to the
+small girl who endured her service to bring her some water. "Now all is
+over," she groaned, "for I can never marry a man whose niece's hands are
+dripping with blood. She will live with him, of course, for he is just
+the old fool to allow that, and anyway there is no other place for her
+to go except the almshouse--that is, if they'll take her in." And at the
+terrified girl, who tremblingly asked if she wanted any more water, she
+threw her scissors.
+
+The captain and his niece arrived early in the day at Glenford station.
+The captain engaged a little one-horse vehicle which had frequently
+brought people to the toll-gate, and informed the driver that there was
+no baggage. The man, gazing at Olive, but scarcely daring to raise his
+eyes to her face, proceeded with solemn tread toward his vehicle as if
+he had been leading the line in a funeral.
+
+As they drove through the town they were obliged to pass the house of
+Miss Maria Port. The door was shut, and the shutters were closed. She
+had had a terrible night, and had slept but little, but hearing the
+sound of wheels upon the street, she had bounced out of bed and had
+peered through the blinds. When she saw who it was she cursed them both.
+
+"That was the only thing," she snapped, "that could have kept me from
+gettin' him! So far as I know, that was the only thing!"
+
+When old Jane received the travelers at the toll-gate she warmly
+welcomed the captain, but she trembled before Olive. If the girl noticed
+the demeanor of the old woman, she pretended not to do so, and, speaking
+to her pleasantly, she passed within.
+
+"Will they hang her?" she said to the captain later.
+
+"What do you mean?" he shouted. "Have you gone crazy?"
+
+"The people in the town said they would," replied old Jane, beginning to
+cry a little.
+
+The captain looked at her steadily. "Did any particular person in the
+town say that?"
+
+"Yes, sir," she answered; "Miss Maria Port was the first to say it, so
+I've been told."
+
+"She is the one who ought to be hanged!" said the captain, speaking very
+warmly. "As for Miss Olive, she ought to have a monument set up for her.
+I'd do it myself if I had the money."
+
+Old Jane answered not, but in her heart she said: "But she killed a man!
+It is truly dreadful!"
+
+By nightfall of that day the two hotels of Glenford were crowded, the
+visitors being generally connected with newspapers. On the next day
+there was a great deal of travel on the turnpike, and old Jane was kept
+very busy, the captain having resigned the entire business of
+toll-taking to her. Everybody stopped, asked questions, and requested to
+see the captain; and many drove through and came back again, hoping to
+have better luck next time. But their luck was always bad; old Jane
+would say nothing; and the captain and Olive were not to be seen. The
+gate to the little front garden was locked, and there was no passing
+through the tollhouse. To keep people from getting over the fence a
+bulldog, which the captain kept at the barn, was turned loose in the
+yard.
+
+There were men with cameras who got into the field opposite the
+toll-gate, and who took views from up and down the road, but their work
+could not be prevented, and Olive and her uncle kept strictly indoors.
+
+It was on the afternoon of the second day of siege that the captain,
+from an upper window, discovered a camera on three legs standing outside
+of his grounds at a short distance from the house. A man was taking
+sight at something at the back of the house. Softly the captain slipped
+down into the back yard, and looking up he saw Olive sitting at a
+window, reading.
+
+With five steps the captain went into the house and then reappeared at
+the back door with a musket in his hand. The man had stepped to his pack
+at a little distance to get a plate. The captain raised his musket to
+his shoulder; Olive sprang to her feet at the sound of the report; old
+Jane in the tollhouse screamed; and the camera flew into splinters.
+
+After this there were no further attempts to take pictures of the
+inmates of the house at the toll-gate.
+
+After two days of siege the newspaper reporters and the photographers
+left Glenford. They could not afford to waste any more time. But they
+carried away with them a great many stories about the captain and his
+erratic niece, mostly gleaned from a very respectable elderly lady of
+the town by the name of Port.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIII_
+
+_Dick Lancaster does not Write._
+
+
+On the third morning after their arrival at the toll-gate the captain
+and Olive ventured upon a little walk over the farm. It was very hard
+upon both of them to be shut up in the house so long. They saw no
+reporters, nor were there any men with cameras, but the scenery was not
+pleasant, nor was the air particularly exhilarating. They were not
+happy; they felt alone, as if they were in a strange place. Some of the
+captain's friends in the town came to the toll-gate, but there were not
+many, and Olive saw none of them. The whole situation reminded the girl
+of the death of her mother.
+
+As soon as it was known that the Ashers were at home there came letters
+from many quarters. One of these was from Mrs. Easterfield. She would be
+at Broadstone as soon as she could get her children started from the
+seashore. She longed to take Olive to her heart, but whether this was in
+commiseration or commendation was not quite plain to Olive. The letter
+concluded with this sentence: "There is something behind all this, and
+when I come you must tell me."
+
+Then there was one from her father in which he bemoaned what had
+happened. "That such a thing should have come to my daughter!" he
+wrote. "To my daughter!" There was a great deal more of it, but he said
+nothing about coming with his young wife to the toll-gate, and Olive's
+countenance was almost stern when she handed this letter to her uncle.
+
+Claude Locker wrote:
+
+     "How I long, how I rage to write to you, or to go to you! But if I
+     should write, it would be sure to give you pain, and if I should go
+     to you I should also go crazy. Therefore, I will merely state that
+     I love you madly; more now than ever before; and that I shall
+     continue to do so for the rest of my life, no matter what happens
+     to you, or to me, or to anybody.
+
+    "Ever turned toward you,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER.
+
+    "How I wish I had been there with a sledgehammer!"
+
+And then there were the newspapers. Many of these the captain had
+ordered by the Glenford bookseller, and a number were sent by friends,
+and some even by strangers. And so they learned what was thought of them
+over a wide range of country, and this publicity Olive found very hard
+to bear. It was even worse than the deed she was forced to do, and which
+gave rise to all this disagreeable publicity. That deed was done in the
+twinkling of an eye, and was the only thing that could be done; but all
+this was prolonged torture. Of course, the newspapers were not
+responsible for this. The transaction was a public one in as public a
+place as could possibly be selected, and it was clearly their duty to
+give the public full information in regard to it. They knew what had
+happened, and how could they possibly know what had not happened? Nor
+could they guess that this was of more importance than the happening.
+And so they all viewed the action from the point of view that a young
+woman had blown out a man's brains on the steps of the Treasury. It was
+a most unusual, exciting, and tragic incident, and in a measure,
+incomprehensible; and coming at a time when there was a dearth of news,
+it was naturally much exploited. Many of the papers recognized the fact
+that Miss Asher had done this deed to save her uncle's life, and
+applauded it, and praised her quick-wittedness and courage; but all this
+was spoiled for Olive by the tone of commiseration for her in which it
+was all stated. She did not see why she should be pitied. Rather should
+she be congratulated that she was, fortunately, on the spot. Other
+journals did not so readily give in to the opinion that it was an act of
+self-defense. It might be so; but they expressed strong disapproval of
+the legal action in this strange affair. A young woman, accompanied by a
+relative, had killed an unknown man. The action of the authorities in
+this case had been rapid and unsatisfactory. The person who had fired
+the fatal shot and her companion had been cleared of guilt upon their
+own testimony, and the cause of the man who died had no one to defend
+it. If two persons can kill a man, and then state to the coroner's jury
+that it was all right, and thereupon repair to their homes without
+further interference by the law, then had the cause of justice in the
+capital of the nation reached a very strange pass.
+
+Such were the views of the reputable journals. But there were some
+which fell into the captain's hands that were well calculated to arouse
+his ire. Such a sensational occurrence did not often come in their way,
+and they made the most of it. They scented the idea that the girl had
+killed an unknown man to save her uncle's life; blamed the authorities
+severely for not finding out who he was; suggested there must be a
+secret reason for this; and hinted darkly at a scandal connected with
+the affair, which, if investigated, would be found to include some
+well-known names.
+
+"This is outrageous!" cried the captain. "It is too abominable to be
+borne! Olive, why should we not tell the exact facts of this thing? We
+did agree--very willingly at the time--to keep the secret. But I am not
+willing now, and you are being sacrificed to the stock-market. That is
+the whole truth of it! If these editors knew the truth they would be
+chanting your praises. If that scoundrel had killed me, he would have
+killed you, and then he could have run away to go on with his President
+shooting. I am going to Washington this very day to tell the whole
+story. You shall not suffer that stocks may not fall and the political
+situation made alarming at election time. That is what it all means, and
+I won't stand it!"
+
+"You will only make things worse, uncle," said Olive. "Then the whole
+matter will be stirred up afresh. We will be summoned to investigations,
+and all sorts of disagreeable things. Every item of our lives will be in
+the papers, and some will be invented. It is very bad now, but in a
+little while the public will forget that a countryman and a country girl
+had a fracas in Washington. But the other thing will never be
+forgotten. It is very much better to leave it as it is."
+
+The captain, notwithstanding the presence of a lady, cursed the
+officials, the newspapers, the Government, and the whole country. "I am
+going to do it!" he cried vehemently. "I don't care what happens!"
+
+But Olive put her arms around him and coaxed him for her sake to let the
+matter rest. And, finally, the captain, grumblingly, assented.
+
+If Olive had been a girl brought up in a gentle-minded household,
+knowing nothing of the varied life she had lived when a navy girl;
+sometimes at this school and sometimes at that; sometimes in her native
+land, and sometimes in the midst of frontier life; sometimes with
+parents, and sometimes without them; and, had she been less aware from
+her own experiences and those of others, that this is a world in which
+you must stand up very stiffly if you do not want to be pushed down; she
+might have sunk, at least for a time, under all this publicity and
+blame. Even the praise had its sting.
+
+But she did not sink. The liveliness and the fun went out of her, and
+her face grew hard and her manner quiet. But she was not quiet within.
+She rebelled against the unfairness with which she was treated. No
+matter what the newspapers knew or did not know, they should have known,
+and should have remembered, that she had saved her uncle's life. If they
+had known more they would have been just and kind enough no doubt, but
+they ought to have been just and kind without knowing more.
+
+Captain Asher would now read no more papers. But Olive read them all.
+
+Letters still came; one of them from Mr. Easterfield. But every time a
+mail arrived there was a disappointment in the toll-gate household. The
+captain could scarcely refrain from speaking of his disappointment, for
+it was a true grief to him that Dick Lancaster had not written a word.
+Of course, Olive did not say anything upon the subject, for she had no
+right to expect such a letter, and she was not sure that she wanted one,
+but it was very strange that a person who surely was, or had been,
+somewhat interested in her uncle and herself should have been the only
+one among her recent associates who showed no interest whatever in what
+had befallen her. Even Mr. and Mrs. Fox had written. She wished they had
+not written, but, after all, stupidity is sometimes better than total
+neglect.
+
+"Olive," said the captain one pleasant afternoon, "suppose we take a
+drive to Broadstone? The family is not there, but it may interest you to
+see the place where I hope your friends will soon be living again. I can
+not bear to see you going about so dolefully. I want to brighten you up
+in some way."
+
+"I'd like it," said Olive promptly. "Let us go to Broadstone."
+
+At that moment they heard talking in the tollhouse; then there were some
+quick steps in the garden; and, almost immediately, Dick Lancaster was
+in the house and in the room where the captain and his niece were
+sitting. He stepped quickly toward them as they rose, and gave Olive
+his left hand because the captain had seized his right and would not let
+it go.
+
+"I have been very slow getting here," he said, looking from one to the
+other. "But I would not write, and I have been unconscionably delayed. I
+am so proud of you," he said, looking Olive full in the face, but still
+holding the captain by the hand.
+
+Olive's hand had been withdrawn, but it was very cheering to her to know
+that some one was proud of her.
+
+The captain poured out his delight at seeing the young professor--the
+first near friend he had seen since his adventure, and, in his opinion,
+the best. Olive said but little, but her countenance brightened
+wonderfully. She had always liked Mr. Lancaster, and now he showed his
+good sense and good feeling; for, while it was evidently on his mind, he
+made no allusion to anything they had done, or that had happened to
+them. He talked chiefly of himself.
+
+But the captain was not to be repressed, and his tone warmed up a little
+as he asked if Dick had been reading the newspapers.
+
+At this Olive left the room to make some arrangements for Mr.
+Lancaster's accommodation.
+
+Seizing this opportunity, Dick Lancaster stopped the captain, who he saw
+was preparing to go lengthily into the recent affair. "Yes, yes," he
+said, speaking quickly, "and my blood has run hot as I read those
+beastly papers. But let me say something to you while I can. I am deeply
+interested in something else just now. I came here, captain, to propose
+marriage to your niece. Have I your consent?"
+
+"Consent!" cried the captain. "Why, it is the clearest wish of my heart
+that you should marry Olive!" And seizing the young man by both arms, he
+shook him from head to foot. "Consent!" he exclaimed. "I should think
+so, I should think so! Will she take you, Dick? Is that--"
+
+"I don't know," said Lancaster, "I don't know. I am here to find out.
+But I hear her coming."
+
+The happy captain thought it full time to go away somewhere. He felt
+that he could not control his glowing countenance, and that he might say
+or do something which might be wrong. So he departed with great
+alacrity, and left the two young people to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIV_
+
+_Miss Port puts in an Appearance._
+
+
+The captain clapped on his hat, and walked up the road toward Glenford.
+He was very much excited and he wanted to sing, but his singing days
+were over, and he quieted himself somewhat by walking rapidly. There was
+a buggy coming from town, but it stopped before it reached him and some
+one in it got out, while the vehicle proceeded slowly onward. The some
+one waited until the captain came up to her. It was Miss Maria Port.
+
+"How do you do?" she said, holding out her hand. "I was on my way to see
+you."
+
+The captain put both his hands in his pockets, and his face grew
+somewhat dark. "Why do you want to see me?" he asked.
+
+She looked at him steadily for a moment, and then answered, speaking
+very quietly. "I found that Mr. Lancaster had arrived in town, and had
+gone to your house, and that he was in such a hurry that he walked. So I
+immediately hired a buggy to come out here. I am very glad I met you."
+
+"But what in the name of common sense," exclaimed the captain, "did you
+come to see me for? What difference does it make to you whether Mr.
+Lancaster is here or not? What have you got to do with me and my
+affairs, anyway?"
+
+She smiled a smile which was very quiet and flat. "Now, don't get
+angry," she said. "We can talk over things in a friendly way just as
+well as not, and it will be a great deal better to do it. And I'd rather
+talk here in the public road than anywhere else; it's more private."
+
+"I don't want a word to say to you," said the captain, preparing to move
+on. "I have nothing at all to do with you."
+
+"Ah," said Miss Port, with another smile, "but I think you have. You've
+got to marry me, you know."
+
+Then the captain stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth, but he could
+find no immediate words.
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Miss Port, now speaking quietly; "and when I saw Mr.
+Lancaster had come to town, I knew that I must see you at once. Of
+course, he has come to take away your niece, and that's the best thing
+to be done, for she wouldn't want to keep on livin' here where so many
+people have known her. At first I thought that would be a very good
+thing, for you would be separated from her, and that's what you need and
+deserve. Young men are young men, and they are often a good deal kinder
+than they would be if they stopped to think. But a person of mature age
+is different. He would know what is due to himself and his standing in
+society. At least, that is what I did think. But it suddenly flashed on
+me that they might want to get away as quick as they could--which would
+be proper, dear knows--and it would be just like you to go with them.
+And so I came right out."
+
+The captain had listened to all this because he very much wanted to know
+what she had to say, but now he exclaimed: "Do you suppose I shall pay
+any attention to all the gossip about my affairs?"
+
+"Now, don't go on like that," said Miss Port; "it doesn't do any good,
+and if you'll only keep quiet, and think pleasantly about it, there will
+be no trouble at all. You know you've got to marry me; that's settled.
+Everybody knows about it, and has known about it for years. I didn't
+press the matter while father was alive because I knew it would worry
+him. But now I'm going to do it. Not in any anger or bad feelin', but
+gently, and as firmly as if I was that tree. I don't want to go to any
+law, but if I have to do it, I'll do it. I've got my proofs and my
+witnesses, and I'm all right. The people of your own house are
+witnesses. And there are ever so many more."
+
+"Woman!" cried the captain, "don't you say another word! And don't you
+ever dare to speak to me again! I'm not going away, and my niece is not
+going away; and I assure you that I hate and despise you so much that
+all the law in the world couldn't make me marry you. Although you know
+as well as I do that all you've been saying has no sense or truth in
+it."
+
+Miss Port did not get angry. With wonderful self-repression she
+controlled her feelings. She knew that if she lost that control there
+would be an end to everything. She grew pale, but she spoke more gently
+than before. "You know"--she was about to say "John," but she thought
+she would better not--"that what I say about determination and all
+that, I simply say because you do not come to meet me half-way, as I
+would have you do. All I want is to get you to acknowledge my rights, to
+defend me from ridicule. You know that I am now alone in the world, and
+have no one to look to but you--to whom I always expected to look when
+father died--and if you should carry out your cruel words, and should
+turn from me as if I was a stranger and a nobody, after all these years
+of visitin' and attention from you, which everybody knows about, and has
+talked about, I could never expect anybody else--you bein' gone--to step
+forward--"
+
+At this the face of the captain cleared, and as he gazed upon the
+unpleasant face and figure of this weather-worn spinster, the idea that
+any one with matrimonial intentions should "step forward," as she put
+it, struck him as being so extremely ludicrous that he burst out
+laughing.
+
+Then leaped into fire every nervelet of Miss Maria Port. "Laugh at me,
+do you?" cried she. "I'll give you something to laugh at! And if you 're
+going to stand up for that thing you have in your house, that
+murderess--"
+
+She said no more. The captain stepped up to her with a smothered curse
+so that she moved back, frightened. But he did nothing. He was too
+enraged to speak. She was a woman, and he could not strike her to the
+ground. Before her sallow venom he was helpless. He was a man and she
+was a woman, and he could do nothing at all. He was too angry to stay
+there another second, and, without a word, he left her, walking with
+great strides toward the town.
+
+Miss Maria Port stood looking after him, panting a little, for her
+excitement had been great. Then, with a yellow light in her eyes, she
+hurried toward her vehicle, which had stopped.
+
+As Captain Asher strode into town he asked himself over and over again
+what should he do? How should he punish this wildcat--this ruthless
+creature, who spat venom at the one he loved best in the world, and who
+threatened him with her wicked claws? In his mind he looked from side to
+side for help; some one must fight his battle for him; he could not
+fight a woman. He had not reached town when he thought of Mrs. Faulkner,
+the wife of the Methodist minister. He knew her; she and her husband had
+been among the friends who had come out to see him; and she was a woman.
+He would go directly to her, and ask her advice.
+
+The captain was not shown into the parlor of the parsonage, but into the
+minister's study, that gentleman being away. He heard a great sound of
+talking as he passed the parlor door, and it was not long before Mrs.
+Faulkner came in. He hesitated as she greeted him.
+
+"You have company," he said, "but can I see you for a very few minutes?
+It is important."
+
+"Of course you can," said she, closing the study door. "Our Dorcas
+Society meets here to-day, but we have not yet come to order. I shall be
+glad to hear what you have to say."
+
+So they sat down, and he told her what he had to say, and as she
+listened she grew very angry. When she heard the epithet which had been
+applied to Olive she sprang to her feet. "The wretch!" she cried.
+
+"Now, you see, Mrs. Faulkner," said the captain, "I can do nothing at
+all myself, and there is no way to make use of the law; that would be
+horrible for Olive, and it could not be done; and so I have come to ask
+help of you. I don't see that any other man could do more than I could
+do."
+
+Mrs. Faulkner sat silent for a few minutes. "I am so glad you came to
+me," she said presently. "I have always known Miss Port as a
+scandal-monger and a mischief-maker, but I never thought of her as a
+wicked woman. This persecution of you is shameful, but when I think of
+your niece it is past belief! You are right, Captain Asher; it must be a
+woman who must take up your cause. In fact," said she after a moment's
+thought, "it must be women. Yes, sir." And as she spoke her face flushed
+with enthusiasm. "I am going to take up your cause, and my friends in
+there, the ladies of the Dorcas Society, will stand by me, I know. I
+don't know what we shall do, but we are going to stand by you and your
+niece."
+
+Here was a friend worth having. The captain was very much affected, and
+was moved with unusual gratitude. He had been used to fighting his own
+battles in this world, and here was some one coming forward to fight for
+him.
+
+There came upon him a feeling that it would be a shame to let this true
+lady take up a combat which she did not wholly understand. He made up
+his mind in an instant that he would not care what danger might be
+threatened to other people, or to trade, or to society, he would be
+true to this lady, to Olive, and to himself. He would tell her the whole
+story. She should know what Olive had done, and how little his poor girl
+deserved the shameful treatment she had received.
+
+Mrs. Faulkner listened with pale amazement; she trembled from head to
+foot as she sat.
+
+"And you must tell no one but your husband," said the captain. "This is
+a state secret, and he must promise to keep it before you tell."
+
+She promised everything. She would be so proud to tell her husband.
+
+When the captain had gone, Mrs. Faulkner, in a very unusual state of
+mind, went into the parlor, took the chair, and putting aside all other
+business, told to the eagerly receptive members the story of Miss Port
+and Captain Asher. How she had persecuted him, and maligned him, and of
+the shameful way in which she had spoken of his niece. But not one word
+did she tell of the story of the two gentlemen in the barouche, and of
+the air-gun. She was wild to tell everything, but she was a good woman.
+
+"Now, ladies," said Mrs. Faulkner, "in my opinion, the thing for us to
+do is to go to see Maria Port; tell her what we think of her; and have
+all this wickedness stopped."
+
+Without debate it was unanimously agreed that the president's plan
+should be carried out. And within ten minutes the whole Dorcas Society
+of eleven members started out in double file to visit the house of Maria
+Port.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXV_
+
+_The Dorcas on Guard._
+
+
+Miss Port had not been home very long and was up in her bedroom, which
+looked out on the street, when she heard the sound of many feet, and,
+hurrying to the window, and glancing through the partly open shutters,
+she saw that a company of women were entering the gate into her front
+yard. She did not recognize them, because she was not familiar with the
+tops of their hats; and besides, she was afraid she might be seen if she
+stopped at the window; so she hurried to the stairway and listened.
+There were two great knocks at the door--entirely too loud--and when the
+servant-maid appeared she heard a voice which she recognized as that of
+Mrs. Faulkner inquiring for her. Instantly she withdrew into her chamber
+and waited, her countenance all alertness.
+
+When the maid came up to inform her that Mrs. Faulkner and a lot of
+ladies were down-stairs, and wanted to see her, Miss Port knit her
+brows, and shut her lips tightly. She could not connect this visit of so
+many Glenford ladies with anything definite; and yet her conscience told
+her that their business in some way concerned Captain Asher. He had had
+time to see them, and now they had come to see her; probably to induce
+her to relinquish her claims upon him. As this thought came into her
+mind she grew angry at their impudence, and, seating herself in a
+rocking-chair, she told the servant to inform the ladies that she had
+just reached home, and that it was not convenient for her to receive
+them at present.
+
+Mrs. Faulkner sent hack a message that, in that case, they would wait;
+and all the ladies seated themselves in the Port parlor.
+
+"The impudence!" said Miss Port to herself; "but if they like waitin,'
+they can wait, I guess they'll get enough of it!"
+
+So Maria Port sat in her room and the ladies sat in the parlor below;
+and they sat, and they sat, and they sat, and at last it began to grow
+dark.
+
+"I guess they'll be wantin' their suppers," said Maria, "but they'll go
+and get them without seein' me. It's no more convenient for me to go
+down now than when they first came."
+
+There had been, and there was, a great deal of conversation down in the
+parlor, but it was carried on in such a low tone that, to her great
+regret, Miss Port could not catch a word of it.
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Pilsbury, "I must go home, for my husband will want his
+supper and the children must be attended to."
+
+"And so must I," said Mrs. Barney and Mrs. Sloan. They would really like
+very much to stay and see what would happen next, but they had families.
+
+"Ladies," said Mrs. Faulkner, "of course, we can't all stay here and
+wait for that woman; but I propose that three of us shall stay and that
+the rest shall go home. I'll be one to stay. And then, in an hour three
+of you come back, and let us go and get our suppers. In this way we can
+keep a committee here all the time. All night, if necessary. When I come
+back I will bring a candlestick and some candles, for, of course, we
+don't want to light her lamps. If she should come down while I am away,
+I'd like some one to run over and tell me. It's such a little way."
+
+At this the ladies arose, and there was a great rustling and chattering,
+and the face of Miss Maria, in the room above, gleamed with triumph.
+
+"I knew I'd sit 'em out," said she; "they haven't got the pluck I've
+got." But when the servant came up and told her that "three of them
+ladies was a-sittin' in the parlor yet and said they was a-goin' to wait
+for her," she lost her temper. She sent down word that she didn't intend
+to see any of them, and she wanted them to go home.
+
+To this Mrs. Faulkner replied that they wished to see her, and that they
+would stay. And the committee continued to sit.
+
+Now Miss Port began to be seriously concerned. What in the world could
+these women want? They were very much in earnest; that was certain.
+Could it be possible that she had said more than she intended to Captain
+Asher, and that she had given him to understand that she would use any
+of these women as witnesses if she went to law? However, whatever they
+meant, she intended to sit them out. So she told her maid to make her
+some tea and to bring it up with some bread and butter and preserves,
+and a light. She also ordered her to be careful that the people in the
+parlor should see her as she went up-stairs. "I guess they'll know I'm
+in earnest when they see the tea," she said. "I've set out a mess of
+'em, and it won't take long to finish up them three!"
+
+She partook of her refreshments, and she reclined in her rocking-chair,
+and waited for the hungry ones below to depart. "I'll give 'em half an
+hour," said she to herself.
+
+Before that time had elapsed she heard another stir below, and she
+exclaimed: "I knew it" and there were steps in the hallway, and some
+people went out. She sprang to her feet; she was about to run
+down-stairs and lock and bolt every door; but a sound arrested her. It
+was the talking of women in the parlor. She stopped, with her mouth wide
+open, and her eyes staring, and then the servant came up and told her
+that "them three had gone, and that another three had come back, and
+they had told her to say that they were goin' to stay in squads all
+night till she came down to see them."
+
+Miss Port sat down, her elbows on the table, and her chin in her hands.
+"It must be something serious," she thought. "The ladies of this town
+are not in the habit of staying out late unless it is to nurse bad
+cases, or to sit up with corpses." And then the idea struck her that
+probably there might be something the matter that she had not thought
+of. She had caused lots of mischief in her day, and it might easily be
+that she had forgotten some of it. But the more she thought about the
+matter, the more firmly she resolved not to go down and speak to the
+women. She would like to send for a constable and have them cleared out
+of the house, but she knew that none of the three constables in town
+would dare to use force with such ladies as Mrs. Faulkner and the
+members of the Dorcas Society.
+
+So she sat and waited, and listened, and grew very nervous, but was more
+obstinate now than ever, for she was beginning to be very fearful of
+what those women might have to say to her. She could "talk down one
+woman, but not a pack of 'em." Thus time passed on, with occasional
+reports from the servant until the latter fell asleep, and came
+up-stairs no more. There were sounds of footsteps in the street, and
+Miss Port put out her light, and went to the front shutters. Three women
+were coming in. They entered the house, and in a few minutes afterward
+three women went out. Miss Port stood up in the middle of the floor, and
+was almost inclined to tear her hair.
+
+"They're goin' to stay all night!" she exclaimed. "I really believe they
+'re goin' to stay all night!" For a moment she thought of rushing
+down-stairs and confronting the impertinent visitors, but she stopped;
+she was afraid. She did not know what they might say to her, and she
+went to the banisters and listened. They were talking; always in a low
+voice. It seemed to her that these people could talk forever. Then she
+began to think of her front door, which was open; but, of course, nobody
+could come while those creatures were in the parlor. But if she missed
+anything she'd have them brought up in court if it took every cent she
+had in the world and constables from some other town. She slipped to the
+back stairs, and softly called the servant, but there was no answer. She
+was afraid to go down, for the back door of the parlor commanded all
+the other rooms on that floor. Now she felt more terribly lonely and
+more nervous. If she had had a pistol she would have fired it through
+the floor. Then those women would run away, and she would fasten up the
+house. But there they sat, chatter, chatter, chatter, till it nearly
+drove her mad. She wished now she had gone down at first.
+
+After a time, and not a very long time, there were some steps in the
+street and in the yard, and more women came into the house, but, worse
+than that, the others stayed. Family duties were over now, and those
+impudent creatures could be content to stay the rest of the evening.
+
+For a moment the worried woman felt as if she would like to go to bed
+and cover up her head and so escape these persistent persecutors. But
+she shook her head. That would never do. She knew that when she awoke in
+the morning some of those women would still be in the parlor, and, to
+save her soul, she could not now imagine what it was that kept them
+there like hounds upon her track.
+
+It was now eleven o'clock. When had the Port house been open so late as
+that? The people in the town must be talking about it, and there would
+be more talking the next day. Perhaps it might be in the town paper. The
+morning would be worse than the night. She could not bear it any longer.
+There was now nothing to be heard in front but that maddening chatter in
+the parlor, and up the back stairs came the snores of the servant. She
+got a traveling-bag from a closet and proceeded to pack it; then she put
+on her bonnet and shawl and put into her bag all the money she had with
+her, trembling all the time as if she had been a thief: robbing her own
+house. She could not go down the back stairs, because, as has been said,
+she could have been seen from the parlor; but a carpenter had been
+mending the railing of a little piazza at the back of the house, and she
+remembered he had left his ladder. Down this ladder, with her bag in her
+hand, Miss Port silently moved. She looked into the kitchen; she could
+not see the servant, but she could hear her snoring on a bench. Clapping
+her hand over the girl's mouth, she whispered into her ear, and without
+a word the frightened creature sat up and followed Miss Port into the
+yard.
+
+"Now, then," said Miss Port, whispering as if she were sticking needles
+into the frightened girl, "I'm goin' away, and don't you ask no
+questions, for you won't get no answers. You just go to bed, and let
+them people stay in the parlor all night. They'll be able to take care
+of the house, I guess, and if they don't I'll make 'em suffer. In the
+morning you can see Mrs. Faulkner--for she's the ringleader--and tell
+her that you're goin' home to your mother, and that Miss Port expects
+her to pull down all the blinds in this house, and shut and bolt the
+doors. She is to see that the eatables is put away proper or else give
+to the poor--which will be you, I guess--and then she is to lock all the
+doors and take the front-door key to Squire Allen, and tell him I'll
+write to him. And what's more, you can say to the nasty thing that if I
+find anything wrong in my house, or anything missin', I 'll hold her and
+her husband responsible for it, and that I'm mighty glad I don't belong
+to their church."
+
+Then she slipped out of the back gate of the yard, and made her way
+swiftly to the railroad-station. There was a train for the north which
+passed Glenford at half-past twelve, and which could be flagged. There
+was one man at the station, and he was very much surprised to see Miss
+Port.
+
+"Is anything the matter?" he said.
+
+"Yes," she snapped, "there's some people sick, and I guess there'll be
+more of 'em a good deal sicker in the morning. I've got to go."
+
+"A case of pizenin'?" asked the man very earnestly.
+
+"Yes," said she, wrapping her shawl around her; "the worse kind of
+pizenin'!" Then she talked no more.
+
+The servant-girl slept late, and there were a good many ladies in the
+parlor when she came down. She did not give them a chance to ask her
+anything, but told her message promptly. It was a message pretty fairly
+remembered, although it had grown somewhat sharper in the night. When it
+was finished the girl added: "And I'm to have all the eatables in the
+house to take home to my mother, and Squire Allen is to pay me four
+dollars and seventy-five cents, which has been owin' to me for wages for
+ever so long."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVI_
+
+_Cold Tinder._
+
+
+Olive and Dick Lancaster sat together in the captain's parlor. She was
+very quiet--she had been very quiet of late--but he was nervous.
+
+"It is very kind, Mr. Lancaster," said Olive, breaking the silence, "for
+you to come to see us instead of writing. It is so much pleasanter for
+friends--"
+
+"Oh, it was not kind," he said, interrupting her. "In fact, it was
+selfishness. And now I want to tell you quickly, Miss Asher, while I
+have the chance, the reason of my coming here to-day. It was not to
+offer you my congratulations or my sympathy, although you must know that
+I feel for you and your uncle as much in every way as any living being
+can feel. I came to offer my love. I have loved you almost ever since I
+knew you as much as any man can love a woman, and whenever I have been
+with you I could hardly hold myself back from telling you. But I was
+strong, and I did not speak, for I knew you did not love me."
+
+Olive was listening, looking steadily at him.
+
+"No," she said, "I did not love you."
+
+He paid no attention to this remark, as if it related to something which
+he knew all about, but went on, "I resolved to speak to you some time,
+but not until I had some little bit of a reason for supposing you would
+listen to me; but when I read the account of what you did in Washington,
+I knew you to be so far above even the girl I had supposed you to be;
+then my love came down upon me and carried me away. And all that has
+since appeared in the papers has made me so long to stand by your side
+that I could not resist this longing, and I felt that no matter what
+happened, I must come and tell you all."
+
+"And now?" asked Olive.
+
+"There is nothing more," said Dick. "I have told you all there is. I
+love you so truly that it seems to me as if I had been born, as if I had
+lived, as if I had grown and had worked, simply that I might be able to
+come to you and say, I love you. And now that I have told you this, I
+hope that I have not pained you."
+
+"You have not pained me," said Olive, "but it is right that I should say
+to you that I do not love you." She said this very quietly and gently,
+but there was sadness in her tones.
+
+Dick Lancaster sprang up, and stood before her. "Then let me love you"
+he cried. "Do not deny me that! Do not take the life out of me! the soul
+out of me! Do not turn me away into utter blackness! Do not say I shall
+not love you!"
+
+Olive's clear, thoughtful eyes were looking into his. "I believe you
+love me," she answered slowly. "I believe every word you say. But what I
+say is also true. I will admit that I have asked myself if I could love
+you. There was a time when I was in great trouble, when I believed that
+it might be possible for me to marry some one without loving him, but I
+never thought that about _you_. You were different. I could not have
+married you without loving you. I believe you knew that, and so you did
+not ask me."
+
+His voice was husky when he spoke again.
+
+"But you do not answer me," he said. "You have seen into my very soul.
+May I love you?"
+
+She still looked into his glowing eyes, but she did not speak. It was
+with herself she was communing, not with him.
+
+But there was something in the eyes which looked into his which made his
+heart leap, and he leaned forward.
+
+"Olive," he whispered, "can you not love me?"
+
+Her lips appeared as if they were about to move, but they did not, and
+in the next moment they could not. He had her in his arms.
+
+Poor foolish, lovely Olive! She thought she was so strong. She imagined
+that she knew herself so well. She had seen so much; she had been so
+far; she had known so many things and people that she had come to look
+upon herself as the decider of her own destiny. She had come to believe
+so much in herself and in her cold heart that she was not afraid to
+listen to the words of a burning heart! _Her_ heart could keep so cool!
+
+And now, in a flash, the fire had spread! The coolest hearts are often
+made of tinder.
+
+Poor foolish, lovely, happy Olive! She scarcely understood what had
+happened to her. She only knew that she had been born and had lived, and
+had grown, that he might come to her and say he loved her. What had she
+been thinking of all this time?
+
+"You are so quick," she said, as she put back some of her disheveled
+hair.
+
+"Dearest," he whispered, "it seems to me as if I had been so slow, so
+slow, so very slow!"
+
+It was a long time before Captain Asher returned, and when he entered
+the parlor he found these two still there. They had been sitting by the
+window, and when they came forward to meet him Dick's arm was around the
+waist of Olive. The captain looked at them for a moment, and then he
+gave a shout, and encircled them both in his great arms.
+
+When they were cool enough to sit down and Olive and Dick had ceased
+trying to persuade the captain that he was not the happiest of the
+three, Olive said to him: "I have told Dick everything--about the
+air-gun and all. Of course, he must know it."
+
+"And I have been looking at you," said Dick, putting his hand upon the
+captain's shoulder, "as the only hero I have ever met. Not only for what
+you have done, but for what you have refrained from doing."
+
+"Nonsense!" said the captain. "Olive now--"
+
+"Oh! Olive is Olive!" said Dick. And he did not mind in the least that
+the captain was present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was on the next afternoon that the Broadstone carriage stopped at the
+toll-gate. Mrs. Easterfield sprang out of it, asking for nobody, for she
+had spied Olive in the arbor.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, as she burst into tears and took the girl
+into her arms, "it does seem to me as if I were your own mother!"
+
+"The only one I have," said Olive, "and very dear!"
+
+It was some time after this that Mrs. Easterfield was calm enough to
+stop the flow of exciting conversation and to say to Olive, taking both
+her hands tenderly within her own: "My dear, we have been talking a
+great deal of sentiment, and now I want seriously to speak to you on a
+matter of business."
+
+"Business!" asked Olive in surprise.
+
+"Yes, it is really business from your point of view; and I have come
+round to that point of view myself. Olive, I want you to marry!"
+
+"Oh," said Olive, "that is it, is it? That is what you call business?"
+
+"Yes, dear; I am now looking at your future, and at marriage in the very
+sensible way you regarded those matters when you were staying with me."
+
+"But," said Olive, who could scarcely help laughing, "there was a good
+reason then for my being so sensible, and that reason no longer exists.
+I can now afford single-blessedness."
+
+"No, Olive, dear, you can not. Circumstances are all against that
+consummation. You are not made for that sort of thing. And your uncle is
+an old man, and even with him you need a young protector. I want you to
+marry Richard Lancaster. You know my heart has been set on it for some
+time, and now I urge it. You could never bring forth a single objection
+to him."
+
+"Except that I did not love him."
+
+"Neither did you love the young men you were considering as eligible.
+Now, do try to be a sensible girl."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield, are you laughing at me?" asked Olive.
+
+"Far from it, my dear. I am desperately in earnest. You see, recent
+events--"
+
+"Dick Lancaster and I are engaged to be married," said Olive demurely,
+not waiting for the end of that sentence. "And," she added, laughing at
+Mrs. Easterfield's astonished countenance, "I have not yet considered
+whether or not it is sensible."
+
+After Mrs. Easterfield had given a half dozen kisses to partly express
+her pleasure, she said: "And where is he now? I must see him!"
+
+"He went back to his college late last night; it was impossible for him
+to stay here any longer at present."
+
+As Mrs. Easterfield was going away--she had waited and waited for the
+captain who had not come--Olive detained her.
+
+"You are so dear," she said, "that I must tell you a great thing." And
+then she told the story of the two men in the barouche.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield turned pale, and sat down again. She had actually lost
+her self-possession. She made Olive tell her the story over and over
+again. "It is too much," she said, "for one day. I am glad the captain
+is not here, I would not know what to say to him. I may tell Tom?" she
+said. "I must tell him; he will be silent as a rock."
+
+Olive smiled. "Yes, you may tell Tom," she said.
+
+"I have told Dick, but on no account must Harry ever know anything
+about it."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement. That the girl could joke at
+such a moment!
+
+When the captain came home Olive told him how she had entrusted the
+great secret to Mrs. Easterfield and her husband.
+
+"Well," said he, "I intended to tell you, but haven't had a chance yet,
+that I spoke of the matter to Mrs. Faulkner. So I have told two persons
+and you have told three, and I suppose that is about the proportion in
+which men and women keep secrets."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVII_
+
+_In which Some Great Changes are Recorded._
+
+
+A few days after his return to his college Prof. Richard Lancaster found
+among his letters one signed "Your backer, Claude Locker."
+
+The letter began:
+
+     "You owe her to me. You should never forget that. If I had done
+     better no one can say what might have been the result. This
+     proposition can not be gainsaid, for as no one ever saw me do
+     better, how should anybody know? I knew I was leaving her to you.
+     She might not have known it, but I did. I did not suppose it would
+     come so soon, but I was sure it would ultimately come to pass. It
+     has come to pass, and I feel triumphant. In the great race in which
+     I had the honor to run, you made a most admirable second. The best
+     second is he who comes in first. In order for a second to take
+     first place it is necessary that the leader in the race, be that
+     leader horse, man, or boat, should experience a change in
+     conditions. I experienced such a change, voluntary or involuntary
+     it is unnecessary to say. You came in first, and I congratulate you
+     as no living being can congratulate you who has not felt for a
+     moment or two that it was barely possible that he might, in some
+     period of existence, occupy the position which you now hold.
+
+    "Do not be surprised if you hear of my early marriage. Some woman no
+    better-looking than I am may seek me out. If this should happen, and
+    you know of it, please think of me with gratitude, and remember that
+    I was once
+
+    "Your backer,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER."
+
+Olive also received a letter from Mr. Locker, which ran thus:
+
+     "Mrs. Easterfield told me. She wrote me a letter about it, and I
+     think her purpose was to make me thoroughly understand that I was
+     not in this matter at all. She did not say anything of the kind,
+     but I think she thought it would be a dreadful thing, if by any act
+     of mine, I should cause you to reconsider your arrangement with
+     Professor Lancaster. I have written to the said professor, and have
+     told him that it is not improbable that I shall soon marry. I don't
+     know yet to what lady I shall be united, but I believe in the truth
+     of the adage, 'that all things come to those who can not wait.'
+     They are in such a hurry that they take what they can get.
+
+    "If you do not think that this is a good letter, please send it back
+    and I will write another. What I am trying to say is, that I would
+    sacrifice my future wife, no matter who she may be, to see you
+    happy. And now believe me always
+
+    "Your most devoted acquaintance,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER.
+
+    "P.S.--Wouldn't it be a glorious thing if you were to be married in
+    church with all the rejected suitors as groomsmen and Lancaster as
+    an old Roman conqueror with the captive princess tied behind!"
+
+Now that all the turmoil of her life was over, and Olive at peace with
+herself, her thoughts dwelt with some persistency upon two of her
+rejected suitors. Until now she had had but little comprehension of the
+love a man may feel for a woman--perhaps because she herself never
+loved--but now she looked back upon that period of her life at
+Broadstone with a good deal of compunction. At that time it had seemed
+to her that it really made very little difference to her three lovers
+which one she accepted, or if she rejected them all. But now she asked
+herself if it could be possible that Du Brant and Hemphill had for her
+anything of the feeling she now had for Dick Lancaster. (Locker did not
+trouble her mind at all.) If so, she had treated them with a cruel and
+shameful carelessness. She had really intended to marry one of them, but
+not from any good and kind feeling; she was actuated solely by pique and
+self-interest; and she had, perhaps, sacrificed honest love to her
+selfishness; and, what was worse, had treated it with what certainly
+appeared like contempt, although she certainly had not intended that.
+
+She felt truly sorry, and cast about in her mind for some means of
+reparation. She could think of but one way: to find for each of them a
+very nice girl--a great deal nicer than herself--and to marry them all
+with her blessing. But, unfortunately for this scheme, Olive had no
+girl friends. She had acquaintances "picked up here and there," as she
+said, but she knew very little about any of them, and not one of them
+had ever struck her as being at all angelic or superior in any way.
+Neither of the young men who were lying so heavily on her mind had
+written to any one, either at the toll-gate or at Broadstone, since the
+very public affair in which she had played a conspicuous part; and her
+consolation was that as each one had read that account he had said to
+himself: "I am thankful that girl did not accept me! What a fortunate
+escape!" But still she wished that she had behaved differently at
+Broadstone.
+
+She said nothing to any one of these musings, but she ventured one day
+to ask Mr. Easterfield how Mr. Hemphill was faring. His reply was only
+half satisfactory. He reported the young man as doing very well, and
+being well; he was growing fat, and that did not improve his looks; and
+he was getting more and more taciturn and self-absorbed. "Why was he
+taciturn?" Olive asked herself. "Was he brooding and melancholy?" She
+did not know anything about the fat, and what might be its primal cause;
+but her mind was not set at ease about him.
+
+Things went on quietly and pleasantly at the toll-gate, and at
+Broadstone. Dick came down as often as he could and spent a day or two
+(usually including a Sunday) with Olive and her uncle. It was now
+October, and colleges were in full tide. It was also the hunting season,
+and that meant that Mr. Tom would be at Broadstone for a couple of
+weeks, and Mrs. Easterfield said she must have Olive at that time. And,
+in order to make the house lively, she invited Lieutenant Asher and his
+wife at the same time, as Olive and her young stepmother were now very
+good friends. Then the captain invited his old friend Captain Lancaster,
+Dick's father, to visit him at the toll-gate.
+
+These were bright days for these old shipmates; and, strange to say, as
+they sat and puffed, they did not talk so much of things that had been,
+as they puffed and made plans of things which were to be. And these
+plans always concerned the niece of one, and the son of the other.
+Captain Asher was not at all satisfied with Dick's position in the
+college. He could not see how eminence awaited any young man who taught
+theories; he would like Dick's future to depend on facts.
+
+"Two and two make four," said he; "there is no need of any theory about
+that, and that's the sort of thing that suits me."
+
+Captain Lancaster smiled. He was a dry old salt, and listened more than
+he talked.
+
+"Just now," he remarked, "I guess Dick will stick to his theories, and
+for a while he won't be apt to give his mind to mathematics very much,
+except to that kind of figuring which makes him understand that one and
+one makes one."
+
+There was a thing the two old mates were agreed upon. No matter-what
+Dick's position might be in the college, his salary should be as large
+as that of any other professor. They could do it, and they would do it.
+They liked the idea, and they shook hands over it.
+
+Olive was greatly pleased with Captain Lancaster. "There is the scent of
+the sea about him," she wrote to Dick, "as there is about Uncle John and
+father, but it is different. It is constant and fixed, like the smell
+of salt mackerel. He would never keep a toll-gate; nor would he marry a
+young wife. Not that I object to either of these things, for if the one
+had not happened I would never have known you; and if the other had not
+happened, I might not have become engaged to you."
+
+The two captains dined at Broadstone while Olive was there, and Captain
+Lancaster highly approved of Mrs. Easterfield. All seafaring men did--as
+well as most other men.
+
+"It is a shame she had to marry a landsman," said Captain Lancaster,
+when he and Captain John had gone home. "It seems to me she would have
+suited you."
+
+"You might mention that the next time you go to her house," said Captain
+Asher. "I don't believe it has ever been properly considered."
+
+It was at this time that Olive's mind was set at rest about one of her
+discarded lovers. Mr. Du Brant wrote her a letter.
+
+     "MY DEAR MISS ASHER--It is very long since I have had any
+     communication with you, but this silence on my part has been the
+     result of circumstances, and not owing, I assure you upon my honor,
+     to any diminution of the great regard (to use a moderate term)
+     which I feel for you. I had not the pleasure of seeing you when I
+     left Broadstone, but our mutual friend, Mrs. Easterfield, told me
+     you had sent to me a message. I firmly (but I trust politely)
+     declined to receive it. And so, my dear Miss Asher, as the offer I
+     made you then has never received any acknowledgment, I write now
+     to renew it. I lay my heart at your feet, and entreat you to do me
+     the honor of accepting my hand in marriage.
+
+    "And let me here frankly state that when first I read of your great
+    deed--you are aware, of course, to what I refer--I felt I must
+    banish all thought of you from my heart. Let me explain my position,
+    I had just received news of the death of my uncle, Count Rosetra,
+    and that I had inherited his title and estates. It is a noble name,
+    and the estates are great. Could I confer these upon one who was
+    being so publicly discussed--the actor in so terrible a drama? I
+    owed more to society, and to my noble race, and to my country than I
+    had done before becoming a noble. But ah, my torn heart! O Miss
+    Asher, that heart was true to you through all, and has asserted
+    itself in a vehement way. I recognized your deed as noble; I thought
+    of your beauty and your intellect; of your attractive vivacity; of
+    your manner and bearing, all so fine; and I realized how you would
+    grace my title and my home; how you would help me to carry out the
+    great ambitions I have.
+
+    "Will you, lady, deign to accept my homage and my love? A favorable
+    answer will bring me to make my personal solicitations.
+
+    "Your most loving and faithful servant,
+
+    "CHRISTIAN DU BRANT.
+
+    "(Now Count Rosetra.)"
+
+"What a bombastic mixture!" thought Olive, as she read this effusion. "I
+wonder if there is any real love in it! If there is, it is so smothered
+it is easily extinguished."
+
+And she extinguished it; and thoughts of Count Rosetra troubled her no
+more.
+
+She did not show Dick this letter, but she thought it due to Mrs.
+Easterfield to read it to her. "He has got it into his head that an
+American woman, such as you, will make his house attractive to people he
+wants there," commented that lady. "You have not considered me at all,
+you ungrateful girl! Only think how I could have exploited 'my friend,
+the countess'! And what a fine place for me to visit!"
+
+It had been arranged by the two houses that Dick and Olive should be
+married in the early summer when the college closed; and Mrs.
+Easterfield had arranged in her own mind that the wedding should be in
+her city house. It would not be too late in the season for a stylish
+wedding--a thing Mrs. Easterfield had often wished she could arrange,
+and it was hopeless to think of waiting until her little ones could help
+her to this desire of her heart. She held this great secret in reserve,
+however, for a delightful surprise at the proper time.
+
+But she and Olive both had a wedding surprise before Olive's visit was
+finished. It was, in fact, the day before Olive's return to the
+toll-gate that Mr. Easterfield walked in upon them as they were sitting
+at work in Mrs. Easterfield's room. He had been unexpectedly summoned to
+the city three days before, and had gone with no explanation to his
+wife. She did not think much about it, as he was accustomed to going and
+coming in a somewhat erratic manner.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, looking at him critically after the first
+greetings, "that you have an important air."
+
+"I am the bearer of important news," he said, puffing out his cheeks.
+
+In answer to the battery of excited inquiries which opened upon him he
+finally said: "I was solemnly invited to town to attend a solemn
+function, and I solemnly went, and am now solemnly returned."
+
+"Pshaw!" said Mrs. Easterfield. "I don't believe it's anything."
+
+"A wedding is something. A very great something. It is a solemn thing;
+and made more solemn by the loss of my secretary."
+
+"What!" almost screamed his wife. "Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"The very man. And, O Miss Olive, if you could but have seen him in his
+wedding-clothes your heart would have broken to think that you had lost
+the opportunity of standing by them at the altar."
+
+"But who was the bride?" asked Mrs. Easterfield impatiently.
+
+"Miss Eliza Grogworthy."
+
+"Now, Tom, I know you are joking! Why can't you be serious?"
+
+"I am as serious as were that couple. I have known her for some time,
+and she was very visible."
+
+"Why, she is old enough to be his mother!"
+
+"Not quite, my dear. In such a case as this, one must be particular
+about ages. She is a few years older than he is probably, but she is not
+bad looking, and a good woman with a nice big house and lots of money.
+He has walked out of my office into a fine position, and I unselfishly
+congratulated him with all my heart."
+
+"Poor Mr. Hemphill!" sighed Olive. She was thinking of the very young
+man she had sighed for when a very young girl.
+
+"He needs no pity," said Mr. Easterfield seriously. "I should not be
+surprised if he feels glad that he was not--well, we won't say what," he
+added, looking mischievously at Olive. "This is really a great deal
+better thing for him. He is not a favorite of my wife, but he is a
+thoroughly good fellow in his way, and I have always liked him. There
+were certain things necessary to him in this life, and he has got them.
+That can not be said about everybody by a long shot! No, he is to be
+congratulated."
+
+Olive was silent. She was trying to make up her mind that he was really
+to be congratulated, and to get rid of a lingering doubt.
+
+"Well, that is the end of him in our affairs!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield. "Why didn't you tell us what you were going to town for?"
+
+"Because he asked me not to mention it to any one. And, besides, that is
+not all I went to town for."
+
+"Oh," said his wife, "any more weddings?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Easterfield, helping himself to an easy chair. "You know
+I have lately been so much with nautical people I have acquired a taste
+for the sea."
+
+"I did not know it," said his wife; "but what of it?"
+
+"Well, as Lieutenant Asher and his wife are here yet, and have no
+earthly reason for being anywhere in particular; and as Captain Asher
+seems to be tired of the toll-gate; and as Captain Lancaster doesn't
+care where he is; and as Miss Olive doesn't know what to do with herself
+until it is time for her to get married; and as you are always ready to
+go gadding; and as the children need bracing up; and as you can not get
+along without Miss Raleigh; and as Mrs. Blynn is a good housekeeper; and
+as I have an offer for renting our town house; I propose that we all go
+to sea together."
+
+The two ladies had listened breathlessly to these words, and now Olive
+sprang up in great excitement, and Mrs. Easterfield clapped her hands in
+delight.
+
+"How clever you are, Tom!" she exclaimed. "What a splendid idea! How can
+we go?"
+
+"I have leased a yacht, and we are going to the Mediterranean."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVIII_
+
+"_It has just Begun!_"
+
+
+This wonderful scheme which Mr. Easterfield had planned and carried out
+met with general favor. Perhaps if they had all been consulted before he
+made the plan there would have been many alterations, and discussions,
+and doubts. But the thing was done, and there was nothing to say but
+"Yes" or "No." The time had come for the house party at Broadstone to
+break up, and the lieutenant and Mrs. Asher had arranged to spend the
+next few months in the city, but they gladly accepted Mr. Easterfield's
+generous invitation and would return to the toll-gate alter a few weeks
+preparatory to sailing, that the party might get together, for Captain
+Lancaster was to remain at the tollhouse. Mr. Easterfield also invited
+Claude Locker "to make things lively in rough weather," and that young
+man accepted with much alacrity.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was in such a state of delight that she nearly lost her
+self-possession. Sometimes, her husband told her, she scarcely spoke
+rationally. If she had been asked to wish anything that love or money
+could bring her, it would have been this very thing; but she would not
+have believed it possible. She was busy everywhere planning for
+everybody, and making out various lists. But, as she said, there is a
+little black spot in almost every joy. And her little black spot was
+Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Poor Professor Lancaster!" she said to her husband. "We to have such a
+great pleasure, and he shut up in close rooms! And Olive far away!"
+
+"Are you sure about Olive?" asked Mr. Easterfield. "She has never said
+positively that she is going. I most earnestly hope that she will not
+back out because Lancaster can not go. If she stays her uncle will
+stay."
+
+"And for that very reason she will go," said Mrs. Easterfield. "And I
+think Professor Lancaster will urge her to go. He is unselfish enough, I
+am sure, to wish her to have this great pleasure. And, talking of Olive,
+one thing is certain, Tom, we must be back early in the spring. There
+will be a great deal to do before the wedding. And, O Tom, I will tell
+you--but you must not tell any one, for I am keeping it for a
+surprise--I am going to give them a fine wedding. They will be married
+in church, of course, but the reception will be at our house. You will
+like that, I know."
+
+"Will there be good eating?"
+
+"Plenty of it."
+
+"Then I shall like it."
+
+All this was very well, but, nevertheless, this talk made the
+enthusiastic lady a little uneasy. It was true Olive had never said in
+words conclusively whether she would go or not. But she was extremely
+anxious that her father should go, and she implicitly followed Mrs.
+Easterfield's directions in making preparations for him, and was just as
+earnest in making her own; and her friend was certainly justified in
+thinking all this was a tacit consent.
+
+As for the two captains, they were so delighted at this heavenly
+prospect that they gave up talking about Dick and Olive, and read
+guide-books to each other, and studied maps, and sea-charts until their
+brains were nearly addled. They were a source of great amusement to the
+young people when Dick came for his frequent short visits.
+
+It was evident to all interested that Professor Lancaster approved of
+the expedition, for he entered heartily into all the talk about the
+various places to be visited, and all that was to be done on the vessel;
+and he did not bore them with any lamentations in regard to the coming
+separation between him and Olive. And, of course, every one respected
+his feelings, and said nothing to him about it.
+
+The weeks went by; all the preparations were made; and at last the time
+came when the company were to assemble at the toll-gate and Broadstone
+before the final plunge into the unknown. Olive wished to have them all
+to dinner on the first day of this short visit.
+
+"Our house is a little one," she said to Mrs. Easterfield, "but we can
+make it big enough. You know nautical people understand how to do that.
+What a jolly company we shall have! You know Dick will be there."
+
+"Yes, poor Dick!" sighed Mrs. Easterfield, when Olive had left.
+
+The Easterfields, with Lieutenant Asher and his wife, arrived very
+promptly at the toll-gate on that important day, and their drive
+through the bright, crisp air put them in a merry mood. They had hoped
+to bring Mr. Locker, but he had not arrived. They found two captains at
+the toll-gate in even merrier mood. Dick Lancaster was there, having
+arrived that morning, and they were none of them surprised that he
+looked serious. The ladies were not immediately asked to go up-stairs to
+remove their wraps, for Olive was not there to receive them. She soon,
+however, made her appearance in a lovely white dress that had been made
+for the trip under Mrs. Easterfield's supervision. Dick Lancaster
+immediately got up from his chair and joined her; and the Reverend Mr.
+Faulkner appeared from some mysterious place, and the astonished guests
+were treated to a very pretty marriage ceremony.
+
+It was soon over, and the two jolly captains laughed heartily at the
+bewilderment of the Broadstone party. And then there was a wild time of
+hand-shaking and congratulations and embracing. By his wife's orders,
+Mr. Tom kissed Olive, which seemed perfectly proper to everybody except
+Mrs. Lieutenant Asher. She was also a young bride, with no similar
+experiences.
+
+Later, when all were composed, Olive explained. "What has happened just
+now is all on account of Mr. Easterfield's invitation. I wrote
+immediately to Dick, and we settled it between us that he would ask for
+a vacation--they always give vacations when professors are married, and
+he knew of some one to take his place--and then we would be married, and
+ask Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield to invite us to take our wedding trip with
+them. Dick had to stay at the college until the last minute almost, and
+so we didn't say anything about the wedding--and we were both afraid
+of--well, we don't like a fuss--and so we planned this. And when Dick
+came he brought the license and Mr. Faulkner. And now I don't see how
+Mr. Easterfield can help inviting us."
+
+Mr. Easterfield was standing by his wife, and as Olive finished her
+explanation he took his wife's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of
+sympathy; and that heroic woman never flinched; nor did she ever say one
+word about that pretty wedding she had planned for the spring.
+
+They had all nearly finished the fried chicken with white sauce, when
+Claude Locker arrived. He had missed the regular train and had come on a
+freight; had got a horse when he reached Broadstone.
+
+"I am more tired than if I had walked," he grumbled. "I am always in bad
+luck! I am an unlucky dog! But you are so good you will excuse me, Miss
+Asher."
+
+"That is not my name," said Olive gravely.
+
+And with both eyes of the same size, Mr. Locker looked around, wondering
+why everybody was laughing.
+
+"Let me introduce Mrs. Lancaster," said Dick with a bow.
+
+"Do you mean," cried Locker, starting up, "that this thing is really
+done?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "It has just begun."
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Captain's Toll-Gate, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13356 ***
diff --git a/13356-h/13356-h.htm b/13356-h/13356-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c900761
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-h/13356-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,10729 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+    "text/html; charset=UTF-8">
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Captains Toll-Gate, by Frank R. Stockton.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    P {  text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: 1em;
+         text-indent: 1em;
+         }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    HR { width: 33%;
+	margin-top: 1em;
+	margin-bottom: 1em;
+       }
+    BODY{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .linenum  {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */
+    .note     {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */
+    .blkquot  {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */
+    .pagenum  {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */
+    .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;}
+    .first    {font-size: 300%; float: left;  padding-right: .1em;  padding-left: .1em;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span        {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 2em;}
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+   </head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13356 ***</div>
+
+<h1>THE</h1>
+<h1>CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE</h1>
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+<h2>FRANK R. STOCKTON</h2>
+
+<a name='001'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll001.jpg' width='404' height='600' alt='Frank R. Stockton' title='Frank R. Stockton'>
+</center>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><i>With a Memorial Sketch by
+Mrs. Stockton</i></p>
+
+
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'>1903</p>
+
+
+<br />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<table align='center' border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='4' summary=''>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b>I.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b>OLIVE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b>II.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b>MARIA PORT</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b>III.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b>MRS. EASTERFIELD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b>IV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b>THE SON OF AN OLD SHIPMATE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b>V.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b>OLIVE PAYS TOLL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b>VI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b>MR. CLAUDE LOCKER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b>VII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND HIS GUEST GO FISHING AND COME HOME HAPPY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b>VIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b>CAPTAIN ASHER IS NOT IN A GOOD HUMOR</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b>IX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b>MISS PORT TAKES A DRIVE WITH THE BUTCHER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b>X.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b>MRS. EASTERFIELD WRITES A LETTER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b>XI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b>MR. LOCKER IS RELEASED ON BAIL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b>XII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b>MR. RUPERT HEMPHILL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b>XIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b>MR. LANCASTER'S BACKERS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b>XIV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b>A LETTER FOR OLIVE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b>XV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b>OLIVE'S BICYCLE TRIP</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'><b>XVI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'><b>MR. LANCASTER ACCEPTS A MISSION</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'><b>XVII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'><b>DICK IS NOT A PROMPT BEARER OF NEWS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII'><b>XVIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII'><b>WHAT OLIVE DETERMINED TO DO</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX'><b>XIX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND DICK LANCASTER DESERT THE TOLL-GATE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX'><b>XX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XX'><b>MR. LOCKER DETERMINES TO RUSH THE ENEMY'S POSITION</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI'><b>XXI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI'><b>MISS RALEIGH ENJOYS A RARE PRIVILEGE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXII'><b>XXII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXII'><b>THE CONFLICTING SERENADES</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII'><b>XXIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND MARIA</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV'><b>XXIV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV'><b>MR. TOM ARRIVES AT BROADSTONE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXV'><b>XXV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXV'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND MR. TOM</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI'><b>XXVI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI'><b>A STOP AT THE TOLL-GATE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII'><b>XXVII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII'><b>BY PROXY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII'><b>XXVIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII'><b>HERE WE GO! LOVERS THREE!</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX'><b>XXIX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX'><b>TWO PIECES OF NEWS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXX'><b>XXX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXX'><b>BY THE SEA</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI'><b>XXXI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI'><b>AS GOOD AS A MAN</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII'><b>XXXII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII'><b>THE STOCK-MARKET IS SAFE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII'><b>XXXIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII'><b>DICK LANCASTER DOES NOT WRITE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV'><b>XXXIV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV'><b>MISS PORT PUTS IN AN APPEARANCE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV'><b>XXXV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV'><b>THE DORCAS ON GUARD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI'><b>XXXVI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI'><b>COLD TINDER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVII'><b>XXXVII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVII'><b>IN WHICH SOME GREAT CHANGES ARE RECORDED</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVIII'><b>XXXVIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVIII'><b>&quot;IT HAS JUST BEGUN!&quot;</b></a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<br />
+
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#001'>Portrait of Frank B. Stockton <i>Etching by Jacques Reich from a
+photograph.</i></a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#002'>The Holt, Mr. Stockton's home near Convent, N.J.</a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#003'>Claymont, Mr. Stockton's home near Charles Town, West Virginia.</a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#004'>A corner in Mr. Stockton's study at Claymont.</a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#005'>The upper terraces of Mr. Stockton's garden at Claymont.</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='A_MEMORIAL_SKETCH'></a><h2>A MEMORIAL SKETCH</h2>
+
+<p>As this&mdash;The Captain's Toll-Gate&mdash;is the last of the works of Frank R.
+Stockton that will be given to the public, it is fitting that it be
+accompanied by some account of the man whose bright spirit illumined
+them all. It is proper, also, that something be said of the stories
+themselves; of the circumstances in which they were written, the
+influences that determined their direction, and the history of their
+evolution. It seems appropriate that this should be done by the one who
+knew him best; the one who lived with him through a long and beautiful
+life; the one who walked hand in hand with him along the whole of a
+wonderful road of ever-changing scenes: now through forests peopled with
+fairies and dryads, griffins and wizards; now skirting the edges of an
+ocean with its strange monsters and remarkable shipwrecks; now on the
+beaten track of European tourists, sharing their novel adventures and
+amused by their mistakes; now resting in lovely gardens imbued with
+human interest; now helping the young to make happy homes for
+themselves; now sympathizing with the old as they look longingly toward
+a heavenly home; and, oftenest, perhaps, watching girls and young men as
+they were trying to work out the problems of their lives. All this, and
+much more, crowded the busy years until the Angel of Death stood in the
+path; and the journey was ended.</p>
+
+<p>In regard to the present story&mdash;The Captain's Toll-Gate&mdash;although it is
+now after his death first published, it was all written and completed by
+Mr. Stockton himself. No other hand has been allowed to add to, or to
+take from it. Mr. Stockton had so strong a feeling upon the literary
+ethics involved in such matters that he once refused to complete a book
+which a popular and brilliant author, whose style was thought to
+resemble his own, had left unfinished. Mr. Stockton regarded the
+proposed act in the light of a sacrilege. The book, he said, should be
+published as the author left it. Knowing this fact, readers of the
+present volume may feel assured that no one has been permitted to tamper
+with it. Although the last book by Mr. Stockton to be published, it is
+not the last that he wrote. He had completed The Captain's Toll-Gate,
+and was considering its publication, when he was asked to write another
+novel dealing with the buccaneers. He had already produced a book
+entitled Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coasts. The idea of writing a
+novel while the incidents were fresh in his mind pleased him, and he put
+aside The Captain's Toll-Gate, as the other book&mdash;Kate Bonnet&mdash;was
+wanted soon, and he did not wish the two works to conflict in
+publication. Steve Bonnet, the crazy-headed pirate, was a historical
+character, and performed the acts attributed to him. But the charming
+Kate, and her lover, and Ben Greenaway were inventions.</p>
+
+<p>Francis Richard Stockton, born in Philadelphia in 1834, was, on his
+father's side, of purely English ancestry; on his mother's side, there
+was a mixture of English, French, and Irish. When he began to write
+stories these three nationalities were combined in them: the peculiar
+kind of inventiveness of the French; the point of view, and the humor
+that we find in the old English humorists; and the capacity of the Irish
+for comical situations.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after arriving in this country the eldest son of the first American
+Stockton settled in Princeton, N.J., and founded that branch of the
+family; while the father, with the other sons, settled in Burlington
+County, in the same State, and founded the Burlington branch of the
+family, from which Frank R. Stockton was descended. On the female side
+he was descended from the Gardiners, also of New Jersey. His was a
+family with literary proclivities. His father was widely known for his
+religious writings, mostly of a polemical character, which had a
+powerful influence in the denomination to which he belonged. His
+half-brother (much older than Frank) was a preacher of great eloquence,
+famous a generation ago as a pulpit orator.</p>
+
+<p>When Frank and his brother John, two years younger, came to the age to
+begin life for themselves, they both showed such decided artistic genius
+that it was thought best to start them in that direction, and to have
+them taught engraving; an art then held in high esteem. Frank chose
+wood, and John steel engraving. Both did good work, but their hearts
+were not in it, and, as soon as opportunity offered, they abandoned
+engraving. John went into journalism; became editorially connected with
+prominent newspapers; and had won a foremost place in his chosen
+profession; when he was cut off by death at a comparatively early age.</p>
+
+<a name='002'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll002.jpg' width='600' height='345' alt='THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON&#39;S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.' title=''>
+</center>
+<h5>THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.</h5>
+
+<p>Frank chose literature. He had, while in the engraving business, written
+a number of fairy tales, some of which had been published in juvenile
+magazines; also a few short stories, and quite an ambitious long story,
+which was published in a prominent magazine. He was then sufficiently
+well known as a writer to obtain without difficulty a place on the
+staff of Hearth and Home, a weekly New York paper, owned by Orange Judd,
+and conducted by Edward Eggleston. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge had charge of
+the juvenile department, and Frank went on the paper as her assistant.
+Not long after Scribner's Monthly was started by Charles Scribner (the
+elder), in conjunction with Roswell Smith, and J.G. Holland. Later Mr.
+Smith and his associates formed The Century Company; and with this
+company Mr. Stockton was connected for many years: first on the Century
+Magazine, which succeeded Scribner's Monthly, and afterward on St.
+Nicholas, as assistant to Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, and, still later, when
+he decided to give up editorial work, as a constant contributor. After a
+few years he resigned his position in the company with which he had been
+so pleasantly associated in order to devote himself exclusively to his
+own work. By this time he had written and published enough to feel
+justified in taking, what seemed to his friends, a bold, and even rash,
+step, because so few writers then lived solely by the pen. He was never
+very strong physically; he felt himself unable to do his editorial work,
+and at the same time write out the fancies and stories with which his
+mind was full. This venture proved to be the wisest thing for him; and
+from that time his life was, in great part, in his books; and he gave
+to the world the novels and stories which bear his name.</p>
+
+<p>I have mentioned his fairy stories. Having been a great lover of fairy
+lore when a child, he naturally fell into this form of story writing as
+soon as he was old enough to put a story together. He invented a goodly
+number; and among them the Ting-a-Ling stories, which were read aloud in
+a boys' literary circle, and meeting their hearty approval, were
+subsequently published in The Riverside Magazine, a handsome and popular
+juvenile of that period; and, much later, were issued by Hurd &amp; Houghton
+in a very pretty volume. In regard to these, he wrote long afterward as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was very young when I determined to write some fairy tales because my
+mind was full of them. I set to work, and in course of time produced
+several which were printed. These were constructed according to my own
+ideas. I caused the fanciful creatures who inhabited the world of
+fairy-land to act, as far as possible for them to do so, as if they were
+inhabitants of the real world. I did not dispense with monsters and
+enchanters, or talking beasts and birds, but I obliged these creatures
+to infuse into their extraordinary actions a certain leaven of common
+sense.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was about this time, while very young, that he and his brother
+became ambitious to write stories, poems, and essays for the world at
+large. They sent their effusions to various periodicals, with the result
+common to ambitious youths: all were returned. They decided at last that
+editors did not know a good thing when they saw it, and hit upon a
+brilliant scheme to prove their own judgment. One of them selected an
+extract from Paradise Regained (as being not so well known as Paradise
+Lost), and sent it to an editor, with the boy's own name appended,
+expecting to have it returned with some of the usual disparaging
+remarks, which they would greatly enjoy. But they were disappointed. The
+editor printed it in his paper, thereby proving that he did know a good
+thing if he did not know his Milton. Mr. Stockton was fond of telling
+this story, and it may have given rise to a report, extensively
+circulated, that he tried to gain admittance to periodicals for many
+years before he succeeded. This is not true. Some rebuffs he had, of
+course&mdash;some with things which afterward proved great successes&mdash;but not
+as great a number as falls to the lot of most beginners.</p>
+
+<p>The Ting-a-Ling tales proved so popular that Mr. Stockton followed them
+at intervals with long and short stories for the young which appeared in
+various juvenile publications, and were afterward published in book
+form&mdash;Roundabout Rambles. Tales out of School, A Jolly Fellowship,
+Personally Conducted, The Story of Viteau, The Floating Prince, and
+others. Some years later, after he had begun to write for older readers,
+he wrote a series of stories for St. Nicholas, ostensibly for children,
+but really intended for adults. Children liked the stories, but the
+deeper meaning underlying them all was beyond the grasp of a child's
+mind. These stories Mr. Stockton took very great pleasure in writing,
+and always regarded them as some of his best work, and was gratified
+when his critics wrote of them in that way. They have become famous, and
+have been translated into several languages, notably Old Pipes and the
+Dryad, The Bee Man of Orne, and The Griffin and the Minor Canon. This
+last story was suggested by Chester Cathedral, and he wrote it in that
+venerable city. The several tales were finally collected into a volume
+under the title: The Bee Man of Orne and Other Stories, which is
+included in the complete edition of his novels and stories. During the
+whole of his literary career Mr. Stockton was an occasional contributor
+of short stories and essays to The Youth's Companion.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton considered his career as an editor of great advantage to
+him as an author. In an autobiographical paper he writes:
+&quot;Long-continued reading of manuscripts submitted for publication which
+are almost good enough to use, and yet not quite up to the standard of
+the magazine, can not but be of great service to any one who proposes a
+literary career. Bad work shows us what we ought to avoid, but most of
+us know, or think we know, what that is. Fine literary work we get
+outside the editorial room. But the great mass of literary material
+which is almost good enough to print is seen only by the editorial
+reader, and its lesson is lost upon him in a great degree unless he is,
+or intends to be, a literary worker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The first house in which we set up our own household goods stood in
+Nutley, N.J. We had with us an elderly <i>attach&eacute;</i> of the Stockton family
+as maid-of-all-work; and to relieve her of some of her duties I went
+into New York, and procured from an orphans' home a girl whom Mr.
+Stockton described as &quot;a middle-sized orphan.&quot; She was about fourteen
+years old, and proved to be a very peculiar individual, with strong
+characteristics which so appealed to Mr. Stockton's sense of humor that
+he liked to talk with her and draw out her opinions of things in
+general, and especially of the books she had read. Her spare time was
+devoted to reading books, mostly of the blood-curdling variety; and she
+read them to herself aloud in the kitchen in a very disjointed fashion,
+which was at first amusing, and then irritating. We never knew her real
+name, nor did the people at the orphanage. She had three or four very
+romantic ones she had borrowed from novels while she was with us, for
+she was very sentimental.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton bestowed upon her the name of Pomona, which is now a
+household word in myriads of homes. This extraordinary girl, and some
+household experiences, induced Mr. Stockton to write a paper for
+Scribner's Monthly which he called Rudder Grange. This one paper was all
+he intended to write, but it attracted immediate attention, was
+extensively noticed, and much talked about. The editor of the magazine
+received so many letters asking for another paper that Mr. Stockton
+wrote the second one; and as there was still a clamor for more, he,
+after a little time, wrote others of the series. Some time later they
+were collected in a book. For those interested in Pomona I will add,
+that while the girl was an actual personage, with all the
+characteristics given to her by her chronicler, the woman Pomona was a
+development in Mr. Stockton's mind of the girl as he imagined she would
+become, for the original passed out of our lives while still a girl.</p>
+
+<p>Rudder Grange was Mr. Stockton's first book for adult readers, and a
+good deal of comment has been made upon the fact that he had reached
+middle life when it was published. His biographers and critics assume
+that he was utterly unknown at that time, and that he suddenly jumped
+into favor, and they naturally draw the inference that he had until then
+vainly attempted to get before the public. This is all a misapprehension
+of the facts. It will be seen from what I have previously stated, that
+at this time he was already well known as a juvenile writer, and not
+only had no difficulty in getting his articles printed, but editors and
+publishers were asking him for stories. He had made but few slight
+attempts to obtain a larger audience. That he confined himself for so
+long a time to juvenile literature can be easily accounted for. For one
+thing, it grew out of his regular work of constantly catering for the
+young, and thinking of them. Then, again, editorial work makes urgent
+demands upon time and strength, and until freed from it he had not the
+leisure or inclination to fashion stories for more exacting and critical
+readers. Perhaps, too, he was slow in recognizing his possibilities.
+Certain it is that the public were not slow to recognize him. He did,
+however, experience difficulties in getting the collected papers of
+Rudder Grange published in book form. I will quote his own account,
+which is interesting as showing how slow he was to appreciate the fact
+that the public would gladly accept the writings of a humorist:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The discovery that humorous compositions could be used in journals
+other than those termed comic marked a new era in my work. Periodicals
+especially devoted to wit and humor were very scarce in those days, and
+as this sort of writing came naturally to me, it was difficult, until
+the advent of Puck, to find a medium of publication for writings of this
+nature. I contributed a good deal to this paper, but it was only partly
+satisfactory, for articles which make up a comic paper must be terse and
+short, and I wanted to write humorous tales which should be as long as
+ordinary magazine stories. I had good reason for my opinion of the
+gravity of the situation, for the editor of a prominent magazine
+declined a humorous story (afterward very popular) which I had sent him,
+on the ground that the traditions of magazines forbade the publication
+of stories strictly humorous. Therefore, when I found an editor at last
+who actually <i>wished</i> me to write humorous stories, I was truly
+rejoiced. My first venture in this line was Rudder Grange. And, after
+all, I had difficulty in getting the series published in book form. Two
+publishers would have nothing to do with them, assuring me that although
+the papers were well enough for a magazine, a thing of ephemeral nature,
+the book-reading public would not care for them. The third publisher to
+whom I applied issued the work, and found the venture satisfactory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The book-reading public cared so much for this book that it would not
+remain satisfied with it alone. Again and again it demanded of the
+author more about Pomona, Euphemia, and Jonas. Hence The Rudder Grangers
+Abroad and Pomona's Travels.</p>
+
+<p>The most famous of Mr. Stockton's stories, The Lady or the Tiger?, was
+written to be read before a literary society of which he was a member.
+It caused such an interesting discussion in the society that he
+published it in the Century Magazine. It had no especial announcement
+there, nor was it heralded in any way, but it took the public by storm,
+and surprised both the editor and the author. All the world must love a
+puzzle, for in an amazingly short time the little story had made the
+circuit of the world. Debating societies everywhere seized upon it as a
+topic; it was translated into nearly all languages; society people
+discussed it at their dinners; plainer people argued it at their
+firesides; numerous letters were sent to nearly every periodical in the
+country; and public readers were expounding it to their audiences. It
+interested heathen and Christian alike; for an English friend told Mr.
+Stockton that in India he had heard a group of Hindoo men gravely
+debating the problem. Of course, a mass of letters came pouring in upon
+the author.</p>
+
+<p>A singular thing about this story has been the revival of interest in it
+that has occurred from time to time. Although written many years ago, it
+seems still to excite the interest of a younger generation; for, after
+an interval of silence on the subject of greater or less duration,
+suddenly, without apparent cause, numerous letters in relation to it
+will appear on the author's table, and &quot;solutions&quot; will be printed in
+the newspapers. This ebb and flow has continued up to the present time.
+Mr. Stockton made no attempt to answer the question he had raised.</p>
+
+<p>We both spent much time in the South at different periods. The dramatic
+and unconsciously humorous side of the negroes pleased his fancy. He
+walked and talked with them, saw them in their homes, at their
+&quot;meetin's,&quot; and in the fields. He has drawn with an affectionate hand
+the genial, companionable Southern negro as he is&mdash;or rather as he
+was&mdash;for this type is rapidly passing away. Soon there will be no more
+of these &quot;old-time darkies.&quot; They would be by the world forgot had they
+not been embalmed in literature by Mr. Stockton, and the best Southern
+writers.</p>
+
+<p>There is one other notable characteristic that should be referred to in
+writing of Mr. Stockton's stories&mdash;the machines and appliances he
+invented as parts of them. They are very numerous and ingenious. No
+matter how extraordinary might be the work in hand, the machine to
+accomplish the end was made on strictly scientific principles, to
+accomplish that exact piece of work. It would seem that if he had not
+been an inventor of plots he might have been an inventor of instruments.
+This idea is sustained by the fact that he had been a wood-engraver only
+a short time when he invented and patented a double graver which cuts
+two parallel lines at the same time. It is somewhat strange that more
+than one of these extraordinary machines has since been exploited by
+scientists and explorers, without the least suspicion on their part that
+the enterprising romancer had thought of them first. Notable among these
+may be named the idea of going to the north pole under the ice, the one
+that the center of the earth is an immense crystal (Great Stone of
+Sardis), and the attempt to manufacture a gun similar to the Peace
+Compeller in The Great War Syndicate.</p>
+
+<p>In all of Mr. Stockton's novels there were characters taken from real
+persons who perhaps would not recognize themselves in the peculiar
+circumstances in which he placed them. In the crowd of purely
+imaginative beings one could easily recognize certain types modified and
+altered. In The Casting away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine he
+introduced two delightful old ladies whom he knew, and who were never
+surprised at anything that might happen. Whatever emergency arose, they
+took it as a matter of course, and prepared to meet it. Mr. Stockton
+amused himself at their expense by writing this story. He was not at
+first interested in the Dusantes, and had no intention of ever saying
+anything further about them. When there was a demand for knowledge of
+the Dusantes Mr. Stockton did not heed it. He was opposed to writing
+sequels. But when an author of distinction, whose work and friendship he
+highly valued, wrote to him that if he did not write something about the
+Dusantes, and what they said when they found the board money in the
+ginger jar, he would do it himself, Mr. Stockton set himself to writing
+The Dusantes.</p>
+
+<p>I have been asked to give some account of the places in which Mr.
+Stockton's stories and novels were written, and their environments. Some
+of the Southern stories were written in Virginia, and, now and then, a
+short story elsewhere, as suggested by the locality, but the most of his
+work was done under his own roof-tree. He loved his home; it had to be a
+country home, and always had to have a garden. In the care of a garden
+and in driving, he found his two greatest sources of recreation.</p>
+
+<a name='003'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll003.jpg' width='600' height='326' alt='CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON&#39;S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST
+VIRGINIA.' title=''>
+</center>
+<h5>CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST VIRGINIA</h5>
+
+<p>I have mentioned Nutley, which lies in New Jersey, near New York. His
+dwelling there was a pretty little cottage, where he had a garden, some
+chickens, and a cow. This was his home in his editorial days, and here
+Rudder Grange was written. It was a rented place. The next home we
+owned. It stood at a greater distance from New York, at the place called
+Convent, half-way between Madison and Morristown, in New Jersey. Here we
+lived a number of years after Mr. Stockton gave up editorial work; and
+here the greater number of his tales were written. It was a much larger
+place than we had at Nutley, with more chickens, two cows, and a much
+larger garden.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton dictated his stories to a stenographer. His favorite spot
+for this in summer was a grove of large fir-trees near the house. Here,
+in the warm weather, he would lie in a hammock. His secretary would be
+near, with her writing materials, and a book of her choosing. The book
+was for her own reading while Mr. Stockton was &quot;thinking.&quot; It annoyed
+him to know he was being &quot;waited for.&quot; He would think out pages of
+incidents, and scenes, and even whole conversations, before he began to
+dictate. After all had been arranged in his mind he dictated rapidly;
+but there often were long pauses, when the secretary could do a good
+deal of reading. In cold weather he had the secretary and an easy chair
+in the study&mdash;a room he had built according to his own fancy. A fire of
+blazing logs added a glow to his fancies.</p>
+
+<p>I may state here that we always spent a part of every winter in New
+York. A certain amount of city life was greatly enjoyed. Mr. Stockton
+thus secured much intellectual pleasure. He liked his clubs, and was
+fond of society, where he met men noted in various walks of life.<a name='FNanchor_1_1'></a><a href='#Footnote_1_1'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p>
+
+<a name='Footnote_1_1'></a><a href='#FNanchor_1_1'>[1]</a><div class='note'><p> Edward Gary, the secretary of the Century Club, in the
+obituary notice of Mr. Stockton written by him for the club's annual
+report, says of Mr. Stockton as a member: &quot;It was but a dozen years ago
+that Frank R. Stockton entered the fellowship of the Century, in which
+he soon became exceedingly at home, winning friends here, as he won them
+all over the land and in other lands, by the charm of his keen and
+kindly mind shining in all that he wrote and said. He had an
+extraordinary capacity for work and a rare talent for diversion, and the
+Century was honored by his well-earned fame, and fortunate in its share
+in his ever fresh and varying companionship.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>I am now nearing the close of a life which had had its trials and
+disappointments, its struggles with weak health and with unsatisfying
+labor. But these mostly came in the earlier years, and were met with
+courage, an ever fresh-springing hope, and a buoyant spirit that would
+not be intimidated. On the whole, as one looks back through the long
+vista, much more of good than of evil fell to his lot. His life had been
+full of interesting experiences, and one of, perhaps, unusual happiness.
+At the last there came to pass the fulfilment of a dream in which he had
+long indulged. He became the possessor of a beautiful estate containing
+what he most desired, and with surroundings and associations dear to his
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>He had enjoyed The Holt, his New Jersey home, and was much interested in
+improving it. His neighbors and friends there were valued companions.
+But in his heart there had always been a longing for a home, not
+suburban&mdash;a place in the <i>real</i> country, and with more land. Finally,
+the time came when he felt that he could gratify this longing. He liked
+the Virginia climate, and decided to look for a place somewhere in that
+State, not far from the city of Washington. After a rather prolonged
+search, we one day lighted upon Claymont, in the Shenandoah Valley. It
+won our hearts, and ended our search. It had absolutely everything that
+Mr. Stockton coveted. He bought it at once, and we moved into it as
+speedily as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Claymont is a handsome colonial residence, &quot;with all modern
+improvements&quot;&mdash;an unusual combination. It lies near the historic old
+town of Charles Town, in West Virginia, near Harpers Ferry. Claymont is
+itself an historic place. The land was first owned by &quot;the Father of his
+Country.&quot; This great personage designed the house, with its main
+building, two cottages (or lodges), and courtyards, for his nephew
+Bushrod, to whom he had given the land. Through the wooded park runs the
+old road, now grass grown, over which Braddock marched to his celebrated
+&quot;defeat,&quot; guided by the youthful George Washington, who had surveyed the
+whole region for Lord Fairfax. During the civil war the place twice
+escaped destruction because it had once been the property of Washington.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not for its historical associations, but for the place
+itself, that Mr. Stockton purchased it. From the main road to the house
+there is a drive of three-quarters of a mile through a park of great
+forest-trees and picturesque groups of rocks. On the opposite side of
+the house extends a wide, open lawn; and here, and from the piazzas, a
+noble view of the valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains is obtained.
+Besides the park and other grounds, there is a farm at Claymont of
+considerable size. Mr. Stockton, however, never cared for farming,
+except in so far as it enabled him to have horses and stock. But his
+soul delighted in the big, old terraced garden of his West Virginia
+home. Compared with other gardens he had had, the new one was like
+paradise to the common world. At Claymont several short stories were
+written. John Gayther's Garden was prepared for publication here by
+connecting stories previously published into a series, told in a garden,
+and suggested by the one at Claymont. John Gayther, however, was an
+invention. Kate Bonnet and The Captain's Toll-Gate were both written at
+Claymont.</p>
+
+<a name='004'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll004.jpg' width='600' height='485' alt='A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON&#39;S STUDY AT CLAYMONT. Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.' title=''>
+</center>
+
+<h5>A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON'S STUDY AT CLAYMONT.<br />Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.</h5>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton was permitted to enjoy this beautiful place only three
+years. They were years of such rare pleasure, however, that we can
+rejoice that he had so much joy crowded into so short a space of his
+life, and that he had it at its close. Truly life was never sweeter to
+him than at its end, and the world was never brighter to him than when
+he shut his eyes upon it. He was returning from a winter in New York to
+his beloved Claymont, in good health, and full of plans for the summer
+and for his garden, when he was taken suddenly ill in Washington, and
+died three days later, on April 20, 1902, a few weeks after Kate Bonnet
+was published in book form.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton passed away at a ripe age&mdash;sixty-eight years. And yet his
+death was a surprise to us all. He had never been in better health,
+apparently; his brain was as active as ever; life was dear to him; he
+seemed much younger than he was. He had no wish to give up his work; no
+thought of old age; no mental decay. His last novels, his last short
+stories, showed no falling-off. They were the equals of those written in
+younger years. Nor had he lost the public interest. He was always sure
+of an audience, and his work commanded a higher price at the last than
+ever before. His was truly a passing away. He gently glided from the
+homes he had loved to prepare here to one already prepared for him in
+heaven, unconscious that he was entering one more beautiful than even he
+had ever imagined.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton was the most lovable of men. He shed happiness all around
+him, not from conscious effort but out of his own bountiful and loving
+nature. His tender heart sympathized with the sad and unfortunate, but
+he never allowed sadness to be near, if it were possible to prevent it.
+He hated mourning and gloom. They seemed to paralyze him mentally until
+his bright spirit had again asserted itself, and he had recovered his
+balance. He usually looked either upon the best, or the humorous side of
+life. Pie won the love of every one who knew him&mdash;even that of readers
+who did not know him personally, as many letters testify. To his friends
+his loss is irreparable, for never again will they find his equal in
+such charming qualities of head and heart.</p>
+
+<a name='005'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll005.jpg' width='600' height='346' alt='THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON&#39;S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.' title=''>
+</center>
+<h5>THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON'S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.</h5>
+
+<p>This is not the place for a critical estimate of the work of Frank R.
+Stockton.<a name='FNanchor_2_2'></a><a href='#Footnote_2_2'><sup>[2]</sup></a> His stories are, in great part, a reflex of himself. The
+bright outlook on life; the courageous spirit; the helpfulness; the
+sense of the comic rather than the tragic; the love of domestic life;
+the sweetness of pure affection; live in his books as they lived in
+himself. He had not the heart to make his stories end unhappily. He knew
+that there is much of the tragic in human lives, but he chose to ignore
+it as far as possible, and to walk in the pleasant ways which are
+numerous in this tangled world. There is much philosophy underlying a
+good deal that he wrote, but it has to be looked for; it is not
+insistent, and is never morbid. He could not write an impure word, or
+express an impure thought, for he belonged to the &quot;pure in heart,&quot; who,
+we are assured, &quot;shall see God.&quot;</p>
+
+<a name='Footnote_2_2'></a><a href='#FNanchor_2_2'>[2]</a><div class='note'><p> I may, however, properly quote from the sketch prepared by
+Mr. Gary for the Century Club: &quot;He brought to his later work the
+discipline of long and rather tedious labor, with the capital amassed by
+acute observation, on which his original imagination wrought the
+sparkling miracles that we know. He has been called the representative
+American humorist. He was that in the sense that the characters he
+created had much of the audacity of the American spirit, the thirst for
+adventures in untried fields of thought and action, the subconscious
+seriousness in the most incongruous situations, the feeling of being at
+home no matter what happens. But how amazingly he mingled a broad
+philosophy with his fun, a philosophy not less wise and comprehending
+than his fun was compelling! If his humor was American, it was also
+cosmopolitan, and had its laughing way not merely with our British
+kinsmen, but with alien peoples across the usually impenetrable barrier
+of translation. The fortune of his jesting lay not in his ears, but in
+the hearts of his hearers. It was at once appealing and revealing. It
+flashed its playful light into the nooks and corners of our own being,
+and wove close bonds with those at whom we laughed. There was no
+bitterness in it. He was neither satirist nor preacher, nor of set
+purpose a teacher, though it must be a dull reader that does not gather
+from his books the lesson of the value of a gentle heart and a clear,
+level outlook upon our perplexing world.&quot;</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>MARIAN E. STOCKTON.</p>
+
+<p>CLAYMONT, <i>May 15, 1903</i>.</p>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<h1>THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE</h1>
+<br />
+
+
+<a name='CHAPTER_I'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER I</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Olive.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span> long, wide, and smoothly macadamized road stretched itself from the
+considerable town of Glenford onward and northward toward a gap in the
+distant mountains. It did not run through a level country, but rose and
+fell as if it had been a line of seaweed upon the long swells of the
+ocean. Upon elevated points upon this road, farm lands and forests could
+be seen extending in every direction. But there was nothing in the
+landscape which impressed itself more obtrusively upon the attention of
+the traveler than the road itself. White in the bright sunlight and gray
+under the shadows of the clouds, it was the one thing to be seen which
+seemed to have a decided purpose. Northward or southward, toward the gap
+in the long line of mountains or toward the wood-encircled town in the
+valley, it was always going somewhere.</p>
+
+<p>About two miles from the town, and at the top of the first long hill
+which was climbed by the road, a tall white pole projected upward
+against the sky, sometimes perpendicularly, and sometimes inclined at a
+slight angle. This was a turnpike gate or bar, and gave notice to all in
+vehicles or on horses that the use of this well-kept road was not free
+to the traveling public. At the approach of persons not known, or too
+well known, the bar would slowly descend across the road, as if it were
+a musket held horizontally while a sentinel demanded the password.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the side of the road opposite to the great post on which the
+toll-gate moved, was a little house with a covered doorway, from which
+toll could be collected without exposing the collector to sun or rain.
+This tollhouse was not a plain whitewashed shed, such as is often seen
+upon turnpike roads, but a neat edifice, containing a comfortable room.
+On one side of it was a small porch, well shaded by vines, furnished
+with a settle and two armchairs, while over all a large maple stretched
+its protecting branches. Back of the tollhouse was a neatly fenced
+garden, well filled with old-fashioned flowers; and, still farther on, a
+good-sized house, from which a box-bordered path led through the garden
+to the tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>It was a remark that had been made frequently, both by strangers and
+residents in that part of the country, that if it had not been for the
+obvious disadvantages of a toll-gate, this house and garden, with its
+grounds and fields, would be a good enough home for anybody. When he
+happened to hear this remark Captain John Asher, who kept the toll-gate,
+was wont to say that it was a good enough home for him, even with the
+toll-gate, and its obvious disadvantages.</p>
+
+<p>It was on a morning in early summer, when the garden had grown to be so
+red and white and yellow in its flowers, and so green in its leaves and
+stalks, that the box which edged the path was beginning to be
+unnoticed, that a girl sat in a small arbor standing on a slight
+elevation at one side of the garden, and from which a view could be had
+both up and down the road. She was rather a slim girl, though tall
+enough; her hair was dark, her eyes were blue, and she sat on the back
+of a rustic bench with her feet resting upon the seat; this position she
+had taken that she might the better view the road.</p>
+
+<p>With both her hands this girl held a small telescope which she was
+endeavoring to fix upon a black spot a mile or more away upon the road.
+It was difficult for her to hold the telescope steadily enough to keep
+the object-glass upon the black spot, and she had a great deal of
+trouble in the matter of focusing, pulling out and pushing in the
+smaller cylinder in a manner which showed that she was not accustomed to
+the use of this optical instrument.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Field-glasses are ever so much better,&quot; she said to herself; &quot;you can
+screw them to any point you want. But now I've got it. It is very near
+that cross-road. Good! it did not turn there; it is coming along the
+pike, and there will be toll to pay. One horse, seven cents.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She put down the telescope as if to rest her arm and eye. Presently,
+however, she raised the glass again. &quot;Now, let us see,&quot; she said, &quot;Uncle
+John? Jane? or me?&quot; After directing the glass to a point in the air
+about two hundred feet above the approaching vehicle, and then to
+another point half a mile to the right of it, she was fortunate enough
+to catch sight of it again. &quot;I don't know that queer-looking horse,&quot; she
+said. &quot;It must be some stranger, and Jane will do. No, a little boy is
+driving. Strangers coming along this road would not be driven by little
+boys. I expect I shall have to call Uncle John.&quot; Then she put down the
+glass and rubbed her eye, after which, with unassisted vision, she gazed
+along the road. &quot;I can see a great deal better without that old thing,&quot;
+she continued. &quot;There's a woman in that carriage. I'll go myself.&quot; With
+this she jumped down from the rustic seat, and with the telescope under
+her arm, she skipped through the garden to the little tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>The name of this girl was Olive Asher. Captain John Asher, who took the
+toll, was her uncle, and she had now been living with him for about six
+weeks. Olive was what is known in certain social circles as a navy girl.
+About twenty years before she had come to her uncle's she had been born
+in Genoa, her father at the time being a lieutenant on an American
+war-vessel lying in the harbor of Villa Franca. Her first schooldays
+were passed in the south of France, and she spent some subsequent years
+in a German school in Dresden. Here she was supposed to have finished
+her education but when her father's ship was stationed on our Pacific
+coast and Olive and her mother went to San Francisco they associated a
+great deal with army people, and here the girl learned so much more of
+real life and her own country people that the few years she spent in the
+far West seemed like a post-graduate course, as important to her true
+education as any of the years she had spent in schools.</p>
+
+<p>After the death of her mother, when Olive was about eighteen, the girl
+had lived with relatives, East and West, hoping for the day when her
+father's three years' cruise would terminate, and she could go and make
+a home for him in some pleasant spot on shore. Now, in the course of
+these family visits she had come to stay with her father's brother, John
+Asher, who kept the toll-gate on the Glenford pike.</p>
+
+<p>Captain John Asher was an older man than his brother, the naval officer,
+but he was in the prime of life, and able to hold the command of a ship
+if he had cared to do it. But having been in the merchant service for a
+long time, and having made some money, he had determined to leave the
+sea and to settle on shore; and, finding this commodious house by the
+toll-gate, he settled there. There were some people who said that he had
+taken the position of toll-gate keeper because of the house, and there
+were others who believed that he had bought the house on account of the
+toll-gate. But no matter what people thought or said, the good captain
+was very well satisfied with his home and his official position. He
+liked to meet with people, and he preferred that they should come to him
+rather than that he should go to them. He was interested in most things
+that were going on in his neighborhood, and therefore he liked to talk
+to the people who were going by. Sometimes a good talking acquaintance
+or an interesting traveler would tie his horse under the shade of the
+maple-tree and sit a while with the captain on the little porch. Certain
+it was, it was the most hospitable toll-gate in that part of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>There was a road which branched off from the turnpike, about a mile from
+the town, and which, after some windings, entered the pike again beyond
+the toll-gate, and although this road was not always in very good
+condition, it had seen a good deal of travel, which, in time, gave it
+the name of the shunpike. But since Captain Asher had lived at the
+toll-gate it was remarked that the shunpike was not used as much as in
+former times. There were penurious people who had once preferred to go a
+long way round and save money whose economical dispositions now gave way
+before the combined attractions of a better road, and a chat with
+Captain Asher.</p>
+
+<p>It had been predicted by some of her relatives that Olive would not be
+content with her life in her uncle's somewhat peculiar household. He was
+a bachelor, and seldom entertained company, and his ordinary family
+consisted of an elderly housekeeper and another servant. But Olive was
+not in the least dissatisfied. From her infancy up, she had lived so
+much among people that she had grown tired of them; and her good-natured
+uncle, with his sea stories, the garden, the old-fashioned house, the
+fields and the woods beyond, the little stream, which came hurrying down
+from the mountains, where she could fish or wade as the fancy pleased
+her, gave her a taste of some of the joys of girlhood which she had not
+known when she was really a girl.</p>
+
+<p>Another thing that greatly interested her was the toll-gate. If she had
+been allowed to do so, she would have spent the greater part of her time
+taking money, making change, and talking to travelers. But this her
+uncle would not permit. He did not object to her doing some occasional
+toll-gate work, and he did not wonder that she liked it, remembering how
+interesting it often was to himself, but he would not let her take toll
+indiscriminately.</p>
+
+<p>So they made a regular arrangement about it. When the captain was at his
+meals, or shaving, or otherwise occupied, old Jane attended to the
+toll-gate. At ordinary times, and when any of his special friends were
+seen approaching, the captain collected toll himself, but when women
+happened to be traveling on the road, then it was arranged that Olive
+should go to the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three times it had happened that some young men of the town,
+hearing their sisters talk of the pretty girl who had taken their toll,
+had thought it might be a pleasant thing to drive out on the pike, but
+their money had always been taken by the captain, or else by the
+wooden-faced Jane, and nothing had come of their little adventures.</p>
+
+<p>The garden hedge which ran alongside the road was very high.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_II'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER II</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Maria Port.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live stood impatiently at the door of the little tollhouse. In one hand
+she held three copper cents, because she felt almost sure that the
+person approaching would give her a dime or two five-cent pieces.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never knew horses to travel so slowly as they do on this pike!&quot; she
+said to herself. &quot;How they used to gallop on those beautiful roads in
+France!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In due course of time the vehicle approached near enough to the
+toll-gate for Olive to take an observation of its occupant. This was a
+middle-aged woman, dressed in black, holding a black fan. She wore a
+black bonnet with a little bit of red in it. Her face was small and
+pale, its texture and color suggesting a boiled apple dumpling. She had
+small eyes of which it can be said that they were of a different color
+from her face, and were therefore noticeable. Her lips were not
+prominent, and were closely pressed together as if some one had begun to
+cut a dumpling, but had stopped after making one incision.</p>
+
+<p>This somewhat somber person leaned forward in the seat behind her young
+driver, and steadily stared at Olive. When the horse had passed the
+toll-bar the boy stopped it so that his passenger and Olive were face
+to face and very near each other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Seven cents, please,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>The cleft in the dumpling enlarged itself, and the woman spoke. &quot;Bless
+my soul,&quot; she said, &quot;are you Captain Asher's niece?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am,&quot; said Olive in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, well,&quot; said the other, &quot;that just beats me! When I heard he had
+his niece with him I thought she was a plain girl, with short frocks and
+her hair plaited down her back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not like this woman. It is wonderful how quickly likes and
+dislikes may be generated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you see I am not,&quot; she replied. &quot;Seven cents, please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you suppose I know what the toll is?&quot; said the woman in the
+carriage. &quot;I'm sure I've traveled over this road often enough to know
+that. But what I'm thinkin' about is the difference between what I
+thought the captain's niece was and what she really is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It does not make any difference what the difference is,&quot; said Olive,
+speaking quickly and with perhaps a little sharpness in her voice, &quot;all
+I want is for you to pay me the toll.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm not goin' to pay any toll,&quot; said the other.</p>
+
+<p>Olive's face flushed. &quot;Little boy,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;back that horse!&quot; As
+the youngster obeyed her peremptory request Olive gave a quick jerk to a
+rope and brought down the toll-gate bar so that it stretched itself
+across the road, barely missing in its downward sweep the nose of the
+unoffending horse. &quot;Now,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if you are ready to pay your
+toll you can go through this gate, and if you are not, you can turn
+round and go back where you came from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm not goin' to pay any toll,&quot; said the other, &quot;and I don't want to go
+through the gate. I came to see Captain Asher.&mdash;Johnny, turn your horse
+a little and let me get out. Then you can stop in the shade of this tree
+and wait until I'm ready to go back.&mdash;I suppose the captain's in,&quot; she
+said to Olive, &quot;but if he isn't, I can wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he's at home,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and, of course, if I had known you were
+coming to see him, I would not have asked you for your toll. This way,
+please,&quot; and she stepped toward a gate in the garden hedge.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I've been here before,&quot; said the visitor, &quot;I always went through
+the tollhouse. But I suppose things is different now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is the entrance for visitors,&quot; said Olive, holding open the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher had heard the voices, and had come out to his front door.
+He shook hands with the newcomer, and then turned to Olive, who was
+following her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is my niece, my brother Alfred's daughter,&quot; he said, &quot;and Olive,
+let me introduce you to Miss Maria Port.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She introduced herself to me,&quot; said Miss Port, &quot;and tried to get seven
+cents out of me by letting down the bar so that it nearly broke my
+horse's nose. But we'll get to know each other better. She's very
+different from what I thought she was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Most people are,&quot; said Captain Asher, as he offered a chair to Miss
+Port in his parlor, and sat down opposite to her. Olive, who did not
+care to hear herself discussed, quietly passed out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Captain,&quot; said Miss Port, leaning forward, &quot;how old is she, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;About twenty,&quot; was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And how long is she going to stay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All summer, I hope,&quot; said Captain John.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, she won't do it, I can tell you that,&quot; remarked Miss Port.
+&quot;She'll get tired enough of this place before the summer's out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We shall see about that,&quot; said the captain, &quot;but she is not tired yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And her mother's dead, and she's wearin' no mournin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why should she?&quot; said the captain. &quot;It would be a shame for a young
+girl like her to be wearing black for two years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's delicate, ain't she?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have not seen any signs of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did her mother die of?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never heard,&quot; said the captain; &quot;perhaps it was the bubonic plague.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port pushed back her chair and drew her skirts about her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Horrible!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;And you let that child come here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. &quot;Perhaps it wasn't that,&quot; he said. &quot;It might have
+been an avalanche, and that is not catching.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port looked at him seriously. &quot;It's a great pity she's so
+handsome,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think so; I am glad of it,&quot; replied the captain.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port heaved a sigh. &quot;What that girl is goin' to need,&quot; she said,
+&quot;is a female guardeen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you like to take the place?&quot; asked the captain with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>At that instant it might have been supposed that a certain dumpling
+which has been mentioned was made of very red apples and that its
+covering of dough was somewhat thin in certain places. Miss Port's eyes
+were bent for an instant upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is a thing,&quot; she said, &quot;which would need a great deal of
+consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden thrill ran through the captain which was not unlike a moment in
+his past career when a gentle shudder had run through his ship as its
+keel grazed an unsuspected sand-bar, and he had not known whether it was
+going to stick fast or not; but he quickly got himself into deep water
+again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, she is all right,&quot; said he briskly; &quot;she has been used to taking
+care of herself almost ever since she was born. And by the way, Miss
+Port, did you know that Mr. Easterfield is at his home?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port was not pleased with the sudden change in the conversation,
+and she remembered, too, that in other days it had been the captain's
+habit to call her Maria.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know he had a home,&quot; she answered. &quot;I thought it was her'n.
+But since you've mentioned it, I might as well say that it was about him
+I came to see you. I heard that he came to town yesterday, and that her
+carriage met him at the station, and drove him out to her house. I
+hoped he had stopped a minute as he drove through your toll-gate, and
+that you might have had a word with him, or at least a good look at him.
+Mercy me!&quot; she suddenly ejaculated, as a look of genuine disappointment
+spread over her face; &quot;I forgot. The coachman would have paid the toll
+as he went to town, and there was no need of stoppin' as they went back.
+I might have saved myself this trip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain laughed. &quot;It stands to reason that it might have been that
+way,&quot; he said, &quot;but it wasn't. He stopped, and I talked to him for about
+five minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The face of Miss Port now grew radiant, and she pulled her chair nearer
+to Captain Asher. &quot;Tell me,&quot; said she, &quot;is he really anybody?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is a good deal of a body,&quot; answered the captain. &quot;I should say he is
+pretty nearly six feet high, and of considerable bigness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port, &quot;I'd thought he was a little dried-up sort
+of a mummy man that you might hang up on a nail and be sure you'd find
+him when you got back. Did he talk?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said the captain, &quot;he talked a good deal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what did he tell you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He did not tell me anything, but he asked a lot of questions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What about?&quot; said Miss Port quickly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Everything. Fishing, gunning, crops, weather, people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, well!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;And don't you suppose his wife could have
+told him all that, and she's been livin' here&mdash;this is the second
+summer. Did he say how long he's goin' to stay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you didn't ask him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I told you he asked the questions,&quot; replied the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I wish I'd been here,&quot; Miss Port remarked fervently. &quot;I'd got
+something out of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No doubt of that,&quot; thought the captain, but he did not say so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he expects to pass himself off as just a common man,&quot; continued Miss
+Port, &quot;that's goin' to spend the rest of his summer here with his
+family, he can't do it. He's first got to explain why he never came near
+that young woman and her two babies for the whole of last summer, and,
+so far as I've heard, he was never mentioned by her. I think, Captain
+Asher, that for the sake of the neighborhood, if you don't care about
+such things yourself, you might have made use of this opportunity. As
+far as I know, you're the only person in or about Glenford that's spoke
+to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. &quot;Sometimes, I suppose,&quot; said he, &quot;I don't say
+enough, and sometimes I say too much, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I wish he'd struck you more on an average,&quot; interrupted Miss Port.
+&quot;But there's no use talkin' any more about it. I hired a horse and a
+carriage and a boy to come out here this mornin' to ask you about that
+man. And what's come of it? You haven't got a single thing to tell
+anybody except that he's big.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain changed the subject again. &quot;How is your father?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pop's just the same as he always is,&quot; was the answer. &quot;And now, as I
+don't want to lose the whole of the seventy-five cents I've got to pay,
+suppose you call in that niece of yours, and let me have a talk with
+her. Perhaps I can get something interesting out of her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain left the room, but he did not move with alacrity. He found
+Olive with a book in a hammock at the back of the house. When he told
+her his errand she sat up with a sudden bounce, her feet upon the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle,&quot; she said, &quot;isn't that woman a horrid person?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain was a merry-minded man, and he laughed. &quot;It is pretty hard
+for me to answer that question,&quot; said he; &quot;suppose you go in and find
+out for yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive hesitated; she was a girl who had a very high opinion of herself
+and a very low opinion of such a person as this Miss Port seemed to be.
+Why should she go in and talk to her? Still undecided, she left the
+hammock and made a few steps toward the house. Then, with a sudden
+exclamation, she stopped and dropped her book.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Buggy coming,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;and that thing is running to take the
+toll!&quot; With these words she started away with the speed of a colt.</p>
+
+<p>An approaching buggy was on the road; Miss Maria Port, walking rapidly,
+had nearly reached the back door of the tollhouse when Olive swept by
+her so closely that the wind of her fluttering garments almost blew
+away the breath of the elder woman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Seven cents!&quot; cried Olive, standing in the covered doorway, but she
+might have saved herself the trouble of repeating this formula, for the
+man in the buggy was not near enough to hear her.</p>
+
+<p>When Olive saw it was a man, she turned, and perceiving her uncle
+approaching the tollhouse, she hurried by him up the garden path,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A pretty girl that is of yours!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;She might just
+as well have slapped me in the face!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what were you going to do in here?&quot; asked Captain Asher. &quot;You know
+that's against the rules.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The rules be bothered,&quot; replied the irate Maria. &quot;I thought it was Mr.
+Smiley. He's been away from his parish for a week, and there are a good
+many things I want to ask him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it is the Roman Catholic priest from Marlinsville,&quot; said Captain
+Asher, &quot;and he wouldn't tell you anything if you asked him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain had a cheerful little chat with the priest, who was one of
+his most valued road friends; and when he returned to his garden he
+found Miss Port walking up and down the main path in a state of
+agitation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think,&quot; said she, &quot;that the company would have something to
+say about your takin' up your time talkin' to people on the road. I've
+heard that sometimes they get out, and spend hours talkin' and smokin'
+with you. I guess that's against the rules.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is all right between the company and me,&quot; replied the captain. &quot;You
+know I am a stockholder in a small way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;Well, I've got somethin' by comin'
+here, anyway.&quot; Stowing away this bit of information in regard to the
+captain's resources in her mind for future consideration, she continued:
+&quot;I don't think much of that niece of your'n. Has she never lived
+anywhere where the people had good manners?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive, who had gone to her room in order to be out of the way of this
+queer visitor, now sat by an upper window, and it was impossible that
+she should fail to hear this remark, made by Miss Port in her most
+querulous tones. Olive immediately left the window, and sat down on the
+other side of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good manners!&quot; she ejaculated, and fell to thinking. Her present
+situation had suddenly presented itself to her in a very different light
+from that in which she had previously regarded it. She was living in a
+very plain house in a very plain way, with a very plain uncle who kept a
+tollhouse; but she liked him; and, until this moment, she had liked the
+life. But now she asked herself if it were possible for her longer to
+endure it if she were to be condemned to intercourse with people like
+that thing down in the garden. If her uncle's other friends in Glenford
+were of that grade she could not stay here. She smiled in spite of her
+irritation as she thought of the woman's words&mdash;&quot;Anywhere where the
+people had good manners.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Good manners, indeed! She remembered the titled young officers in
+Germany with whom she had talked and danced when she was but seventeen
+years old, and who used to send her flowers. She remembered the people
+of rank in the army and navy and in the state who used to invite her
+mother and herself to their houses. She remembered the royal prince who
+had wished to be presented to her, and whose acquaintance she had
+declined because she did not like what she had heard of him. She
+remembered the good friends of her father in Europe and America, ladies
+and gentlemen of the army and navy. She remembered the society in which
+she had mingled when living with her Boston aunt during the past winter.
+Then she thought of Miss Port's question. Good manners, indeed!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the perturbed Maria, after having been informed by the
+captain that his niece was accustomed to move in the best circles, &quot;I
+don't want to go into the house again, for if I was to meet her, I'm
+sure I couldn't keep my temper. But I'll say this to you, Captain Asher,
+that I pity the woman that's her guardeen. And now, if you'll help my
+boy turn round so he won't upset the carriage, I'll be goin'. But before
+I go I'll just say this, that if you'd been in the habit of takin'
+advantage of the chances that come to you, I believe that you'd be a
+good deal better off than you are now, even if you do own shares in the
+turnpike company.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not difficult for the captain to recognize some of the chances to
+which she alluded; one of them she herself had offered him several
+times.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I am very well off as I am,&quot; he answered, &quot;but perhaps some day I
+may have something to tell you of the Easterfields and about their
+doings up on the mountain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;About her doin's, you might as well say,&quot; retorted Miss Port. &quot;No
+matter what you tell me, I don't believe a word about his ever doin'
+anything.&quot; With this she walked to the little phaeton, into which the
+captain helped her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle John,&quot; said Olive, a few minutes later, &quot;are there many people
+like that in Glenford?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My dear child,&quot; said the captain, &quot;the people in Glenford, the most of
+them, I mean, are just as nice people as you would want to meet. They
+are ladies and gentlemen, and they are mighty good company. They don't
+often come out here, to be sure, but I know most of them, and I ought to
+be ashamed of myself that I have not made you acquainted with them
+before this. As to Maria Port, there is only one of her in Glenford,
+and, so far as I know, there isn't another just like her in the whole
+world. Now I come to think of it,&quot; he continued, &quot;I wonder why some of
+the young people have not come out to call on you. But if that Maria
+Port has been going around telling them that you are a little girl in
+short frocks it is not so surprising.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't bother yourself, Uncle John, about calls and society,&quot; said
+Olive. &quot;If you can only manage that that woman takes the shunpike
+whenever she drives this way, I shall be perfectly satisfied with
+everything just as it is.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_III'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER III</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mrs. Easterfield.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>n the side of the mountain, a few miles to the west of the gap to which
+the turnpike stretched itself, there was a large estate and a large
+house which had once belonged to the Sudley family. For a hundred years
+or more the Sudleys had been important people in this part of the
+country, but it had been at least two decades since any of them had
+lived on this estate. Some of them had gone to cities and towns, and
+others had married, or in some other fashion had melted away so that
+their old home knew them no more.</p>
+
+<p>Although it was situated on the borders of the Southern country, the
+house, which was known as Broadstone, from the fact that a great flat
+rock on the level of the surrounding turf extended itself for many feet
+at the front of the principal entrance, was not constructed after
+ordinary Southern fashions. Some of the early Sudleys were of English
+blood and proclivities, and so it was partly like an English house; some
+of them had taken Continental ideas into the family, and there was a
+certain solidity about the walls; while here and there the narrowness of
+the windows suggested southern Europe. Some parts of the great stone
+walls had been stuccoed, and some had been whitewashed. Here and there
+vines climbed up the walls and stretched themselves under the eaves. As
+the house stood on a wide bluff, there was a lawn from which one could
+see over the tree tops the winding river sparkling far below. There were
+gardens and fields on the open slopes, and beyond these the forests rose
+to the top of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The ceilings of the house were high, and the halls and rooms were wide
+and airy; the trees on the edge of the woods seemed always to be
+rustling in a wind from one direction or another, and a lady; Mrs.
+Easterfield; who several years before had been traveling in that part of
+the country; declared that Broadstone was the most delightful place for
+a summer residence that she had ever seen, either in this country or
+across the ocean. So, with the consent and money of her husband, she had
+bought the estate the summer before the time of our story, and had gone
+there to live.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield was what is known as a railroad man, and held high
+office in many companies and organizations. When his wife first went to
+Broadstone he was obliged to spend the summer in Europe, and had agreed
+with her that the estate on the mountains would be the best place for
+her and the two little girls while he was away. This state of affairs
+had occasioned a good deal of talk, especially in Glenford, a town with
+which the Easterfields had but little to do, and which therefore had
+theorized much in order to explain to its own satisfaction the conduct
+of a comparatively young married woman who was evidently rich enough to
+spend her summers at any of the most fashionable watering-places, but
+who chose to go with her young family to that old barracks of a house,
+and who had a husband who never came near her or his children, and who,
+so far as the Glenford people knew, she never mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Margaret Easterfield was a very fine woman, both to look at and to
+talk to, but she did not believe that her duty to her fellow-beings
+demanded that she should devote her first summer months at her new place
+to the gratification of the eyes and ears of her friends and
+acquaintances, so she had gone to Broadstone with her family&mdash;all
+females&mdash;with servants enough, and for the whole of the summer they had
+all been very happy.</p>
+
+<p>But this summer things were going to be a little different at
+Broadstone, for Mrs. Easterfield had arranged for some house parties.
+Her husband was very kind and considerate about her plans, and promised
+her that he would make one of the good company at Broadstone whenever it
+was possible for him to do so.</p>
+
+<p>So now it happened that he had come to see his wife and children and the
+house in which they lived; and, having had some business at a railroad
+center in the South, he had come through Glenford, which was unusual, as
+the intercourse between Broadstone and the great world was generally
+maintained through the gap in the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>With his wife by his side and a little girl on each shoulder, Mr. Tom
+Easterfield walked through the grounds and the gardens and out on the
+lawn, and looked down over the tops of the trees upon the river which
+sparkled far below, and he said to his wife that if she would let him do
+it he would send a landscape-gardener, with a great company of Italians,
+and they would make the place a perfect paradise in about five days.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It could be ruined a great deal quicker by an army of locusts,&quot; she
+said, &quot;and so, if you do not mind, I think I will wait for the locusts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not time yet for any of the members of the house parties to make
+their appearance, and it was the general desire of his family that Mr.
+Easterfield should remain until some of the visitors arrived, but he
+could not gratify them. Three days after his arrival he was obliged to
+be in Atlanta; and so, soon after breakfast one fine morning, the
+Easterfield carriage drove over the turnpike to the Glenford station,
+Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield on the back seat, and the two little girls
+sitting opposite, their feet sticking out straight in front of them.</p>
+
+<p>When they stopped at the toll-gate Captain Asher came down to collect
+the toll&mdash;ten cents for two horses and a carriage. Olive was sitting in
+the little arbor, reading. She had noticed the approaching equipage and
+saw that there was a lady in it, but for some reason or other she was
+not so anxious as she had been to collect toll from ladies. If she could
+have arranged the matter to suit herself she would have taken toll from
+the male travelers, and her Uncle John might attend to the women; she
+did not believe that men would have such absurd ideas about people or
+ask ridiculous questions.</p>
+
+<p>There was no conversation at the gate on this occasion, for the
+carriage was a little late, but as it rolled on Mrs. Margaret said to
+Mr. Tom:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me as though I have just had a glimpse of Dresden. What do
+you suppose could have suggested that city to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom could not imagine, unless it was the dust. She laughed, and said
+that he had dust and ballast and railroads on the brain; and when the
+oldest little girl asked what that meant, Mrs. Margaret told her that
+the next time her father came home she would make him sit down on the
+floor and then she would draw on that great bald spot of his head, which
+they had so often noticed, a map of the railroad lines in which he was
+concerned, and then his daughters would understand why he was always
+thinking of railroad-tracks and that sort of thing with the inside of
+his head, which, as she had told them, was that part of a person with
+which he did his thinking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't they sell some sort of annual or monthly tickets for this
+turnpike?&quot; asked Mr. Tom. &quot;If they do, you would save yourself the
+trouble of stopping to pay toll and make change.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I so seldom use this road,&quot; she said, &quot;that it would not be worth
+while. One does not stop on returning, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But notwithstanding this speech, when Mrs. Easterfield returned from the
+Glenford station, one little girl sitting beside her and the other one
+opposite, both of them with their feet sticking out, she ordered her
+coachman to stop when he reached the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was still sitting in the arbor, reading. The captain was not
+visible, and the wooden-faced Jane, noticing that the travelers were a
+lady and two little girls, did not consider that she had any right to
+interfere with Miss Olive's prerogatives; so that young lady felt
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to see what was wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know you do not have to pay going back,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; answered Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;but I want to ask about
+tickets or monthly payments of toll, or whatever your arrangements are
+for that sort of thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I really do not know,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but I will go and ask about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But stop one minute,&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield, leaning over the side
+of the carriage. &quot;Is it your father who keeps this toll-gate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For some reason or other which she could not have explained to herself,
+Olive felt that it was incumbent upon her to assert herself, and she
+answered: &quot;Oh, no, indeed. My father is Lieutenant-Commander Alfred
+Asher, of the cruiser Hopatcong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without another word Mrs. Easterfield pushed open the door of the
+carriage and stepped to the ground, exclaiming: &quot;As I passed this
+morning I knew there was something about this place that brought back to
+my mind old times and old friends, and now I see what it was; it was
+you. I caught but one glimpse of you and I did not know you. But it was
+enough. I knew your father very well when I was a girl, and later I was
+with him and your mother in Dresden. You were a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, going to school, and I never saw much of you. But it is either
+your father or your mother that I saw in your face as you sat in that
+arbor, and I knew the face, although I did not know who owned it. I am
+Mrs. Easterfield, but that will not help you to know me, for I was not
+married when I knew your father.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's eyes sparkled as she took the two hands extended to her. &quot;I
+don't remember you at all,&quot; she said, &quot;but if you are the friend of my
+father and mother&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I am to be your friend, isn't it?&quot; interrupted Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hope so,&quot; answered Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I want you to tell me how in the
+world you come to be here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There were two stools in the tollhouse, and Olive, having invited her
+visitor to seat herself on the better one, took the other, and told Mrs.
+Easterfield how she happened to be there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And that handsome elderly man who took the toll this morning is your
+uncle?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, my father's only brother,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A good deal older,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, but I do not know how much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you call him captain. Was he also in the navy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive, &quot;he was in the merchant service, and has retired. It
+seems queer that he should be keeping a toll-gate, but my father has
+often told me that Uncle John does not care for appearances, and likes
+to do things that please him. He likes to keep the tollhouse because it
+brings him in touch with the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very sensible in him,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I think I would like to
+keep a toll-gate myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher had seen the carriage stop, and knew that Mrs. Easterfield
+was talking to Olive, but he did not think himself called upon to
+intrude upon them. But now it was necessary for him to go to the
+tollhouse. Two men in a buggy with a broken spring and a coffee bag laid
+over the loins of an imperfectly set-up horse had been waiting for
+nearly a minute behind Mrs. Easterfield's carriage, desiring to pay
+their toll and pass through. So the captain went out of the garden-gate,
+collected the toll from the two men, and directed them to go round the
+carriage and pass on in peace, which they did.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Easterfield rose from her stool, and approached the tollhouse
+door, and, as a matter of course, the captain was obliged to step
+forward and meet her. Olive introduced him to the lady, who shook hands
+with him very cordially.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have found the daughter of an old friend,&quot; said she, and then they
+all went into the tollhouse again, where the two ladies reseated
+themselves, and after some explanatory remarks Mrs. Easterfield said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Captain Asher, I must not stay here blocking up your toll-gate all
+the morning, but I want to ask of you a very great favor. I want you to
+let your niece come and make me a visit. I want a good visit&mdash;at least
+ten days. You must remember that her father and I, and her mother, too,
+were very good friends. Now there are so many things I want to talk over
+with Miss Olive, and I am sure you will let me have her just for ten
+short days. There are no guests at Broadstone yet, and I want her. You
+do not know how much I want her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher stood up tall and strong, his broad shoulders resting
+against the frame of the open doorway. It was a positive delight to him
+to stand thus and look at such a beautiful woman. So far as he could
+see, there was nothing about her with which to find fault. If she had
+been a ship he would have said that her lines were perfect, spars and
+rigging just as he would have them. In addition to her other
+perfections, she was large enough. The captain considered himself an
+excellent judge of female beauty, and he had noticed that a great many
+fine women were too small. With Olive's personal appearance he was
+perfectly satisfied, although she was slight, but she was young, and
+would probably expand. If he had had a daughter he would have liked her
+to resemble Mrs. Easterfield, but that feeling did not militate in the
+least against Olive. In his mind it was not necessary for a niece to be
+quite as large as a daughter ought to be.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what does Olive say about it?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have not been asked yet,&quot; replied Olive, &quot;but it seems to me that
+I&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would like to do it,&quot; interrupted Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Now, isn't that
+so, dear Olive?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at the captain. &quot;It depends upon what you say about it,
+Uncle John.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain slightly knitted his brows. &quot;If it were for one night, or
+perhaps a couple of days,&quot; he said, &quot;it would be different. But what am
+I to do without Olive for nearly two weeks? I am just beginning to
+learn what a poor place my house would be without her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this minute a man upon a rapidly trotting pony stopped at the
+toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me one minute,&quot; continued the captain, &quot;here is a person who can
+not wait,&quot; and stepping outside he said good morning to a bright-looking
+young fellow riding a sturdy pony and wearing on his cap a metal plate
+engraved &quot;United States Rural Delivery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The carrier brought but one letter to the tollhouse, and that was for
+Captain Asher himself. As the man rode away the captain thought he might
+as well open his letter before he went back. This would give the ladies
+a chance to talk further over the matter. He read the letter, which was
+not long, put it in his pocket, and then entered the tollhouse. There
+was now no doubt or sign of disturbance on his features.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have considered your invitation, madam,&quot; said he, &quot;and as I see Olive
+wants to visit you, I shall not interfere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course she does,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing to her feet,
+&quot;and I thank you ever and ever so much, Captain Asher. And now, my
+dear,&quot; said she to Olive, &quot;I am going to send the carriage for you
+to-morrow morning.&quot; And with this she put her arm around the girl and
+kissed her. Then, having warmly shaken hands with the captain, she
+departed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know, Uncle John,&quot; said Olive, &quot;I believe if you were twenty
+years older she would have kissed you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With a grim smile the captain considered; would he have been willing to
+accept those additional years under the circumstances? He could not
+immediately make up his mind, and contented himself with the reflection
+that Olive did not think him old enough for the indiscriminate caresses
+of young people.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER IV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Son of an Old Shipmate.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Olive came down to breakfast the next morning she half repented
+that she had consented to go away and leave her uncle for so long a
+time. But when she made known her state of mind the captain laughed at
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My child,&quot; said he, &quot;I want you to go. Of course, I did not take to the
+notion at first, but I did not consider then what you will have to tell
+when you come home. The people of Glenford will be your everlasting
+debtors. It might be a good thing to invite Maria Port out here. You
+could give her the best time she ever had in her life, telling her about
+the Broadstone people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria Port, indeed!&quot; said Olive. &quot;But we won't talk of her. And you
+really are willing I should go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I speak the truth when I say I want you to go,&quot; replied the captain.</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon Olive assured him that he was truly a good uncle.</p>
+
+<p>After the Easterfield carriage had rolled away with Olive alone on the
+back seat, waving her handkerchief, the captain requested Jane to take
+entire charge of the toll-gate for a time; and, having retired to his
+own room, he took from his pocket the letter he had received the day
+before.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I must write an answer to this,&quot; he said, &quot;before the postman comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter was from one of the captain's old shipmates, Captain Richard
+Lancaster, the best friend he had had when he was in the merchant
+service. Captain Lancaster had often been asked by his old friend to
+visit him at the toll-gate, but, being married and rheumatic, he had
+never accepted the invitation. But now he wrote that his son, Dick, had
+planned a holiday trip which would take him through Glenford, and that,
+if it suited Captain Asher, the father would accept for the son the
+long-standing invitation. Captain Lancaster wrote that as he could not
+go himself to his old friend Asher, the next best thing would be for his
+son to go, and when the young man returned he could tell his father all
+about Captain Asher. There would be something in that like old times.
+Besides, he wanted his former shipmate to know his son Dick, who was, in
+his eyes, a very fine young fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There never was such a lucky thing in the world,&quot; said Captain Asher to
+himself, when he had finished rereading the letter. &quot;Of course, I want
+to have Dick Lancaster's son here, but I could not have had him if Olive
+had been here. But now it is all right. The young fellow can stay here a
+few days, and he will be gone before she gets back. If I like him I can
+ask him to come again; but that's my business. Handsome women, like that
+Mrs. Easterfield, always bring good luck. I have noticed that many and
+many a time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then he set himself to work to write a letter to invite young Richard
+Lancaster to spend a few days with him.</p>
+
+<p>For the rest of that day, and the greater part of the next, Captain
+Asher gave a great deal of thinking time to the consideration of the
+young man who was about to visit him, and of whom, personally, he knew
+very little. He was aware that Captain Lancaster had a son and no other
+children, and he was quite sure that this son must now be a grown-up
+young man. He remembered very well that Captain Lancaster was a fine
+young fellow when he first knew him, and he did not doubt at all that
+the son resembled the father. He did not believe that young Dick was a
+sailor, because he and old Dick had often said to each other that if
+they married their sons should not go to sea. Of course he was in some
+business; and Captain Lancaster ought to be well able to give him a good
+start in life; just as able as he himself was to give Olive a good start
+in housekeeping when the time came.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what in the name of common sense,&quot; ejaculated Captain Asher, &quot;did
+I think of that for? What has he to do with Olive, or Olive with him?&quot;
+And then he said to himself, thinking of the young man in the bosom of
+his family and without reference to anybody outside of it: &quot;Yes, his
+father must be pretty well off. He did a good deal more trading than
+ever I did. But after all, I don't believe he invested his money any
+better than I did mine, and it is just as like as not if we were to show
+our hands, that Olive would get as much as Dick's son. There it is
+again. I can't keep my mind off the thing.&quot; And as he spoke he knocked
+the ashes out of his pipe, and began to stride up and down the garden
+walk; and as he did so he began to reproach himself.</p>
+
+<p>What right had he to think of his niece in that way? It was not doing
+the fair thing by her father, and perhaps by her, for that matter. For
+all he knew she might be engaged to somebody out West or down East, or
+in some other part of the world where she had lived. But this idea made
+very little impression on him. Knowing Olive as he did, he did not
+believe that she was engaged to anybody anywhere; he did not want to
+think that she was the kind of girl who would conceal her engagement
+from him, or who could do it, for that matter. But, everything
+considered, he was very glad Olive had gone to Broadstone, for, whatever
+the young fellow might happen to be, he wanted to know all about him
+before Olive met him.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher firmly believed that there was nothing of the matchmaker
+in his disposition, but notwithstanding this estimate of himself, he
+went on thinking of Olive and the son of his old shipmate, both
+separately and together. He had never said to anybody, nor intimated to
+anybody, that he was going to give any of his moderate fortune to his
+niece. In fact, before this visit to him he had not thought much about
+it, nor did it enter his mind that Olive's Boston aunt, her mother's
+sister, had favored this visit of the girl to her toll-gate uncle,
+hoping that he might think about it.</p>
+
+<p>In consequence of these cogitations, and in spite of the fact that he
+despised matchmaking, Captain Asher was greatly interested in the coming
+advent of his shipmate's son.</p>
+
+<p>When the same phaeton, the same horse, and the same boy that had brought
+Maria Port to the tollhouse, conveyed there a young man with two
+valises, one rather large, Captain Asher did not hurry from the house to
+meet his visitor. He had seen him coming, and had preferred to stand in
+his doorway and take a preliminary observation of him. Having taken
+this, Captain Asher was obliged to confess to himself that he was
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>The first cause of his disappointment was the fact that the young man
+wore a colored shirt and no vest, and a yellow leather belt. Now,
+Captain Asher for the greater part of his active life had worn colored
+shirts, sometimes very dark ones, with no vests, but he had not supposed
+that a young man coming to a house where there was a young lady
+accustomed to the best society would present himself in such attire. The
+captain instantly remembered that his visitor could not know that there
+was a young lady at the house, but this did not satisfy him. Such attire
+was not respectful, even to him. The leather belt especially offended
+him. The captain was not aware of the <i>neglig&eacute;</i> summer fashions for men
+which then prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The next thing that disappointed him was that young Lancaster, seen
+across the garden, did not appear to be the strapping young fellow he
+had expected to see. He was moderately tall, and moderately broad, and
+handled his valise with apparent ease, but he did not look as though he
+were his father's son. Dick Lancaster had married the daughter of a
+captain when he was only a second mate, and that piece of good fortune
+had been generally attributed to his good looks.</p>
+
+<p>But these observations and reflections occupied a very short time, and
+Captain Asher walked quickly to meet his visitor. As he stepped out of
+the garden-gate he was disappointed again. The young man's trousers were
+turned up above his shoes. The weather was not wet, there was no mud,
+and if Dick Lancaster's son had not bought a pair of ready-made trousers
+that were too long for him, why should he turn them up in that
+ridiculous way?</p>
+
+<p>In spite of these first impressions, the captain gave his old friend's
+son a hearty welcome, and took him into the house. After dinner he
+subjected the young man to a crucial test; he asked him if he smoked. If
+the visitor had answered in the negative he would have dropped still
+further in the captain's estimation. It was not that the captain had any
+theories in regard to the sanitary advantages or disadvantages of
+tobacco; he simply remembered that nearly all the rascals with whom he
+had been acquainted had been eager to declare that they never used
+tobacco in any form, and that nearly all the good fellows he had known
+enjoyed their pipes. In fact, he could not see how good fellowship could
+be maintained without good talk and good tobacco, so he waited with an
+anxious interest for his guest's answer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said he, &quot;I am fond of a smoke, especially in company,&quot; and
+so, having risen several inches in the good opinion of his host, he
+followed him to the little arbor in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said Captain Asher, when his pipe was alight, &quot;you have
+told me a great deal about your father, now tell me something about
+yourself. I do not even know what your business is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am Assistant Professor of Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College,&quot;
+answered the young man.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher put down his pipe and gazed at his visitor across the
+arbor. This answer was so different from anything he had expected that
+for the moment he could not express his astonishment, and was obliged to
+content himself with asking where Sutton College was.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is what they call a fresh-water college,&quot; replied the young man,
+&quot;and I do not wonder that you do not know where it is. It is near our
+town. I graduated there and received my present appointment about three
+years ago. I was then twenty-seven.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Your father was good at mathematics,&quot; said Captain Asher. &quot;He was a
+great hand at calculations, but he went in for practise, as I did, and
+not for theories. I suppose there are other professors who teach regular
+working mathematics.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; replied the young man, with a smile, &quot;there is the Professor
+of Applied Mathematics, but of course the thorough student wants to
+understand the theories on which his practise is to be based.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not see why he should,&quot; replied the other. &quot;If a good ship is
+launched for me, I don't care anything about the stocks she slides off
+of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;but somebody has to think about them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon Captain Asher showed his visitor his little farm, and
+took him out fishing. During these recreations he refrained, as far as
+possible, from asking questions, for he did not wish the young man to
+suppose that for any reason he had been sent there to undergo an
+examination. But in the evening he could not help talking about the
+college, not in reference to the work and life of the students, a
+subject that did not interest him, but in regard to the work and the
+prospects of the faculty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does your president teach?&quot; he asked. &quot;I believe all presidents
+have charge of some branch or other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;our president is Professor of Mental and
+Moral Philosophy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought it would be something of the kind,&quot; said the captain to
+himself. &quot;Even the head Professor of Mathematical Theories would never
+get to the top of the heap. He is not useful enough for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After he had gone to bed that night Captain Asher found himself laughing
+about the events of the day. He could not help it when he remembered how
+his mind had been almost constantly occupied with a consideration of his
+old shipmate's son with reference to his brother's daughter. And when he
+remembered that neither of these two young people had ever seen or heard
+of the other, it is not surprising that he laughed a little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's none of my business, anyway,&quot; thought the captain, &quot;and I might as
+well stop bothering my head about it. I suppose I might as well tell
+him about Olive, for it is nothing I need keep secret. But first I'll
+see how long he is going to stay. It's none of his business, anyway,
+whether I have a niece staying with me or not.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_V'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER V</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Olive pays Toll.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>I</span>t is needless to say that Olive was charmed with Broadstone; with its
+mistress; with the two little girls; with the woods; the river; the
+mountains; and even the sky; which seemed different from that same sky
+when viewed from the tollhouse. She was charmed also with the rest of
+the household, which was different from anything of that kind that she
+had known, being composed entirely, with the exception of some servants,
+of women and little girls. Olive, accustomed all her life to men, men,
+men, grew rapturous over this Amazonian paradise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be too enthusiastic,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;for a while you may
+like fresh butter without salt, but the longing for the condiment will
+be sure to come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was Mrs. Blynn, the widow of a clergyman, with dark-brown eyes and
+white hair, who was always in a good humor, who acted as the general
+manager of the household, and also as particular friend to any one in
+the house who needed her services in that way. Then there was Miss
+Raleigh, who was supposed to be Mrs. Easterfield's secretary. She was a
+slender spinster of forty or more, with sad eyes and very fine teeth.
+She had dyspeptic proclivities, and never differed with anybody except
+in regard to her own diet. She seldom wrote for Mrs. Easterfield, for
+that lady did not like her handwriting, and she did not understand the
+use of the typewriter; nor did she read to the lady of the house, for
+Mrs. Easterfield could not endure to have anybody read to her. But in
+all the other duties of a secretary she made herself very useful. She
+saw that the books, which every morning were found lying about the
+house, were put in their proper places on the shelves, and, if
+necessary, she dusted them; if she saw a book turned upside down she
+immediately set it up properly. She was also expected to exert a certain
+supervision over the books the little girls were allowed to look at. She
+was an excellent listener and an appropriate smiler; Mrs. Easterfield
+frequently said that she never knew Miss Raleigh to smile in the wrong
+place. She took a regular walk every day, eight times up and down the
+whole length of the lawn.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield gave herself almost entirely to the entertainment of
+her guest. They roamed over the grounds, they found the finest points of
+view, at which Olive was expert, being a fine climber, and they tramped
+for long distances along the edge of the woods, where together they
+killed a snake. Mrs. Easterfield also allowed Olive the great privilege
+of helping her work in her garden of nature. This was a wide bed which
+was almost entirely shaded by two large trees. The peculiarity about
+this bed was that its mistress carefully pulled up all the flowering
+plants and cultivated the weeds.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You see,&quot; said she to Olive, &quot;I planted here a lot of flower-seeds
+which I thought would thrive in the shade, but they did not, and after a
+while I found that they were all spindling and puny-looking, while the
+weeds were growing as if they were out in the open sunshine, so I have
+determined to acknowledge the principle of the survival of the fittest,
+and whenever anything that looks like a flower shows itself I jerk it
+out. I also thin out all but the best weeds. I hoe and rake the others,
+and water them if necessary. Look at that splendid Jamestown weed&mdash;here
+they call it jimson weed&mdash;did you ever see anything finer than that with
+its great white blossoms and dark-green leaves? I expect it to be twice
+as large before the summer is over. And all these others. See how
+graceful they are, and what delicate flowers some of them have!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if I should have had the strength of mind to
+pull up my flowers and leave my weeds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The more you think about it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;the more you like
+weeds. They have such fine physiques, and they don't ask anybody to do
+anything for them. They are independent, like self-made men, and come up
+of themselves. They laugh at disadvantages, and even bricks and
+flagstones will not keep them down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, after all,&quot; said Olive, &quot;give me the flowers that can not take
+care of themselves.&quot; And she turned toward a bed of carnations, bright
+under the morning sun.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you suppose, little girl,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, following her,
+&quot;that I do not like flowers because I do like weeds? Everything in its
+place; weeds are for the shady spots, but I keep my flowers out of such
+places. This flower, for instance,&quot; touching Olive on the cheek. &quot;And
+now let us go into the house and see what pleasant thing we can find to
+do there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the two ladies went out rowing on the river, and Mrs.
+Easterfield was astonished at Olive's proficiency with the oar. She had
+thought herself a good oarswoman, but she was nothing to Olive. She
+good-naturedly acknowledged her inferiority, however. How could she
+expect to compete with a navy girl? she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you fond of swimming?&quot; asked Olive, as she looked down into the
+bright, clear water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, very,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;But I am not allowed to swim in this
+river. It is considered dangerous.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked up in surprise. It seemed odd that there should be anything
+that this bright, free woman was not allowed to do, or that there should
+be anybody who would not allow it.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed some rainy days, and the first clear day Mrs. Easterfield
+told Olive that she would take her a drive in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall drive you myself with my own horses,&quot; she said, &quot;but you need
+not be afraid, for I can drive a great deal better than I can row. We
+must lose no time in seizing all the advantages of this Amazonian life,
+for to-morrow some of our guests will arrive, the Foxes and Mr. Claude
+Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are the Foxes?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They are the pleasantest visitors that any one could have,&quot; was the
+answer. &quot;They always like everything. They never complain of being
+cold, nor talk about the weather being hot. They are interested in all
+games, and they like all possible kinds of food that one can give them
+to eat. They are always ready to go to bed when they think they ought
+to, and sit up just as long as they are wanted. Of course, they have
+their own ideas about things, but they don't dispute. They take care of
+themselves all the morning, and are ready for anything you want to do in
+the afternoon or evening. They have two children at home, but they never
+talk about them unless they are particularly asked to do so. They know a
+great many people, and you can tell by the way they speak of them that
+they won't talk scandal about you. In fact, they are model guests, and
+they ought to open a school to teach the art of visiting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what about Mr. Claude Locker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. &quot;Oh, he is different,&quot; she said; &quot;he is so
+different from the Foxes that words would not describe it. But you won't
+be long in becoming acquainted with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The road over which the two ladies drove that afternoon was a beautiful
+one, sometimes running close to the river under great sycamores, then
+making a turn into the woods and among the rocks. At last they came to a
+cross-road, which led away from the river, and here Mrs. Easterfield
+stopped her horses.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Olive,&quot; said she, for she was now very familiar with her guest, &quot;I
+will leave the return route to you. Shall we go back by the river
+road&mdash;and the scenery will be very different when going in the other
+direction&mdash;or shall we drive over to Glenford, and go home by the
+turnpike? That is a little farther, but the road is a great deal
+better?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, let us go that way,&quot; cried Olive. &quot;We will go through Uncle John's
+toll-gate, and you must let me pay the toll. It will be such fun to pay
+toll to Uncle John, or old Jane.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;we will go that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the horses had passed through Glenford and had turned their heads
+homeward, they clattered along at a fine rate over the smooth turnpike,
+and Olive was in as high spirits as they were.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whoever comes out to take toll,&quot; said she, &quot;I intend to be treated as
+an ordinary traveler and nothing else. I have often taken toll, but I
+never paid it in my life. And they must take it&mdash;no gratis traveling for
+me. But I hope you won't mind stopping long enough for me to say a few
+words after I have transacted the regular business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;you can chat as much as you like. We
+have plenty of time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive held in her hand a quarter of a dollar; she was determined they
+should make change for her, and that everything should be done properly.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster sat in the garden arbor, reading. He was becoming a
+little tired of this visit to his father's old friend. He liked Captain
+Asher and appreciated his hospitality, but there was nothing very
+interesting for him to do in this place, and he had thought that it
+might be a very good thing if the several days for which he had been
+invited should terminate on the morrow. There were some very attractive
+plans ahead of him, and he felt that he had now done his full duty by
+his father and his father's old friend.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher was engaged with some matters about his little farm, and
+Lancaster had asked as a favor that he might be allowed to tend the
+toll-gate during his absence. It would be something to do, and,
+moreover, something out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>When he perceived the approach of Mrs. Easterfield's carriage Lancaster
+walked down to the tollhouse, and stopped for a minute to glance over
+the rates of toll which were pasted up inside the door as well as out.</p>
+
+<p>The carriage stopped, and when a young man stepped out from the
+tollhouse Olive gave a sudden start, and the words with which she had
+intended to greet her uncle or old Jane instantly melted away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't push me out of the carriage,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield,
+good-naturedly, and she, too, looked at the young man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For two horses and a vehicle,&quot; said Dick Lancaster, &quot;ten cents, if you
+please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive made no answer, but handed him the quarter with which he retired
+to make change. Mrs. Easterfield opened her mouth to speak, but Olive
+put her finger on her lips and shook her head; the situation astonished
+her, but she did not wish to ask that stranger to explain it.</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster came out and dropped fifteen cents into Olive's hand. He could
+not help regarding with interest the occupants of the carriage, and Mrs.
+Easterfield looked hard at him. Suddenly Olive turned in her seat; she
+looked at the house, she looked at the garden, she looked at the little
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse. Yes, it was really the same place.
+For an instant she thought she might have been mistaken, but there was
+her window with the Virginia creeper under the sill where she had
+trained it herself. Then she made a motion to her companion, who
+immediately drove on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does this mean?&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Who is that young
+man? Why didn't you give me a chance to ask after the captain, even if
+you did not care to do so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never saw him before!&quot; cried Olive. &quot;I never heard of him. I don't
+understand anything about it. The whole thing shocked me, and I wanted
+to get on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think it a very serious matter,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Some
+passer-by might have relieved your uncle for a time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all, not at all,&quot; replied Olive. &quot;Uncle John would never give
+the toll-gate into the charge of a passer-by, especially as old Jane was
+there. I know she was there, for the basement door was open, and she
+never goes away and leaves it so. That man is somebody who is staying
+there. I saw an open book on the arbor bench. Nobody reads in that arbor
+but me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And that young man apparently,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I agree with
+you that it is surprising.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For some minutes Olive did not speak. &quot;I am afraid,&quot; she said,
+presently, &quot;that my uncle is not acting quite frankly with me. I noticed
+how willing he was that I should go to your house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps he expected this person and wanted to get you out of the way,&quot;
+laughed Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my dear, I do not believe your uncle is such a schemer. He does
+not look like it. Take my word for it, it will all be as simple as a-b-c
+when it is explained to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Olive could not readily take this view of the case, and the drive
+home was not nearly so pleasant as it would have been if her uncle or
+old Jane had taken her quarter and given her fifteen cents in change.</p>
+
+<p>That night, soon after the family at Broadstone had retired to their
+rooms, Olive knocked at the door of Mrs. Easterfield's chamber.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know,&quot; she exclaimed, when she had been told to enter, &quot;that a
+horrible idea has come into my head? Uncle John may have been taken
+sick, and that man looked just like a doctor. Old Jane was busy with
+uncle, and as the doctor had to wait, he took the toll. Oh, I wish we
+had asked! It was cruel in me not to!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, that is all nonsense,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;If anything serious
+is the matter with your uncle he most surely would have let you know,
+and, besides, both the doctors in Glenford are elderly men. I do not
+believe there is the slightest reason for your anxiety. But to make you
+feel perfectly satisfied, I will send a man to Glenford early in the
+morning. I want to send there anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I would not like my uncle to think that I was trying to find out
+anything he did not care to tell me,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't trouble yourself about that,&quot; answered Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I
+will instruct the man. He need not ask any questions at the toll-gate.
+But when he gets to Glenford he can find out everything about that
+young man without asking any questions. He is a very discreet person.
+And I am also a discreet person,&quot; she added, &quot;and you shall have no
+connection with my messenger's errand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast the next morning Mrs. Easterfield took Olive aside. &quot;My
+man has returned,&quot; she said; &quot;he tells me that Captain Asher took the
+toll, and was smoking his pipe in perfect health. He also saw the young
+man, and his natural curiosity prompted him to ask about him in the
+town. He heard that he is the son of one of the captain's old shipmates
+who is making him a visit. Now I hope this satisfies you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Satisfies me!&quot; exclaimed Olive. &quot;I should have been a great deal better
+satisfied if I had heard he was sick, provided it was nothing dangerous.
+I think my uncle is treating me shamefully. It is not that I care a snap
+about his visitor, one way or another, but it is his want of confidence
+in me that hurts me. Could he have supposed I should have wanted to stay
+with him if I had known a young man was coming?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my dear,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I can not send anybody to find
+out what he supposed. But I am as certain as I can be certain of
+anything that there is nothing at all in this bugbear you have conjured
+up. No doubt the young man dropped in quite accidentally, and it was his
+bad luck that prevented him from dropping in before you left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive shook her head. &quot;My uncle knew all about it. His manner showed it.
+He has treated me very badly.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER VI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Claude Locker.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he Foxes arrived at Broadstone at the exact hour of the morning at
+which they had been expected. They always did this; even trains which
+were sometimes delayed when other visitors came were always on time when
+they carried the Foxes. They were both perfectly well and happy, as they
+always were.</p>
+
+<p>As rapidly as it was possible for human beings to do so they absorbed
+the extraordinary advantages of the house and it surroundings, and they
+said the right things in such a common-sense fashion that their hostess
+was proud that she owned such a place, and happy that she had invited
+them to see it.</p>
+
+<p>In their hearts they liked everything about the place except Olive, and
+they wondered how they were going to get along with such a glum young
+person, but they did not talk about her to Mrs. Easterfield; there was
+too much else.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Claude Locker was expected on the train by which the Foxes had come,
+but he did not arrive; and this made it necessary to send again for him
+in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield tried very hard to cheer up Olive, and to make her
+entertain the Foxes in her usual lively way, but this was of no use;
+the young person was not in a good humor, and retired for an afternoon
+nap. But as this was an indulgence she very seldom allowed herself, it
+was not likely that she napped.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Fox spoke to Mrs. Fox about her. &quot;A queer girl,&quot; he said; &quot;what do
+you suppose is the matter with her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The symptoms are those of green apples,&quot; replied Mrs. Fox, &quot;and
+probably she will be better to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The carriage came back without Mr. Locker. But just as the soup-plates
+were being removed from the dinner-table he arrived in a hired vehicle,
+and appeared at the dining-room door with his hat in one hand, and a
+package in the other. He begged Mrs. Easterfield not to rise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will slip up to my room,&quot; said he, &quot;if you have one for me, and when
+I come down I will greet you and be introduced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With this he turned and left the room, but was back in a moment. &quot;It was
+a woman,&quot; he said, &quot;who was at the bottom of it. It is always a woman,
+you know, and I am sure you will excuse me now that you know this. And
+you must let me begin wherever you may be in the dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard of Mr. Locker,&quot; said Mr. Fox, &quot;but I never met him before.
+He must be very odd.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He admits that himself,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;but he asserts that he
+spends a great deal of his time getting even with people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a reasonable time Mr. Locker appeared and congratulated himself upon
+having struck the roast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a matter of fact,&quot; he said, &quot;we will now all begin dinner together.
+What has gone before was nothing but overture. If I can help it I never
+get in until the beginning of the play.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He bowed parenthetically as Mrs. Easterfield introduced him to the
+company; and, as she looked at him, Olive forgot for a moment her uncle
+and his visitor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't send for soup, I beg of you,&quot; said Mr. Locker, as he took his
+seat. &quot;I regard it as a rare privilege to begin with the inside cut of
+beef.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker was not allowed to do all the talking; his hostess would not
+permit that; but under the circumstances he was allowed to explain his
+lateness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know I have been spending a week with the Bartons,&quot; he said, &quot;and
+last night I came over from their house to the station in a carriage.
+There is a connecting train, but I should have had to take it very early
+in the evening, so I saved time by hiring a carriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Saved time?&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saved all the time from dinner until the Bartons went to bed, which
+would have been lost if I had taken the train. Besides, I like to travel
+in carriages. One is never too late for a carriage; it is always bound
+to wait for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the recesses of his mind Mr. Fox now said to himself, &quot;This is a
+fool.&quot; And Mrs. Fox, in the recesses of her mind, remarked, &quot;I am quite
+sure that Mr. Fox will look upon this young man as a fool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I spent what was left of the night at a tavern near the station,&quot;
+continued Mr. Locker, &quot;where I would have had to stay all night if I
+had not taken the carriage. And I should have been in plenty of time for
+the morning train if I had not taken a walk before breakfast. Apparently
+that is a part of the world where it takes a good deal longer to go back
+to a place than it does to get away from it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where did the woman come in?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, she came in with some tea and sandwiches in the middle of the
+afternoon,&quot; said Mr. Locker. &quot;I was waiting in the parlor of the tavern.
+She was fairly young, and as I ate she stood and talked. She talked
+about Horace Walpole.&quot; At this even Olive smiled. &quot;It was odd, wasn't
+it?&quot; continued Mr. Locker, glancing from one to the other. &quot;But that is
+what she did. She had been reading about him in an old book. She asked
+me if I knew anything about him, and I told her a great deal. It was so
+very interesting to tell her, and she was so interested, that when the
+train arrived I was too much occupied to think that it might start again
+immediately, but it did that very thing, and so I was left. However, the
+Walpole young woman told me there was a freight-train along in about an
+hour, and so we continued our conversation. When this train came I asked
+the engineer how many cigars he would take to let me ride in the cab. He
+said half a dozen, but as I only had five, I promised to send him the
+other by mail. However, as I smoked two of his five, I suppose I ought
+to send him three.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This young man,&quot; said Mr. Fox to himself, &quot;is trying to appear more of
+a fool than he really is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have no doubt,&quot; said Mrs. Fox to herself, &quot;that Mr. Fox is of the
+opinion that this young man is making an effort to appear foolish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That evening was a dull one. Mrs. Easterfield did her best, Claude
+Locker did his best, and Mr. and Mrs. Fox did their best to make things
+lively, but their success was poor. Miss Raleigh, the secretary, sat
+ready to give an approving smile to any liveliness which might arise,
+and Mrs. Blynn, with the dark eyes and soft white hair, sat sewing and
+waiting; never before had it been necessary for her to wait for
+liveliness in Mrs. Easterfield's house. A mild rain somewhat assisted
+the dullness, for everybody was obliged to stay indoors.</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning Olive Asher went down-stairs, and stood in the
+open doorway looking out upon the landscape, glowing in the sunshine and
+brighter and more odorous from the recent rain. Some time during the
+night this young woman had made up her mind to give no further thought
+to her uncle who kept the toll-gate. There was no earthly reason why he,
+or anything he wanted to do, or did not want to do, or did, should
+trouble and annoy her. A few months before she had scarcely known him,
+not having seen him since she was a girl; and, in fact, he was no more
+to her now than he was before she went to his house. If he chose to
+offer her any explanation of his strange conduct, that would be very
+well; if he did not choose, that would also be very well. The whole
+affair was of no consequence; she would drop it entirely from her mind.</p>
+
+<p>Olive's bounding spirits now rose very high, and when Claude Locker came
+in with his shoes soaked from a tramp in the wet grass she greeted him
+in such a way that he could scarcely believe she was the grumpy girl of
+the day before. As they went into breakfast Mrs. Fox remarked to her
+husband in a low voice that Miss Asher seemed to have recovered entirely
+from her indisposition.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the morning Mr. Locker found an opportunity to speak in
+private with Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I am in great trouble,&quot; he said; &quot;I want
+to marry Miss Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You show unusual promptness,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; replied Locker. &quot;This sort of thing is not unusual with
+me. My mind is a highly sensitive plate, and receives impressions almost
+instantaneously. If it were a large mind these impressions might be
+placed side by side, and each one would perhaps become indelible. But it
+is small, and each impression claps itself down on the one before. This
+last one, however, is the strongest of them all, and obliterates
+everything that went before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It strikes me,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that if you were to pay more
+attention to your poems and less to young ladies it would be better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hardly,&quot; said Mr. Locker; &quot;for it would be worse for the poems.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The general appearance of Mr. Locker gave no reason to suppose that he
+would be warranted in assuming a favorable issue from any of the
+impressions to which his mind was so susceptible. He was small, rather
+awkwardly set up, his head was large, and the features of his face
+seemed to have no relation to each other. His nose was somewhat stubby,
+and had nothing to do with his mouth or eyes. One of his eyebrows was
+drawn down as if in days gone by he had been in the habit of wearing a
+single glass. The other brow was raised over a clear and wide-open
+light-blue eye. His mouth was large, and attended strictly to its own
+business. It transmitted his odd ideas to other people, but it never
+laughed at them. His chin was round and prominent, suggesting that it
+might have been borrowed from somebody else. His cheeks were a little
+heavy, and gave no assistance in the expression of his ideas.</p>
+
+<p>His profession was that of a poet. He called himself a practical poet,
+because he made a regular business of it, turning his poetic
+inspirations into salable verse with the facility and success, as he
+himself expressed it, of a man who makes boxes out of wood. Moreover, he
+sold these poems as readily as any carpenter sold his boxes. Like
+himself, Claude Locker's poems were always short, always in request, and
+sometimes not easy to understand.</p>
+
+<p>The poem he wrote that night was a word-picture of the rising moon
+entangled in a sheaf of corn upon a hilltop, with a long-eared rabbit
+sitting near by as if astonished at the conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A very interesting girl, that Miss Asher,&quot; said Mr. Fox to his wife
+that evening. &quot;I do not know when I have laughed so much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought you were finding her interesting,&quot; said Mrs. Fox. &quot;To me it
+was like watching a game of roulette at Monte Carlo. It was intensely
+interesting, but I could not imagine it as having anything to do with
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, my dear,&quot; said Mr. Fox, &quot;it could have nothing to do with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After Mrs. Easterfield retired she sat for a long time, thinking of
+Olive. That young person and Mr. Locker had been boating that afternoon,
+and Olive had had the oars. Mr. Locker had told with great effect how
+she had pulled to get out of the smooth water, and how she had dashed
+over the rapids and between the rocks in such a way as to make his heart
+stand still.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should like to go rowing with her every day,&quot; he had remarked
+confidentially. &quot;Each time I started I should make a new will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why a new one?&quot; Mrs. Easterfield had asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Each time I should take something more from my relatives to give to
+her,&quot; had been the answer.</p>
+
+<p>As she sat and thought, Mrs. Easterfield began to be a little
+frightened. She was a brave woman, but it is the truly brave who know
+when they should be frightened, and she felt her responsibility, not on
+account of the niece of the toll-gate keeper, but on account of the
+daughter of Lieutenant Asher, whom she had once known so well. The thing
+which frightened her was the possibility that before anybody would be
+likely to think of such a thing Olive might marry Claude Locker. He was
+always ready to do anything he wanted to do at any time; and for all
+Mrs. Easterfield knew, the girl might be of the same sort.</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Easterfield rose to the occasion. She looked upon Olive as a
+wild young colt who had broken out of her paddock, but she remembered
+that she herself had a record for speed. &quot;If there is to be any running
+I shall get ahead of her,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;and I will turn her
+back. I think I can trust myself for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive slept the sound sleep of the young, but for all that she had a
+dream. She dreamed of a kind, good, thoughtful, and even affectionate,
+middle-aged man; a man who looked as though he might have been her
+father, and whom she was beginning to look upon as a father,
+notwithstanding the fact that she had a real father dressed in a uniform
+and on a far-away ship. She dreamed ever so many things about this
+newer, although elder, father, and her dream made her very happy.</p>
+
+<p>But in the morning when she woke her dream had entirely passed from her
+mind, and she felt just as much like a colt as when she had gone to bed.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER VII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and his Guest go Fishing and come Home Happy.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Dick Lancaster told Captain Asher he had taken toll from two ladies
+in a phaeton he was quite eloquent in his description of said ladies. He
+declared with an impressiveness which the captain had not noticed in him
+before that he did not know when he had seen such handsome ladies. The
+younger one, who paid the toll, was absolutely charming. She seemed a
+little bit startled, but he supposed that was because she saw a strange
+face at the toll-gate. Dick wanted very much to know who these ladies
+were. He had not supposed that he would find such stylish people, and
+such a handsome turnout in this part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ho,&quot; said Captain Asher, &quot;do you suppose we are all farmers and
+toll-gate keepers? If you do, you are very much mistaken, although I
+must admit that the stylish people, as you call them, are scattered
+about very thinly. I expect that carriage was from Broadstone over on
+the mountain. Was the team dapple gray, pony built?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it was Mrs. Easterfield driving some of her company. I have seen
+her with that team. And by George,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;I bet my head the
+other one was Olive! Of course it was. And she paid toll! Well, well, if
+that isn't a good one! Olive paying toll! I wish I had been here to take
+it! That truly would have been a lark!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster did not echo this wish of his host. He was very glad,
+indeed, that the captain had not been at the toll-gate when the ladies
+passed through. Captain Asher was still laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive must have been amazed,&quot; he said. &quot;It was queer enough for her to
+go through my gate and pay toll, but to pay it to an Assistant Professor
+of Theoretical Mathematics was a good deal queerer. I can't imagine what
+she thought about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She did not know I am that!&quot; exclaimed Dick Lancaster. &quot;There is
+nothing of the professor in my outward appearance&mdash;at least, I hope
+not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think there is,&quot; replied the captain. &quot;But she must have
+been amazed, all the same. I wish I had been here, or old Jane, anyway.
+But, of course, when a stranger showed himself she would not have said
+anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who is Olive?&quot; asked Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's my niece,&quot; said the captain. &quot;I don't think I have mentioned her
+to you. She is on a visit to me, but just now she is staying at
+Broadstone. I suppose she will be there about a week longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's odd he has not mentioned her to me,&quot; thought Lancaster, and then,
+as the captain went to ask old Jane if she had seen Olive pass, the
+young man retired to the arbor with a book which he did not read.</p>
+
+<p>His desire to inform his host that it would be necessary to take leave
+of him on the morrow had very much abated. It would be very pleasant, he
+thought, to be a visitor in a family of which that girl was a member.
+But if she were not to return for a week, how could he expect to stay
+with the captain so long? There would be no possible excuse for such a
+thing. Then he thought it would be very pleasant to be in a country of
+which that young woman was one of the inhabitants. Anyway, he hoped the
+captain would invite him to make a longer stay. The great blue eyes with
+which the young lady had regarded him as she paid the toll would not
+fade out of his mind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She must have wondered who it was that took the toll,&quot; said old Jane.
+&quot;And there wasn't no need of it, anyway. I could have took it as I
+always have took it when you was not here, and before either of them
+came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Either of them&quot; struck the captain's ear strangely. Here was this old
+woman coupling these two young people in her mind!</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Captain Asher sat on his little piazza, smoking his
+pipe and thinking about Olive driving through the gate and paying toll
+to a stranger. But he now considered the incident from a different point
+of view. Of course, Olive had been surprised when she had seen the young
+man, but she might also have wondered how he happened to be there and
+she not know of it. If he were staying long enough to be entrusted with
+toll-taking it might&mdash;in fact, the captain thought it probably
+would&mdash;appear very strange to her that she should not know of it. So
+now he asked himself if it would not be a good thing if he were to write
+her a little note in which he should mention Mr. Lancaster and his
+visit. In fact, he thought the best thing he could do would be to write
+her a playful sort of a note, and tell her that she should feel honored
+by having her toll taken up by a college professor. But he did not
+immediately write the note. The more he thought about it, the more he
+wished he had been at the toll-gate when Mrs. Easterfield's phaeton
+passed by.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher did not write his note at all. He did not know what to
+say; he did not want to make too much of the incident, for it was really
+a trifling matter, only worthy of being mentioned in case he had
+something more important to write about. But he had nothing more
+important; there was no reason why he should write to Olive during her
+short stay with Mrs. Easterfield. Besides, she would soon be back, and
+then he could talk to her; that would be much better. Now, two strong
+desires began to possess him; one was for Olive to come home; and the
+other for Dick Lancaster to go away. There had been moments when he had
+had a shadowy notion of bringing the two together, but this idea had
+vanished. His mind was now occupied very much with thoughts of his
+beautiful niece and very little with the young man in the colored shirt
+and turned-up trousers who was staying with him.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster, in his arbor, was also thinking a great deal about
+Olive, and very little about that stalwart sailor, her uncle. If he had
+merely seen the young woman, and had never heard anything about her,
+her face would have impressed him, but the knowledge that she was an
+inmate of the house in which he was staying could not fail to affect him
+very much. He was puzzling his mind about the girl who had given him a
+quarter of a dollar, and to whom he had handed fifteen cents in change.
+He wondered how such a girl happened to be living at such a place. He
+wondered if there were any possibility of his staying there, or in the
+neighborhood, until she should come back; he wondered if there were any
+way by which he could see her again. He might have wondered a good many
+other things if Captain Asher had not approached the arbor. The captain
+having been aroused from his mental contemplation of Olive by a man in a
+wagon, had glanced over at the arbor and had suddenly been struck with
+the conviction that that young man looked bored, and that, as his host,
+he was not doing the right thing by him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick,&quot; said the captain, &quot;let's go fishing. It's not late yet, and I'll
+put my mare to the buggy, and we can drive to the river. We will take
+something to eat with us, and make a day of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster hesitated a moment; he had been thinking that the time had
+come when he should say something about his departure, but this
+invitation settled the matter for that day; and in half an hour the two
+had started away, leaving the toll-gate in charge of old Jane, who was a
+veteran in the business, having lived at the toll-gate years before the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>As they drove along the smooth turnpike Lancaster remembered with great
+interest that this road led to the gap in the mountains; that the
+captain had told him Broadstone was not very far from the gap; and that
+the river was not very far from Broadstone; and his face glowed with
+interest in the expedition.</p>
+
+<p>But when, after a few miles, they turned into a plain country road
+which, as the captain informed him, led in a southeasterly direction, to
+a point on the river where black bass were to be caught and where a boat
+could be hired, the corners of Dick Lancaster's mouth began to droop. Of
+necessity that road must reach the river miles to the south of
+Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very good day for fishing, and the captain was pleased to see
+that the son of his old shipmate was a very fair angler. Toward the
+close of the afternoon, with the conviction that they had had a good
+time and that their little expedition had been a success, the two
+fishermen set out for home with a basket of bass: some of them quite a
+respectable size; stowed away under the seat of the buggy. When they
+reached the turnpike the old mare, knowing well in which direction her
+supper lay, turned briskly to the left, and set out upon a good trot.
+But this did not last very long. To her great surprise she was suddenly
+pulled up short; a carriage with two horses which had been approaching
+had also stopped.</p>
+
+<p>On the back seat of this carriage sat Mrs. Easterfield; on one side of
+her was a little girl, and on the other side was another little girl,
+each with her feet stuck out straight in front of her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Captain Asher,&quot; exclaimed the lady, with a most enchanting smile,
+&quot;I am so glad to meet you. I was obliged to go to Glenford to take one
+of my little girls to the dentist, and I inquired for you each time I
+passed your gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain was very glad he had been so fortunate as to meet her, and
+as her eyes were now fixed upon his companion, he felt it incumbent upon
+him to introduce Mr. Richard Lancaster, the son of an old shipmate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But not a sailor, I imagine,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said the captain, &quot;Mr. Lancaster is Assistant Professor of
+Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not imagine why the captain said all this, and he flushed a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sutton College?&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Then, of course, you know
+Professor Brent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said Lancaster. &quot;He is our president.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never met him,&quot; said she, &quot;but he was a classmate of my husband, and
+I have often heard him speak of him. And now for my errand, Captain
+Asher. Isn't it about time you should be wanting to see your niece?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain's heart sank. Did she intend to send Olive home?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I always want to see her,&quot; he said, but without enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But don't you think it would be nice,&quot; said the lady, &quot;if you were to
+come to lunch with us to-morrow? It was to ask you this that I inquired
+for you at the toll-gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now, this was another thing altogether, and the captain's earnest
+acceptance would have been more coherent if it had not been for the
+impatience of his mare.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I want you to bring your friend with you,&quot; continued Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;The invitation is for you both, of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick's face said that this would be heavenly, but his mouth was more
+prudent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will be strictly informal,&quot; continued Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Only myself
+and family, three guests, and Olive. We shall sit down at one. Good-by.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was entirely truthful when she said she was glad to
+meet the captain. Her anxiety about Olive and Claude Locker was somewhat
+on the increase. She was very well aware that the most dangerous thing
+for one young woman is one young man; and in thinking over this truism
+she had been impressed with the conviction that it was not well for Mr.
+Claude Locker to be the one man at Broadstone. Then, in thinking of
+possible young men, her mind naturally turned to the young man who was
+visiting Olive's uncle. She did not know anything about him, but he was
+a young man, and if he proved to be worth something, he could be asked
+to come again. So it was really to Dick Lancaster, and not to Captain
+Asher, that the luncheon invitation had been given.</p>
+
+<p>The appointment with the Glenford dentist had made it necessary for her
+to leave home that afternoon. To be sure, she had sent the Foxes with
+Olive and Claude Locker upon the drive through the gap, and, under
+ordinary circumstances, and with ordinary people, there would have been
+no reason for her to trouble herself about them, but neither the
+circumstances nor the people were ordinary, and she now felt anxious to
+get home and find out what Claude Locker and Olive had done with Mrs.
+and Mr. Fox.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER VIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Captain Asher is not in a Good Humor.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he next morning was very bright for Captain Asher; he was going to see
+Olive, and he did not know before how much he wished to see her.</p>
+
+<p>When Dick Lancaster came from the house to take his seat in the buggy
+the sight of the handsome suit of dark-blue serge, white shirt and
+collar, and patent-leather shoes, with the trousers hanging properly
+above them, placed Dick very much higher in the captain's estimation
+than the young man with the colored shirt and rolled-up trousers could
+ever have reached. The captain, too, was well dressed for the occasion,
+and Mrs. Easterfield had no reason whatever to be ashamed of these two
+gentlemen when she introduced them to her other visitors.</p>
+
+<p>She liked Professor Lancaster. Having lately had a good deal of Claude
+Locker, she was prepared to like a quiet and thoroughly self-possessed
+young man.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was the latest of the little company to appear, and when she came
+down she caused a genuine, though gentle sensation. She was most
+exquisitely dressed, not too much for a luncheon, and not enough for a
+dinner. This navy girl had not studied for nothing the art of dressing
+in different parts of the world. Her uncle regarded her with open-eyed
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this my brother's daughter?&quot; he asked himself. &quot;The little girl who
+poured my coffee in the morning and went out to take toll?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive greeted her uncle with absolute propriety, and made the
+acquaintance of Mr. Lancaster with a formal courtesy to which no
+objection could be made. Apparently she forgot the existence of Mr.
+Locker, and for the greater part of the meal she conversed with Mr. Fox
+about certain foreign places with which they were both familiar.</p>
+
+<p>The luncheon was not a success; there was a certain stiffness about it
+which even Mrs. Easterfield could not get rid of; and when the gentlemen
+went out to smoke on the piazza Olive disappeared, sending a message to
+Mrs. Easterfield that she had a bad headache and would like to be
+excused. Her excuse was a perfectly honest one, for she was apt to have
+a headache when she was angry; and she was angry now.</p>
+
+<p>The reason for her indignation was the fact that her uncle's visitor was
+an extremely presentable young man. Had it been otherwise, Olive would
+have given the captain a good scolding, and would then have taken her
+revenge by making fun of him and his shipmate's son. But now she felt
+insulted that her uncle should conceal from her the fact that he had an
+entirely proper young gentleman for a visitor. Could he think she would
+want to stay at his house to be with that young man? Was she a girl from
+whom the existence of such a person was to be kept secret? She was very
+angry, indeed, and her headache was genuine.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher was also angry. He had intended to take Olive aside and
+tell her all about Dick Lancaster, and how he had refrained from saying
+anything about him until he found out what sort of a young man he was.
+If, then, she saw fit to scold him, he was perfectly willing to submit,
+and to shake hands all around. But now he would have no chance to speak
+to her; she had not treated him properly, even if she had a headache. He
+admitted to himself that she was young and probably sensitive, but it
+was also true that he was sensitive, although old. Therefore, he was
+angry.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was disturbed; she saw there was something wrong
+between Olive and her uncle, and she did not like it. She had invited
+Lancaster with an object, and she did not wish that other people's
+grievances should interfere with said object. Olive was grumpy up-stairs
+and Claude Locker was in the doleful dumps under a tree, and if these
+two should grump and dump together, it might be very bad; consequently,
+Mrs. Easterfield was more anxious than ever that there should be at
+least two young men at Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>For this reason she asked Lancaster if he were fond of rowing; and when
+he said he was, she invited him to join them in a boat party the next
+day to help her and Olive pull the big family boat. Mr. Fox did not like
+rowing, and Mr. Locker did not know how.</p>
+
+<p>On the drive home Captain Asher and Lancaster did not talk much. Even
+the young man's invitation to the rowing party did not excite much
+interest in the captain. These two men were both thinking of the same
+girl; one pleasantly, and the other very unpleasantly. Dick was charmed
+with her, although he had had very little opportunity of becoming
+acquainted with her, but he hoped for better luck the next day.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not know what to make of her. He felt sure that she was
+at fault, and that he was at fault, and he could not see how things
+could be made straight between them. Only one thing seemed plain to him,
+and this was that, with things as they were at present, she was not
+likely to come back to his house; and this would not be necessary; he
+knew very well that there were other places she could visit; and that
+early in the fall her father would be home.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster walked to Broadstone the next morning because Captain
+Asher was obliged to go to Glenford on business, but the young man did
+not in the least mind a six-mile walk on a fine morning.</p>
+
+<p>All the way to Glenford the captain thought of Olive; sometimes he
+wished she had never come to him. Even now, with Lancaster to talk to,
+he missed her grievously, and if she should not come back, the case
+would be a great deal worse than if she had never come at all. But one
+thing was certain: If she returned as the young lady with whom he had
+lunched at Broadstone, he did not want her. He felt that he had been in
+the wrong, that she had been in the wrong; and it seemed as if things in
+this world were gradually going wrong. He was not in a good humor.</p>
+
+<p>When he stopped his mare in front of a store, Maria Port stepped up to
+him and said: &quot;How do you do, captain? What have you done with your
+young man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain got down from his buggy, hitched his mare to a post, and
+then shook hands with Miss Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick Lancaster has gone boating to-day with the Broadstone people,&quot; he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;Gone there again already? Why it was only
+yesterday you took dinner with them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lunch,&quot; corrected the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you may call it what you please,&quot; said Maria, &quot;but I call it
+dinner. And them two's together without you, that you tried so hard to
+keep apart!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not try anything of the kind,&quot; said the captain a little sharply;
+&quot;it just happened so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Happened so!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;Well, I must say, Captain Asher,
+that you've a regular genius for makin' things happen. The minute she
+goes, he comes. I wish I could make things happen that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain took no notice of this remark, and moved toward the door of
+the store.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look here, captain,&quot; continued Miss Port, &quot;can't you come and take
+dinner with us? You haven't seen Pop for ever so long. It won't be
+lunch, though, but an honest dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain accepted the invitation; for old Mr. Port was one of his
+ancient friends; and then he entered the store. Miss Port was on the
+point of following him; she had something to say about Olive; but she
+stopped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll keep that till dinner-time,&quot; she said to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Old Mr. Port had always been a very pleasant man to visit, and he had
+not changed now, although he was nearly eighty years old. He had been a
+successful merchant in the days when Captain Asher commanded a ship, and
+there was good reason to believe that a large measure of his success was
+due to his constant desire to make himself agreeable to the people with
+whom he came in business contact. He was just as agreeable to his
+friends, of whom Captain Asher was one of the oldest.</p>
+
+<p>The people of Glenford often puzzled themselves as to what sort of a
+woman Maria's mother could have been. None of them had ever seen her,
+for she had died years before old Mr. Port had come into that healthful
+region to reside; but all agreed that her parents must have been a
+strangely assorted pair, unless, indeed, as some of the wiser suggested,
+she got her disposition from a grandparent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That navy niece of yours must be a wild girl,&quot; said Miss Port to the
+captain as she carved the beef.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wild!&quot; exclaimed the captain. &quot;I never saw anything wild about her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not,&quot; said his hostess, &quot;but there's others that have. It was
+only three days ago that she took that young man, that goggle-eyed one,
+out on the river in a boat, and did her best to upset him. Whether she
+stood up and made the boat rock while he clung to the side, or whether
+she bumped the boat against rocks and sand-bars, laughin' the louder the
+more he was frightened, I wasn't told. But she did skeer him awful. I
+know that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You seem to know a good deal about what is going on at Broadstone,&quot;
+remarked the captain, somewhat sarcastically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed I do,&quot; said she; &quot;a good deal more than they think. They've got
+such fine stomachs that they can't eat the beef they get at the gap, and
+Mr. Morris goes there three times a week, all the way from Glenford, to
+take them Chicago beef. The rest of the time they mostly eat chickens,
+I'm told.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so your butcher takes meat and brings back news,&quot; said the captain.
+&quot;The next time he passes the toll-gate I will tell him to leave the news
+with me, and I will see that it is properly distributed.&quot; And with this,
+he began to talk with Mr. Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, you needn't be so snappish about her,&quot; insisted Maria. &quot;If you are
+in that temper often, I don't wonder the young woman wanted to go away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain made no answer, but his glance at the speaker was not
+altogether a pleasant one. Old Mr. Port did not hear very well; but his
+eyesight was good, and he perceived from the captain's expression that
+his daughter had been saying something sharp. This he never allowed at
+his table; and, turning to her, he said gently, but firmly:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria, don't you think you'd better go up-stairs and go to bed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's all the time thinkin' I'm a child,&quot; said Miss Maria, with a grin;
+&quot;but how awfully he's mistook.&quot; Then she added: &quot;Has that teacher got
+money enough to support a wife when he marries her? I don't suppose his
+salary amounts to much. I'm told it's a little bit of a college he
+teaches at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know anything about his salary,&quot; said the captain, and again
+attempted to continue the conversation with the father.</p>
+
+<p>But the daughter was not to be put down. &quot;When is Olive Asher coming
+back to your house?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>The captain turned upon her with a frown. &quot;I did not say she was coming
+back at all,&quot; he snapped.</p>
+
+<p>Now old Mr. Port thought it time for him to interfere. To him Maria had
+always been a young person to be mildly counseled, but to be firmly
+punished if she did not obey said counsels. It was evident that she was
+now annoying his old friend; Maria had a great habit of annoying people,
+but she should not annoy Captain Asher.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria,&quot; said Mr. Port, &quot;leave the table instantly, and go to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port smiled. She had finished her dinner, and she folded her napkin
+and dusted some crumbs from her lap. She always humored her father when
+he was really in earnest; he was very old and could not be expected to
+live much longer, and it was his daughter's earnest desire that she
+should be in good favor with him when he died. With a straight-cut smile
+at the captain, she rose and left the two old friends to their talk, and
+went out on the front piazza. There she saw Mr. Morris, the butcher, on
+his way home with an empty wagon. She stepped out to the edge of the
+sidewalk and stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Been to Broadstone?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the butcher with a sigh, and stopping his horse. Miss Port
+always wanted to know so much about Broadstone, and he was on his way to
+his dinner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Miss Port, &quot;what monkey tricks are going on there now? Has
+anybody been drowned yet? Did you see that young man that's stayin' at
+the toll-gate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the butcher, &quot;I saw him as I was crossing the bridge. He was
+in the big boat helping to row. Pretty near the whole family was in the
+boat, I take it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's like them, just like them!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;The next thing we'll
+hear will be that they've all gone to the bottom together. I don't
+suppose one of them can swim. Was the captain's niece standin' up, or
+sittin' down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They were all sitting down,&quot; said the butcher, &quot;and behaving like other
+people do in a boat.&quot; And he prepared to go on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stop one minute,&quot; said Miss Port. &quot;Of course you are goin' out there
+day after to-morrow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Mr. Morris. &quot;I'm going to-morrow. They've ordered some extra
+things.&quot; Then he said, with a sort of conciliatory grin, &quot;I'll get some
+more news, and have more time to tell it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't be in such a hurry,&quot; said Miss Port, advancing to the side
+of the wagon. &quot;I want very much to go to Broadstone. I've got some
+business with that Mrs. Blynn that I ought to have attended to long ago.
+Now, why can't I ride out with you to-morrow? That's a pretty broad seat
+you've got.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The butcher looked at her in dismay. &quot;Oh, I couldn't do that, Miss
+Port,&quot; he said. &quot;I always have a heavy load, and I can't take
+passengers, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what's the sense of your talkin' like that?&quot; said Miss Port.
+&quot;You've got a great big horse, and plenty of room, and would you have
+me go hire a carriage and a driver to go out there when you can take me
+just as well as not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The butcher thought he would be very willing. He did not care for her
+society, and, moreover, he knew that both at Broadstone and in the town
+he would be ridiculed when it should be known that he had been taking
+Maria Port to drive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I couldn't do it,&quot; he replied. &quot;Of course, I'm willing to oblige&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't worry yourself any more, Mr. Morris,&quot; interrupted Miss Port.
+&quot;I'm not askin' you to take me now, and I won't keep you from your
+dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The next morning as Mr. Morris, the butcher, was driving past the Port
+house at rather a rapid rate for a man with a heavy wagon, Miss Maria
+appeared at her door with her bonnet on. She ran out into the middle of
+the street, and so stationed herself that Mr. Morris was obliged to
+stop. Then, without speaking, she clambered up to the seat beside him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you see,&quot; said she, settling herself on the leather cushion, &quot;I've
+kept to my part of the bargain, and I don't believe your horse will
+think this wagon is a bit heavier than it was before I got in. What's
+the name of the new people that's comin' to Broadstone?&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER IX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Miss Port takes a Drive with the Butcher.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span>s the butcher and Miss Port drove out of town the latter did not talk
+quite so much as was her wont. She seemed to have something on her mind,
+and presently she proposed to Mr. Morris that he should take the
+shunpike for a change.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That would be a mile and a half out of my way!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;I can't
+do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think you'd get awfully tired of this same old road,&quot; said
+she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The easiest road is the one I like every time,&quot; said Mr. Morris, who
+was also not inclined to talk.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port did not care to pass the toll-gate that day; she was afraid
+she might see the captain, and that in some way or other he would
+interfere with her trip, but fortune favored her, as it nearly always
+did. Old Jane came to the gate, and as this stolid old woman never asked
+any questions, Miss Port contented herself with bidding her good
+morning, and sitting silent during the process of making change.</p>
+
+<p>This self-restraint very much surprised old Jane, who straightway
+informed the captain that Miss Port was riding with the butcher to
+Broadstone&mdash;she knew it was Broadstone, for he had no other customers
+that way&mdash;and she guessed something must be the matter with her, for
+she kept her mouth shut, and didn't say nothing to nobody.</p>
+
+<p>As the wagon moved on Miss Port heaved a sigh. Fearful that she might
+see the captain somewhere, she had not even allowed herself to survey
+the premises in order to catch a glimpse of the shipmate's son. This was
+a rare piece of self-denial in Maria, but she could do that sort of
+thing on occasion.</p>
+
+<p>When the butcher's wagon neared the Broadstone house Miss Port promptly
+got down, and Mr. Morris went to the kitchen regions by himself. She
+never allowed herself to enter a house by the back or side door, so now
+she went to the front, where, disappointed at not seeing any of the
+family although she had made good use of her eyes, she was obliged to
+ask a servant to conduct her to Mrs. Blynn. Before she had had time to
+calculate the cost of the rug in the hall, or to determine whether the
+walls were calcimined or merely whitewashed, she found herself with that
+good lady.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port's business with Mrs. Blynn indicated a peculiar intelligence
+on the part of the visitor. It was based upon very little; it had not
+much to do with anything; it amounted to almost nothing; and yet it
+appeared to contain certain elements of importance which made Mrs. Blynn
+give it her serious consideration.</p>
+
+<p>After she had talked and peered about as long as she thought was
+necessary, Maria said she was afraid Mr. Morris would be waiting for
+her, and quickly took her leave, begging Mrs. Blynn not to trouble
+herself to accompany her to the door. When she left the house Maria did
+not seek the butcher's wagon, but started out on a little tour of
+observation through the grounds. She was quite sure Mr. Morris was
+waiting for her, but for this she did care a snap of her finger; he
+would not dare to go and leave her. Presently she perceived a young
+gentleman approaching her, and she recognized him instantly&mdash;it was the
+goggle-eyed man who had been described to her. Stepping quickly toward
+Mr. Locker, she asked him if he could tell her where she could find Miss
+Asher; she had been told she was in the grounds.</p>
+
+<p>The young man goggled his eye a little more than usual. &quot;Do you know
+her?&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; replied Maria; &quot;I met her at the house of her uncle, Captain
+Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And, knowing her, you want to see her&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Astonished, Miss Port replied, &quot;Of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well, then,&quot; said he; &quot;beyond that clump of bushes is a seat. She
+sits thereon. Accept my condolences.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will remember every word of that,&quot; said Miss Port to herself, &quot;but I
+haven't time to think of it now. He's just ravin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive had just had an interview with Mr. Locker which, in her eyes, had
+been entirely too protracted, and she had sent him away. He had just
+made her an offer of marriage, but she had refused even to consider it,
+assuring him that her mind was occupied with other things. She was busy
+thinking of those other things when she heard footsteps near her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you do&quot; said Miss Port, extending her hand.</p>
+
+<p>Olive rose, but she put her hands behind her back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh!&quot; said Miss Port, dropping her hand, but allowing herself no verbal
+resentment. She had come there for information, and she did not wish to
+interfere with her own business. &quot;I happened to be here,&quot; she said, &quot;and
+I thought I'd come and tell you how your uncle is. He took dinner with
+us yesterday, and I was sorry to see he didn't have much appetite. But I
+suppose he's failin', as most people do when they get to his age. I
+thought you might have some message you'd like to send him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you,&quot; said Olive with more than sufficient coldness, &quot;but I have
+no message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh!&quot; said Miss Port. &quot;You're in a fine place here,&quot; she continued,
+looking about her, &quot;very different from the toll-gate; and I expect the
+Easterfields has everything they want that money can more than pay for.&quot;
+Having delivered this little shot at the reported extravagance of the
+lady of the manor, she remarked: &quot;I don't wonder you don't want to go
+back to your uncle, and run out to take the toll. It must have been a
+very great change to you if you're used to this sort of thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who said I was not going back?&quot; asked Olive sharply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Your uncle,&quot; said Miss Port. &quot;He told me at our house. Of course, he
+didn't go into no particulars, but that isn't to be expected, he's not
+the kind of man to do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive stood and looked at this smooth-faced, flat-mouthed spinster. She
+was pale, she trembled a little, but she spoke no word; she was a girl
+who did not go into particulars, especially with a person such as this
+woman standing before her.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port did not wish to continue the conversation; she generally knew
+when she had said enough. &quot;Well,&quot; she remarked, &quot;as you haven't no
+message to send to your uncle, I might as well go. But I did think that
+as I was right on my way, you'd have at least a word for him. Good
+mornin'.&quot; And with this she promptly walked away to join Mr. Morris,
+cataloguing in her mind as she went the foolish and lazy hammocks and
+garden chairs, the slow motions of a man who was sweeping leaves from
+the broad stone, and various other evidences of bad management and
+probable downfall which met her eyes in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>When Miss Port approached the toll-gate on her return she was very
+anxious to stop, and hoped that the captain would be at the gate.
+Fortune favored her again, and there he stood in the doorway of the
+little tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, captain,&quot; she exclaimed, extending herself somewhat over the
+butcher's knees in order to speak more effectively, &quot;I've been to
+Broadstone, and I've seen your niece. She's dressed up just like the
+other fine folks there, and she's stiffer than any of them, I guess. I
+didn't see Mrs. Easterfield, although I did want to get a chance to tell
+her what I thought about her plantin' weeds in her garden, and spreadin'
+new kinds of seeds over this country, which goes to weeds fast enough in
+the natural way. As to your niece, I must say she didn't show me no
+extra civility, and when I asked her if she had any message for you, she
+said she hadn't a word to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain was not in the least surprised to hear that Olive had not
+treated Miss Port with extra civility. He remembered his niece treating
+this prying gossip with positive rudeness, and he had been somewhat
+amused by it, although he had always believed that young people should
+be respectful to their elders. He did not care to talk about Olive with
+Miss Port, but he had to say something, and so he asked if she seemed to
+be having a good time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If settin' behind bushes with young men, and goggle-eyed ones at that,
+is havin' a good time,&quot; replied Miss Port, &quot;I'm sure she's enjoyin'
+herself.&quot; And then, as she caught sight of Lancaster: &quot;I suppose that's
+the young man who's visitin' you. I hope he makes his scholars study
+harder than he does. He isn't readin' his book at all; he's just starin'
+at nothin'. You might be polite enough to bring him out and introduce
+him, captain,&quot; she added in a somewhat milder tone.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not answer; in fact, he had not heard all that Miss Port
+had said to him. If Olive had refused to send him a word, even the
+slightest message, she must be a girl of very stubborn resentments, and
+he was sorry to hear it. He himself was beginning to get over his
+resentment at her treatment of him at the Broadstone luncheon, and if
+she had been of his turn of mind everything might have been smoothed
+over in a very short time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; remarked Maria in an inquiring tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said the captain, &quot;what were you saying?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Maria settled herself in her seat. &quot;If you and that young man
+wastin' his time in the garden can't keep your wits from
+wool-gatherin',&quot; said she, &quot;I hope old Jane has got sense enough to go
+on with the housekeepin'. I'll call again when you've sent your young
+man away, and got your young woman back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Maria said little to the taciturn butcher on their way to Glenford, but
+she smiled a good deal to herself. For years it had been the desire of
+her life to go to live in the toll-gate&mdash;not with any idea of ousting
+Captain Asher&mdash;oh, no, by no means. Old Mr. Port could not live much
+longer, and his daughter would not care to reside in the Glenford house
+by herself. But the toll-gate would exactly suit her; there was life;
+there was passing to and fro; there was money enough for good living and
+good clothes without any encroachment on whatever her father might leave
+her; and, above all, there was the captain, good for twenty years yet,
+in spite of his want of appetite, which she had mentioned to his niece.
+This would be a settlement which would suit her in every way, but so
+long as that niece lived there, there would be no hope of it; even the
+shipmate's son would be in the way. But she supposed he would soon be
+off.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_X'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER X</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mrs. Easterfield writes a Letter.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Miss Port had left her, Olive was so much disturbed by what that
+placid spinster had told her that she totally forgot Claude Locker's
+proposal of marriage, as well as the other things she had been thinking
+about. These things had been not at all unpleasant; she had been
+thinking of her uncle and her return to the toll-gate house. Her visit
+to Broadstone was drawing to a close, and she was getting very tired of
+Mr. Locker and Mr. and Mrs. Fox. She found, now her anger had cooled
+down, that she was actually missing her uncle, and was thinking of him
+as of some one who belonged to her. Her own father had never seemed to
+belong to her; for periods of three years he was away on his ship; and,
+even when he had been on shore duty, she had sometimes been at school;
+and when she and her parents had been stationed somewhere together, the
+lieutenant had been a good deal away from home on this or that naval
+business. When a girl she had taken these absences as a matter of
+course, but since she had been living with her uncle her ideas on the
+subject had changed. She wanted now to be at home with him: and as
+Broadstone was so near the toll-gate she had no doubt that Mrs.
+Easterfield would sometimes want her to come to her when, perhaps, she
+would have different people staying with her.</p>
+
+<p>This was a very pleasant mental picture, and the more Olive had looked
+at it, the better she had liked it. As to the reconciliation with her
+uncle, it troubled her mind but little. So often had she been angry with
+people, and so often had everything been made all right again, that she
+felt used to the process. Her way was simple enough; when she was tired
+of her indignation she quietly dropped it; and then, taking it for
+granted that the other party had done the same, she recommenced her
+usual friendly intercourse, just as if there had never been a quarrel or
+misunderstanding. She had never found this method to fail&mdash;although, of
+course, it might easily have failed with one who was not Olive&mdash;and she
+had not the slightest doubt that if she wrote to her uncle that she was
+coming on a certain day, she would be gladly received by him when she
+should arrive.</p>
+
+<p>But now? After what that woman had told her, what now? If her uncle had
+said she was not coming back, there was an end to her mental pictures
+and her pleasant plans. And what a hard man he must be to say that!</p>
+
+<p>Slowly walking over the grass, Olive went to look for Mrs. Easterfield,
+and found her in her garden on her knees by a flower-bed digging with a
+little trowel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; said she, &quot;I am thinking of getting married.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The elder lady sprang to her feet, dropping her trowel, which barely
+missed her toes. She looked frightened. &quot;What?&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;To
+whom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not to anybody in particular,&quot; replied Olive. &quot;I am considering the
+subject in general. Let's go sit on that bench, and talk about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A little relieved, Mrs. Easterfield followed her. &quot;I don't know what you
+mean,&quot; she said, when they were seated. &quot;Women don't think of marriage
+in a general way; they consider it in a particular way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I am different,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I am a navy girl, and more like a
+man. I have to look out for myself. I think it is time I was married,
+and therefore I am giving the subject attention. Don't you think that is
+prudent?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you say you have no particular leanings?&quot; the other inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None whatever,&quot; said Olive. &quot;Mr. Locker proposed to me less than an
+hour ago, but I gave him no answer. He is too precipitate, and he is
+only one person, anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't want to marry more than one person!&quot; exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but I want more than one to choose from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield did not understand the girl at all. But this was not to
+be expected so soon; she must wait a little, and find out more.
+Notwithstanding her apparent indifference to Claude Locker, there was
+more danger in that direction than Mrs. Easterfield had supposed. A
+really persistent lover is often very dangerous, no matter how
+indifferent a young woman may be.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you been considering the professor?&quot; she asked, with a smile. &quot;I
+noticed that you were very gracious to him yesterday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I haven't,&quot; said Olive. &quot;But I suppose I might as well. I did try
+to make him have a good time, but I was still a little provoked and felt
+that I would like him to go back to my uncle and tell him that he had
+enjoyed himself. But now I suppose I must consider all the eligibles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why now?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield quickly; &quot;why now more than any
+previous time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not immediately answer, but presently she said: &quot;I am not
+going back to my uncle. There was a woman here just now&mdash;I don't know
+whether she was sent or not&mdash;who informed me that he did not expect me
+to return to his house. When my mother was living we were great
+companions for each other, but now you see I am left entirely alone. It
+will be a good while before father comes back, and then I don't know
+whether he can settle down or not. Besides, I am not very well
+acquainted with him, but I suppose that would arrange itself in time. So
+you see all I can do is to visit about until I am married, and therefore
+the sooner I am married and settled the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps this is a cold-blooded girl!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+&quot;But perhaps it is not!&quot; Then, speaking aloud, she said: &quot;Olive Asher,
+were you ever in love?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at her with reflective eyes. &quot;Yes,&quot; she said. &quot;I was
+once, but that was the only time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you mind telling me about it?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; replied the girl. &quot;I was between thirteen and fourteen,
+and wore short dresses, and my hair was plaited. My father was on duty
+at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and we lived in that city. There was a
+young man who used to come to bring messages to father; I think he was a
+clerk or a draftsman. I do not remember his name, except that his first
+name was Rupert, and father always called him by that. He was a
+beautiful man-boy or boy-man, however you choose to put it. His eyes
+were heavenly blue, his skin was smooth and white, his cheeks were red,
+and he had the most charming mouth I ever saw. He was just the right
+height, well shaped, and wore the most becoming clothes. I fell madly in
+love with him the second time I saw him, and continued so for a long
+time. I used to think about him and dream about him, and write little
+poems about him which nobody ever saw. I tried to make a sketch of his
+face once, but I failed and tore it up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did he do?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing whatever,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I never spoke to him, or he to me. I
+don't believe he ever noticed me. Whenever I could I went into the room
+where he was talking to father, but I was very quiet and kept in the
+background, and I do not think his eyes ever fell upon me. But that did
+not make any difference at all. He was beautiful above all other men in
+the world, and I loved him. He was my first, my only love, and it almost
+brings tears in my eyes now to think of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you really could love the right person if he were to come along,&quot;
+said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why do you think I couldn't? Of course I could. But the trouble is he
+doesn't come, so I must try to arrange the matter with what material I
+have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield left the garden she went rapidly to her room.
+There was a smile on her lips, and a light in her eye. A novel idea had
+come to her which amused her, pleased her, and even excited her. She sat
+down at her writing-table and began a letter to her husband. After an
+opening paragraph she wrote thus:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is not Mr. Hemphill, of the central office of the D. and J., named
+Rupert? It is my impression that he is. You know he has been to our
+house several times to dinner when you invited railroad people, and I
+remember him very well. If his name is Rupert will you find out, without
+asking him directly, whether or not he was engaged about seven years ago
+at the navy-yard. I am almost positive I once had a conversation with
+him about the navy-yard and the moving of one of the great buildings
+there. If you find that he had a position there, don't ask him any more
+questions, and drop the subject as quickly as you can. But I then want
+you to send him here on whatever pretext you please&mdash;you can send me any
+sort of an important message or package&mdash;and if I find it desirable, I
+shall ask him to stay here a few days. These hard-worked secretaries
+ought to have more vacations. In fact, I have a very interesting scheme
+in mind, of which I shall say nothing now for fear you may think it
+necessary to reason about it. By the time you come it will have been
+worked out, and I will tell you all about it. Now, don't fail to send
+Mr. Hemphill as promptly as possible, if you find his name is Rupert,
+and that he has ever been engaged in the navy-yard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This letter was then sent to the post-office at the gap with an
+immediate-delivery stamp on it.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield went down-stairs, her face still glowing with the
+pleasure given by the writing of her letter, she met Claude Locker,
+whose face did not glow with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is the matter with you?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I feel like a man who has been half decapitated,&quot; said he. &quot;I do not
+know whether the execution is to be arrested and my wound healed, or
+whether it is to go on and my head roll into the dust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A horrible idea!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;What do you really mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have proposed to Miss Asher and I was treated with indifference, but
+have not been discarded. Don't you see that I can not live in this
+condition? I am looking for her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will be a great deal better for you to leave her alone,&quot; replied
+Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;If she has any answer for you she will give it when
+she is ready. Perhaps she is trying to make up her mind, and you may
+spoil all by intruding yourself upon her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That will not do at all,&quot; said Locker, &quot;not at all. The more Miss Asher
+sees of me in an unengaged condition the less she will like me. I am
+fully aware of this. I know that my general aspect must be very
+unpleasant, so if I expect any success whatever, the quicker I get this
+thing settled the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Even if she refuses you,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he answered; &quot;then down comes the axe again, away goes my head,
+and all is over! Then there is another thing,&quot; he said, without giving
+Mrs. Easterfield a chance to speak. &quot;There is that mathematical person.
+When will he be here again?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know,&quot; replied Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;he has merely a general
+invitation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't like him,&quot; said Locker. &quot;He has been here twice, and that is
+two times too many. I hate him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because he is unobjectionable,&quot; Locker answered, &quot;and I am very much
+afraid Miss Asher likes unobjectionable people. Now I am
+objectionable&mdash;I know it&mdash;and the longer I remain unengaged the more
+objectionable I shall become. I wish you would invite nobody but such
+people as the Foxes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because they are married,&quot; replied Locker. &quot;But I must not wait here.
+Can you tell me where I shall be likely to find her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;she is with the Foxes, and they are
+married.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Locker is released on Bail.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>N</span>early the whole of that morning Dick Lancaster sat in the arbor in the
+tollhouse garden, his book in his hand. Part of the time he was thinking
+about what he would like to do, and part of the time he was thinking
+about what he ought to do. He felt sure he had stayed with the captain
+as long as he had been expected to, but he did not want to go away. On
+the contrary, he greatly desired to remain within walking distance of
+Broadstone. He was in love with Olive. When he had seen her at luncheon,
+cold and reserved, he had been greatly impressed by her, and when he
+went out boating with her the next day he gave her his heart
+unreservedly. When people fell in love with Olive they always did it
+promptly.</p>
+
+<p>As he sat, with Olive standing near the footlights of his mental stage
+and the drop-curtain hanging between her and all the rest of the world,
+the captain strolled up to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick,&quot; said he, &quot;somehow or other my tobacco does not taste as it ought
+to. Give me a pipeful of yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the captain had filled his pipe from Dick's bag he lighted it and
+gave a few puffs. &quot;It isn't a bit better than mine,&quot; said he, &quot;but I
+will keep on and smoke it. Dick, let's go and take a walk over the
+hills. I feel rather stupid to-day. And, by the way, I hope you will be
+able to stay with me for the rest of your vacation. Have you made plans
+to go anywhere else?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No plans of the slightest importance,&quot; answered Lancaster with joyous
+vivacity. &quot;I shall be delighted to stay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This prompt acceptance somewhat surprised the captain. He had spoken
+without premeditation, and without thinking of anything at all except
+that he did not want everybody to go away and leave him. He had begun to
+know something of the pleasures of family life; of having some one to
+sit at the table with him; to whom he could talk; on whom he could look.
+In fact, although he did not exactly appreciate such a state of things,
+some one he could love. He was getting really fond of Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>As for Olive, he did not know what to think of her; sometimes he was
+sure she was not coming back, and at other times he thought it likely he
+might get a letter that very day appointing the time for her return. He
+stood puffing his pipe and thinking about this after Dick had spoken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it does not matter,&quot; he said to himself, &quot;which way it happens. If
+she doesn't come I want him here, and if she does come, he is good
+enough for anybody, and perhaps she may be pleased.&quot; And then he
+indulged in a little fragment of the dream which had come to him before;
+he saw two young people in a charming home, not at the toll-gate, and
+himself living with them. Plenty of money for all moderate needs, and
+all happy and satisfied. Then with a sigh he knocked the tobacco from
+his pipe and said to himself: &quot;If I hear she is coming, I will let her
+know he is still here, and then she must judge for herself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As they walked together over the hills, Dick Lancaster was very anxious
+to know something about Olive's return, but he did not like to ask. The
+captain had been very reticent on the subject of his niece, and Dick was
+a gentleman. But to his surprise, and very much to his delight, the
+captain soon began to talk about Olive. He told Dick how his brother had
+entered the navy when the elder was first mate on a merchant vessel; how
+Alfred had risen in the service; had married; and how his wife and
+daughter had lived in various parts of the world. Then he spoke of a
+good many things he had heard about Olive, and other things he had found
+out since she had lived with him; and as he went on his heart warmed,
+and Dick Lancaster listened with as warm a heart as that from which the
+captain spoke.</p>
+
+<p>And thus they walked over the hills, this young man and this elderly
+man, each in love with the same girl.</p>
+
+<p>During all the walk Dick never asked when Miss Asher was coming back to
+the tollhouse, nor did Captain Asher make any remarks upon the subject.
+It was not really of vital importance to Dick, as Broadstone was so
+near, and it was of such vital importance to the captain that it was
+impossible for him to speak of it.</p>
+
+<p>The next day the bright-hearted Richard trod buoyantly upon the earth;
+he did not care to read; he did not want to smoke; and he was not much
+inclined to conversation; he was simply buoyant, and undecided. The
+captain looked at him and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why don't you walk over to Broadstone?&quot; he said. &quot;It will do you good.
+I want you to stay with me, but I don't expect you to be stuck down to
+this tollhouse all day. I am going about the farm to-day, but I shall
+expect you to supper.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When he was ready to start Dick Lancaster felt a little perplexed. His
+ideas of friendly civility impelled him to ask the captain if there was
+anything he could do for him, if there was any message or missive he
+could take to his niece, or anything he could bring from her, but he was
+prudent and refrained; if the captain wished service of this sort he was
+a man to ask for it.</p>
+
+<p>The first person Dick met at Broadstone was Mrs. Easterfield, cutting
+roses.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am very glad to see you, Professor Lancaster,&quot; said she, as she put
+down her roses and her scissors. &quot;Would you mind, before you enter into
+the general Broadstone society, sitting down on this bench and talking a
+little to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not help smiling. What man in the world, even if he were in
+love with somebody else, could object to sitting down by such a woman
+and talking to her?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What I am going to say,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;is impertinent,
+unwarranted, and of an officious character. You and I know each other
+very slightly; neither of us has long been acquainted with Captain
+Asher, you have met his niece but twice, and I have never really known
+her until what you might call the other day. But in spite of all this, I
+propose that you and I shall meddle a little in their affairs. I have
+taken the greatest fancy to Miss Asher, and, if you can do it without
+any breach of confidence, I would like you to tell me if you know of any
+misunderstanding between her and her uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know of nothing of the kind,&quot; said Dick with great interest, &quot;but I
+admit I thought there might be something wrong somewhere. He knew I was
+coming here to-day&mdash;in fact, he suggested it&mdash;but he sent Miss Asher no
+sort of message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can it be possible he is cherishing any hard feelings against her?&quot; she
+remarked. &quot;I should not have supposed he was that sort of man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is not that sort of man,&quot; said Dick warmly. &quot;He was talking to me
+about her yesterday, and from what he said, I am sure he thinks she is
+the finest girl in the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to hear that,&quot; said she, &quot;but it makes the situation more
+puzzling. Can it be possible that she is treating him badly?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I could not believe that!&quot; exclaimed Dick fervently. &quot;I can not
+imagine such a thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled. He had really known the girl but for one day,
+for the first meeting did not count; and here he was defending the
+absolute beauty of her character. But the assumption of the genus young
+man often overtops the pyramids. She now determined to take him a little
+more into her confidence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher has intimated to me that she does not expect to go back to
+her uncle's house, and this morning she made a reference to the end of
+her visit here, but I thought you might be able to tell me something
+about her uncle. If he really does not expect her back I want her to
+stay here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Alas,&quot; said Dick, &quot;I can not tell you anything. But of one thing I feel
+sure, and that is that he would like her to come back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I am not going to let her go away at
+present, and if Captain Asher should say anything to you on the subject,
+you are at liberty to tell him that. From what you said the other day, I
+suppose you will soon be leaving this quiet valley for the haunts of
+men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; exclaimed Dick. &quot;He wants me to stay with him as long as I
+can, and I shall certainly do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, rising, &quot;I must go and finish cutting my
+roses. I think you will find everybody on the tennis grounds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield had cut in all twenty-three roses when Claude Locker
+came to her from the house. His face was beaming, and he skipped over
+the short grass.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Congratulate me,&quot; he said, as he stepped before her.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield dropped her roses and her scissors and turned pale.
+&quot;What do you mean?&quot; she gasped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't be frightened,&quot; he said. &quot;I have not been acquitted, but the
+execution has been stopped for the present, and I am out on bail. I
+really feel as though the wound in my neck had healed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What stuff!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, her color returning. &quot;Try to speak
+sensibly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I can do that,&quot; said Mr. Locker; &quot;upon occasion I can do that very
+well. I proposed again to Miss Asher not twenty minutes ago. She gave me
+no answer, but she made an arrangement with me which I think is going to
+be very satisfactory; she said she could not have me proposing to her
+every time I saw her&mdash;it would attract attention, and in the end might
+prove annoying&mdash;but she said she would be willing to have me propose to
+her every day just before luncheon, provided I did not insist upon an
+answer, and would promise to give no indication whatever at any other
+time that I entertained any unusual regard for her. I agreed to this,
+and now we understand each other. I feel very confident and happy. The
+other person has no regular time for offering himself, and if any effort
+of mine can avail he shall not find an irregular opportunity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. &quot;Come pick up my roses,&quot; she said. &quot;I must go
+in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is like making love,&quot; said Locker as he picked up the flowers,
+&quot;charming, but prickly.&quot; At this moment he started. &quot;Who is that?&quot; he
+exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield turned. &quot;Oh, that is Monsieur Emile Du Brant. He is one
+of the secretaries of the Austrian legation. He is to spend a week with
+us. Suppose you take my flowers into the house and I will go to meet
+him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker, his arms folded around a mass of thorny roses, and a pair
+of scissors dangling from one finger, stood and gazed with savage
+intensity at the dapper little man&mdash;black eyes, waxed mustache, dressed
+in the height of fashion&mdash;who, with one hand outstretched, while the
+other held his hat, advanced with smiles and bows to meet the lady of
+the house. Locker had seen him before; he had met him in Washington; and
+he had received forty dollars for a poem of which this Austrian young
+person was the subject.</p>
+
+<p>He allowed the lady and her guest to enter the house before him, and
+then, like a male Flora, he followed, grinding his teeth, and indulging
+in imprecations.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He will have to put on some other kind of clothes,&quot; he muttered, &quot;and
+perhaps he may shave and curl his hair. That will give me a chance to
+see her before lunch. I do not know that she expected me to begin
+to-day, but I am going to do it. I have a clear field so far, and nobody
+knows what may happen to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Locker stood in the hallway waiting for some one to come and take his
+flowers, or to tell him where to put them, he glanced out of the back
+door. There, to his horror, he saw that Mrs. Easterfield had conducted
+her guest through the house, and that they were now approaching the
+tennis ground, where Professor Lancaster and Miss Asher were standing
+with their rackets in their hands, while Mr. and Mrs. Fox were playing
+chess under the shade of a tree.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Field open!&quot; he exclaimed, dropping the roses and the scissors. &quot;Field
+clear! What a double-dyed ass am I!&quot; And with this he rushed out to the
+tennis ground; Mrs. Easterfield did not play.</p>
+
+<p>Before Mrs. Easterfield returned to the house she stood for a moment
+and looked at the tennis players.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive and three young men,&quot; she said to herself; &quot;that will do very
+well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A little before luncheon Claude Locker became very uneasy, and even
+agitated. He hovered around Olive, but found no opportunity to speak to
+her, for she was always talking to somebody else, mostly to the
+newcomer. But she was a little late in entering the dining-room, and
+Locker stepped up to her in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this your handkerchief?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she, stopping; &quot;isn't it yours?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied, &quot;but I had to have some way of attracting your
+attention. I love you so much that I can scarcely see the table and the
+people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you,&quot; she said, &quot;and that is all for the next twenty-four hours.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Rupert Hemphill.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>hat afternoon it rained, so that the Broadstone people were obliged to
+stay indoors. Dick Lancaster found Mr. Fox a very agreeable and
+well-informed man, and Mrs. Fox was also an excellent conversationalist.
+Mrs. Easterfield, who, after the confidences of the morning, could not
+help looking at him as something more than an acquaintance, talked to
+him a good deal, and tried to make the time pass pleasantly, at which
+business she was an adept. All this was very pleasant to Dick, but it
+did not compensate him for the almost entire loss of the society of
+Olive, who seemed to devote herself to the entertainment of the Austrian
+secretary. Mrs. Easterfield was very sorry that the young foreigner had
+come at this time, but he had been invited the winter before; the time
+had been appointed; and the visit had to be endured.</p>
+
+<p>When the rain had ceased, and Dick was about to take his leave, his
+hostess declared she would not let him walk back through the mud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You shall have a horse,&quot; she said, &quot;and that will insure an early visit
+from you, for, of course, you will not trust the animal to other hands
+than your own. I would ask you to stay, but that would not be treating
+the captain kindly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Dick was mounting Mr. Du Brant was standing at the front door, a
+smile on his swarthy countenance. This smile said as plainly as words
+could have done so that it was very amusing to this foreign young man to
+see a person with rolled-up trousers and a straw hat mount upon a horse.
+Claude Locker, whose soul had been chafing all the afternoon under his
+banishment from the society of the angel of his life, was also at the
+front door, and saw the contemptuous smile. Instantly a new and powerful
+emotion swept over his being in the shape of a strong feeling of
+fellowship for Lancaster. It made his soul boil with indignation to see
+the sneer which the Austrian directed toward the young man, a thoroughly
+fine young man, who, by said foreigner's monkeyful impudence, and
+another's mistaken favor, had been made a brother-in-misfortune of
+himself, Claude Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will make common cause with him against the enemy,&quot; thought Locker.
+&quot;If I should fail to get her I will help him to.&quot; And although Dick's
+brown socks were plainly visible as he cantered away, Mr. Locker looked
+after him as a gallant and honored brother-in-arms.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Claude Locker fought for himself and his comrade. He
+persisted in talking French with Mr. Du Brant; and his remarkable
+management of that language, in which ignorance and a subtle facility in
+intentional misapprehension were so adroitly blended that it was
+impossible to tell one from the other, amused Olive, and so provoked the
+Austrian that at last he turned away and began to talk American
+politics with Mr. Fox, which so elated the poet that the ladies of the
+party passed a merry evening.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you like me to take him out rowing to-morrow?&quot; asked Claude apart
+to his hostess.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With you at the oars?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am amazed,&quot; said she, &quot;that you should suspect me of such
+cold-blooded cruelty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know you don't want him here,&quot; said Claude. &quot;His salary can not be
+large, and he must spend the greater part of it on clothes&mdash;and oil.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it possible,&quot; she asked, &quot;that you look upon that young man as a
+rival?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By no means,&quot; he replied; &quot;such persons never marry. They only prevent
+other people from marrying anybody. Therefore it is that I remember what
+sort of a boatman I am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My dear,&quot; said Mr. Fox, when he and his wife had retired to their room,
+&quot;after hearing what that Austrian has to say of the American people, I
+almost revere Mr. Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I heard some of his remarks,&quot; she said, &quot;and I imagined they would have
+an effect of that kind upon you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the Broadstone surrey came from the train the next morning it
+brought a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Fox, when from the other side of the lawn she saw
+him alight. &quot;Another young man with a valise! It seems to me that this
+is an overdose!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Overdoses,&quot; remarked Mr. Fox, &quot;are often less dangerous than just
+enough poison.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield received this visitor at the door. She had been waiting
+for him, and did not wish him to meet anybody when she was not present.
+After offering his respectful salutations, Mr. Hemphill, Mr.
+Easterfield's secretary in the central office of the D. and J.,
+delivered without delay a package of which he was the bearer, and
+apologized for his valise, stating that Mr. Easterfield had told him he
+must spend the night at Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Most assuredly you would do that,&quot; said she, and to herself she added,
+&quot;If I want you longer I will let you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rupert Hemphill was a very handsome man; his nose was fine; his eyes
+were dark and expressive; he wore silky side-whiskers, which, however,
+did not entirely conceal the bloom upon his cheeks; his teeth were very
+good; he was well shaped; and his clothes fitted him admirably.</p>
+
+<p>As has been said before, Mrs. Easterfield was exceedingly interested;
+she was even a little agitated, which was not common with her. She had
+Mr. Hemphill conducted to his room, and then she waited for him to come
+down; this also was not common with her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Locker,&quot; she called from the open door, &quot;do you know where Miss
+Asher is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The poet stopped in his stride across the lawn, and approached the lady.
+&quot;Oh, she is with the Du Brant,&quot; said he. &quot;I have been trying to get in
+some of my French, but neither of them will rise to the fly. However, I
+am content; it is now three hours before luncheon, and if she has him
+to herself for that length of time, I think she will be thoroughly
+disgusted. Then it will be my time, as per agreement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was a little disappointed. She wanted Olive by herself,
+but she did not want to make a point of sending for her. But fortune
+favored her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There she is,&quot; exclaimed Locker; &quot;she is just going into the library.
+Let me go tell her you want her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Don't put yourself into danger of
+breaking your word by seeing her alone before luncheon. I'll go to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker continued his melancholy stroll, and Mrs. Easterfield entered
+the library. Olive must not be allowed to go away until the moment
+arrived which had been awaited with so much interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am looking for a copy of <i>Tartarin sur les Alps</i>. I am sure I saw it
+among these French books,&quot; said Olive, on her knees before a low
+bookcase. &quot;Would you believe it, Mr. Du Brant has never read it, and he
+seems to think so much of education.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield knew exactly where the book was, but she preferred to
+allow Olive to occupy herself in looking for it, while she kept her eyes
+on the hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wait a moment, Olive,&quot; said she; &quot;a visitor has just arrived, and I
+want to make him acquainted with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive rose with a book in her hand, and Mrs. Easterfield presented Mr.
+Hemphill to Miss Asher. As she did so, Mrs. Easterfield kept her eyes
+steadily fixed upon the young lady's face. With a pleasant smile Olive
+returned Mr. Hemphill's bow. She was generally glad to make new
+acquaintances.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill is one of my husband's business associates,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield, still with her eyes on Olive. &quot;He has just come from him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did he send us this fine day by you?&quot; said Olive. &quot;If so, we are
+greatly obliged to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young man answered that, although he had not brought the day, he was
+delighted that he had come in company with it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What atrocious commonplaces!&quot; thought Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;The girl does
+not know him from Adam!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here was a disappointment; the thrill, the pallor, the involuntary
+start, were totally absent; and the first act of the little play was a
+failure. But Mrs. Easterfield hoped for better things when the curtain
+rose again. She conducted Mr. Hemphill to the Foxes and let Olive go
+away with her book; and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she read
+the letter from her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With this I send you Mr. Hemphill,&quot; he wrote. &quot;I don't know what you
+want to do with him, but you must take good care of him. He is a most
+valuable secretary, and an estimable young man. As soon as you have done
+with him please send him back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad he is estimable,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. &quot;That
+will make the matter more satisfactory to Tom when I explain it to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Dick Lancaster, properly booted and wearing a felt hat, returned
+the borrowed horse, he was met by Mr. Locker, who had been wandering
+about the front of the house, and when he had dismounted Dick was
+somewhat surprised by the hearty handshake he received.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sorry to have to tell you,&quot; said the poet, &quot;that there is another
+one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Another what?&quot; asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Another unnecessary victim,&quot; replied Locker. And with this he returned
+to the front of the house.</p>
+
+<p>At last Olive came down the stairs, and she was alone. Locker stepped
+quickly up to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I should marry,&quot; he said, &quot;would I be expected to entertain that
+Austrian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped, and gave the question her serious consideration. &quot;I should
+think,&quot; she said, &quot;that that would depend a good deal upon whom you
+should marry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How can you talk in that way?&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;As if there were anything
+to depend upon!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing to depend upon,&quot; said Olive, slightly raising her eyebrows.
+&quot;That is bad.&quot; And she went into the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon was an exceptionally fine one, but the party at Broadstone
+did not take advantage of it; there seemed to be a spirit of unrest
+pervading the premises, and when the carriage started on a drive along
+the river only Mr. and Mrs. Fox were in it. Mrs. Easterfield would not
+leave Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and she did not encourage them to go.
+Consequently there were three young men who did not wish to go.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; said Mr. Fox, as they rolled away, &quot;that a young
+woman, such as Miss Asher, has it in her power to interfere very much
+with the social feeling which should pervade a household like this. If
+she were to satisfy herself with attracting one person, all the rest of
+us might be content to make ourselves happy in such fashions as might
+present themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The rest of us!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Fox.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; replied her husband. &quot;I mean you, and Mrs. Easterfield, and
+myself, and the rest. That young woman's indeterminate methods of
+fascination interfere with all of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't exactly see how they interfere with me,&quot; said Mrs. Fox rather
+stiffly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If the carriage had been filled, as was expected,&quot; said her husband, &quot;I
+might have had the pleasure of driving you in a buggy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She turned to him with a smile. &quot;Immediately after I spoke,&quot; she said,
+&quot;I imagined you might be thinking of something of that kind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was not a woman to wait for things to happen in their
+own good time. If possible, she liked to hurry them up. In this Olive
+and Hemphill affair there was really nothing to wait for; if she left
+them to themselves there would be no happenings. As soon as was
+possible, she took Olive into her own little room, where she kept her
+writing-table, and into whose sacred precincts her secretary was not
+allowed to penetrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said she, &quot;what do you think of Mr. Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think of him at all,&quot; said Olive, a little surprised. &quot;Is there
+anything about him to think of?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He sat by you at luncheon,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and he was better than an empty chair. I
+hate sitting by empty chairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield with vivacity, &quot;you ought to
+remember that young man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Remember him?&quot; the girl ejaculated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;After what you told me about him, I
+expected you would recognize him the moment you saw him. But you did not
+know him; you did not do anything I expected you to do; and I was very
+much disappointed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am talking about Mr. Hemphill; Mr. Rupert Hemphill; who, about seven
+years ago, was engaged in the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and who came to
+your house on business with your father. From what you told me of him I
+conjectured that he might now be my husband's Philadelphia secretary,
+for his name is Rupert, and I had reason to believe that he was once
+engaged in the navy-yard. When I found out I was entirely correct in my
+supposition I had him sent here, and I looked forward with the most
+joyous anticipations to being present when you first saw him. But it was
+all a fiasco! I suppose some people might think I was unwarrantably
+meddling in the affairs of others, but as it was in my power to create a
+most charming romance, I could not let the opportunity pass.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not hear a word of Mrs. Easterfield's latest remarks; her
+round, full eyes were fixed upon the wall in front of her, but they saw
+nothing. Her mind had gone back seven years.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it possible,&quot; she exclaimed presently, &quot;that that is my Rupert, my
+beautiful Rupert of the roseate cheeks, the Rupert of my heart, my only
+love! The Endymion-like youth I watched for every day; on whom I gazed
+and gazed and worshiped and longed for when he had gone; of whom I
+dreamed; to whom my soul went out in poetry; whose miniature I would
+have painted on the finest ivory if I had known how to paint; and whose
+image thus created I would have worn next my heart to look at every
+instant I found myself alone, if it had not been that my dresses were
+all fastened down the back! I am going to him this instant! I must see
+him again! My Rupert, my only love!&quot; And with this she started to the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing from her chair, &quot;stop, don't
+you do that! Come back. You must not&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the girl had flown down the stairs, and was gone.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Lancaster's Backers.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live found Mr. Hemphill under a tree upon the lawn. He was sitting on a
+low bench with one little girl upon each knee. He was not a stranger to
+the children, for they had frequently met him during their winter
+residences in cities. He was telling them a story when Olive approached.
+He made an attempt to rise, but the little girls would not let him put
+them down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't move, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I am going to sit down myself.&quot;
+And as she spoke she drew forward a low bench. &quot;I am so glad to see you
+are fond of children, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; she continued; &quot;you must have
+changed very much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Changed!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;I have always been fond of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said Olive, &quot;not always. I remember a child you did not
+care for, on whom you did not even look, who was absolutely nothing to
+you, although you were so much to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill stared. &quot;I do not remember such a child,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She existed,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I was that child.&quot; And then she told him
+how she had seen him come to her father's house.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill remembered Lieutenant Asher, he remembered going to his
+house, but he did not remember seeing there a little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was not so very little,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I was fourteen, and I was just
+at an age to be greatly attracted by you. I thought you were the most
+beautiful young man I had ever beheld. I don't mind telling you, because
+I can not look upon you as a stranger, that I fell deeply in love with
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Hemphill sat and listened to these words his face turned redder
+than the reddest rose, even his silky whiskers seemed to redden, his
+fine-cut red lips were parted, but he could not speak. The two little
+girls had been gazing earnestly at Olive. Now the elder one spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am in love,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so am I,&quot; piped up the younger one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's in love with Martha's little Jim,&quot; said the first girl, &quot;but I am
+in love with Henry. He's eight. Both boys.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wouldn't be in love with a girl,&quot; said the little one contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>This interruption was a help to Mr. Hemphill, and his redness paled a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course you could not be expected to know anything of my feelings for
+you,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and perhaps it is very well you did not, for business
+is business, and the feelings of girls should not be allowed to
+interfere with it. But my heart went out to you all the same. You were
+my first love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now Mr. Hemphill crimsoned again worse than before. He had not yet
+spoken a word, and there was no word in the English language which he
+thought would be appropriate for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may think I am a little cruel to plump this sort of thing upon
+you,&quot; said Olive, &quot;in such a sudden way, but I am not. All this was
+seven years ago, and a person of my age can surely speak freely of what
+happened seven years ago. I did not even know you when I met you, but
+Mrs. Easterfield told me about you, and now I remember everything, and I
+think it would have been inhuman if I had not told you of the part you
+used to play in my life. You have a right to know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If Mr. Hemphill could have reddened any more he would have done so, but
+it was not possible. The thought flashed into his mind that it might be
+well to say something about her having found him very much changed, but
+in the next instant he saw that that would not do. How could he assume
+that he had ever been beautiful; how could he force her to say that he
+was not beautiful now, or that he still remained so?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am very glad I have met you,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and that I know who you
+are. And I am glad, too, to tell you that I forgive you for not taking
+notice of me seven years ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that all of your story?&quot; asked the elder little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Olive, laughing, &quot;that is all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then, let Mr. Hemphill go on with his,&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, certainly,&quot; said Olive, jumping up; &quot;and you must all excuse me
+for interfering with your story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill sat still, a little girl on each knee. He had not spoken a
+word since that beautiful girl had told him she had once loved him. And
+he could not speak now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look as if you had a plaster taken off,&quot; said the younger little
+girl. And, after waiting a moment for an answer, she slipped off his
+knee; the other followed; and the story was postponed.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield heard Olive's account of this incident she was
+utterly astounded. &quot;What sort of a girl are you&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;What
+are you going to do about it now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do?&quot; said Olive quietly. &quot;I have done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was in a state of great perplexity. She had already
+asked Mr. Hemphill to stay until Saturday, three days off, and she could
+not tell him to go away, and the awkwardness of his remaining in the
+same house with Olive was something not easy to deal with.</p>
+
+<p>During Olive's interview with Mr. Hemphill and the little girls Claude
+Locker had been sitting alone at a distance, gazing at the group. He was
+waiting for an opportunity of social converse, for this was not
+forbidden him even if the time did not immediately precede the luncheon
+hour. He saw Hemphill's blazing face, and deeply wondered. If it had
+been the lady who had flushed he would have bounced upon the scene to
+defend her, but Olive was calm, and it was the conscious guilt of the
+man that made his face look like a freshly painted tin roof. This was an
+affair into which he had no right to intrude himself, and so he sat and
+sighed, and his heart grew heavy. How many ante-luncheon avowals would
+have to be made before she would take so much interest in him, one way
+or the other!</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant also sat at a distance. He was reading, or at least
+appearing to read; but he was so unaccustomed to holding a book in his
+hands that he did it very awkwardly, and Miss Raleigh, who was looking
+at him from the library window, made up her mind that if he dropped it,
+as she expected him to do, she would get the book and rub the dirt off
+the corners before it was put back into the bookcase. But when Olive
+left Mr. Hemphill she went so quickly into the house that the Austrian
+was unable to join her, and he, therefore, went to his room to prepare
+for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster had also been waiting, although not watching. He had
+hoped that he might have a chance for a little talk with Olive. But
+there was really no good reason to expect it, for he knew that two, and
+perhaps three, young men had stayed at home that afternoon in the hope
+that they might have the same opportunity. The odds against him were
+great.</p>
+
+<p>He began to think that perhaps he was engaged in a foolish piece of
+business, and was in danger of making himself disagreeably conspicuous.
+The other young men were guests at Broadstone, but if he came there
+every day as he had been doing, and as he wanted to do, it might be
+thought that he was taking advantage of Mrs. Easterfield's kindness. At
+that moment he heard the rustle of skirts, and, glancing up, saw Mrs.
+Easterfield, who was looking for him.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield's regard for Lancaster was growing, partly on account
+of the confidence she had already reposed in him. In her present state
+of mind she would have been glad to give him still more, for she did not
+know what to do about Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and there was no one with
+whom she could talk upon the subject; even if she had known Dick better
+her loyalty to Olive would have prevented that.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you found out anything about the captain and Olive?&quot; she asked.
+&quot;Has he spoken of her return?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; replied Dick; &quot;he has not said a word on the subject, but I am
+very sure he would be overjoyed to have her come back. Every day when
+the postman arrives I believe he looks for a letter from her, and he
+shows that he feels it when he finds none. He is good-natured, and
+pleasant, but he is not as cheerful as when I first came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Every day,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, as they walked together, &quot;I love
+Olive more and more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So do I,&quot; thought Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But every day I understand her less and less,&quot; she continued. &quot;She is
+truly a navy girl, and repose does not seem to be one of her
+characteristics. From what she has told me, I believe she has never
+lived in domestic peace and quiet until she came to stay with her uncle.
+It would delight me to see her properly married. I wish you would marry
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick stopped, and so did she, and they stood looking at each other. He
+did not redden, for he was not of the flushing kind; his face even grew
+a little hard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you believe,&quot; said he, in a very different tone from his ordinary
+voice, &quot;that I have the slightest chance?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I do,&quot; she answered. &quot;I believe you have a very good chance,
+or I should not have spoken to you. I flatter myself that I have
+excellent judgment concerning young men, and I am very fond of Olive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; exclaimed Dick, &quot;you know I am in love with her. I
+suppose that has been easy enough to see, but it has all been very quick
+work with me; in fact, I have had very little to say to her, and have
+never said anything that could in the slightest degree indicate how I
+felt toward her. But I believe I loved her the second day I met her, and
+I am not sure it did not begin the day before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think that sort of thing is always quick work where Olive is
+concerned,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I think it likely that many young
+men have fallen in love with her, and that they have to be very lively
+if they want a chance to tell her so. But don't be jealous. I know
+positively that none of them ever had the slightest chance. But now all
+that is passed. I know she is tired of an unsettled life, and it is
+likely she may soon be thinking of marrying, and there will be no lack
+of suitors. She has them now. But I want her to marry you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; exclaimed Dick, &quot;you have known me but a very little
+while&mdash;&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't mention that,&quot; she interrupted. &quot;I do quick work as well as other
+people. I never before engaged in any matchmaking business, but if this
+succeeds, I shall be proud of it to the end of my days. You are in love
+with Olive, and she is worthy of you. I want you to try to win her, and
+I will do everything I can to help you. Here is my hand upon it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Dick held that hand and looked into that face a courage and a belief
+in himself came into his heart that had never been there before. By day
+and by night his soul had been filled with the image of Olive, but up to
+this moment he had not thought of marrying her. That was something that
+belonged to the future, not even considered in his state of inchoate
+adoration. But now that he had been told he had reason to hope, he
+hoped; and the fact that one beautiful woman told him he might hope to
+win another beautiful woman was a powerful encouragement. Henceforth he
+would not be content with simply loving Olive; if it were within his
+power he would win, he would have her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look like a soldier going forth to conquest,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield
+with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you,&quot; said he impulsively, &quot;you not only look like, but you are an
+angel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was pretty strong for the young professor, but the lady understood
+him. She was very glad, indeed, that he could express himself
+impulsively, for without that power he could not win Olive.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick started away from Broadstone on his walk to the toll-gate he
+heard quick steps behind him and was soon overtaken by Claude Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello,&quot; said that young man, &quot;if you are on your way home I am going to
+walk a while with you. I have not done a thing to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Dick heard these words his heart sank. He was on his way home
+accompanied by Olive&mdash;Olive in his heart, Olive in his soul, Olive in
+his brain, Olive in the sky and all over the earth&mdash;how dared a common
+mortal intrude himself upon the scene?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is another thing,&quot; said Locker, who was now keeping step with
+him. &quot;My soul is filled with murderous intent. I thirst for human life,
+and I need the restraints of companionship.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is it you want to kill?&quot; asked Dick coldly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is an Austrian,&quot; replied the other. &quot;I will not say what Austrian,
+leaving that to your imagination. I don't suppose you ever killed an
+Austrian. Neither have I, but I should like to do it. It would be a
+novel and delightful experience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick did not think it necessary that he should be told more; he
+perfectly understood the state of the case, for it was impossible not to
+see that this young man was paying marked attention to Olive, while Mr.
+Du Brant was doing the same thing. But still it seemed well to say
+something, and he remarked:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is the matter with the Austrian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is in love with Miss Asher,&quot; said Locker, &quot;and so am I. I am
+beginning to believe he is positively dangerous. I did not think so at
+first, but I do now. He has actually taken to reading. I know that man;
+I have often seen him in Washington. He was always running after some
+lady or other, but I never knew him to read before. It is a dangerous
+symptom. He reads with one eye, while the other sweeps the horizon to
+catch a glimpse of her. By the way, that would be a splendid idea for a
+district policeman; if he stood under a lamp-post in citizen's dress
+reading a book, no criminal would suspect his identity, and he could
+keep one eye on the printed page, and devote the other to the cause of
+justice. But to return to our sallow mutton, or black sheep, if you
+choose. That Austrian ought to be killed!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick smiled sardonically. &quot;He is not your only obstacle,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know it,&quot; replied Locker. &quot;There's that Chinese laundried fellow,
+smooth-finished, who came up this morning. He must be an old offender,
+for I saw her giving it to him hot this morning. I am sure she was
+telling him exactly what she thought of him, for he turned as red as a
+pickled beet. So he will have to scratch pretty hard if he expects to
+get into her good graces again, and I suppose that is what he came here
+for. But I am not so much afraid of him as I am of that Austrian. If he
+keeps on the literary lay, and reads books with her, looking up the
+words in the dictionary, it is dangerous.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not see,&quot; said Lancaster, somewhat loftily, &quot;why you speak of
+these things to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll tell you,&quot; said Locker quickly. &quot;I speak of them to you
+because you are just as much concerned in them as I am. You are in love
+with Miss Asher&mdash;anybody can see that&mdash;and, in fact, I should think you
+were a pretty poor sort of a fellow if you were not, after having seen
+and talked with her. Consequently that Austrian is just as dangerous to
+you as he is to me. And as I have chosen you for my brother-in-arms, it
+is right that I tell you everything I know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Brother-in-arms?&quot; ejaculated Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is what it is,&quot; said Locker, &quot;and I will tell you how it came
+about. The Austrian looked upon you with scorn and contempt because you
+rode a horse wearing rolled-up trousers and low shoes. As you did not
+see him and could not return the contempt, I did it for you. Having done
+this, a fellow feeling for you immediately sprang up within me. That is
+what always happens, you know. After that the feeling became a good deal
+stronger, and I said to myself that if I found I could not get Miss
+Asher; and it's seventy-six I don't, for that's generally the state of
+my luck; I would help you to get her, partly because I like you, and
+partly because that Austrian must be ousted, no matter what happens or
+how it is done. So I became your brother-in-arms, and if I find I am out
+of the race, I am going to back you up just as hard as I can, and here's
+my hand upon it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick stopped as he had stopped half an hour before, and gazed upon his
+companion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now don't thank me,&quot; continued Locker, &quot;or say anything nice, because
+if I find I can come in ahead of you I am going to do it. But if we work
+together, I am sure we need not be afraid of that Austrian, or of that
+fiery-faced model for a ready-made-clothes shop. It is to be either you
+or me&mdash;first place for me, if possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not help laughing. &quot;You are a jolly sort of a fellow,&quot; said
+he, &quot;and I will be your brother-in-arms. But it is to be first place for
+me, if possible.&quot; And they shook hands upon the bargain.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Mr. Hemphill found Olive alone. &quot;I have been trying to get
+a chance to speak to you, Miss Asher,&quot; said he. &quot;I want to ask you to
+help me, for I do not know what in the world to do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Since you spoke to me this afternoon,&quot; he went on, &quot;I have been in a
+state of most miserable embarrassment; I can not for the life of me
+decide what I ought to say or what I ought to do, or what I ought not to
+say or what I ought not to do. If I should pass over as something not
+necessary to take into consideration the&mdash;the&mdash;most unusual statement
+you made to me, it might be that you would consider me as a boor, a man
+incapable of appreciating the&mdash;the&mdash;highest honors. Then again, if I do
+say anything to show that I appreciate such honors, you may well
+consider me presumptuous, conceited, and even insulting. I thought a
+while ago that I would leave this house before it would be necessary for
+me to decide how I should act when I met you, but I could not do that.
+Explanations would be necessary, and I would not be able to make them,
+and so, in sheer despair, I have come to you. Whatever you say I ought
+to do I will do. Of myself, I am utterly helpless.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him with serious earnestness. &quot;You are in a queer
+position,&quot; she said, &quot;and I don't wonder you do not know what to do. I
+did not think of this peculiar consequence which would result from my
+revelation. As to the revelation itself, there is no use talking about
+it; it had to be made. It would have been unjust and wicked to allow a
+man to live in ignorance of the fact that such a thing had happened to
+him without his knowing it. But I think I can make it all right for
+you. If you had known when you were very young, in fact, when you were
+in another age of man, that a young girl in short dresses was in love
+with you, would you have disdained her affection?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should say not!&quot; exclaimed Rupert Hemphill, his eyes fixed upon the
+person who had once been that girl in short dresses.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Olive, &quot;there could have been nothing for her to
+complain of, no matter what she knew or what she did not know, and there
+is nothing he could complain of, no matter what he knew or did not know.
+And as both these persons have passed entirely out of existence, I think
+you and I need consider them no longer. And we can talk about tennis or
+bass fishing, or anything we like. And if you are a fisherman you will
+be glad to hear that there is first-rate bass fishing in the river now,
+and that we are talking of getting up a regular fishing party. We shall
+have to go two or three miles below here where the water is deeper and
+there are not so many rocks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That night Mr. Hemphill dreamed hard of a girl who had loved him when
+she was little, and who continued to love him now that she had grown to
+be wonderfully handsome. He was going out to sail with her in a boat far
+and far away, where nobody could find them or bring them back.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>A Letter for Olive.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he next morning, about an hour after breakfast, Mr. Du Brant proposed
+to Olive. He had received a letter the day before which made it probable
+that he might be recalled to Washington before the time which had been
+fixed for the end of his visit at Broadstone, and he consequently did
+not wish to defer for a moment longer than was necessary this most
+important business of his life. He told Miss Asher that he had never
+truly loved before; which was probably correct; and that as she had
+raised his mind from the common things of earth, upon which it had been
+accustomed to grovel, she had made a new man of him in an astonishingly
+short time; which, it is likely, was also true.</p>
+
+<p>He assured her that without any regard to outside circumstances, he
+could not live without her. If at any other time he had allowed his mind
+to dwell for a moment upon matrimony, he had thought of family,
+position, wealth, social station, and all that sort of thing, but now he
+thought of nothing but her, and he came to offer her his heart. In fact,
+the man was truly and honestly in love.</p>
+
+<p>Inwardly Olive smiled. &quot;I can not ask him,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;to say
+this again every day before dinner. He hasn't the wit of Claude Locker,
+and would not be able to vary his remarks; but I can not blast his hopes
+too suddenly, for, if I do that, he will instantly go away, and it would
+not be treating Mrs. Easterfield properly if I were to break up her
+party without her knowledge. But I will talk to her about it. And now
+for him.&mdash;Mr. Du Brant,&quot; she said aloud, speaking in English, although
+he had proposed to her in French, because she thought she could make her
+own language more impressive, &quot;it is a very serious thing you have said
+to me, and I don't believe you have had time enough to think about it
+properly. Now don't interrupt. I know exactly what you would say. You
+have known me such a little while that even if your mind is made up it
+can not be properly made up, and therefore, for your own sake, I am
+going to give you a chance to think it all over. You must not say you
+don't want to, because I want you to; and when you have thought, and
+thought, and know yourself better&mdash;now don't say you can not know
+yourself better if you have a thousand years in which to consider
+it&mdash;for though you think that it is true it is not&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And if I rack my brains and my heart,&quot; interrupted Mr. Du Brant, &quot;and
+find out that I can never change nor feel in any other way toward you
+than I feel now, may I then&mdash;&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't say anything about that,&quot; said Olive. &quot;What I want to do now
+is to treat you honorably and fairly, and to give you a chance to
+withdraw if, after sober consideration, you think it best to do so. I
+believe that every young man who thinks himself compelled to propose
+marriage in such hot haste ought to have a chance to reflect quietly
+and coolly, and to withdraw if he wants to. And that is all, Mr. Du
+Brant. I must be off this minute, for Mrs. Easterfield is over there
+waiting for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant walked thoughtfully away. &quot;I do not understand,&quot; he said to
+himself in French, &quot;why she did not tell me I need not speak to her
+again about it. The situation is worthy of diplomatic consideration, and
+I will give it that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>From a distance Claude Locker beheld his Austrian enemy walking alone,
+and without a book.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Something has happened,&quot; he thought, &quot;and the fellow has changed his
+tactics. Before, under cover of a French novel, he was a snake in the
+grass, now he is a snake hopping along on the tip of his tail. Perhaps
+he thinks this is a better way to keep a lookout upon her. I believe he
+is more dangerous than he was before, for I don't know whether a snake
+on tip tail jumps or falls down upon his victims.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>One thing Mr. Locker was firmly determined upon. He was going to try to
+see Olive as soon as it was possible before luncheon, and impress upon
+her the ardent nature of his feelings toward her; he did not believe he
+had done this yet. He looked about him. The party, excepting himself and
+Mr. Du Brant, were on the front lawn; he would join them and satirize
+the gloomy Austrian. If Olive could be made to laugh at him it would be
+like preparing a garden-bed with spade and rake before sowing his seeds.</p>
+
+<p>The rural mail-carrier came earlier than usual that day, and he brought
+Olive but one letter, but as it was from her father, she was entirely
+satisfied, and retired to a bench to read it.</p>
+
+<p>In about ten minutes after that she walked into Mrs. Easterfield's
+little room, the open letter in her hand. As Mrs. Easterfield looked up
+from her writing-table the girl seemed transformed; she was taller, she
+was straighter, her face had lost its bloom, and her eyes blazed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you believe it!&quot; she said, grating out the words as she spoke.
+&quot;My father is going to be married!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield dropped her pen, and her face lost color. She had
+always been greatly interested in Lieutenant Asher. &quot;What!&quot; she
+exclaimed. &quot;He? And to whom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A girl I used to go to school with,&quot; said Olive, standing as if she
+were framed in one solid piece. &quot;Edith Marshall, living in Geneva. She
+is older than I am, but we were in the same classes. They are to be
+married in October, and she is to sail for this country about the time
+his ship comes home. He is to be stationed at Governor's Island, and
+they are to have a house there. He writes, and writes, and writes, about
+how lovely it will be for me to have this dear new mother. Me! To call
+that thing mother! I shall have no mother, but I have lost my father.&quot;
+With this she threw herself upon a lounge, and burst into passionate
+tears. Mrs. Easterfield rose, and closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker had no opportunity to press his suit before luncheon, for
+Olive did not come to that meal; she had one of her headaches. Every one
+seemed to appreciate the incompleteness of the party, and even Mrs.
+Easterfield looked serious, which was not usual with her. Mr. Hemphill
+was much cast down, for he had made up his mind to talk to Olive in such
+a way that she should not fail to see that he had taken to heart her
+advice, and might be depended upon to deport himself toward her as if he
+had never heard the words she had addressed to him. He had prepared
+several topics for conversation, but as he would not waste these upon
+the general company, he indulged only in such remarks as were necessary
+to good manners.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant talked a good deal in a perfunctory manner, but inwardly he
+was somewhat elated. &quot;Her emotions must have been excited more than I
+supposed,&quot; he thought. &quot;That is not a bad sign.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Fox was a little bit&mdash;a very little bit&mdash;annoyed because Mr. Fox
+did not make as many facetious remarks as was his custom. He seemed like
+one who, in a degree, felt that he lacked an audience; Mrs. Fox could
+see no good reason for this.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield went up to Olive's room she found her bathing her
+eyes in cold water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will you lend me a bicycle&quot; said Olive. &quot;I am sure you have one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want to go to my uncle,&quot; said Olive. &quot;He is now all I have left in
+this world. I have been thinking, and thinking about everything, and I
+want to go to him. Whatever has come between us will vanish as soon as
+he sees me, I am sure of that. I do not know why he did not want me to
+come back to him, but he will want me now, and I should like to start
+immediately without anybody seeing me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But a bicycle!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;You can't go that way. I
+will send you in the carriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, no, no,&quot; cried Olive; &quot;I want to go quietly. I want to go so that I
+can leave my wheel at the door and go right in. I have a short
+walking-skirt, and I can wear that. Please let me have the bicycle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield made Olive sit down and she talked to her, but there
+was no changing the girl's determination to go to her uncle, to go
+alone, and to go immediately.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Olive's Bicycle Trip.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>D</span>espite Olive's desire to set forth immediately on her bicycle trip, it
+was past the middle of the afternoon when she left Broadstone. She went
+out quietly, not by the usual driveway, and was soon upon the turnpike
+road. As she sped along the cool air upon her face refreshed her; and
+the knowledge that she was so rapidly approaching the dear old
+toll-gate, where, even if she did not find her uncle at the house, she
+could sit with old Jane until he came back, gave her strength and
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>Up a long hill she went, and down again to the level country. Then there
+was a slighter rise in the road, and when she reached its summit she
+saw, less than a mile away, the toll-gate surrounded by its trees, the
+thick foliage of the fruit-trees in the garden, the little tollhouse and
+the long bar, standing up high at its customary incline upon the
+opposite side of the road. Down the little hill she went; and then,
+steadily and swiftly, onward. Presently she saw that some one was on the
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse; his back was toward her, he was
+sitting in his accustomed armchair; she could not be mistaken; it was
+her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then, while upon the road, she had thought of what she should
+say when she first met him, but she had soon dismissed all ideas of
+preconceived salutations, or explanations. She would be there, and that
+would be enough. Her father's letter was in her pocket, and that was too
+much. All she meant to do was to glide up to that piazza, spring up the
+steps, and present herself to her uncle's astonished gaze before he had
+any idea that any one was approaching.</p>
+
+<p>She was within twenty feet of the piazza when she saw that her uncle was
+not alone; there was some one sitting in front of him who had been
+concealed by his broad shoulders. This person was a woman. She had
+caught sight of Olive, and stuck her head out on one side to look at
+her. Upon her dough-like face there was a grin, and in her eye a light
+of triumph. With one quick glance she seemed to say: &quot;Ah, ha, you find
+me here, do you? What have you to say to that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's heart stood still. That woman, that Maria Port, sitting in close
+converse with her uncle in that public place where she had never seen
+any one but men! That horrid woman at such a moment as this! She could
+not speak to her; she could not speak to her uncle in her presence. She
+could not stop. With what she had on her mind, and with what she had in
+her pocket, it would be impossible to say a word before that Maria Port!
+Without a swerve she sped on, and passed the toll-gate. She only knew
+one thing; she could not stop.</p>
+
+<p>The wildest suspicions now rushed into her mind. Why should her uncle
+be thus exposing himself to the public gaze with Maria Port? Why did it
+give the woman such diabolical pleasure to be seen there with him? With
+a mind already prepared for such sickening revelations, Olive was
+convinced that it could mean nothing but that her uncle intended to
+marry Maria Port. What else could it mean? But no matter what it meant,
+she could not stop. She could not go back.</p>
+
+<p>On went her bicycle, and presently she gained sufficient command over
+herself to know that she should not ride into the town. But what else
+could she do? She could not go back while those two were sitting on the
+piazza. Suddenly she remembered the shunpike. She had never been on it,
+but she knew where it left the road, and where it reentered it. So she
+kept on her course, and in a few minutes had reached the narrow country
+road. There were ruts here and there, and sometimes there were stony
+places; there were small hills, mostly rough; and there were few
+stretches of smooth road; but on went Olive; sometimes trying with much
+effort to make good time, and always with tears in her eyes, dimming the
+roadway, the prospect, and everything in the world.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There now!&quot; exclaimed Maria Port, springing to her feet. &quot;What have you
+got to say to that? If that isn't brazen I never saw brass!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot; said the captain, rising in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mean?&quot; said Maria Port, leaning over the railing. &quot;Look there! Do you
+see that girl getting away as fast as she can work herself? That's your
+precious niece, Olive Asher, scooting past us with her nose in the air
+as if we was sticks and stones by the side of the road. What have you
+got to say to that, Captain John, I'd like to know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain ran down the path. &quot;You don't mean to say that is Olive!&quot; he
+cried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's who it is,&quot; answered Miss Port. &quot;She looked me square in the
+face as she dashed by. Not a word for you, not a word for me. Impudence!
+That doesn't express it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain paid no attention to her, but ran into the garden. Old Jane
+was standing near the house door. &quot;Was that Miss Olive?&quot; he cried. &quot;Did
+you see her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said old Jane, &quot;it was her. I saw her comin', and I came out to
+meet her. But she just shot through the toll-gate as if she didn't know
+there was a toll on bicycles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain stood still in the garden-path. He could not believe that
+Olive had done this to treat him with contempt. She must have heard some
+news. There must be something the matter. She was going into town at the
+top of her speed to send a telegram, intending to stop as she came back.
+She might have stopped anyway if it had not been for that
+good-for-nothing Maria Port. She hated Maria, and he hated her himself,
+at this moment, as she stood by his side, asking him what was the matter
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's no more than you have to expect,&quot; said she. &quot;She's a fine lady, a
+navy lady, a foreign lady, that's been with the aristocrats! She's got
+good clothes on that she never wore here, and where I guess she had a
+pretty stupid time, judgin' from how they carry on at that Easterfield
+place. Why in the world should she want to stop and speak to such
+persons as you and me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain paid no attention to these remarks. &quot;If she doesn't want to
+send a telegram, I don't see what she is going to town for in such a
+hurry. I suppose she thought she could get there sooner than a man could
+go on a horse,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Telegram!&quot; sneered Miss Port. &quot;It's a great deal easier to send
+telegrams from the gap.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it is something worse,&quot; he thought. Perhaps she might be running
+away, though what in the world she was running from he could not
+imagine. Anyway, he must see her; he must find out. When she came back
+she must not pass again, and if she did not come back he must go after
+her. He ran to the road and put down the bar, calling to old Jane to
+come there and keep a sharp lookout. Then he quickly returned to the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you going to do&quot; asked Miss Port. &quot;I never saw a man in such a
+fluster.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If she does not come back very soon,&quot; said he, &quot;I shall go to town
+after her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I suppose I might as well be going myself,&quot; said she. &quot;And by the
+way, captain, if you are going to town, why don't you take a seat in my
+carriage? Dear knows me and the boy don't fill it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the captain would consider no such invitation. When he met Olive he
+did not want Maria Port to be along. He did not answer, and went into
+the house to make some change in his attire. Old Jane would not let
+Olive pass, and if he met her on the road or in the town he wanted to be
+well dressed.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port still stood in the path by the house door. &quot;That's not what I
+call polite,&quot; said she, &quot;but he's awful flustered, and I don't mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Far from minding, Maria was pleased; it pleased her to know that his
+niece's conduct had flustered him. The more that girl flustered him the
+better it would be, and she smiled with considerable satisfaction. If
+she could get that girl out of the way she believed she would find but
+little difficulty in carrying out her scheme to embitter the remainder
+of the good captain's life. She did not put it in that way to herself;
+but that was the real character of the scheme.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly an idea struck her. It was of no use for her to stand and wait,
+for she knew she would not be able to induce the captain to go with her.
+It would be a great thing if she could, for to drive into town with him
+by her side would go far to make the people of Glenford understand what
+was going to happen. But, if she could not do this, she could do
+something else. If she started away immediately she might meet that
+Asher girl coming back, and it would be a very fine thing if she could
+have an interview with her before she saw her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>She made a quick step toward the house and looked in. The captain was
+not visible, but old Jane was standing near the back door of the
+tollhouse. The opportunity was not to be lost.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good-by, John,&quot; said she in a soft tone, but quite loud enough for the
+old woman to hear. &quot;I'll go home first, for I've got to see to gettin'
+supper ready for you. So good-by, John, for a little while.&quot; And she
+kissed her hand to the inside of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Then she hurried out of the gate; got into the little phaeton which was
+waiting for her under a tree; and drove away. She had come there that
+afternoon on the pretense of consulting the captain about her father's
+health, which she said disturbed her, and she had requested the
+privilege of sitting on the toll-gate piazza because she had always
+wanted to sit there, and had never been invited. The captain had not
+invited her then, but as she had boldly marched to the piazza and taken
+a seat, he had been obliged to follow.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher, wearing a good coat and hat, relieved old Jane at her
+post, and waited and waited for Olive to come back. He did not for a
+moment think she might return by the shunpike, for that was a rough
+road, not fit for a bicycle. And if she passed this way once, why should
+she object to doing it again?</p>
+
+<p>When more than time enough had elapsed for her return from the town, he
+started forth with a heavy heart to follow her. He told old Jane that if
+for any reason he should be detained in town until late, he would take
+supper with Mr. Port, and if, although he did not expect this, he should
+not come back that night, the Ports would know of his whereabouts. He
+did not take his horse and buggy because he thought it would be in his
+way. If he met Olive in the road he could more easily stop and talk to
+her if he were walking than if he had a horse to take care of.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hope you're not runnin' after Miss Olive,&quot; said old Jane.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not wish his old servant to imagine that it was
+necessary for him to run after his niece, and so he answered rather
+quickly: &quot;Of course not.&quot; Then he set off toward the town. He did not
+walk very fast, for if he met Olive he would rather have a talk with her
+on the road than in Glenford.</p>
+
+<p>He walked on and on, not with his eyes on the smooth surface of the
+pike, but looking out afar, hoping that he might soon see the figure of
+a girl on a bicycle; and thus it was that he passed the entrance to the
+shunpike without noticing that a bicycle track turned into it.</p>
+
+<p>Olive struggled on, and the road did not improve. She worked hard with
+her body, but still harder with her mind. It seemed to her as though
+everything were endeavoring to crush her, and that it was almost
+succeeding. If she had been in her own room, seated, or walking the
+floor, indignation against her uncle would have given her the same
+unnatural vigor and energy which had possessed her when she read her
+father's letter; but it is impossible to be angry when one is physically
+tired and depressed, and this was Olive's condition now. Once she
+dismounted, sat down on a piece of rock, and cried. The rest was of
+service to her, but she could not stay there long; the road was too
+lonely. She must push on. So on she pressed, sometimes walking, and
+sometimes on her wheel, the pedals apparently growing stiffer at every
+turn. Slight mishaps she did not mind, but a fear began to grow upon her
+that she would never be able to reach Broadstone at all. But after a
+time&mdash;a very long time it seemed&mdash;the road grew more level and smooth;
+and then ahead she saw the white surface of the turnpike shining as it
+passed the end of her road. When she should emerge on that smooth, hard
+road it could not be long, even if she went slowly, before she reached
+home. She was still some fifty yards from the pike when she saw a man
+upon it, walking southward.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick Lancaster passed the end of the road he lifted his head, and
+looked along it. It was strange that he should do so, for since he had
+started on his homeward walk he had not raised his eyes from the ground.
+He had reached Broadstone soon after luncheon, before Olive had left on
+her wheel, and had passed rather a stupid time, playing tennis with
+Claude Locker, he had seen but little of Mrs. Easterfield, whose mind
+was evidently occupied. Once she had seemed about to take him into her
+confidence, but had suddenly excused herself, and had gone into the
+house. When the game was finished Locker advised him to go home.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is not likely to be down until dinner time,&quot; he had said, &quot;and this
+evening I'll defend our cause against those other fellows. I have
+several good things in my mind that I am sure will interest her, and I
+don't believe there's any use courting a girl unless you interest her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster had taken the advice, and had left much earlier than was
+usual.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Lancaster accepts a Mission.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Dick Lancaster saw Olive he stopped with a start, and then ran
+toward her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;What are you doing here? What is the
+matter? You look pale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When she saw him coming Olive had dismounted, not with the active spring
+usual with her, but heavily and clumsily. She did not even smile as she
+spoke to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to see you, Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she said. &quot;I am on my way back to
+Broadstone, and I would like to send a message to my uncle by you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Back from where? And why on this road?&quot; he was about to ask, but he
+checked himself. He saw that she trembled as she stood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he, &quot;you must stop and rest. Let me take your wheel
+and come over to this bank and sit down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She sat down in the shade and took off her hat; and for a moment she
+quietly enjoyed the cool breeze upon her head. He did not want to annoy
+her with questions, but he could not help saying:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look very tired.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ought to be tired,&quot; she answered, &quot;for I have gone over a perfectly
+dreadful road. Of course, you wonder why I came this way, and the best
+thing for me to do is to begin at the beginning and to tell you all
+about it, so that you will know what I have been doing, and then
+understand what I would like you to do for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So she told him all her tale, and, telling it, seemed to relieve her
+mind while her tired body rested. Dick listened with earnest avidity. He
+lost not the slightest change in her expression as she spoke. He was
+shocked when he heard of her father; he was grieved when he imagined how
+she must have felt when the news came to her; he was angry when he heard
+of the impertinent glare of Maria Port; and his heart was torn when he
+knew of this poor girl's disappointment, of her soul-harrowing
+conjectures, of her wearisome and painful progress along that rough
+road; of which progress she said but little, although its consequences
+he could plainly see. All these things showed themselves upon his
+countenance as he gazed upon her and listened, not only with his ears,
+but his heart.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be more than glad,&quot; he said, when she had finished, &quot;to carry
+any message, or to do anything you want me to do. But I must first
+relieve you of one of your troubles. Your uncle has not the slightest
+idea of marrying Miss Port. I don't believe he would marry anybody; but,
+of all women, not that vulgar creature. Let me assure you, Miss Asher,
+that I have heard him talk about her, and I know he has the most
+contemptuous opinion of her. I have heard him make fun of her, and I
+don't believe he would have anything to do with her if it were not for
+her father, who is one of his oldest friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him incredulously. &quot;And yet they were sitting close
+together,&quot; she said; &quot;so close that at first I did not see her;
+apparently talking in the most private manner in a very public place.
+They surely looked very much like an engaged couple as I have noticed
+them. And old Jane has told me that everybody knows she is trying to
+trap him; and surely there is good reason to believe that she has
+succeeded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick shook his head. &quot;Impossible, Miss Asher,&quot; he said. &quot;He never would
+have such a woman. I know him well enough to be absolutely sure of that.
+Of course, he treats her kindly, and perhaps he is sociable with her. It
+is his nature to be friendly, and he has known her for a long time. But
+marry her! Never! I am certain, Miss Asher, he would never do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wish I could believe it,&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can easily prove it to you,&quot; he said. &quot;I will take your message to
+your uncle, I will tell him all you want me to tell him, and then I will
+ask him, frankly and plainly, about Miss Port. I do not in the least
+object to doing it. I am well enough acquainted with him to know that he
+is a frank, plain man. I am sure he will be much amused at your
+supposition, and angry, too, when I tell him of the way that woman
+looked at you and so prevented you from stopping when you had come
+expressly to see him. Then I will immediately come to Broadstone to
+relieve your mind in regard to the Maria Port business, and to bring
+you whatever message your uncle has to send you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, no,&quot; said Olive, &quot;you must not do that. It would be too much to
+come back to-day. You have relieved my mind somewhat about that woman,
+and I am perfectly willing to wait until to-morrow, when you can tell me
+exactly how everything is, and let me know when my uncle would like me
+to come and see him. I think it will be better next time not to take him
+by surprise. But I would be very, very grateful to you, Mr, Lancaster,
+if you would come as early in the morning as you can. I can wait very
+well until then, now that my mind is easier, but I am afraid that when
+to-morrow begins I shall be very impatient. My troubles are always worse
+in the morning. But you must not walk. My uncle has a horse and buggy.
+But perhaps it would be better to let Mrs. Easterfield send for you. I
+know she will be glad to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick assured her that he did not wish to be sent for; that he would
+borrow the captain's horse, and would be at Broadstone as early as was
+proper to make a visit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Proper!&quot; exclaimed Olive. &quot;In a case like this any time is proper. In
+Mrs. Easterfield's name I invite you to breakfast. I know she will be
+glad to have me do it. And now I must go on. You are very, very good,
+and I am very grateful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not say that he was more grateful for being allowed to help
+her than she could possibly be for being helped, but his face showed it,
+and if she had looked at him she would have known it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; he exclaimed as she rose, &quot;your skirt is covered with
+dust. You must have fallen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did have one fall,&quot; she said, &quot;but I was so worried I did not mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you can not go back in that plight,&quot; he said; &quot;let me dust your
+skirt.&quot; And breaking a little branch from a bush, he proceeded to make
+her look presentable. &quot;And now,&quot; said he, when she had complimented him
+upon his skill, &quot;I will walk with you to the entrance of the grounds.
+Perhaps as you are so tired,&quot; he said hesitatingly, &quot;I can help you
+along, so that you will not have to work so hard yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; she answered; &quot;that is not at all necessary. When I am on the
+turnpike I can go beautifully. I feel ever so much rested and stronger,
+and it is all due to you. So you see, although you will not go with me,
+you will help me very much.&quot; And she smiled as she spoke. He truly had
+helped her very much.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was unwilling that she should go on alone, although it was still
+broad daylight and there was no possible danger, and he was also
+unwilling because he wanted to go with her, but there was no use saying
+anything or thinking anything, and so he stood and watched her rolling
+along until she had passed the top of a little hill, and had departed
+from his view. Then he ran to the top of the little hill, and watched
+her until she was entirely out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the way to the toll-gate seemed very short to Dick, but he
+had time enough to make up his mind that he would see the captain at the
+earliest possible moment; that he would deliver his message and the
+letter of Lieutenant Asher; that he would immediately bring up the
+matter of Maria Port and let the captain know the mischief that woman
+had done. Then, armed with the assurances the captain would give him, he
+would start for Broadstone after supper, and carry the good news to
+Olive. It would be a shame to let that dear girl remain in suspense for
+the whole night, when he, by riding, or even walking an inconsiderable
+number of miles, could relieve her. He found old Jane in the tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is the captain&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The captain?&quot; she repeated. &quot;He's in town takin' supper with his
+sweetheart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick stared at her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you haven't heard that he's engaged to Maria Port,&quot; said the
+woman; &quot;and I don't wonder you're taken back! But I suppose everybody
+will soon know it now, and the sooner the better, I say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about&quot; exclaimed Dick. &quot;You don't mean to tell me
+that the captain is going to marry Miss Port?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whether he wants to or not, he's gone so far he'll have to. I've knowed
+for a long time she's been after him, but I didn't think she'd catch him
+just yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't believe it.&quot; cried Dick. &quot;It must be a mistake! How do you know
+it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Know!&quot; said old Jane, who, ordinarily a taciturn woman, was now excited
+and inclined to volubility. &quot;Don't you suppose I've got eyes and ears?
+Didn't I see them for ever and ever so long sittin' out on this piazza,
+where everybody could see 'em, a-spoonin' like a couple of young people?
+And didn't I see 'em tearin' themselves asunder as if they couldn't
+bear to be apart for an hour? And didn't I hear her tell him she was
+goin' home to get an extry good supper for him? And didn't I hear her
+call him 'dear John,' and kiss her hand to him. And if you don't believe
+me you can go into the kitchen and ask Mary; she heard the 'dear John'
+and saw the hand-kissin'. And then didn't he tell me he was goin' to the
+Ports' to supper, and if he stayed late and anybody asked for
+him&mdash;meaning you, most probable, and I think he might have left
+somethin' more of a message for you&mdash;that he was to be found with the
+Ports&mdash;with Maria most likely, for the old man goes to bed early?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick made no answer; he was standing motionless looking out upon the
+flowers in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And perhaps you haven't heard of Miss Olive comin' past on a bicycle,&quot;
+old Jane remarked. &quot;I saw her comin', and I knew by the look on her face
+that it made her sick to see that woman sittin' here, and I don't blame
+her a bit. When he started so early for town I thought he might be
+intendin' to look for her, and yet be in time for the Ports' supper, but
+she didn't come back this way at all, and I expect she went home by the
+shunpike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which she did,&quot; said Dick, showing by this remark that he was listening
+to what the old woman was saying.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But he cut me mighty short when I asked him,&quot; continued old Jane. &quot;I
+tried to ease his mind, but as I found his mind didn't need no easin', I
+minded my own business, just as he was mindin' his. And now, sir, you'll
+have to eat your supper alone this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If Dick's supper had consisted of nectar and the brains of nightingales
+he would not have noticed it; and, until late in the evening, he sat in
+the arbor, anxiously waiting for the captain's return. About ten o'clock
+old Jane, sleepy from having sat up so long, called to him from the door
+that he might as well come in and let her lock up the house. The captain
+was not coming home that night. He had stayed with the Ports once
+before, when the old man was sick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess he's got a better reason for stayin' tonight,&quot; she said. &quot;It'll
+be a great card for that Maria when the Glenford people knows it, and
+they'll know it you may be sure, if she has to go and walk the soles of
+her feet off tellin' them. One thing's mighty sure,&quot; she continued. &quot;I'm
+not goin' to stay here with her in the house. He'll have to get somebody
+else to help him take toll. But I guess she'll want to do that herself.
+Nothin' would suit her better than to be sittin' all day in the
+tollhouse talkin' scandal to everybody that goes by.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Dick is not a Prompt Bearer of News.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen the captain reached Glenford, and before he went to the Ports' he
+went to the telegraph-office, and made inquiries at various other
+places, but his niece had not been seen in town. He wandered about so
+long and asked so many questions that it was getting dark when he
+suddenly thought of the shunpike. He had not thought of it before, for
+it was an unfit road for bicycles, but now he saw that he had been a
+fool. That was the only way she could have gone back.</p>
+
+<p>Hurrying to a livery-stable, he hired a horse and buggy and a lantern,
+and drove to the shunpike. There he plainly saw the track of the bicycle
+as it had turned into that rough road. Then he drove on, examining every
+foot of the way, fearful that he might see, lying senseless by the side
+of the road, the figure of a girl, perhaps unconscious from fatigue,
+perhaps dead from an accident.</p>
+
+<p>When at last he emerged upon the turnpike he lost the track of the
+bicycle, but still he went on, all the way to Broadstone; a girl might
+be lying senseless by the side of the road, even on the pike, which at
+this time was not much frequented. Thus assuring himself that Olive had
+reached Broadstone in safety, or at least had not fallen by the way, he
+turned and drove back to town upon the pike, passing his own toll-gate,
+where the bar was always up after dark. He had promised to return the
+horse that night, and, as he had promised, he intended to do it. It was
+after nine o'clock when, returning from the livery-stable, he reached
+the Port house, and saw Maria sitting in the open doorway.</p>
+
+<p>She instantly ran out to meet him, asking him somewhat sharply why he
+had disappointed them. She had kept the supper waiting ever so long. He
+went in to see her father, who was sitting up for him, and she busied
+herself in getting him a fresh supper. Nice and hot the supper was, and
+although his answers to her questions had not been satisfactory, she
+concealed her resentment, if she had any. When the meal was over both
+father and daughter assured him that it was too late for him to go home
+that night, and that he must stay with them. Tired and troubled, Captain
+Asher accepted the invitation.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he could get away from the Port residence the next morning
+Captain Asher went home. He had hoped he would have been able to leave
+before breakfast, but the solicitous Maria would not listen to this. She
+prepared him a most tempting breakfast, cooking some of the things with
+her own hands, and she was so attentive, so anxious to please, so kind
+in her suggestions, and in every way so desirous to make him happy
+through the medium of savory food and tender-hearted concern, that she
+almost made him angry. Never before, he thought, had he seen a woman
+make such a coddling fool of herself. He knew very well what it meant,
+and that provoked him still more.</p>
+
+<p>When at last he got away he walked home in a bad humor; he was even
+annoyed with Olive. Granting that what she had done was natural enough
+under the circumstances, and that she had not wished to stop when she
+saw him in company with a woman she did not like, he thought she might
+have considered him as well as herself. She should have known that it
+would give him great trouble for her to dash by in that way and neither
+stop nor come back to explain matters. She must have known that Maria
+Port was not going to stay always, and she might have waited somewhere
+until the woman had gone. If she had had the least idea of how much he
+wanted to see her she would have contrived some way to come back to him.
+But no, she went back to Broadstone to please herself, and left him to
+wander up and down the roads looking for her in the dark.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain met old Jane at the door of the tollhouse her
+salutation did not smooth his ruffled spirits, for she told him that she
+and Mr. Lancaster had sat up until nearly the middle of the night
+waiting for him, and that the poor young man must have felt it, for he
+had not eaten half a breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>The captain paid but little attention to these remarks and passed in,
+but before he crossed the garden he met Dick, who informed him that he
+had something very important to communicate. Important communications
+that must be delivered without a moment's loss of time are generally
+unpleasant, and knowing this, the captain knit his brows a little, but
+told Dick he would be ready for him as soon as he lighted his pipe. He
+felt he must have something to soothe his ruffled spirits while he
+listened to the tale of the woes of some one else.</p>
+
+<p>But at the moment he scratched his match to light his pipe his soul was
+illuminated by a flash of joy; perhaps Dick was going to tell him he was
+engaged to Olive; perhaps that was what she had come to tell him the day
+before. He had not expected to hear anything of this kind, at least not
+so soon, but it had been the wish of his heart&mdash;he now knew that without
+appreciating the fact&mdash;it had been the earnest wish of his heart for
+some time, and he stepped toward the little arbor with the alacrity of
+happy anticipation.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they were seated Dick began to speak of Olive, but not in the
+way the captain had hoped for. He mentioned the great trouble into which
+she had been plunged, and gave the captain his brother's letter to read.
+When he had finished it the captain's face darkened, and his frown was
+heavy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An outrageous piece of business,&quot; he said, &quot;to treat a daughter in this
+way; to put a schoolmate over her head in the family! It is shameful!
+And this is what she was coming to tell me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Dick, &quot;that is it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now there was another flash of joy in the captain's heart, which cleared
+up his countenance and made his frown disappear. &quot;She was coming to me,&quot;
+he thought. &quot;I was the one to whom she turned in her trouble.&quot; And it
+seemed to this good captain as if he had suddenly become the father of a
+grown-up daughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what message did she send me?&quot; he asked quickly. &quot;Did she say when
+she was coming again?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick hesitated; Olive had said that she wanted her uncle to say when he
+wanted to see her, so that there should be no more surprising, but this
+request had been conditional. Dick knew that she did not want to come if
+her uncle were going to marry Miss Port; therefore it was that he
+hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Before we go any further,&quot; he said, &quot;I think I would better mention a
+little thing which will make you laugh, but still it did worry Miss
+Asher, and was one reason why she went back to Broadstone without
+stopping.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it&quot; asked the captain, putting down his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>Dick did not come out plainly and frankly, as he had told Olive he would
+do when he mentioned the Maria Port matter. In his own heart he could
+not help believing now that Olive's suspicions had had good foundations,
+and old Jane's announcements, combined with the captain's own actions in
+regard to the Port family, had almost convinced him that this miserable
+engagement was a fact. But, of course, he would not in any way intimate
+to the captain that he believed in such nonsense, and therefore, in an
+offhand manner, he mentioned Olive's absurd anxiety in regard to Miss
+Port.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain heard Dick's statement he answered it in the most frank
+and plain manner; he brought his big hand down on his knee and swore as
+if one of his crew had boldly contradicted him. He did not swear at
+anybody in particular; there was the roar and the crash of the thunder
+and the flash of the lightning, but no direct stroke descended upon any
+one. He was angry that such a repulsive and offensive thing as his
+marriage to Maria Port should be mentioned, or even thought of, but he
+was enraged when he heard that his niece had believed him capable of
+such disgusting insanity. With a jerk he rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will not talk about such a thing as this,&quot; he said. &quot;If I did I am
+sure I should say something hard about my niece, and I don't want to do
+that.&quot; With this he strode away, and proceeded to look after the
+concerns of his little farm.</p>
+
+<p>Old Jane came cautiously to Dick. &quot;Did he tell you when it was going to
+be, or anything about it?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Dick, &quot;he would not even speak of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose he expects us to mind our own business,&quot; said she, &quot;and of
+course we'll have to do it, but I can tell him one thing&mdash;I'm goin' to
+make it my business to leave this place the day before that woman comes
+here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dejected and thoughtful, Dick sat in the arbor. Here was a state of
+affairs very different from what he had anticipated. He had not been
+able to hurry to her the evening before; he had not gone to breakfast as
+she had invited him; he had not started off early in the forenoon; and
+now he asked himself when should he go, or, indeed, why should he go at
+all? She had no anxieties he could relieve. Anything he could tell her
+would only heap more unhappiness upon her, and the longer he could keep
+his news from her the better it would be for her.</p>
+
+<p>Olive had not joined the Broadstone party at dinner the night before.
+She had been too tired, and had gone directly to her room, where, after
+a time, Mrs. Easterfield joined her; and the two talked late. One who
+had overheard their conversation might well have supposed that the elder
+lady was as much interested in Lieutenant Asher's approaching nuptials
+as was the younger one. When she was leaving Mrs. Easterfield said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have enough on your mind to give it all the trouble it ought to
+bear, and so I beg of you not to think for a moment of that absurd idea
+about your uncle's engagement. I never saw the woman, but I have heard
+of her; she is a professional scandal-monger; and Captain Asher would
+not think for a moment of marrying her. When Mr. Lancaster comes
+to-morrow you will hear that she was merely consulting him on business,
+and that you are to go to the toll-gate to-morrow as soon as you can.
+But remember, this time I am going to send you in the carriage. No more
+bicycles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this well-intentioned admonition, Olive did not sleep well,
+and dreamed all night of Miss Port in the shape of a great cat covered
+with feathers like a chicken, and trying to get a chance to jump at her.
+Very early she awoke, and looking at her clock, she began to calculate
+the hours which must pass before Mr. Lancaster could arrive. It was
+rather strange that of the two troubles which came to her as soon as she
+opened her eyes, the suspected engagement of her uncle pushed itself in
+front of the actual engagement of her father; the one was something she
+<i>knew</i> she would have to make up her mind to bear; the other was
+something she <i>feared</i> she would have to make up her mind to bear.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>What Olive determined to do.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live was very much disappointed at breakfast time, and as soon as she
+had finished that meal she stationed herself at a point on the grounds
+which commanded the entrance. People came and talked to her, but she did
+not encourage conversation, and about eleven o'clock she went to Mrs.
+Easterfield in her room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is not coming,&quot; she said. &quot;He is afraid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is he afraid of?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is afraid to tell me that the optimistic speculations with which he
+tried to soothe my mind arose entirely from his own imagination. The
+whole thing is exactly what I expected, and he hasn't the courage to
+come and say so. Now, really, don't you think this is the state of the
+case, and that if he had anything but the worst news to bring me he
+would have been here long ago?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield looked very serious. &quot;I would not give up,&quot; she said,
+&quot;until I saw Mr. Lancaster and heard what he has to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That would not suit me,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I have waited and waited just as
+long as I can. It is as likely as not that he has concluded that he can
+not do anything here which will be of service to any one, and has
+started off to finish his vacation at some place where people won't
+bother him with their own affairs. He told me when I first met him that
+he was on his way North. And now, would you like me to tell you what I
+have determined to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I would,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, but her expression did not indicate
+that she expected Olive's announcement to give her any pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been considering it all the morning,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and I have
+determined to marry without delay. The greatest object of my life at
+present is to write to my father that I am married. I don't wish to tell
+him anything until I can tell him that. I would also be glad to be able
+to send the same message to the toll-gate house, but I don't suppose it
+will make much difference there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you think,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that my inviting you here made
+all this trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive. &quot;It was not the immediate cause, but uncle knows I do
+not like that woman, and she doesn't like me, and it would not have
+suited him to have me stay very much longer with him. I thought at first
+he was glad to have me go on account of Mr. Lancaster, but now I do not
+believe that had anything to do with it. He did not want me with him,
+and what that woman came here and told me about his not expecting me
+back again was, I now believe, a roundabout message from him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Olive,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;it would be a great deal better
+for you to stop all this imagining until you hear from Mr. Lancaster,
+if you don't see him. Perhaps the poor young man has sprained his ankle,
+or was prevented in some ordinary way from coming. But what is this
+nonsense about getting married?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is no nonsense about it,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I am going to marry, but I
+have not chosen any one yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield uttered an exclamation of horror. &quot;Choose!&quot; she
+exclaimed. &quot;What have you to do with choosing? I don't think you are
+much like other girls, but I did think you had enough womanly qualities
+to make you wait until you are chosen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I intend to wait until I am chosen,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but I shall choose
+the person who is to choose me. I have always thought it absurd for a
+young woman to sit and wait and wait until some one comes and sees fit
+to propose to her. Even under ordinary circumstances, I think the young
+woman has not a fair chance to get what she wants. But my case is
+extraordinary, and I can't afford to wait; and as I don't want to go out
+into the world to look for a husband, I am going to take one of these
+young men here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;you don't mean you are going to marry
+Mr. Locker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You forget,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that I told you I have not made up my mind
+yet. But although I have not come to a decision, I have a leaning toward
+one of them. The more I think of it the more I incline in the direction
+of my old love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Olive, you are crazy, or
+else you are joking in a very disagreeable manner. There could be no
+one more unfit for you than he is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not crazy, and I am not joking,&quot; replied the girl, &quot;and I think
+Rupert would suit me very well. You see, I think a great deal more of
+Rupert than I do of Mr. Hemphill, although the latter gentleman has
+excellent points. He is commonplace, and, above everything else, I want
+a commonplace husband. I want some one to soothe me, and quiet me, and
+to give me ballast. If there is anything out of the way to be done I
+want to do it myself. I am sure he is in love with me, for his anxious
+efforts to make me believe that the frank avowal of my early affection
+had no effect upon him proves that he was very much affected. I believe
+that he is truly in love with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield's sharp eyes had seen this, and she had nothing to say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe,&quot; continued Olive, &quot;that a retrospect love will be a better
+foundation for conjugal happiness than any other sort of affection. One
+can always look back to it no matter what happens, and be happy in the
+memory of it. It would be something distinct which could never be
+interfered with. You can't imagine what an earnest and absorbing love I
+once had for that man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield sprang to her feet. &quot;Olive Asher,&quot; she cried, &quot;I can't
+listen to you if you talk in this way!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if you object so much to Rupert&mdash;you must not
+forget that it would be Rupert that I would really marry if I became the
+wife of Mr. Hemphill&mdash;do you advise me to take Mr. Locker? And I will
+tell you this, he is not to be rudely set aside; he has warm-hearted
+points which I did not suspect at first. I will tell you what he just
+said to me. As I was coming up-stairs he hurried toward me, and his face
+showed that he was very anxious to speak to me. So before he could utter
+a word, I told him that he was too early; that his hour had not yet
+arrived. Then that good fellow said to me that he had seen I was in
+trouble, and that he had been informed it had been caused by bad news
+from my family. He had made no inquiries because he did not wish to
+intrude upon my private affairs, and all he wished to say now was that
+while my mind was disturbed and worried he did not intend to present his
+own affairs to my attention, even though I had fixed regular times for
+his doing so. But although he wished me to understand that I need not
+fear his making love to me just at this time, he wanted me to remember
+that his love was still burning as brightly as ever, and would be again
+offered me just as soon as he would be warranted in doing so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what did you say to that?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I felt like patting him on the head,&quot; Olive answered, &quot;but instead of
+doing that I shook his hand just as warmly as I could, and told him I
+should not forget his consideration and good feeling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield sighed. &quot;You have joined him fast to your car,&quot; she
+said, &quot;and yet, even if there were no one else, he would be impossible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why so?&quot; asked Olive quickly. &quot;I have always liked him, and now I like
+him ever so much better. To be sure he is queer; but then he is so much
+queerer than I am that perhaps in comparison I might take up the part
+of commonplace partner. Besides, he has money enough to live on. He told
+me that when he first addressed me. He said he would never ask any woman
+to live on pickled verse feet, and he has also told me something of his
+family, which must be a good one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I don't believe at all in the necessity
+or the sense in your precipitating plans of marrying. It is all airy
+talk, anyway. You can't ask a man to step up and marry you in order that
+you may sit down and write a letter to your father. But if you are
+thinking of marrying, or rather of preparing to marry at some suitable
+time, why, in the name of everything that is reasonable, don't you take
+Mr. Lancaster? He is as far above the other young men you have met here
+as the mountains are above the plains; he belongs to another class
+altogether. He is a thoroughly fine young man, and has a most honorable
+profession with good prospects, and I know he loves you. You need not
+ask me how I know it&mdash;it is always easy for a woman to find out things
+like that. Now, here is a prospective husband for you whose cause I
+should advocate. In fact, I should be delighted to see you married to
+him. He possesses every quality which would make you a good husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled. &quot;You seem to know a great deal about him,&quot; said she, &quot;and
+I assure you that so far as he himself is concerned, I have no
+objections to him, except that I think he might have had the courage to
+come and tell me the truth this morning, whatever it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps he has not found out the truth yet,&quot; quickly suggested Mrs.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>Olive fixed her eyes upon her companion and for a few moments reflected,
+but presently she shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, that can not be,&quot; she answered. &quot;He would have let me know he had
+been obliged to wait. Oh, no, it is all settled, and we can drop that
+subject. But as for Mr. Lancaster, his connections would make any
+thought of him impossible. He, and his father, too, are both close
+friends of my uncle, and he would be a constant communication between me
+and that woman unless there should be a quarrel, which I don't wish to
+cause. No, I want to leave everything of that sort as far behind me as
+it used to be in front of me, and as Professor Lancaster is mixed up
+with it I could not think of having anything to do with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was silent. She was trying to make up her mind whether
+this girl were talking sense or nonsense. What she said seemed to be
+extremely nonsensical, but as she said it, it was difficult to believe
+that she did not consider it to be entirely rational.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Olive, &quot;you have objected to two of my candidates, and I
+positively decline the one you offer, so we have left only the diplomat.
+He has proposed, and he has not yet received a definite answer. You have
+told me yourself that he belongs to an aristocratic family in Austria,
+and I am sure that would be a grand match. We have talked together a
+great deal, and he seems to like the things I like. I should see plenty
+of court life and high society, for he will soon be transferred from
+this legation, and if I take him I shall go to some foreign capital. He
+is very sharp and ambitious, and I have no doubt that some day he will
+be looked upon as a distinguished foreigner. Now, as it is the ambition
+of many American girls to marry distinguished foreigners, this alliance
+is certainly worthy of due consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stuff!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was not annoyed, and replied very quietly: &quot;It is not stuff. You
+must know young women who have married foreigners and who did not do
+anything like so well as if they had married rising diplomats.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Blynn now knocked at the door on urgent household business.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall want to see you again about all this, Olive,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield as they parted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; replied the girl, &quot;whenever you want to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Blynn,&quot; said the lady of the house, &quot;before you mention what you
+have come to talk about, please tell one of the men to put a horse to a
+buggy and come to the house. I want to send a message by him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter which was speedily on its way to Mr. Richard Lancaster was a
+very brief one. It simply asked the young gentleman to come to
+Broadstone, with bad news or good news, or without any news at all. It
+was absolutely necessary that the writer should see him, and in order
+that there might be no delay she sent a conveyance for him. Moreover,
+she added, it would give her great pleasure if Mr. Lancaster would come
+prepared to spend a couple of days at her house. She felt sure good
+Captain Asher would spare him for that short time. She believed that at
+this moment more gentlemen were needed at Broadstone, and, although she
+did not go on to say that she thought Dick was not having a fair chance
+at this very important crisis, that is what she expected the young man
+to understand.</p>
+
+<p>Just before luncheon, at the time when Claude Locker might have been
+urging his suit had he been less kind-hearted and generous, Olive found
+an opportunity to say a few words to Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A capital idea has come into my head,&quot; she said. &quot;What do you think of
+holding a competitive examination among these young men?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;More stuff, and more nonsense!&quot; ejaculated Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I never
+knew any one to trifle with serious subjects as you are trifling with
+your future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not trifling,&quot; said Olive. &quot;Of course, I don't mean that I should
+hold an examination, but that you should. You know that parents&mdash;foreign
+parents, I mean&mdash;make all sorts of examinations of the qualifications
+and merits of candidates for the hands of their daughters, and I should
+be very grateful if you would be at least that much of a mother to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No examination would be needed,&quot; said the other quickly; &quot;I should
+decide upon Mr. Lancaster without the necessity of any questions or
+deliberations.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But he is not a candidate,&quot; said Olive; &quot;he has been ruled out.
+However,&quot; she added with a little laugh, &quot;nothing can be done just now,
+for they have not all entered themselves in the competition; Mr.
+Hemphill has not proposed yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that instant the rest of the family joined them on their way to
+luncheon.</p>
+
+<p>The meal was scarcely over when Olive disappeared up-stairs, but soon
+came down attired in a blue sailor suit, which she had not before worn
+at Broadstone, and although the ladies of that house had been astonished
+at the number of costumes this navy girl carried in her unostentatious
+baggage, this was a new surprise to them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill and I are going boating,&quot; said Olive to Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive!&quot; exclaimed the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is there astonishing about it?&quot; asked the girl. &quot;I have been out
+boating with Mr. Locker, and it did not amaze you. You need not be
+afraid; Mr. Hemphill says he has had a good deal of practise in rowing,
+and if he does not understand the management of a boat I am sure I do.
+It is only for an hour, and we shall be ready for anything that the rest
+of you are going to do this afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With this, away she went, skipping over the rocks and grass, down to the
+river's edge, followed by Mr. Hemphill, who could scarcely believe he
+was in a world of common people and common things, while he, in turn,
+was followed by the mental anathemas of a poet and a diplomat.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XIX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and Dick Lancaster desert the Toll-Gate.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Captain Asher, in an angry mood, left his young friend and guest
+and went out into his barnyard and his fields in order to quiet his soul
+by the consideration of agricultural subjects, he met with but little
+success. He looked at his pigs, but he did not notice their plump
+condition; he glanced at his two cows, cropping the grass in the little
+meadow, but it did not impress him that they also were in fine
+condition; nor did he care whether the pasture were good or not. He
+looked at this; and he looked at that; and then he folded his arms and
+looked at the distant mountains. Suddenly he turned on his heel, walked
+straight to the stable, harnessed his mare to the buggy, and, without
+saying a word to anybody, drove out of the gate, and on to Glenford.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster, who was in the arbor, looked in amazement after the
+captain's departing buggy, and old Jane, with tears in her eyes, came
+out and spoke to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Isn't this dreadful&quot; she said to him. &quot;Supper with that woman and there
+all night, and back again as soon as he can get off this mornin'!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps he is not going to her house,&quot; Dick suggested. &quot;He may have
+business in town which he forgot yesterday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he'd had it he'd forgot it,&quot; replied the old woman. &quot;But he hadn't
+none. He's gone to Maria Port's, and he may bring her back with him,
+married tight and fast, for all you or me knows. It would be just like
+his sailor fashion. When the captain's got anything to do he just does
+it sharp and quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't believe that,&quot; said Dick. &quot;If he had had any such intention as
+that he certainly would have mentioned it to you or to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The good woman shook her head. &quot;When an old man marries a girl,&quot; she
+said, &quot;she just leads him wherever she wants him to go, and he gives up
+everything to her, and when an old man marries a tough and seasoned and
+smoked old maid like Maria Port, she just drives him wherever she wants
+him to go, and he hasn't nothin' to say about it. It looks as if she
+told him to come in this mornin', and he's gone. It may be for a
+weddin', or it may be for somethin' else, but whatever it is, it'll be
+her way and not his straight on to the end of the chapter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick had nothing to answer. He was very much afraid that old Jane knew
+what she was talking about, and his mind was occupied with trying to
+decide what he, individually, ought to do about it. Old Jane was now
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to attend to a traveler, but when she
+came back she took occasion to say a few more words.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's hard on me, sir,&quot; she said, &quot;at my age to make a change. I've
+lived at this house, and I've took toll at that gate ever since I was a
+girl, long before the captain came here, and I've been with him a long
+time. My people used to own this house, but they all died, and when the
+place was sold and the captain bought it, he heard about me, and he said
+I should always have charge of the old toll-gate when he wasn't
+attendin' to it himself, just the same as when my father was alive and
+was toll-gate keeper, and I was helpin' him. But I've got to go now, and
+where I'm goin' to is more'n I know. But I'd rather go to the county
+poorhouse than stay here, or anywhere else, with Maria Port. She's a
+regular boa-constrictor, that woman is! She's twisted herself around
+people before this and squeezed the senses out of them; and that's
+exactly what she's doin' with the captain. If she could come here to
+live and bring her old father, and get him to sell the house in town and
+put the money in bank, and then if she could worry her husband and her
+father both to death, and work things so she'd be a widow with plenty of
+money and a good house and as much farm land as she wanted, and a
+toll-gate where she could set all day and take toll and give back lies
+and false witness as change, she'd be the happiest woman on earth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It had been long since old Jane had said as much at any one time to any
+one person, but her mind was stirred. Her life was about to change, and
+the future was very black to her.</p>
+
+<p>When dinner was ready the captain had not yet returned, and Dick ate his
+meal by himself. He was now beginning to feel used to this sort of
+thing. He had scarcely finished, and gone down to the garden-gate to
+look once more over the road toward Glenford, when the man in the buggy
+arrived, and he received Mrs. Easterfield's letter.</p>
+
+<p>He lost no moments in making up his mind. He would go to Broadstone, of
+course, and he did not think it at all necessary to stand on ceremony
+with the captain. The latter had gone off and left him without making
+any statement whatever, but he would do better, and he wrote a note
+explaining the state of affairs. As he was leaving old Jane came to bid
+him good-by.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said she, &quot;that you will find me here when you come
+back. The fact of it is I don't know nothin'. But one thing's certain,
+if she's here I ain't, and if she's too high and mighty to take toll in
+her honeymoon, the captain'll have to do it himself, or let 'em pass
+through free.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was on the lawn when Lancaster arrived, and in answer
+to the involuntary glance with which Dick's eyes swept the surrounding
+space, even while he was shaking hands with her, she said: &quot;No, she is
+not here. She has gone boating, and so you must come and tell me
+everything, and then we can decide what is best to tell her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Dick's soul demurred. If he told Olive anything he would
+tell her all he knew, and exactly what had happened. But he would not
+lose faith in this noble woman who was going to help him with Olive if
+she could. So they sat down, side by side, and he told her everything he
+knew about Captain Asher and Miss Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It does look very much as if he were going to marry the woman,&quot; said
+Mrs. Easterfield. Then she sat silent and looked upon the ground, a
+frown upon her face.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was also silent, and his countenance was clouded. &quot;Poor Olive,&quot; he
+thought, &quot;it is hard that this new trouble should come upon her just at
+this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Easterfield said in her heart: &quot;Poor fellow, how little you
+know what has come upon you! The woman who has turned her uncle from
+Olive has turned Olive from you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the lady at length, &quot;do you think it is worth while to say
+anything to her about it? She has already surmised the state of affairs,
+and, so far as I can see, you have nothing of importance to tell her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not,&quot; said Dick, &quot;but as she sent me on a mission I want to
+make known to her the result of it so far as there has been any result.
+It will be very unpleasant, of course&mdash;it will be even painful&mdash;but I
+wish to do it all the same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is to say,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield with a smile that was not very
+cheerful, &quot;you want to be with her, to look at her and to speak to her,
+no matter how much it may pain her or you to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it,&quot; answered Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield sat and reflected. She very much liked this young man,
+and, considering herself as his friend, were there not some things she
+ought to tell him? She concluded that there were such things.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she said, &quot;have you noticed that there are other young
+men in love with Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know there is one,&quot; said Dick, &quot;for he told me so himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was Claude Locker?&quot; said she with interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And he promised,&quot; continued Dick, &quot;that if he failed he would do all he
+could to help me. I can not say that this is really for love of me, for
+his avowed object is to prevent Mr. Du Brant from getting her. We
+assumed that he was her lover, although I do not know that there is any
+real ground for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is very good ground for it,&quot; said she, &quot;for he has already
+proposed to her. What do you think of that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It makes no difference to me,&quot; said Dick; &quot;that is, if he has not been
+accepted. What I want is to find myself warranted in telling Miss Asher
+how I feel toward her; it does not matter to me how the rest of the
+world feels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then there is another,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;with whom she is now on
+the river&mdash;Mr. Hemphill. He is in love with her; and as he can not stay
+here very long, I think he will soon propose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can not help it,&quot; said Dick; &quot;I love her, and the great object of my
+life just at present is to tell her so. You said you would help me, and
+I hope you will not withdraw from that promise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, indeed,&quot; said she, &quot;but I do not know her as well as I thought I
+did. But here she comes now, and without the young man. I hope she has
+not drowned him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without heeding anything that had just been said to him Dick kept his
+eyes fixed upon the sparkling girl who now approached them. Every step
+she made was another link in his chain; Mrs. Easterfield glanced at him
+and knew this. She pitied him for what he had to tell her now, and more
+for what he might have to hear from her at another time. But Olive saved
+Dick from any present ordeal. She stepped up to him and offered him her
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not wonder, Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she said, &quot;that you did not want to
+come back and tell me your doleful story, but as I know what it is, we
+need not say anything about it now, except that I am ever so much
+obliged to you for all your kindness to me. And now I am going to ask
+another favor. Won't you let me speak to Mrs. Easterfield a few
+moments?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they were seated, with the door shut, Olive began.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said she, &quot;he has proposed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Rupert,&quot; Olive answered, &quot;yes, it is truly Rupert who proposed to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I declare,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;you come to me and tell me this as
+if it were a piece of glad news. Yesterday, and even this morning, you
+were plunged in grief, and now your eyes shine as if you were positively
+happy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have told you my aim and object in life,&quot; said the girl. &quot;I am trying
+to do something, and to do it soon, and everything is going on smoothly.
+And as to being happy, I tell you, Mrs. Easterfield, there is no woman
+alive who could help being made happy by such a declaration as I have
+just received. No matter what answer she gave him, she would be bound
+to be happy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Most other women would not have let him make it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield
+a little severely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is something in that,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but they would not have the
+object in life I have. I may be unduly exalted, but you would not wonder
+at it if you had seen him and heard him. Mrs. Easterfield, that man
+loves me exactly as I used to love him, and he has told me his love just
+as I would have told him mine if I could have carried out the wish of my
+heart. His eyes glowed, his frame shook with the ardor of his passion.
+Two or three times I had to tell him that if he did not trim boat we
+should be upset. I never saw anything like his impassioned vehemence. It
+reminded me of Salvini. I never was loved like that before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what answer did you make to him?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield, her voice
+trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not make him any. It would not have been fair to the others or to
+myself to do that. I shall not swerve from my purpose, but I shall not
+be rash.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield rose suddenly and stepped to the open window; she could
+not sit still a moment longer; she needed air. &quot;Olive,&quot; she said, &quot;this
+is mad and wicked folly in you, and it is impertinent in him, no matter
+how much you encouraged him. I would like to send him back to his desk
+this minute. He has no right to come to his employer's house and behave
+in this manner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not get angry. &quot;He is not impertinent,&quot; said she. &quot;He knows
+nothing in this world but that I once loved him, and that now he loves
+me. Employer and employee are nothing to him. I don't believe he would
+go if you told him to, even if you could do such a thing, which I don't
+believe you would, for, of course, you would think of me as well as of
+him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive Asher,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield in a voice which was almost a
+wail, &quot;do you mean to say that you are to be considered in this matter,
+that for a moment you think of marrying this man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I do think of it, and the more I think of it the
+better I think of it. He is a good man; you have told me that yourself;
+and I can feel that he is good. I know he loves me. There can be no
+mistake about his words and his eyes. I feel as I never felt toward any
+other man, that I might become attached to him. And in my opinion a real
+attachment is the foundation of love, and you must never forget that I
+once loved him.&quot; The girl now stepped close to Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I am
+sorry to see those tears,&quot; she said; &quot;I did not come here to make you
+unhappy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you have made me very unhappy,&quot; said the elder lady, &quot;and I do not
+think I can talk any more about this now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Olive had gone Mrs. Easterfield hurried down-stairs in search of
+Lancaster. She did not care what any one might think of her
+unconventional eagerness; she wanted to find him, and she soon
+succeeded. He was sitting in the shade with a book, which, when she
+approached him, she did not believe he was reading.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, as he started to his feet in evident concern, &quot;I have
+been crying, and there is no use in trying to conceal it. Of course, it
+is about Olive, but I can not confide in you now, and I do not know that
+I have any right to do so, anyway. But I came here to beg you most
+earnestly not to propose to Miss Asher, no matter how good an
+opportunity you may have, no matter how much you want to do so, no
+matter how much hope may spring up in your heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you mean,&quot; said Dick, &quot;that I must never speak to her? Am I too
+late? Is she lost to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; said she, &quot;you are not too late, but you may be too early.
+She is not lost to anybody, but if you should speak to her before I tell
+you to she will certainly be lost to you.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Locker determines to rush the Enemy's Position.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he party at Broadstone was not in what might be called a congenial
+condition. There were among them elements of unrest which prevented that
+assimilation which is necessary to social enjoyment. Even the ordinarily
+placid Mr. Fox was dissatisfied. The trouble with him was&mdash;although he
+did not admit it&mdash;that he missed the company of Miss Asher. He had found
+her most agreeable and inspiriting, but now things had changed, and he
+did not seem to have any opportunity for the lively chats of a few days
+before. He remarked to his wife that he thought Broadstone was getting
+very dull, and he should be rather glad when the time came for them to
+leave. Mrs. Fox was not of his opinion; she enjoyed the state of affairs
+more than she had done when her husband had been better pleased. There
+was something going on which she did not understand, and she wanted to
+find out what it was. It concerned Miss Asher and one of the young men,
+but which one she could not decide. In any case it troubled Mrs.
+Easterfield, and that was interesting.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker seemed to be a changed man; he no longer made jokes or
+performed absurdities. He had become wonderfully vigilant, and seemed to
+be one who continually bided his time. He bided it so much that he was
+of very little use as a member of the social circle.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant was also biding his time, but he did not make the fact
+evident. He was very vigilant also, but was very quiet, and kept himself
+in the background. He had seen Olive and Mr. Hemphill go out in the
+boat, but he determined totally to ignore that interesting occurrence.
+The moment he had an opportunity he would speak to Olive again, and the
+existence of other people did not concern him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill was walking by the river; Olive had not allowed him to come
+to the house with her, for his face was so radiant with the ecstasy of
+not having been discarded by her that she did not wish him to be seen.
+From her window Mrs. Easterfield saw this young man on his return from
+his promenade, and she knew it would not be many minutes before he would
+reach the house. She also saw the diplomat, who was glaring across the
+grounds at some one, probably Mr. Locker, who, not unlikely, was glaring
+back at him. She had come up-stairs to do some writing, but now she put
+down her pen and called to her secretary.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Raleigh,&quot; said she, &quot;it has been a good while since you have done
+anything for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed it has,&quot; said the other with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I want you to do something this minute. It is strictly confidential
+business. I want you to go down on the lawn, or any other place where
+Miss Asher may be, and make yourself <i>mal &agrave; propos</i>. I am busy now, but
+I will relieve you before very long. Can you do that? Do you
+understand?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The aspect of the secretary underwent a total change. From a dull,
+heavy-eyed woman she became an intent, an eager emissary. Her hands
+trembled with the intensity of her desire to meddle with the affairs of
+others.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I understand,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;and I can do it. You mean you
+don't want any of those young men to get a chance to speak to Miss
+Asher. Do you include Mr. Lancaster? Or shall I only keep off the
+others?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I include all of them,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Don't let any of them
+have a chance to speak to her until I can come down. And hurry! Here is
+one coming now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Hurrying down-stairs, the secretary glanced into the library. There she
+saw Mrs. Fox in one armchair, and Olive in another, both reading. In the
+hall were the two little girls, busily engaged in harnessing two small
+chairs to a large armchair by means of a ball of pink yarn. Outside,
+about a hundred yards away, she saw Mr. Hemphill irresolutely
+approaching the house. Miss Raleigh's mind, frequently dormant, was very
+brisk and lively when she had occasion to waken it. She made a dive
+toward the children.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dear little ones,&quot; she cried, &quot;don't you want to come out under the
+trees and have the good Mr. Hemphill tell you a story? I know he wants
+to tell you one, and it is about a witch and two pussy-cats and a
+kangaroo. Come along. He is out there waiting for us.&quot; Down dropped the
+ball of yarn, and with exultant cries each little girl seized an
+outstretched hand of the secretary, and together they ran over the grass
+to meet the good Mr. Hemphill.</p>
+
+<p>Of course he was obliged to want to tell them a story; they expected it
+of him, and they were his employer's children. To be sure he had on mind
+something very practical and sensible he wished to say to Miss Olive,
+which had come to him during his solitary walk, and which he did not
+believe she would object to hearing, although he had said so much to her
+quite recently. As soon as he should begin to speak she would know that
+this was something she ought to know. It was about his mother, who had
+an income of her own, and did not in the least depend upon her son. Miss
+Olive would certainly agree with him that it was proper for him to tell
+her this.</p>
+
+<p>But the little girls seized his hands and led him away to a bench,
+where, having seated him almost forcibly, each climbed upon a knee. The
+good Mr. Hemphill sent a furtive glare after Miss Raleigh, who, with
+that smile of gentle gratification which comes to one after having just
+done a good deed to another, sauntered slowly away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't come back again,&quot; cried out the older of the little girls. &quot;He
+was put out in the last story, and we want this to be a long one. And
+remember, Mr, Rupert, it is to be about a witch and two pussy-cats&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And a kangaroo,&quot; added the other.</p>
+
+<p>At the front door the secretary met Miss Asher, just emerging. &quot;Isn't
+that a pretty picture&quot; she said, pointing to the group under the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at them and smiled. &quot;It is beautiful,&quot; she said; &quot;a
+regular family composition. I wish I had a kodak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, that would never do!&quot; exclaimed Miss Raleigh. &quot;He is just as
+sensitive as he can be, and, of course, it's natural. And the dear
+little things are so glad to get him to themselves so that they can have
+one of the long, long stories they like so much. May I ask what that is
+you are working, Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is going to be what they call a nucleus,&quot; said Olive, showing a
+little piece of fancy work. &quot;You first crochet this, and then its
+ultimate character depends on what you may put around it. It may be a
+shawl, or a table cover, or even an apron, if you like crocheted aprons.
+I learned the stitch last winter. Would you like me to show it to you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should like it above all things,&quot; said the secretary. And together
+they walked to a rustic bench quite away from the story-telling group.
+&quot;So far I have done nothing but nucleuses,&quot; said Olive, as they sat
+down. &quot;I put them away when they are finished, and then I suppose some
+time I shall take up one and make it into something.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Like those pastry shells,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, &quot;which can be laid away
+and which you can fill up with preserves or jam whenever you want a pie.
+How many of these have you, Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When this is finished there will be four,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>At some distance, and near the garden, Dick Lancaster, strolling
+eastward, encountered Claude Locker, strolling westward.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello!&quot; cried Locker. &quot;I am glad to see you. Brought your baggage with
+you this time, I see. That means you are going to stay, of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A couple of days,&quot; replied Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, a man can do a lot in that time, and you may have something to
+do, but I am not sure. No, sir,&quot; continued Locker, &quot;I am not sure. I am
+on the point of making a demonstration in force. But the enemy is always
+presenting some new force. By enemy you understand me to mean that which
+I adore above all else in the world, but which must be attacked, and
+that right soon if her defenses are to be carried. Step this way a
+little, and look over there. Do you see that Raleigh woman sitting on a
+bench with her? Well, now, if I had not had such a beastly generous
+disposition I might be sitting on that bench this minute. I was deceived
+by a feint of the opposing forces this morning. I don't mean she
+deceived me. I did it myself. Although I had the right by treaty to
+march in upon her, I myself offered to establish a truce in order that
+she might bury her dead. I did not know who had been killed, but it
+looked as if there were losses of some kind. But it was a false alarm.
+The dead must have turned up only missing, and she was as lively as a
+cricket at luncheon, and went out in a boat with that tailor's
+model&mdash;sixteen dollars and forty-eight cents for the entire suit
+ready-made; or twenty-three dollars made to order.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick smiled a little, but his soul rebelled within him. He regretted
+that he had given his promise to Mrs. Easterfield. What he wanted to do
+that moment was to go over to Captain Asher's niece and ask her to take
+a walk with him. What other man had a better right to speak to her than
+he had? But he respected his word; it would be very hard to break a
+promise made to Mrs. Easterfield; and he stood with his hands in his
+pockets, and his brows knit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, I tell you what I am going to do,&quot; said Locker. &quot;I am going to
+wait a little while&mdash;a very little while&mdash;and then I shall bounce over
+my earthworks, and rush her position. It is the only way to do it, and I
+shall be up and at her with cold steel. And now I will tell you what you
+must do. Just you hold yourself in reserve; and, if I am routed, you
+charge. You'd better do it if you know what's good for you, for that
+Austrian's over there pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French
+because that Raleigh woman doesn't get up and go. Now, I won't keep you
+any longer, but don't go far away. I can't talk any more, for I've got
+to have every eye fixed upon the point of attack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick looked at the animated face of his companion, and began to ask
+himself if the moment had not arrived when even a promise made to Mrs.
+Easterfield might be disregarded. Should he consent to allow his fate to
+depend upon the fortunes of Mr. Locker? He scorned the notion. It would
+be impossible for the girl who had talked so sweetly, so earnestly, so
+straight from her heart, when he had met her on the shunpike, to marry
+such a mountebank as this fellow, generous as he might be with that
+which could never belong to him. As to the diplomat, he did not
+condescend to bestow a thought upon such a black-pointed little
+foreigner.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Miss Raleigh enjoys a Rare Privilege.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>M</span>iss Raleigh was very attentive to the instructions given her by Miss
+Asher, and while she exhibited the fashion of the new stitch Olive
+reflected.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;if Mrs. Easterfield has done this. It
+looks very much like it, and if she did I am truly obliged to her. There
+is nothing I want so much now as a rest, and I didn't want to stay in
+the house either. Miss Raleigh,&quot; said she, suddenly changing the
+subject, &quot;were you ever in love?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The secretary started. &quot;What do you mean by that?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't mean anything,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I simply wanted to know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a queer question,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, her face changing to
+another shade of sallowness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; said Olive quickly, &quot;but the answers to queer questions
+are always so much more interesting than those to any others. Don't you
+think so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, they are,&quot; said Miss Raleigh thoughtfully, &quot;but they are generally
+awfully hard to get. I have tried it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you ought to have a fellow feeling for me,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the other, looking steadfastly at her companion, &quot;if you
+will promise to keep it all to yourself forever, I don't mind telling
+you that I was once in love. Would you like me to tell you who I was in
+love with?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if you are willing to tell me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I am perfectly willing,&quot; said the secretary. &quot;It was Mr. Hemphill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive turned suddenly and looked at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it was Mr. Hemphill over there,&quot; said the other, speaking very
+tranquilly, as if the subject were of no importance. &quot;You see, I have
+been living with the Easterfields for a long time, and in the winter we
+see a good deal of Mr. Hemphill. He has to come to the house on
+business, and often takes meals. He is Mr. Easterfield's private and
+confidential secretary. And, somehow or other, seeing him so often, and
+sometimes being his partner at cards when two were needed to make up a
+game, I forgot that I was older than he, and I actually fell in love
+with him. You see he has a good heart, Miss Asher; anybody could tell
+that from his way with children; and I have noticed that bachelors are
+often nicer with children than fathers are.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And he?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh laughed a little laugh. &quot;Oh, I did all the loving,&quot; she
+answered. &quot;He never reciprocated the least little bit, and I often
+wondered why I adored him as much as I did. He was handsome, and he was
+good, and he had excellent taste; he was thoroughly trustworthy in his
+relations to the family, and I believe he would be equally so in all
+relations of life; but all that did not account for my unconquerable
+ardor, which was caused by a certain something which you know, Miss
+Asher, we can't explain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive tried hard not to allow any emotion to show itself in her face,
+but she did not altogether succeed. &quot;And you still&mdash;&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't,&quot; interrupted Miss Raleigh. &quot;I love him no longer. There
+came a time when all my fire froze. I discovered that there was&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I say, Miss Asher&mdash;&quot; it was the voice of Claude Locker.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked around at him. &quot;Well?&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you have not noticed,&quot; said he, &quot;that the tennis ground is now
+in the shade, and if you don't mind walking that way&mdash;&quot; He said a good
+deal more which Miss Raleigh did not believe, understanding the young
+man thoroughly, and which Olive did not hear. Her mind was very busy
+with what she had just heard, which made a great impression on her. She
+did not know whether she was affronted, or hurt, or merely startled.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a man who loved her, a man she had loved, and one about whom
+she had been questioning herself as to the possibility of her loving him
+again. And here was a woman, a dyspeptic, unwholesome spinster, who had
+just said she had loved him. If Miss Raleigh had loved this man, how
+could she, Olive, love him? There was something repugnant about it which
+she did not attempt to understand. It went beyond reason. She felt it
+to be an actual relief to look up at Claude Locker, and to listen to
+what he was saying.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You mean,&quot; said she presently, &quot;that you would like Miss Raleigh and me
+to come with you and play tennis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know Miss Raleigh played,&quot; he answered, &quot;but I thought
+perhaps&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I would not think of such a thing. In fact, Miss
+Raleigh and I are engaged. We are very busy about some important work.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker gazed at the crocheted nucleus with an air of the loftiest
+disdain. &quot;Of course, of course,&quot; said he, &quot;but you really oblige me,
+Miss Asher, to speak very plainly and frankly and to say that I really
+do not care about playing tennis, but that I want to speak to you on a
+most important subject, which, for reasons that I will explain, must be
+spoken of immediately. So, if Miss Raleigh will be kind enough to
+postpone the little matter you have on hand&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled and shook her head. &quot;No, indeed, sir,&quot; she said; &quot;I would
+not hurt a lady's feelings in that way, and moreover, I would not allow
+her to hurt her own feelings. It would hurt your feelings, Miss Raleigh,
+wouldn't it, to be sent away like a child who is not wanted?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the secretary, &quot;I think it would.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker listened in amazement. He had not thought the mature maiden
+had the nerve to say that.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then again,&quot; said Olive, &quot;this isn't the time for you to talk business
+with me, and you should not disturb me at this hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said Locker, bringing down the forefinger of his right hand upon
+the palm of his left, &quot;that is a point, a very essential point. I
+voluntarily surrendered the period of discourse which you assigned to me
+for a reason which I now believe did not exist, and this is only an
+assertion of the rights vested in me by you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh listened very attentively to these remarks, but could not
+imagine what they meant.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him graciously. &quot;Yes,&quot; she said, &quot;you are very generous,
+but your period for discourse, as you call it, will have to be
+postponed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it can't be postponed,&quot; he answered. &quot;If I could see you alone I
+could soon explain that to you. There are certain reasons why I must
+speak now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't help it,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I am not going to leave Miss Raleigh,
+and I am sure she does not want to leave me, so if you are obliged to
+speak you must speak before her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker gazed from one to the other of the two ladies who sat before
+him; each of them wore a gentle but determined expression. He addressed
+the secretary.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Raleigh,&quot; said he, &quot;if you understood the reason for my strong
+desire to speak in private with Miss Asher, perhaps you would respect it
+and give me the opportunity I ask for. I am here to make a proposition
+of marriage to this lady, and it is absolutely necessary that I make it
+without loss of time. Do you desire me to make it in your presence?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should like it very much,&quot; said Miss Raleigh.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker gave her a look of despair, and turned to Olive. &quot;Would you
+permit that?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it is absolutely necessary,&quot; she said, &quot;I suppose I shall have to
+permit it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker had the soul of a lion in his somewhat circumscribed body,
+and he was not to be recklessly dared to action.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well, then,&quot; said he, &quot;I shall proceed as if we were alone, and I
+hope, Miss Raleigh, you will at least see fit to consider yourself in a
+strictly confidential position.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed I shall,&quot; she replied; &quot;not one word shall ever&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hope not,&quot; interrupted Claude, &quot;and I will add that if I should ever
+be accidentally present when a gentleman is about to propose to you,
+Miss Raleigh, I shall heap coals of fire upon your head by
+instantaneously withdrawing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The secretary was about to thank him, but Olive interrupted. &quot;Now,
+Claude Locker,&quot; said she, &quot;what can you possibly have to say to me that
+you have not said before?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A good deal, Miss Asher, a good deal, although I don't wonder you
+suppose that no man could say more to you of his undying affection than
+I have already said. But, since I last spoke on the subject, I have been
+greatly impressed by the fact that I have not said enough about myself;
+that I have not made you understand me as I really am. I know very well
+that most people, and I suppose that at some time you have been among
+them, look upon me as a very frivolous young man, and not one to whom
+the right sort of a girl should give herself in marriage. But that is a
+mistake. I am as much to be depended upon as anybody you ever met. My
+apparently whimsical aspect is merely the outside&mdash;my shell, marked off
+in queer designs with variegated colors&mdash;but within that shell I am as
+domestic, as sober, and as surely to be found where I am expected to be
+as any turtle. This may seem a queer figure, but it strikes me as a very
+good one. When I am wanted I am there. You can always depend upon me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was not a smile upon the face of either woman as he spoke. They
+were listening earnestly, and with the deepest interest. Miss Raleigh's
+eyes sparkled, and Olive seemed to be most seriously considering this
+new aspect in which Mr. Locker was endeavoring to place himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you may think,&quot; Claude continued, &quot;that you would not desire
+turtle-like qualities in a husband, you who are so bright, so bounding,
+so much like a hare, but I assure you, that is just the companion who
+would suit you. All day you might skip among the flowers, and in the
+fields, and wherever you were, you would always know where I was&mdash;making
+a steady bee-line for home; and you would know that I would be there to
+welcome you when you arrived.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is very pretty!&quot; said Miss Raleigh. And then she quickly added:
+&quot;Excuse me for making a remark.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Miss Asher,&quot; continued Locker, &quot;I have tried, very imperfectly, I
+know, to make you see me as I really am, and I do hope you can put an
+end to this suspense which is keeping me in a nervous tingle. I can not
+sleep at night, and all day I am thinking what you will say when you do
+decide. You need not be afraid to speak out before Miss Raleigh. She is
+in with us now, and she can't get out. I would not press you for an
+answer at this moment, but there are reasons which I can not say
+anything about without meddling with other people's business. But my
+business with you is the happiness of my life, and I feel that I can not
+longer endure having it momentarily jeopardized.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of this speech a faint color actually stole into Miss
+Raleigh's face, and she clasped her thin hands in the intensity of her
+approval.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Locker,&quot; said Olive, speaking very pleasantly, &quot;if you had come to
+me to-day and had asked me for a decision based upon what you had
+already said to me, I think I might have settled the matter. But after
+what you have just told me, I can not answer you now. You give me things
+to think about, and I must wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Heavens&quot; exclaimed Mr. Locker, clasping his hands. &quot;Am I not yet to
+know whether I am to rise into paradise, or to sink into the infernal
+regions?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled. &quot;Don't do either, Mr. Locker,&quot; she said. &quot;This earth is a
+very pleasant place. Stay where you are.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He folded his arms and gazed at her. &quot;It is a pleasant place,&quot; said he,
+&quot;and I am mighty glad I got in my few remarks before you made your
+decision. I leave my love with you on approbation, and you may be sure I
+shall come to-morrow before luncheon to hear what you say about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall expect you,&quot; said Olive. And as she spoke her eyes were full of
+kind consideration.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, that's genuine,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, when Locker had departed. &quot;If
+he had not felt every word he said he could not have said it before me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No doubt you are right,&quot; said Olive. &quot;He is very brave. And now you see
+this new line, which begins an entirely different kind of stitch!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the middle distance Mr. Du Brant still strolled backward and forward,
+pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French. He seldom removed his eyes
+from Miss Asher, but still she sat on that bench and crocheted, and
+talked, and talked, and crocheted, with that everlasting Miss Raleigh!
+He had seen Locker with her, and he had seen him go; and now he hoped
+that the woman would soon depart. Then it would be his chance.</p>
+
+<p>The young Austrian had become most eager to make Olive his wife. He
+earnestly loved her; and, beyond that, he had come to see that a
+marriage with her would be most advantageous to his prospects. This
+beautiful and brilliant American girl, familiar with foreign life and
+foreign countries, would give him a position in diplomatic society which
+would be most desirable. She might not bring him much money; although he
+believed that all American girls had some money; but she would bring him
+favor, distinction, and, most likely, advancement. With such a wife he
+would be a welcome envoy at any court. And, besides, he loved her. But,
+alas, Miss Raleigh would not go away.</p>
+
+<p>About half an hour after Claude Locker left Olive he encountered Dick
+Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I charged. I was not routed, I can't say that I was
+even repulsed. But I was obliged to withdraw my forces. I shall go into
+camp, and renew the attack to-morrow. So, my friend, you will have to
+wait. I wish I could say that there is no use of your waiting, but I am
+a truthful person and can't do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster was not pleased. &quot;It seems to me,&quot; he said, &quot;that you trifle
+with the most important affairs of life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Trifle!&quot; exclaimed Locker. &quot;Would you call it trifling if I fail, and
+then to save her from a worse fate, were to back you up with all my
+heart and soul?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not help smiling. &quot;By a worse fate,&quot; he said, &quot;I suppose you
+mean&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Austrian,&quot; interrupted Locker. &quot;Mrs. Easterfield has told me
+something about him. He may have a title some day, and he is about as
+dangerous as they make them. Instead of accusing me of trifling, you
+ought to go down on your knees and thank me for still standing between
+him and her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is a duty I would like to perform myself,&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you may have a chance,&quot; sighed Locker, &quot;but I most earnestly
+hope not. Look over there at that he-nurse. Those children have made him
+take them walking, and he is just coming back to the house.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Conflicting Serenades.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>M</span>rs. Easterfield worked steadily at her letter, feeling confident all
+the time that her secretary was attending conscientiously to the task
+which had been assigned to her, and which could not fail to be a most
+congenial one. One of the greatest joys of Miss Raleigh's life was to
+interfere in other people's business; and to do it under approval and
+with the feeling that it was her duty was a rare joy.</p>
+
+<p>The letter was to her husband, and Mrs. Easterfield was writing it
+because she was greatly troubled, and even frightened. In the indulgence
+of a good-humored and romantic curiosity to know whether or not a
+grown-up young woman would return to a sentimental attachment of her
+girlhood, she had brought her husband's secretary to the house with
+consequences which were appalling. If this navy girl she had on hand had
+been a mere flirt, Mrs. Easterfield, an experienced woman of society,
+might not have been very much troubled, but Olive seemed to her to be
+much more than a flirt; she would trifle until she made up her mind, but
+when she should come to a decision Mrs. Easterfield believed she would
+act fairly and squarely. She wanted to marry; and, in her heart, Mrs.
+Easterfield commended her; without a mother; now more than ever without
+a father; her only near relative about to marry a woman who was
+certainly a most undesirable connection; Olive was surely right in
+wishing to settle in life. And, if piqued and affronted by her father's
+intended marriage, she wished immediately to declare her independence,
+the girl could not be blamed. And, from what she had said of Mr.
+Hemphill, Mrs. Easterfield could not in her own mind dissent. He was a
+good young man; he had an excellent position; he fervently loved Olive;
+she had loved him, and might do it again. What was there to which she
+could object? Only this: it angered and frightened her to think of Olive
+Asher throwing herself away upon Rupert Hemphill. So she wrote a very
+strong letter to her husband, representing to him that the danger was
+very great and imminent, and that he was needed at Broadstone just as
+soon as he could get there. Business could be set aside; his wife's
+happiness was at stake; for if this unfortunate match should be made, it
+would be her doing, and it would cloud her whole life. Of herself she
+did not know what to do, and if she had known, she could not have done
+it. But if he came he would not only know everything, but could do
+anything. This indicated her general opinion of Mr. Tom Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said she to herself, as she fixed an immediate-delivery stamp
+upon the letter, &quot;that ought to bring him here before lunch to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Olive saw fit to go to her room Miss Raleigh felt relieved from
+guard, and went to Mrs. Easterfield to report. She told that lady
+everything that had happened, even including her own emotions at
+various points of the interview. The amazed Mrs. Easterfield listened
+with the greatest interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I knew Claude Locker was capable of almost any wild proceeding,&quot; she
+said, &quot;but I did not think he would do that!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is one thing I forgot,&quot; said the secretary, &quot;and that is that I
+promised Mr. Locker not to mention a word of what happened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am very glad,&quot; replied Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that you remembered that
+promise after you told me everything, and not before. You have done
+admirably so far.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And if I have any other opportunities of interpolating myself, so to
+speak,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, &quot;shall I embrace them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. &quot;I don't want you to be too obviously
+zealous,&quot; she answered. &quot;I think for the present we may relax our
+efforts to relieve Miss Asher of annoyance.&quot; Mrs. Easterfield believed
+this. She had faith in Olive; and if that young woman had promised to
+give Claude Locker another hearing the next day she did not believe that
+the girl would give anybody else a positive answer before that time.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh went away not altogether satisfied. She did not believe in
+relaxed vigilance; for one thing, it was not interesting.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was surprised when she found that Mr. Lancaster was to stay to
+dinner, and afterward when she was informed that he had been invited to
+spend a few days, she reflected. It looked like some sort of a plan, and
+what did Mrs. Easterfield mean by it? She knew the lady of the house
+had a very good opinion of the young professor, and that might explain
+the invitation at this particular moment, but still it did look like a
+plan, and as Olive had no sympathy with plans of this sort she
+determined not to trouble her head about it. And to show her
+non-concern, she was very gracious to Mr. Lancaster, and received her
+reward in an extremely interesting conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Still Olive reflected, and was not in her usual lively spirits. Mr. Fox
+said to Mrs. Fox that it was an abominable shame to allow a crowd of
+incongruous young men to swarm in upon a country house party, and
+interfere seriously with the pleasures of intelligent and
+self-respecting people.</p>
+
+<p>That night, after Mrs. Easterfield had gone to bed, and before she
+slept, she heard something which instantly excited her attention; it was
+the sound of a guitar, and it came from the lawn in front of the house.
+Jumping up, and throwing a dressing-gown about her, she cautiously
+approached the open window. But the night was dark, and she could see
+nothing. Pushing an armchair to one side of the window, she seated
+herself, and listened. Words now began to mingle with the music, and
+these words were French. Now she understood everything perfectly. Mr. Du
+Brant was a musician, and had helped himself to the guitar in the
+library.</p>
+
+<p>From the position in which she sat Mrs. Easterfield could look upon a
+second-story window in a projecting wing of the house, and upon this
+window, which belonged to Olive's room, and which was barely perceptible
+in the gloom, she now fixed her eyes. The song and the thrumming went
+on, but no signs of life could be seen in the black square of that open
+window.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was not a bad French scholar, and she caught enough of
+the meaning of the words to understand that they belonged to a very
+pretty love song in which the flowers looked up to the sky to see if it
+were blue, because they knew if it were the fair one smiled, and then
+their tender buds might ope; and, if she smiled, his heart implored that
+she might smile on him. There was a second verse, much resembling the
+first, except that the flowers feared that clouds might sweep the sky;
+and they lamented accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Mrs. Easterfield imagined that she saw something white in the
+depths of the darkness of Olive's room, but it did not come to the
+front, and she was very uncertain about it. Suddenly, however, something
+happened about which she could not be in the least uncertain. Above
+Olive's room was a chamber appropriated to the use of bachelor visitors,
+and from the window of this room now burst upon the night a wild,
+unearthly chant. It was a song with words but without music, and the
+voice in which it was shot out into the darkness was harsh, was shrill,
+was insolently blatant. And thus the clamorous singer sang:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;My angel maid&mdash;ahoy!<br /></span>
+<span>If aught should you annoy,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>By act or sound,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>From sky or ground,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>I then pray thee<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>To call on me<br /></span>
+<span>My angel maid&mdash;ahoy,<br /></span>
+<span>My ange&mdash;my ange&mdash;l maid<br /></span>
+<span>Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The music of the guitar now ceased, and no French words were heard. No
+ditty of Latin origin, be it ever so melodious and fervid, could stand
+against such a wild storm of Anglo-Saxon vociferation. Every ahoy rang
+out as if sea captains were hailing each other in a gale!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What lungs he has&quot; thought Mrs. Easterfield, as she put her hand over
+her mouth so that no one should hear her laugh. At the open window, at
+which she still steadily gazed, she now felt sure she saw something
+white which moved, but it did not come to the front.</p>
+
+<p>A wave of half-smothered objurgation now rolled up from below; it was
+not to be readily caught, but its tone indicated rage and
+disappointment. But the guitar had ceased to sound, and the French love
+song was heard no more. A little irrepressible laugh came from
+somewhere, but who heard it beside herself Mrs. Easterfield could not
+know. Then all was still, and the insects of the night, and the tree
+frogs, had the stage to themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning Miss Raleigh presented herself before Mrs.
+Easterfield to make a report. &quot;There was a serenade last night,&quot; she
+said, &quot;not far from Miss Asher's window. In fact, there were two, but
+one of them came from Mr. Locker's room, and was simply awful. Mr. Du
+Brant was the gentleman who sang from the lawn, and I was very sorry
+when he felt himself obliged to stop. I do not think very much of him,
+but he certainly has a pleasant voice, and plays well on the guitar. I
+think he must have been a good deal cut up by being interrupted in that
+dreadful way, for he grumbled and growled, and did not go into the
+house for some time. I am sure he would have been very glad to fight if
+any one had come down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You mean,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;if Mr. Locker had come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the secretary, &quot;if Mr. Hemphill had appeared I have no
+doubt he would have answered. Mr. Du Brant seemed to me ready to fight
+anybody.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you know so much about him?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;And why
+did you think of Mr. Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he was looking out of his window,&quot; said Miss Raleigh. &quot;He could not
+see, but he could hear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ask you again,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;how do you know all this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I had not gone to bed, and, at the first sound of the guitar, I
+slipped on a waterproof with a hood, and went out. Of course, I wanted
+to know everything that was happening.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I had not the least idea you were such an energetic person,&quot; remarked
+Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;and I think you were entirely too rash. But how about
+Mr. Lancaster? Do you know if he was listening?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh stood silent for a moment, then she exclaimed: &quot;There now,
+it is too bad! I entirely forgot him! I have not the slightest idea
+whether he was asleep or awake, and it would have been just as easy&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you need not regret it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I think you did
+quite enough, and if anything of the kind occurs again I positively
+forbid you to go out of the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is one thing we've got to look after,&quot; said Miss Raleigh,
+without heeding the last remark, &quot;this may result in bloodshed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;nothing of that kind is to be feared
+from the gentlemen who visit Broadstone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, &quot;don't you think it would be well for me to
+keep an eye on them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, you may keep both eyes on them if you want to,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield. Then she began to talk about something else, but, although
+she dismissed the matter so lightly, she was very glad at heart that she
+had sent for her husband. Things were getting themselves into unpleasant
+complications, and she needed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>There was a certain constraint at the breakfast table. Mr. Fox had heard
+the serenades, although his consort had slept soundly through the
+turmoil; and, while carefully avoiding any reference to the incidents of
+the night, he was anxiously hoping that somebody would say something
+about them. Mrs. Easterfield saw that Mr. Du Brant was in a bad humor,
+and she hoped he was angry enough to announce his early departure. But
+he contented himself with being angry, and said nothing about going
+away.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill was serious, and looked often in the direction of Olive. As
+for Dick Lancaster, Miss Raleigh, whose eye was fixed upon him whenever
+it could be spared from the exigencies of her meal, decided that if
+there should be a fight he would be one of the fighters; his brow was
+dark and his glance was sharp; in fact, she was of the opinion that he
+glared. Claude Locker did not come to breakfast until nearly everybody
+had finished. His dreams had been so pleasant that he had overslept
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>In the eyes of Mrs. Easterfield Olive's conduct was positively charming.
+No one could have supposed that during the night she had heard anything
+louder than the ripple of the river. She talked more to Mr. Du Brant
+than to any one else, although she managed to draw most of the others
+into the conversation; and, with the assistance of the hostess, who gave
+her most good-humored help, the talk never flagged, although it did not
+become of the slightest interest to any one who engaged in it. They were
+all thinking about the conflict of serenades, and what might happen
+next.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after breakfast Miss Raleigh came to Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Mr. Du
+Brant is with her,&quot; she said quickly, &quot;and they are walking away. Shall
+I interpolate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said the other with a smile, &quot;you can let them alone. Nothing will
+happen this morning, unless, indeed, he should come to ask for a
+carriage to take him to the station.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was busy in her garden when Dick Lancaster came to her.
+&quot;What a wonderfully determined expression you have!&quot; said she. &quot;You look
+as if you were going to jump on a street-car without stopping it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right,&quot; said he, &quot;I am determined, and I came to tell you so. I
+can't stand this sort of thing any longer. I feel like a child who is
+told he must eat at the second table, and who can not get his meals
+until every one else is finished.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I suppose,&quot; she said, &quot;you feel there will be nothing left for
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is it,&quot; he answered, &quot;and I don't want to wait. My soul rebels! I
+can't stand it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore,&quot; she said, &quot;you wish to appear before the meal is ready, and
+in that case you will get nothing.&quot; He looked at her inquiringly. &quot;I
+mean,&quot; said she, &quot;that if you propose to Miss Asher now you will be
+before your time, and she will decline your proposition without the
+slightest hesitation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not quite understand that,&quot; said Dick. &quot;Would she decline all
+others?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am afraid not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But why do you except me?&quot; asked Dick. &quot;Surely she is not engaged. I
+know you would tell me at once if that were so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is not so,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I shall take my chances. With all this serenading and love-making
+going on around me and around the woman I love with all my heart. I can
+not stand and wait until I am told my time has come. The intensity and
+the ardor of my feelings for her give me the right to speak to her.
+Unless I know that some one else has stepped in before me and taken the
+place I crave, I have decided to speak to her just as soon as I can. But
+I thought it was due to you to come first and tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Lancaster,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, speaking very quietly, &quot;if you
+decide to go to Miss Asher and ask her to marry you, I know you will do
+it, for I believe you are a man who keeps his word to himself, but I
+assure you that if you do it you will never marry her. So you really
+need not bother yourself about going to her; you can simply decide to do
+it, and that will be quite sufficient; and you can stay here and hold
+these long-stemmed dahlias for me as I cut them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A troubled wistfulness showed itself upon the young man's face. &quot;You
+speak so confidently,&quot; he said, &quot;that I almost feel I ought to believe
+you. Why do you tell me that I am the only one of her suitors who would
+certainly be rejected if he offered himself?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield dropped the long-stemmed dahlias she had been holding;
+and, turning her eyes full upon Lancaster, she said, &quot;Because you are
+the only one of them toward whom she has no predilections whatever. More
+than that, you are the only one toward whom she has a positive
+objection. You are the only one who is an intimate friend of her uncle,
+and who would be likely, by means of that intimate friendship, to bring
+her into connection with the woman she hates, as well as with a relative
+she despises on account of his intended marriage with that woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All that should not count at all,&quot; cried Dick. &quot;In such a matter as
+this I have nothing to do with Captain Asher! I stand for myself and
+speak for myself. What is his intended wife to me? Or what should she be
+to her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;all that would not count at all if
+Olive Asher loved you. But you see she doesn't. I have had it from her
+own lips that her uncle's intended marriage is, and must always be, an
+effectual barrier between you and her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What&quot; cried Dick. &quot;Have you spoken to her of me? And in that way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I have. I did not intend to tell you, but
+you have forced me to do it. You see, she is a young woman of
+extraordinary good sense. She believes she ought to marry, and she is
+going to try to make the very best marriage that she possibly can. She
+has suitors who have very strong claims upon her consideration&mdash;I am not
+going to tell you those claims, but I know them. Now, you have no
+claim&mdash;special claim, I mean&mdash;but for all this, I believe, as I have
+told you before, that you are the man she ought to marry, and I have
+been doing everything I can to make her cease considering them, and to
+consider you. And this is the way she came to give me her reasons for
+not considering you at all. Now the state of the case is plain before
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick bowed his head and fixed his eyes upon the dahlias on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't tread on the poor things,&quot; she said, &quot;and don't despair. All you
+have to do is to let me put a curbed bit on you, and for you to consent
+to wear it for a little while. See,&quot; said she, moving her hands in the
+air, as if they were engaged upon the bridle of a horse, &quot;I fasten this
+chain rather closely, and buckle the ends of the reins in the lowest
+curb. Now, you must have a steady hand and a resolute will until the
+time comes when the curb is no longer needed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And do you believe that time will come?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will come,&quot; she said, &quot;when two things happen; when she has reason
+to love you, and has no reason to object to you; and, in my opinion,
+that happy combination may arrive if you act sensibly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But&mdash;&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment a quick step was heard on the garden-path and they both
+turned. It was Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she cried, &quot;I want you; that is, if Mrs. Easterfield
+can spare you. We are making up a game of tennis. Mr. Du Brant and Mr.
+Hemphill are there, but I can not find Mr. Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield could spare him, and Dick Lancaster, with the curbed
+chain pressing him very hard, walked away with Olive Asher.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and Maria.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen the captain drove into Glenford on the day when his mind had been
+so much disturbed by Dick Lancaster's questions regarding a marriage
+between him and Maria Port, he stopped at no place of business, he
+turned not to the right nor to the left, but went directly to the house
+of his old friend with whom he had spent the night before.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Simeon Port was sitting on his front porch, reading his newspaper.
+He looked up, surprised to see the captain again so soon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Simeon,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I want to see Maria. I have something to
+say to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man laid down his newspaper. &quot;Serious?&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, serious,&quot; was the answer, &quot;and I want to see her now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Port reflected for a moment. &quot;Captain,&quot; said he, &quot;do you believe you
+have thought about this as much as you ought to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I have,&quot; replied the captain; &quot;I've thought just as much as I
+ought to. Is she in the house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Port did not answer. &quot;Captain John,&quot; said he presently, &quot;Maria isn't
+young, that's plain enough, considerin' my age; but she never does seem
+to me as if she'd growed up. When she was a girl she had ways of her
+own, and she could make water bile quick, and now she can make it bile
+just as quick as ever she did, and perhaps quicker. She's not much on
+mindin' the helm, Captain John, and there're other things about her that
+wouldn't be attractive to husbands when they come to find them out. And
+if I was you I'd take my time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's just what I intend to do,&quot; said the captain. &quot;This is my time,
+and I am going to take it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port, who was busy in the back part of the house, heard voices, and
+now came forward. She was wiping her hands upon her apron, and one of
+them she extended to the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to see you&mdash;John,&quot; she said, speaking in a very gentle voice,
+and hesitating a little at the last word.</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at her steadfastly, and then, without taking her
+hand, he said: &quot;I want to speak to you by yourself. I'll go into the
+parlor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She politely stepped back to let him pass her, and then her father
+turned quickly to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you expect to see him back so soon?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>She smiled and looked down. &quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said she, &quot;I was sure he'd come
+back very soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man heaved a sigh, and returned to his paper.</p>
+
+<p>Maria followed the captain. &quot;John,&quot; said she, speaking in a low voice,
+&quot;wouldn't you rather come into the dinin'-room? He's a little bit hard
+of hearin', but if you don't want him to hear anything he'll take in
+every word of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria Port,&quot; said the captain, speaking in a strong, upper-deck voice,
+&quot;what I have to say I'll say here. I don't want the people in the street
+to hear me, but if your father chooses to listen I would rather he did
+it than not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him inquiringly. &quot;Well,&quot; she answered, &quot;I suppose he will
+have to hear it some time or other, and he might as well hear it now as
+not. He's all I've got in the world, and you know as well as I do that I
+run to tell him everything that happens to me as soon as it happens.
+Will you sit down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I can speak better standing. Maria Port, I have
+found out that you have been trying to make people believe that I am
+engaged to marry you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The smile did not leave Maria's face. &quot;Well, ain't you?&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>A look of blank amazement appeared on the face of the captain, but it
+was quickly succeeded by the blackness of rage. He was about to swear,
+but restrained himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Engaged to you?&quot; he shouted, forgetting entirely the people in the
+street; &quot;I'd rather be engaged to a fin-back shark!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The smile now left her face. &quot;Oh, thank you very much,&quot; she said. &quot;And
+this is what you meant by your years of devotion! I held out for a long
+time, knowing the difference in our ages and the habits of sailors, and
+now&mdash;just when I make up my mind to give in, to think of my father and
+not of myself, and to sacrifice my feelin's so that he might always
+have one of his old friends near him, now that he's got too feeble to go
+out by himself, and at his age you know as well as I do he ought to have
+somebody near him besides me, for who can tell what may happen, or how
+sudden&mdash;you come and tell me you'd rather marry a fish. I suppose you've
+got somebody else in your mind, but that don't make no difference to me.
+I've got no fish to offer you, but I have myself that you've wanted so
+long, and which now you've got.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The angry captain opened his mouth to speak; he was about to ejaculate
+Woman! but his sense of propriety prevented this. He would not apply
+such an epithet to any one in the house of a friend. Wretch rose to his
+lips, but he would not use even that word; and he contented himself
+with: &quot;You! You know just as well as you know you are standing there
+that I never had the least idea of marrying you. You know, too, that you
+have tried to make people think I had, people here in town and people
+out at my house, where you came over and over again pretending to want
+to talk about your father's health, when it did not need any more
+talking about than yours does. You know you have made trouble in my
+family; that you so disgusted my niece that she would not stop at my
+house, which had been the same thing as her home; you sickened my
+friends; and made my very servants ashamed of me; and all this because
+you want to marry a man who now despises you. I would have despised you
+long ago if I had seen through your tricks, but I didn't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a smile on Miss Port's face now, but it was not such a smile
+as that with which she had greeted the captain; it was a diabolical
+grin, brightened by malice. &quot;You are perfectly right,&quot; she said;
+&quot;everybody knows we are engaged to be married, and what they think about
+it doesn't matter to me the snap of my finger. The people in town all
+know it and talk about it, and what's more, they've talked to me about
+it. That niece of your'n knows it, and that's the reason she won't come
+near you, and I'm sure I'm not sorry for that. As for that old thing
+that helps you at the toll-gate, and as for the young man that's
+spongin' on you, I've no doubt they've got a mighty poor opinion of you.
+And I've no doubt they're right. But all that matters nothin' to me.
+You're engaged to be married to me; you know it yourself; and everybody
+knows it; and what you've got to do is to marry, or pay. You hear what I
+say, and you know what I'm goin' to stick to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It may be well for Captain Asher's reputation that he had no opportunity
+to answer Miss Port's remarks. At that instant Mr. Simeon Port appeared
+at the door which opened from the parlor on the piazza. He stepped
+quickly, his actions showing nothing of that decrepitude which his
+dutiful daughter had feared would prevent him from seeking the society
+of his friends. He fixed his eyes on his daughter and spoke in a loud,
+strong voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria,&quot; said he, &quot;go to bed! I've heard what you've been saying, and
+I'm ashamed of you. I've been ashamed of you before, but now it's worse
+than ever. Go to bed, I tell you! And this time, go!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing in the world that Maria Port was afraid of except her
+father, and of him personally she had not the slightest dread. But of
+his dying without leaving her the whole of his fortune she had an
+abiding terror, which often kept her awake at night, and which sent a
+sickening thrill through her whenever a difficulty arose between her and
+her parent. She was quite sure what he would do if she should offend him
+sufficiently; he would leave her a small annuity, enough to support her;
+and the rest of his money would go to several institutions which she had
+heard him mention in this connection. If she could have married Captain
+Asher she would have felt a good deal safer; it would have taken much
+provocation to make her father leave his money out of the family if his
+old friend had been one of that family.</p>
+
+<p>Now, when she heard her father's voice, and saw his dark eyes glittering
+at her, she knew she was in great danger, and the well-known chill ran
+through her. She made no answer; she cared not who was present; she
+thought of nothing but that those eyes must cease to glitter, and that
+angry voice must not be heard again. She turned and walked to her room,
+which was on the same floor, across the hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And mind you go to bed!&quot; shouted her father. &quot;And do it regular. You're
+not to make believe to go to bed, and then get up and walk about as soon
+as my back is turned. I'm comin' in presently to see if you've obeyed
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She answered not, but entered her room, and closed the door after her.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Port now turned to the captain. &quot;I never could find out,&quot; he said,
+&quot;where Maria got that mind of her'n. It isn't from my side, for my
+father and mother was as good people as ever lived, and it wasn't from
+her mother, for you knew her, and there wasn't anything of the kind
+about her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Captain Asher, &quot;not the least bit of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It must have been from her grandmother Ellis,&quot; said the old man. &quot;I
+never knew her, for she died before I was acquainted with the family,
+but I expect she died of deviltry. That's the only insight I can get
+into the reasons for Maria's havin' the mind she's got. But I tell you,
+Captain John, you've had a blessed escape! I didn't know she was in the
+habit of goin' out to your house so often. She didn't tell me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Simeon,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I think I will go now. I have had enough of
+Maria. I don't suppose I'll hear from her very soon again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man smiled. &quot;No,&quot; said he, &quot;I don't think she'll want to trouble
+you any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port, whose ear was at the keyhole of her door not twelve feet
+away, grinned malignantly.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after Captain Asher had gone Mr. Port walked to the door of his
+daughter's room, gave a little knock, and then opened the door a little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are in bed, are you?&quot; said he. &quot;Well, that's good for you. Turn
+down that coverlid and let me see if you've got your nightclothes on.&quot;
+She obeyed. &quot;Very well,&quot; he continued; &quot;now you stay there until I tell
+you to get up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher went home, still in a very bad humor. He had ceased to be
+angry with Maria Port, he was done with her; and he let her pass out of
+his mind. But he was angry with other people, especially with Olive.
+She had allowed herself to have a most contemptuous opinion of him; she
+had treated him shamefully; and as he thought of her his indignation
+increased instead of diminishing. And young Lancaster had believed it!
+And old Jane! It was enough to make a stone slab angry, and the captain
+was not a stone slab.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Tom arrives at Broadstone.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span>fter the conclusion of the game of tennis in which Olive and three of
+her lovers participated, Claude Locker, returning from a long walk,
+entered the grounds of Broadstone. He had absented himself from that
+hospitable domain for purposes of reflection, and also to avoid the
+company of Mr. Du Brant. Not that he was afraid of the diplomat, but
+because of the important interview appointed for the latter part of the
+morning. He very much wished that no unpleasantness of any kind should
+occur before the time for that interview.</p>
+
+<p>Having found that he had given himself more time than was necessary for
+his reflections and his walk, he had rested in the shade of a tree and
+had written two poems. One of these was the serenade which he would have
+roared out on the night air on a very recent occasion if he had had time
+to prepare it. It was, in his opinion, far superior to the impromptu
+verses of which he had been obliged to make use, and it pleased him to
+think that if things should go well with him after the interview to
+which he was looking forward, he would read that serenade to its object,
+and ask her to substitute it in her memory for the inharmonic lines
+which he had used in order to smother the degenerate melody of a
+foreign lay. The other poem was intended for use in case his interview
+should not be successful. But on the way home Mr. Locker experienced an
+entire change of mind. He came to believe that it would be unwise for
+him to arrange to use either of those poems on that day. For all he
+knew, Miss Asher might like foreign degenerate lays, and she might be
+annoyed that he had interfered with one. He remembered that she had told
+him that if he had insisted on an immediate answer to his proposition it
+would have been very easy to give it to him. He realized what that
+meant; and, for all he knew, she might be quite as ready this morning to
+act with similar promptness. That Du Brant business might have settled
+her mind, and it would therefore be very well for him to be careful
+about what he did, and what he asked for.</p>
+
+<p>About half an hour before luncheon, when he neared the house and
+perceived Miss Asher on the lawn, it seemed to him very much as if she
+were looking for him. This he did not like, and he hurried toward her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he, &quot;I wish to propose an amendment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To what?&quot; asked Olive. &quot;But first tell me where you have been and what
+you have been doing? You are covered with dust, and look as hot as if
+you had been pulling the boat against the rapids. I have not seen you
+the whole morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been walking,&quot; said he, &quot;and thinking. It is dreadful hot work
+to think. That should be done only in winter weather.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would be a woeful thing to take a cold on the mind,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is so!&quot; he replied. &quot;That is exactly what I am afraid of this
+morning, and that is the reason I want to propose my amendment. I beg
+most earnestly that you will not make this interview definitive. I am
+afraid if you do I may get chills in my mind, soul, and heart from which
+I shall never recover. I have an idea that the weather may not be as
+favorable as it was yesterday for the unveiling of tender emotions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why so?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are several reasons,&quot; returned Mr. Locker. &quot;For one thing, that
+musical uproar last night. I have not heard anything about that, and I
+don't know where I stand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive laughed. &quot;It was splendid,&quot; said she. &quot;I liked you a great deal
+better after that than I did before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now tell me,&quot; he exclaimed hurriedly, &quot;and please lose no time, for
+here comes a surrey from the station with a gentleman in it&mdash;do you like
+me enough better to give me a favorable answer, now, right here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I do not feel warranted in being so precipitate as
+that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then please say nothing on the subject,&quot; said Locker. &quot;Please let us
+drop the whole matter for to-day. And may I assume that I am at liberty
+to take it up again to-morrow at this hour?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may,&quot; said Olive. &quot;What gentleman is that, do you suppose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know him,&quot; said Locker, &quot;and, fortunately, he is married. He is Mr.
+Easterfield.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here's papa! Here's papa!&quot; shouted the two little girls as they ran out
+of the front door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And papa,&quot; said the oldest one, &quot;we want you to tell us a story just as
+soon as you have brushed your hair! Mr. Rupert has been telling us
+stories, but yours are a great deal better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the other little girl, &quot;he makes all the children too good.
+They can't be good, you know, and there's no use trying. We told him so,
+but he doesn't mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was story-telling after luncheon, but the papa did not tell them,
+and the children were sent away. It was Mrs. Easterfield who told the
+stories, and Mr. Tom was a most interested listener.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, when she had finished, &quot;this seems to be a somewhat
+tangled state of affairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It certainly is,&quot; she replied, &quot;and I tangled them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you expect me to straighten them?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I do,&quot; she replied, &quot;and I expect you to begin by sending Mr.
+Hemphill away. You know I could not do it, but I should think it would
+be easy for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you object if I lighted a cigar?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not,&quot; she said. &quot;Did you ever hear me object to anything of
+the kind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said he, &quot;but I never have smoked in this room, and I thought
+perhaps Miss Raleigh might object when she came in to do your writing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My writing!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Now don't trifle! This is no
+time to make fun of me. Olive may be accepting him this minute.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, slowly puffing his cigar, &quot;that
+it would not be such a very bad thing if she did. So far as I have been
+able to judge, he is my favorite of the claimants. Du Brant and I have
+met frequently, and if I were a girl I would not want to marry him.
+Locker is too little for Miss Asher, and, besides, he is too flighty.
+Your young professor may be good enough, but from my limited
+conversation with him at the table I could not form much of an opinion
+as to him one way or another. I have an opinion of Hemphill, and a very
+good one. He is a first-class young man, a rising one with prospects,
+and, more than that, I think he is the best-looking of the lot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;do you suppose I sent for you to talk
+such nonsense as that? Can you imagine that my sense of honor toward
+Olive's parents would allow me even to consider a marriage between a
+high-class girl, such as she is&mdash;high-class in every way&mdash;to a mere
+commonplace private secretary? I don't care what his attributes and
+merits are; he is commonplace to the backbone; and he is impossible. If
+what ought to be a brilliant career ends suddenly in Rupert Hemphill I
+shall have Olive on my conscience for the rest of my life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it,&quot; said Mr. Tom Easterfield; &quot;your conscience, my dear,
+has not been trained to carry loads, and I shall not help to put one on
+it. Hemphill is a good man, but we must rule him out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, &quot;Olive is a great deal more than good. He must be
+ruled out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I can't send him away this afternoon,&quot; Tom continued. &quot;That would
+put them both on their mettle, and, ten to one, he would considerately
+announce his engagement before he left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she. &quot;Olive is very sharp, and would resent that. But now
+that you are here I feel safe from any immediate rashness on their
+part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right,&quot; said Mr. Tom. &quot;My very coming will give them pause. And
+now I want to see the girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What for?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want to get acquainted with her. I don't know her yet, and I can't
+talk to her if I don't know her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you going to talk to her about Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, for one thing,&quot; he answered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said she, &quot;you will have to be very circumspect. She is both
+alert, and sensitive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I'll be circumspect enough,&quot; he replied. &quot;You may trust me for
+that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not long after this that Mrs. Easterfield, being engaged in some
+hospitable duties, sent Olive to show Mr. Tom the garden, and it was
+rather a slight to that abode of beauty that the tour of the rose-lined
+paths occupied but a very few minutes, when Mr. Easterfield became
+tired, and desired to sit down. Having seated themselves on Mrs.
+Easterfield's favorite bench, Olive looked up at her companion, and
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, sir, what is it you brought me here to say to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom laughed, and so did she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it is anything about the gentlemen who are paying their addresses
+to me, you may as well begin at once, for that will save time, and
+really an introduction is not necessary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield's admiration for this young lady, which had been
+steadily growing, was not decreased by this remark. &quot;This girl,&quot; said he
+to himself, &quot;deserves a nimble-witted husband. Hemphill would never do
+for her. It seems to me,&quot; he said aloud, &quot;that we are already well
+enough acquainted for me to proceed with the remarks which you have
+correctly assumed I came here to make.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, &quot;I have always thought that some people are born to
+become acquainted, and when they meet they instantly perceive the fact,
+and the thing is accomplished. They can then proceed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well,&quot; said he, &quot;we will proceed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that Mrs. Easterfield has explained
+everything, and that you agree with her and with me that it is a
+sensible thing for a girl in my position to marry, and, having no one to
+attend wisely to such a matter for me, that I should endeavor to attend
+to it myself as wisely as I can. Also, that a little bit of pique,
+caused by the fact that I am to have an old schoolfellow for a
+stepmother, is excusable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And it is this pique which puts you in such a hurry? I did not exactly
+understand that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it does,&quot; said she. &quot;I very much wish to announce my own
+engagement, if not my marriage, before any arrangements shall be made
+which may include me. Do you think me wrong in this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield. &quot;If I were a girl in your place I
+think I would do the same thing myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's face expressed her gratitude. &quot;And now,&quot; said she, &quot;what do you
+think of the young men? I feel so well acquainted with you through Mrs.
+Easterfield that I shall give a great deal of weight to your opinion.
+But first let me ask you one thing: After what you have heard of me do
+you think I am a flirt?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom knitted his brows a little, then he smiled, and then he looked
+out over the flower-beds without saying anything.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be afraid to say so if you think so,&quot; said she. &quot;You must be
+perfectly plain and frank with me, or our acquaintanceship will wither
+away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Under the influence of this threat he spoke. &quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I should
+not feel warranted in calling you a flirt, but it does seem to me that
+you have been flirting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think you are wrong, Mr. Easterfield,&quot; said Olive, speaking very
+gravely. &quot;I never saw any one of these young men before I came here
+except Mr. Hemphill, and he was an entirely different person when I knew
+him before, and I have given no one of them any special encouragement.
+If Mr. Locker were not such an impetuous young man, I think the others
+would have been more deliberate, but as it was easy to see the state of
+his mind, and as we are all making but a temporary stay here, these
+other young men saw that they must act quickly, or not at all. This,
+while it was very amusing, was also a little annoying, and I should
+greatly have preferred slower and more deliberate movements on the part
+of these young men. But all my feelings changed when my father's letter
+came to me. I was glad then that they had proposed already.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is certainly honest,&quot; said Mr. Tom.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course it is honest,&quot; replied Olive. &quot;I am here to speak honestly if
+I speak at all. Now, don't you see that if under these peculiar
+circumstances one eligible young man had proposed to me I ought to have
+considered myself fortunate? Now here are three to choose from. Do you
+not agree with me that it is my duty to try to choose the best one of
+them, and not to discourage any until I feel very certain about my
+choice?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is business-like,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield; &quot;but do you love any one
+of them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't,&quot; answered Olive, &quot;except that there is a feeling in that
+direction in the case of Mr. Hemphill. I suppose Mrs. Easterfield has
+told you that when I was a schoolgirl I was deeply in love with him; and
+now, when I think of those old times, I believe it would not be
+impossible for those old sentiments to return. So there really is a tie
+between him and me; even though it be a slight one; which does not exist
+at all between me and any one of the others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment neither of them spoke. &quot;That is very bad, young woman,&quot;
+thought Mr. Tom. &quot;A slight tie like that is apt to grow thick and strong
+suddenly.&quot; But he could not discourse about Mr. Hemphill; he knew that
+would be very dangerous. He would have to be considered, however, and
+much more seriously than he had supposed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I will tell you this: if I were a young man,
+unmarried, and on a visit to Broadstone at this time, I should not like
+to be treated as you are treating the young men who are here. It is all
+very well for a young woman to look after herself and her own interests,
+but I should be very sorry to have my fate depend upon the merits of
+other people. I may not be correct, but I am afraid I should feel I was
+being flirted with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Olive, giving a quick, forward motion on the bench,
+&quot;you think I ought to settle this matter immediately, and relieve myself
+at once from the imputation of trifling with earnest affection?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, no, no!&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Not at all! Don't do anything
+rash!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive leaned back on the bench, and laughed heartily. &quot;There is so much
+excellent advice in this world,&quot; she said, &quot;which is not intended to be
+used. However, it is valuable all the same. And now, sir, what is it you
+would like me to do? Something plain; intended for every-day use.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. &quot;It does not appear to
+me,&quot; he said, &quot;that you have told me very much I did not know before,
+for Mrs. Easterfield put the matter very plainly before me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And it does not seem to me,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that you have given me any
+definite counsel, and I know that is what you came here to do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are mistaken there,&quot; he said. &quot;I came here to find out what sort of
+a girl you are; my counsels must depend on my discoveries. But there is
+one thing I want to ask you; you are all the time talking about three
+young men. Now, there are four of them here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she answered quickly. &quot;But only three of them have proposed;
+and, besides, if the other were to do so, he would have to be set aside
+for what I may call family reasons. I don't want to go into particulars
+because the subject is very painful to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Mr. Tom did not speak. Then, determined to go through with
+what he had come to do, which was to make himself acquainted with this
+girl, he said: &quot;I do not wish to discuss anything that is painful to
+you, but Mrs. Easterfield and I are very much disturbed for fear that in
+some way your visit to Broadstone created some misunderstanding or
+disagreeable feeling between you and your uncle. Now, would you mind
+telling me whether this is so, or not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him steadily. &quot;There is an unpleasant feeling between me
+and my uncle, but this visit has nothing to do with it. And I am going
+to tell you all about it. I hate to feel so much alone in the world that
+I can't talk to anybody about what makes me unhappy. I might have spoken
+to Mrs. Easterfield, but she didn't ask me. But you have asked me, and
+that makes me feel that I am really better acquainted with you than with
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This remark pleased Mr. Tom, but he did not think it would be necessary
+to put it into his report to his wife. He had promised to be very
+circumspect; and circumspection should act in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is very hard for a girl such as I am,&quot; she continued, &quot;to be alone
+in the world, and that is a very good reason for getting married as soon
+as I can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And for being very careful whom you marry,&quot; interrupted Mr.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; said she, &quot;and I am trying very hard to be that. A little
+while ago I had a father with whom I expected to live and be happy, but
+that dream is over now. And then I thought I had an uncle who was going
+to be more of a father to me than my own father had ever been. But that
+dream is over, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And why?&quot; asked Mr. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is going to marry a woman,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that is perfectly horrible,
+and with whom I could not live. And the worst of it all is that he never
+told me a word about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As she said this Olive looked very solemn; and Mr. Tom, not knowing on
+the instant what would be proper to say, looked solemn also.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may think it strange,&quot; said she, &quot;that I talk in this way to you,
+but you came here to find out what sort of girl I am, and I am perfectly
+willing to help you do it. Besides, in a case like this, I would rather
+talk to a man than to a woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom believed her, but he did not know at this stage of the
+proceedings what it would be wise to say. He was also fully aware that
+if he said the wrong thing it would be very bad, indeed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you see,&quot; said she, &quot;there is another reason why I should marry as
+soon as possible. In my case most girls would take up some pursuit which
+would make them independent, but I don't like business. I want to be at
+the head of a household; and, what is more, I want to have something to
+do&mdash;I mean a great deal to do&mdash;with the selection of a husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The conversation was taking a direction which frightened Mr. Tom. In the
+next moment she might be asking advice about the choice of a husband.
+It was plain enough that love had nothing to do with the matter, and Mr.
+Tom did not wish to act the part of a practical-minded Cupid. &quot;And now
+let me ask a favor of you,&quot; said he. &quot;Won't you give me time to think
+over this matter a little?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is exactly what I say to my suitors,&quot; said Olive, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom smiled also. &quot;But won't you promise me not to do anything
+definite until I see you again?&quot; he asked earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is not very unlike what some of my suitors say to me,&quot; she
+replied. &quot;But I will promise you that when you see me again I shall
+still be heart-free.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There can be no doubt of that,&quot; Mr. Tom said to himself as they arose
+to leave the garden. &quot;And, my young woman, you may deny being a flirt,
+but you permitted the addresses of two young men before you were upset
+by your father's letter. But I think I like flirts. At any rate, I can
+not help liking her, and I believe she has got a heart somewhere, and
+will find it some day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Tom returned to the house he did not find his wife, for that
+lady was occupied somewhere in entertaining her guests. Now, although it
+might have been considered his duty to go and help her in her hospitable
+work, he very much preferred to attend to the business which she had
+sent for him to do. And walking to the stables, he was soon mounted on a
+good horse, and riding away southward on the smooth gray turnpike.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and Mr. Tom.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>C</span>aptain Asher was standing at the door of the tollhouse when he saw Mr.
+Easterfield approaching. He recognized him, although he had had but one
+brief interview with him one day at the toll-gate some time before. Mr.
+Easterfield was a man absorbed in business, and the first summer Mrs.
+Easterfield was at Broadstone he was in Europe engaged in large and
+important affairs, and had not been at the summer home at all. And so
+far this summer, he had been there but once before, and then for only a
+couple of days. Now, as the captain saw the gentleman coming toward the
+toll-gate he had no reason for supposing that he would not go through
+it. Nevertheless, his mind was disturbed. Any one coming from Broadstone
+disturbed his mind. He had not quite decided whether or not to ask any
+questions concerning the late members of his household, when the
+horseman stopped at the gate, and handed him the toll.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good morning, captain,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield cheerily, for he had heard
+much in praise of the toll-gate keeper from his wife.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good morning, Mr. Easterfield,&quot; said the captain gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad I do not have to introduce myself,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield,
+&quot;for I am only going through your gate as far as that tree to tie my
+horse. Then, if convenient to you, I should like to have a little talk
+with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain's mind, which had been relieved when Mr. Easterfield paid
+his toll, now sank again. But he could not say a talk would be
+inconvenient. &quot;If I had known that you were not going on,&quot; he said, &quot;you
+need not have paid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Like most people in this life,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, &quot;I pay for what I
+have already done, and not for what I am going to do. And now have you
+leisure, sir, for a short conversation?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked very glum. He felt not the slightest desire now to
+ask questions, and still less desire to be interrogated. However, he was
+not afraid of anything any one might say to him; and if a certain
+subject was broached, he had something to say himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said he; &quot;do you prefer indoors or out of doors?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Out of doors, if it suits,&quot; replied the visitor, &quot;for I would like to
+take a smoke.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am with you there,&quot; said the captain, as he led the way to the little
+arbor.</p>
+
+<p>Here Mr. Easterfield lighted a cigar, and the captain a pipe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, sir,&quot; said the latter, when the tobacco in his bowl was in a
+satisfactory glow, &quot;what is it you want to talk about?&quot; He spoke as if
+he were behind entrenchments, and ready for an attack.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We have two of your guests with us,&quot; answered Mr. Easterfield,
+&quot;Professor Lancaster, and your niece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said the captain, evidently relieved. &quot;I thought perhaps you had
+come to ask questions about some reports you may have heard in regard to
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all, not at all,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield. &quot;I would not think of
+mentioning your private affairs, about which I have not the slightest
+right or wish to speak. But as we have apparently appropriated two of
+your young people, I think, and Mrs. Easterfield agrees with me, that it
+is but right you should be informed as to their health, and what they
+are doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain puffed vigorously. &quot;When is Dick Lancaster coming back&quot; he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't say anything about that,&quot; replied Mr. Easterfield, &quot;for I am
+not master of ceremonies. We would like to keep him as long as we can,
+but, of course, your claims must be considered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think so,&quot; remarked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Professor Lancaster is a remarkably fine young man,&quot; said the other,
+&quot;and as he is a friend of yours, and as I should like him to be a friend
+of mine, it would give me pleasure to talk to you more about him. But I
+may as well confess that my real object in coming here is to talk about
+your niece. Of course, as I said before, it might appear that I have no
+right to meddle with your family affairs, but in this case I certainly
+think I am justified; for, as Mrs. Easterfield invited the young lady to
+leave you and to come to her, and as all that has happened to her has
+happened at our house, and in consequence of that invitation, I think
+that you, as her nearest accessible relative, should be told of what has
+occurred.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain made no answer, but gazed steadily into the face of the
+speaker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore,&quot; continued Mr. Easterfield, &quot;I will simply state that my
+wife and I have very good reason to believe that your niece is about to
+engage herself in marriage; and I will only add that we are very sorry,
+indeed, that this should have occurred under our roof.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden and curious change came over the face of the captain; a light
+sparkled in his eye, and a faint flush, as if of pleasure, was visible
+under his swarthy skin. He leaned toward his companion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it Dick Lancaster?&quot; he asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield answered gravely: &quot;I wish it were, but I am very sorry
+to say it is not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The light went out of the captain's eye. He leaned back on his bench and
+the little flush in his cheeks was succeeded by a somber coldness. &quot;Very
+good,&quot; said he; &quot;I don't want to hear anything more about it, and, what
+is more, it would not be right for you to tell me, even if I did want to
+know. It is none of my business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, really, Captain Asher,&quot; began Mr. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir,&quot; the captain interrupted. &quot;It is none of my business, and I
+don't want to hear anything about it. And now, sir, I would like to tell
+you something. It is something I thought you came here to ask about, and
+I did not like it, but now I want to tell you of my own free will, in
+confidence. That is to say, I don't want you to speak of it to anybody
+in your house. I suppose you have heard something about my intending to
+marry a woman in town?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, &quot;I can not deny that I have, but I
+considered it was entirely your own affair, and I had not&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; interrupted the captain, &quot;and I want to tell you&mdash;but I
+don't want my niece to hear it as coming from me&mdash;that that whole thing
+is a most abominable lie! That woman has been trying to make people
+believe I am going to marry her, and she has made a good many believe
+it, but I would rather cut my throat than marry her. But I have told her
+what I think of her in a way she can not mistake. And that ends her! I
+tell you this, Mr. Easterfield, because I believe you are a good man,
+and you certainly seem to be a friendly man, and I would like you to
+know it. I would have liked very much to tell everybody, especially my
+own flesh and blood, but now I assure you, sir, I am too proud to have
+her know it through me. Let her go on and marry anybody she pleases, and
+let her think anything she pleases about me. She has been satisfied with
+her own opinion of me without giving me a chance to explain to her, or
+to tell her the truth, and now she can stay satisfied with it until
+somebody else sets her straight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But this is very hard, captain,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield; &quot;hard on you,
+hard on her, and hard on all of us, I may say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain made no answer to these words, and did not appear to hear
+them. &quot;I tell you, Mr. Easterfield,&quot; he said presently, &quot;that I did not
+know until now how much I cared for that girl. I don't mind saying this
+to you because you come to me like a friend, and I believe in you. Yes,
+sir, I did not know how much I cared for her, and it is pretty hard on
+me to find out how little she cares for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are wrong there,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield. &quot;My wife tells me that Miss
+Asher has frequently talked to her about you and her life here, and it
+is certain she has&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, that does not make any difference,&quot; interrupted the captain. &quot;I am
+talking about things as they are now. It was all very well as long as
+things seemed to be going right, but I believe in people who stand by
+you when things seem to be going wrong, and who keep on standing by you
+until they know how they are going, and that is exactly what she did not
+do. Now, there was Dick Lancaster; he came to me and asked me squarely
+about that affair. To be sure, I cut him off short, for it angered me to
+think that he, or anybody else, should have such an idea of me, and,
+besides, it was none of his business. But it should have been her
+business; she ought to have made it her business; and, even if the thing
+had stood differently, I would have told her exactly how it did stand;
+and then she could have said to me what she thought about it, and what
+she was going to do. But instead of that, she just made up her mind
+about me, and away went everything. Yes, sir, everything. I can't tell
+you the plans I had made for her and for myself, and, I may say, for
+Dick Lancaster. If it suited her, I wanted her to marry him, and if it
+suited her I wanted to go and live with them in his college town, or
+any other place they might want to go. Again and again, after I knew
+Dick, have I gone over this thing and planned it out this way, and that
+way, but always with us three in the middle of everything. Do you see
+that?&quot; continued the captain after a slight pause, as he drew from his
+pocket a dainty little pearl paper-cutter. &quot;That belongs to her. She
+used to sit out here, and cut the leaves of books as she read them. I
+can see her little hand now as it went sliding along the edges of the
+pages. When she went away she left it on the bench, and I took it. And
+I've kept it in my pocket to take out when I sit here, and cut books
+with it when I have 'em. I haven't many books that ain't cut, but I've
+sat here and cut 'em till there wasn't any left. And then I cut a lot of
+old volumes of Coast Survey Reports. It is a foolish thing for an old
+man to do, but then&mdash;but then&mdash;well, you see, I did it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a choke in the captain's voice as he leaned over to put the
+paper-cutter in his pocket and to pick up his pipe, which he had laid on
+the bench beside him. Mr. Easterfield was touched and surprised. He
+would not have supposed the captain to be a man of such tender
+sentiment. And he took him at once to his heart. &quot;It is a shame,&quot; his
+thoughts ran, &quot;for this man to be separated from the niece he so loves.
+She is a cold-hearted girl, or she does not understand him. It must not
+be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Had he been a woman he would have said all this, but, being a man, he
+found it difficult to break the silence which followed the captain's
+last words. He did not know what to say, although he had no hesitation
+in making up his mind what he was going to do about it all. He arose.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Captain Asher,&quot; he said, &quot;I have now told you what I thought you should
+know, and I must take my departure. I would not presume for a moment to
+offer you any advice in regard to your family affairs, but there is one
+thing Mrs. Easterfield and I will interfere with, if we can, for we feel
+that we have a right to do it, and that is any definite and immediate
+engagement of your niece. If she should promise herself in marriage at
+our house we shall feel that we are responsible for it, and that, in
+fact, we brought it about. Whether the match shall seem desirable to you
+or not, we do not wish to be answerable for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I need not be counted in at all,&quot; said the captain, who had
+recovered his composure. &quot;It is her own affair. I suppose it was the
+news of her father's intended marriage that put her in such a hurry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just like her&quot; the captain exclaimed. &quot;And I don't blame her. I'm with
+her there&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Tom reached Broadstone he dismounted at the stable, and walked
+to the house. Nobody was to be seen on the grounds. It was a warm
+afternoon when those whose hearts were undisturbed by the turmoils of
+love were apt to be napping, and those who were in the tumultuous state
+of mind referred to, preferred to separate themselves from each other
+and the rest of the world until the cause of their inquietude should
+consider the heat of the summer day as sufficiently mitigated for her to
+appear again among her fellow beings.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield did not care to meet any of his guests, and hoped to
+find his wife in her room, that he might report, and consult. But, as he
+approached the house, he saw at an upper window a female head. It stayed
+there just long enough for him to see that it was Olive's head; then it
+disappeared. When he reached the hall door there stood Olive.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom was a little disappointed. He wanted to see his wife
+immediately, and then to see Olive. But he could not say so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the girl, coming down the steps, &quot;it looks as if we had
+arranged to meet. But although we didn't, let's take a little walk. I
+have something I want to say to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield turned, and walked away from the house. He was a
+masterful man, and did not like to have his plans interfered with.
+Therefore he made a dash, and had the first word. &quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he,
+&quot;I am glad to hear anything you have to say, but first you must really
+listen to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him with surprise. She also was a masterful person, and
+not accustomed to be treated in this way. But he gave her no chance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he, &quot;I have come to you to speak for one of your
+lovers, the truest, best lover you ever had, and I believe, ever will
+have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him steadfastly, and her face grew hard. &quot;Mr.
+Easterfield,&quot; she said, &quot;this will not do. I have told you I will not
+have it. Mrs. Easterfield and you have been very good and kind, and I
+have told you everything, but you do not seem to remember one thing I
+have said. I will not have anybody forced upon me; no matter if he
+happens to be an angel from heaven, or no matter how much better he may
+be than anybody else on earth. I have my reasons for this determination.
+They are good reasons, and, above all, they are my reasons. I don't want
+you to think me rude, but if you persist in forcing that gentleman upon
+my attention, I shall have to request that the whole subject be dropped
+between us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who in the name of common sense do you think I am talking about?&quot;
+exclaimed Mr. Tom. &quot;Do you think I refer to Mr. Lancaster?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do,&quot; she said. &quot;You know you would not come to plead the cause of any
+one of the others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He looked down at her half doubtfully, wondering a little how she would
+take what he was going to say. &quot;You are mistaken,&quot; he said quietly. &quot;I
+have nothing whatever to say about Mr. Lancaster. The lover I speak of
+is your uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then her face turned red. &quot;Why do you use that expression? Did he send
+you to say it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all. I came of my own free will. I went to see Captain Asher
+immediately after I left you. Perhaps you are thinking that I have no
+right to intrude in your family affairs, but I do not mind your thinking
+that. I had a long talk with your uncle. I found that the uppermost
+sentiment of his soul was his love for you. You had come into his life
+like the break of day. Every little thing you had owned or touched was
+dear to him because it had been yours, or you had used it. All his plans
+in life had been remade in reference to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They had stopped and were standing facing each other. They could not
+walk and talk as they were talking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yet, but,&quot; she exclaimed, her face pale and her eyes fixed steadfastly
+upon him, &quot;but what of that&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are no yets and buts,&quot; he exclaimed, half angry with her that she
+hesitated. &quot;I know what you were going to say, but that woman you have
+heard of is nothing to him. He hates her worse than you hate her. She
+has imposed upon you; how I know not; but she is an impostor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this instant she seized him by the arm. &quot;Mr. Easterfield,&quot; she cried,
+and as she spoke the tears were running down her cheeks, &quot;please let me
+have a carriage&mdash;something covered! I would go on my wheel, for that
+would be quicker, but I don't want anybody to speak to me or see me!
+Will you have it brought to the back door, Mr. Easterfield, please? I
+will run to the house, and be waiting when it comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She did not wait for him to answer. He did not ask her where she was
+going. He knew very well. She ran to the house, and he hurried to the
+stable.</p>
+
+<p>Having given his orders, Mr. Tom went in search of his wife. The moment
+had arrived when it was absolutely necessary to let her know what was
+going on.</p>
+
+<p>He found her in her own room. &quot;Where on earth have you been?&quot; she
+exclaimed. &quot;I have been looking everywhere for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In as few words as possible he told her where he had been, and what he
+had done.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And where are you going now?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am going to change my coat,&quot; said the good Mr. Tom. &quot;After my ride
+to the toll-gate and back this jacket is too dusty for me to drive with
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Drive with her&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;It will be very well for
+you to get rid of some of that dust, but when the carriage comes I will
+drive with Olive to see her uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And thus it happened that Mr. Tom stayed at home with the house party
+while the close carriage, containing his wife and that dear girl, Olive
+Asher, rolled swiftly southward over the smooth turnpike road.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>A Stop at the Toll-gate.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he four lovers at Broadstone walked, and wandered, and waited, after
+breakfast that morning, but only one of them knew definitely what he was
+waiting for, and that was Mr. Locker. He was waiting for half-past
+twelve o'clock, when he would join Miss Asher, if she gave him an
+opportunity; and he was sure she would give him one, for she was always
+to be trusted. He intended this interview to be decisive. It would not
+do for him to wait any longer; yes or no must be her word. She had been
+walking down by the river with the best clothes on the premises, and he
+now feared the owner of those clothes more than anybody else. He was a
+keen-sighted young man, for otherwise how could he have been a poet, and
+he assured himself that Miss Asher was taking Hemphill seriously.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Locker determined to charge the works of the enemy that day
+before luncheon. When the conflict was over his flag might float high
+and free or it might lie trampled in the dust, but the battle should be
+fought, and no quarter would be asked or given.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Du Brant, they simply wandered, and waited,
+and bored the rest of the company. They did not care to do anything, for
+that might embarrass them in case Miss Asher appeared and wished to do
+something else; they did not want to stay in the house because she might
+show herself somewhere out of doors; they did not want to stay on the
+grounds because at any moment she might seat herself in the library with
+a book; above all things, they wanted to keep away from each other; and
+their indeterminate peregrinations made sick the souls of Mr. and Mrs.
+Fox.</p>
+
+<p>The diplomat did not know what he was going to do when he saw Miss Asher
+alone; everything would depend upon surrounding circumstances, for he
+was quick as well as wary, and could make up his mind on the instant.
+But good Rupert Hemphill had not even as much decision of purpose as
+this. He had already spent half an hour with the lady of his love, and
+he had not been very happy. Delighted that she had permitted him to join
+her, he had at once begun to speak of the one great object which
+dominated his existence, but she had earnestly entreated him not to do
+so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is such a pity,&quot; she had said, &quot;for us never to talk of anything but
+that. There are so many things I like to talk about, especially the
+things of which I read. I am now reading Charles Lamb&mdash;that is, whenever
+I get a chance&mdash;and I don't believe anybody in these days ever does read
+the works of that dear old man. There is a complete set of his books in
+the library, and they do not look as if they had ever been opened. Did
+you ever read his little essays on Popular Fallacies? Some of them are
+just as true as they can be, although they seem like making fun,
+especially the one about the angry man being always in the wrong. I am
+inclined to side with the angry man. I know I am generally right when I
+am angry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill had not read these little essays, nor had he admitted that
+he had never read anything else by Mr. Lamb; but he had agreed that it
+was very common to be both angry and right. Then Olive had talked to him
+about other books, and his way had become very rough and exceedingly
+thorny, and he had wished he knew how to bring up the subject of some
+new figures in the German. But he had not succeeded in doing this. She
+had been in a bookish mood, and the mood had lasted until she had left
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Now he began to think that it would be better for him to give up
+wandering and waiting and go into the library and prepare himself for
+another talk with Olive, but he did not go; she might see him and
+suspect his design. He would wait until later. He took some books to his
+room.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster wandered and waited, but he was full of a purpose,
+although it was not exactly definite; he wanted to find Mrs. Easterfield
+and ask her to release him from his promise. He could not remain much
+longer at Broadstone, and Olive's morning walk with Hemphill had made
+him very nervous. She knew that these young men were in love with her,
+and he had a right to let her know that he was also. It might be
+imprudent for him to do this, but he could not see why it would not be
+as imprudent at any other time as now. Moreover, there might come no
+other time, and he had control of now.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield had not joined her guests because of her anxiety about
+Olive. Mr. Easterfield did not appear. For a time he was very
+particularly engaged in the garden. Mr. Fox grew very much irritated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you, my dear,&quot; said he, &quot;every one who comes here makes this
+place more stupid and dull. I can't see exactly any reason for it, but
+these lovers are at the bottom of it. I hate lovers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You should be very glad, my dear,&quot; replied Mrs. Fox, &quot;that I was not of
+your opinion in my early life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But things changed for the better after a time. It is true that Mrs.
+Easterfield and Olive did not appear, but Mr. Easterfield showed
+himself, and did it with great advantage. The simple statement that his
+wife and Miss Asher had gone to make a call caused a feeling of relief
+to spread over the whole party. Until the callers returned there was no
+reason why they should not all enjoy themselves, and Mr. Easterfield was
+there to show them how to do it.</p>
+
+<p>As the Broadstone carriage rolled swiftly on there was not much
+conversation between its occupants. To the somewhat sensitive mind of
+Mrs. Easterfield it seemed that Olive was a little disappointed at the
+change of companions, but this may have been a mere fancy. The girl was
+so wrapped up in self-concentrated thought that it was not likely that
+she would have talked much to any one. Suddenly, however, Olive broke
+out:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Easterfield must be a thoroughly good man&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is,&quot; assented the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you have always been entirely satisfied with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Entirely,&quot; was the reply, without a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Now Olive turned her face toward her companion and laid her hand upon
+her arm. &quot;You ought to be a happy woman,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what is this girl thinking of?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+&quot;Is she imagining that any one of the young fellows who are now
+besieging her can ever be to her what Tom is to me? Or is she making an
+ideal of my husband to the disparagement of her own lovers? Whichever
+way she thinks, she would better give up thinking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the somewhat sensitive Mrs. Easterfield need not have troubled
+herself. The girl had already forgotten the good Mr. Tom, and her mind
+was intent upon getting to her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will you please ask the man to stop,&quot; she said, &quot;before he gets to the
+gate, and let me out? Then perhaps you will kindly drive on to the
+tollhouse and wait for me. I will not keep you waiting long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The carriage stopped, and Olive slipped out, and, before Mrs.
+Easterfield had any idea of what she was going to do, the girl climbed
+the rail fence which separated the road from the captain's pasture
+field. Between this field and the garden was a picket fence, not very
+high; and, toward a point about midway between the little tollhouse and
+the dwelling, Olive now ran swiftly. When she had nearly reached the
+fence she gave a great bound; put one foot on the upper rail to which
+the pickets were nailed; and then went over. What would have happened if
+the sharp pales had caught her skirts might well be imagined. But
+nothing happened.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was a fine spring&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. &quot;She has
+seen him in the house, and wants to get there before he hears the
+carriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive walked quietly through the garden to the house. She knew that her
+uncle was not at the gate, for from afar she had seen that the little
+piazza on which he was wont to sit was empty. She went noiselessly into
+the hall, and looked into the parlor. By a window in the back of the
+room she saw her uncle writing at a little table. With a rush of air she
+was at his side before he knew she was in the room. As he turned his
+head her arms were around his neck, and the pen in his hand made a great
+splotch of ink upon her white summer dress.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, uncle,&quot; she exclaimed, looking into his astonished face, &quot;here I
+am and here I am going to stay! And if you want to know anything more
+about it, you will have to wait, for I am not going to make any
+explanations now. I am too happy to know that I have a dear uncle left
+to me in this world, and to know that we two are going to live together
+always to want to talk about whys and wherefores.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, Olive&quot; exclaimed the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are no buts,&quot; she interrupted. &quot;Not a single but, my dear Uncle
+John! I have come back to stay with you, and that is all there is about
+it. Mrs. Easterfield is outside in her carriage, and I must go and send
+her away. But don't you come out, Uncle John; I have some things to say
+to her, and I will let you know when she is going.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Olive sped out of the room Captain Asher turned around in his chair
+and looked after her. Tears were running down his swarthy cheeks. He
+did not know how or why it had all happened. He only knew that Olive was
+coming back to live with him!</p>
+
+<p>Meantime old Jane was entertaining Mrs. Easterfield at the toll-gate,
+where no money was paid, but a great deal of information gained. The old
+woman had seen Miss Olive run into the house, and she was elated and
+excited, and consequently voluble. Mrs. Easterfield got the full account
+of the one-sided courtship of the captain and Miss Port. Even the
+concluding episode of Maria having been put to bed had somehow reached
+the ears of old Jane. It is really wonderful how secret things do become
+known, for not one of the three actors in that scene would have told it
+on any account. But old Jane knew it, and told it with great glee, to
+Mrs. Easterfield's intense enjoyment. Then she proceeded to praise Olive
+for the spirit she had shown under these trying circumstances; and, in
+this connection, naturally there came into the recital the spirit the
+old woman herself had shown under these same trying circumstances, and
+how she had got all ready to leave the minute the nuptial knot was tied
+and before that Maria Port could reach the toll-gate, although it was
+like tearing herself apart to leave the spot where she had lived so many
+years. &quot;But,&quot; she concluded, &quot;it is all right now. The captain tells me
+it's all a lie of her own makin'. She's good at that business, and if
+lies was salable she'd be rich.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Just as the old woman reached this, what seemed to her unsophisticated
+mind, impossible business proposition, Olive appeared. Mrs. Easterfield
+was surprised to see her so soon, and, to tell the truth, a little
+disappointed. She had been greatly interested and amused by the old
+woman's rapid tale, which she would not interrupt, but had put aside in
+her mind several questions to ask, and one of them was in relation to
+her husband's late visit to the captain. She had had no detailed account
+from him, and she wondered how much this old body knew about it. She
+seemed to know pretty much everything. But Olive's appearance put an end
+to this absorbing conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Has you come to stay, dearie?&quot; eagerly asked old Jane, as Olive grasped
+her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To be sure I have, Jane! I have come to stay forever!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank goodness!&quot; exclaimed the old woman. &quot;How the captain will
+brighten up! But my! I must go and alter the supper!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; said Olive, when the old woman had departed, &quot;you
+will have to go back without me. I can not leave my uncle, and I am
+going to stay here right along. You must not think I am ungrateful to
+you, or unmindful of Mr. Easterfield's great kindness, but this is my
+place for the present. Some day I know you will be good enough to let me
+pay you another visit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what am I to do with all those young men?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield
+mischievously. She would have added, &quot;And one of them your future
+husband?&quot; But she remembered the coachman.</p>
+
+<p>Olive laughed. &quot;They will annoy you less when I am not there. If you
+will be so good as to ask your maid to pack up my belongings, I will
+send for my trunk.&quot; She glanced at the coachman. &quot;Would you mind taking
+a little walk with me along the road?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be glad to do so,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, getting out of the
+carriage.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, my dear Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; said Olive when they were some distance
+from the toll-gate and the house, &quot;I am going to ask you to add to all
+your kindness one more favor for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That has such an ominous sound,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that I am not
+disposed to promise beforehand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is about those three young men you mentioned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mentioned no number, and there are four.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what I am going to ask of you one of them can be counted out. He is
+not in the affair. Only three are in this business. Won't you be so good
+as to decline them all for me? I know that you can do it better than I
+can. You have so much tact. And you must have done the thing many a
+time, and I have not done it once. I am very awkward; I don't know how;
+and, to confess the truth, I have put myself into a pretty bad fix.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Upon my word,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that is a pretty thing for one
+woman to ask of another!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know it is,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and I would not ask it of anybody but the
+truest friend&mdash;of no one but you. But you see how difficult it is for me
+to attend to it. And it must be done. I have given up all idea of
+marrying, I am going to stay here, and when my father comes with his
+young lady he will find me settled and fixed, and he and she will have
+nothing to do with making plans for me. Now, dear Mrs. Easterfield, I
+know you will do this favor for me, and let me say that I wish you would
+be particularly gentle and pleasant in speaking to Mr. Locker. I think
+he is really a very kind and considerate young man. He certainly showed
+himself that way. I know you can talk so nicely to him that perhaps he
+will not mind very much. As for Mr. Du Brant, you can tell him plainly
+that I have carefully considered his proposition&mdash;and that is the exact
+truth&mdash;and that I find it will be wise for me not to accept it. He is a
+man of affairs, and will understand that I have given him a
+straightforward, practical answer, and he will be satisfied. You must
+not be sharp with Mr. Hemphill, as I know you will be inclined to be.
+Please remember that I was once in love with him, and respect my
+feelings as well as his. Besides, he is good, and he is in earnest, and
+he deserves fair treatment. I am sorry that I have worried you about
+him, and I will tell you now that I have found out he would not do at
+all. I found it out this morning when I was talking to him about books.
+His mind is neither broad nor cultivated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I could have told you that,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;and saved you all
+the trouble of taking that walk by the river.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And then there is one more thing,&quot; continued Olive; &quot;it is about
+Professor Lancaster. I am sure you will agree with me that it will not
+do for him to come back here. I am just going to start housekeeping
+again. I've got the supper on my mind this minute. You can't imagine how
+everything has turned topsy-turvy since I left. I suppose he will be
+wanting to go North, anyway. In fact, he told me so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. She did not believe that Mr. Lancaster would
+want to go North, or West, or East, although South might suit him. But
+she saw the point of Olive's request; it would be awkward to have him at
+the tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I will take care of him,&quot; she said, &quot;and he shall continue his
+vacation trip just as soon as Mr. Easterfield and I choose to give him
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You see,&quot; said Olive in an explanatory way, &quot;I have not anything in the
+world to do with him, but I thought he might want to come back to see
+uncle again. And, really,&quot; she added, speaking with a great deal of
+earnestness, &quot;I don't want to be bothered with any more young men! And
+now I will call uncle. You know I had to say all these things to you
+immediately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield walked quickly back to her carriage, but she did not
+wait to see Captain Asher. As a hostess it was necessary for her to
+hurry back home; and as a quick-witted, sensible woman she saw that it
+would be well to leave these two happy people to themselves. This was
+not the time for them to talk to her. So, when the captain, unwilling to
+wait any longer, appeared at the door of the house, these two dear
+friends had kissed and parted, and the carriage was speeding away.</p>
+
+<p>On her way home Mrs. Easterfield forgot her slight chagrin at what her
+husband had not done, in her joy at what he had accomplished. He had
+neglected to take her fully into his confidence, and had acted very much
+as if he had been a naval commander, who had cut his telegraphic
+connections in order not to be embarrassed by orders from the home
+government. But, on the other hand, he had saved her from the terrible
+shock of hearing Olive declare that she had just engaged herself to
+Rupert Hemphill. If it had not been for the extraordinary promptness of
+her good Tom&mdash;a style of action he had acquired in the railroad
+business&mdash;it would have been just as likely as not that Olive would have
+accepted that young man before she had had an opportunity of finding out
+his want of breadth and cultivation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>By Proxy.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span>bout half-past twelve Claude Locker made his appearance in the spacious
+hall. He looked out of the front door; he looked out of the back door;
+he peered into the parlor; he glanced up the stairway; and then he
+peeped into the library. He had not seen the lady of the house since her
+return, and he was waiting for Olive. This morning his fate was to be
+positively decided; he would take a position that would allow of no
+postponement; he would tell her plainly that a statement that she was
+not prepared to give him an answer that day would be considered by him
+as a final rejection. She must haul down her flag or he would surrender
+and present to her his sword.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker saw nothing of Miss Asher, but it was not long before the
+lady of the house came down-stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Mr. Locker,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;I am so glad to see you! Come into the
+library, please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated a minute. &quot;I beg your pardon,&quot; said he, &quot;but I have an
+appointment&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; said she, &quot;and you may be surprised to hear that it is
+with me and not with Miss Asher. Come in and I will tell you about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker actually ran after his hostess into the library, both of
+his eyes wide open.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now,&quot; said she, &quot;please sit down, and hear what I have to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Locker seated himself on the edge of a chair; he did not feel happy; he
+suspected something was wrong.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is she sick?&quot; he asked. &quot;Can't she come down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is very well,&quot; was the reply, &quot;but she is not here. She is with her
+uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I am due at her uncle's house before one o'clock,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; she answered, &quot;you are due here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He fixed upon her a questioning glance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; she continued, &quot;has deputed me to give you her answer. She
+can not come herself, but she does not forget her agreement with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young man still gazed steadfastly. &quot;If it is to be a favorable
+decision,&quot; said he, &quot;I hope you will be able to excuse any exuberance of
+demeanor on my part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled. &quot;In that case,&quot; she said, &quot;I do not suppose I
+should have been sent as an envoy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His brow darkened, and instinctively he struck one hand with the other.
+&quot;That is exactly what I expected!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;The signs all pointed
+that way. But until this moment, my dear madam, I hoped. Yes, I had
+presumed to hope that I might kindle in her heart a little nickering
+flame. I had tried to do this, and I had left but one small match head,
+which I intended to strike this day. But now I see I had a piece of the
+wrong end of the match. After this I must be content forever to stay in
+the cold.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad you view the matter so philosophically,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield, &quot;and Olive particularly desired me to say&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't call her Olive, if you please,&quot; he interrupted. &quot;It is like
+speaking to me through the partly open door of paradise, through which I
+can not enter. Slam it shut, I beg of you, and talk over the top of the
+wall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher wants you to know,&quot; continued Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that while
+she has decided to decline your addresses, she is deeply grateful to you
+for the considerate way in which you have borne yourself toward her. I
+know she has a high regard for you, and that she will not forget your
+kindness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker put his hands in his pockets. &quot;Do you know,&quot; said he, &quot;as
+this thing had to be done, I prefer to have you do it than to have her
+do it. Well, it is done now! And so am I!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You never did truly expect to get her, did you, Mr. Locker?&quot; asked Mrs.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never,&quot; he answered; &quot;but I do not flinch at what may be
+impossibilities. Nobody, myself included, can imagine that I shall rival
+Keats, and yet I am always trying for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it Keats you are aiming at?&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied; &quot;it does not look like it, does it? But it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you don't feel disheartened when you fail?&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker took his hands from his pockets, and folded his arms. &quot;Yes,
+I do,&quot; he said; &quot;I feel as thoroughly disheartened as I do now. But I
+have one comfort; Keats and Miss Asher dropped me; I did not drop them.
+So there is nothing on my conscience. And now tell me, is she going to
+take Lancaster? I hope so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She could not do that,&quot; answered Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;for I know he has
+not asked her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then he'd better skip around lively and do it,&quot; said Mr. Locker, &quot;not
+only for his own sake, but for mine. If I should be cast aside for the
+Hemphill clothes I should have no faith in humanity. I would give up
+verse, and I would give up woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be afraid of anything like that,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield,
+laughing. &quot;It may be somewhat of a breach of confidence, but I am going
+to tell you nevertheless; because I think you deserve it; that I am also
+deputed to decline the addresses of Mr. Hemphill, and Mr. Du Brant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurrah!&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Mrs. Easterfield, I envy you; and if you don't
+feel like performing the rest of your mission, you can depute it to me.
+I don't know anything at this moment that would give me so much joy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I would not be so disloyal or so cruel as that,&quot; said she. &quot;But I shall
+not be in a hurry. I shall let them eat their lunch in peace and hope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not much peace,&quot; said he. &quot;Her empty chair will put that to flight. I
+know how it feels to look at her empty chair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you really love her?&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, much moved.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With every fiber,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield found herself much embarrassed at the luncheon table.
+She had made her husband understand the state of affairs, but had not
+had time to enter into particulars with him, and she did not find it
+easy satisfactorily to explain to the company the absence of Miss Asher
+without calling forth embarrassing questions as to her return, and she
+wished carefully to avoid telling them that her guest was not coming
+back for the present. If she made this known then she feared there might
+be a scene at the table.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill turned pale when, that afternoon, his hostess, in an
+exceedingly clear and plain manner, made known to him his fate. For a
+few moments he did not speak. Then he said very quietly: &quot;If she had
+not, of her own accord, told me that she had once loved me, I should
+never have dared to say anything like that to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not think you need any excuse, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;In fact, if you loved her, I do not see how you could help
+speaking after what she herself said to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is true,&quot; he replied. &quot;And I love her with all my heart!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She ought never to have told you of that girlish fancy,&quot; said his
+hostess. &quot;It was putting you in a very embarrassing position, and I am
+bound to say to you, Mr. Hemphill, that I also am very much to blame.
+Knowing all this, as I did, I should not have allowed you to meet her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't say that!&quot; exclaimed Mr. Hemphill. &quot;Don't say that! Not for
+the world would I give up the memory of hearing her say she once loved
+me! I don't care how many years ago it was. I am glad you let me come
+here. I am glad she told me. I shall never forget the happiness I have
+had in this house. And now, Mrs. Easterfield, let me ask you one
+thing&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this moment Mrs. Easterfield, who was facing the door, saw her
+husband enter the hall, and by his manner she knew he was looking for
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; she said to Hemphill, &quot;I will be back in an instant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And she ran out. &quot;Tom,&quot; she cried, &quot;you must go away. I can not see you
+now. I am very busy declining the addresses of a suitor, and can not be
+interrupted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom looked at her in surprise, although it was not often Mrs.
+Easterfield could surprise him. He saw that she was very much in
+earnest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;if you are sure you are going to decline him I won't
+interrupt you. And when you have sealed his fate you will find me in my
+room. I want particularly to see you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield went back to the library and Hemphill continued: &quot;You
+need not answer if you do not think it is right,&quot; said he, &quot;but do you
+believe at any time she thought seriously of me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled as she answered: &quot;Now, you see the advantage of
+an agent in such matters as this. You could not have asked her that
+question, or if you did she would not answer you. And now I am going to
+tell you that she did have some serious thought of you. Whatever
+encouragement she gave you, she treated you fairly. She is a very
+practical young woman&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said Hemphill hurriedly, &quot;but if you please, I would rather
+you did not tell me anything more. Sometimes it is not well to try to
+know too much. I can't talk now, Mrs. Easterfield, for I am dreadfully
+cut up, but at the same time I am wonderfully proud. I don't know that
+you can understand this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I can,&quot; she said; &quot;I understand it perfectly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are very kind,&quot; he said. As he was about to leave the room he
+stopped and turned to Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Is she going to marry Professor
+Lancaster?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Really, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; she replied, &quot;I can not say anything about that.
+I do not know any more than you do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I hope she may,&quot; he said. &quot;It would be a burning shame if she
+were to accept that Austrian; and as for the other little man, he is too
+ugly. You must excuse me for speaking of your friends in this way, Mrs.
+Easterfield, but really I should feel dreadfully if I thought I had been
+set aside for such a queer customer as he is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield did not laugh then; but when Hemphill had gone, and she
+had joined her husband, they had a good time together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so they all recommend Lancaster,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So far,&quot; she answered; &quot;but I have yet to hear what Mr. Du Brant has to
+say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think you have had enough of this discarding business,&quot; said Mr.
+Tom. &quot;You would better leave Du Brant to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said she; &quot;I promised Olive. And, besides, I think I like it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe you do,&quot; said Mr. Tom. &quot;And now I want to say something
+important. It is not right that Broadstone should be given up entirely
+to the affairs of Miss Asher and her lovers. I think, for instance, that
+our friend Fox looks very much dissatisfied.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is because Olive is not here,&quot; she replied.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not only that,&quot; he answered. &quot;He loses her, and does not get anything
+else in her place. Now, we must make this house lively, as it ought to
+be. Let Du Brant off for to-day and let us make up a party to go out on
+the river. We will take two boats, and have some of the men to do the
+rowing. Postpone dinner so we can have a long afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant did not go on the river excursion. He had some letters to
+write, and begged to be excused. He had not asked when Miss Asher was
+expected back, or anything about her return. He did not understand the
+state of affairs, and was afraid he might receive some misleading
+information. But if she should come that afternoon or the next day he
+determined to be on the spot. After that he might not be able to remain
+at Broadstone, and it would be a glorious opportunity for him if she
+should come back that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>It was twilight when the boating party returned. Under the genial
+influence of Mr. Tom and his wife they had all enjoyed themselves as
+much as it was possible for them to do so without Olive.</p>
+
+<p>When Claude Locker, a little behind the others, reached the top of the
+hill he perceived, not far away, Mr. Du Brant strolling. These two had
+not spoken since the night of the interrupted serenade. Each of them had
+desired to avoid words or actions which might disturb the peace of this
+hospitable home, and consequently had very successfully succeeded in
+avoiding each other. But now Mr. Locker walked straight up to the
+secretary of legation, holding out his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Mr. Du Brant,&quot; said he, &quot;since we are both in the same boat, let
+us shake hands and let bygones be bygones.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the young Austrian did not take the proffered hand. For a moment he
+looked as though he were about to turn away without taking any notice of
+Locker, but he had not the strength of mind to do this. He turned and
+remarked with a scowl:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean by same boat? I have nothing to do with you on the
+water or on the land!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker shrugged his shoulders. &quot;So you have not been told,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Told!&quot; exclaimed Du Brant, now very much interested. &quot;Told what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That you will have to find out,&quot; said the other. &quot;It is not my business
+to tell you. But I don't mind saying that as I have been told I thought
+perhaps you might have been.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Told what?&quot; exclaimed Mr. Du Brant again, stepping up closer to the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't shout so,&quot; said Locker; &quot;they will think we are quarreling.
+Didn't I say I am not the person to tell you anything, and if you did
+not understand me I will say it again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For some seconds the Austrian looked steadily at his companion. Then he
+said, &quot;Have you been refused by Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Locker with a sigh, &quot;as that is my business, I suppose I
+can talk about it if I want to. Yes, I have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Again Du Brant was silent for a time. &quot;Did she tell you herself?&quot; he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, she did not,&quot; was the answer. &quot;She kindly sent me word by Mrs.
+Easterfield. I suppose your turn has not come yet. I was at the head of
+the list.&quot; And, fearing that if he stayed longer he might say too much,
+Mr. Locker walked slowly away, whistling disjointedly as he went.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Mrs. Easterfield discovered that she had been deprived of
+the anticipated pleasure of conveying to Mr. Du Brant the message which
+Olive had sent him. That gentleman, unusually polite and soft-spoken,
+found her by herself, and thus accosted her: &quot;You must excuse me, madam,
+for speaking upon a certain subject without permission from you, but I
+have reason to believe that you are the bearer of a message to me from
+Miss Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How in the world did you find that out?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was the&mdash;Locker,&quot; he answered. &quot;I do not think it was his intention
+to inform me fully; he is not a master of words and expressions; he is a
+little blundering; but, from what he said, I supposed you were kind
+enough to be the bearer of such a message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;not being able to be here herself, Miss
+Asher requested me to say to you that she must decline&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me, madam,&quot; he interrupted, &quot;but it is I who decline. I bear
+toward you, madam, the greatest homage and respect, but what I had the
+honor to say to Miss Asher I said to her alone, and it is only from her
+that it is possible for me to receive an answer. Therefore, madam, it is
+absolutely necessary that I decline to be a party to the interview you
+so graciously propose. It breaks my heart, my dear madam, even to seem
+unwilling to listen to anything you might deign to say to me, but in
+this case I must be firm, I must decline. Can you pardon me, dear madam,
+for speaking as I have been obliged to speak?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, of course,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;And really, since you know so
+much, it is not necessary for me to tell you anything more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah,&quot; said the diplomat, with a little bow and an incredulous
+expression, as if the lady could have no idea what he might yet know, &quot;I
+am so much obliged to you! I am so thankful!&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Here we go! Lovers Three!</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he three discarded lovers of Broadstone&mdash;all discarded, although one of
+them would not admit it&mdash;would have departed the next day had not that
+day been Sunday, when there were no convenient trains. Mr. Du Brant was
+due in Washington; Mr. Hemphill was needed very much at his desk,
+especially since Mr. Easterfield had decided to spend a few days with
+his wife; and Claude Locker wanted to go. When he had finished the thing
+he happened to be doing it was his habit immediately to begin something
+else. All was at an end between him and Miss Asher. He acknowledged
+this, and he did not wish to stay at Broadstone. But, as it could not be
+helped, they all stayed over Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield planned an early afternoon expedition to a mission
+church in the mountains; it would be a novel experience, and a
+delightful trip, and everybody must go.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the morning Mr. Du Brant strolled in the eastern parts
+of the grounds, and Mr. Locker strolled over that portion of the lawn
+which lay to the west. Mr. Du Brant did not meet with any one with whom
+he cared to talk, but Mr. Locker was fortunate enough to meet Miss
+Raleigh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to see you,&quot; said he; &quot;you are the person above all other
+persons I wish to talk to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It delights me to hear that,&quot; said the lady, her face showing that she
+spoke the truth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us go over there and sit down,&quot; said he. &quot;Now, then,&quot; he continued,
+&quot;you were present, Miss Raleigh, at a very peculiar moment in my life, a
+momentous moment, I may say. You enjoyed a privilege&mdash;if you consider it
+such&mdash;not vouchsafed to many mortals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did consider it a privilege, you may be sure,&quot; exclaimed Miss
+Raleigh, &quot;and I value it. You do not know how highly I value it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You heard me offer myself, body and soul, to the lady I loved. You were
+taken into our confidence, you saw me laid upon the table&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, dreadful!&quot; cried the lady. &quot;Don't put it that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said he, &quot;you saw me postponed for future consideration.
+You promised you would regard everything you heard as confidential; by
+so doing you enabled me to speak when otherwise I might not have dared
+to do so. I am deeply grateful to you; and, as you already know so much
+about my hopes and my aspirations, I think it right you should know all
+there is to know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The conscience of Miss Raleigh stirred itself very vigorously within
+her, and her voice was much subdued as she said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sure you are very good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Locker, &quot;the proposal you heard me make has been
+declined. I am discarded; and not directly in a face-to-face interview,
+but through another by a message. It would have been inconvenient for
+Miss Asher personally to communicate the intelligence, so as Mrs.
+Easterfield was coming this way she kindly consented to convey the
+intelligence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I declare,&quot; exclaimed Miss Raleigh, &quot;I had not heard of that! Mrs.
+Easterfield made me her confidant in the early stages of this affair, or
+I should say, these affairs. But she has not told me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She will doubtless give herself that pleasure later,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she, &quot;she will not think any more about it. I am of no
+further use. And may I ask if you know anything about the two other
+gentlemen?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Both turned down,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I might have supposed that,&quot; answered the lady; &quot;for if Miss Asher
+would not take you she certainly would not be content with either of
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With all my heart I thank you,&quot; said Locker warmly. &quot;Such words are
+welcome to a wounded heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Miss Raleigh was silent, then she remarked, &quot;It is very
+hard to be discarded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right there!&quot; exclaimed Locker. &quot;But how do you happen to know
+anything about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been discarded myself,&quot; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>The larger eye of Mr. Locker grew still larger, the other endeavored to
+emulate its companion's size; and his mouth became a rounded opening.
+&quot;Discarded?&quot; he cried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>The countenance of the young man was now bright with interest and
+curiosity. &quot;I don't suppose it would be right to ask you,&quot; said he,
+&quot;even although I have taken you so completely into my confidence&mdash;but,
+never mind. Don't think of it. Of course, I would not propose such a
+question.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not,&quot; said she, &quot;you are too manly for that.&quot; And then she
+was silent again. Naturally she hesitated to reveal the secrets of her
+heart, and to a gentleman with whom her acquaintance was of such recent
+date; but she earnestly wanted to repose confidence in another, as well
+as to receive it, and it was so seldom, so very seldom, that such an
+opportunity came to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know,&quot; she said, &quot;that I ought to, but still&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't, if you don't want to,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I think I do want to,&quot; she replied. &quot;You are so kind, so good, and
+you have confided in me. Yes, I was once discarded, not exactly by word
+of mouth, or even by message, but still discarded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A stranger to me, of course,&quot; said Locker, his whole form twisting
+itself into an interrogation-point.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she, &quot;and as I have begun I will go on. It was Mr. Hemphill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;That&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it was he,&quot; said she, speaking slowly, and in a low voice. &quot;He was
+Mr. Easterfield's secretary and I was Mrs. Easterfield's secretary, and,
+of course, we were thrown much together. He has very good qualities; I
+do not hesitate now to say that; and they impressed themselves upon me.
+In every possible way I endeavored to make things pleasant for him. I do
+not believe that when he was at work he ever wanted a glass of cold
+water that he did not find it within reach. I early discovered that he
+was very fond of cold water.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A most commendable dissipation,&quot; interrupted Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He had no dissipations,&quot; said Miss Raleigh. &quot;His character was
+unimpeachable. In very many ways I was attracted to him, in very many
+ways I endeavored to make life pleasant for him; and I am afraid that
+sometimes I neglected Mrs. Easterfield's interests so that I might do
+little things for him, such as dusting, keeping his ink-pots full,
+providing fresh blotting-paper, and many other trifling services which
+devotion readily suggested.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Locker heaved a sigh of commiseration which she mistook for one of
+sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will not go into particulars,&quot; she continued, &quot;but at last he
+discovered that&mdash;well, I will be plain with you&mdash;he discovered that I
+loved him. Then, sir&mdash;it is humiliating to me to say it, but I will not
+flinch&mdash;he discarded me. He did not use words, but his manner was
+sufficient. Never again did I go near his desk, never did I tender him
+the slightest service. It was a terrible blow! It was humiliating&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think so,&quot; said Locker, &quot;from him&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I will say no more,&quot; she remarked with a sigh. &quot;I have told you
+what you have heard that you may understand how thoroughly I sympathize
+with you, for all is over with me in that direction, as I suppose all
+is over with you in your direction. And now I must go, for this long
+conference may be remarked. But before I go, I will say that if ever
+you&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, no, no!&quot; interrupted Locker, &quot;it would not do at all! I really
+have begun to believe that I was cut out for a bachelor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; said Miss Raleigh, with great severity. &quot;Do you suppose, sir,
+that I&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all, not at all&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Not for one moment do I suppose
+that you&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If for one moment,&quot; said she, &quot;I had imagined you would suppose&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I assure you, Miss Raleigh, I never did suppose that you would
+imagine I would think&mdash;but if you do suppose I thought you imagined I
+could possibly conceive&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I really did think,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, speaking more gently. &quot;But
+if I was wrong&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nay, think no more about it,&quot; Locker interrupted, &quot;and let us be
+friends again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He offered her his hand, which she shook warmly, and then departed.</p>
+
+<p>It had been arranged that Lancaster was not to leave Broadstone on the
+next day. He had expected to do so, but Mr. Easterfield had planned for
+a day's fishing for himself, Mr. Fox, and the professor, and he would
+not let the latter off. The ladies had accepted an invitation to
+luncheon that day; the next day some new visitors were expected; and in
+order not to interfere with Mr. Easterfield's plans, evidently intended
+to restore to Broadstone some of the social harmony which had recently
+been so disturbed, Dick consented to stay, although he really wanted to
+go. He could not forget that his vacation was passing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well, then,&quot; Mrs. Easterfield remarked to him that Sunday evening,
+&quot;if you must go on Tuesday, I suppose you must, although I think it
+would be better for you if I were to keep my eye on you for a little
+while longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps so,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;but the time has come when curb-bits,
+cages, and good advice are not for me. I must burst loose from
+everything and go my way, right or wrong, whatever it may be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see that,&quot; said she; &quot;but if it had not been for the curbed bit and
+all that, you would be leaving this place a discarded lover, like the
+rest of them. They depart with their love-affairs finished forever,
+ended; you go as free to woo, to win, or to lose as you ever were. And
+you owe this entirely to me, so whatever else you do, don't sneer at my
+curbs and my cages; to them you owe your liberty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The professor fully appreciated everything she had done for him, and
+told her so earnestly and warmly. But she interrupted his grateful
+expressions.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would have been very hard on me,&quot; she said, &quot;if Olive had asked me
+to carry to you the news of your rejection. That is what I did for the
+others, I suppose you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said Lancaster; &quot;Locker told me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I might have supposed that,&quot; said she. &quot;And now I feel bound to tell
+you also, although it is not a message, that Olive does not expect to
+see you at her uncle's house. She infers that you are going to continue
+your vacation journey.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have made my plans for my journey,&quot; said he, &quot;and I do not think,
+Mrs. Easterfield, that you will care to have me talk them over with
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, indeed,&quot; she replied; &quot;I do not want to hear a word about them, but
+I am going to give you one piece of advice, whether you like it or not.
+Don't be in a hurry to ask her to marry you. At this moment she does not
+want to marry anybody. Her position has entirely changed. She wanted to
+marry so that her plans might be settled before her father and his new
+wife arrive; and now she considers that they are settled. So be careful.
+It is true that the objections she formerly had to you are removed, but
+before you ask her to marry you, you should seriously ask yourself what
+reason there is she should do so. She does not know you very well; she
+is not interested in you; and I am very sure she is not in love with
+you. Now you know, for I have told you so, that I would be delighted to
+see you two married. I believe you would suit each other admirably, but
+although you may agree with me in this opinion, I am quite sure she does
+not; at least, not yet. Now, this is all I am going to say, except that
+you have my very best wishes that you may get her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall never forget that,&quot; said he, &quot;but I see I am not to be free
+from the memory, at least, of the curb and the cage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast on Monday the three discarded lovers departed in a
+dog-cart, Mr. Du Brant in front with the driver, and Claude Locker and
+Hemphill behind. For some minutes the party was silent. If
+circumstances had permitted they would have gone separately.</p>
+
+<p>As long as he could see the mansion of Broadstone, Claude Locker spoke
+no word. When the time had come to go he had not wanted to go. When
+taking leave of Dick Lancaster he had congratulated that favored young
+man upon the fact that he had not been rejected, and had assured him
+that if he had remained at Broadstone he would have done his best to
+back him up as he had said he would.</p>
+
+<p>Hemphill was not inclined to talk. Of course, Locker did not care to
+converse with the young diplomat, and consequently he found himself
+bored, and to relieve his feelings he burst into song. His words were
+impromptu, and although the verse was not very good, it was very
+impressive. It began as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;Here we go,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>Lovers three,<br /></span>
+<span>All steeped deep<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>In miseree.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>At this Mr. Hemphill turned and looked at him, while a deep grunt came
+from the front seat, but the singer kept on without much attention to
+meter, and none at all to tune.</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;This is so,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>Here we go,<br /></span>
+<span>Flabbergasted,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>Hopes all blasted,<br /></span>
+<span>Flags half-masted.<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>While it lasted,<br /></span>
+<span>We poor&mdash;&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&quot;Look here,&quot; cried Du Brant, turning round suddenly, &quot;I beg you desist
+that. You are insulting. And what you say is not true, as regards me at
+least. You can sing for yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not true!&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Oh, ho, oh ho! Perhaps you have forgotten
+yourself, kind sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This little speech seemed to make Du Brant very angry, and he fairly
+shouted at Locker: &quot;No, I haven't forgotten myself, and I have not
+forgotten you! You have insulted me before, and I should like to make
+you pay for it! I should like to have satisfaction from you, sir&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That sounds well,&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Do you mean to fight?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want the satisfaction due to a gentleman,&quot; answered the young
+Austrian.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good,&quot; cried Locker, &quot;that would suit me exactly. It would brighten me
+up. Let's do it now. I am not going to stop at Washington, and this is
+the only time I can give you. Driver, can we get to the station in time
+if we stop a little while?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The person addressed was a young negro who had become intensely
+interested in the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, sah,&quot; he answered. &quot;We'll git dar twenty minutes before de
+train does, and if you takes half an hour I can whip up. That train's
+mostly late, anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; cried Locker. &quot;And now, sir, how shall we fight? What have
+you got to fight with?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is folly,&quot; growled Du Brant. &quot;I have nothing to fight with. I do
+not fight with fists, like you Americans.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you a penknife&quot; coolly asked Locker. &quot;If not, I daresay Mr.
+Hemphill will lend you one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Du Brant now fairly trembled with anger. &quot;When I fight,&quot; said he, &quot;I
+fight like a gentleman; with a sword or a pistol.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sorry,&quot; said Locker, &quot;but if I remembered to bring my sword and
+pistol I must have put them in the bottom of my trunk, and that has gone
+on to the station. Have you two pistols or swords with you? Or do you
+think you could get sufficient satisfaction out of a couple of piles of
+stones that we could hurl at each other?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Du Brant made no English answer to this, but uttered some savage remarks
+in French.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you understand what all that means?&quot; inquired Locker of Hemphill,
+who had been quietly listening to what had been going on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the other, &quot;he is cursing you up hill, and down dale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said Locker, &quot;it sounds to me as if he were calculating his last
+week's expenses. But when he gets to French cursing, I drop him. I can't
+fight him that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The colored boy now showed that he was very much disappointed. He had
+expected the pleasure of a fight, and he was afraid he was going to lose
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you, sah,&quot; he said to Locker, &quot;why don't you try kick-shins? Do
+you know what kick-shins is? You don't know what kick-shins is? Well,
+kick-shins is this: one fellow stands in front of the other fellow, and
+one takes hold of the collar of the other fellow, and the other fellow
+takes hold of his collar, and then they kicks each other's shins, and
+the one what squeals fust, he's licked, and the other one gits the gal.
+You've got pretty thin shoes, sah,&quot; addressing Du Brant, &quot;and your feet
+ain't half as big as his'n, but your toes is more p'inted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No kick-shins for me,&quot; said Locker. &quot;I've got to be economical about my
+clothes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Du Brant's rage now became ungovernable. &quot;Do you apologize,&quot; he cried,
+&quot;or I take you by the throat, and I strangle you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Hemphill, who had been smiling mildly at the kick-shin proposition, now
+turned himself about. &quot;You will not do that,&quot; he said, &quot;and if you don't
+sit quiet and keep your mouth shut, I'll toss you out of this cart, and
+make you walk the rest of the way to the station.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Hemphill looked quite big and strong enough to execute this threat,
+and as he was too quiet a man to be ignored, Du Brant turned his face to
+the horse, and said no more.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know you were such a trump&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Give me your hand.
+I should hate to be strangled by a foreigner!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they took the train Du Brant went by himself into the smoking-car,
+and Locker and Hemphill had a seat together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know,&quot; said Locker, &quot;I am beginning to like you, although I must
+admit that before this morning I can remember no feeling of the sort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is not surprising,&quot; said Hemphill. &quot;A man is not generally fond of
+his rival.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We will let it go at that,&quot; said Locker, &quot;we'll let it go at that! I
+should not wonder, if we had all stayed at Broadstone; and if the
+central object of interest had also remained; and, if I had failed, as
+I have failed, to make the proper impression; and if the professor, whom
+I promised to back up in case I should find myself out of the combat,
+should also have failed; I should not wonder if I had backed up you.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXIX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Two Pieces of News.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>I</span>t was nearly two weeks after Mrs. Easterfield drove away from the
+captain's toll-gate before she went back there again. There were many
+reasons for thus depriving herself of Olive's society. Mr. Tom had
+stayed with her for an unusually long time; a house full of visitors,
+mostly relatives, had succeeded the departed lovers, and Foxes; and,
+besides, Olive was so very busy and so very happy&mdash;as she learned from
+many little notes&mdash;cleaning the house from garret to cellar, and loving
+her uncle better every day, that it really would have been a misdemeanor
+to interfere with her ardent pursuits.</p>
+
+<p>But now Olive had written that she wanted to tell her a lot of things
+which could not go into a letter, and so the Broadstone carriage stopped
+again at the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>Two great things had Olive to tell, and she was really glad that her
+uncle was not at home so that she might get at once to the telling.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, old Mr. Port was dead, and Captain Asher was in
+great trouble about this. Of course, he could not keep away from the
+deathbed of his old friend, nor could he neglect to do all honor to his
+memory, but it was a terrible thing for him to have to go into the
+house where Maria Port lived. After what had happened it was almost too
+much for his courage, although he was a brave man. But he had conquered
+his feelings, and he was there now. The funeral would be to-morrow.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield heard all that Olive had to tell her about Maria
+Port, her heart went out to that brave man who kept the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>The next thing that Olive had to tell was that she had heard from her
+father, who wrote that he would soon arrive in this country; that he
+would then go West, where he would marry Olive's former schoolmate; and
+that, on their wedding tour, he would make a little visit at the
+tollhouse so that Olive might see her new mother.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, isn't this enough,&quot; cried Olive, &quot;to make any girl spread her
+wings and fly to the ends of the earth? But I have no wings; they have
+all gone away in a dog-cart. But I don't feel about that as I used to
+feel,&quot; she continued, a little hardness coming into her face. &quot;I am
+settled now just the same as if I were married, and father and Edith
+Malcolmsen may come just as soon as they please. They shall make no
+plans for me; I am going to stay here with Uncle John. This house is
+mine now, and I am seriously thinking of having it painted. I shall stay
+here just as if I were one of those trees, and my father and my new
+mother&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here tears came into Olive's eyes and Mrs. Easterfield stopped her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; said she, &quot;I will give you a piece of advice. When your father
+and his young wife come here, treat her exactly as if she were your old
+friend. If you do so I think you will get along very well. This is
+partly selfish advice, for I greatly desire the opportunity to treat
+your father hospitably. He was my friend when I was a girl, you
+remember, and I looked up to him with very great admiration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And so these two friends sat and talked, and talked, and talked until it
+was positively shameful, considering that the Broadstone horses were
+accustomed to be fed and watered at noon, and that the coachman was very
+hungry.</p>
+
+<p>When, at last, Mrs. Easterfield drove home, and it must have been three
+in the afternoon, she left Olive very much comforted, even in regard to
+the unfortunate obligations which had fallen upon her uncle. For now
+that her old father had gone, all intercourse with the Port woman would
+cease.</p>
+
+<p>But in her own mind Mrs. Easterfield was not so very much comforted. It
+was all well enough to talk about Olive and her uncle and the happiness
+and safety of the home he had given her, but that sort of thing could
+not last very long. He was an elderly man and she was a girl. In the
+natural course of events, she would probably be left alone while she was
+very young. She would then be alone, for her father's wife could never
+be a mother to her when he was at sea, and their home would never be a
+home for her when he was on shore. What Olive wanted, in Mrs.
+Easterfield's opinion, was a husband. An uncle, such as Captain Asher,
+was very charming, but he was not enough.</p>
+
+<p>During this pleasant afternoon, when Captain Asher was in town
+attending to some arrangements for the burial of Mr. Port, Miss Maria
+was sitting discreetly alone in her darkened chamber. She had a great
+many things to think about, and if she had allowed her conscience full
+freedom of action, there would have been much more upon her mind. She
+might have been troubled by the recollection that since her father's
+very determined treatment of her when she had endeavored to fix herself
+upon the affections of Captain Asher, she had so conducted herself
+toward her venerable parent that she had actually nagged the life out of
+him; and that had she been the dutiful daughter she ought to have been
+he might have been living yet. But thoughts of this nature were not
+common to Maria Port. She had made herself sure that the will was all
+right, and he was very old. There was a time for all things, and Maria
+was now about to begin life for herself. To her plans for this new life
+she now gave almost her sole attention.</p>
+
+<p>She had one great object in view which overshadowed everything else, and
+this was to marry Captain Asher. This she could have done before, she
+firmly believed, had it not been for her old father and that horrid
+girl, the captain's niece. As for the elderly man who kept the toll-gate
+she did not mind him. If not interfered with, she was sure she could
+make him marry her, and then the great ambition of her life would be
+satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>Unpretentious as was her establishment in town, she did not care to
+spend the money necessary to keep it up, and although she was often an
+unkind woman, she was not cruel enough to think of inflicting herself
+as a boarder upon any housewife in the town. No, the toll-gate was the
+home for her; and if Captain Asher chose to inflict himself upon her for
+a few years longer, she would try to endure it.</p>
+
+<p>One obstacle to her plans was now gone, and she must devote herself to
+the work of getting rid of the other one. While Olive Asher remained at
+the tollhouse there was no chance for her in that quarter.</p>
+
+<p>The funeral was over, and when the bereaved Miss Port took leave of
+Captain Asher she exhibited a quiet gratitude which was very becoming
+and suitable. During the short time when he had visited the house every
+day she had showed him no resentment on account of what had passed
+between them, and had treated him very much as if he had been one of her
+father's old friends with whom she was not very well acquainted and to
+whom she was indebted for various services connected with the sad
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>When he took final leave of her he shook her hand, and as he did so he
+gave her a peculiar grasp which, in his own mind, indicated that he and
+she had now nothing more to do with each other, and that the
+acquaintance was adjourned without day. She bade him a simple farewell,
+and as he left the house she grinned at his broad back. This grin
+expressed, to herself at least, that the old and rather faulty
+acquaintance was at an end, and that the new connection which she
+intended to establish between herself and him would be upon an entirely
+different basis.</p>
+
+<p>He did not ask her if there was anything more that he could do for her,
+for he did not desire to mix himself up with her affairs, which he knew
+she was eminently able to manage for herself, and it was with a deep
+breath of relief that he got into his buggy and drove home to his
+toll-gate.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>By the Sea.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Lieutenant Asher and his bride arrived at his brother's toll-gate
+they were surprised as well as delighted by the cordiality of their
+greeting. Each of them had expected a little stiffness during the first
+interview, but there was nothing of the kind, although young Mrs. Asher
+was bound to admit, when she took time to think upon the subject, that
+Olive treated her exactly as if she had been a dear old schoolmate, and
+not at all as her father's wife. This made things very pleasant and easy
+at that time, she thought, although it might have to be corrected a
+little after a while.</p>
+
+<p>Things were all very pleasant, and there never had been so much talk at
+the tollhouse since the first stone of its foundation had been laid. The
+day after the arrival of the newly married couple Mrs. Easterfield
+called upon them, and invited the whole family to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have never realized how much she must have thought of my parents!&quot;
+said Olive to herself, as she gazed upon her father and Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;They are so very glad to see each other!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She did not know that Lieutenant Asher had been to the present Mrs.
+Easterfield almost as much of a divinity as Mr. Hemphill had been to
+her girlish fancy; the difference being that the young cadet was well
+aware of the adoration of this child, not yet in long dresses, and
+greatly enjoyed and encouraged it. When, a few years later, the child
+heard of his marriage, she had outgrown the love with the lengthening of
+the skirts. But she had a tender recollection of it which she cherished.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner the next day was a great success, and after it the lieutenant
+and Mrs. Easterfield earnestly discussed Olive when they had the
+opportunity for a <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i>. She was so much to each of them, and he
+was grateful that his daughter had fallen under the influence of this
+old friend, now a charming woman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is so beautiful,&quot; said the lady, &quot;that she ought to be married as
+soon as possible to the most suitable bachelor in the United States.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so fast! Not so fast&quot; said the lieutenant. &quot;Edith and I are going
+to housekeeping very soon, and then we shall want Olive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled, but made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>When the lieutenant and his wife, with Olive, came a few days afterward
+to make their proper dinner call, he found an occasion to speak to their
+hostess.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know,&quot; said he, &quot;that this is a strange girl of mine?&quot; She
+positively refuses to come and live with us. We had counted upon having
+her, and had made all our arrangements for it. She is as good and nice
+as she can be, but we can not move her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You ought not to try,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;it would be a shame for
+her to go away and leave her uncle. You have one young lady, and you
+should not ask for both. Olive must marry, and the captain must go and
+live with her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you arranged all that?&quot; said he. &quot;I remember you were a great
+schemer when quite a little girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am as great as ever,&quot; said she. &quot;And I have selected the gentleman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ho!&quot; cried the lieutenant. &quot;And is that all settled? Olive should
+have told me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She could not do it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;for it is not all
+settled. There are some obstacles in the way; and the greatest of them
+is that she does not love him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The lieutenant laughed. &quot;Then that is settled. I know Olive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield flushed, and then laughed. &quot;I doubt that knowledge. It
+is certain you do not know me! The young man loves her with all his
+heart; there is no objection to him; and I am most earnestly in favor of
+the match.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah&quot; said the lieutenant, with a bow; &quot;if that is the case, I must get a
+pencil and paper and calculate what I can give her for her trousseau. I
+hope the wedding will not come off very soon, for I am decidedly short
+at present, on account of recent matrimonial expenses. Would you mind
+telling me his name? Is he naval?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said she; &quot;he is pedagogy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; he cried, his eyes wide open.</p>
+
+<p>Then she laughed and told him all about Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; concluded Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I can not ask you not to
+speak to <i>anybody</i> about what I have told you, but I do hope you will
+prevent its getting to Olive's ears. I am afraid it would make a breach
+between us if she knew that I was trying to make a match for her. And,
+you see, that is exactly what I am doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you are right,&quot; said the lieutenant; &quot;and what is more, I am with
+you! You don't know,&quot; he added in a softer tone, &quot;how grateful I am to
+you for your care of Olive now that my dear wife is gone!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For the moment he totally forgot that his dear wife had merely gone to
+the edge of the bluff with the captain and Olive to look at the river.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, as they sat together, Lieutenant Asher told his brother
+all that Mrs. Easterfield had confided to him about Dick Lancaster. The
+captain was delighted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is what I have wanted,&quot; he said, &quot;almost from the beginning, and I
+want it more than ever now. I am getting to be an old fellow, and I want
+to see her settled before I sail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know, John,&quot; said the lieutenant, &quot;that I find Olive is a little
+more of a girl of her own mind than she used to be. I don't believe she
+would rest quietly under the housekeeping of a girl so nearly her own
+age.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain gave some vigorous puffs. &quot;I should think not!&quot; he said to
+himself. &quot;Olive would have that young woman swabbing the decks before
+they had been out three days! You are right,&quot; said he aloud, &quot;but we
+must all look out that Olive does not hear anything about this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not until they were continuing their bridal trip that Lieutenant
+Asher considered the subject of mentioning Dick Lancaster to his wife.
+Then, after considering it, he concluded not to do it. In the first
+place, he knew that he was getting to be a little bit elderly, and he
+did not care about discussing the perfections of the young man who had
+been selected as a suitable partner for his wife's school friend. This
+was all very foolish, of course, but people often are very foolish.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that Olive Asher never heard of the tripartite alliance
+between her father, her uncle, and her good friend at Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>When Captain Asher learned, a few days after his brother had left, that
+the Broadstone family had gone to the seashore, he sat reflectively and
+asked himself if he were doing the right thing by Olive. The season was
+well advanced; it was getting very hot at the toll-gate, and at many
+other gates in that region; and this navy girl ought to have a breath of
+fresh air. It is wonderful that he had not thought of it before!</p>
+
+<p>At breakfast the next morning Olive stopped pouring coffee when he told
+her his plans to go to the sea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With you, Uncle John!&quot; she cried. &quot;That would be better than anything
+in the world! You sail a boat?&quot; she asked inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sail a boat!&quot; roared the captain. &quot;I have a great mind to kick over
+this table! My dear, I can sail a boat, keel uppermost, if the water's
+deep enough! Sail a boat!&quot; he repeated. &quot;I sailed a catboat from Boston
+to Egg Harbor before your mother was born. By the way, you seem very
+anxious about boat sailing. Are you afraid of the water?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed gaily. &quot;I deserve that,&quot; she said, &quot;and I accept it. But
+perhaps I have done something that you never did. I have sailed a
+felucca.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very good,&quot; said the captain; &quot;if there's a felucca where we're going
+you can sail me in one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They went to a Virginia seaside resort, these two, and left old Jane in
+charge of the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the day after they arrived they went out to engage a boat. When
+they found one which suited the captain's critical eye, he said to the
+owner thereof: &quot;I will take her for the morning, but I don't want
+anybody to sail me. I will do that myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know about that,&quot; said the man; &quot;when my boat goes out&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He stopped speaking suddenly and looked the captain over and over, up
+and down. &quot;All right, sir,&quot; said he. &quot;And you don't want nobody to
+manage the sheet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; interpolated Olive, &quot;I'll manage the sheet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they went out on the bounding sea. And as the wind whistled the hat
+off her head so that she had to fling it into the bottom of the boat,
+Olive wished that her uncle kept a toll-gate on the sea. Then she could
+go out with him and stop the little boats and the great steamers, and
+make them drop seven cents or thirteen cents into her hands as she stood
+braced in the stern; and she was just beginning to wonder how she could
+toss up the change to them if they dropped her a quarter, when the
+captain began to sing Tom Bowline. He was just as gay-hearted as she
+was.</p>
+
+<p>It was about noon when they returned, for the captain was a very
+particular man and he had hired the boat only for the morning. Olive had
+scarcely taken ten steps up the beach before she found herself shaking
+hands with a young man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How on earth!&quot; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was not on earth at all,&quot; he said; &quot;I came by water. I wanted to
+find out if what I had heard of the horrors of a coastwise voyage were
+true; and I found that it was absolutely correct.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But here!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;Why here? You could not have known!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not,&quot; he answered; &quot;if I had known I am sure I would have
+felt that I ought not to come. But I didn't know, and so you see I am as
+innocent as a butterfly. More innocent, in fact, for that little
+wagwings knows where he ought not to go, and he goes there all the
+same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher was still at the boat, making some practical suggestions
+to her owner; who, being not yet forty, had many things to learn about
+the sails and rigging of a catboat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Locker,&quot; said Olive, looking at him very intently, &quot;did you come
+here to renew any of your previous performances?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a serenader?&quot; said he. &quot;Oh, no! But perhaps you mean as a
+love-maker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is it,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker took off his hat, and rubbed his head. &quot;No,&quot; said he, &quot;I
+didn't; but I wish I could say I did. But that's impossible. I presume
+I am right in assuming this impossibility?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Entirely,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And, furthermore, I truly didn't know you were here. I think you may
+rest satisfied that that flame is out, although&mdash;By the way, I believe I
+could make some verses on that subject containing these lines:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;'I do not want the flame,<br /></span>
+<span>I better like the coal&mdash;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>meaning, of course, that I hope our friendship may continue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled. &quot;There are no objections to that,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not, perhaps not,&quot; he said, clutching his chin with his hand;
+&quot;but some other lines come into my head. Of course, he didn't want the
+coal to go out.</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;'He blew too hard,<br /></span>
+<span>The flame revived.'&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&quot;That will do! That will do!&quot; cried Olive. &quot;I don't want any more of
+that poem.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And the result of it all,&quot; said he, &quot;is only a burnt match.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing but a bit of charcoal,&quot; added Olive.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment up came the captain. Olive had told him all about Mr.
+Locker, and he was not glad to see him. Olive noticed this, and she
+spoke quickly. &quot;Here's Mr. Locker, uncle; he has dropped down quite
+accidentally at this place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh&quot; said the captain incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know he used to like me too much. But he knows me better now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Charming frankness of friendship!&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And as I like him very much, I am glad he is here,&quot; continued Olive.</p>
+
+<p>The young man bowed in gratitude, but Olive's words embarrassed him
+somewhat, and he did not know exactly what would be suitable for him to
+say. So he took refuge in a change of subject. &quot;Captain,&quot; said he, &quot;can
+you fish?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A look of scornful amazement showed itself upon the old mariner's face.
+&quot;I have tried it,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so have I,&quot; cried Locker, &quot;but I never had any luck in fishing
+and&mdash;some other things. I am vilely unlucky. I expect that's because I
+don't know how to fish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is very likely,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that your bad luck comes from not
+knowing where to fish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young man took off his hat and held it for a little while, although
+the sun was very hot.</p>
+
+<p>During the course of that afternoon and evening Captain Asher grew to
+like Claude Locker. The young man told such gravely comical stories,
+especially about his experiences in boats and on the water, that the
+captain was very glad he had happened to drop down upon that especial
+watering-place. He wanted Olive to have some society besides his own,
+and a discarded lover was better than any other young man they might
+meet. He knew that Olive was a girl who would not go back on her word.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>As good as a Man.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he next day our three friends went fishing in a catboat belonging to
+the young seaman of forty, and they took their dinner with them,
+although Mr. Locker declared that he did not believe that he would want
+any.</p>
+
+<p>They had a good time on the water, for the captain had made careful
+inquiries about the best fishing grounds, and the mishaps of Locker were
+so numerous and so provocative of queer remarks from himself, that the
+captain and Olive sometimes forgot to pull up their fish, so preengaged
+were they in laughing. The sky was bright, the water smooth, and even
+Mr. Locker caught fish, although it might have been thought that he did
+everything possible to prevent himself doing so.</p>
+
+<p>When their boat ran up the beach late in the afternoon the captain and
+Olive were still laughing, and Mr. Locker was as sober as a soda-water
+fountain from which spouts such intermittent sparkle. Dear as was the
+toll-gate, this was a fine change from that quiet home.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, upon the sand, Claude Locker approached Olive. &quot;Would
+you like to decline my addresses for the second time?&quot; he abruptly
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not&quot; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said he, extending his hand, &quot;good-by!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; said Olive. &quot;What does this mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It means,&quot; said he, &quot;that I have fallen in love with you again. I think
+I am rather worse than I was before. If I stay here I shall surely
+propose. Nothing can stop me&mdash;not even the presence of your uncle if it
+is impossible for me to see you alone&mdash;and, if you don't want any of
+that, it is necessary that I go, and go quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I don't want it,&quot; she said. &quot;But why need you be so foolish?
+We were getting along so nicely as friends. I expected to have lots of
+fun here with you and uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fun!&quot; groaned Locker. &quot;It might have been fun for you and the captain,
+but what of the poor torn heart? I know I must go, and now. If I stay
+here five minutes longer I shall be at your feet, and it will be far
+better if I take to my own. Good-by!&quot; And, with a warm grasp of her
+hand, he departed.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked after him as he walked to the hotel. If he had known how
+much she regretted to see him go he would have come back, and all his
+troubles would have begun again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello!&quot; cried the captain when Locker had entered the house, &quot;I was
+looking for you. We can run out, and have some fishing this morning. The
+tide will suit. You did so well yesterday that I think to-day. I can
+even teach you to take out a hook.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take out a hook?&quot; said Locker. &quot;I have a hook within me which no man
+in this world, and but one woman, can take out. And as this she must not
+even be asked to do, I go. Farewell!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with the young man&quot; asked the captain of Olive a
+little later.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he has fallen in love with me again,&quot; said Olive, with a sigh,
+&quot;and, of course, that spoils everything. I wish people could be more
+sensible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked down upon her admiringly. &quot;I don't see any hope for
+people,&quot; he said. And this was the first personal compliment he had ever
+paid his niece.</p>
+
+<p>When Claude Locker had gone, Olive missed him more than she thought she
+could miss anybody. Much of the life seemed to have gone out of the
+place, and the captain's high spirits waned as if he was suffering from
+the depression which follows a stimulant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If that young fellow had been better-looking,&quot; said the captain, &quot;if he
+had more solid sense, and a good business, with both his eyes alike, I
+might have been more willing to let him go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he had been all that,&quot; asked Olive with a smile, &quot;why shouldn't you
+have been willing to let him stay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not answer. No matter what young Locker might have been,
+he could never have been Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle,&quot; said Olive that afternoon, &quot;where shall we go next?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said he, &quot;but let's go to-morrow. I don't believe I like
+so many strangers except when they pay toll.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They traveled about a good deal; and in a general way enjoyed
+themselves; but they were both old travelers, and mere novelty was not
+enough for them. Each loved the company of the other, but each would
+have liked to have Locker along. It grieved Olive to think that she
+wanted him, or anybody, but she would not even try to deceive herself.
+The weather grew cooler, and she said to her uncle: &quot;Let us go back to
+the toll-gate; it must be perfectly beautiful there now, with the
+mountains putting on their gold and red.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they started for home, planning for a stop in Washington on their
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Brightness and people were coming back to Washington. The air was
+cooler, and city life was stirring. Olive and her uncle stayed several
+days longer than they had intended; as most people do who visit
+Washington. On one of these days as they were returning to their hotel
+from the Smithsonian grounds, where they had been looking at autumn
+leaves from all quarters of this wide land; many of them unknown to
+them; they looked with interest from the shaded grounds on one side of
+the street to the great public building on the other side, which they
+were then passing, and at the broad steps ascending from the sidewalk to
+the basement floor.</p>
+
+<p>As they moved on thus slowly they noticed a man standing upon the upper
+steps of one of these stairs. His back was toward them; and, as their
+eyes fell upon him he stepped upon the upper sidewalk. He was walking
+with a cane which seemed to be rather short for him. He stood still for
+a moment, and appeared to be waiting for some one. Then, suddenly his
+whole frame thrilled with nervous action; he slightly lowered his head,
+and, in an instant, he brought his cane to his shoulder, as if it had
+been a gun. The captain had seen that sort of thing before. It was an
+air-gun. Without a word he made a dash at the man. He was elderly, but
+in a case like this he was swift. As he ran he glanced out in the
+direction in which the gun was aimed. Along the broad, sunlighted avenue
+a barouche was passing. On the back seat sat two gentlemen,
+well-dressed, erect. Even in a flash one would notice an air of dignity
+in their demeanor.</p>
+
+<p>There was not time to strike down the weapon, but before the man had
+heard steps behind him the captain gave him a tremendous blow between
+the shoulders which staggered him, and spoiled his aim. Then the captain
+seized the air-gun. There was a whiz, and a click on the pavement. Then
+the man turned.</p>
+
+<p>His black eyes flashed out of a swarthy face nearly covered with beard;
+his soft hat had fallen off when the captain struck him, and his black
+hair stood up like bristles on a shoe-brush. He was not a large man; he
+wore a loose woolen jacket; his sleeves were short, and his hands were
+hairy.</p>
+
+<p>All this Olive saw, for she had been quick to follow her uncle; but the
+captain, who firmly held the air-gun, saw nothing but the glaring face
+of a devil.</p>
+
+<p>The man jerked furiously at the gun, but the captain's grasp was too
+strong. Then the fellow released his hold upon the gun, and, with a
+savage fury, threw himself upon the older man. The two stood near the
+top of the steps, and the shock of the attack was so great that both
+fell, slipping down several of the stone steps.</p>
+
+<p>Olive tried to scream, but in her fright her voice utterly left her. She
+could not make a sound. As they lay upon the steps, the captain beneath,
+the man seized his victim by the neck with both hands, pressing his
+great thumbs deeply into his throat. Apparently he did not notice Olive.
+All the efforts of his devilish soul were bent upon stifling the voice
+and the life out of the witness of his attempted crime. Olive sprang
+down, and stood over the struggling men. Her uncle's eyes stared at her,
+and seemed bursting from his head. His face was growing dark. Again
+Olive tried to scream; and, in a frenzy, she seized the man to pull him
+from the captain. As she did so her hand fell upon something protruding
+under his woolen jacket. With a quick flash of instinct her sense of
+feeling recognized this thing. She jerked up the jacket, and there was
+the stock of a pistol protruding from his hip pocket. In an instant
+Olive drew it.</p>
+
+<p>A horrid sound issued from the mouth of Captain Asher; he was choking to
+death. In the same second that she heard it Olive thrust the muzzle of
+the pistol against the side of the man's head and pulled the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>The man's head fell forward and his hairy hands released their grip, but
+they still remained at the captain's throat. The latter gave a great
+gasp, and for an instant he turned his eyes full upon the face of his
+niece. Then his lids closed.</p>
+
+<p>Now there were footsteps, and, looking up, Olive saw a negro cabman in
+faded livery and an old silk hat, who stood staring. Before she could
+speak to him there came another man, a policeman, who, equally amazed,
+stared at the group below him. Only these two had heard the pistol
+shots. There were no other people passing on the avenue, and as it was
+past office hours there was no one in the great public building.</p>
+
+<p>Until they reached the top of the steps the policeman and cabman could
+see nothing. Now they stood astounded as they stared down upon an
+elderly man lying on his back on the steps; another man, apparently
+lifeless, lying on top of him with his hands upon his throat; and a girl
+standing a little below them with a smoking pistol in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>Before they had time to speak or move Olive called out, &quot;Take that man
+off my uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the policeman, followed by the negro, ran down the steps and
+pulled the black-headed man off the captain, and the limp body slipped
+down several steps.</p>
+
+<p>The policeman now turned toward Olive. &quot;Take this,&quot; she said, handing
+him the pistol. &quot;I shot him. He was trying to kill my uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The two men raised the captain to a sitting position. He was now
+breathing, though in gasps, with his eyes opened.</p>
+
+<p>The policeman took the pistol, looked at it, then at Olive, then at the
+captain, and then down at the body on the steps. He was trying to get an
+idea of what had happened without asking. If the negro had not been
+present he might have asked questions, but this was an unusual
+situation, and he felt his responsibility, and his importance. Olive now
+stepped toward him, and in obedience to her quick gesture he bent his
+head, and she whispered something to him. Instantly he was quivering
+with excitement. He thrust the pistol into his pocket, and turned to the
+negro. &quot;Run,&quot; said he, &quot;and get your cab! Don't say a word to a soul and
+I will give you five dollars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The moment the negro had departed Olive said: &quot;Pick up that air-gun.
+There, on the upper step.&quot; Then she went to her uncle and sat down by
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you hurt?&quot; she said. &quot;Can you speak?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain put his arm around her shoulder, fixing a loving look upon
+her, and murmured, &quot;You are as good as a man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The policeman picked up the air-gun, and gazed upon it as if it had been
+a telegram in cipher from a detective. Then he tried to conceal it under
+his coat, but it was too long.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me have it,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I will put it behind me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She had barely concealed it when the cab drove up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said the policeman, &quot;you two must go with me. Can you walk, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said the captain in a voice clear, but weak.</p>
+
+<p>Olive rose, holding the air-gun behind her, and the policeman and the
+cabman helped the captain to the carriage. Olive followed, and the
+policeman, actuated by some strong instinct, did not look around to see
+if she were doing so. He had no more idea that she would run away than
+that the stone steps would move. When he saw that she had taken the
+air-gun into the carriage with her, he closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did your fall hurt you, uncle?&quot; said Olive, looking anxiously into his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My throat hurts dreadfully,&quot; he said, &quot;and I'm stiff. But I'll be
+stiffer to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The policeman picked up the hat of the black-haired man, and going down
+the steps, he placed it on his head. &quot;Now help me up with this
+gentleman,&quot; he said to the cabman; &quot;we must put him on the box-seat
+between us. Take him under the arms, and we'll carry him naturally. He
+must be awfully drunk!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they lifted him up the steps, and, after much trouble, got him on the
+box-seat. Fortunately they were both big men. Then they drove away to
+police headquarters. The officer was the happiest policeman in
+Washington. This was the greatest piece of work he had known of during
+his service; and he was doing it all himself. With the exception of the
+driver, nobody else was mixed up in it in the least degree. What he was
+doing was not exactly right; it was not according to custom and
+regulation. He should have called for assistance, for an ambulance; but
+he had not, and his guardian angel had kept all foot-passengers from the
+steps of the public building. He did not know what it all meant, but he
+was doing it himself, and if that black driver should slip from his seat
+(of which he occupied a very small portion) and he should break his
+neck, the policeman would clutch the reins, and be happier than any man
+in Washington.</p>
+
+<p>There were very many people who looked at the drunken man who was being
+carried off by the policeman, but the cabman drove swiftly, and gave
+such people very little opportunity for close observation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Stock-Market is Safe.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>here was a great stir at the police station, but Olive and her uncle
+saw little of it. They were quickly taken to private rooms, where the
+captain was attended by a police surgeon. He had been bruised and badly
+treated, but his injuries were not serious.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was put in charge of a matron, who wondered greatly what brought
+her there. Very soon they were examined separately, and the tale of each
+of them was almost identical with that of the other; only Olive was able
+to tell more about the two gentlemen in the barouche, for she had been
+at her uncle's side, and there was nothing to obstruct her vision.</p>
+
+<p>When the examination was ended the police captain enjoined each of them
+to say no word to any living soul about what they had testified to him.
+This was a most important matter, and it was necessary that it be hedged
+around with the greatest secrecy.</p>
+
+<p>When Olive retired to her plain but comfortable cot she was tired and
+weak from the reaction of her restrained emotions, but she did not
+immediately go to sleep for thinking that she had killed a man. And yet
+for this killing there was not in this girl's mind one atom of regret.
+She was so grateful that she had been there, and had been enabled to do
+it. She had seen her uncle almost at his last gasp, and she had saved
+him from making that last gasp. Moreover, she had saved the life of the
+man who had saved the most important life in the land. She knew the face
+of the gentleman in the barouche who sat on the side nearest her; she
+knew what her uncle had done, and she was proud of him; she knew what
+she had done for him; and she regarded the black-haired man with the
+hairy hands no more than she would have regarded a wild beast who had
+suddenly sprung upon them. She thought of him, of course, with horror,
+but her feelings of thankfulness for her uncle's safety were far too
+strong. At last her grateful heart closed her eyes, and let her rest.</p>
+
+<p>There were no letters found on the body of the black-haired man which
+gave any clue to his name; but there were papers which showed that he
+was from southern France; that he was an anarchist; that he was in this
+country upon a mission; and that he had been for two weeks in
+Washington, waiting for an opportunity to fulfil that mission. Which
+opportunity had at last shown itself in front of him just as Captain
+John Asher rushed up behind him.</p>
+
+<p>This information was so important that extraordinary methods were
+pursued. Communications were immediately made with the State Department,
+and with the higher police authorities; and it was quickly determined
+that, whatever else might be done, the strictest secrecy must be
+enforced. The coroner's jury was carefully selected and earnestly
+admonished; and, early the next morning, when the captain and Olive were
+required to testify before it, they were made to understand how
+absolutely necessary it was they should say nothing except to answer the
+questions which were asked them. The coroner was eminently discreet in
+regard to his questions; and the verdict was that Olive was acting in
+her own defense as well as that of her uncle when she shot his
+assailant.</p>
+
+<p>Among the officials whose positions enabled them to know all these
+astonishing occurrences it was unanimously agreed that, so far as
+possible, everybody should be kept in ignorance of the crime which had
+been attempted, and of the deliverance which had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>Very early the next afternoon the air was filled with the cries of
+newsboys, and each paper that these boys sold contained a full and
+detailed account of a remarkable attempt by an unknown foreigner upon
+the life of Captain John Asher, a visitor in Washington, and the heroic
+conduct of his niece, Miss Olive Asher, who shot the murderous assailant
+with his own pistol. There were columns and columns of this story, but
+strange to say, in not one of the papers was there any allusion to the
+two gentlemen in the barouche, or to the air-gun.</p>
+
+<p>How this most important feature of the occurrence came to be omitted in
+all the accounts of it can only be explained by those who thoroughly
+understand the exigencies of the stock-market, and the probable effect
+of certain classes of news upon approaching political situations, and
+who have made themselves familiar with the methods by which the
+pervasive power of the press is sometimes curtailed.</p>
+
+<p>In the later afternoon editions there were portraits of Olive, and her
+uncle. Olive was broad-shouldered, with black hair and a determined
+frown, while the captain was a little man with a long beard. There were
+no portraits of the anarchist. He passed away from the knowledge of man,
+and no one knew even his name: his crime had blotted him out; his
+ambition was blotted out; even the evil of his example was blotted out.
+There was nothing left of him.</p>
+
+<p>When they were released from detention the captain and Olive quickly
+left the station&mdash;which they did without observation&mdash;and entered a
+carriage which was waiting for them a short distance away. The fact that
+another carriage with close-drawn curtains had stopped at the station
+about ten minutes before, and that a thickly veiled lady (the matron)
+and an elderly man with his collar turned up and his hat drawn down (one
+of the police officers in plain clothes) had entered the carriage and
+had been driven rapidly away had drawn off the reporters and the
+curiosity mongers on the sidewalk and had contributed very much to the
+undisturbed exit of Captain and Miss Asher.</p>
+
+<p>These two proceeded leisurely to the railroad-station, where they took a
+train which would carry them to the little town of Glenford. Their
+affairs at the hotel could be arranged by telegram. There were calls at
+that hotel during the rest of the day from people who knew Olive or her
+uncle; calls from people who wanted to know them; calls from people who
+would be contented even to look at them; calls from autograph hunters
+who would be content simply to send up their cards; quiet calls from
+people connected with the Government; and calls from eager persons who
+could not have told anybody what they wanted. To none of these could the
+head clerk give any satisfaction. He had not seen his guests since the
+day before, and he knew naught about them.</p>
+
+<p>When Miss Maria Port heard that that horrid girl, Olive Asher, had shot
+an anarchist, she stiffened herself to her greatest length, and let her
+head fall on the back of her chair. She was scarcely able to call to the
+small girl who endured her service to bring her some water. &quot;Now all is
+over,&quot; she groaned, &quot;for I can never marry a man whose niece's hands are
+dripping with blood. She will live with him, of course, for he is just
+the old fool to allow that, and anyway there is no other place for her
+to go except the almshouse&mdash;that is, if they'll take her in.&quot; And at the
+terrified girl, who tremblingly asked if she wanted any more water, she
+threw her scissors.</p>
+
+<p>The captain and his niece arrived early in the day at Glenford station.
+The captain engaged a little one-horse vehicle which had frequently
+brought people to the toll-gate, and informed the driver that there was
+no baggage. The man, gazing at Olive, but scarcely daring to raise his
+eyes to her face, proceeded with solemn tread toward his vehicle as if
+he had been leading the line in a funeral.</p>
+
+<p>As they drove through the town they were obliged to pass the house of
+Miss Maria Port. The door was shut, and the shutters were closed. She
+had had a terrible night, and had slept but little, but hearing the
+sound of wheels upon the street, she had bounced out of bed and had
+peered through the blinds. When she saw who it was she cursed them both.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was the only thing,&quot; she snapped, &quot;that could have kept me from
+gettin' him! So far as I know, that was the only thing!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When old Jane received the travelers at the toll-gate she warmly
+welcomed the captain, but she trembled before Olive. If the girl noticed
+the demeanor of the old woman, she pretended not to do so, and, speaking
+to her pleasantly, she passed within.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will they hang her?&quot; she said to the captain later.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot; he shouted. &quot;Have you gone crazy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The people in the town said they would,&quot; replied old Jane, beginning to
+cry a little.</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at her steadily. &quot;Did any particular person in the
+town say that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir,&quot; she answered; &quot;Miss Maria Port was the first to say it, so
+I've been told.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is the one who ought to be hanged!&quot; said the captain, speaking very
+warmly. &quot;As for Miss Olive, she ought to have a monument set up for her.
+I'd do it myself if I had the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Old Jane answered not, but in her heart she said: &quot;But she killed a man!
+It is truly dreadful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>By nightfall of that day the two hotels of Glenford were crowded, the
+visitors being generally connected with newspapers. On the next day
+there was a great deal of travel on the turnpike, and old Jane was kept
+very busy, the captain having resigned the entire business of
+toll-taking to her. Everybody stopped, asked questions, and requested to
+see the captain; and many drove through and came back again, hoping to
+have better luck next time. But their luck was always bad; old Jane
+would say nothing; and the captain and Olive were not to be seen. The
+gate to the little front garden was locked, and there was no passing
+through the tollhouse. To keep people from getting over the fence a
+bulldog, which the captain kept at the barn, was turned loose in the
+yard.</p>
+
+<p>There were men with cameras who got into the field opposite the
+toll-gate, and who took views from up and down the road, but their work
+could not be prevented, and Olive and her uncle kept strictly indoors.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the afternoon of the second day of siege that the captain,
+from an upper window, discovered a camera on three legs standing outside
+of his grounds at a short distance from the house. A man was taking
+sight at something at the back of the house. Softly the captain slipped
+down into the back yard, and looking up he saw Olive sitting at a
+window, reading.</p>
+
+<p>With five steps the captain went into the house and then reappeared at
+the back door with a musket in his hand. The man had stepped to his pack
+at a little distance to get a plate. The captain raised his musket to
+his shoulder; Olive sprang to her feet at the sound of the report; old
+Jane in the tollhouse screamed; and the camera flew into splinters.</p>
+
+<p>After this there were no further attempts to take pictures of the
+inmates of the house at the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>After two days of siege the newspaper reporters and the photographers
+left Glenford. They could not afford to waste any more time. But they
+carried away with them a great many stories about the captain and his
+erratic niece, mostly gleaned from a very respectable elderly lady of
+the town by the name of Port.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Dick Lancaster does not Write.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>n the third morning after their arrival at the toll-gate the captain
+and Olive ventured upon a little walk over the farm. It was very hard
+upon both of them to be shut up in the house so long. They saw no
+reporters, nor were there any men with cameras, but the scenery was not
+pleasant, nor was the air particularly exhilarating. They were not
+happy; they felt alone, as if they were in a strange place. Some of the
+captain's friends in the town came to the toll-gate, but there were not
+many, and Olive saw none of them. The whole situation reminded the girl
+of the death of her mother.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as it was known that the Ashers were at home there came letters
+from many quarters. One of these was from Mrs. Easterfield. She would be
+at Broadstone as soon as she could get her children started from the
+seashore. She longed to take Olive to her heart, but whether this was in
+commiseration or commendation was not quite plain to Olive. The letter
+concluded with this sentence: &quot;There is something behind all this, and
+when I come you must tell me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then there was one from her father in which he bemoaned what had
+happened. &quot;That such a thing should have come to my daughter!&quot; he
+wrote. &quot;To my daughter!&quot; There was a great deal more of it, but he said
+nothing about coming with his young wife to the toll-gate, and Olive's
+countenance was almost stern when she handed this letter to her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker wrote:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;How I long, how I rage to write to you, or to go to you! But if I
+     should write, it would be sure to give you pain, and if I should go
+     to you I should also go crazy. Therefore, I will merely state that
+     I love you madly; more now than ever before; and that I shall
+     continue to do so for the rest of my life, no matter what happens
+     to you, or to me, or to anybody.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Ever turned toward you,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CLAUDE LOCKER.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;How I wish I had been there with a sledgehammer!&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>And then there were the newspapers. Many of these the captain had
+ordered by the Glenford bookseller, and a number were sent by friends,
+and some even by strangers. And so they learned what was thought of them
+over a wide range of country, and this publicity Olive found very hard
+to bear. It was even worse than the deed she was forced to do, and which
+gave rise to all this disagreeable publicity. That deed was done in the
+twinkling of an eye, and was the only thing that could be done; but all
+this was prolonged torture. Of course, the newspapers were not
+responsible for this. The transaction was a public one in as public a
+place as could possibly be selected, and it was clearly their duty to
+give the public full information in regard to it. They knew what had
+happened, and how could they possibly know what had not happened? Nor
+could they guess that this was of more importance than the happening.
+And so they all viewed the action from the point of view that a young
+woman had blown out a man's brains on the steps of the Treasury. It was
+a most unusual, exciting, and tragic incident, and in a measure,
+incomprehensible; and coming at a time when there was a dearth of news,
+it was naturally much exploited. Many of the papers recognized the fact
+that Miss Asher had done this deed to save her uncle's life, and
+applauded it, and praised her quick-wittedness and courage; but all this
+was spoiled for Olive by the tone of commiseration for her in which it
+was all stated. She did not see why she should be pitied. Rather should
+she be congratulated that she was, fortunately, on the spot. Other
+journals did not so readily give in to the opinion that it was an act of
+self-defense. It might be so; but they expressed strong disapproval of
+the legal action in this strange affair. A young woman, accompanied by a
+relative, had killed an unknown man. The action of the authorities in
+this case had been rapid and unsatisfactory. The person who had fired
+the fatal shot and her companion had been cleared of guilt upon their
+own testimony, and the cause of the man who died had no one to defend
+it. If two persons can kill a man, and then state to the coroner's jury
+that it was all right, and thereupon repair to their homes without
+further interference by the law, then had the cause of justice in the
+capital of the nation reached a very strange pass.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the views of the reputable journals. But there were some
+which fell into the captain's hands that were well calculated to arouse
+his ire. Such a sensational occurrence did not often come in their way,
+and they made the most of it. They scented the idea that the girl had
+killed an unknown man to save her uncle's life; blamed the authorities
+severely for not finding out who he was; suggested there must be a
+secret reason for this; and hinted darkly at a scandal connected with
+the affair, which, if investigated, would be found to include some
+well-known names.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is outrageous!&quot; cried the captain. &quot;It is too abominable to be
+borne! Olive, why should we not tell the exact facts of this thing? We
+did agree&mdash;very willingly at the time&mdash;to keep the secret. But I am not
+willing now, and you are being sacrificed to the stock-market. That is
+the whole truth of it! If these editors knew the truth they would be
+chanting your praises. If that scoundrel had killed me, he would have
+killed you, and then he could have run away to go on with his President
+shooting. I am going to Washington this very day to tell the whole
+story. You shall not suffer that stocks may not fall and the political
+situation made alarming at election time. That is what it all means, and
+I won't stand it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will only make things worse, uncle,&quot; said Olive. &quot;Then the whole
+matter will be stirred up afresh. We will be summoned to investigations,
+and all sorts of disagreeable things. Every item of our lives will be in
+the papers, and some will be invented. It is very bad now, but in a
+little while the public will forget that a countryman and a country girl
+had a fracas in Washington. But the other thing will never be
+forgotten. It is very much better to leave it as it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain, notwithstanding the presence of a lady, cursed the
+officials, the newspapers, the Government, and the whole country. &quot;I am
+going to do it!&quot; he cried vehemently. &quot;I don't care what happens!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Olive put her arms around him and coaxed him for her sake to let the
+matter rest. And, finally, the captain, grumblingly, assented.</p>
+
+<p>If Olive had been a girl brought up in a gentle-minded household,
+knowing nothing of the varied life she had lived when a navy girl;
+sometimes at this school and sometimes at that; sometimes in her native
+land, and sometimes in the midst of frontier life; sometimes with
+parents, and sometimes without them; and, had she been less aware from
+her own experiences and those of others, that this is a world in which
+you must stand up very stiffly if you do not want to be pushed down; she
+might have sunk, at least for a time, under all this publicity and
+blame. Even the praise had its sting.</p>
+
+<p>But she did not sink. The liveliness and the fun went out of her, and
+her face grew hard and her manner quiet. But she was not quiet within.
+She rebelled against the unfairness with which she was treated. No
+matter what the newspapers knew or did not know, they should have known,
+and should have remembered, that she had saved her uncle's life. If they
+had known more they would have been just and kind enough no doubt, but
+they ought to have been just and kind without knowing more.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher would now read no more papers. But Olive read them all.</p>
+
+<p>Letters still came; one of them from Mr. Easterfield. But every time a
+mail arrived there was a disappointment in the toll-gate household. The
+captain could scarcely refrain from speaking of his disappointment, for
+it was a true grief to him that Dick Lancaster had not written a word.
+Of course, Olive did not say anything upon the subject, for she had no
+right to expect such a letter, and she was not sure that she wanted one,
+but it was very strange that a person who surely was, or had been,
+somewhat interested in her uncle and herself should have been the only
+one among her recent associates who showed no interest whatever in what
+had befallen her. Even Mr. and Mrs. Fox had written. She wished they had
+not written, but, after all, stupidity is sometimes better than total
+neglect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; said the captain one pleasant afternoon, &quot;suppose we take a
+drive to Broadstone? The family is not there, but it may interest you to
+see the place where I hope your friends will soon be living again. I can
+not bear to see you going about so dolefully. I want to brighten you up
+in some way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd like it,&quot; said Olive promptly. &quot;Let us go to Broadstone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that moment they heard talking in the tollhouse; then there were some
+quick steps in the garden; and, almost immediately, Dick Lancaster was
+in the house and in the room where the captain and his niece were
+sitting. He stepped quickly toward them as they rose, and gave Olive
+his left hand because the captain had seized his right and would not let
+it go.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been very slow getting here,&quot; he said, looking from one to the
+other. &quot;But I would not write, and I have been unconscionably delayed. I
+am so proud of you,&quot; he said, looking Olive full in the face, but still
+holding the captain by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>Olive's hand had been withdrawn, but it was very cheering to her to know
+that some one was proud of her.</p>
+
+<p>The captain poured out his delight at seeing the young professor&mdash;the
+first near friend he had seen since his adventure, and, in his opinion,
+the best. Olive said but little, but her countenance brightened
+wonderfully. She had always liked Mr. Lancaster, and now he showed his
+good sense and good feeling; for, while it was evidently on his mind, he
+made no allusion to anything they had done, or that had happened to
+them. He talked chiefly of himself.</p>
+
+<p>But the captain was not to be repressed, and his tone warmed up a little
+as he asked if Dick had been reading the newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>At this Olive left the room to make some arrangements for Mr.
+Lancaster's accommodation.</p>
+
+<p>Seizing this opportunity, Dick Lancaster stopped the captain, who he saw
+was preparing to go lengthily into the recent affair. &quot;Yes, yes,&quot; he
+said, speaking quickly, &quot;and my blood has run hot as I read those
+beastly papers. But let me say something to you while I can. I am deeply
+interested in something else just now. I came here, captain, to propose
+marriage to your niece. Have I your consent?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Consent!&quot; cried the captain. &quot;Why, it is the clearest wish of my heart
+that you should marry Olive!&quot; And seizing the young man by both arms, he
+shook him from head to foot. &quot;Consent!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;I should think
+so, I should think so! Will she take you, Dick? Is that&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;I don't know. I am here to find out.
+But I hear her coming.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The happy captain thought it full time to go away somewhere. He felt
+that he could not control his glowing countenance, and that he might say
+or do something which might be wrong. So he departed with great
+alacrity, and left the two young people to themselves.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Miss Port puts in an Appearance.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he captain clapped on his hat, and walked up the road toward Glenford.
+He was very much excited and he wanted to sing, but his singing days
+were over, and he quieted himself somewhat by walking rapidly. There was
+a buggy coming from town, but it stopped before it reached him and some
+one in it got out, while the vehicle proceeded slowly onward. The some
+one waited until the captain came up to her. It was Miss Maria Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you do?&quot; she said, holding out her hand. &quot;I was on my way to see
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain put both his hands in his pockets, and his face grew
+somewhat dark. &quot;Why do you want to see me?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him steadily for a moment, and then answered, speaking
+very quietly. &quot;I found that Mr. Lancaster had arrived in town, and had
+gone to your house, and that he was in such a hurry that he walked. So I
+immediately hired a buggy to come out here. I am very glad I met you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what in the name of common sense,&quot; exclaimed the captain, &quot;did you
+come to see me for? What difference does it make to you whether Mr.
+Lancaster is here or not? What have you got to do with me and my
+affairs, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled a smile which was very quiet and flat. &quot;Now, don't get
+angry,&quot; she said. &quot;We can talk over things in a friendly way just as
+well as not, and it will be a great deal better to do it. And I'd rather
+talk here in the public road than anywhere else; it's more private.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't want a word to say to you,&quot; said the captain, preparing to move
+on. &quot;I have nothing at all to do with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah,&quot; said Miss Port, with another smile, &quot;but I think you have. You've
+got to marry me, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then the captain stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth, but he could
+find no immediate words.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, indeed,&quot; said Miss Port, now speaking quietly; &quot;and when I saw Mr.
+Lancaster had come to town, I knew that I must see you at once. Of
+course, he has come to take away your niece, and that's the best thing
+to be done, for she wouldn't want to keep on livin' here where so many
+people have known her. At first I thought that would be a very good
+thing, for you would be separated from her, and that's what you need and
+deserve. Young men are young men, and they are often a good deal kinder
+than they would be if they stopped to think. But a person of mature age
+is different. He would know what is due to himself and his standing in
+society. At least, that is what I did think. But it suddenly flashed on
+me that they might want to get away as quick as they could&mdash;which would
+be proper, dear knows&mdash;and it would be just like you to go with them.
+And so I came right out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain had listened to all this because he very much wanted to know
+what she had to say, but now he exclaimed: &quot;Do you suppose I shall pay
+any attention to all the gossip about my affairs?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't go on like that,&quot; said Miss Port; &quot;it doesn't do any good,
+and if you'll only keep quiet, and think pleasantly about it, there will
+be no trouble at all. You know you've got to marry me; that's settled.
+Everybody knows about it, and has known about it for years. I didn't
+press the matter while father was alive because I knew it would worry
+him. But now I'm going to do it. Not in any anger or bad feelin', but
+gently, and as firmly as if I was that tree. I don't want to go to any
+law, but if I have to do it, I'll do it. I've got my proofs and my
+witnesses, and I'm all right. The people of your own house are
+witnesses. And there are ever so many more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Woman!&quot; cried the captain, &quot;don't you say another word! And don't you
+ever dare to speak to me again! I'm not going away, and my niece is not
+going away; and I assure you that I hate and despise you so much that
+all the law in the world couldn't make me marry you. Although you know
+as well as I do that all you've been saying has no sense or truth in
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port did not get angry. With wonderful self-repression she
+controlled her feelings. She knew that if she lost that control there
+would be an end to everything. She grew pale, but she spoke more gently
+than before. &quot;You know&quot;&mdash;she was about to say &quot;John,&quot; but she thought
+she would better not&mdash;&quot;that what I say about determination and all
+that, I simply say because you do not come to meet me half-way, as I
+would have you do. All I want is to get you to acknowledge my rights, to
+defend me from ridicule. You know that I am now alone in the world, and
+have no one to look to but you&mdash;to whom I always expected to look when
+father died&mdash;and if you should carry out your cruel words, and should
+turn from me as if I was a stranger and a nobody, after all these years
+of visitin' and attention from you, which everybody knows about, and has
+talked about, I could never expect anybody else&mdash;you bein' gone&mdash;to step
+forward&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this the face of the captain cleared, and as he gazed upon the
+unpleasant face and figure of this weather-worn spinster, the idea that
+any one with matrimonial intentions should &quot;step forward,&quot; as she put
+it, struck him as being so extremely ludicrous that he burst out
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>Then leaped into fire every nervelet of Miss Maria Port. &quot;Laugh at me,
+do you?&quot; cried she. &quot;I'll give you something to laugh at! And if you 're
+going to stand up for that thing you have in your house, that
+murderess&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She said no more. The captain stepped up to her with a smothered curse
+so that she moved back, frightened. But he did nothing. He was too
+enraged to speak. She was a woman, and he could not strike her to the
+ground. Before her sallow venom he was helpless. He was a man and she
+was a woman, and he could do nothing at all. He was too angry to stay
+there another second, and, without a word, he left her, walking with
+great strides toward the town.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Maria Port stood looking after him, panting a little, for her
+excitement had been great. Then, with a yellow light in her eyes, she
+hurried toward her vehicle, which had stopped.</p>
+
+<p>As Captain Asher strode into town he asked himself over and over again
+what should he do? How should he punish this wildcat&mdash;this ruthless
+creature, who spat venom at the one he loved best in the world, and who
+threatened him with her wicked claws? In his mind he looked from side to
+side for help; some one must fight his battle for him; he could not
+fight a woman. He had not reached town when he thought of Mrs. Faulkner,
+the wife of the Methodist minister. He knew her; she and her husband had
+been among the friends who had come out to see him; and she was a woman.
+He would go directly to her, and ask her advice.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was not shown into the parlor of the parsonage, but into the
+minister's study, that gentleman being away. He heard a great sound of
+talking as he passed the parlor door, and it was not long before Mrs.
+Faulkner came in. He hesitated as she greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have company,&quot; he said, &quot;but can I see you for a very few minutes?
+It is important.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course you can,&quot; said she, closing the study door. &quot;Our Dorcas
+Society meets here to-day, but we have not yet come to order. I shall be
+glad to hear what you have to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they sat down, and he told her what he had to say, and as she
+listened she grew very angry. When she heard the epithet which had been
+applied to Olive she sprang to her feet. &quot;The wretch!&quot; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you see, Mrs. Faulkner,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I can do nothing at
+all myself, and there is no way to make use of the law; that would be
+horrible for Olive, and it could not be done; and so I have come to ask
+help of you. I don't see that any other man could do more than I could
+do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Faulkner sat silent for a few minutes. &quot;I am so glad you came to
+me,&quot; she said presently. &quot;I have always known Miss Port as a
+scandal-monger and a mischief-maker, but I never thought of her as a
+wicked woman. This persecution of you is shameful, but when I think of
+your niece it is past belief! You are right, Captain Asher; it must be a
+woman who must take up your cause. In fact,&quot; said she after a moment's
+thought, &quot;it must be women. Yes, sir.&quot; And as she spoke her face flushed
+with enthusiasm. &quot;I am going to take up your cause, and my friends in
+there, the ladies of the Dorcas Society, will stand by me, I know. I
+don't know what we shall do, but we are going to stand by you and your
+niece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here was a friend worth having. The captain was very much affected, and
+was moved with unusual gratitude. He had been used to fighting his own
+battles in this world, and here was some one coming forward to fight for
+him.</p>
+
+<p>There came upon him a feeling that it would be a shame to let this true
+lady take up a combat which she did not wholly understand. He made up
+his mind in an instant that he would not care what danger might be
+threatened to other people, or to trade, or to society, he would be
+true to this lady, to Olive, and to himself. He would tell her the whole
+story. She should know what Olive had done, and how little his poor girl
+deserved the shameful treatment she had received.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Faulkner listened with pale amazement; she trembled from head to
+foot as she sat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you must tell no one but your husband,&quot; said the captain. &quot;This is
+a state secret, and he must promise to keep it before you tell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She promised everything. She would be so proud to tell her husband.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain had gone, Mrs. Faulkner, in a very unusual state of
+mind, went into the parlor, took the chair, and putting aside all other
+business, told to the eagerly receptive members the story of Miss Port
+and Captain Asher. How she had persecuted him, and maligned him, and of
+the shameful way in which she had spoken of his niece. But not one word
+did she tell of the story of the two gentlemen in the barouche, and of
+the air-gun. She was wild to tell everything, but she was a good woman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, ladies,&quot; said Mrs. Faulkner, &quot;in my opinion, the thing for us to
+do is to go to see Maria Port; tell her what we think of her; and have
+all this wickedness stopped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without debate it was unanimously agreed that the president's plan
+should be carried out. And within ten minutes the whole Dorcas Society
+of eleven members started out in double file to visit the house of Maria
+Port.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Dorcas on Guard.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>M</span>iss Port had not been home very long and was up in her bedroom, which
+looked out on the street, when she heard the sound of many feet, and,
+hurrying to the window, and glancing through the partly open shutters,
+she saw that a company of women were entering the gate into her front
+yard. She did not recognize them, because she was not familiar with the
+tops of their hats; and besides, she was afraid she might be seen if she
+stopped at the window; so she hurried to the stairway and listened.
+There were two great knocks at the door&mdash;entirely too loud&mdash;and when the
+servant-maid appeared she heard a voice which she recognized as that of
+Mrs. Faulkner inquiring for her. Instantly she withdrew into her chamber
+and waited, her countenance all alertness.</p>
+
+<p>When the maid came up to inform her that Mrs. Faulkner and a lot of
+ladies were down-stairs, and wanted to see her, Miss Port knit her
+brows, and shut her lips tightly. She could not connect this visit of so
+many Glenford ladies with anything definite; and yet her conscience told
+her that their business in some way concerned Captain Asher. He had had
+time to see them, and now they had come to see her; probably to induce
+her to relinquish her claims upon him. As this thought came into her
+mind she grew angry at their impudence, and, seating herself in a
+rocking-chair, she told the servant to inform the ladies that she had
+just reached home, and that it was not convenient for her to receive
+them at present.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Faulkner sent hack a message that, in that case, they would wait;
+and all the ladies seated themselves in the Port parlor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The impudence!&quot; said Miss Port to herself; &quot;but if they like waitin,'
+they can wait, I guess they'll get enough of it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So Maria Port sat in her room and the ladies sat in the parlor below;
+and they sat, and they sat, and they sat, and at last it began to grow
+dark.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess they'll be wantin' their suppers,&quot; said Maria, &quot;but they'll go
+and get them without seein' me. It's no more convenient for me to go
+down now than when they first came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There had been, and there was, a great deal of conversation down in the
+parlor, but it was carried on in such a low tone that, to her great
+regret, Miss Port could not catch a word of it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mrs. Pilsbury, &quot;I must go home, for my husband will want his
+supper and the children must be attended to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so must I,&quot; said Mrs. Barney and Mrs. Sloan. They would really like
+very much to stay and see what would happen next, but they had families.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ladies,&quot; said Mrs. Faulkner, &quot;of course, we can't all stay here and
+wait for that woman; but I propose that three of us shall stay and that
+the rest shall go home. I'll be one to stay. And then, in an hour three
+of you come back, and let us go and get our suppers. In this way we can
+keep a committee here all the time. All night, if necessary. When I come
+back I will bring a candlestick and some candles, for, of course, we
+don't want to light her lamps. If she should come down while I am away,
+I'd like some one to run over and tell me. It's such a little way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this the ladies arose, and there was a great rustling and chattering,
+and the face of Miss Maria, in the room above, gleamed with triumph.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I knew I'd sit 'em out,&quot; said she; &quot;they haven't got the pluck I've
+got.&quot; But when the servant came up and told her that &quot;three of them
+ladies was a-sittin' in the parlor yet and said they was a-goin' to wait
+for her,&quot; she lost her temper. She sent down word that she didn't intend
+to see any of them, and she wanted them to go home.</p>
+
+<p>To this Mrs. Faulkner replied that they wished to see her, and that they
+would stay. And the committee continued to sit.</p>
+
+<p>Now Miss Port began to be seriously concerned. What in the world could
+these women want? They were very much in earnest; that was certain.
+Could it be possible that she had said more than she intended to Captain
+Asher, and that she had given him to understand that she would use any
+of these women as witnesses if she went to law? However, whatever they
+meant, she intended to sit them out. So she told her maid to make her
+some tea and to bring it up with some bread and butter and preserves,
+and a light. She also ordered her to be careful that the people in the
+parlor should see her as she went up-stairs. &quot;I guess they'll know I'm
+in earnest when they see the tea,&quot; she said. &quot;I've set out a mess of
+'em, and it won't take long to finish up them three!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She partook of her refreshments, and she reclined in her rocking-chair,
+and waited for the hungry ones below to depart. &quot;I'll give 'em half an
+hour,&quot; said she to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Before that time had elapsed she heard another stir below, and she
+exclaimed: &quot;I knew it&quot; and there were steps in the hallway, and some
+people went out. She sprang to her feet; she was about to run
+down-stairs and lock and bolt every door; but a sound arrested her. It
+was the talking of women in the parlor. She stopped, with her mouth wide
+open, and her eyes staring, and then the servant came up and told her
+that &quot;them three had gone, and that another three had come back, and
+they had told her to say that they were goin' to stay in squads all
+night till she came down to see them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port sat down, her elbows on the table, and her chin in her hands.
+&quot;It must be something serious,&quot; she thought. &quot;The ladies of this town
+are not in the habit of staying out late unless it is to nurse bad
+cases, or to sit up with corpses.&quot; And then the idea struck her that
+probably there might be something the matter that she had not thought
+of. She had caused lots of mischief in her day, and it might easily be
+that she had forgotten some of it. But the more she thought about the
+matter, the more firmly she resolved not to go down and speak to the
+women. She would like to send for a constable and have them cleared out
+of the house, but she knew that none of the three constables in town
+would dare to use force with such ladies as Mrs. Faulkner and the
+members of the Dorcas Society.</p>
+
+<p>So she sat and waited, and listened, and grew very nervous, but was more
+obstinate now than ever, for she was beginning to be very fearful of
+what those women might have to say to her. She could &quot;talk down one
+woman, but not a pack of 'em.&quot; Thus time passed on, with occasional
+reports from the servant until the latter fell asleep, and came
+up-stairs no more. There were sounds of footsteps in the street, and
+Miss Port put out her light, and went to the front shutters. Three women
+were coming in. They entered the house, and in a few minutes afterward
+three women went out. Miss Port stood up in the middle of the floor, and
+was almost inclined to tear her hair.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're goin' to stay all night!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;I really believe they
+'re goin' to stay all night!&quot; For a moment she thought of rushing
+down-stairs and confronting the impertinent visitors, but she stopped;
+she was afraid. She did not know what they might say to her, and she
+went to the banisters and listened. They were talking; always in a low
+voice. It seemed to her that these people could talk forever. Then she
+began to think of her front door, which was open; but, of course, nobody
+could come while those creatures were in the parlor. But if she missed
+anything she'd have them brought up in court if it took every cent she
+had in the world and constables from some other town. She slipped to the
+back stairs, and softly called the servant, but there was no answer. She
+was afraid to go down, for the back door of the parlor commanded all
+the other rooms on that floor. Now she felt more terribly lonely and
+more nervous. If she had had a pistol she would have fired it through
+the floor. Then those women would run away, and she would fasten up the
+house. But there they sat, chatter, chatter, chatter, till it nearly
+drove her mad. She wished now she had gone down at first.</p>
+
+<p>After a time, and not a very long time, there were some steps in the
+street and in the yard, and more women came into the house, but, worse
+than that, the others stayed. Family duties were over now, and those
+impudent creatures could be content to stay the rest of the evening.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the worried woman felt as if she would like to go to bed
+and cover up her head and so escape these persistent persecutors. But
+she shook her head. That would never do. She knew that when she awoke in
+the morning some of those women would still be in the parlor, and, to
+save her soul, she could not now imagine what it was that kept them
+there like hounds upon her track.</p>
+
+<p>It was now eleven o'clock. When had the Port house been open so late as
+that? The people in the town must be talking about it, and there would
+be more talking the next day. Perhaps it might be in the town paper. The
+morning would be worse than the night. She could not bear it any longer.
+There was now nothing to be heard in front but that maddening chatter in
+the parlor, and up the back stairs came the snores of the servant. She
+got a traveling-bag from a closet and proceeded to pack it; then she put
+on her bonnet and shawl and put into her bag all the money she had with
+her, trembling all the time as if she had been a thief: robbing her own
+house. She could not go down the back stairs, because, as has been said,
+she could have been seen from the parlor; but a carpenter had been
+mending the railing of a little piazza at the back of the house, and she
+remembered he had left his ladder. Down this ladder, with her bag in her
+hand, Miss Port silently moved. She looked into the kitchen; she could
+not see the servant, but she could hear her snoring on a bench. Clapping
+her hand over the girl's mouth, she whispered into her ear, and without
+a word the frightened creature sat up and followed Miss Port into the
+yard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said Miss Port, whispering as if she were sticking needles
+into the frightened girl, &quot;I'm goin' away, and don't you ask no
+questions, for you won't get no answers. You just go to bed, and let
+them people stay in the parlor all night. They'll be able to take care
+of the house, I guess, and if they don't I'll make 'em suffer. In the
+morning you can see Mrs. Faulkner&mdash;for she's the ringleader&mdash;and tell
+her that you're goin' home to your mother, and that Miss Port expects
+her to pull down all the blinds in this house, and shut and bolt the
+doors. She is to see that the eatables is put away proper or else give
+to the poor&mdash;which will be you, I guess&mdash;and then she is to lock all the
+doors and take the front-door key to Squire Allen, and tell him I'll
+write to him. And what's more, you can say to the nasty thing that if I
+find anything wrong in my house, or anything missin', I 'll hold her and
+her husband responsible for it, and that I'm mighty glad I don't belong
+to their church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then she slipped out of the back gate of the yard, and made her way
+swiftly to the railroad-station. There was a train for the north which
+passed Glenford at half-past twelve, and which could be flagged. There
+was one man at the station, and he was very much surprised to see Miss
+Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is anything the matter?&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she snapped, &quot;there's some people sick, and I guess there'll be
+more of 'em a good deal sicker in the morning. I've got to go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A case of pizenin'?&quot; asked the man very earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, wrapping her shawl around her; &quot;the worse kind of
+pizenin'!&quot; Then she talked no more.</p>
+
+<p>The servant-girl slept late, and there were a good many ladies in the
+parlor when she came down. She did not give them a chance to ask her
+anything, but told her message promptly. It was a message pretty fairly
+remembered, although it had grown somewhat sharper in the night. When it
+was finished the girl added: &quot;And I'm to have all the eatables in the
+house to take home to my mother, and Squire Allen is to pay me four
+dollars and seventy-five cents, which has been owin' to me for wages for
+ever so long.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Cold Tinder.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live and Dick Lancaster sat together in the captain's parlor. She was
+very quiet&mdash;she had been very quiet of late&mdash;but he was nervous.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is very kind, Mr. Lancaster,&quot; said Olive, breaking the silence, &quot;for
+you to come to see us instead of writing. It is so much pleasanter for
+friends&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it was not kind,&quot; he said, interrupting her. &quot;In fact, it was
+selfishness. And now I want to tell you quickly, Miss Asher, while I
+have the chance, the reason of my coming here to-day. It was not to
+offer you my congratulations or my sympathy, although you must know that
+I feel for you and your uncle as much in every way as any living being
+can feel. I came to offer my love. I have loved you almost ever since I
+knew you as much as any man can love a woman, and whenever I have been
+with you I could hardly hold myself back from telling you. But I was
+strong, and I did not speak, for I knew you did not love me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive was listening, looking steadily at him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; she said, &quot;I did not love you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He paid no attention to this remark, as if it related to something which
+he knew all about, but went on, &quot;I resolved to speak to you some time,
+but not until I had some little bit of a reason for supposing you would
+listen to me; but when I read the account of what you did in Washington,
+I knew you to be so far above even the girl I had supposed you to be;
+then my love came down upon me and carried me away. And all that has
+since appeared in the papers has made me so long to stand by your side
+that I could not resist this longing, and I felt that no matter what
+happened, I must come and tell you all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is nothing more,&quot; said Dick. &quot;I have told you all there is. I
+love you so truly that it seems to me as if I had been born, as if I had
+lived, as if I had grown and had worked, simply that I might be able to
+come to you and say, I love you. And now that I have told you this, I
+hope that I have not pained you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have not pained me,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but it is right that I should say
+to you that I do not love you.&quot; She said this very quietly and gently,
+but there was sadness in her tones.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster sprang up, and stood before her. &quot;Then let me love you&quot;
+he cried. &quot;Do not deny me that! Do not take the life out of me! the soul
+out of me! Do not turn me away into utter blackness! Do not say I shall
+not love you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's clear, thoughtful eyes were looking into his. &quot;I believe you
+love me,&quot; she answered slowly. &quot;I believe every word you say. But what I
+say is also true. I will admit that I have asked myself if I could love
+you. There was a time when I was in great trouble, when I believed that
+it might be possible for me to marry some one without loving him, but I
+never thought that about <i>you</i>. You were different. I could not have
+married you without loving you. I believe you knew that, and so you did
+not ask me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His voice was husky when he spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you do not answer me,&quot; he said. &quot;You have seen into my very soul.
+May I love you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She still looked into his glowing eyes, but she did not speak. It was
+with herself she was communing, not with him.</p>
+
+<p>But there was something in the eyes which looked into his which made his
+heart leap, and he leaned forward.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; he whispered, &quot;can you not love me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Her lips appeared as if they were about to move, but they did not, and
+in the next moment they could not. He had her in his arms.</p>
+
+<p>Poor foolish, lovely Olive! She thought she was so strong. She imagined
+that she knew herself so well. She had seen so much; she had been so
+far; she had known so many things and people that she had come to look
+upon herself as the decider of her own destiny. She had come to believe
+so much in herself and in her cold heart that she was not afraid to
+listen to the words of a burning heart! <i>Her</i> heart could keep so cool!</p>
+
+<p>And now, in a flash, the fire had spread! The coolest hearts are often
+made of tinder.</p>
+
+<p>Poor foolish, lovely, happy Olive! She scarcely understood what had
+happened to her. She only knew that she had been born and had lived, and
+had grown, that he might come to her and say he loved her. What had she
+been thinking of all this time?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are so quick,&quot; she said, as she put back some of her disheveled
+hair.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dearest,&quot; he whispered, &quot;it seems to me as if I had been so slow, so
+slow, so very slow!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was a long time before Captain Asher returned, and when he entered
+the parlor he found these two still there. They had been sitting by the
+window, and when they came forward to meet him Dick's arm was around the
+waist of Olive. The captain looked at them for a moment, and then he
+gave a shout, and encircled them both in his great arms.</p>
+
+<p>When they were cool enough to sit down and Olive and Dick had ceased
+trying to persuade the captain that he was not the happiest of the
+three, Olive said to him: &quot;I have told Dick everything&mdash;about the
+air-gun and all. Of course, he must know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I have been looking at you,&quot; said Dick, putting his hand upon the
+captain's shoulder, &quot;as the only hero I have ever met. Not only for what
+you have done, but for what you have refrained from doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense!&quot; said the captain. &quot;Olive now&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh! Olive is Olive!&quot; said Dick. And he did not mind in the least that
+the captain was present.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>It was on the next afternoon that the Broadstone carriage stopped at the
+toll-gate. Mrs. Easterfield sprang out of it, asking for nobody, for she
+had spied Olive in the arbor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; she said, as she burst into tears and took the girl
+into her arms, &quot;it does seem to me as if I were your own mother!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The only one I have,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and very dear!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was some time after this that Mrs. Easterfield was calm enough to
+stop the flow of exciting conversation and to say to Olive, taking both
+her hands tenderly within her own: &quot;My dear, we have been talking a
+great deal of sentiment, and now I want seriously to speak to you on a
+matter of business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Business!&quot; asked Olive in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it is really business from your point of view; and I have come
+round to that point of view myself. Olive, I want you to marry!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that is it, is it? That is what you call business?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, dear; I am now looking at your future, and at marriage in the very
+sensible way you regarded those matters when you were staying with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But,&quot; said Olive, who could scarcely help laughing, &quot;there was a good
+reason then for my being so sensible, and that reason no longer exists.
+I can now afford single-blessedness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, Olive, dear, you can not. Circumstances are all against that
+consummation. You are not made for that sort of thing. And your uncle is
+an old man, and even with him you need a young protector. I want you to
+marry Richard Lancaster. You know my heart has been set on it for some
+time, and now I urge it. You could never bring forth a single objection
+to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Except that I did not love him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Neither did you love the young men you were considering as eligible.
+Now, do try to be a sensible girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield, are you laughing at me?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Far from it, my dear. I am desperately in earnest. You see, recent
+events&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick Lancaster and I are engaged to be married,&quot; said Olive demurely,
+not waiting for the end of that sentence. &quot;And,&quot; she added, laughing at
+Mrs. Easterfield's astonished countenance, &quot;I have not yet considered
+whether or not it is sensible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After Mrs. Easterfield had given a half dozen kisses to partly express
+her pleasure, she said: &quot;And where is he now? I must see him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He went back to his college late last night; it was impossible for him
+to stay here any longer at present.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Mrs. Easterfield was going away&mdash;she had waited and waited for the
+captain who had not come&mdash;Olive detained her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are so dear,&quot; she said, &quot;that I must tell you a great thing.&quot; And
+then she told the story of the two men in the barouche.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield turned pale, and sat down again. She had actually lost
+her self-possession. She made Olive tell her the story over and over
+again. &quot;It is too much,&quot; she said, &quot;for one day. I am glad the captain
+is not here, I would not know what to say to him. I may tell Tom?&quot; she
+said. &quot;I must tell him; he will be silent as a rock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled. &quot;Yes, you may tell Tom,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have told Dick, but on no account must Harry ever know anything
+about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement. That the girl could joke at
+such a moment!</p>
+
+<p>When the captain came home Olive told him how she had entrusted the
+great secret to Mrs. Easterfield and her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I intended to tell you, but haven't had a chance yet,
+that I spoke of the matter to Mrs. Faulkner. So I have told two persons
+and you have told three, and I suppose that is about the proportion in
+which men and women keep secrets.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>In which Some Great Changes are Recorded.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span> few days after his return to his college Prof. Richard Lancaster found
+among his letters one signed &quot;Your backer, Claude Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter began:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;You owe her to me. You should never forget that. If I had done
+     better no one can say what might have been the result. This
+     proposition can not be gainsaid, for as no one ever saw me do
+     better, how should anybody know? I knew I was leaving her to you.
+     She might not have known it, but I did. I did not suppose it would
+     come so soon, but I was sure it would ultimately come to pass. It
+     has come to pass, and I feel triumphant. In the great race in which
+     I had the honor to run, you made a most admirable second. The best
+     second is he who comes in first. In order for a second to take
+     first place it is necessary that the leader in the race, be that
+     leader horse, man, or boat, should experience a change in
+     conditions. I experienced such a change, voluntary or involuntary
+     it is unnecessary to say. You came in first, and I congratulate you
+     as no living being can congratulate you who has not felt for a
+     moment or two that it was barely possible that he might, in some
+     period of existence, occupy the position which you now hold.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Do not be surprised if you hear of my early marriage. Some woman no
+    better-looking than I am may seek me out. If this should happen, and
+    you know of it, please think of me with gratitude, and remember that
+    I was once</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Your backer,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CLAUDE LOCKER.&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>Olive also received a letter from Mr. Locker, which ran thus:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield told me. She wrote me a letter about it, and I
+     think her purpose was to make me thoroughly understand that I was
+     not in this matter at all. She did not say anything of the kind,
+     but I think she thought it would be a dreadful thing, if by any act
+     of mine, I should cause you to reconsider your arrangement with
+     Professor Lancaster. I have written to the said professor, and have
+     told him that it is not improbable that I shall soon marry. I don't
+     know yet to what lady I shall be united, but I believe in the truth
+     of the adage, 'that all things come to those who can not wait.'
+     They are in such a hurry that they take what they can get.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;If you do not think that this is a good letter, please send it back
+    and I will write another. What I am trying to say is, that I would
+    sacrifice my future wife, no matter who she may be, to see you
+    happy. And now believe me always</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Your most devoted acquaintance,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CLAUDE LOCKER.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;P.S.&mdash;Wouldn't it be a glorious thing if you were to be married in
+    church with all the rejected suitors as groomsmen and Lancaster as
+    an old Roman conqueror with the captive princess tied behind!&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>Now that all the turmoil of her life was over, and Olive at peace with
+herself, her thoughts dwelt with some persistency upon two of her
+rejected suitors. Until now she had had but little comprehension of the
+love a man may feel for a woman&mdash;perhaps because she herself never
+loved&mdash;but now she looked back upon that period of her life at
+Broadstone with a good deal of compunction. At that time it had seemed
+to her that it really made very little difference to her three lovers
+which one she accepted, or if she rejected them all. But now she asked
+herself if it could be possible that Du Brant and Hemphill had for her
+anything of the feeling she now had for Dick Lancaster. (Locker did not
+trouble her mind at all.) If so, she had treated them with a cruel and
+shameful carelessness. She had really intended to marry one of them, but
+not from any good and kind feeling; she was actuated solely by pique and
+self-interest; and she had, perhaps, sacrificed honest love to her
+selfishness; and, what was worse, had treated it with what certainly
+appeared like contempt, although she certainly had not intended that.</p>
+
+<p>She felt truly sorry, and cast about in her mind for some means of
+reparation. She could think of but one way: to find for each of them a
+very nice girl&mdash;a great deal nicer than herself&mdash;and to marry them all
+with her blessing. But, unfortunately for this scheme, Olive had no
+girl friends. She had acquaintances &quot;picked up here and there,&quot; as she
+said, but she knew very little about any of them, and not one of them
+had ever struck her as being at all angelic or superior in any way.
+Neither of the young men who were lying so heavily on her mind had
+written to any one, either at the toll-gate or at Broadstone, since the
+very public affair in which she had played a conspicuous part; and her
+consolation was that as each one had read that account he had said to
+himself: &quot;I am thankful that girl did not accept me! What a fortunate
+escape!&quot; But still she wished that she had behaved differently at
+Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>She said nothing to any one of these musings, but she ventured one day
+to ask Mr. Easterfield how Mr. Hemphill was faring. His reply was only
+half satisfactory. He reported the young man as doing very well, and
+being well; he was growing fat, and that did not improve his looks; and
+he was getting more and more taciturn and self-absorbed. &quot;Why was he
+taciturn?&quot; Olive asked herself. &quot;Was he brooding and melancholy?&quot; She
+did not know anything about the fat, and what might be its primal cause;
+but her mind was not set at ease about him.</p>
+
+<p>Things went on quietly and pleasantly at the toll-gate, and at
+Broadstone. Dick came down as often as he could and spent a day or two
+(usually including a Sunday) with Olive and her uncle. It was now
+October, and colleges were in full tide. It was also the hunting season,
+and that meant that Mr. Tom would be at Broadstone for a couple of
+weeks, and Mrs. Easterfield said she must have Olive at that time. And,
+in order to make the house lively, she invited Lieutenant Asher and his
+wife at the same time, as Olive and her young stepmother were now very
+good friends. Then the captain invited his old friend Captain Lancaster,
+Dick's father, to visit him at the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>These were bright days for these old shipmates; and, strange to say, as
+they sat and puffed, they did not talk so much of things that had been,
+as they puffed and made plans of things which were to be. And these
+plans always concerned the niece of one, and the son of the other.
+Captain Asher was not at all satisfied with Dick's position in the
+college. He could not see how eminence awaited any young man who taught
+theories; he would like Dick's future to depend on facts.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Two and two make four,&quot; said he; &quot;there is no need of any theory about
+that, and that's the sort of thing that suits me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Lancaster smiled. He was a dry old salt, and listened more than
+he talked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just now,&quot; he remarked, &quot;I guess Dick will stick to his theories, and
+for a while he won't be apt to give his mind to mathematics very much,
+except to that kind of figuring which makes him understand that one and
+one makes one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a thing the two old mates were agreed upon. No matter-what
+Dick's position might be in the college, his salary should be as large
+as that of any other professor. They could do it, and they would do it.
+They liked the idea, and they shook hands over it.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was greatly pleased with Captain Lancaster. &quot;There is the scent of
+the sea about him,&quot; she wrote to Dick, &quot;as there is about Uncle John and
+father, but it is different. It is constant and fixed, like the smell
+of salt mackerel. He would never keep a toll-gate; nor would he marry a
+young wife. Not that I object to either of these things, for if the one
+had not happened I would never have known you; and if the other had not
+happened, I might not have become engaged to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The two captains dined at Broadstone while Olive was there, and Captain
+Lancaster highly approved of Mrs. Easterfield. All seafaring men did&mdash;as
+well as most other men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a shame she had to marry a landsman,&quot; said Captain Lancaster,
+when he and Captain John had gone home. &quot;It seems to me she would have
+suited you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You might mention that the next time you go to her house,&quot; said Captain
+Asher. &quot;I don't believe it has ever been properly considered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was at this time that Olive's mind was set at rest about one of her
+discarded lovers. Mr. Du Brant wrote her a letter.</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;MY DEAR MISS ASHER&mdash;It is very long since I have had any
+     communication with you, but this silence on my part has been the
+     result of circumstances, and not owing, I assure you upon my honor,
+     to any diminution of the great regard (to use a moderate term)
+     which I feel for you. I had not the pleasure of seeing you when I
+     left Broadstone, but our mutual friend, Mrs. Easterfield, told me
+     you had sent to me a message. I firmly (but I trust politely)
+     declined to receive it. And so, my dear Miss Asher, as the offer I
+     made you then has never received any acknowledgment, I write now
+     to renew it. I lay my heart at your feet, and entreat you to do me
+     the honor of accepting my hand in marriage.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;And let me here frankly state that when first I read of your great
+    deed&mdash;you are aware, of course, to what I refer&mdash;I felt I must
+    banish all thought of you from my heart. Let me explain my position,
+    I had just received news of the death of my uncle, Count Rosetra,
+    and that I had inherited his title and estates. It is a noble name,
+    and the estates are great. Could I confer these upon one who was
+    being so publicly discussed&mdash;the actor in so terrible a drama? I
+    owed more to society, and to my noble race, and to my country than I
+    had done before becoming a noble. But ah, my torn heart! O Miss
+    Asher, that heart was true to you through all, and has asserted
+    itself in a vehement way. I recognized your deed as noble; I thought
+    of your beauty and your intellect; of your attractive vivacity; of
+    your manner and bearing, all so fine; and I realized how you would
+    grace my title and my home; how you would help me to carry out the
+    great ambitions I have.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Will you, lady, deign to accept my homage and my love? A favorable
+    answer will bring me to make my personal solicitations.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Your most loving and faithful servant,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CHRISTIAN DU BRANT.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;(Now Count Rosetra.)&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;What a bombastic mixture!&quot; thought Olive, as she read this effusion. &quot;I
+wonder if there is any real love in it! If there is, it is so smothered
+it is easily extinguished.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And she extinguished it; and thoughts of Count Rosetra troubled her no
+more.</p>
+
+<p>She did not show Dick this letter, but she thought it due to Mrs.
+Easterfield to read it to her. &quot;He has got it into his head that an
+American woman, such as you, will make his house attractive to people he
+wants there,&quot; commented that lady. &quot;You have not considered me at all,
+you ungrateful girl! Only think how I could have exploited 'my friend,
+the countess'! And what a fine place for me to visit!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It had been arranged by the two houses that Dick and Olive should be
+married in the early summer when the college closed; and Mrs.
+Easterfield had arranged in her own mind that the wedding should be in
+her city house. It would not be too late in the season for a stylish
+wedding&mdash;a thing Mrs. Easterfield had often wished she could arrange,
+and it was hopeless to think of waiting until her little ones could help
+her to this desire of her heart. She held this great secret in reserve,
+however, for a delightful surprise at the proper time.</p>
+
+<p>But she and Olive both had a wedding surprise before Olive's visit was
+finished. It was, in fact, the day before Olive's return to the
+toll-gate that Mr. Easterfield walked in upon them as they were sitting
+at work in Mrs. Easterfield's room. He had been unexpectedly summoned to
+the city three days before, and had gone with no explanation to his
+wife. She did not think much about it, as he was accustomed to going and
+coming in a somewhat erratic manner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; she said, looking at him critically after the first
+greetings, &quot;that you have an important air.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am the bearer of important news,&quot; he said, puffing out his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>In answer to the battery of excited inquiries which opened upon him he
+finally said: &quot;I was solemnly invited to town to attend a solemn
+function, and I solemnly went, and am now solemnly returned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pshaw!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I don't believe it's anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A wedding is something. A very great something. It is a solemn thing;
+and made more solemn by the loss of my secretary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; almost screamed his wife. &quot;Mr. Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The very man. And, O Miss Olive, if you could but have seen him in his
+wedding-clothes your heart would have broken to think that you had lost
+the opportunity of standing by them at the altar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who was the bride?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Eliza Grogworthy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Tom, I know you are joking! Why can't you be serious?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am as serious as were that couple. I have known her for some time,
+and she was very visible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, she is old enough to be his mother!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not quite, my dear. In such a case as this, one must be particular
+about ages. She is a few years older than he is probably, but she is not
+bad looking, and a good woman with a nice big house and lots of money.
+He has walked out of my office into a fine position, and I unselfishly
+congratulated him with all my heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Poor Mr. Hemphill!&quot; sighed Olive. She was thinking of the very young
+man she had sighed for when a very young girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He needs no pity,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield seriously. &quot;I should not be
+surprised if he feels glad that he was not&mdash;well, we won't say what,&quot; he
+added, looking mischievously at Olive. &quot;This is really a great deal
+better thing for him. He is not a favorite of my wife, but he is a
+thoroughly good fellow in his way, and I have always liked him. There
+were certain things necessary to him in this life, and he has got them.
+That can not be said about everybody by a long shot! No, he is to be
+congratulated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive was silent. She was trying to make up her mind that he was really
+to be congratulated, and to get rid of a lingering doubt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that is the end of him in our affairs!&quot; exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;Why didn't you tell us what you were going to town for?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because he asked me not to mention it to any one. And, besides, that is
+not all I went to town for.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said his wife, &quot;any more weddings?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, helping himself to an easy chair. &quot;You know
+I have lately been so much with nautical people I have acquired a taste
+for the sea.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know it,&quot; said his wife; &quot;but what of it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, as Lieutenant Asher and his wife are here yet, and have no
+earthly reason for being anywhere in particular; and as Captain Asher
+seems to be tired of the toll-gate; and as Captain Lancaster doesn't
+care where he is; and as Miss Olive doesn't know what to do with herself
+until it is time for her to get married; and as you are always ready to
+go gadding; and as the children need bracing up; and as you can not get
+along without Miss Raleigh; and as Mrs. Blynn is a good housekeeper; and
+as I have an offer for renting our town house; I propose that we all go
+to sea together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The two ladies had listened breathlessly to these words, and now Olive
+sprang up in great excitement, and Mrs. Easterfield clapped her hands in
+delight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How clever you are, Tom!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;What a splendid idea! How can
+we go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have leased a yacht, and we are going to the Mediterranean.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&quot;<i>It has just Begun!</i>&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>his wonderful scheme which Mr. Easterfield had planned and carried out
+met with general favor. Perhaps if they had all been consulted before he
+made the plan there would have been many alterations, and discussions,
+and doubts. But the thing was done, and there was nothing to say but
+&quot;Yes&quot; or &quot;No.&quot; The time had come for the house party at Broadstone to
+break up, and the lieutenant and Mrs. Asher had arranged to spend the
+next few months in the city, but they gladly accepted Mr. Easterfield's
+generous invitation and would return to the toll-gate alter a few weeks
+preparatory to sailing, that the party might get together, for Captain
+Lancaster was to remain at the tollhouse. Mr. Easterfield also invited
+Claude Locker &quot;to make things lively in rough weather,&quot; and that young
+man accepted with much alacrity.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was in such a state of delight that she nearly lost her
+self-possession. Sometimes, her husband told her, she scarcely spoke
+rationally. If she had been asked to wish anything that love or money
+could bring her, it would have been this very thing; but she would not
+have believed it possible. She was busy everywhere planning for
+everybody, and making out various lists. But, as she said, there is a
+little black spot in almost every joy. And her little black spot was
+Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Poor Professor Lancaster!&quot; she said to her husband. &quot;We to have such a
+great pleasure, and he shut up in close rooms! And Olive far away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you sure about Olive?&quot; asked Mr. Easterfield. &quot;She has never said
+positively that she is going. I most earnestly hope that she will not
+back out because Lancaster can not go. If she stays her uncle will
+stay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And for that very reason she will go,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;And I
+think Professor Lancaster will urge her to go. He is unselfish enough, I
+am sure, to wish her to have this great pleasure. And, talking of Olive,
+one thing is certain, Tom, we must be back early in the spring. There
+will be a great deal to do before the wedding. And, O Tom, I will tell
+you&mdash;but you must not tell any one, for I am keeping it for a
+surprise&mdash;I am going to give them a fine wedding. They will be married
+in church, of course, but the reception will be at our house. You will
+like that, I know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will there be good eating?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I shall like it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>All this was very well, but, nevertheless, this talk made the
+enthusiastic lady a little uneasy. It was true Olive had never said in
+words conclusively whether she would go or not. But she was extremely
+anxious that her father should go, and she implicitly followed Mrs.
+Easterfield's directions in making preparations for him, and was just as
+earnest in making her own; and her friend was certainly justified in
+thinking all this was a tacit consent.</p>
+
+<p>As for the two captains, they were so delighted at this heavenly
+prospect that they gave up talking about Dick and Olive, and read
+guide-books to each other, and studied maps, and sea-charts until their
+brains were nearly addled. They were a source of great amusement to the
+young people when Dick came for his frequent short visits.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident to all interested that Professor Lancaster approved of
+the expedition, for he entered heartily into all the talk about the
+various places to be visited, and all that was to be done on the vessel;
+and he did not bore them with any lamentations in regard to the coming
+separation between him and Olive. And, of course, every one respected
+his feelings, and said nothing to him about it.</p>
+
+<p>The weeks went by; all the preparations were made; and at last the time
+came when the company were to assemble at the toll-gate and Broadstone
+before the final plunge into the unknown. Olive wished to have them all
+to dinner on the first day of this short visit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our house is a little one,&quot; she said to Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;but we can
+make it big enough. You know nautical people understand how to do that.
+What a jolly company we shall have! You know Dick will be there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, poor Dick!&quot; sighed Mrs. Easterfield, when Olive had left.</p>
+
+<p>The Easterfields, with Lieutenant Asher and his wife, arrived very
+promptly at the toll-gate on that important day, and their drive
+through the bright, crisp air put them in a merry mood. They had hoped
+to bring Mr. Locker, but he had not arrived. They found two captains at
+the toll-gate in even merrier mood. Dick Lancaster was there, having
+arrived that morning, and they were none of them surprised that he
+looked serious. The ladies were not immediately asked to go up-stairs to
+remove their wraps, for Olive was not there to receive them. She soon,
+however, made her appearance in a lovely white dress that had been made
+for the trip under Mrs. Easterfield's supervision. Dick Lancaster
+immediately got up from his chair and joined her; and the Reverend Mr.
+Faulkner appeared from some mysterious place, and the astonished guests
+were treated to a very pretty marriage ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>It was soon over, and the two jolly captains laughed heartily at the
+bewilderment of the Broadstone party. And then there was a wild time of
+hand-shaking and congratulations and embracing. By his wife's orders,
+Mr. Tom kissed Olive, which seemed perfectly proper to everybody except
+Mrs. Lieutenant Asher. She was also a young bride, with no similar
+experiences.</p>
+
+<p>Later, when all were composed, Olive explained. &quot;What has happened just
+now is all on account of Mr. Easterfield's invitation. I wrote
+immediately to Dick, and we settled it between us that he would ask for
+a vacation&mdash;they always give vacations when professors are married, and
+he knew of some one to take his place&mdash;and then we would be married, and
+ask Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield to invite us to take our wedding trip with
+them. Dick had to stay at the college until the last minute almost, and
+so we didn't say anything about the wedding&mdash;and we were both afraid
+of&mdash;well, we don't like a fuss&mdash;and so we planned this. And when Dick
+came he brought the license and Mr. Faulkner. And now I don't see how
+Mr. Easterfield can help inviting us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield was standing by his wife, and as Olive finished her
+explanation he took his wife's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of
+sympathy; and that heroic woman never flinched; nor did she ever say one
+word about that pretty wedding she had planned for the spring.</p>
+
+<p>They had all nearly finished the fried chicken with white sauce, when
+Claude Locker arrived. He had missed the regular train and had come on a
+freight; had got a horse when he reached Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am more tired than if I had walked,&quot; he grumbled. &quot;I am always in bad
+luck! I am an unlucky dog! But you are so good you will excuse me, Miss
+Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is not my name,&quot; said Olive gravely.</p>
+
+<p>And with both eyes of the same size, Mr. Locker looked around, wondering
+why everybody was laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me introduce Mrs. Lancaster,&quot; said Dick with a bow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you mean,&quot; cried Locker, starting up, &quot;that this thing is really
+done?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive. &quot;It has just begun.&quot;</p>
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<h2>THE END</h2>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13356 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/13356-h/images/toll001.jpg b/13356-h/images/toll001.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64eddb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-h/images/toll001.jpg
diff --git a/13356-h/images/toll002.jpg b/13356-h/images/toll002.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14fec2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-h/images/toll002.jpg
diff --git a/13356-h/images/toll003.jpg b/13356-h/images/toll003.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..254e88d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-h/images/toll003.jpg
diff --git a/13356-h/images/toll004.jpg b/13356-h/images/toll004.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48c951d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-h/images/toll004.jpg
diff --git a/13356-h/images/toll005.jpg b/13356-h/images/toll005.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58e4dce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/13356-h/images/toll005.jpg
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8edcf96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #13356 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13356)
diff --git a/old/13356-8.txt b/old/13356-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14a22f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11030 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain's Toll-Gate, 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: The Captain's Toll-Gate
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Release Date: September 2, 2004 [EBook #13356]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE
+
+By
+
+FRANK R. STOCKTON
+
+_With a Memorial Sketch by Mrs. Stockton_
+
+
+1903
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+      I. OLIVE
+     II. MARIA PORT
+    III. MRS. EASTERFIELD
+     IV. THE SON OF AN OLD SHIPMATE
+      V. OLIVE PAYS TOLL
+     VI. MR. CLAUDE LOCKER
+    VII. THE CAPTAIN AND HIS GUEST GO FISHING AND COME HOME HAPPY
+   VIII. CAPTAIN ASHER IS NOT IN A GOOD HUMOR
+     IX. MISS PORT TAKES A DRIVE WITH THE BUTCHER
+      X. MRS. EASTERFIELD WRITES A LETTER
+     XI. MR. LOCKER IS RELEASED ON BAIL
+    XII. MR. RUPERT HEMPHILL
+   XIII. MR. LANCASTER'S BACKERS
+    XIV. A LETTER FOR OLIVE
+     XV. OLIVE'S BICYCLE TRIP
+    XVI. MR. LANCASTER ACCEPTS A MISSION
+   XVII. DICK IS NOT A PROMPT BEARER OF NEWS
+  XVIII. WHAT OLIVE DETERMINED TO DO
+    XIX. THE CAPTAIN AND DICK LANCASTER DESERT THE TOLL-GATE
+     XX. MR. LOCKER DETERMINES TO RUSH THE ENEMY'S POSITION
+    XXI. MISS RALEIGH ENJOYS A RARE PRIVILEGE
+   XXII. THE CONFLICTING SERENADES
+  XXIII. THE CAPTAIN AND MARIA
+   XXIV. MR. TOM ARRIVES AT BROADSTONE
+    XXV. THE CAPTAIN AND MR. TOM
+   XXVI. A STOP AT THE TOLL-GATE
+  XXVII. BY PROXY
+ XXVIII. HERE WE GO! LOVERS THREE!
+   XXIX. TWO PIECES OF NEWS
+    XXX. BY THE SEA
+   XXXI. AS GOOD AS A MAN
+  XXXII. THE STOCK-MARKET IS SAFE
+ XXXIII. DICK LANCASTER DOES NOT WRITE
+  XXXIV. MISS PORT PUTS IN AN APPEARANCE
+   XXXV. THE DORCAS ON GUARD
+  XXXVI. COLD TINDER
+ XXXVII. IN WHICH SOME GREAT CHANGES ARE RECORDED
+XXXVIII. "IT HAS JUST BEGUN!"
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Portrait of Frank B. Stockton _Etching by Jacques Reich from a
+photograph._
+
+The Holt, Mr. Stockton's home near Convent, N.J.
+
+Claymont, Mr. Stockton's home near Charles Town, West Virginia.
+
+A corner in Mr. Stockton's study at Claymont.
+
+The upper terraces of Mr. Stockton's garden at Claymont.
+
+
+
+
+A MEMORIAL SKETCH
+
+As this--The Captain's Toll-Gate--is the last of the works of Frank R.
+Stockton that will be given to the public, it is fitting that it be
+accompanied by some account of the man whose bright spirit illumined
+them all. It is proper, also, that something be said of the stories
+themselves; of the circumstances in which they were written, the
+influences that determined their direction, and the history of their
+evolution. It seems appropriate that this should be done by the one who
+knew him best; the one who lived with him through a long and beautiful
+life; the one who walked hand in hand with him along the whole of a
+wonderful road of ever-changing scenes: now through forests peopled with
+fairies and dryads, griffins and wizards; now skirting the edges of an
+ocean with its strange monsters and remarkable shipwrecks; now on the
+beaten track of European tourists, sharing their novel adventures and
+amused by their mistakes; now resting in lovely gardens imbued with
+human interest; now helping the young to make happy homes for
+themselves; now sympathizing with the old as they look longingly toward
+a heavenly home; and, oftenest, perhaps, watching girls and young men as
+they were trying to work out the problems of their lives. All this, and
+much more, crowded the busy years until the Angel of Death stood in the
+path; and the journey was ended.
+
+In regard to the present story--The Captain's Toll-Gate--although it is
+now after his death first published, it was all written and completed by
+Mr. Stockton himself. No other hand has been allowed to add to, or to
+take from it. Mr. Stockton had so strong a feeling upon the literary
+ethics involved in such matters that he once refused to complete a book
+which a popular and brilliant author, whose style was thought to
+resemble his own, had left unfinished. Mr. Stockton regarded the
+proposed act in the light of a sacrilege. The book, he said, should be
+published as the author left it. Knowing this fact, readers of the
+present volume may feel assured that no one has been permitted to tamper
+with it. Although the last book by Mr. Stockton to be published, it is
+not the last that he wrote. He had completed The Captain's Toll-Gate,
+and was considering its publication, when he was asked to write another
+novel dealing with the buccaneers. He had already produced a book
+entitled Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coasts. The idea of writing a
+novel while the incidents were fresh in his mind pleased him, and he put
+aside The Captain's Toll-Gate, as the other book--Kate Bonnet--was
+wanted soon, and he did not wish the two works to conflict in
+publication. Steve Bonnet, the crazy-headed pirate, was a historical
+character, and performed the acts attributed to him. But the charming
+Kate, and her lover, and Ben Greenaway were inventions.
+
+Francis Richard Stockton, born in Philadelphia in 1834, was, on his
+father's side, of purely English ancestry; on his mother's side, there
+was a mixture of English, French, and Irish. When he began to write
+stories these three nationalities were combined in them: the peculiar
+kind of inventiveness of the French; the point of view, and the humor
+that we find in the old English humorists; and the capacity of the Irish
+for comical situations.
+
+Soon after arriving in this country the eldest son of the first American
+Stockton settled in Princeton, N.J., and founded that branch of the
+family; while the father, with the other sons, settled in Burlington
+County, in the same State, and founded the Burlington branch of the
+family, from which Frank R. Stockton was descended. On the female side
+he was descended from the Gardiners, also of New Jersey. His was a
+family with literary proclivities. His father was widely known for his
+religious writings, mostly of a polemical character, which had a
+powerful influence in the denomination to which he belonged. His
+half-brother (much older than Frank) was a preacher of great eloquence,
+famous a generation ago as a pulpit orator.
+
+When Frank and his brother John, two years younger, came to the age to
+begin life for themselves, they both showed such decided artistic genius
+that it was thought best to start them in that direction, and to have
+them taught engraving; an art then held in high esteem. Frank chose
+wood, and John steel engraving. Both did good work, but their hearts
+were not in it, and, as soon as opportunity offered, they abandoned
+engraving. John went into journalism; became editorially connected with
+prominent newspapers; and had won a foremost place in his chosen
+profession; when he was cut off by death at a comparatively early age.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.]
+
+Frank chose literature. He had, while in the engraving business, written
+a number of fairy tales, some of which had been published in juvenile
+magazines; also a few short stories, and quite an ambitious long story,
+which was published in a prominent magazine. He was then sufficiently
+well known as a writer to obtain without difficulty a place on the
+staff of Hearth and Home, a weekly New York paper, owned by Orange Judd,
+and conducted by Edward Eggleston. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge had charge of
+the juvenile department, and Frank went on the paper as her assistant.
+Not long after Scribner's Monthly was started by Charles Scribner (the
+elder), in conjunction with Roswell Smith, and J.G. Holland. Later Mr.
+Smith and his associates formed The Century Company; and with this
+company Mr. Stockton was connected for many years: first on the Century
+Magazine, which succeeded Scribner's Monthly, and afterward on St.
+Nicholas, as assistant to Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, and, still later, when
+he decided to give up editorial work, as a constant contributor. After a
+few years he resigned his position in the company with which he had been
+so pleasantly associated in order to devote himself exclusively to his
+own work. By this time he had written and published enough to feel
+justified in taking, what seemed to his friends, a bold, and even rash,
+step, because so few writers then lived solely by the pen. He was never
+very strong physically; he felt himself unable to do his editorial work,
+and at the same time write out the fancies and stories with which his
+mind was full. This venture proved to be the wisest thing for him; and
+from that time his life was, in great part, in his books; and he gave
+to the world the novels and stories which bear his name.
+
+I have mentioned his fairy stories. Having been a great lover of fairy
+lore when a child, he naturally fell into this form of story writing as
+soon as he was old enough to put a story together. He invented a goodly
+number; and among them the Ting-a-Ling stories, which were read aloud in
+a boys' literary circle, and meeting their hearty approval, were
+subsequently published in The Riverside Magazine, a handsome and popular
+juvenile of that period; and, much later, were issued by Hurd & Houghton
+in a very pretty volume. In regard to these, he wrote long afterward as
+follows:
+
+"I was very young when I determined to write some fairy tales because my
+mind was full of them. I set to work, and in course of time produced
+several which were printed. These were constructed according to my own
+ideas. I caused the fanciful creatures who inhabited the world of
+fairy-land to act, as far as possible for them to do so, as if they were
+inhabitants of the real world. I did not dispense with monsters and
+enchanters, or talking beasts and birds, but I obliged these creatures
+to infuse into their extraordinary actions a certain leaven of common
+sense."
+
+It was about this time, while very young, that he and his brother
+became ambitious to write stories, poems, and essays for the world at
+large. They sent their effusions to various periodicals, with the result
+common to ambitious youths: all were returned. They decided at last that
+editors did not know a good thing when they saw it, and hit upon a
+brilliant scheme to prove their own judgment. One of them selected an
+extract from Paradise Regained (as being not so well known as Paradise
+Lost), and sent it to an editor, with the boy's own name appended,
+expecting to have it returned with some of the usual disparaging
+remarks, which they would greatly enjoy. But they were disappointed. The
+editor printed it in his paper, thereby proving that he did know a good
+thing if he did not know his Milton. Mr. Stockton was fond of telling
+this story, and it may have given rise to a report, extensively
+circulated, that he tried to gain admittance to periodicals for many
+years before he succeeded. This is not true. Some rebuffs he had, of
+course--some with things which afterward proved great successes--but not
+as great a number as falls to the lot of most beginners.
+
+The Ting-a-Ling tales proved so popular that Mr. Stockton followed them
+at intervals with long and short stories for the young which appeared in
+various juvenile publications, and were afterward published in book
+form--Roundabout Rambles. Tales out of School, A Jolly Fellowship,
+Personally Conducted, The Story of Viteau, The Floating Prince, and
+others. Some years later, after he had begun to write for older readers,
+he wrote a series of stories for St. Nicholas, ostensibly for children,
+but really intended for adults. Children liked the stories, but the
+deeper meaning underlying them all was beyond the grasp of a child's
+mind. These stories Mr. Stockton took very great pleasure in writing,
+and always regarded them as some of his best work, and was gratified
+when his critics wrote of them in that way. They have become famous, and
+have been translated into several languages, notably Old Pipes and the
+Dryad, The Bee Man of Orne, and The Griffin and the Minor Canon. This
+last story was suggested by Chester Cathedral, and he wrote it in that
+venerable city. The several tales were finally collected into a volume
+under the title: The Bee Man of Orne and Other Stories, which is
+included in the complete edition of his novels and stories. During the
+whole of his literary career Mr. Stockton was an occasional contributor
+of short stories and essays to The Youth's Companion.
+
+Mr. Stockton considered his career as an editor of great advantage to
+him as an author. In an autobiographical paper he writes:
+"Long-continued reading of manuscripts submitted for publication which
+are almost good enough to use, and yet not quite up to the standard of
+the magazine, can not but be of great service to any one who proposes a
+literary career. Bad work shows us what we ought to avoid, but most of
+us know, or think we know, what that is. Fine literary work we get
+outside the editorial room. But the great mass of literary material
+which is almost good enough to print is seen only by the editorial
+reader, and its lesson is lost upon him in a great degree unless he is,
+or intends to be, a literary worker."
+
+The first house in which we set up our own household goods stood in
+Nutley, N.J. We had with us an elderly _attaché_ of the Stockton family
+as maid-of-all-work; and to relieve her of some of her duties I went
+into New York, and procured from an orphans' home a girl whom Mr.
+Stockton described as "a middle-sized orphan." She was about fourteen
+years old, and proved to be a very peculiar individual, with strong
+characteristics which so appealed to Mr. Stockton's sense of humor that
+he liked to talk with her and draw out her opinions of things in
+general, and especially of the books she had read. Her spare time was
+devoted to reading books, mostly of the blood-curdling variety; and she
+read them to herself aloud in the kitchen in a very disjointed fashion,
+which was at first amusing, and then irritating. We never knew her real
+name, nor did the people at the orphanage. She had three or four very
+romantic ones she had borrowed from novels while she was with us, for
+she was very sentimental.
+
+Mr. Stockton bestowed upon her the name of Pomona, which is now a
+household word in myriads of homes. This extraordinary girl, and some
+household experiences, induced Mr. Stockton to write a paper for
+Scribner's Monthly which he called Rudder Grange. This one paper was all
+he intended to write, but it attracted immediate attention, was
+extensively noticed, and much talked about. The editor of the magazine
+received so many letters asking for another paper that Mr. Stockton
+wrote the second one; and as there was still a clamor for more, he,
+after a little time, wrote others of the series. Some time later they
+were collected in a book. For those interested in Pomona I will add,
+that while the girl was an actual personage, with all the
+characteristics given to her by her chronicler, the woman Pomona was a
+development in Mr. Stockton's mind of the girl as he imagined she would
+become, for the original passed out of our lives while still a girl.
+
+Rudder Grange was Mr. Stockton's first book for adult readers, and a
+good deal of comment has been made upon the fact that he had reached
+middle life when it was published. His biographers and critics assume
+that he was utterly unknown at that time, and that he suddenly jumped
+into favor, and they naturally draw the inference that he had until then
+vainly attempted to get before the public. This is all a misapprehension
+of the facts. It will be seen from what I have previously stated, that
+at this time he was already well known as a juvenile writer, and not
+only had no difficulty in getting his articles printed, but editors and
+publishers were asking him for stories. He had made but few slight
+attempts to obtain a larger audience. That he confined himself for so
+long a time to juvenile literature can be easily accounted for. For one
+thing, it grew out of his regular work of constantly catering for the
+young, and thinking of them. Then, again, editorial work makes urgent
+demands upon time and strength, and until freed from it he had not the
+leisure or inclination to fashion stories for more exacting and critical
+readers. Perhaps, too, he was slow in recognizing his possibilities.
+Certain it is that the public were not slow to recognize him. He did,
+however, experience difficulties in getting the collected papers of
+Rudder Grange published in book form. I will quote his own account,
+which is interesting as showing how slow he was to appreciate the fact
+that the public would gladly accept the writings of a humorist:
+
+"The discovery that humorous compositions could be used in journals
+other than those termed comic marked a new era in my work. Periodicals
+especially devoted to wit and humor were very scarce in those days, and
+as this sort of writing came naturally to me, it was difficult, until
+the advent of Puck, to find a medium of publication for writings of this
+nature. I contributed a good deal to this paper, but it was only partly
+satisfactory, for articles which make up a comic paper must be terse and
+short, and I wanted to write humorous tales which should be as long as
+ordinary magazine stories. I had good reason for my opinion of the
+gravity of the situation, for the editor of a prominent magazine
+declined a humorous story (afterward very popular) which I had sent him,
+on the ground that the traditions of magazines forbade the publication
+of stories strictly humorous. Therefore, when I found an editor at last
+who actually _wished_ me to write humorous stories, I was truly
+rejoiced. My first venture in this line was Rudder Grange. And, after
+all, I had difficulty in getting the series published in book form. Two
+publishers would have nothing to do with them, assuring me that although
+the papers were well enough for a magazine, a thing of ephemeral nature,
+the book-reading public would not care for them. The third publisher to
+whom I applied issued the work, and found the venture satisfactory."
+
+The book-reading public cared so much for this book that it would not
+remain satisfied with it alone. Again and again it demanded of the
+author more about Pomona, Euphemia, and Jonas. Hence The Rudder Grangers
+Abroad and Pomona's Travels.
+
+The most famous of Mr. Stockton's stories, The Lady or the Tiger?, was
+written to be read before a literary society of which he was a member.
+It caused such an interesting discussion in the society that he
+published it in the Century Magazine. It had no especial announcement
+there, nor was it heralded in any way, but it took the public by storm,
+and surprised both the editor and the author. All the world must love a
+puzzle, for in an amazingly short time the little story had made the
+circuit of the world. Debating societies everywhere seized upon it as a
+topic; it was translated into nearly all languages; society people
+discussed it at their dinners; plainer people argued it at their
+firesides; numerous letters were sent to nearly every periodical in the
+country; and public readers were expounding it to their audiences. It
+interested heathen and Christian alike; for an English friend told Mr.
+Stockton that in India he had heard a group of Hindoo men gravely
+debating the problem. Of course, a mass of letters came pouring in upon
+the author.
+
+A singular thing about this story has been the revival of interest in it
+that has occurred from time to time. Although written many years ago, it
+seems still to excite the interest of a younger generation; for, after
+an interval of silence on the subject of greater or less duration,
+suddenly, without apparent cause, numerous letters in relation to it
+will appear on the author's table, and "solutions" will be printed in
+the newspapers. This ebb and flow has continued up to the present time.
+Mr. Stockton made no attempt to answer the question he had raised.
+
+We both spent much time in the South at different periods. The dramatic
+and unconsciously humorous side of the negroes pleased his fancy. He
+walked and talked with them, saw them in their homes, at their
+"meetin's," and in the fields. He has drawn with an affectionate hand
+the genial, companionable Southern negro as he is--or rather as he
+was--for this type is rapidly passing away. Soon there will be no more
+of these "old-time darkies." They would be by the world forgot had they
+not been embalmed in literature by Mr. Stockton, and the best Southern
+writers.
+
+There is one other notable characteristic that should be referred to in
+writing of Mr. Stockton's stories--the machines and appliances he
+invented as parts of them. They are very numerous and ingenious. No
+matter how extraordinary might be the work in hand, the machine to
+accomplish the end was made on strictly scientific principles, to
+accomplish that exact piece of work. It would seem that if he had not
+been an inventor of plots he might have been an inventor of instruments.
+This idea is sustained by the fact that he had been a wood-engraver only
+a short time when he invented and patented a double graver which cuts
+two parallel lines at the same time. It is somewhat strange that more
+than one of these extraordinary machines has since been exploited by
+scientists and explorers, without the least suspicion on their part that
+the enterprising romancer had thought of them first. Notable among these
+may be named the idea of going to the north pole under the ice, the one
+that the center of the earth is an immense crystal (Great Stone of
+Sardis), and the attempt to manufacture a gun similar to the Peace
+Compeller in The Great War Syndicate.
+
+In all of Mr. Stockton's novels there were characters taken from real
+persons who perhaps would not recognize themselves in the peculiar
+circumstances in which he placed them. In the crowd of purely
+imaginative beings one could easily recognize certain types modified and
+altered. In The Casting away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine he
+introduced two delightful old ladies whom he knew, and who were never
+surprised at anything that might happen. Whatever emergency arose, they
+took it as a matter of course, and prepared to meet it. Mr. Stockton
+amused himself at their expense by writing this story. He was not at
+first interested in the Dusantes, and had no intention of ever saying
+anything further about them. When there was a demand for knowledge of
+the Dusantes Mr. Stockton did not heed it. He was opposed to writing
+sequels. But when an author of distinction, whose work and friendship he
+highly valued, wrote to him that if he did not write something about the
+Dusantes, and what they said when they found the board money in the
+ginger jar, he would do it himself, Mr. Stockton set himself to writing
+The Dusantes.
+
+I have been asked to give some account of the places in which Mr.
+Stockton's stories and novels were written, and their environments. Some
+of the Southern stories were written in Virginia, and, now and then, a
+short story elsewhere, as suggested by the locality, but the most of his
+work was done under his own roof-tree. He loved his home; it had to be a
+country home, and always had to have a garden. In the care of a garden
+and in driving, he found his two greatest sources of recreation.
+
+[Illustration: CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST
+VIRGINIA.]
+
+I have mentioned Nutley, which lies in New Jersey, near New York. His
+dwelling there was a pretty little cottage, where he had a garden, some
+chickens, and a cow. This was his home in his editorial days, and here
+Rudder Grange was written. It was a rented place. The next home we
+owned. It stood at a greater distance from New York, at the place called
+Convent, half-way between Madison and Morristown, in New Jersey. Here we
+lived a number of years after Mr. Stockton gave up editorial work; and
+here the greater number of his tales were written. It was a much larger
+place than we had at Nutley, with more chickens, two cows, and a much
+larger garden.
+
+Mr. Stockton dictated his stories to a stenographer. His favorite spot
+for this in summer was a grove of large fir-trees near the house. Here,
+in the warm weather, he would lie in a hammock. His secretary would be
+near, with her writing materials, and a book of her choosing. The book
+was for her own reading while Mr. Stockton was "thinking." It annoyed
+him to know he was being "waited for." He would think out pages of
+incidents, and scenes, and even whole conversations, before he began to
+dictate. After all had been arranged in his mind he dictated rapidly;
+but there often were long pauses, when the secretary could do a good
+deal of reading. In cold weather he had the secretary and an easy chair
+in the study--a room he had built according to his own fancy. A fire of
+blazing logs added a glow to his fancies.
+
+I may state here that we always spent a part of every winter in New
+York. A certain amount of city life was greatly enjoyed. Mr. Stockton
+thus secured much intellectual pleasure. He liked his clubs, and was
+fond of society, where he met men noted in various walks of life.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: Edward Gary, the secretary of the Century Club, in the
+obituary notice of Mr. Stockton written by him for the club's annual
+report, says of Mr. Stockton as a member: "It was but a dozen years ago
+that Frank R. Stockton entered the fellowship of the Century, in which
+he soon became exceedingly at home, winning friends here, as he won them
+all over the land and in other lands, by the charm of his keen and
+kindly mind shining in all that he wrote and said. He had an
+extraordinary capacity for work and a rare talent for diversion, and the
+Century was honored by his well-earned fame, and fortunate in its share
+in his ever fresh and varying companionship."]
+
+I am now nearing the close of a life which had had its trials and
+disappointments, its struggles with weak health and with unsatisfying
+labor. But these mostly came in the earlier years, and were met with
+courage, an ever fresh-springing hope, and a buoyant spirit that would
+not be intimidated. On the whole, as one looks back through the long
+vista, much more of good than of evil fell to his lot. His life had been
+full of interesting experiences, and one of, perhaps, unusual happiness.
+At the last there came to pass the fulfilment of a dream in which he had
+long indulged. He became the possessor of a beautiful estate containing
+what he most desired, and with surroundings and associations dear to his
+heart.
+
+He had enjoyed The Holt, his New Jersey home, and was much interested in
+improving it. His neighbors and friends there were valued companions.
+But in his heart there had always been a longing for a home, not
+suburban--a place in the _real_ country, and with more land. Finally,
+the time came when he felt that he could gratify this longing. He liked
+the Virginia climate, and decided to look for a place somewhere in that
+State, not far from the city of Washington. After a rather prolonged
+search, we one day lighted upon Claymont, in the Shenandoah Valley. It
+won our hearts, and ended our search. It had absolutely everything that
+Mr. Stockton coveted. He bought it at once, and we moved into it as
+speedily as possible.
+
+Claymont is a handsome colonial residence, "with all modern
+improvements"--an unusual combination. It lies near the historic old
+town of Charles Town, in West Virginia, near Harpers Ferry. Claymont is
+itself an historic place. The land was first owned by "the Father of his
+Country." This great personage designed the house, with its main
+building, two cottages (or lodges), and courtyards, for his nephew
+Bushrod, to whom he had given the land. Through the wooded park runs the
+old road, now grass grown, over which Braddock marched to his celebrated
+"defeat," guided by the youthful George Washington, who had surveyed the
+whole region for Lord Fairfax. During the civil war the place twice
+escaped destruction because it had once been the property of Washington.
+
+But it was not for its historical associations, but for the place
+itself, that Mr. Stockton purchased it. From the main road to the house
+there is a drive of three-quarters of a mile through a park of great
+forest-trees and picturesque groups of rocks. On the opposite side of
+the house extends a wide, open lawn; and here, and from the piazzas, a
+noble view of the valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains is obtained.
+Besides the park and other grounds, there is a farm at Claymont of
+considerable size. Mr. Stockton, however, never cared for farming,
+except in so far as it enabled him to have horses and stock. But his
+soul delighted in the big, old terraced garden of his West Virginia
+home. Compared with other gardens he had had, the new one was like
+paradise to the common world. At Claymont several short stories were
+written. John Gayther's Garden was prepared for publication here by
+connecting stories previously published into a series, told in a garden,
+and suggested by the one at Claymont. John Gayther, however, was an
+invention. Kate Bonnet and The Captain's Toll-Gate were both written at
+Claymont.
+
+[Illustration: A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON'S STUDY AT CLAYMONT. Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.]
+
+Mr. Stockton was permitted to enjoy this beautiful place only three
+years. They were years of such rare pleasure, however, that we can
+rejoice that he had so much joy crowded into so short a space of his
+life, and that he had it at its close. Truly life was never sweeter to
+him than at its end, and the world was never brighter to him than when
+he shut his eyes upon it. He was returning from a winter in New York to
+his beloved Claymont, in good health, and full of plans for the summer
+and for his garden, when he was taken suddenly ill in Washington, and
+died three days later, on April 20, 1902, a few weeks after Kate Bonnet
+was published in book form.
+
+Mr. Stockton passed away at a ripe age--sixty-eight years. And yet his
+death was a surprise to us all. He had never been in better health,
+apparently; his brain was as active as ever; life was dear to him; he
+seemed much younger than he was. He had no wish to give up his work; no
+thought of old age; no mental decay. His last novels, his last short
+stories, showed no falling-off. They were the equals of those written in
+younger years. Nor had he lost the public interest. He was always sure
+of an audience, and his work commanded a higher price at the last than
+ever before. His was truly a passing away. He gently glided from the
+homes he had loved to prepare here to one already prepared for him in
+heaven, unconscious that he was entering one more beautiful than even he
+had ever imagined.
+
+Mr. Stockton was the most lovable of men. He shed happiness all around
+him, not from conscious effort but out of his own bountiful and loving
+nature. His tender heart sympathized with the sad and unfortunate, but
+he never allowed sadness to be near, if it were possible to prevent it.
+He hated mourning and gloom. They seemed to paralyze him mentally until
+his bright spirit had again asserted itself, and he had recovered his
+balance. He usually looked either upon the best, or the humorous side of
+life. Pie won the love of every one who knew him--even that of readers
+who did not know him personally, as many letters testify. To his friends
+his loss is irreparable, for never again will they find his equal in
+such charming qualities of head and heart.
+
+[Illustration: THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON'S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.]
+
+This is not the place for a critical estimate of the work of Frank R.
+Stockton.[2] His stories are, in great part, a reflex of himself. The
+bright outlook on life; the courageous spirit; the helpfulness; the
+sense of the comic rather than the tragic; the love of domestic life;
+the sweetness of pure affection; live in his books as they lived in
+himself. He had not the heart to make his stories end unhappily. He knew
+that there is much of the tragic in human lives, but he chose to ignore
+it as far as possible, and to walk in the pleasant ways which are
+numerous in this tangled world. There is much philosophy underlying a
+good deal that he wrote, but it has to be looked for; it is not
+insistent, and is never morbid. He could not write an impure word, or
+express an impure thought, for he belonged to the "pure in heart," who,
+we are assured, "shall see God."
+
+[Footnote 2: I may, however, properly quote from the sketch prepared by
+Mr. Gary for the Century Club: "He brought to his later work the
+discipline of long and rather tedious labor, with the capital amassed by
+acute observation, on which his original imagination wrought the
+sparkling miracles that we know. He has been called the representative
+American humorist. He was that in the sense that the characters he
+created had much of the audacity of the American spirit, the thirst for
+adventures in untried fields of thought and action, the subconscious
+seriousness in the most incongruous situations, the feeling of being at
+home no matter what happens. But how amazingly he mingled a broad
+philosophy with his fun, a philosophy not less wise and comprehending
+than his fun was compelling! If his humor was American, it was also
+cosmopolitan, and had its laughing way not merely with our British
+kinsmen, but with alien peoples across the usually impenetrable barrier
+of translation. The fortune of his jesting lay not in his ears, but in
+the hearts of his hearers. It was at once appealing and revealing. It
+flashed its playful light into the nooks and corners of our own being,
+and wove close bonds with those at whom we laughed. There was no
+bitterness in it. He was neither satirist nor preacher, nor of set
+purpose a teacher, though it must be a dull reader that does not gather
+from his books the lesson of the value of a gentle heart and a clear,
+level outlook upon our perplexing world."]
+
+
+MARIAN E. STOCKTON.
+
+CLAYMONT, _May 15, 1903_.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER I_
+
+_Olive._
+
+
+A long, wide, and smoothly macadamized road stretched itself from the
+considerable town of Glenford onward and northward toward a gap in the
+distant mountains. It did not run through a level country, but rose and
+fell as if it had been a line of seaweed upon the long swells of the
+ocean. Upon elevated points upon this road, farm lands and forests could
+be seen extending in every direction. But there was nothing in the
+landscape which impressed itself more obtrusively upon the attention of
+the traveler than the road itself. White in the bright sunlight and gray
+under the shadows of the clouds, it was the one thing to be seen which
+seemed to have a decided purpose. Northward or southward, toward the gap
+in the long line of mountains or toward the wood-encircled town in the
+valley, it was always going somewhere.
+
+About two miles from the town, and at the top of the first long hill
+which was climbed by the road, a tall white pole projected upward
+against the sky, sometimes perpendicularly, and sometimes inclined at a
+slight angle. This was a turnpike gate or bar, and gave notice to all in
+vehicles or on horses that the use of this well-kept road was not free
+to the traveling public. At the approach of persons not known, or too
+well known, the bar would slowly descend across the road, as if it were
+a musket held horizontally while a sentinel demanded the password.
+
+Upon the side of the road opposite to the great post on which the
+toll-gate moved, was a little house with a covered doorway, from which
+toll could be collected without exposing the collector to sun or rain.
+This tollhouse was not a plain whitewashed shed, such as is often seen
+upon turnpike roads, but a neat edifice, containing a comfortable room.
+On one side of it was a small porch, well shaded by vines, furnished
+with a settle and two armchairs, while over all a large maple stretched
+its protecting branches. Back of the tollhouse was a neatly fenced
+garden, well filled with old-fashioned flowers; and, still farther on, a
+good-sized house, from which a box-bordered path led through the garden
+to the tollhouse.
+
+It was a remark that had been made frequently, both by strangers and
+residents in that part of the country, that if it had not been for the
+obvious disadvantages of a toll-gate, this house and garden, with its
+grounds and fields, would be a good enough home for anybody. When he
+happened to hear this remark Captain John Asher, who kept the toll-gate,
+was wont to say that it was a good enough home for him, even with the
+toll-gate, and its obvious disadvantages.
+
+It was on a morning in early summer, when the garden had grown to be so
+red and white and yellow in its flowers, and so green in its leaves and
+stalks, that the box which edged the path was beginning to be
+unnoticed, that a girl sat in a small arbor standing on a slight
+elevation at one side of the garden, and from which a view could be had
+both up and down the road. She was rather a slim girl, though tall
+enough; her hair was dark, her eyes were blue, and she sat on the back
+of a rustic bench with her feet resting upon the seat; this position she
+had taken that she might the better view the road.
+
+With both her hands this girl held a small telescope which she was
+endeavoring to fix upon a black spot a mile or more away upon the road.
+It was difficult for her to hold the telescope steadily enough to keep
+the object-glass upon the black spot, and she had a great deal of
+trouble in the matter of focusing, pulling out and pushing in the
+smaller cylinder in a manner which showed that she was not accustomed to
+the use of this optical instrument.
+
+"Field-glasses are ever so much better," she said to herself; "you can
+screw them to any point you want. But now I've got it. It is very near
+that cross-road. Good! it did not turn there; it is coming along the
+pike, and there will be toll to pay. One horse, seven cents."
+
+She put down the telescope as if to rest her arm and eye. Presently,
+however, she raised the glass again. "Now, let us see," she said, "Uncle
+John? Jane? or me?" After directing the glass to a point in the air
+about two hundred feet above the approaching vehicle, and then to
+another point half a mile to the right of it, she was fortunate enough
+to catch sight of it again. "I don't know that queer-looking horse," she
+said. "It must be some stranger, and Jane will do. No, a little boy is
+driving. Strangers coming along this road would not be driven by little
+boys. I expect I shall have to call Uncle John." Then she put down the
+glass and rubbed her eye, after which, with unassisted vision, she gazed
+along the road. "I can see a great deal better without that old thing,"
+she continued. "There's a woman in that carriage. I'll go myself." With
+this she jumped down from the rustic seat, and with the telescope under
+her arm, she skipped through the garden to the little tollhouse.
+
+The name of this girl was Olive Asher. Captain John Asher, who took the
+toll, was her uncle, and she had now been living with him for about six
+weeks. Olive was what is known in certain social circles as a navy girl.
+About twenty years before she had come to her uncle's she had been born
+in Genoa, her father at the time being a lieutenant on an American
+war-vessel lying in the harbor of Villa Franca. Her first schooldays
+were passed in the south of France, and she spent some subsequent years
+in a German school in Dresden. Here she was supposed to have finished
+her education but when her father's ship was stationed on our Pacific
+coast and Olive and her mother went to San Francisco they associated a
+great deal with army people, and here the girl learned so much more of
+real life and her own country people that the few years she spent in the
+far West seemed like a post-graduate course, as important to her true
+education as any of the years she had spent in schools.
+
+After the death of her mother, when Olive was about eighteen, the girl
+had lived with relatives, East and West, hoping for the day when her
+father's three years' cruise would terminate, and she could go and make
+a home for him in some pleasant spot on shore. Now, in the course of
+these family visits she had come to stay with her father's brother, John
+Asher, who kept the toll-gate on the Glenford pike.
+
+Captain John Asher was an older man than his brother, the naval officer,
+but he was in the prime of life, and able to hold the command of a ship
+if he had cared to do it. But having been in the merchant service for a
+long time, and having made some money, he had determined to leave the
+sea and to settle on shore; and, finding this commodious house by the
+toll-gate, he settled there. There were some people who said that he had
+taken the position of toll-gate keeper because of the house, and there
+were others who believed that he had bought the house on account of the
+toll-gate. But no matter what people thought or said, the good captain
+was very well satisfied with his home and his official position. He
+liked to meet with people, and he preferred that they should come to him
+rather than that he should go to them. He was interested in most things
+that were going on in his neighborhood, and therefore he liked to talk
+to the people who were going by. Sometimes a good talking acquaintance
+or an interesting traveler would tie his horse under the shade of the
+maple-tree and sit a while with the captain on the little porch. Certain
+it was, it was the most hospitable toll-gate in that part of the
+country.
+
+There was a road which branched off from the turnpike, about a mile from
+the town, and which, after some windings, entered the pike again beyond
+the toll-gate, and although this road was not always in very good
+condition, it had seen a good deal of travel, which, in time, gave it
+the name of the shunpike. But since Captain Asher had lived at the
+toll-gate it was remarked that the shunpike was not used as much as in
+former times. There were penurious people who had once preferred to go a
+long way round and save money whose economical dispositions now gave way
+before the combined attractions of a better road, and a chat with
+Captain Asher.
+
+It had been predicted by some of her relatives that Olive would not be
+content with her life in her uncle's somewhat peculiar household. He was
+a bachelor, and seldom entertained company, and his ordinary family
+consisted of an elderly housekeeper and another servant. But Olive was
+not in the least dissatisfied. From her infancy up, she had lived so
+much among people that she had grown tired of them; and her good-natured
+uncle, with his sea stories, the garden, the old-fashioned house, the
+fields and the woods beyond, the little stream, which came hurrying down
+from the mountains, where she could fish or wade as the fancy pleased
+her, gave her a taste of some of the joys of girlhood which she had not
+known when she was really a girl.
+
+Another thing that greatly interested her was the toll-gate. If she had
+been allowed to do so, she would have spent the greater part of her time
+taking money, making change, and talking to travelers. But this her
+uncle would not permit. He did not object to her doing some occasional
+toll-gate work, and he did not wonder that she liked it, remembering how
+interesting it often was to himself, but he would not let her take toll
+indiscriminately.
+
+So they made a regular arrangement about it. When the captain was at his
+meals, or shaving, or otherwise occupied, old Jane attended to the
+toll-gate. At ordinary times, and when any of his special friends were
+seen approaching, the captain collected toll himself, but when women
+happened to be traveling on the road, then it was arranged that Olive
+should go to the gate.
+
+Two or three times it had happened that some young men of the town,
+hearing their sisters talk of the pretty girl who had taken their toll,
+had thought it might be a pleasant thing to drive out on the pike, but
+their money had always been taken by the captain, or else by the
+wooden-faced Jane, and nothing had come of their little adventures.
+
+The garden hedge which ran alongside the road was very high.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER II_
+
+_Maria Port._
+
+
+Olive stood impatiently at the door of the little tollhouse. In one hand
+she held three copper cents, because she felt almost sure that the
+person approaching would give her a dime or two five-cent pieces.
+
+"I never knew horses to travel so slowly as they do on this pike!" she
+said to herself. "How they used to gallop on those beautiful roads in
+France!"
+
+In due course of time the vehicle approached near enough to the
+toll-gate for Olive to take an observation of its occupant. This was a
+middle-aged woman, dressed in black, holding a black fan. She wore a
+black bonnet with a little bit of red in it. Her face was small and
+pale, its texture and color suggesting a boiled apple dumpling. She had
+small eyes of which it can be said that they were of a different color
+from her face, and were therefore noticeable. Her lips were not
+prominent, and were closely pressed together as if some one had begun to
+cut a dumpling, but had stopped after making one incision.
+
+This somewhat somber person leaned forward in the seat behind her young
+driver, and steadily stared at Olive. When the horse had passed the
+toll-bar the boy stopped it so that his passenger and Olive were face
+to face and very near each other.
+
+"Seven cents, please," said Olive.
+
+The cleft in the dumpling enlarged itself, and the woman spoke. "Bless
+my soul," she said, "are you Captain Asher's niece?"
+
+"I am," said Olive in surprise.
+
+"Well, well," said the other, "that just beats me! When I heard he had
+his niece with him I thought she was a plain girl, with short frocks and
+her hair plaited down her back."
+
+Olive did not like this woman. It is wonderful how quickly likes and
+dislikes may be generated.
+
+"But you see I am not," she replied. "Seven cents, please."
+
+"Don't you suppose I know what the toll is?" said the woman in the
+carriage. "I'm sure I've traveled over this road often enough to know
+that. But what I'm thinkin' about is the difference between what I
+thought the captain's niece was and what she really is."
+
+"It does not make any difference what the difference is," said Olive,
+speaking quickly and with perhaps a little sharpness in her voice, "all
+I want is for you to pay me the toll."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pay any toll," said the other.
+
+Olive's face flushed. "Little boy," she exclaimed, "back that horse!" As
+the youngster obeyed her peremptory request Olive gave a quick jerk to a
+rope and brought down the toll-gate bar so that it stretched itself
+across the road, barely missing in its downward sweep the nose of the
+unoffending horse. "Now," said Olive, "if you are ready to pay your
+toll you can go through this gate, and if you are not, you can turn
+round and go back where you came from."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pay any toll," said the other, "and I don't want to go
+through the gate. I came to see Captain Asher.--Johnny, turn your horse
+a little and let me get out. Then you can stop in the shade of this tree
+and wait until I'm ready to go back.--I suppose the captain's in," she
+said to Olive, "but if he isn't, I can wait."
+
+"Oh, he's at home," said Olive, "and, of course, if I had known you were
+coming to see him, I would not have asked you for your toll. This way,
+please," and she stepped toward a gate in the garden hedge.
+
+"When I've been here before," said the visitor, "I always went through
+the tollhouse. But I suppose things is different now."
+
+"This is the entrance for visitors," said Olive, holding open the gate.
+
+Captain Asher had heard the voices, and had come out to his front door.
+He shook hands with the newcomer, and then turned to Olive, who was
+following her.
+
+"This is my niece, my brother Alfred's daughter," he said, "and Olive,
+let me introduce you to Miss Maria Port."
+
+"She introduced herself to me," said Miss Port, "and tried to get seven
+cents out of me by letting down the bar so that it nearly broke my
+horse's nose. But we'll get to know each other better. She's very
+different from what I thought she was."
+
+"Most people are," said Captain Asher, as he offered a chair to Miss
+Port in his parlor, and sat down opposite to her. Olive, who did not
+care to hear herself discussed, quietly passed out of the room.
+
+"Captain," said Miss Port, leaning forward, "how old is she, anyway?"
+
+"About twenty," was the answer.
+
+"And how long is she going to stay?"
+
+"All summer, I hope," said Captain John.
+
+"Well, she won't do it, I can tell you that," remarked Miss Port.
+"She'll get tired enough of this place before the summer's out."
+
+"We shall see about that," said the captain, "but she is not tired yet."
+
+"And her mother's dead, and she's wearin' no mournin'."
+
+"Why should she?" said the captain. "It would be a shame for a young
+girl like her to be wearing black for two years."
+
+"She's delicate, ain't she?"
+
+"I have not seen any signs of it."
+
+"What did her mother die of?"
+
+"I never heard," said the captain; "perhaps it was the bubonic plague."
+
+Miss Port pushed back her chair and drew her skirts about her.
+
+"Horrible!" she exclaimed. "And you let that child come here!"
+
+The captain smiled. "Perhaps it wasn't that," he said. "It might have
+been an avalanche, and that is not catching."
+
+Miss Port looked at him seriously. "It's a great pity she's so
+handsome," she said.
+
+"I don't think so; I am glad of it," replied the captain.
+
+Miss Port heaved a sigh. "What that girl is goin' to need," she said,
+"is a female guardeen."
+
+"Would you like to take the place?" asked the captain with a grin.
+
+At that instant it might have been supposed that a certain dumpling
+which has been mentioned was made of very red apples and that its
+covering of dough was somewhat thin in certain places. Miss Port's eyes
+were bent for an instant upon the floor.
+
+"That is a thing," she said, "which would need a great deal of
+consideration."
+
+A sudden thrill ran through the captain which was not unlike a moment in
+his past career when a gentle shudder had run through his ship as its
+keel grazed an unsuspected sand-bar, and he had not known whether it was
+going to stick fast or not; but he quickly got himself into deep water
+again.
+
+"Oh, she is all right," said he briskly; "she has been used to taking
+care of herself almost ever since she was born. And by the way, Miss
+Port, did you know that Mr. Easterfield is at his home?"
+
+Miss Port was not pleased with the sudden change in the conversation,
+and she remembered, too, that in other days it had been the captain's
+habit to call her Maria.
+
+"I did not know he had a home," she answered. "I thought it was her'n.
+But since you've mentioned it, I might as well say that it was about him
+I came to see you. I heard that he came to town yesterday, and that her
+carriage met him at the station, and drove him out to her house. I
+hoped he had stopped a minute as he drove through your toll-gate, and
+that you might have had a word with him, or at least a good look at him.
+Mercy me!" she suddenly ejaculated, as a look of genuine disappointment
+spread over her face; "I forgot. The coachman would have paid the toll
+as he went to town, and there was no need of stoppin' as they went back.
+I might have saved myself this trip."
+
+The captain laughed. "It stands to reason that it might have been that
+way," he said, "but it wasn't. He stopped, and I talked to him for about
+five minutes."
+
+The face of Miss Port now grew radiant, and she pulled her chair nearer
+to Captain Asher. "Tell me," said she, "is he really anybody?"
+
+"He is a good deal of a body," answered the captain. "I should say he is
+pretty nearly six feet high, and of considerable bigness."
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Miss Port, "I'd thought he was a little dried-up sort
+of a mummy man that you might hang up on a nail and be sure you'd find
+him when you got back. Did he talk?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the captain, "he talked a good deal."
+
+"And what did he tell you?"
+
+"He did not tell me anything, but he asked a lot of questions."
+
+"What about?" said Miss Port quickly.
+
+"Everything. Fishing, gunning, crops, weather, people."
+
+"Well, well!" she exclaimed. "And don't you suppose his wife could have
+told him all that, and she's been livin' here--this is the second
+summer. Did he say how long he's goin' to stay?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And you didn't ask him?"
+
+"I told you he asked the questions," replied the captain.
+
+"Well, I wish I'd been here," Miss Port remarked fervently. "I'd got
+something out of him."
+
+"No doubt of that," thought the captain, but he did not say so.
+
+"If he expects to pass himself off as just a common man," continued Miss
+Port, "that's goin' to spend the rest of his summer here with his
+family, he can't do it. He's first got to explain why he never came near
+that young woman and her two babies for the whole of last summer, and,
+so far as I've heard, he was never mentioned by her. I think, Captain
+Asher, that for the sake of the neighborhood, if you don't care about
+such things yourself, you might have made use of this opportunity. As
+far as I know, you're the only person in or about Glenford that's spoke
+to him."
+
+The captain smiled. "Sometimes, I suppose," said he, "I don't say
+enough, and sometimes I say too much, but--"
+
+"Then I wish he'd struck you more on an average," interrupted Miss Port.
+"But there's no use talkin' any more about it. I hired a horse and a
+carriage and a boy to come out here this mornin' to ask you about that
+man. And what's come of it? You haven't got a single thing to tell
+anybody except that he's big."
+
+The captain changed the subject again. "How is your father?" he asked.
+
+"Pop's just the same as he always is," was the answer. "And now, as I
+don't want to lose the whole of the seventy-five cents I've got to pay,
+suppose you call in that niece of yours, and let me have a talk with
+her. Perhaps I can get something interesting out of her."
+
+The captain left the room, but he did not move with alacrity. He found
+Olive with a book in a hammock at the back of the house. When he told
+her his errand she sat up with a sudden bounce, her feet upon the
+ground.
+
+"Uncle," she said, "isn't that woman a horrid person?"
+
+The captain was a merry-minded man, and he laughed. "It is pretty hard
+for me to answer that question," said he; "suppose you go in and find
+out for yourself."
+
+Olive hesitated; she was a girl who had a very high opinion of herself
+and a very low opinion of such a person as this Miss Port seemed to be.
+Why should she go in and talk to her? Still undecided, she left the
+hammock and made a few steps toward the house. Then, with a sudden
+exclamation, she stopped and dropped her book.
+
+"Buggy coming," she exclaimed, "and that thing is running to take the
+toll!" With these words she started away with the speed of a colt.
+
+An approaching buggy was on the road; Miss Maria Port, walking rapidly,
+had nearly reached the back door of the tollhouse when Olive swept by
+her so closely that the wind of her fluttering garments almost blew
+away the breath of the elder woman.
+
+"Seven cents!" cried Olive, standing in the covered doorway, but she
+might have saved herself the trouble of repeating this formula, for the
+man in the buggy was not near enough to hear her.
+
+When Olive saw it was a man, she turned, and perceiving her uncle
+approaching the tollhouse, she hurried by him up the garden path,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left.
+
+"A pretty girl that is of yours!" exclaimed Miss Port. "She might just
+as well have slapped me in the face!"
+
+"But what were you going to do in here?" asked Captain Asher. "You know
+that's against the rules."
+
+"The rules be bothered," replied the irate Maria. "I thought it was Mr.
+Smiley. He's been away from his parish for a week, and there are a good
+many things I want to ask him."
+
+"Well, it is the Roman Catholic priest from Marlinsville," said Captain
+Asher, "and he wouldn't tell you anything if you asked him."
+
+The captain had a cheerful little chat with the priest, who was one of
+his most valued road friends; and when he returned to his garden he
+found Miss Port walking up and down the main path in a state of
+agitation.
+
+"I should think," said she, "that the company would have something to
+say about your takin' up your time talkin' to people on the road. I've
+heard that sometimes they get out, and spend hours talkin' and smokin'
+with you. I guess that's against the rules."
+
+"It is all right between the company and me," replied the captain. "You
+know I am a stockholder in a small way."
+
+"You are!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Well, I've got somethin' by comin'
+here, anyway." Stowing away this bit of information in regard to the
+captain's resources in her mind for future consideration, she continued:
+"I don't think much of that niece of your'n. Has she never lived
+anywhere where the people had good manners?"
+
+Olive, who had gone to her room in order to be out of the way of this
+queer visitor, now sat by an upper window, and it was impossible that
+she should fail to hear this remark, made by Miss Port in her most
+querulous tones. Olive immediately left the window, and sat down on the
+other side of the room.
+
+"Good manners!" she ejaculated, and fell to thinking. Her present
+situation had suddenly presented itself to her in a very different light
+from that in which she had previously regarded it. She was living in a
+very plain house in a very plain way, with a very plain uncle who kept a
+tollhouse; but she liked him; and, until this moment, she had liked the
+life. But now she asked herself if it were possible for her longer to
+endure it if she were to be condemned to intercourse with people like
+that thing down in the garden. If her uncle's other friends in Glenford
+were of that grade she could not stay here. She smiled in spite of her
+irritation as she thought of the woman's words--"Anywhere where the
+people had good manners."
+
+Good manners, indeed! She remembered the titled young officers in
+Germany with whom she had talked and danced when she was but seventeen
+years old, and who used to send her flowers. She remembered the people
+of rank in the army and navy and in the state who used to invite her
+mother and herself to their houses. She remembered the royal prince who
+had wished to be presented to her, and whose acquaintance she had
+declined because she did not like what she had heard of him. She
+remembered the good friends of her father in Europe and America, ladies
+and gentlemen of the army and navy. She remembered the society in which
+she had mingled when living with her Boston aunt during the past winter.
+Then she thought of Miss Port's question. Good manners, indeed!
+
+"Well," said the perturbed Maria, after having been informed by the
+captain that his niece was accustomed to move in the best circles, "I
+don't want to go into the house again, for if I was to meet her, I'm
+sure I couldn't keep my temper. But I'll say this to you, Captain Asher,
+that I pity the woman that's her guardeen. And now, if you'll help my
+boy turn round so he won't upset the carriage, I'll be goin'. But before
+I go I'll just say this, that if you'd been in the habit of takin'
+advantage of the chances that come to you, I believe that you'd be a
+good deal better off than you are now, even if you do own shares in the
+turnpike company."
+
+It was not difficult for the captain to recognize some of the chances to
+which she alluded; one of them she herself had offered him several
+times.
+
+"Oh, I am very well off as I am," he answered, "but perhaps some day I
+may have something to tell you of the Easterfields and about their
+doings up on the mountain."
+
+"About her doin's, you might as well say," retorted Miss Port. "No
+matter what you tell me, I don't believe a word about his ever doin'
+anything." With this she walked to the little phaeton, into which the
+captain helped her.
+
+"Uncle John," said Olive, a few minutes later, "are there many people
+like that in Glenford?"
+
+"My dear child," said the captain, "the people in Glenford, the most of
+them, I mean, are just as nice people as you would want to meet. They
+are ladies and gentlemen, and they are mighty good company. They don't
+often come out here, to be sure, but I know most of them, and I ought to
+be ashamed of myself that I have not made you acquainted with them
+before this. As to Maria Port, there is only one of her in Glenford,
+and, so far as I know, there isn't another just like her in the whole
+world. Now I come to think of it," he continued, "I wonder why some of
+the young people have not come out to call on you. But if that Maria
+Port has been going around telling them that you are a little girl in
+short frocks it is not so surprising."
+
+"Oh, don't bother yourself, Uncle John, about calls and society," said
+Olive. "If you can only manage that that woman takes the shunpike
+whenever she drives this way, I shall be perfectly satisfied with
+everything just as it is."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER III_
+
+_Mrs. Easterfield._
+
+
+On the side of the mountain, a few miles to the west of the gap to which
+the turnpike stretched itself, there was a large estate and a large
+house which had once belonged to the Sudley family. For a hundred years
+or more the Sudleys had been important people in this part of the
+country, but it had been at least two decades since any of them had
+lived on this estate. Some of them had gone to cities and towns, and
+others had married, or in some other fashion had melted away so that
+their old home knew them no more.
+
+Although it was situated on the borders of the Southern country, the
+house, which was known as Broadstone, from the fact that a great flat
+rock on the level of the surrounding turf extended itself for many feet
+at the front of the principal entrance, was not constructed after
+ordinary Southern fashions. Some of the early Sudleys were of English
+blood and proclivities, and so it was partly like an English house; some
+of them had taken Continental ideas into the family, and there was a
+certain solidity about the walls; while here and there the narrowness of
+the windows suggested southern Europe. Some parts of the great stone
+walls had been stuccoed, and some had been whitewashed. Here and there
+vines climbed up the walls and stretched themselves under the eaves. As
+the house stood on a wide bluff, there was a lawn from which one could
+see over the tree tops the winding river sparkling far below. There were
+gardens and fields on the open slopes, and beyond these the forests rose
+to the top of the mountains.
+
+The ceilings of the house were high, and the halls and rooms were wide
+and airy; the trees on the edge of the woods seemed always to be
+rustling in a wind from one direction or another, and a lady; Mrs.
+Easterfield; who several years before had been traveling in that part of
+the country; declared that Broadstone was the most delightful place for
+a summer residence that she had ever seen, either in this country or
+across the ocean. So, with the consent and money of her husband, she had
+bought the estate the summer before the time of our story, and had gone
+there to live.
+
+Mr. Easterfield was what is known as a railroad man, and held high
+office in many companies and organizations. When his wife first went to
+Broadstone he was obliged to spend the summer in Europe, and had agreed
+with her that the estate on the mountains would be the best place for
+her and the two little girls while he was away. This state of affairs
+had occasioned a good deal of talk, especially in Glenford, a town with
+which the Easterfields had but little to do, and which therefore had
+theorized much in order to explain to its own satisfaction the conduct
+of a comparatively young married woman who was evidently rich enough to
+spend her summers at any of the most fashionable watering-places, but
+who chose to go with her young family to that old barracks of a house,
+and who had a husband who never came near her or his children, and who,
+so far as the Glenford people knew, she never mentioned.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Easterfield was a very fine woman, both to look at and to
+talk to, but she did not believe that her duty to her fellow-beings
+demanded that she should devote her first summer months at her new place
+to the gratification of the eyes and ears of her friends and
+acquaintances, so she had gone to Broadstone with her family--all
+females--with servants enough, and for the whole of the summer they had
+all been very happy.
+
+But this summer things were going to be a little different at
+Broadstone, for Mrs. Easterfield had arranged for some house parties.
+Her husband was very kind and considerate about her plans, and promised
+her that he would make one of the good company at Broadstone whenever it
+was possible for him to do so.
+
+So now it happened that he had come to see his wife and children and the
+house in which they lived; and, having had some business at a railroad
+center in the South, he had come through Glenford, which was unusual, as
+the intercourse between Broadstone and the great world was generally
+maintained through the gap in the mountains.
+
+With his wife by his side and a little girl on each shoulder, Mr. Tom
+Easterfield walked through the grounds and the gardens and out on the
+lawn, and looked down over the tops of the trees upon the river which
+sparkled far below, and he said to his wife that if she would let him do
+it he would send a landscape-gardener, with a great company of Italians,
+and they would make the place a perfect paradise in about five days.
+
+"It could be ruined a great deal quicker by an army of locusts," she
+said, "and so, if you do not mind, I think I will wait for the locusts."
+
+It was not time yet for any of the members of the house parties to make
+their appearance, and it was the general desire of his family that Mr.
+Easterfield should remain until some of the visitors arrived, but he
+could not gratify them. Three days after his arrival he was obliged to
+be in Atlanta; and so, soon after breakfast one fine morning, the
+Easterfield carriage drove over the turnpike to the Glenford station,
+Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield on the back seat, and the two little girls
+sitting opposite, their feet sticking out straight in front of them.
+
+When they stopped at the toll-gate Captain Asher came down to collect
+the toll--ten cents for two horses and a carriage. Olive was sitting in
+the little arbor, reading. She had noticed the approaching equipage and
+saw that there was a lady in it, but for some reason or other she was
+not so anxious as she had been to collect toll from ladies. If she could
+have arranged the matter to suit herself she would have taken toll from
+the male travelers, and her Uncle John might attend to the women; she
+did not believe that men would have such absurd ideas about people or
+ask ridiculous questions.
+
+There was no conversation at the gate on this occasion, for the
+carriage was a little late, but as it rolled on Mrs. Margaret said to
+Mr. Tom:
+
+"It seems to me as though I have just had a glimpse of Dresden. What do
+you suppose could have suggested that city to me?"
+
+Mr. Tom could not imagine, unless it was the dust. She laughed, and said
+that he had dust and ballast and railroads on the brain; and when the
+oldest little girl asked what that meant, Mrs. Margaret told her that
+the next time her father came home she would make him sit down on the
+floor and then she would draw on that great bald spot of his head, which
+they had so often noticed, a map of the railroad lines in which he was
+concerned, and then his daughters would understand why he was always
+thinking of railroad-tracks and that sort of thing with the inside of
+his head, which, as she had told them, was that part of a person with
+which he did his thinking.
+
+"Don't they sell some sort of annual or monthly tickets for this
+turnpike?" asked Mr. Tom. "If they do, you would save yourself the
+trouble of stopping to pay toll and make change."
+
+"I so seldom use this road," she said, "that it would not be worth
+while. One does not stop on returning, you know."
+
+But notwithstanding this speech, when Mrs. Easterfield returned from the
+Glenford station, one little girl sitting beside her and the other one
+opposite, both of them with their feet sticking out, she ordered her
+coachman to stop when he reached the toll-gate.
+
+Olive was still sitting in the arbor, reading. The captain was not
+visible, and the wooden-faced Jane, noticing that the travelers were a
+lady and two little girls, did not consider that she had any right to
+interfere with Miss Olive's prerogatives; so that young lady felt
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to see what was wanted.
+
+"You know you do not have to pay going back," she said.
+
+"I know that," answered Mrs. Easterfield, "but I want to ask about
+tickets or monthly payments of toll, or whatever your arrangements are
+for that sort of thing."
+
+"I really do not know," said Olive, "but I will go and ask about it."
+
+"But stop one minute," exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield, leaning over the side
+of the carriage. "Is it your father who keeps this toll-gate?"
+
+For some reason or other which she could not have explained to herself,
+Olive felt that it was incumbent upon her to assert herself, and she
+answered: "Oh, no, indeed. My father is Lieutenant-Commander Alfred
+Asher, of the cruiser Hopatcong."
+
+Without another word Mrs. Easterfield pushed open the door of the
+carriage and stepped to the ground, exclaiming: "As I passed this
+morning I knew there was something about this place that brought back to
+my mind old times and old friends, and now I see what it was; it was
+you. I caught but one glimpse of you and I did not know you. But it was
+enough. I knew your father very well when I was a girl, and later I was
+with him and your mother in Dresden. You were a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, going to school, and I never saw much of you. But it is either
+your father or your mother that I saw in your face as you sat in that
+arbor, and I knew the face, although I did not know who owned it. I am
+Mrs. Easterfield, but that will not help you to know me, for I was not
+married when I knew your father."
+
+Olive's eyes sparkled as she took the two hands extended to her. "I
+don't remember you at all," she said, "but if you are the friend of my
+father and mother--"
+
+"Then I am to be your friend, isn't it?" interrupted Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I hope so," answered Olive.
+
+"Now, then," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I want you to tell me how in the
+world you come to be here."
+
+There were two stools in the tollhouse, and Olive, having invited her
+visitor to seat herself on the better one, took the other, and told Mrs.
+Easterfield how she happened to be there.
+
+"And that handsome elderly man who took the toll this morning is your
+uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my father's only brother," said Olive.
+
+"A good deal older," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, yes, but I do not know how much."
+
+"And you call him captain. Was he also in the navy?"
+
+"No," said Olive, "he was in the merchant service, and has retired. It
+seems queer that he should be keeping a toll-gate, but my father has
+often told me that Uncle John does not care for appearances, and likes
+to do things that please him. He likes to keep the tollhouse because it
+brings him in touch with the world."
+
+"Very sensible in him," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think I would like to
+keep a toll-gate myself."
+
+Captain Asher had seen the carriage stop, and knew that Mrs. Easterfield
+was talking to Olive, but he did not think himself called upon to
+intrude upon them. But now it was necessary for him to go to the
+tollhouse. Two men in a buggy with a broken spring and a coffee bag laid
+over the loins of an imperfectly set-up horse had been waiting for
+nearly a minute behind Mrs. Easterfield's carriage, desiring to pay
+their toll and pass through. So the captain went out of the garden-gate,
+collected the toll from the two men, and directed them to go round the
+carriage and pass on in peace, which they did.
+
+Then Mrs. Easterfield rose from her stool, and approached the tollhouse
+door, and, as a matter of course, the captain was obliged to step
+forward and meet her. Olive introduced him to the lady, who shook hands
+with him very cordially.
+
+"I have found the daughter of an old friend," said she, and then they
+all went into the tollhouse again, where the two ladies reseated
+themselves, and after some explanatory remarks Mrs. Easterfield said:
+
+"Now, Captain Asher, I must not stay here blocking up your toll-gate all
+the morning, but I want to ask of you a very great favor. I want you to
+let your niece come and make me a visit. I want a good visit--at least
+ten days. You must remember that her father and I, and her mother, too,
+were very good friends. Now there are so many things I want to talk over
+with Miss Olive, and I am sure you will let me have her just for ten
+short days. There are no guests at Broadstone yet, and I want her. You
+do not know how much I want her."
+
+Captain Asher stood up tall and strong, his broad shoulders resting
+against the frame of the open doorway. It was a positive delight to him
+to stand thus and look at such a beautiful woman. So far as he could
+see, there was nothing about her with which to find fault. If she had
+been a ship he would have said that her lines were perfect, spars and
+rigging just as he would have them. In addition to her other
+perfections, she was large enough. The captain considered himself an
+excellent judge of female beauty, and he had noticed that a great many
+fine women were too small. With Olive's personal appearance he was
+perfectly satisfied, although she was slight, but she was young, and
+would probably expand. If he had had a daughter he would have liked her
+to resemble Mrs. Easterfield, but that feeling did not militate in the
+least against Olive. In his mind it was not necessary for a niece to be
+quite as large as a daughter ought to be.
+
+"But what does Olive say about it?" he asked.
+
+"I have not been asked yet," replied Olive, "but it seems to me that
+I--"
+
+"Would like to do it," interrupted Mrs. Easterfield. "Now, isn't that
+so, dear Olive?"
+
+The girl looked at the captain. "It depends upon what you say about it,
+Uncle John."
+
+The captain slightly knitted his brows. "If it were for one night, or
+perhaps a couple of days," he said, "it would be different. But what am
+I to do without Olive for nearly two weeks? I am just beginning to
+learn what a poor place my house would be without her."
+
+At this minute a man upon a rapidly trotting pony stopped at the
+toll-gate.
+
+"Excuse me one minute," continued the captain, "here is a person who can
+not wait," and stepping outside he said good morning to a bright-looking
+young fellow riding a sturdy pony and wearing on his cap a metal plate
+engraved "United States Rural Delivery."
+
+The carrier brought but one letter to the tollhouse, and that was for
+Captain Asher himself. As the man rode away the captain thought he might
+as well open his letter before he went back. This would give the ladies
+a chance to talk further over the matter. He read the letter, which was
+not long, put it in his pocket, and then entered the tollhouse. There
+was now no doubt or sign of disturbance on his features.
+
+"I have considered your invitation, madam," said he, "and as I see Olive
+wants to visit you, I shall not interfere."
+
+"Of course she does," cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing to her feet,
+"and I thank you ever and ever so much, Captain Asher. And now, my
+dear," said she to Olive, "I am going to send the carriage for you
+to-morrow morning." And with this she put her arm around the girl and
+kissed her. Then, having warmly shaken hands with the captain, she
+departed.
+
+"Do you know, Uncle John," said Olive, "I believe if you were twenty
+years older she would have kissed you."
+
+With a grim smile the captain considered; would he have been willing to
+accept those additional years under the circumstances? He could not
+immediately make up his mind, and contented himself with the reflection
+that Olive did not think him old enough for the indiscriminate caresses
+of young people.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IV_
+
+_The Son of an Old Shipmate._
+
+
+When Olive came down to breakfast the next morning she half repented
+that she had consented to go away and leave her uncle for so long a
+time. But when she made known her state of mind the captain laughed at
+her.
+
+"My child," said he, "I want you to go. Of course, I did not take to the
+notion at first, but I did not consider then what you will have to tell
+when you come home. The people of Glenford will be your everlasting
+debtors. It might be a good thing to invite Maria Port out here. You
+could give her the best time she ever had in her life, telling her about
+the Broadstone people."
+
+"Maria Port, indeed!" said Olive. "But we won't talk of her. And you
+really are willing I should go?"
+
+"I speak the truth when I say I want you to go," replied the captain.
+
+Whereupon Olive assured him that he was truly a good uncle.
+
+After the Easterfield carriage had rolled away with Olive alone on the
+back seat, waving her handkerchief, the captain requested Jane to take
+entire charge of the toll-gate for a time; and, having retired to his
+own room, he took from his pocket the letter he had received the day
+before.
+
+"I must write an answer to this," he said, "before the postman comes."
+
+The letter was from one of the captain's old shipmates, Captain Richard
+Lancaster, the best friend he had had when he was in the merchant
+service. Captain Lancaster had often been asked by his old friend to
+visit him at the toll-gate, but, being married and rheumatic, he had
+never accepted the invitation. But now he wrote that his son, Dick, had
+planned a holiday trip which would take him through Glenford, and that,
+if it suited Captain Asher, the father would accept for the son the
+long-standing invitation. Captain Lancaster wrote that as he could not
+go himself to his old friend Asher, the next best thing would be for his
+son to go, and when the young man returned he could tell his father all
+about Captain Asher. There would be something in that like old times.
+Besides, he wanted his former shipmate to know his son Dick, who was, in
+his eyes, a very fine young fellow.
+
+"There never was such a lucky thing in the world," said Captain Asher to
+himself, when he had finished rereading the letter. "Of course, I want
+to have Dick Lancaster's son here, but I could not have had him if Olive
+had been here. But now it is all right. The young fellow can stay here a
+few days, and he will be gone before she gets back. If I like him I can
+ask him to come again; but that's my business. Handsome women, like that
+Mrs. Easterfield, always bring good luck. I have noticed that many and
+many a time."
+
+Then he set himself to work to write a letter to invite young Richard
+Lancaster to spend a few days with him.
+
+For the rest of that day, and the greater part of the next, Captain
+Asher gave a great deal of thinking time to the consideration of the
+young man who was about to visit him, and of whom, personally, he knew
+very little. He was aware that Captain Lancaster had a son and no other
+children, and he was quite sure that this son must now be a grown-up
+young man. He remembered very well that Captain Lancaster was a fine
+young fellow when he first knew him, and he did not doubt at all that
+the son resembled the father. He did not believe that young Dick was a
+sailor, because he and old Dick had often said to each other that if
+they married their sons should not go to sea. Of course he was in some
+business; and Captain Lancaster ought to be well able to give him a good
+start in life; just as able as he himself was to give Olive a good start
+in housekeeping when the time came.
+
+"Now, what in the name of common sense," ejaculated Captain Asher, "did
+I think of that for? What has he to do with Olive, or Olive with him?"
+And then he said to himself, thinking of the young man in the bosom of
+his family and without reference to anybody outside of it: "Yes, his
+father must be pretty well off. He did a good deal more trading than
+ever I did. But after all, I don't believe he invested his money any
+better than I did mine, and it is just as like as not if we were to show
+our hands, that Olive would get as much as Dick's son. There it is
+again. I can't keep my mind off the thing." And as he spoke he knocked
+the ashes out of his pipe, and began to stride up and down the garden
+walk; and as he did so he began to reproach himself.
+
+What right had he to think of his niece in that way? It was not doing
+the fair thing by her father, and perhaps by her, for that matter. For
+all he knew she might be engaged to somebody out West or down East, or
+in some other part of the world where she had lived. But this idea made
+very little impression on him. Knowing Olive as he did, he did not
+believe that she was engaged to anybody anywhere; he did not want to
+think that she was the kind of girl who would conceal her engagement
+from him, or who could do it, for that matter. But, everything
+considered, he was very glad Olive had gone to Broadstone, for, whatever
+the young fellow might happen to be, he wanted to know all about him
+before Olive met him.
+
+Captain Asher firmly believed that there was nothing of the matchmaker
+in his disposition, but notwithstanding this estimate of himself, he
+went on thinking of Olive and the son of his old shipmate, both
+separately and together. He had never said to anybody, nor intimated to
+anybody, that he was going to give any of his moderate fortune to his
+niece. In fact, before this visit to him he had not thought much about
+it, nor did it enter his mind that Olive's Boston aunt, her mother's
+sister, had favored this visit of the girl to her toll-gate uncle,
+hoping that he might think about it.
+
+In consequence of these cogitations, and in spite of the fact that he
+despised matchmaking, Captain Asher was greatly interested in the coming
+advent of his shipmate's son.
+
+When the same phaeton, the same horse, and the same boy that had brought
+Maria Port to the tollhouse, conveyed there a young man with two
+valises, one rather large, Captain Asher did not hurry from the house to
+meet his visitor. He had seen him coming, and had preferred to stand in
+his doorway and take a preliminary observation of him. Having taken
+this, Captain Asher was obliged to confess to himself that he was
+disappointed.
+
+The first cause of his disappointment was the fact that the young man
+wore a colored shirt and no vest, and a yellow leather belt. Now,
+Captain Asher for the greater part of his active life had worn colored
+shirts, sometimes very dark ones, with no vests, but he had not supposed
+that a young man coming to a house where there was a young lady
+accustomed to the best society would present himself in such attire. The
+captain instantly remembered that his visitor could not know that there
+was a young lady at the house, but this did not satisfy him. Such attire
+was not respectful, even to him. The leather belt especially offended
+him. The captain was not aware of the _negligé_ summer fashions for men
+which then prevailed.
+
+The next thing that disappointed him was that young Lancaster, seen
+across the garden, did not appear to be the strapping young fellow he
+had expected to see. He was moderately tall, and moderately broad, and
+handled his valise with apparent ease, but he did not look as though he
+were his father's son. Dick Lancaster had married the daughter of a
+captain when he was only a second mate, and that piece of good fortune
+had been generally attributed to his good looks.
+
+But these observations and reflections occupied a very short time, and
+Captain Asher walked quickly to meet his visitor. As he stepped out of
+the garden-gate he was disappointed again. The young man's trousers were
+turned up above his shoes. The weather was not wet, there was no mud,
+and if Dick Lancaster's son had not bought a pair of ready-made trousers
+that were too long for him, why should he turn them up in that
+ridiculous way?
+
+In spite of these first impressions, the captain gave his old friend's
+son a hearty welcome, and took him into the house. After dinner he
+subjected the young man to a crucial test; he asked him if he smoked. If
+the visitor had answered in the negative he would have dropped still
+further in the captain's estimation. It was not that the captain had any
+theories in regard to the sanitary advantages or disadvantages of
+tobacco; he simply remembered that nearly all the rascals with whom he
+had been acquainted had been eager to declare that they never used
+tobacco in any form, and that nearly all the good fellows he had known
+enjoyed their pipes. In fact, he could not see how good fellowship could
+be maintained without good talk and good tobacco, so he waited with an
+anxious interest for his guest's answer.
+
+"Oh, yes," said he, "I am fond of a smoke, especially in company," and
+so, having risen several inches in the good opinion of his host, he
+followed him to the little arbor in the garden.
+
+"Now, then," said Captain Asher, when his pipe was alight, "you have
+told me a great deal about your father, now tell me something about
+yourself. I do not even know what your business is."
+
+"I am Assistant Professor of Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College,"
+answered the young man.
+
+Captain Asher put down his pipe and gazed at his visitor across the
+arbor. This answer was so different from anything he had expected that
+for the moment he could not express his astonishment, and was obliged to
+content himself with asking where Sutton College was.
+
+"It is what they call a fresh-water college," replied the young man,
+"and I do not wonder that you do not know where it is. It is near our
+town. I graduated there and received my present appointment about three
+years ago. I was then twenty-seven."
+
+"Your father was good at mathematics," said Captain Asher. "He was a
+great hand at calculations, but he went in for practise, as I did, and
+not for theories. I suppose there are other professors who teach regular
+working mathematics."
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the young man, with a smile, "there is the Professor
+of Applied Mathematics, but of course the thorough student wants to
+understand the theories on which his practise is to be based."
+
+"I do not see why he should," replied the other. "If a good ship is
+launched for me, I don't care anything about the stocks she slides off
+of."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Lancaster, "but somebody has to think about them."
+
+In the afternoon Captain Asher showed his visitor his little farm, and
+took him out fishing. During these recreations he refrained, as far as
+possible, from asking questions, for he did not wish the young man to
+suppose that for any reason he had been sent there to undergo an
+examination. But in the evening he could not help talking about the
+college, not in reference to the work and life of the students, a
+subject that did not interest him, but in regard to the work and the
+prospects of the faculty.
+
+"What does your president teach?" he asked. "I believe all presidents
+have charge of some branch or other."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster, "our president is Professor of Mental and
+Moral Philosophy."
+
+"I thought it would be something of the kind," said the captain to
+himself. "Even the head Professor of Mathematical Theories would never
+get to the top of the heap. He is not useful enough for that."
+
+After he had gone to bed that night Captain Asher found himself laughing
+about the events of the day. He could not help it when he remembered how
+his mind had been almost constantly occupied with a consideration of his
+old shipmate's son with reference to his brother's daughter. And when he
+remembered that neither of these two young people had ever seen or heard
+of the other, it is not surprising that he laughed a little.
+
+"It's none of my business, anyway," thought the captain, "and I might as
+well stop bothering my head about it. I suppose I might as well tell
+him about Olive, for it is nothing I need keep secret. But first I'll
+see how long he is going to stay. It's none of his business, anyway,
+whether I have a niece staying with me or not."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER V_
+
+_Olive pays Toll._
+
+
+It is needless to say that Olive was charmed with Broadstone; with its
+mistress; with the two little girls; with the woods; the river; the
+mountains; and even the sky; which seemed different from that same sky
+when viewed from the tollhouse. She was charmed also with the rest of
+the household, which was different from anything of that kind that she
+had known, being composed entirely, with the exception of some servants,
+of women and little girls. Olive, accustomed all her life to men, men,
+men, grew rapturous over this Amazonian paradise.
+
+"Don't be too enthusiastic," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for a while you may
+like fresh butter without salt, but the longing for the condiment will
+be sure to come."
+
+There was Mrs. Blynn, the widow of a clergyman, with dark-brown eyes and
+white hair, who was always in a good humor, who acted as the general
+manager of the household, and also as particular friend to any one in
+the house who needed her services in that way. Then there was Miss
+Raleigh, who was supposed to be Mrs. Easterfield's secretary. She was a
+slender spinster of forty or more, with sad eyes and very fine teeth.
+She had dyspeptic proclivities, and never differed with anybody except
+in regard to her own diet. She seldom wrote for Mrs. Easterfield, for
+that lady did not like her handwriting, and she did not understand the
+use of the typewriter; nor did she read to the lady of the house, for
+Mrs. Easterfield could not endure to have anybody read to her. But in
+all the other duties of a secretary she made herself very useful. She
+saw that the books, which every morning were found lying about the
+house, were put in their proper places on the shelves, and, if
+necessary, she dusted them; if she saw a book turned upside down she
+immediately set it up properly. She was also expected to exert a certain
+supervision over the books the little girls were allowed to look at. She
+was an excellent listener and an appropriate smiler; Mrs. Easterfield
+frequently said that she never knew Miss Raleigh to smile in the wrong
+place. She took a regular walk every day, eight times up and down the
+whole length of the lawn.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield gave herself almost entirely to the entertainment of
+her guest. They roamed over the grounds, they found the finest points of
+view, at which Olive was expert, being a fine climber, and they tramped
+for long distances along the edge of the woods, where together they
+killed a snake. Mrs. Easterfield also allowed Olive the great privilege
+of helping her work in her garden of nature. This was a wide bed which
+was almost entirely shaded by two large trees. The peculiarity about
+this bed was that its mistress carefully pulled up all the flowering
+plants and cultivated the weeds.
+
+"You see," said she to Olive, "I planted here a lot of flower-seeds
+which I thought would thrive in the shade, but they did not, and after a
+while I found that they were all spindling and puny-looking, while the
+weeds were growing as if they were out in the open sunshine, so I have
+determined to acknowledge the principle of the survival of the fittest,
+and whenever anything that looks like a flower shows itself I jerk it
+out. I also thin out all but the best weeds. I hoe and rake the others,
+and water them if necessary. Look at that splendid Jamestown weed--here
+they call it jimson weed--did you ever see anything finer than that with
+its great white blossoms and dark-green leaves? I expect it to be twice
+as large before the summer is over. And all these others. See how
+graceful they are, and what delicate flowers some of them have!"
+
+"I wonder," said Olive, "if I should have had the strength of mind to
+pull up my flowers and leave my weeds."
+
+"The more you think about it," said Mrs. Easterfield, "the more you like
+weeds. They have such fine physiques, and they don't ask anybody to do
+anything for them. They are independent, like self-made men, and come up
+of themselves. They laugh at disadvantages, and even bricks and
+flagstones will not keep them down."
+
+"But, after all," said Olive, "give me the flowers that can not take
+care of themselves." And she turned toward a bed of carnations, bright
+under the morning sun.
+
+"Do you suppose, little girl," said Mrs. Easterfield, following her,
+"that I do not like flowers because I do like weeds? Everything in its
+place; weeds are for the shady spots, but I keep my flowers out of such
+places. This flower, for instance," touching Olive on the cheek. "And
+now let us go into the house and see what pleasant thing we can find to
+do there."
+
+In the afternoon the two ladies went out rowing on the river, and Mrs.
+Easterfield was astonished at Olive's proficiency with the oar. She had
+thought herself a good oarswoman, but she was nothing to Olive. She
+good-naturedly acknowledged her inferiority, however. How could she
+expect to compete with a navy girl? she said.
+
+"Are you fond of swimming?" asked Olive, as she looked down into the
+bright, clear water.
+
+"Oh, very," said Mrs. Easterfield. "But I am not allowed to swim in this
+river. It is considered dangerous."
+
+Olive looked up in surprise. It seemed odd that there should be anything
+that this bright, free woman was not allowed to do, or that there should
+be anybody who would not allow it.
+
+Then followed some rainy days, and the first clear day Mrs. Easterfield
+told Olive that she would take her a drive in the afternoon.
+
+"I shall drive you myself with my own horses," she said, "but you need
+not be afraid, for I can drive a great deal better than I can row. We
+must lose no time in seizing all the advantages of this Amazonian life,
+for to-morrow some of our guests will arrive, the Foxes and Mr. Claude
+Locker."
+
+"Who are the Foxes?" asked Olive.
+
+"They are the pleasantest visitors that any one could have," was the
+answer. "They always like everything. They never complain of being
+cold, nor talk about the weather being hot. They are interested in all
+games, and they like all possible kinds of food that one can give them
+to eat. They are always ready to go to bed when they think they ought
+to, and sit up just as long as they are wanted. Of course, they have
+their own ideas about things, but they don't dispute. They take care of
+themselves all the morning, and are ready for anything you want to do in
+the afternoon or evening. They have two children at home, but they never
+talk about them unless they are particularly asked to do so. They know a
+great many people, and you can tell by the way they speak of them that
+they won't talk scandal about you. In fact, they are model guests, and
+they ought to open a school to teach the art of visiting."
+
+"And what about Mr. Claude Locker?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "Oh, he is different," she said; "he is so
+different from the Foxes that words would not describe it. But you won't
+be long in becoming acquainted with him."
+
+The road over which the two ladies drove that afternoon was a beautiful
+one, sometimes running close to the river under great sycamores, then
+making a turn into the woods and among the rocks. At last they came to a
+cross-road, which led away from the river, and here Mrs. Easterfield
+stopped her horses.
+
+"Now, Olive," said she, for she was now very familiar with her guest, "I
+will leave the return route to you. Shall we go back by the river
+road--and the scenery will be very different when going in the other
+direction--or shall we drive over to Glenford, and go home by the
+turnpike? That is a little farther, but the road is a great deal
+better?"
+
+"Oh, let us go that way," cried Olive. "We will go through Uncle John's
+toll-gate, and you must let me pay the toll. It will be such fun to pay
+toll to Uncle John, or old Jane."
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Easterfield, "we will go that way."
+
+When the horses had passed through Glenford and had turned their heads
+homeward, they clattered along at a fine rate over the smooth turnpike,
+and Olive was in as high spirits as they were.
+
+"Whoever comes out to take toll," said she, "I intend to be treated as
+an ordinary traveler and nothing else. I have often taken toll, but I
+never paid it in my life. And they must take it--no gratis traveling for
+me. But I hope you won't mind stopping long enough for me to say a few
+words after I have transacted the regular business."
+
+"Oh, no," said Mrs. Easterfield, "you can chat as much as you like. We
+have plenty of time."
+
+Olive held in her hand a quarter of a dollar; she was determined they
+should make change for her, and that everything should be done properly.
+
+Dick Lancaster sat in the garden arbor, reading. He was becoming a
+little tired of this visit to his father's old friend. He liked Captain
+Asher and appreciated his hospitality, but there was nothing very
+interesting for him to do in this place, and he had thought that it
+might be a very good thing if the several days for which he had been
+invited should terminate on the morrow. There were some very attractive
+plans ahead of him, and he felt that he had now done his full duty by
+his father and his father's old friend.
+
+Captain Asher was engaged with some matters about his little farm, and
+Lancaster had asked as a favor that he might be allowed to tend the
+toll-gate during his absence. It would be something to do, and,
+moreover, something out of the way.
+
+When he perceived the approach of Mrs. Easterfield's carriage Lancaster
+walked down to the tollhouse, and stopped for a minute to glance over
+the rates of toll which were pasted up inside the door as well as out.
+
+The carriage stopped, and when a young man stepped out from the
+tollhouse Olive gave a sudden start, and the words with which she had
+intended to greet her uncle or old Jane instantly melted away.
+
+"Don't push me out of the carriage," said Mrs. Easterfield,
+good-naturedly, and she, too, looked at the young man.
+
+"For two horses and a vehicle," said Dick Lancaster, "ten cents, if you
+please."
+
+Olive made no answer, but handed him the quarter with which he retired
+to make change. Mrs. Easterfield opened her mouth to speak, but Olive
+put her finger on her lips and shook her head; the situation astonished
+her, but she did not wish to ask that stranger to explain it.
+
+Lancaster came out and dropped fifteen cents into Olive's hand. He could
+not help regarding with interest the occupants of the carriage, and Mrs.
+Easterfield looked hard at him. Suddenly Olive turned in her seat; she
+looked at the house, she looked at the garden, she looked at the little
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse. Yes, it was really the same place.
+For an instant she thought she might have been mistaken, but there was
+her window with the Virginia creeper under the sill where she had
+trained it herself. Then she made a motion to her companion, who
+immediately drove on.
+
+"What does this mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Who is that young
+man? Why didn't you give me a chance to ask after the captain, even if
+you did not care to do so?"
+
+"I never saw him before!" cried Olive. "I never heard of him. I don't
+understand anything about it. The whole thing shocked me, and I wanted
+to get on."
+
+"I don't think it a very serious matter," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Some
+passer-by might have relieved your uncle for a time."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," replied Olive. "Uncle John would never give
+the toll-gate into the charge of a passer-by, especially as old Jane was
+there. I know she was there, for the basement door was open, and she
+never goes away and leaves it so. That man is somebody who is staying
+there. I saw an open book on the arbor bench. Nobody reads in that arbor
+but me."
+
+"And that young man apparently," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I agree with
+you that it is surprising."
+
+For some minutes Olive did not speak. "I am afraid," she said,
+presently, "that my uncle is not acting quite frankly with me. I noticed
+how willing he was that I should go to your house."
+
+"Perhaps he expected this person and wanted to get you out of the way,"
+laughed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Well, my dear, I do not believe your uncle is such a schemer. He does
+not look like it. Take my word for it, it will all be as simple as a-b-c
+when it is explained to you."
+
+But Olive could not readily take this view of the case, and the drive
+home was not nearly so pleasant as it would have been if her uncle or
+old Jane had taken her quarter and given her fifteen cents in change.
+
+That night, soon after the family at Broadstone had retired to their
+rooms, Olive knocked at the door of Mrs. Easterfield's chamber.
+
+"Do you know," she exclaimed, when she had been told to enter, "that a
+horrible idea has come into my head? Uncle John may have been taken
+sick, and that man looked just like a doctor. Old Jane was busy with
+uncle, and as the doctor had to wait, he took the toll. Oh, I wish we
+had asked! It was cruel in me not to!"
+
+"Now, that is all nonsense," said Mrs. Easterfield. "If anything serious
+is the matter with your uncle he most surely would have let you know,
+and, besides, both the doctors in Glenford are elderly men. I do not
+believe there is the slightest reason for your anxiety. But to make you
+feel perfectly satisfied, I will send a man to Glenford early in the
+morning. I want to send there anyway."
+
+"But I would not like my uncle to think that I was trying to find out
+anything he did not care to tell me," said Olive.
+
+"Oh, don't trouble yourself about that," answered Mrs. Easterfield. "I
+will instruct the man. He need not ask any questions at the toll-gate.
+But when he gets to Glenford he can find out everything about that
+young man without asking any questions. He is a very discreet person.
+And I am also a discreet person," she added, "and you shall have no
+connection with my messenger's errand."
+
+After breakfast the next morning Mrs. Easterfield took Olive aside. "My
+man has returned," she said; "he tells me that Captain Asher took the
+toll, and was smoking his pipe in perfect health. He also saw the young
+man, and his natural curiosity prompted him to ask about him in the
+town. He heard that he is the son of one of the captain's old shipmates
+who is making him a visit. Now I hope this satisfies you."
+
+"Satisfies me!" exclaimed Olive. "I should have been a great deal better
+satisfied if I had heard he was sick, provided it was nothing dangerous.
+I think my uncle is treating me shamefully. It is not that I care a snap
+about his visitor, one way or another, but it is his want of confidence
+in me that hurts me. Could he have supposed I should have wanted to stay
+with him if I had known a young man was coming?"
+
+"Well, my dear," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not send anybody to find
+out what he supposed. But I am as certain as I can be certain of
+anything that there is nothing at all in this bugbear you have conjured
+up. No doubt the young man dropped in quite accidentally, and it was his
+bad luck that prevented him from dropping in before you left."
+
+Olive shook her head. "My uncle knew all about it. His manner showed it.
+He has treated me very badly."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VI_
+
+_Mr. Claude Locker._
+
+
+The Foxes arrived at Broadstone at the exact hour of the morning at
+which they had been expected. They always did this; even trains which
+were sometimes delayed when other visitors came were always on time when
+they carried the Foxes. They were both perfectly well and happy, as they
+always were.
+
+As rapidly as it was possible for human beings to do so they absorbed
+the extraordinary advantages of the house and it surroundings, and they
+said the right things in such a common-sense fashion that their hostess
+was proud that she owned such a place, and happy that she had invited
+them to see it.
+
+In their hearts they liked everything about the place except Olive, and
+they wondered how they were going to get along with such a glum young
+person, but they did not talk about her to Mrs. Easterfield; there was
+too much else.
+
+Mr. Claude Locker was expected on the train by which the Foxes had come,
+but he did not arrive; and this made it necessary to send again for him
+in the afternoon.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield tried very hard to cheer up Olive, and to make her
+entertain the Foxes in her usual lively way, but this was of no use;
+the young person was not in a good humor, and retired for an afternoon
+nap. But as this was an indulgence she very seldom allowed herself, it
+was not likely that she napped.
+
+Mr. Fox spoke to Mrs. Fox about her. "A queer girl," he said; "what do
+you suppose is the matter with her?"
+
+"The symptoms are those of green apples," replied Mrs. Fox, "and
+probably she will be better to-morrow."
+
+The carriage came back without Mr. Locker. But just as the soup-plates
+were being removed from the dinner-table he arrived in a hired vehicle,
+and appeared at the dining-room door with his hat in one hand, and a
+package in the other. He begged Mrs. Easterfield not to rise.
+
+"I will slip up to my room," said he, "if you have one for me, and when
+I come down I will greet you and be introduced."
+
+With this he turned and left the room, but was back in a moment. "It was
+a woman," he said, "who was at the bottom of it. It is always a woman,
+you know, and I am sure you will excuse me now that you know this. And
+you must let me begin wherever you may be in the dinner."
+
+"I have heard of Mr. Locker," said Mr. Fox, "but I never met him before.
+He must be very odd."
+
+"He admits that himself," said Mrs. Easterfield, "but he asserts that he
+spends a great deal of his time getting even with people."
+
+In a reasonable time Mr. Locker appeared and congratulated himself upon
+having struck the roast.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he said, "we will now all begin dinner together.
+What has gone before was nothing but overture. If I can help it I never
+get in until the beginning of the play."
+
+He bowed parenthetically as Mrs. Easterfield introduced him to the
+company; and, as she looked at him, Olive forgot for a moment her uncle
+and his visitor.
+
+"Don't send for soup, I beg of you," said Mr. Locker, as he took his
+seat. "I regard it as a rare privilege to begin with the inside cut of
+beef."
+
+Mr. Locker was not allowed to do all the talking; his hostess would not
+permit that; but under the circumstances he was allowed to explain his
+lateness.
+
+"You know I have been spending a week with the Bartons," he said, "and
+last night I came over from their house to the station in a carriage.
+There is a connecting train, but I should have had to take it very early
+in the evening, so I saved time by hiring a carriage."
+
+"Saved time?" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I saved all the time from dinner until the Bartons went to bed, which
+would have been lost if I had taken the train. Besides, I like to travel
+in carriages. One is never too late for a carriage; it is always bound
+to wait for you."
+
+In the recesses of his mind Mr. Fox now said to himself, "This is a
+fool." And Mrs. Fox, in the recesses of her mind, remarked, "I am quite
+sure that Mr. Fox will look upon this young man as a fool."
+
+"I spent what was left of the night at a tavern near the station,"
+continued Mr. Locker, "where I would have had to stay all night if I
+had not taken the carriage. And I should have been in plenty of time for
+the morning train if I had not taken a walk before breakfast. Apparently
+that is a part of the world where it takes a good deal longer to go back
+to a place than it does to get away from it."
+
+"But where did the woman come in?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, she came in with some tea and sandwiches in the middle of the
+afternoon," said Mr. Locker. "I was waiting in the parlor of the tavern.
+She was fairly young, and as I ate she stood and talked. She talked
+about Horace Walpole." At this even Olive smiled. "It was odd, wasn't
+it?" continued Mr. Locker, glancing from one to the other. "But that is
+what she did. She had been reading about him in an old book. She asked
+me if I knew anything about him, and I told her a great deal. It was so
+very interesting to tell her, and she was so interested, that when the
+train arrived I was too much occupied to think that it might start again
+immediately, but it did that very thing, and so I was left. However, the
+Walpole young woman told me there was a freight-train along in about an
+hour, and so we continued our conversation. When this train came I asked
+the engineer how many cigars he would take to let me ride in the cab. He
+said half a dozen, but as I only had five, I promised to send him the
+other by mail. However, as I smoked two of his five, I suppose I ought
+to send him three."
+
+"This young man," said Mr. Fox to himself, "is trying to appear more of
+a fool than he really is."
+
+"I have no doubt," said Mrs. Fox to herself, "that Mr. Fox is of the
+opinion that this young man is making an effort to appear foolish."
+
+That evening was a dull one. Mrs. Easterfield did her best, Claude
+Locker did his best, and Mr. and Mrs. Fox did their best to make things
+lively, but their success was poor. Miss Raleigh, the secretary, sat
+ready to give an approving smile to any liveliness which might arise,
+and Mrs. Blynn, with the dark eyes and soft white hair, sat sewing and
+waiting; never before had it been necessary for her to wait for
+liveliness in Mrs. Easterfield's house. A mild rain somewhat assisted
+the dullness, for everybody was obliged to stay indoors.
+
+Early the next morning Olive Asher went down-stairs, and stood in the
+open doorway looking out upon the landscape, glowing in the sunshine and
+brighter and more odorous from the recent rain. Some time during the
+night this young woman had made up her mind to give no further thought
+to her uncle who kept the toll-gate. There was no earthly reason why he,
+or anything he wanted to do, or did not want to do, or did, should
+trouble and annoy her. A few months before she had scarcely known him,
+not having seen him since she was a girl; and, in fact, he was no more
+to her now than he was before she went to his house. If he chose to
+offer her any explanation of his strange conduct, that would be very
+well; if he did not choose, that would also be very well. The whole
+affair was of no consequence; she would drop it entirely from her mind.
+
+Olive's bounding spirits now rose very high, and when Claude Locker came
+in with his shoes soaked from a tramp in the wet grass she greeted him
+in such a way that he could scarcely believe she was the grumpy girl of
+the day before. As they went into breakfast Mrs. Fox remarked to her
+husband in a low voice that Miss Asher seemed to have recovered entirely
+from her indisposition.
+
+In the course of the morning Mr. Locker found an opportunity to speak in
+private with Mrs. Easterfield. "I am in great trouble," he said; "I want
+to marry Miss Asher."
+
+"You show unusual promptness," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Not at all," replied Locker. "This sort of thing is not unusual with
+me. My mind is a highly sensitive plate, and receives impressions almost
+instantaneously. If it were a large mind these impressions might be
+placed side by side, and each one would perhaps become indelible. But it
+is small, and each impression claps itself down on the one before. This
+last one, however, is the strongest of them all, and obliterates
+everything that went before."
+
+"It strikes me," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that if you were to pay more
+attention to your poems and less to young ladies it would be better."
+
+"Hardly," said Mr. Locker; "for it would be worse for the poems."
+
+The general appearance of Mr. Locker gave no reason to suppose that he
+would be warranted in assuming a favorable issue from any of the
+impressions to which his mind was so susceptible. He was small, rather
+awkwardly set up, his head was large, and the features of his face
+seemed to have no relation to each other. His nose was somewhat stubby,
+and had nothing to do with his mouth or eyes. One of his eyebrows was
+drawn down as if in days gone by he had been in the habit of wearing a
+single glass. The other brow was raised over a clear and wide-open
+light-blue eye. His mouth was large, and attended strictly to its own
+business. It transmitted his odd ideas to other people, but it never
+laughed at them. His chin was round and prominent, suggesting that it
+might have been borrowed from somebody else. His cheeks were a little
+heavy, and gave no assistance in the expression of his ideas.
+
+His profession was that of a poet. He called himself a practical poet,
+because he made a regular business of it, turning his poetic
+inspirations into salable verse with the facility and success, as he
+himself expressed it, of a man who makes boxes out of wood. Moreover, he
+sold these poems as readily as any carpenter sold his boxes. Like
+himself, Claude Locker's poems were always short, always in request, and
+sometimes not easy to understand.
+
+The poem he wrote that night was a word-picture of the rising moon
+entangled in a sheaf of corn upon a hilltop, with a long-eared rabbit
+sitting near by as if astonished at the conflagration.
+
+"A very interesting girl, that Miss Asher," said Mr. Fox to his wife
+that evening. "I do not know when I have laughed so much."
+
+"I thought you were finding her interesting," said Mrs. Fox. "To me it
+was like watching a game of roulette at Monte Carlo. It was intensely
+interesting, but I could not imagine it as having anything to do with
+me."
+
+"No, my dear," said Mr. Fox, "it could have nothing to do with you."
+
+After Mrs. Easterfield retired she sat for a long time, thinking of
+Olive. That young person and Mr. Locker had been boating that afternoon,
+and Olive had had the oars. Mr. Locker had told with great effect how
+she had pulled to get out of the smooth water, and how she had dashed
+over the rapids and between the rocks in such a way as to make his heart
+stand still.
+
+"I should like to go rowing with her every day," he had remarked
+confidentially. "Each time I started I should make a new will."
+
+"Why a new one?" Mrs. Easterfield had asked.
+
+"Each time I should take something more from my relatives to give to
+her," had been the answer.
+
+As she sat and thought, Mrs. Easterfield began to be a little
+frightened. She was a brave woman, but it is the truly brave who know
+when they should be frightened, and she felt her responsibility, not on
+account of the niece of the toll-gate keeper, but on account of the
+daughter of Lieutenant Asher, whom she had once known so well. The thing
+which frightened her was the possibility that before anybody would be
+likely to think of such a thing Olive might marry Claude Locker. He was
+always ready to do anything he wanted to do at any time; and for all
+Mrs. Easterfield knew, the girl might be of the same sort.
+
+But Mrs. Easterfield rose to the occasion. She looked upon Olive as a
+wild young colt who had broken out of her paddock, but she remembered
+that she herself had a record for speed. "If there is to be any running
+I shall get ahead of her," she said to herself, "and I will turn her
+back. I think I can trust myself for that."
+
+Olive slept the sound sleep of the young, but for all that she had a
+dream. She dreamed of a kind, good, thoughtful, and even affectionate,
+middle-aged man; a man who looked as though he might have been her
+father, and whom she was beginning to look upon as a father,
+notwithstanding the fact that she had a real father dressed in a uniform
+and on a far-away ship. She dreamed ever so many things about this
+newer, although elder, father, and her dream made her very happy.
+
+But in the morning when she woke her dream had entirely passed from her
+mind, and she felt just as much like a colt as when she had gone to bed.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VII_
+
+_The Captain and his Guest go Fishing and come Home Happy._
+
+
+When Dick Lancaster told Captain Asher he had taken toll from two ladies
+in a phaeton he was quite eloquent in his description of said ladies. He
+declared with an impressiveness which the captain had not noticed in him
+before that he did not know when he had seen such handsome ladies. The
+younger one, who paid the toll, was absolutely charming. She seemed a
+little bit startled, but he supposed that was because she saw a strange
+face at the toll-gate. Dick wanted very much to know who these ladies
+were. He had not supposed that he would find such stylish people, and
+such a handsome turnout in this part of the country.
+
+"Oh, ho," said Captain Asher, "do you suppose we are all farmers and
+toll-gate keepers? If you do, you are very much mistaken, although I
+must admit that the stylish people, as you call them, are scattered
+about very thinly. I expect that carriage was from Broadstone over on
+the mountain. Was the team dapple gray, pony built?"
+
+"Yes," said Lancaster.
+
+"Then it was Mrs. Easterfield driving some of her company. I have seen
+her with that team. And by George," he exclaimed, "I bet my head the
+other one was Olive! Of course it was. And she paid toll! Well, well, if
+that isn't a good one! Olive paying toll! I wish I had been here to take
+it! That truly would have been a lark!"
+
+Dick Lancaster did not echo this wish of his host. He was very glad,
+indeed, that the captain had not been at the toll-gate when the ladies
+passed through. Captain Asher was still laughing.
+
+"Olive must have been amazed," he said. "It was queer enough for her to
+go through my gate and pay toll, but to pay it to an Assistant Professor
+of Theoretical Mathematics was a good deal queerer. I can't imagine what
+she thought about it."
+
+"She did not know I am that!" exclaimed Dick Lancaster. "There is
+nothing of the professor in my outward appearance--at least, I hope
+not."
+
+"No, I don't think there is," replied the captain. "But she must have
+been amazed, all the same. I wish I had been here, or old Jane, anyway.
+But, of course, when a stranger showed himself she would not have said
+anything."
+
+"But who is Olive?" asked Lancaster.
+
+"She's my niece," said the captain. "I don't think I have mentioned her
+to you. She is on a visit to me, but just now she is staying at
+Broadstone. I suppose she will be there about a week longer."
+
+"It's odd he has not mentioned her to me," thought Lancaster, and then,
+as the captain went to ask old Jane if she had seen Olive pass, the
+young man retired to the arbor with a book which he did not read.
+
+His desire to inform his host that it would be necessary to take leave
+of him on the morrow had very much abated. It would be very pleasant, he
+thought, to be a visitor in a family of which that girl was a member.
+But if she were not to return for a week, how could he expect to stay
+with the captain so long? There would be no possible excuse for such a
+thing. Then he thought it would be very pleasant to be in a country of
+which that young woman was one of the inhabitants. Anyway, he hoped the
+captain would invite him to make a longer stay. The great blue eyes with
+which the young lady had regarded him as she paid the toll would not
+fade out of his mind.
+
+"She must have wondered who it was that took the toll," said old Jane.
+"And there wasn't no need of it, anyway. I could have took it as I
+always have took it when you was not here, and before either of them
+came."
+
+"Either of them" struck the captain's ear strangely. Here was this old
+woman coupling these two young people in her mind!
+
+The next morning Captain Asher sat on his little piazza, smoking his
+pipe and thinking about Olive driving through the gate and paying toll
+to a stranger. But he now considered the incident from a different point
+of view. Of course, Olive had been surprised when she had seen the young
+man, but she might also have wondered how he happened to be there and
+she not know of it. If he were staying long enough to be entrusted with
+toll-taking it might--in fact, the captain thought it probably
+would--appear very strange to her that she should not know of it. So
+now he asked himself if it would not be a good thing if he were to write
+her a little note in which he should mention Mr. Lancaster and his
+visit. In fact, he thought the best thing he could do would be to write
+her a playful sort of a note, and tell her that she should feel honored
+by having her toll taken up by a college professor. But he did not
+immediately write the note. The more he thought about it, the more he
+wished he had been at the toll-gate when Mrs. Easterfield's phaeton
+passed by.
+
+Captain Asher did not write his note at all. He did not know what to
+say; he did not want to make too much of the incident, for it was really
+a trifling matter, only worthy of being mentioned in case he had
+something more important to write about. But he had nothing more
+important; there was no reason why he should write to Olive during her
+short stay with Mrs. Easterfield. Besides, she would soon be back, and
+then he could talk to her; that would be much better. Now, two strong
+desires began to possess him; one was for Olive to come home; and the
+other for Dick Lancaster to go away. There had been moments when he had
+had a shadowy notion of bringing the two together, but this idea had
+vanished. His mind was now occupied very much with thoughts of his
+beautiful niece and very little with the young man in the colored shirt
+and turned-up trousers who was staying with him.
+
+Dick Lancaster, in his arbor, was also thinking a great deal about
+Olive, and very little about that stalwart sailor, her uncle. If he had
+merely seen the young woman, and had never heard anything about her,
+her face would have impressed him, but the knowledge that she was an
+inmate of the house in which he was staying could not fail to affect him
+very much. He was puzzling his mind about the girl who had given him a
+quarter of a dollar, and to whom he had handed fifteen cents in change.
+He wondered how such a girl happened to be living at such a place. He
+wondered if there were any possibility of his staying there, or in the
+neighborhood, until she should come back; he wondered if there were any
+way by which he could see her again. He might have wondered a good many
+other things if Captain Asher had not approached the arbor. The captain
+having been aroused from his mental contemplation of Olive by a man in a
+wagon, had glanced over at the arbor and had suddenly been struck with
+the conviction that that young man looked bored, and that, as his host,
+he was not doing the right thing by him.
+
+"Dick," said the captain, "let's go fishing. It's not late yet, and I'll
+put my mare to the buggy, and we can drive to the river. We will take
+something to eat with us, and make a day of it."
+
+Lancaster hesitated a moment; he had been thinking that the time had
+come when he should say something about his departure, but this
+invitation settled the matter for that day; and in half an hour the two
+had started away, leaving the toll-gate in charge of old Jane, who was a
+veteran in the business, having lived at the toll-gate years before the
+captain.
+
+As they drove along the smooth turnpike Lancaster remembered with great
+interest that this road led to the gap in the mountains; that the
+captain had told him Broadstone was not very far from the gap; and that
+the river was not very far from Broadstone; and his face glowed with
+interest in the expedition.
+
+But when, after a few miles, they turned into a plain country road
+which, as the captain informed him, led in a southeasterly direction, to
+a point on the river where black bass were to be caught and where a boat
+could be hired, the corners of Dick Lancaster's mouth began to droop. Of
+necessity that road must reach the river miles to the south of
+Broadstone.
+
+It was a very good day for fishing, and the captain was pleased to see
+that the son of his old shipmate was a very fair angler. Toward the
+close of the afternoon, with the conviction that they had had a good
+time and that their little expedition had been a success, the two
+fishermen set out for home with a basket of bass: some of them quite a
+respectable size; stowed away under the seat of the buggy. When they
+reached the turnpike the old mare, knowing well in which direction her
+supper lay, turned briskly to the left, and set out upon a good trot.
+But this did not last very long. To her great surprise she was suddenly
+pulled up short; a carriage with two horses which had been approaching
+had also stopped.
+
+On the back seat of this carriage sat Mrs. Easterfield; on one side of
+her was a little girl, and on the other side was another little girl,
+each with her feet stuck out straight in front of her.
+
+"Oh, Captain Asher," exclaimed the lady, with a most enchanting smile,
+"I am so glad to meet you. I was obliged to go to Glenford to take one
+of my little girls to the dentist, and I inquired for you each time I
+passed your gate."
+
+The captain was very glad he had been so fortunate as to meet her, and
+as her eyes were now fixed upon his companion, he felt it incumbent upon
+him to introduce Mr. Richard Lancaster, the son of an old shipmate.
+
+"But not a sailor, I imagine," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, no," said the captain, "Mr. Lancaster is Assistant Professor of
+Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College."
+
+Dick could not imagine why the captain said all this, and he flushed a
+little.
+
+"Sutton College?" said Mrs. Easterfield. "Then, of course, you know
+Professor Brent."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster. "He is our president."
+
+"I never met him," said she, "but he was a classmate of my husband, and
+I have often heard him speak of him. And now for my errand, Captain
+Asher. Isn't it about time you should be wanting to see your niece?"
+
+The captain's heart sank. Did she intend to send Olive home?
+
+"I always want to see her," he said, but without enthusiasm.
+
+"But don't you think it would be nice," said the lady, "if you were to
+come to lunch with us to-morrow? It was to ask you this that I inquired
+for you at the toll-gate."
+
+Now, this was another thing altogether, and the captain's earnest
+acceptance would have been more coherent if it had not been for the
+impatience of his mare.
+
+"And I want you to bring your friend with you," continued Mrs.
+Easterfield. "The invitation is for you both, of course."
+
+Dick's face said that this would be heavenly, but his mouth was more
+prudent.
+
+"It will be strictly informal," continued Mrs. Easterfield. "Only myself
+and family, three guests, and Olive. We shall sit down at one. Good-by."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was entirely truthful when she said she was glad to
+meet the captain. Her anxiety about Olive and Claude Locker was somewhat
+on the increase. She was very well aware that the most dangerous thing
+for one young woman is one young man; and in thinking over this truism
+she had been impressed with the conviction that it was not well for Mr.
+Claude Locker to be the one man at Broadstone. Then, in thinking of
+possible young men, her mind naturally turned to the young man who was
+visiting Olive's uncle. She did not know anything about him, but he was
+a young man, and if he proved to be worth something, he could be asked
+to come again. So it was really to Dick Lancaster, and not to Captain
+Asher, that the luncheon invitation had been given.
+
+The appointment with the Glenford dentist had made it necessary for her
+to leave home that afternoon. To be sure, she had sent the Foxes with
+Olive and Claude Locker upon the drive through the gap, and, under
+ordinary circumstances, and with ordinary people, there would have been
+no reason for her to trouble herself about them, but neither the
+circumstances nor the people were ordinary, and she now felt anxious to
+get home and find out what Claude Locker and Olive had done with Mrs.
+and Mr. Fox.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VIII_
+
+_Captain Asher is not in a Good Humor._
+
+
+The next morning was very bright for Captain Asher; he was going to see
+Olive, and he did not know before how much he wished to see her.
+
+When Dick Lancaster came from the house to take his seat in the buggy
+the sight of the handsome suit of dark-blue serge, white shirt and
+collar, and patent-leather shoes, with the trousers hanging properly
+above them, placed Dick very much higher in the captain's estimation
+than the young man with the colored shirt and rolled-up trousers could
+ever have reached. The captain, too, was well dressed for the occasion,
+and Mrs. Easterfield had no reason whatever to be ashamed of these two
+gentlemen when she introduced them to her other visitors.
+
+She liked Professor Lancaster. Having lately had a good deal of Claude
+Locker, she was prepared to like a quiet and thoroughly self-possessed
+young man.
+
+Olive was the latest of the little company to appear, and when she came
+down she caused a genuine, though gentle sensation. She was most
+exquisitely dressed, not too much for a luncheon, and not enough for a
+dinner. This navy girl had not studied for nothing the art of dressing
+in different parts of the world. Her uncle regarded her with open-eyed
+astonishment.
+
+"Is this my brother's daughter?" he asked himself. "The little girl who
+poured my coffee in the morning and went out to take toll?"
+
+Olive greeted her uncle with absolute propriety, and made the
+acquaintance of Mr. Lancaster with a formal courtesy to which no
+objection could be made. Apparently she forgot the existence of Mr.
+Locker, and for the greater part of the meal she conversed with Mr. Fox
+about certain foreign places with which they were both familiar.
+
+The luncheon was not a success; there was a certain stiffness about it
+which even Mrs. Easterfield could not get rid of; and when the gentlemen
+went out to smoke on the piazza Olive disappeared, sending a message to
+Mrs. Easterfield that she had a bad headache and would like to be
+excused. Her excuse was a perfectly honest one, for she was apt to have
+a headache when she was angry; and she was angry now.
+
+The reason for her indignation was the fact that her uncle's visitor was
+an extremely presentable young man. Had it been otherwise, Olive would
+have given the captain a good scolding, and would then have taken her
+revenge by making fun of him and his shipmate's son. But now she felt
+insulted that her uncle should conceal from her the fact that he had an
+entirely proper young gentleman for a visitor. Could he think she would
+want to stay at his house to be with that young man? Was she a girl from
+whom the existence of such a person was to be kept secret? She was very
+angry, indeed, and her headache was genuine.
+
+Captain Asher was also angry. He had intended to take Olive aside and
+tell her all about Dick Lancaster, and how he had refrained from saying
+anything about him until he found out what sort of a young man he was.
+If, then, she saw fit to scold him, he was perfectly willing to submit,
+and to shake hands all around. But now he would have no chance to speak
+to her; she had not treated him properly, even if she had a headache. He
+admitted to himself that she was young and probably sensitive, but it
+was also true that he was sensitive, although old. Therefore, he was
+angry.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was disturbed; she saw there was something wrong
+between Olive and her uncle, and she did not like it. She had invited
+Lancaster with an object, and she did not wish that other people's
+grievances should interfere with said object. Olive was grumpy up-stairs
+and Claude Locker was in the doleful dumps under a tree, and if these
+two should grump and dump together, it might be very bad; consequently,
+Mrs. Easterfield was more anxious than ever that there should be at
+least two young men at Broadstone.
+
+For this reason she asked Lancaster if he were fond of rowing; and when
+he said he was, she invited him to join them in a boat party the next
+day to help her and Olive pull the big family boat. Mr. Fox did not like
+rowing, and Mr. Locker did not know how.
+
+On the drive home Captain Asher and Lancaster did not talk much. Even
+the young man's invitation to the rowing party did not excite much
+interest in the captain. These two men were both thinking of the same
+girl; one pleasantly, and the other very unpleasantly. Dick was charmed
+with her, although he had had very little opportunity of becoming
+acquainted with her, but he hoped for better luck the next day.
+
+The captain did not know what to make of her. He felt sure that she was
+at fault, and that he was at fault, and he could not see how things
+could be made straight between them. Only one thing seemed plain to him,
+and this was that, with things as they were at present, she was not
+likely to come back to his house; and this would not be necessary; he
+knew very well that there were other places she could visit; and that
+early in the fall her father would be home.
+
+Dick Lancaster walked to Broadstone the next morning because Captain
+Asher was obliged to go to Glenford on business, but the young man did
+not in the least mind a six-mile walk on a fine morning.
+
+All the way to Glenford the captain thought of Olive; sometimes he
+wished she had never come to him. Even now, with Lancaster to talk to,
+he missed her grievously, and if she should not come back, the case
+would be a great deal worse than if she had never come at all. But one
+thing was certain: If she returned as the young lady with whom he had
+lunched at Broadstone, he did not want her. He felt that he had been in
+the wrong, that she had been in the wrong; and it seemed as if things in
+this world were gradually going wrong. He was not in a good humor.
+
+When he stopped his mare in front of a store, Maria Port stepped up to
+him and said: "How do you do, captain? What have you done with your
+young man?"
+
+The captain got down from his buggy, hitched his mare to a post, and
+then shook hands with Miss Port.
+
+"Dick Lancaster has gone boating to-day with the Broadstone people," he
+said.
+
+"What!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Gone there again already? Why it was only
+yesterday you took dinner with them."
+
+"Lunch," corrected the captain.
+
+"Well, you may call it what you please," said Maria, "but I call it
+dinner. And them two's together without you, that you tried so hard to
+keep apart!"
+
+"I did not try anything of the kind," said the captain a little sharply;
+"it just happened so."
+
+"Happened so!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Well, I must say, Captain Asher,
+that you've a regular genius for makin' things happen. The minute she
+goes, he comes. I wish I could make things happen that way."
+
+The captain took no notice of this remark, and moved toward the door of
+the store.
+
+"Look here, captain," continued Miss Port, "can't you come and take
+dinner with us? You haven't seen Pop for ever so long. It won't be
+lunch, though, but an honest dinner."
+
+The captain accepted the invitation; for old Mr. Port was one of his
+ancient friends; and then he entered the store. Miss Port was on the
+point of following him; she had something to say about Olive; but she
+stopped.
+
+"I'll keep that till dinner-time," she said to herself.
+
+Old Mr. Port had always been a very pleasant man to visit, and he had
+not changed now, although he was nearly eighty years old. He had been a
+successful merchant in the days when Captain Asher commanded a ship, and
+there was good reason to believe that a large measure of his success was
+due to his constant desire to make himself agreeable to the people with
+whom he came in business contact. He was just as agreeable to his
+friends, of whom Captain Asher was one of the oldest.
+
+The people of Glenford often puzzled themselves as to what sort of a
+woman Maria's mother could have been. None of them had ever seen her,
+for she had died years before old Mr. Port had come into that healthful
+region to reside; but all agreed that her parents must have been a
+strangely assorted pair, unless, indeed, as some of the wiser suggested,
+she got her disposition from a grandparent.
+
+"That navy niece of yours must be a wild girl," said Miss Port to the
+captain as she carved the beef.
+
+"Wild!" exclaimed the captain. "I never saw anything wild about her."
+
+"Perhaps not," said his hostess, "but there's others that have. It was
+only three days ago that she took that young man, that goggle-eyed one,
+out on the river in a boat, and did her best to upset him. Whether she
+stood up and made the boat rock while he clung to the side, or whether
+she bumped the boat against rocks and sand-bars, laughin' the louder the
+more he was frightened, I wasn't told. But she did skeer him awful. I
+know that."
+
+"You seem to know a good deal about what is going on at Broadstone,"
+remarked the captain, somewhat sarcastically.
+
+"Indeed I do," said she; "a good deal more than they think. They've got
+such fine stomachs that they can't eat the beef they get at the gap, and
+Mr. Morris goes there three times a week, all the way from Glenford, to
+take them Chicago beef. The rest of the time they mostly eat chickens,
+I'm told."
+
+"And so your butcher takes meat and brings back news," said the captain.
+"The next time he passes the toll-gate I will tell him to leave the news
+with me, and I will see that it is properly distributed." And with this,
+he began to talk with Mr. Port.
+
+"Oh, you needn't be so snappish about her," insisted Maria. "If you are
+in that temper often, I don't wonder the young woman wanted to go away."
+
+The captain made no answer, but his glance at the speaker was not
+altogether a pleasant one. Old Mr. Port did not hear very well; but his
+eyesight was good, and he perceived from the captain's expression that
+his daughter had been saying something sharp. This he never allowed at
+his table; and, turning to her, he said gently, but firmly:
+
+"Maria, don't you think you'd better go up-stairs and go to bed?"
+
+"He's all the time thinkin' I'm a child," said Miss Maria, with a grin;
+"but how awfully he's mistook." Then she added: "Has that teacher got
+money enough to support a wife when he marries her? I don't suppose his
+salary amounts to much. I'm told it's a little bit of a college he
+teaches at."
+
+"I do not know anything about his salary," said the captain, and again
+attempted to continue the conversation with the father.
+
+But the daughter was not to be put down. "When is Olive Asher coming
+back to your house?" she asked.
+
+The captain turned upon her with a frown. "I did not say she was coming
+back at all," he snapped.
+
+Now old Mr. Port thought it time for him to interfere. To him Maria had
+always been a young person to be mildly counseled, but to be firmly
+punished if she did not obey said counsels. It was evident that she was
+now annoying his old friend; Maria had a great habit of annoying people,
+but she should not annoy Captain Asher.
+
+"Maria," said Mr. Port, "leave the table instantly, and go to bed."
+
+Miss Port smiled. She had finished her dinner, and she folded her napkin
+and dusted some crumbs from her lap. She always humored her father when
+he was really in earnest; he was very old and could not be expected to
+live much longer, and it was his daughter's earnest desire that she
+should be in good favor with him when he died. With a straight-cut smile
+at the captain, she rose and left the two old friends to their talk, and
+went out on the front piazza. There she saw Mr. Morris, the butcher, on
+his way home with an empty wagon. She stepped out to the edge of the
+sidewalk and stopped him.
+
+"Been to Broadstone?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," said the butcher with a sigh, and stopping his horse. Miss Port
+always wanted to know so much about Broadstone, and he was on his way to
+his dinner.
+
+"Well," said Miss Port, "what monkey tricks are going on there now? Has
+anybody been drowned yet? Did you see that young man that's stayin' at
+the toll-gate?"
+
+"Yes," said the butcher, "I saw him as I was crossing the bridge. He was
+in the big boat helping to row. Pretty near the whole family was in the
+boat, I take it."
+
+"That's like them, just like them!" she exclaimed. "The next thing we'll
+hear will be that they've all gone to the bottom together. I don't
+suppose one of them can swim. Was the captain's niece standin' up, or
+sittin' down?"
+
+"They were all sitting down," said the butcher, "and behaving like other
+people do in a boat." And he prepared to go on.
+
+"Stop one minute," said Miss Port. "Of course you are goin' out there
+day after to-morrow?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Morris. "I'm going to-morrow. They've ordered some extra
+things." Then he said, with a sort of conciliatory grin, "I'll get some
+more news, and have more time to tell it."
+
+"Now, don't be in such a hurry," said Miss Port, advancing to the side
+of the wagon. "I want very much to go to Broadstone. I've got some
+business with that Mrs. Blynn that I ought to have attended to long ago.
+Now, why can't I ride out with you to-morrow? That's a pretty broad seat
+you've got."
+
+The butcher looked at her in dismay. "Oh, I couldn't do that, Miss
+Port," he said. "I always have a heavy load, and I can't take
+passengers, too."
+
+"Now, what's the sense of your talkin' like that?" said Miss Port.
+"You've got a great big horse, and plenty of room, and would you have
+me go hire a carriage and a driver to go out there when you can take me
+just as well as not?"
+
+The butcher thought he would be very willing. He did not care for her
+society, and, moreover, he knew that both at Broadstone and in the town
+he would be ridiculed when it should be known that he had been taking
+Maria Port to drive.
+
+"Oh, I couldn't do it," he replied. "Of course, I'm willing to oblige--"
+
+"Oh, don't worry yourself any more, Mr. Morris," interrupted Miss Port.
+"I'm not askin' you to take me now, and I won't keep you from your
+dinner."
+
+The next morning as Mr. Morris, the butcher, was driving past the Port
+house at rather a rapid rate for a man with a heavy wagon, Miss Maria
+appeared at her door with her bonnet on. She ran out into the middle of
+the street, and so stationed herself that Mr. Morris was obliged to
+stop. Then, without speaking, she clambered up to the seat beside him.
+
+"Now, you see," said she, settling herself on the leather cushion, "I've
+kept to my part of the bargain, and I don't believe your horse will
+think this wagon is a bit heavier than it was before I got in. What's
+the name of the new people that's comin' to Broadstone?"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IX_
+
+_Miss Port takes a Drive with the Butcher._
+
+
+As the butcher and Miss Port drove out of town the latter did not talk
+quite so much as was her wont. She seemed to have something on her mind,
+and presently she proposed to Mr. Morris that he should take the
+shunpike for a change.
+
+"That would be a mile and a half out of my way!" he exclaimed. "I can't
+do it."
+
+"I should think you'd get awfully tired of this same old road," said
+she.
+
+"The easiest road is the one I like every time," said Mr. Morris, who
+was also not inclined to talk.
+
+Miss Port did not care to pass the toll-gate that day; she was afraid
+she might see the captain, and that in some way or other he would
+interfere with her trip, but fortune favored her, as it nearly always
+did. Old Jane came to the gate, and as this stolid old woman never asked
+any questions, Miss Port contented herself with bidding her good
+morning, and sitting silent during the process of making change.
+
+This self-restraint very much surprised old Jane, who straightway
+informed the captain that Miss Port was riding with the butcher to
+Broadstone--she knew it was Broadstone, for he had no other customers
+that way--and she guessed something must be the matter with her, for
+she kept her mouth shut, and didn't say nothing to nobody.
+
+As the wagon moved on Miss Port heaved a sigh. Fearful that she might
+see the captain somewhere, she had not even allowed herself to survey
+the premises in order to catch a glimpse of the shipmate's son. This was
+a rare piece of self-denial in Maria, but she could do that sort of
+thing on occasion.
+
+When the butcher's wagon neared the Broadstone house Miss Port promptly
+got down, and Mr. Morris went to the kitchen regions by himself. She
+never allowed herself to enter a house by the back or side door, so now
+she went to the front, where, disappointed at not seeing any of the
+family although she had made good use of her eyes, she was obliged to
+ask a servant to conduct her to Mrs. Blynn. Before she had had time to
+calculate the cost of the rug in the hall, or to determine whether the
+walls were calcimined or merely whitewashed, she found herself with that
+good lady.
+
+Miss Port's business with Mrs. Blynn indicated a peculiar intelligence
+on the part of the visitor. It was based upon very little; it had not
+much to do with anything; it amounted to almost nothing; and yet it
+appeared to contain certain elements of importance which made Mrs. Blynn
+give it her serious consideration.
+
+After she had talked and peered about as long as she thought was
+necessary, Maria said she was afraid Mr. Morris would be waiting for
+her, and quickly took her leave, begging Mrs. Blynn not to trouble
+herself to accompany her to the door. When she left the house Maria did
+not seek the butcher's wagon, but started out on a little tour of
+observation through the grounds. She was quite sure Mr. Morris was
+waiting for her, but for this she did care a snap of her finger; he
+would not dare to go and leave her. Presently she perceived a young
+gentleman approaching her, and she recognized him instantly--it was the
+goggle-eyed man who had been described to her. Stepping quickly toward
+Mr. Locker, she asked him if he could tell her where she could find Miss
+Asher; she had been told she was in the grounds.
+
+The young man goggled his eye a little more than usual. "Do you know
+her?" said he.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Maria; "I met her at the house of her uncle, Captain
+Asher."
+
+"And, knowing her, you want to see her"
+
+Astonished, Miss Port replied, "Of course."
+
+"Very well, then," said he; "beyond that clump of bushes is a seat. She
+sits thereon. Accept my condolences."
+
+"I will remember every word of that," said Miss Port to herself, "but I
+haven't time to think of it now. He's just ravin'."
+
+Olive had just had an interview with Mr. Locker which, in her eyes, had
+been entirely too protracted, and she had sent him away. He had just
+made her an offer of marriage, but she had refused even to consider it,
+assuring him that her mind was occupied with other things. She was busy
+thinking of those other things when she heard footsteps near her.
+
+"How do you do" said Miss Port, extending her hand.
+
+Olive rose, but she put her hands behind her back.
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Port, dropping her hand, but allowing herself no verbal
+resentment. She had come there for information, and she did not wish to
+interfere with her own business. "I happened to be here," she said, "and
+I thought I'd come and tell you how your uncle is. He took dinner with
+us yesterday, and I was sorry to see he didn't have much appetite. But I
+suppose he's failin', as most people do when they get to his age. I
+thought you might have some message you'd like to send him."
+
+"Thank you," said Olive with more than sufficient coldness, "but I have
+no message."
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Port. "You're in a fine place here," she continued,
+looking about her, "very different from the toll-gate; and I expect the
+Easterfields has everything they want that money can more than pay for."
+Having delivered this little shot at the reported extravagance of the
+lady of the manor, she remarked: "I don't wonder you don't want to go
+back to your uncle, and run out to take the toll. It must have been a
+very great change to you if you're used to this sort of thing."
+
+"Who said I was not going back?" asked Olive sharply.
+
+"Your uncle," said Miss Port. "He told me at our house. Of course, he
+didn't go into no particulars, but that isn't to be expected, he's not
+the kind of man to do that."
+
+Olive stood and looked at this smooth-faced, flat-mouthed spinster. She
+was pale, she trembled a little, but she spoke no word; she was a girl
+who did not go into particulars, especially with a person such as this
+woman standing before her.
+
+Miss Port did not wish to continue the conversation; she generally knew
+when she had said enough. "Well," she remarked, "as you haven't no
+message to send to your uncle, I might as well go. But I did think that
+as I was right on my way, you'd have at least a word for him. Good
+mornin'." And with this she promptly walked away to join Mr. Morris,
+cataloguing in her mind as she went the foolish and lazy hammocks and
+garden chairs, the slow motions of a man who was sweeping leaves from
+the broad stone, and various other evidences of bad management and
+probable downfall which met her eyes in every direction.
+
+When Miss Port approached the toll-gate on her return she was very
+anxious to stop, and hoped that the captain would be at the gate.
+Fortune favored her again, and there he stood in the doorway of the
+little tollhouse.
+
+"Oh, captain," she exclaimed, extending herself somewhat over the
+butcher's knees in order to speak more effectively, "I've been to
+Broadstone, and I've seen your niece. She's dressed up just like the
+other fine folks there, and she's stiffer than any of them, I guess. I
+didn't see Mrs. Easterfield, although I did want to get a chance to tell
+her what I thought about her plantin' weeds in her garden, and spreadin'
+new kinds of seeds over this country, which goes to weeds fast enough in
+the natural way. As to your niece, I must say she didn't show me no
+extra civility, and when I asked her if she had any message for you, she
+said she hadn't a word to say."
+
+The captain was not in the least surprised to hear that Olive had not
+treated Miss Port with extra civility. He remembered his niece treating
+this prying gossip with positive rudeness, and he had been somewhat
+amused by it, although he had always believed that young people should
+be respectful to their elders. He did not care to talk about Olive with
+Miss Port, but he had to say something, and so he asked if she seemed to
+be having a good time.
+
+"If settin' behind bushes with young men, and goggle-eyed ones at that,
+is havin' a good time," replied Miss Port, "I'm sure she's enjoyin'
+herself." And then, as she caught sight of Lancaster: "I suppose that's
+the young man who's visitin' you. I hope he makes his scholars study
+harder than he does. He isn't readin' his book at all; he's just starin'
+at nothin'. You might be polite enough to bring him out and introduce
+him, captain," she added in a somewhat milder tone.
+
+The captain did not answer; in fact, he had not heard all that Miss Port
+had said to him. If Olive had refused to send him a word, even the
+slightest message, she must be a girl of very stubborn resentments, and
+he was sorry to hear it. He himself was beginning to get over his
+resentment at her treatment of him at the Broadstone luncheon, and if
+she had been of his turn of mind everything might have been smoothed
+over in a very short time.
+
+"Well?" remarked Maria in an inquiring tone.
+
+"Excuse me," said the captain, "what were you saying?"
+
+Miss Maria settled herself in her seat. "If you and that young man
+wastin' his time in the garden can't keep your wits from
+wool-gatherin'," said she, "I hope old Jane has got sense enough to go
+on with the housekeepin'. I'll call again when you've sent your young
+man away, and got your young woman back."
+
+Maria said little to the taciturn butcher on their way to Glenford, but
+she smiled a good deal to herself. For years it had been the desire of
+her life to go to live in the toll-gate--not with any idea of ousting
+Captain Asher--oh, no, by no means. Old Mr. Port could not live much
+longer, and his daughter would not care to reside in the Glenford house
+by herself. But the toll-gate would exactly suit her; there was life;
+there was passing to and fro; there was money enough for good living and
+good clothes without any encroachment on whatever her father might leave
+her; and, above all, there was the captain, good for twenty years yet,
+in spite of his want of appetite, which she had mentioned to his niece.
+This would be a settlement which would suit her in every way, but so
+long as that niece lived there, there would be no hope of it; even the
+shipmate's son would be in the way. But she supposed he would soon be
+off.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER X_
+
+_Mrs. Easterfield writes a Letter._
+
+
+When Miss Port had left her, Olive was so much disturbed by what that
+placid spinster had told her that she totally forgot Claude Locker's
+proposal of marriage, as well as the other things she had been thinking
+about. These things had been not at all unpleasant; she had been
+thinking of her uncle and her return to the toll-gate house. Her visit
+to Broadstone was drawing to a close, and she was getting very tired of
+Mr. Locker and Mr. and Mrs. Fox. She found, now her anger had cooled
+down, that she was actually missing her uncle, and was thinking of him
+as of some one who belonged to her. Her own father had never seemed to
+belong to her; for periods of three years he was away on his ship; and,
+even when he had been on shore duty, she had sometimes been at school;
+and when she and her parents had been stationed somewhere together, the
+lieutenant had been a good deal away from home on this or that naval
+business. When a girl she had taken these absences as a matter of
+course, but since she had been living with her uncle her ideas on the
+subject had changed. She wanted now to be at home with him: and as
+Broadstone was so near the toll-gate she had no doubt that Mrs.
+Easterfield would sometimes want her to come to her when, perhaps, she
+would have different people staying with her.
+
+This was a very pleasant mental picture, and the more Olive had looked
+at it, the better she had liked it. As to the reconciliation with her
+uncle, it troubled her mind but little. So often had she been angry with
+people, and so often had everything been made all right again, that she
+felt used to the process. Her way was simple enough; when she was tired
+of her indignation she quietly dropped it; and then, taking it for
+granted that the other party had done the same, she recommenced her
+usual friendly intercourse, just as if there had never been a quarrel or
+misunderstanding. She had never found this method to fail--although, of
+course, it might easily have failed with one who was not Olive--and she
+had not the slightest doubt that if she wrote to her uncle that she was
+coming on a certain day, she would be gladly received by him when she
+should arrive.
+
+But now? After what that woman had told her, what now? If her uncle had
+said she was not coming back, there was an end to her mental pictures
+and her pleasant plans. And what a hard man he must be to say that!
+
+Slowly walking over the grass, Olive went to look for Mrs. Easterfield,
+and found her in her garden on her knees by a flower-bed digging with a
+little trowel.
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," said she, "I am thinking of getting married."
+
+The elder lady sprang to her feet, dropping her trowel, which barely
+missed her toes. She looked frightened. "What?" she exclaimed. "To
+whom?"
+
+"Not to anybody in particular," replied Olive. "I am considering the
+subject in general. Let's go sit on that bench, and talk about it."
+
+A little relieved, Mrs. Easterfield followed her. "I don't know what you
+mean," she said, when they were seated. "Women don't think of marriage
+in a general way; they consider it in a particular way."
+
+"Oh, I am different," said Olive; "I am a navy girl, and more like a
+man. I have to look out for myself. I think it is time I was married,
+and therefore I am giving the subject attention. Don't you think that is
+prudent?"
+
+"And you say you have no particular leanings?" the other inquired.
+
+"None whatever," said Olive. "Mr. Locker proposed to me less than an
+hour ago, but I gave him no answer. He is too precipitate, and he is
+only one person, anyway."
+
+"You don't want to marry more than one person!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+"No," said Olive, "but I want more than one to choose from."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield did not understand the girl at all. But this was not to
+be expected so soon; she must wait a little, and find out more.
+Notwithstanding her apparent indifference to Claude Locker, there was
+more danger in that direction than Mrs. Easterfield had supposed. A
+really persistent lover is often very dangerous, no matter how
+indifferent a young woman may be.
+
+"Have you been considering the professor?" she asked, with a smile. "I
+noticed that you were very gracious to him yesterday."
+
+"No, I haven't," said Olive. "But I suppose I might as well. I did try
+to make him have a good time, but I was still a little provoked and felt
+that I would like him to go back to my uncle and tell him that he had
+enjoyed himself. But now I suppose I must consider all the eligibles."
+
+"Why now?" asked Mrs. Easterfield quickly; "why now more than any
+previous time?"
+
+Olive did not immediately answer, but presently she said: "I am not
+going back to my uncle. There was a woman here just now--I don't know
+whether she was sent or not--who informed me that he did not expect me
+to return to his house. When my mother was living we were great
+companions for each other, but now you see I am left entirely alone. It
+will be a good while before father comes back, and then I don't know
+whether he can settle down or not. Besides, I am not very well
+acquainted with him, but I suppose that would arrange itself in time. So
+you see all I can do is to visit about until I am married, and therefore
+the sooner I am married and settled the better."
+
+"Perhaps this is a cold-blooded girl!" said Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+"But perhaps it is not!" Then, speaking aloud, she said: "Olive Asher,
+were you ever in love?"
+
+The girl looked at her with reflective eyes. "Yes," she said. "I was
+once, but that was the only time."
+
+"Would you mind telling me about it?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Not at all," replied the girl. "I was between thirteen and fourteen,
+and wore short dresses, and my hair was plaited. My father was on duty
+at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and we lived in that city. There was a
+young man who used to come to bring messages to father; I think he was a
+clerk or a draftsman. I do not remember his name, except that his first
+name was Rupert, and father always called him by that. He was a
+beautiful man-boy or boy-man, however you choose to put it. His eyes
+were heavenly blue, his skin was smooth and white, his cheeks were red,
+and he had the most charming mouth I ever saw. He was just the right
+height, well shaped, and wore the most becoming clothes. I fell madly in
+love with him the second time I saw him, and continued so for a long
+time. I used to think about him and dream about him, and write little
+poems about him which nobody ever saw. I tried to make a sketch of his
+face once, but I failed and tore it up."
+
+"What did he do?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Nothing whatever," said Olive. "I never spoke to him, or he to me. I
+don't believe he ever noticed me. Whenever I could I went into the room
+where he was talking to father, but I was very quiet and kept in the
+background, and I do not think his eyes ever fell upon me. But that did
+not make any difference at all. He was beautiful above all other men in
+the world, and I loved him. He was my first, my only love, and it almost
+brings tears in my eyes now to think of him."
+
+"Then you really could love the right person if he were to come along,"
+said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Why do you think I couldn't? Of course I could. But the trouble is he
+doesn't come, so I must try to arrange the matter with what material I
+have."
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield left the garden she went rapidly to her room.
+There was a smile on her lips, and a light in her eye. A novel idea had
+come to her which amused her, pleased her, and even excited her. She sat
+down at her writing-table and began a letter to her husband. After an
+opening paragraph she wrote thus:
+
+"Is not Mr. Hemphill, of the central office of the D. and J., named
+Rupert? It is my impression that he is. You know he has been to our
+house several times to dinner when you invited railroad people, and I
+remember him very well. If his name is Rupert will you find out, without
+asking him directly, whether or not he was engaged about seven years ago
+at the navy-yard. I am almost positive I once had a conversation with
+him about the navy-yard and the moving of one of the great buildings
+there. If you find that he had a position there, don't ask him any more
+questions, and drop the subject as quickly as you can. But I then want
+you to send him here on whatever pretext you please--you can send me any
+sort of an important message or package--and if I find it desirable, I
+shall ask him to stay here a few days. These hard-worked secretaries
+ought to have more vacations. In fact, I have a very interesting scheme
+in mind, of which I shall say nothing now for fear you may think it
+necessary to reason about it. By the time you come it will have been
+worked out, and I will tell you all about it. Now, don't fail to send
+Mr. Hemphill as promptly as possible, if you find his name is Rupert,
+and that he has ever been engaged in the navy-yard."
+
+This letter was then sent to the post-office at the gap with an
+immediate-delivery stamp on it.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield went down-stairs, her face still glowing with the
+pleasure given by the writing of her letter, she met Claude Locker,
+whose face did not glow with pleasure.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" she asked.
+
+"I feel like a man who has been half decapitated," said he. "I do not
+know whether the execution is to be arrested and my wound healed, or
+whether it is to go on and my head roll into the dust."
+
+"A horrible idea!" said Mrs. Easterfield. "What do you really mean?"
+
+"I have proposed to Miss Asher and I was treated with indifference, but
+have not been discarded. Don't you see that I can not live in this
+condition? I am looking for her."
+
+"It will be a great deal better for you to leave her alone," replied
+Mrs. Easterfield. "If she has any answer for you she will give it when
+she is ready. Perhaps she is trying to make up her mind, and you may
+spoil all by intruding yourself upon her."
+
+"That will not do at all," said Locker, "not at all. The more Miss Asher
+sees of me in an unengaged condition the less she will like me. I am
+fully aware of this. I know that my general aspect must be very
+unpleasant, so if I expect any success whatever, the quicker I get this
+thing settled the better."
+
+"Even if she refuses you," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Yes," he answered; "then down comes the axe again, away goes my head,
+and all is over! Then there is another thing," he said, without giving
+Mrs. Easterfield a chance to speak. "There is that mathematical person.
+When will he be here again?"
+
+"I do not know," replied Mrs. Easterfield; "he has merely a general
+invitation."
+
+"I don't like him," said Locker. "He has been here twice, and that is
+two times too many. I hate him."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because he is unobjectionable," Locker answered, "and I am very much
+afraid Miss Asher likes unobjectionable people. Now I am
+objectionable--I know it--and the longer I remain unengaged the more
+objectionable I shall become. I wish you would invite nobody but such
+people as the Foxes."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because they are married," replied Locker. "But I must not wait here.
+Can you tell me where I shall be likely to find her?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield, "she is with the Foxes, and they are
+married."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XI_
+
+_Mr. Locker is released on Bail._
+
+
+Nearly the whole of that morning Dick Lancaster sat in the arbor in the
+tollhouse garden, his book in his hand. Part of the time he was thinking
+about what he would like to do, and part of the time he was thinking
+about what he ought to do. He felt sure he had stayed with the captain
+as long as he had been expected to, but he did not want to go away. On
+the contrary, he greatly desired to remain within walking distance of
+Broadstone. He was in love with Olive. When he had seen her at luncheon,
+cold and reserved, he had been greatly impressed by her, and when he
+went out boating with her the next day he gave her his heart
+unreservedly. When people fell in love with Olive they always did it
+promptly.
+
+As he sat, with Olive standing near the footlights of his mental stage
+and the drop-curtain hanging between her and all the rest of the world,
+the captain strolled up to him.
+
+"Dick," said he, "somehow or other my tobacco does not taste as it ought
+to. Give me a pipeful of yours."
+
+When the captain had filled his pipe from Dick's bag he lighted it and
+gave a few puffs. "It isn't a bit better than mine," said he, "but I
+will keep on and smoke it. Dick, let's go and take a walk over the
+hills. I feel rather stupid to-day. And, by the way, I hope you will be
+able to stay with me for the rest of your vacation. Have you made plans
+to go anywhere else?"
+
+"No plans of the slightest importance," answered Lancaster with joyous
+vivacity. "I shall be delighted to stay."
+
+This prompt acceptance somewhat surprised the captain. He had spoken
+without premeditation, and without thinking of anything at all except
+that he did not want everybody to go away and leave him. He had begun to
+know something of the pleasures of family life; of having some one to
+sit at the table with him; to whom he could talk; on whom he could look.
+In fact, although he did not exactly appreciate such a state of things,
+some one he could love. He was getting really fond of Dick Lancaster.
+
+As for Olive, he did not know what to think of her; sometimes he was
+sure she was not coming back, and at other times he thought it likely he
+might get a letter that very day appointing the time for her return. He
+stood puffing his pipe and thinking about this after Dick had spoken.
+
+"But it does not matter," he said to himself, "which way it happens. If
+she doesn't come I want him here, and if she does come, he is good
+enough for anybody, and perhaps she may be pleased." And then he
+indulged in a little fragment of the dream which had come to him before;
+he saw two young people in a charming home, not at the toll-gate, and
+himself living with them. Plenty of money for all moderate needs, and
+all happy and satisfied. Then with a sigh he knocked the tobacco from
+his pipe and said to himself: "If I hear she is coming, I will let her
+know he is still here, and then she must judge for herself."
+
+As they walked together over the hills, Dick Lancaster was very anxious
+to know something about Olive's return, but he did not like to ask. The
+captain had been very reticent on the subject of his niece, and Dick was
+a gentleman. But to his surprise, and very much to his delight, the
+captain soon began to talk about Olive. He told Dick how his brother had
+entered the navy when the elder was first mate on a merchant vessel; how
+Alfred had risen in the service; had married; and how his wife and
+daughter had lived in various parts of the world. Then he spoke of a
+good many things he had heard about Olive, and other things he had found
+out since she had lived with him; and as he went on his heart warmed,
+and Dick Lancaster listened with as warm a heart as that from which the
+captain spoke.
+
+And thus they walked over the hills, this young man and this elderly
+man, each in love with the same girl.
+
+During all the walk Dick never asked when Miss Asher was coming back to
+the tollhouse, nor did Captain Asher make any remarks upon the subject.
+It was not really of vital importance to Dick, as Broadstone was so
+near, and it was of such vital importance to the captain that it was
+impossible for him to speak of it.
+
+The next day the bright-hearted Richard trod buoyantly upon the earth;
+he did not care to read; he did not want to smoke; and he was not much
+inclined to conversation; he was simply buoyant, and undecided. The
+captain looked at him and smiled.
+
+"Why don't you walk over to Broadstone?" he said. "It will do you good.
+I want you to stay with me, but I don't expect you to be stuck down to
+this tollhouse all day. I am going about the farm to-day, but I shall
+expect you to supper."
+
+When he was ready to start Dick Lancaster felt a little perplexed. His
+ideas of friendly civility impelled him to ask the captain if there was
+anything he could do for him, if there was any message or missive he
+could take to his niece, or anything he could bring from her, but he was
+prudent and refrained; if the captain wished service of this sort he was
+a man to ask for it.
+
+The first person Dick met at Broadstone was Mrs. Easterfield, cutting
+roses.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Professor Lancaster," said she, as she put
+down her roses and her scissors. "Would you mind, before you enter into
+the general Broadstone society, sitting down on this bench and talking a
+little to me?"
+
+Dick could not help smiling. What man in the world, even if he were in
+love with somebody else, could object to sitting down by such a woman
+and talking to her?
+
+"What I am going to say," said Mrs. Easterfield, "is impertinent,
+unwarranted, and of an officious character. You and I know each other
+very slightly; neither of us has long been acquainted with Captain
+Asher, you have met his niece but twice, and I have never really known
+her until what you might call the other day. But in spite of all this, I
+propose that you and I shall meddle a little in their affairs. I have
+taken the greatest fancy to Miss Asher, and, if you can do it without
+any breach of confidence, I would like you to tell me if you know of any
+misunderstanding between her and her uncle."
+
+"I know of nothing of the kind," said Dick with great interest, "but I
+admit I thought there might be something wrong somewhere. He knew I was
+coming here to-day--in fact, he suggested it--but he sent Miss Asher no
+sort of message."
+
+"Can it be possible he is cherishing any hard feelings against her?" she
+remarked. "I should not have supposed he was that sort of man."
+
+"He is not that sort of man," said Dick warmly. "He was talking to me
+about her yesterday, and from what he said, I am sure he thinks she is
+the finest girl in the world."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," said she, "but it makes the situation more
+puzzling. Can it be possible that she is treating him badly?"
+
+"Oh, I could not believe that!" exclaimed Dick fervently. "I can not
+imagine such a thing."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled. He had really known the girl but for one day,
+for the first meeting did not count; and here he was defending the
+absolute beauty of her character. But the assumption of the genus young
+man often overtops the pyramids. She now determined to take him a little
+more into her confidence.
+
+"Miss Asher has intimated to me that she does not expect to go back to
+her uncle's house, and this morning she made a reference to the end of
+her visit here, but I thought you might be able to tell me something
+about her uncle. If he really does not expect her back I want her to
+stay here."
+
+"Alas," said Dick, "I can not tell you anything. But of one thing I feel
+sure, and that is that he would like her to come back."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I am not going to let her go away at
+present, and if Captain Asher should say anything to you on the subject,
+you are at liberty to tell him that. From what you said the other day, I
+suppose you will soon be leaving this quiet valley for the haunts of
+men."
+
+"Oh, no," exclaimed Dick. "He wants me to stay with him as long as I
+can, and I shall certainly do it."
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Easterfield, rising, "I must go and finish cutting my
+roses. I think you will find everybody on the tennis grounds."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield had cut in all twenty-three roses when Claude Locker
+came to her from the house. His face was beaming, and he skipped over
+the short grass.
+
+"Congratulate me," he said, as he stepped before her.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped her roses and her scissors and turned pale.
+"What do you mean?" she gasped.
+
+"Oh, don't be frightened," he said. "I have not been acquitted, but the
+execution has been stopped for the present, and I am out on bail. I
+really feel as though the wound in my neck had healed."
+
+"What stuff!" said Mrs. Easterfield, her color returning. "Try to speak
+sensibly."
+
+"Oh, I can do that," said Mr. Locker; "upon occasion I can do that very
+well. I proposed again to Miss Asher not twenty minutes ago. She gave me
+no answer, but she made an arrangement with me which I think is going to
+be very satisfactory; she said she could not have me proposing to her
+every time I saw her--it would attract attention, and in the end might
+prove annoying--but she said she would be willing to have me propose to
+her every day just before luncheon, provided I did not insist upon an
+answer, and would promise to give no indication whatever at any other
+time that I entertained any unusual regard for her. I agreed to this,
+and now we understand each other. I feel very confident and happy. The
+other person has no regular time for offering himself, and if any effort
+of mine can avail he shall not find an irregular opportunity."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "Come pick up my roses," she said. "I must go
+in."
+
+"It is like making love," said Locker as he picked up the flowers,
+"charming, but prickly." At this moment he started. "Who is that?" he
+exclaimed.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield turned. "Oh, that is Monsieur Emile Du Brant. He is one
+of the secretaries of the Austrian legation. He is to spend a week with
+us. Suppose you take my flowers into the house and I will go to meet
+him."
+
+Claude Locker, his arms folded around a mass of thorny roses, and a pair
+of scissors dangling from one finger, stood and gazed with savage
+intensity at the dapper little man--black eyes, waxed mustache, dressed
+in the height of fashion--who, with one hand outstretched, while the
+other held his hat, advanced with smiles and bows to meet the lady of
+the house. Locker had seen him before; he had met him in Washington; and
+he had received forty dollars for a poem of which this Austrian young
+person was the subject.
+
+He allowed the lady and her guest to enter the house before him, and
+then, like a male Flora, he followed, grinding his teeth, and indulging
+in imprecations.
+
+"He will have to put on some other kind of clothes," he muttered, "and
+perhaps he may shave and curl his hair. That will give me a chance to
+see her before lunch. I do not know that she expected me to begin
+to-day, but I am going to do it. I have a clear field so far, and nobody
+knows what may happen to-morrow."
+
+As Locker stood in the hallway waiting for some one to come and take his
+flowers, or to tell him where to put them, he glanced out of the back
+door. There, to his horror, he saw that Mrs. Easterfield had conducted
+her guest through the house, and that they were now approaching the
+tennis ground, where Professor Lancaster and Miss Asher were standing
+with their rackets in their hands, while Mr. and Mrs. Fox were playing
+chess under the shade of a tree.
+
+"Field open!" he exclaimed, dropping the roses and the scissors. "Field
+clear! What a double-dyed ass am I!" And with this he rushed out to the
+tennis ground; Mrs. Easterfield did not play.
+
+Before Mrs. Easterfield returned to the house she stood for a moment
+and looked at the tennis players.
+
+"Olive and three young men," she said to herself; "that will do very
+well."
+
+A little before luncheon Claude Locker became very uneasy, and even
+agitated. He hovered around Olive, but found no opportunity to speak to
+her, for she was always talking to somebody else, mostly to the
+newcomer. But she was a little late in entering the dining-room, and
+Locker stepped up to her in the doorway.
+
+"Is this your handkerchief?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she, stopping; "isn't it yours?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, "but I had to have some way of attracting your
+attention. I love you so much that I can scarcely see the table and the
+people."
+
+"Thank you," she said, "and that is all for the next twenty-four hours."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XII_
+
+_Mr. Rupert Hemphill._
+
+
+That afternoon it rained, so that the Broadstone people were obliged to
+stay indoors. Dick Lancaster found Mr. Fox a very agreeable and
+well-informed man, and Mrs. Fox was also an excellent conversationalist.
+Mrs. Easterfield, who, after the confidences of the morning, could not
+help looking at him as something more than an acquaintance, talked to
+him a good deal, and tried to make the time pass pleasantly, at which
+business she was an adept. All this was very pleasant to Dick, but it
+did not compensate him for the almost entire loss of the society of
+Olive, who seemed to devote herself to the entertainment of the Austrian
+secretary. Mrs. Easterfield was very sorry that the young foreigner had
+come at this time, but he had been invited the winter before; the time
+had been appointed; and the visit had to be endured.
+
+When the rain had ceased, and Dick was about to take his leave, his
+hostess declared she would not let him walk back through the mud.
+
+"You shall have a horse," she said, "and that will insure an early visit
+from you, for, of course, you will not trust the animal to other hands
+than your own. I would ask you to stay, but that would not be treating
+the captain kindly."
+
+As Dick was mounting Mr. Du Brant was standing at the front door, a
+smile on his swarthy countenance. This smile said as plainly as words
+could have done so that it was very amusing to this foreign young man to
+see a person with rolled-up trousers and a straw hat mount upon a horse.
+Claude Locker, whose soul had been chafing all the afternoon under his
+banishment from the society of the angel of his life, was also at the
+front door, and saw the contemptuous smile. Instantly a new and powerful
+emotion swept over his being in the shape of a strong feeling of
+fellowship for Lancaster. It made his soul boil with indignation to see
+the sneer which the Austrian directed toward the young man, a thoroughly
+fine young man, who, by said foreigner's monkeyful impudence, and
+another's mistaken favor, had been made a brother-in-misfortune of
+himself, Claude Locker.
+
+"I will make common cause with him against the enemy," thought Locker.
+"If I should fail to get her I will help him to." And although Dick's
+brown socks were plainly visible as he cantered away, Mr. Locker looked
+after him as a gallant and honored brother-in-arms.
+
+That evening Claude Locker fought for himself and his comrade. He
+persisted in talking French with Mr. Du Brant; and his remarkable
+management of that language, in which ignorance and a subtle facility in
+intentional misapprehension were so adroitly blended that it was
+impossible to tell one from the other, amused Olive, and so provoked the
+Austrian that at last he turned away and began to talk American
+politics with Mr. Fox, which so elated the poet that the ladies of the
+party passed a merry evening.
+
+"Would you like me to take him out rowing to-morrow?" asked Claude apart
+to his hostess.
+
+"With you at the oars?" she asked.
+
+"Of course," said Locker.
+
+"I am amazed," said she, "that you should suspect me of such
+cold-blooded cruelty."
+
+"You know you don't want him here," said Claude. "His salary can not be
+large, and he must spend the greater part of it on clothes--and oil."
+
+"Is it possible," she asked, "that you look upon that young man as a
+rival?"
+
+"By no means," he replied; "such persons never marry. They only prevent
+other people from marrying anybody. Therefore it is that I remember what
+sort of a boatman I am."
+
+"My dear," said Mr. Fox, when he and his wife had retired to their room,
+"after hearing what that Austrian has to say of the American people, I
+almost revere Mr. Locker."
+
+"I heard some of his remarks," she said, "and I imagined they would have
+an effect of that kind upon you."
+
+When the Broadstone surrey came from the train the next morning it
+brought a gentleman.
+
+"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox, when from the other side of the lawn she saw
+him alight. "Another young man with a valise! It seems to me that this
+is an overdose!"
+
+"Overdoses," remarked Mr. Fox, "are often less dangerous than just
+enough poison."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield received this visitor at the door. She had been waiting
+for him, and did not wish him to meet anybody when she was not present.
+After offering his respectful salutations, Mr. Hemphill, Mr.
+Easterfield's secretary in the central office of the D. and J.,
+delivered without delay a package of which he was the bearer, and
+apologized for his valise, stating that Mr. Easterfield had told him he
+must spend the night at Broadstone.
+
+"Most assuredly you would do that," said she, and to herself she added,
+"If I want you longer I will let you know."
+
+Mr. Rupert Hemphill was a very handsome man; his nose was fine; his eyes
+were dark and expressive; he wore silky side-whiskers, which, however,
+did not entirely conceal the bloom upon his cheeks; his teeth were very
+good; he was well shaped; and his clothes fitted him admirably.
+
+As has been said before, Mrs. Easterfield was exceedingly interested;
+she was even a little agitated, which was not common with her. She had
+Mr. Hemphill conducted to his room, and then she waited for him to come
+down; this also was not common with her.
+
+"Mr. Locker," she called from the open door, "do you know where Miss
+Asher is?"
+
+The poet stopped in his stride across the lawn, and approached the lady.
+"Oh, she is with the Du Brant," said he. "I have been trying to get in
+some of my French, but neither of them will rise to the fly. However, I
+am content; it is now three hours before luncheon, and if she has him
+to herself for that length of time, I think she will be thoroughly
+disgusted. Then it will be my time, as per agreement."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was a little disappointed. She wanted Olive by herself,
+but she did not want to make a point of sending for her. But fortune
+favored her.
+
+"There she is," exclaimed Locker; "she is just going into the library.
+Let me go tell her you want her."
+
+"Not at all," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Don't put yourself into danger of
+breaking your word by seeing her alone before luncheon. I'll go to her."
+
+Mr. Locker continued his melancholy stroll, and Mrs. Easterfield entered
+the library. Olive must not be allowed to go away until the moment
+arrived which had been awaited with so much interest.
+
+"I am looking for a copy of _Tartarin sur les Alps_. I am sure I saw it
+among these French books," said Olive, on her knees before a low
+bookcase. "Would you believe it, Mr. Du Brant has never read it, and he
+seems to think so much of education."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield knew exactly where the book was, but she preferred to
+allow Olive to occupy herself in looking for it, while she kept her eyes
+on the hall.
+
+"Wait a moment, Olive," said she; "a visitor has just arrived, and I
+want to make him acquainted with you."
+
+Olive rose with a book in her hand, and Mrs. Easterfield presented Mr.
+Hemphill to Miss Asher. As she did so, Mrs. Easterfield kept her eyes
+steadily fixed upon the young lady's face. With a pleasant smile Olive
+returned Mr. Hemphill's bow. She was generally glad to make new
+acquaintances.
+
+"Mr. Hemphill is one of my husband's business associates," said Mrs.
+Easterfield, still with her eyes on Olive. "He has just come from him."
+
+"Did he send us this fine day by you?" said Olive. "If so, we are
+greatly obliged to him."
+
+The young man answered that, although he had not brought the day, he was
+delighted that he had come in company with it.
+
+"What atrocious commonplaces!" thought Mrs. Easterfield. "The girl does
+not know him from Adam!"
+
+Here was a disappointment; the thrill, the pallor, the involuntary
+start, were totally absent; and the first act of the little play was a
+failure. But Mrs. Easterfield hoped for better things when the curtain
+rose again. She conducted Mr. Hemphill to the Foxes and let Olive go
+away with her book; and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she read
+the letter from her husband.
+
+"With this I send you Mr. Hemphill," he wrote. "I don't know what you
+want to do with him, but you must take good care of him. He is a most
+valuable secretary, and an estimable young man. As soon as you have done
+with him please send him back."
+
+"I am glad he is estimable," said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. "That
+will make the matter more satisfactory to Tom when I explain it to him."
+
+When Dick Lancaster, properly booted and wearing a felt hat, returned
+the borrowed horse, he was met by Mr. Locker, who had been wandering
+about the front of the house, and when he had dismounted Dick was
+somewhat surprised by the hearty handshake he received.
+
+"I am sorry to have to tell you," said the poet, "that there is another
+one."
+
+"Another what?" asked Dick.
+
+"Another unnecessary victim," replied Locker. And with this he returned
+to the front of the house.
+
+At last Olive came down the stairs, and she was alone. Locker stepped
+quickly up to her.
+
+"If I should marry," he said, "would I be expected to entertain that
+Austrian?"
+
+She stopped, and gave the question her serious consideration. "I should
+think," she said, "that that would depend a good deal upon whom you
+should marry."
+
+"How can you talk in that way?" he exclaimed. "As if there were anything
+to depend upon!"
+
+"Nothing to depend upon," said Olive, slightly raising her eyebrows.
+"That is bad." And she went into the dining-room.
+
+The afternoon was an exceptionally fine one, but the party at Broadstone
+did not take advantage of it; there seemed to be a spirit of unrest
+pervading the premises, and when the carriage started on a drive along
+the river only Mr. and Mrs. Fox were in it. Mrs. Easterfield would not
+leave Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and she did not encourage them to go.
+Consequently there were three young men who did not wish to go.
+
+"It seems to me," said Mr. Fox, as they rolled away, "that a young
+woman, such as Miss Asher, has it in her power to interfere very much
+with the social feeling which should pervade a household like this. If
+she were to satisfy herself with attracting one person, all the rest of
+us might be content to make ourselves happy in such fashions as might
+present themselves."
+
+"The rest of us!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox.
+
+"Yes," replied her husband. "I mean you, and Mrs. Easterfield, and
+myself, and the rest. That young woman's indeterminate methods of
+fascination interfere with all of us."
+
+"I don't exactly see how they interfere with me," said Mrs. Fox rather
+stiffly.
+
+"If the carriage had been filled, as was expected," said her husband, "I
+might have had the pleasure of driving you in a buggy."
+
+She turned to him with a smile. "Immediately after I spoke," she said,
+"I imagined you might be thinking of something of that kind."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was not a woman to wait for things to happen in their
+own good time. If possible, she liked to hurry them up. In this Olive
+and Hemphill affair there was really nothing to wait for; if she left
+them to themselves there would be no happenings. As soon as was
+possible, she took Olive into her own little room, where she kept her
+writing-table, and into whose sacred precincts her secretary was not
+allowed to penetrate.
+
+"Now, then," said she, "what do you think of Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"I don't think of him at all," said Olive, a little surprised. "Is there
+anything about him to think of?"
+
+"He sat by you at luncheon," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I know that," said Olive, "and he was better than an empty chair. I
+hate sitting by empty chairs."
+
+"Olive," exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield with vivacity, "you ought to
+remember that young man!"
+
+"Remember him?" the girl ejaculated.
+
+"Certainly," said Mrs. Easterfield. "After what you told me about him, I
+expected you would recognize him the moment you saw him. But you did not
+know him; you did not do anything I expected you to do; and I was very
+much disappointed."
+
+"What are you talking about?" asked Olive.
+
+"I am talking about Mr. Hemphill; Mr. Rupert Hemphill; who, about seven
+years ago, was engaged in the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and who came to
+your house on business with your father. From what you told me of him I
+conjectured that he might now be my husband's Philadelphia secretary,
+for his name is Rupert, and I had reason to believe that he was once
+engaged in the navy-yard. When I found out I was entirely correct in my
+supposition I had him sent here, and I looked forward with the most
+joyous anticipations to being present when you first saw him. But it was
+all a fiasco! I suppose some people might think I was unwarrantably
+meddling in the affairs of others, but as it was in my power to create a
+most charming romance, I could not let the opportunity pass."
+
+Olive did not hear a word of Mrs. Easterfield's latest remarks; her
+round, full eyes were fixed upon the wall in front of her, but they saw
+nothing. Her mind had gone back seven years.
+
+"Is it possible," she exclaimed presently, "that that is my Rupert, my
+beautiful Rupert of the roseate cheeks, the Rupert of my heart, my only
+love! The Endymion-like youth I watched for every day; on whom I gazed
+and gazed and worshiped and longed for when he had gone; of whom I
+dreamed; to whom my soul went out in poetry; whose miniature I would
+have painted on the finest ivory if I had known how to paint; and whose
+image thus created I would have worn next my heart to look at every
+instant I found myself alone, if it had not been that my dresses were
+all fastened down the back! I am going to him this instant! I must see
+him again! My Rupert, my only love!" And with this she started to the
+door.
+
+"Olive," cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing from her chair, "stop, don't
+you do that! Come back. You must not--"
+
+But the girl had flown down the stairs, and was gone.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIII_
+
+_Mr. Lancaster's Backers._
+
+
+Olive found Mr. Hemphill under a tree upon the lawn. He was sitting on a
+low bench with one little girl upon each knee. He was not a stranger to
+the children, for they had frequently met him during their winter
+residences in cities. He was telling them a story when Olive approached.
+He made an attempt to rise, but the little girls would not let him put
+them down.
+
+"Don't move, Mr. Hemphill," said Olive; "I am going to sit down myself."
+And as she spoke she drew forward a low bench. "I am so glad to see you
+are fond of children, Mr. Hemphill," she continued; "you must have
+changed very much."
+
+"Changed!" he exclaimed. "I have always been fond of them."
+
+"Excuse me," said Olive, "not always. I remember a child you did not
+care for, on whom you did not even look, who was absolutely nothing to
+you, although you were so much to her."
+
+Mr. Hemphill stared. "I do not remember such a child," said he.
+
+"She existed," said Olive. "I was that child." And then she told him
+how she had seen him come to her father's house.
+
+Mr. Hemphill remembered Lieutenant Asher, he remembered going to his
+house, but he did not remember seeing there a little girl.
+
+"I was not so very little," said Olive; "I was fourteen, and I was just
+at an age to be greatly attracted by you. I thought you were the most
+beautiful young man I had ever beheld. I don't mind telling you, because
+I can not look upon you as a stranger, that I fell deeply in love with
+you."
+
+As Mr. Hemphill sat and listened to these words his face turned redder
+than the reddest rose, even his silky whiskers seemed to redden, his
+fine-cut red lips were parted, but he could not speak. The two little
+girls had been gazing earnestly at Olive. Now the elder one spoke.
+
+"I am in love," she said.
+
+"And so am I," piped up the younger one.
+
+"She's in love with Martha's little Jim," said the first girl, "but I am
+in love with Henry. He's eight. Both boys."
+
+"I wouldn't be in love with a girl," said the little one contemptuously.
+
+This interruption was a help to Mr. Hemphill, and his redness paled a
+little.
+
+"Of course you could not be expected to know anything of my feelings for
+you," said Olive, "and perhaps it is very well you did not, for business
+is business, and the feelings of girls should not be allowed to
+interfere with it. But my heart went out to you all the same. You were
+my first love."
+
+Now Mr. Hemphill crimsoned again worse than before. He had not yet
+spoken a word, and there was no word in the English language which he
+thought would be appropriate for the occasion.
+
+"You may think I am a little cruel to plump this sort of thing upon
+you," said Olive, "in such a sudden way, but I am not. All this was
+seven years ago, and a person of my age can surely speak freely of what
+happened seven years ago. I did not even know you when I met you, but
+Mrs. Easterfield told me about you, and now I remember everything, and I
+think it would have been inhuman if I had not told you of the part you
+used to play in my life. You have a right to know it."
+
+If Mr. Hemphill could have reddened any more he would have done so, but
+it was not possible. The thought flashed into his mind that it might be
+well to say something about her having found him very much changed, but
+in the next instant he saw that that would not do. How could he assume
+that he had ever been beautiful; how could he force her to say that he
+was not beautiful now, or that he still remained so?
+
+"I am very glad I have met you," said Olive, "and that I know who you
+are. And I am glad, too, to tell you that I forgive you for not taking
+notice of me seven years ago."
+
+"Is that all of your story?" asked the elder little girl.
+
+"Yes," said Olive, laughing, "that is all."
+
+"Well, then, let Mr. Hemphill go on with his," said she.
+
+"Oh, certainly," said Olive, jumping up; "and you must all excuse me
+for interfering with your story."
+
+Mr. Hemphill sat still, a little girl on each knee. He had not spoken a
+word since that beautiful girl had told him she had once loved him. And
+he could not speak now.
+
+"You look as if you had a plaster taken off," said the younger little
+girl. And, after waiting a moment for an answer, she slipped off his
+knee; the other followed; and the story was postponed.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield heard Olive's account of this incident she was
+utterly astounded. "What sort of a girl are you" she exclaimed. "What
+are you going to do about it now?"
+
+"Do?" said Olive quietly. "I have done."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was in a state of great perplexity. She had already
+asked Mr. Hemphill to stay until Saturday, three days off, and she could
+not tell him to go away, and the awkwardness of his remaining in the
+same house with Olive was something not easy to deal with.
+
+During Olive's interview with Mr. Hemphill and the little girls Claude
+Locker had been sitting alone at a distance, gazing at the group. He was
+waiting for an opportunity of social converse, for this was not
+forbidden him even if the time did not immediately precede the luncheon
+hour. He saw Hemphill's blazing face, and deeply wondered. If it had
+been the lady who had flushed he would have bounced upon the scene to
+defend her, but Olive was calm, and it was the conscious guilt of the
+man that made his face look like a freshly painted tin roof. This was an
+affair into which he had no right to intrude himself, and so he sat and
+sighed, and his heart grew heavy. How many ante-luncheon avowals would
+have to be made before she would take so much interest in him, one way
+or the other!
+
+Mr. Du Brant also sat at a distance. He was reading, or at least
+appearing to read; but he was so unaccustomed to holding a book in his
+hands that he did it very awkwardly, and Miss Raleigh, who was looking
+at him from the library window, made up her mind that if he dropped it,
+as she expected him to do, she would get the book and rub the dirt off
+the corners before it was put back into the bookcase. But when Olive
+left Mr. Hemphill she went so quickly into the house that the Austrian
+was unable to join her, and he, therefore, went to his room to prepare
+for dinner.
+
+Dick Lancaster had also been waiting, although not watching. He had
+hoped that he might have a chance for a little talk with Olive. But
+there was really no good reason to expect it, for he knew that two, and
+perhaps three, young men had stayed at home that afternoon in the hope
+that they might have the same opportunity. The odds against him were
+great.
+
+He began to think that perhaps he was engaged in a foolish piece of
+business, and was in danger of making himself disagreeably conspicuous.
+The other young men were guests at Broadstone, but if he came there
+every day as he had been doing, and as he wanted to do, it might be
+thought that he was taking advantage of Mrs. Easterfield's kindness. At
+that moment he heard the rustle of skirts, and, glancing up, saw Mrs.
+Easterfield, who was looking for him.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield's regard for Lancaster was growing, partly on account
+of the confidence she had already reposed in him. In her present state
+of mind she would have been glad to give him still more, for she did not
+know what to do about Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and there was no one with
+whom she could talk upon the subject; even if she had known Dick better
+her loyalty to Olive would have prevented that.
+
+"Have you found out anything about the captain and Olive?" she asked.
+"Has he spoken of her return?"
+
+"No," replied Dick; "he has not said a word on the subject, but I am
+very sure he would be overjoyed to have her come back. Every day when
+the postman arrives I believe he looks for a letter from her, and he
+shows that he feels it when he finds none. He is good-natured, and
+pleasant, but he is not as cheerful as when I first came."
+
+"Every day," said Mrs. Easterfield, as they walked together, "I love
+Olive more and more."
+
+"So do I," thought Dick.
+
+"But every day I understand her less and less," she continued. "She is
+truly a navy girl, and repose does not seem to be one of her
+characteristics. From what she has told me, I believe she has never
+lived in domestic peace and quiet until she came to stay with her uncle.
+It would delight me to see her properly married. I wish you would marry
+her."
+
+Dick stopped, and so did she, and they stood looking at each other. He
+did not redden, for he was not of the flushing kind; his face even grew
+a little hard.
+
+"Do you believe," said he, in a very different tone from his ordinary
+voice, "that I have the slightest chance?"
+
+"Of course I do," she answered. "I believe you have a very good chance,
+or I should not have spoken to you. I flatter myself that I have
+excellent judgment concerning young men, and I am very fond of Olive."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," exclaimed Dick, "you know I am in love with her. I
+suppose that has been easy enough to see, but it has all been very quick
+work with me; in fact, I have had very little to say to her, and have
+never said anything that could in the slightest degree indicate how I
+felt toward her. But I believe I loved her the second day I met her, and
+I am not sure it did not begin the day before."
+
+"I think that sort of thing is always quick work where Olive is
+concerned," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think it likely that many young
+men have fallen in love with her, and that they have to be very lively
+if they want a chance to tell her so. But don't be jealous. I know
+positively that none of them ever had the slightest chance. But now all
+that is passed. I know she is tired of an unsettled life, and it is
+likely she may soon be thinking of marrying, and there will be no lack
+of suitors. She has them now. But I want her to marry you."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," exclaimed Dick, "you have known me but a very little
+while----"
+
+"Don't mention that," she interrupted. "I do quick work as well as other
+people. I never before engaged in any matchmaking business, but if this
+succeeds, I shall be proud of it to the end of my days. You are in love
+with Olive, and she is worthy of you. I want you to try to win her, and
+I will do everything I can to help you. Here is my hand upon it."
+
+As Dick held that hand and looked into that face a courage and a belief
+in himself came into his heart that had never been there before. By day
+and by night his soul had been filled with the image of Olive, but up to
+this moment he had not thought of marrying her. That was something that
+belonged to the future, not even considered in his state of inchoate
+adoration. But now that he had been told he had reason to hope, he
+hoped; and the fact that one beautiful woman told him he might hope to
+win another beautiful woman was a powerful encouragement. Henceforth he
+would not be content with simply loving Olive; if it were within his
+power he would win, he would have her.
+
+"You look like a soldier going forth to conquest," said Mrs. Easterfield
+with a smile.
+
+"And you," said he impulsively, "you not only look like, but you are an
+angel."
+
+This was pretty strong for the young professor, but the lady understood
+him. She was very glad, indeed, that he could express himself
+impulsively, for without that power he could not win Olive.
+
+As Dick started away from Broadstone on his walk to the toll-gate he
+heard quick steps behind him and was soon overtaken by Claude Locker.
+
+"Hello," said that young man, "if you are on your way home I am going to
+walk a while with you. I have not done a thing to-day."
+
+When Dick heard these words his heart sank. He was on his way home
+accompanied by Olive--Olive in his heart, Olive in his soul, Olive in
+his brain, Olive in the sky and all over the earth--how dared a common
+mortal intrude himself upon the scene?
+
+"There is another thing," said Locker, who was now keeping step with
+him. "My soul is filled with murderous intent. I thirst for human life,
+and I need the restraints of companionship."
+
+"Who is it you want to kill?" asked Dick coldly.
+
+"It is an Austrian," replied the other. "I will not say what Austrian,
+leaving that to your imagination. I don't suppose you ever killed an
+Austrian. Neither have I, but I should like to do it. It would be a
+novel and delightful experience."
+
+Dick did not think it necessary that he should be told more; he
+perfectly understood the state of the case, for it was impossible not to
+see that this young man was paying marked attention to Olive, while Mr.
+Du Brant was doing the same thing. But still it seemed well to say
+something, and he remarked:
+
+"What is the matter with the Austrian?"
+
+"He is in love with Miss Asher," said Locker, "and so am I. I am
+beginning to believe he is positively dangerous. I did not think so at
+first, but I do now. He has actually taken to reading. I know that man;
+I have often seen him in Washington. He was always running after some
+lady or other, but I never knew him to read before. It is a dangerous
+symptom. He reads with one eye, while the other sweeps the horizon to
+catch a glimpse of her. By the way, that would be a splendid idea for a
+district policeman; if he stood under a lamp-post in citizen's dress
+reading a book, no criminal would suspect his identity, and he could
+keep one eye on the printed page, and devote the other to the cause of
+justice. But to return to our sallow mutton, or black sheep, if you
+choose. That Austrian ought to be killed!"
+
+Dick smiled sardonically. "He is not your only obstacle," he said.
+
+"I know it," replied Locker. "There's that Chinese laundried fellow,
+smooth-finished, who came up this morning. He must be an old offender,
+for I saw her giving it to him hot this morning. I am sure she was
+telling him exactly what she thought of him, for he turned as red as a
+pickled beet. So he will have to scratch pretty hard if he expects to
+get into her good graces again, and I suppose that is what he came here
+for. But I am not so much afraid of him as I am of that Austrian. If he
+keeps on the literary lay, and reads books with her, looking up the
+words in the dictionary, it is dangerous."
+
+"I do not see," said Lancaster, somewhat loftily, "why you speak of
+these things to me."
+
+"Then I'll tell you," said Locker quickly. "I speak of them to you
+because you are just as much concerned in them as I am. You are in love
+with Miss Asher--anybody can see that--and, in fact, I should think you
+were a pretty poor sort of a fellow if you were not, after having seen
+and talked with her. Consequently that Austrian is just as dangerous to
+you as he is to me. And as I have chosen you for my brother-in-arms, it
+is right that I tell you everything I know."
+
+"Brother-in-arms?" ejaculated Dick.
+
+"That is what it is," said Locker, "and I will tell you how it came
+about. The Austrian looked upon you with scorn and contempt because you
+rode a horse wearing rolled-up trousers and low shoes. As you did not
+see him and could not return the contempt, I did it for you. Having done
+this, a fellow feeling for you immediately sprang up within me. That is
+what always happens, you know. After that the feeling became a good deal
+stronger, and I said to myself that if I found I could not get Miss
+Asher; and it's seventy-six I don't, for that's generally the state of
+my luck; I would help you to get her, partly because I like you, and
+partly because that Austrian must be ousted, no matter what happens or
+how it is done. So I became your brother-in-arms, and if I find I am out
+of the race, I am going to back you up just as hard as I can, and here's
+my hand upon it."
+
+Dick stopped as he had stopped half an hour before, and gazed upon his
+companion.
+
+"Now don't thank me," continued Locker, "or say anything nice, because
+if I find I can come in ahead of you I am going to do it. But if we work
+together, I am sure we need not be afraid of that Austrian, or of that
+fiery-faced model for a ready-made-clothes shop. It is to be either you
+or me--first place for me, if possible."
+
+Dick could not help laughing. "You are a jolly sort of a fellow," said
+he, "and I will be your brother-in-arms. But it is to be first place for
+me, if possible." And they shook hands upon the bargain.
+
+That evening Mr. Hemphill found Olive alone. "I have been trying to get
+a chance to speak to you, Miss Asher," said he. "I want to ask you to
+help me, for I do not know what in the world to do."
+
+Olive looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"Since you spoke to me this afternoon," he went on, "I have been in a
+state of most miserable embarrassment; I can not for the life of me
+decide what I ought to say or what I ought to do, or what I ought not to
+say or what I ought not to do. If I should pass over as something not
+necessary to take into consideration the--the--most unusual statement
+you made to me, it might be that you would consider me as a boor, a man
+incapable of appreciating the--the--highest honors. Then again, if I do
+say anything to show that I appreciate such honors, you may well
+consider me presumptuous, conceited, and even insulting. I thought a
+while ago that I would leave this house before it would be necessary for
+me to decide how I should act when I met you, but I could not do that.
+Explanations would be necessary, and I would not be able to make them,
+and so, in sheer despair, I have come to you. Whatever you say I ought
+to do I will do. Of myself, I am utterly helpless."
+
+Olive looked at him with serious earnestness. "You are in a queer
+position," she said, "and I don't wonder you do not know what to do. I
+did not think of this peculiar consequence which would result from my
+revelation. As to the revelation itself, there is no use talking about
+it; it had to be made. It would have been unjust and wicked to allow a
+man to live in ignorance of the fact that such a thing had happened to
+him without his knowing it. But I think I can make it all right for
+you. If you had known when you were very young, in fact, when you were
+in another age of man, that a young girl in short dresses was in love
+with you, would you have disdained her affection?"
+
+"I should say not!" exclaimed Rupert Hemphill, his eyes fixed upon the
+person who had once been that girl in short dresses.
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, "there could have been nothing for her to
+complain of, no matter what she knew or what she did not know, and there
+is nothing he could complain of, no matter what he knew or did not know.
+And as both these persons have passed entirely out of existence, I think
+you and I need consider them no longer. And we can talk about tennis or
+bass fishing, or anything we like. And if you are a fisherman you will
+be glad to hear that there is first-rate bass fishing in the river now,
+and that we are talking of getting up a regular fishing party. We shall
+have to go two or three miles below here where the water is deeper and
+there are not so many rocks."
+
+That night Mr. Hemphill dreamed hard of a girl who had loved him when
+she was little, and who continued to love him now that she had grown to
+be wonderfully handsome. He was going out to sail with her in a boat far
+and far away, where nobody could find them or bring them back.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIV_
+
+_A Letter for Olive._
+
+
+The next morning, about an hour after breakfast, Mr. Du Brant proposed
+to Olive. He had received a letter the day before which made it probable
+that he might be recalled to Washington before the time which had been
+fixed for the end of his visit at Broadstone, and he consequently did
+not wish to defer for a moment longer than was necessary this most
+important business of his life. He told Miss Asher that he had never
+truly loved before; which was probably correct; and that as she had
+raised his mind from the common things of earth, upon which it had been
+accustomed to grovel, she had made a new man of him in an astonishingly
+short time; which, it is likely, was also true.
+
+He assured her that without any regard to outside circumstances, he
+could not live without her. If at any other time he had allowed his mind
+to dwell for a moment upon matrimony, he had thought of family,
+position, wealth, social station, and all that sort of thing, but now he
+thought of nothing but her, and he came to offer her his heart. In fact,
+the man was truly and honestly in love.
+
+Inwardly Olive smiled. "I can not ask him," she said to herself, "to say
+this again every day before dinner. He hasn't the wit of Claude Locker,
+and would not be able to vary his remarks; but I can not blast his hopes
+too suddenly, for, if I do that, he will instantly go away, and it would
+not be treating Mrs. Easterfield properly if I were to break up her
+party without her knowledge. But I will talk to her about it. And now
+for him.--Mr. Du Brant," she said aloud, speaking in English, although
+he had proposed to her in French, because she thought she could make her
+own language more impressive, "it is a very serious thing you have said
+to me, and I don't believe you have had time enough to think about it
+properly. Now don't interrupt. I know exactly what you would say. You
+have known me such a little while that even if your mind is made up it
+can not be properly made up, and therefore, for your own sake, I am
+going to give you a chance to think it all over. You must not say you
+don't want to, because I want you to; and when you have thought, and
+thought, and know yourself better--now don't say you can not know
+yourself better if you have a thousand years in which to consider
+it--for though you think that it is true it is not"
+
+"And if I rack my brains and my heart," interrupted Mr. Du Brant, "and
+find out that I can never change nor feel in any other way toward you
+than I feel now, may I then----"
+
+"Now, don't say anything about that," said Olive. "What I want to do now
+is to treat you honorably and fairly, and to give you a chance to
+withdraw if, after sober consideration, you think it best to do so. I
+believe that every young man who thinks himself compelled to propose
+marriage in such hot haste ought to have a chance to reflect quietly
+and coolly, and to withdraw if he wants to. And that is all, Mr. Du
+Brant. I must be off this minute, for Mrs. Easterfield is over there
+waiting for me."
+
+Mr. Du Brant walked thoughtfully away. "I do not understand," he said to
+himself in French, "why she did not tell me I need not speak to her
+again about it. The situation is worthy of diplomatic consideration, and
+I will give it that."
+
+From a distance Claude Locker beheld his Austrian enemy walking alone,
+and without a book.
+
+"Something has happened," he thought, "and the fellow has changed his
+tactics. Before, under cover of a French novel, he was a snake in the
+grass, now he is a snake hopping along on the tip of his tail. Perhaps
+he thinks this is a better way to keep a lookout upon her. I believe he
+is more dangerous than he was before, for I don't know whether a snake
+on tip tail jumps or falls down upon his victims."
+
+One thing Mr. Locker was firmly determined upon. He was going to try to
+see Olive as soon as it was possible before luncheon, and impress upon
+her the ardent nature of his feelings toward her; he did not believe he
+had done this yet. He looked about him. The party, excepting himself and
+Mr. Du Brant, were on the front lawn; he would join them and satirize
+the gloomy Austrian. If Olive could be made to laugh at him it would be
+like preparing a garden-bed with spade and rake before sowing his seeds.
+
+The rural mail-carrier came earlier than usual that day, and he brought
+Olive but one letter, but as it was from her father, she was entirely
+satisfied, and retired to a bench to read it.
+
+In about ten minutes after that she walked into Mrs. Easterfield's
+little room, the open letter in her hand. As Mrs. Easterfield looked up
+from her writing-table the girl seemed transformed; she was taller, she
+was straighter, her face had lost its bloom, and her eyes blazed.
+
+"Would you believe it!" she said, grating out the words as she spoke.
+"My father is going to be married!"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped her pen, and her face lost color. She had
+always been greatly interested in Lieutenant Asher. "What!" she
+exclaimed. "He? And to whom?"
+
+"A girl I used to go to school with," said Olive, standing as if she
+were framed in one solid piece. "Edith Marshall, living in Geneva. She
+is older than I am, but we were in the same classes. They are to be
+married in October, and she is to sail for this country about the time
+his ship comes home. He is to be stationed at Governor's Island, and
+they are to have a house there. He writes, and writes, and writes, about
+how lovely it will be for me to have this dear new mother. Me! To call
+that thing mother! I shall have no mother, but I have lost my father."
+With this she threw herself upon a lounge, and burst into passionate
+tears. Mrs. Easterfield rose, and closed the door.
+
+Claude Locker had no opportunity to press his suit before luncheon, for
+Olive did not come to that meal; she had one of her headaches. Every one
+seemed to appreciate the incompleteness of the party, and even Mrs.
+Easterfield looked serious, which was not usual with her. Mr. Hemphill
+was much cast down, for he had made up his mind to talk to Olive in such
+a way that she should not fail to see that he had taken to heart her
+advice, and might be depended upon to deport himself toward her as if he
+had never heard the words she had addressed to him. He had prepared
+several topics for conversation, but as he would not waste these upon
+the general company, he indulged only in such remarks as were necessary
+to good manners.
+
+Mr. Du Brant talked a good deal in a perfunctory manner, but inwardly he
+was somewhat elated. "Her emotions must have been excited more than I
+supposed," he thought. "That is not a bad sign."
+
+Mrs. Fox was a little bit--a very little bit--annoyed because Mr. Fox
+did not make as many facetious remarks as was his custom. He seemed like
+one who, in a degree, felt that he lacked an audience; Mrs. Fox could
+see no good reason for this.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield went up to Olive's room she found her bathing her
+eyes in cold water.
+
+"Will you lend me a bicycle" said Olive. "I am sure you have one."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement.
+
+"I want to go to my uncle," said Olive. "He is now all I have left in
+this world. I have been thinking, and thinking about everything, and I
+want to go to him. Whatever has come between us will vanish as soon as
+he sees me, I am sure of that. I do not know why he did not want me to
+come back to him, but he will want me now, and I should like to start
+immediately without anybody seeing me."
+
+"But a bicycle!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "You can't go that way. I
+will send you in the carriage."
+
+"No, no, no," cried Olive; "I want to go quietly. I want to go so that I
+can leave my wheel at the door and go right in. I have a short
+walking-skirt, and I can wear that. Please let me have the bicycle."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield made Olive sit down and she talked to her, but there
+was no changing the girl's determination to go to her uncle, to go
+alone, and to go immediately.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XV_
+
+_Olive's Bicycle Trip._
+
+
+Despite Olive's desire to set forth immediately on her bicycle trip, it
+was past the middle of the afternoon when she left Broadstone. She went
+out quietly, not by the usual driveway, and was soon upon the turnpike
+road. As she sped along the cool air upon her face refreshed her; and
+the knowledge that she was so rapidly approaching the dear old
+toll-gate, where, even if she did not find her uncle at the house, she
+could sit with old Jane until he came back, gave her strength and
+courage.
+
+Up a long hill she went, and down again to the level country. Then there
+was a slighter rise in the road, and when she reached its summit she
+saw, less than a mile away, the toll-gate surrounded by its trees, the
+thick foliage of the fruit-trees in the garden, the little tollhouse and
+the long bar, standing up high at its customary incline upon the
+opposite side of the road. Down the little hill she went; and then,
+steadily and swiftly, onward. Presently she saw that some one was on the
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse; his back was toward her, he was
+sitting in his accustomed armchair; she could not be mistaken; it was
+her uncle.
+
+Now and then, while upon the road, she had thought of what she should
+say when she first met him, but she had soon dismissed all ideas of
+preconceived salutations, or explanations. She would be there, and that
+would be enough. Her father's letter was in her pocket, and that was too
+much. All she meant to do was to glide up to that piazza, spring up the
+steps, and present herself to her uncle's astonished gaze before he had
+any idea that any one was approaching.
+
+She was within twenty feet of the piazza when she saw that her uncle was
+not alone; there was some one sitting in front of him who had been
+concealed by his broad shoulders. This person was a woman. She had
+caught sight of Olive, and stuck her head out on one side to look at
+her. Upon her dough-like face there was a grin, and in her eye a light
+of triumph. With one quick glance she seemed to say: "Ah, ha, you find
+me here, do you? What have you to say to that?"
+
+Olive's heart stood still. That woman, that Maria Port, sitting in close
+converse with her uncle in that public place where she had never seen
+any one but men! That horrid woman at such a moment as this! She could
+not speak to her; she could not speak to her uncle in her presence. She
+could not stop. With what she had on her mind, and with what she had in
+her pocket, it would be impossible to say a word before that Maria Port!
+Without a swerve she sped on, and passed the toll-gate. She only knew
+one thing; she could not stop.
+
+The wildest suspicions now rushed into her mind. Why should her uncle
+be thus exposing himself to the public gaze with Maria Port? Why did it
+give the woman such diabolical pleasure to be seen there with him? With
+a mind already prepared for such sickening revelations, Olive was
+convinced that it could mean nothing but that her uncle intended to
+marry Maria Port. What else could it mean? But no matter what it meant,
+she could not stop. She could not go back.
+
+On went her bicycle, and presently she gained sufficient command over
+herself to know that she should not ride into the town. But what else
+could she do? She could not go back while those two were sitting on the
+piazza. Suddenly she remembered the shunpike. She had never been on it,
+but she knew where it left the road, and where it reentered it. So she
+kept on her course, and in a few minutes had reached the narrow country
+road. There were ruts here and there, and sometimes there were stony
+places; there were small hills, mostly rough; and there were few
+stretches of smooth road; but on went Olive; sometimes trying with much
+effort to make good time, and always with tears in her eyes, dimming the
+roadway, the prospect, and everything in the world.
+
+"There now!" exclaimed Maria Port, springing to her feet. "What have you
+got to say to that? If that isn't brazen I never saw brass!"
+
+"What do you mean?" said the captain, rising in his chair.
+
+"Mean?" said Maria Port, leaning over the railing. "Look there! Do you
+see that girl getting away as fast as she can work herself? That's your
+precious niece, Olive Asher, scooting past us with her nose in the air
+as if we was sticks and stones by the side of the road. What have you
+got to say to that, Captain John, I'd like to know?"
+
+The captain ran down the path. "You don't mean to say that is Olive!" he
+cried.
+
+"That's who it is," answered Miss Port. "She looked me square in the
+face as she dashed by. Not a word for you, not a word for me. Impudence!
+That doesn't express it!"
+
+The captain paid no attention to her, but ran into the garden. Old Jane
+was standing near the house door. "Was that Miss Olive?" he cried. "Did
+you see her?"
+
+"Yes," said old Jane, "it was her. I saw her comin', and I came out to
+meet her. But she just shot through the toll-gate as if she didn't know
+there was a toll on bicycles."
+
+The captain stood still in the garden-path. He could not believe that
+Olive had done this to treat him with contempt. She must have heard some
+news. There must be something the matter. She was going into town at the
+top of her speed to send a telegram, intending to stop as she came back.
+She might have stopped anyway if it had not been for that
+good-for-nothing Maria Port. She hated Maria, and he hated her himself,
+at this moment, as she stood by his side, asking him what was the matter
+with him.
+
+"It's no more than you have to expect," said she. "She's a fine lady, a
+navy lady, a foreign lady, that's been with the aristocrats! She's got
+good clothes on that she never wore here, and where I guess she had a
+pretty stupid time, judgin' from how they carry on at that Easterfield
+place. Why in the world should she want to stop and speak to such
+persons as you and me?"
+
+The captain paid no attention to these remarks. "If she doesn't want to
+send a telegram, I don't see what she is going to town for in such a
+hurry. I suppose she thought she could get there sooner than a man could
+go on a horse," he said.
+
+"Telegram!" sneered Miss Port. "It's a great deal easier to send
+telegrams from the gap."
+
+"Then it is something worse," he thought. Perhaps she might be running
+away, though what in the world she was running from he could not
+imagine. Anyway, he must see her; he must find out. When she came back
+she must not pass again, and if she did not come back he must go after
+her. He ran to the road and put down the bar, calling to old Jane to
+come there and keep a sharp lookout. Then he quickly returned to the
+house.
+
+"What are you going to do" asked Miss Port. "I never saw a man in such a
+fluster."
+
+"If she does not come back very soon," said he, "I shall go to town
+after her."
+
+"Then I suppose I might as well be going myself," said she. "And by the
+way, captain, if you are going to town, why don't you take a seat in my
+carriage? Dear knows me and the boy don't fill it."
+
+But the captain would consider no such invitation. When he met Olive he
+did not want Maria Port to be along. He did not answer, and went into
+the house to make some change in his attire. Old Jane would not let
+Olive pass, and if he met her on the road or in the town he wanted to be
+well dressed.
+
+Miss Port still stood in the path by the house door. "That's not what I
+call polite," said she, "but he's awful flustered, and I don't mind."
+
+Far from minding, Maria was pleased; it pleased her to know that his
+niece's conduct had flustered him. The more that girl flustered him the
+better it would be, and she smiled with considerable satisfaction. If
+she could get that girl out of the way she believed she would find but
+little difficulty in carrying out her scheme to embitter the remainder
+of the good captain's life. She did not put it in that way to herself;
+but that was the real character of the scheme.
+
+Suddenly an idea struck her. It was of no use for her to stand and wait,
+for she knew she would not be able to induce the captain to go with her.
+It would be a great thing if she could, for to drive into town with him
+by her side would go far to make the people of Glenford understand what
+was going to happen. But, if she could not do this, she could do
+something else. If she started away immediately she might meet that
+Asher girl coming back, and it would be a very fine thing if she could
+have an interview with her before she saw her uncle.
+
+She made a quick step toward the house and looked in. The captain was
+not visible, but old Jane was standing near the back door of the
+tollhouse. The opportunity was not to be lost.
+
+"Good-by, John," said she in a soft tone, but quite loud enough for the
+old woman to hear. "I'll go home first, for I've got to see to gettin'
+supper ready for you. So good-by, John, for a little while." And she
+kissed her hand to the inside of the house.
+
+Then she hurried out of the gate; got into the little phaeton which was
+waiting for her under a tree; and drove away. She had come there that
+afternoon on the pretense of consulting the captain about her father's
+health, which she said disturbed her, and she had requested the
+privilege of sitting on the toll-gate piazza because she had always
+wanted to sit there, and had never been invited. The captain had not
+invited her then, but as she had boldly marched to the piazza and taken
+a seat, he had been obliged to follow.
+
+Captain Asher, wearing a good coat and hat, relieved old Jane at her
+post, and waited and waited for Olive to come back. He did not for a
+moment think she might return by the shunpike, for that was a rough
+road, not fit for a bicycle. And if she passed this way once, why should
+she object to doing it again?
+
+When more than time enough had elapsed for her return from the town, he
+started forth with a heavy heart to follow her. He told old Jane that if
+for any reason he should be detained in town until late, he would take
+supper with Mr. Port, and if, although he did not expect this, he should
+not come back that night, the Ports would know of his whereabouts. He
+did not take his horse and buggy because he thought it would be in his
+way. If he met Olive in the road he could more easily stop and talk to
+her if he were walking than if he had a horse to take care of.
+
+"I hope you're not runnin' after Miss Olive," said old Jane.
+
+The captain did not wish his old servant to imagine that it was
+necessary for him to run after his niece, and so he answered rather
+quickly: "Of course not." Then he set off toward the town. He did not
+walk very fast, for if he met Olive he would rather have a talk with her
+on the road than in Glenford.
+
+He walked on and on, not with his eyes on the smooth surface of the
+pike, but looking out afar, hoping that he might soon see the figure of
+a girl on a bicycle; and thus it was that he passed the entrance to the
+shunpike without noticing that a bicycle track turned into it.
+
+Olive struggled on, and the road did not improve. She worked hard with
+her body, but still harder with her mind. It seemed to her as though
+everything were endeavoring to crush her, and that it was almost
+succeeding. If she had been in her own room, seated, or walking the
+floor, indignation against her uncle would have given her the same
+unnatural vigor and energy which had possessed her when she read her
+father's letter; but it is impossible to be angry when one is physically
+tired and depressed, and this was Olive's condition now. Once she
+dismounted, sat down on a piece of rock, and cried. The rest was of
+service to her, but she could not stay there long; the road was too
+lonely. She must push on. So on she pressed, sometimes walking, and
+sometimes on her wheel, the pedals apparently growing stiffer at every
+turn. Slight mishaps she did not mind, but a fear began to grow upon her
+that she would never be able to reach Broadstone at all. But after a
+time--a very long time it seemed--the road grew more level and smooth;
+and then ahead she saw the white surface of the turnpike shining as it
+passed the end of her road. When she should emerge on that smooth, hard
+road it could not be long, even if she went slowly, before she reached
+home. She was still some fifty yards from the pike when she saw a man
+upon it, walking southward.
+
+As Dick Lancaster passed the end of the road he lifted his head, and
+looked along it. It was strange that he should do so, for since he had
+started on his homeward walk he had not raised his eyes from the ground.
+He had reached Broadstone soon after luncheon, before Olive had left on
+her wheel, and had passed rather a stupid time, playing tennis with
+Claude Locker, he had seen but little of Mrs. Easterfield, whose mind
+was evidently occupied. Once she had seemed about to take him into her
+confidence, but had suddenly excused herself, and had gone into the
+house. When the game was finished Locker advised him to go home.
+
+"She is not likely to be down until dinner time," he had said, "and this
+evening I'll defend our cause against those other fellows. I have
+several good things in my mind that I am sure will interest her, and I
+don't believe there's any use courting a girl unless you interest her."
+
+Lancaster had taken the advice, and had left much earlier than was
+usual.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVI_
+
+_Mr. Lancaster accepts a Mission._
+
+
+When Dick Lancaster saw Olive he stopped with a start, and then ran
+toward her.
+
+"Miss Asher!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? What is the
+matter? You look pale."
+
+When she saw him coming Olive had dismounted, not with the active spring
+usual with her, but heavily and clumsily. She did not even smile as she
+spoke to him.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Mr. Lancaster," she said. "I am on my way back to
+Broadstone, and I would like to send a message to my uncle by you."
+
+"Back from where? And why on this road?" he was about to ask, but he
+checked himself. He saw that she trembled as she stood.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "you must stop and rest. Let me take your wheel
+and come over to this bank and sit down."
+
+She sat down in the shade and took off her hat; and for a moment she
+quietly enjoyed the cool breeze upon her head. He did not want to annoy
+her with questions, but he could not help saying:
+
+"You look very tired."
+
+"I ought to be tired," she answered, "for I have gone over a perfectly
+dreadful road. Of course, you wonder why I came this way, and the best
+thing for me to do is to begin at the beginning and to tell you all
+about it, so that you will know what I have been doing, and then
+understand what I would like you to do for me."
+
+So she told him all her tale, and, telling it, seemed to relieve her
+mind while her tired body rested. Dick listened with earnest avidity. He
+lost not the slightest change in her expression as she spoke. He was
+shocked when he heard of her father; he was grieved when he imagined how
+she must have felt when the news came to her; he was angry when he heard
+of the impertinent glare of Maria Port; and his heart was torn when he
+knew of this poor girl's disappointment, of her soul-harrowing
+conjectures, of her wearisome and painful progress along that rough
+road; of which progress she said but little, although its consequences
+he could plainly see. All these things showed themselves upon his
+countenance as he gazed upon her and listened, not only with his ears,
+but his heart.
+
+"I shall be more than glad," he said, when she had finished, "to carry
+any message, or to do anything you want me to do. But I must first
+relieve you of one of your troubles. Your uncle has not the slightest
+idea of marrying Miss Port. I don't believe he would marry anybody; but,
+of all women, not that vulgar creature. Let me assure you, Miss Asher,
+that I have heard him talk about her, and I know he has the most
+contemptuous opinion of her. I have heard him make fun of her, and I
+don't believe he would have anything to do with her if it were not for
+her father, who is one of his oldest friends."
+
+She looked at him incredulously. "And yet they were sitting close
+together," she said; "so close that at first I did not see her;
+apparently talking in the most private manner in a very public place.
+They surely looked very much like an engaged couple as I have noticed
+them. And old Jane has told me that everybody knows she is trying to
+trap him; and surely there is good reason to believe that she has
+succeeded."
+
+Dick shook his head. "Impossible, Miss Asher," he said. "He never would
+have such a woman. I know him well enough to be absolutely sure of that.
+Of course, he treats her kindly, and perhaps he is sociable with her. It
+is his nature to be friendly, and he has known her for a long time. But
+marry her! Never! I am certain, Miss Asher, he would never do that."
+
+"I wish I could believe it," said she.
+
+"I can easily prove it to you," he said. "I will take your message to
+your uncle, I will tell him all you want me to tell him, and then I will
+ask him, frankly and plainly, about Miss Port. I do not in the least
+object to doing it. I am well enough acquainted with him to know that he
+is a frank, plain man. I am sure he will be much amused at your
+supposition, and angry, too, when I tell him of the way that woman
+looked at you and so prevented you from stopping when you had come
+expressly to see him. Then I will immediately come to Broadstone to
+relieve your mind in regard to the Maria Port business, and to bring
+you whatever message your uncle has to send you."
+
+"No, no," said Olive, "you must not do that. It would be too much to
+come back to-day. You have relieved my mind somewhat about that woman,
+and I am perfectly willing to wait until to-morrow, when you can tell me
+exactly how everything is, and let me know when my uncle would like me
+to come and see him. I think it will be better next time not to take him
+by surprise. But I would be very, very grateful to you, Mr, Lancaster,
+if you would come as early in the morning as you can. I can wait very
+well until then, now that my mind is easier, but I am afraid that when
+to-morrow begins I shall be very impatient. My troubles are always worse
+in the morning. But you must not walk. My uncle has a horse and buggy.
+But perhaps it would be better to let Mrs. Easterfield send for you. I
+know she will be glad to do it."
+
+Dick assured her that he did not wish to be sent for; that he would
+borrow the captain's horse, and would be at Broadstone as early as was
+proper to make a visit.
+
+"Proper!" exclaimed Olive. "In a case like this any time is proper. In
+Mrs. Easterfield's name I invite you to breakfast. I know she will be
+glad to have me do it. And now I must go on. You are very, very good,
+and I am very grateful."
+
+Dick could not say that he was more grateful for being allowed to help
+her than she could possibly be for being helped, but his face showed it,
+and if she had looked at him she would have known it.
+
+"Miss Asher," he exclaimed as she rose, "your skirt is covered with
+dust. You must have fallen."
+
+"I did have one fall," she said, "but I was so worried I did not mind."
+
+"But you can not go back in that plight," he said; "let me dust your
+skirt." And breaking a little branch from a bush, he proceeded to make
+her look presentable. "And now," said he, when she had complimented him
+upon his skill, "I will walk with you to the entrance of the grounds.
+Perhaps as you are so tired," he said hesitatingly, "I can help you
+along, so that you will not have to work so hard yourself."
+
+"Oh, no," she answered; "that is not at all necessary. When I am on the
+turnpike I can go beautifully. I feel ever so much rested and stronger,
+and it is all due to you. So you see, although you will not go with me,
+you will help me very much." And she smiled as she spoke. He truly had
+helped her very much.
+
+Dick was unwilling that she should go on alone, although it was still
+broad daylight and there was no possible danger, and he was also
+unwilling because he wanted to go with her, but there was no use saying
+anything or thinking anything, and so he stood and watched her rolling
+along until she had passed the top of a little hill, and had departed
+from his view. Then he ran to the top of the little hill, and watched
+her until she was entirely out of sight.
+
+The rest of the way to the toll-gate seemed very short to Dick, but he
+had time enough to make up his mind that he would see the captain at the
+earliest possible moment; that he would deliver his message and the
+letter of Lieutenant Asher; that he would immediately bring up the
+matter of Maria Port and let the captain know the mischief that woman
+had done. Then, armed with the assurances the captain would give him, he
+would start for Broadstone after supper, and carry the good news to
+Olive. It would be a shame to let that dear girl remain in suspense for
+the whole night, when he, by riding, or even walking an inconsiderable
+number of miles, could relieve her. He found old Jane in the tollhouse.
+
+"Where is the captain" he asked.
+
+"The captain?" she repeated. "He's in town takin' supper with his
+sweetheart."
+
+Dick stared at her.
+
+"Perhaps you haven't heard that he's engaged to Maria Port," said the
+woman; "and I don't wonder you're taken back! But I suppose everybody
+will soon know it now, and the sooner the better, I say."
+
+"What are you talking about" exclaimed Dick. "You don't mean to tell me
+that the captain is going to marry Miss Port?"
+
+"Whether he wants to or not, he's gone so far he'll have to. I've knowed
+for a long time she's been after him, but I didn't think she'd catch him
+just yet."
+
+"I don't believe it." cried Dick. "It must be a mistake! How do you know
+it?"
+
+"Know!" said old Jane, who, ordinarily a taciturn woman, was now excited
+and inclined to volubility. "Don't you suppose I've got eyes and ears?
+Didn't I see them for ever and ever so long sittin' out on this piazza,
+where everybody could see 'em, a-spoonin' like a couple of young people?
+And didn't I see 'em tearin' themselves asunder as if they couldn't
+bear to be apart for an hour? And didn't I hear her tell him she was
+goin' home to get an extry good supper for him? And didn't I hear her
+call him 'dear John,' and kiss her hand to him. And if you don't believe
+me you can go into the kitchen and ask Mary; she heard the 'dear John'
+and saw the hand-kissin'. And then didn't he tell me he was goin' to the
+Ports' to supper, and if he stayed late and anybody asked for
+him--meaning you, most probable, and I think he might have left
+somethin' more of a message for you--that he was to be found with the
+Ports--with Maria most likely, for the old man goes to bed early?"
+
+Dick made no answer; he was standing motionless looking out upon the
+flowers in the garden.
+
+"And perhaps you haven't heard of Miss Olive comin' past on a bicycle,"
+old Jane remarked. "I saw her comin', and I knew by the look on her face
+that it made her sick to see that woman sittin' here, and I don't blame
+her a bit. When he started so early for town I thought he might be
+intendin' to look for her, and yet be in time for the Ports' supper, but
+she didn't come back this way at all, and I expect she went home by the
+shunpike."
+
+"Which she did," said Dick, showing by this remark that he was listening
+to what the old woman was saying.
+
+"But he cut me mighty short when I asked him," continued old Jane. "I
+tried to ease his mind, but as I found his mind didn't need no easin', I
+minded my own business, just as he was mindin' his. And now, sir, you'll
+have to eat your supper alone this time."
+
+If Dick's supper had consisted of nectar and the brains of nightingales
+he would not have noticed it; and, until late in the evening, he sat in
+the arbor, anxiously waiting for the captain's return. About ten o'clock
+old Jane, sleepy from having sat up so long, called to him from the door
+that he might as well come in and let her lock up the house. The captain
+was not coming home that night. He had stayed with the Ports once
+before, when the old man was sick.
+
+"I guess he's got a better reason for stayin' tonight," she said. "It'll
+be a great card for that Maria when the Glenford people knows it, and
+they'll know it you may be sure, if she has to go and walk the soles of
+her feet off tellin' them. One thing's mighty sure," she continued. "I'm
+not goin' to stay here with her in the house. He'll have to get somebody
+else to help him take toll. But I guess she'll want to do that herself.
+Nothin' would suit her better than to be sittin' all day in the
+tollhouse talkin' scandal to everybody that goes by."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVII_
+
+_Dick is not a Prompt Bearer of News._
+
+
+When the captain reached Glenford, and before he went to the Ports' he
+went to the telegraph-office, and made inquiries at various other
+places, but his niece had not been seen in town. He wandered about so
+long and asked so many questions that it was getting dark when he
+suddenly thought of the shunpike. He had not thought of it before, for
+it was an unfit road for bicycles, but now he saw that he had been a
+fool. That was the only way she could have gone back.
+
+Hurrying to a livery-stable, he hired a horse and buggy and a lantern,
+and drove to the shunpike. There he plainly saw the track of the bicycle
+as it had turned into that rough road. Then he drove on, examining every
+foot of the way, fearful that he might see, lying senseless by the side
+of the road, the figure of a girl, perhaps unconscious from fatigue,
+perhaps dead from an accident.
+
+When at last he emerged upon the turnpike he lost the track of the
+bicycle, but still he went on, all the way to Broadstone; a girl might
+be lying senseless by the side of the road, even on the pike, which at
+this time was not much frequented. Thus assuring himself that Olive had
+reached Broadstone in safety, or at least had not fallen by the way, he
+turned and drove back to town upon the pike, passing his own toll-gate,
+where the bar was always up after dark. He had promised to return the
+horse that night, and, as he had promised, he intended to do it. It was
+after nine o'clock when, returning from the livery-stable, he reached
+the Port house, and saw Maria sitting in the open doorway.
+
+She instantly ran out to meet him, asking him somewhat sharply why he
+had disappointed them. She had kept the supper waiting ever so long. He
+went in to see her father, who was sitting up for him, and she busied
+herself in getting him a fresh supper. Nice and hot the supper was, and
+although his answers to her questions had not been satisfactory, she
+concealed her resentment, if she had any. When the meal was over both
+father and daughter assured him that it was too late for him to go home
+that night, and that he must stay with them. Tired and troubled, Captain
+Asher accepted the invitation.
+
+As soon as he could get away from the Port residence the next morning
+Captain Asher went home. He had hoped he would have been able to leave
+before breakfast, but the solicitous Maria would not listen to this. She
+prepared him a most tempting breakfast, cooking some of the things with
+her own hands, and she was so attentive, so anxious to please, so kind
+in her suggestions, and in every way so desirous to make him happy
+through the medium of savory food and tender-hearted concern, that she
+almost made him angry. Never before, he thought, had he seen a woman
+make such a coddling fool of herself. He knew very well what it meant,
+and that provoked him still more.
+
+When at last he got away he walked home in a bad humor; he was even
+annoyed with Olive. Granting that what she had done was natural enough
+under the circumstances, and that she had not wished to stop when she
+saw him in company with a woman she did not like, he thought she might
+have considered him as well as herself. She should have known that it
+would give him great trouble for her to dash by in that way and neither
+stop nor come back to explain matters. She must have known that Maria
+Port was not going to stay always, and she might have waited somewhere
+until the woman had gone. If she had had the least idea of how much he
+wanted to see her she would have contrived some way to come back to him.
+But no, she went back to Broadstone to please herself, and left him to
+wander up and down the roads looking for her in the dark.
+
+When the captain met old Jane at the door of the tollhouse her
+salutation did not smooth his ruffled spirits, for she told him that she
+and Mr. Lancaster had sat up until nearly the middle of the night
+waiting for him, and that the poor young man must have felt it, for he
+had not eaten half a breakfast.
+
+The captain paid but little attention to these remarks and passed in,
+but before he crossed the garden he met Dick, who informed him that he
+had something very important to communicate. Important communications
+that must be delivered without a moment's loss of time are generally
+unpleasant, and knowing this, the captain knit his brows a little, but
+told Dick he would be ready for him as soon as he lighted his pipe. He
+felt he must have something to soothe his ruffled spirits while he
+listened to the tale of the woes of some one else.
+
+But at the moment he scratched his match to light his pipe his soul was
+illuminated by a flash of joy; perhaps Dick was going to tell him he was
+engaged to Olive; perhaps that was what she had come to tell him the day
+before. He had not expected to hear anything of this kind, at least not
+so soon, but it had been the wish of his heart--he now knew that without
+appreciating the fact--it had been the earnest wish of his heart for
+some time, and he stepped toward the little arbor with the alacrity of
+happy anticipation.
+
+As soon as they were seated Dick began to speak of Olive, but not in the
+way the captain had hoped for. He mentioned the great trouble into which
+she had been plunged, and gave the captain his brother's letter to read.
+When he had finished it the captain's face darkened, and his frown was
+heavy.
+
+"An outrageous piece of business," he said, "to treat a daughter in this
+way; to put a schoolmate over her head in the family! It is shameful!
+And this is what she was coming to tell me?"
+
+"Yes," said Dick, "that is it."
+
+Now there was another flash of joy in the captain's heart, which cleared
+up his countenance and made his frown disappear. "She was coming to me,"
+he thought. "I was the one to whom she turned in her trouble." And it
+seemed to this good captain as if he had suddenly become the father of a
+grown-up daughter.
+
+"But what message did she send me?" he asked quickly. "Did she say when
+she was coming again?"
+
+Dick hesitated; Olive had said that she wanted her uncle to say when he
+wanted to see her, so that there should be no more surprising, but this
+request had been conditional. Dick knew that she did not want to come if
+her uncle were going to marry Miss Port; therefore it was that he
+hesitated.
+
+"Before we go any further," he said, "I think I would better mention a
+little thing which will make you laugh, but still it did worry Miss
+Asher, and was one reason why she went back to Broadstone without
+stopping."
+
+"What is it" asked the captain, putting down his pipe.
+
+Dick did not come out plainly and frankly, as he had told Olive he would
+do when he mentioned the Maria Port matter. In his own heart he could
+not help believing now that Olive's suspicions had had good foundations,
+and old Jane's announcements, combined with the captain's own actions in
+regard to the Port family, had almost convinced him that this miserable
+engagement was a fact. But, of course, he would not in any way intimate
+to the captain that he believed in such nonsense, and therefore, in an
+offhand manner, he mentioned Olive's absurd anxiety in regard to Miss
+Port.
+
+When the captain heard Dick's statement he answered it in the most frank
+and plain manner; he brought his big hand down on his knee and swore as
+if one of his crew had boldly contradicted him. He did not swear at
+anybody in particular; there was the roar and the crash of the thunder
+and the flash of the lightning, but no direct stroke descended upon any
+one. He was angry that such a repulsive and offensive thing as his
+marriage to Maria Port should be mentioned, or even thought of, but he
+was enraged when he heard that his niece had believed him capable of
+such disgusting insanity. With a jerk he rose to his feet.
+
+"I will not talk about such a thing as this," he said. "If I did I am
+sure I should say something hard about my niece, and I don't want to do
+that." With this he strode away, and proceeded to look after the
+concerns of his little farm.
+
+Old Jane came cautiously to Dick. "Did he tell you when it was going to
+be, or anything about it?" she asked.
+
+"No," said Dick, "he would not even speak of it."
+
+"I suppose he expects us to mind our own business," said she, "and of
+course we'll have to do it, but I can tell him one thing--I'm goin' to
+make it my business to leave this place the day before that woman comes
+here."
+
+Dejected and thoughtful, Dick sat in the arbor. Here was a state of
+affairs very different from what he had anticipated. He had not been
+able to hurry to her the evening before; he had not gone to breakfast as
+she had invited him; he had not started off early in the forenoon; and
+now he asked himself when should he go, or, indeed, why should he go at
+all? She had no anxieties he could relieve. Anything he could tell her
+would only heap more unhappiness upon her, and the longer he could keep
+his news from her the better it would be for her.
+
+Olive had not joined the Broadstone party at dinner the night before.
+She had been too tired, and had gone directly to her room, where, after
+a time, Mrs. Easterfield joined her; and the two talked late. One who
+had overheard their conversation might well have supposed that the elder
+lady was as much interested in Lieutenant Asher's approaching nuptials
+as was the younger one. When she was leaving Mrs. Easterfield said:
+
+"You have enough on your mind to give it all the trouble it ought to
+bear, and so I beg of you not to think for a moment of that absurd idea
+about your uncle's engagement. I never saw the woman, but I have heard
+of her; she is a professional scandal-monger; and Captain Asher would
+not think for a moment of marrying her. When Mr. Lancaster comes
+to-morrow you will hear that she was merely consulting him on business,
+and that you are to go to the toll-gate to-morrow as soon as you can.
+But remember, this time I am going to send you in the carriage. No more
+bicycles."
+
+In spite of this well-intentioned admonition, Olive did not sleep well,
+and dreamed all night of Miss Port in the shape of a great cat covered
+with feathers like a chicken, and trying to get a chance to jump at her.
+Very early she awoke, and looking at her clock, she began to calculate
+the hours which must pass before Mr. Lancaster could arrive. It was
+rather strange that of the two troubles which came to her as soon as she
+opened her eyes, the suspected engagement of her uncle pushed itself in
+front of the actual engagement of her father; the one was something she
+_knew_ she would have to make up her mind to bear; the other was
+something she _feared_ she would have to make up her mind to bear.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+_What Olive determined to do._
+
+
+Olive was very much disappointed at breakfast time, and as soon as she
+had finished that meal she stationed herself at a point on the grounds
+which commanded the entrance. People came and talked to her, but she did
+not encourage conversation, and about eleven o'clock she went to Mrs.
+Easterfield in her room.
+
+"He is not coming," she said. "He is afraid."
+
+"What is he afraid of?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"He is afraid to tell me that the optimistic speculations with which he
+tried to soothe my mind arose entirely from his own imagination. The
+whole thing is exactly what I expected, and he hasn't the courage to
+come and say so. Now, really, don't you think this is the state of the
+case, and that if he had anything but the worst news to bring me he
+would have been here long ago?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked very serious. "I would not give up," she said,
+"until I saw Mr. Lancaster and heard what he has to say."
+
+"That would not suit me," said Olive. "I have waited and waited just as
+long as I can. It is as likely as not that he has concluded that he can
+not do anything here which will be of service to any one, and has
+started off to finish his vacation at some place where people won't
+bother him with their own affairs. He told me when I first met him that
+he was on his way North. And now, would you like me to tell you what I
+have determined to do?"
+
+"I would," said Mrs. Easterfield, but her expression did not indicate
+that she expected Olive's announcement to give her any pleasure.
+
+"I have been considering it all the morning," said Olive, "and I have
+determined to marry without delay. The greatest object of my life at
+present is to write to my father that I am married. I don't wish to tell
+him anything until I can tell him that. I would also be glad to be able
+to send the same message to the toll-gate house, but I don't suppose it
+will make much difference there."
+
+"Do you think," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that my inviting you here made
+all this trouble?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "It was not the immediate cause, but uncle knows I do
+not like that woman, and she doesn't like me, and it would not have
+suited him to have me stay very much longer with him. I thought at first
+he was glad to have me go on account of Mr. Lancaster, but now I do not
+believe that had anything to do with it. He did not want me with him,
+and what that woman came here and told me about his not expecting me
+back again was, I now believe, a roundabout message from him."
+
+"Now, Olive," said Mrs. Easterfield, "it would be a great deal better
+for you to stop all this imagining until you hear from Mr. Lancaster,
+if you don't see him. Perhaps the poor young man has sprained his ankle,
+or was prevented in some ordinary way from coming. But what is this
+nonsense about getting married?"
+
+"There is no nonsense about it," said Olive. "I am going to marry, but I
+have not chosen any one yet."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield uttered an exclamation of horror. "Choose!" she
+exclaimed. "What have you to do with choosing? I don't think you are
+much like other girls, but I did think you had enough womanly qualities
+to make you wait until you are chosen."
+
+"I intend to wait until I am chosen," said Olive, "but I shall choose
+the person who is to choose me. I have always thought it absurd for a
+young woman to sit and wait and wait until some one comes and sees fit
+to propose to her. Even under ordinary circumstances, I think the young
+woman has not a fair chance to get what she wants. But my case is
+extraordinary, and I can't afford to wait; and as I don't want to go out
+into the world to look for a husband, I am going to take one of these
+young men here."
+
+"Olive," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "you don't mean you are going to marry
+Mr. Locker?"
+
+"You forget," said Olive, "that I told you I have not made up my mind
+yet. But although I have not come to a decision, I have a leaning toward
+one of them. The more I think of it the more I incline in the direction
+of my old love."
+
+"Mr. Hemphill!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Olive, you are crazy, or
+else you are joking in a very disagreeable manner. There could be no
+one more unfit for you than he is."
+
+"I am not crazy, and I am not joking," replied the girl, "and I think
+Rupert would suit me very well. You see, I think a great deal more of
+Rupert than I do of Mr. Hemphill, although the latter gentleman has
+excellent points. He is commonplace, and, above everything else, I want
+a commonplace husband. I want some one to soothe me, and quiet me, and
+to give me ballast. If there is anything out of the way to be done I
+want to do it myself. I am sure he is in love with me, for his anxious
+efforts to make me believe that the frank avowal of my early affection
+had no effect upon him proves that he was very much affected. I believe
+that he is truly in love with me."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield's sharp eyes had seen this, and she had nothing to say.
+
+"I believe," continued Olive, "that a retrospect love will be a better
+foundation for conjugal happiness than any other sort of affection. One
+can always look back to it no matter what happens, and be happy in the
+memory of it. It would be something distinct which could never be
+interfered with. You can't imagine what an earnest and absorbing love I
+once had for that man!"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sprang to her feet. "Olive Asher," she cried, "I can't
+listen to you if you talk in this way!"
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, "if you object so much to Rupert--you must not
+forget that it would be Rupert that I would really marry if I became the
+wife of Mr. Hemphill--do you advise me to take Mr. Locker? And I will
+tell you this, he is not to be rudely set aside; he has warm-hearted
+points which I did not suspect at first. I will tell you what he just
+said to me. As I was coming up-stairs he hurried toward me, and his face
+showed that he was very anxious to speak to me. So before he could utter
+a word, I told him that he was too early; that his hour had not yet
+arrived. Then that good fellow said to me that he had seen I was in
+trouble, and that he had been informed it had been caused by bad news
+from my family. He had made no inquiries because he did not wish to
+intrude upon my private affairs, and all he wished to say now was that
+while my mind was disturbed and worried he did not intend to present his
+own affairs to my attention, even though I had fixed regular times for
+his doing so. But although he wished me to understand that I need not
+fear his making love to me just at this time, he wanted me to remember
+that his love was still burning as brightly as ever, and would be again
+offered me just as soon as he would be warranted in doing so."
+
+"And what did you say to that?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I felt like patting him on the head," Olive answered, "but instead of
+doing that I shook his hand just as warmly as I could, and told him I
+should not forget his consideration and good feeling."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sighed. "You have joined him fast to your car," she
+said, "and yet, even if there were no one else, he would be impossible."
+
+"Why so?" asked Olive quickly. "I have always liked him, and now I like
+him ever so much better. To be sure he is queer; but then he is so much
+queerer than I am that perhaps in comparison I might take up the part
+of commonplace partner. Besides, he has money enough to live on. He told
+me that when he first addressed me. He said he would never ask any woman
+to live on pickled verse feet, and he has also told me something of his
+family, which must be a good one."
+
+"Olive," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I don't believe at all in the necessity
+or the sense in your precipitating plans of marrying. It is all airy
+talk, anyway. You can't ask a man to step up and marry you in order that
+you may sit down and write a letter to your father. But if you are
+thinking of marrying, or rather of preparing to marry at some suitable
+time, why, in the name of everything that is reasonable, don't you take
+Mr. Lancaster? He is as far above the other young men you have met here
+as the mountains are above the plains; he belongs to another class
+altogether. He is a thoroughly fine young man, and has a most honorable
+profession with good prospects, and I know he loves you. You need not
+ask me how I know it--it is always easy for a woman to find out things
+like that. Now, here is a prospective husband for you whose cause I
+should advocate. In fact, I should be delighted to see you married to
+him. He possesses every quality which would make you a good husband."
+
+Olive smiled. "You seem to know a great deal about him," said she, "and
+I assure you that so far as he himself is concerned, I have no
+objections to him, except that I think he might have had the courage to
+come and tell me the truth this morning, whatever it is."
+
+"Perhaps he has not found out the truth yet," quickly suggested Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+Olive fixed her eyes upon her companion and for a few moments reflected,
+but presently she shook her head.
+
+"No, that can not be," she answered. "He would have let me know he had
+been obliged to wait. Oh, no, it is all settled, and we can drop that
+subject. But as for Mr. Lancaster, his connections would make any
+thought of him impossible. He, and his father, too, are both close
+friends of my uncle, and he would be a constant communication between me
+and that woman unless there should be a quarrel, which I don't wish to
+cause. No, I want to leave everything of that sort as far behind me as
+it used to be in front of me, and as Professor Lancaster is mixed up
+with it I could not think of having anything to do with him."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was silent. She was trying to make up her mind whether
+this girl were talking sense or nonsense. What she said seemed to be
+extremely nonsensical, but as she said it, it was difficult to believe
+that she did not consider it to be entirely rational.
+
+"Well," said Olive, "you have objected to two of my candidates, and I
+positively decline the one you offer, so we have left only the diplomat.
+He has proposed, and he has not yet received a definite answer. You have
+told me yourself that he belongs to an aristocratic family in Austria,
+and I am sure that would be a grand match. We have talked together a
+great deal, and he seems to like the things I like. I should see plenty
+of court life and high society, for he will soon be transferred from
+this legation, and if I take him I shall go to some foreign capital. He
+is very sharp and ambitious, and I have no doubt that some day he will
+be looked upon as a distinguished foreigner. Now, as it is the ambition
+of many American girls to marry distinguished foreigners, this alliance
+is certainly worthy of due consideration."
+
+"Stuff!" said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+Olive was not annoyed, and replied very quietly: "It is not stuff. You
+must know young women who have married foreigners and who did not do
+anything like so well as if they had married rising diplomats."
+
+Mrs. Blynn now knocked at the door on urgent household business.
+
+"I shall want to see you again about all this, Olive," said Mrs.
+Easterfield as they parted.
+
+"Of course," replied the girl, "whenever you want to."
+
+"Mrs. Blynn," said the lady of the house, "before you mention what you
+have come to talk about, please tell one of the men to put a horse to a
+buggy and come to the house. I want to send a message by him."
+
+The letter which was speedily on its way to Mr. Richard Lancaster was a
+very brief one. It simply asked the young gentleman to come to
+Broadstone, with bad news or good news, or without any news at all. It
+was absolutely necessary that the writer should see him, and in order
+that there might be no delay she sent a conveyance for him. Moreover,
+she added, it would give her great pleasure if Mr. Lancaster would come
+prepared to spend a couple of days at her house. She felt sure good
+Captain Asher would spare him for that short time. She believed that at
+this moment more gentlemen were needed at Broadstone, and, although she
+did not go on to say that she thought Dick was not having a fair chance
+at this very important crisis, that is what she expected the young man
+to understand.
+
+Just before luncheon, at the time when Claude Locker might have been
+urging his suit had he been less kind-hearted and generous, Olive found
+an opportunity to say a few words to Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"A capital idea has come into my head," she said. "What do you think of
+holding a competitive examination among these young men?"
+
+"More stuff, and more nonsense!" ejaculated Mrs. Easterfield. "I never
+knew any one to trifle with serious subjects as you are trifling with
+your future."
+
+"I am not trifling," said Olive. "Of course, I don't mean that I should
+hold an examination, but that you should. You know that parents--foreign
+parents, I mean--make all sorts of examinations of the qualifications
+and merits of candidates for the hands of their daughters, and I should
+be very grateful if you would be at least that much of a mother to me."
+
+"No examination would be needed," said the other quickly; "I should
+decide upon Mr. Lancaster without the necessity of any questions or
+deliberations."
+
+"But he is not a candidate," said Olive; "he has been ruled out.
+However," she added with a little laugh, "nothing can be done just now,
+for they have not all entered themselves in the competition; Mr.
+Hemphill has not proposed yet."
+
+At that instant the rest of the family joined them on their way to
+luncheon.
+
+The meal was scarcely over when Olive disappeared up-stairs, but soon
+came down attired in a blue sailor suit, which she had not before worn
+at Broadstone, and although the ladies of that house had been astonished
+at the number of costumes this navy girl carried in her unostentatious
+baggage, this was a new surprise to them.
+
+"Mr. Hemphill and I are going boating," said Olive to Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Olive!" exclaimed the other.
+
+"What is there astonishing about it?" asked the girl. "I have been out
+boating with Mr. Locker, and it did not amaze you. You need not be
+afraid; Mr. Hemphill says he has had a good deal of practise in rowing,
+and if he does not understand the management of a boat I am sure I do.
+It is only for an hour, and we shall be ready for anything that the rest
+of you are going to do this afternoon."
+
+With this, away she went, skipping over the rocks and grass, down to the
+river's edge, followed by Mr. Hemphill, who could scarcely believe he
+was in a world of common people and common things, while he, in turn,
+was followed by the mental anathemas of a poet and a diplomat.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIX_
+
+_The Captain and Dick Lancaster desert the Toll-Gate._
+
+
+When Captain Asher, in an angry mood, left his young friend and guest
+and went out into his barnyard and his fields in order to quiet his soul
+by the consideration of agricultural subjects, he met with but little
+success. He looked at his pigs, but he did not notice their plump
+condition; he glanced at his two cows, cropping the grass in the little
+meadow, but it did not impress him that they also were in fine
+condition; nor did he care whether the pasture were good or not. He
+looked at this; and he looked at that; and then he folded his arms and
+looked at the distant mountains. Suddenly he turned on his heel, walked
+straight to the stable, harnessed his mare to the buggy, and, without
+saying a word to anybody, drove out of the gate, and on to Glenford.
+
+Dick Lancaster, who was in the arbor, looked in amazement after the
+captain's departing buggy, and old Jane, with tears in her eyes, came
+out and spoke to him.
+
+"Isn't this dreadful" she said to him. "Supper with that woman and there
+all night, and back again as soon as he can get off this mornin'!"
+
+"Perhaps he is not going to her house," Dick suggested. "He may have
+business in town which he forgot yesterday."
+
+"If he'd had it he'd forgot it," replied the old woman. "But he hadn't
+none. He's gone to Maria Port's, and he may bring her back with him,
+married tight and fast, for all you or me knows. It would be just like
+his sailor fashion. When the captain's got anything to do he just does
+it sharp and quick."
+
+"I don't believe that," said Dick. "If he had had any such intention as
+that he certainly would have mentioned it to you or to me."
+
+The good woman shook her head. "When an old man marries a girl," she
+said, "she just leads him wherever she wants him to go, and he gives up
+everything to her, and when an old man marries a tough and seasoned and
+smoked old maid like Maria Port, she just drives him wherever she wants
+him to go, and he hasn't nothin' to say about it. It looks as if she
+told him to come in this mornin', and he's gone. It may be for a
+weddin', or it may be for somethin' else, but whatever it is, it'll be
+her way and not his straight on to the end of the chapter."
+
+Dick had nothing to answer. He was very much afraid that old Jane knew
+what she was talking about, and his mind was occupied with trying to
+decide what he, individually, ought to do about it. Old Jane was now
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to attend to a traveler, but when she
+came back she took occasion to say a few more words.
+
+"It's hard on me, sir," she said, "at my age to make a change. I've
+lived at this house, and I've took toll at that gate ever since I was a
+girl, long before the captain came here, and I've been with him a long
+time. My people used to own this house, but they all died, and when the
+place was sold and the captain bought it, he heard about me, and he said
+I should always have charge of the old toll-gate when he wasn't
+attendin' to it himself, just the same as when my father was alive and
+was toll-gate keeper, and I was helpin' him. But I've got to go now, and
+where I'm goin' to is more'n I know. But I'd rather go to the county
+poorhouse than stay here, or anywhere else, with Maria Port. She's a
+regular boa-constrictor, that woman is! She's twisted herself around
+people before this and squeezed the senses out of them; and that's
+exactly what she's doin' with the captain. If she could come here to
+live and bring her old father, and get him to sell the house in town and
+put the money in bank, and then if she could worry her husband and her
+father both to death, and work things so she'd be a widow with plenty of
+money and a good house and as much farm land as she wanted, and a
+toll-gate where she could set all day and take toll and give back lies
+and false witness as change, she'd be the happiest woman on earth."
+
+It had been long since old Jane had said as much at any one time to any
+one person, but her mind was stirred. Her life was about to change, and
+the future was very black to her.
+
+When dinner was ready the captain had not yet returned, and Dick ate his
+meal by himself. He was now beginning to feel used to this sort of
+thing. He had scarcely finished, and gone down to the garden-gate to
+look once more over the road toward Glenford, when the man in the buggy
+arrived, and he received Mrs. Easterfield's letter.
+
+He lost no moments in making up his mind. He would go to Broadstone, of
+course, and he did not think it at all necessary to stand on ceremony
+with the captain. The latter had gone off and left him without making
+any statement whatever, but he would do better, and he wrote a note
+explaining the state of affairs. As he was leaving old Jane came to bid
+him good-by.
+
+"I don't know," said she, "that you will find me here when you come
+back. The fact of it is I don't know nothin'. But one thing's certain,
+if she's here I ain't, and if she's too high and mighty to take toll in
+her honeymoon, the captain'll have to do it himself, or let 'em pass
+through free."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was on the lawn when Lancaster arrived, and in answer
+to the involuntary glance with which Dick's eyes swept the surrounding
+space, even while he was shaking hands with her, she said: "No, she is
+not here. She has gone boating, and so you must come and tell me
+everything, and then we can decide what is best to tell her."
+
+For an instant Dick's soul demurred. If he told Olive anything he would
+tell her all he knew, and exactly what had happened. But he would not
+lose faith in this noble woman who was going to help him with Olive if
+she could. So they sat down, side by side, and he told her everything he
+knew about Captain Asher and Miss Port.
+
+"It does look very much as if he were going to marry the woman," said
+Mrs. Easterfield. Then she sat silent and looked upon the ground, a
+frown upon her face.
+
+Dick was also silent, and his countenance was clouded. "Poor Olive," he
+thought, "it is hard that this new trouble should come upon her just at
+this time."
+
+But Mrs. Easterfield said in her heart: "Poor fellow, how little you
+know what has come upon you! The woman who has turned her uncle from
+Olive has turned Olive from you."
+
+"Well," said the lady at length, "do you think it is worth while to say
+anything to her about it? She has already surmised the state of affairs,
+and, so far as I can see, you have nothing of importance to tell her."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Dick, "but as she sent me on a mission I want to
+make known to her the result of it so far as there has been any result.
+It will be very unpleasant, of course--it will be even painful--but I
+wish to do it all the same."
+
+"That is to say," said Mrs. Easterfield with a smile that was not very
+cheerful, "you want to be with her, to look at her and to speak to her,
+no matter how much it may pain her or you to do it."
+
+"That's it," answered Dick.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sat and reflected. She very much liked this young man,
+and, considering herself as his friend, were there not some things she
+ought to tell him? She concluded that there were such things.
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," she said, "have you noticed that there are other young
+men in love with Miss Asher?"
+
+"I know there is one," said Dick, "for he told me so himself."
+
+"That was Claude Locker?" said she with interest.
+
+"And he promised," continued Dick, "that if he failed he would do all he
+could to help me. I can not say that this is really for love of me, for
+his avowed object is to prevent Mr. Du Brant from getting her. We
+assumed that he was her lover, although I do not know that there is any
+real ground for it."
+
+"There is very good ground for it," said she, "for he has already
+proposed to her. What do you think of that?"
+
+"It makes no difference to me," said Dick; "that is, if he has not been
+accepted. What I want is to find myself warranted in telling Miss Asher
+how I feel toward her; it does not matter to me how the rest of the
+world feels."
+
+"Then there is another," said Mrs. Easterfield, "with whom she is now on
+the river--Mr. Hemphill. He is in love with her; and as he can not stay
+here very long, I think he will soon propose."
+
+"I can not help it," said Dick; "I love her, and the great object of my
+life just at present is to tell her so. You said you would help me, and
+I hope you will not withdraw from that promise."
+
+"No, indeed," said she, "but I do not know her as well as I thought I
+did. But here she comes now, and without the young man. I hope she has
+not drowned him!"
+
+Without heeding anything that had just been said to him Dick kept his
+eyes fixed upon the sparkling girl who now approached them. Every step
+she made was another link in his chain; Mrs. Easterfield glanced at him
+and knew this. She pitied him for what he had to tell her now, and more
+for what he might have to hear from her at another time. But Olive saved
+Dick from any present ordeal. She stepped up to him and offered him her
+hand.
+
+"I do not wonder, Mr. Lancaster," she said, "that you did not want to
+come back and tell me your doleful story, but as I know what it is, we
+need not say anything about it now, except that I am ever so much
+obliged to you for all your kindness to me. And now I am going to ask
+another favor. Won't you let me speak to Mrs. Easterfield a few
+moments?"
+
+As soon as they were seated, with the door shut, Olive began.
+
+"Well," said she, "he has proposed."
+
+"Mr. Hemphill!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Rupert," Olive answered, "yes, it is truly Rupert who proposed to me."
+
+"I declare," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "you come to me and tell me this as
+if it were a piece of glad news. Yesterday, and even this morning, you
+were plunged in grief, and now your eyes shine as if you were positively
+happy."
+
+"I have told you my aim and object in life," said the girl. "I am trying
+to do something, and to do it soon, and everything is going on smoothly.
+And as to being happy, I tell you, Mrs. Easterfield, there is no woman
+alive who could help being made happy by such a declaration as I have
+just received. No matter what answer she gave him, she would be bound
+to be happy."
+
+"Most other women would not have let him make it," said Mrs. Easterfield
+a little severely.
+
+"There is something in that," said Olive, "but they would not have the
+object in life I have. I may be unduly exalted, but you would not wonder
+at it if you had seen him and heard him. Mrs. Easterfield, that man
+loves me exactly as I used to love him, and he has told me his love just
+as I would have told him mine if I could have carried out the wish of my
+heart. His eyes glowed, his frame shook with the ardor of his passion.
+Two or three times I had to tell him that if he did not trim boat we
+should be upset. I never saw anything like his impassioned vehemence. It
+reminded me of Salvini. I never was loved like that before."
+
+"And what answer did you make to him?" asked Mrs. Easterfield, her voice
+trembling.
+
+"I did not make him any. It would not have been fair to the others or to
+myself to do that. I shall not swerve from my purpose, but I shall not
+be rash."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield rose suddenly and stepped to the open window; she could
+not sit still a moment longer; she needed air. "Olive," she said, "this
+is mad and wicked folly in you, and it is impertinent in him, no matter
+how much you encouraged him. I would like to send him back to his desk
+this minute. He has no right to come to his employer's house and behave
+in this manner."
+
+Olive did not get angry. "He is not impertinent," said she. "He knows
+nothing in this world but that I once loved him, and that now he loves
+me. Employer and employee are nothing to him. I don't believe he would
+go if you told him to, even if you could do such a thing, which I don't
+believe you would, for, of course, you would think of me as well as of
+him."
+
+"Olive Asher," cried Mrs. Easterfield in a voice which was almost a
+wail, "do you mean to say that you are to be considered in this matter,
+that for a moment you think of marrying this man?"
+
+"Yes," said Olive; "I do think of it, and the more I think of it the
+better I think of it. He is a good man; you have told me that yourself;
+and I can feel that he is good. I know he loves me. There can be no
+mistake about his words and his eyes. I feel as I never felt toward any
+other man, that I might become attached to him. And in my opinion a real
+attachment is the foundation of love, and you must never forget that I
+once loved him." The girl now stepped close to Mrs. Easterfield. "I am
+sorry to see those tears," she said; "I did not come here to make you
+unhappy."
+
+"But you have made me very unhappy," said the elder lady, "and I do not
+think I can talk any more about this now."
+
+When Olive had gone Mrs. Easterfield hurried down-stairs in search of
+Lancaster. She did not care what any one might think of her
+unconventional eagerness; she wanted to find him, and she soon
+succeeded. He was sitting in the shade with a book, which, when she
+approached him, she did not believe he was reading.
+
+"Yes," said she, as he started to his feet in evident concern, "I have
+been crying, and there is no use in trying to conceal it. Of course, it
+is about Olive, but I can not confide in you now, and I do not know that
+I have any right to do so, anyway. But I came here to beg you most
+earnestly not to propose to Miss Asher, no matter how good an
+opportunity you may have, no matter how much you want to do so, no
+matter how much hope may spring up in your heart."
+
+"Do you mean," said Dick, "that I must never speak to her? Am I too
+late? Is she lost to me?"
+
+"Not at all," said she, "you are not too late, but you may be too early.
+She is not lost to anybody, but if you should speak to her before I tell
+you to she will certainly be lost to you."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XX_
+
+_Mr. Locker determines to rush the Enemy's Position._
+
+
+The party at Broadstone was not in what might be called a congenial
+condition. There were among them elements of unrest which prevented that
+assimilation which is necessary to social enjoyment. Even the ordinarily
+placid Mr. Fox was dissatisfied. The trouble with him was--although he
+did not admit it--that he missed the company of Miss Asher. He had found
+her most agreeable and inspiriting, but now things had changed, and he
+did not seem to have any opportunity for the lively chats of a few days
+before. He remarked to his wife that he thought Broadstone was getting
+very dull, and he should be rather glad when the time came for them to
+leave. Mrs. Fox was not of his opinion; she enjoyed the state of affairs
+more than she had done when her husband had been better pleased. There
+was something going on which she did not understand, and she wanted to
+find out what it was. It concerned Miss Asher and one of the young men,
+but which one she could not decide. In any case it troubled Mrs.
+Easterfield, and that was interesting.
+
+Claude Locker seemed to be a changed man; he no longer made jokes or
+performed absurdities. He had become wonderfully vigilant, and seemed to
+be one who continually bided his time. He bided it so much that he was
+of very little use as a member of the social circle.
+
+Mr. Du Brant was also biding his time, but he did not make the fact
+evident. He was very vigilant also, but was very quiet, and kept himself
+in the background. He had seen Olive and Mr. Hemphill go out in the
+boat, but he determined totally to ignore that interesting occurrence.
+The moment he had an opportunity he would speak to Olive again, and the
+existence of other people did not concern him.
+
+Mr. Hemphill was walking by the river; Olive had not allowed him to come
+to the house with her, for his face was so radiant with the ecstasy of
+not having been discarded by her that she did not wish him to be seen.
+From her window Mrs. Easterfield saw this young man on his return from
+his promenade, and she knew it would not be many minutes before he would
+reach the house. She also saw the diplomat, who was glaring across the
+grounds at some one, probably Mr. Locker, who, not unlikely, was glaring
+back at him. She had come up-stairs to do some writing, but now she put
+down her pen and called to her secretary.
+
+"Miss Raleigh," said she, "it has been a good while since you have done
+anything for me."
+
+"Indeed it has," said the other with a sigh.
+
+"But I want you to do something this minute. It is strictly confidential
+business. I want you to go down on the lawn, or any other place where
+Miss Asher may be, and make yourself _mal à propos_. I am busy now, but
+I will relieve you before very long. Can you do that? Do you
+understand?"
+
+The aspect of the secretary underwent a total change. From a dull,
+heavy-eyed woman she became an intent, an eager emissary. Her hands
+trembled with the intensity of her desire to meddle with the affairs of
+others.
+
+"Of course I understand," she exclaimed, "and I can do it. You mean you
+don't want any of those young men to get a chance to speak to Miss
+Asher. Do you include Mr. Lancaster? Or shall I only keep off the
+others?"
+
+"I include all of them," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Don't let any of them
+have a chance to speak to her until I can come down. And hurry! Here is
+one coming now."
+
+Hurrying down-stairs, the secretary glanced into the library. There she
+saw Mrs. Fox in one armchair, and Olive in another, both reading. In the
+hall were the two little girls, busily engaged in harnessing two small
+chairs to a large armchair by means of a ball of pink yarn. Outside,
+about a hundred yards away, she saw Mr. Hemphill irresolutely
+approaching the house. Miss Raleigh's mind, frequently dormant, was very
+brisk and lively when she had occasion to waken it. She made a dive
+toward the children.
+
+"Dear little ones," she cried, "don't you want to come out under the
+trees and have the good Mr. Hemphill tell you a story? I know he wants
+to tell you one, and it is about a witch and two pussy-cats and a
+kangaroo. Come along. He is out there waiting for us." Down dropped the
+ball of yarn, and with exultant cries each little girl seized an
+outstretched hand of the secretary, and together they ran over the grass
+to meet the good Mr. Hemphill.
+
+Of course he was obliged to want to tell them a story; they expected it
+of him, and they were his employer's children. To be sure he had on mind
+something very practical and sensible he wished to say to Miss Olive,
+which had come to him during his solitary walk, and which he did not
+believe she would object to hearing, although he had said so much to her
+quite recently. As soon as he should begin to speak she would know that
+this was something she ought to know. It was about his mother, who had
+an income of her own, and did not in the least depend upon her son. Miss
+Olive would certainly agree with him that it was proper for him to tell
+her this.
+
+But the little girls seized his hands and led him away to a bench,
+where, having seated him almost forcibly, each climbed upon a knee. The
+good Mr. Hemphill sent a furtive glare after Miss Raleigh, who, with
+that smile of gentle gratification which comes to one after having just
+done a good deed to another, sauntered slowly away.
+
+"Don't come back again," cried out the older of the little girls. "He
+was put out in the last story, and we want this to be a long one. And
+remember, Mr, Rupert, it is to be about a witch and two pussy-cats--"
+
+"And a kangaroo," added the other.
+
+At the front door the secretary met Miss Asher, just emerging. "Isn't
+that a pretty picture" she said, pointing to the group under the trees.
+
+Olive looked at them and smiled. "It is beautiful," she said; "a
+regular family composition. I wish I had a kodak."
+
+"Oh, that would never do!" exclaimed Miss Raleigh. "He is just as
+sensitive as he can be, and, of course, it's natural. And the dear
+little things are so glad to get him to themselves so that they can have
+one of the long, long stories they like so much. May I ask what that is
+you are working, Miss Asher?"
+
+"It is going to be what they call a nucleus," said Olive, showing a
+little piece of fancy work. "You first crochet this, and then its
+ultimate character depends on what you may put around it. It may be a
+shawl, or a table cover, or even an apron, if you like crocheted aprons.
+I learned the stitch last winter. Would you like me to show it to you?"
+
+"I should like it above all things," said the secretary. And together
+they walked to a rustic bench quite away from the story-telling group.
+"So far I have done nothing but nucleuses," said Olive, as they sat
+down. "I put them away when they are finished, and then I suppose some
+time I shall take up one and make it into something."
+
+"Like those pastry shells," said Miss Raleigh, "which can be laid away
+and which you can fill up with preserves or jam whenever you want a pie.
+How many of these have you, Miss Asher?"
+
+"When this is finished there will be four," said Olive.
+
+At some distance, and near the garden, Dick Lancaster, strolling
+eastward, encountered Claude Locker, strolling westward.
+
+"Hello!" cried Locker. "I am glad to see you. Brought your baggage with
+you this time, I see. That means you are going to stay, of course."
+
+"A couple of days," replied Dick.
+
+"Well, a man can do a lot in that time, and you may have something to
+do, but I am not sure. No, sir," continued Locker, "I am not sure. I am
+on the point of making a demonstration in force. But the enemy is always
+presenting some new force. By enemy you understand me to mean that which
+I adore above all else in the world, but which must be attacked, and
+that right soon if her defenses are to be carried. Step this way a
+little, and look over there. Do you see that Raleigh woman sitting on a
+bench with her? Well, now, if I had not had such a beastly generous
+disposition I might be sitting on that bench this minute. I was deceived
+by a feint of the opposing forces this morning. I don't mean she
+deceived me. I did it myself. Although I had the right by treaty to
+march in upon her, I myself offered to establish a truce in order that
+she might bury her dead. I did not know who had been killed, but it
+looked as if there were losses of some kind. But it was a false alarm.
+The dead must have turned up only missing, and she was as lively as a
+cricket at luncheon, and went out in a boat with that tailor's
+model--sixteen dollars and forty-eight cents for the entire suit
+ready-made; or twenty-three dollars made to order."
+
+Dick smiled a little, but his soul rebelled within him. He regretted
+that he had given his promise to Mrs. Easterfield. What he wanted to do
+that moment was to go over to Captain Asher's niece and ask her to take
+a walk with him. What other man had a better right to speak to her than
+he had? But he respected his word; it would be very hard to break a
+promise made to Mrs. Easterfield; and he stood with his hands in his
+pockets, and his brows knit.
+
+"Now, I tell you what I am going to do," said Locker. "I am going to
+wait a little while--a very little while--and then I shall bounce over
+my earthworks, and rush her position. It is the only way to do it, and I
+shall be up and at her with cold steel. And now I will tell you what you
+must do. Just you hold yourself in reserve; and, if I am routed, you
+charge. You'd better do it if you know what's good for you, for that
+Austrian's over there pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French
+because that Raleigh woman doesn't get up and go. Now, I won't keep you
+any longer, but don't go far away. I can't talk any more, for I've got
+to have every eye fixed upon the point of attack."
+
+Dick looked at the animated face of his companion, and began to ask
+himself if the moment had not arrived when even a promise made to Mrs.
+Easterfield might be disregarded. Should he consent to allow his fate to
+depend upon the fortunes of Mr. Locker? He scorned the notion. It would
+be impossible for the girl who had talked so sweetly, so earnestly, so
+straight from her heart, when he had met her on the shunpike, to marry
+such a mountebank as this fellow, generous as he might be with that
+which could never belong to him. As to the diplomat, he did not
+condescend to bestow a thought upon such a black-pointed little
+foreigner.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXI_
+
+_Miss Raleigh enjoys a Rare Privilege._
+
+
+Miss Raleigh was very attentive to the instructions given her by Miss
+Asher, and while she exhibited the fashion of the new stitch Olive
+reflected.
+
+"I wonder," she said to herself, "if Mrs. Easterfield has done this. It
+looks very much like it, and if she did I am truly obliged to her. There
+is nothing I want so much now as a rest, and I didn't want to stay in
+the house either. Miss Raleigh," said she, suddenly changing the
+subject, "were you ever in love?"
+
+The secretary started. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
+
+"I don't mean anything," said Olive. "I simply wanted to know."
+
+"It is a queer question," said Miss Raleigh, her face changing to
+another shade of sallowness.
+
+"I know that," said Olive quickly, "but the answers to queer questions
+are always so much more interesting than those to any others. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Yes, they are," said Miss Raleigh thoughtfully, "but they are generally
+awfully hard to get. I have tried it myself."
+
+"Then you ought to have a fellow feeling for me," said Olive.
+
+"Well," said the other, looking steadfastly at her companion, "if you
+will promise to keep it all to yourself forever, I don't mind telling
+you that I was once in love. Would you like me to tell you who I was in
+love with?"
+
+"Yes," said Olive, "if you are willing to tell me."
+
+"Oh, I am perfectly willing," said the secretary. "It was Mr. Hemphill."
+
+Olive turned suddenly and looked at her in amazement.
+
+"Yes, it was Mr. Hemphill over there," said the other, speaking very
+tranquilly, as if the subject were of no importance. "You see, I have
+been living with the Easterfields for a long time, and in the winter we
+see a good deal of Mr. Hemphill. He has to come to the house on
+business, and often takes meals. He is Mr. Easterfield's private and
+confidential secretary. And, somehow or other, seeing him so often, and
+sometimes being his partner at cards when two were needed to make up a
+game, I forgot that I was older than he, and I actually fell in love
+with him. You see he has a good heart, Miss Asher; anybody could tell
+that from his way with children; and I have noticed that bachelors are
+often nicer with children than fathers are."
+
+"And he?" asked Olive.
+
+Miss Raleigh laughed a little laugh. "Oh, I did all the loving," she
+answered. "He never reciprocated the least little bit, and I often
+wondered why I adored him as much as I did. He was handsome, and he was
+good, and he had excellent taste; he was thoroughly trustworthy in his
+relations to the family, and I believe he would be equally so in all
+relations of life; but all that did not account for my unconquerable
+ardor, which was caused by a certain something which you know, Miss
+Asher, we can't explain."
+
+Olive tried hard not to allow any emotion to show itself in her face,
+but she did not altogether succeed. "And you still--" said she.
+
+"No, I don't," interrupted Miss Raleigh. "I love him no longer. There
+came a time when all my fire froze. I discovered that there was--"
+
+"I say, Miss Asher--" it was the voice of Claude Locker.
+
+Olive looked around at him. "Well?" said she.
+
+"Perhaps you have not noticed," said he, "that the tennis ground is now
+in the shade, and if you don't mind walking that way--" He said a good
+deal more which Miss Raleigh did not believe, understanding the young
+man thoroughly, and which Olive did not hear. Her mind was very busy
+with what she had just heard, which made a great impression on her. She
+did not know whether she was affronted, or hurt, or merely startled.
+
+Here was a man who loved her, a man she had loved, and one about whom
+she had been questioning herself as to the possibility of her loving him
+again. And here was a woman, a dyspeptic, unwholesome spinster, who had
+just said she had loved him. If Miss Raleigh had loved this man, how
+could she, Olive, love him? There was something repugnant about it which
+she did not attempt to understand. It went beyond reason. She felt it
+to be an actual relief to look up at Claude Locker, and to listen to
+what he was saying.
+
+"You mean," said she presently, "that you would like Miss Raleigh and me
+to come with you and play tennis."
+
+"I did not know Miss Raleigh played," he answered, "but I thought
+perhaps--"
+
+"Oh, no," said Olive. "I would not think of such a thing. In fact, Miss
+Raleigh and I are engaged. We are very busy about some important work."
+
+Mr. Locker gazed at the crocheted nucleus with an air of the loftiest
+disdain. "Of course, of course," said he, "but you really oblige me,
+Miss Asher, to speak very plainly and frankly and to say that I really
+do not care about playing tennis, but that I want to speak to you on a
+most important subject, which, for reasons that I will explain, must be
+spoken of immediately. So, if Miss Raleigh will be kind enough to
+postpone the little matter you have on hand--"
+
+Olive smiled and shook her head. "No, indeed, sir," she said; "I would
+not hurt a lady's feelings in that way, and moreover, I would not allow
+her to hurt her own feelings. It would hurt your feelings, Miss Raleigh,
+wouldn't it, to be sent away like a child who is not wanted?"
+
+"Yes," said the secretary, "I think it would."
+
+Mr. Locker listened in amazement. He had not thought the mature maiden
+had the nerve to say that.
+
+"Then again," said Olive, "this isn't the time for you to talk business
+with me, and you should not disturb me at this hour."
+
+"Oh," said Locker, bringing down the forefinger of his right hand upon
+the palm of his left, "that is a point, a very essential point. I
+voluntarily surrendered the period of discourse which you assigned to me
+for a reason which I now believe did not exist, and this is only an
+assertion of the rights vested in me by you."
+
+Miss Raleigh listened very attentively to these remarks, but could not
+imagine what they meant.
+
+Olive looked at him graciously. "Yes," she said, "you are very generous,
+but your period for discourse, as you call it, will have to be
+postponed."
+
+"But it can't be postponed," he answered. "If I could see you alone I
+could soon explain that to you. There are certain reasons why I must
+speak now."
+
+"I can't help it," said Olive. "I am not going to leave Miss Raleigh,
+and I am sure she does not want to leave me, so if you are obliged to
+speak you must speak before her."
+
+Mr. Locker gazed from one to the other of the two ladies who sat before
+him; each of them wore a gentle but determined expression. He addressed
+the secretary.
+
+"Miss Raleigh," said he, "if you understood the reason for my strong
+desire to speak in private with Miss Asher, perhaps you would respect it
+and give me the opportunity I ask for. I am here to make a proposition
+of marriage to this lady, and it is absolutely necessary that I make it
+without loss of time. Do you desire me to make it in your presence?"
+
+"I should like it very much," said Miss Raleigh.
+
+Mr. Locker gave her a look of despair, and turned to Olive. "Would you
+permit that?" he asked.
+
+"If it is absolutely necessary," she said, "I suppose I shall have to
+permit it."
+
+Mr. Locker had the soul of a lion in his somewhat circumscribed body,
+and he was not to be recklessly dared to action.
+
+"Very well, then," said he, "I shall proceed as if we were alone, and I
+hope, Miss Raleigh, you will at least see fit to consider yourself in a
+strictly confidential position."
+
+"Indeed I shall," she replied; "not one word shall ever--"
+
+"I hope not," interrupted Claude, "and I will add that if I should ever
+be accidentally present when a gentleman is about to propose to you,
+Miss Raleigh, I shall heap coals of fire upon your head by
+instantaneously withdrawing."
+
+The secretary was about to thank him, but Olive interrupted. "Now,
+Claude Locker," said she, "what can you possibly have to say to me that
+you have not said before?"
+
+"A good deal, Miss Asher, a good deal, although I don't wonder you
+suppose that no man could say more to you of his undying affection than
+I have already said. But, since I last spoke on the subject, I have been
+greatly impressed by the fact that I have not said enough about myself;
+that I have not made you understand me as I really am. I know very well
+that most people, and I suppose that at some time you have been among
+them, look upon me as a very frivolous young man, and not one to whom
+the right sort of a girl should give herself in marriage. But that is a
+mistake. I am as much to be depended upon as anybody you ever met. My
+apparently whimsical aspect is merely the outside--my shell, marked off
+in queer designs with variegated colors--but within that shell I am as
+domestic, as sober, and as surely to be found where I am expected to be
+as any turtle. This may seem a queer figure, but it strikes me as a very
+good one. When I am wanted I am there. You can always depend upon me."
+
+There was not a smile upon the face of either woman as he spoke. They
+were listening earnestly, and with the deepest interest. Miss Raleigh's
+eyes sparkled, and Olive seemed to be most seriously considering this
+new aspect in which Mr. Locker was endeavoring to place himself.
+
+"Perhaps you may think," Claude continued, "that you would not desire
+turtle-like qualities in a husband, you who are so bright, so bounding,
+so much like a hare, but I assure you, that is just the companion who
+would suit you. All day you might skip among the flowers, and in the
+fields, and wherever you were, you would always know where I was--making
+a steady bee-line for home; and you would know that I would be there to
+welcome you when you arrived."
+
+"That is very pretty!" said Miss Raleigh. And then she quickly added:
+"Excuse me for making a remark."
+
+"Now, Miss Asher," continued Locker, "I have tried, very imperfectly, I
+know, to make you see me as I really am, and I do hope you can put an
+end to this suspense which is keeping me in a nervous tingle. I can not
+sleep at night, and all day I am thinking what you will say when you do
+decide. You need not be afraid to speak out before Miss Raleigh. She is
+in with us now, and she can't get out. I would not press you for an
+answer at this moment, but there are reasons which I can not say
+anything about without meddling with other people's business. But my
+business with you is the happiness of my life, and I feel that I can not
+longer endure having it momentarily jeopardized."
+
+At the conclusion of this speech a faint color actually stole into Miss
+Raleigh's face, and she clasped her thin hands in the intensity of her
+approval.
+
+"Mr. Locker," said Olive, speaking very pleasantly, "if you had come to
+me to-day and had asked me for a decision based upon what you had
+already said to me, I think I might have settled the matter. But after
+what you have just told me, I can not answer you now. You give me things
+to think about, and I must wait."
+
+"Heavens" exclaimed Mr. Locker, clasping his hands. "Am I not yet to
+know whether I am to rise into paradise, or to sink into the infernal
+regions?"
+
+Olive smiled. "Don't do either, Mr. Locker," she said. "This earth is a
+very pleasant place. Stay where you are."
+
+He folded his arms and gazed at her. "It is a pleasant place," said he,
+"and I am mighty glad I got in my few remarks before you made your
+decision. I leave my love with you on approbation, and you may be sure I
+shall come to-morrow before luncheon to hear what you say about it."
+
+"I shall expect you," said Olive. And as she spoke her eyes were full of
+kind consideration.
+
+"Now, that's genuine," said Miss Raleigh, when Locker had departed. "If
+he had not felt every word he said he could not have said it before me."
+
+"No doubt you are right," said Olive. "He is very brave. And now you see
+this new line, which begins an entirely different kind of stitch!"
+
+In the middle distance Mr. Du Brant still strolled backward and forward,
+pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French. He seldom removed his eyes
+from Miss Asher, but still she sat on that bench and crocheted, and
+talked, and talked, and crocheted, with that everlasting Miss Raleigh!
+He had seen Locker with her, and he had seen him go; and now he hoped
+that the woman would soon depart. Then it would be his chance.
+
+The young Austrian had become most eager to make Olive his wife. He
+earnestly loved her; and, beyond that, he had come to see that a
+marriage with her would be most advantageous to his prospects. This
+beautiful and brilliant American girl, familiar with foreign life and
+foreign countries, would give him a position in diplomatic society which
+would be most desirable. She might not bring him much money; although he
+believed that all American girls had some money; but she would bring him
+favor, distinction, and, most likely, advancement. With such a wife he
+would be a welcome envoy at any court. And, besides, he loved her. But,
+alas, Miss Raleigh would not go away.
+
+About half an hour after Claude Locker left Olive he encountered Dick
+Lancaster.
+
+"Well," said he, "I charged. I was not routed, I can't say that I was
+even repulsed. But I was obliged to withdraw my forces. I shall go into
+camp, and renew the attack to-morrow. So, my friend, you will have to
+wait. I wish I could say that there is no use of your waiting, but I am
+a truthful person and can't do that."
+
+Lancaster was not pleased. "It seems to me," he said, "that you trifle
+with the most important affairs of life."
+
+"Trifle!" exclaimed Locker. "Would you call it trifling if I fail, and
+then to save her from a worse fate, were to back you up with all my
+heart and soul?"
+
+Dick could not help smiling. "By a worse fate," he said, "I suppose you
+mean--"
+
+"The Austrian," interrupted Locker. "Mrs. Easterfield has told me
+something about him. He may have a title some day, and he is about as
+dangerous as they make them. Instead of accusing me of trifling, you
+ought to go down on your knees and thank me for still standing between
+him and her."
+
+"That is a duty I would like to perform myself," said Dick.
+
+"Perhaps you may have a chance," sighed Locker, "but I most earnestly
+hope not. Look over there at that he-nurse. Those children have made him
+take them walking, and he is just coming back to the house."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXII_
+
+_The Conflicting Serenades._
+
+
+Mrs. Easterfield worked steadily at her letter, feeling confident all
+the time that her secretary was attending conscientiously to the task
+which had been assigned to her, and which could not fail to be a most
+congenial one. One of the greatest joys of Miss Raleigh's life was to
+interfere in other people's business; and to do it under approval and
+with the feeling that it was her duty was a rare joy.
+
+The letter was to her husband, and Mrs. Easterfield was writing it
+because she was greatly troubled, and even frightened. In the indulgence
+of a good-humored and romantic curiosity to know whether or not a
+grown-up young woman would return to a sentimental attachment of her
+girlhood, she had brought her husband's secretary to the house with
+consequences which were appalling. If this navy girl she had on hand had
+been a mere flirt, Mrs. Easterfield, an experienced woman of society,
+might not have been very much troubled, but Olive seemed to her to be
+much more than a flirt; she would trifle until she made up her mind, but
+when she should come to a decision Mrs. Easterfield believed she would
+act fairly and squarely. She wanted to marry; and, in her heart, Mrs.
+Easterfield commended her; without a mother; now more than ever without
+a father; her only near relative about to marry a woman who was
+certainly a most undesirable connection; Olive was surely right in
+wishing to settle in life. And, if piqued and affronted by her father's
+intended marriage, she wished immediately to declare her independence,
+the girl could not be blamed. And, from what she had said of Mr.
+Hemphill, Mrs. Easterfield could not in her own mind dissent. He was a
+good young man; he had an excellent position; he fervently loved Olive;
+she had loved him, and might do it again. What was there to which she
+could object? Only this: it angered and frightened her to think of Olive
+Asher throwing herself away upon Rupert Hemphill. So she wrote a very
+strong letter to her husband, representing to him that the danger was
+very great and imminent, and that he was needed at Broadstone just as
+soon as he could get there. Business could be set aside; his wife's
+happiness was at stake; for if this unfortunate match should be made, it
+would be her doing, and it would cloud her whole life. Of herself she
+did not know what to do, and if she had known, she could not have done
+it. But if he came he would not only know everything, but could do
+anything. This indicated her general opinion of Mr. Tom Easterfield.
+
+"Now," said she to herself, as she fixed an immediate-delivery stamp
+upon the letter, "that ought to bring him here before lunch to-morrow."
+
+When Olive saw fit to go to her room Miss Raleigh felt relieved from
+guard, and went to Mrs. Easterfield to report. She told that lady
+everything that had happened, even including her own emotions at
+various points of the interview. The amazed Mrs. Easterfield listened
+with the greatest interest.
+
+"I knew Claude Locker was capable of almost any wild proceeding," she
+said, "but I did not think he would do that!"
+
+"There is one thing I forgot," said the secretary, "and that is that I
+promised Mr. Locker not to mention a word of what happened."
+
+"I am very glad," replied Mrs. Easterfield, "that you remembered that
+promise after you told me everything, and not before. You have done
+admirably so far."
+
+"And if I have any other opportunities of interpolating myself, so to
+speak," said Miss Raleigh, "shall I embrace them?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "I don't want you to be too obviously
+zealous," she answered. "I think for the present we may relax our
+efforts to relieve Miss Asher of annoyance." Mrs. Easterfield believed
+this. She had faith in Olive; and if that young woman had promised to
+give Claude Locker another hearing the next day she did not believe that
+the girl would give anybody else a positive answer before that time.
+
+Miss Raleigh went away not altogether satisfied. She did not believe in
+relaxed vigilance; for one thing, it was not interesting.
+
+Olive was surprised when she found that Mr. Lancaster was to stay to
+dinner, and afterward when she was informed that he had been invited to
+spend a few days, she reflected. It looked like some sort of a plan, and
+what did Mrs. Easterfield mean by it? She knew the lady of the house
+had a very good opinion of the young professor, and that might explain
+the invitation at this particular moment, but still it did look like a
+plan, and as Olive had no sympathy with plans of this sort she
+determined not to trouble her head about it. And to show her
+non-concern, she was very gracious to Mr. Lancaster, and received her
+reward in an extremely interesting conversation.
+
+Still Olive reflected, and was not in her usual lively spirits. Mr. Fox
+said to Mrs. Fox that it was an abominable shame to allow a crowd of
+incongruous young men to swarm in upon a country house party, and
+interfere seriously with the pleasures of intelligent and
+self-respecting people.
+
+That night, after Mrs. Easterfield had gone to bed, and before she
+slept, she heard something which instantly excited her attention; it was
+the sound of a guitar, and it came from the lawn in front of the house.
+Jumping up, and throwing a dressing-gown about her, she cautiously
+approached the open window. But the night was dark, and she could see
+nothing. Pushing an armchair to one side of the window, she seated
+herself, and listened. Words now began to mingle with the music, and
+these words were French. Now she understood everything perfectly. Mr. Du
+Brant was a musician, and had helped himself to the guitar in the
+library.
+
+From the position in which she sat Mrs. Easterfield could look upon a
+second-story window in a projecting wing of the house, and upon this
+window, which belonged to Olive's room, and which was barely perceptible
+in the gloom, she now fixed her eyes. The song and the thrumming went
+on, but no signs of life could be seen in the black square of that open
+window.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was not a bad French scholar, and she caught enough of
+the meaning of the words to understand that they belonged to a very
+pretty love song in which the flowers looked up to the sky to see if it
+were blue, because they knew if it were the fair one smiled, and then
+their tender buds might ope; and, if she smiled, his heart implored that
+she might smile on him. There was a second verse, much resembling the
+first, except that the flowers feared that clouds might sweep the sky;
+and they lamented accordingly.
+
+Now, Mrs. Easterfield imagined that she saw something white in the
+depths of the darkness of Olive's room, but it did not come to the
+front, and she was very uncertain about it. Suddenly, however, something
+happened about which she could not be in the least uncertain. Above
+Olive's room was a chamber appropriated to the use of bachelor visitors,
+and from the window of this room now burst upon the night a wild,
+unearthly chant. It was a song with words but without music, and the
+voice in which it was shot out into the darkness was harsh, was shrill,
+was insolently blatant. And thus the clamorous singer sang:
+
+    "My angel maid--ahoy!
+    If aught should you annoy,
+        By act or sound,
+        From sky or ground,
+        I then pray thee
+        To call on me
+    My angel maid--ahoy,
+    My ange--my ange--l maid
+    Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!"
+
+The music of the guitar now ceased, and no French words were heard. No
+ditty of Latin origin, be it ever so melodious and fervid, could stand
+against such a wild storm of Anglo-Saxon vociferation. Every ahoy rang
+out as if sea captains were hailing each other in a gale!
+
+"What lungs he has" thought Mrs. Easterfield, as she put her hand over
+her mouth so that no one should hear her laugh. At the open window, at
+which she still steadily gazed, she now felt sure she saw something
+white which moved, but it did not come to the front.
+
+A wave of half-smothered objurgation now rolled up from below; it was
+not to be readily caught, but its tone indicated rage and
+disappointment. But the guitar had ceased to sound, and the French love
+song was heard no more. A little irrepressible laugh came from
+somewhere, but who heard it beside herself Mrs. Easterfield could not
+know. Then all was still, and the insects of the night, and the tree
+frogs, had the stage to themselves.
+
+Early in the morning Miss Raleigh presented herself before Mrs.
+Easterfield to make a report. "There was a serenade last night," she
+said, "not far from Miss Asher's window. In fact, there were two, but
+one of them came from Mr. Locker's room, and was simply awful. Mr. Du
+Brant was the gentleman who sang from the lawn, and I was very sorry
+when he felt himself obliged to stop. I do not think very much of him,
+but he certainly has a pleasant voice, and plays well on the guitar. I
+think he must have been a good deal cut up by being interrupted in that
+dreadful way, for he grumbled and growled, and did not go into the
+house for some time. I am sure he would have been very glad to fight if
+any one had come down."
+
+"You mean," said Mrs. Easterfield, "if Mr. Locker had come."
+
+"Well," said the secretary, "if Mr. Hemphill had appeared I have no
+doubt he would have answered. Mr. Du Brant seemed to me ready to fight
+anybody."
+
+"How do you know so much about him?" asked Mrs. Easterfield. "And why
+did you think of Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"Oh, he was looking out of his window," said Miss Raleigh. "He could not
+see, but he could hear."
+
+"I ask you again," said Mrs. Easterfield, "how do you know all this?"
+
+"Oh, I had not gone to bed, and, at the first sound of the guitar, I
+slipped on a waterproof with a hood, and went out. Of course, I wanted
+to know everything that was happening."
+
+"I had not the least idea you were such an energetic person," remarked
+Mrs. Easterfield, "and I think you were entirely too rash. But how about
+Mr. Lancaster? Do you know if he was listening?"
+
+Miss Raleigh stood silent for a moment, then she exclaimed: "There now,
+it is too bad! I entirely forgot him! I have not the slightest idea
+whether he was asleep or awake, and it would have been just as easy--"
+
+"Well, you need not regret it," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think you did
+quite enough, and if anything of the kind occurs again I positively
+forbid you to go out of the house."
+
+"There is one thing we've got to look after," said Miss Raleigh,
+without heeding the last remark, "this may result in bloodshed."
+
+"Nonsense," said Mrs. Easterfield; "nothing of that kind is to be feared
+from the gentlemen who visit Broadstone."
+
+"Still," said Miss Raleigh, "don't you think it would be well for me to
+keep an eye on them?"
+
+"Oh, you may keep both eyes on them if you want to," said Mrs.
+Easterfield. Then she began to talk about something else, but, although
+she dismissed the matter so lightly, she was very glad at heart that she
+had sent for her husband. Things were getting themselves into unpleasant
+complications, and she needed Tom.
+
+There was a certain constraint at the breakfast table. Mr. Fox had heard
+the serenades, although his consort had slept soundly through the
+turmoil; and, while carefully avoiding any reference to the incidents of
+the night, he was anxiously hoping that somebody would say something
+about them. Mrs. Easterfield saw that Mr. Du Brant was in a bad humor,
+and she hoped he was angry enough to announce his early departure. But
+he contented himself with being angry, and said nothing about going
+away.
+
+Mr. Hemphill was serious, and looked often in the direction of Olive. As
+for Dick Lancaster, Miss Raleigh, whose eye was fixed upon him whenever
+it could be spared from the exigencies of her meal, decided that if
+there should be a fight he would be one of the fighters; his brow was
+dark and his glance was sharp; in fact, she was of the opinion that he
+glared. Claude Locker did not come to breakfast until nearly everybody
+had finished. His dreams had been so pleasant that he had overslept
+himself.
+
+In the eyes of Mrs. Easterfield Olive's conduct was positively charming.
+No one could have supposed that during the night she had heard anything
+louder than the ripple of the river. She talked more to Mr. Du Brant
+than to any one else, although she managed to draw most of the others
+into the conversation; and, with the assistance of the hostess, who gave
+her most good-humored help, the talk never flagged, although it did not
+become of the slightest interest to any one who engaged in it. They were
+all thinking about the conflict of serenades, and what might happen
+next.
+
+Shortly after breakfast Miss Raleigh came to Mrs. Easterfield. "Mr. Du
+Brant is with her," she said quickly, "and they are walking away. Shall
+I interpolate?"
+
+"No," said the other with a smile, "you can let them alone. Nothing will
+happen this morning, unless, indeed, he should come to ask for a
+carriage to take him to the station."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was busy in her garden when Dick Lancaster came to her.
+"What a wonderfully determined expression you have!" said she. "You look
+as if you were going to jump on a street-car without stopping it!"
+
+"You are right," said he, "I am determined, and I came to tell you so. I
+can't stand this sort of thing any longer. I feel like a child who is
+told he must eat at the second table, and who can not get his meals
+until every one else is finished."
+
+"And I suppose," she said, "you feel there will be nothing left for
+you."
+
+"That is it," he answered, "and I don't want to wait. My soul rebels! I
+can't stand it!"
+
+"Therefore," she said, "you wish to appear before the meal is ready, and
+in that case you will get nothing." He looked at her inquiringly. "I
+mean," said she, "that if you propose to Miss Asher now you will be
+before your time, and she will decline your proposition without the
+slightest hesitation."
+
+"I do not quite understand that," said Dick. "Would she decline all
+others?"
+
+"I am afraid not."
+
+"But why do you except me?" asked Dick. "Surely she is not engaged. I
+know you would tell me at once if that were so."
+
+"It is not so," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Then I shall take my chances. With all this serenading and love-making
+going on around me and around the woman I love with all my heart. I can
+not stand and wait until I am told my time has come. The intensity and
+the ardor of my feelings for her give me the right to speak to her.
+Unless I know that some one else has stepped in before me and taken the
+place I crave, I have decided to speak to her just as soon as I can. But
+I thought it was due to you to come first and tell you."
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," said Mrs. Easterfield, speaking very quietly, "if you
+decide to go to Miss Asher and ask her to marry you, I know you will do
+it, for I believe you are a man who keeps his word to himself, but I
+assure you that if you do it you will never marry her. So you really
+need not bother yourself about going to her; you can simply decide to do
+it, and that will be quite sufficient; and you can stay here and hold
+these long-stemmed dahlias for me as I cut them."
+
+A troubled wistfulness showed itself upon the young man's face. "You
+speak so confidently," he said, "that I almost feel I ought to believe
+you. Why do you tell me that I am the only one of her suitors who would
+certainly be rejected if he offered himself?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped the long-stemmed dahlias she had been holding;
+and, turning her eyes full upon Lancaster, she said, "Because you are
+the only one of them toward whom she has no predilections whatever. More
+than that, you are the only one toward whom she has a positive
+objection. You are the only one who is an intimate friend of her uncle,
+and who would be likely, by means of that intimate friendship, to bring
+her into connection with the woman she hates, as well as with a relative
+she despises on account of his intended marriage with that woman."
+
+"All that should not count at all," cried Dick. "In such a matter as
+this I have nothing to do with Captain Asher! I stand for myself and
+speak for myself. What is his intended wife to me? Or what should she be
+to her?"
+
+"Of course," said Mrs. Easterfield, "all that would not count at all if
+Olive Asher loved you. But you see she doesn't. I have had it from her
+own lips that her uncle's intended marriage is, and must always be, an
+effectual barrier between you and her."
+
+"What" cried Dick. "Have you spoken to her of me? And in that way?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I have. I did not intend to tell you, but
+you have forced me to do it. You see, she is a young woman of
+extraordinary good sense. She believes she ought to marry, and she is
+going to try to make the very best marriage that she possibly can. She
+has suitors who have very strong claims upon her consideration--I am not
+going to tell you those claims, but I know them. Now, you have no
+claim--special claim, I mean--but for all this, I believe, as I have
+told you before, that you are the man she ought to marry, and I have
+been doing everything I can to make her cease considering them, and to
+consider you. And this is the way she came to give me her reasons for
+not considering you at all. Now the state of the case is plain before
+you."
+
+Dick bowed his head and fixed his eyes upon the dahlias on the ground.
+
+"Don't tread on the poor things," she said, "and don't despair. All you
+have to do is to let me put a curbed bit on you, and for you to consent
+to wear it for a little while. See," said she, moving her hands in the
+air, as if they were engaged upon the bridle of a horse, "I fasten this
+chain rather closely, and buckle the ends of the reins in the lowest
+curb. Now, you must have a steady hand and a resolute will until the
+time comes when the curb is no longer needed."
+
+"And do you believe that time will come?" he asked.
+
+"It will come," she said, "when two things happen; when she has reason
+to love you, and has no reason to object to you; and, in my opinion,
+that happy combination may arrive if you act sensibly."
+
+"But--" said Dick.
+
+At this moment a quick step was heard on the garden-path and they both
+turned. It was Olive.
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," she cried, "I want you; that is, if Mrs. Easterfield
+can spare you. We are making up a game of tennis. Mr. Du Brant and Mr.
+Hemphill are there, but I can not find Mr. Locker."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield could spare him, and Dick Lancaster, with the curbed
+chain pressing him very hard, walked away with Olive Asher.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+_The Captain and Maria._
+
+
+When the captain drove into Glenford on the day when his mind had been
+so much disturbed by Dick Lancaster's questions regarding a marriage
+between him and Maria Port, he stopped at no place of business, he
+turned not to the right nor to the left, but went directly to the house
+of his old friend with whom he had spent the night before.
+
+Mr. Simeon Port was sitting on his front porch, reading his newspaper.
+He looked up, surprised to see the captain again so soon.
+
+"Simeon," said the captain, "I want to see Maria. I have something to
+say to her."
+
+The old man laid down his newspaper. "Serious?" said he.
+
+"Yes, serious," was the answer, "and I want to see her now."
+
+Mr. Port reflected for a moment. "Captain," said he, "do you believe you
+have thought about this as much as you ought to?"
+
+"Yes, I have," replied the captain; "I've thought just as much as I
+ought to. Is she in the house?"
+
+Mr. Port did not answer. "Captain John," said he presently, "Maria isn't
+young, that's plain enough, considerin' my age; but she never does seem
+to me as if she'd growed up. When she was a girl she had ways of her
+own, and she could make water bile quick, and now she can make it bile
+just as quick as ever she did, and perhaps quicker. She's not much on
+mindin' the helm, Captain John, and there're other things about her that
+wouldn't be attractive to husbands when they come to find them out. And
+if I was you I'd take my time."
+
+"That's just what I intend to do," said the captain. "This is my time,
+and I am going to take it."
+
+Miss Port, who was busy in the back part of the house, heard voices, and
+now came forward. She was wiping her hands upon her apron, and one of
+them she extended to the captain.
+
+"I am glad to see you--John," she said, speaking in a very gentle voice,
+and hesitating a little at the last word.
+
+The captain looked at her steadfastly, and then, without taking her
+hand, he said: "I want to speak to you by yourself. I'll go into the
+parlor."
+
+She politely stepped back to let him pass her, and then her father
+turned quickly to her.
+
+"Did you expect to see him back so soon?" he asked.
+
+She smiled and looked down. "Oh, yes," said she, "I was sure he'd come
+back very soon."
+
+The old man heaved a sigh, and returned to his paper.
+
+Maria followed the captain. "John," said she, speaking in a low voice,
+"wouldn't you rather come into the dinin'-room? He's a little bit hard
+of hearin', but if you don't want him to hear anything he'll take in
+every word of it."
+
+"Maria Port," said the captain, speaking in a strong, upper-deck voice,
+"what I have to say I'll say here. I don't want the people in the street
+to hear me, but if your father chooses to listen I would rather he did
+it than not."
+
+She looked at him inquiringly. "Well," she answered, "I suppose he will
+have to hear it some time or other, and he might as well hear it now as
+not. He's all I've got in the world, and you know as well as I do that I
+run to tell him everything that happens to me as soon as it happens.
+Will you sit down?"
+
+"No," said the captain, "I can speak better standing. Maria Port, I have
+found out that you have been trying to make people believe that I am
+engaged to marry you."
+
+The smile did not leave Maria's face. "Well, ain't you?" said she.
+
+A look of blank amazement appeared on the face of the captain, but it
+was quickly succeeded by the blackness of rage. He was about to swear,
+but restrained himself.
+
+"Engaged to you?" he shouted, forgetting entirely the people in the
+street; "I'd rather be engaged to a fin-back shark!"
+
+The smile now left her face. "Oh, thank you very much," she said. "And
+this is what you meant by your years of devotion! I held out for a long
+time, knowing the difference in our ages and the habits of sailors, and
+now--just when I make up my mind to give in, to think of my father and
+not of myself, and to sacrifice my feelin's so that he might always
+have one of his old friends near him, now that he's got too feeble to go
+out by himself, and at his age you know as well as I do he ought to have
+somebody near him besides me, for who can tell what may happen, or how
+sudden--you come and tell me you'd rather marry a fish. I suppose you've
+got somebody else in your mind, but that don't make no difference to me.
+I've got no fish to offer you, but I have myself that you've wanted so
+long, and which now you've got."
+
+The angry captain opened his mouth to speak; he was about to ejaculate
+Woman! but his sense of propriety prevented this. He would not apply
+such an epithet to any one in the house of a friend. Wretch rose to his
+lips, but he would not use even that word; and he contented himself
+with: "You! You know just as well as you know you are standing there
+that I never had the least idea of marrying you. You know, too, that you
+have tried to make people think I had, people here in town and people
+out at my house, where you came over and over again pretending to want
+to talk about your father's health, when it did not need any more
+talking about than yours does. You know you have made trouble in my
+family; that you so disgusted my niece that she would not stop at my
+house, which had been the same thing as her home; you sickened my
+friends; and made my very servants ashamed of me; and all this because
+you want to marry a man who now despises you. I would have despised you
+long ago if I had seen through your tricks, but I didn't."
+
+There was a smile on Miss Port's face now, but it was not such a smile
+as that with which she had greeted the captain; it was a diabolical
+grin, brightened by malice. "You are perfectly right," she said;
+"everybody knows we are engaged to be married, and what they think about
+it doesn't matter to me the snap of my finger. The people in town all
+know it and talk about it, and what's more, they've talked to me about
+it. That niece of your'n knows it, and that's the reason she won't come
+near you, and I'm sure I'm not sorry for that. As for that old thing
+that helps you at the toll-gate, and as for the young man that's
+spongin' on you, I've no doubt they've got a mighty poor opinion of you.
+And I've no doubt they're right. But all that matters nothin' to me.
+You're engaged to be married to me; you know it yourself; and everybody
+knows it; and what you've got to do is to marry, or pay. You hear what I
+say, and you know what I'm goin' to stick to."
+
+It may be well for Captain Asher's reputation that he had no opportunity
+to answer Miss Port's remarks. At that instant Mr. Simeon Port appeared
+at the door which opened from the parlor on the piazza. He stepped
+quickly, his actions showing nothing of that decrepitude which his
+dutiful daughter had feared would prevent him from seeking the society
+of his friends. He fixed his eyes on his daughter and spoke in a loud,
+strong voice.
+
+"Maria," said he, "go to bed! I've heard what you've been saying, and
+I'm ashamed of you. I've been ashamed of you before, but now it's worse
+than ever. Go to bed, I tell you! And this time, go!"
+
+There was nothing in the world that Maria Port was afraid of except her
+father, and of him personally she had not the slightest dread. But of
+his dying without leaving her the whole of his fortune she had an
+abiding terror, which often kept her awake at night, and which sent a
+sickening thrill through her whenever a difficulty arose between her and
+her parent. She was quite sure what he would do if she should offend him
+sufficiently; he would leave her a small annuity, enough to support her;
+and the rest of his money would go to several institutions which she had
+heard him mention in this connection. If she could have married Captain
+Asher she would have felt a good deal safer; it would have taken much
+provocation to make her father leave his money out of the family if his
+old friend had been one of that family.
+
+Now, when she heard her father's voice, and saw his dark eyes glittering
+at her, she knew she was in great danger, and the well-known chill ran
+through her. She made no answer; she cared not who was present; she
+thought of nothing but that those eyes must cease to glitter, and that
+angry voice must not be heard again. She turned and walked to her room,
+which was on the same floor, across the hall.
+
+"And mind you go to bed!" shouted her father. "And do it regular. You're
+not to make believe to go to bed, and then get up and walk about as soon
+as my back is turned. I'm comin' in presently to see if you've obeyed
+me."
+
+She answered not, but entered her room, and closed the door after her.
+
+Mr. Port now turned to the captain. "I never could find out," he said,
+"where Maria got that mind of her'n. It isn't from my side, for my
+father and mother was as good people as ever lived, and it wasn't from
+her mother, for you knew her, and there wasn't anything of the kind
+about her."
+
+"No," said Captain Asher, "not the least bit of it."
+
+"It must have been from her grandmother Ellis," said the old man. "I
+never knew her, for she died before I was acquainted with the family,
+but I expect she died of deviltry. That's the only insight I can get
+into the reasons for Maria's havin' the mind she's got. But I tell you,
+Captain John, you've had a blessed escape! I didn't know she was in the
+habit of goin' out to your house so often. She didn't tell me that."
+
+"Simeon," said the captain, "I think I will go now. I have had enough of
+Maria. I don't suppose I'll hear from her very soon again."
+
+The old man smiled. "No," said he, "I don't think she'll want to trouble
+you any more."
+
+Miss Port, whose ear was at the keyhole of her door not twelve feet
+away, grinned malignantly.
+
+Soon after Captain Asher had gone Mr. Port walked to the door of his
+daughter's room, gave a little knock, and then opened the door a little.
+
+"You are in bed, are you?" said he. "Well, that's good for you. Turn
+down that coverlid and let me see if you've got your nightclothes on."
+She obeyed. "Very well," he continued; "now you stay there until I tell
+you to get up."
+
+Captain Asher went home, still in a very bad humor. He had ceased to be
+angry with Maria Port, he was done with her; and he let her pass out of
+his mind. But he was angry with other people, especially with Olive.
+She had allowed herself to have a most contemptuous opinion of him; she
+had treated him shamefully; and as he thought of her his indignation
+increased instead of diminishing. And young Lancaster had believed it!
+And old Jane! It was enough to make a stone slab angry, and the captain
+was not a stone slab.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+_Mr. Tom arrives at Broadstone._
+
+
+After the conclusion of the game of tennis in which Olive and three of
+her lovers participated, Claude Locker, returning from a long walk,
+entered the grounds of Broadstone. He had absented himself from that
+hospitable domain for purposes of reflection, and also to avoid the
+company of Mr. Du Brant. Not that he was afraid of the diplomat, but
+because of the important interview appointed for the latter part of the
+morning. He very much wished that no unpleasantness of any kind should
+occur before the time for that interview.
+
+Having found that he had given himself more time than was necessary for
+his reflections and his walk, he had rested in the shade of a tree and
+had written two poems. One of these was the serenade which he would have
+roared out on the night air on a very recent occasion if he had had time
+to prepare it. It was, in his opinion, far superior to the impromptu
+verses of which he had been obliged to make use, and it pleased him to
+think that if things should go well with him after the interview to
+which he was looking forward, he would read that serenade to its object,
+and ask her to substitute it in her memory for the inharmonic lines
+which he had used in order to smother the degenerate melody of a
+foreign lay. The other poem was intended for use in case his interview
+should not be successful. But on the way home Mr. Locker experienced an
+entire change of mind. He came to believe that it would be unwise for
+him to arrange to use either of those poems on that day. For all he
+knew, Miss Asher might like foreign degenerate lays, and she might be
+annoyed that he had interfered with one. He remembered that she had told
+him that if he had insisted on an immediate answer to his proposition it
+would have been very easy to give it to him. He realized what that
+meant; and, for all he knew, she might be quite as ready this morning to
+act with similar promptness. That Du Brant business might have settled
+her mind, and it would therefore be very well for him to be careful
+about what he did, and what he asked for.
+
+About half an hour before luncheon, when he neared the house and
+perceived Miss Asher on the lawn, it seemed to him very much as if she
+were looking for him. This he did not like, and he hurried toward her.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "I wish to propose an amendment."
+
+"To what?" asked Olive. "But first tell me where you have been and what
+you have been doing? You are covered with dust, and look as hot as if
+you had been pulling the boat against the rapids. I have not seen you
+the whole morning."
+
+"I have been walking," said he, "and thinking. It is dreadful hot work
+to think. That should be done only in winter weather."
+
+"It would be a woeful thing to take a cold on the mind," said Olive.
+
+"That is so!" he replied. "That is exactly what I am afraid of this
+morning, and that is the reason I want to propose my amendment. I beg
+most earnestly that you will not make this interview definitive. I am
+afraid if you do I may get chills in my mind, soul, and heart from which
+I shall never recover. I have an idea that the weather may not be as
+favorable as it was yesterday for the unveiling of tender emotions."
+
+"Why so?" asked Olive.
+
+"There are several reasons," returned Mr. Locker. "For one thing, that
+musical uproar last night. I have not heard anything about that, and I
+don't know where I stand."
+
+Olive laughed. "It was splendid," said she. "I liked you a great deal
+better after that than I did before."
+
+"Now tell me," he exclaimed hurriedly, "and please lose no time, for
+here comes a surrey from the station with a gentleman in it--do you like
+me enough better to give me a favorable answer, now, right here?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "I do not feel warranted in being so precipitate as
+that."
+
+"Then please say nothing on the subject," said Locker. "Please let us
+drop the whole matter for to-day. And may I assume that I am at liberty
+to take it up again to-morrow at this hour?"
+
+"You may," said Olive. "What gentleman is that, do you suppose?"
+
+"I know him," said Locker, "and, fortunately, he is married. He is Mr.
+Easterfield."
+
+"Here's papa! Here's papa!" shouted the two little girls as they ran out
+of the front door.
+
+"And papa," said the oldest one, "we want you to tell us a story just as
+soon as you have brushed your hair! Mr. Rupert has been telling us
+stories, but yours are a great deal better."
+
+"Yes," said the other little girl, "he makes all the children too good.
+They can't be good, you know, and there's no use trying. We told him so,
+but he doesn't mind."
+
+There was story-telling after luncheon, but the papa did not tell them,
+and the children were sent away. It was Mrs. Easterfield who told the
+stories, and Mr. Tom was a most interested listener.
+
+"Well," said he, when she had finished, "this seems to be a somewhat
+tangled state of affairs."
+
+"It certainly is," she replied, "and I tangled them."
+
+"And you expect me to straighten them?" he asked.
+
+"Of course I do," she replied, "and I expect you to begin by sending Mr.
+Hemphill away. You know I could not do it, but I should think it would
+be easy for you."
+
+"Would you object if I lighted a cigar?" he asked.
+
+"Of course not," she said. "Did you ever hear me object to anything of
+the kind?"
+
+"No," said he, "but I never have smoked in this room, and I thought
+perhaps Miss Raleigh might object when she came in to do your writing."
+
+"My writing!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Now don't trifle! This is no
+time to make fun of me. Olive may be accepting him this minute."
+
+"It seems to me," said Mr. Easterfield, slowly puffing his cigar, "that
+it would not be such a very bad thing if she did. So far as I have been
+able to judge, he is my favorite of the claimants. Du Brant and I have
+met frequently, and if I were a girl I would not want to marry him.
+Locker is too little for Miss Asher, and, besides, he is too flighty.
+Your young professor may be good enough, but from my limited
+conversation with him at the table I could not form much of an opinion
+as to him one way or another. I have an opinion of Hemphill, and a very
+good one. He is a first-class young man, a rising one with prospects,
+and, more than that, I think he is the best-looking of the lot."
+
+"Tom," said Mrs. Easterfield, "do you suppose I sent for you to talk
+such nonsense as that? Can you imagine that my sense of honor toward
+Olive's parents would allow me even to consider a marriage between a
+high-class girl, such as she is--high-class in every way--to a mere
+commonplace private secretary? I don't care what his attributes and
+merits are; he is commonplace to the backbone; and he is impossible. If
+what ought to be a brilliant career ends suddenly in Rupert Hemphill I
+shall have Olive on my conscience for the rest of my life."
+
+"That settles it," said Mr. Tom Easterfield; "your conscience, my dear,
+has not been trained to carry loads, and I shall not help to put one on
+it. Hemphill is a good man, but we must rule him out."
+
+"Yes," said she, "Olive is a great deal more than good. He must be
+ruled out."
+
+"But I can't send him away this afternoon," Tom continued. "That would
+put them both on their mettle, and, ten to one, he would considerately
+announce his engagement before he left."
+
+"No," said she. "Olive is very sharp, and would resent that. But now
+that you are here I feel safe from any immediate rashness on their
+part."
+
+"You are right," said Mr. Tom. "My very coming will give them pause. And
+now I want to see the girl."
+
+"What for?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I want to get acquainted with her. I don't know her yet, and I can't
+talk to her if I don't know her."
+
+"Are you going to talk to her about Hemphill?"
+
+"Yes, for one thing," he answered.
+
+"Well," said she, "you will have to be very circumspect. She is both
+alert, and sensitive."
+
+"Oh, I'll be circumspect enough," he replied. "You may trust me for
+that."
+
+It was not long after this that Mrs. Easterfield, being engaged in some
+hospitable duties, sent Olive to show Mr. Tom the garden, and it was
+rather a slight to that abode of beauty that the tour of the rose-lined
+paths occupied but a very few minutes, when Mr. Easterfield became
+tired, and desired to sit down. Having seated themselves on Mrs.
+Easterfield's favorite bench, Olive looked up at her companion, and
+asked:
+
+"Well, sir, what is it you brought me here to say to me?"
+
+Mr. Tom laughed, and so did she.
+
+"If it is anything about the gentlemen who are paying their addresses
+to me, you may as well begin at once, for that will save time, and
+really an introduction is not necessary."
+
+Mr. Easterfield's admiration for this young lady, which had been
+steadily growing, was not decreased by this remark. "This girl," said he
+to himself, "deserves a nimble-witted husband. Hemphill would never do
+for her. It seems to me," he said aloud, "that we are already well
+enough acquainted for me to proceed with the remarks which you have
+correctly assumed I came here to make."
+
+"Yes," said she, "I have always thought that some people are born to
+become acquainted, and when they meet they instantly perceive the fact,
+and the thing is accomplished. They can then proceed."
+
+"Very well," said he, "we will proceed."
+
+"I suppose," said Olive, "that Mrs. Easterfield has explained
+everything, and that you agree with her and with me that it is a
+sensible thing for a girl in my position to marry, and, having no one to
+attend wisely to such a matter for me, that I should endeavor to attend
+to it myself as wisely as I can. Also, that a little bit of pique,
+caused by the fact that I am to have an old schoolfellow for a
+stepmother, is excusable."
+
+"And it is this pique which puts you in such a hurry? I did not exactly
+understand that."
+
+"Yes, it does," said she. "I very much wish to announce my own
+engagement, if not my marriage, before any arrangements shall be made
+which may include me. Do you think me wrong in this?"
+
+"No, I don't," said Mr. Easterfield. "If I were a girl in your place I
+think I would do the same thing myself."
+
+Olive's face expressed her gratitude. "And now," said she, "what do you
+think of the young men? I feel so well acquainted with you through Mrs.
+Easterfield that I shall give a great deal of weight to your opinion.
+But first let me ask you one thing: After what you have heard of me do
+you think I am a flirt?"
+
+Mr. Tom knitted his brows a little, then he smiled, and then he looked
+out over the flower-beds without saying anything.
+
+"Don't be afraid to say so if you think so," said she. "You must be
+perfectly plain and frank with me, or our acquaintanceship will wither
+away."
+
+Under the influence of this threat he spoke. "Well," said he, "I should
+not feel warranted in calling you a flirt, but it does seem to me that
+you have been flirting."
+
+"I think you are wrong, Mr. Easterfield," said Olive, speaking very
+gravely. "I never saw any one of these young men before I came here
+except Mr. Hemphill, and he was an entirely different person when I knew
+him before, and I have given no one of them any special encouragement.
+If Mr. Locker were not such an impetuous young man, I think the others
+would have been more deliberate, but as it was easy to see the state of
+his mind, and as we are all making but a temporary stay here, these
+other young men saw that they must act quickly, or not at all. This,
+while it was very amusing, was also a little annoying, and I should
+greatly have preferred slower and more deliberate movements on the part
+of these young men. But all my feelings changed when my father's letter
+came to me. I was glad then that they had proposed already."
+
+"That is certainly honest," said Mr. Tom.
+
+"Of course it is honest," replied Olive. "I am here to speak honestly if
+I speak at all. Now, don't you see that if under these peculiar
+circumstances one eligible young man had proposed to me I ought to have
+considered myself fortunate? Now here are three to choose from. Do you
+not agree with me that it is my duty to try to choose the best one of
+them, and not to discourage any until I feel very certain about my
+choice?"
+
+"That is business-like," said Mr. Easterfield; "but do you love any one
+of them?"
+
+"No, I don't," answered Olive, "except that there is a feeling in that
+direction in the case of Mr. Hemphill. I suppose Mrs. Easterfield has
+told you that when I was a schoolgirl I was deeply in love with him; and
+now, when I think of those old times, I believe it would not be
+impossible for those old sentiments to return. So there really is a tie
+between him and me; even though it be a slight one; which does not exist
+at all between me and any one of the others."
+
+For a moment neither of them spoke. "That is very bad, young woman,"
+thought Mr. Tom. "A slight tie like that is apt to grow thick and strong
+suddenly." But he could not discourse about Mr. Hemphill; he knew that
+would be very dangerous. He would have to be considered, however, and
+much more seriously than he had supposed.
+
+"Well," said he, "I will tell you this: if I were a young man,
+unmarried, and on a visit to Broadstone at this time, I should not like
+to be treated as you are treating the young men who are here. It is all
+very well for a young woman to look after herself and her own interests,
+but I should be very sorry to have my fate depend upon the merits of
+other people. I may not be correct, but I am afraid I should feel I was
+being flirted with."
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, giving a quick, forward motion on the bench,
+"you think I ought to settle this matter immediately, and relieve myself
+at once from the imputation of trifling with earnest affection?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" cried Mrs. Easterfield. "Not at all! Don't do anything
+rash!"
+
+Olive leaned back on the bench, and laughed heartily. "There is so much
+excellent advice in this world," she said, "which is not intended to be
+used. However, it is valuable all the same. And now, sir, what is it you
+would like me to do? Something plain; intended for every-day use."
+
+Mr. Tom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "It does not appear to
+me," he said, "that you have told me very much I did not know before,
+for Mrs. Easterfield put the matter very plainly before me."
+
+"And it does not seem to me," said Olive, "that you have given me any
+definite counsel, and I know that is what you came here to do."
+
+"You are mistaken there," he said. "I came here to find out what sort of
+a girl you are; my counsels must depend on my discoveries. But there is
+one thing I want to ask you; you are all the time talking about three
+young men. Now, there are four of them here."
+
+"Yes," she answered quickly. "But only three of them have proposed;
+and, besides, if the other were to do so, he would have to be set aside
+for what I may call family reasons. I don't want to go into particulars
+because the subject is very painful to me."
+
+For a moment Mr. Tom did not speak. Then, determined to go through with
+what he had come to do, which was to make himself acquainted with this
+girl, he said: "I do not wish to discuss anything that is painful to
+you, but Mrs. Easterfield and I are very much disturbed for fear that in
+some way your visit to Broadstone created some misunderstanding or
+disagreeable feeling between you and your uncle. Now, would you mind
+telling me whether this is so, or not?"
+
+She looked at him steadily. "There is an unpleasant feeling between me
+and my uncle, but this visit has nothing to do with it. And I am going
+to tell you all about it. I hate to feel so much alone in the world that
+I can't talk to anybody about what makes me unhappy. I might have spoken
+to Mrs. Easterfield, but she didn't ask me. But you have asked me, and
+that makes me feel that I am really better acquainted with you than with
+her."
+
+This remark pleased Mr. Tom, but he did not think it would be necessary
+to put it into his report to his wife. He had promised to be very
+circumspect; and circumspection should act in every direction.
+
+"It is very hard for a girl such as I am," she continued, "to be alone
+in the world, and that is a very good reason for getting married as soon
+as I can."
+
+"And for being very careful whom you marry," interrupted Mr.
+Easterfield.
+
+"Of course," said she, "and I am trying very hard to be that. A little
+while ago I had a father with whom I expected to live and be happy, but
+that dream is over now. And then I thought I had an uncle who was going
+to be more of a father to me than my own father had ever been. But that
+dream is over, too."
+
+"And why?" asked Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"He is going to marry a woman," said Olive, "that is perfectly horrible,
+and with whom I could not live. And the worst of it all is that he never
+told me a word about it."
+
+As she said this Olive looked very solemn; and Mr. Tom, not knowing on
+the instant what would be proper to say, looked solemn also.
+
+"You may think it strange," said she, "that I talk in this way to you,
+but you came here to find out what sort of girl I am, and I am perfectly
+willing to help you do it. Besides, in a case like this, I would rather
+talk to a man than to a woman."
+
+Mr. Tom believed her, but he did not know at this stage of the
+proceedings what it would be wise to say. He was also fully aware that
+if he said the wrong thing it would be very bad, indeed.
+
+"Now, you see," said she, "there is another reason why I should marry as
+soon as possible. In my case most girls would take up some pursuit which
+would make them independent, but I don't like business. I want to be at
+the head of a household; and, what is more, I want to have something to
+do--I mean a great deal to do--with the selection of a husband."
+
+The conversation was taking a direction which frightened Mr. Tom. In the
+next moment she might be asking advice about the choice of a husband.
+It was plain enough that love had nothing to do with the matter, and Mr.
+Tom did not wish to act the part of a practical-minded Cupid. "And now
+let me ask a favor of you," said he. "Won't you give me time to think
+over this matter a little?"
+
+"That is exactly what I say to my suitors," said Olive, smiling.
+
+Mr. Tom smiled also. "But won't you promise me not to do anything
+definite until I see you again?" he asked earnestly.
+
+"That is not very unlike what some of my suitors say to me," she
+replied. "But I will promise you that when you see me again I shall
+still be heart-free."
+
+"There can be no doubt of that," Mr. Tom said to himself as they arose
+to leave the garden. "And, my young woman, you may deny being a flirt,
+but you permitted the addresses of two young men before you were upset
+by your father's letter. But I think I like flirts. At any rate, I can
+not help liking her, and I believe she has got a heart somewhere, and
+will find it some day."
+
+When Mr. Tom returned to the house he did not find his wife, for that
+lady was occupied somewhere in entertaining her guests. Now, although it
+might have been considered his duty to go and help her in her hospitable
+work, he very much preferred to attend to the business which she had
+sent for him to do. And walking to the stables, he was soon mounted on a
+good horse, and riding away southward on the smooth gray turnpike.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXV_
+
+_The Captain and Mr. Tom._
+
+
+Captain Asher was standing at the door of the tollhouse when he saw Mr.
+Easterfield approaching. He recognized him, although he had had but one
+brief interview with him one day at the toll-gate some time before. Mr.
+Easterfield was a man absorbed in business, and the first summer Mrs.
+Easterfield was at Broadstone he was in Europe engaged in large and
+important affairs, and had not been at the summer home at all. And so
+far this summer, he had been there but once before, and then for only a
+couple of days. Now, as the captain saw the gentleman coming toward the
+toll-gate he had no reason for supposing that he would not go through
+it. Nevertheless, his mind was disturbed. Any one coming from Broadstone
+disturbed his mind. He had not quite decided whether or not to ask any
+questions concerning the late members of his household, when the
+horseman stopped at the gate, and handed him the toll.
+
+"Good morning, captain," said Mr. Easterfield cheerily, for he had heard
+much in praise of the toll-gate keeper from his wife.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Easterfield," said the captain gravely.
+
+"I am glad I do not have to introduce myself," said Mr. Easterfield,
+"for I am only going through your gate as far as that tree to tie my
+horse. Then, if convenient to you, I should like to have a little talk
+with you."
+
+The captain's mind, which had been relieved when Mr. Easterfield paid
+his toll, now sank again. But he could not say a talk would be
+inconvenient. "If I had known that you were not going on," he said, "you
+need not have paid."
+
+"Like most people in this life," said Mr. Easterfield, "I pay for what I
+have already done, and not for what I am going to do. And now have you
+leisure, sir, for a short conversation?"
+
+The captain looked very glum. He felt not the slightest desire now to
+ask questions, and still less desire to be interrogated. However, he was
+not afraid of anything any one might say to him; and if a certain
+subject was broached, he had something to say himself.
+
+"Yes," said he; "do you prefer indoors or out of doors?"
+
+"Out of doors, if it suits," replied the visitor, "for I would like to
+take a smoke."
+
+"I am with you there," said the captain, as he led the way to the little
+arbor.
+
+Here Mr. Easterfield lighted a cigar, and the captain a pipe.
+
+"Now, sir," said the latter, when the tobacco in his bowl was in a
+satisfactory glow, "what is it you want to talk about?" He spoke as if
+he were behind entrenchments, and ready for an attack.
+
+"We have two of your guests with us," answered Mr. Easterfield,
+"Professor Lancaster, and your niece."
+
+"Oh," said the captain, evidently relieved. "I thought perhaps you had
+come to ask questions about some reports you may have heard in regard to
+me."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said Mr. Easterfield. "I would not think of
+mentioning your private affairs, about which I have not the slightest
+right or wish to speak. But as we have apparently appropriated two of
+your young people, I think, and Mrs. Easterfield agrees with me, that it
+is but right you should be informed as to their health, and what they
+are doing."
+
+The captain puffed vigorously. "When is Dick Lancaster coming back" he
+asked.
+
+"I can't say anything about that," replied Mr. Easterfield, "for I am
+not master of ceremonies. We would like to keep him as long as we can,
+but, of course, your claims must be considered."
+
+"I should think so," remarked the captain.
+
+"Professor Lancaster is a remarkably fine young man," said the other,
+"and as he is a friend of yours, and as I should like him to be a friend
+of mine, it would give me pleasure to talk to you more about him. But I
+may as well confess that my real object in coming here is to talk about
+your niece. Of course, as I said before, it might appear that I have no
+right to meddle with your family affairs, but in this case I certainly
+think I am justified; for, as Mrs. Easterfield invited the young lady to
+leave you and to come to her, and as all that has happened to her has
+happened at our house, and in consequence of that invitation, I think
+that you, as her nearest accessible relative, should be told of what has
+occurred."
+
+The captain made no answer, but gazed steadily into the face of the
+speaker.
+
+"Therefore," continued Mr. Easterfield, "I will simply state that my
+wife and I have very good reason to believe that your niece is about to
+engage herself in marriage; and I will only add that we are very sorry,
+indeed, that this should have occurred under our roof."
+
+A sudden and curious change came over the face of the captain; a light
+sparkled in his eye, and a faint flush, as if of pleasure, was visible
+under his swarthy skin. He leaned toward his companion.
+
+"Is it Dick Lancaster?" he asked quickly.
+
+Mr. Easterfield answered gravely: "I wish it were, but I am very sorry
+to say it is not."
+
+The light went out of the captain's eye. He leaned back on his bench and
+the little flush in his cheeks was succeeded by a somber coldness. "Very
+good," said he; "I don't want to hear anything more about it, and, what
+is more, it would not be right for you to tell me, even if I did want to
+know. It is none of my business."
+
+"Now, really, Captain Asher," began Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"No, sir," the captain interrupted. "It is none of my business, and I
+don't want to hear anything about it. And now, sir, I would like to tell
+you something. It is something I thought you came here to ask about, and
+I did not like it, but now I want to tell you of my own free will, in
+confidence. That is to say, I don't want you to speak of it to anybody
+in your house. I suppose you have heard something about my intending to
+marry a woman in town?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Easterfield, "I can not deny that I have, but I
+considered it was entirely your own affair, and I had not--"
+
+"Of course," interrupted the captain, "and I want to tell you--but I
+don't want my niece to hear it as coming from me--that that whole thing
+is a most abominable lie! That woman has been trying to make people
+believe I am going to marry her, and she has made a good many believe
+it, but I would rather cut my throat than marry her. But I have told her
+what I think of her in a way she can not mistake. And that ends her! I
+tell you this, Mr. Easterfield, because I believe you are a good man,
+and you certainly seem to be a friendly man, and I would like you to
+know it. I would have liked very much to tell everybody, especially my
+own flesh and blood, but now I assure you, sir, I am too proud to have
+her know it through me. Let her go on and marry anybody she pleases, and
+let her think anything she pleases about me. She has been satisfied with
+her own opinion of me without giving me a chance to explain to her, or
+to tell her the truth, and now she can stay satisfied with it until
+somebody else sets her straight."
+
+"But this is very hard, captain," said Mr. Easterfield; "hard on you,
+hard on her, and hard on all of us, I may say."
+
+The captain made no answer to these words, and did not appear to hear
+them. "I tell you, Mr. Easterfield," he said presently, "that I did not
+know until now how much I cared for that girl. I don't mind saying this
+to you because you come to me like a friend, and I believe in you. Yes,
+sir, I did not know how much I cared for her, and it is pretty hard on
+me to find out how little she cares for me."
+
+"You are wrong there," said Mr. Easterfield. "My wife tells me that Miss
+Asher has frequently talked to her about you and her life here, and it
+is certain she has--"
+
+"Oh, that does not make any difference," interrupted the captain. "I am
+talking about things as they are now. It was all very well as long as
+things seemed to be going right, but I believe in people who stand by
+you when things seem to be going wrong, and who keep on standing by you
+until they know how they are going, and that is exactly what she did not
+do. Now, there was Dick Lancaster; he came to me and asked me squarely
+about that affair. To be sure, I cut him off short, for it angered me to
+think that he, or anybody else, should have such an idea of me, and,
+besides, it was none of his business. But it should have been her
+business; she ought to have made it her business; and, even if the thing
+had stood differently, I would have told her exactly how it did stand;
+and then she could have said to me what she thought about it, and what
+she was going to do. But instead of that, she just made up her mind
+about me, and away went everything. Yes, sir, everything. I can't tell
+you the plans I had made for her and for myself, and, I may say, for
+Dick Lancaster. If it suited her, I wanted her to marry him, and if it
+suited her I wanted to go and live with them in his college town, or
+any other place they might want to go. Again and again, after I knew
+Dick, have I gone over this thing and planned it out this way, and that
+way, but always with us three in the middle of everything. Do you see
+that?" continued the captain after a slight pause, as he drew from his
+pocket a dainty little pearl paper-cutter. "That belongs to her. She
+used to sit out here, and cut the leaves of books as she read them. I
+can see her little hand now as it went sliding along the edges of the
+pages. When she went away she left it on the bench, and I took it. And
+I've kept it in my pocket to take out when I sit here, and cut books
+with it when I have 'em. I haven't many books that ain't cut, but I've
+sat here and cut 'em till there wasn't any left. And then I cut a lot of
+old volumes of Coast Survey Reports. It is a foolish thing for an old
+man to do, but then--but then--well, you see, I did it."
+
+There was a choke in the captain's voice as he leaned over to put the
+paper-cutter in his pocket and to pick up his pipe, which he had laid on
+the bench beside him. Mr. Easterfield was touched and surprised. He
+would not have supposed the captain to be a man of such tender
+sentiment. And he took him at once to his heart. "It is a shame," his
+thoughts ran, "for this man to be separated from the niece he so loves.
+She is a cold-hearted girl, or she does not understand him. It must not
+be."
+
+Had he been a woman he would have said all this, but, being a man, he
+found it difficult to break the silence which followed the captain's
+last words. He did not know what to say, although he had no hesitation
+in making up his mind what he was going to do about it all. He arose.
+
+"Captain Asher," he said, "I have now told you what I thought you should
+know, and I must take my departure. I would not presume for a moment to
+offer you any advice in regard to your family affairs, but there is one
+thing Mrs. Easterfield and I will interfere with, if we can, for we feel
+that we have a right to do it, and that is any definite and immediate
+engagement of your niece. If she should promise herself in marriage at
+our house we shall feel that we are responsible for it, and that, in
+fact, we brought it about. Whether the match shall seem desirable to you
+or not, we do not wish to be answerable for it."
+
+"Oh, I need not be counted in at all," said the captain, who had
+recovered his composure. "It is her own affair. I suppose it was the
+news of her father's intended marriage that put her in such a hurry."
+
+"You are right," said Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"Just like her" the captain exclaimed. "And I don't blame her. I'm with
+her there"
+
+When Mr. Tom reached Broadstone he dismounted at the stable, and walked
+to the house. Nobody was to be seen on the grounds. It was a warm
+afternoon when those whose hearts were undisturbed by the turmoils of
+love were apt to be napping, and those who were in the tumultuous state
+of mind referred to, preferred to separate themselves from each other
+and the rest of the world until the cause of their inquietude should
+consider the heat of the summer day as sufficiently mitigated for her to
+appear again among her fellow beings.
+
+Mr. Easterfield did not care to meet any of his guests, and hoped to
+find his wife in her room, that he might report, and consult. But, as he
+approached the house, he saw at an upper window a female head. It stayed
+there just long enough for him to see that it was Olive's head; then it
+disappeared. When he reached the hall door there stood Olive.
+
+Mr. Tom was a little disappointed. He wanted to see his wife
+immediately, and then to see Olive. But he could not say so.
+
+"Well," said the girl, coming down the steps, "it looks as if we had
+arranged to meet. But although we didn't, let's take a little walk. I
+have something I want to say to you."
+
+Mr. Easterfield turned, and walked away from the house. He was a
+masterful man, and did not like to have his plans interfered with.
+Therefore he made a dash, and had the first word. "Miss Asher," said he,
+"I am glad to hear anything you have to say, but first you must really
+listen to me."
+
+Olive looked at him with surprise. She also was a masterful person, and
+not accustomed to be treated in this way. But he gave her no chance.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "I have come to you to speak for one of your
+lovers, the truest, best lover you ever had, and I believe, ever will
+have."
+
+Olive looked at him steadfastly, and her face grew hard. "Mr.
+Easterfield," she said, "this will not do. I have told you I will not
+have it. Mrs. Easterfield and you have been very good and kind, and I
+have told you everything, but you do not seem to remember one thing I
+have said. I will not have anybody forced upon me; no matter if he
+happens to be an angel from heaven, or no matter how much better he may
+be than anybody else on earth. I have my reasons for this determination.
+They are good reasons, and, above all, they are my reasons. I don't want
+you to think me rude, but if you persist in forcing that gentleman upon
+my attention, I shall have to request that the whole subject be dropped
+between us."
+
+"Who in the name of common sense do you think I am talking about?"
+exclaimed Mr. Tom. "Do you think I refer to Mr. Lancaster?"
+
+"I do," she said. "You know you would not come to plead the cause of any
+one of the others."
+
+He looked down at her half doubtfully, wondering a little how she would
+take what he was going to say. "You are mistaken," he said quietly. "I
+have nothing whatever to say about Mr. Lancaster. The lover I speak of
+is your uncle."
+
+Then her face turned red. "Why do you use that expression? Did he send
+you to say it?"
+
+"Not at all. I came of my own free will. I went to see Captain Asher
+immediately after I left you. Perhaps you are thinking that I have no
+right to intrude in your family affairs, but I do not mind your thinking
+that. I had a long talk with your uncle. I found that the uppermost
+sentiment of his soul was his love for you. You had come into his life
+like the break of day. Every little thing you had owned or touched was
+dear to him because it had been yours, or you had used it. All his plans
+in life had been remade in reference to you."
+
+They had stopped and were standing facing each other. They could not
+walk and talk as they were talking.
+
+"Yet, but," she exclaimed, her face pale and her eyes fixed steadfastly
+upon him, "but what of that--"
+
+"There are no yets and buts," he exclaimed, half angry with her that she
+hesitated. "I know what you were going to say, but that woman you have
+heard of is nothing to him. He hates her worse than you hate her. She
+has imposed upon you; how I know not; but she is an impostor."
+
+At this instant she seized him by the arm. "Mr. Easterfield," she cried,
+and as she spoke the tears were running down her cheeks, "please let me
+have a carriage--something covered! I would go on my wheel, for that
+would be quicker, but I don't want anybody to speak to me or see me!
+Will you have it brought to the back door, Mr. Easterfield, please? I
+will run to the house, and be waiting when it comes."
+
+She did not wait for him to answer. He did not ask her where she was
+going. He knew very well. She ran to the house, and he hurried to the
+stable.
+
+Having given his orders, Mr. Tom went in search of his wife. The moment
+had arrived when it was absolutely necessary to let her know what was
+going on.
+
+He found her in her own room. "Where on earth have you been?" she
+exclaimed. "I have been looking everywhere for you."
+
+In as few words as possible he told her where he had been, and what he
+had done.
+
+"And where are you going now?" she asked.
+
+"I am going to change my coat," said the good Mr. Tom. "After my ride
+to the toll-gate and back this jacket is too dusty for me to drive with
+her."
+
+"Drive with her" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "It will be very well for
+you to get rid of some of that dust, but when the carriage comes I will
+drive with Olive to see her uncle."
+
+And thus it happened that Mr. Tom stayed at home with the house party
+while the close carriage, containing his wife and that dear girl, Olive
+Asher, rolled swiftly southward over the smooth turnpike road.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVI_
+
+_A Stop at the Toll-gate._
+
+
+The four lovers at Broadstone walked, and wandered, and waited, after
+breakfast that morning, but only one of them knew definitely what he was
+waiting for, and that was Mr. Locker. He was waiting for half-past
+twelve o'clock, when he would join Miss Asher, if she gave him an
+opportunity; and he was sure she would give him one, for she was always
+to be trusted. He intended this interview to be decisive. It would not
+do for him to wait any longer; yes or no must be her word. She had been
+walking down by the river with the best clothes on the premises, and he
+now feared the owner of those clothes more than anybody else. He was a
+keen-sighted young man, for otherwise how could he have been a poet, and
+he assured himself that Miss Asher was taking Hemphill seriously.
+
+So Mr. Locker determined to charge the works of the enemy that day
+before luncheon. When the conflict was over his flag might float high
+and free or it might lie trampled in the dust, but the battle should be
+fought, and no quarter would be asked or given.
+
+As for Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Du Brant, they simply wandered, and waited,
+and bored the rest of the company. They did not care to do anything, for
+that might embarrass them in case Miss Asher appeared and wished to do
+something else; they did not want to stay in the house because she might
+show herself somewhere out of doors; they did not want to stay on the
+grounds because at any moment she might seat herself in the library with
+a book; above all things, they wanted to keep away from each other; and
+their indeterminate peregrinations made sick the souls of Mr. and Mrs.
+Fox.
+
+The diplomat did not know what he was going to do when he saw Miss Asher
+alone; everything would depend upon surrounding circumstances, for he
+was quick as well as wary, and could make up his mind on the instant.
+But good Rupert Hemphill had not even as much decision of purpose as
+this. He had already spent half an hour with the lady of his love, and
+he had not been very happy. Delighted that she had permitted him to join
+her, he had at once begun to speak of the one great object which
+dominated his existence, but she had earnestly entreated him not to do
+so.
+
+"It is such a pity," she had said, "for us never to talk of anything but
+that. There are so many things I like to talk about, especially the
+things of which I read. I am now reading Charles Lamb--that is, whenever
+I get a chance--and I don't believe anybody in these days ever does read
+the works of that dear old man. There is a complete set of his books in
+the library, and they do not look as if they had ever been opened. Did
+you ever read his little essays on Popular Fallacies? Some of them are
+just as true as they can be, although they seem like making fun,
+especially the one about the angry man being always in the wrong. I am
+inclined to side with the angry man. I know I am generally right when I
+am angry."
+
+Mr. Hemphill had not read these little essays, nor had he admitted that
+he had never read anything else by Mr. Lamb; but he had agreed that it
+was very common to be both angry and right. Then Olive had talked to him
+about other books, and his way had become very rough and exceedingly
+thorny, and he had wished he knew how to bring up the subject of some
+new figures in the German. But he had not succeeded in doing this. She
+had been in a bookish mood, and the mood had lasted until she had left
+him.
+
+Now he began to think that it would be better for him to give up
+wandering and waiting and go into the library and prepare himself for
+another talk with Olive, but he did not go; she might see him and
+suspect his design. He would wait until later. He took some books to his
+room.
+
+Dick Lancaster wandered and waited, but he was full of a purpose,
+although it was not exactly definite; he wanted to find Mrs. Easterfield
+and ask her to release him from his promise. He could not remain much
+longer at Broadstone, and Olive's morning walk with Hemphill had made
+him very nervous. She knew that these young men were in love with her,
+and he had a right to let her know that he was also. It might be
+imprudent for him to do this, but he could not see why it would not be
+as imprudent at any other time as now. Moreover, there might come no
+other time, and he had control of now.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield had not joined her guests because of her anxiety about
+Olive. Mr. Easterfield did not appear. For a time he was very
+particularly engaged in the garden. Mr. Fox grew very much irritated.
+
+"I tell you, my dear," said he, "every one who comes here makes this
+place more stupid and dull. I can't see exactly any reason for it, but
+these lovers are at the bottom of it. I hate lovers."
+
+"You should be very glad, my dear," replied Mrs. Fox, "that I was not of
+your opinion in my early life."
+
+But things changed for the better after a time. It is true that Mrs.
+Easterfield and Olive did not appear, but Mr. Easterfield showed
+himself, and did it with great advantage. The simple statement that his
+wife and Miss Asher had gone to make a call caused a feeling of relief
+to spread over the whole party. Until the callers returned there was no
+reason why they should not all enjoy themselves, and Mr. Easterfield was
+there to show them how to do it.
+
+As the Broadstone carriage rolled swiftly on there was not much
+conversation between its occupants. To the somewhat sensitive mind of
+Mrs. Easterfield it seemed that Olive was a little disappointed at the
+change of companions, but this may have been a mere fancy. The girl was
+so wrapped up in self-concentrated thought that it was not likely that
+she would have talked much to any one. Suddenly, however, Olive broke
+out:
+
+"Mr. Easterfield must be a thoroughly good man" she said.
+
+"He is," assented the other.
+
+"And you have always been entirely satisfied with him?"
+
+"Entirely," was the reply, without a smile.
+
+Now Olive turned her face toward her companion and laid her hand upon
+her arm. "You ought to be a happy woman," she said.
+
+"Now, what is this girl thinking of?" asked Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+"Is she imagining that any one of the young fellows who are now
+besieging her can ever be to her what Tom is to me? Or is she making an
+ideal of my husband to the disparagement of her own lovers? Whichever
+way she thinks, she would better give up thinking."
+
+But the somewhat sensitive Mrs. Easterfield need not have troubled
+herself. The girl had already forgotten the good Mr. Tom, and her mind
+was intent upon getting to her uncle.
+
+"Will you please ask the man to stop," she said, "before he gets to the
+gate, and let me out? Then perhaps you will kindly drive on to the
+tollhouse and wait for me. I will not keep you waiting long."
+
+The carriage stopped, and Olive slipped out, and, before Mrs.
+Easterfield had any idea of what she was going to do, the girl climbed
+the rail fence which separated the road from the captain's pasture
+field. Between this field and the garden was a picket fence, not very
+high; and, toward a point about midway between the little tollhouse and
+the dwelling, Olive now ran swiftly. When she had nearly reached the
+fence she gave a great bound; put one foot on the upper rail to which
+the pickets were nailed; and then went over. What would have happened if
+the sharp pales had caught her skirts might well be imagined. But
+nothing happened.
+
+"That was a fine spring" said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. "She has
+seen him in the house, and wants to get there before he hears the
+carriage."
+
+Olive walked quietly through the garden to the house. She knew that her
+uncle was not at the gate, for from afar she had seen that the little
+piazza on which he was wont to sit was empty. She went noiselessly into
+the hall, and looked into the parlor. By a window in the back of the
+room she saw her uncle writing at a little table. With a rush of air she
+was at his side before he knew she was in the room. As he turned his
+head her arms were around his neck, and the pen in his hand made a great
+splotch of ink upon her white summer dress.
+
+"Now, uncle," she exclaimed, looking into his astonished face, "here I
+am and here I am going to stay! And if you want to know anything more
+about it, you will have to wait, for I am not going to make any
+explanations now. I am too happy to know that I have a dear uncle left
+to me in this world, and to know that we two are going to live together
+always to want to talk about whys and wherefores."
+
+"But, Olive" exclaimed the captain.
+
+"There are no buts," she interrupted. "Not a single but, my dear Uncle
+John! I have come back to stay with you, and that is all there is about
+it. Mrs. Easterfield is outside in her carriage, and I must go and send
+her away. But don't you come out, Uncle John; I have some things to say
+to her, and I will let you know when she is going."
+
+As Olive sped out of the room Captain Asher turned around in his chair
+and looked after her. Tears were running down his swarthy cheeks. He
+did not know how or why it had all happened. He only knew that Olive was
+coming back to live with him!
+
+Meantime old Jane was entertaining Mrs. Easterfield at the toll-gate,
+where no money was paid, but a great deal of information gained. The old
+woman had seen Miss Olive run into the house, and she was elated and
+excited, and consequently voluble. Mrs. Easterfield got the full account
+of the one-sided courtship of the captain and Miss Port. Even the
+concluding episode of Maria having been put to bed had somehow reached
+the ears of old Jane. It is really wonderful how secret things do become
+known, for not one of the three actors in that scene would have told it
+on any account. But old Jane knew it, and told it with great glee, to
+Mrs. Easterfield's intense enjoyment. Then she proceeded to praise Olive
+for the spirit she had shown under these trying circumstances; and, in
+this connection, naturally there came into the recital the spirit the
+old woman herself had shown under these same trying circumstances, and
+how she had got all ready to leave the minute the nuptial knot was tied
+and before that Maria Port could reach the toll-gate, although it was
+like tearing herself apart to leave the spot where she had lived so many
+years. "But," she concluded, "it is all right now. The captain tells me
+it's all a lie of her own makin'. She's good at that business, and if
+lies was salable she'd be rich."
+
+Just as the old woman reached this, what seemed to her unsophisticated
+mind, impossible business proposition, Olive appeared. Mrs. Easterfield
+was surprised to see her so soon, and, to tell the truth, a little
+disappointed. She had been greatly interested and amused by the old
+woman's rapid tale, which she would not interrupt, but had put aside in
+her mind several questions to ask, and one of them was in relation to
+her husband's late visit to the captain. She had had no detailed account
+from him, and she wondered how much this old body knew about it. She
+seemed to know pretty much everything. But Olive's appearance put an end
+to this absorbing conversation.
+
+"Has you come to stay, dearie?" eagerly asked old Jane, as Olive grasped
+her hand.
+
+"To be sure I have, Jane! I have come to stay forever!"
+
+"Thank goodness!" exclaimed the old woman. "How the captain will
+brighten up! But my! I must go and alter the supper!"
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," said Olive, when the old woman had departed, "you
+will have to go back without me. I can not leave my uncle, and I am
+going to stay here right along. You must not think I am ungrateful to
+you, or unmindful of Mr. Easterfield's great kindness, but this is my
+place for the present. Some day I know you will be good enough to let me
+pay you another visit."
+
+"And what am I to do with all those young men?" asked Mrs. Easterfield
+mischievously. She would have added, "And one of them your future
+husband?" But she remembered the coachman.
+
+Olive laughed. "They will annoy you less when I am not there. If you
+will be so good as to ask your maid to pack up my belongings, I will
+send for my trunk." She glanced at the coachman. "Would you mind taking
+a little walk with me along the road?"
+
+"I shall be glad to do so," said Mrs. Easterfield, getting out of the
+carriage.
+
+"Now, my dear Mrs. Easterfield," said Olive when they were some distance
+from the toll-gate and the house, "I am going to ask you to add to all
+your kindness one more favor for me."
+
+"That has such an ominous sound," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that I am not
+disposed to promise beforehand."
+
+"It is about those three young men you mentioned."
+
+"I mentioned no number, and there are four."
+
+"In what I am going to ask of you one of them can be counted out. He is
+not in the affair. Only three are in this business. Won't you be so good
+as to decline them all for me? I know that you can do it better than I
+can. You have so much tact. And you must have done the thing many a
+time, and I have not done it once. I am very awkward; I don't know how;
+and, to confess the truth, I have put myself into a pretty bad fix."
+
+"Upon my word," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "that is a pretty thing for one
+woman to ask of another!
+
+"I know it is," said Olive, "and I would not ask it of anybody but the
+truest friend--of no one but you. But you see how difficult it is for me
+to attend to it. And it must be done. I have given up all idea of
+marrying, I am going to stay here, and when my father comes with his
+young lady he will find me settled and fixed, and he and she will have
+nothing to do with making plans for me. Now, dear Mrs. Easterfield, I
+know you will do this favor for me, and let me say that I wish you would
+be particularly gentle and pleasant in speaking to Mr. Locker. I think
+he is really a very kind and considerate young man. He certainly showed
+himself that way. I know you can talk so nicely to him that perhaps he
+will not mind very much. As for Mr. Du Brant, you can tell him plainly
+that I have carefully considered his proposition--and that is the exact
+truth--and that I find it will be wise for me not to accept it. He is a
+man of affairs, and will understand that I have given him a
+straightforward, practical answer, and he will be satisfied. You must
+not be sharp with Mr. Hemphill, as I know you will be inclined to be.
+Please remember that I was once in love with him, and respect my
+feelings as well as his. Besides, he is good, and he is in earnest, and
+he deserves fair treatment. I am sorry that I have worried you about
+him, and I will tell you now that I have found out he would not do at
+all. I found it out this morning when I was talking to him about books.
+His mind is neither broad nor cultivated."
+
+"I could have told you that," said Mrs. Easterfield, "and saved you all
+the trouble of taking that walk by the river."
+
+"And then there is one more thing," continued Olive; "it is about
+Professor Lancaster. I am sure you will agree with me that it will not
+do for him to come back here. I am just going to start housekeeping
+again. I've got the supper on my mind this minute. You can't imagine how
+everything has turned topsy-turvy since I left. I suppose he will be
+wanting to go North, anyway. In fact, he told me so."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. She did not believe that Mr. Lancaster would
+want to go North, or West, or East, although South might suit him. But
+she saw the point of Olive's request; it would be awkward to have him at
+the tollhouse.
+
+"Oh, I will take care of him," she said, "and he shall continue his
+vacation trip just as soon as Mr. Easterfield and I choose to give him
+up."
+
+"You see," said Olive in an explanatory way, "I have not anything in the
+world to do with him, but I thought he might want to come back to see
+uncle again. And, really," she added, speaking with a great deal of
+earnestness, "I don't want to be bothered with any more young men! And
+now I will call uncle. You know I had to say all these things to you
+immediately."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield walked quickly back to her carriage, but she did not
+wait to see Captain Asher. As a hostess it was necessary for her to
+hurry back home; and as a quick-witted, sensible woman she saw that it
+would be well to leave these two happy people to themselves. This was
+not the time for them to talk to her. So, when the captain, unwilling to
+wait any longer, appeared at the door of the house, these two dear
+friends had kissed and parted, and the carriage was speeding away.
+
+On her way home Mrs. Easterfield forgot her slight chagrin at what her
+husband had not done, in her joy at what he had accomplished. He had
+neglected to take her fully into his confidence, and had acted very much
+as if he had been a naval commander, who had cut his telegraphic
+connections in order not to be embarrassed by orders from the home
+government. But, on the other hand, he had saved her from the terrible
+shock of hearing Olive declare that she had just engaged herself to
+Rupert Hemphill. If it had not been for the extraordinary promptness of
+her good Tom--a style of action he had acquired in the railroad
+business--it would have been just as likely as not that Olive would have
+accepted that young man before she had had an opportunity of finding out
+his want of breadth and cultivation.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVII_
+
+_By Proxy._
+
+
+About half-past twelve Claude Locker made his appearance in the spacious
+hall. He looked out of the front door; he looked out of the back door;
+he peered into the parlor; he glanced up the stairway; and then he
+peeped into the library. He had not seen the lady of the house since her
+return, and he was waiting for Olive. This morning his fate was to be
+positively decided; he would take a position that would allow of no
+postponement; he would tell her plainly that a statement that she was
+not prepared to give him an answer that day would be considered by him
+as a final rejection. She must haul down her flag or he would surrender
+and present to her his sword.
+
+Claude Locker saw nothing of Miss Asher, but it was not long before the
+lady of the house came down-stairs.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Locker," she exclaimed, "I am so glad to see you! Come into the
+library, please."
+
+He hesitated a minute. "I beg your pardon," said he, "but I have an
+appointment--"
+
+"I know that," said she, "and you may be surprised to hear that it is
+with me and not with Miss Asher. Come in and I will tell you about it."
+
+Claude Locker actually ran after his hostess into the library, both of
+his eyes wide open.
+
+"And now," said she, "please sit down, and hear what I have to say."
+
+Locker seated himself on the edge of a chair; he did not feel happy; he
+suspected something was wrong.
+
+"Is she sick?" he asked. "Can't she come down?"
+
+"She is very well," was the reply, "but she is not here. She is with her
+uncle."
+
+"Then I am due at her uncle's house before one o'clock," said he.
+
+"No," she answered, "you are due here."
+
+He fixed upon her a questioning glance.
+
+"Miss Asher," she continued, "has deputed me to give you her answer. She
+can not come herself, but she does not forget her agreement with you."
+
+The young man still gazed steadfastly. "If it is to be a favorable
+decision," said he, "I hope you will be able to excuse any exuberance of
+demeanor on my part."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled. "In that case," she said, "I do not suppose I
+should have been sent as an envoy."
+
+His brow darkened, and instinctively he struck one hand with the other.
+"That is exactly what I expected!" he exclaimed. "The signs all pointed
+that way. But until this moment, my dear madam, I hoped. Yes, I had
+presumed to hope that I might kindle in her heart a little nickering
+flame. I had tried to do this, and I had left but one small match head,
+which I intended to strike this day. But now I see I had a piece of the
+wrong end of the match. After this I must be content forever to stay in
+the cold."
+
+"I am glad you view the matter so philosophically," said Mrs.
+Easterfield, "and Olive particularly desired me to say--"
+
+"Don't call her Olive, if you please," he interrupted. "It is like
+speaking to me through the partly open door of paradise, through which I
+can not enter. Slam it shut, I beg of you, and talk over the top of the
+wall."
+
+"Miss Asher wants you to know," continued Mrs. Easterfield, "that while
+she has decided to decline your addresses, she is deeply grateful to you
+for the considerate way in which you have borne yourself toward her. I
+know she has a high regard for you, and that she will not forget your
+kindness."
+
+Mr. Locker put his hands in his pockets. "Do you know," said he, "as
+this thing had to be done, I prefer to have you do it than to have her
+do it. Well, it is done now! And so am I!"
+
+"You never did truly expect to get her, did you, Mr. Locker?" asked Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+"Never," he answered; "but I do not flinch at what may be
+impossibilities. Nobody, myself included, can imagine that I shall rival
+Keats, and yet I am always trying for it."
+
+"Is it Keats you are aiming at?" she said.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "it does not look like it, does it? But it is."
+
+"And you don't feel disheartened when you fail?" said she.
+
+Mr. Locker took his hands from his pockets, and folded his arms. "Yes,
+I do," he said; "I feel as thoroughly disheartened as I do now. But I
+have one comfort; Keats and Miss Asher dropped me; I did not drop them.
+So there is nothing on my conscience. And now tell me, is she going to
+take Lancaster? I hope so."
+
+"She could not do that," answered Mrs. Easterfield, "for I know he has
+not asked her."
+
+"Then he'd better skip around lively and do it," said Mr. Locker, "not
+only for his own sake, but for mine. If I should be cast aside for the
+Hemphill clothes I should have no faith in humanity. I would give up
+verse, and I would give up woman."
+
+"Don't be afraid of anything like that," said Mrs. Easterfield,
+laughing. "It may be somewhat of a breach of confidence, but I am going
+to tell you nevertheless; because I think you deserve it; that I am also
+deputed to decline the addresses of Mr. Hemphill, and Mr. Du Brant."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Locker. "Mrs. Easterfield, I envy you; and if you don't
+feel like performing the rest of your mission, you can depute it to me.
+I don't know anything at this moment that would give me so much joy."
+
+"I would not be so disloyal or so cruel as that," said she. "But I shall
+not be in a hurry. I shall let them eat their lunch in peace and hope."
+
+"Not much peace," said he. "Her empty chair will put that to flight. I
+know how it feels to look at her empty chair."
+
+"Then you really love her?" said Mrs. Easterfield, much moved.
+
+"With every fiber," said he.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield found herself much embarrassed at the luncheon table.
+She had made her husband understand the state of affairs, but had not
+had time to enter into particulars with him, and she did not find it
+easy satisfactorily to explain to the company the absence of Miss Asher
+without calling forth embarrassing questions as to her return, and she
+wished carefully to avoid telling them that her guest was not coming
+back for the present. If she made this known then she feared there might
+be a scene at the table.
+
+Mr. Hemphill turned pale when, that afternoon, his hostess, in an
+exceedingly clear and plain manner, made known to him his fate. For a
+few moments he did not speak. Then he said very quietly: "If she had
+not, of her own accord, told me that she had once loved me, I should
+never have dared to say anything like that to her."
+
+"I do not think you need any excuse, Mr. Hemphill," said Mrs.
+Easterfield. "In fact, if you loved her, I do not see how you could help
+speaking after what she herself said to you."
+
+"That is true," he replied. "And I love her with all my heart!"
+
+"She ought never to have told you of that girlish fancy," said his
+hostess. "It was putting you in a very embarrassing position, and I am
+bound to say to you, Mr. Hemphill, that I also am very much to blame.
+Knowing all this, as I did, I should not have allowed you to meet her."
+
+"Oh, don't say that!" exclaimed Mr. Hemphill. "Don't say that! Not for
+the world would I give up the memory of hearing her say she once loved
+me! I don't care how many years ago it was. I am glad you let me come
+here. I am glad she told me. I shall never forget the happiness I have
+had in this house. And now, Mrs. Easterfield, let me ask you one
+thing--"
+
+At this moment Mrs. Easterfield, who was facing the door, saw her
+husband enter the hall, and by his manner she knew he was looking for
+her.
+
+"Excuse me," she said to Hemphill, "I will be back in an instant."
+
+And she ran out. "Tom," she cried, "you must go away. I can not see you
+now. I am very busy declining the addresses of a suitor, and can not be
+interrupted."
+
+Mr. Tom looked at her in surprise, although it was not often Mrs.
+Easterfield could surprise him. He saw that she was very much in
+earnest.
+
+"Well," said he, "if you are sure you are going to decline him I won't
+interrupt you. And when you have sealed his fate you will find me in my
+room. I want particularly to see you."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield went back to the library and Hemphill continued: "You
+need not answer if you do not think it is right," said he, "but do you
+believe at any time she thought seriously of me?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled as she answered: "Now, you see the advantage of
+an agent in such matters as this. You could not have asked her that
+question, or if you did she would not answer you. And now I am going to
+tell you that she did have some serious thought of you. Whatever
+encouragement she gave you, she treated you fairly. She is a very
+practical young woman--"
+
+"Excuse me," said Hemphill hurriedly, "but if you please, I would rather
+you did not tell me anything more. Sometimes it is not well to try to
+know too much. I can't talk now, Mrs. Easterfield, for I am dreadfully
+cut up, but at the same time I am wonderfully proud. I don't know that
+you can understand this."
+
+"Yes, I can," she said; "I understand it perfectly."
+
+"You are very kind," he said. As he was about to leave the room he
+stopped and turned to Mrs. Easterfield. "Is she going to marry Professor
+Lancaster?" he asked.
+
+"Really, Mr. Hemphill," she replied, "I can not say anything about that.
+I do not know any more than you do."
+
+"Well, I hope she may," he said. "It would be a burning shame if she
+were to accept that Austrian; and as for the other little man, he is too
+ugly. You must excuse me for speaking of your friends in this way, Mrs.
+Easterfield, but really I should feel dreadfully if I thought I had been
+set aside for such a queer customer as he is."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield did not laugh then; but when Hemphill had gone, and she
+had joined her husband, they had a good time together.
+
+"And so they all recommend Lancaster," said he.
+
+"So far," she answered; "but I have yet to hear what Mr. Du Brant has to
+say."
+
+"I think you have had enough of this discarding business," said Mr.
+Tom. "You would better leave Du Brant to me."
+
+"Oh, no," said she; "I promised Olive. And, besides, I think I like it."
+
+"I believe you do," said Mr. Tom. "And now I want to say something
+important. It is not right that Broadstone should be given up entirely
+to the affairs of Miss Asher and her lovers. I think, for instance, that
+our friend Fox looks very much dissatisfied."
+
+"That is because Olive is not here," she replied.
+
+"Not only that," he answered. "He loses her, and does not get anything
+else in her place. Now, we must make this house lively, as it ought to
+be. Let Du Brant off for to-day and let us make up a party to go out on
+the river. We will take two boats, and have some of the men to do the
+rowing. Postpone dinner so we can have a long afternoon."
+
+Mr. Du Brant did not go on the river excursion. He had some letters to
+write, and begged to be excused. He had not asked when Miss Asher was
+expected back, or anything about her return. He did not understand the
+state of affairs, and was afraid he might receive some misleading
+information. But if she should come that afternoon or the next day he
+determined to be on the spot. After that he might not be able to remain
+at Broadstone, and it would be a glorious opportunity for him if she
+should come back that afternoon.
+
+It was twilight when the boating party returned. Under the genial
+influence of Mr. Tom and his wife they had all enjoyed themselves as
+much as it was possible for them to do so without Olive.
+
+When Claude Locker, a little behind the others, reached the top of the
+hill he perceived, not far away, Mr. Du Brant strolling. These two had
+not spoken since the night of the interrupted serenade. Each of them had
+desired to avoid words or actions which might disturb the peace of this
+hospitable home, and consequently had very successfully succeeded in
+avoiding each other. But now Mr. Locker walked straight up to the
+secretary of legation, holding out his hand.
+
+"Now, Mr. Du Brant," said he, "since we are both in the same boat, let
+us shake hands and let bygones be bygones."
+
+But the young Austrian did not take the proffered hand. For a moment he
+looked as though he were about to turn away without taking any notice of
+Locker, but he had not the strength of mind to do this. He turned and
+remarked with a scowl:
+
+"What do you mean by same boat? I have nothing to do with you on the
+water or on the land!"
+
+Mr. Locker shrugged his shoulders. "So you have not been told," said he.
+
+"Told!" exclaimed Du Brant, now very much interested. "Told what?"
+
+"That you will have to find out," said the other. "It is not my business
+to tell you. But I don't mind saying that as I have been told I thought
+perhaps you might have been."
+
+"Told what?" exclaimed Mr. Du Brant again, stepping up closer to the
+other.
+
+"Don't shout so," said Locker; "they will think we are quarreling.
+Didn't I say I am not the person to tell you anything, and if you did
+not understand me I will say it again."
+
+For some seconds the Austrian looked steadily at his companion. Then he
+said, "Have you been refused by Miss Asher?"
+
+"Well," said Locker with a sigh, "as that is my business, I suppose I
+can talk about it if I want to. Yes, I have."
+
+Again Du Brant was silent for a time. "Did she tell you herself?" he
+asked.
+
+"No, she did not," was the answer. "She kindly sent me word by Mrs.
+Easterfield. I suppose your turn has not come yet. I was at the head of
+the list." And, fearing that if he stayed longer he might say too much,
+Mr. Locker walked slowly away, whistling disjointedly as he went.
+
+That evening Mrs. Easterfield discovered that she had been deprived of
+the anticipated pleasure of conveying to Mr. Du Brant the message which
+Olive had sent him. That gentleman, unusually polite and soft-spoken,
+found her by herself, and thus accosted her: "You must excuse me, madam,
+for speaking upon a certain subject without permission from you, but I
+have reason to believe that you are the bearer of a message to me from
+Miss Asher."
+
+"How in the world did you find that out?" she asked.
+
+"It was the--Locker," he answered. "I do not think it was his intention
+to inform me fully; he is not a master of words and expressions; he is a
+little blundering; but, from what he said, I supposed you were kind
+enough to be the bearer of such a message."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield; "not being able to be here herself, Miss
+Asher requested me to say to you that she must decline--"
+
+"Excuse me, madam," he interrupted, "but it is I who decline. I bear
+toward you, madam, the greatest homage and respect, but what I had the
+honor to say to Miss Asher I said to her alone, and it is only from her
+that it is possible for me to receive an answer. Therefore, madam, it is
+absolutely necessary that I decline to be a party to the interview you
+so graciously propose. It breaks my heart, my dear madam, even to seem
+unwilling to listen to anything you might deign to say to me, but in
+this case I must be firm, I must decline. Can you pardon me, dear madam,
+for speaking as I have been obliged to speak?"
+
+"Oh, of course," said Mrs. Easterfield. "And really, since you know so
+much, it is not necessary for me to tell you anything more."
+
+"Ah," said the diplomat, with a little bow and an incredulous
+expression, as if the lady could have no idea what he might yet know, "I
+am so much obliged to you! I am so thankful!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVIII_
+
+_Here we go! Lovers Three!_
+
+
+The three discarded lovers of Broadstone--all discarded, although one of
+them would not admit it--would have departed the next day had not that
+day been Sunday, when there were no convenient trains. Mr. Du Brant was
+due in Washington; Mr. Hemphill was needed very much at his desk,
+especially since Mr. Easterfield had decided to spend a few days with
+his wife; and Claude Locker wanted to go. When he had finished the thing
+he happened to be doing it was his habit immediately to begin something
+else. All was at an end between him and Miss Asher. He acknowledged
+this, and he did not wish to stay at Broadstone. But, as it could not be
+helped, they all stayed over Sunday.
+
+Mr. Easterfield planned an early afternoon expedition to a mission
+church in the mountains; it would be a novel experience, and a
+delightful trip, and everybody must go.
+
+In the course of the morning Mr. Du Brant strolled in the eastern parts
+of the grounds, and Mr. Locker strolled over that portion of the lawn
+which lay to the west. Mr. Du Brant did not meet with any one with whom
+he cared to talk, but Mr. Locker was fortunate enough to meet Miss
+Raleigh.
+
+"I am glad to see you," said he; "you are the person above all other
+persons I wish to talk to."
+
+"It delights me to hear that," said the lady, her face showing that she
+spoke the truth.
+
+"Let us go over there and sit down," said he. "Now, then," he continued,
+"you were present, Miss Raleigh, at a very peculiar moment in my life, a
+momentous moment, I may say. You enjoyed a privilege--if you consider it
+such--not vouchsafed to many mortals."
+
+"I did consider it a privilege, you may be sure," exclaimed Miss
+Raleigh, "and I value it. You do not know how highly I value it!"
+
+"You heard me offer myself, body and soul, to the lady I loved. You were
+taken into our confidence, you saw me laid upon the table--"
+
+"Oh, dreadful!" cried the lady. "Don't put it that way."
+
+"Well, then," said he, "you saw me postponed for future consideration.
+You promised you would regard everything you heard as confidential; by
+so doing you enabled me to speak when otherwise I might not have dared
+to do so. I am deeply grateful to you; and, as you already know so much
+about my hopes and my aspirations, I think it right you should know all
+there is to know."
+
+The conscience of Miss Raleigh stirred itself very vigorously within
+her, and her voice was much subdued as she said:
+
+"I am sure you are very good."
+
+"Well, then," said Locker, "the proposal you heard me make has been
+declined. I am discarded; and not directly in a face-to-face interview,
+but through another by a message. It would have been inconvenient for
+Miss Asher personally to communicate the intelligence, so as Mrs.
+Easterfield was coming this way she kindly consented to convey the
+intelligence."
+
+"I declare," exclaimed Miss Raleigh, "I had not heard of that! Mrs.
+Easterfield made me her confidant in the early stages of this affair, or
+I should say, these affairs. But she has not told me that."
+
+"She will doubtless give herself that pleasure later," said Locker.
+
+"No," said she, "she will not think any more about it. I am of no
+further use. And may I ask if you know anything about the two other
+gentlemen?"
+
+"Both turned down," said Locker.
+
+"I might have supposed that," answered the lady; "for if Miss Asher
+would not take you she certainly would not be content with either of
+them."
+
+"With all my heart I thank you," said Locker warmly. "Such words are
+welcome to a wounded heart."
+
+For a moment Miss Raleigh was silent, then she remarked, "It is very
+hard to be discarded."
+
+"You are right there!" exclaimed Locker. "But how do you happen to know
+anything about it?"
+
+"I have been discarded myself," she answered.
+
+The larger eye of Mr. Locker grew still larger, the other endeavored to
+emulate its companion's size; and his mouth became a rounded opening.
+"Discarded?" he cried.
+
+"Yes," said she.
+
+The countenance of the young man was now bright with interest and
+curiosity. "I don't suppose it would be right to ask you," said he,
+"even although I have taken you so completely into my confidence--but,
+never mind. Don't think of it. Of course, I would not propose such a
+question."
+
+"Of course not," said she, "you are too manly for that." And then she
+was silent again. Naturally she hesitated to reveal the secrets of her
+heart, and to a gentleman with whom her acquaintance was of such recent
+date; but she earnestly wanted to repose confidence in another, as well
+as to receive it, and it was so seldom, so very seldom, that such an
+opportunity came to her.
+
+"I do not know," she said, "that I ought to, but still--"
+
+"Oh, don't, if you don't want to," said Locker.
+
+"But I think I do want to," she replied. "You are so kind, so good, and
+you have confided in me. Yes, I was once discarded, not exactly by word
+of mouth, or even by message, but still discarded."
+
+"A stranger to me, of course," said Locker, his whole form twisting
+itself into an interrogation-point.
+
+"No," said she, "and as I have begun I will go on. It was Mr. Hemphill."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed. "That--"
+
+"Yes, it was he," said she, speaking slowly, and in a low voice. "He was
+Mr. Easterfield's secretary and I was Mrs. Easterfield's secretary, and,
+of course, we were thrown much together. He has very good qualities; I
+do not hesitate now to say that; and they impressed themselves upon me.
+In every possible way I endeavored to make things pleasant for him. I do
+not believe that when he was at work he ever wanted a glass of cold
+water that he did not find it within reach. I early discovered that he
+was very fond of cold water."
+
+"A most commendable dissipation," interrupted Locker.
+
+"He had no dissipations," said Miss Raleigh. "His character was
+unimpeachable. In very many ways I was attracted to him, in very many
+ways I endeavored to make life pleasant for him; and I am afraid that
+sometimes I neglected Mrs. Easterfield's interests so that I might do
+little things for him, such as dusting, keeping his ink-pots full,
+providing fresh blotting-paper, and many other trifling services which
+devotion readily suggested."
+
+Locker heaved a sigh of commiseration which she mistook for one of
+sympathy.
+
+"I will not go into particulars," she continued, "but at last he
+discovered that--well, I will be plain with you--he discovered that I
+loved him. Then, sir--it is humiliating to me to say it, but I will not
+flinch--he discarded me. He did not use words, but his manner was
+sufficient. Never again did I go near his desk, never did I tender him
+the slightest service. It was a terrible blow! It was humiliating"
+
+"I should think so," said Locker, "from him"
+
+"But I will say no more," she remarked with a sigh. "I have told you
+what you have heard that you may understand how thoroughly I sympathize
+with you, for all is over with me in that direction, as I suppose all
+is over with you in your direction. And now I must go, for this long
+conference may be remarked. But before I go, I will say that if ever
+you--"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" interrupted Locker, "it would not do at all! I really
+have begun to believe that I was cut out for a bachelor."
+
+"What!" said Miss Raleigh, with great severity. "Do you suppose, sir,
+that I--"
+
+"Not at all, not at all" cried Locker. "Not for one moment do I suppose
+that you--"
+
+"If for one moment," said she, "I had imagined you would suppose--"
+
+"But I assure you, Miss Raleigh, I never did suppose that you would
+imagine I would think--but if you do suppose I thought you imagined I
+could possibly conceive--"
+
+"But I really did think," said Miss Raleigh, speaking more gently. "But
+if I was wrong--"
+
+"Nay, think no more about it," Locker interrupted, "and let us be
+friends again."
+
+He offered her his hand, which she shook warmly, and then departed.
+
+It had been arranged that Lancaster was not to leave Broadstone on the
+next day. He had expected to do so, but Mr. Easterfield had planned for
+a day's fishing for himself, Mr. Fox, and the professor, and he would
+not let the latter off. The ladies had accepted an invitation to
+luncheon that day; the next day some new visitors were expected; and in
+order not to interfere with Mr. Easterfield's plans, evidently intended
+to restore to Broadstone some of the social harmony which had recently
+been so disturbed, Dick consented to stay, although he really wanted to
+go. He could not forget that his vacation was passing.
+
+"Very well, then," Mrs. Easterfield remarked to him that Sunday evening,
+"if you must go on Tuesday, I suppose you must, although I think it
+would be better for you if I were to keep my eye on you for a little
+while longer."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Lancaster, "but the time has come when curb-bits,
+cages, and good advice are not for me. I must burst loose from
+everything and go my way, right or wrong, whatever it may be."
+
+"I see that," said she; "but if it had not been for the curbed bit and
+all that, you would be leaving this place a discarded lover, like the
+rest of them. They depart with their love-affairs finished forever,
+ended; you go as free to woo, to win, or to lose as you ever were. And
+you owe this entirely to me, so whatever else you do, don't sneer at my
+curbs and my cages; to them you owe your liberty."
+
+The professor fully appreciated everything she had done for him, and
+told her so earnestly and warmly. But she interrupted his grateful
+expressions.
+
+"It would have been very hard on me," she said, "if Olive had asked me
+to carry to you the news of your rejection. That is what I did for the
+others, I suppose you know."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster; "Locker told me."
+
+"I might have supposed that," said she. "And now I feel bound to tell
+you also, although it is not a message, that Olive does not expect to
+see you at her uncle's house. She infers that you are going to continue
+your vacation journey."
+
+"I have made my plans for my journey," said he, "and I do not think,
+Mrs. Easterfield, that you will care to have me talk them over with
+you."
+
+"No, indeed," she replied; "I do not want to hear a word about them, but
+I am going to give you one piece of advice, whether you like it or not.
+Don't be in a hurry to ask her to marry you. At this moment she does not
+want to marry anybody. Her position has entirely changed. She wanted to
+marry so that her plans might be settled before her father and his new
+wife arrive; and now she considers that they are settled. So be careful.
+It is true that the objections she formerly had to you are removed, but
+before you ask her to marry you, you should seriously ask yourself what
+reason there is she should do so. She does not know you very well; she
+is not interested in you; and I am very sure she is not in love with
+you. Now you know, for I have told you so, that I would be delighted to
+see you two married. I believe you would suit each other admirably, but
+although you may agree with me in this opinion, I am quite sure she does
+not; at least, not yet. Now, this is all I am going to say, except that
+you have my very best wishes that you may get her."
+
+"I shall never forget that," said he, "but I see I am not to be free
+from the memory, at least, of the curb and the cage."
+
+After breakfast on Monday the three discarded lovers departed in a
+dog-cart, Mr. Du Brant in front with the driver, and Claude Locker and
+Hemphill behind. For some minutes the party was silent. If
+circumstances had permitted they would have gone separately.
+
+As long as he could see the mansion of Broadstone, Claude Locker spoke
+no word. When the time had come to go he had not wanted to go. When
+taking leave of Dick Lancaster he had congratulated that favored young
+man upon the fact that he had not been rejected, and had assured him
+that if he had remained at Broadstone he would have done his best to
+back him up as he had said he would.
+
+Hemphill was not inclined to talk. Of course, Locker did not care to
+converse with the young diplomat, and consequently he found himself
+bored, and to relieve his feelings he burst into song. His words were
+impromptu, and although the verse was not very good, it was very
+impressive. It began as follows:
+
+    "Here we go,
+        Lovers three,
+    All steeped deep
+        In miseree."
+
+At this Mr. Hemphill turned and looked at him, while a deep grunt came
+from the front seat, but the singer kept on without much attention to
+meter, and none at all to tune.
+
+    "This is so,
+        Here we go,
+    Flabbergasted,
+        Hopes all blasted,
+    Flags half-masted.
+        While it lasted,
+    We poor--"
+
+"Look here," cried Du Brant, turning round suddenly, "I beg you desist
+that. You are insulting. And what you say is not true, as regards me at
+least. You can sing for yourself."
+
+"Not true!" cried Locker. "Oh, ho, oh ho! Perhaps you have forgotten
+yourself, kind sir."
+
+This little speech seemed to make Du Brant very angry, and he fairly
+shouted at Locker: "No, I haven't forgotten myself, and I have not
+forgotten you! You have insulted me before, and I should like to make
+you pay for it! I should like to have satisfaction from you, sir"
+
+"That sounds well," cried Locker. "Do you mean to fight?"
+
+"I want the satisfaction due to a gentleman," answered the young
+Austrian.
+
+"Good," cried Locker, "that would suit me exactly. It would brighten me
+up. Let's do it now. I am not going to stop at Washington, and this is
+the only time I can give you. Driver, can we get to the station in time
+if we stop a little while?"
+
+The person addressed was a young negro who had become intensely
+interested in the conversation.
+
+"Oh, yes, sah," he answered. "We'll git dar twenty minutes before de
+train does, and if you takes half an hour I can whip up. That train's
+mostly late, anyway."
+
+"All right," cried Locker. "And now, sir, how shall we fight? What have
+you got to fight with?"
+
+"This is folly," growled Du Brant. "I have nothing to fight with. I do
+not fight with fists, like you Americans."
+
+"Haven't you a penknife" coolly asked Locker. "If not, I daresay Mr.
+Hemphill will lend you one."
+
+Du Brant now fairly trembled with anger. "When I fight," said he, "I
+fight like a gentleman; with a sword or a pistol."
+
+"I am sorry," said Locker, "but if I remembered to bring my sword and
+pistol I must have put them in the bottom of my trunk, and that has gone
+on to the station. Have you two pistols or swords with you? Or do you
+think you could get sufficient satisfaction out of a couple of piles of
+stones that we could hurl at each other?"
+
+Du Brant made no English answer to this, but uttered some savage remarks
+in French.
+
+"Do you understand what all that means?" inquired Locker of Hemphill,
+who had been quietly listening to what had been going on.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "he is cursing you up hill, and down dale."
+
+"Oh," said Locker, "it sounds to me as if he were calculating his last
+week's expenses. But when he gets to French cursing, I drop him. I can't
+fight him that way."
+
+The colored boy now showed that he was very much disappointed. He had
+expected the pleasure of a fight, and he was afraid he was going to lose
+it.
+
+"I tell you, sah," he said to Locker, "why don't you try kick-shins? Do
+you know what kick-shins is? You don't know what kick-shins is? Well,
+kick-shins is this: one fellow stands in front of the other fellow, and
+one takes hold of the collar of the other fellow, and the other fellow
+takes hold of his collar, and then they kicks each other's shins, and
+the one what squeals fust, he's licked, and the other one gits the gal.
+You've got pretty thin shoes, sah," addressing Du Brant, "and your feet
+ain't half as big as his'n, but your toes is more p'inted."
+
+"No kick-shins for me," said Locker. "I've got to be economical about my
+clothes."
+
+Du Brant's rage now became ungovernable. "Do you apologize," he cried,
+"or I take you by the throat, and I strangle you."
+
+Hemphill, who had been smiling mildly at the kick-shin proposition, now
+turned himself about. "You will not do that," he said, "and if you don't
+sit quiet and keep your mouth shut, I'll toss you out of this cart, and
+make you walk the rest of the way to the station."
+
+As Hemphill looked quite big and strong enough to execute this threat,
+and as he was too quiet a man to be ignored, Du Brant turned his face to
+the horse, and said no more.
+
+"I did not know you were such a trump" cried Locker. "Give me your hand.
+I should hate to be strangled by a foreigner!"
+
+When they took the train Du Brant went by himself into the smoking-car,
+and Locker and Hemphill had a seat together.
+
+"Do you know," said Locker, "I am beginning to like you, although I must
+admit that before this morning I can remember no feeling of the sort."
+
+"That is not surprising," said Hemphill. "A man is not generally fond of
+his rival."
+
+"We will let it go at that," said Locker, "we'll let it go at that! I
+should not wonder, if we had all stayed at Broadstone; and if the
+central object of interest had also remained; and, if I had failed, as
+I have failed, to make the proper impression; and if the professor, whom
+I promised to back up in case I should find myself out of the combat,
+should also have failed; I should not wonder if I had backed up you."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIX_
+
+_Two Pieces of News._
+
+
+It was nearly two weeks after Mrs. Easterfield drove away from the
+captain's toll-gate before she went back there again. There were many
+reasons for thus depriving herself of Olive's society. Mr. Tom had
+stayed with her for an unusually long time; a house full of visitors,
+mostly relatives, had succeeded the departed lovers, and Foxes; and,
+besides, Olive was so very busy and so very happy--as she learned from
+many little notes--cleaning the house from garret to cellar, and loving
+her uncle better every day, that it really would have been a misdemeanor
+to interfere with her ardent pursuits.
+
+But now Olive had written that she wanted to tell her a lot of things
+which could not go into a letter, and so the Broadstone carriage stopped
+again at the toll-gate.
+
+Two great things had Olive to tell, and she was really glad that her
+uncle was not at home so that she might get at once to the telling.
+
+In the first place, old Mr. Port was dead, and Captain Asher was in
+great trouble about this. Of course, he could not keep away from the
+deathbed of his old friend, nor could he neglect to do all honor to his
+memory, but it was a terrible thing for him to have to go into the
+house where Maria Port lived. After what had happened it was almost too
+much for his courage, although he was a brave man. But he had conquered
+his feelings, and he was there now. The funeral would be to-morrow.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield heard all that Olive had to tell her about Maria
+Port, her heart went out to that brave man who kept the toll-gate.
+
+The next thing that Olive had to tell was that she had heard from her
+father, who wrote that he would soon arrive in this country; that he
+would then go West, where he would marry Olive's former schoolmate; and
+that, on their wedding tour, he would make a little visit at the
+tollhouse so that Olive might see her new mother.
+
+"Now, isn't this enough," cried Olive, "to make any girl spread her
+wings and fly to the ends of the earth? But I have no wings; they have
+all gone away in a dog-cart. But I don't feel about that as I used to
+feel," she continued, a little hardness coming into her face. "I am
+settled now just the same as if I were married, and father and Edith
+Malcolmsen may come just as soon as they please. They shall make no
+plans for me; I am going to stay here with Uncle John. This house is
+mine now, and I am seriously thinking of having it painted. I shall stay
+here just as if I were one of those trees, and my father and my new
+mother--"
+
+Here tears came into Olive's eyes and Mrs. Easterfield stopped her.
+
+"Olive," said she, "I will give you a piece of advice. When your father
+and his young wife come here, treat her exactly as if she were your old
+friend. If you do so I think you will get along very well. This is
+partly selfish advice, for I greatly desire the opportunity to treat
+your father hospitably. He was my friend when I was a girl, you
+remember, and I looked up to him with very great admiration."
+
+And so these two friends sat and talked, and talked, and talked until it
+was positively shameful, considering that the Broadstone horses were
+accustomed to be fed and watered at noon, and that the coachman was very
+hungry.
+
+When, at last, Mrs. Easterfield drove home, and it must have been three
+in the afternoon, she left Olive very much comforted, even in regard to
+the unfortunate obligations which had fallen upon her uncle. For now
+that her old father had gone, all intercourse with the Port woman would
+cease.
+
+But in her own mind Mrs. Easterfield was not so very much comforted. It
+was all well enough to talk about Olive and her uncle and the happiness
+and safety of the home he had given her, but that sort of thing could
+not last very long. He was an elderly man and she was a girl. In the
+natural course of events, she would probably be left alone while she was
+very young. She would then be alone, for her father's wife could never
+be a mother to her when he was at sea, and their home would never be a
+home for her when he was on shore. What Olive wanted, in Mrs.
+Easterfield's opinion, was a husband. An uncle, such as Captain Asher,
+was very charming, but he was not enough.
+
+During this pleasant afternoon, when Captain Asher was in town
+attending to some arrangements for the burial of Mr. Port, Miss Maria
+was sitting discreetly alone in her darkened chamber. She had a great
+many things to think about, and if she had allowed her conscience full
+freedom of action, there would have been much more upon her mind. She
+might have been troubled by the recollection that since her father's
+very determined treatment of her when she had endeavored to fix herself
+upon the affections of Captain Asher, she had so conducted herself
+toward her venerable parent that she had actually nagged the life out of
+him; and that had she been the dutiful daughter she ought to have been
+he might have been living yet. But thoughts of this nature were not
+common to Maria Port. She had made herself sure that the will was all
+right, and he was very old. There was a time for all things, and Maria
+was now about to begin life for herself. To her plans for this new life
+she now gave almost her sole attention.
+
+She had one great object in view which overshadowed everything else, and
+this was to marry Captain Asher. This she could have done before, she
+firmly believed, had it not been for her old father and that horrid
+girl, the captain's niece. As for the elderly man who kept the toll-gate
+she did not mind him. If not interfered with, she was sure she could
+make him marry her, and then the great ambition of her life would be
+satisfied.
+
+Unpretentious as was her establishment in town, she did not care to
+spend the money necessary to keep it up, and although she was often an
+unkind woman, she was not cruel enough to think of inflicting herself
+as a boarder upon any housewife in the town. No, the toll-gate was the
+home for her; and if Captain Asher chose to inflict himself upon her for
+a few years longer, she would try to endure it.
+
+One obstacle to her plans was now gone, and she must devote herself to
+the work of getting rid of the other one. While Olive Asher remained at
+the tollhouse there was no chance for her in that quarter.
+
+The funeral was over, and when the bereaved Miss Port took leave of
+Captain Asher she exhibited a quiet gratitude which was very becoming
+and suitable. During the short time when he had visited the house every
+day she had showed him no resentment on account of what had passed
+between them, and had treated him very much as if he had been one of her
+father's old friends with whom she was not very well acquainted and to
+whom she was indebted for various services connected with the sad
+occasion.
+
+When he took final leave of her he shook her hand, and as he did so he
+gave her a peculiar grasp which, in his own mind, indicated that he and
+she had now nothing more to do with each other, and that the
+acquaintance was adjourned without day. She bade him a simple farewell,
+and as he left the house she grinned at his broad back. This grin
+expressed, to herself at least, that the old and rather faulty
+acquaintance was at an end, and that the new connection which she
+intended to establish between herself and him would be upon an entirely
+different basis.
+
+He did not ask her if there was anything more that he could do for her,
+for he did not desire to mix himself up with her affairs, which he knew
+she was eminently able to manage for herself, and it was with a deep
+breath of relief that he got into his buggy and drove home to his
+toll-gate.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXX_
+
+_By the Sea._
+
+
+When Lieutenant Asher and his bride arrived at his brother's toll-gate
+they were surprised as well as delighted by the cordiality of their
+greeting. Each of them had expected a little stiffness during the first
+interview, but there was nothing of the kind, although young Mrs. Asher
+was bound to admit, when she took time to think upon the subject, that
+Olive treated her exactly as if she had been a dear old schoolmate, and
+not at all as her father's wife. This made things very pleasant and easy
+at that time, she thought, although it might have to be corrected a
+little after a while.
+
+Things were all very pleasant, and there never had been so much talk at
+the tollhouse since the first stone of its foundation had been laid. The
+day after the arrival of the newly married couple Mrs. Easterfield
+called upon them, and invited the whole family to dinner.
+
+"I have never realized how much she must have thought of my parents!"
+said Olive to herself, as she gazed upon her father and Mrs.
+Easterfield. "They are so very glad to see each other!"
+
+She did not know that Lieutenant Asher had been to the present Mrs.
+Easterfield almost as much of a divinity as Mr. Hemphill had been to
+her girlish fancy; the difference being that the young cadet was well
+aware of the adoration of this child, not yet in long dresses, and
+greatly enjoyed and encouraged it. When, a few years later, the child
+heard of his marriage, she had outgrown the love with the lengthening of
+the skirts. But she had a tender recollection of it which she cherished.
+
+The dinner the next day was a great success, and after it the lieutenant
+and Mrs. Easterfield earnestly discussed Olive when they had the
+opportunity for a _tête-à-tête_. She was so much to each of them, and he
+was grateful that his daughter had fallen under the influence of this
+old friend, now a charming woman.
+
+"She is so beautiful," said the lady, "that she ought to be married as
+soon as possible to the most suitable bachelor in the United States."
+
+"Not so fast! Not so fast" said the lieutenant. "Edith and I are going
+to housekeeping very soon, and then we shall want Olive."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled, but made no reply.
+
+When the lieutenant and his wife, with Olive, came a few days afterward
+to make their proper dinner call, he found an occasion to speak to their
+hostess.
+
+"Do you know," said he, "that this is a strange girl of mine?" She
+positively refuses to come and live with us. We had counted upon having
+her, and had made all our arrangements for it. She is as good and nice
+as she can be, but we can not move her."
+
+"You ought not to try," said Mrs. Easterfield; "it would be a shame for
+her to go away and leave her uncle. You have one young lady, and you
+should not ask for both. Olive must marry, and the captain must go and
+live with her."
+
+"Have you arranged all that?" said he. "I remember you were a great
+schemer when quite a little girl."
+
+"I am as great as ever," said she. "And I have selected the gentleman."
+
+"Oh, ho!" cried the lieutenant. "And is that all settled? Olive should
+have told me that."
+
+"She could not do it," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for it is not all
+settled. There are some obstacles in the way; and the greatest of them
+is that she does not love him."
+
+The lieutenant laughed. "Then that is settled. I know Olive."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield flushed, and then laughed. "I doubt that knowledge. It
+is certain you do not know me! The young man loves her with all his
+heart; there is no objection to him; and I am most earnestly in favor of
+the match."
+
+"Ah" said the lieutenant, with a bow; "if that is the case, I must get a
+pencil and paper and calculate what I can give her for her trousseau. I
+hope the wedding will not come off very soon, for I am decidedly short
+at present, on account of recent matrimonial expenses. Would you mind
+telling me his name? Is he naval?"
+
+"Oh, no," said she; "he is pedagogy."
+
+"What!" he cried, his eyes wide open.
+
+Then she laughed and told him all about Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Of course," concluded Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not ask you not to
+speak to _anybody_ about what I have told you, but I do hope you will
+prevent its getting to Olive's ears. I am afraid it would make a breach
+between us if she knew that I was trying to make a match for her. And,
+you see, that is exactly what I am doing."
+
+"And you are right," said the lieutenant; "and what is more, I am with
+you! You don't know," he added in a softer tone, "how grateful I am to
+you for your care of Olive now that my dear wife is gone!"
+
+For the moment he totally forgot that his dear wife had merely gone to
+the edge of the bluff with the captain and Olive to look at the river.
+
+That evening, as they sat together, Lieutenant Asher told his brother
+all that Mrs. Easterfield had confided to him about Dick Lancaster. The
+captain was delighted.
+
+"That is what I have wanted," he said, "almost from the beginning, and I
+want it more than ever now. I am getting to be an old fellow, and I want
+to see her settled before I sail."
+
+"You know, John," said the lieutenant, "that I find Olive is a little
+more of a girl of her own mind than she used to be. I don't believe she
+would rest quietly under the housekeeping of a girl so nearly her own
+age."
+
+The captain gave some vigorous puffs. "I should think not!" he said to
+himself. "Olive would have that young woman swabbing the decks before
+they had been out three days! You are right," said he aloud, "but we
+must all look out that Olive does not hear anything about this."
+
+It was not until they were continuing their bridal trip that Lieutenant
+Asher considered the subject of mentioning Dick Lancaster to his wife.
+Then, after considering it, he concluded not to do it. In the first
+place, he knew that he was getting to be a little bit elderly, and he
+did not care about discussing the perfections of the young man who had
+been selected as a suitable partner for his wife's school friend. This
+was all very foolish, of course, but people often are very foolish.
+
+Thus it was that Olive Asher never heard of the tripartite alliance
+between her father, her uncle, and her good friend at Broadstone.
+
+When Captain Asher learned, a few days after his brother had left, that
+the Broadstone family had gone to the seashore, he sat reflectively and
+asked himself if he were doing the right thing by Olive. The season was
+well advanced; it was getting very hot at the toll-gate, and at many
+other gates in that region; and this navy girl ought to have a breath of
+fresh air. It is wonderful that he had not thought of it before!
+
+At breakfast the next morning Olive stopped pouring coffee when he told
+her his plans to go to the sea.
+
+"With you, Uncle John!" she cried. "That would be better than anything
+in the world! You sail a boat?" she asked inquiringly.
+
+"Sail a boat!" roared the captain. "I have a great mind to kick over
+this table! My dear, I can sail a boat, keel uppermost, if the water's
+deep enough! Sail a boat!" he repeated. "I sailed a catboat from Boston
+to Egg Harbor before your mother was born. By the way, you seem very
+anxious about boat sailing. Are you afraid of the water?"
+
+She laughed gaily. "I deserve that," she said, "and I accept it. But
+perhaps I have done something that you never did. I have sailed a
+felucca."
+
+"Very good," said the captain; "if there's a felucca where we're going
+you can sail me in one."
+
+They went to a Virginia seaside resort, these two, and left old Jane in
+charge of the toll-gate.
+
+Early in the day after they arrived they went out to engage a boat. When
+they found one which suited the captain's critical eye, he said to the
+owner thereof: "I will take her for the morning, but I don't want
+anybody to sail me. I will do that myself."
+
+"I don't know about that," said the man; "when my boat goes out--"
+
+He stopped speaking suddenly and looked the captain over and over, up
+and down. "All right, sir," said he. "And you don't want nobody to
+manage the sheet?"
+
+"No," interpolated Olive, "I'll manage the sheet."
+
+So they went out on the bounding sea. And as the wind whistled the hat
+off her head so that she had to fling it into the bottom of the boat,
+Olive wished that her uncle kept a toll-gate on the sea. Then she could
+go out with him and stop the little boats and the great steamers, and
+make them drop seven cents or thirteen cents into her hands as she stood
+braced in the stern; and she was just beginning to wonder how she could
+toss up the change to them if they dropped her a quarter, when the
+captain began to sing Tom Bowline. He was just as gay-hearted as she
+was.
+
+It was about noon when they returned, for the captain was a very
+particular man and he had hired the boat only for the morning. Olive had
+scarcely taken ten steps up the beach before she found herself shaking
+hands with a young man.
+
+"How on earth!" she exclaimed.
+
+"It was not on earth at all," he said; "I came by water. I wanted to
+find out if what I had heard of the horrors of a coastwise voyage were
+true; and I found that it was absolutely correct."
+
+"But here!" she exclaimed. "Why here? You could not have known!"
+
+"Of course not," he answered; "if I had known I am sure I would have
+felt that I ought not to come. But I didn't know, and so you see I am as
+innocent as a butterfly. More innocent, in fact, for that little
+wagwings knows where he ought not to go, and he goes there all the
+same."
+
+Captain Asher was still at the boat, making some practical suggestions
+to her owner; who, being not yet forty, had many things to learn about
+the sails and rigging of a catboat.
+
+"Mr. Locker," said Olive, looking at him very intently, "did you come
+here to renew any of your previous performances?"
+
+"As a serenader?" said he. "Oh, no! But perhaps you mean as a
+love-maker?"
+
+"That is it," said Olive.
+
+Mr. Locker took off his hat, and rubbed his head. "No," said he, "I
+didn't; but I wish I could say I did. But that's impossible. I presume
+I am right in assuming this impossibility?"
+
+"Entirely," said Olive.
+
+"And, furthermore, I truly didn't know you were here. I think you may
+rest satisfied that that flame is out, although--By the way, I believe I
+could make some verses on that subject containing these lines:
+
+    "'I do not want the flame,
+    I better like the coal--'
+
+meaning, of course, that I hope our friendship may continue."
+
+She smiled. "There are no objections to that," she said.
+
+"Perhaps not, perhaps not," he said, clutching his chin with his hand;
+"but some other lines come into my head. Of course, he didn't want the
+coal to go out.
+
+    "'He blew too hard,
+    The flame revived.'"
+
+"That will do! That will do!" cried Olive. "I don't want any more of
+that poem."
+
+"And the result of it all," said he, "is only a burnt match."
+
+"Nothing but a bit of charcoal," added Olive.
+
+At this moment up came the captain. Olive had told him all about Mr.
+Locker, and he was not glad to see him. Olive noticed this, and she
+spoke quickly. "Here's Mr. Locker, uncle; he has dropped down quite
+accidentally at this place."
+
+"Oh" said the captain incredulously.
+
+"You know he used to like me too much. But he knows me better now."
+
+"Charming frankness of friendship!" said Locker.
+
+"And as I like him very much, I am glad he is here," continued Olive.
+
+The young man bowed in gratitude, but Olive's words embarrassed him
+somewhat, and he did not know exactly what would be suitable for him to
+say. So he took refuge in a change of subject. "Captain," said he, "can
+you fish?"
+
+A look of scornful amazement showed itself upon the old mariner's face.
+"I have tried it," said he.
+
+"And so have I," cried Locker, "but I never had any luck in fishing
+and--some other things. I am vilely unlucky. I expect that's because I
+don't know how to fish."
+
+"It is very likely," said Olive, "that your bad luck comes from not
+knowing where to fish."
+
+The young man took off his hat and held it for a little while, although
+the sun was very hot.
+
+During the course of that afternoon and evening Captain Asher grew to
+like Claude Locker. The young man told such gravely comical stories,
+especially about his experiences in boats and on the water, that the
+captain was very glad he had happened to drop down upon that especial
+watering-place. He wanted Olive to have some society besides his own,
+and a discarded lover was better than any other young man they might
+meet. He knew that Olive was a girl who would not go back on her word.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXI_
+
+_As good as a Man._
+
+
+The next day our three friends went fishing in a catboat belonging to
+the young seaman of forty, and they took their dinner with them,
+although Mr. Locker declared that he did not believe that he would want
+any.
+
+They had a good time on the water, for the captain had made careful
+inquiries about the best fishing grounds, and the mishaps of Locker were
+so numerous and so provocative of queer remarks from himself, that the
+captain and Olive sometimes forgot to pull up their fish, so preengaged
+were they in laughing. The sky was bright, the water smooth, and even
+Mr. Locker caught fish, although it might have been thought that he did
+everything possible to prevent himself doing so.
+
+When their boat ran up the beach late in the afternoon the captain and
+Olive were still laughing, and Mr. Locker was as sober as a soda-water
+fountain from which spouts such intermittent sparkle. Dear as was the
+toll-gate, this was a fine change from that quiet home.
+
+The next morning, upon the sand, Claude Locker approached Olive. "Would
+you like to decline my addresses for the second time?" he abruptly
+asked.
+
+"Of course not" she exclaimed.
+
+"Well, then," said he, extending his hand, "good-by!"
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Olive. "What does this mean?"
+
+"It means," said he, "that I have fallen in love with you again. I think
+I am rather worse than I was before. If I stay here I shall surely
+propose. Nothing can stop me--not even the presence of your uncle if it
+is impossible for me to see you alone--and, if you don't want any of
+that, it is necessary that I go, and go quickly."
+
+"Of course I don't want it," she said. "But why need you be so foolish?
+We were getting along so nicely as friends. I expected to have lots of
+fun here with you and uncle."
+
+"Fun!" groaned Locker. "It might have been fun for you and the captain,
+but what of the poor torn heart? I know I must go, and now. If I stay
+here five minutes longer I shall be at your feet, and it will be far
+better if I take to my own. Good-by!" And, with a warm grasp of her
+hand, he departed.
+
+Olive looked after him as he walked to the hotel. If he had known how
+much she regretted to see him go he would have come back, and all his
+troubles would have begun again.
+
+"Hello!" cried the captain when Locker had entered the house, "I was
+looking for you. We can run out, and have some fishing this morning. The
+tide will suit. You did so well yesterday that I think to-day. I can
+even teach you to take out a hook."
+
+"Take out a hook?" said Locker. "I have a hook within me which no man
+in this world, and but one woman, can take out. And as this she must not
+even be asked to do, I go. Farewell!"
+
+"What's the matter with the young man" asked the captain of Olive a
+little later.
+
+"Oh, he has fallen in love with me again," said Olive, with a sigh,
+"and, of course, that spoils everything. I wish people could be more
+sensible."
+
+The captain looked down upon her admiringly. "I don't see any hope for
+people," he said. And this was the first personal compliment he had ever
+paid his niece.
+
+When Claude Locker had gone, Olive missed him more than she thought she
+could miss anybody. Much of the life seemed to have gone out of the
+place, and the captain's high spirits waned as if he was suffering from
+the depression which follows a stimulant.
+
+"If that young fellow had been better-looking," said the captain, "if he
+had more solid sense, and a good business, with both his eyes alike, I
+might have been more willing to let him go."
+
+"If he had been all that," asked Olive with a smile, "why shouldn't you
+have been willing to let him stay?"
+
+The captain did not answer. No matter what young Locker might have been,
+he could never have been Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Uncle," said Olive that afternoon, "where shall we go next?"
+
+"I don't know," said he, "but let's go to-morrow. I don't believe I like
+so many strangers except when they pay toll."
+
+They traveled about a good deal; and in a general way enjoyed
+themselves; but they were both old travelers, and mere novelty was not
+enough for them. Each loved the company of the other, but each would
+have liked to have Locker along. It grieved Olive to think that she
+wanted him, or anybody, but she would not even try to deceive herself.
+The weather grew cooler, and she said to her uncle: "Let us go back to
+the toll-gate; it must be perfectly beautiful there now, with the
+mountains putting on their gold and red."
+
+So they started for home, planning for a stop in Washington on their
+way.
+
+Brightness and people were coming back to Washington. The air was
+cooler, and city life was stirring. Olive and her uncle stayed several
+days longer than they had intended; as most people do who visit
+Washington. On one of these days as they were returning to their hotel
+from the Smithsonian grounds, where they had been looking at autumn
+leaves from all quarters of this wide land; many of them unknown to
+them; they looked with interest from the shaded grounds on one side of
+the street to the great public building on the other side, which they
+were then passing, and at the broad steps ascending from the sidewalk to
+the basement floor.
+
+As they moved on thus slowly they noticed a man standing upon the upper
+steps of one of these stairs. His back was toward them; and, as their
+eyes fell upon him he stepped upon the upper sidewalk. He was walking
+with a cane which seemed to be rather short for him. He stood still for
+a moment, and appeared to be waiting for some one. Then, suddenly his
+whole frame thrilled with nervous action; he slightly lowered his head,
+and, in an instant, he brought his cane to his shoulder, as if it had
+been a gun. The captain had seen that sort of thing before. It was an
+air-gun. Without a word he made a dash at the man. He was elderly, but
+in a case like this he was swift. As he ran he glanced out in the
+direction in which the gun was aimed. Along the broad, sunlighted avenue
+a barouche was passing. On the back seat sat two gentlemen,
+well-dressed, erect. Even in a flash one would notice an air of dignity
+in their demeanor.
+
+There was not time to strike down the weapon, but before the man had
+heard steps behind him the captain gave him a tremendous blow between
+the shoulders which staggered him, and spoiled his aim. Then the captain
+seized the air-gun. There was a whiz, and a click on the pavement. Then
+the man turned.
+
+His black eyes flashed out of a swarthy face nearly covered with beard;
+his soft hat had fallen off when the captain struck him, and his black
+hair stood up like bristles on a shoe-brush. He was not a large man; he
+wore a loose woolen jacket; his sleeves were short, and his hands were
+hairy.
+
+All this Olive saw, for she had been quick to follow her uncle; but the
+captain, who firmly held the air-gun, saw nothing but the glaring face
+of a devil.
+
+The man jerked furiously at the gun, but the captain's grasp was too
+strong. Then the fellow released his hold upon the gun, and, with a
+savage fury, threw himself upon the older man. The two stood near the
+top of the steps, and the shock of the attack was so great that both
+fell, slipping down several of the stone steps.
+
+Olive tried to scream, but in her fright her voice utterly left her. She
+could not make a sound. As they lay upon the steps, the captain beneath,
+the man seized his victim by the neck with both hands, pressing his
+great thumbs deeply into his throat. Apparently he did not notice Olive.
+All the efforts of his devilish soul were bent upon stifling the voice
+and the life out of the witness of his attempted crime. Olive sprang
+down, and stood over the struggling men. Her uncle's eyes stared at her,
+and seemed bursting from his head. His face was growing dark. Again
+Olive tried to scream; and, in a frenzy, she seized the man to pull him
+from the captain. As she did so her hand fell upon something protruding
+under his woolen jacket. With a quick flash of instinct her sense of
+feeling recognized this thing. She jerked up the jacket, and there was
+the stock of a pistol protruding from his hip pocket. In an instant
+Olive drew it.
+
+A horrid sound issued from the mouth of Captain Asher; he was choking to
+death. In the same second that she heard it Olive thrust the muzzle of
+the pistol against the side of the man's head and pulled the trigger.
+
+The man's head fell forward and his hairy hands released their grip, but
+they still remained at the captain's throat. The latter gave a great
+gasp, and for an instant he turned his eyes full upon the face of his
+niece. Then his lids closed.
+
+Now there were footsteps, and, looking up, Olive saw a negro cabman in
+faded livery and an old silk hat, who stood staring. Before she could
+speak to him there came another man, a policeman, who, equally amazed,
+stared at the group below him. Only these two had heard the pistol
+shots. There were no other people passing on the avenue, and as it was
+past office hours there was no one in the great public building.
+
+Until they reached the top of the steps the policeman and cabman could
+see nothing. Now they stood astounded as they stared down upon an
+elderly man lying on his back on the steps; another man, apparently
+lifeless, lying on top of him with his hands upon his throat; and a girl
+standing a little below them with a smoking pistol in her hand.
+
+Before they had time to speak or move Olive called out, "Take that man
+off my uncle."
+
+In a moment the policeman, followed by the negro, ran down the steps and
+pulled the black-headed man off the captain, and the limp body slipped
+down several steps.
+
+The policeman now turned toward Olive. "Take this," she said, handing
+him the pistol. "I shot him. He was trying to kill my uncle."
+
+The two men raised the captain to a sitting position. He was now
+breathing, though in gasps, with his eyes opened.
+
+The policeman took the pistol, looked at it, then at Olive, then at the
+captain, and then down at the body on the steps. He was trying to get an
+idea of what had happened without asking. If the negro had not been
+present he might have asked questions, but this was an unusual
+situation, and he felt his responsibility, and his importance. Olive now
+stepped toward him, and in obedience to her quick gesture he bent his
+head, and she whispered something to him. Instantly he was quivering
+with excitement. He thrust the pistol into his pocket, and turned to the
+negro. "Run," said he, "and get your cab! Don't say a word to a soul and
+I will give you five dollars."
+
+The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
+There, on the upper step." Then she went to her uncle and sat down by
+him.
+
+"Are you hurt?" she said. "Can you speak?"
+
+The captain put his arm around her shoulder, fixing a loving look upon
+her, and murmured, "You are as good as a man!"
+
+The policeman picked up the air-gun, and gazed upon it as if it had been
+a telegram in cipher from a detective. Then he tried to conceal it under
+his coat, but it was too long.
+
+"Let me have it," said Olive; "I will put it behind me."
+
+She had barely concealed it when the cab drove up.
+
+"Now," said the policeman, "you two must go with me. Can you walk, sir?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the captain in a voice clear, but weak.
+
+Olive rose, holding the air-gun behind her, and the policeman and the
+cabman helped the captain to the carriage. Olive followed, and the
+policeman, actuated by some strong instinct, did not look around to see
+if she were doing so. He had no more idea that she would run away than
+that the stone steps would move. When he saw that she had taken the
+air-gun into the carriage with her, he closed the door.
+
+"Did your fall hurt you, uncle?" said Olive, looking anxiously into his
+face.
+
+"My throat hurts dreadfully," he said, "and I'm stiff. But I'll be
+stiffer to-morrow."
+
+The policeman picked up the hat of the black-haired man, and going down
+the steps, he placed it on his head. "Now help me up with this
+gentleman," he said to the cabman; "we must put him on the box-seat
+between us. Take him under the arms, and we'll carry him naturally. He
+must be awfully drunk!"
+
+So they lifted him up the steps, and, after much trouble, got him on the
+box-seat. Fortunately they were both big men. Then they drove away to
+police headquarters. The officer was the happiest policeman in
+Washington. This was the greatest piece of work he had known of during
+his service; and he was doing it all himself. With the exception of the
+driver, nobody else was mixed up in it in the least degree. What he was
+doing was not exactly right; it was not according to custom and
+regulation. He should have called for assistance, for an ambulance; but
+he had not, and his guardian angel had kept all foot-passengers from the
+steps of the public building. He did not know what it all meant, but he
+was doing it himself, and if that black driver should slip from his seat
+(of which he occupied a very small portion) and he should break his
+neck, the policeman would clutch the reins, and be happier than any man
+in Washington.
+
+There were very many people who looked at the drunken man who was being
+carried off by the policeman, but the cabman drove swiftly, and gave
+such people very little opportunity for close observation.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXII_
+
+_The Stock-Market is Safe._
+
+
+There was a great stir at the police station, but Olive and her uncle
+saw little of it. They were quickly taken to private rooms, where the
+captain was attended by a police surgeon. He had been bruised and badly
+treated, but his injuries were not serious.
+
+Olive was put in charge of a matron, who wondered greatly what brought
+her there. Very soon they were examined separately, and the tale of each
+of them was almost identical with that of the other; only Olive was able
+to tell more about the two gentlemen in the barouche, for she had been
+at her uncle's side, and there was nothing to obstruct her vision.
+
+When the examination was ended the police captain enjoined each of them
+to say no word to any living soul about what they had testified to him.
+This was a most important matter, and it was necessary that it be hedged
+around with the greatest secrecy.
+
+When Olive retired to her plain but comfortable cot she was tired and
+weak from the reaction of her restrained emotions, but she did not
+immediately go to sleep for thinking that she had killed a man. And yet
+for this killing there was not in this girl's mind one atom of regret.
+She was so grateful that she had been there, and had been enabled to do
+it. She had seen her uncle almost at his last gasp, and she had saved
+him from making that last gasp. Moreover, she had saved the life of the
+man who had saved the most important life in the land. She knew the face
+of the gentleman in the barouche who sat on the side nearest her; she
+knew what her uncle had done, and she was proud of him; she knew what
+she had done for him; and she regarded the black-haired man with the
+hairy hands no more than she would have regarded a wild beast who had
+suddenly sprung upon them. She thought of him, of course, with horror,
+but her feelings of thankfulness for her uncle's safety were far too
+strong. At last her grateful heart closed her eyes, and let her rest.
+
+There were no letters found on the body of the black-haired man which
+gave any clue to his name; but there were papers which showed that he
+was from southern France; that he was an anarchist; that he was in this
+country upon a mission; and that he had been for two weeks in
+Washington, waiting for an opportunity to fulfil that mission. Which
+opportunity had at last shown itself in front of him just as Captain
+John Asher rushed up behind him.
+
+This information was so important that extraordinary methods were
+pursued. Communications were immediately made with the State Department,
+and with the higher police authorities; and it was quickly determined
+that, whatever else might be done, the strictest secrecy must be
+enforced. The coroner's jury was carefully selected and earnestly
+admonished; and, early the next morning, when the captain and Olive were
+required to testify before it, they were made to understand how
+absolutely necessary it was they should say nothing except to answer the
+questions which were asked them. The coroner was eminently discreet in
+regard to his questions; and the verdict was that Olive was acting in
+her own defense as well as that of her uncle when she shot his
+assailant.
+
+Among the officials whose positions enabled them to know all these
+astonishing occurrences it was unanimously agreed that, so far as
+possible, everybody should be kept in ignorance of the crime which had
+been attempted, and of the deliverance which had taken place.
+
+Very early the next afternoon the air was filled with the cries of
+newsboys, and each paper that these boys sold contained a full and
+detailed account of a remarkable attempt by an unknown foreigner upon
+the life of Captain John Asher, a visitor in Washington, and the heroic
+conduct of his niece, Miss Olive Asher, who shot the murderous assailant
+with his own pistol. There were columns and columns of this story, but
+strange to say, in not one of the papers was there any allusion to the
+two gentlemen in the barouche, or to the air-gun.
+
+How this most important feature of the occurrence came to be omitted in
+all the accounts of it can only be explained by those who thoroughly
+understand the exigencies of the stock-market, and the probable effect
+of certain classes of news upon approaching political situations, and
+who have made themselves familiar with the methods by which the
+pervasive power of the press is sometimes curtailed.
+
+In the later afternoon editions there were portraits of Olive, and her
+uncle. Olive was broad-shouldered, with black hair and a determined
+frown, while the captain was a little man with a long beard. There were
+no portraits of the anarchist. He passed away from the knowledge of man,
+and no one knew even his name: his crime had blotted him out; his
+ambition was blotted out; even the evil of his example was blotted out.
+There was nothing left of him.
+
+When they were released from detention the captain and Olive quickly
+left the station--which they did without observation--and entered a
+carriage which was waiting for them a short distance away. The fact that
+another carriage with close-drawn curtains had stopped at the station
+about ten minutes before, and that a thickly veiled lady (the matron)
+and an elderly man with his collar turned up and his hat drawn down (one
+of the police officers in plain clothes) had entered the carriage and
+had been driven rapidly away had drawn off the reporters and the
+curiosity mongers on the sidewalk and had contributed very much to the
+undisturbed exit of Captain and Miss Asher.
+
+These two proceeded leisurely to the railroad-station, where they took a
+train which would carry them to the little town of Glenford. Their
+affairs at the hotel could be arranged by telegram. There were calls at
+that hotel during the rest of the day from people who knew Olive or her
+uncle; calls from people who wanted to know them; calls from people who
+would be contented even to look at them; calls from autograph hunters
+who would be content simply to send up their cards; quiet calls from
+people connected with the Government; and calls from eager persons who
+could not have told anybody what they wanted. To none of these could the
+head clerk give any satisfaction. He had not seen his guests since the
+day before, and he knew naught about them.
+
+When Miss Maria Port heard that that horrid girl, Olive Asher, had shot
+an anarchist, she stiffened herself to her greatest length, and let her
+head fall on the back of her chair. She was scarcely able to call to the
+small girl who endured her service to bring her some water. "Now all is
+over," she groaned, "for I can never marry a man whose niece's hands are
+dripping with blood. She will live with him, of course, for he is just
+the old fool to allow that, and anyway there is no other place for her
+to go except the almshouse--that is, if they'll take her in." And at the
+terrified girl, who tremblingly asked if she wanted any more water, she
+threw her scissors.
+
+The captain and his niece arrived early in the day at Glenford station.
+The captain engaged a little one-horse vehicle which had frequently
+brought people to the toll-gate, and informed the driver that there was
+no baggage. The man, gazing at Olive, but scarcely daring to raise his
+eyes to her face, proceeded with solemn tread toward his vehicle as if
+he had been leading the line in a funeral.
+
+As they drove through the town they were obliged to pass the house of
+Miss Maria Port. The door was shut, and the shutters were closed. She
+had had a terrible night, and had slept but little, but hearing the
+sound of wheels upon the street, she had bounced out of bed and had
+peered through the blinds. When she saw who it was she cursed them both.
+
+"That was the only thing," she snapped, "that could have kept me from
+gettin' him! So far as I know, that was the only thing!"
+
+When old Jane received the travelers at the toll-gate she warmly
+welcomed the captain, but she trembled before Olive. If the girl noticed
+the demeanor of the old woman, she pretended not to do so, and, speaking
+to her pleasantly, she passed within.
+
+"Will they hang her?" she said to the captain later.
+
+"What do you mean?" he shouted. "Have you gone crazy?"
+
+"The people in the town said they would," replied old Jane, beginning to
+cry a little.
+
+The captain looked at her steadily. "Did any particular person in the
+town say that?"
+
+"Yes, sir," she answered; "Miss Maria Port was the first to say it, so
+I've been told."
+
+"She is the one who ought to be hanged!" said the captain, speaking very
+warmly. "As for Miss Olive, she ought to have a monument set up for her.
+I'd do it myself if I had the money."
+
+Old Jane answered not, but in her heart she said: "But she killed a man!
+It is truly dreadful!"
+
+By nightfall of that day the two hotels of Glenford were crowded, the
+visitors being generally connected with newspapers. On the next day
+there was a great deal of travel on the turnpike, and old Jane was kept
+very busy, the captain having resigned the entire business of
+toll-taking to her. Everybody stopped, asked questions, and requested to
+see the captain; and many drove through and came back again, hoping to
+have better luck next time. But their luck was always bad; old Jane
+would say nothing; and the captain and Olive were not to be seen. The
+gate to the little front garden was locked, and there was no passing
+through the tollhouse. To keep people from getting over the fence a
+bulldog, which the captain kept at the barn, was turned loose in the
+yard.
+
+There were men with cameras who got into the field opposite the
+toll-gate, and who took views from up and down the road, but their work
+could not be prevented, and Olive and her uncle kept strictly indoors.
+
+It was on the afternoon of the second day of siege that the captain,
+from an upper window, discovered a camera on three legs standing outside
+of his grounds at a short distance from the house. A man was taking
+sight at something at the back of the house. Softly the captain slipped
+down into the back yard, and looking up he saw Olive sitting at a
+window, reading.
+
+With five steps the captain went into the house and then reappeared at
+the back door with a musket in his hand. The man had stepped to his pack
+at a little distance to get a plate. The captain raised his musket to
+his shoulder; Olive sprang to her feet at the sound of the report; old
+Jane in the tollhouse screamed; and the camera flew into splinters.
+
+After this there were no further attempts to take pictures of the
+inmates of the house at the toll-gate.
+
+After two days of siege the newspaper reporters and the photographers
+left Glenford. They could not afford to waste any more time. But they
+carried away with them a great many stories about the captain and his
+erratic niece, mostly gleaned from a very respectable elderly lady of
+the town by the name of Port.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIII_
+
+_Dick Lancaster does not Write._
+
+
+On the third morning after their arrival at the toll-gate the captain
+and Olive ventured upon a little walk over the farm. It was very hard
+upon both of them to be shut up in the house so long. They saw no
+reporters, nor were there any men with cameras, but the scenery was not
+pleasant, nor was the air particularly exhilarating. They were not
+happy; they felt alone, as if they were in a strange place. Some of the
+captain's friends in the town came to the toll-gate, but there were not
+many, and Olive saw none of them. The whole situation reminded the girl
+of the death of her mother.
+
+As soon as it was known that the Ashers were at home there came letters
+from many quarters. One of these was from Mrs. Easterfield. She would be
+at Broadstone as soon as she could get her children started from the
+seashore. She longed to take Olive to her heart, but whether this was in
+commiseration or commendation was not quite plain to Olive. The letter
+concluded with this sentence: "There is something behind all this, and
+when I come you must tell me."
+
+Then there was one from her father in which he bemoaned what had
+happened. "That such a thing should have come to my daughter!" he
+wrote. "To my daughter!" There was a great deal more of it, but he said
+nothing about coming with his young wife to the toll-gate, and Olive's
+countenance was almost stern when she handed this letter to her uncle.
+
+Claude Locker wrote:
+
+     "How I long, how I rage to write to you, or to go to you! But if I
+     should write, it would be sure to give you pain, and if I should go
+     to you I should also go crazy. Therefore, I will merely state that
+     I love you madly; more now than ever before; and that I shall
+     continue to do so for the rest of my life, no matter what happens
+     to you, or to me, or to anybody.
+
+    "Ever turned toward you,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER.
+
+    "How I wish I had been there with a sledgehammer!"
+
+And then there were the newspapers. Many of these the captain had
+ordered by the Glenford bookseller, and a number were sent by friends,
+and some even by strangers. And so they learned what was thought of them
+over a wide range of country, and this publicity Olive found very hard
+to bear. It was even worse than the deed she was forced to do, and which
+gave rise to all this disagreeable publicity. That deed was done in the
+twinkling of an eye, and was the only thing that could be done; but all
+this was prolonged torture. Of course, the newspapers were not
+responsible for this. The transaction was a public one in as public a
+place as could possibly be selected, and it was clearly their duty to
+give the public full information in regard to it. They knew what had
+happened, and how could they possibly know what had not happened? Nor
+could they guess that this was of more importance than the happening.
+And so they all viewed the action from the point of view that a young
+woman had blown out a man's brains on the steps of the Treasury. It was
+a most unusual, exciting, and tragic incident, and in a measure,
+incomprehensible; and coming at a time when there was a dearth of news,
+it was naturally much exploited. Many of the papers recognized the fact
+that Miss Asher had done this deed to save her uncle's life, and
+applauded it, and praised her quick-wittedness and courage; but all this
+was spoiled for Olive by the tone of commiseration for her in which it
+was all stated. She did not see why she should be pitied. Rather should
+she be congratulated that she was, fortunately, on the spot. Other
+journals did not so readily give in to the opinion that it was an act of
+self-defense. It might be so; but they expressed strong disapproval of
+the legal action in this strange affair. A young woman, accompanied by a
+relative, had killed an unknown man. The action of the authorities in
+this case had been rapid and unsatisfactory. The person who had fired
+the fatal shot and her companion had been cleared of guilt upon their
+own testimony, and the cause of the man who died had no one to defend
+it. If two persons can kill a man, and then state to the coroner's jury
+that it was all right, and thereupon repair to their homes without
+further interference by the law, then had the cause of justice in the
+capital of the nation reached a very strange pass.
+
+Such were the views of the reputable journals. But there were some
+which fell into the captain's hands that were well calculated to arouse
+his ire. Such a sensational occurrence did not often come in their way,
+and they made the most of it. They scented the idea that the girl had
+killed an unknown man to save her uncle's life; blamed the authorities
+severely for not finding out who he was; suggested there must be a
+secret reason for this; and hinted darkly at a scandal connected with
+the affair, which, if investigated, would be found to include some
+well-known names.
+
+"This is outrageous!" cried the captain. "It is too abominable to be
+borne! Olive, why should we not tell the exact facts of this thing? We
+did agree--very willingly at the time--to keep the secret. But I am not
+willing now, and you are being sacrificed to the stock-market. That is
+the whole truth of it! If these editors knew the truth they would be
+chanting your praises. If that scoundrel had killed me, he would have
+killed you, and then he could have run away to go on with his President
+shooting. I am going to Washington this very day to tell the whole
+story. You shall not suffer that stocks may not fall and the political
+situation made alarming at election time. That is what it all means, and
+I won't stand it!"
+
+"You will only make things worse, uncle," said Olive. "Then the whole
+matter will be stirred up afresh. We will be summoned to investigations,
+and all sorts of disagreeable things. Every item of our lives will be in
+the papers, and some will be invented. It is very bad now, but in a
+little while the public will forget that a countryman and a country girl
+had a fracas in Washington. But the other thing will never be
+forgotten. It is very much better to leave it as it is."
+
+The captain, notwithstanding the presence of a lady, cursed the
+officials, the newspapers, the Government, and the whole country. "I am
+going to do it!" he cried vehemently. "I don't care what happens!"
+
+But Olive put her arms around him and coaxed him for her sake to let the
+matter rest. And, finally, the captain, grumblingly, assented.
+
+If Olive had been a girl brought up in a gentle-minded household,
+knowing nothing of the varied life she had lived when a navy girl;
+sometimes at this school and sometimes at that; sometimes in her native
+land, and sometimes in the midst of frontier life; sometimes with
+parents, and sometimes without them; and, had she been less aware from
+her own experiences and those of others, that this is a world in which
+you must stand up very stiffly if you do not want to be pushed down; she
+might have sunk, at least for a time, under all this publicity and
+blame. Even the praise had its sting.
+
+But she did not sink. The liveliness and the fun went out of her, and
+her face grew hard and her manner quiet. But she was not quiet within.
+She rebelled against the unfairness with which she was treated. No
+matter what the newspapers knew or did not know, they should have known,
+and should have remembered, that she had saved her uncle's life. If they
+had known more they would have been just and kind enough no doubt, but
+they ought to have been just and kind without knowing more.
+
+Captain Asher would now read no more papers. But Olive read them all.
+
+Letters still came; one of them from Mr. Easterfield. But every time a
+mail arrived there was a disappointment in the toll-gate household. The
+captain could scarcely refrain from speaking of his disappointment, for
+it was a true grief to him that Dick Lancaster had not written a word.
+Of course, Olive did not say anything upon the subject, for she had no
+right to expect such a letter, and she was not sure that she wanted one,
+but it was very strange that a person who surely was, or had been,
+somewhat interested in her uncle and herself should have been the only
+one among her recent associates who showed no interest whatever in what
+had befallen her. Even Mr. and Mrs. Fox had written. She wished they had
+not written, but, after all, stupidity is sometimes better than total
+neglect.
+
+"Olive," said the captain one pleasant afternoon, "suppose we take a
+drive to Broadstone? The family is not there, but it may interest you to
+see the place where I hope your friends will soon be living again. I can
+not bear to see you going about so dolefully. I want to brighten you up
+in some way."
+
+"I'd like it," said Olive promptly. "Let us go to Broadstone."
+
+At that moment they heard talking in the tollhouse; then there were some
+quick steps in the garden; and, almost immediately, Dick Lancaster was
+in the house and in the room where the captain and his niece were
+sitting. He stepped quickly toward them as they rose, and gave Olive
+his left hand because the captain had seized his right and would not let
+it go.
+
+"I have been very slow getting here," he said, looking from one to the
+other. "But I would not write, and I have been unconscionably delayed. I
+am so proud of you," he said, looking Olive full in the face, but still
+holding the captain by the hand.
+
+Olive's hand had been withdrawn, but it was very cheering to her to know
+that some one was proud of her.
+
+The captain poured out his delight at seeing the young professor--the
+first near friend he had seen since his adventure, and, in his opinion,
+the best. Olive said but little, but her countenance brightened
+wonderfully. She had always liked Mr. Lancaster, and now he showed his
+good sense and good feeling; for, while it was evidently on his mind, he
+made no allusion to anything they had done, or that had happened to
+them. He talked chiefly of himself.
+
+But the captain was not to be repressed, and his tone warmed up a little
+as he asked if Dick had been reading the newspapers.
+
+At this Olive left the room to make some arrangements for Mr.
+Lancaster's accommodation.
+
+Seizing this opportunity, Dick Lancaster stopped the captain, who he saw
+was preparing to go lengthily into the recent affair. "Yes, yes," he
+said, speaking quickly, "and my blood has run hot as I read those
+beastly papers. But let me say something to you while I can. I am deeply
+interested in something else just now. I came here, captain, to propose
+marriage to your niece. Have I your consent?"
+
+"Consent!" cried the captain. "Why, it is the clearest wish of my heart
+that you should marry Olive!" And seizing the young man by both arms, he
+shook him from head to foot. "Consent!" he exclaimed. "I should think
+so, I should think so! Will she take you, Dick? Is that--"
+
+"I don't know," said Lancaster, "I don't know. I am here to find out.
+But I hear her coming."
+
+The happy captain thought it full time to go away somewhere. He felt
+that he could not control his glowing countenance, and that he might say
+or do something which might be wrong. So he departed with great
+alacrity, and left the two young people to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIV_
+
+_Miss Port puts in an Appearance._
+
+
+The captain clapped on his hat, and walked up the road toward Glenford.
+He was very much excited and he wanted to sing, but his singing days
+were over, and he quieted himself somewhat by walking rapidly. There was
+a buggy coming from town, but it stopped before it reached him and some
+one in it got out, while the vehicle proceeded slowly onward. The some
+one waited until the captain came up to her. It was Miss Maria Port.
+
+"How do you do?" she said, holding out her hand. "I was on my way to see
+you."
+
+The captain put both his hands in his pockets, and his face grew
+somewhat dark. "Why do you want to see me?" he asked.
+
+She looked at him steadily for a moment, and then answered, speaking
+very quietly. "I found that Mr. Lancaster had arrived in town, and had
+gone to your house, and that he was in such a hurry that he walked. So I
+immediately hired a buggy to come out here. I am very glad I met you."
+
+"But what in the name of common sense," exclaimed the captain, "did you
+come to see me for? What difference does it make to you whether Mr.
+Lancaster is here or not? What have you got to do with me and my
+affairs, anyway?"
+
+She smiled a smile which was very quiet and flat. "Now, don't get
+angry," she said. "We can talk over things in a friendly way just as
+well as not, and it will be a great deal better to do it. And I'd rather
+talk here in the public road than anywhere else; it's more private."
+
+"I don't want a word to say to you," said the captain, preparing to move
+on. "I have nothing at all to do with you."
+
+"Ah," said Miss Port, with another smile, "but I think you have. You've
+got to marry me, you know."
+
+Then the captain stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth, but he could
+find no immediate words.
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Miss Port, now speaking quietly; "and when I saw Mr.
+Lancaster had come to town, I knew that I must see you at once. Of
+course, he has come to take away your niece, and that's the best thing
+to be done, for she wouldn't want to keep on livin' here where so many
+people have known her. At first I thought that would be a very good
+thing, for you would be separated from her, and that's what you need and
+deserve. Young men are young men, and they are often a good deal kinder
+than they would be if they stopped to think. But a person of mature age
+is different. He would know what is due to himself and his standing in
+society. At least, that is what I did think. But it suddenly flashed on
+me that they might want to get away as quick as they could--which would
+be proper, dear knows--and it would be just like you to go with them.
+And so I came right out."
+
+The captain had listened to all this because he very much wanted to know
+what she had to say, but now he exclaimed: "Do you suppose I shall pay
+any attention to all the gossip about my affairs?"
+
+"Now, don't go on like that," said Miss Port; "it doesn't do any good,
+and if you'll only keep quiet, and think pleasantly about it, there will
+be no trouble at all. You know you've got to marry me; that's settled.
+Everybody knows about it, and has known about it for years. I didn't
+press the matter while father was alive because I knew it would worry
+him. But now I'm going to do it. Not in any anger or bad feelin', but
+gently, and as firmly as if I was that tree. I don't want to go to any
+law, but if I have to do it, I'll do it. I've got my proofs and my
+witnesses, and I'm all right. The people of your own house are
+witnesses. And there are ever so many more."
+
+"Woman!" cried the captain, "don't you say another word! And don't you
+ever dare to speak to me again! I'm not going away, and my niece is not
+going away; and I assure you that I hate and despise you so much that
+all the law in the world couldn't make me marry you. Although you know
+as well as I do that all you've been saying has no sense or truth in
+it."
+
+Miss Port did not get angry. With wonderful self-repression she
+controlled her feelings. She knew that if she lost that control there
+would be an end to everything. She grew pale, but she spoke more gently
+than before. "You know"--she was about to say "John," but she thought
+she would better not--"that what I say about determination and all
+that, I simply say because you do not come to meet me half-way, as I
+would have you do. All I want is to get you to acknowledge my rights, to
+defend me from ridicule. You know that I am now alone in the world, and
+have no one to look to but you--to whom I always expected to look when
+father died--and if you should carry out your cruel words, and should
+turn from me as if I was a stranger and a nobody, after all these years
+of visitin' and attention from you, which everybody knows about, and has
+talked about, I could never expect anybody else--you bein' gone--to step
+forward--"
+
+At this the face of the captain cleared, and as he gazed upon the
+unpleasant face and figure of this weather-worn spinster, the idea that
+any one with matrimonial intentions should "step forward," as she put
+it, struck him as being so extremely ludicrous that he burst out
+laughing.
+
+Then leaped into fire every nervelet of Miss Maria Port. "Laugh at me,
+do you?" cried she. "I'll give you something to laugh at! And if you 're
+going to stand up for that thing you have in your house, that
+murderess--"
+
+She said no more. The captain stepped up to her with a smothered curse
+so that she moved back, frightened. But he did nothing. He was too
+enraged to speak. She was a woman, and he could not strike her to the
+ground. Before her sallow venom he was helpless. He was a man and she
+was a woman, and he could do nothing at all. He was too angry to stay
+there another second, and, without a word, he left her, walking with
+great strides toward the town.
+
+Miss Maria Port stood looking after him, panting a little, for her
+excitement had been great. Then, with a yellow light in her eyes, she
+hurried toward her vehicle, which had stopped.
+
+As Captain Asher strode into town he asked himself over and over again
+what should he do? How should he punish this wildcat--this ruthless
+creature, who spat venom at the one he loved best in the world, and who
+threatened him with her wicked claws? In his mind he looked from side to
+side for help; some one must fight his battle for him; he could not
+fight a woman. He had not reached town when he thought of Mrs. Faulkner,
+the wife of the Methodist minister. He knew her; she and her husband had
+been among the friends who had come out to see him; and she was a woman.
+He would go directly to her, and ask her advice.
+
+The captain was not shown into the parlor of the parsonage, but into the
+minister's study, that gentleman being away. He heard a great sound of
+talking as he passed the parlor door, and it was not long before Mrs.
+Faulkner came in. He hesitated as she greeted him.
+
+"You have company," he said, "but can I see you for a very few minutes?
+It is important."
+
+"Of course you can," said she, closing the study door. "Our Dorcas
+Society meets here to-day, but we have not yet come to order. I shall be
+glad to hear what you have to say."
+
+So they sat down, and he told her what he had to say, and as she
+listened she grew very angry. When she heard the epithet which had been
+applied to Olive she sprang to her feet. "The wretch!" she cried.
+
+"Now, you see, Mrs. Faulkner," said the captain, "I can do nothing at
+all myself, and there is no way to make use of the law; that would be
+horrible for Olive, and it could not be done; and so I have come to ask
+help of you. I don't see that any other man could do more than I could
+do."
+
+Mrs. Faulkner sat silent for a few minutes. "I am so glad you came to
+me," she said presently. "I have always known Miss Port as a
+scandal-monger and a mischief-maker, but I never thought of her as a
+wicked woman. This persecution of you is shameful, but when I think of
+your niece it is past belief! You are right, Captain Asher; it must be a
+woman who must take up your cause. In fact," said she after a moment's
+thought, "it must be women. Yes, sir." And as she spoke her face flushed
+with enthusiasm. "I am going to take up your cause, and my friends in
+there, the ladies of the Dorcas Society, will stand by me, I know. I
+don't know what we shall do, but we are going to stand by you and your
+niece."
+
+Here was a friend worth having. The captain was very much affected, and
+was moved with unusual gratitude. He had been used to fighting his own
+battles in this world, and here was some one coming forward to fight for
+him.
+
+There came upon him a feeling that it would be a shame to let this true
+lady take up a combat which she did not wholly understand. He made up
+his mind in an instant that he would not care what danger might be
+threatened to other people, or to trade, or to society, he would be
+true to this lady, to Olive, and to himself. He would tell her the whole
+story. She should know what Olive had done, and how little his poor girl
+deserved the shameful treatment she had received.
+
+Mrs. Faulkner listened with pale amazement; she trembled from head to
+foot as she sat.
+
+"And you must tell no one but your husband," said the captain. "This is
+a state secret, and he must promise to keep it before you tell."
+
+She promised everything. She would be so proud to tell her husband.
+
+When the captain had gone, Mrs. Faulkner, in a very unusual state of
+mind, went into the parlor, took the chair, and putting aside all other
+business, told to the eagerly receptive members the story of Miss Port
+and Captain Asher. How she had persecuted him, and maligned him, and of
+the shameful way in which she had spoken of his niece. But not one word
+did she tell of the story of the two gentlemen in the barouche, and of
+the air-gun. She was wild to tell everything, but she was a good woman.
+
+"Now, ladies," said Mrs. Faulkner, "in my opinion, the thing for us to
+do is to go to see Maria Port; tell her what we think of her; and have
+all this wickedness stopped."
+
+Without debate it was unanimously agreed that the president's plan
+should be carried out. And within ten minutes the whole Dorcas Society
+of eleven members started out in double file to visit the house of Maria
+Port.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXV_
+
+_The Dorcas on Guard._
+
+
+Miss Port had not been home very long and was up in her bedroom, which
+looked out on the street, when she heard the sound of many feet, and,
+hurrying to the window, and glancing through the partly open shutters,
+she saw that a company of women were entering the gate into her front
+yard. She did not recognize them, because she was not familiar with the
+tops of their hats; and besides, she was afraid she might be seen if she
+stopped at the window; so she hurried to the stairway and listened.
+There were two great knocks at the door--entirely too loud--and when the
+servant-maid appeared she heard a voice which she recognized as that of
+Mrs. Faulkner inquiring for her. Instantly she withdrew into her chamber
+and waited, her countenance all alertness.
+
+When the maid came up to inform her that Mrs. Faulkner and a lot of
+ladies were down-stairs, and wanted to see her, Miss Port knit her
+brows, and shut her lips tightly. She could not connect this visit of so
+many Glenford ladies with anything definite; and yet her conscience told
+her that their business in some way concerned Captain Asher. He had had
+time to see them, and now they had come to see her; probably to induce
+her to relinquish her claims upon him. As this thought came into her
+mind she grew angry at their impudence, and, seating herself in a
+rocking-chair, she told the servant to inform the ladies that she had
+just reached home, and that it was not convenient for her to receive
+them at present.
+
+Mrs. Faulkner sent hack a message that, in that case, they would wait;
+and all the ladies seated themselves in the Port parlor.
+
+"The impudence!" said Miss Port to herself; "but if they like waitin,'
+they can wait, I guess they'll get enough of it!"
+
+So Maria Port sat in her room and the ladies sat in the parlor below;
+and they sat, and they sat, and they sat, and at last it began to grow
+dark.
+
+"I guess they'll be wantin' their suppers," said Maria, "but they'll go
+and get them without seein' me. It's no more convenient for me to go
+down now than when they first came."
+
+There had been, and there was, a great deal of conversation down in the
+parlor, but it was carried on in such a low tone that, to her great
+regret, Miss Port could not catch a word of it.
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Pilsbury, "I must go home, for my husband will want his
+supper and the children must be attended to."
+
+"And so must I," said Mrs. Barney and Mrs. Sloan. They would really like
+very much to stay and see what would happen next, but they had families.
+
+"Ladies," said Mrs. Faulkner, "of course, we can't all stay here and
+wait for that woman; but I propose that three of us shall stay and that
+the rest shall go home. I'll be one to stay. And then, in an hour three
+of you come back, and let us go and get our suppers. In this way we can
+keep a committee here all the time. All night, if necessary. When I come
+back I will bring a candlestick and some candles, for, of course, we
+don't want to light her lamps. If she should come down while I am away,
+I'd like some one to run over and tell me. It's such a little way."
+
+At this the ladies arose, and there was a great rustling and chattering,
+and the face of Miss Maria, in the room above, gleamed with triumph.
+
+"I knew I'd sit 'em out," said she; "they haven't got the pluck I've
+got." But when the servant came up and told her that "three of them
+ladies was a-sittin' in the parlor yet and said they was a-goin' to wait
+for her," she lost her temper. She sent down word that she didn't intend
+to see any of them, and she wanted them to go home.
+
+To this Mrs. Faulkner replied that they wished to see her, and that they
+would stay. And the committee continued to sit.
+
+Now Miss Port began to be seriously concerned. What in the world could
+these women want? They were very much in earnest; that was certain.
+Could it be possible that she had said more than she intended to Captain
+Asher, and that she had given him to understand that she would use any
+of these women as witnesses if she went to law? However, whatever they
+meant, she intended to sit them out. So she told her maid to make her
+some tea and to bring it up with some bread and butter and preserves,
+and a light. She also ordered her to be careful that the people in the
+parlor should see her as she went up-stairs. "I guess they'll know I'm
+in earnest when they see the tea," she said. "I've set out a mess of
+'em, and it won't take long to finish up them three!"
+
+She partook of her refreshments, and she reclined in her rocking-chair,
+and waited for the hungry ones below to depart. "I'll give 'em half an
+hour," said she to herself.
+
+Before that time had elapsed she heard another stir below, and she
+exclaimed: "I knew it" and there were steps in the hallway, and some
+people went out. She sprang to her feet; she was about to run
+down-stairs and lock and bolt every door; but a sound arrested her. It
+was the talking of women in the parlor. She stopped, with her mouth wide
+open, and her eyes staring, and then the servant came up and told her
+that "them three had gone, and that another three had come back, and
+they had told her to say that they were goin' to stay in squads all
+night till she came down to see them."
+
+Miss Port sat down, her elbows on the table, and her chin in her hands.
+"It must be something serious," she thought. "The ladies of this town
+are not in the habit of staying out late unless it is to nurse bad
+cases, or to sit up with corpses." And then the idea struck her that
+probably there might be something the matter that she had not thought
+of. She had caused lots of mischief in her day, and it might easily be
+that she had forgotten some of it. But the more she thought about the
+matter, the more firmly she resolved not to go down and speak to the
+women. She would like to send for a constable and have them cleared out
+of the house, but she knew that none of the three constables in town
+would dare to use force with such ladies as Mrs. Faulkner and the
+members of the Dorcas Society.
+
+So she sat and waited, and listened, and grew very nervous, but was more
+obstinate now than ever, for she was beginning to be very fearful of
+what those women might have to say to her. She could "talk down one
+woman, but not a pack of 'em." Thus time passed on, with occasional
+reports from the servant until the latter fell asleep, and came
+up-stairs no more. There were sounds of footsteps in the street, and
+Miss Port put out her light, and went to the front shutters. Three women
+were coming in. They entered the house, and in a few minutes afterward
+three women went out. Miss Port stood up in the middle of the floor, and
+was almost inclined to tear her hair.
+
+"They're goin' to stay all night!" she exclaimed. "I really believe they
+'re goin' to stay all night!" For a moment she thought of rushing
+down-stairs and confronting the impertinent visitors, but she stopped;
+she was afraid. She did not know what they might say to her, and she
+went to the banisters and listened. They were talking; always in a low
+voice. It seemed to her that these people could talk forever. Then she
+began to think of her front door, which was open; but, of course, nobody
+could come while those creatures were in the parlor. But if she missed
+anything she'd have them brought up in court if it took every cent she
+had in the world and constables from some other town. She slipped to the
+back stairs, and softly called the servant, but there was no answer. She
+was afraid to go down, for the back door of the parlor commanded all
+the other rooms on that floor. Now she felt more terribly lonely and
+more nervous. If she had had a pistol she would have fired it through
+the floor. Then those women would run away, and she would fasten up the
+house. But there they sat, chatter, chatter, chatter, till it nearly
+drove her mad. She wished now she had gone down at first.
+
+After a time, and not a very long time, there were some steps in the
+street and in the yard, and more women came into the house, but, worse
+than that, the others stayed. Family duties were over now, and those
+impudent creatures could be content to stay the rest of the evening.
+
+For a moment the worried woman felt as if she would like to go to bed
+and cover up her head and so escape these persistent persecutors. But
+she shook her head. That would never do. She knew that when she awoke in
+the morning some of those women would still be in the parlor, and, to
+save her soul, she could not now imagine what it was that kept them
+there like hounds upon her track.
+
+It was now eleven o'clock. When had the Port house been open so late as
+that? The people in the town must be talking about it, and there would
+be more talking the next day. Perhaps it might be in the town paper. The
+morning would be worse than the night. She could not bear it any longer.
+There was now nothing to be heard in front but that maddening chatter in
+the parlor, and up the back stairs came the snores of the servant. She
+got a traveling-bag from a closet and proceeded to pack it; then she put
+on her bonnet and shawl and put into her bag all the money she had with
+her, trembling all the time as if she had been a thief: robbing her own
+house. She could not go down the back stairs, because, as has been said,
+she could have been seen from the parlor; but a carpenter had been
+mending the railing of a little piazza at the back of the house, and she
+remembered he had left his ladder. Down this ladder, with her bag in her
+hand, Miss Port silently moved. She looked into the kitchen; she could
+not see the servant, but she could hear her snoring on a bench. Clapping
+her hand over the girl's mouth, she whispered into her ear, and without
+a word the frightened creature sat up and followed Miss Port into the
+yard.
+
+"Now, then," said Miss Port, whispering as if she were sticking needles
+into the frightened girl, "I'm goin' away, and don't you ask no
+questions, for you won't get no answers. You just go to bed, and let
+them people stay in the parlor all night. They'll be able to take care
+of the house, I guess, and if they don't I'll make 'em suffer. In the
+morning you can see Mrs. Faulkner--for she's the ringleader--and tell
+her that you're goin' home to your mother, and that Miss Port expects
+her to pull down all the blinds in this house, and shut and bolt the
+doors. She is to see that the eatables is put away proper or else give
+to the poor--which will be you, I guess--and then she is to lock all the
+doors and take the front-door key to Squire Allen, and tell him I'll
+write to him. And what's more, you can say to the nasty thing that if I
+find anything wrong in my house, or anything missin', I 'll hold her and
+her husband responsible for it, and that I'm mighty glad I don't belong
+to their church."
+
+Then she slipped out of the back gate of the yard, and made her way
+swiftly to the railroad-station. There was a train for the north which
+passed Glenford at half-past twelve, and which could be flagged. There
+was one man at the station, and he was very much surprised to see Miss
+Port.
+
+"Is anything the matter?" he said.
+
+"Yes," she snapped, "there's some people sick, and I guess there'll be
+more of 'em a good deal sicker in the morning. I've got to go."
+
+"A case of pizenin'?" asked the man very earnestly.
+
+"Yes," said she, wrapping her shawl around her; "the worse kind of
+pizenin'!" Then she talked no more.
+
+The servant-girl slept late, and there were a good many ladies in the
+parlor when she came down. She did not give them a chance to ask her
+anything, but told her message promptly. It was a message pretty fairly
+remembered, although it had grown somewhat sharper in the night. When it
+was finished the girl added: "And I'm to have all the eatables in the
+house to take home to my mother, and Squire Allen is to pay me four
+dollars and seventy-five cents, which has been owin' to me for wages for
+ever so long."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVI_
+
+_Cold Tinder._
+
+
+Olive and Dick Lancaster sat together in the captain's parlor. She was
+very quiet--she had been very quiet of late--but he was nervous.
+
+"It is very kind, Mr. Lancaster," said Olive, breaking the silence, "for
+you to come to see us instead of writing. It is so much pleasanter for
+friends--"
+
+"Oh, it was not kind," he said, interrupting her. "In fact, it was
+selfishness. And now I want to tell you quickly, Miss Asher, while I
+have the chance, the reason of my coming here to-day. It was not to
+offer you my congratulations or my sympathy, although you must know that
+I feel for you and your uncle as much in every way as any living being
+can feel. I came to offer my love. I have loved you almost ever since I
+knew you as much as any man can love a woman, and whenever I have been
+with you I could hardly hold myself back from telling you. But I was
+strong, and I did not speak, for I knew you did not love me."
+
+Olive was listening, looking steadily at him.
+
+"No," she said, "I did not love you."
+
+He paid no attention to this remark, as if it related to something which
+he knew all about, but went on, "I resolved to speak to you some time,
+but not until I had some little bit of a reason for supposing you would
+listen to me; but when I read the account of what you did in Washington,
+I knew you to be so far above even the girl I had supposed you to be;
+then my love came down upon me and carried me away. And all that has
+since appeared in the papers has made me so long to stand by your side
+that I could not resist this longing, and I felt that no matter what
+happened, I must come and tell you all."
+
+"And now?" asked Olive.
+
+"There is nothing more," said Dick. "I have told you all there is. I
+love you so truly that it seems to me as if I had been born, as if I had
+lived, as if I had grown and had worked, simply that I might be able to
+come to you and say, I love you. And now that I have told you this, I
+hope that I have not pained you."
+
+"You have not pained me," said Olive, "but it is right that I should say
+to you that I do not love you." She said this very quietly and gently,
+but there was sadness in her tones.
+
+Dick Lancaster sprang up, and stood before her. "Then let me love you"
+he cried. "Do not deny me that! Do not take the life out of me! the soul
+out of me! Do not turn me away into utter blackness! Do not say I shall
+not love you!"
+
+Olive's clear, thoughtful eyes were looking into his. "I believe you
+love me," she answered slowly. "I believe every word you say. But what I
+say is also true. I will admit that I have asked myself if I could love
+you. There was a time when I was in great trouble, when I believed that
+it might be possible for me to marry some one without loving him, but I
+never thought that about _you_. You were different. I could not have
+married you without loving you. I believe you knew that, and so you did
+not ask me."
+
+His voice was husky when he spoke again.
+
+"But you do not answer me," he said. "You have seen into my very soul.
+May I love you?"
+
+She still looked into his glowing eyes, but she did not speak. It was
+with herself she was communing, not with him.
+
+But there was something in the eyes which looked into his which made his
+heart leap, and he leaned forward.
+
+"Olive," he whispered, "can you not love me?"
+
+Her lips appeared as if they were about to move, but they did not, and
+in the next moment they could not. He had her in his arms.
+
+Poor foolish, lovely Olive! She thought she was so strong. She imagined
+that she knew herself so well. She had seen so much; she had been so
+far; she had known so many things and people that she had come to look
+upon herself as the decider of her own destiny. She had come to believe
+so much in herself and in her cold heart that she was not afraid to
+listen to the words of a burning heart! _Her_ heart could keep so cool!
+
+And now, in a flash, the fire had spread! The coolest hearts are often
+made of tinder.
+
+Poor foolish, lovely, happy Olive! She scarcely understood what had
+happened to her. She only knew that she had been born and had lived, and
+had grown, that he might come to her and say he loved her. What had she
+been thinking of all this time?
+
+"You are so quick," she said, as she put back some of her disheveled
+hair.
+
+"Dearest," he whispered, "it seems to me as if I had been so slow, so
+slow, so very slow!"
+
+It was a long time before Captain Asher returned, and when he entered
+the parlor he found these two still there. They had been sitting by the
+window, and when they came forward to meet him Dick's arm was around the
+waist of Olive. The captain looked at them for a moment, and then he
+gave a shout, and encircled them both in his great arms.
+
+When they were cool enough to sit down and Olive and Dick had ceased
+trying to persuade the captain that he was not the happiest of the
+three, Olive said to him: "I have told Dick everything--about the
+air-gun and all. Of course, he must know it."
+
+"And I have been looking at you," said Dick, putting his hand upon the
+captain's shoulder, "as the only hero I have ever met. Not only for what
+you have done, but for what you have refrained from doing."
+
+"Nonsense!" said the captain. "Olive now--"
+
+"Oh! Olive is Olive!" said Dick. And he did not mind in the least that
+the captain was present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was on the next afternoon that the Broadstone carriage stopped at the
+toll-gate. Mrs. Easterfield sprang out of it, asking for nobody, for she
+had spied Olive in the arbor.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, as she burst into tears and took the girl
+into her arms, "it does seem to me as if I were your own mother!"
+
+"The only one I have," said Olive, "and very dear!"
+
+It was some time after this that Mrs. Easterfield was calm enough to
+stop the flow of exciting conversation and to say to Olive, taking both
+her hands tenderly within her own: "My dear, we have been talking a
+great deal of sentiment, and now I want seriously to speak to you on a
+matter of business."
+
+"Business!" asked Olive in surprise.
+
+"Yes, it is really business from your point of view; and I have come
+round to that point of view myself. Olive, I want you to marry!"
+
+"Oh," said Olive, "that is it, is it? That is what you call business?"
+
+"Yes, dear; I am now looking at your future, and at marriage in the very
+sensible way you regarded those matters when you were staying with me."
+
+"But," said Olive, who could scarcely help laughing, "there was a good
+reason then for my being so sensible, and that reason no longer exists.
+I can now afford single-blessedness."
+
+"No, Olive, dear, you can not. Circumstances are all against that
+consummation. You are not made for that sort of thing. And your uncle is
+an old man, and even with him you need a young protector. I want you to
+marry Richard Lancaster. You know my heart has been set on it for some
+time, and now I urge it. You could never bring forth a single objection
+to him."
+
+"Except that I did not love him."
+
+"Neither did you love the young men you were considering as eligible.
+Now, do try to be a sensible girl."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield, are you laughing at me?" asked Olive.
+
+"Far from it, my dear. I am desperately in earnest. You see, recent
+events--"
+
+"Dick Lancaster and I are engaged to be married," said Olive demurely,
+not waiting for the end of that sentence. "And," she added, laughing at
+Mrs. Easterfield's astonished countenance, "I have not yet considered
+whether or not it is sensible."
+
+After Mrs. Easterfield had given a half dozen kisses to partly express
+her pleasure, she said: "And where is he now? I must see him!"
+
+"He went back to his college late last night; it was impossible for him
+to stay here any longer at present."
+
+As Mrs. Easterfield was going away--she had waited and waited for the
+captain who had not come--Olive detained her.
+
+"You are so dear," she said, "that I must tell you a great thing." And
+then she told the story of the two men in the barouche.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield turned pale, and sat down again. She had actually lost
+her self-possession. She made Olive tell her the story over and over
+again. "It is too much," she said, "for one day. I am glad the captain
+is not here, I would not know what to say to him. I may tell Tom?" she
+said. "I must tell him; he will be silent as a rock."
+
+Olive smiled. "Yes, you may tell Tom," she said.
+
+"I have told Dick, but on no account must Harry ever know anything
+about it."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement. That the girl could joke at
+such a moment!
+
+When the captain came home Olive told him how she had entrusted the
+great secret to Mrs. Easterfield and her husband.
+
+"Well," said he, "I intended to tell you, but haven't had a chance yet,
+that I spoke of the matter to Mrs. Faulkner. So I have told two persons
+and you have told three, and I suppose that is about the proportion in
+which men and women keep secrets."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVII_
+
+_In which Some Great Changes are Recorded._
+
+
+A few days after his return to his college Prof. Richard Lancaster found
+among his letters one signed "Your backer, Claude Locker."
+
+The letter began:
+
+     "You owe her to me. You should never forget that. If I had done
+     better no one can say what might have been the result. This
+     proposition can not be gainsaid, for as no one ever saw me do
+     better, how should anybody know? I knew I was leaving her to you.
+     She might not have known it, but I did. I did not suppose it would
+     come so soon, but I was sure it would ultimately come to pass. It
+     has come to pass, and I feel triumphant. In the great race in which
+     I had the honor to run, you made a most admirable second. The best
+     second is he who comes in first. In order for a second to take
+     first place it is necessary that the leader in the race, be that
+     leader horse, man, or boat, should experience a change in
+     conditions. I experienced such a change, voluntary or involuntary
+     it is unnecessary to say. You came in first, and I congratulate you
+     as no living being can congratulate you who has not felt for a
+     moment or two that it was barely possible that he might, in some
+     period of existence, occupy the position which you now hold.
+
+    "Do not be surprised if you hear of my early marriage. Some woman no
+    better-looking than I am may seek me out. If this should happen, and
+    you know of it, please think of me with gratitude, and remember that
+    I was once
+
+    "Your backer,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER."
+
+Olive also received a letter from Mr. Locker, which ran thus:
+
+     "Mrs. Easterfield told me. She wrote me a letter about it, and I
+     think her purpose was to make me thoroughly understand that I was
+     not in this matter at all. She did not say anything of the kind,
+     but I think she thought it would be a dreadful thing, if by any act
+     of mine, I should cause you to reconsider your arrangement with
+     Professor Lancaster. I have written to the said professor, and have
+     told him that it is not improbable that I shall soon marry. I don't
+     know yet to what lady I shall be united, but I believe in the truth
+     of the adage, 'that all things come to those who can not wait.'
+     They are in such a hurry that they take what they can get.
+
+    "If you do not think that this is a good letter, please send it back
+    and I will write another. What I am trying to say is, that I would
+    sacrifice my future wife, no matter who she may be, to see you
+    happy. And now believe me always
+
+    "Your most devoted acquaintance,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER.
+
+    "P.S.--Wouldn't it be a glorious thing if you were to be married in
+    church with all the rejected suitors as groomsmen and Lancaster as
+    an old Roman conqueror with the captive princess tied behind!"
+
+Now that all the turmoil of her life was over, and Olive at peace with
+herself, her thoughts dwelt with some persistency upon two of her
+rejected suitors. Until now she had had but little comprehension of the
+love a man may feel for a woman--perhaps because she herself never
+loved--but now she looked back upon that period of her life at
+Broadstone with a good deal of compunction. At that time it had seemed
+to her that it really made very little difference to her three lovers
+which one she accepted, or if she rejected them all. But now she asked
+herself if it could be possible that Du Brant and Hemphill had for her
+anything of the feeling she now had for Dick Lancaster. (Locker did not
+trouble her mind at all.) If so, she had treated them with a cruel and
+shameful carelessness. She had really intended to marry one of them, but
+not from any good and kind feeling; she was actuated solely by pique and
+self-interest; and she had, perhaps, sacrificed honest love to her
+selfishness; and, what was worse, had treated it with what certainly
+appeared like contempt, although she certainly had not intended that.
+
+She felt truly sorry, and cast about in her mind for some means of
+reparation. She could think of but one way: to find for each of them a
+very nice girl--a great deal nicer than herself--and to marry them all
+with her blessing. But, unfortunately for this scheme, Olive had no
+girl friends. She had acquaintances "picked up here and there," as she
+said, but she knew very little about any of them, and not one of them
+had ever struck her as being at all angelic or superior in any way.
+Neither of the young men who were lying so heavily on her mind had
+written to any one, either at the toll-gate or at Broadstone, since the
+very public affair in which she had played a conspicuous part; and her
+consolation was that as each one had read that account he had said to
+himself: "I am thankful that girl did not accept me! What a fortunate
+escape!" But still she wished that she had behaved differently at
+Broadstone.
+
+She said nothing to any one of these musings, but she ventured one day
+to ask Mr. Easterfield how Mr. Hemphill was faring. His reply was only
+half satisfactory. He reported the young man as doing very well, and
+being well; he was growing fat, and that did not improve his looks; and
+he was getting more and more taciturn and self-absorbed. "Why was he
+taciturn?" Olive asked herself. "Was he brooding and melancholy?" She
+did not know anything about the fat, and what might be its primal cause;
+but her mind was not set at ease about him.
+
+Things went on quietly and pleasantly at the toll-gate, and at
+Broadstone. Dick came down as often as he could and spent a day or two
+(usually including a Sunday) with Olive and her uncle. It was now
+October, and colleges were in full tide. It was also the hunting season,
+and that meant that Mr. Tom would be at Broadstone for a couple of
+weeks, and Mrs. Easterfield said she must have Olive at that time. And,
+in order to make the house lively, she invited Lieutenant Asher and his
+wife at the same time, as Olive and her young stepmother were now very
+good friends. Then the captain invited his old friend Captain Lancaster,
+Dick's father, to visit him at the toll-gate.
+
+These were bright days for these old shipmates; and, strange to say, as
+they sat and puffed, they did not talk so much of things that had been,
+as they puffed and made plans of things which were to be. And these
+plans always concerned the niece of one, and the son of the other.
+Captain Asher was not at all satisfied with Dick's position in the
+college. He could not see how eminence awaited any young man who taught
+theories; he would like Dick's future to depend on facts.
+
+"Two and two make four," said he; "there is no need of any theory about
+that, and that's the sort of thing that suits me."
+
+Captain Lancaster smiled. He was a dry old salt, and listened more than
+he talked.
+
+"Just now," he remarked, "I guess Dick will stick to his theories, and
+for a while he won't be apt to give his mind to mathematics very much,
+except to that kind of figuring which makes him understand that one and
+one makes one."
+
+There was a thing the two old mates were agreed upon. No matter-what
+Dick's position might be in the college, his salary should be as large
+as that of any other professor. They could do it, and they would do it.
+They liked the idea, and they shook hands over it.
+
+Olive was greatly pleased with Captain Lancaster. "There is the scent of
+the sea about him," she wrote to Dick, "as there is about Uncle John and
+father, but it is different. It is constant and fixed, like the smell
+of salt mackerel. He would never keep a toll-gate; nor would he marry a
+young wife. Not that I object to either of these things, for if the one
+had not happened I would never have known you; and if the other had not
+happened, I might not have become engaged to you."
+
+The two captains dined at Broadstone while Olive was there, and Captain
+Lancaster highly approved of Mrs. Easterfield. All seafaring men did--as
+well as most other men.
+
+"It is a shame she had to marry a landsman," said Captain Lancaster,
+when he and Captain John had gone home. "It seems to me she would have
+suited you."
+
+"You might mention that the next time you go to her house," said Captain
+Asher. "I don't believe it has ever been properly considered."
+
+It was at this time that Olive's mind was set at rest about one of her
+discarded lovers. Mr. Du Brant wrote her a letter.
+
+     "MY DEAR MISS ASHER--It is very long since I have had any
+     communication with you, but this silence on my part has been the
+     result of circumstances, and not owing, I assure you upon my honor,
+     to any diminution of the great regard (to use a moderate term)
+     which I feel for you. I had not the pleasure of seeing you when I
+     left Broadstone, but our mutual friend, Mrs. Easterfield, told me
+     you had sent to me a message. I firmly (but I trust politely)
+     declined to receive it. And so, my dear Miss Asher, as the offer I
+     made you then has never received any acknowledgment, I write now
+     to renew it. I lay my heart at your feet, and entreat you to do me
+     the honor of accepting my hand in marriage.
+
+    "And let me here frankly state that when first I read of your great
+    deed--you are aware, of course, to what I refer--I felt I must
+    banish all thought of you from my heart. Let me explain my position,
+    I had just received news of the death of my uncle, Count Rosetra,
+    and that I had inherited his title and estates. It is a noble name,
+    and the estates are great. Could I confer these upon one who was
+    being so publicly discussed--the actor in so terrible a drama? I
+    owed more to society, and to my noble race, and to my country than I
+    had done before becoming a noble. But ah, my torn heart! O Miss
+    Asher, that heart was true to you through all, and has asserted
+    itself in a vehement way. I recognized your deed as noble; I thought
+    of your beauty and your intellect; of your attractive vivacity; of
+    your manner and bearing, all so fine; and I realized how you would
+    grace my title and my home; how you would help me to carry out the
+    great ambitions I have.
+
+    "Will you, lady, deign to accept my homage and my love? A favorable
+    answer will bring me to make my personal solicitations.
+
+    "Your most loving and faithful servant,
+
+    "CHRISTIAN DU BRANT.
+
+    "(Now Count Rosetra.)"
+
+"What a bombastic mixture!" thought Olive, as she read this effusion. "I
+wonder if there is any real love in it! If there is, it is so smothered
+it is easily extinguished."
+
+And she extinguished it; and thoughts of Count Rosetra troubled her no
+more.
+
+She did not show Dick this letter, but she thought it due to Mrs.
+Easterfield to read it to her. "He has got it into his head that an
+American woman, such as you, will make his house attractive to people he
+wants there," commented that lady. "You have not considered me at all,
+you ungrateful girl! Only think how I could have exploited 'my friend,
+the countess'! And what a fine place for me to visit!"
+
+It had been arranged by the two houses that Dick and Olive should be
+married in the early summer when the college closed; and Mrs.
+Easterfield had arranged in her own mind that the wedding should be in
+her city house. It would not be too late in the season for a stylish
+wedding--a thing Mrs. Easterfield had often wished she could arrange,
+and it was hopeless to think of waiting until her little ones could help
+her to this desire of her heart. She held this great secret in reserve,
+however, for a delightful surprise at the proper time.
+
+But she and Olive both had a wedding surprise before Olive's visit was
+finished. It was, in fact, the day before Olive's return to the
+toll-gate that Mr. Easterfield walked in upon them as they were sitting
+at work in Mrs. Easterfield's room. He had been unexpectedly summoned to
+the city three days before, and had gone with no explanation to his
+wife. She did not think much about it, as he was accustomed to going and
+coming in a somewhat erratic manner.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, looking at him critically after the first
+greetings, "that you have an important air."
+
+"I am the bearer of important news," he said, puffing out his cheeks.
+
+In answer to the battery of excited inquiries which opened upon him he
+finally said: "I was solemnly invited to town to attend a solemn
+function, and I solemnly went, and am now solemnly returned."
+
+"Pshaw!" said Mrs. Easterfield. "I don't believe it's anything."
+
+"A wedding is something. A very great something. It is a solemn thing;
+and made more solemn by the loss of my secretary."
+
+"What!" almost screamed his wife. "Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"The very man. And, O Miss Olive, if you could but have seen him in his
+wedding-clothes your heart would have broken to think that you had lost
+the opportunity of standing by them at the altar."
+
+"But who was the bride?" asked Mrs. Easterfield impatiently.
+
+"Miss Eliza Grogworthy."
+
+"Now, Tom, I know you are joking! Why can't you be serious?"
+
+"I am as serious as were that couple. I have known her for some time,
+and she was very visible."
+
+"Why, she is old enough to be his mother!"
+
+"Not quite, my dear. In such a case as this, one must be particular
+about ages. She is a few years older than he is probably, but she is not
+bad looking, and a good woman with a nice big house and lots of money.
+He has walked out of my office into a fine position, and I unselfishly
+congratulated him with all my heart."
+
+"Poor Mr. Hemphill!" sighed Olive. She was thinking of the very young
+man she had sighed for when a very young girl.
+
+"He needs no pity," said Mr. Easterfield seriously. "I should not be
+surprised if he feels glad that he was not--well, we won't say what," he
+added, looking mischievously at Olive. "This is really a great deal
+better thing for him. He is not a favorite of my wife, but he is a
+thoroughly good fellow in his way, and I have always liked him. There
+were certain things necessary to him in this life, and he has got them.
+That can not be said about everybody by a long shot! No, he is to be
+congratulated."
+
+Olive was silent. She was trying to make up her mind that he was really
+to be congratulated, and to get rid of a lingering doubt.
+
+"Well, that is the end of him in our affairs!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield. "Why didn't you tell us what you were going to town for?"
+
+"Because he asked me not to mention it to any one. And, besides, that is
+not all I went to town for."
+
+"Oh," said his wife, "any more weddings?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Easterfield, helping himself to an easy chair. "You know
+I have lately been so much with nautical people I have acquired a taste
+for the sea."
+
+"I did not know it," said his wife; "but what of it?"
+
+"Well, as Lieutenant Asher and his wife are here yet, and have no
+earthly reason for being anywhere in particular; and as Captain Asher
+seems to be tired of the toll-gate; and as Captain Lancaster doesn't
+care where he is; and as Miss Olive doesn't know what to do with herself
+until it is time for her to get married; and as you are always ready to
+go gadding; and as the children need bracing up; and as you can not get
+along without Miss Raleigh; and as Mrs. Blynn is a good housekeeper; and
+as I have an offer for renting our town house; I propose that we all go
+to sea together."
+
+The two ladies had listened breathlessly to these words, and now Olive
+sprang up in great excitement, and Mrs. Easterfield clapped her hands in
+delight.
+
+"How clever you are, Tom!" she exclaimed. "What a splendid idea! How can
+we go?"
+
+"I have leased a yacht, and we are going to the Mediterranean."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVIII_
+
+"_It has just Begun!_"
+
+
+This wonderful scheme which Mr. Easterfield had planned and carried out
+met with general favor. Perhaps if they had all been consulted before he
+made the plan there would have been many alterations, and discussions,
+and doubts. But the thing was done, and there was nothing to say but
+"Yes" or "No." The time had come for the house party at Broadstone to
+break up, and the lieutenant and Mrs. Asher had arranged to spend the
+next few months in the city, but they gladly accepted Mr. Easterfield's
+generous invitation and would return to the toll-gate alter a few weeks
+preparatory to sailing, that the party might get together, for Captain
+Lancaster was to remain at the tollhouse. Mr. Easterfield also invited
+Claude Locker "to make things lively in rough weather," and that young
+man accepted with much alacrity.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was in such a state of delight that she nearly lost her
+self-possession. Sometimes, her husband told her, she scarcely spoke
+rationally. If she had been asked to wish anything that love or money
+could bring her, it would have been this very thing; but she would not
+have believed it possible. She was busy everywhere planning for
+everybody, and making out various lists. But, as she said, there is a
+little black spot in almost every joy. And her little black spot was
+Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Poor Professor Lancaster!" she said to her husband. "We to have such a
+great pleasure, and he shut up in close rooms! And Olive far away!"
+
+"Are you sure about Olive?" asked Mr. Easterfield. "She has never said
+positively that she is going. I most earnestly hope that she will not
+back out because Lancaster can not go. If she stays her uncle will
+stay."
+
+"And for that very reason she will go," said Mrs. Easterfield. "And I
+think Professor Lancaster will urge her to go. He is unselfish enough, I
+am sure, to wish her to have this great pleasure. And, talking of Olive,
+one thing is certain, Tom, we must be back early in the spring. There
+will be a great deal to do before the wedding. And, O Tom, I will tell
+you--but you must not tell any one, for I am keeping it for a
+surprise--I am going to give them a fine wedding. They will be married
+in church, of course, but the reception will be at our house. You will
+like that, I know."
+
+"Will there be good eating?"
+
+"Plenty of it."
+
+"Then I shall like it."
+
+All this was very well, but, nevertheless, this talk made the
+enthusiastic lady a little uneasy. It was true Olive had never said in
+words conclusively whether she would go or not. But she was extremely
+anxious that her father should go, and she implicitly followed Mrs.
+Easterfield's directions in making preparations for him, and was just as
+earnest in making her own; and her friend was certainly justified in
+thinking all this was a tacit consent.
+
+As for the two captains, they were so delighted at this heavenly
+prospect that they gave up talking about Dick and Olive, and read
+guide-books to each other, and studied maps, and sea-charts until their
+brains were nearly addled. They were a source of great amusement to the
+young people when Dick came for his frequent short visits.
+
+It was evident to all interested that Professor Lancaster approved of
+the expedition, for he entered heartily into all the talk about the
+various places to be visited, and all that was to be done on the vessel;
+and he did not bore them with any lamentations in regard to the coming
+separation between him and Olive. And, of course, every one respected
+his feelings, and said nothing to him about it.
+
+The weeks went by; all the preparations were made; and at last the time
+came when the company were to assemble at the toll-gate and Broadstone
+before the final plunge into the unknown. Olive wished to have them all
+to dinner on the first day of this short visit.
+
+"Our house is a little one," she said to Mrs. Easterfield, "but we can
+make it big enough. You know nautical people understand how to do that.
+What a jolly company we shall have! You know Dick will be there."
+
+"Yes, poor Dick!" sighed Mrs. Easterfield, when Olive had left.
+
+The Easterfields, with Lieutenant Asher and his wife, arrived very
+promptly at the toll-gate on that important day, and their drive
+through the bright, crisp air put them in a merry mood. They had hoped
+to bring Mr. Locker, but he had not arrived. They found two captains at
+the toll-gate in even merrier mood. Dick Lancaster was there, having
+arrived that morning, and they were none of them surprised that he
+looked serious. The ladies were not immediately asked to go up-stairs to
+remove their wraps, for Olive was not there to receive them. She soon,
+however, made her appearance in a lovely white dress that had been made
+for the trip under Mrs. Easterfield's supervision. Dick Lancaster
+immediately got up from his chair and joined her; and the Reverend Mr.
+Faulkner appeared from some mysterious place, and the astonished guests
+were treated to a very pretty marriage ceremony.
+
+It was soon over, and the two jolly captains laughed heartily at the
+bewilderment of the Broadstone party. And then there was a wild time of
+hand-shaking and congratulations and embracing. By his wife's orders,
+Mr. Tom kissed Olive, which seemed perfectly proper to everybody except
+Mrs. Lieutenant Asher. She was also a young bride, with no similar
+experiences.
+
+Later, when all were composed, Olive explained. "What has happened just
+now is all on account of Mr. Easterfield's invitation. I wrote
+immediately to Dick, and we settled it between us that he would ask for
+a vacation--they always give vacations when professors are married, and
+he knew of some one to take his place--and then we would be married, and
+ask Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield to invite us to take our wedding trip with
+them. Dick had to stay at the college until the last minute almost, and
+so we didn't say anything about the wedding--and we were both afraid
+of--well, we don't like a fuss--and so we planned this. And when Dick
+came he brought the license and Mr. Faulkner. And now I don't see how
+Mr. Easterfield can help inviting us."
+
+Mr. Easterfield was standing by his wife, and as Olive finished her
+explanation he took his wife's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of
+sympathy; and that heroic woman never flinched; nor did she ever say one
+word about that pretty wedding she had planned for the spring.
+
+They had all nearly finished the fried chicken with white sauce, when
+Claude Locker arrived. He had missed the regular train and had come on a
+freight; had got a horse when he reached Broadstone.
+
+"I am more tired than if I had walked," he grumbled. "I am always in bad
+luck! I am an unlucky dog! But you are so good you will excuse me, Miss
+Asher."
+
+"That is not my name," said Olive gravely.
+
+And with both eyes of the same size, Mr. Locker looked around, wondering
+why everybody was laughing.
+
+"Let me introduce Mrs. Lancaster," said Dick with a bow.
+
+"Do you mean," cried Locker, starting up, "that this thing is really
+done?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "It has just begun."
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Captain's Toll-Gate, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 13356-8.txt or 13356-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/3/5/13356/
+
+Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/13356-8.zip b/old/13356-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..794727d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-8.zip
diff --git a/old/13356-h.zip b/old/13356-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e307d67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h.zip
diff --git a/old/13356-h/13356-h.htm b/old/13356-h/13356-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43610e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h/13356-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,11143 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+    "text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Captains Toll-Gate, by Frank R. Stockton.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    P {  text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: 1em;
+         text-indent: 1em;
+         }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         }
+    HR { width: 33%;
+	margin-top: 1em;
+	margin-bottom: 1em;
+       }
+    BODY{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .linenum  {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */
+    .note     {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */
+    .blkquot  {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */
+    .pagenum  {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */
+    .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;}
+    .first    {font-size: 300%; float: left;  padding-right: .1em;  padding-left: .1em;}
+
+    .poem             {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem br          {display: none;}
+    .poem .stanza     {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+    .poem span        {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+    .poem span.i4     {display: block; margin-left: 2em;}
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+   </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain's Toll-Gate, 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: The Captain's Toll-Gate
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Release Date: September 2, 2004 [EBook #13356]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>THE</h1>
+<h1>CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE</h1>
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+<h2>FRANK R. STOCKTON</h2>
+
+<a name='001'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll001.jpg' width='404' height='600' alt='Frank R. Stockton' title='Frank R. Stockton'>
+</center>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><i>With a Memorial Sketch by
+Mrs. Stockton</i></p>
+
+
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'>1903</p>
+
+
+<br />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<table align='center' border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='4' summary=''>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b>I.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_I'><b>OLIVE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b>II.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_II'><b>MARIA PORT</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b>III.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_III'><b>MRS. EASTERFIELD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b>IV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_IV'><b>THE SON OF AN OLD SHIPMATE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b>V.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_V'><b>OLIVE PAYS TOLL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b>VI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_VI'><b>MR. CLAUDE LOCKER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b>VII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_VII'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND HIS GUEST GO FISHING AND COME HOME HAPPY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b>VIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII'><b>CAPTAIN ASHER IS NOT IN A GOOD HUMOR</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b>IX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_IX'><b>MISS PORT TAKES A DRIVE WITH THE BUTCHER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b>X.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_X'><b>MRS. EASTERFIELD WRITES A LETTER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b>XI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XI'><b>MR. LOCKER IS RELEASED ON BAIL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b>XII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XII'><b>MR. RUPERT HEMPHILL</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b>XIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII'><b>MR. LANCASTER'S BACKERS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b>XIV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV'><b>A LETTER FOR OLIVE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b>XV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XV'><b>OLIVE'S BICYCLE TRIP</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'><b>XVI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI'><b>MR. LANCASTER ACCEPTS A MISSION</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'><b>XVII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII'><b>DICK IS NOT A PROMPT BEARER OF NEWS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII'><b>XVIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII'><b>WHAT OLIVE DETERMINED TO DO</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX'><b>XIX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND DICK LANCASTER DESERT THE TOLL-GATE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX'><b>XX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XX'><b>MR. LOCKER DETERMINES TO RUSH THE ENEMY'S POSITION</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI'><b>XXI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI'><b>MISS RALEIGH ENJOYS A RARE PRIVILEGE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXII'><b>XXII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXII'><b>THE CONFLICTING SERENADES</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII'><b>XXIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIII'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND MARIA</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV'><b>XXIV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIV'><b>MR. TOM ARRIVES AT BROADSTONE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXV'><b>XXV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXV'><b>THE CAPTAIN AND MR. TOM</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI'><b>XXVI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVI'><b>A STOP AT THE TOLL-GATE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII'><b>XXVII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVII'><b>BY PROXY</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII'><b>XXVIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXVIII'><b>HERE WE GO! LOVERS THREE!</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX'><b>XXIX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXIX'><b>TWO PIECES OF NEWS</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXX'><b>XXX.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXX'><b>BY THE SEA</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI'><b>XXXI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXI'><b>AS GOOD AS A MAN</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII'><b>XXXII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXII'><b>THE STOCK-MARKET IS SAFE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII'><b>XXXIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIII'><b>DICK LANCASTER DOES NOT WRITE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV'><b>XXXIV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXIV'><b>MISS PORT PUTS IN AN APPEARANCE</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV'><b>XXXV.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXV'><b>THE DORCAS ON GUARD</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI'><b>XXXVI.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVI'><b>COLD TINDER</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVII'><b>XXXVII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVII'><b>IN WHICH SOME GREAT CHANGES ARE RECORDED</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVIII'><b>XXXVIII.</b></a></td><td><a href='#CHAPTER_XXXVIII'><b>&quot;IT HAS JUST BEGUN!&quot;</b></a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<br />
+
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+<br />
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#001'>Portrait of Frank B. Stockton <i>Etching by Jacques Reich from a
+photograph.</i></a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#002'>The Holt, Mr. Stockton's home near Convent, N.J.</a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#003'>Claymont, Mr. Stockton's home near Charles Town, West Virginia.</a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#004'>A corner in Mr. Stockton's study at Claymont.</a></p>
+
+<p style='text-align: center;'><a href='#005'>The upper terraces of Mr. Stockton's garden at Claymont.</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='A_MEMORIAL_SKETCH'></a><h2>A MEMORIAL SKETCH</h2>
+
+<p>As this&mdash;The Captain's Toll-Gate&mdash;is the last of the works of Frank R.
+Stockton that will be given to the public, it is fitting that it be
+accompanied by some account of the man whose bright spirit illumined
+them all. It is proper, also, that something be said of the stories
+themselves; of the circumstances in which they were written, the
+influences that determined their direction, and the history of their
+evolution. It seems appropriate that this should be done by the one who
+knew him best; the one who lived with him through a long and beautiful
+life; the one who walked hand in hand with him along the whole of a
+wonderful road of ever-changing scenes: now through forests peopled with
+fairies and dryads, griffins and wizards; now skirting the edges of an
+ocean with its strange monsters and remarkable shipwrecks; now on the
+beaten track of European tourists, sharing their novel adventures and
+amused by their mistakes; now resting in lovely gardens imbued with
+human interest; now helping the young to make happy homes for
+themselves; now sympathizing with the old as they look longingly toward
+a heavenly home; and, oftenest, perhaps, watching girls and young men as
+they were trying to work out the problems of their lives. All this, and
+much more, crowded the busy years until the Angel of Death stood in the
+path; and the journey was ended.</p>
+
+<p>In regard to the present story&mdash;The Captain's Toll-Gate&mdash;although it is
+now after his death first published, it was all written and completed by
+Mr. Stockton himself. No other hand has been allowed to add to, or to
+take from it. Mr. Stockton had so strong a feeling upon the literary
+ethics involved in such matters that he once refused to complete a book
+which a popular and brilliant author, whose style was thought to
+resemble his own, had left unfinished. Mr. Stockton regarded the
+proposed act in the light of a sacrilege. The book, he said, should be
+published as the author left it. Knowing this fact, readers of the
+present volume may feel assured that no one has been permitted to tamper
+with it. Although the last book by Mr. Stockton to be published, it is
+not the last that he wrote. He had completed The Captain's Toll-Gate,
+and was considering its publication, when he was asked to write another
+novel dealing with the buccaneers. He had already produced a book
+entitled Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coasts. The idea of writing a
+novel while the incidents were fresh in his mind pleased him, and he put
+aside The Captain's Toll-Gate, as the other book&mdash;Kate Bonnet&mdash;was
+wanted soon, and he did not wish the two works to conflict in
+publication. Steve Bonnet, the crazy-headed pirate, was a historical
+character, and performed the acts attributed to him. But the charming
+Kate, and her lover, and Ben Greenaway were inventions.</p>
+
+<p>Francis Richard Stockton, born in Philadelphia in 1834, was, on his
+father's side, of purely English ancestry; on his mother's side, there
+was a mixture of English, French, and Irish. When he began to write
+stories these three nationalities were combined in them: the peculiar
+kind of inventiveness of the French; the point of view, and the humor
+that we find in the old English humorists; and the capacity of the Irish
+for comical situations.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after arriving in this country the eldest son of the first American
+Stockton settled in Princeton, N.J., and founded that branch of the
+family; while the father, with the other sons, settled in Burlington
+County, in the same State, and founded the Burlington branch of the
+family, from which Frank R. Stockton was descended. On the female side
+he was descended from the Gardiners, also of New Jersey. His was a
+family with literary proclivities. His father was widely known for his
+religious writings, mostly of a polemical character, which had a
+powerful influence in the denomination to which he belonged. His
+half-brother (much older than Frank) was a preacher of great eloquence,
+famous a generation ago as a pulpit orator.</p>
+
+<p>When Frank and his brother John, two years younger, came to the age to
+begin life for themselves, they both showed such decided artistic genius
+that it was thought best to start them in that direction, and to have
+them taught engraving; an art then held in high esteem. Frank chose
+wood, and John steel engraving. Both did good work, but their hearts
+were not in it, and, as soon as opportunity offered, they abandoned
+engraving. John went into journalism; became editorially connected with
+prominent newspapers; and had won a foremost place in his chosen
+profession; when he was cut off by death at a comparatively early age.</p>
+
+<a name='002'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll002.jpg' width='600' height='345' alt='THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON&#39;S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.' title=''>
+</center>
+<h5>THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.</h5>
+
+<p>Frank chose literature. He had, while in the engraving business, written
+a number of fairy tales, some of which had been published in juvenile
+magazines; also a few short stories, and quite an ambitious long story,
+which was published in a prominent magazine. He was then sufficiently
+well known as a writer to obtain without difficulty a place on the
+staff of Hearth and Home, a weekly New York paper, owned by Orange Judd,
+and conducted by Edward Eggleston. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge had charge of
+the juvenile department, and Frank went on the paper as her assistant.
+Not long after Scribner's Monthly was started by Charles Scribner (the
+elder), in conjunction with Roswell Smith, and J.G. Holland. Later Mr.
+Smith and his associates formed The Century Company; and with this
+company Mr. Stockton was connected for many years: first on the Century
+Magazine, which succeeded Scribner's Monthly, and afterward on St.
+Nicholas, as assistant to Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, and, still later, when
+he decided to give up editorial work, as a constant contributor. After a
+few years he resigned his position in the company with which he had been
+so pleasantly associated in order to devote himself exclusively to his
+own work. By this time he had written and published enough to feel
+justified in taking, what seemed to his friends, a bold, and even rash,
+step, because so few writers then lived solely by the pen. He was never
+very strong physically; he felt himself unable to do his editorial work,
+and at the same time write out the fancies and stories with which his
+mind was full. This venture proved to be the wisest thing for him; and
+from that time his life was, in great part, in his books; and he gave
+to the world the novels and stories which bear his name.</p>
+
+<p>I have mentioned his fairy stories. Having been a great lover of fairy
+lore when a child, he naturally fell into this form of story writing as
+soon as he was old enough to put a story together. He invented a goodly
+number; and among them the Ting-a-Ling stories, which were read aloud in
+a boys' literary circle, and meeting their hearty approval, were
+subsequently published in The Riverside Magazine, a handsome and popular
+juvenile of that period; and, much later, were issued by Hurd &amp; Houghton
+in a very pretty volume. In regard to these, he wrote long afterward as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was very young when I determined to write some fairy tales because my
+mind was full of them. I set to work, and in course of time produced
+several which were printed. These were constructed according to my own
+ideas. I caused the fanciful creatures who inhabited the world of
+fairy-land to act, as far as possible for them to do so, as if they were
+inhabitants of the real world. I did not dispense with monsters and
+enchanters, or talking beasts and birds, but I obliged these creatures
+to infuse into their extraordinary actions a certain leaven of common
+sense.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was about this time, while very young, that he and his brother
+became ambitious to write stories, poems, and essays for the world at
+large. They sent their effusions to various periodicals, with the result
+common to ambitious youths: all were returned. They decided at last that
+editors did not know a good thing when they saw it, and hit upon a
+brilliant scheme to prove their own judgment. One of them selected an
+extract from Paradise Regained (as being not so well known as Paradise
+Lost), and sent it to an editor, with the boy's own name appended,
+expecting to have it returned with some of the usual disparaging
+remarks, which they would greatly enjoy. But they were disappointed. The
+editor printed it in his paper, thereby proving that he did know a good
+thing if he did not know his Milton. Mr. Stockton was fond of telling
+this story, and it may have given rise to a report, extensively
+circulated, that he tried to gain admittance to periodicals for many
+years before he succeeded. This is not true. Some rebuffs he had, of
+course&mdash;some with things which afterward proved great successes&mdash;but not
+as great a number as falls to the lot of most beginners.</p>
+
+<p>The Ting-a-Ling tales proved so popular that Mr. Stockton followed them
+at intervals with long and short stories for the young which appeared in
+various juvenile publications, and were afterward published in book
+form&mdash;Roundabout Rambles. Tales out of School, A Jolly Fellowship,
+Personally Conducted, The Story of Viteau, The Floating Prince, and
+others. Some years later, after he had begun to write for older readers,
+he wrote a series of stories for St. Nicholas, ostensibly for children,
+but really intended for adults. Children liked the stories, but the
+deeper meaning underlying them all was beyond the grasp of a child's
+mind. These stories Mr. Stockton took very great pleasure in writing,
+and always regarded them as some of his best work, and was gratified
+when his critics wrote of them in that way. They have become famous, and
+have been translated into several languages, notably Old Pipes and the
+Dryad, The Bee Man of Orne, and The Griffin and the Minor Canon. This
+last story was suggested by Chester Cathedral, and he wrote it in that
+venerable city. The several tales were finally collected into a volume
+under the title: The Bee Man of Orne and Other Stories, which is
+included in the complete edition of his novels and stories. During the
+whole of his literary career Mr. Stockton was an occasional contributor
+of short stories and essays to The Youth's Companion.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton considered his career as an editor of great advantage to
+him as an author. In an autobiographical paper he writes:
+&quot;Long-continued reading of manuscripts submitted for publication which
+are almost good enough to use, and yet not quite up to the standard of
+the magazine, can not but be of great service to any one who proposes a
+literary career. Bad work shows us what we ought to avoid, but most of
+us know, or think we know, what that is. Fine literary work we get
+outside the editorial room. But the great mass of literary material
+which is almost good enough to print is seen only by the editorial
+reader, and its lesson is lost upon him in a great degree unless he is,
+or intends to be, a literary worker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The first house in which we set up our own household goods stood in
+Nutley, N.J. We had with us an elderly <i>attach&eacute;</i> of the Stockton family
+as maid-of-all-work; and to relieve her of some of her duties I went
+into New York, and procured from an orphans' home a girl whom Mr.
+Stockton described as &quot;a middle-sized orphan.&quot; She was about fourteen
+years old, and proved to be a very peculiar individual, with strong
+characteristics which so appealed to Mr. Stockton's sense of humor that
+he liked to talk with her and draw out her opinions of things in
+general, and especially of the books she had read. Her spare time was
+devoted to reading books, mostly of the blood-curdling variety; and she
+read them to herself aloud in the kitchen in a very disjointed fashion,
+which was at first amusing, and then irritating. We never knew her real
+name, nor did the people at the orphanage. She had three or four very
+romantic ones she had borrowed from novels while she was with us, for
+she was very sentimental.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton bestowed upon her the name of Pomona, which is now a
+household word in myriads of homes. This extraordinary girl, and some
+household experiences, induced Mr. Stockton to write a paper for
+Scribner's Monthly which he called Rudder Grange. This one paper was all
+he intended to write, but it attracted immediate attention, was
+extensively noticed, and much talked about. The editor of the magazine
+received so many letters asking for another paper that Mr. Stockton
+wrote the second one; and as there was still a clamor for more, he,
+after a little time, wrote others of the series. Some time later they
+were collected in a book. For those interested in Pomona I will add,
+that while the girl was an actual personage, with all the
+characteristics given to her by her chronicler, the woman Pomona was a
+development in Mr. Stockton's mind of the girl as he imagined she would
+become, for the original passed out of our lives while still a girl.</p>
+
+<p>Rudder Grange was Mr. Stockton's first book for adult readers, and a
+good deal of comment has been made upon the fact that he had reached
+middle life when it was published. His biographers and critics assume
+that he was utterly unknown at that time, and that he suddenly jumped
+into favor, and they naturally draw the inference that he had until then
+vainly attempted to get before the public. This is all a misapprehension
+of the facts. It will be seen from what I have previously stated, that
+at this time he was already well known as a juvenile writer, and not
+only had no difficulty in getting his articles printed, but editors and
+publishers were asking him for stories. He had made but few slight
+attempts to obtain a larger audience. That he confined himself for so
+long a time to juvenile literature can be easily accounted for. For one
+thing, it grew out of his regular work of constantly catering for the
+young, and thinking of them. Then, again, editorial work makes urgent
+demands upon time and strength, and until freed from it he had not the
+leisure or inclination to fashion stories for more exacting and critical
+readers. Perhaps, too, he was slow in recognizing his possibilities.
+Certain it is that the public were not slow to recognize him. He did,
+however, experience difficulties in getting the collected papers of
+Rudder Grange published in book form. I will quote his own account,
+which is interesting as showing how slow he was to appreciate the fact
+that the public would gladly accept the writings of a humorist:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The discovery that humorous compositions could be used in journals
+other than those termed comic marked a new era in my work. Periodicals
+especially devoted to wit and humor were very scarce in those days, and
+as this sort of writing came naturally to me, it was difficult, until
+the advent of Puck, to find a medium of publication for writings of this
+nature. I contributed a good deal to this paper, but it was only partly
+satisfactory, for articles which make up a comic paper must be terse and
+short, and I wanted to write humorous tales which should be as long as
+ordinary magazine stories. I had good reason for my opinion of the
+gravity of the situation, for the editor of a prominent magazine
+declined a humorous story (afterward very popular) which I had sent him,
+on the ground that the traditions of magazines forbade the publication
+of stories strictly humorous. Therefore, when I found an editor at last
+who actually <i>wished</i> me to write humorous stories, I was truly
+rejoiced. My first venture in this line was Rudder Grange. And, after
+all, I had difficulty in getting the series published in book form. Two
+publishers would have nothing to do with them, assuring me that although
+the papers were well enough for a magazine, a thing of ephemeral nature,
+the book-reading public would not care for them. The third publisher to
+whom I applied issued the work, and found the venture satisfactory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The book-reading public cared so much for this book that it would not
+remain satisfied with it alone. Again and again it demanded of the
+author more about Pomona, Euphemia, and Jonas. Hence The Rudder Grangers
+Abroad and Pomona's Travels.</p>
+
+<p>The most famous of Mr. Stockton's stories, The Lady or the Tiger?, was
+written to be read before a literary society of which he was a member.
+It caused such an interesting discussion in the society that he
+published it in the Century Magazine. It had no especial announcement
+there, nor was it heralded in any way, but it took the public by storm,
+and surprised both the editor and the author. All the world must love a
+puzzle, for in an amazingly short time the little story had made the
+circuit of the world. Debating societies everywhere seized upon it as a
+topic; it was translated into nearly all languages; society people
+discussed it at their dinners; plainer people argued it at their
+firesides; numerous letters were sent to nearly every periodical in the
+country; and public readers were expounding it to their audiences. It
+interested heathen and Christian alike; for an English friend told Mr.
+Stockton that in India he had heard a group of Hindoo men gravely
+debating the problem. Of course, a mass of letters came pouring in upon
+the author.</p>
+
+<p>A singular thing about this story has been the revival of interest in it
+that has occurred from time to time. Although written many years ago, it
+seems still to excite the interest of a younger generation; for, after
+an interval of silence on the subject of greater or less duration,
+suddenly, without apparent cause, numerous letters in relation to it
+will appear on the author's table, and &quot;solutions&quot; will be printed in
+the newspapers. This ebb and flow has continued up to the present time.
+Mr. Stockton made no attempt to answer the question he had raised.</p>
+
+<p>We both spent much time in the South at different periods. The dramatic
+and unconsciously humorous side of the negroes pleased his fancy. He
+walked and talked with them, saw them in their homes, at their
+&quot;meetin's,&quot; and in the fields. He has drawn with an affectionate hand
+the genial, companionable Southern negro as he is&mdash;or rather as he
+was&mdash;for this type is rapidly passing away. Soon there will be no more
+of these &quot;old-time darkies.&quot; They would be by the world forgot had they
+not been embalmed in literature by Mr. Stockton, and the best Southern
+writers.</p>
+
+<p>There is one other notable characteristic that should be referred to in
+writing of Mr. Stockton's stories&mdash;the machines and appliances he
+invented as parts of them. They are very numerous and ingenious. No
+matter how extraordinary might be the work in hand, the machine to
+accomplish the end was made on strictly scientific principles, to
+accomplish that exact piece of work. It would seem that if he had not
+been an inventor of plots he might have been an inventor of instruments.
+This idea is sustained by the fact that he had been a wood-engraver only
+a short time when he invented and patented a double graver which cuts
+two parallel lines at the same time. It is somewhat strange that more
+than one of these extraordinary machines has since been exploited by
+scientists and explorers, without the least suspicion on their part that
+the enterprising romancer had thought of them first. Notable among these
+may be named the idea of going to the north pole under the ice, the one
+that the center of the earth is an immense crystal (Great Stone of
+Sardis), and the attempt to manufacture a gun similar to the Peace
+Compeller in The Great War Syndicate.</p>
+
+<p>In all of Mr. Stockton's novels there were characters taken from real
+persons who perhaps would not recognize themselves in the peculiar
+circumstances in which he placed them. In the crowd of purely
+imaginative beings one could easily recognize certain types modified and
+altered. In The Casting away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine he
+introduced two delightful old ladies whom he knew, and who were never
+surprised at anything that might happen. Whatever emergency arose, they
+took it as a matter of course, and prepared to meet it. Mr. Stockton
+amused himself at their expense by writing this story. He was not at
+first interested in the Dusantes, and had no intention of ever saying
+anything further about them. When there was a demand for knowledge of
+the Dusantes Mr. Stockton did not heed it. He was opposed to writing
+sequels. But when an author of distinction, whose work and friendship he
+highly valued, wrote to him that if he did not write something about the
+Dusantes, and what they said when they found the board money in the
+ginger jar, he would do it himself, Mr. Stockton set himself to writing
+The Dusantes.</p>
+
+<p>I have been asked to give some account of the places in which Mr.
+Stockton's stories and novels were written, and their environments. Some
+of the Southern stories were written in Virginia, and, now and then, a
+short story elsewhere, as suggested by the locality, but the most of his
+work was done under his own roof-tree. He loved his home; it had to be a
+country home, and always had to have a garden. In the care of a garden
+and in driving, he found his two greatest sources of recreation.</p>
+
+<a name='003'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll003.jpg' width='600' height='326' alt='CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON&#39;S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST
+VIRGINIA.' title=''>
+</center>
+<h5>CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST VIRGINIA</h5>
+
+<p>I have mentioned Nutley, which lies in New Jersey, near New York. His
+dwelling there was a pretty little cottage, where he had a garden, some
+chickens, and a cow. This was his home in his editorial days, and here
+Rudder Grange was written. It was a rented place. The next home we
+owned. It stood at a greater distance from New York, at the place called
+Convent, half-way between Madison and Morristown, in New Jersey. Here we
+lived a number of years after Mr. Stockton gave up editorial work; and
+here the greater number of his tales were written. It was a much larger
+place than we had at Nutley, with more chickens, two cows, and a much
+larger garden.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton dictated his stories to a stenographer. His favorite spot
+for this in summer was a grove of large fir-trees near the house. Here,
+in the warm weather, he would lie in a hammock. His secretary would be
+near, with her writing materials, and a book of her choosing. The book
+was for her own reading while Mr. Stockton was &quot;thinking.&quot; It annoyed
+him to know he was being &quot;waited for.&quot; He would think out pages of
+incidents, and scenes, and even whole conversations, before he began to
+dictate. After all had been arranged in his mind he dictated rapidly;
+but there often were long pauses, when the secretary could do a good
+deal of reading. In cold weather he had the secretary and an easy chair
+in the study&mdash;a room he had built according to his own fancy. A fire of
+blazing logs added a glow to his fancies.</p>
+
+<p>I may state here that we always spent a part of every winter in New
+York. A certain amount of city life was greatly enjoyed. Mr. Stockton
+thus secured much intellectual pleasure. He liked his clubs, and was
+fond of society, where he met men noted in various walks of life.<a name='FNanchor_1_1'></a><a href='#Footnote_1_1'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p>
+
+<a name='Footnote_1_1'></a><a href='#FNanchor_1_1'>[1]</a><div class='note'><p> Edward Gary, the secretary of the Century Club, in the
+obituary notice of Mr. Stockton written by him for the club's annual
+report, says of Mr. Stockton as a member: &quot;It was but a dozen years ago
+that Frank R. Stockton entered the fellowship of the Century, in which
+he soon became exceedingly at home, winning friends here, as he won them
+all over the land and in other lands, by the charm of his keen and
+kindly mind shining in all that he wrote and said. He had an
+extraordinary capacity for work and a rare talent for diversion, and the
+Century was honored by his well-earned fame, and fortunate in its share
+in his ever fresh and varying companionship.&quot;</p></div>
+
+<p>I am now nearing the close of a life which had had its trials and
+disappointments, its struggles with weak health and with unsatisfying
+labor. But these mostly came in the earlier years, and were met with
+courage, an ever fresh-springing hope, and a buoyant spirit that would
+not be intimidated. On the whole, as one looks back through the long
+vista, much more of good than of evil fell to his lot. His life had been
+full of interesting experiences, and one of, perhaps, unusual happiness.
+At the last there came to pass the fulfilment of a dream in which he had
+long indulged. He became the possessor of a beautiful estate containing
+what he most desired, and with surroundings and associations dear to his
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>He had enjoyed The Holt, his New Jersey home, and was much interested in
+improving it. His neighbors and friends there were valued companions.
+But in his heart there had always been a longing for a home, not
+suburban&mdash;a place in the <i>real</i> country, and with more land. Finally,
+the time came when he felt that he could gratify this longing. He liked
+the Virginia climate, and decided to look for a place somewhere in that
+State, not far from the city of Washington. After a rather prolonged
+search, we one day lighted upon Claymont, in the Shenandoah Valley. It
+won our hearts, and ended our search. It had absolutely everything that
+Mr. Stockton coveted. He bought it at once, and we moved into it as
+speedily as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Claymont is a handsome colonial residence, &quot;with all modern
+improvements&quot;&mdash;an unusual combination. It lies near the historic old
+town of Charles Town, in West Virginia, near Harpers Ferry. Claymont is
+itself an historic place. The land was first owned by &quot;the Father of his
+Country.&quot; This great personage designed the house, with its main
+building, two cottages (or lodges), and courtyards, for his nephew
+Bushrod, to whom he had given the land. Through the wooded park runs the
+old road, now grass grown, over which Braddock marched to his celebrated
+&quot;defeat,&quot; guided by the youthful George Washington, who had surveyed the
+whole region for Lord Fairfax. During the civil war the place twice
+escaped destruction because it had once been the property of Washington.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not for its historical associations, but for the place
+itself, that Mr. Stockton purchased it. From the main road to the house
+there is a drive of three-quarters of a mile through a park of great
+forest-trees and picturesque groups of rocks. On the opposite side of
+the house extends a wide, open lawn; and here, and from the piazzas, a
+noble view of the valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains is obtained.
+Besides the park and other grounds, there is a farm at Claymont of
+considerable size. Mr. Stockton, however, never cared for farming,
+except in so far as it enabled him to have horses and stock. But his
+soul delighted in the big, old terraced garden of his West Virginia
+home. Compared with other gardens he had had, the new one was like
+paradise to the common world. At Claymont several short stories were
+written. John Gayther's Garden was prepared for publication here by
+connecting stories previously published into a series, told in a garden,
+and suggested by the one at Claymont. John Gayther, however, was an
+invention. Kate Bonnet and The Captain's Toll-Gate were both written at
+Claymont.</p>
+
+<a name='004'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll004.jpg' width='600' height='485' alt='A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON&#39;S STUDY AT CLAYMONT. Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.' title=''>
+</center>
+
+<h5>A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON'S STUDY AT CLAYMONT.<br />Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.</h5>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton was permitted to enjoy this beautiful place only three
+years. They were years of such rare pleasure, however, that we can
+rejoice that he had so much joy crowded into so short a space of his
+life, and that he had it at its close. Truly life was never sweeter to
+him than at its end, and the world was never brighter to him than when
+he shut his eyes upon it. He was returning from a winter in New York to
+his beloved Claymont, in good health, and full of plans for the summer
+and for his garden, when he was taken suddenly ill in Washington, and
+died three days later, on April 20, 1902, a few weeks after Kate Bonnet
+was published in book form.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton passed away at a ripe age&mdash;sixty-eight years. And yet his
+death was a surprise to us all. He had never been in better health,
+apparently; his brain was as active as ever; life was dear to him; he
+seemed much younger than he was. He had no wish to give up his work; no
+thought of old age; no mental decay. His last novels, his last short
+stories, showed no falling-off. They were the equals of those written in
+younger years. Nor had he lost the public interest. He was always sure
+of an audience, and his work commanded a higher price at the last than
+ever before. His was truly a passing away. He gently glided from the
+homes he had loved to prepare here to one already prepared for him in
+heaven, unconscious that he was entering one more beautiful than even he
+had ever imagined.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stockton was the most lovable of men. He shed happiness all around
+him, not from conscious effort but out of his own bountiful and loving
+nature. His tender heart sympathized with the sad and unfortunate, but
+he never allowed sadness to be near, if it were possible to prevent it.
+He hated mourning and gloom. They seemed to paralyze him mentally until
+his bright spirit had again asserted itself, and he had recovered his
+balance. He usually looked either upon the best, or the humorous side of
+life. Pie won the love of every one who knew him&mdash;even that of readers
+who did not know him personally, as many letters testify. To his friends
+his loss is irreparable, for never again will they find his equal in
+such charming qualities of head and heart.</p>
+
+<a name='005'></a>
+<center>
+<img src='images/toll005.jpg' width='600' height='346' alt='THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON&#39;S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.' title=''>
+</center>
+<h5>THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON'S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.</h5>
+
+<p>This is not the place for a critical estimate of the work of Frank R.
+Stockton.<a name='FNanchor_2_2'></a><a href='#Footnote_2_2'><sup>[2]</sup></a> His stories are, in great part, a reflex of himself. The
+bright outlook on life; the courageous spirit; the helpfulness; the
+sense of the comic rather than the tragic; the love of domestic life;
+the sweetness of pure affection; live in his books as they lived in
+himself. He had not the heart to make his stories end unhappily. He knew
+that there is much of the tragic in human lives, but he chose to ignore
+it as far as possible, and to walk in the pleasant ways which are
+numerous in this tangled world. There is much philosophy underlying a
+good deal that he wrote, but it has to be looked for; it is not
+insistent, and is never morbid. He could not write an impure word, or
+express an impure thought, for he belonged to the &quot;pure in heart,&quot; who,
+we are assured, &quot;shall see God.&quot;</p>
+
+<a name='Footnote_2_2'></a><a href='#FNanchor_2_2'>[2]</a><div class='note'><p> I may, however, properly quote from the sketch prepared by
+Mr. Gary for the Century Club: &quot;He brought to his later work the
+discipline of long and rather tedious labor, with the capital amassed by
+acute observation, on which his original imagination wrought the
+sparkling miracles that we know. He has been called the representative
+American humorist. He was that in the sense that the characters he
+created had much of the audacity of the American spirit, the thirst for
+adventures in untried fields of thought and action, the subconscious
+seriousness in the most incongruous situations, the feeling of being at
+home no matter what happens. But how amazingly he mingled a broad
+philosophy with his fun, a philosophy not less wise and comprehending
+than his fun was compelling! If his humor was American, it was also
+cosmopolitan, and had its laughing way not merely with our British
+kinsmen, but with alien peoples across the usually impenetrable barrier
+of translation. The fortune of his jesting lay not in his ears, but in
+the hearts of his hearers. It was at once appealing and revealing. It
+flashed its playful light into the nooks and corners of our own being,
+and wove close bonds with those at whom we laughed. There was no
+bitterness in it. He was neither satirist nor preacher, nor of set
+purpose a teacher, though it must be a dull reader that does not gather
+from his books the lesson of the value of a gentle heart and a clear,
+level outlook upon our perplexing world.&quot;</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p>MARIAN E. STOCKTON.</p>
+
+<p>CLAYMONT, <i>May 15, 1903</i>.</p>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<h1>THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE</h1>
+<br />
+
+
+<a name='CHAPTER_I'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER I</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Olive.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span> long, wide, and smoothly macadamized road stretched itself from the
+considerable town of Glenford onward and northward toward a gap in the
+distant mountains. It did not run through a level country, but rose and
+fell as if it had been a line of seaweed upon the long swells of the
+ocean. Upon elevated points upon this road, farm lands and forests could
+be seen extending in every direction. But there was nothing in the
+landscape which impressed itself more obtrusively upon the attention of
+the traveler than the road itself. White in the bright sunlight and gray
+under the shadows of the clouds, it was the one thing to be seen which
+seemed to have a decided purpose. Northward or southward, toward the gap
+in the long line of mountains or toward the wood-encircled town in the
+valley, it was always going somewhere.</p>
+
+<p>About two miles from the town, and at the top of the first long hill
+which was climbed by the road, a tall white pole projected upward
+against the sky, sometimes perpendicularly, and sometimes inclined at a
+slight angle. This was a turnpike gate or bar, and gave notice to all in
+vehicles or on horses that the use of this well-kept road was not free
+to the traveling public. At the approach of persons not known, or too
+well known, the bar would slowly descend across the road, as if it were
+a musket held horizontally while a sentinel demanded the password.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the side of the road opposite to the great post on which the
+toll-gate moved, was a little house with a covered doorway, from which
+toll could be collected without exposing the collector to sun or rain.
+This tollhouse was not a plain whitewashed shed, such as is often seen
+upon turnpike roads, but a neat edifice, containing a comfortable room.
+On one side of it was a small porch, well shaded by vines, furnished
+with a settle and two armchairs, while over all a large maple stretched
+its protecting branches. Back of the tollhouse was a neatly fenced
+garden, well filled with old-fashioned flowers; and, still farther on, a
+good-sized house, from which a box-bordered path led through the garden
+to the tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>It was a remark that had been made frequently, both by strangers and
+residents in that part of the country, that if it had not been for the
+obvious disadvantages of a toll-gate, this house and garden, with its
+grounds and fields, would be a good enough home for anybody. When he
+happened to hear this remark Captain John Asher, who kept the toll-gate,
+was wont to say that it was a good enough home for him, even with the
+toll-gate, and its obvious disadvantages.</p>
+
+<p>It was on a morning in early summer, when the garden had grown to be so
+red and white and yellow in its flowers, and so green in its leaves and
+stalks, that the box which edged the path was beginning to be
+unnoticed, that a girl sat in a small arbor standing on a slight
+elevation at one side of the garden, and from which a view could be had
+both up and down the road. She was rather a slim girl, though tall
+enough; her hair was dark, her eyes were blue, and she sat on the back
+of a rustic bench with her feet resting upon the seat; this position she
+had taken that she might the better view the road.</p>
+
+<p>With both her hands this girl held a small telescope which she was
+endeavoring to fix upon a black spot a mile or more away upon the road.
+It was difficult for her to hold the telescope steadily enough to keep
+the object-glass upon the black spot, and she had a great deal of
+trouble in the matter of focusing, pulling out and pushing in the
+smaller cylinder in a manner which showed that she was not accustomed to
+the use of this optical instrument.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Field-glasses are ever so much better,&quot; she said to herself; &quot;you can
+screw them to any point you want. But now I've got it. It is very near
+that cross-road. Good! it did not turn there; it is coming along the
+pike, and there will be toll to pay. One horse, seven cents.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She put down the telescope as if to rest her arm and eye. Presently,
+however, she raised the glass again. &quot;Now, let us see,&quot; she said, &quot;Uncle
+John? Jane? or me?&quot; After directing the glass to a point in the air
+about two hundred feet above the approaching vehicle, and then to
+another point half a mile to the right of it, she was fortunate enough
+to catch sight of it again. &quot;I don't know that queer-looking horse,&quot; she
+said. &quot;It must be some stranger, and Jane will do. No, a little boy is
+driving. Strangers coming along this road would not be driven by little
+boys. I expect I shall have to call Uncle John.&quot; Then she put down the
+glass and rubbed her eye, after which, with unassisted vision, she gazed
+along the road. &quot;I can see a great deal better without that old thing,&quot;
+she continued. &quot;There's a woman in that carriage. I'll go myself.&quot; With
+this she jumped down from the rustic seat, and with the telescope under
+her arm, she skipped through the garden to the little tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>The name of this girl was Olive Asher. Captain John Asher, who took the
+toll, was her uncle, and she had now been living with him for about six
+weeks. Olive was what is known in certain social circles as a navy girl.
+About twenty years before she had come to her uncle's she had been born
+in Genoa, her father at the time being a lieutenant on an American
+war-vessel lying in the harbor of Villa Franca. Her first schooldays
+were passed in the south of France, and she spent some subsequent years
+in a German school in Dresden. Here she was supposed to have finished
+her education but when her father's ship was stationed on our Pacific
+coast and Olive and her mother went to San Francisco they associated a
+great deal with army people, and here the girl learned so much more of
+real life and her own country people that the few years she spent in the
+far West seemed like a post-graduate course, as important to her true
+education as any of the years she had spent in schools.</p>
+
+<p>After the death of her mother, when Olive was about eighteen, the girl
+had lived with relatives, East and West, hoping for the day when her
+father's three years' cruise would terminate, and she could go and make
+a home for him in some pleasant spot on shore. Now, in the course of
+these family visits she had come to stay with her father's brother, John
+Asher, who kept the toll-gate on the Glenford pike.</p>
+
+<p>Captain John Asher was an older man than his brother, the naval officer,
+but he was in the prime of life, and able to hold the command of a ship
+if he had cared to do it. But having been in the merchant service for a
+long time, and having made some money, he had determined to leave the
+sea and to settle on shore; and, finding this commodious house by the
+toll-gate, he settled there. There were some people who said that he had
+taken the position of toll-gate keeper because of the house, and there
+were others who believed that he had bought the house on account of the
+toll-gate. But no matter what people thought or said, the good captain
+was very well satisfied with his home and his official position. He
+liked to meet with people, and he preferred that they should come to him
+rather than that he should go to them. He was interested in most things
+that were going on in his neighborhood, and therefore he liked to talk
+to the people who were going by. Sometimes a good talking acquaintance
+or an interesting traveler would tie his horse under the shade of the
+maple-tree and sit a while with the captain on the little porch. Certain
+it was, it was the most hospitable toll-gate in that part of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>There was a road which branched off from the turnpike, about a mile from
+the town, and which, after some windings, entered the pike again beyond
+the toll-gate, and although this road was not always in very good
+condition, it had seen a good deal of travel, which, in time, gave it
+the name of the shunpike. But since Captain Asher had lived at the
+toll-gate it was remarked that the shunpike was not used as much as in
+former times. There were penurious people who had once preferred to go a
+long way round and save money whose economical dispositions now gave way
+before the combined attractions of a better road, and a chat with
+Captain Asher.</p>
+
+<p>It had been predicted by some of her relatives that Olive would not be
+content with her life in her uncle's somewhat peculiar household. He was
+a bachelor, and seldom entertained company, and his ordinary family
+consisted of an elderly housekeeper and another servant. But Olive was
+not in the least dissatisfied. From her infancy up, she had lived so
+much among people that she had grown tired of them; and her good-natured
+uncle, with his sea stories, the garden, the old-fashioned house, the
+fields and the woods beyond, the little stream, which came hurrying down
+from the mountains, where she could fish or wade as the fancy pleased
+her, gave her a taste of some of the joys of girlhood which she had not
+known when she was really a girl.</p>
+
+<p>Another thing that greatly interested her was the toll-gate. If she had
+been allowed to do so, she would have spent the greater part of her time
+taking money, making change, and talking to travelers. But this her
+uncle would not permit. He did not object to her doing some occasional
+toll-gate work, and he did not wonder that she liked it, remembering how
+interesting it often was to himself, but he would not let her take toll
+indiscriminately.</p>
+
+<p>So they made a regular arrangement about it. When the captain was at his
+meals, or shaving, or otherwise occupied, old Jane attended to the
+toll-gate. At ordinary times, and when any of his special friends were
+seen approaching, the captain collected toll himself, but when women
+happened to be traveling on the road, then it was arranged that Olive
+should go to the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three times it had happened that some young men of the town,
+hearing their sisters talk of the pretty girl who had taken their toll,
+had thought it might be a pleasant thing to drive out on the pike, but
+their money had always been taken by the captain, or else by the
+wooden-faced Jane, and nothing had come of their little adventures.</p>
+
+<p>The garden hedge which ran alongside the road was very high.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_II'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER II</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Maria Port.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live stood impatiently at the door of the little tollhouse. In one hand
+she held three copper cents, because she felt almost sure that the
+person approaching would give her a dime or two five-cent pieces.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never knew horses to travel so slowly as they do on this pike!&quot; she
+said to herself. &quot;How they used to gallop on those beautiful roads in
+France!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In due course of time the vehicle approached near enough to the
+toll-gate for Olive to take an observation of its occupant. This was a
+middle-aged woman, dressed in black, holding a black fan. She wore a
+black bonnet with a little bit of red in it. Her face was small and
+pale, its texture and color suggesting a boiled apple dumpling. She had
+small eyes of which it can be said that they were of a different color
+from her face, and were therefore noticeable. Her lips were not
+prominent, and were closely pressed together as if some one had begun to
+cut a dumpling, but had stopped after making one incision.</p>
+
+<p>This somewhat somber person leaned forward in the seat behind her young
+driver, and steadily stared at Olive. When the horse had passed the
+toll-bar the boy stopped it so that his passenger and Olive were face
+to face and very near each other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Seven cents, please,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>The cleft in the dumpling enlarged itself, and the woman spoke. &quot;Bless
+my soul,&quot; she said, &quot;are you Captain Asher's niece?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am,&quot; said Olive in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, well,&quot; said the other, &quot;that just beats me! When I heard he had
+his niece with him I thought she was a plain girl, with short frocks and
+her hair plaited down her back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not like this woman. It is wonderful how quickly likes and
+dislikes may be generated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you see I am not,&quot; she replied. &quot;Seven cents, please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't you suppose I know what the toll is?&quot; said the woman in the
+carriage. &quot;I'm sure I've traveled over this road often enough to know
+that. But what I'm thinkin' about is the difference between what I
+thought the captain's niece was and what she really is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It does not make any difference what the difference is,&quot; said Olive,
+speaking quickly and with perhaps a little sharpness in her voice, &quot;all
+I want is for you to pay me the toll.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm not goin' to pay any toll,&quot; said the other.</p>
+
+<p>Olive's face flushed. &quot;Little boy,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;back that horse!&quot; As
+the youngster obeyed her peremptory request Olive gave a quick jerk to a
+rope and brought down the toll-gate bar so that it stretched itself
+across the road, barely missing in its downward sweep the nose of the
+unoffending horse. &quot;Now,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if you are ready to pay your
+toll you can go through this gate, and if you are not, you can turn
+round and go back where you came from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'm not goin' to pay any toll,&quot; said the other, &quot;and I don't want to go
+through the gate. I came to see Captain Asher.&mdash;Johnny, turn your horse
+a little and let me get out. Then you can stop in the shade of this tree
+and wait until I'm ready to go back.&mdash;I suppose the captain's in,&quot; she
+said to Olive, &quot;but if he isn't, I can wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he's at home,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and, of course, if I had known you were
+coming to see him, I would not have asked you for your toll. This way,
+please,&quot; and she stepped toward a gate in the garden hedge.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I've been here before,&quot; said the visitor, &quot;I always went through
+the tollhouse. But I suppose things is different now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is the entrance for visitors,&quot; said Olive, holding open the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher had heard the voices, and had come out to his front door.
+He shook hands with the newcomer, and then turned to Olive, who was
+following her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is my niece, my brother Alfred's daughter,&quot; he said, &quot;and Olive,
+let me introduce you to Miss Maria Port.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She introduced herself to me,&quot; said Miss Port, &quot;and tried to get seven
+cents out of me by letting down the bar so that it nearly broke my
+horse's nose. But we'll get to know each other better. She's very
+different from what I thought she was.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Most people are,&quot; said Captain Asher, as he offered a chair to Miss
+Port in his parlor, and sat down opposite to her. Olive, who did not
+care to hear herself discussed, quietly passed out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Captain,&quot; said Miss Port, leaning forward, &quot;how old is she, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;About twenty,&quot; was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And how long is she going to stay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All summer, I hope,&quot; said Captain John.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, she won't do it, I can tell you that,&quot; remarked Miss Port.
+&quot;She'll get tired enough of this place before the summer's out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We shall see about that,&quot; said the captain, &quot;but she is not tired yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And her mother's dead, and she's wearin' no mournin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why should she?&quot; said the captain. &quot;It would be a shame for a young
+girl like her to be wearing black for two years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's delicate, ain't she?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have not seen any signs of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did her mother die of?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never heard,&quot; said the captain; &quot;perhaps it was the bubonic plague.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port pushed back her chair and drew her skirts about her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Horrible!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;And you let that child come here!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. &quot;Perhaps it wasn't that,&quot; he said. &quot;It might have
+been an avalanche, and that is not catching.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port looked at him seriously. &quot;It's a great pity she's so
+handsome,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think so; I am glad of it,&quot; replied the captain.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port heaved a sigh. &quot;What that girl is goin' to need,&quot; she said,
+&quot;is a female guardeen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you like to take the place?&quot; asked the captain with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>At that instant it might have been supposed that a certain dumpling
+which has been mentioned was made of very red apples and that its
+covering of dough was somewhat thin in certain places. Miss Port's eyes
+were bent for an instant upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is a thing,&quot; she said, &quot;which would need a great deal of
+consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden thrill ran through the captain which was not unlike a moment in
+his past career when a gentle shudder had run through his ship as its
+keel grazed an unsuspected sand-bar, and he had not known whether it was
+going to stick fast or not; but he quickly got himself into deep water
+again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, she is all right,&quot; said he briskly; &quot;she has been used to taking
+care of herself almost ever since she was born. And by the way, Miss
+Port, did you know that Mr. Easterfield is at his home?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port was not pleased with the sudden change in the conversation,
+and she remembered, too, that in other days it had been the captain's
+habit to call her Maria.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know he had a home,&quot; she answered. &quot;I thought it was her'n.
+But since you've mentioned it, I might as well say that it was about him
+I came to see you. I heard that he came to town yesterday, and that her
+carriage met him at the station, and drove him out to her house. I
+hoped he had stopped a minute as he drove through your toll-gate, and
+that you might have had a word with him, or at least a good look at him.
+Mercy me!&quot; she suddenly ejaculated, as a look of genuine disappointment
+spread over her face; &quot;I forgot. The coachman would have paid the toll
+as he went to town, and there was no need of stoppin' as they went back.
+I might have saved myself this trip.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain laughed. &quot;It stands to reason that it might have been that
+way,&quot; he said, &quot;but it wasn't. He stopped, and I talked to him for about
+five minutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The face of Miss Port now grew radiant, and she pulled her chair nearer
+to Captain Asher. &quot;Tell me,&quot; said she, &quot;is he really anybody?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is a good deal of a body,&quot; answered the captain. &quot;I should say he is
+pretty nearly six feet high, and of considerable bigness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port, &quot;I'd thought he was a little dried-up sort
+of a mummy man that you might hang up on a nail and be sure you'd find
+him when you got back. Did he talk?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said the captain, &quot;he talked a good deal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what did he tell you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He did not tell me anything, but he asked a lot of questions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What about?&quot; said Miss Port quickly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Everything. Fishing, gunning, crops, weather, people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, well!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;And don't you suppose his wife could have
+told him all that, and she's been livin' here&mdash;this is the second
+summer. Did he say how long he's goin' to stay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you didn't ask him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I told you he asked the questions,&quot; replied the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I wish I'd been here,&quot; Miss Port remarked fervently. &quot;I'd got
+something out of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No doubt of that,&quot; thought the captain, but he did not say so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he expects to pass himself off as just a common man,&quot; continued Miss
+Port, &quot;that's goin' to spend the rest of his summer here with his
+family, he can't do it. He's first got to explain why he never came near
+that young woman and her two babies for the whole of last summer, and,
+so far as I've heard, he was never mentioned by her. I think, Captain
+Asher, that for the sake of the neighborhood, if you don't care about
+such things yourself, you might have made use of this opportunity. As
+far as I know, you're the only person in or about Glenford that's spoke
+to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain smiled. &quot;Sometimes, I suppose,&quot; said he, &quot;I don't say
+enough, and sometimes I say too much, but&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I wish he'd struck you more on an average,&quot; interrupted Miss Port.
+&quot;But there's no use talkin' any more about it. I hired a horse and a
+carriage and a boy to come out here this mornin' to ask you about that
+man. And what's come of it? You haven't got a single thing to tell
+anybody except that he's big.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain changed the subject again. &quot;How is your father?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pop's just the same as he always is,&quot; was the answer. &quot;And now, as I
+don't want to lose the whole of the seventy-five cents I've got to pay,
+suppose you call in that niece of yours, and let me have a talk with
+her. Perhaps I can get something interesting out of her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain left the room, but he did not move with alacrity. He found
+Olive with a book in a hammock at the back of the house. When he told
+her his errand she sat up with a sudden bounce, her feet upon the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle,&quot; she said, &quot;isn't that woman a horrid person?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain was a merry-minded man, and he laughed. &quot;It is pretty hard
+for me to answer that question,&quot; said he; &quot;suppose you go in and find
+out for yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive hesitated; she was a girl who had a very high opinion of herself
+and a very low opinion of such a person as this Miss Port seemed to be.
+Why should she go in and talk to her? Still undecided, she left the
+hammock and made a few steps toward the house. Then, with a sudden
+exclamation, she stopped and dropped her book.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Buggy coming,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;and that thing is running to take the
+toll!&quot; With these words she started away with the speed of a colt.</p>
+
+<p>An approaching buggy was on the road; Miss Maria Port, walking rapidly,
+had nearly reached the back door of the tollhouse when Olive swept by
+her so closely that the wind of her fluttering garments almost blew
+away the breath of the elder woman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Seven cents!&quot; cried Olive, standing in the covered doorway, but she
+might have saved herself the trouble of repeating this formula, for the
+man in the buggy was not near enough to hear her.</p>
+
+<p>When Olive saw it was a man, she turned, and perceiving her uncle
+approaching the tollhouse, she hurried by him up the garden path,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A pretty girl that is of yours!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;She might just
+as well have slapped me in the face!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what were you going to do in here?&quot; asked Captain Asher. &quot;You know
+that's against the rules.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The rules be bothered,&quot; replied the irate Maria. &quot;I thought it was Mr.
+Smiley. He's been away from his parish for a week, and there are a good
+many things I want to ask him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, it is the Roman Catholic priest from Marlinsville,&quot; said Captain
+Asher, &quot;and he wouldn't tell you anything if you asked him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain had a cheerful little chat with the priest, who was one of
+his most valued road friends; and when he returned to his garden he
+found Miss Port walking up and down the main path in a state of
+agitation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think,&quot; said she, &quot;that the company would have something to
+say about your takin' up your time talkin' to people on the road. I've
+heard that sometimes they get out, and spend hours talkin' and smokin'
+with you. I guess that's against the rules.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is all right between the company and me,&quot; replied the captain. &quot;You
+know I am a stockholder in a small way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;Well, I've got somethin' by comin'
+here, anyway.&quot; Stowing away this bit of information in regard to the
+captain's resources in her mind for future consideration, she continued:
+&quot;I don't think much of that niece of your'n. Has she never lived
+anywhere where the people had good manners?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive, who had gone to her room in order to be out of the way of this
+queer visitor, now sat by an upper window, and it was impossible that
+she should fail to hear this remark, made by Miss Port in her most
+querulous tones. Olive immediately left the window, and sat down on the
+other side of the room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good manners!&quot; she ejaculated, and fell to thinking. Her present
+situation had suddenly presented itself to her in a very different light
+from that in which she had previously regarded it. She was living in a
+very plain house in a very plain way, with a very plain uncle who kept a
+tollhouse; but she liked him; and, until this moment, she had liked the
+life. But now she asked herself if it were possible for her longer to
+endure it if she were to be condemned to intercourse with people like
+that thing down in the garden. If her uncle's other friends in Glenford
+were of that grade she could not stay here. She smiled in spite of her
+irritation as she thought of the woman's words&mdash;&quot;Anywhere where the
+people had good manners.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Good manners, indeed! She remembered the titled young officers in
+Germany with whom she had talked and danced when she was but seventeen
+years old, and who used to send her flowers. She remembered the people
+of rank in the army and navy and in the state who used to invite her
+mother and herself to their houses. She remembered the royal prince who
+had wished to be presented to her, and whose acquaintance she had
+declined because she did not like what she had heard of him. She
+remembered the good friends of her father in Europe and America, ladies
+and gentlemen of the army and navy. She remembered the society in which
+she had mingled when living with her Boston aunt during the past winter.
+Then she thought of Miss Port's question. Good manners, indeed!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the perturbed Maria, after having been informed by the
+captain that his niece was accustomed to move in the best circles, &quot;I
+don't want to go into the house again, for if I was to meet her, I'm
+sure I couldn't keep my temper. But I'll say this to you, Captain Asher,
+that I pity the woman that's her guardeen. And now, if you'll help my
+boy turn round so he won't upset the carriage, I'll be goin'. But before
+I go I'll just say this, that if you'd been in the habit of takin'
+advantage of the chances that come to you, I believe that you'd be a
+good deal better off than you are now, even if you do own shares in the
+turnpike company.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not difficult for the captain to recognize some of the chances to
+which she alluded; one of them she herself had offered him several
+times.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I am very well off as I am,&quot; he answered, &quot;but perhaps some day I
+may have something to tell you of the Easterfields and about their
+doings up on the mountain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;About her doin's, you might as well say,&quot; retorted Miss Port. &quot;No
+matter what you tell me, I don't believe a word about his ever doin'
+anything.&quot; With this she walked to the little phaeton, into which the
+captain helped her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle John,&quot; said Olive, a few minutes later, &quot;are there many people
+like that in Glenford?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My dear child,&quot; said the captain, &quot;the people in Glenford, the most of
+them, I mean, are just as nice people as you would want to meet. They
+are ladies and gentlemen, and they are mighty good company. They don't
+often come out here, to be sure, but I know most of them, and I ought to
+be ashamed of myself that I have not made you acquainted with them
+before this. As to Maria Port, there is only one of her in Glenford,
+and, so far as I know, there isn't another just like her in the whole
+world. Now I come to think of it,&quot; he continued, &quot;I wonder why some of
+the young people have not come out to call on you. But if that Maria
+Port has been going around telling them that you are a little girl in
+short frocks it is not so surprising.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't bother yourself, Uncle John, about calls and society,&quot; said
+Olive. &quot;If you can only manage that that woman takes the shunpike
+whenever she drives this way, I shall be perfectly satisfied with
+everything just as it is.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_III'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER III</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mrs. Easterfield.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>n the side of the mountain, a few miles to the west of the gap to which
+the turnpike stretched itself, there was a large estate and a large
+house which had once belonged to the Sudley family. For a hundred years
+or more the Sudleys had been important people in this part of the
+country, but it had been at least two decades since any of them had
+lived on this estate. Some of them had gone to cities and towns, and
+others had married, or in some other fashion had melted away so that
+their old home knew them no more.</p>
+
+<p>Although it was situated on the borders of the Southern country, the
+house, which was known as Broadstone, from the fact that a great flat
+rock on the level of the surrounding turf extended itself for many feet
+at the front of the principal entrance, was not constructed after
+ordinary Southern fashions. Some of the early Sudleys were of English
+blood and proclivities, and so it was partly like an English house; some
+of them had taken Continental ideas into the family, and there was a
+certain solidity about the walls; while here and there the narrowness of
+the windows suggested southern Europe. Some parts of the great stone
+walls had been stuccoed, and some had been whitewashed. Here and there
+vines climbed up the walls and stretched themselves under the eaves. As
+the house stood on a wide bluff, there was a lawn from which one could
+see over the tree tops the winding river sparkling far below. There were
+gardens and fields on the open slopes, and beyond these the forests rose
+to the top of the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>The ceilings of the house were high, and the halls and rooms were wide
+and airy; the trees on the edge of the woods seemed always to be
+rustling in a wind from one direction or another, and a lady; Mrs.
+Easterfield; who several years before had been traveling in that part of
+the country; declared that Broadstone was the most delightful place for
+a summer residence that she had ever seen, either in this country or
+across the ocean. So, with the consent and money of her husband, she had
+bought the estate the summer before the time of our story, and had gone
+there to live.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield was what is known as a railroad man, and held high
+office in many companies and organizations. When his wife first went to
+Broadstone he was obliged to spend the summer in Europe, and had agreed
+with her that the estate on the mountains would be the best place for
+her and the two little girls while he was away. This state of affairs
+had occasioned a good deal of talk, especially in Glenford, a town with
+which the Easterfields had but little to do, and which therefore had
+theorized much in order to explain to its own satisfaction the conduct
+of a comparatively young married woman who was evidently rich enough to
+spend her summers at any of the most fashionable watering-places, but
+who chose to go with her young family to that old barracks of a house,
+and who had a husband who never came near her or his children, and who,
+so far as the Glenford people knew, she never mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Margaret Easterfield was a very fine woman, both to look at and to
+talk to, but she did not believe that her duty to her fellow-beings
+demanded that she should devote her first summer months at her new place
+to the gratification of the eyes and ears of her friends and
+acquaintances, so she had gone to Broadstone with her family&mdash;all
+females&mdash;with servants enough, and for the whole of the summer they had
+all been very happy.</p>
+
+<p>But this summer things were going to be a little different at
+Broadstone, for Mrs. Easterfield had arranged for some house parties.
+Her husband was very kind and considerate about her plans, and promised
+her that he would make one of the good company at Broadstone whenever it
+was possible for him to do so.</p>
+
+<p>So now it happened that he had come to see his wife and children and the
+house in which they lived; and, having had some business at a railroad
+center in the South, he had come through Glenford, which was unusual, as
+the intercourse between Broadstone and the great world was generally
+maintained through the gap in the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>With his wife by his side and a little girl on each shoulder, Mr. Tom
+Easterfield walked through the grounds and the gardens and out on the
+lawn, and looked down over the tops of the trees upon the river which
+sparkled far below, and he said to his wife that if she would let him do
+it he would send a landscape-gardener, with a great company of Italians,
+and they would make the place a perfect paradise in about five days.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It could be ruined a great deal quicker by an army of locusts,&quot; she
+said, &quot;and so, if you do not mind, I think I will wait for the locusts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not time yet for any of the members of the house parties to make
+their appearance, and it was the general desire of his family that Mr.
+Easterfield should remain until some of the visitors arrived, but he
+could not gratify them. Three days after his arrival he was obliged to
+be in Atlanta; and so, soon after breakfast one fine morning, the
+Easterfield carriage drove over the turnpike to the Glenford station,
+Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield on the back seat, and the two little girls
+sitting opposite, their feet sticking out straight in front of them.</p>
+
+<p>When they stopped at the toll-gate Captain Asher came down to collect
+the toll&mdash;ten cents for two horses and a carriage. Olive was sitting in
+the little arbor, reading. She had noticed the approaching equipage and
+saw that there was a lady in it, but for some reason or other she was
+not so anxious as she had been to collect toll from ladies. If she could
+have arranged the matter to suit herself she would have taken toll from
+the male travelers, and her Uncle John might attend to the women; she
+did not believe that men would have such absurd ideas about people or
+ask ridiculous questions.</p>
+
+<p>There was no conversation at the gate on this occasion, for the
+carriage was a little late, but as it rolled on Mrs. Margaret said to
+Mr. Tom:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me as though I have just had a glimpse of Dresden. What do
+you suppose could have suggested that city to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom could not imagine, unless it was the dust. She laughed, and said
+that he had dust and ballast and railroads on the brain; and when the
+oldest little girl asked what that meant, Mrs. Margaret told her that
+the next time her father came home she would make him sit down on the
+floor and then she would draw on that great bald spot of his head, which
+they had so often noticed, a map of the railroad lines in which he was
+concerned, and then his daughters would understand why he was always
+thinking of railroad-tracks and that sort of thing with the inside of
+his head, which, as she had told them, was that part of a person with
+which he did his thinking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't they sell some sort of annual or monthly tickets for this
+turnpike?&quot; asked Mr. Tom. &quot;If they do, you would save yourself the
+trouble of stopping to pay toll and make change.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I so seldom use this road,&quot; she said, &quot;that it would not be worth
+while. One does not stop on returning, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But notwithstanding this speech, when Mrs. Easterfield returned from the
+Glenford station, one little girl sitting beside her and the other one
+opposite, both of them with their feet sticking out, she ordered her
+coachman to stop when he reached the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was still sitting in the arbor, reading. The captain was not
+visible, and the wooden-faced Jane, noticing that the travelers were a
+lady and two little girls, did not consider that she had any right to
+interfere with Miss Olive's prerogatives; so that young lady felt
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to see what was wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know you do not have to pay going back,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; answered Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;but I want to ask about
+tickets or monthly payments of toll, or whatever your arrangements are
+for that sort of thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I really do not know,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but I will go and ask about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But stop one minute,&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield, leaning over the side
+of the carriage. &quot;Is it your father who keeps this toll-gate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For some reason or other which she could not have explained to herself,
+Olive felt that it was incumbent upon her to assert herself, and she
+answered: &quot;Oh, no, indeed. My father is Lieutenant-Commander Alfred
+Asher, of the cruiser Hopatcong.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without another word Mrs. Easterfield pushed open the door of the
+carriage and stepped to the ground, exclaiming: &quot;As I passed this
+morning I knew there was something about this place that brought back to
+my mind old times and old friends, and now I see what it was; it was
+you. I caught but one glimpse of you and I did not know you. But it was
+enough. I knew your father very well when I was a girl, and later I was
+with him and your mother in Dresden. You were a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, going to school, and I never saw much of you. But it is either
+your father or your mother that I saw in your face as you sat in that
+arbor, and I knew the face, although I did not know who owned it. I am
+Mrs. Easterfield, but that will not help you to know me, for I was not
+married when I knew your father.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's eyes sparkled as she took the two hands extended to her. &quot;I
+don't remember you at all,&quot; she said, &quot;but if you are the friend of my
+father and mother&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I am to be your friend, isn't it?&quot; interrupted Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hope so,&quot; answered Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I want you to tell me how in the
+world you come to be here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There were two stools in the tollhouse, and Olive, having invited her
+visitor to seat herself on the better one, took the other, and told Mrs.
+Easterfield how she happened to be there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And that handsome elderly man who took the toll this morning is your
+uncle?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, my father's only brother,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A good deal older,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, but I do not know how much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you call him captain. Was he also in the navy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive, &quot;he was in the merchant service, and has retired. It
+seems queer that he should be keeping a toll-gate, but my father has
+often told me that Uncle John does not care for appearances, and likes
+to do things that please him. He likes to keep the tollhouse because it
+brings him in touch with the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very sensible in him,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I think I would like to
+keep a toll-gate myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher had seen the carriage stop, and knew that Mrs. Easterfield
+was talking to Olive, but he did not think himself called upon to
+intrude upon them. But now it was necessary for him to go to the
+tollhouse. Two men in a buggy with a broken spring and a coffee bag laid
+over the loins of an imperfectly set-up horse had been waiting for
+nearly a minute behind Mrs. Easterfield's carriage, desiring to pay
+their toll and pass through. So the captain went out of the garden-gate,
+collected the toll from the two men, and directed them to go round the
+carriage and pass on in peace, which they did.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Easterfield rose from her stool, and approached the tollhouse
+door, and, as a matter of course, the captain was obliged to step
+forward and meet her. Olive introduced him to the lady, who shook hands
+with him very cordially.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have found the daughter of an old friend,&quot; said she, and then they
+all went into the tollhouse again, where the two ladies reseated
+themselves, and after some explanatory remarks Mrs. Easterfield said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Captain Asher, I must not stay here blocking up your toll-gate all
+the morning, but I want to ask of you a very great favor. I want you to
+let your niece come and make me a visit. I want a good visit&mdash;at least
+ten days. You must remember that her father and I, and her mother, too,
+were very good friends. Now there are so many things I want to talk over
+with Miss Olive, and I am sure you will let me have her just for ten
+short days. There are no guests at Broadstone yet, and I want her. You
+do not know how much I want her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher stood up tall and strong, his broad shoulders resting
+against the frame of the open doorway. It was a positive delight to him
+to stand thus and look at such a beautiful woman. So far as he could
+see, there was nothing about her with which to find fault. If she had
+been a ship he would have said that her lines were perfect, spars and
+rigging just as he would have them. In addition to her other
+perfections, she was large enough. The captain considered himself an
+excellent judge of female beauty, and he had noticed that a great many
+fine women were too small. With Olive's personal appearance he was
+perfectly satisfied, although she was slight, but she was young, and
+would probably expand. If he had had a daughter he would have liked her
+to resemble Mrs. Easterfield, but that feeling did not militate in the
+least against Olive. In his mind it was not necessary for a niece to be
+quite as large as a daughter ought to be.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what does Olive say about it?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have not been asked yet,&quot; replied Olive, &quot;but it seems to me that
+I&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would like to do it,&quot; interrupted Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Now, isn't that
+so, dear Olive?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at the captain. &quot;It depends upon what you say about it,
+Uncle John.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain slightly knitted his brows. &quot;If it were for one night, or
+perhaps a couple of days,&quot; he said, &quot;it would be different. But what am
+I to do without Olive for nearly two weeks? I am just beginning to
+learn what a poor place my house would be without her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this minute a man upon a rapidly trotting pony stopped at the
+toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me one minute,&quot; continued the captain, &quot;here is a person who can
+not wait,&quot; and stepping outside he said good morning to a bright-looking
+young fellow riding a sturdy pony and wearing on his cap a metal plate
+engraved &quot;United States Rural Delivery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The carrier brought but one letter to the tollhouse, and that was for
+Captain Asher himself. As the man rode away the captain thought he might
+as well open his letter before he went back. This would give the ladies
+a chance to talk further over the matter. He read the letter, which was
+not long, put it in his pocket, and then entered the tollhouse. There
+was now no doubt or sign of disturbance on his features.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have considered your invitation, madam,&quot; said he, &quot;and as I see Olive
+wants to visit you, I shall not interfere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course she does,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing to her feet,
+&quot;and I thank you ever and ever so much, Captain Asher. And now, my
+dear,&quot; said she to Olive, &quot;I am going to send the carriage for you
+to-morrow morning.&quot; And with this she put her arm around the girl and
+kissed her. Then, having warmly shaken hands with the captain, she
+departed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know, Uncle John,&quot; said Olive, &quot;I believe if you were twenty
+years older she would have kissed you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With a grim smile the captain considered; would he have been willing to
+accept those additional years under the circumstances? He could not
+immediately make up his mind, and contented himself with the reflection
+that Olive did not think him old enough for the indiscriminate caresses
+of young people.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER IV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Son of an Old Shipmate.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Olive came down to breakfast the next morning she half repented
+that she had consented to go away and leave her uncle for so long a
+time. But when she made known her state of mind the captain laughed at
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My child,&quot; said he, &quot;I want you to go. Of course, I did not take to the
+notion at first, but I did not consider then what you will have to tell
+when you come home. The people of Glenford will be your everlasting
+debtors. It might be a good thing to invite Maria Port out here. You
+could give her the best time she ever had in her life, telling her about
+the Broadstone people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria Port, indeed!&quot; said Olive. &quot;But we won't talk of her. And you
+really are willing I should go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I speak the truth when I say I want you to go,&quot; replied the captain.</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon Olive assured him that he was truly a good uncle.</p>
+
+<p>After the Easterfield carriage had rolled away with Olive alone on the
+back seat, waving her handkerchief, the captain requested Jane to take
+entire charge of the toll-gate for a time; and, having retired to his
+own room, he took from his pocket the letter he had received the day
+before.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I must write an answer to this,&quot; he said, &quot;before the postman comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter was from one of the captain's old shipmates, Captain Richard
+Lancaster, the best friend he had had when he was in the merchant
+service. Captain Lancaster had often been asked by his old friend to
+visit him at the toll-gate, but, being married and rheumatic, he had
+never accepted the invitation. But now he wrote that his son, Dick, had
+planned a holiday trip which would take him through Glenford, and that,
+if it suited Captain Asher, the father would accept for the son the
+long-standing invitation. Captain Lancaster wrote that as he could not
+go himself to his old friend Asher, the next best thing would be for his
+son to go, and when the young man returned he could tell his father all
+about Captain Asher. There would be something in that like old times.
+Besides, he wanted his former shipmate to know his son Dick, who was, in
+his eyes, a very fine young fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There never was such a lucky thing in the world,&quot; said Captain Asher to
+himself, when he had finished rereading the letter. &quot;Of course, I want
+to have Dick Lancaster's son here, but I could not have had him if Olive
+had been here. But now it is all right. The young fellow can stay here a
+few days, and he will be gone before she gets back. If I like him I can
+ask him to come again; but that's my business. Handsome women, like that
+Mrs. Easterfield, always bring good luck. I have noticed that many and
+many a time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then he set himself to work to write a letter to invite young Richard
+Lancaster to spend a few days with him.</p>
+
+<p>For the rest of that day, and the greater part of the next, Captain
+Asher gave a great deal of thinking time to the consideration of the
+young man who was about to visit him, and of whom, personally, he knew
+very little. He was aware that Captain Lancaster had a son and no other
+children, and he was quite sure that this son must now be a grown-up
+young man. He remembered very well that Captain Lancaster was a fine
+young fellow when he first knew him, and he did not doubt at all that
+the son resembled the father. He did not believe that young Dick was a
+sailor, because he and old Dick had often said to each other that if
+they married their sons should not go to sea. Of course he was in some
+business; and Captain Lancaster ought to be well able to give him a good
+start in life; just as able as he himself was to give Olive a good start
+in housekeeping when the time came.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what in the name of common sense,&quot; ejaculated Captain Asher, &quot;did
+I think of that for? What has he to do with Olive, or Olive with him?&quot;
+And then he said to himself, thinking of the young man in the bosom of
+his family and without reference to anybody outside of it: &quot;Yes, his
+father must be pretty well off. He did a good deal more trading than
+ever I did. But after all, I don't believe he invested his money any
+better than I did mine, and it is just as like as not if we were to show
+our hands, that Olive would get as much as Dick's son. There it is
+again. I can't keep my mind off the thing.&quot; And as he spoke he knocked
+the ashes out of his pipe, and began to stride up and down the garden
+walk; and as he did so he began to reproach himself.</p>
+
+<p>What right had he to think of his niece in that way? It was not doing
+the fair thing by her father, and perhaps by her, for that matter. For
+all he knew she might be engaged to somebody out West or down East, or
+in some other part of the world where she had lived. But this idea made
+very little impression on him. Knowing Olive as he did, he did not
+believe that she was engaged to anybody anywhere; he did not want to
+think that she was the kind of girl who would conceal her engagement
+from him, or who could do it, for that matter. But, everything
+considered, he was very glad Olive had gone to Broadstone, for, whatever
+the young fellow might happen to be, he wanted to know all about him
+before Olive met him.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher firmly believed that there was nothing of the matchmaker
+in his disposition, but notwithstanding this estimate of himself, he
+went on thinking of Olive and the son of his old shipmate, both
+separately and together. He had never said to anybody, nor intimated to
+anybody, that he was going to give any of his moderate fortune to his
+niece. In fact, before this visit to him he had not thought much about
+it, nor did it enter his mind that Olive's Boston aunt, her mother's
+sister, had favored this visit of the girl to her toll-gate uncle,
+hoping that he might think about it.</p>
+
+<p>In consequence of these cogitations, and in spite of the fact that he
+despised matchmaking, Captain Asher was greatly interested in the coming
+advent of his shipmate's son.</p>
+
+<p>When the same phaeton, the same horse, and the same boy that had brought
+Maria Port to the tollhouse, conveyed there a young man with two
+valises, one rather large, Captain Asher did not hurry from the house to
+meet his visitor. He had seen him coming, and had preferred to stand in
+his doorway and take a preliminary observation of him. Having taken
+this, Captain Asher was obliged to confess to himself that he was
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>The first cause of his disappointment was the fact that the young man
+wore a colored shirt and no vest, and a yellow leather belt. Now,
+Captain Asher for the greater part of his active life had worn colored
+shirts, sometimes very dark ones, with no vests, but he had not supposed
+that a young man coming to a house where there was a young lady
+accustomed to the best society would present himself in such attire. The
+captain instantly remembered that his visitor could not know that there
+was a young lady at the house, but this did not satisfy him. Such attire
+was not respectful, even to him. The leather belt especially offended
+him. The captain was not aware of the <i>neglig&eacute;</i> summer fashions for men
+which then prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The next thing that disappointed him was that young Lancaster, seen
+across the garden, did not appear to be the strapping young fellow he
+had expected to see. He was moderately tall, and moderately broad, and
+handled his valise with apparent ease, but he did not look as though he
+were his father's son. Dick Lancaster had married the daughter of a
+captain when he was only a second mate, and that piece of good fortune
+had been generally attributed to his good looks.</p>
+
+<p>But these observations and reflections occupied a very short time, and
+Captain Asher walked quickly to meet his visitor. As he stepped out of
+the garden-gate he was disappointed again. The young man's trousers were
+turned up above his shoes. The weather was not wet, there was no mud,
+and if Dick Lancaster's son had not bought a pair of ready-made trousers
+that were too long for him, why should he turn them up in that
+ridiculous way?</p>
+
+<p>In spite of these first impressions, the captain gave his old friend's
+son a hearty welcome, and took him into the house. After dinner he
+subjected the young man to a crucial test; he asked him if he smoked. If
+the visitor had answered in the negative he would have dropped still
+further in the captain's estimation. It was not that the captain had any
+theories in regard to the sanitary advantages or disadvantages of
+tobacco; he simply remembered that nearly all the rascals with whom he
+had been acquainted had been eager to declare that they never used
+tobacco in any form, and that nearly all the good fellows he had known
+enjoyed their pipes. In fact, he could not see how good fellowship could
+be maintained without good talk and good tobacco, so he waited with an
+anxious interest for his guest's answer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said he, &quot;I am fond of a smoke, especially in company,&quot; and
+so, having risen several inches in the good opinion of his host, he
+followed him to the little arbor in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said Captain Asher, when his pipe was alight, &quot;you have
+told me a great deal about your father, now tell me something about
+yourself. I do not even know what your business is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am Assistant Professor of Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College,&quot;
+answered the young man.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher put down his pipe and gazed at his visitor across the
+arbor. This answer was so different from anything he had expected that
+for the moment he could not express his astonishment, and was obliged to
+content himself with asking where Sutton College was.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is what they call a fresh-water college,&quot; replied the young man,
+&quot;and I do not wonder that you do not know where it is. It is near our
+town. I graduated there and received my present appointment about three
+years ago. I was then twenty-seven.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Your father was good at mathematics,&quot; said Captain Asher. &quot;He was a
+great hand at calculations, but he went in for practise, as I did, and
+not for theories. I suppose there are other professors who teach regular
+working mathematics.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; replied the young man, with a smile, &quot;there is the Professor
+of Applied Mathematics, but of course the thorough student wants to
+understand the theories on which his practise is to be based.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not see why he should,&quot; replied the other. &quot;If a good ship is
+launched for me, I don't care anything about the stocks she slides off
+of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;but somebody has to think about them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon Captain Asher showed his visitor his little farm, and
+took him out fishing. During these recreations he refrained, as far as
+possible, from asking questions, for he did not wish the young man to
+suppose that for any reason he had been sent there to undergo an
+examination. But in the evening he could not help talking about the
+college, not in reference to the work and life of the students, a
+subject that did not interest him, but in regard to the work and the
+prospects of the faculty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does your president teach?&quot; he asked. &quot;I believe all presidents
+have charge of some branch or other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;our president is Professor of Mental and
+Moral Philosophy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought it would be something of the kind,&quot; said the captain to
+himself. &quot;Even the head Professor of Mathematical Theories would never
+get to the top of the heap. He is not useful enough for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After he had gone to bed that night Captain Asher found himself laughing
+about the events of the day. He could not help it when he remembered how
+his mind had been almost constantly occupied with a consideration of his
+old shipmate's son with reference to his brother's daughter. And when he
+remembered that neither of these two young people had ever seen or heard
+of the other, it is not surprising that he laughed a little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's none of my business, anyway,&quot; thought the captain, &quot;and I might as
+well stop bothering my head about it. I suppose I might as well tell
+him about Olive, for it is nothing I need keep secret. But first I'll
+see how long he is going to stay. It's none of his business, anyway,
+whether I have a niece staying with me or not.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_V'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER V</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Olive pays Toll.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>I</span>t is needless to say that Olive was charmed with Broadstone; with its
+mistress; with the two little girls; with the woods; the river; the
+mountains; and even the sky; which seemed different from that same sky
+when viewed from the tollhouse. She was charmed also with the rest of
+the household, which was different from anything of that kind that she
+had known, being composed entirely, with the exception of some servants,
+of women and little girls. Olive, accustomed all her life to men, men,
+men, grew rapturous over this Amazonian paradise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be too enthusiastic,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;for a while you may
+like fresh butter without salt, but the longing for the condiment will
+be sure to come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was Mrs. Blynn, the widow of a clergyman, with dark-brown eyes and
+white hair, who was always in a good humor, who acted as the general
+manager of the household, and also as particular friend to any one in
+the house who needed her services in that way. Then there was Miss
+Raleigh, who was supposed to be Mrs. Easterfield's secretary. She was a
+slender spinster of forty or more, with sad eyes and very fine teeth.
+She had dyspeptic proclivities, and never differed with anybody except
+in regard to her own diet. She seldom wrote for Mrs. Easterfield, for
+that lady did not like her handwriting, and she did not understand the
+use of the typewriter; nor did she read to the lady of the house, for
+Mrs. Easterfield could not endure to have anybody read to her. But in
+all the other duties of a secretary she made herself very useful. She
+saw that the books, which every morning were found lying about the
+house, were put in their proper places on the shelves, and, if
+necessary, she dusted them; if she saw a book turned upside down she
+immediately set it up properly. She was also expected to exert a certain
+supervision over the books the little girls were allowed to look at. She
+was an excellent listener and an appropriate smiler; Mrs. Easterfield
+frequently said that she never knew Miss Raleigh to smile in the wrong
+place. She took a regular walk every day, eight times up and down the
+whole length of the lawn.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield gave herself almost entirely to the entertainment of
+her guest. They roamed over the grounds, they found the finest points of
+view, at which Olive was expert, being a fine climber, and they tramped
+for long distances along the edge of the woods, where together they
+killed a snake. Mrs. Easterfield also allowed Olive the great privilege
+of helping her work in her garden of nature. This was a wide bed which
+was almost entirely shaded by two large trees. The peculiarity about
+this bed was that its mistress carefully pulled up all the flowering
+plants and cultivated the weeds.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You see,&quot; said she to Olive, &quot;I planted here a lot of flower-seeds
+which I thought would thrive in the shade, but they did not, and after a
+while I found that they were all spindling and puny-looking, while the
+weeds were growing as if they were out in the open sunshine, so I have
+determined to acknowledge the principle of the survival of the fittest,
+and whenever anything that looks like a flower shows itself I jerk it
+out. I also thin out all but the best weeds. I hoe and rake the others,
+and water them if necessary. Look at that splendid Jamestown weed&mdash;here
+they call it jimson weed&mdash;did you ever see anything finer than that with
+its great white blossoms and dark-green leaves? I expect it to be twice
+as large before the summer is over. And all these others. See how
+graceful they are, and what delicate flowers some of them have!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if I should have had the strength of mind to
+pull up my flowers and leave my weeds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The more you think about it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;the more you like
+weeds. They have such fine physiques, and they don't ask anybody to do
+anything for them. They are independent, like self-made men, and come up
+of themselves. They laugh at disadvantages, and even bricks and
+flagstones will not keep them down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, after all,&quot; said Olive, &quot;give me the flowers that can not take
+care of themselves.&quot; And she turned toward a bed of carnations, bright
+under the morning sun.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you suppose, little girl,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, following her,
+&quot;that I do not like flowers because I do like weeds? Everything in its
+place; weeds are for the shady spots, but I keep my flowers out of such
+places. This flower, for instance,&quot; touching Olive on the cheek. &quot;And
+now let us go into the house and see what pleasant thing we can find to
+do there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the two ladies went out rowing on the river, and Mrs.
+Easterfield was astonished at Olive's proficiency with the oar. She had
+thought herself a good oarswoman, but she was nothing to Olive. She
+good-naturedly acknowledged her inferiority, however. How could she
+expect to compete with a navy girl? she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you fond of swimming?&quot; asked Olive, as she looked down into the
+bright, clear water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, very,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;But I am not allowed to swim in this
+river. It is considered dangerous.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked up in surprise. It seemed odd that there should be anything
+that this bright, free woman was not allowed to do, or that there should
+be anybody who would not allow it.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed some rainy days, and the first clear day Mrs. Easterfield
+told Olive that she would take her a drive in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall drive you myself with my own horses,&quot; she said, &quot;but you need
+not be afraid, for I can drive a great deal better than I can row. We
+must lose no time in seizing all the advantages of this Amazonian life,
+for to-morrow some of our guests will arrive, the Foxes and Mr. Claude
+Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who are the Foxes?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They are the pleasantest visitors that any one could have,&quot; was the
+answer. &quot;They always like everything. They never complain of being
+cold, nor talk about the weather being hot. They are interested in all
+games, and they like all possible kinds of food that one can give them
+to eat. They are always ready to go to bed when they think they ought
+to, and sit up just as long as they are wanted. Of course, they have
+their own ideas about things, but they don't dispute. They take care of
+themselves all the morning, and are ready for anything you want to do in
+the afternoon or evening. They have two children at home, but they never
+talk about them unless they are particularly asked to do so. They know a
+great many people, and you can tell by the way they speak of them that
+they won't talk scandal about you. In fact, they are model guests, and
+they ought to open a school to teach the art of visiting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what about Mr. Claude Locker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. &quot;Oh, he is different,&quot; she said; &quot;he is so
+different from the Foxes that words would not describe it. But you won't
+be long in becoming acquainted with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The road over which the two ladies drove that afternoon was a beautiful
+one, sometimes running close to the river under great sycamores, then
+making a turn into the woods and among the rocks. At last they came to a
+cross-road, which led away from the river, and here Mrs. Easterfield
+stopped her horses.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Olive,&quot; said she, for she was now very familiar with her guest, &quot;I
+will leave the return route to you. Shall we go back by the river
+road&mdash;and the scenery will be very different when going in the other
+direction&mdash;or shall we drive over to Glenford, and go home by the
+turnpike? That is a little farther, but the road is a great deal
+better?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, let us go that way,&quot; cried Olive. &quot;We will go through Uncle John's
+toll-gate, and you must let me pay the toll. It will be such fun to pay
+toll to Uncle John, or old Jane.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;we will go that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the horses had passed through Glenford and had turned their heads
+homeward, they clattered along at a fine rate over the smooth turnpike,
+and Olive was in as high spirits as they were.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whoever comes out to take toll,&quot; said she, &quot;I intend to be treated as
+an ordinary traveler and nothing else. I have often taken toll, but I
+never paid it in my life. And they must take it&mdash;no gratis traveling for
+me. But I hope you won't mind stopping long enough for me to say a few
+words after I have transacted the regular business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;you can chat as much as you like. We
+have plenty of time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive held in her hand a quarter of a dollar; she was determined they
+should make change for her, and that everything should be done properly.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster sat in the garden arbor, reading. He was becoming a
+little tired of this visit to his father's old friend. He liked Captain
+Asher and appreciated his hospitality, but there was nothing very
+interesting for him to do in this place, and he had thought that it
+might be a very good thing if the several days for which he had been
+invited should terminate on the morrow. There were some very attractive
+plans ahead of him, and he felt that he had now done his full duty by
+his father and his father's old friend.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher was engaged with some matters about his little farm, and
+Lancaster had asked as a favor that he might be allowed to tend the
+toll-gate during his absence. It would be something to do, and,
+moreover, something out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>When he perceived the approach of Mrs. Easterfield's carriage Lancaster
+walked down to the tollhouse, and stopped for a minute to glance over
+the rates of toll which were pasted up inside the door as well as out.</p>
+
+<p>The carriage stopped, and when a young man stepped out from the
+tollhouse Olive gave a sudden start, and the words with which she had
+intended to greet her uncle or old Jane instantly melted away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't push me out of the carriage,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield,
+good-naturedly, and she, too, looked at the young man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;For two horses and a vehicle,&quot; said Dick Lancaster, &quot;ten cents, if you
+please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive made no answer, but handed him the quarter with which he retired
+to make change. Mrs. Easterfield opened her mouth to speak, but Olive
+put her finger on her lips and shook her head; the situation astonished
+her, but she did not wish to ask that stranger to explain it.</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster came out and dropped fifteen cents into Olive's hand. He could
+not help regarding with interest the occupants of the carriage, and Mrs.
+Easterfield looked hard at him. Suddenly Olive turned in her seat; she
+looked at the house, she looked at the garden, she looked at the little
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse. Yes, it was really the same place.
+For an instant she thought she might have been mistaken, but there was
+her window with the Virginia creeper under the sill where she had
+trained it herself. Then she made a motion to her companion, who
+immediately drove on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does this mean?&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Who is that young
+man? Why didn't you give me a chance to ask after the captain, even if
+you did not care to do so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never saw him before!&quot; cried Olive. &quot;I never heard of him. I don't
+understand anything about it. The whole thing shocked me, and I wanted
+to get on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think it a very serious matter,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Some
+passer-by might have relieved your uncle for a time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all, not at all,&quot; replied Olive. &quot;Uncle John would never give
+the toll-gate into the charge of a passer-by, especially as old Jane was
+there. I know she was there, for the basement door was open, and she
+never goes away and leaves it so. That man is somebody who is staying
+there. I saw an open book on the arbor bench. Nobody reads in that arbor
+but me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And that young man apparently,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I agree with
+you that it is surprising.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For some minutes Olive did not speak. &quot;I am afraid,&quot; she said,
+presently, &quot;that my uncle is not acting quite frankly with me. I noticed
+how willing he was that I should go to your house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps he expected this person and wanted to get you out of the way,&quot;
+laughed Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my dear, I do not believe your uncle is such a schemer. He does
+not look like it. Take my word for it, it will all be as simple as a-b-c
+when it is explained to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Olive could not readily take this view of the case, and the drive
+home was not nearly so pleasant as it would have been if her uncle or
+old Jane had taken her quarter and given her fifteen cents in change.</p>
+
+<p>That night, soon after the family at Broadstone had retired to their
+rooms, Olive knocked at the door of Mrs. Easterfield's chamber.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know,&quot; she exclaimed, when she had been told to enter, &quot;that a
+horrible idea has come into my head? Uncle John may have been taken
+sick, and that man looked just like a doctor. Old Jane was busy with
+uncle, and as the doctor had to wait, he took the toll. Oh, I wish we
+had asked! It was cruel in me not to!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, that is all nonsense,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;If anything serious
+is the matter with your uncle he most surely would have let you know,
+and, besides, both the doctors in Glenford are elderly men. I do not
+believe there is the slightest reason for your anxiety. But to make you
+feel perfectly satisfied, I will send a man to Glenford early in the
+morning. I want to send there anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I would not like my uncle to think that I was trying to find out
+anything he did not care to tell me,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't trouble yourself about that,&quot; answered Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I
+will instruct the man. He need not ask any questions at the toll-gate.
+But when he gets to Glenford he can find out everything about that
+young man without asking any questions. He is a very discreet person.
+And I am also a discreet person,&quot; she added, &quot;and you shall have no
+connection with my messenger's errand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast the next morning Mrs. Easterfield took Olive aside. &quot;My
+man has returned,&quot; she said; &quot;he tells me that Captain Asher took the
+toll, and was smoking his pipe in perfect health. He also saw the young
+man, and his natural curiosity prompted him to ask about him in the
+town. He heard that he is the son of one of the captain's old shipmates
+who is making him a visit. Now I hope this satisfies you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Satisfies me!&quot; exclaimed Olive. &quot;I should have been a great deal better
+satisfied if I had heard he was sick, provided it was nothing dangerous.
+I think my uncle is treating me shamefully. It is not that I care a snap
+about his visitor, one way or another, but it is his want of confidence
+in me that hurts me. Could he have supposed I should have wanted to stay
+with him if I had known a young man was coming?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, my dear,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I can not send anybody to find
+out what he supposed. But I am as certain as I can be certain of
+anything that there is nothing at all in this bugbear you have conjured
+up. No doubt the young man dropped in quite accidentally, and it was his
+bad luck that prevented him from dropping in before you left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive shook her head. &quot;My uncle knew all about it. His manner showed it.
+He has treated me very badly.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER VI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Claude Locker.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he Foxes arrived at Broadstone at the exact hour of the morning at
+which they had been expected. They always did this; even trains which
+were sometimes delayed when other visitors came were always on time when
+they carried the Foxes. They were both perfectly well and happy, as they
+always were.</p>
+
+<p>As rapidly as it was possible for human beings to do so they absorbed
+the extraordinary advantages of the house and it surroundings, and they
+said the right things in such a common-sense fashion that their hostess
+was proud that she owned such a place, and happy that she had invited
+them to see it.</p>
+
+<p>In their hearts they liked everything about the place except Olive, and
+they wondered how they were going to get along with such a glum young
+person, but they did not talk about her to Mrs. Easterfield; there was
+too much else.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Claude Locker was expected on the train by which the Foxes had come,
+but he did not arrive; and this made it necessary to send again for him
+in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield tried very hard to cheer up Olive, and to make her
+entertain the Foxes in her usual lively way, but this was of no use;
+the young person was not in a good humor, and retired for an afternoon
+nap. But as this was an indulgence she very seldom allowed herself, it
+was not likely that she napped.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Fox spoke to Mrs. Fox about her. &quot;A queer girl,&quot; he said; &quot;what do
+you suppose is the matter with her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The symptoms are those of green apples,&quot; replied Mrs. Fox, &quot;and
+probably she will be better to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The carriage came back without Mr. Locker. But just as the soup-plates
+were being removed from the dinner-table he arrived in a hired vehicle,
+and appeared at the dining-room door with his hat in one hand, and a
+package in the other. He begged Mrs. Easterfield not to rise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will slip up to my room,&quot; said he, &quot;if you have one for me, and when
+I come down I will greet you and be introduced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With this he turned and left the room, but was back in a moment. &quot;It was
+a woman,&quot; he said, &quot;who was at the bottom of it. It is always a woman,
+you know, and I am sure you will excuse me now that you know this. And
+you must let me begin wherever you may be in the dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard of Mr. Locker,&quot; said Mr. Fox, &quot;but I never met him before.
+He must be very odd.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He admits that himself,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;but he asserts that he
+spends a great deal of his time getting even with people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a reasonable time Mr. Locker appeared and congratulated himself upon
+having struck the roast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a matter of fact,&quot; he said, &quot;we will now all begin dinner together.
+What has gone before was nothing but overture. If I can help it I never
+get in until the beginning of the play.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He bowed parenthetically as Mrs. Easterfield introduced him to the
+company; and, as she looked at him, Olive forgot for a moment her uncle
+and his visitor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't send for soup, I beg of you,&quot; said Mr. Locker, as he took his
+seat. &quot;I regard it as a rare privilege to begin with the inside cut of
+beef.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker was not allowed to do all the talking; his hostess would not
+permit that; but under the circumstances he was allowed to explain his
+lateness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know I have been spending a week with the Bartons,&quot; he said, &quot;and
+last night I came over from their house to the station in a carriage.
+There is a connecting train, but I should have had to take it very early
+in the evening, so I saved time by hiring a carriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Saved time?&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saved all the time from dinner until the Bartons went to bed, which
+would have been lost if I had taken the train. Besides, I like to travel
+in carriages. One is never too late for a carriage; it is always bound
+to wait for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the recesses of his mind Mr. Fox now said to himself, &quot;This is a
+fool.&quot; And Mrs. Fox, in the recesses of her mind, remarked, &quot;I am quite
+sure that Mr. Fox will look upon this young man as a fool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I spent what was left of the night at a tavern near the station,&quot;
+continued Mr. Locker, &quot;where I would have had to stay all night if I
+had not taken the carriage. And I should have been in plenty of time for
+the morning train if I had not taken a walk before breakfast. Apparently
+that is a part of the world where it takes a good deal longer to go back
+to a place than it does to get away from it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But where did the woman come in?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, she came in with some tea and sandwiches in the middle of the
+afternoon,&quot; said Mr. Locker. &quot;I was waiting in the parlor of the tavern.
+She was fairly young, and as I ate she stood and talked. She talked
+about Horace Walpole.&quot; At this even Olive smiled. &quot;It was odd, wasn't
+it?&quot; continued Mr. Locker, glancing from one to the other. &quot;But that is
+what she did. She had been reading about him in an old book. She asked
+me if I knew anything about him, and I told her a great deal. It was so
+very interesting to tell her, and she was so interested, that when the
+train arrived I was too much occupied to think that it might start again
+immediately, but it did that very thing, and so I was left. However, the
+Walpole young woman told me there was a freight-train along in about an
+hour, and so we continued our conversation. When this train came I asked
+the engineer how many cigars he would take to let me ride in the cab. He
+said half a dozen, but as I only had five, I promised to send him the
+other by mail. However, as I smoked two of his five, I suppose I ought
+to send him three.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This young man,&quot; said Mr. Fox to himself, &quot;is trying to appear more of
+a fool than he really is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have no doubt,&quot; said Mrs. Fox to herself, &quot;that Mr. Fox is of the
+opinion that this young man is making an effort to appear foolish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That evening was a dull one. Mrs. Easterfield did her best, Claude
+Locker did his best, and Mr. and Mrs. Fox did their best to make things
+lively, but their success was poor. Miss Raleigh, the secretary, sat
+ready to give an approving smile to any liveliness which might arise,
+and Mrs. Blynn, with the dark eyes and soft white hair, sat sewing and
+waiting; never before had it been necessary for her to wait for
+liveliness in Mrs. Easterfield's house. A mild rain somewhat assisted
+the dullness, for everybody was obliged to stay indoors.</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning Olive Asher went down-stairs, and stood in the
+open doorway looking out upon the landscape, glowing in the sunshine and
+brighter and more odorous from the recent rain. Some time during the
+night this young woman had made up her mind to give no further thought
+to her uncle who kept the toll-gate. There was no earthly reason why he,
+or anything he wanted to do, or did not want to do, or did, should
+trouble and annoy her. A few months before she had scarcely known him,
+not having seen him since she was a girl; and, in fact, he was no more
+to her now than he was before she went to his house. If he chose to
+offer her any explanation of his strange conduct, that would be very
+well; if he did not choose, that would also be very well. The whole
+affair was of no consequence; she would drop it entirely from her mind.</p>
+
+<p>Olive's bounding spirits now rose very high, and when Claude Locker came
+in with his shoes soaked from a tramp in the wet grass she greeted him
+in such a way that he could scarcely believe she was the grumpy girl of
+the day before. As they went into breakfast Mrs. Fox remarked to her
+husband in a low voice that Miss Asher seemed to have recovered entirely
+from her indisposition.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the morning Mr. Locker found an opportunity to speak in
+private with Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I am in great trouble,&quot; he said; &quot;I want
+to marry Miss Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You show unusual promptness,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; replied Locker. &quot;This sort of thing is not unusual with
+me. My mind is a highly sensitive plate, and receives impressions almost
+instantaneously. If it were a large mind these impressions might be
+placed side by side, and each one would perhaps become indelible. But it
+is small, and each impression claps itself down on the one before. This
+last one, however, is the strongest of them all, and obliterates
+everything that went before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It strikes me,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that if you were to pay more
+attention to your poems and less to young ladies it would be better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hardly,&quot; said Mr. Locker; &quot;for it would be worse for the poems.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The general appearance of Mr. Locker gave no reason to suppose that he
+would be warranted in assuming a favorable issue from any of the
+impressions to which his mind was so susceptible. He was small, rather
+awkwardly set up, his head was large, and the features of his face
+seemed to have no relation to each other. His nose was somewhat stubby,
+and had nothing to do with his mouth or eyes. One of his eyebrows was
+drawn down as if in days gone by he had been in the habit of wearing a
+single glass. The other brow was raised over a clear and wide-open
+light-blue eye. His mouth was large, and attended strictly to its own
+business. It transmitted his odd ideas to other people, but it never
+laughed at them. His chin was round and prominent, suggesting that it
+might have been borrowed from somebody else. His cheeks were a little
+heavy, and gave no assistance in the expression of his ideas.</p>
+
+<p>His profession was that of a poet. He called himself a practical poet,
+because he made a regular business of it, turning his poetic
+inspirations into salable verse with the facility and success, as he
+himself expressed it, of a man who makes boxes out of wood. Moreover, he
+sold these poems as readily as any carpenter sold his boxes. Like
+himself, Claude Locker's poems were always short, always in request, and
+sometimes not easy to understand.</p>
+
+<p>The poem he wrote that night was a word-picture of the rising moon
+entangled in a sheaf of corn upon a hilltop, with a long-eared rabbit
+sitting near by as if astonished at the conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A very interesting girl, that Miss Asher,&quot; said Mr. Fox to his wife
+that evening. &quot;I do not know when I have laughed so much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought you were finding her interesting,&quot; said Mrs. Fox. &quot;To me it
+was like watching a game of roulette at Monte Carlo. It was intensely
+interesting, but I could not imagine it as having anything to do with
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, my dear,&quot; said Mr. Fox, &quot;it could have nothing to do with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After Mrs. Easterfield retired she sat for a long time, thinking of
+Olive. That young person and Mr. Locker had been boating that afternoon,
+and Olive had had the oars. Mr. Locker had told with great effect how
+she had pulled to get out of the smooth water, and how she had dashed
+over the rapids and between the rocks in such a way as to make his heart
+stand still.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should like to go rowing with her every day,&quot; he had remarked
+confidentially. &quot;Each time I started I should make a new will.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why a new one?&quot; Mrs. Easterfield had asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Each time I should take something more from my relatives to give to
+her,&quot; had been the answer.</p>
+
+<p>As she sat and thought, Mrs. Easterfield began to be a little
+frightened. She was a brave woman, but it is the truly brave who know
+when they should be frightened, and she felt her responsibility, not on
+account of the niece of the toll-gate keeper, but on account of the
+daughter of Lieutenant Asher, whom she had once known so well. The thing
+which frightened her was the possibility that before anybody would be
+likely to think of such a thing Olive might marry Claude Locker. He was
+always ready to do anything he wanted to do at any time; and for all
+Mrs. Easterfield knew, the girl might be of the same sort.</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Easterfield rose to the occasion. She looked upon Olive as a
+wild young colt who had broken out of her paddock, but she remembered
+that she herself had a record for speed. &quot;If there is to be any running
+I shall get ahead of her,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;and I will turn her
+back. I think I can trust myself for that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive slept the sound sleep of the young, but for all that she had a
+dream. She dreamed of a kind, good, thoughtful, and even affectionate,
+middle-aged man; a man who looked as though he might have been her
+father, and whom she was beginning to look upon as a father,
+notwithstanding the fact that she had a real father dressed in a uniform
+and on a far-away ship. She dreamed ever so many things about this
+newer, although elder, father, and her dream made her very happy.</p>
+
+<p>But in the morning when she woke her dream had entirely passed from her
+mind, and she felt just as much like a colt as when she had gone to bed.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER VII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and his Guest go Fishing and come Home Happy.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Dick Lancaster told Captain Asher he had taken toll from two ladies
+in a phaeton he was quite eloquent in his description of said ladies. He
+declared with an impressiveness which the captain had not noticed in him
+before that he did not know when he had seen such handsome ladies. The
+younger one, who paid the toll, was absolutely charming. She seemed a
+little bit startled, but he supposed that was because she saw a strange
+face at the toll-gate. Dick wanted very much to know who these ladies
+were. He had not supposed that he would find such stylish people, and
+such a handsome turnout in this part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ho,&quot; said Captain Asher, &quot;do you suppose we are all farmers and
+toll-gate keepers? If you do, you are very much mistaken, although I
+must admit that the stylish people, as you call them, are scattered
+about very thinly. I expect that carriage was from Broadstone over on
+the mountain. Was the team dapple gray, pony built?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it was Mrs. Easterfield driving some of her company. I have seen
+her with that team. And by George,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;I bet my head the
+other one was Olive! Of course it was. And she paid toll! Well, well, if
+that isn't a good one! Olive paying toll! I wish I had been here to take
+it! That truly would have been a lark!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster did not echo this wish of his host. He was very glad,
+indeed, that the captain had not been at the toll-gate when the ladies
+passed through. Captain Asher was still laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive must have been amazed,&quot; he said. &quot;It was queer enough for her to
+go through my gate and pay toll, but to pay it to an Assistant Professor
+of Theoretical Mathematics was a good deal queerer. I can't imagine what
+she thought about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She did not know I am that!&quot; exclaimed Dick Lancaster. &quot;There is
+nothing of the professor in my outward appearance&mdash;at least, I hope
+not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't think there is,&quot; replied the captain. &quot;But she must have
+been amazed, all the same. I wish I had been here, or old Jane, anyway.
+But, of course, when a stranger showed himself she would not have said
+anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who is Olive?&quot; asked Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's my niece,&quot; said the captain. &quot;I don't think I have mentioned her
+to you. She is on a visit to me, but just now she is staying at
+Broadstone. I suppose she will be there about a week longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's odd he has not mentioned her to me,&quot; thought Lancaster, and then,
+as the captain went to ask old Jane if she had seen Olive pass, the
+young man retired to the arbor with a book which he did not read.</p>
+
+<p>His desire to inform his host that it would be necessary to take leave
+of him on the morrow had very much abated. It would be very pleasant, he
+thought, to be a visitor in a family of which that girl was a member.
+But if she were not to return for a week, how could he expect to stay
+with the captain so long? There would be no possible excuse for such a
+thing. Then he thought it would be very pleasant to be in a country of
+which that young woman was one of the inhabitants. Anyway, he hoped the
+captain would invite him to make a longer stay. The great blue eyes with
+which the young lady had regarded him as she paid the toll would not
+fade out of his mind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She must have wondered who it was that took the toll,&quot; said old Jane.
+&quot;And there wasn't no need of it, anyway. I could have took it as I
+always have took it when you was not here, and before either of them
+came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Either of them&quot; struck the captain's ear strangely. Here was this old
+woman coupling these two young people in her mind!</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Captain Asher sat on his little piazza, smoking his
+pipe and thinking about Olive driving through the gate and paying toll
+to a stranger. But he now considered the incident from a different point
+of view. Of course, Olive had been surprised when she had seen the young
+man, but she might also have wondered how he happened to be there and
+she not know of it. If he were staying long enough to be entrusted with
+toll-taking it might&mdash;in fact, the captain thought it probably
+would&mdash;appear very strange to her that she should not know of it. So
+now he asked himself if it would not be a good thing if he were to write
+her a little note in which he should mention Mr. Lancaster and his
+visit. In fact, he thought the best thing he could do would be to write
+her a playful sort of a note, and tell her that she should feel honored
+by having her toll taken up by a college professor. But he did not
+immediately write the note. The more he thought about it, the more he
+wished he had been at the toll-gate when Mrs. Easterfield's phaeton
+passed by.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher did not write his note at all. He did not know what to
+say; he did not want to make too much of the incident, for it was really
+a trifling matter, only worthy of being mentioned in case he had
+something more important to write about. But he had nothing more
+important; there was no reason why he should write to Olive during her
+short stay with Mrs. Easterfield. Besides, she would soon be back, and
+then he could talk to her; that would be much better. Now, two strong
+desires began to possess him; one was for Olive to come home; and the
+other for Dick Lancaster to go away. There had been moments when he had
+had a shadowy notion of bringing the two together, but this idea had
+vanished. His mind was now occupied very much with thoughts of his
+beautiful niece and very little with the young man in the colored shirt
+and turned-up trousers who was staying with him.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster, in his arbor, was also thinking a great deal about
+Olive, and very little about that stalwart sailor, her uncle. If he had
+merely seen the young woman, and had never heard anything about her,
+her face would have impressed him, but the knowledge that she was an
+inmate of the house in which he was staying could not fail to affect him
+very much. He was puzzling his mind about the girl who had given him a
+quarter of a dollar, and to whom he had handed fifteen cents in change.
+He wondered how such a girl happened to be living at such a place. He
+wondered if there were any possibility of his staying there, or in the
+neighborhood, until she should come back; he wondered if there were any
+way by which he could see her again. He might have wondered a good many
+other things if Captain Asher had not approached the arbor. The captain
+having been aroused from his mental contemplation of Olive by a man in a
+wagon, had glanced over at the arbor and had suddenly been struck with
+the conviction that that young man looked bored, and that, as his host,
+he was not doing the right thing by him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick,&quot; said the captain, &quot;let's go fishing. It's not late yet, and I'll
+put my mare to the buggy, and we can drive to the river. We will take
+something to eat with us, and make a day of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster hesitated a moment; he had been thinking that the time had
+come when he should say something about his departure, but this
+invitation settled the matter for that day; and in half an hour the two
+had started away, leaving the toll-gate in charge of old Jane, who was a
+veteran in the business, having lived at the toll-gate years before the
+captain.</p>
+
+<p>As they drove along the smooth turnpike Lancaster remembered with great
+interest that this road led to the gap in the mountains; that the
+captain had told him Broadstone was not very far from the gap; and that
+the river was not very far from Broadstone; and his face glowed with
+interest in the expedition.</p>
+
+<p>But when, after a few miles, they turned into a plain country road
+which, as the captain informed him, led in a southeasterly direction, to
+a point on the river where black bass were to be caught and where a boat
+could be hired, the corners of Dick Lancaster's mouth began to droop. Of
+necessity that road must reach the river miles to the south of
+Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very good day for fishing, and the captain was pleased to see
+that the son of his old shipmate was a very fair angler. Toward the
+close of the afternoon, with the conviction that they had had a good
+time and that their little expedition had been a success, the two
+fishermen set out for home with a basket of bass: some of them quite a
+respectable size; stowed away under the seat of the buggy. When they
+reached the turnpike the old mare, knowing well in which direction her
+supper lay, turned briskly to the left, and set out upon a good trot.
+But this did not last very long. To her great surprise she was suddenly
+pulled up short; a carriage with two horses which had been approaching
+had also stopped.</p>
+
+<p>On the back seat of this carriage sat Mrs. Easterfield; on one side of
+her was a little girl, and on the other side was another little girl,
+each with her feet stuck out straight in front of her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Captain Asher,&quot; exclaimed the lady, with a most enchanting smile,
+&quot;I am so glad to meet you. I was obliged to go to Glenford to take one
+of my little girls to the dentist, and I inquired for you each time I
+passed your gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain was very glad he had been so fortunate as to meet her, and
+as her eyes were now fixed upon his companion, he felt it incumbent upon
+him to introduce Mr. Richard Lancaster, the son of an old shipmate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But not a sailor, I imagine,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said the captain, &quot;Mr. Lancaster is Assistant Professor of
+Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not imagine why the captain said all this, and he flushed a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sutton College?&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Then, of course, you know
+Professor Brent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said Lancaster. &quot;He is our president.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I never met him,&quot; said she, &quot;but he was a classmate of my husband, and
+I have often heard him speak of him. And now for my errand, Captain
+Asher. Isn't it about time you should be wanting to see your niece?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain's heart sank. Did she intend to send Olive home?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I always want to see her,&quot; he said, but without enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But don't you think it would be nice,&quot; said the lady, &quot;if you were to
+come to lunch with us to-morrow? It was to ask you this that I inquired
+for you at the toll-gate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now, this was another thing altogether, and the captain's earnest
+acceptance would have been more coherent if it had not been for the
+impatience of his mare.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I want you to bring your friend with you,&quot; continued Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;The invitation is for you both, of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick's face said that this would be heavenly, but his mouth was more
+prudent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will be strictly informal,&quot; continued Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Only myself
+and family, three guests, and Olive. We shall sit down at one. Good-by.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was entirely truthful when she said she was glad to
+meet the captain. Her anxiety about Olive and Claude Locker was somewhat
+on the increase. She was very well aware that the most dangerous thing
+for one young woman is one young man; and in thinking over this truism
+she had been impressed with the conviction that it was not well for Mr.
+Claude Locker to be the one man at Broadstone. Then, in thinking of
+possible young men, her mind naturally turned to the young man who was
+visiting Olive's uncle. She did not know anything about him, but he was
+a young man, and if he proved to be worth something, he could be asked
+to come again. So it was really to Dick Lancaster, and not to Captain
+Asher, that the luncheon invitation had been given.</p>
+
+<p>The appointment with the Glenford dentist had made it necessary for her
+to leave home that afternoon. To be sure, she had sent the Foxes with
+Olive and Claude Locker upon the drive through the gap, and, under
+ordinary circumstances, and with ordinary people, there would have been
+no reason for her to trouble herself about them, but neither the
+circumstances nor the people were ordinary, and she now felt anxious to
+get home and find out what Claude Locker and Olive had done with Mrs.
+and Mr. Fox.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_VIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER VIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Captain Asher is not in a Good Humor.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he next morning was very bright for Captain Asher; he was going to see
+Olive, and he did not know before how much he wished to see her.</p>
+
+<p>When Dick Lancaster came from the house to take his seat in the buggy
+the sight of the handsome suit of dark-blue serge, white shirt and
+collar, and patent-leather shoes, with the trousers hanging properly
+above them, placed Dick very much higher in the captain's estimation
+than the young man with the colored shirt and rolled-up trousers could
+ever have reached. The captain, too, was well dressed for the occasion,
+and Mrs. Easterfield had no reason whatever to be ashamed of these two
+gentlemen when she introduced them to her other visitors.</p>
+
+<p>She liked Professor Lancaster. Having lately had a good deal of Claude
+Locker, she was prepared to like a quiet and thoroughly self-possessed
+young man.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was the latest of the little company to appear, and when she came
+down she caused a genuine, though gentle sensation. She was most
+exquisitely dressed, not too much for a luncheon, and not enough for a
+dinner. This navy girl had not studied for nothing the art of dressing
+in different parts of the world. Her uncle regarded her with open-eyed
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this my brother's daughter?&quot; he asked himself. &quot;The little girl who
+poured my coffee in the morning and went out to take toll?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive greeted her uncle with absolute propriety, and made the
+acquaintance of Mr. Lancaster with a formal courtesy to which no
+objection could be made. Apparently she forgot the existence of Mr.
+Locker, and for the greater part of the meal she conversed with Mr. Fox
+about certain foreign places with which they were both familiar.</p>
+
+<p>The luncheon was not a success; there was a certain stiffness about it
+which even Mrs. Easterfield could not get rid of; and when the gentlemen
+went out to smoke on the piazza Olive disappeared, sending a message to
+Mrs. Easterfield that she had a bad headache and would like to be
+excused. Her excuse was a perfectly honest one, for she was apt to have
+a headache when she was angry; and she was angry now.</p>
+
+<p>The reason for her indignation was the fact that her uncle's visitor was
+an extremely presentable young man. Had it been otherwise, Olive would
+have given the captain a good scolding, and would then have taken her
+revenge by making fun of him and his shipmate's son. But now she felt
+insulted that her uncle should conceal from her the fact that he had an
+entirely proper young gentleman for a visitor. Could he think she would
+want to stay at his house to be with that young man? Was she a girl from
+whom the existence of such a person was to be kept secret? She was very
+angry, indeed, and her headache was genuine.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher was also angry. He had intended to take Olive aside and
+tell her all about Dick Lancaster, and how he had refrained from saying
+anything about him until he found out what sort of a young man he was.
+If, then, she saw fit to scold him, he was perfectly willing to submit,
+and to shake hands all around. But now he would have no chance to speak
+to her; she had not treated him properly, even if she had a headache. He
+admitted to himself that she was young and probably sensitive, but it
+was also true that he was sensitive, although old. Therefore, he was
+angry.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was disturbed; she saw there was something wrong
+between Olive and her uncle, and she did not like it. She had invited
+Lancaster with an object, and she did not wish that other people's
+grievances should interfere with said object. Olive was grumpy up-stairs
+and Claude Locker was in the doleful dumps under a tree, and if these
+two should grump and dump together, it might be very bad; consequently,
+Mrs. Easterfield was more anxious than ever that there should be at
+least two young men at Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>For this reason she asked Lancaster if he were fond of rowing; and when
+he said he was, she invited him to join them in a boat party the next
+day to help her and Olive pull the big family boat. Mr. Fox did not like
+rowing, and Mr. Locker did not know how.</p>
+
+<p>On the drive home Captain Asher and Lancaster did not talk much. Even
+the young man's invitation to the rowing party did not excite much
+interest in the captain. These two men were both thinking of the same
+girl; one pleasantly, and the other very unpleasantly. Dick was charmed
+with her, although he had had very little opportunity of becoming
+acquainted with her, but he hoped for better luck the next day.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not know what to make of her. He felt sure that she was
+at fault, and that he was at fault, and he could not see how things
+could be made straight between them. Only one thing seemed plain to him,
+and this was that, with things as they were at present, she was not
+likely to come back to his house; and this would not be necessary; he
+knew very well that there were other places she could visit; and that
+early in the fall her father would be home.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster walked to Broadstone the next morning because Captain
+Asher was obliged to go to Glenford on business, but the young man did
+not in the least mind a six-mile walk on a fine morning.</p>
+
+<p>All the way to Glenford the captain thought of Olive; sometimes he
+wished she had never come to him. Even now, with Lancaster to talk to,
+he missed her grievously, and if she should not come back, the case
+would be a great deal worse than if she had never come at all. But one
+thing was certain: If she returned as the young lady with whom he had
+lunched at Broadstone, he did not want her. He felt that he had been in
+the wrong, that she had been in the wrong; and it seemed as if things in
+this world were gradually going wrong. He was not in a good humor.</p>
+
+<p>When he stopped his mare in front of a store, Maria Port stepped up to
+him and said: &quot;How do you do, captain? What have you done with your
+young man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain got down from his buggy, hitched his mare to a post, and
+then shook hands with Miss Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick Lancaster has gone boating to-day with the Broadstone people,&quot; he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;Gone there again already? Why it was only
+yesterday you took dinner with them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lunch,&quot; corrected the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you may call it what you please,&quot; said Maria, &quot;but I call it
+dinner. And them two's together without you, that you tried so hard to
+keep apart!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not try anything of the kind,&quot; said the captain a little sharply;
+&quot;it just happened so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Happened so!&quot; exclaimed Miss Port. &quot;Well, I must say, Captain Asher,
+that you've a regular genius for makin' things happen. The minute she
+goes, he comes. I wish I could make things happen that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain took no notice of this remark, and moved toward the door of
+the store.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look here, captain,&quot; continued Miss Port, &quot;can't you come and take
+dinner with us? You haven't seen Pop for ever so long. It won't be
+lunch, though, but an honest dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain accepted the invitation; for old Mr. Port was one of his
+ancient friends; and then he entered the store. Miss Port was on the
+point of following him; she had something to say about Olive; but she
+stopped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll keep that till dinner-time,&quot; she said to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Old Mr. Port had always been a very pleasant man to visit, and he had
+not changed now, although he was nearly eighty years old. He had been a
+successful merchant in the days when Captain Asher commanded a ship, and
+there was good reason to believe that a large measure of his success was
+due to his constant desire to make himself agreeable to the people with
+whom he came in business contact. He was just as agreeable to his
+friends, of whom Captain Asher was one of the oldest.</p>
+
+<p>The people of Glenford often puzzled themselves as to what sort of a
+woman Maria's mother could have been. None of them had ever seen her,
+for she had died years before old Mr. Port had come into that healthful
+region to reside; but all agreed that her parents must have been a
+strangely assorted pair, unless, indeed, as some of the wiser suggested,
+she got her disposition from a grandparent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That navy niece of yours must be a wild girl,&quot; said Miss Port to the
+captain as she carved the beef.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wild!&quot; exclaimed the captain. &quot;I never saw anything wild about her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not,&quot; said his hostess, &quot;but there's others that have. It was
+only three days ago that she took that young man, that goggle-eyed one,
+out on the river in a boat, and did her best to upset him. Whether she
+stood up and made the boat rock while he clung to the side, or whether
+she bumped the boat against rocks and sand-bars, laughin' the louder the
+more he was frightened, I wasn't told. But she did skeer him awful. I
+know that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You seem to know a good deal about what is going on at Broadstone,&quot;
+remarked the captain, somewhat sarcastically.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed I do,&quot; said she; &quot;a good deal more than they think. They've got
+such fine stomachs that they can't eat the beef they get at the gap, and
+Mr. Morris goes there three times a week, all the way from Glenford, to
+take them Chicago beef. The rest of the time they mostly eat chickens,
+I'm told.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so your butcher takes meat and brings back news,&quot; said the captain.
+&quot;The next time he passes the toll-gate I will tell him to leave the news
+with me, and I will see that it is properly distributed.&quot; And with this,
+he began to talk with Mr. Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, you needn't be so snappish about her,&quot; insisted Maria. &quot;If you are
+in that temper often, I don't wonder the young woman wanted to go away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain made no answer, but his glance at the speaker was not
+altogether a pleasant one. Old Mr. Port did not hear very well; but his
+eyesight was good, and he perceived from the captain's expression that
+his daughter had been saying something sharp. This he never allowed at
+his table; and, turning to her, he said gently, but firmly:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria, don't you think you'd better go up-stairs and go to bed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He's all the time thinkin' I'm a child,&quot; said Miss Maria, with a grin;
+&quot;but how awfully he's mistook.&quot; Then she added: &quot;Has that teacher got
+money enough to support a wife when he marries her? I don't suppose his
+salary amounts to much. I'm told it's a little bit of a college he
+teaches at.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know anything about his salary,&quot; said the captain, and again
+attempted to continue the conversation with the father.</p>
+
+<p>But the daughter was not to be put down. &quot;When is Olive Asher coming
+back to your house?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>The captain turned upon her with a frown. &quot;I did not say she was coming
+back at all,&quot; he snapped.</p>
+
+<p>Now old Mr. Port thought it time for him to interfere. To him Maria had
+always been a young person to be mildly counseled, but to be firmly
+punished if she did not obey said counsels. It was evident that she was
+now annoying his old friend; Maria had a great habit of annoying people,
+but she should not annoy Captain Asher.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria,&quot; said Mr. Port, &quot;leave the table instantly, and go to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port smiled. She had finished her dinner, and she folded her napkin
+and dusted some crumbs from her lap. She always humored her father when
+he was really in earnest; he was very old and could not be expected to
+live much longer, and it was his daughter's earnest desire that she
+should be in good favor with him when he died. With a straight-cut smile
+at the captain, she rose and left the two old friends to their talk, and
+went out on the front piazza. There she saw Mr. Morris, the butcher, on
+his way home with an empty wagon. She stepped out to the edge of the
+sidewalk and stopped him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Been to Broadstone?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the butcher with a sigh, and stopping his horse. Miss Port
+always wanted to know so much about Broadstone, and he was on his way to
+his dinner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Miss Port, &quot;what monkey tricks are going on there now? Has
+anybody been drowned yet? Did you see that young man that's stayin' at
+the toll-gate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the butcher, &quot;I saw him as I was crossing the bridge. He was
+in the big boat helping to row. Pretty near the whole family was in the
+boat, I take it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's like them, just like them!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;The next thing we'll
+hear will be that they've all gone to the bottom together. I don't
+suppose one of them can swim. Was the captain's niece standin' up, or
+sittin' down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They were all sitting down,&quot; said the butcher, &quot;and behaving like other
+people do in a boat.&quot; And he prepared to go on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stop one minute,&quot; said Miss Port. &quot;Of course you are goin' out there
+day after to-morrow?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Mr. Morris. &quot;I'm going to-morrow. They've ordered some extra
+things.&quot; Then he said, with a sort of conciliatory grin, &quot;I'll get some
+more news, and have more time to tell it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't be in such a hurry,&quot; said Miss Port, advancing to the side
+of the wagon. &quot;I want very much to go to Broadstone. I've got some
+business with that Mrs. Blynn that I ought to have attended to long ago.
+Now, why can't I ride out with you to-morrow? That's a pretty broad seat
+you've got.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The butcher looked at her in dismay. &quot;Oh, I couldn't do that, Miss
+Port,&quot; he said. &quot;I always have a heavy load, and I can't take
+passengers, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what's the sense of your talkin' like that?&quot; said Miss Port.
+&quot;You've got a great big horse, and plenty of room, and would you have
+me go hire a carriage and a driver to go out there when you can take me
+just as well as not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The butcher thought he would be very willing. He did not care for her
+society, and, moreover, he knew that both at Broadstone and in the town
+he would be ridiculed when it should be known that he had been taking
+Maria Port to drive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I couldn't do it,&quot; he replied. &quot;Of course, I'm willing to oblige&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't worry yourself any more, Mr. Morris,&quot; interrupted Miss Port.
+&quot;I'm not askin' you to take me now, and I won't keep you from your
+dinner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The next morning as Mr. Morris, the butcher, was driving past the Port
+house at rather a rapid rate for a man with a heavy wagon, Miss Maria
+appeared at her door with her bonnet on. She ran out into the middle of
+the street, and so stationed herself that Mr. Morris was obliged to
+stop. Then, without speaking, she clambered up to the seat beside him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you see,&quot; said she, settling herself on the leather cushion, &quot;I've
+kept to my part of the bargain, and I don't believe your horse will
+think this wagon is a bit heavier than it was before I got in. What's
+the name of the new people that's comin' to Broadstone?&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_IX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER IX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Miss Port takes a Drive with the Butcher.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span>s the butcher and Miss Port drove out of town the latter did not talk
+quite so much as was her wont. She seemed to have something on her mind,
+and presently she proposed to Mr. Morris that he should take the
+shunpike for a change.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That would be a mile and a half out of my way!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;I can't
+do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think you'd get awfully tired of this same old road,&quot; said
+she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The easiest road is the one I like every time,&quot; said Mr. Morris, who
+was also not inclined to talk.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port did not care to pass the toll-gate that day; she was afraid
+she might see the captain, and that in some way or other he would
+interfere with her trip, but fortune favored her, as it nearly always
+did. Old Jane came to the gate, and as this stolid old woman never asked
+any questions, Miss Port contented herself with bidding her good
+morning, and sitting silent during the process of making change.</p>
+
+<p>This self-restraint very much surprised old Jane, who straightway
+informed the captain that Miss Port was riding with the butcher to
+Broadstone&mdash;she knew it was Broadstone, for he had no other customers
+that way&mdash;and she guessed something must be the matter with her, for
+she kept her mouth shut, and didn't say nothing to nobody.</p>
+
+<p>As the wagon moved on Miss Port heaved a sigh. Fearful that she might
+see the captain somewhere, she had not even allowed herself to survey
+the premises in order to catch a glimpse of the shipmate's son. This was
+a rare piece of self-denial in Maria, but she could do that sort of
+thing on occasion.</p>
+
+<p>When the butcher's wagon neared the Broadstone house Miss Port promptly
+got down, and Mr. Morris went to the kitchen regions by himself. She
+never allowed herself to enter a house by the back or side door, so now
+she went to the front, where, disappointed at not seeing any of the
+family although she had made good use of her eyes, she was obliged to
+ask a servant to conduct her to Mrs. Blynn. Before she had had time to
+calculate the cost of the rug in the hall, or to determine whether the
+walls were calcimined or merely whitewashed, she found herself with that
+good lady.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port's business with Mrs. Blynn indicated a peculiar intelligence
+on the part of the visitor. It was based upon very little; it had not
+much to do with anything; it amounted to almost nothing; and yet it
+appeared to contain certain elements of importance which made Mrs. Blynn
+give it her serious consideration.</p>
+
+<p>After she had talked and peered about as long as she thought was
+necessary, Maria said she was afraid Mr. Morris would be waiting for
+her, and quickly took her leave, begging Mrs. Blynn not to trouble
+herself to accompany her to the door. When she left the house Maria did
+not seek the butcher's wagon, but started out on a little tour of
+observation through the grounds. She was quite sure Mr. Morris was
+waiting for her, but for this she did care a snap of her finger; he
+would not dare to go and leave her. Presently she perceived a young
+gentleman approaching her, and she recognized him instantly&mdash;it was the
+goggle-eyed man who had been described to her. Stepping quickly toward
+Mr. Locker, she asked him if he could tell her where she could find Miss
+Asher; she had been told she was in the grounds.</p>
+
+<p>The young man goggled his eye a little more than usual. &quot;Do you know
+her?&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; replied Maria; &quot;I met her at the house of her uncle, Captain
+Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And, knowing her, you want to see her&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Astonished, Miss Port replied, &quot;Of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well, then,&quot; said he; &quot;beyond that clump of bushes is a seat. She
+sits thereon. Accept my condolences.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will remember every word of that,&quot; said Miss Port to herself, &quot;but I
+haven't time to think of it now. He's just ravin'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive had just had an interview with Mr. Locker which, in her eyes, had
+been entirely too protracted, and she had sent him away. He had just
+made her an offer of marriage, but she had refused even to consider it,
+assuring him that her mind was occupied with other things. She was busy
+thinking of those other things when she heard footsteps near her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you do&quot; said Miss Port, extending her hand.</p>
+
+<p>Olive rose, but she put her hands behind her back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh!&quot; said Miss Port, dropping her hand, but allowing herself no verbal
+resentment. She had come there for information, and she did not wish to
+interfere with her own business. &quot;I happened to be here,&quot; she said, &quot;and
+I thought I'd come and tell you how your uncle is. He took dinner with
+us yesterday, and I was sorry to see he didn't have much appetite. But I
+suppose he's failin', as most people do when they get to his age. I
+thought you might have some message you'd like to send him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you,&quot; said Olive with more than sufficient coldness, &quot;but I have
+no message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh!&quot; said Miss Port. &quot;You're in a fine place here,&quot; she continued,
+looking about her, &quot;very different from the toll-gate; and I expect the
+Easterfields has everything they want that money can more than pay for.&quot;
+Having delivered this little shot at the reported extravagance of the
+lady of the manor, she remarked: &quot;I don't wonder you don't want to go
+back to your uncle, and run out to take the toll. It must have been a
+very great change to you if you're used to this sort of thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who said I was not going back?&quot; asked Olive sharply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Your uncle,&quot; said Miss Port. &quot;He told me at our house. Of course, he
+didn't go into no particulars, but that isn't to be expected, he's not
+the kind of man to do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive stood and looked at this smooth-faced, flat-mouthed spinster. She
+was pale, she trembled a little, but she spoke no word; she was a girl
+who did not go into particulars, especially with a person such as this
+woman standing before her.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port did not wish to continue the conversation; she generally knew
+when she had said enough. &quot;Well,&quot; she remarked, &quot;as you haven't no
+message to send to your uncle, I might as well go. But I did think that
+as I was right on my way, you'd have at least a word for him. Good
+mornin'.&quot; And with this she promptly walked away to join Mr. Morris,
+cataloguing in her mind as she went the foolish and lazy hammocks and
+garden chairs, the slow motions of a man who was sweeping leaves from
+the broad stone, and various other evidences of bad management and
+probable downfall which met her eyes in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>When Miss Port approached the toll-gate on her return she was very
+anxious to stop, and hoped that the captain would be at the gate.
+Fortune favored her again, and there he stood in the doorway of the
+little tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, captain,&quot; she exclaimed, extending herself somewhat over the
+butcher's knees in order to speak more effectively, &quot;I've been to
+Broadstone, and I've seen your niece. She's dressed up just like the
+other fine folks there, and she's stiffer than any of them, I guess. I
+didn't see Mrs. Easterfield, although I did want to get a chance to tell
+her what I thought about her plantin' weeds in her garden, and spreadin'
+new kinds of seeds over this country, which goes to weeds fast enough in
+the natural way. As to your niece, I must say she didn't show me no
+extra civility, and when I asked her if she had any message for you, she
+said she hadn't a word to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain was not in the least surprised to hear that Olive had not
+treated Miss Port with extra civility. He remembered his niece treating
+this prying gossip with positive rudeness, and he had been somewhat
+amused by it, although he had always believed that young people should
+be respectful to their elders. He did not care to talk about Olive with
+Miss Port, but he had to say something, and so he asked if she seemed to
+be having a good time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If settin' behind bushes with young men, and goggle-eyed ones at that,
+is havin' a good time,&quot; replied Miss Port, &quot;I'm sure she's enjoyin'
+herself.&quot; And then, as she caught sight of Lancaster: &quot;I suppose that's
+the young man who's visitin' you. I hope he makes his scholars study
+harder than he does. He isn't readin' his book at all; he's just starin'
+at nothin'. You might be polite enough to bring him out and introduce
+him, captain,&quot; she added in a somewhat milder tone.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not answer; in fact, he had not heard all that Miss Port
+had said to him. If Olive had refused to send him a word, even the
+slightest message, she must be a girl of very stubborn resentments, and
+he was sorry to hear it. He himself was beginning to get over his
+resentment at her treatment of him at the Broadstone luncheon, and if
+she had been of his turn of mind everything might have been smoothed
+over in a very short time.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; remarked Maria in an inquiring tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said the captain, &quot;what were you saying?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Maria settled herself in her seat. &quot;If you and that young man
+wastin' his time in the garden can't keep your wits from
+wool-gatherin',&quot; said she, &quot;I hope old Jane has got sense enough to go
+on with the housekeepin'. I'll call again when you've sent your young
+man away, and got your young woman back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Maria said little to the taciturn butcher on their way to Glenford, but
+she smiled a good deal to herself. For years it had been the desire of
+her life to go to live in the toll-gate&mdash;not with any idea of ousting
+Captain Asher&mdash;oh, no, by no means. Old Mr. Port could not live much
+longer, and his daughter would not care to reside in the Glenford house
+by herself. But the toll-gate would exactly suit her; there was life;
+there was passing to and fro; there was money enough for good living and
+good clothes without any encroachment on whatever her father might leave
+her; and, above all, there was the captain, good for twenty years yet,
+in spite of his want of appetite, which she had mentioned to his niece.
+This would be a settlement which would suit her in every way, but so
+long as that niece lived there, there would be no hope of it; even the
+shipmate's son would be in the way. But she supposed he would soon be
+off.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_X'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER X</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mrs. Easterfield writes a Letter.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Miss Port had left her, Olive was so much disturbed by what that
+placid spinster had told her that she totally forgot Claude Locker's
+proposal of marriage, as well as the other things she had been thinking
+about. These things had been not at all unpleasant; she had been
+thinking of her uncle and her return to the toll-gate house. Her visit
+to Broadstone was drawing to a close, and she was getting very tired of
+Mr. Locker and Mr. and Mrs. Fox. She found, now her anger had cooled
+down, that she was actually missing her uncle, and was thinking of him
+as of some one who belonged to her. Her own father had never seemed to
+belong to her; for periods of three years he was away on his ship; and,
+even when he had been on shore duty, she had sometimes been at school;
+and when she and her parents had been stationed somewhere together, the
+lieutenant had been a good deal away from home on this or that naval
+business. When a girl she had taken these absences as a matter of
+course, but since she had been living with her uncle her ideas on the
+subject had changed. She wanted now to be at home with him: and as
+Broadstone was so near the toll-gate she had no doubt that Mrs.
+Easterfield would sometimes want her to come to her when, perhaps, she
+would have different people staying with her.</p>
+
+<p>This was a very pleasant mental picture, and the more Olive had looked
+at it, the better she had liked it. As to the reconciliation with her
+uncle, it troubled her mind but little. So often had she been angry with
+people, and so often had everything been made all right again, that she
+felt used to the process. Her way was simple enough; when she was tired
+of her indignation she quietly dropped it; and then, taking it for
+granted that the other party had done the same, she recommenced her
+usual friendly intercourse, just as if there had never been a quarrel or
+misunderstanding. She had never found this method to fail&mdash;although, of
+course, it might easily have failed with one who was not Olive&mdash;and she
+had not the slightest doubt that if she wrote to her uncle that she was
+coming on a certain day, she would be gladly received by him when she
+should arrive.</p>
+
+<p>But now? After what that woman had told her, what now? If her uncle had
+said she was not coming back, there was an end to her mental pictures
+and her pleasant plans. And what a hard man he must be to say that!</p>
+
+<p>Slowly walking over the grass, Olive went to look for Mrs. Easterfield,
+and found her in her garden on her knees by a flower-bed digging with a
+little trowel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; said she, &quot;I am thinking of getting married.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The elder lady sprang to her feet, dropping her trowel, which barely
+missed her toes. She looked frightened. &quot;What?&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;To
+whom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not to anybody in particular,&quot; replied Olive. &quot;I am considering the
+subject in general. Let's go sit on that bench, and talk about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A little relieved, Mrs. Easterfield followed her. &quot;I don't know what you
+mean,&quot; she said, when they were seated. &quot;Women don't think of marriage
+in a general way; they consider it in a particular way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I am different,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I am a navy girl, and more like a
+man. I have to look out for myself. I think it is time I was married,
+and therefore I am giving the subject attention. Don't you think that is
+prudent?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you say you have no particular leanings?&quot; the other inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None whatever,&quot; said Olive. &quot;Mr. Locker proposed to me less than an
+hour ago, but I gave him no answer. He is too precipitate, and he is
+only one person, anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You don't want to marry more than one person!&quot; exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but I want more than one to choose from.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield did not understand the girl at all. But this was not to
+be expected so soon; she must wait a little, and find out more.
+Notwithstanding her apparent indifference to Claude Locker, there was
+more danger in that direction than Mrs. Easterfield had supposed. A
+really persistent lover is often very dangerous, no matter how
+indifferent a young woman may be.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you been considering the professor?&quot; she asked, with a smile. &quot;I
+noticed that you were very gracious to him yesterday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I haven't,&quot; said Olive. &quot;But I suppose I might as well. I did try
+to make him have a good time, but I was still a little provoked and felt
+that I would like him to go back to my uncle and tell him that he had
+enjoyed himself. But now I suppose I must consider all the eligibles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why now?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield quickly; &quot;why now more than any
+previous time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not immediately answer, but presently she said: &quot;I am not
+going back to my uncle. There was a woman here just now&mdash;I don't know
+whether she was sent or not&mdash;who informed me that he did not expect me
+to return to his house. When my mother was living we were great
+companions for each other, but now you see I am left entirely alone. It
+will be a good while before father comes back, and then I don't know
+whether he can settle down or not. Besides, I am not very well
+acquainted with him, but I suppose that would arrange itself in time. So
+you see all I can do is to visit about until I am married, and therefore
+the sooner I am married and settled the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps this is a cold-blooded girl!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+&quot;But perhaps it is not!&quot; Then, speaking aloud, she said: &quot;Olive Asher,
+were you ever in love?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The girl looked at her with reflective eyes. &quot;Yes,&quot; she said. &quot;I was
+once, but that was the only time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you mind telling me about it?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; replied the girl. &quot;I was between thirteen and fourteen,
+and wore short dresses, and my hair was plaited. My father was on duty
+at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and we lived in that city. There was a
+young man who used to come to bring messages to father; I think he was a
+clerk or a draftsman. I do not remember his name, except that his first
+name was Rupert, and father always called him by that. He was a
+beautiful man-boy or boy-man, however you choose to put it. His eyes
+were heavenly blue, his skin was smooth and white, his cheeks were red,
+and he had the most charming mouth I ever saw. He was just the right
+height, well shaped, and wore the most becoming clothes. I fell madly in
+love with him the second time I saw him, and continued so for a long
+time. I used to think about him and dream about him, and write little
+poems about him which nobody ever saw. I tried to make a sketch of his
+face once, but I failed and tore it up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did he do?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing whatever,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I never spoke to him, or he to me. I
+don't believe he ever noticed me. Whenever I could I went into the room
+where he was talking to father, but I was very quiet and kept in the
+background, and I do not think his eyes ever fell upon me. But that did
+not make any difference at all. He was beautiful above all other men in
+the world, and I loved him. He was my first, my only love, and it almost
+brings tears in my eyes now to think of him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you really could love the right person if he were to come along,&quot;
+said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why do you think I couldn't? Of course I could. But the trouble is he
+doesn't come, so I must try to arrange the matter with what material I
+have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield left the garden she went rapidly to her room.
+There was a smile on her lips, and a light in her eye. A novel idea had
+come to her which amused her, pleased her, and even excited her. She sat
+down at her writing-table and began a letter to her husband. After an
+opening paragraph she wrote thus:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is not Mr. Hemphill, of the central office of the D. and J., named
+Rupert? It is my impression that he is. You know he has been to our
+house several times to dinner when you invited railroad people, and I
+remember him very well. If his name is Rupert will you find out, without
+asking him directly, whether or not he was engaged about seven years ago
+at the navy-yard. I am almost positive I once had a conversation with
+him about the navy-yard and the moving of one of the great buildings
+there. If you find that he had a position there, don't ask him any more
+questions, and drop the subject as quickly as you can. But I then want
+you to send him here on whatever pretext you please&mdash;you can send me any
+sort of an important message or package&mdash;and if I find it desirable, I
+shall ask him to stay here a few days. These hard-worked secretaries
+ought to have more vacations. In fact, I have a very interesting scheme
+in mind, of which I shall say nothing now for fear you may think it
+necessary to reason about it. By the time you come it will have been
+worked out, and I will tell you all about it. Now, don't fail to send
+Mr. Hemphill as promptly as possible, if you find his name is Rupert,
+and that he has ever been engaged in the navy-yard.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This letter was then sent to the post-office at the gap with an
+immediate-delivery stamp on it.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield went down-stairs, her face still glowing with the
+pleasure given by the writing of her letter, she met Claude Locker,
+whose face did not glow with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is the matter with you?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I feel like a man who has been half decapitated,&quot; said he. &quot;I do not
+know whether the execution is to be arrested and my wound healed, or
+whether it is to go on and my head roll into the dust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A horrible idea!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;What do you really mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have proposed to Miss Asher and I was treated with indifference, but
+have not been discarded. Don't you see that I can not live in this
+condition? I am looking for her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will be a great deal better for you to leave her alone,&quot; replied
+Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;If she has any answer for you she will give it when
+she is ready. Perhaps she is trying to make up her mind, and you may
+spoil all by intruding yourself upon her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That will not do at all,&quot; said Locker, &quot;not at all. The more Miss Asher
+sees of me in an unengaged condition the less she will like me. I am
+fully aware of this. I know that my general aspect must be very
+unpleasant, so if I expect any success whatever, the quicker I get this
+thing settled the better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Even if she refuses you,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he answered; &quot;then down comes the axe again, away goes my head,
+and all is over! Then there is another thing,&quot; he said, without giving
+Mrs. Easterfield a chance to speak. &quot;There is that mathematical person.
+When will he be here again?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know,&quot; replied Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;he has merely a general
+invitation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't like him,&quot; said Locker. &quot;He has been here twice, and that is
+two times too many. I hate him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because he is unobjectionable,&quot; Locker answered, &quot;and I am very much
+afraid Miss Asher likes unobjectionable people. Now I am
+objectionable&mdash;I know it&mdash;and the longer I remain unengaged the more
+objectionable I shall become. I wish you would invite nobody but such
+people as the Foxes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because they are married,&quot; replied Locker. &quot;But I must not wait here.
+Can you tell me where I shall be likely to find her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;she is with the Foxes, and they are
+married.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Locker is released on Bail.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>N</span>early the whole of that morning Dick Lancaster sat in the arbor in the
+tollhouse garden, his book in his hand. Part of the time he was thinking
+about what he would like to do, and part of the time he was thinking
+about what he ought to do. He felt sure he had stayed with the captain
+as long as he had been expected to, but he did not want to go away. On
+the contrary, he greatly desired to remain within walking distance of
+Broadstone. He was in love with Olive. When he had seen her at luncheon,
+cold and reserved, he had been greatly impressed by her, and when he
+went out boating with her the next day he gave her his heart
+unreservedly. When people fell in love with Olive they always did it
+promptly.</p>
+
+<p>As he sat, with Olive standing near the footlights of his mental stage
+and the drop-curtain hanging between her and all the rest of the world,
+the captain strolled up to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick,&quot; said he, &quot;somehow or other my tobacco does not taste as it ought
+to. Give me a pipeful of yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the captain had filled his pipe from Dick's bag he lighted it and
+gave a few puffs. &quot;It isn't a bit better than mine,&quot; said he, &quot;but I
+will keep on and smoke it. Dick, let's go and take a walk over the
+hills. I feel rather stupid to-day. And, by the way, I hope you will be
+able to stay with me for the rest of your vacation. Have you made plans
+to go anywhere else?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No plans of the slightest importance,&quot; answered Lancaster with joyous
+vivacity. &quot;I shall be delighted to stay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This prompt acceptance somewhat surprised the captain. He had spoken
+without premeditation, and without thinking of anything at all except
+that he did not want everybody to go away and leave him. He had begun to
+know something of the pleasures of family life; of having some one to
+sit at the table with him; to whom he could talk; on whom he could look.
+In fact, although he did not exactly appreciate such a state of things,
+some one he could love. He was getting really fond of Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>As for Olive, he did not know what to think of her; sometimes he was
+sure she was not coming back, and at other times he thought it likely he
+might get a letter that very day appointing the time for her return. He
+stood puffing his pipe and thinking about this after Dick had spoken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it does not matter,&quot; he said to himself, &quot;which way it happens. If
+she doesn't come I want him here, and if she does come, he is good
+enough for anybody, and perhaps she may be pleased.&quot; And then he
+indulged in a little fragment of the dream which had come to him before;
+he saw two young people in a charming home, not at the toll-gate, and
+himself living with them. Plenty of money for all moderate needs, and
+all happy and satisfied. Then with a sigh he knocked the tobacco from
+his pipe and said to himself: &quot;If I hear she is coming, I will let her
+know he is still here, and then she must judge for herself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As they walked together over the hills, Dick Lancaster was very anxious
+to know something about Olive's return, but he did not like to ask. The
+captain had been very reticent on the subject of his niece, and Dick was
+a gentleman. But to his surprise, and very much to his delight, the
+captain soon began to talk about Olive. He told Dick how his brother had
+entered the navy when the elder was first mate on a merchant vessel; how
+Alfred had risen in the service; had married; and how his wife and
+daughter had lived in various parts of the world. Then he spoke of a
+good many things he had heard about Olive, and other things he had found
+out since she had lived with him; and as he went on his heart warmed,
+and Dick Lancaster listened with as warm a heart as that from which the
+captain spoke.</p>
+
+<p>And thus they walked over the hills, this young man and this elderly
+man, each in love with the same girl.</p>
+
+<p>During all the walk Dick never asked when Miss Asher was coming back to
+the tollhouse, nor did Captain Asher make any remarks upon the subject.
+It was not really of vital importance to Dick, as Broadstone was so
+near, and it was of such vital importance to the captain that it was
+impossible for him to speak of it.</p>
+
+<p>The next day the bright-hearted Richard trod buoyantly upon the earth;
+he did not care to read; he did not want to smoke; and he was not much
+inclined to conversation; he was simply buoyant, and undecided. The
+captain looked at him and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why don't you walk over to Broadstone?&quot; he said. &quot;It will do you good.
+I want you to stay with me, but I don't expect you to be stuck down to
+this tollhouse all day. I am going about the farm to-day, but I shall
+expect you to supper.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When he was ready to start Dick Lancaster felt a little perplexed. His
+ideas of friendly civility impelled him to ask the captain if there was
+anything he could do for him, if there was any message or missive he
+could take to his niece, or anything he could bring from her, but he was
+prudent and refrained; if the captain wished service of this sort he was
+a man to ask for it.</p>
+
+<p>The first person Dick met at Broadstone was Mrs. Easterfield, cutting
+roses.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am very glad to see you, Professor Lancaster,&quot; said she, as she put
+down her roses and her scissors. &quot;Would you mind, before you enter into
+the general Broadstone society, sitting down on this bench and talking a
+little to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not help smiling. What man in the world, even if he were in
+love with somebody else, could object to sitting down by such a woman
+and talking to her?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What I am going to say,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;is impertinent,
+unwarranted, and of an officious character. You and I know each other
+very slightly; neither of us has long been acquainted with Captain
+Asher, you have met his niece but twice, and I have never really known
+her until what you might call the other day. But in spite of all this, I
+propose that you and I shall meddle a little in their affairs. I have
+taken the greatest fancy to Miss Asher, and, if you can do it without
+any breach of confidence, I would like you to tell me if you know of any
+misunderstanding between her and her uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know of nothing of the kind,&quot; said Dick with great interest, &quot;but I
+admit I thought there might be something wrong somewhere. He knew I was
+coming here to-day&mdash;in fact, he suggested it&mdash;but he sent Miss Asher no
+sort of message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can it be possible he is cherishing any hard feelings against her?&quot; she
+remarked. &quot;I should not have supposed he was that sort of man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is not that sort of man,&quot; said Dick warmly. &quot;He was talking to me
+about her yesterday, and from what he said, I am sure he thinks she is
+the finest girl in the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to hear that,&quot; said she, &quot;but it makes the situation more
+puzzling. Can it be possible that she is treating him badly?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I could not believe that!&quot; exclaimed Dick fervently. &quot;I can not
+imagine such a thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled. He had really known the girl but for one day,
+for the first meeting did not count; and here he was defending the
+absolute beauty of her character. But the assumption of the genus young
+man often overtops the pyramids. She now determined to take him a little
+more into her confidence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher has intimated to me that she does not expect to go back to
+her uncle's house, and this morning she made a reference to the end of
+her visit here, but I thought you might be able to tell me something
+about her uncle. If he really does not expect her back I want her to
+stay here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Alas,&quot; said Dick, &quot;I can not tell you anything. But of one thing I feel
+sure, and that is that he would like her to come back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I am not going to let her go away at
+present, and if Captain Asher should say anything to you on the subject,
+you are at liberty to tell him that. From what you said the other day, I
+suppose you will soon be leaving this quiet valley for the haunts of
+men.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; exclaimed Dick. &quot;He wants me to stay with him as long as I
+can, and I shall certainly do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, rising, &quot;I must go and finish cutting my
+roses. I think you will find everybody on the tennis grounds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield had cut in all twenty-three roses when Claude Locker
+came to her from the house. His face was beaming, and he skipped over
+the short grass.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Congratulate me,&quot; he said, as he stepped before her.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield dropped her roses and her scissors and turned pale.
+&quot;What do you mean?&quot; she gasped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't be frightened,&quot; he said. &quot;I have not been acquitted, but the
+execution has been stopped for the present, and I am out on bail. I
+really feel as though the wound in my neck had healed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What stuff!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, her color returning. &quot;Try to speak
+sensibly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I can do that,&quot; said Mr. Locker; &quot;upon occasion I can do that very
+well. I proposed again to Miss Asher not twenty minutes ago. She gave me
+no answer, but she made an arrangement with me which I think is going to
+be very satisfactory; she said she could not have me proposing to her
+every time I saw her&mdash;it would attract attention, and in the end might
+prove annoying&mdash;but she said she would be willing to have me propose to
+her every day just before luncheon, provided I did not insist upon an
+answer, and would promise to give no indication whatever at any other
+time that I entertained any unusual regard for her. I agreed to this,
+and now we understand each other. I feel very confident and happy. The
+other person has no regular time for offering himself, and if any effort
+of mine can avail he shall not find an irregular opportunity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. &quot;Come pick up my roses,&quot; she said. &quot;I must go
+in.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is like making love,&quot; said Locker as he picked up the flowers,
+&quot;charming, but prickly.&quot; At this moment he started. &quot;Who is that?&quot; he
+exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield turned. &quot;Oh, that is Monsieur Emile Du Brant. He is one
+of the secretaries of the Austrian legation. He is to spend a week with
+us. Suppose you take my flowers into the house and I will go to meet
+him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker, his arms folded around a mass of thorny roses, and a pair
+of scissors dangling from one finger, stood and gazed with savage
+intensity at the dapper little man&mdash;black eyes, waxed mustache, dressed
+in the height of fashion&mdash;who, with one hand outstretched, while the
+other held his hat, advanced with smiles and bows to meet the lady of
+the house. Locker had seen him before; he had met him in Washington; and
+he had received forty dollars for a poem of which this Austrian young
+person was the subject.</p>
+
+<p>He allowed the lady and her guest to enter the house before him, and
+then, like a male Flora, he followed, grinding his teeth, and indulging
+in imprecations.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He will have to put on some other kind of clothes,&quot; he muttered, &quot;and
+perhaps he may shave and curl his hair. That will give me a chance to
+see her before lunch. I do not know that she expected me to begin
+to-day, but I am going to do it. I have a clear field so far, and nobody
+knows what may happen to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Locker stood in the hallway waiting for some one to come and take his
+flowers, or to tell him where to put them, he glanced out of the back
+door. There, to his horror, he saw that Mrs. Easterfield had conducted
+her guest through the house, and that they were now approaching the
+tennis ground, where Professor Lancaster and Miss Asher were standing
+with their rackets in their hands, while Mr. and Mrs. Fox were playing
+chess under the shade of a tree.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Field open!&quot; he exclaimed, dropping the roses and the scissors. &quot;Field
+clear! What a double-dyed ass am I!&quot; And with this he rushed out to the
+tennis ground; Mrs. Easterfield did not play.</p>
+
+<p>Before Mrs. Easterfield returned to the house she stood for a moment
+and looked at the tennis players.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive and three young men,&quot; she said to herself; &quot;that will do very
+well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A little before luncheon Claude Locker became very uneasy, and even
+agitated. He hovered around Olive, but found no opportunity to speak to
+her, for she was always talking to somebody else, mostly to the
+newcomer. But she was a little late in entering the dining-room, and
+Locker stepped up to her in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this your handkerchief?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she, stopping; &quot;isn't it yours?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied, &quot;but I had to have some way of attracting your
+attention. I love you so much that I can scarcely see the table and the
+people.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank you,&quot; she said, &quot;and that is all for the next twenty-four hours.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Rupert Hemphill.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>hat afternoon it rained, so that the Broadstone people were obliged to
+stay indoors. Dick Lancaster found Mr. Fox a very agreeable and
+well-informed man, and Mrs. Fox was also an excellent conversationalist.
+Mrs. Easterfield, who, after the confidences of the morning, could not
+help looking at him as something more than an acquaintance, talked to
+him a good deal, and tried to make the time pass pleasantly, at which
+business she was an adept. All this was very pleasant to Dick, but it
+did not compensate him for the almost entire loss of the society of
+Olive, who seemed to devote herself to the entertainment of the Austrian
+secretary. Mrs. Easterfield was very sorry that the young foreigner had
+come at this time, but he had been invited the winter before; the time
+had been appointed; and the visit had to be endured.</p>
+
+<p>When the rain had ceased, and Dick was about to take his leave, his
+hostess declared she would not let him walk back through the mud.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You shall have a horse,&quot; she said, &quot;and that will insure an early visit
+from you, for, of course, you will not trust the animal to other hands
+than your own. I would ask you to stay, but that would not be treating
+the captain kindly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Dick was mounting Mr. Du Brant was standing at the front door, a
+smile on his swarthy countenance. This smile said as plainly as words
+could have done so that it was very amusing to this foreign young man to
+see a person with rolled-up trousers and a straw hat mount upon a horse.
+Claude Locker, whose soul had been chafing all the afternoon under his
+banishment from the society of the angel of his life, was also at the
+front door, and saw the contemptuous smile. Instantly a new and powerful
+emotion swept over his being in the shape of a strong feeling of
+fellowship for Lancaster. It made his soul boil with indignation to see
+the sneer which the Austrian directed toward the young man, a thoroughly
+fine young man, who, by said foreigner's monkeyful impudence, and
+another's mistaken favor, had been made a brother-in-misfortune of
+himself, Claude Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will make common cause with him against the enemy,&quot; thought Locker.
+&quot;If I should fail to get her I will help him to.&quot; And although Dick's
+brown socks were plainly visible as he cantered away, Mr. Locker looked
+after him as a gallant and honored brother-in-arms.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Claude Locker fought for himself and his comrade. He
+persisted in talking French with Mr. Du Brant; and his remarkable
+management of that language, in which ignorance and a subtle facility in
+intentional misapprehension were so adroitly blended that it was
+impossible to tell one from the other, amused Olive, and so provoked the
+Austrian that at last he turned away and began to talk American
+politics with Mr. Fox, which so elated the poet that the ladies of the
+party passed a merry evening.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you like me to take him out rowing to-morrow?&quot; asked Claude apart
+to his hostess.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With you at the oars?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am amazed,&quot; said she, &quot;that you should suspect me of such
+cold-blooded cruelty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know you don't want him here,&quot; said Claude. &quot;His salary can not be
+large, and he must spend the greater part of it on clothes&mdash;and oil.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it possible,&quot; she asked, &quot;that you look upon that young man as a
+rival?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By no means,&quot; he replied; &quot;such persons never marry. They only prevent
+other people from marrying anybody. Therefore it is that I remember what
+sort of a boatman I am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My dear,&quot; said Mr. Fox, when he and his wife had retired to their room,
+&quot;after hearing what that Austrian has to say of the American people, I
+almost revere Mr. Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I heard some of his remarks,&quot; she said, &quot;and I imagined they would have
+an effect of that kind upon you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the Broadstone surrey came from the train the next morning it
+brought a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Fox, when from the other side of the lawn she saw
+him alight. &quot;Another young man with a valise! It seems to me that this
+is an overdose!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Overdoses,&quot; remarked Mr. Fox, &quot;are often less dangerous than just
+enough poison.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield received this visitor at the door. She had been waiting
+for him, and did not wish him to meet anybody when she was not present.
+After offering his respectful salutations, Mr. Hemphill, Mr.
+Easterfield's secretary in the central office of the D. and J.,
+delivered without delay a package of which he was the bearer, and
+apologized for his valise, stating that Mr. Easterfield had told him he
+must spend the night at Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Most assuredly you would do that,&quot; said she, and to herself she added,
+&quot;If I want you longer I will let you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rupert Hemphill was a very handsome man; his nose was fine; his eyes
+were dark and expressive; he wore silky side-whiskers, which, however,
+did not entirely conceal the bloom upon his cheeks; his teeth were very
+good; he was well shaped; and his clothes fitted him admirably.</p>
+
+<p>As has been said before, Mrs. Easterfield was exceedingly interested;
+she was even a little agitated, which was not common with her. She had
+Mr. Hemphill conducted to his room, and then she waited for him to come
+down; this also was not common with her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Locker,&quot; she called from the open door, &quot;do you know where Miss
+Asher is?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The poet stopped in his stride across the lawn, and approached the lady.
+&quot;Oh, she is with the Du Brant,&quot; said he. &quot;I have been trying to get in
+some of my French, but neither of them will rise to the fly. However, I
+am content; it is now three hours before luncheon, and if she has him
+to herself for that length of time, I think she will be thoroughly
+disgusted. Then it will be my time, as per agreement.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was a little disappointed. She wanted Olive by herself,
+but she did not want to make a point of sending for her. But fortune
+favored her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There she is,&quot; exclaimed Locker; &quot;she is just going into the library.
+Let me go tell her you want her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Don't put yourself into danger of
+breaking your word by seeing her alone before luncheon. I'll go to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker continued his melancholy stroll, and Mrs. Easterfield entered
+the library. Olive must not be allowed to go away until the moment
+arrived which had been awaited with so much interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am looking for a copy of <i>Tartarin sur les Alps</i>. I am sure I saw it
+among these French books,&quot; said Olive, on her knees before a low
+bookcase. &quot;Would you believe it, Mr. Du Brant has never read it, and he
+seems to think so much of education.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield knew exactly where the book was, but she preferred to
+allow Olive to occupy herself in looking for it, while she kept her eyes
+on the hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wait a moment, Olive,&quot; said she; &quot;a visitor has just arrived, and I
+want to make him acquainted with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive rose with a book in her hand, and Mrs. Easterfield presented Mr.
+Hemphill to Miss Asher. As she did so, Mrs. Easterfield kept her eyes
+steadily fixed upon the young lady's face. With a pleasant smile Olive
+returned Mr. Hemphill's bow. She was generally glad to make new
+acquaintances.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill is one of my husband's business associates,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield, still with her eyes on Olive. &quot;He has just come from him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did he send us this fine day by you?&quot; said Olive. &quot;If so, we are
+greatly obliged to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young man answered that, although he had not brought the day, he was
+delighted that he had come in company with it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What atrocious commonplaces!&quot; thought Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;The girl does
+not know him from Adam!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here was a disappointment; the thrill, the pallor, the involuntary
+start, were totally absent; and the first act of the little play was a
+failure. But Mrs. Easterfield hoped for better things when the curtain
+rose again. She conducted Mr. Hemphill to the Foxes and let Olive go
+away with her book; and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she read
+the letter from her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With this I send you Mr. Hemphill,&quot; he wrote. &quot;I don't know what you
+want to do with him, but you must take good care of him. He is a most
+valuable secretary, and an estimable young man. As soon as you have done
+with him please send him back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad he is estimable,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. &quot;That
+will make the matter more satisfactory to Tom when I explain it to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Dick Lancaster, properly booted and wearing a felt hat, returned
+the borrowed horse, he was met by Mr. Locker, who had been wandering
+about the front of the house, and when he had dismounted Dick was
+somewhat surprised by the hearty handshake he received.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sorry to have to tell you,&quot; said the poet, &quot;that there is another
+one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Another what?&quot; asked Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Another unnecessary victim,&quot; replied Locker. And with this he returned
+to the front of the house.</p>
+
+<p>At last Olive came down the stairs, and she was alone. Locker stepped
+quickly up to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I should marry,&quot; he said, &quot;would I be expected to entertain that
+Austrian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She stopped, and gave the question her serious consideration. &quot;I should
+think,&quot; she said, &quot;that that would depend a good deal upon whom you
+should marry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How can you talk in that way?&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;As if there were anything
+to depend upon!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing to depend upon,&quot; said Olive, slightly raising her eyebrows.
+&quot;That is bad.&quot; And she went into the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon was an exceptionally fine one, but the party at Broadstone
+did not take advantage of it; there seemed to be a spirit of unrest
+pervading the premises, and when the carriage started on a drive along
+the river only Mr. and Mrs. Fox were in it. Mrs. Easterfield would not
+leave Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and she did not encourage them to go.
+Consequently there were three young men who did not wish to go.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; said Mr. Fox, as they rolled away, &quot;that a young
+woman, such as Miss Asher, has it in her power to interfere very much
+with the social feeling which should pervade a household like this. If
+she were to satisfy herself with attracting one person, all the rest of
+us might be content to make ourselves happy in such fashions as might
+present themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The rest of us!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Fox.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; replied her husband. &quot;I mean you, and Mrs. Easterfield, and
+myself, and the rest. That young woman's indeterminate methods of
+fascination interfere with all of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't exactly see how they interfere with me,&quot; said Mrs. Fox rather
+stiffly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If the carriage had been filled, as was expected,&quot; said her husband, &quot;I
+might have had the pleasure of driving you in a buggy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She turned to him with a smile. &quot;Immediately after I spoke,&quot; she said,
+&quot;I imagined you might be thinking of something of that kind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was not a woman to wait for things to happen in their
+own good time. If possible, she liked to hurry them up. In this Olive
+and Hemphill affair there was really nothing to wait for; if she left
+them to themselves there would be no happenings. As soon as was
+possible, she took Olive into her own little room, where she kept her
+writing-table, and into whose sacred precincts her secretary was not
+allowed to penetrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said she, &quot;what do you think of Mr. Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't think of him at all,&quot; said Olive, a little surprised. &quot;Is there
+anything about him to think of?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He sat by you at luncheon,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and he was better than an empty chair. I
+hate sitting by empty chairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield with vivacity, &quot;you ought to
+remember that young man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Remember him?&quot; the girl ejaculated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;After what you told me about him, I
+expected you would recognize him the moment you saw him. But you did not
+know him; you did not do anything I expected you to do; and I was very
+much disappointed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am talking about Mr. Hemphill; Mr. Rupert Hemphill; who, about seven
+years ago, was engaged in the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and who came to
+your house on business with your father. From what you told me of him I
+conjectured that he might now be my husband's Philadelphia secretary,
+for his name is Rupert, and I had reason to believe that he was once
+engaged in the navy-yard. When I found out I was entirely correct in my
+supposition I had him sent here, and I looked forward with the most
+joyous anticipations to being present when you first saw him. But it was
+all a fiasco! I suppose some people might think I was unwarrantably
+meddling in the affairs of others, but as it was in my power to create a
+most charming romance, I could not let the opportunity pass.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not hear a word of Mrs. Easterfield's latest remarks; her
+round, full eyes were fixed upon the wall in front of her, but they saw
+nothing. Her mind had gone back seven years.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it possible,&quot; she exclaimed presently, &quot;that that is my Rupert, my
+beautiful Rupert of the roseate cheeks, the Rupert of my heart, my only
+love! The Endymion-like youth I watched for every day; on whom I gazed
+and gazed and worshiped and longed for when he had gone; of whom I
+dreamed; to whom my soul went out in poetry; whose miniature I would
+have painted on the finest ivory if I had known how to paint; and whose
+image thus created I would have worn next my heart to look at every
+instant I found myself alone, if it had not been that my dresses were
+all fastened down the back! I am going to him this instant! I must see
+him again! My Rupert, my only love!&quot; And with this she started to the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing from her chair, &quot;stop, don't
+you do that! Come back. You must not&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the girl had flown down the stairs, and was gone.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Lancaster's Backers.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live found Mr. Hemphill under a tree upon the lawn. He was sitting on a
+low bench with one little girl upon each knee. He was not a stranger to
+the children, for they had frequently met him during their winter
+residences in cities. He was telling them a story when Olive approached.
+He made an attempt to rise, but the little girls would not let him put
+them down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't move, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I am going to sit down myself.&quot;
+And as she spoke she drew forward a low bench. &quot;I am so glad to see you
+are fond of children, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; she continued; &quot;you must have
+changed very much.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Changed!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;I have always been fond of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said Olive, &quot;not always. I remember a child you did not
+care for, on whom you did not even look, who was absolutely nothing to
+you, although you were so much to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill stared. &quot;I do not remember such a child,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She existed,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I was that child.&quot; And then she told him
+how she had seen him come to her father's house.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill remembered Lieutenant Asher, he remembered going to his
+house, but he did not remember seeing there a little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was not so very little,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I was fourteen, and I was just
+at an age to be greatly attracted by you. I thought you were the most
+beautiful young man I had ever beheld. I don't mind telling you, because
+I can not look upon you as a stranger, that I fell deeply in love with
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Hemphill sat and listened to these words his face turned redder
+than the reddest rose, even his silky whiskers seemed to redden, his
+fine-cut red lips were parted, but he could not speak. The two little
+girls had been gazing earnestly at Olive. Now the elder one spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am in love,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so am I,&quot; piped up the younger one.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She's in love with Martha's little Jim,&quot; said the first girl, &quot;but I am
+in love with Henry. He's eight. Both boys.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wouldn't be in love with a girl,&quot; said the little one contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>This interruption was a help to Mr. Hemphill, and his redness paled a
+little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course you could not be expected to know anything of my feelings for
+you,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and perhaps it is very well you did not, for business
+is business, and the feelings of girls should not be allowed to
+interfere with it. But my heart went out to you all the same. You were
+my first love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now Mr. Hemphill crimsoned again worse than before. He had not yet
+spoken a word, and there was no word in the English language which he
+thought would be appropriate for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may think I am a little cruel to plump this sort of thing upon
+you,&quot; said Olive, &quot;in such a sudden way, but I am not. All this was
+seven years ago, and a person of my age can surely speak freely of what
+happened seven years ago. I did not even know you when I met you, but
+Mrs. Easterfield told me about you, and now I remember everything, and I
+think it would have been inhuman if I had not told you of the part you
+used to play in my life. You have a right to know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If Mr. Hemphill could have reddened any more he would have done so, but
+it was not possible. The thought flashed into his mind that it might be
+well to say something about her having found him very much changed, but
+in the next instant he saw that that would not do. How could he assume
+that he had ever been beautiful; how could he force her to say that he
+was not beautiful now, or that he still remained so?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am very glad I have met you,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and that I know who you
+are. And I am glad, too, to tell you that I forgive you for not taking
+notice of me seven years ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is that all of your story?&quot; asked the elder little girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Olive, laughing, &quot;that is all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then, let Mr. Hemphill go on with his,&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, certainly,&quot; said Olive, jumping up; &quot;and you must all excuse me
+for interfering with your story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill sat still, a little girl on each knee. He had not spoken a
+word since that beautiful girl had told him she had once loved him. And
+he could not speak now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look as if you had a plaster taken off,&quot; said the younger little
+girl. And, after waiting a moment for an answer, she slipped off his
+knee; the other followed; and the story was postponed.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield heard Olive's account of this incident she was
+utterly astounded. &quot;What sort of a girl are you&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;What
+are you going to do about it now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do?&quot; said Olive quietly. &quot;I have done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was in a state of great perplexity. She had already
+asked Mr. Hemphill to stay until Saturday, three days off, and she could
+not tell him to go away, and the awkwardness of his remaining in the
+same house with Olive was something not easy to deal with.</p>
+
+<p>During Olive's interview with Mr. Hemphill and the little girls Claude
+Locker had been sitting alone at a distance, gazing at the group. He was
+waiting for an opportunity of social converse, for this was not
+forbidden him even if the time did not immediately precede the luncheon
+hour. He saw Hemphill's blazing face, and deeply wondered. If it had
+been the lady who had flushed he would have bounced upon the scene to
+defend her, but Olive was calm, and it was the conscious guilt of the
+man that made his face look like a freshly painted tin roof. This was an
+affair into which he had no right to intrude himself, and so he sat and
+sighed, and his heart grew heavy. How many ante-luncheon avowals would
+have to be made before she would take so much interest in him, one way
+or the other!</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant also sat at a distance. He was reading, or at least
+appearing to read; but he was so unaccustomed to holding a book in his
+hands that he did it very awkwardly, and Miss Raleigh, who was looking
+at him from the library window, made up her mind that if he dropped it,
+as she expected him to do, she would get the book and rub the dirt off
+the corners before it was put back into the bookcase. But when Olive
+left Mr. Hemphill she went so quickly into the house that the Austrian
+was unable to join her, and he, therefore, went to his room to prepare
+for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster had also been waiting, although not watching. He had
+hoped that he might have a chance for a little talk with Olive. But
+there was really no good reason to expect it, for he knew that two, and
+perhaps three, young men had stayed at home that afternoon in the hope
+that they might have the same opportunity. The odds against him were
+great.</p>
+
+<p>He began to think that perhaps he was engaged in a foolish piece of
+business, and was in danger of making himself disagreeably conspicuous.
+The other young men were guests at Broadstone, but if he came there
+every day as he had been doing, and as he wanted to do, it might be
+thought that he was taking advantage of Mrs. Easterfield's kindness. At
+that moment he heard the rustle of skirts, and, glancing up, saw Mrs.
+Easterfield, who was looking for him.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield's regard for Lancaster was growing, partly on account
+of the confidence she had already reposed in him. In her present state
+of mind she would have been glad to give him still more, for she did not
+know what to do about Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and there was no one with
+whom she could talk upon the subject; even if she had known Dick better
+her loyalty to Olive would have prevented that.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you found out anything about the captain and Olive?&quot; she asked.
+&quot;Has he spoken of her return?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; replied Dick; &quot;he has not said a word on the subject, but I am
+very sure he would be overjoyed to have her come back. Every day when
+the postman arrives I believe he looks for a letter from her, and he
+shows that he feels it when he finds none. He is good-natured, and
+pleasant, but he is not as cheerful as when I first came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Every day,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, as they walked together, &quot;I love
+Olive more and more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So do I,&quot; thought Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But every day I understand her less and less,&quot; she continued. &quot;She is
+truly a navy girl, and repose does not seem to be one of her
+characteristics. From what she has told me, I believe she has never
+lived in domestic peace and quiet until she came to stay with her uncle.
+It would delight me to see her properly married. I wish you would marry
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick stopped, and so did she, and they stood looking at each other. He
+did not redden, for he was not of the flushing kind; his face even grew
+a little hard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you believe,&quot; said he, in a very different tone from his ordinary
+voice, &quot;that I have the slightest chance?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I do,&quot; she answered. &quot;I believe you have a very good chance,
+or I should not have spoken to you. I flatter myself that I have
+excellent judgment concerning young men, and I am very fond of Olive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; exclaimed Dick, &quot;you know I am in love with her. I
+suppose that has been easy enough to see, but it has all been very quick
+work with me; in fact, I have had very little to say to her, and have
+never said anything that could in the slightest degree indicate how I
+felt toward her. But I believe I loved her the second day I met her, and
+I am not sure it did not begin the day before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think that sort of thing is always quick work where Olive is
+concerned,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I think it likely that many young
+men have fallen in love with her, and that they have to be very lively
+if they want a chance to tell her so. But don't be jealous. I know
+positively that none of them ever had the slightest chance. But now all
+that is passed. I know she is tired of an unsettled life, and it is
+likely she may soon be thinking of marrying, and there will be no lack
+of suitors. She has them now. But I want her to marry you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; exclaimed Dick, &quot;you have known me but a very little
+while&mdash;&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't mention that,&quot; she interrupted. &quot;I do quick work as well as other
+people. I never before engaged in any matchmaking business, but if this
+succeeds, I shall be proud of it to the end of my days. You are in love
+with Olive, and she is worthy of you. I want you to try to win her, and
+I will do everything I can to help you. Here is my hand upon it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Dick held that hand and looked into that face a courage and a belief
+in himself came into his heart that had never been there before. By day
+and by night his soul had been filled with the image of Olive, but up to
+this moment he had not thought of marrying her. That was something that
+belonged to the future, not even considered in his state of inchoate
+adoration. But now that he had been told he had reason to hope, he
+hoped; and the fact that one beautiful woman told him he might hope to
+win another beautiful woman was a powerful encouragement. Henceforth he
+would not be content with simply loving Olive; if it were within his
+power he would win, he would have her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look like a soldier going forth to conquest,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield
+with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you,&quot; said he impulsively, &quot;you not only look like, but you are an
+angel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was pretty strong for the young professor, but the lady understood
+him. She was very glad, indeed, that he could express himself
+impulsively, for without that power he could not win Olive.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick started away from Broadstone on his walk to the toll-gate he
+heard quick steps behind him and was soon overtaken by Claude Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello,&quot; said that young man, &quot;if you are on your way home I am going to
+walk a while with you. I have not done a thing to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Dick heard these words his heart sank. He was on his way home
+accompanied by Olive&mdash;Olive in his heart, Olive in his soul, Olive in
+his brain, Olive in the sky and all over the earth&mdash;how dared a common
+mortal intrude himself upon the scene?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is another thing,&quot; said Locker, who was now keeping step with
+him. &quot;My soul is filled with murderous intent. I thirst for human life,
+and I need the restraints of companionship.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who is it you want to kill?&quot; asked Dick coldly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is an Austrian,&quot; replied the other. &quot;I will not say what Austrian,
+leaving that to your imagination. I don't suppose you ever killed an
+Austrian. Neither have I, but I should like to do it. It would be a
+novel and delightful experience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick did not think it necessary that he should be told more; he
+perfectly understood the state of the case, for it was impossible not to
+see that this young man was paying marked attention to Olive, while Mr.
+Du Brant was doing the same thing. But still it seemed well to say
+something, and he remarked:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is the matter with the Austrian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is in love with Miss Asher,&quot; said Locker, &quot;and so am I. I am
+beginning to believe he is positively dangerous. I did not think so at
+first, but I do now. He has actually taken to reading. I know that man;
+I have often seen him in Washington. He was always running after some
+lady or other, but I never knew him to read before. It is a dangerous
+symptom. He reads with one eye, while the other sweeps the horizon to
+catch a glimpse of her. By the way, that would be a splendid idea for a
+district policeman; if he stood under a lamp-post in citizen's dress
+reading a book, no criminal would suspect his identity, and he could
+keep one eye on the printed page, and devote the other to the cause of
+justice. But to return to our sallow mutton, or black sheep, if you
+choose. That Austrian ought to be killed!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick smiled sardonically. &quot;He is not your only obstacle,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know it,&quot; replied Locker. &quot;There's that Chinese laundried fellow,
+smooth-finished, who came up this morning. He must be an old offender,
+for I saw her giving it to him hot this morning. I am sure she was
+telling him exactly what she thought of him, for he turned as red as a
+pickled beet. So he will have to scratch pretty hard if he expects to
+get into her good graces again, and I suppose that is what he came here
+for. But I am not so much afraid of him as I am of that Austrian. If he
+keeps on the literary lay, and reads books with her, looking up the
+words in the dictionary, it is dangerous.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not see,&quot; said Lancaster, somewhat loftily, &quot;why you speak of
+these things to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I'll tell you,&quot; said Locker quickly. &quot;I speak of them to you
+because you are just as much concerned in them as I am. You are in love
+with Miss Asher&mdash;anybody can see that&mdash;and, in fact, I should think you
+were a pretty poor sort of a fellow if you were not, after having seen
+and talked with her. Consequently that Austrian is just as dangerous to
+you as he is to me. And as I have chosen you for my brother-in-arms, it
+is right that I tell you everything I know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Brother-in-arms?&quot; ejaculated Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is what it is,&quot; said Locker, &quot;and I will tell you how it came
+about. The Austrian looked upon you with scorn and contempt because you
+rode a horse wearing rolled-up trousers and low shoes. As you did not
+see him and could not return the contempt, I did it for you. Having done
+this, a fellow feeling for you immediately sprang up within me. That is
+what always happens, you know. After that the feeling became a good deal
+stronger, and I said to myself that if I found I could not get Miss
+Asher; and it's seventy-six I don't, for that's generally the state of
+my luck; I would help you to get her, partly because I like you, and
+partly because that Austrian must be ousted, no matter what happens or
+how it is done. So I became your brother-in-arms, and if I find I am out
+of the race, I am going to back you up just as hard as I can, and here's
+my hand upon it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick stopped as he had stopped half an hour before, and gazed upon his
+companion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now don't thank me,&quot; continued Locker, &quot;or say anything nice, because
+if I find I can come in ahead of you I am going to do it. But if we work
+together, I am sure we need not be afraid of that Austrian, or of that
+fiery-faced model for a ready-made-clothes shop. It is to be either you
+or me&mdash;first place for me, if possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not help laughing. &quot;You are a jolly sort of a fellow,&quot; said
+he, &quot;and I will be your brother-in-arms. But it is to be first place for
+me, if possible.&quot; And they shook hands upon the bargain.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Mr. Hemphill found Olive alone. &quot;I have been trying to get
+a chance to speak to you, Miss Asher,&quot; said he. &quot;I want to ask you to
+help me, for I do not know what in the world to do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Since you spoke to me this afternoon,&quot; he went on, &quot;I have been in a
+state of most miserable embarrassment; I can not for the life of me
+decide what I ought to say or what I ought to do, or what I ought not to
+say or what I ought not to do. If I should pass over as something not
+necessary to take into consideration the&mdash;the&mdash;most unusual statement
+you made to me, it might be that you would consider me as a boor, a man
+incapable of appreciating the&mdash;the&mdash;highest honors. Then again, if I do
+say anything to show that I appreciate such honors, you may well
+consider me presumptuous, conceited, and even insulting. I thought a
+while ago that I would leave this house before it would be necessary for
+me to decide how I should act when I met you, but I could not do that.
+Explanations would be necessary, and I would not be able to make them,
+and so, in sheer despair, I have come to you. Whatever you say I ought
+to do I will do. Of myself, I am utterly helpless.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him with serious earnestness. &quot;You are in a queer
+position,&quot; she said, &quot;and I don't wonder you do not know what to do. I
+did not think of this peculiar consequence which would result from my
+revelation. As to the revelation itself, there is no use talking about
+it; it had to be made. It would have been unjust and wicked to allow a
+man to live in ignorance of the fact that such a thing had happened to
+him without his knowing it. But I think I can make it all right for
+you. If you had known when you were very young, in fact, when you were
+in another age of man, that a young girl in short dresses was in love
+with you, would you have disdained her affection?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should say not!&quot; exclaimed Rupert Hemphill, his eyes fixed upon the
+person who had once been that girl in short dresses.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Olive, &quot;there could have been nothing for her to
+complain of, no matter what she knew or what she did not know, and there
+is nothing he could complain of, no matter what he knew or did not know.
+And as both these persons have passed entirely out of existence, I think
+you and I need consider them no longer. And we can talk about tennis or
+bass fishing, or anything we like. And if you are a fisherman you will
+be glad to hear that there is first-rate bass fishing in the river now,
+and that we are talking of getting up a regular fishing party. We shall
+have to go two or three miles below here where the water is deeper and
+there are not so many rocks.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>That night Mr. Hemphill dreamed hard of a girl who had loved him when
+she was little, and who continued to love him now that she had grown to
+be wonderfully handsome. He was going out to sail with her in a boat far
+and far away, where nobody could find them or bring them back.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>A Letter for Olive.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he next morning, about an hour after breakfast, Mr. Du Brant proposed
+to Olive. He had received a letter the day before which made it probable
+that he might be recalled to Washington before the time which had been
+fixed for the end of his visit at Broadstone, and he consequently did
+not wish to defer for a moment longer than was necessary this most
+important business of his life. He told Miss Asher that he had never
+truly loved before; which was probably correct; and that as she had
+raised his mind from the common things of earth, upon which it had been
+accustomed to grovel, she had made a new man of him in an astonishingly
+short time; which, it is likely, was also true.</p>
+
+<p>He assured her that without any regard to outside circumstances, he
+could not live without her. If at any other time he had allowed his mind
+to dwell for a moment upon matrimony, he had thought of family,
+position, wealth, social station, and all that sort of thing, but now he
+thought of nothing but her, and he came to offer her his heart. In fact,
+the man was truly and honestly in love.</p>
+
+<p>Inwardly Olive smiled. &quot;I can not ask him,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;to say
+this again every day before dinner. He hasn't the wit of Claude Locker,
+and would not be able to vary his remarks; but I can not blast his hopes
+too suddenly, for, if I do that, he will instantly go away, and it would
+not be treating Mrs. Easterfield properly if I were to break up her
+party without her knowledge. But I will talk to her about it. And now
+for him.&mdash;Mr. Du Brant,&quot; she said aloud, speaking in English, although
+he had proposed to her in French, because she thought she could make her
+own language more impressive, &quot;it is a very serious thing you have said
+to me, and I don't believe you have had time enough to think about it
+properly. Now don't interrupt. I know exactly what you would say. You
+have known me such a little while that even if your mind is made up it
+can not be properly made up, and therefore, for your own sake, I am
+going to give you a chance to think it all over. You must not say you
+don't want to, because I want you to; and when you have thought, and
+thought, and know yourself better&mdash;now don't say you can not know
+yourself better if you have a thousand years in which to consider
+it&mdash;for though you think that it is true it is not&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And if I rack my brains and my heart,&quot; interrupted Mr. Du Brant, &quot;and
+find out that I can never change nor feel in any other way toward you
+than I feel now, may I then&mdash;&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't say anything about that,&quot; said Olive. &quot;What I want to do now
+is to treat you honorably and fairly, and to give you a chance to
+withdraw if, after sober consideration, you think it best to do so. I
+believe that every young man who thinks himself compelled to propose
+marriage in such hot haste ought to have a chance to reflect quietly
+and coolly, and to withdraw if he wants to. And that is all, Mr. Du
+Brant. I must be off this minute, for Mrs. Easterfield is over there
+waiting for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant walked thoughtfully away. &quot;I do not understand,&quot; he said to
+himself in French, &quot;why she did not tell me I need not speak to her
+again about it. The situation is worthy of diplomatic consideration, and
+I will give it that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>From a distance Claude Locker beheld his Austrian enemy walking alone,
+and without a book.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Something has happened,&quot; he thought, &quot;and the fellow has changed his
+tactics. Before, under cover of a French novel, he was a snake in the
+grass, now he is a snake hopping along on the tip of his tail. Perhaps
+he thinks this is a better way to keep a lookout upon her. I believe he
+is more dangerous than he was before, for I don't know whether a snake
+on tip tail jumps or falls down upon his victims.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>One thing Mr. Locker was firmly determined upon. He was going to try to
+see Olive as soon as it was possible before luncheon, and impress upon
+her the ardent nature of his feelings toward her; he did not believe he
+had done this yet. He looked about him. The party, excepting himself and
+Mr. Du Brant, were on the front lawn; he would join them and satirize
+the gloomy Austrian. If Olive could be made to laugh at him it would be
+like preparing a garden-bed with spade and rake before sowing his seeds.</p>
+
+<p>The rural mail-carrier came earlier than usual that day, and he brought
+Olive but one letter, but as it was from her father, she was entirely
+satisfied, and retired to a bench to read it.</p>
+
+<p>In about ten minutes after that she walked into Mrs. Easterfield's
+little room, the open letter in her hand. As Mrs. Easterfield looked up
+from her writing-table the girl seemed transformed; she was taller, she
+was straighter, her face had lost its bloom, and her eyes blazed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you believe it!&quot; she said, grating out the words as she spoke.
+&quot;My father is going to be married!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield dropped her pen, and her face lost color. She had
+always been greatly interested in Lieutenant Asher. &quot;What!&quot; she
+exclaimed. &quot;He? And to whom?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A girl I used to go to school with,&quot; said Olive, standing as if she
+were framed in one solid piece. &quot;Edith Marshall, living in Geneva. She
+is older than I am, but we were in the same classes. They are to be
+married in October, and she is to sail for this country about the time
+his ship comes home. He is to be stationed at Governor's Island, and
+they are to have a house there. He writes, and writes, and writes, about
+how lovely it will be for me to have this dear new mother. Me! To call
+that thing mother! I shall have no mother, but I have lost my father.&quot;
+With this she threw herself upon a lounge, and burst into passionate
+tears. Mrs. Easterfield rose, and closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker had no opportunity to press his suit before luncheon, for
+Olive did not come to that meal; she had one of her headaches. Every one
+seemed to appreciate the incompleteness of the party, and even Mrs.
+Easterfield looked serious, which was not usual with her. Mr. Hemphill
+was much cast down, for he had made up his mind to talk to Olive in such
+a way that she should not fail to see that he had taken to heart her
+advice, and might be depended upon to deport himself toward her as if he
+had never heard the words she had addressed to him. He had prepared
+several topics for conversation, but as he would not waste these upon
+the general company, he indulged only in such remarks as were necessary
+to good manners.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant talked a good deal in a perfunctory manner, but inwardly he
+was somewhat elated. &quot;Her emotions must have been excited more than I
+supposed,&quot; he thought. &quot;That is not a bad sign.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Fox was a little bit&mdash;a very little bit&mdash;annoyed because Mr. Fox
+did not make as many facetious remarks as was his custom. He seemed like
+one who, in a degree, felt that he lacked an audience; Mrs. Fox could
+see no good reason for this.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield went up to Olive's room she found her bathing her
+eyes in cold water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will you lend me a bicycle&quot; said Olive. &quot;I am sure you have one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want to go to my uncle,&quot; said Olive. &quot;He is now all I have left in
+this world. I have been thinking, and thinking about everything, and I
+want to go to him. Whatever has come between us will vanish as soon as
+he sees me, I am sure of that. I do not know why he did not want me to
+come back to him, but he will want me now, and I should like to start
+immediately without anybody seeing me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But a bicycle!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;You can't go that way. I
+will send you in the carriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, no, no,&quot; cried Olive; &quot;I want to go quietly. I want to go so that I
+can leave my wheel at the door and go right in. I have a short
+walking-skirt, and I can wear that. Please let me have the bicycle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield made Olive sit down and she talked to her, but there
+was no changing the girl's determination to go to her uncle, to go
+alone, and to go immediately.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Olive's Bicycle Trip.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>D</span>espite Olive's desire to set forth immediately on her bicycle trip, it
+was past the middle of the afternoon when she left Broadstone. She went
+out quietly, not by the usual driveway, and was soon upon the turnpike
+road. As she sped along the cool air upon her face refreshed her; and
+the knowledge that she was so rapidly approaching the dear old
+toll-gate, where, even if she did not find her uncle at the house, she
+could sit with old Jane until he came back, gave her strength and
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>Up a long hill she went, and down again to the level country. Then there
+was a slighter rise in the road, and when she reached its summit she
+saw, less than a mile away, the toll-gate surrounded by its trees, the
+thick foliage of the fruit-trees in the garden, the little tollhouse and
+the long bar, standing up high at its customary incline upon the
+opposite side of the road. Down the little hill she went; and then,
+steadily and swiftly, onward. Presently she saw that some one was on the
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse; his back was toward her, he was
+sitting in his accustomed armchair; she could not be mistaken; it was
+her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then, while upon the road, she had thought of what she should
+say when she first met him, but she had soon dismissed all ideas of
+preconceived salutations, or explanations. She would be there, and that
+would be enough. Her father's letter was in her pocket, and that was too
+much. All she meant to do was to glide up to that piazza, spring up the
+steps, and present herself to her uncle's astonished gaze before he had
+any idea that any one was approaching.</p>
+
+<p>She was within twenty feet of the piazza when she saw that her uncle was
+not alone; there was some one sitting in front of him who had been
+concealed by his broad shoulders. This person was a woman. She had
+caught sight of Olive, and stuck her head out on one side to look at
+her. Upon her dough-like face there was a grin, and in her eye a light
+of triumph. With one quick glance she seemed to say: &quot;Ah, ha, you find
+me here, do you? What have you to say to that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's heart stood still. That woman, that Maria Port, sitting in close
+converse with her uncle in that public place where she had never seen
+any one but men! That horrid woman at such a moment as this! She could
+not speak to her; she could not speak to her uncle in her presence. She
+could not stop. With what she had on her mind, and with what she had in
+her pocket, it would be impossible to say a word before that Maria Port!
+Without a swerve she sped on, and passed the toll-gate. She only knew
+one thing; she could not stop.</p>
+
+<p>The wildest suspicions now rushed into her mind. Why should her uncle
+be thus exposing himself to the public gaze with Maria Port? Why did it
+give the woman such diabolical pleasure to be seen there with him? With
+a mind already prepared for such sickening revelations, Olive was
+convinced that it could mean nothing but that her uncle intended to
+marry Maria Port. What else could it mean? But no matter what it meant,
+she could not stop. She could not go back.</p>
+
+<p>On went her bicycle, and presently she gained sufficient command over
+herself to know that she should not ride into the town. But what else
+could she do? She could not go back while those two were sitting on the
+piazza. Suddenly she remembered the shunpike. She had never been on it,
+but she knew where it left the road, and where it reentered it. So she
+kept on her course, and in a few minutes had reached the narrow country
+road. There were ruts here and there, and sometimes there were stony
+places; there were small hills, mostly rough; and there were few
+stretches of smooth road; but on went Olive; sometimes trying with much
+effort to make good time, and always with tears in her eyes, dimming the
+roadway, the prospect, and everything in the world.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There now!&quot; exclaimed Maria Port, springing to her feet. &quot;What have you
+got to say to that? If that isn't brazen I never saw brass!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot; said the captain, rising in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mean?&quot; said Maria Port, leaning over the railing. &quot;Look there! Do you
+see that girl getting away as fast as she can work herself? That's your
+precious niece, Olive Asher, scooting past us with her nose in the air
+as if we was sticks and stones by the side of the road. What have you
+got to say to that, Captain John, I'd like to know?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain ran down the path. &quot;You don't mean to say that is Olive!&quot; he
+cried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's who it is,&quot; answered Miss Port. &quot;She looked me square in the
+face as she dashed by. Not a word for you, not a word for me. Impudence!
+That doesn't express it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain paid no attention to her, but ran into the garden. Old Jane
+was standing near the house door. &quot;Was that Miss Olive?&quot; he cried. &quot;Did
+you see her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said old Jane, &quot;it was her. I saw her comin', and I came out to
+meet her. But she just shot through the toll-gate as if she didn't know
+there was a toll on bicycles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain stood still in the garden-path. He could not believe that
+Olive had done this to treat him with contempt. She must have heard some
+news. There must be something the matter. She was going into town at the
+top of her speed to send a telegram, intending to stop as she came back.
+She might have stopped anyway if it had not been for that
+good-for-nothing Maria Port. She hated Maria, and he hated her himself,
+at this moment, as she stood by his side, asking him what was the matter
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's no more than you have to expect,&quot; said she. &quot;She's a fine lady, a
+navy lady, a foreign lady, that's been with the aristocrats! She's got
+good clothes on that she never wore here, and where I guess she had a
+pretty stupid time, judgin' from how they carry on at that Easterfield
+place. Why in the world should she want to stop and speak to such
+persons as you and me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain paid no attention to these remarks. &quot;If she doesn't want to
+send a telegram, I don't see what she is going to town for in such a
+hurry. I suppose she thought she could get there sooner than a man could
+go on a horse,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Telegram!&quot; sneered Miss Port. &quot;It's a great deal easier to send
+telegrams from the gap.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then it is something worse,&quot; he thought. Perhaps she might be running
+away, though what in the world she was running from he could not
+imagine. Anyway, he must see her; he must find out. When she came back
+she must not pass again, and if she did not come back he must go after
+her. He ran to the road and put down the bar, calling to old Jane to
+come there and keep a sharp lookout. Then he quickly returned to the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you going to do&quot; asked Miss Port. &quot;I never saw a man in such a
+fluster.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If she does not come back very soon,&quot; said he, &quot;I shall go to town
+after her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I suppose I might as well be going myself,&quot; said she. &quot;And by the
+way, captain, if you are going to town, why don't you take a seat in my
+carriage? Dear knows me and the boy don't fill it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the captain would consider no such invitation. When he met Olive he
+did not want Maria Port to be along. He did not answer, and went into
+the house to make some change in his attire. Old Jane would not let
+Olive pass, and if he met her on the road or in the town he wanted to be
+well dressed.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port still stood in the path by the house door. &quot;That's not what I
+call polite,&quot; said she, &quot;but he's awful flustered, and I don't mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Far from minding, Maria was pleased; it pleased her to know that his
+niece's conduct had flustered him. The more that girl flustered him the
+better it would be, and she smiled with considerable satisfaction. If
+she could get that girl out of the way she believed she would find but
+little difficulty in carrying out her scheme to embitter the remainder
+of the good captain's life. She did not put it in that way to herself;
+but that was the real character of the scheme.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly an idea struck her. It was of no use for her to stand and wait,
+for she knew she would not be able to induce the captain to go with her.
+It would be a great thing if she could, for to drive into town with him
+by her side would go far to make the people of Glenford understand what
+was going to happen. But, if she could not do this, she could do
+something else. If she started away immediately she might meet that
+Asher girl coming back, and it would be a very fine thing if she could
+have an interview with her before she saw her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>She made a quick step toward the house and looked in. The captain was
+not visible, but old Jane was standing near the back door of the
+tollhouse. The opportunity was not to be lost.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good-by, John,&quot; said she in a soft tone, but quite loud enough for the
+old woman to hear. &quot;I'll go home first, for I've got to see to gettin'
+supper ready for you. So good-by, John, for a little while.&quot; And she
+kissed her hand to the inside of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Then she hurried out of the gate; got into the little phaeton which was
+waiting for her under a tree; and drove away. She had come there that
+afternoon on the pretense of consulting the captain about her father's
+health, which she said disturbed her, and she had requested the
+privilege of sitting on the toll-gate piazza because she had always
+wanted to sit there, and had never been invited. The captain had not
+invited her then, but as she had boldly marched to the piazza and taken
+a seat, he had been obliged to follow.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher, wearing a good coat and hat, relieved old Jane at her
+post, and waited and waited for Olive to come back. He did not for a
+moment think she might return by the shunpike, for that was a rough
+road, not fit for a bicycle. And if she passed this way once, why should
+she object to doing it again?</p>
+
+<p>When more than time enough had elapsed for her return from the town, he
+started forth with a heavy heart to follow her. He told old Jane that if
+for any reason he should be detained in town until late, he would take
+supper with Mr. Port, and if, although he did not expect this, he should
+not come back that night, the Ports would know of his whereabouts. He
+did not take his horse and buggy because he thought it would be in his
+way. If he met Olive in the road he could more easily stop and talk to
+her if he were walking than if he had a horse to take care of.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hope you're not runnin' after Miss Olive,&quot; said old Jane.</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not wish his old servant to imagine that it was
+necessary for him to run after his niece, and so he answered rather
+quickly: &quot;Of course not.&quot; Then he set off toward the town. He did not
+walk very fast, for if he met Olive he would rather have a talk with her
+on the road than in Glenford.</p>
+
+<p>He walked on and on, not with his eyes on the smooth surface of the
+pike, but looking out afar, hoping that he might soon see the figure of
+a girl on a bicycle; and thus it was that he passed the entrance to the
+shunpike without noticing that a bicycle track turned into it.</p>
+
+<p>Olive struggled on, and the road did not improve. She worked hard with
+her body, but still harder with her mind. It seemed to her as though
+everything were endeavoring to crush her, and that it was almost
+succeeding. If she had been in her own room, seated, or walking the
+floor, indignation against her uncle would have given her the same
+unnatural vigor and energy which had possessed her when she read her
+father's letter; but it is impossible to be angry when one is physically
+tired and depressed, and this was Olive's condition now. Once she
+dismounted, sat down on a piece of rock, and cried. The rest was of
+service to her, but she could not stay there long; the road was too
+lonely. She must push on. So on she pressed, sometimes walking, and
+sometimes on her wheel, the pedals apparently growing stiffer at every
+turn. Slight mishaps she did not mind, but a fear began to grow upon her
+that she would never be able to reach Broadstone at all. But after a
+time&mdash;a very long time it seemed&mdash;the road grew more level and smooth;
+and then ahead she saw the white surface of the turnpike shining as it
+passed the end of her road. When she should emerge on that smooth, hard
+road it could not be long, even if she went slowly, before she reached
+home. She was still some fifty yards from the pike when she saw a man
+upon it, walking southward.</p>
+
+<p>As Dick Lancaster passed the end of the road he lifted his head, and
+looked along it. It was strange that he should do so, for since he had
+started on his homeward walk he had not raised his eyes from the ground.
+He had reached Broadstone soon after luncheon, before Olive had left on
+her wheel, and had passed rather a stupid time, playing tennis with
+Claude Locker, he had seen but little of Mrs. Easterfield, whose mind
+was evidently occupied. Once she had seemed about to take him into her
+confidence, but had suddenly excused herself, and had gone into the
+house. When the game was finished Locker advised him to go home.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is not likely to be down until dinner time,&quot; he had said, &quot;and this
+evening I'll defend our cause against those other fellows. I have
+several good things in my mind that I am sure will interest her, and I
+don't believe there's any use courting a girl unless you interest her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster had taken the advice, and had left much earlier than was
+usual.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Lancaster accepts a Mission.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Dick Lancaster saw Olive he stopped with a start, and then ran
+toward her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;What are you doing here? What is the
+matter? You look pale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When she saw him coming Olive had dismounted, not with the active spring
+usual with her, but heavily and clumsily. She did not even smile as she
+spoke to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to see you, Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she said. &quot;I am on my way back to
+Broadstone, and I would like to send a message to my uncle by you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Back from where? And why on this road?&quot; he was about to ask, but he
+checked himself. He saw that she trembled as she stood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he, &quot;you must stop and rest. Let me take your wheel
+and come over to this bank and sit down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She sat down in the shade and took off her hat; and for a moment she
+quietly enjoyed the cool breeze upon her head. He did not want to annoy
+her with questions, but he could not help saying:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You look very tired.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ought to be tired,&quot; she answered, &quot;for I have gone over a perfectly
+dreadful road. Of course, you wonder why I came this way, and the best
+thing for me to do is to begin at the beginning and to tell you all
+about it, so that you will know what I have been doing, and then
+understand what I would like you to do for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So she told him all her tale, and, telling it, seemed to relieve her
+mind while her tired body rested. Dick listened with earnest avidity. He
+lost not the slightest change in her expression as she spoke. He was
+shocked when he heard of her father; he was grieved when he imagined how
+she must have felt when the news came to her; he was angry when he heard
+of the impertinent glare of Maria Port; and his heart was torn when he
+knew of this poor girl's disappointment, of her soul-harrowing
+conjectures, of her wearisome and painful progress along that rough
+road; of which progress she said but little, although its consequences
+he could plainly see. All these things showed themselves upon his
+countenance as he gazed upon her and listened, not only with his ears,
+but his heart.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be more than glad,&quot; he said, when she had finished, &quot;to carry
+any message, or to do anything you want me to do. But I must first
+relieve you of one of your troubles. Your uncle has not the slightest
+idea of marrying Miss Port. I don't believe he would marry anybody; but,
+of all women, not that vulgar creature. Let me assure you, Miss Asher,
+that I have heard him talk about her, and I know he has the most
+contemptuous opinion of her. I have heard him make fun of her, and I
+don't believe he would have anything to do with her if it were not for
+her father, who is one of his oldest friends.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him incredulously. &quot;And yet they were sitting close
+together,&quot; she said; &quot;so close that at first I did not see her;
+apparently talking in the most private manner in a very public place.
+They surely looked very much like an engaged couple as I have noticed
+them. And old Jane has told me that everybody knows she is trying to
+trap him; and surely there is good reason to believe that she has
+succeeded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick shook his head. &quot;Impossible, Miss Asher,&quot; he said. &quot;He never would
+have such a woman. I know him well enough to be absolutely sure of that.
+Of course, he treats her kindly, and perhaps he is sociable with her. It
+is his nature to be friendly, and he has known her for a long time. But
+marry her! Never! I am certain, Miss Asher, he would never do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wish I could believe it,&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can easily prove it to you,&quot; he said. &quot;I will take your message to
+your uncle, I will tell him all you want me to tell him, and then I will
+ask him, frankly and plainly, about Miss Port. I do not in the least
+object to doing it. I am well enough acquainted with him to know that he
+is a frank, plain man. I am sure he will be much amused at your
+supposition, and angry, too, when I tell him of the way that woman
+looked at you and so prevented you from stopping when you had come
+expressly to see him. Then I will immediately come to Broadstone to
+relieve your mind in regard to the Maria Port business, and to bring
+you whatever message your uncle has to send you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, no,&quot; said Olive, &quot;you must not do that. It would be too much to
+come back to-day. You have relieved my mind somewhat about that woman,
+and I am perfectly willing to wait until to-morrow, when you can tell me
+exactly how everything is, and let me know when my uncle would like me
+to come and see him. I think it will be better next time not to take him
+by surprise. But I would be very, very grateful to you, Mr, Lancaster,
+if you would come as early in the morning as you can. I can wait very
+well until then, now that my mind is easier, but I am afraid that when
+to-morrow begins I shall be very impatient. My troubles are always worse
+in the morning. But you must not walk. My uncle has a horse and buggy.
+But perhaps it would be better to let Mrs. Easterfield send for you. I
+know she will be glad to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick assured her that he did not wish to be sent for; that he would
+borrow the captain's horse, and would be at Broadstone as early as was
+proper to make a visit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Proper!&quot; exclaimed Olive. &quot;In a case like this any time is proper. In
+Mrs. Easterfield's name I invite you to breakfast. I know she will be
+glad to have me do it. And now I must go on. You are very, very good,
+and I am very grateful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not say that he was more grateful for being allowed to help
+her than she could possibly be for being helped, but his face showed it,
+and if she had looked at him she would have known it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; he exclaimed as she rose, &quot;your skirt is covered with
+dust. You must have fallen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did have one fall,&quot; she said, &quot;but I was so worried I did not mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you can not go back in that plight,&quot; he said; &quot;let me dust your
+skirt.&quot; And breaking a little branch from a bush, he proceeded to make
+her look presentable. &quot;And now,&quot; said he, when she had complimented him
+upon his skill, &quot;I will walk with you to the entrance of the grounds.
+Perhaps as you are so tired,&quot; he said hesitatingly, &quot;I can help you
+along, so that you will not have to work so hard yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; she answered; &quot;that is not at all necessary. When I am on the
+turnpike I can go beautifully. I feel ever so much rested and stronger,
+and it is all due to you. So you see, although you will not go with me,
+you will help me very much.&quot; And she smiled as she spoke. He truly had
+helped her very much.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was unwilling that she should go on alone, although it was still
+broad daylight and there was no possible danger, and he was also
+unwilling because he wanted to go with her, but there was no use saying
+anything or thinking anything, and so he stood and watched her rolling
+along until she had passed the top of a little hill, and had departed
+from his view. Then he ran to the top of the little hill, and watched
+her until she was entirely out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the way to the toll-gate seemed very short to Dick, but he
+had time enough to make up his mind that he would see the captain at the
+earliest possible moment; that he would deliver his message and the
+letter of Lieutenant Asher; that he would immediately bring up the
+matter of Maria Port and let the captain know the mischief that woman
+had done. Then, armed with the assurances the captain would give him, he
+would start for Broadstone after supper, and carry the good news to
+Olive. It would be a shame to let that dear girl remain in suspense for
+the whole night, when he, by riding, or even walking an inconsiderable
+number of miles, could relieve her. He found old Jane in the tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Where is the captain&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The captain?&quot; she repeated. &quot;He's in town takin' supper with his
+sweetheart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick stared at her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you haven't heard that he's engaged to Maria Port,&quot; said the
+woman; &quot;and I don't wonder you're taken back! But I suppose everybody
+will soon know it now, and the sooner the better, I say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about&quot; exclaimed Dick. &quot;You don't mean to tell me
+that the captain is going to marry Miss Port?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whether he wants to or not, he's gone so far he'll have to. I've knowed
+for a long time she's been after him, but I didn't think she'd catch him
+just yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't believe it.&quot; cried Dick. &quot;It must be a mistake! How do you know
+it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Know!&quot; said old Jane, who, ordinarily a taciturn woman, was now excited
+and inclined to volubility. &quot;Don't you suppose I've got eyes and ears?
+Didn't I see them for ever and ever so long sittin' out on this piazza,
+where everybody could see 'em, a-spoonin' like a couple of young people?
+And didn't I see 'em tearin' themselves asunder as if they couldn't
+bear to be apart for an hour? And didn't I hear her tell him she was
+goin' home to get an extry good supper for him? And didn't I hear her
+call him 'dear John,' and kiss her hand to him. And if you don't believe
+me you can go into the kitchen and ask Mary; she heard the 'dear John'
+and saw the hand-kissin'. And then didn't he tell me he was goin' to the
+Ports' to supper, and if he stayed late and anybody asked for
+him&mdash;meaning you, most probable, and I think he might have left
+somethin' more of a message for you&mdash;that he was to be found with the
+Ports&mdash;with Maria most likely, for the old man goes to bed early?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick made no answer; he was standing motionless looking out upon the
+flowers in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And perhaps you haven't heard of Miss Olive comin' past on a bicycle,&quot;
+old Jane remarked. &quot;I saw her comin', and I knew by the look on her face
+that it made her sick to see that woman sittin' here, and I don't blame
+her a bit. When he started so early for town I thought he might be
+intendin' to look for her, and yet be in time for the Ports' supper, but
+she didn't come back this way at all, and I expect she went home by the
+shunpike.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which she did,&quot; said Dick, showing by this remark that he was listening
+to what the old woman was saying.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But he cut me mighty short when I asked him,&quot; continued old Jane. &quot;I
+tried to ease his mind, but as I found his mind didn't need no easin', I
+minded my own business, just as he was mindin' his. And now, sir, you'll
+have to eat your supper alone this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>If Dick's supper had consisted of nectar and the brains of nightingales
+he would not have noticed it; and, until late in the evening, he sat in
+the arbor, anxiously waiting for the captain's return. About ten o'clock
+old Jane, sleepy from having sat up so long, called to him from the door
+that he might as well come in and let her lock up the house. The captain
+was not coming home that night. He had stayed with the Ports once
+before, when the old man was sick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess he's got a better reason for stayin' tonight,&quot; she said. &quot;It'll
+be a great card for that Maria when the Glenford people knows it, and
+they'll know it you may be sure, if she has to go and walk the soles of
+her feet off tellin' them. One thing's mighty sure,&quot; she continued. &quot;I'm
+not goin' to stay here with her in the house. He'll have to get somebody
+else to help him take toll. But I guess she'll want to do that herself.
+Nothin' would suit her better than to be sittin' all day in the
+tollhouse talkin' scandal to everybody that goes by.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Dick is not a Prompt Bearer of News.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen the captain reached Glenford, and before he went to the Ports' he
+went to the telegraph-office, and made inquiries at various other
+places, but his niece had not been seen in town. He wandered about so
+long and asked so many questions that it was getting dark when he
+suddenly thought of the shunpike. He had not thought of it before, for
+it was an unfit road for bicycles, but now he saw that he had been a
+fool. That was the only way she could have gone back.</p>
+
+<p>Hurrying to a livery-stable, he hired a horse and buggy and a lantern,
+and drove to the shunpike. There he plainly saw the track of the bicycle
+as it had turned into that rough road. Then he drove on, examining every
+foot of the way, fearful that he might see, lying senseless by the side
+of the road, the figure of a girl, perhaps unconscious from fatigue,
+perhaps dead from an accident.</p>
+
+<p>When at last he emerged upon the turnpike he lost the track of the
+bicycle, but still he went on, all the way to Broadstone; a girl might
+be lying senseless by the side of the road, even on the pike, which at
+this time was not much frequented. Thus assuring himself that Olive had
+reached Broadstone in safety, or at least had not fallen by the way, he
+turned and drove back to town upon the pike, passing his own toll-gate,
+where the bar was always up after dark. He had promised to return the
+horse that night, and, as he had promised, he intended to do it. It was
+after nine o'clock when, returning from the livery-stable, he reached
+the Port house, and saw Maria sitting in the open doorway.</p>
+
+<p>She instantly ran out to meet him, asking him somewhat sharply why he
+had disappointed them. She had kept the supper waiting ever so long. He
+went in to see her father, who was sitting up for him, and she busied
+herself in getting him a fresh supper. Nice and hot the supper was, and
+although his answers to her questions had not been satisfactory, she
+concealed her resentment, if she had any. When the meal was over both
+father and daughter assured him that it was too late for him to go home
+that night, and that he must stay with them. Tired and troubled, Captain
+Asher accepted the invitation.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he could get away from the Port residence the next morning
+Captain Asher went home. He had hoped he would have been able to leave
+before breakfast, but the solicitous Maria would not listen to this. She
+prepared him a most tempting breakfast, cooking some of the things with
+her own hands, and she was so attentive, so anxious to please, so kind
+in her suggestions, and in every way so desirous to make him happy
+through the medium of savory food and tender-hearted concern, that she
+almost made him angry. Never before, he thought, had he seen a woman
+make such a coddling fool of herself. He knew very well what it meant,
+and that provoked him still more.</p>
+
+<p>When at last he got away he walked home in a bad humor; he was even
+annoyed with Olive. Granting that what she had done was natural enough
+under the circumstances, and that she had not wished to stop when she
+saw him in company with a woman she did not like, he thought she might
+have considered him as well as herself. She should have known that it
+would give him great trouble for her to dash by in that way and neither
+stop nor come back to explain matters. She must have known that Maria
+Port was not going to stay always, and she might have waited somewhere
+until the woman had gone. If she had had the least idea of how much he
+wanted to see her she would have contrived some way to come back to him.
+But no, she went back to Broadstone to please herself, and left him to
+wander up and down the roads looking for her in the dark.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain met old Jane at the door of the tollhouse her
+salutation did not smooth his ruffled spirits, for she told him that she
+and Mr. Lancaster had sat up until nearly the middle of the night
+waiting for him, and that the poor young man must have felt it, for he
+had not eaten half a breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>The captain paid but little attention to these remarks and passed in,
+but before he crossed the garden he met Dick, who informed him that he
+had something very important to communicate. Important communications
+that must be delivered without a moment's loss of time are generally
+unpleasant, and knowing this, the captain knit his brows a little, but
+told Dick he would be ready for him as soon as he lighted his pipe. He
+felt he must have something to soothe his ruffled spirits while he
+listened to the tale of the woes of some one else.</p>
+
+<p>But at the moment he scratched his match to light his pipe his soul was
+illuminated by a flash of joy; perhaps Dick was going to tell him he was
+engaged to Olive; perhaps that was what she had come to tell him the day
+before. He had not expected to hear anything of this kind, at least not
+so soon, but it had been the wish of his heart&mdash;he now knew that without
+appreciating the fact&mdash;it had been the earnest wish of his heart for
+some time, and he stepped toward the little arbor with the alacrity of
+happy anticipation.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they were seated Dick began to speak of Olive, but not in the
+way the captain had hoped for. He mentioned the great trouble into which
+she had been plunged, and gave the captain his brother's letter to read.
+When he had finished it the captain's face darkened, and his frown was
+heavy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An outrageous piece of business,&quot; he said, &quot;to treat a daughter in this
+way; to put a schoolmate over her head in the family! It is shameful!
+And this is what she was coming to tell me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Dick, &quot;that is it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Now there was another flash of joy in the captain's heart, which cleared
+up his countenance and made his frown disappear. &quot;She was coming to me,&quot;
+he thought. &quot;I was the one to whom she turned in her trouble.&quot; And it
+seemed to this good captain as if he had suddenly become the father of a
+grown-up daughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what message did she send me?&quot; he asked quickly. &quot;Did she say when
+she was coming again?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick hesitated; Olive had said that she wanted her uncle to say when he
+wanted to see her, so that there should be no more surprising, but this
+request had been conditional. Dick knew that she did not want to come if
+her uncle were going to marry Miss Port; therefore it was that he
+hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Before we go any further,&quot; he said, &quot;I think I would better mention a
+little thing which will make you laugh, but still it did worry Miss
+Asher, and was one reason why she went back to Broadstone without
+stopping.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is it&quot; asked the captain, putting down his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>Dick did not come out plainly and frankly, as he had told Olive he would
+do when he mentioned the Maria Port matter. In his own heart he could
+not help believing now that Olive's suspicions had had good foundations,
+and old Jane's announcements, combined with the captain's own actions in
+regard to the Port family, had almost convinced him that this miserable
+engagement was a fact. But, of course, he would not in any way intimate
+to the captain that he believed in such nonsense, and therefore, in an
+offhand manner, he mentioned Olive's absurd anxiety in regard to Miss
+Port.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain heard Dick's statement he answered it in the most frank
+and plain manner; he brought his big hand down on his knee and swore as
+if one of his crew had boldly contradicted him. He did not swear at
+anybody in particular; there was the roar and the crash of the thunder
+and the flash of the lightning, but no direct stroke descended upon any
+one. He was angry that such a repulsive and offensive thing as his
+marriage to Maria Port should be mentioned, or even thought of, but he
+was enraged when he heard that his niece had believed him capable of
+such disgusting insanity. With a jerk he rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will not talk about such a thing as this,&quot; he said. &quot;If I did I am
+sure I should say something hard about my niece, and I don't want to do
+that.&quot; With this he strode away, and proceeded to look after the
+concerns of his little farm.</p>
+
+<p>Old Jane came cautiously to Dick. &quot;Did he tell you when it was going to
+be, or anything about it?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Dick, &quot;he would not even speak of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose he expects us to mind our own business,&quot; said she, &quot;and of
+course we'll have to do it, but I can tell him one thing&mdash;I'm goin' to
+make it my business to leave this place the day before that woman comes
+here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dejected and thoughtful, Dick sat in the arbor. Here was a state of
+affairs very different from what he had anticipated. He had not been
+able to hurry to her the evening before; he had not gone to breakfast as
+she had invited him; he had not started off early in the forenoon; and
+now he asked himself when should he go, or, indeed, why should he go at
+all? She had no anxieties he could relieve. Anything he could tell her
+would only heap more unhappiness upon her, and the longer he could keep
+his news from her the better it would be for her.</p>
+
+<p>Olive had not joined the Broadstone party at dinner the night before.
+She had been too tired, and had gone directly to her room, where, after
+a time, Mrs. Easterfield joined her; and the two talked late. One who
+had overheard their conversation might well have supposed that the elder
+lady was as much interested in Lieutenant Asher's approaching nuptials
+as was the younger one. When she was leaving Mrs. Easterfield said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have enough on your mind to give it all the trouble it ought to
+bear, and so I beg of you not to think for a moment of that absurd idea
+about your uncle's engagement. I never saw the woman, but I have heard
+of her; she is a professional scandal-monger; and Captain Asher would
+not think for a moment of marrying her. When Mr. Lancaster comes
+to-morrow you will hear that she was merely consulting him on business,
+and that you are to go to the toll-gate to-morrow as soon as you can.
+But remember, this time I am going to send you in the carriage. No more
+bicycles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this well-intentioned admonition, Olive did not sleep well,
+and dreamed all night of Miss Port in the shape of a great cat covered
+with feathers like a chicken, and trying to get a chance to jump at her.
+Very early she awoke, and looking at her clock, she began to calculate
+the hours which must pass before Mr. Lancaster could arrive. It was
+rather strange that of the two troubles which came to her as soon as she
+opened her eyes, the suspected engagement of her uncle pushed itself in
+front of the actual engagement of her father; the one was something she
+<i>knew</i> she would have to make up her mind to bear; the other was
+something she <i>feared</i> she would have to make up her mind to bear.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>What Olive determined to do.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live was very much disappointed at breakfast time, and as soon as she
+had finished that meal she stationed herself at a point on the grounds
+which commanded the entrance. People came and talked to her, but she did
+not encourage conversation, and about eleven o'clock she went to Mrs.
+Easterfield in her room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is not coming,&quot; she said. &quot;He is afraid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is he afraid of?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is afraid to tell me that the optimistic speculations with which he
+tried to soothe my mind arose entirely from his own imagination. The
+whole thing is exactly what I expected, and he hasn't the courage to
+come and say so. Now, really, don't you think this is the state of the
+case, and that if he had anything but the worst news to bring me he
+would have been here long ago?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield looked very serious. &quot;I would not give up,&quot; she said,
+&quot;until I saw Mr. Lancaster and heard what he has to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That would not suit me,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I have waited and waited just as
+long as I can. It is as likely as not that he has concluded that he can
+not do anything here which will be of service to any one, and has
+started off to finish his vacation at some place where people won't
+bother him with their own affairs. He told me when I first met him that
+he was on his way North. And now, would you like me to tell you what I
+have determined to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I would,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, but her expression did not indicate
+that she expected Olive's announcement to give her any pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been considering it all the morning,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and I have
+determined to marry without delay. The greatest object of my life at
+present is to write to my father that I am married. I don't wish to tell
+him anything until I can tell him that. I would also be glad to be able
+to send the same message to the toll-gate house, but I don't suppose it
+will make much difference there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you think,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that my inviting you here made
+all this trouble?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive. &quot;It was not the immediate cause, but uncle knows I do
+not like that woman, and she doesn't like me, and it would not have
+suited him to have me stay very much longer with him. I thought at first
+he was glad to have me go on account of Mr. Lancaster, but now I do not
+believe that had anything to do with it. He did not want me with him,
+and what that woman came here and told me about his not expecting me
+back again was, I now believe, a roundabout message from him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Olive,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;it would be a great deal better
+for you to stop all this imagining until you hear from Mr. Lancaster,
+if you don't see him. Perhaps the poor young man has sprained his ankle,
+or was prevented in some ordinary way from coming. But what is this
+nonsense about getting married?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is no nonsense about it,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I am going to marry, but I
+have not chosen any one yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield uttered an exclamation of horror. &quot;Choose!&quot; she
+exclaimed. &quot;What have you to do with choosing? I don't think you are
+much like other girls, but I did think you had enough womanly qualities
+to make you wait until you are chosen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I intend to wait until I am chosen,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but I shall choose
+the person who is to choose me. I have always thought it absurd for a
+young woman to sit and wait and wait until some one comes and sees fit
+to propose to her. Even under ordinary circumstances, I think the young
+woman has not a fair chance to get what she wants. But my case is
+extraordinary, and I can't afford to wait; and as I don't want to go out
+into the world to look for a husband, I am going to take one of these
+young men here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;you don't mean you are going to marry
+Mr. Locker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You forget,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that I told you I have not made up my mind
+yet. But although I have not come to a decision, I have a leaning toward
+one of them. The more I think of it the more I incline in the direction
+of my old love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Olive, you are crazy, or
+else you are joking in a very disagreeable manner. There could be no
+one more unfit for you than he is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not crazy, and I am not joking,&quot; replied the girl, &quot;and I think
+Rupert would suit me very well. You see, I think a great deal more of
+Rupert than I do of Mr. Hemphill, although the latter gentleman has
+excellent points. He is commonplace, and, above everything else, I want
+a commonplace husband. I want some one to soothe me, and quiet me, and
+to give me ballast. If there is anything out of the way to be done I
+want to do it myself. I am sure he is in love with me, for his anxious
+efforts to make me believe that the frank avowal of my early affection
+had no effect upon him proves that he was very much affected. I believe
+that he is truly in love with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield's sharp eyes had seen this, and she had nothing to say.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe,&quot; continued Olive, &quot;that a retrospect love will be a better
+foundation for conjugal happiness than any other sort of affection. One
+can always look back to it no matter what happens, and be happy in the
+memory of it. It would be something distinct which could never be
+interfered with. You can't imagine what an earnest and absorbing love I
+once had for that man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield sprang to her feet. &quot;Olive Asher,&quot; she cried, &quot;I can't
+listen to you if you talk in this way!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if you object so much to Rupert&mdash;you must not
+forget that it would be Rupert that I would really marry if I became the
+wife of Mr. Hemphill&mdash;do you advise me to take Mr. Locker? And I will
+tell you this, he is not to be rudely set aside; he has warm-hearted
+points which I did not suspect at first. I will tell you what he just
+said to me. As I was coming up-stairs he hurried toward me, and his face
+showed that he was very anxious to speak to me. So before he could utter
+a word, I told him that he was too early; that his hour had not yet
+arrived. Then that good fellow said to me that he had seen I was in
+trouble, and that he had been informed it had been caused by bad news
+from my family. He had made no inquiries because he did not wish to
+intrude upon my private affairs, and all he wished to say now was that
+while my mind was disturbed and worried he did not intend to present his
+own affairs to my attention, even though I had fixed regular times for
+his doing so. But although he wished me to understand that I need not
+fear his making love to me just at this time, he wanted me to remember
+that his love was still burning as brightly as ever, and would be again
+offered me just as soon as he would be warranted in doing so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what did you say to that?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I felt like patting him on the head,&quot; Olive answered, &quot;but instead of
+doing that I shook his hand just as warmly as I could, and told him I
+should not forget his consideration and good feeling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield sighed. &quot;You have joined him fast to your car,&quot; she
+said, &quot;and yet, even if there were no one else, he would be impossible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why so?&quot; asked Olive quickly. &quot;I have always liked him, and now I like
+him ever so much better. To be sure he is queer; but then he is so much
+queerer than I am that perhaps in comparison I might take up the part
+of commonplace partner. Besides, he has money enough to live on. He told
+me that when he first addressed me. He said he would never ask any woman
+to live on pickled verse feet, and he has also told me something of his
+family, which must be a good one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I don't believe at all in the necessity
+or the sense in your precipitating plans of marrying. It is all airy
+talk, anyway. You can't ask a man to step up and marry you in order that
+you may sit down and write a letter to your father. But if you are
+thinking of marrying, or rather of preparing to marry at some suitable
+time, why, in the name of everything that is reasonable, don't you take
+Mr. Lancaster? He is as far above the other young men you have met here
+as the mountains are above the plains; he belongs to another class
+altogether. He is a thoroughly fine young man, and has a most honorable
+profession with good prospects, and I know he loves you. You need not
+ask me how I know it&mdash;it is always easy for a woman to find out things
+like that. Now, here is a prospective husband for you whose cause I
+should advocate. In fact, I should be delighted to see you married to
+him. He possesses every quality which would make you a good husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled. &quot;You seem to know a great deal about him,&quot; said she, &quot;and
+I assure you that so far as he himself is concerned, I have no
+objections to him, except that I think he might have had the courage to
+come and tell me the truth this morning, whatever it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps he has not found out the truth yet,&quot; quickly suggested Mrs.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>Olive fixed her eyes upon her companion and for a few moments reflected,
+but presently she shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, that can not be,&quot; she answered. &quot;He would have let me know he had
+been obliged to wait. Oh, no, it is all settled, and we can drop that
+subject. But as for Mr. Lancaster, his connections would make any
+thought of him impossible. He, and his father, too, are both close
+friends of my uncle, and he would be a constant communication between me
+and that woman unless there should be a quarrel, which I don't wish to
+cause. No, I want to leave everything of that sort as far behind me as
+it used to be in front of me, and as Professor Lancaster is mixed up
+with it I could not think of having anything to do with him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was silent. She was trying to make up her mind whether
+this girl were talking sense or nonsense. What she said seemed to be
+extremely nonsensical, but as she said it, it was difficult to believe
+that she did not consider it to be entirely rational.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Olive, &quot;you have objected to two of my candidates, and I
+positively decline the one you offer, so we have left only the diplomat.
+He has proposed, and he has not yet received a definite answer. You have
+told me yourself that he belongs to an aristocratic family in Austria,
+and I am sure that would be a grand match. We have talked together a
+great deal, and he seems to like the things I like. I should see plenty
+of court life and high society, for he will soon be transferred from
+this legation, and if I take him I shall go to some foreign capital. He
+is very sharp and ambitious, and I have no doubt that some day he will
+be looked upon as a distinguished foreigner. Now, as it is the ambition
+of many American girls to marry distinguished foreigners, this alliance
+is certainly worthy of due consideration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Stuff!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was not annoyed, and replied very quietly: &quot;It is not stuff. You
+must know young women who have married foreigners and who did not do
+anything like so well as if they had married rising diplomats.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Blynn now knocked at the door on urgent household business.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall want to see you again about all this, Olive,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield as they parted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; replied the girl, &quot;whenever you want to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Blynn,&quot; said the lady of the house, &quot;before you mention what you
+have come to talk about, please tell one of the men to put a horse to a
+buggy and come to the house. I want to send a message by him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter which was speedily on its way to Mr. Richard Lancaster was a
+very brief one. It simply asked the young gentleman to come to
+Broadstone, with bad news or good news, or without any news at all. It
+was absolutely necessary that the writer should see him, and in order
+that there might be no delay she sent a conveyance for him. Moreover,
+she added, it would give her great pleasure if Mr. Lancaster would come
+prepared to spend a couple of days at her house. She felt sure good
+Captain Asher would spare him for that short time. She believed that at
+this moment more gentlemen were needed at Broadstone, and, although she
+did not go on to say that she thought Dick was not having a fair chance
+at this very important crisis, that is what she expected the young man
+to understand.</p>
+
+<p>Just before luncheon, at the time when Claude Locker might have been
+urging his suit had he been less kind-hearted and generous, Olive found
+an opportunity to say a few words to Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A capital idea has come into my head,&quot; she said. &quot;What do you think of
+holding a competitive examination among these young men?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;More stuff, and more nonsense!&quot; ejaculated Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I never
+knew any one to trifle with serious subjects as you are trifling with
+your future.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not trifling,&quot; said Olive. &quot;Of course, I don't mean that I should
+hold an examination, but that you should. You know that parents&mdash;foreign
+parents, I mean&mdash;make all sorts of examinations of the qualifications
+and merits of candidates for the hands of their daughters, and I should
+be very grateful if you would be at least that much of a mother to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No examination would be needed,&quot; said the other quickly; &quot;I should
+decide upon Mr. Lancaster without the necessity of any questions or
+deliberations.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But he is not a candidate,&quot; said Olive; &quot;he has been ruled out.
+However,&quot; she added with a little laugh, &quot;nothing can be done just now,
+for they have not all entered themselves in the competition; Mr.
+Hemphill has not proposed yet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that instant the rest of the family joined them on their way to
+luncheon.</p>
+
+<p>The meal was scarcely over when Olive disappeared up-stairs, but soon
+came down attired in a blue sailor suit, which she had not before worn
+at Broadstone, and although the ladies of that house had been astonished
+at the number of costumes this navy girl carried in her unostentatious
+baggage, this was a new surprise to them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill and I are going boating,&quot; said Olive to Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive!&quot; exclaimed the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is there astonishing about it?&quot; asked the girl. &quot;I have been out
+boating with Mr. Locker, and it did not amaze you. You need not be
+afraid; Mr. Hemphill says he has had a good deal of practise in rowing,
+and if he does not understand the management of a boat I am sure I do.
+It is only for an hour, and we shall be ready for anything that the rest
+of you are going to do this afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With this, away she went, skipping over the rocks and grass, down to the
+river's edge, followed by Mr. Hemphill, who could scarcely believe he
+was in a world of common people and common things, while he, in turn,
+was followed by the mental anathemas of a poet and a diplomat.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XIX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XIX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and Dick Lancaster desert the Toll-Gate.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Captain Asher, in an angry mood, left his young friend and guest
+and went out into his barnyard and his fields in order to quiet his soul
+by the consideration of agricultural subjects, he met with but little
+success. He looked at his pigs, but he did not notice their plump
+condition; he glanced at his two cows, cropping the grass in the little
+meadow, but it did not impress him that they also were in fine
+condition; nor did he care whether the pasture were good or not. He
+looked at this; and he looked at that; and then he folded his arms and
+looked at the distant mountains. Suddenly he turned on his heel, walked
+straight to the stable, harnessed his mare to the buggy, and, without
+saying a word to anybody, drove out of the gate, and on to Glenford.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster, who was in the arbor, looked in amazement after the
+captain's departing buggy, and old Jane, with tears in her eyes, came
+out and spoke to him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Isn't this dreadful&quot; she said to him. &quot;Supper with that woman and there
+all night, and back again as soon as he can get off this mornin'!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps he is not going to her house,&quot; Dick suggested. &quot;He may have
+business in town which he forgot yesterday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he'd had it he'd forgot it,&quot; replied the old woman. &quot;But he hadn't
+none. He's gone to Maria Port's, and he may bring her back with him,
+married tight and fast, for all you or me knows. It would be just like
+his sailor fashion. When the captain's got anything to do he just does
+it sharp and quick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't believe that,&quot; said Dick. &quot;If he had had any such intention as
+that he certainly would have mentioned it to you or to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The good woman shook her head. &quot;When an old man marries a girl,&quot; she
+said, &quot;she just leads him wherever she wants him to go, and he gives up
+everything to her, and when an old man marries a tough and seasoned and
+smoked old maid like Maria Port, she just drives him wherever she wants
+him to go, and he hasn't nothin' to say about it. It looks as if she
+told him to come in this mornin', and he's gone. It may be for a
+weddin', or it may be for somethin' else, but whatever it is, it'll be
+her way and not his straight on to the end of the chapter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick had nothing to answer. He was very much afraid that old Jane knew
+what she was talking about, and his mind was occupied with trying to
+decide what he, individually, ought to do about it. Old Jane was now
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to attend to a traveler, but when she
+came back she took occasion to say a few more words.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It's hard on me, sir,&quot; she said, &quot;at my age to make a change. I've
+lived at this house, and I've took toll at that gate ever since I was a
+girl, long before the captain came here, and I've been with him a long
+time. My people used to own this house, but they all died, and when the
+place was sold and the captain bought it, he heard about me, and he said
+I should always have charge of the old toll-gate when he wasn't
+attendin' to it himself, just the same as when my father was alive and
+was toll-gate keeper, and I was helpin' him. But I've got to go now, and
+where I'm goin' to is more'n I know. But I'd rather go to the county
+poorhouse than stay here, or anywhere else, with Maria Port. She's a
+regular boa-constrictor, that woman is! She's twisted herself around
+people before this and squeezed the senses out of them; and that's
+exactly what she's doin' with the captain. If she could come here to
+live and bring her old father, and get him to sell the house in town and
+put the money in bank, and then if she could worry her husband and her
+father both to death, and work things so she'd be a widow with plenty of
+money and a good house and as much farm land as she wanted, and a
+toll-gate where she could set all day and take toll and give back lies
+and false witness as change, she'd be the happiest woman on earth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It had been long since old Jane had said as much at any one time to any
+one person, but her mind was stirred. Her life was about to change, and
+the future was very black to her.</p>
+
+<p>When dinner was ready the captain had not yet returned, and Dick ate his
+meal by himself. He was now beginning to feel used to this sort of
+thing. He had scarcely finished, and gone down to the garden-gate to
+look once more over the road toward Glenford, when the man in the buggy
+arrived, and he received Mrs. Easterfield's letter.</p>
+
+<p>He lost no moments in making up his mind. He would go to Broadstone, of
+course, and he did not think it at all necessary to stand on ceremony
+with the captain. The latter had gone off and left him without making
+any statement whatever, but he would do better, and he wrote a note
+explaining the state of affairs. As he was leaving old Jane came to bid
+him good-by.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said she, &quot;that you will find me here when you come
+back. The fact of it is I don't know nothin'. But one thing's certain,
+if she's here I ain't, and if she's too high and mighty to take toll in
+her honeymoon, the captain'll have to do it himself, or let 'em pass
+through free.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was on the lawn when Lancaster arrived, and in answer
+to the involuntary glance with which Dick's eyes swept the surrounding
+space, even while he was shaking hands with her, she said: &quot;No, she is
+not here. She has gone boating, and so you must come and tell me
+everything, and then we can decide what is best to tell her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For an instant Dick's soul demurred. If he told Olive anything he would
+tell her all he knew, and exactly what had happened. But he would not
+lose faith in this noble woman who was going to help him with Olive if
+she could. So they sat down, side by side, and he told her everything he
+knew about Captain Asher and Miss Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It does look very much as if he were going to marry the woman,&quot; said
+Mrs. Easterfield. Then she sat silent and looked upon the ground, a
+frown upon her face.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was also silent, and his countenance was clouded. &quot;Poor Olive,&quot; he
+thought, &quot;it is hard that this new trouble should come upon her just at
+this time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Easterfield said in her heart: &quot;Poor fellow, how little you
+know what has come upon you! The woman who has turned her uncle from
+Olive has turned Olive from you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the lady at length, &quot;do you think it is worth while to say
+anything to her about it? She has already surmised the state of affairs,
+and, so far as I can see, you have nothing of importance to tell her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not,&quot; said Dick, &quot;but as she sent me on a mission I want to
+make known to her the result of it so far as there has been any result.
+It will be very unpleasant, of course&mdash;it will be even painful&mdash;but I
+wish to do it all the same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is to say,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield with a smile that was not very
+cheerful, &quot;you want to be with her, to look at her and to speak to her,
+no matter how much it may pain her or you to do it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's it,&quot; answered Dick.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield sat and reflected. She very much liked this young man,
+and, considering herself as his friend, were there not some things she
+ought to tell him? She concluded that there were such things.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she said, &quot;have you noticed that there are other young
+men in love with Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know there is one,&quot; said Dick, &quot;for he told me so himself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was Claude Locker?&quot; said she with interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And he promised,&quot; continued Dick, &quot;that if he failed he would do all he
+could to help me. I can not say that this is really for love of me, for
+his avowed object is to prevent Mr. Du Brant from getting her. We
+assumed that he was her lover, although I do not know that there is any
+real ground for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is very good ground for it,&quot; said she, &quot;for he has already
+proposed to her. What do you think of that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It makes no difference to me,&quot; said Dick; &quot;that is, if he has not been
+accepted. What I want is to find myself warranted in telling Miss Asher
+how I feel toward her; it does not matter to me how the rest of the
+world feels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then there is another,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;with whom she is now on
+the river&mdash;Mr. Hemphill. He is in love with her; and as he can not stay
+here very long, I think he will soon propose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can not help it,&quot; said Dick; &quot;I love her, and the great object of my
+life just at present is to tell her so. You said you would help me, and
+I hope you will not withdraw from that promise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, indeed,&quot; said she, &quot;but I do not know her as well as I thought I
+did. But here she comes now, and without the young man. I hope she has
+not drowned him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without heeding anything that had just been said to him Dick kept his
+eyes fixed upon the sparkling girl who now approached them. Every step
+she made was another link in his chain; Mrs. Easterfield glanced at him
+and knew this. She pitied him for what he had to tell her now, and more
+for what he might have to hear from her at another time. But Olive saved
+Dick from any present ordeal. She stepped up to him and offered him her
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not wonder, Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she said, &quot;that you did not want to
+come back and tell me your doleful story, but as I know what it is, we
+need not say anything about it now, except that I am ever so much
+obliged to you for all your kindness to me. And now I am going to ask
+another favor. Won't you let me speak to Mrs. Easterfield a few
+moments?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they were seated, with the door shut, Olive began.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said she, &quot;he has proposed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Hemphill!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Rupert,&quot; Olive answered, &quot;yes, it is truly Rupert who proposed to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I declare,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;you come to me and tell me this as
+if it were a piece of glad news. Yesterday, and even this morning, you
+were plunged in grief, and now your eyes shine as if you were positively
+happy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have told you my aim and object in life,&quot; said the girl. &quot;I am trying
+to do something, and to do it soon, and everything is going on smoothly.
+And as to being happy, I tell you, Mrs. Easterfield, there is no woman
+alive who could help being made happy by such a declaration as I have
+just received. No matter what answer she gave him, she would be bound
+to be happy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Most other women would not have let him make it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield
+a little severely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is something in that,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but they would not have the
+object in life I have. I may be unduly exalted, but you would not wonder
+at it if you had seen him and heard him. Mrs. Easterfield, that man
+loves me exactly as I used to love him, and he has told me his love just
+as I would have told him mine if I could have carried out the wish of my
+heart. His eyes glowed, his frame shook with the ardor of his passion.
+Two or three times I had to tell him that if he did not trim boat we
+should be upset. I never saw anything like his impassioned vehemence. It
+reminded me of Salvini. I never was loved like that before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what answer did you make to him?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield, her voice
+trembling.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not make him any. It would not have been fair to the others or to
+myself to do that. I shall not swerve from my purpose, but I shall not
+be rash.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield rose suddenly and stepped to the open window; she could
+not sit still a moment longer; she needed air. &quot;Olive,&quot; she said, &quot;this
+is mad and wicked folly in you, and it is impertinent in him, no matter
+how much you encouraged him. I would like to send him back to his desk
+this minute. He has no right to come to his employer's house and behave
+in this manner.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive did not get angry. &quot;He is not impertinent,&quot; said she. &quot;He knows
+nothing in this world but that I once loved him, and that now he loves
+me. Employer and employee are nothing to him. I don't believe he would
+go if you told him to, even if you could do such a thing, which I don't
+believe you would, for, of course, you would think of me as well as of
+him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive Asher,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield in a voice which was almost a
+wail, &quot;do you mean to say that you are to be considered in this matter,
+that for a moment you think of marrying this man?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I do think of it, and the more I think of it the
+better I think of it. He is a good man; you have told me that yourself;
+and I can feel that he is good. I know he loves me. There can be no
+mistake about his words and his eyes. I feel as I never felt toward any
+other man, that I might become attached to him. And in my opinion a real
+attachment is the foundation of love, and you must never forget that I
+once loved him.&quot; The girl now stepped close to Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I am
+sorry to see those tears,&quot; she said; &quot;I did not come here to make you
+unhappy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you have made me very unhappy,&quot; said the elder lady, &quot;and I do not
+think I can talk any more about this now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Olive had gone Mrs. Easterfield hurried down-stairs in search of
+Lancaster. She did not care what any one might think of her
+unconventional eagerness; she wanted to find him, and she soon
+succeeded. He was sitting in the shade with a book, which, when she
+approached him, she did not believe he was reading.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, as he started to his feet in evident concern, &quot;I have
+been crying, and there is no use in trying to conceal it. Of course, it
+is about Olive, but I can not confide in you now, and I do not know that
+I have any right to do so, anyway. But I came here to beg you most
+earnestly not to propose to Miss Asher, no matter how good an
+opportunity you may have, no matter how much you want to do so, no
+matter how much hope may spring up in your heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you mean,&quot; said Dick, &quot;that I must never speak to her? Am I too
+late? Is she lost to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all,&quot; said she, &quot;you are not too late, but you may be too early.
+She is not lost to anybody, but if you should speak to her before I tell
+you to she will certainly be lost to you.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Locker determines to rush the Enemy's Position.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he party at Broadstone was not in what might be called a congenial
+condition. There were among them elements of unrest which prevented that
+assimilation which is necessary to social enjoyment. Even the ordinarily
+placid Mr. Fox was dissatisfied. The trouble with him was&mdash;although he
+did not admit it&mdash;that he missed the company of Miss Asher. He had found
+her most agreeable and inspiriting, but now things had changed, and he
+did not seem to have any opportunity for the lively chats of a few days
+before. He remarked to his wife that he thought Broadstone was getting
+very dull, and he should be rather glad when the time came for them to
+leave. Mrs. Fox was not of his opinion; she enjoyed the state of affairs
+more than she had done when her husband had been better pleased. There
+was something going on which she did not understand, and she wanted to
+find out what it was. It concerned Miss Asher and one of the young men,
+but which one she could not decide. In any case it troubled Mrs.
+Easterfield, and that was interesting.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker seemed to be a changed man; he no longer made jokes or
+performed absurdities. He had become wonderfully vigilant, and seemed to
+be one who continually bided his time. He bided it so much that he was
+of very little use as a member of the social circle.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant was also biding his time, but he did not make the fact
+evident. He was very vigilant also, but was very quiet, and kept himself
+in the background. He had seen Olive and Mr. Hemphill go out in the
+boat, but he determined totally to ignore that interesting occurrence.
+The moment he had an opportunity he would speak to Olive again, and the
+existence of other people did not concern him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill was walking by the river; Olive had not allowed him to come
+to the house with her, for his face was so radiant with the ecstasy of
+not having been discarded by her that she did not wish him to be seen.
+From her window Mrs. Easterfield saw this young man on his return from
+his promenade, and she knew it would not be many minutes before he would
+reach the house. She also saw the diplomat, who was glaring across the
+grounds at some one, probably Mr. Locker, who, not unlikely, was glaring
+back at him. She had come up-stairs to do some writing, but now she put
+down her pen and called to her secretary.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Raleigh,&quot; said she, &quot;it has been a good while since you have done
+anything for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed it has,&quot; said the other with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I want you to do something this minute. It is strictly confidential
+business. I want you to go down on the lawn, or any other place where
+Miss Asher may be, and make yourself <i>mal &agrave; propos</i>. I am busy now, but
+I will relieve you before very long. Can you do that? Do you
+understand?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The aspect of the secretary underwent a total change. From a dull,
+heavy-eyed woman she became an intent, an eager emissary. Her hands
+trembled with the intensity of her desire to meddle with the affairs of
+others.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I understand,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;and I can do it. You mean you
+don't want any of those young men to get a chance to speak to Miss
+Asher. Do you include Mr. Lancaster? Or shall I only keep off the
+others?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I include all of them,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Don't let any of them
+have a chance to speak to her until I can come down. And hurry! Here is
+one coming now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Hurrying down-stairs, the secretary glanced into the library. There she
+saw Mrs. Fox in one armchair, and Olive in another, both reading. In the
+hall were the two little girls, busily engaged in harnessing two small
+chairs to a large armchair by means of a ball of pink yarn. Outside,
+about a hundred yards away, she saw Mr. Hemphill irresolutely
+approaching the house. Miss Raleigh's mind, frequently dormant, was very
+brisk and lively when she had occasion to waken it. She made a dive
+toward the children.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dear little ones,&quot; she cried, &quot;don't you want to come out under the
+trees and have the good Mr. Hemphill tell you a story? I know he wants
+to tell you one, and it is about a witch and two pussy-cats and a
+kangaroo. Come along. He is out there waiting for us.&quot; Down dropped the
+ball of yarn, and with exultant cries each little girl seized an
+outstretched hand of the secretary, and together they ran over the grass
+to meet the good Mr. Hemphill.</p>
+
+<p>Of course he was obliged to want to tell them a story; they expected it
+of him, and they were his employer's children. To be sure he had on mind
+something very practical and sensible he wished to say to Miss Olive,
+which had come to him during his solitary walk, and which he did not
+believe she would object to hearing, although he had said so much to her
+quite recently. As soon as he should begin to speak she would know that
+this was something she ought to know. It was about his mother, who had
+an income of her own, and did not in the least depend upon her son. Miss
+Olive would certainly agree with him that it was proper for him to tell
+her this.</p>
+
+<p>But the little girls seized his hands and led him away to a bench,
+where, having seated him almost forcibly, each climbed upon a knee. The
+good Mr. Hemphill sent a furtive glare after Miss Raleigh, who, with
+that smile of gentle gratification which comes to one after having just
+done a good deed to another, sauntered slowly away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't come back again,&quot; cried out the older of the little girls. &quot;He
+was put out in the last story, and we want this to be a long one. And
+remember, Mr, Rupert, it is to be about a witch and two pussy-cats&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And a kangaroo,&quot; added the other.</p>
+
+<p>At the front door the secretary met Miss Asher, just emerging. &quot;Isn't
+that a pretty picture&quot; she said, pointing to the group under the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at them and smiled. &quot;It is beautiful,&quot; she said; &quot;a
+regular family composition. I wish I had a kodak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, that would never do!&quot; exclaimed Miss Raleigh. &quot;He is just as
+sensitive as he can be, and, of course, it's natural. And the dear
+little things are so glad to get him to themselves so that they can have
+one of the long, long stories they like so much. May I ask what that is
+you are working, Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is going to be what they call a nucleus,&quot; said Olive, showing a
+little piece of fancy work. &quot;You first crochet this, and then its
+ultimate character depends on what you may put around it. It may be a
+shawl, or a table cover, or even an apron, if you like crocheted aprons.
+I learned the stitch last winter. Would you like me to show it to you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should like it above all things,&quot; said the secretary. And together
+they walked to a rustic bench quite away from the story-telling group.
+&quot;So far I have done nothing but nucleuses,&quot; said Olive, as they sat
+down. &quot;I put them away when they are finished, and then I suppose some
+time I shall take up one and make it into something.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Like those pastry shells,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, &quot;which can be laid away
+and which you can fill up with preserves or jam whenever you want a pie.
+How many of these have you, Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When this is finished there will be four,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>At some distance, and near the garden, Dick Lancaster, strolling
+eastward, encountered Claude Locker, strolling westward.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello!&quot; cried Locker. &quot;I am glad to see you. Brought your baggage with
+you this time, I see. That means you are going to stay, of course.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A couple of days,&quot; replied Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, a man can do a lot in that time, and you may have something to
+do, but I am not sure. No, sir,&quot; continued Locker, &quot;I am not sure. I am
+on the point of making a demonstration in force. But the enemy is always
+presenting some new force. By enemy you understand me to mean that which
+I adore above all else in the world, but which must be attacked, and
+that right soon if her defenses are to be carried. Step this way a
+little, and look over there. Do you see that Raleigh woman sitting on a
+bench with her? Well, now, if I had not had such a beastly generous
+disposition I might be sitting on that bench this minute. I was deceived
+by a feint of the opposing forces this morning. I don't mean she
+deceived me. I did it myself. Although I had the right by treaty to
+march in upon her, I myself offered to establish a truce in order that
+she might bury her dead. I did not know who had been killed, but it
+looked as if there were losses of some kind. But it was a false alarm.
+The dead must have turned up only missing, and she was as lively as a
+cricket at luncheon, and went out in a boat with that tailor's
+model&mdash;sixteen dollars and forty-eight cents for the entire suit
+ready-made; or twenty-three dollars made to order.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick smiled a little, but his soul rebelled within him. He regretted
+that he had given his promise to Mrs. Easterfield. What he wanted to do
+that moment was to go over to Captain Asher's niece and ask her to take
+a walk with him. What other man had a better right to speak to her than
+he had? But he respected his word; it would be very hard to break a
+promise made to Mrs. Easterfield; and he stood with his hands in his
+pockets, and his brows knit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, I tell you what I am going to do,&quot; said Locker. &quot;I am going to
+wait a little while&mdash;a very little while&mdash;and then I shall bounce over
+my earthworks, and rush her position. It is the only way to do it, and I
+shall be up and at her with cold steel. And now I will tell you what you
+must do. Just you hold yourself in reserve; and, if I am routed, you
+charge. You'd better do it if you know what's good for you, for that
+Austrian's over there pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French
+because that Raleigh woman doesn't get up and go. Now, I won't keep you
+any longer, but don't go far away. I can't talk any more, for I've got
+to have every eye fixed upon the point of attack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick looked at the animated face of his companion, and began to ask
+himself if the moment had not arrived when even a promise made to Mrs.
+Easterfield might be disregarded. Should he consent to allow his fate to
+depend upon the fortunes of Mr. Locker? He scorned the notion. It would
+be impossible for the girl who had talked so sweetly, so earnestly, so
+straight from her heart, when he had met her on the shunpike, to marry
+such a mountebank as this fellow, generous as he might be with that
+which could never belong to him. As to the diplomat, he did not
+condescend to bestow a thought upon such a black-pointed little
+foreigner.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Miss Raleigh enjoys a Rare Privilege.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>M</span>iss Raleigh was very attentive to the instructions given her by Miss
+Asher, and while she exhibited the fashion of the new stitch Olive
+reflected.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wonder,&quot; she said to herself, &quot;if Mrs. Easterfield has done this. It
+looks very much like it, and if she did I am truly obliged to her. There
+is nothing I want so much now as a rest, and I didn't want to stay in
+the house either. Miss Raleigh,&quot; said she, suddenly changing the
+subject, &quot;were you ever in love?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The secretary started. &quot;What do you mean by that?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't mean anything,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I simply wanted to know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a queer question,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, her face changing to
+another shade of sallowness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; said Olive quickly, &quot;but the answers to queer questions
+are always so much more interesting than those to any others. Don't you
+think so?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, they are,&quot; said Miss Raleigh thoughtfully, &quot;but they are generally
+awfully hard to get. I have tried it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you ought to have a fellow feeling for me,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the other, looking steadfastly at her companion, &quot;if you
+will promise to keep it all to yourself forever, I don't mind telling
+you that I was once in love. Would you like me to tell you who I was in
+love with?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Olive, &quot;if you are willing to tell me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I am perfectly willing,&quot; said the secretary. &quot;It was Mr. Hemphill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive turned suddenly and looked at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it was Mr. Hemphill over there,&quot; said the other, speaking very
+tranquilly, as if the subject were of no importance. &quot;You see, I have
+been living with the Easterfields for a long time, and in the winter we
+see a good deal of Mr. Hemphill. He has to come to the house on
+business, and often takes meals. He is Mr. Easterfield's private and
+confidential secretary. And, somehow or other, seeing him so often, and
+sometimes being his partner at cards when two were needed to make up a
+game, I forgot that I was older than he, and I actually fell in love
+with him. You see he has a good heart, Miss Asher; anybody could tell
+that from his way with children; and I have noticed that bachelors are
+often nicer with children than fathers are.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And he?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh laughed a little laugh. &quot;Oh, I did all the loving,&quot; she
+answered. &quot;He never reciprocated the least little bit, and I often
+wondered why I adored him as much as I did. He was handsome, and he was
+good, and he had excellent taste; he was thoroughly trustworthy in his
+relations to the family, and I believe he would be equally so in all
+relations of life; but all that did not account for my unconquerable
+ardor, which was caused by a certain something which you know, Miss
+Asher, we can't explain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive tried hard not to allow any emotion to show itself in her face,
+but she did not altogether succeed. &quot;And you still&mdash;&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't,&quot; interrupted Miss Raleigh. &quot;I love him no longer. There
+came a time when all my fire froze. I discovered that there was&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I say, Miss Asher&mdash;&quot; it was the voice of Claude Locker.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked around at him. &quot;Well?&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you have not noticed,&quot; said he, &quot;that the tennis ground is now
+in the shade, and if you don't mind walking that way&mdash;&quot; He said a good
+deal more which Miss Raleigh did not believe, understanding the young
+man thoroughly, and which Olive did not hear. Her mind was very busy
+with what she had just heard, which made a great impression on her. She
+did not know whether she was affronted, or hurt, or merely startled.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a man who loved her, a man she had loved, and one about whom
+she had been questioning herself as to the possibility of her loving him
+again. And here was a woman, a dyspeptic, unwholesome spinster, who had
+just said she had loved him. If Miss Raleigh had loved this man, how
+could she, Olive, love him? There was something repugnant about it which
+she did not attempt to understand. It went beyond reason. She felt it
+to be an actual relief to look up at Claude Locker, and to listen to
+what he was saying.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You mean,&quot; said she presently, &quot;that you would like Miss Raleigh and me
+to come with you and play tennis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know Miss Raleigh played,&quot; he answered, &quot;but I thought
+perhaps&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I would not think of such a thing. In fact, Miss
+Raleigh and I are engaged. We are very busy about some important work.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker gazed at the crocheted nucleus with an air of the loftiest
+disdain. &quot;Of course, of course,&quot; said he, &quot;but you really oblige me,
+Miss Asher, to speak very plainly and frankly and to say that I really
+do not care about playing tennis, but that I want to speak to you on a
+most important subject, which, for reasons that I will explain, must be
+spoken of immediately. So, if Miss Raleigh will be kind enough to
+postpone the little matter you have on hand&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled and shook her head. &quot;No, indeed, sir,&quot; she said; &quot;I would
+not hurt a lady's feelings in that way, and moreover, I would not allow
+her to hurt her own feelings. It would hurt your feelings, Miss Raleigh,
+wouldn't it, to be sent away like a child who is not wanted?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the secretary, &quot;I think it would.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker listened in amazement. He had not thought the mature maiden
+had the nerve to say that.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then again,&quot; said Olive, &quot;this isn't the time for you to talk business
+with me, and you should not disturb me at this hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said Locker, bringing down the forefinger of his right hand upon
+the palm of his left, &quot;that is a point, a very essential point. I
+voluntarily surrendered the period of discourse which you assigned to me
+for a reason which I now believe did not exist, and this is only an
+assertion of the rights vested in me by you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh listened very attentively to these remarks, but could not
+imagine what they meant.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him graciously. &quot;Yes,&quot; she said, &quot;you are very generous,
+but your period for discourse, as you call it, will have to be
+postponed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But it can't be postponed,&quot; he answered. &quot;If I could see you alone I
+could soon explain that to you. There are certain reasons why I must
+speak now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't help it,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I am not going to leave Miss Raleigh,
+and I am sure she does not want to leave me, so if you are obliged to
+speak you must speak before her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker gazed from one to the other of the two ladies who sat before
+him; each of them wore a gentle but determined expression. He addressed
+the secretary.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Raleigh,&quot; said he, &quot;if you understood the reason for my strong
+desire to speak in private with Miss Asher, perhaps you would respect it
+and give me the opportunity I ask for. I am here to make a proposition
+of marriage to this lady, and it is absolutely necessary that I make it
+without loss of time. Do you desire me to make it in your presence?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should like it very much,&quot; said Miss Raleigh.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker gave her a look of despair, and turned to Olive. &quot;Would you
+permit that?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it is absolutely necessary,&quot; she said, &quot;I suppose I shall have to
+permit it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker had the soul of a lion in his somewhat circumscribed body,
+and he was not to be recklessly dared to action.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well, then,&quot; said he, &quot;I shall proceed as if we were alone, and I
+hope, Miss Raleigh, you will at least see fit to consider yourself in a
+strictly confidential position.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed I shall,&quot; she replied; &quot;not one word shall ever&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hope not,&quot; interrupted Claude, &quot;and I will add that if I should ever
+be accidentally present when a gentleman is about to propose to you,
+Miss Raleigh, I shall heap coals of fire upon your head by
+instantaneously withdrawing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The secretary was about to thank him, but Olive interrupted. &quot;Now,
+Claude Locker,&quot; said she, &quot;what can you possibly have to say to me that
+you have not said before?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A good deal, Miss Asher, a good deal, although I don't wonder you
+suppose that no man could say more to you of his undying affection than
+I have already said. But, since I last spoke on the subject, I have been
+greatly impressed by the fact that I have not said enough about myself;
+that I have not made you understand me as I really am. I know very well
+that most people, and I suppose that at some time you have been among
+them, look upon me as a very frivolous young man, and not one to whom
+the right sort of a girl should give herself in marriage. But that is a
+mistake. I am as much to be depended upon as anybody you ever met. My
+apparently whimsical aspect is merely the outside&mdash;my shell, marked off
+in queer designs with variegated colors&mdash;but within that shell I am as
+domestic, as sober, and as surely to be found where I am expected to be
+as any turtle. This may seem a queer figure, but it strikes me as a very
+good one. When I am wanted I am there. You can always depend upon me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was not a smile upon the face of either woman as he spoke. They
+were listening earnestly, and with the deepest interest. Miss Raleigh's
+eyes sparkled, and Olive seemed to be most seriously considering this
+new aspect in which Mr. Locker was endeavoring to place himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you may think,&quot; Claude continued, &quot;that you would not desire
+turtle-like qualities in a husband, you who are so bright, so bounding,
+so much like a hare, but I assure you, that is just the companion who
+would suit you. All day you might skip among the flowers, and in the
+fields, and wherever you were, you would always know where I was&mdash;making
+a steady bee-line for home; and you would know that I would be there to
+welcome you when you arrived.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is very pretty!&quot; said Miss Raleigh. And then she quickly added:
+&quot;Excuse me for making a remark.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Miss Asher,&quot; continued Locker, &quot;I have tried, very imperfectly, I
+know, to make you see me as I really am, and I do hope you can put an
+end to this suspense which is keeping me in a nervous tingle. I can not
+sleep at night, and all day I am thinking what you will say when you do
+decide. You need not be afraid to speak out before Miss Raleigh. She is
+in with us now, and she can't get out. I would not press you for an
+answer at this moment, but there are reasons which I can not say
+anything about without meddling with other people's business. But my
+business with you is the happiness of my life, and I feel that I can not
+longer endure having it momentarily jeopardized.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of this speech a faint color actually stole into Miss
+Raleigh's face, and she clasped her thin hands in the intensity of her
+approval.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Locker,&quot; said Olive, speaking very pleasantly, &quot;if you had come to
+me to-day and had asked me for a decision based upon what you had
+already said to me, I think I might have settled the matter. But after
+what you have just told me, I can not answer you now. You give me things
+to think about, and I must wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Heavens&quot; exclaimed Mr. Locker, clasping his hands. &quot;Am I not yet to
+know whether I am to rise into paradise, or to sink into the infernal
+regions?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled. &quot;Don't do either, Mr. Locker,&quot; she said. &quot;This earth is a
+very pleasant place. Stay where you are.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He folded his arms and gazed at her. &quot;It is a pleasant place,&quot; said he,
+&quot;and I am mighty glad I got in my few remarks before you made your
+decision. I leave my love with you on approbation, and you may be sure I
+shall come to-morrow before luncheon to hear what you say about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall expect you,&quot; said Olive. And as she spoke her eyes were full of
+kind consideration.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, that's genuine,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, when Locker had departed. &quot;If
+he had not felt every word he said he could not have said it before me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No doubt you are right,&quot; said Olive. &quot;He is very brave. And now you see
+this new line, which begins an entirely different kind of stitch!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In the middle distance Mr. Du Brant still strolled backward and forward,
+pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French. He seldom removed his eyes
+from Miss Asher, but still she sat on that bench and crocheted, and
+talked, and talked, and crocheted, with that everlasting Miss Raleigh!
+He had seen Locker with her, and he had seen him go; and now he hoped
+that the woman would soon depart. Then it would be his chance.</p>
+
+<p>The young Austrian had become most eager to make Olive his wife. He
+earnestly loved her; and, beyond that, he had come to see that a
+marriage with her would be most advantageous to his prospects. This
+beautiful and brilliant American girl, familiar with foreign life and
+foreign countries, would give him a position in diplomatic society which
+would be most desirable. She might not bring him much money; although he
+believed that all American girls had some money; but she would bring him
+favor, distinction, and, most likely, advancement. With such a wife he
+would be a welcome envoy at any court. And, besides, he loved her. But,
+alas, Miss Raleigh would not go away.</p>
+
+<p>About half an hour after Claude Locker left Olive he encountered Dick
+Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I charged. I was not routed, I can't say that I was
+even repulsed. But I was obliged to withdraw my forces. I shall go into
+camp, and renew the attack to-morrow. So, my friend, you will have to
+wait. I wish I could say that there is no use of your waiting, but I am
+a truthful person and can't do that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lancaster was not pleased. &quot;It seems to me,&quot; he said, &quot;that you trifle
+with the most important affairs of life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Trifle!&quot; exclaimed Locker. &quot;Would you call it trifling if I fail, and
+then to save her from a worse fate, were to back you up with all my
+heart and soul?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick could not help smiling. &quot;By a worse fate,&quot; he said, &quot;I suppose you
+mean&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Austrian,&quot; interrupted Locker. &quot;Mrs. Easterfield has told me
+something about him. He may have a title some day, and he is about as
+dangerous as they make them. Instead of accusing me of trifling, you
+ought to go down on your knees and thank me for still standing between
+him and her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is a duty I would like to perform myself,&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps you may have a chance,&quot; sighed Locker, &quot;but I most earnestly
+hope not. Look over there at that he-nurse. Those children have made him
+take them walking, and he is just coming back to the house.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Conflicting Serenades.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>M</span>rs. Easterfield worked steadily at her letter, feeling confident all
+the time that her secretary was attending conscientiously to the task
+which had been assigned to her, and which could not fail to be a most
+congenial one. One of the greatest joys of Miss Raleigh's life was to
+interfere in other people's business; and to do it under approval and
+with the feeling that it was her duty was a rare joy.</p>
+
+<p>The letter was to her husband, and Mrs. Easterfield was writing it
+because she was greatly troubled, and even frightened. In the indulgence
+of a good-humored and romantic curiosity to know whether or not a
+grown-up young woman would return to a sentimental attachment of her
+girlhood, she had brought her husband's secretary to the house with
+consequences which were appalling. If this navy girl she had on hand had
+been a mere flirt, Mrs. Easterfield, an experienced woman of society,
+might not have been very much troubled, but Olive seemed to her to be
+much more than a flirt; she would trifle until she made up her mind, but
+when she should come to a decision Mrs. Easterfield believed she would
+act fairly and squarely. She wanted to marry; and, in her heart, Mrs.
+Easterfield commended her; without a mother; now more than ever without
+a father; her only near relative about to marry a woman who was
+certainly a most undesirable connection; Olive was surely right in
+wishing to settle in life. And, if piqued and affronted by her father's
+intended marriage, she wished immediately to declare her independence,
+the girl could not be blamed. And, from what she had said of Mr.
+Hemphill, Mrs. Easterfield could not in her own mind dissent. He was a
+good young man; he had an excellent position; he fervently loved Olive;
+she had loved him, and might do it again. What was there to which she
+could object? Only this: it angered and frightened her to think of Olive
+Asher throwing herself away upon Rupert Hemphill. So she wrote a very
+strong letter to her husband, representing to him that the danger was
+very great and imminent, and that he was needed at Broadstone just as
+soon as he could get there. Business could be set aside; his wife's
+happiness was at stake; for if this unfortunate match should be made, it
+would be her doing, and it would cloud her whole life. Of herself she
+did not know what to do, and if she had known, she could not have done
+it. But if he came he would not only know everything, but could do
+anything. This indicated her general opinion of Mr. Tom Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said she to herself, as she fixed an immediate-delivery stamp
+upon the letter, &quot;that ought to bring him here before lunch to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Olive saw fit to go to her room Miss Raleigh felt relieved from
+guard, and went to Mrs. Easterfield to report. She told that lady
+everything that had happened, even including her own emotions at
+various points of the interview. The amazed Mrs. Easterfield listened
+with the greatest interest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I knew Claude Locker was capable of almost any wild proceeding,&quot; she
+said, &quot;but I did not think he would do that!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is one thing I forgot,&quot; said the secretary, &quot;and that is that I
+promised Mr. Locker not to mention a word of what happened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am very glad,&quot; replied Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that you remembered that
+promise after you told me everything, and not before. You have done
+admirably so far.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And if I have any other opportunities of interpolating myself, so to
+speak,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, &quot;shall I embrace them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. &quot;I don't want you to be too obviously
+zealous,&quot; she answered. &quot;I think for the present we may relax our
+efforts to relieve Miss Asher of annoyance.&quot; Mrs. Easterfield believed
+this. She had faith in Olive; and if that young woman had promised to
+give Claude Locker another hearing the next day she did not believe that
+the girl would give anybody else a positive answer before that time.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh went away not altogether satisfied. She did not believe in
+relaxed vigilance; for one thing, it was not interesting.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was surprised when she found that Mr. Lancaster was to stay to
+dinner, and afterward when she was informed that he had been invited to
+spend a few days, she reflected. It looked like some sort of a plan, and
+what did Mrs. Easterfield mean by it? She knew the lady of the house
+had a very good opinion of the young professor, and that might explain
+the invitation at this particular moment, but still it did look like a
+plan, and as Olive had no sympathy with plans of this sort she
+determined not to trouble her head about it. And to show her
+non-concern, she was very gracious to Mr. Lancaster, and received her
+reward in an extremely interesting conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Still Olive reflected, and was not in her usual lively spirits. Mr. Fox
+said to Mrs. Fox that it was an abominable shame to allow a crowd of
+incongruous young men to swarm in upon a country house party, and
+interfere seriously with the pleasures of intelligent and
+self-respecting people.</p>
+
+<p>That night, after Mrs. Easterfield had gone to bed, and before she
+slept, she heard something which instantly excited her attention; it was
+the sound of a guitar, and it came from the lawn in front of the house.
+Jumping up, and throwing a dressing-gown about her, she cautiously
+approached the open window. But the night was dark, and she could see
+nothing. Pushing an armchair to one side of the window, she seated
+herself, and listened. Words now began to mingle with the music, and
+these words were French. Now she understood everything perfectly. Mr. Du
+Brant was a musician, and had helped himself to the guitar in the
+library.</p>
+
+<p>From the position in which she sat Mrs. Easterfield could look upon a
+second-story window in a projecting wing of the house, and upon this
+window, which belonged to Olive's room, and which was barely perceptible
+in the gloom, she now fixed her eyes. The song and the thrumming went
+on, but no signs of life could be seen in the black square of that open
+window.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was not a bad French scholar, and she caught enough of
+the meaning of the words to understand that they belonged to a very
+pretty love song in which the flowers looked up to the sky to see if it
+were blue, because they knew if it were the fair one smiled, and then
+their tender buds might ope; and, if she smiled, his heart implored that
+she might smile on him. There was a second verse, much resembling the
+first, except that the flowers feared that clouds might sweep the sky;
+and they lamented accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Mrs. Easterfield imagined that she saw something white in the
+depths of the darkness of Olive's room, but it did not come to the
+front, and she was very uncertain about it. Suddenly, however, something
+happened about which she could not be in the least uncertain. Above
+Olive's room was a chamber appropriated to the use of bachelor visitors,
+and from the window of this room now burst upon the night a wild,
+unearthly chant. It was a song with words but without music, and the
+voice in which it was shot out into the darkness was harsh, was shrill,
+was insolently blatant. And thus the clamorous singer sang:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;My angel maid&mdash;ahoy!<br /></span>
+<span>If aught should you annoy,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>By act or sound,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>From sky or ground,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>I then pray thee<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>To call on me<br /></span>
+<span>My angel maid&mdash;ahoy,<br /></span>
+<span>My ange&mdash;my ange&mdash;l maid<br /></span>
+<span>Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The music of the guitar now ceased, and no French words were heard. No
+ditty of Latin origin, be it ever so melodious and fervid, could stand
+against such a wild storm of Anglo-Saxon vociferation. Every ahoy rang
+out as if sea captains were hailing each other in a gale!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What lungs he has&quot; thought Mrs. Easterfield, as she put her hand over
+her mouth so that no one should hear her laugh. At the open window, at
+which she still steadily gazed, she now felt sure she saw something
+white which moved, but it did not come to the front.</p>
+
+<p>A wave of half-smothered objurgation now rolled up from below; it was
+not to be readily caught, but its tone indicated rage and
+disappointment. But the guitar had ceased to sound, and the French love
+song was heard no more. A little irrepressible laugh came from
+somewhere, but who heard it beside herself Mrs. Easterfield could not
+know. Then all was still, and the insects of the night, and the tree
+frogs, had the stage to themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning Miss Raleigh presented herself before Mrs.
+Easterfield to make a report. &quot;There was a serenade last night,&quot; she
+said, &quot;not far from Miss Asher's window. In fact, there were two, but
+one of them came from Mr. Locker's room, and was simply awful. Mr. Du
+Brant was the gentleman who sang from the lawn, and I was very sorry
+when he felt himself obliged to stop. I do not think very much of him,
+but he certainly has a pleasant voice, and plays well on the guitar. I
+think he must have been a good deal cut up by being interrupted in that
+dreadful way, for he grumbled and growled, and did not go into the
+house for some time. I am sure he would have been very glad to fight if
+any one had come down.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You mean,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;if Mr. Locker had come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the secretary, &quot;if Mr. Hemphill had appeared I have no
+doubt he would have answered. Mr. Du Brant seemed to me ready to fight
+anybody.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you know so much about him?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;And why
+did you think of Mr. Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he was looking out of his window,&quot; said Miss Raleigh. &quot;He could not
+see, but he could hear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I ask you again,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;how do you know all this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I had not gone to bed, and, at the first sound of the guitar, I
+slipped on a waterproof with a hood, and went out. Of course, I wanted
+to know everything that was happening.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I had not the least idea you were such an energetic person,&quot; remarked
+Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;and I think you were entirely too rash. But how about
+Mr. Lancaster? Do you know if he was listening?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Raleigh stood silent for a moment, then she exclaimed: &quot;There now,
+it is too bad! I entirely forgot him! I have not the slightest idea
+whether he was asleep or awake, and it would have been just as easy&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, you need not regret it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I think you did
+quite enough, and if anything of the kind occurs again I positively
+forbid you to go out of the house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is one thing we've got to look after,&quot; said Miss Raleigh,
+without heeding the last remark, &quot;this may result in bloodshed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;nothing of that kind is to be feared
+from the gentlemen who visit Broadstone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, &quot;don't you think it would be well for me to
+keep an eye on them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, you may keep both eyes on them if you want to,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield. Then she began to talk about something else, but, although
+she dismissed the matter so lightly, she was very glad at heart that she
+had sent for her husband. Things were getting themselves into unpleasant
+complications, and she needed Tom.</p>
+
+<p>There was a certain constraint at the breakfast table. Mr. Fox had heard
+the serenades, although his consort had slept soundly through the
+turmoil; and, while carefully avoiding any reference to the incidents of
+the night, he was anxiously hoping that somebody would say something
+about them. Mrs. Easterfield saw that Mr. Du Brant was in a bad humor,
+and she hoped he was angry enough to announce his early departure. But
+he contented himself with being angry, and said nothing about going
+away.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill was serious, and looked often in the direction of Olive. As
+for Dick Lancaster, Miss Raleigh, whose eye was fixed upon him whenever
+it could be spared from the exigencies of her meal, decided that if
+there should be a fight he would be one of the fighters; his brow was
+dark and his glance was sharp; in fact, she was of the opinion that he
+glared. Claude Locker did not come to breakfast until nearly everybody
+had finished. His dreams had been so pleasant that he had overslept
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>In the eyes of Mrs. Easterfield Olive's conduct was positively charming.
+No one could have supposed that during the night she had heard anything
+louder than the ripple of the river. She talked more to Mr. Du Brant
+than to any one else, although she managed to draw most of the others
+into the conversation; and, with the assistance of the hostess, who gave
+her most good-humored help, the talk never flagged, although it did not
+become of the slightest interest to any one who engaged in it. They were
+all thinking about the conflict of serenades, and what might happen
+next.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after breakfast Miss Raleigh came to Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Mr. Du
+Brant is with her,&quot; she said quickly, &quot;and they are walking away. Shall
+I interpolate?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said the other with a smile, &quot;you can let them alone. Nothing will
+happen this morning, unless, indeed, he should come to ask for a
+carriage to take him to the station.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was busy in her garden when Dick Lancaster came to her.
+&quot;What a wonderfully determined expression you have!&quot; said she. &quot;You look
+as if you were going to jump on a street-car without stopping it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right,&quot; said he, &quot;I am determined, and I came to tell you so. I
+can't stand this sort of thing any longer. I feel like a child who is
+told he must eat at the second table, and who can not get his meals
+until every one else is finished.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I suppose,&quot; she said, &quot;you feel there will be nothing left for
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is it,&quot; he answered, &quot;and I don't want to wait. My soul rebels! I
+can't stand it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore,&quot; she said, &quot;you wish to appear before the meal is ready, and
+in that case you will get nothing.&quot; He looked at her inquiringly. &quot;I
+mean,&quot; said she, &quot;that if you propose to Miss Asher now you will be
+before your time, and she will decline your proposition without the
+slightest hesitation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not quite understand that,&quot; said Dick. &quot;Would she decline all
+others?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am afraid not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But why do you except me?&quot; asked Dick. &quot;Surely she is not engaged. I
+know you would tell me at once if that were so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is not so,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I shall take my chances. With all this serenading and love-making
+going on around me and around the woman I love with all my heart. I can
+not stand and wait until I am told my time has come. The intensity and
+the ardor of my feelings for her give me the right to speak to her.
+Unless I know that some one else has stepped in before me and taken the
+place I crave, I have decided to speak to her just as soon as I can. But
+I thought it was due to you to come first and tell you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Lancaster,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, speaking very quietly, &quot;if you
+decide to go to Miss Asher and ask her to marry you, I know you will do
+it, for I believe you are a man who keeps his word to himself, but I
+assure you that if you do it you will never marry her. So you really
+need not bother yourself about going to her; you can simply decide to do
+it, and that will be quite sufficient; and you can stay here and hold
+these long-stemmed dahlias for me as I cut them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A troubled wistfulness showed itself upon the young man's face. &quot;You
+speak so confidently,&quot; he said, &quot;that I almost feel I ought to believe
+you. Why do you tell me that I am the only one of her suitors who would
+certainly be rejected if he offered himself?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield dropped the long-stemmed dahlias she had been holding;
+and, turning her eyes full upon Lancaster, she said, &quot;Because you are
+the only one of them toward whom she has no predilections whatever. More
+than that, you are the only one toward whom she has a positive
+objection. You are the only one who is an intimate friend of her uncle,
+and who would be likely, by means of that intimate friendship, to bring
+her into connection with the woman she hates, as well as with a relative
+she despises on account of his intended marriage with that woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All that should not count at all,&quot; cried Dick. &quot;In such a matter as
+this I have nothing to do with Captain Asher! I stand for myself and
+speak for myself. What is his intended wife to me? Or what should she be
+to her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;all that would not count at all if
+Olive Asher loved you. But you see she doesn't. I have had it from her
+own lips that her uncle's intended marriage is, and must always be, an
+effectual barrier between you and her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What&quot; cried Dick. &quot;Have you spoken to her of me? And in that way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I have. I did not intend to tell you, but
+you have forced me to do it. You see, she is a young woman of
+extraordinary good sense. She believes she ought to marry, and she is
+going to try to make the very best marriage that she possibly can. She
+has suitors who have very strong claims upon her consideration&mdash;I am not
+going to tell you those claims, but I know them. Now, you have no
+claim&mdash;special claim, I mean&mdash;but for all this, I believe, as I have
+told you before, that you are the man she ought to marry, and I have
+been doing everything I can to make her cease considering them, and to
+consider you. And this is the way she came to give me her reasons for
+not considering you at all. Now the state of the case is plain before
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Dick bowed his head and fixed his eyes upon the dahlias on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't tread on the poor things,&quot; she said, &quot;and don't despair. All you
+have to do is to let me put a curbed bit on you, and for you to consent
+to wear it for a little while. See,&quot; said she, moving her hands in the
+air, as if they were engaged upon the bridle of a horse, &quot;I fasten this
+chain rather closely, and buckle the ends of the reins in the lowest
+curb. Now, you must have a steady hand and a resolute will until the
+time comes when the curb is no longer needed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And do you believe that time will come?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It will come,&quot; she said, &quot;when two things happen; when she has reason
+to love you, and has no reason to object to you; and, in my opinion,
+that happy combination may arrive if you act sensibly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But&mdash;&quot; said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment a quick step was heard on the garden-path and they both
+turned. It was Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Lancaster,&quot; she cried, &quot;I want you; that is, if Mrs. Easterfield
+can spare you. We are making up a game of tennis. Mr. Du Brant and Mr.
+Hemphill are there, but I can not find Mr. Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield could spare him, and Dick Lancaster, with the curbed
+chain pressing him very hard, walked away with Olive Asher.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and Maria.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen the captain drove into Glenford on the day when his mind had been
+so much disturbed by Dick Lancaster's questions regarding a marriage
+between him and Maria Port, he stopped at no place of business, he
+turned not to the right nor to the left, but went directly to the house
+of his old friend with whom he had spent the night before.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Simeon Port was sitting on his front porch, reading his newspaper.
+He looked up, surprised to see the captain again so soon.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Simeon,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I want to see Maria. I have something to
+say to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man laid down his newspaper. &quot;Serious?&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, serious,&quot; was the answer, &quot;and I want to see her now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Port reflected for a moment. &quot;Captain,&quot; said he, &quot;do you believe you
+have thought about this as much as you ought to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I have,&quot; replied the captain; &quot;I've thought just as much as I
+ought to. Is she in the house?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Port did not answer. &quot;Captain John,&quot; said he presently, &quot;Maria isn't
+young, that's plain enough, considerin' my age; but she never does seem
+to me as if she'd growed up. When she was a girl she had ways of her
+own, and she could make water bile quick, and now she can make it bile
+just as quick as ever she did, and perhaps quicker. She's not much on
+mindin' the helm, Captain John, and there're other things about her that
+wouldn't be attractive to husbands when they come to find them out. And
+if I was you I'd take my time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That's just what I intend to do,&quot; said the captain. &quot;This is my time,
+and I am going to take it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port, who was busy in the back part of the house, heard voices, and
+now came forward. She was wiping her hands upon her apron, and one of
+them she extended to the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to see you&mdash;John,&quot; she said, speaking in a very gentle voice,
+and hesitating a little at the last word.</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at her steadfastly, and then, without taking her
+hand, he said: &quot;I want to speak to you by yourself. I'll go into the
+parlor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She politely stepped back to let him pass her, and then her father
+turned quickly to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did you expect to see him back so soon?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>She smiled and looked down. &quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said she, &quot;I was sure he'd come
+back very soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man heaved a sigh, and returned to his paper.</p>
+
+<p>Maria followed the captain. &quot;John,&quot; said she, speaking in a low voice,
+&quot;wouldn't you rather come into the dinin'-room? He's a little bit hard
+of hearin', but if you don't want him to hear anything he'll take in
+every word of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria Port,&quot; said the captain, speaking in a strong, upper-deck voice,
+&quot;what I have to say I'll say here. I don't want the people in the street
+to hear me, but if your father chooses to listen I would rather he did
+it than not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him inquiringly. &quot;Well,&quot; she answered, &quot;I suppose he will
+have to hear it some time or other, and he might as well hear it now as
+not. He's all I've got in the world, and you know as well as I do that I
+run to tell him everything that happens to me as soon as it happens.
+Will you sit down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I can speak better standing. Maria Port, I have
+found out that you have been trying to make people believe that I am
+engaged to marry you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The smile did not leave Maria's face. &quot;Well, ain't you?&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>A look of blank amazement appeared on the face of the captain, but it
+was quickly succeeded by the blackness of rage. He was about to swear,
+but restrained himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Engaged to you?&quot; he shouted, forgetting entirely the people in the
+street; &quot;I'd rather be engaged to a fin-back shark!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The smile now left her face. &quot;Oh, thank you very much,&quot; she said. &quot;And
+this is what you meant by your years of devotion! I held out for a long
+time, knowing the difference in our ages and the habits of sailors, and
+now&mdash;just when I make up my mind to give in, to think of my father and
+not of myself, and to sacrifice my feelin's so that he might always
+have one of his old friends near him, now that he's got too feeble to go
+out by himself, and at his age you know as well as I do he ought to have
+somebody near him besides me, for who can tell what may happen, or how
+sudden&mdash;you come and tell me you'd rather marry a fish. I suppose you've
+got somebody else in your mind, but that don't make no difference to me.
+I've got no fish to offer you, but I have myself that you've wanted so
+long, and which now you've got.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The angry captain opened his mouth to speak; he was about to ejaculate
+Woman! but his sense of propriety prevented this. He would not apply
+such an epithet to any one in the house of a friend. Wretch rose to his
+lips, but he would not use even that word; and he contented himself
+with: &quot;You! You know just as well as you know you are standing there
+that I never had the least idea of marrying you. You know, too, that you
+have tried to make people think I had, people here in town and people
+out at my house, where you came over and over again pretending to want
+to talk about your father's health, when it did not need any more
+talking about than yours does. You know you have made trouble in my
+family; that you so disgusted my niece that she would not stop at my
+house, which had been the same thing as her home; you sickened my
+friends; and made my very servants ashamed of me; and all this because
+you want to marry a man who now despises you. I would have despised you
+long ago if I had seen through your tricks, but I didn't.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a smile on Miss Port's face now, but it was not such a smile
+as that with which she had greeted the captain; it was a diabolical
+grin, brightened by malice. &quot;You are perfectly right,&quot; she said;
+&quot;everybody knows we are engaged to be married, and what they think about
+it doesn't matter to me the snap of my finger. The people in town all
+know it and talk about it, and what's more, they've talked to me about
+it. That niece of your'n knows it, and that's the reason she won't come
+near you, and I'm sure I'm not sorry for that. As for that old thing
+that helps you at the toll-gate, and as for the young man that's
+spongin' on you, I've no doubt they've got a mighty poor opinion of you.
+And I've no doubt they're right. But all that matters nothin' to me.
+You're engaged to be married to me; you know it yourself; and everybody
+knows it; and what you've got to do is to marry, or pay. You hear what I
+say, and you know what I'm goin' to stick to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It may be well for Captain Asher's reputation that he had no opportunity
+to answer Miss Port's remarks. At that instant Mr. Simeon Port appeared
+at the door which opened from the parlor on the piazza. He stepped
+quickly, his actions showing nothing of that decrepitude which his
+dutiful daughter had feared would prevent him from seeking the society
+of his friends. He fixed his eyes on his daughter and spoke in a loud,
+strong voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Maria,&quot; said he, &quot;go to bed! I've heard what you've been saying, and
+I'm ashamed of you. I've been ashamed of you before, but now it's worse
+than ever. Go to bed, I tell you! And this time, go!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing in the world that Maria Port was afraid of except her
+father, and of him personally she had not the slightest dread. But of
+his dying without leaving her the whole of his fortune she had an
+abiding terror, which often kept her awake at night, and which sent a
+sickening thrill through her whenever a difficulty arose between her and
+her parent. She was quite sure what he would do if she should offend him
+sufficiently; he would leave her a small annuity, enough to support her;
+and the rest of his money would go to several institutions which she had
+heard him mention in this connection. If she could have married Captain
+Asher she would have felt a good deal safer; it would have taken much
+provocation to make her father leave his money out of the family if his
+old friend had been one of that family.</p>
+
+<p>Now, when she heard her father's voice, and saw his dark eyes glittering
+at her, she knew she was in great danger, and the well-known chill ran
+through her. She made no answer; she cared not who was present; she
+thought of nothing but that those eyes must cease to glitter, and that
+angry voice must not be heard again. She turned and walked to her room,
+which was on the same floor, across the hall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And mind you go to bed!&quot; shouted her father. &quot;And do it regular. You're
+not to make believe to go to bed, and then get up and walk about as soon
+as my back is turned. I'm comin' in presently to see if you've obeyed
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She answered not, but entered her room, and closed the door after her.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Port now turned to the captain. &quot;I never could find out,&quot; he said,
+&quot;where Maria got that mind of her'n. It isn't from my side, for my
+father and mother was as good people as ever lived, and it wasn't from
+her mother, for you knew her, and there wasn't anything of the kind
+about her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Captain Asher, &quot;not the least bit of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It must have been from her grandmother Ellis,&quot; said the old man. &quot;I
+never knew her, for she died before I was acquainted with the family,
+but I expect she died of deviltry. That's the only insight I can get
+into the reasons for Maria's havin' the mind she's got. But I tell you,
+Captain John, you've had a blessed escape! I didn't know she was in the
+habit of goin' out to your house so often. She didn't tell me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Simeon,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I think I will go now. I have had enough of
+Maria. I don't suppose I'll hear from her very soon again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The old man smiled. &quot;No,&quot; said he, &quot;I don't think she'll want to trouble
+you any more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port, whose ear was at the keyhole of her door not twelve feet
+away, grinned malignantly.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after Captain Asher had gone Mr. Port walked to the door of his
+daughter's room, gave a little knock, and then opened the door a little.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are in bed, are you?&quot; said he. &quot;Well, that's good for you. Turn
+down that coverlid and let me see if you've got your nightclothes on.&quot;
+She obeyed. &quot;Very well,&quot; he continued; &quot;now you stay there until I tell
+you to get up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher went home, still in a very bad humor. He had ceased to be
+angry with Maria Port, he was done with her; and he let her pass out of
+his mind. But he was angry with other people, especially with Olive.
+She had allowed herself to have a most contemptuous opinion of him; she
+had treated him shamefully; and as he thought of her his indignation
+increased instead of diminishing. And young Lancaster had believed it!
+And old Jane! It was enough to make a stone slab angry, and the captain
+was not a stone slab.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Mr. Tom arrives at Broadstone.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span>fter the conclusion of the game of tennis in which Olive and three of
+her lovers participated, Claude Locker, returning from a long walk,
+entered the grounds of Broadstone. He had absented himself from that
+hospitable domain for purposes of reflection, and also to avoid the
+company of Mr. Du Brant. Not that he was afraid of the diplomat, but
+because of the important interview appointed for the latter part of the
+morning. He very much wished that no unpleasantness of any kind should
+occur before the time for that interview.</p>
+
+<p>Having found that he had given himself more time than was necessary for
+his reflections and his walk, he had rested in the shade of a tree and
+had written two poems. One of these was the serenade which he would have
+roared out on the night air on a very recent occasion if he had had time
+to prepare it. It was, in his opinion, far superior to the impromptu
+verses of which he had been obliged to make use, and it pleased him to
+think that if things should go well with him after the interview to
+which he was looking forward, he would read that serenade to its object,
+and ask her to substitute it in her memory for the inharmonic lines
+which he had used in order to smother the degenerate melody of a
+foreign lay. The other poem was intended for use in case his interview
+should not be successful. But on the way home Mr. Locker experienced an
+entire change of mind. He came to believe that it would be unwise for
+him to arrange to use either of those poems on that day. For all he
+knew, Miss Asher might like foreign degenerate lays, and she might be
+annoyed that he had interfered with one. He remembered that she had told
+him that if he had insisted on an immediate answer to his proposition it
+would have been very easy to give it to him. He realized what that
+meant; and, for all he knew, she might be quite as ready this morning to
+act with similar promptness. That Du Brant business might have settled
+her mind, and it would therefore be very well for him to be careful
+about what he did, and what he asked for.</p>
+
+<p>About half an hour before luncheon, when he neared the house and
+perceived Miss Asher on the lawn, it seemed to him very much as if she
+were looking for him. This he did not like, and he hurried toward her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he, &quot;I wish to propose an amendment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To what?&quot; asked Olive. &quot;But first tell me where you have been and what
+you have been doing? You are covered with dust, and look as hot as if
+you had been pulling the boat against the rapids. I have not seen you
+the whole morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been walking,&quot; said he, &quot;and thinking. It is dreadful hot work
+to think. That should be done only in winter weather.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would be a woeful thing to take a cold on the mind,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is so!&quot; he replied. &quot;That is exactly what I am afraid of this
+morning, and that is the reason I want to propose my amendment. I beg
+most earnestly that you will not make this interview definitive. I am
+afraid if you do I may get chills in my mind, soul, and heart from which
+I shall never recover. I have an idea that the weather may not be as
+favorable as it was yesterday for the unveiling of tender emotions.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why so?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are several reasons,&quot; returned Mr. Locker. &quot;For one thing, that
+musical uproar last night. I have not heard anything about that, and I
+don't know where I stand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive laughed. &quot;It was splendid,&quot; said she. &quot;I liked you a great deal
+better after that than I did before.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now tell me,&quot; he exclaimed hurriedly, &quot;and please lose no time, for
+here comes a surrey from the station with a gentleman in it&mdash;do you like
+me enough better to give me a favorable answer, now, right here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive. &quot;I do not feel warranted in being so precipitate as
+that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then please say nothing on the subject,&quot; said Locker. &quot;Please let us
+drop the whole matter for to-day. And may I assume that I am at liberty
+to take it up again to-morrow at this hour?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may,&quot; said Olive. &quot;What gentleman is that, do you suppose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know him,&quot; said Locker, &quot;and, fortunately, he is married. He is Mr.
+Easterfield.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here's papa! Here's papa!&quot; shouted the two little girls as they ran out
+of the front door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And papa,&quot; said the oldest one, &quot;we want you to tell us a story just as
+soon as you have brushed your hair! Mr. Rupert has been telling us
+stories, but yours are a great deal better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the other little girl, &quot;he makes all the children too good.
+They can't be good, you know, and there's no use trying. We told him so,
+but he doesn't mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was story-telling after luncheon, but the papa did not tell them,
+and the children were sent away. It was Mrs. Easterfield who told the
+stories, and Mr. Tom was a most interested listener.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, when she had finished, &quot;this seems to be a somewhat
+tangled state of affairs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It certainly is,&quot; she replied, &quot;and I tangled them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you expect me to straighten them?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I do,&quot; she replied, &quot;and I expect you to begin by sending Mr.
+Hemphill away. You know I could not do it, but I should think it would
+be easy for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Would you object if I lighted a cigar?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not,&quot; she said. &quot;Did you ever hear me object to anything of
+the kind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said he, &quot;but I never have smoked in this room, and I thought
+perhaps Miss Raleigh might object when she came in to do your writing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My writing!&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Now don't trifle! This is no
+time to make fun of me. Olive may be accepting him this minute.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, slowly puffing his cigar, &quot;that
+it would not be such a very bad thing if she did. So far as I have been
+able to judge, he is my favorite of the claimants. Du Brant and I have
+met frequently, and if I were a girl I would not want to marry him.
+Locker is too little for Miss Asher, and, besides, he is too flighty.
+Your young professor may be good enough, but from my limited
+conversation with him at the table I could not form much of an opinion
+as to him one way or another. I have an opinion of Hemphill, and a very
+good one. He is a first-class young man, a rising one with prospects,
+and, more than that, I think he is the best-looking of the lot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tom,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;do you suppose I sent for you to talk
+such nonsense as that? Can you imagine that my sense of honor toward
+Olive's parents would allow me even to consider a marriage between a
+high-class girl, such as she is&mdash;high-class in every way&mdash;to a mere
+commonplace private secretary? I don't care what his attributes and
+merits are; he is commonplace to the backbone; and he is impossible. If
+what ought to be a brilliant career ends suddenly in Rupert Hemphill I
+shall have Olive on my conscience for the rest of my life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That settles it,&quot; said Mr. Tom Easterfield; &quot;your conscience, my dear,
+has not been trained to carry loads, and I shall not help to put one on
+it. Hemphill is a good man, but we must rule him out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, &quot;Olive is a great deal more than good. He must be
+ruled out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I can't send him away this afternoon,&quot; Tom continued. &quot;That would
+put them both on their mettle, and, ten to one, he would considerately
+announce his engagement before he left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she. &quot;Olive is very sharp, and would resent that. But now
+that you are here I feel safe from any immediate rashness on their
+part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right,&quot; said Mr. Tom. &quot;My very coming will give them pause. And
+now I want to see the girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What for?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want to get acquainted with her. I don't know her yet, and I can't
+talk to her if I don't know her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you going to talk to her about Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, for one thing,&quot; he answered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said she, &quot;you will have to be very circumspect. She is both
+alert, and sensitive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I'll be circumspect enough,&quot; he replied. &quot;You may trust me for
+that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not long after this that Mrs. Easterfield, being engaged in some
+hospitable duties, sent Olive to show Mr. Tom the garden, and it was
+rather a slight to that abode of beauty that the tour of the rose-lined
+paths occupied but a very few minutes, when Mr. Easterfield became
+tired, and desired to sit down. Having seated themselves on Mrs.
+Easterfield's favorite bench, Olive looked up at her companion, and
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, sir, what is it you brought me here to say to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom laughed, and so did she.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If it is anything about the gentlemen who are paying their addresses
+to me, you may as well begin at once, for that will save time, and
+really an introduction is not necessary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield's admiration for this young lady, which had been
+steadily growing, was not decreased by this remark. &quot;This girl,&quot; said he
+to himself, &quot;deserves a nimble-witted husband. Hemphill would never do
+for her. It seems to me,&quot; he said aloud, &quot;that we are already well
+enough acquainted for me to proceed with the remarks which you have
+correctly assumed I came here to make.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, &quot;I have always thought that some people are born to
+become acquainted, and when they meet they instantly perceive the fact,
+and the thing is accomplished. They can then proceed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well,&quot; said he, &quot;we will proceed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I suppose,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that Mrs. Easterfield has explained
+everything, and that you agree with her and with me that it is a
+sensible thing for a girl in my position to marry, and, having no one to
+attend wisely to such a matter for me, that I should endeavor to attend
+to it myself as wisely as I can. Also, that a little bit of pique,
+caused by the fact that I am to have an old schoolfellow for a
+stepmother, is excusable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And it is this pique which puts you in such a hurry? I did not exactly
+understand that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it does,&quot; said she. &quot;I very much wish to announce my own
+engagement, if not my marriage, before any arrangements shall be made
+which may include me. Do you think me wrong in this?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield. &quot;If I were a girl in your place I
+think I would do the same thing myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's face expressed her gratitude. &quot;And now,&quot; said she, &quot;what do you
+think of the young men? I feel so well acquainted with you through Mrs.
+Easterfield that I shall give a great deal of weight to your opinion.
+But first let me ask you one thing: After what you have heard of me do
+you think I am a flirt?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom knitted his brows a little, then he smiled, and then he looked
+out over the flower-beds without saying anything.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be afraid to say so if you think so,&quot; said she. &quot;You must be
+perfectly plain and frank with me, or our acquaintanceship will wither
+away.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Under the influence of this threat he spoke. &quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I should
+not feel warranted in calling you a flirt, but it does seem to me that
+you have been flirting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think you are wrong, Mr. Easterfield,&quot; said Olive, speaking very
+gravely. &quot;I never saw any one of these young men before I came here
+except Mr. Hemphill, and he was an entirely different person when I knew
+him before, and I have given no one of them any special encouragement.
+If Mr. Locker were not such an impetuous young man, I think the others
+would have been more deliberate, but as it was easy to see the state of
+his mind, and as we are all making but a temporary stay here, these
+other young men saw that they must act quickly, or not at all. This,
+while it was very amusing, was also a little annoying, and I should
+greatly have preferred slower and more deliberate movements on the part
+of these young men. But all my feelings changed when my father's letter
+came to me. I was glad then that they had proposed already.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is certainly honest,&quot; said Mr. Tom.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course it is honest,&quot; replied Olive. &quot;I am here to speak honestly if
+I speak at all. Now, don't you see that if under these peculiar
+circumstances one eligible young man had proposed to me I ought to have
+considered myself fortunate? Now here are three to choose from. Do you
+not agree with me that it is my duty to try to choose the best one of
+them, and not to discourage any until I feel very certain about my
+choice?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is business-like,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield; &quot;but do you love any one
+of them?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, I don't,&quot; answered Olive, &quot;except that there is a feeling in that
+direction in the case of Mr. Hemphill. I suppose Mrs. Easterfield has
+told you that when I was a schoolgirl I was deeply in love with him; and
+now, when I think of those old times, I believe it would not be
+impossible for those old sentiments to return. So there really is a tie
+between him and me; even though it be a slight one; which does not exist
+at all between me and any one of the others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment neither of them spoke. &quot;That is very bad, young woman,&quot;
+thought Mr. Tom. &quot;A slight tie like that is apt to grow thick and strong
+suddenly.&quot; But he could not discourse about Mr. Hemphill; he knew that
+would be very dangerous. He would have to be considered, however, and
+much more seriously than he had supposed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I will tell you this: if I were a young man,
+unmarried, and on a visit to Broadstone at this time, I should not like
+to be treated as you are treating the young men who are here. It is all
+very well for a young woman to look after herself and her own interests,
+but I should be very sorry to have my fate depend upon the merits of
+other people. I may not be correct, but I am afraid I should feel I was
+being flirted with.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Olive, giving a quick, forward motion on the bench,
+&quot;you think I ought to settle this matter immediately, and relieve myself
+at once from the imputation of trifling with earnest affection?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, no, no!&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Not at all! Don't do anything
+rash!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive leaned back on the bench, and laughed heartily. &quot;There is so much
+excellent advice in this world,&quot; she said, &quot;which is not intended to be
+used. However, it is valuable all the same. And now, sir, what is it you
+would like me to do? Something plain; intended for every-day use.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. &quot;It does not appear to
+me,&quot; he said, &quot;that you have told me very much I did not know before,
+for Mrs. Easterfield put the matter very plainly before me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And it does not seem to me,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that you have given me any
+definite counsel, and I know that is what you came here to do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are mistaken there,&quot; he said. &quot;I came here to find out what sort of
+a girl you are; my counsels must depend on my discoveries. But there is
+one thing I want to ask you; you are all the time talking about three
+young men. Now, there are four of them here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she answered quickly. &quot;But only three of them have proposed;
+and, besides, if the other were to do so, he would have to be set aside
+for what I may call family reasons. I don't want to go into particulars
+because the subject is very painful to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Mr. Tom did not speak. Then, determined to go through with
+what he had come to do, which was to make himself acquainted with this
+girl, he said: &quot;I do not wish to discuss anything that is painful to
+you, but Mrs. Easterfield and I are very much disturbed for fear that in
+some way your visit to Broadstone created some misunderstanding or
+disagreeable feeling between you and your uncle. Now, would you mind
+telling me whether this is so, or not?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him steadily. &quot;There is an unpleasant feeling between me
+and my uncle, but this visit has nothing to do with it. And I am going
+to tell you all about it. I hate to feel so much alone in the world that
+I can't talk to anybody about what makes me unhappy. I might have spoken
+to Mrs. Easterfield, but she didn't ask me. But you have asked me, and
+that makes me feel that I am really better acquainted with you than with
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This remark pleased Mr. Tom, but he did not think it would be necessary
+to put it into his report to his wife. He had promised to be very
+circumspect; and circumspection should act in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is very hard for a girl such as I am,&quot; she continued, &quot;to be alone
+in the world, and that is a very good reason for getting married as soon
+as I can.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And for being very careful whom you marry,&quot; interrupted Mr.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; said she, &quot;and I am trying very hard to be that. A little
+while ago I had a father with whom I expected to live and be happy, but
+that dream is over now. And then I thought I had an uncle who was going
+to be more of a father to me than my own father had ever been. But that
+dream is over, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And why?&quot; asked Mr. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is going to marry a woman,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that is perfectly horrible,
+and with whom I could not live. And the worst of it all is that he never
+told me a word about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As she said this Olive looked very solemn; and Mr. Tom, not knowing on
+the instant what would be proper to say, looked solemn also.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You may think it strange,&quot; said she, &quot;that I talk in this way to you,
+but you came here to find out what sort of girl I am, and I am perfectly
+willing to help you do it. Besides, in a case like this, I would rather
+talk to a man than to a woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom believed her, but he did not know at this stage of the
+proceedings what it would be wise to say. He was also fully aware that
+if he said the wrong thing it would be very bad, indeed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you see,&quot; said she, &quot;there is another reason why I should marry as
+soon as possible. In my case most girls would take up some pursuit which
+would make them independent, but I don't like business. I want to be at
+the head of a household; and, what is more, I want to have something to
+do&mdash;I mean a great deal to do&mdash;with the selection of a husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The conversation was taking a direction which frightened Mr. Tom. In the
+next moment she might be asking advice about the choice of a husband.
+It was plain enough that love had nothing to do with the matter, and Mr.
+Tom did not wish to act the part of a practical-minded Cupid. &quot;And now
+let me ask a favor of you,&quot; said he. &quot;Won't you give me time to think
+over this matter a little?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is exactly what I say to my suitors,&quot; said Olive, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom smiled also. &quot;But won't you promise me not to do anything
+definite until I see you again?&quot; he asked earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is not very unlike what some of my suitors say to me,&quot; she
+replied. &quot;But I will promise you that when you see me again I shall
+still be heart-free.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There can be no doubt of that,&quot; Mr. Tom said to himself as they arose
+to leave the garden. &quot;And, my young woman, you may deny being a flirt,
+but you permitted the addresses of two young men before you were upset
+by your father's letter. But I think I like flirts. At any rate, I can
+not help liking her, and I believe she has got a heart somewhere, and
+will find it some day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Tom returned to the house he did not find his wife, for that
+lady was occupied somewhere in entertaining her guests. Now, although it
+might have been considered his duty to go and help her in her hospitable
+work, he very much preferred to attend to the business which she had
+sent for him to do. And walking to the stables, he was soon mounted on a
+good horse, and riding away southward on the smooth gray turnpike.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Captain and Mr. Tom.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>C</span>aptain Asher was standing at the door of the tollhouse when he saw Mr.
+Easterfield approaching. He recognized him, although he had had but one
+brief interview with him one day at the toll-gate some time before. Mr.
+Easterfield was a man absorbed in business, and the first summer Mrs.
+Easterfield was at Broadstone he was in Europe engaged in large and
+important affairs, and had not been at the summer home at all. And so
+far this summer, he had been there but once before, and then for only a
+couple of days. Now, as the captain saw the gentleman coming toward the
+toll-gate he had no reason for supposing that he would not go through
+it. Nevertheless, his mind was disturbed. Any one coming from Broadstone
+disturbed his mind. He had not quite decided whether or not to ask any
+questions concerning the late members of his household, when the
+horseman stopped at the gate, and handed him the toll.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good morning, captain,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield cheerily, for he had heard
+much in praise of the toll-gate keeper from his wife.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good morning, Mr. Easterfield,&quot; said the captain gravely.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad I do not have to introduce myself,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield,
+&quot;for I am only going through your gate as far as that tree to tie my
+horse. Then, if convenient to you, I should like to have a little talk
+with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain's mind, which had been relieved when Mr. Easterfield paid
+his toll, now sank again. But he could not say a talk would be
+inconvenient. &quot;If I had known that you were not going on,&quot; he said, &quot;you
+need not have paid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Like most people in this life,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, &quot;I pay for what I
+have already done, and not for what I am going to do. And now have you
+leisure, sir, for a short conversation?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked very glum. He felt not the slightest desire now to
+ask questions, and still less desire to be interrogated. However, he was
+not afraid of anything any one might say to him; and if a certain
+subject was broached, he had something to say himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said he; &quot;do you prefer indoors or out of doors?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Out of doors, if it suits,&quot; replied the visitor, &quot;for I would like to
+take a smoke.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am with you there,&quot; said the captain, as he led the way to the little
+arbor.</p>
+
+<p>Here Mr. Easterfield lighted a cigar, and the captain a pipe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, sir,&quot; said the latter, when the tobacco in his bowl was in a
+satisfactory glow, &quot;what is it you want to talk about?&quot; He spoke as if
+he were behind entrenchments, and ready for an attack.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We have two of your guests with us,&quot; answered Mr. Easterfield,
+&quot;Professor Lancaster, and your niece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said the captain, evidently relieved. &quot;I thought perhaps you had
+come to ask questions about some reports you may have heard in regard to
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all, not at all,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield. &quot;I would not think of
+mentioning your private affairs, about which I have not the slightest
+right or wish to speak. But as we have apparently appropriated two of
+your young people, I think, and Mrs. Easterfield agrees with me, that it
+is but right you should be informed as to their health, and what they
+are doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain puffed vigorously. &quot;When is Dick Lancaster coming back&quot; he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't say anything about that,&quot; replied Mr. Easterfield, &quot;for I am
+not master of ceremonies. We would like to keep him as long as we can,
+but, of course, your claims must be considered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think so,&quot; remarked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Professor Lancaster is a remarkably fine young man,&quot; said the other,
+&quot;and as he is a friend of yours, and as I should like him to be a friend
+of mine, it would give me pleasure to talk to you more about him. But I
+may as well confess that my real object in coming here is to talk about
+your niece. Of course, as I said before, it might appear that I have no
+right to meddle with your family affairs, but in this case I certainly
+think I am justified; for, as Mrs. Easterfield invited the young lady to
+leave you and to come to her, and as all that has happened to her has
+happened at our house, and in consequence of that invitation, I think
+that you, as her nearest accessible relative, should be told of what has
+occurred.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain made no answer, but gazed steadily into the face of the
+speaker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore,&quot; continued Mr. Easterfield, &quot;I will simply state that my
+wife and I have very good reason to believe that your niece is about to
+engage herself in marriage; and I will only add that we are very sorry,
+indeed, that this should have occurred under our roof.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A sudden and curious change came over the face of the captain; a light
+sparkled in his eye, and a faint flush, as if of pleasure, was visible
+under his swarthy skin. He leaned toward his companion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it Dick Lancaster?&quot; he asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield answered gravely: &quot;I wish it were, but I am very sorry
+to say it is not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The light went out of the captain's eye. He leaned back on his bench and
+the little flush in his cheeks was succeeded by a somber coldness. &quot;Very
+good,&quot; said he; &quot;I don't want to hear anything more about it, and, what
+is more, it would not be right for you to tell me, even if I did want to
+know. It is none of my business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, really, Captain Asher,&quot; began Mr. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, sir,&quot; the captain interrupted. &quot;It is none of my business, and I
+don't want to hear anything about it. And now, sir, I would like to tell
+you something. It is something I thought you came here to ask about, and
+I did not like it, but now I want to tell you of my own free will, in
+confidence. That is to say, I don't want you to speak of it to anybody
+in your house. I suppose you have heard something about my intending to
+marry a woman in town?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, &quot;I can not deny that I have, but I
+considered it was entirely your own affair, and I had not&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; interrupted the captain, &quot;and I want to tell you&mdash;but I
+don't want my niece to hear it as coming from me&mdash;that that whole thing
+is a most abominable lie! That woman has been trying to make people
+believe I am going to marry her, and she has made a good many believe
+it, but I would rather cut my throat than marry her. But I have told her
+what I think of her in a way she can not mistake. And that ends her! I
+tell you this, Mr. Easterfield, because I believe you are a good man,
+and you certainly seem to be a friendly man, and I would like you to
+know it. I would have liked very much to tell everybody, especially my
+own flesh and blood, but now I assure you, sir, I am too proud to have
+her know it through me. Let her go on and marry anybody she pleases, and
+let her think anything she pleases about me. She has been satisfied with
+her own opinion of me without giving me a chance to explain to her, or
+to tell her the truth, and now she can stay satisfied with it until
+somebody else sets her straight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But this is very hard, captain,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield; &quot;hard on you,
+hard on her, and hard on all of us, I may say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain made no answer to these words, and did not appear to hear
+them. &quot;I tell you, Mr. Easterfield,&quot; he said presently, &quot;that I did not
+know until now how much I cared for that girl. I don't mind saying this
+to you because you come to me like a friend, and I believe in you. Yes,
+sir, I did not know how much I cared for her, and it is pretty hard on
+me to find out how little she cares for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are wrong there,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield. &quot;My wife tells me that Miss
+Asher has frequently talked to her about you and her life here, and it
+is certain she has&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, that does not make any difference,&quot; interrupted the captain. &quot;I am
+talking about things as they are now. It was all very well as long as
+things seemed to be going right, but I believe in people who stand by
+you when things seem to be going wrong, and who keep on standing by you
+until they know how they are going, and that is exactly what she did not
+do. Now, there was Dick Lancaster; he came to me and asked me squarely
+about that affair. To be sure, I cut him off short, for it angered me to
+think that he, or anybody else, should have such an idea of me, and,
+besides, it was none of his business. But it should have been her
+business; she ought to have made it her business; and, even if the thing
+had stood differently, I would have told her exactly how it did stand;
+and then she could have said to me what she thought about it, and what
+she was going to do. But instead of that, she just made up her mind
+about me, and away went everything. Yes, sir, everything. I can't tell
+you the plans I had made for her and for myself, and, I may say, for
+Dick Lancaster. If it suited her, I wanted her to marry him, and if it
+suited her I wanted to go and live with them in his college town, or
+any other place they might want to go. Again and again, after I knew
+Dick, have I gone over this thing and planned it out this way, and that
+way, but always with us three in the middle of everything. Do you see
+that?&quot; continued the captain after a slight pause, as he drew from his
+pocket a dainty little pearl paper-cutter. &quot;That belongs to her. She
+used to sit out here, and cut the leaves of books as she read them. I
+can see her little hand now as it went sliding along the edges of the
+pages. When she went away she left it on the bench, and I took it. And
+I've kept it in my pocket to take out when I sit here, and cut books
+with it when I have 'em. I haven't many books that ain't cut, but I've
+sat here and cut 'em till there wasn't any left. And then I cut a lot of
+old volumes of Coast Survey Reports. It is a foolish thing for an old
+man to do, but then&mdash;but then&mdash;well, you see, I did it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a choke in the captain's voice as he leaned over to put the
+paper-cutter in his pocket and to pick up his pipe, which he had laid on
+the bench beside him. Mr. Easterfield was touched and surprised. He
+would not have supposed the captain to be a man of such tender
+sentiment. And he took him at once to his heart. &quot;It is a shame,&quot; his
+thoughts ran, &quot;for this man to be separated from the niece he so loves.
+She is a cold-hearted girl, or she does not understand him. It must not
+be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Had he been a woman he would have said all this, but, being a man, he
+found it difficult to break the silence which followed the captain's
+last words. He did not know what to say, although he had no hesitation
+in making up his mind what he was going to do about it all. He arose.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Captain Asher,&quot; he said, &quot;I have now told you what I thought you should
+know, and I must take my departure. I would not presume for a moment to
+offer you any advice in regard to your family affairs, but there is one
+thing Mrs. Easterfield and I will interfere with, if we can, for we feel
+that we have a right to do it, and that is any definite and immediate
+engagement of your niece. If she should promise herself in marriage at
+our house we shall feel that we are responsible for it, and that, in
+fact, we brought it about. Whether the match shall seem desirable to you
+or not, we do not wish to be answerable for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I need not be counted in at all,&quot; said the captain, who had
+recovered his composure. &quot;It is her own affair. I suppose it was the
+news of her father's intended marriage that put her in such a hurry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just like her&quot; the captain exclaimed. &quot;And I don't blame her. I'm with
+her there&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Tom reached Broadstone he dismounted at the stable, and walked
+to the house. Nobody was to be seen on the grounds. It was a warm
+afternoon when those whose hearts were undisturbed by the turmoils of
+love were apt to be napping, and those who were in the tumultuous state
+of mind referred to, preferred to separate themselves from each other
+and the rest of the world until the cause of their inquietude should
+consider the heat of the summer day as sufficiently mitigated for her to
+appear again among her fellow beings.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield did not care to meet any of his guests, and hoped to
+find his wife in her room, that he might report, and consult. But, as he
+approached the house, he saw at an upper window a female head. It stayed
+there just long enough for him to see that it was Olive's head; then it
+disappeared. When he reached the hall door there stood Olive.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom was a little disappointed. He wanted to see his wife
+immediately, and then to see Olive. But he could not say so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said the girl, coming down the steps, &quot;it looks as if we had
+arranged to meet. But although we didn't, let's take a little walk. I
+have something I want to say to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield turned, and walked away from the house. He was a
+masterful man, and did not like to have his plans interfered with.
+Therefore he made a dash, and had the first word. &quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he,
+&quot;I am glad to hear anything you have to say, but first you must really
+listen to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him with surprise. She also was a masterful person, and
+not accustomed to be treated in this way. But he gave her no chance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; said he, &quot;I have come to you to speak for one of your
+lovers, the truest, best lover you ever had, and I believe, ever will
+have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked at him steadfastly, and her face grew hard. &quot;Mr.
+Easterfield,&quot; she said, &quot;this will not do. I have told you I will not
+have it. Mrs. Easterfield and you have been very good and kind, and I
+have told you everything, but you do not seem to remember one thing I
+have said. I will not have anybody forced upon me; no matter if he
+happens to be an angel from heaven, or no matter how much better he may
+be than anybody else on earth. I have my reasons for this determination.
+They are good reasons, and, above all, they are my reasons. I don't want
+you to think me rude, but if you persist in forcing that gentleman upon
+my attention, I shall have to request that the whole subject be dropped
+between us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who in the name of common sense do you think I am talking about?&quot;
+exclaimed Mr. Tom. &quot;Do you think I refer to Mr. Lancaster?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do,&quot; she said. &quot;You know you would not come to plead the cause of any
+one of the others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He looked down at her half doubtfully, wondering a little how she would
+take what he was going to say. &quot;You are mistaken,&quot; he said quietly. &quot;I
+have nothing whatever to say about Mr. Lancaster. The lover I speak of
+is your uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then her face turned red. &quot;Why do you use that expression? Did he send
+you to say it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all. I came of my own free will. I went to see Captain Asher
+immediately after I left you. Perhaps you are thinking that I have no
+right to intrude in your family affairs, but I do not mind your thinking
+that. I had a long talk with your uncle. I found that the uppermost
+sentiment of his soul was his love for you. You had come into his life
+like the break of day. Every little thing you had owned or touched was
+dear to him because it had been yours, or you had used it. All his plans
+in life had been remade in reference to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They had stopped and were standing facing each other. They could not
+walk and talk as they were talking.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yet, but,&quot; she exclaimed, her face pale and her eyes fixed steadfastly
+upon him, &quot;but what of that&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are no yets and buts,&quot; he exclaimed, half angry with her that she
+hesitated. &quot;I know what you were going to say, but that woman you have
+heard of is nothing to him. He hates her worse than you hate her. She
+has imposed upon you; how I know not; but she is an impostor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this instant she seized him by the arm. &quot;Mr. Easterfield,&quot; she cried,
+and as she spoke the tears were running down her cheeks, &quot;please let me
+have a carriage&mdash;something covered! I would go on my wheel, for that
+would be quicker, but I don't want anybody to speak to me or see me!
+Will you have it brought to the back door, Mr. Easterfield, please? I
+will run to the house, and be waiting when it comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She did not wait for him to answer. He did not ask her where she was
+going. He knew very well. She ran to the house, and he hurried to the
+stable.</p>
+
+<p>Having given his orders, Mr. Tom went in search of his wife. The moment
+had arrived when it was absolutely necessary to let her know what was
+going on.</p>
+
+<p>He found her in her own room. &quot;Where on earth have you been?&quot; she
+exclaimed. &quot;I have been looking everywhere for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In as few words as possible he told her where he had been, and what he
+had done.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And where are you going now?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am going to change my coat,&quot; said the good Mr. Tom. &quot;After my ride
+to the toll-gate and back this jacket is too dusty for me to drive with
+her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Drive with her&quot; exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;It will be very well for
+you to get rid of some of that dust, but when the carriage comes I will
+drive with Olive to see her uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And thus it happened that Mr. Tom stayed at home with the house party
+while the close carriage, containing his wife and that dear girl, Olive
+Asher, rolled swiftly southward over the smooth turnpike road.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>A Stop at the Toll-gate.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he four lovers at Broadstone walked, and wandered, and waited, after
+breakfast that morning, but only one of them knew definitely what he was
+waiting for, and that was Mr. Locker. He was waiting for half-past
+twelve o'clock, when he would join Miss Asher, if she gave him an
+opportunity; and he was sure she would give him one, for she was always
+to be trusted. He intended this interview to be decisive. It would not
+do for him to wait any longer; yes or no must be her word. She had been
+walking down by the river with the best clothes on the premises, and he
+now feared the owner of those clothes more than anybody else. He was a
+keen-sighted young man, for otherwise how could he have been a poet, and
+he assured himself that Miss Asher was taking Hemphill seriously.</p>
+
+<p>So Mr. Locker determined to charge the works of the enemy that day
+before luncheon. When the conflict was over his flag might float high
+and free or it might lie trampled in the dust, but the battle should be
+fought, and no quarter would be asked or given.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Du Brant, they simply wandered, and waited,
+and bored the rest of the company. They did not care to do anything, for
+that might embarrass them in case Miss Asher appeared and wished to do
+something else; they did not want to stay in the house because she might
+show herself somewhere out of doors; they did not want to stay on the
+grounds because at any moment she might seat herself in the library with
+a book; above all things, they wanted to keep away from each other; and
+their indeterminate peregrinations made sick the souls of Mr. and Mrs.
+Fox.</p>
+
+<p>The diplomat did not know what he was going to do when he saw Miss Asher
+alone; everything would depend upon surrounding circumstances, for he
+was quick as well as wary, and could make up his mind on the instant.
+But good Rupert Hemphill had not even as much decision of purpose as
+this. He had already spent half an hour with the lady of his love, and
+he had not been very happy. Delighted that she had permitted him to join
+her, he had at once begun to speak of the one great object which
+dominated his existence, but she had earnestly entreated him not to do
+so.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is such a pity,&quot; she had said, &quot;for us never to talk of anything but
+that. There are so many things I like to talk about, especially the
+things of which I read. I am now reading Charles Lamb&mdash;that is, whenever
+I get a chance&mdash;and I don't believe anybody in these days ever does read
+the works of that dear old man. There is a complete set of his books in
+the library, and they do not look as if they had ever been opened. Did
+you ever read his little essays on Popular Fallacies? Some of them are
+just as true as they can be, although they seem like making fun,
+especially the one about the angry man being always in the wrong. I am
+inclined to side with the angry man. I know I am generally right when I
+am angry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill had not read these little essays, nor had he admitted that
+he had never read anything else by Mr. Lamb; but he had agreed that it
+was very common to be both angry and right. Then Olive had talked to him
+about other books, and his way had become very rough and exceedingly
+thorny, and he had wished he knew how to bring up the subject of some
+new figures in the German. But he had not succeeded in doing this. She
+had been in a bookish mood, and the mood had lasted until she had left
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Now he began to think that it would be better for him to give up
+wandering and waiting and go into the library and prepare himself for
+another talk with Olive, but he did not go; she might see him and
+suspect his design. He would wait until later. He took some books to his
+room.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster wandered and waited, but he was full of a purpose,
+although it was not exactly definite; he wanted to find Mrs. Easterfield
+and ask her to release him from his promise. He could not remain much
+longer at Broadstone, and Olive's morning walk with Hemphill had made
+him very nervous. She knew that these young men were in love with her,
+and he had a right to let her know that he was also. It might be
+imprudent for him to do this, but he could not see why it would not be
+as imprudent at any other time as now. Moreover, there might come no
+other time, and he had control of now.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield had not joined her guests because of her anxiety about
+Olive. Mr. Easterfield did not appear. For a time he was very
+particularly engaged in the garden. Mr. Fox grew very much irritated.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you, my dear,&quot; said he, &quot;every one who comes here makes this
+place more stupid and dull. I can't see exactly any reason for it, but
+these lovers are at the bottom of it. I hate lovers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You should be very glad, my dear,&quot; replied Mrs. Fox, &quot;that I was not of
+your opinion in my early life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But things changed for the better after a time. It is true that Mrs.
+Easterfield and Olive did not appear, but Mr. Easterfield showed
+himself, and did it with great advantage. The simple statement that his
+wife and Miss Asher had gone to make a call caused a feeling of relief
+to spread over the whole party. Until the callers returned there was no
+reason why they should not all enjoy themselves, and Mr. Easterfield was
+there to show them how to do it.</p>
+
+<p>As the Broadstone carriage rolled swiftly on there was not much
+conversation between its occupants. To the somewhat sensitive mind of
+Mrs. Easterfield it seemed that Olive was a little disappointed at the
+change of companions, but this may have been a mere fancy. The girl was
+so wrapped up in self-concentrated thought that it was not likely that
+she would have talked much to any one. Suddenly, however, Olive broke
+out:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Easterfield must be a thoroughly good man&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is,&quot; assented the other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you have always been entirely satisfied with him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Entirely,&quot; was the reply, without a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Now Olive turned her face toward her companion and laid her hand upon
+her arm. &quot;You ought to be a happy woman,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, what is this girl thinking of?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+&quot;Is she imagining that any one of the young fellows who are now
+besieging her can ever be to her what Tom is to me? Or is she making an
+ideal of my husband to the disparagement of her own lovers? Whichever
+way she thinks, she would better give up thinking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the somewhat sensitive Mrs. Easterfield need not have troubled
+herself. The girl had already forgotten the good Mr. Tom, and her mind
+was intent upon getting to her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will you please ask the man to stop,&quot; she said, &quot;before he gets to the
+gate, and let me out? Then perhaps you will kindly drive on to the
+tollhouse and wait for me. I will not keep you waiting long.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The carriage stopped, and Olive slipped out, and, before Mrs.
+Easterfield had any idea of what she was going to do, the girl climbed
+the rail fence which separated the road from the captain's pasture
+field. Between this field and the garden was a picket fence, not very
+high; and, toward a point about midway between the little tollhouse and
+the dwelling, Olive now ran swiftly. When she had nearly reached the
+fence she gave a great bound; put one foot on the upper rail to which
+the pickets were nailed; and then went over. What would have happened if
+the sharp pales had caught her skirts might well be imagined. But
+nothing happened.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was a fine spring&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. &quot;She has
+seen him in the house, and wants to get there before he hears the
+carriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive walked quietly through the garden to the house. She knew that her
+uncle was not at the gate, for from afar she had seen that the little
+piazza on which he was wont to sit was empty. She went noiselessly into
+the hall, and looked into the parlor. By a window in the back of the
+room she saw her uncle writing at a little table. With a rush of air she
+was at his side before he knew she was in the room. As he turned his
+head her arms were around his neck, and the pen in his hand made a great
+splotch of ink upon her white summer dress.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, uncle,&quot; she exclaimed, looking into his astonished face, &quot;here I
+am and here I am going to stay! And if you want to know anything more
+about it, you will have to wait, for I am not going to make any
+explanations now. I am too happy to know that I have a dear uncle left
+to me in this world, and to know that we two are going to live together
+always to want to talk about whys and wherefores.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But, Olive&quot; exclaimed the captain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are no buts,&quot; she interrupted. &quot;Not a single but, my dear Uncle
+John! I have come back to stay with you, and that is all there is about
+it. Mrs. Easterfield is outside in her carriage, and I must go and send
+her away. But don't you come out, Uncle John; I have some things to say
+to her, and I will let you know when she is going.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Olive sped out of the room Captain Asher turned around in his chair
+and looked after her. Tears were running down his swarthy cheeks. He
+did not know how or why it had all happened. He only knew that Olive was
+coming back to live with him!</p>
+
+<p>Meantime old Jane was entertaining Mrs. Easterfield at the toll-gate,
+where no money was paid, but a great deal of information gained. The old
+woman had seen Miss Olive run into the house, and she was elated and
+excited, and consequently voluble. Mrs. Easterfield got the full account
+of the one-sided courtship of the captain and Miss Port. Even the
+concluding episode of Maria having been put to bed had somehow reached
+the ears of old Jane. It is really wonderful how secret things do become
+known, for not one of the three actors in that scene would have told it
+on any account. But old Jane knew it, and told it with great glee, to
+Mrs. Easterfield's intense enjoyment. Then she proceeded to praise Olive
+for the spirit she had shown under these trying circumstances; and, in
+this connection, naturally there came into the recital the spirit the
+old woman herself had shown under these same trying circumstances, and
+how she had got all ready to leave the minute the nuptial knot was tied
+and before that Maria Port could reach the toll-gate, although it was
+like tearing herself apart to leave the spot where she had lived so many
+years. &quot;But,&quot; she concluded, &quot;it is all right now. The captain tells me
+it's all a lie of her own makin'. She's good at that business, and if
+lies was salable she'd be rich.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Just as the old woman reached this, what seemed to her unsophisticated
+mind, impossible business proposition, Olive appeared. Mrs. Easterfield
+was surprised to see her so soon, and, to tell the truth, a little
+disappointed. She had been greatly interested and amused by the old
+woman's rapid tale, which she would not interrupt, but had put aside in
+her mind several questions to ask, and one of them was in relation to
+her husband's late visit to the captain. She had had no detailed account
+from him, and she wondered how much this old body knew about it. She
+seemed to know pretty much everything. But Olive's appearance put an end
+to this absorbing conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Has you come to stay, dearie?&quot; eagerly asked old Jane, as Olive grasped
+her hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To be sure I have, Jane! I have come to stay forever!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Thank goodness!&quot; exclaimed the old woman. &quot;How the captain will
+brighten up! But my! I must go and alter the supper!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; said Olive, when the old woman had departed, &quot;you
+will have to go back without me. I can not leave my uncle, and I am
+going to stay here right along. You must not think I am ungrateful to
+you, or unmindful of Mr. Easterfield's great kindness, but this is my
+place for the present. Some day I know you will be good enough to let me
+pay you another visit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what am I to do with all those young men?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield
+mischievously. She would have added, &quot;And one of them your future
+husband?&quot; But she remembered the coachman.</p>
+
+<p>Olive laughed. &quot;They will annoy you less when I am not there. If you
+will be so good as to ask your maid to pack up my belongings, I will
+send for my trunk.&quot; She glanced at the coachman. &quot;Would you mind taking
+a little walk with me along the road?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be glad to do so,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, getting out of the
+carriage.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, my dear Mrs. Easterfield,&quot; said Olive when they were some distance
+from the toll-gate and the house, &quot;I am going to ask you to add to all
+your kindness one more favor for me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That has such an ominous sound,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that I am not
+disposed to promise beforehand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is about those three young men you mentioned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I mentioned no number, and there are four.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what I am going to ask of you one of them can be counted out. He is
+not in the affair. Only three are in this business. Won't you be so good
+as to decline them all for me? I know that you can do it better than I
+can. You have so much tact. And you must have done the thing many a
+time, and I have not done it once. I am very awkward; I don't know how;
+and, to confess the truth, I have put myself into a pretty bad fix.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Upon my word,&quot; cried Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that is a pretty thing for one
+woman to ask of another!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know it is,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and I would not ask it of anybody but the
+truest friend&mdash;of no one but you. But you see how difficult it is for me
+to attend to it. And it must be done. I have given up all idea of
+marrying, I am going to stay here, and when my father comes with his
+young lady he will find me settled and fixed, and he and she will have
+nothing to do with making plans for me. Now, dear Mrs. Easterfield, I
+know you will do this favor for me, and let me say that I wish you would
+be particularly gentle and pleasant in speaking to Mr. Locker. I think
+he is really a very kind and considerate young man. He certainly showed
+himself that way. I know you can talk so nicely to him that perhaps he
+will not mind very much. As for Mr. Du Brant, you can tell him plainly
+that I have carefully considered his proposition&mdash;and that is the exact
+truth&mdash;and that I find it will be wise for me not to accept it. He is a
+man of affairs, and will understand that I have given him a
+straightforward, practical answer, and he will be satisfied. You must
+not be sharp with Mr. Hemphill, as I know you will be inclined to be.
+Please remember that I was once in love with him, and respect my
+feelings as well as his. Besides, he is good, and he is in earnest, and
+he deserves fair treatment. I am sorry that I have worried you about
+him, and I will tell you now that I have found out he would not do at
+all. I found it out this morning when I was talking to him about books.
+His mind is neither broad nor cultivated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I could have told you that,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;and saved you all
+the trouble of taking that walk by the river.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And then there is one more thing,&quot; continued Olive; &quot;it is about
+Professor Lancaster. I am sure you will agree with me that it will not
+do for him to come back here. I am just going to start housekeeping
+again. I've got the supper on my mind this minute. You can't imagine how
+everything has turned topsy-turvy since I left. I suppose he will be
+wanting to go North, anyway. In fact, he told me so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield laughed. She did not believe that Mr. Lancaster would
+want to go North, or West, or East, although South might suit him. But
+she saw the point of Olive's request; it would be awkward to have him at
+the tollhouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, I will take care of him,&quot; she said, &quot;and he shall continue his
+vacation trip just as soon as Mr. Easterfield and I choose to give him
+up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You see,&quot; said Olive in an explanatory way, &quot;I have not anything in the
+world to do with him, but I thought he might want to come back to see
+uncle again. And, really,&quot; she added, speaking with a great deal of
+earnestness, &quot;I don't want to be bothered with any more young men! And
+now I will call uncle. You know I had to say all these things to you
+immediately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield walked quickly back to her carriage, but she did not
+wait to see Captain Asher. As a hostess it was necessary for her to
+hurry back home; and as a quick-witted, sensible woman she saw that it
+would be well to leave these two happy people to themselves. This was
+not the time for them to talk to her. So, when the captain, unwilling to
+wait any longer, appeared at the door of the house, these two dear
+friends had kissed and parted, and the carriage was speeding away.</p>
+
+<p>On her way home Mrs. Easterfield forgot her slight chagrin at what her
+husband had not done, in her joy at what he had accomplished. He had
+neglected to take her fully into his confidence, and had acted very much
+as if he had been a naval commander, who had cut his telegraphic
+connections in order not to be embarrassed by orders from the home
+government. But, on the other hand, he had saved her from the terrible
+shock of hearing Olive declare that she had just engaged herself to
+Rupert Hemphill. If it had not been for the extraordinary promptness of
+her good Tom&mdash;a style of action he had acquired in the railroad
+business&mdash;it would have been just as likely as not that Olive would have
+accepted that young man before she had had an opportunity of finding out
+his want of breadth and cultivation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>By Proxy.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span>bout half-past twelve Claude Locker made his appearance in the spacious
+hall. He looked out of the front door; he looked out of the back door;
+he peered into the parlor; he glanced up the stairway; and then he
+peeped into the library. He had not seen the lady of the house since her
+return, and he was waiting for Olive. This morning his fate was to be
+positively decided; he would take a position that would allow of no
+postponement; he would tell her plainly that a statement that she was
+not prepared to give him an answer that day would be considered by him
+as a final rejection. She must haul down her flag or he would surrender
+and present to her his sword.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker saw nothing of Miss Asher, but it was not long before the
+lady of the house came down-stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, Mr. Locker,&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;I am so glad to see you! Come into the
+library, please.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated a minute. &quot;I beg your pardon,&quot; said he, &quot;but I have an
+appointment&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know that,&quot; said she, &quot;and you may be surprised to hear that it is
+with me and not with Miss Asher. Come in and I will tell you about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker actually ran after his hostess into the library, both of
+his eyes wide open.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now,&quot; said she, &quot;please sit down, and hear what I have to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Locker seated himself on the edge of a chair; he did not feel happy; he
+suspected something was wrong.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is she sick?&quot; he asked. &quot;Can't she come down?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is very well,&quot; was the reply, &quot;but she is not here. She is with her
+uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I am due at her uncle's house before one o'clock,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; she answered, &quot;you are due here.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He fixed upon her a questioning glance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher,&quot; she continued, &quot;has deputed me to give you her answer. She
+can not come herself, but she does not forget her agreement with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young man still gazed steadfastly. &quot;If it is to be a favorable
+decision,&quot; said he, &quot;I hope you will be able to excuse any exuberance of
+demeanor on my part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled. &quot;In that case,&quot; she said, &quot;I do not suppose I
+should have been sent as an envoy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His brow darkened, and instinctively he struck one hand with the other.
+&quot;That is exactly what I expected!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;The signs all pointed
+that way. But until this moment, my dear madam, I hoped. Yes, I had
+presumed to hope that I might kindle in her heart a little nickering
+flame. I had tried to do this, and I had left but one small match head,
+which I intended to strike this day. But now I see I had a piece of the
+wrong end of the match. After this I must be content forever to stay in
+the cold.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad you view the matter so philosophically,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield, &quot;and Olive particularly desired me to say&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't call her Olive, if you please,&quot; he interrupted. &quot;It is like
+speaking to me through the partly open door of paradise, through which I
+can not enter. Slam it shut, I beg of you, and talk over the top of the
+wall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Asher wants you to know,&quot; continued Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;that while
+she has decided to decline your addresses, she is deeply grateful to you
+for the considerate way in which you have borne yourself toward her. I
+know she has a high regard for you, and that she will not forget your
+kindness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker put his hands in his pockets. &quot;Do you know,&quot; said he, &quot;as
+this thing had to be done, I prefer to have you do it than to have her
+do it. Well, it is done now! And so am I!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You never did truly expect to get her, did you, Mr. Locker?&quot; asked Mrs.
+Easterfield.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never,&quot; he answered; &quot;but I do not flinch at what may be
+impossibilities. Nobody, myself included, can imagine that I shall rival
+Keats, and yet I am always trying for it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it Keats you are aiming at?&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied; &quot;it does not look like it, does it? But it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you don't feel disheartened when you fail?&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker took his hands from his pockets, and folded his arms. &quot;Yes,
+I do,&quot; he said; &quot;I feel as thoroughly disheartened as I do now. But I
+have one comfort; Keats and Miss Asher dropped me; I did not drop them.
+So there is nothing on my conscience. And now tell me, is she going to
+take Lancaster? I hope so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She could not do that,&quot; answered Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;for I know he has
+not asked her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then he'd better skip around lively and do it,&quot; said Mr. Locker, &quot;not
+only for his own sake, but for mine. If I should be cast aside for the
+Hemphill clothes I should have no faith in humanity. I would give up
+verse, and I would give up woman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't be afraid of anything like that,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield,
+laughing. &quot;It may be somewhat of a breach of confidence, but I am going
+to tell you nevertheless; because I think you deserve it; that I am also
+deputed to decline the addresses of Mr. Hemphill, and Mr. Du Brant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hurrah!&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Mrs. Easterfield, I envy you; and if you don't
+feel like performing the rest of your mission, you can depute it to me.
+I don't know anything at this moment that would give me so much joy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I would not be so disloyal or so cruel as that,&quot; said she. &quot;But I shall
+not be in a hurry. I shall let them eat their lunch in peace and hope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not much peace,&quot; said he. &quot;Her empty chair will put that to flight. I
+know how it feels to look at her empty chair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you really love her?&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield, much moved.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With every fiber,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield found herself much embarrassed at the luncheon table.
+She had made her husband understand the state of affairs, but had not
+had time to enter into particulars with him, and she did not find it
+easy satisfactorily to explain to the company the absence of Miss Asher
+without calling forth embarrassing questions as to her return, and she
+wished carefully to avoid telling them that her guest was not coming
+back for the present. If she made this known then she feared there might
+be a scene at the table.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hemphill turned pale when, that afternoon, his hostess, in an
+exceedingly clear and plain manner, made known to him his fate. For a
+few moments he did not speak. Then he said very quietly: &quot;If she had
+not, of her own accord, told me that she had once loved me, I should
+never have dared to say anything like that to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not think you need any excuse, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; said Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;In fact, if you loved her, I do not see how you could help
+speaking after what she herself said to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is true,&quot; he replied. &quot;And I love her with all my heart!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She ought never to have told you of that girlish fancy,&quot; said his
+hostess. &quot;It was putting you in a very embarrassing position, and I am
+bound to say to you, Mr. Hemphill, that I also am very much to blame.
+Knowing all this, as I did, I should not have allowed you to meet her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't say that!&quot; exclaimed Mr. Hemphill. &quot;Don't say that! Not for
+the world would I give up the memory of hearing her say she once loved
+me! I don't care how many years ago it was. I am glad you let me come
+here. I am glad she told me. I shall never forget the happiness I have
+had in this house. And now, Mrs. Easterfield, let me ask you one
+thing&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this moment Mrs. Easterfield, who was facing the door, saw her
+husband enter the hall, and by his manner she knew he was looking for
+her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; she said to Hemphill, &quot;I will be back in an instant.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And she ran out. &quot;Tom,&quot; she cried, &quot;you must go away. I can not see you
+now. I am very busy declining the addresses of a suitor, and can not be
+interrupted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tom looked at her in surprise, although it was not often Mrs.
+Easterfield could surprise him. He saw that she was very much in
+earnest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;if you are sure you are going to decline him I won't
+interrupt you. And when you have sealed his fate you will find me in my
+room. I want particularly to see you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield went back to the library and Hemphill continued: &quot;You
+need not answer if you do not think it is right,&quot; said he, &quot;but do you
+believe at any time she thought seriously of me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled as she answered: &quot;Now, you see the advantage of
+an agent in such matters as this. You could not have asked her that
+question, or if you did she would not answer you. And now I am going to
+tell you that she did have some serious thought of you. Whatever
+encouragement she gave you, she treated you fairly. She is a very
+practical young woman&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me,&quot; said Hemphill hurriedly, &quot;but if you please, I would rather
+you did not tell me anything more. Sometimes it is not well to try to
+know too much. I can't talk now, Mrs. Easterfield, for I am dreadfully
+cut up, but at the same time I am wonderfully proud. I don't know that
+you can understand this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I can,&quot; she said; &quot;I understand it perfectly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are very kind,&quot; he said. As he was about to leave the room he
+stopped and turned to Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;Is she going to marry Professor
+Lancaster?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Really, Mr. Hemphill,&quot; she replied, &quot;I can not say anything about that.
+I do not know any more than you do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, I hope she may,&quot; he said. &quot;It would be a burning shame if she
+were to accept that Austrian; and as for the other little man, he is too
+ugly. You must excuse me for speaking of your friends in this way, Mrs.
+Easterfield, but really I should feel dreadfully if I thought I had been
+set aside for such a queer customer as he is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield did not laugh then; but when Hemphill had gone, and she
+had joined her husband, they had a good time together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so they all recommend Lancaster,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So far,&quot; she answered; &quot;but I have yet to hear what Mr. Du Brant has to
+say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think you have had enough of this discarding business,&quot; said Mr.
+Tom. &quot;You would better leave Du Brant to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said she; &quot;I promised Olive. And, besides, I think I like it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe you do,&quot; said Mr. Tom. &quot;And now I want to say something
+important. It is not right that Broadstone should be given up entirely
+to the affairs of Miss Asher and her lovers. I think, for instance, that
+our friend Fox looks very much dissatisfied.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is because Olive is not here,&quot; she replied.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not only that,&quot; he answered. &quot;He loses her, and does not get anything
+else in her place. Now, we must make this house lively, as it ought to
+be. Let Du Brant off for to-day and let us make up a party to go out on
+the river. We will take two boats, and have some of the men to do the
+rowing. Postpone dinner so we can have a long afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Du Brant did not go on the river excursion. He had some letters to
+write, and begged to be excused. He had not asked when Miss Asher was
+expected back, or anything about her return. He did not understand the
+state of affairs, and was afraid he might receive some misleading
+information. But if she should come that afternoon or the next day he
+determined to be on the spot. After that he might not be able to remain
+at Broadstone, and it would be a glorious opportunity for him if she
+should come back that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>It was twilight when the boating party returned. Under the genial
+influence of Mr. Tom and his wife they had all enjoyed themselves as
+much as it was possible for them to do so without Olive.</p>
+
+<p>When Claude Locker, a little behind the others, reached the top of the
+hill he perceived, not far away, Mr. Du Brant strolling. These two had
+not spoken since the night of the interrupted serenade. Each of them had
+desired to avoid words or actions which might disturb the peace of this
+hospitable home, and consequently had very successfully succeeded in
+avoiding each other. But now Mr. Locker walked straight up to the
+secretary of legation, holding out his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Mr. Du Brant,&quot; said he, &quot;since we are both in the same boat, let
+us shake hands and let bygones be bygones.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But the young Austrian did not take the proffered hand. For a moment he
+looked as though he were about to turn away without taking any notice of
+Locker, but he had not the strength of mind to do this. He turned and
+remarked with a scowl:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean by same boat? I have nothing to do with you on the
+water or on the land!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker shrugged his shoulders. &quot;So you have not been told,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Told!&quot; exclaimed Du Brant, now very much interested. &quot;Told what?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That you will have to find out,&quot; said the other. &quot;It is not my business
+to tell you. But I don't mind saying that as I have been told I thought
+perhaps you might have been.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Told what?&quot; exclaimed Mr. Du Brant again, stepping up closer to the
+other.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Don't shout so,&quot; said Locker; &quot;they will think we are quarreling.
+Didn't I say I am not the person to tell you anything, and if you did
+not understand me I will say it again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For some seconds the Austrian looked steadily at his companion. Then he
+said, &quot;Have you been refused by Miss Asher?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said Locker with a sigh, &quot;as that is my business, I suppose I
+can talk about it if I want to. Yes, I have.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Again Du Brant was silent for a time. &quot;Did she tell you herself?&quot; he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, she did not,&quot; was the answer. &quot;She kindly sent me word by Mrs.
+Easterfield. I suppose your turn has not come yet. I was at the head of
+the list.&quot; And, fearing that if he stayed longer he might say too much,
+Mr. Locker walked slowly away, whistling disjointedly as he went.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Mrs. Easterfield discovered that she had been deprived of
+the anticipated pleasure of conveying to Mr. Du Brant the message which
+Olive had sent him. That gentleman, unusually polite and soft-spoken,
+found her by herself, and thus accosted her: &quot;You must excuse me, madam,
+for speaking upon a certain subject without permission from you, but I
+have reason to believe that you are the bearer of a message to me from
+Miss Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How in the world did you find that out?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was the&mdash;Locker,&quot; he answered. &quot;I do not think it was his intention
+to inform me fully; he is not a master of words and expressions; he is a
+little blundering; but, from what he said, I supposed you were kind
+enough to be the bearer of such a message.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;not being able to be here herself, Miss
+Asher requested me to say to you that she must decline&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Excuse me, madam,&quot; he interrupted, &quot;but it is I who decline. I bear
+toward you, madam, the greatest homage and respect, but what I had the
+honor to say to Miss Asher I said to her alone, and it is only from her
+that it is possible for me to receive an answer. Therefore, madam, it is
+absolutely necessary that I decline to be a party to the interview you
+so graciously propose. It breaks my heart, my dear madam, even to seem
+unwilling to listen to anything you might deign to say to me, but in
+this case I must be firm, I must decline. Can you pardon me, dear madam,
+for speaking as I have been obliged to speak?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, of course,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;And really, since you know so
+much, it is not necessary for me to tell you anything more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah,&quot; said the diplomat, with a little bow and an incredulous
+expression, as if the lady could have no idea what he might yet know, &quot;I
+am so much obliged to you! I am so thankful!&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXVIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Here we go! Lovers Three!</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he three discarded lovers of Broadstone&mdash;all discarded, although one of
+them would not admit it&mdash;would have departed the next day had not that
+day been Sunday, when there were no convenient trains. Mr. Du Brant was
+due in Washington; Mr. Hemphill was needed very much at his desk,
+especially since Mr. Easterfield had decided to spend a few days with
+his wife; and Claude Locker wanted to go. When he had finished the thing
+he happened to be doing it was his habit immediately to begin something
+else. All was at an end between him and Miss Asher. He acknowledged
+this, and he did not wish to stay at Broadstone. But, as it could not be
+helped, they all stayed over Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield planned an early afternoon expedition to a mission
+church in the mountains; it would be a novel experience, and a
+delightful trip, and everybody must go.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the morning Mr. Du Brant strolled in the eastern parts
+of the grounds, and Mr. Locker strolled over that portion of the lawn
+which lay to the west. Mr. Du Brant did not meet with any one with whom
+he cared to talk, but Mr. Locker was fortunate enough to meet Miss
+Raleigh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad to see you,&quot; said he; &quot;you are the person above all other
+persons I wish to talk to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It delights me to hear that,&quot; said the lady, her face showing that she
+spoke the truth.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let us go over there and sit down,&quot; said he. &quot;Now, then,&quot; he continued,
+&quot;you were present, Miss Raleigh, at a very peculiar moment in my life, a
+momentous moment, I may say. You enjoyed a privilege&mdash;if you consider it
+such&mdash;not vouchsafed to many mortals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did consider it a privilege, you may be sure,&quot; exclaimed Miss
+Raleigh, &quot;and I value it. You do not know how highly I value it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You heard me offer myself, body and soul, to the lady I loved. You were
+taken into our confidence, you saw me laid upon the table&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, dreadful!&quot; cried the lady. &quot;Don't put it that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said he, &quot;you saw me postponed for future consideration.
+You promised you would regard everything you heard as confidential; by
+so doing you enabled me to speak when otherwise I might not have dared
+to do so. I am deeply grateful to you; and, as you already know so much
+about my hopes and my aspirations, I think it right you should know all
+there is to know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The conscience of Miss Raleigh stirred itself very vigorously within
+her, and her voice was much subdued as she said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sure you are very good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said Locker, &quot;the proposal you heard me make has been
+declined. I am discarded; and not directly in a face-to-face interview,
+but through another by a message. It would have been inconvenient for
+Miss Asher personally to communicate the intelligence, so as Mrs.
+Easterfield was coming this way she kindly consented to convey the
+intelligence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I declare,&quot; exclaimed Miss Raleigh, &quot;I had not heard of that! Mrs.
+Easterfield made me her confidant in the early stages of this affair, or
+I should say, these affairs. But she has not told me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She will doubtless give herself that pleasure later,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she, &quot;she will not think any more about it. I am of no
+further use. And may I ask if you know anything about the two other
+gentlemen?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Both turned down,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I might have supposed that,&quot; answered the lady; &quot;for if Miss Asher
+would not take you she certainly would not be content with either of
+them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With all my heart I thank you,&quot; said Locker warmly. &quot;Such words are
+welcome to a wounded heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Miss Raleigh was silent, then she remarked, &quot;It is very
+hard to be discarded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are right there!&quot; exclaimed Locker. &quot;But how do you happen to know
+anything about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been discarded myself,&quot; she answered.</p>
+
+<p>The larger eye of Mr. Locker grew still larger, the other endeavored to
+emulate its companion's size; and his mouth became a rounded opening.
+&quot;Discarded?&quot; he cried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she.</p>
+
+<p>The countenance of the young man was now bright with interest and
+curiosity. &quot;I don't suppose it would be right to ask you,&quot; said he,
+&quot;even although I have taken you so completely into my confidence&mdash;but,
+never mind. Don't think of it. Of course, I would not propose such a
+question.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not,&quot; said she, &quot;you are too manly for that.&quot; And then she
+was silent again. Naturally she hesitated to reveal the secrets of her
+heart, and to a gentleman with whom her acquaintance was of such recent
+date; but she earnestly wanted to repose confidence in another, as well
+as to receive it, and it was so seldom, so very seldom, that such an
+opportunity came to her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know,&quot; she said, &quot;that I ought to, but still&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, don't, if you don't want to,&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I think I do want to,&quot; she replied. &quot;You are so kind, so good, and
+you have confided in me. Yes, I was once discarded, not exactly by word
+of mouth, or even by message, but still discarded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A stranger to me, of course,&quot; said Locker, his whole form twisting
+itself into an interrogation-point.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said she, &quot;and as I have begun I will go on. It was Mr. Hemphill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;That&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it was he,&quot; said she, speaking slowly, and in a low voice. &quot;He was
+Mr. Easterfield's secretary and I was Mrs. Easterfield's secretary, and,
+of course, we were thrown much together. He has very good qualities; I
+do not hesitate now to say that; and they impressed themselves upon me.
+In every possible way I endeavored to make things pleasant for him. I do
+not believe that when he was at work he ever wanted a glass of cold
+water that he did not find it within reach. I early discovered that he
+was very fond of cold water.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A most commendable dissipation,&quot; interrupted Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He had no dissipations,&quot; said Miss Raleigh. &quot;His character was
+unimpeachable. In very many ways I was attracted to him, in very many
+ways I endeavored to make life pleasant for him; and I am afraid that
+sometimes I neglected Mrs. Easterfield's interests so that I might do
+little things for him, such as dusting, keeping his ink-pots full,
+providing fresh blotting-paper, and many other trifling services which
+devotion readily suggested.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Locker heaved a sigh of commiseration which she mistook for one of
+sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I will not go into particulars,&quot; she continued, &quot;but at last he
+discovered that&mdash;well, I will be plain with you&mdash;he discovered that I
+loved him. Then, sir&mdash;it is humiliating to me to say it, but I will not
+flinch&mdash;he discarded me. He did not use words, but his manner was
+sufficient. Never again did I go near his desk, never did I tender him
+the slightest service. It was a terrible blow! It was humiliating&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should think so,&quot; said Locker, &quot;from him&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I will say no more,&quot; she remarked with a sigh. &quot;I have told you
+what you have heard that you may understand how thoroughly I sympathize
+with you, for all is over with me in that direction, as I suppose all
+is over with you in your direction. And now I must go, for this long
+conference may be remarked. But before I go, I will say that if ever
+you&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, no, no!&quot; interrupted Locker, &quot;it would not do at all! I really
+have begun to believe that I was cut out for a bachelor.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; said Miss Raleigh, with great severity. &quot;Do you suppose, sir,
+that I&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not at all, not at all&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Not for one moment do I suppose
+that you&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If for one moment,&quot; said she, &quot;I had imagined you would suppose&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I assure you, Miss Raleigh, I never did suppose that you would
+imagine I would think&mdash;but if you do suppose I thought you imagined I
+could possibly conceive&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But I really did think,&quot; said Miss Raleigh, speaking more gently. &quot;But
+if I was wrong&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nay, think no more about it,&quot; Locker interrupted, &quot;and let us be
+friends again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He offered her his hand, which she shook warmly, and then departed.</p>
+
+<p>It had been arranged that Lancaster was not to leave Broadstone on the
+next day. He had expected to do so, but Mr. Easterfield had planned for
+a day's fishing for himself, Mr. Fox, and the professor, and he would
+not let the latter off. The ladies had accepted an invitation to
+luncheon that day; the next day some new visitors were expected; and in
+order not to interfere with Mr. Easterfield's plans, evidently intended
+to restore to Broadstone some of the social harmony which had recently
+been so disturbed, Dick consented to stay, although he really wanted to
+go. He could not forget that his vacation was passing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very well, then,&quot; Mrs. Easterfield remarked to him that Sunday evening,
+&quot;if you must go on Tuesday, I suppose you must, although I think it
+would be better for you if I were to keep my eye on you for a little
+while longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps so,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;but the time has come when curb-bits,
+cages, and good advice are not for me. I must burst loose from
+everything and go my way, right or wrong, whatever it may be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I see that,&quot; said she; &quot;but if it had not been for the curbed bit and
+all that, you would be leaving this place a discarded lover, like the
+rest of them. They depart with their love-affairs finished forever,
+ended; you go as free to woo, to win, or to lose as you ever were. And
+you owe this entirely to me, so whatever else you do, don't sneer at my
+curbs and my cages; to them you owe your liberty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The professor fully appreciated everything she had done for him, and
+told her so earnestly and warmly. But she interrupted his grateful
+expressions.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It would have been very hard on me,&quot; she said, &quot;if Olive had asked me
+to carry to you the news of your rejection. That is what I did for the
+others, I suppose you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said Lancaster; &quot;Locker told me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I might have supposed that,&quot; said she. &quot;And now I feel bound to tell
+you also, although it is not a message, that Olive does not expect to
+see you at her uncle's house. She infers that you are going to continue
+your vacation journey.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have made my plans for my journey,&quot; said he, &quot;and I do not think,
+Mrs. Easterfield, that you will care to have me talk them over with
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, indeed,&quot; she replied; &quot;I do not want to hear a word about them, but
+I am going to give you one piece of advice, whether you like it or not.
+Don't be in a hurry to ask her to marry you. At this moment she does not
+want to marry anybody. Her position has entirely changed. She wanted to
+marry so that her plans might be settled before her father and his new
+wife arrive; and now she considers that they are settled. So be careful.
+It is true that the objections she formerly had to you are removed, but
+before you ask her to marry you, you should seriously ask yourself what
+reason there is she should do so. She does not know you very well; she
+is not interested in you; and I am very sure she is not in love with
+you. Now you know, for I have told you so, that I would be delighted to
+see you two married. I believe you would suit each other admirably, but
+although you may agree with me in this opinion, I am quite sure she does
+not; at least, not yet. Now, this is all I am going to say, except that
+you have my very best wishes that you may get her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall never forget that,&quot; said he, &quot;but I see I am not to be free
+from the memory, at least, of the curb and the cage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast on Monday the three discarded lovers departed in a
+dog-cart, Mr. Du Brant in front with the driver, and Claude Locker and
+Hemphill behind. For some minutes the party was silent. If
+circumstances had permitted they would have gone separately.</p>
+
+<p>As long as he could see the mansion of Broadstone, Claude Locker spoke
+no word. When the time had come to go he had not wanted to go. When
+taking leave of Dick Lancaster he had congratulated that favored young
+man upon the fact that he had not been rejected, and had assured him
+that if he had remained at Broadstone he would have done his best to
+back him up as he had said he would.</p>
+
+<p>Hemphill was not inclined to talk. Of course, Locker did not care to
+converse with the young diplomat, and consequently he found himself
+bored, and to relieve his feelings he burst into song. His words were
+impromptu, and although the verse was not very good, it was very
+impressive. It began as follows:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;Here we go,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>Lovers three,<br /></span>
+<span>All steeped deep<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>In miseree.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>At this Mr. Hemphill turned and looked at him, while a deep grunt came
+from the front seat, but the singer kept on without much attention to
+meter, and none at all to tune.</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;This is so,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>Here we go,<br /></span>
+<span>Flabbergasted,<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>Hopes all blasted,<br /></span>
+<span>Flags half-masted.<br /></span>
+<span class='i4'>While it lasted,<br /></span>
+<span>We poor&mdash;&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&quot;Look here,&quot; cried Du Brant, turning round suddenly, &quot;I beg you desist
+that. You are insulting. And what you say is not true, as regards me at
+least. You can sing for yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not true!&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Oh, ho, oh ho! Perhaps you have forgotten
+yourself, kind sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This little speech seemed to make Du Brant very angry, and he fairly
+shouted at Locker: &quot;No, I haven't forgotten myself, and I have not
+forgotten you! You have insulted me before, and I should like to make
+you pay for it! I should like to have satisfaction from you, sir&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That sounds well,&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Do you mean to fight?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I want the satisfaction due to a gentleman,&quot; answered the young
+Austrian.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good,&quot; cried Locker, &quot;that would suit me exactly. It would brighten me
+up. Let's do it now. I am not going to stop at Washington, and this is
+the only time I can give you. Driver, can we get to the station in time
+if we stop a little while?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The person addressed was a young negro who had become intensely
+interested in the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes, sah,&quot; he answered. &quot;We'll git dar twenty minutes before de
+train does, and if you takes half an hour I can whip up. That train's
+mostly late, anyway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All right,&quot; cried Locker. &quot;And now, sir, how shall we fight? What have
+you got to fight with?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is folly,&quot; growled Du Brant. &quot;I have nothing to fight with. I do
+not fight with fists, like you Americans.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Haven't you a penknife&quot; coolly asked Locker. &quot;If not, I daresay Mr.
+Hemphill will lend you one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Du Brant now fairly trembled with anger. &quot;When I fight,&quot; said he, &quot;I
+fight like a gentleman; with a sword or a pistol.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am sorry,&quot; said Locker, &quot;but if I remembered to bring my sword and
+pistol I must have put them in the bottom of my trunk, and that has gone
+on to the station. Have you two pistols or swords with you? Or do you
+think you could get sufficient satisfaction out of a couple of piles of
+stones that we could hurl at each other?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Du Brant made no English answer to this, but uttered some savage remarks
+in French.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you understand what all that means?&quot; inquired Locker of Hemphill,
+who had been quietly listening to what had been going on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said the other, &quot;he is cursing you up hill, and down dale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said Locker, &quot;it sounds to me as if he were calculating his last
+week's expenses. But when he gets to French cursing, I drop him. I can't
+fight him that way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The colored boy now showed that he was very much disappointed. He had
+expected the pleasure of a fight, and he was afraid he was going to lose
+it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I tell you, sah,&quot; he said to Locker, &quot;why don't you try kick-shins? Do
+you know what kick-shins is? You don't know what kick-shins is? Well,
+kick-shins is this: one fellow stands in front of the other fellow, and
+one takes hold of the collar of the other fellow, and the other fellow
+takes hold of his collar, and then they kicks each other's shins, and
+the one what squeals fust, he's licked, and the other one gits the gal.
+You've got pretty thin shoes, sah,&quot; addressing Du Brant, &quot;and your feet
+ain't half as big as his'n, but your toes is more p'inted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No kick-shins for me,&quot; said Locker. &quot;I've got to be economical about my
+clothes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Du Brant's rage now became ungovernable. &quot;Do you apologize,&quot; he cried,
+&quot;or I take you by the throat, and I strangle you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Hemphill, who had been smiling mildly at the kick-shin proposition, now
+turned himself about. &quot;You will not do that,&quot; he said, &quot;and if you don't
+sit quiet and keep your mouth shut, I'll toss you out of this cart, and
+make you walk the rest of the way to the station.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Hemphill looked quite big and strong enough to execute this threat,
+and as he was too quiet a man to be ignored, Du Brant turned his face to
+the horse, and said no more.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know you were such a trump&quot; cried Locker. &quot;Give me your hand.
+I should hate to be strangled by a foreigner!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When they took the train Du Brant went by himself into the smoking-car,
+and Locker and Hemphill had a seat together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know,&quot; said Locker, &quot;I am beginning to like you, although I must
+admit that before this morning I can remember no feeling of the sort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is not surprising,&quot; said Hemphill. &quot;A man is not generally fond of
+his rival.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We will let it go at that,&quot; said Locker, &quot;we'll let it go at that! I
+should not wonder, if we had all stayed at Broadstone; and if the
+central object of interest had also remained; and, if I had failed, as
+I have failed, to make the proper impression; and if the professor, whom
+I promised to back up in case I should find myself out of the combat,
+should also have failed; I should not wonder if I had backed up you.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXIX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXIX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Two Pieces of News.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>I</span>t was nearly two weeks after Mrs. Easterfield drove away from the
+captain's toll-gate before she went back there again. There were many
+reasons for thus depriving herself of Olive's society. Mr. Tom had
+stayed with her for an unusually long time; a house full of visitors,
+mostly relatives, had succeeded the departed lovers, and Foxes; and,
+besides, Olive was so very busy and so very happy&mdash;as she learned from
+many little notes&mdash;cleaning the house from garret to cellar, and loving
+her uncle better every day, that it really would have been a misdemeanor
+to interfere with her ardent pursuits.</p>
+
+<p>But now Olive had written that she wanted to tell her a lot of things
+which could not go into a letter, and so the Broadstone carriage stopped
+again at the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>Two great things had Olive to tell, and she was really glad that her
+uncle was not at home so that she might get at once to the telling.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, old Mr. Port was dead, and Captain Asher was in
+great trouble about this. Of course, he could not keep away from the
+deathbed of his old friend, nor could he neglect to do all honor to his
+memory, but it was a terrible thing for him to have to go into the
+house where Maria Port lived. After what had happened it was almost too
+much for his courage, although he was a brave man. But he had conquered
+his feelings, and he was there now. The funeral would be to-morrow.</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. Easterfield heard all that Olive had to tell her about Maria
+Port, her heart went out to that brave man who kept the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>The next thing that Olive had to tell was that she had heard from her
+father, who wrote that he would soon arrive in this country; that he
+would then go West, where he would marry Olive's former schoolmate; and
+that, on their wedding tour, he would make a little visit at the
+tollhouse so that Olive might see her new mother.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, isn't this enough,&quot; cried Olive, &quot;to make any girl spread her
+wings and fly to the ends of the earth? But I have no wings; they have
+all gone away in a dog-cart. But I don't feel about that as I used to
+feel,&quot; she continued, a little hardness coming into her face. &quot;I am
+settled now just the same as if I were married, and father and Edith
+Malcolmsen may come just as soon as they please. They shall make no
+plans for me; I am going to stay here with Uncle John. This house is
+mine now, and I am seriously thinking of having it painted. I shall stay
+here just as if I were one of those trees, and my father and my new
+mother&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here tears came into Olive's eyes and Mrs. Easterfield stopped her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; said she, &quot;I will give you a piece of advice. When your father
+and his young wife come here, treat her exactly as if she were your old
+friend. If you do so I think you will get along very well. This is
+partly selfish advice, for I greatly desire the opportunity to treat
+your father hospitably. He was my friend when I was a girl, you
+remember, and I looked up to him with very great admiration.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And so these two friends sat and talked, and talked, and talked until it
+was positively shameful, considering that the Broadstone horses were
+accustomed to be fed and watered at noon, and that the coachman was very
+hungry.</p>
+
+<p>When, at last, Mrs. Easterfield drove home, and it must have been three
+in the afternoon, she left Olive very much comforted, even in regard to
+the unfortunate obligations which had fallen upon her uncle. For now
+that her old father had gone, all intercourse with the Port woman would
+cease.</p>
+
+<p>But in her own mind Mrs. Easterfield was not so very much comforted. It
+was all well enough to talk about Olive and her uncle and the happiness
+and safety of the home he had given her, but that sort of thing could
+not last very long. He was an elderly man and she was a girl. In the
+natural course of events, she would probably be left alone while she was
+very young. She would then be alone, for her father's wife could never
+be a mother to her when he was at sea, and their home would never be a
+home for her when he was on shore. What Olive wanted, in Mrs.
+Easterfield's opinion, was a husband. An uncle, such as Captain Asher,
+was very charming, but he was not enough.</p>
+
+<p>During this pleasant afternoon, when Captain Asher was in town
+attending to some arrangements for the burial of Mr. Port, Miss Maria
+was sitting discreetly alone in her darkened chamber. She had a great
+many things to think about, and if she had allowed her conscience full
+freedom of action, there would have been much more upon her mind. She
+might have been troubled by the recollection that since her father's
+very determined treatment of her when she had endeavored to fix herself
+upon the affections of Captain Asher, she had so conducted herself
+toward her venerable parent that she had actually nagged the life out of
+him; and that had she been the dutiful daughter she ought to have been
+he might have been living yet. But thoughts of this nature were not
+common to Maria Port. She had made herself sure that the will was all
+right, and he was very old. There was a time for all things, and Maria
+was now about to begin life for herself. To her plans for this new life
+she now gave almost her sole attention.</p>
+
+<p>She had one great object in view which overshadowed everything else, and
+this was to marry Captain Asher. This she could have done before, she
+firmly believed, had it not been for her old father and that horrid
+girl, the captain's niece. As for the elderly man who kept the toll-gate
+she did not mind him. If not interfered with, she was sure she could
+make him marry her, and then the great ambition of her life would be
+satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>Unpretentious as was her establishment in town, she did not care to
+spend the money necessary to keep it up, and although she was often an
+unkind woman, she was not cruel enough to think of inflicting herself
+as a boarder upon any housewife in the town. No, the toll-gate was the
+home for her; and if Captain Asher chose to inflict himself upon her for
+a few years longer, she would try to endure it.</p>
+
+<p>One obstacle to her plans was now gone, and she must devote herself to
+the work of getting rid of the other one. While Olive Asher remained at
+the tollhouse there was no chance for her in that quarter.</p>
+
+<p>The funeral was over, and when the bereaved Miss Port took leave of
+Captain Asher she exhibited a quiet gratitude which was very becoming
+and suitable. During the short time when he had visited the house every
+day she had showed him no resentment on account of what had passed
+between them, and had treated him very much as if he had been one of her
+father's old friends with whom she was not very well acquainted and to
+whom she was indebted for various services connected with the sad
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>When he took final leave of her he shook her hand, and as he did so he
+gave her a peculiar grasp which, in his own mind, indicated that he and
+she had now nothing more to do with each other, and that the
+acquaintance was adjourned without day. She bade him a simple farewell,
+and as he left the house she grinned at his broad back. This grin
+expressed, to herself at least, that the old and rather faulty
+acquaintance was at an end, and that the new connection which she
+intended to establish between herself and him would be upon an entirely
+different basis.</p>
+
+<p>He did not ask her if there was anything more that he could do for her,
+for he did not desire to mix himself up with her affairs, which he knew
+she was eminently able to manage for herself, and it was with a deep
+breath of relief that he got into his buggy and drove home to his
+toll-gate.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXX'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXX</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>By the Sea.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>W</span>hen Lieutenant Asher and his bride arrived at his brother's toll-gate
+they were surprised as well as delighted by the cordiality of their
+greeting. Each of them had expected a little stiffness during the first
+interview, but there was nothing of the kind, although young Mrs. Asher
+was bound to admit, when she took time to think upon the subject, that
+Olive treated her exactly as if she had been a dear old schoolmate, and
+not at all as her father's wife. This made things very pleasant and easy
+at that time, she thought, although it might have to be corrected a
+little after a while.</p>
+
+<p>Things were all very pleasant, and there never had been so much talk at
+the tollhouse since the first stone of its foundation had been laid. The
+day after the arrival of the newly married couple Mrs. Easterfield
+called upon them, and invited the whole family to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have never realized how much she must have thought of my parents!&quot;
+said Olive to herself, as she gazed upon her father and Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;They are so very glad to see each other!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She did not know that Lieutenant Asher had been to the present Mrs.
+Easterfield almost as much of a divinity as Mr. Hemphill had been to
+her girlish fancy; the difference being that the young cadet was well
+aware of the adoration of this child, not yet in long dresses, and
+greatly enjoyed and encouraged it. When, a few years later, the child
+heard of his marriage, she had outgrown the love with the lengthening of
+the skirts. But she had a tender recollection of it which she cherished.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner the next day was a great success, and after it the lieutenant
+and Mrs. Easterfield earnestly discussed Olive when they had the
+opportunity for a <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i>. She was so much to each of them, and he
+was grateful that his daughter had fallen under the influence of this
+old friend, now a charming woman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is so beautiful,&quot; said the lady, &quot;that she ought to be married as
+soon as possible to the most suitable bachelor in the United States.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not so fast! Not so fast&quot; said the lieutenant. &quot;Edith and I are going
+to housekeeping very soon, and then we shall want Olive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield smiled, but made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>When the lieutenant and his wife, with Olive, came a few days afterward
+to make their proper dinner call, he found an occasion to speak to their
+hostess.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you know,&quot; said he, &quot;that this is a strange girl of mine?&quot; She
+positively refuses to come and live with us. We had counted upon having
+her, and had made all our arrangements for it. She is as good and nice
+as she can be, but we can not move her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You ought not to try,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;it would be a shame for
+her to go away and leave her uncle. You have one young lady, and you
+should not ask for both. Olive must marry, and the captain must go and
+live with her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you arranged all that?&quot; said he. &quot;I remember you were a great
+schemer when quite a little girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am as great as ever,&quot; said she. &quot;And I have selected the gentleman.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, ho!&quot; cried the lieutenant. &quot;And is that all settled? Olive should
+have told me that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She could not do it,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield; &quot;for it is not all
+settled. There are some obstacles in the way; and the greatest of them
+is that she does not love him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The lieutenant laughed. &quot;Then that is settled. I know Olive.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield flushed, and then laughed. &quot;I doubt that knowledge. It
+is certain you do not know me! The young man loves her with all his
+heart; there is no objection to him; and I am most earnestly in favor of
+the match.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah&quot; said the lieutenant, with a bow; &quot;if that is the case, I must get a
+pencil and paper and calculate what I can give her for her trousseau. I
+hope the wedding will not come off very soon, for I am decidedly short
+at present, on account of recent matrimonial expenses. Would you mind
+telling me his name? Is he naval?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no,&quot; said she; &quot;he is pedagogy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; he cried, his eyes wide open.</p>
+
+<p>Then she laughed and told him all about Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course,&quot; concluded Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;I can not ask you not to
+speak to <i>anybody</i> about what I have told you, but I do hope you will
+prevent its getting to Olive's ears. I am afraid it would make a breach
+between us if she knew that I was trying to make a match for her. And,
+you see, that is exactly what I am doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you are right,&quot; said the lieutenant; &quot;and what is more, I am with
+you! You don't know,&quot; he added in a softer tone, &quot;how grateful I am to
+you for your care of Olive now that my dear wife is gone!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>For the moment he totally forgot that his dear wife had merely gone to
+the edge of the bluff with the captain and Olive to look at the river.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, as they sat together, Lieutenant Asher told his brother
+all that Mrs. Easterfield had confided to him about Dick Lancaster. The
+captain was delighted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is what I have wanted,&quot; he said, &quot;almost from the beginning, and I
+want it more than ever now. I am getting to be an old fellow, and I want
+to see her settled before I sail.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know, John,&quot; said the lieutenant, &quot;that I find Olive is a little
+more of a girl of her own mind than she used to be. I don't believe she
+would rest quietly under the housekeeping of a girl so nearly her own
+age.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain gave some vigorous puffs. &quot;I should think not!&quot; he said to
+himself. &quot;Olive would have that young woman swabbing the decks before
+they had been out three days! You are right,&quot; said he aloud, &quot;but we
+must all look out that Olive does not hear anything about this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was not until they were continuing their bridal trip that Lieutenant
+Asher considered the subject of mentioning Dick Lancaster to his wife.
+Then, after considering it, he concluded not to do it. In the first
+place, he knew that he was getting to be a little bit elderly, and he
+did not care about discussing the perfections of the young man who had
+been selected as a suitable partner for his wife's school friend. This
+was all very foolish, of course, but people often are very foolish.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that Olive Asher never heard of the tripartite alliance
+between her father, her uncle, and her good friend at Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>When Captain Asher learned, a few days after his brother had left, that
+the Broadstone family had gone to the seashore, he sat reflectively and
+asked himself if he were doing the right thing by Olive. The season was
+well advanced; it was getting very hot at the toll-gate, and at many
+other gates in that region; and this navy girl ought to have a breath of
+fresh air. It is wonderful that he had not thought of it before!</p>
+
+<p>At breakfast the next morning Olive stopped pouring coffee when he told
+her his plans to go to the sea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With you, Uncle John!&quot; she cried. &quot;That would be better than anything
+in the world! You sail a boat?&quot; she asked inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sail a boat!&quot; roared the captain. &quot;I have a great mind to kick over
+this table! My dear, I can sail a boat, keel uppermost, if the water's
+deep enough! Sail a boat!&quot; he repeated. &quot;I sailed a catboat from Boston
+to Egg Harbor before your mother was born. By the way, you seem very
+anxious about boat sailing. Are you afraid of the water?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She laughed gaily. &quot;I deserve that,&quot; she said, &quot;and I accept it. But
+perhaps I have done something that you never did. I have sailed a
+felucca.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Very good,&quot; said the captain; &quot;if there's a felucca where we're going
+you can sail me in one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They went to a Virginia seaside resort, these two, and left old Jane in
+charge of the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the day after they arrived they went out to engage a boat. When
+they found one which suited the captain's critical eye, he said to the
+owner thereof: &quot;I will take her for the morning, but I don't want
+anybody to sail me. I will do that myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know about that,&quot; said the man; &quot;when my boat goes out&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He stopped speaking suddenly and looked the captain over and over, up
+and down. &quot;All right, sir,&quot; said he. &quot;And you don't want nobody to
+manage the sheet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; interpolated Olive, &quot;I'll manage the sheet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they went out on the bounding sea. And as the wind whistled the hat
+off her head so that she had to fling it into the bottom of the boat,
+Olive wished that her uncle kept a toll-gate on the sea. Then she could
+go out with him and stop the little boats and the great steamers, and
+make them drop seven cents or thirteen cents into her hands as she stood
+braced in the stern; and she was just beginning to wonder how she could
+toss up the change to them if they dropped her a quarter, when the
+captain began to sing Tom Bowline. He was just as gay-hearted as she
+was.</p>
+
+<p>It was about noon when they returned, for the captain was a very
+particular man and he had hired the boat only for the morning. Olive had
+scarcely taken ten steps up the beach before she found herself shaking
+hands with a young man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How on earth!&quot; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was not on earth at all,&quot; he said; &quot;I came by water. I wanted to
+find out if what I had heard of the horrors of a coastwise voyage were
+true; and I found that it was absolutely correct.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But here!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;Why here? You could not have known!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not,&quot; he answered; &quot;if I had known I am sure I would have
+felt that I ought not to come. But I didn't know, and so you see I am as
+innocent as a butterfly. More innocent, in fact, for that little
+wagwings knows where he ought not to go, and he goes there all the
+same.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher was still at the boat, making some practical suggestions
+to her owner; who, being not yet forty, had many things to learn about
+the sails and rigging of a catboat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Locker,&quot; said Olive, looking at him very intently, &quot;did you come
+here to renew any of your previous performances?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a serenader?&quot; said he. &quot;Oh, no! But perhaps you mean as a
+love-maker?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is it,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Locker took off his hat, and rubbed his head. &quot;No,&quot; said he, &quot;I
+didn't; but I wish I could say I did. But that's impossible. I presume
+I am right in assuming this impossibility?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Entirely,&quot; said Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And, furthermore, I truly didn't know you were here. I think you may
+rest satisfied that that flame is out, although&mdash;By the way, I believe I
+could make some verses on that subject containing these lines:</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;'I do not want the flame,<br /></span>
+<span>I better like the coal&mdash;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>meaning, of course, that I hope our friendship may continue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled. &quot;There are no objections to that,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not, perhaps not,&quot; he said, clutching his chin with his hand;
+&quot;but some other lines come into my head. Of course, he didn't want the
+coal to go out.</p>
+
+<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'>
+<span>&quot;'He blew too hard,<br /></span>
+<span>The flame revived.'&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&quot;That will do! That will do!&quot; cried Olive. &quot;I don't want any more of
+that poem.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And the result of it all,&quot; said he, &quot;is only a burnt match.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing but a bit of charcoal,&quot; added Olive.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment up came the captain. Olive had told him all about Mr.
+Locker, and he was not glad to see him. Olive noticed this, and she
+spoke quickly. &quot;Here's Mr. Locker, uncle; he has dropped down quite
+accidentally at this place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh&quot; said the captain incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know he used to like me too much. But he knows me better now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Charming frankness of friendship!&quot; said Locker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And as I like him very much, I am glad he is here,&quot; continued Olive.</p>
+
+<p>The young man bowed in gratitude, but Olive's words embarrassed him
+somewhat, and he did not know exactly what would be suitable for him to
+say. So he took refuge in a change of subject. &quot;Captain,&quot; said he, &quot;can
+you fish?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>A look of scornful amazement showed itself upon the old mariner's face.
+&quot;I have tried it,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so have I,&quot; cried Locker, &quot;but I never had any luck in fishing
+and&mdash;some other things. I am vilely unlucky. I expect that's because I
+don't know how to fish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is very likely,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that your bad luck comes from not
+knowing where to fish.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The young man took off his hat and held it for a little while, although
+the sun was very hot.</p>
+
+<p>During the course of that afternoon and evening Captain Asher grew to
+like Claude Locker. The young man told such gravely comical stories,
+especially about his experiences in boats and on the water, that the
+captain was very glad he had happened to drop down upon that especial
+watering-place. He wanted Olive to have some society besides his own,
+and a discarded lover was better than any other young man they might
+meet. He knew that Olive was a girl who would not go back on her word.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>As good as a Man.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he next day our three friends went fishing in a catboat belonging to
+the young seaman of forty, and they took their dinner with them,
+although Mr. Locker declared that he did not believe that he would want
+any.</p>
+
+<p>They had a good time on the water, for the captain had made careful
+inquiries about the best fishing grounds, and the mishaps of Locker were
+so numerous and so provocative of queer remarks from himself, that the
+captain and Olive sometimes forgot to pull up their fish, so preengaged
+were they in laughing. The sky was bright, the water smooth, and even
+Mr. Locker caught fish, although it might have been thought that he did
+everything possible to prevent himself doing so.</p>
+
+<p>When their boat ran up the beach late in the afternoon the captain and
+Olive were still laughing, and Mr. Locker was as sober as a soda-water
+fountain from which spouts such intermittent sparkle. Dear as was the
+toll-gate, this was a fine change from that quiet home.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, upon the sand, Claude Locker approached Olive. &quot;Would
+you like to decline my addresses for the second time?&quot; he abruptly
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course not&quot; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, then,&quot; said he, extending his hand, &quot;good-by!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What are you talking about?&quot; said Olive. &quot;What does this mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It means,&quot; said he, &quot;that I have fallen in love with you again. I think
+I am rather worse than I was before. If I stay here I shall surely
+propose. Nothing can stop me&mdash;not even the presence of your uncle if it
+is impossible for me to see you alone&mdash;and, if you don't want any of
+that, it is necessary that I go, and go quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course I don't want it,&quot; she said. &quot;But why need you be so foolish?
+We were getting along so nicely as friends. I expected to have lots of
+fun here with you and uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fun!&quot; groaned Locker. &quot;It might have been fun for you and the captain,
+but what of the poor torn heart? I know I must go, and now. If I stay
+here five minutes longer I shall be at your feet, and it will be far
+better if I take to my own. Good-by!&quot; And, with a warm grasp of her
+hand, he departed.</p>
+
+<p>Olive looked after him as he walked to the hotel. If he had known how
+much she regretted to see him go he would have come back, and all his
+troubles would have begun again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hello!&quot; cried the captain when Locker had entered the house, &quot;I was
+looking for you. We can run out, and have some fishing this morning. The
+tide will suit. You did so well yesterday that I think to-day. I can
+even teach you to take out a hook.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Take out a hook?&quot; said Locker. &quot;I have a hook within me which no man
+in this world, and but one woman, can take out. And as this she must not
+even be asked to do, I go. Farewell!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What's the matter with the young man&quot; asked the captain of Olive a
+little later.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, he has fallen in love with me again,&quot; said Olive, with a sigh,
+&quot;and, of course, that spoils everything. I wish people could be more
+sensible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked down upon her admiringly. &quot;I don't see any hope for
+people,&quot; he said. And this was the first personal compliment he had ever
+paid his niece.</p>
+
+<p>When Claude Locker had gone, Olive missed him more than she thought she
+could miss anybody. Much of the life seemed to have gone out of the
+place, and the captain's high spirits waned as if he was suffering from
+the depression which follows a stimulant.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If that young fellow had been better-looking,&quot; said the captain, &quot;if he
+had more solid sense, and a good business, with both his eyes alike, I
+might have been more willing to let him go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he had been all that,&quot; asked Olive with a smile, &quot;why shouldn't you
+have been willing to let him stay?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain did not answer. No matter what young Locker might have been,
+he could never have been Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle,&quot; said Olive that afternoon, &quot;where shall we go next?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said he, &quot;but let's go to-morrow. I don't believe I like
+so many strangers except when they pay toll.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>They traveled about a good deal; and in a general way enjoyed
+themselves; but they were both old travelers, and mere novelty was not
+enough for them. Each loved the company of the other, but each would
+have liked to have Locker along. It grieved Olive to think that she
+wanted him, or anybody, but she would not even try to deceive herself.
+The weather grew cooler, and she said to her uncle: &quot;Let us go back to
+the toll-gate; it must be perfectly beautiful there now, with the
+mountains putting on their gold and red.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they started for home, planning for a stop in Washington on their
+way.</p>
+
+<p>Brightness and people were coming back to Washington. The air was
+cooler, and city life was stirring. Olive and her uncle stayed several
+days longer than they had intended; as most people do who visit
+Washington. On one of these days as they were returning to their hotel
+from the Smithsonian grounds, where they had been looking at autumn
+leaves from all quarters of this wide land; many of them unknown to
+them; they looked with interest from the shaded grounds on one side of
+the street to the great public building on the other side, which they
+were then passing, and at the broad steps ascending from the sidewalk to
+the basement floor.</p>
+
+<p>As they moved on thus slowly they noticed a man standing upon the upper
+steps of one of these stairs. His back was toward them; and, as their
+eyes fell upon him he stepped upon the upper sidewalk. He was walking
+with a cane which seemed to be rather short for him. He stood still for
+a moment, and appeared to be waiting for some one. Then, suddenly his
+whole frame thrilled with nervous action; he slightly lowered his head,
+and, in an instant, he brought his cane to his shoulder, as if it had
+been a gun. The captain had seen that sort of thing before. It was an
+air-gun. Without a word he made a dash at the man. He was elderly, but
+in a case like this he was swift. As he ran he glanced out in the
+direction in which the gun was aimed. Along the broad, sunlighted avenue
+a barouche was passing. On the back seat sat two gentlemen,
+well-dressed, erect. Even in a flash one would notice an air of dignity
+in their demeanor.</p>
+
+<p>There was not time to strike down the weapon, but before the man had
+heard steps behind him the captain gave him a tremendous blow between
+the shoulders which staggered him, and spoiled his aim. Then the captain
+seized the air-gun. There was a whiz, and a click on the pavement. Then
+the man turned.</p>
+
+<p>His black eyes flashed out of a swarthy face nearly covered with beard;
+his soft hat had fallen off when the captain struck him, and his black
+hair stood up like bristles on a shoe-brush. He was not a large man; he
+wore a loose woolen jacket; his sleeves were short, and his hands were
+hairy.</p>
+
+<p>All this Olive saw, for she had been quick to follow her uncle; but the
+captain, who firmly held the air-gun, saw nothing but the glaring face
+of a devil.</p>
+
+<p>The man jerked furiously at the gun, but the captain's grasp was too
+strong. Then the fellow released his hold upon the gun, and, with a
+savage fury, threw himself upon the older man. The two stood near the
+top of the steps, and the shock of the attack was so great that both
+fell, slipping down several of the stone steps.</p>
+
+<p>Olive tried to scream, but in her fright her voice utterly left her. She
+could not make a sound. As they lay upon the steps, the captain beneath,
+the man seized his victim by the neck with both hands, pressing his
+great thumbs deeply into his throat. Apparently he did not notice Olive.
+All the efforts of his devilish soul were bent upon stifling the voice
+and the life out of the witness of his attempted crime. Olive sprang
+down, and stood over the struggling men. Her uncle's eyes stared at her,
+and seemed bursting from his head. His face was growing dark. Again
+Olive tried to scream; and, in a frenzy, she seized the man to pull him
+from the captain. As she did so her hand fell upon something protruding
+under his woolen jacket. With a quick flash of instinct her sense of
+feeling recognized this thing. She jerked up the jacket, and there was
+the stock of a pistol protruding from his hip pocket. In an instant
+Olive drew it.</p>
+
+<p>A horrid sound issued from the mouth of Captain Asher; he was choking to
+death. In the same second that she heard it Olive thrust the muzzle of
+the pistol against the side of the man's head and pulled the trigger.</p>
+
+<p>The man's head fell forward and his hairy hands released their grip, but
+they still remained at the captain's throat. The latter gave a great
+gasp, and for an instant he turned his eyes full upon the face of his
+niece. Then his lids closed.</p>
+
+<p>Now there were footsteps, and, looking up, Olive saw a negro cabman in
+faded livery and an old silk hat, who stood staring. Before she could
+speak to him there came another man, a policeman, who, equally amazed,
+stared at the group below him. Only these two had heard the pistol
+shots. There were no other people passing on the avenue, and as it was
+past office hours there was no one in the great public building.</p>
+
+<p>Until they reached the top of the steps the policeman and cabman could
+see nothing. Now they stood astounded as they stared down upon an
+elderly man lying on his back on the steps; another man, apparently
+lifeless, lying on top of him with his hands upon his throat; and a girl
+standing a little below them with a smoking pistol in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>Before they had time to speak or move Olive called out, &quot;Take that man
+off my uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the policeman, followed by the negro, ran down the steps and
+pulled the black-headed man off the captain, and the limp body slipped
+down several steps.</p>
+
+<p>The policeman now turned toward Olive. &quot;Take this,&quot; she said, handing
+him the pistol. &quot;I shot him. He was trying to kill my uncle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The two men raised the captain to a sitting position. He was now
+breathing, though in gasps, with his eyes opened.</p>
+
+<p>The policeman took the pistol, looked at it, then at Olive, then at the
+captain, and then down at the body on the steps. He was trying to get an
+idea of what had happened without asking. If the negro had not been
+present he might have asked questions, but this was an unusual
+situation, and he felt his responsibility, and his importance. Olive now
+stepped toward him, and in obedience to her quick gesture he bent his
+head, and she whispered something to him. Instantly he was quivering
+with excitement. He thrust the pistol into his pocket, and turned to the
+negro. &quot;Run,&quot; said he, &quot;and get your cab! Don't say a word to a soul and
+I will give you five dollars.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The moment the negro had departed Olive said: &quot;Pick up that air-gun.
+There, on the upper step.&quot; Then she went to her uncle and sat down by
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you hurt?&quot; she said. &quot;Can you speak?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain put his arm around her shoulder, fixing a loving look upon
+her, and murmured, &quot;You are as good as a man!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The policeman picked up the air-gun, and gazed upon it as if it had been
+a telegram in cipher from a detective. Then he tried to conceal it under
+his coat, but it was too long.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me have it,&quot; said Olive; &quot;I will put it behind me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She had barely concealed it when the cab drove up.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said the policeman, &quot;you two must go with me. Can you walk, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, yes,&quot; said the captain in a voice clear, but weak.</p>
+
+<p>Olive rose, holding the air-gun behind her, and the policeman and the
+cabman helped the captain to the carriage. Olive followed, and the
+policeman, actuated by some strong instinct, did not look around to see
+if she were doing so. He had no more idea that she would run away than
+that the stone steps would move. When he saw that she had taken the
+air-gun into the carriage with her, he closed the door.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did your fall hurt you, uncle?&quot; said Olive, looking anxiously into his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My throat hurts dreadfully,&quot; he said, &quot;and I'm stiff. But I'll be
+stiffer to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The policeman picked up the hat of the black-haired man, and going down
+the steps, he placed it on his head. &quot;Now help me up with this
+gentleman,&quot; he said to the cabman; &quot;we must put him on the box-seat
+between us. Take him under the arms, and we'll carry him naturally. He
+must be awfully drunk!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they lifted him up the steps, and, after much trouble, got him on the
+box-seat. Fortunately they were both big men. Then they drove away to
+police headquarters. The officer was the happiest policeman in
+Washington. This was the greatest piece of work he had known of during
+his service; and he was doing it all himself. With the exception of the
+driver, nobody else was mixed up in it in the least degree. What he was
+doing was not exactly right; it was not according to custom and
+regulation. He should have called for assistance, for an ambulance; but
+he had not, and his guardian angel had kept all foot-passengers from the
+steps of the public building. He did not know what it all meant, but he
+was doing it himself, and if that black driver should slip from his seat
+(of which he occupied a very small portion) and he should break his
+neck, the policeman would clutch the reins, and be happier than any man
+in Washington.</p>
+
+<p>There were very many people who looked at the drunken man who was being
+carried off by the policeman, but the cabman drove swiftly, and gave
+such people very little opportunity for close observation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Stock-Market is Safe.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>here was a great stir at the police station, but Olive and her uncle
+saw little of it. They were quickly taken to private rooms, where the
+captain was attended by a police surgeon. He had been bruised and badly
+treated, but his injuries were not serious.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was put in charge of a matron, who wondered greatly what brought
+her there. Very soon they were examined separately, and the tale of each
+of them was almost identical with that of the other; only Olive was able
+to tell more about the two gentlemen in the barouche, for she had been
+at her uncle's side, and there was nothing to obstruct her vision.</p>
+
+<p>When the examination was ended the police captain enjoined each of them
+to say no word to any living soul about what they had testified to him.
+This was a most important matter, and it was necessary that it be hedged
+around with the greatest secrecy.</p>
+
+<p>When Olive retired to her plain but comfortable cot she was tired and
+weak from the reaction of her restrained emotions, but she did not
+immediately go to sleep for thinking that she had killed a man. And yet
+for this killing there was not in this girl's mind one atom of regret.
+She was so grateful that she had been there, and had been enabled to do
+it. She had seen her uncle almost at his last gasp, and she had saved
+him from making that last gasp. Moreover, she had saved the life of the
+man who had saved the most important life in the land. She knew the face
+of the gentleman in the barouche who sat on the side nearest her; she
+knew what her uncle had done, and she was proud of him; she knew what
+she had done for him; and she regarded the black-haired man with the
+hairy hands no more than she would have regarded a wild beast who had
+suddenly sprung upon them. She thought of him, of course, with horror,
+but her feelings of thankfulness for her uncle's safety were far too
+strong. At last her grateful heart closed her eyes, and let her rest.</p>
+
+<p>There were no letters found on the body of the black-haired man which
+gave any clue to his name; but there were papers which showed that he
+was from southern France; that he was an anarchist; that he was in this
+country upon a mission; and that he had been for two weeks in
+Washington, waiting for an opportunity to fulfil that mission. Which
+opportunity had at last shown itself in front of him just as Captain
+John Asher rushed up behind him.</p>
+
+<p>This information was so important that extraordinary methods were
+pursued. Communications were immediately made with the State Department,
+and with the higher police authorities; and it was quickly determined
+that, whatever else might be done, the strictest secrecy must be
+enforced. The coroner's jury was carefully selected and earnestly
+admonished; and, early the next morning, when the captain and Olive were
+required to testify before it, they were made to understand how
+absolutely necessary it was they should say nothing except to answer the
+questions which were asked them. The coroner was eminently discreet in
+regard to his questions; and the verdict was that Olive was acting in
+her own defense as well as that of her uncle when she shot his
+assailant.</p>
+
+<p>Among the officials whose positions enabled them to know all these
+astonishing occurrences it was unanimously agreed that, so far as
+possible, everybody should be kept in ignorance of the crime which had
+been attempted, and of the deliverance which had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>Very early the next afternoon the air was filled with the cries of
+newsboys, and each paper that these boys sold contained a full and
+detailed account of a remarkable attempt by an unknown foreigner upon
+the life of Captain John Asher, a visitor in Washington, and the heroic
+conduct of his niece, Miss Olive Asher, who shot the murderous assailant
+with his own pistol. There were columns and columns of this story, but
+strange to say, in not one of the papers was there any allusion to the
+two gentlemen in the barouche, or to the air-gun.</p>
+
+<p>How this most important feature of the occurrence came to be omitted in
+all the accounts of it can only be explained by those who thoroughly
+understand the exigencies of the stock-market, and the probable effect
+of certain classes of news upon approaching political situations, and
+who have made themselves familiar with the methods by which the
+pervasive power of the press is sometimes curtailed.</p>
+
+<p>In the later afternoon editions there were portraits of Olive, and her
+uncle. Olive was broad-shouldered, with black hair and a determined
+frown, while the captain was a little man with a long beard. There were
+no portraits of the anarchist. He passed away from the knowledge of man,
+and no one knew even his name: his crime had blotted him out; his
+ambition was blotted out; even the evil of his example was blotted out.
+There was nothing left of him.</p>
+
+<p>When they were released from detention the captain and Olive quickly
+left the station&mdash;which they did without observation&mdash;and entered a
+carriage which was waiting for them a short distance away. The fact that
+another carriage with close-drawn curtains had stopped at the station
+about ten minutes before, and that a thickly veiled lady (the matron)
+and an elderly man with his collar turned up and his hat drawn down (one
+of the police officers in plain clothes) had entered the carriage and
+had been driven rapidly away had drawn off the reporters and the
+curiosity mongers on the sidewalk and had contributed very much to the
+undisturbed exit of Captain and Miss Asher.</p>
+
+<p>These two proceeded leisurely to the railroad-station, where they took a
+train which would carry them to the little town of Glenford. Their
+affairs at the hotel could be arranged by telegram. There were calls at
+that hotel during the rest of the day from people who knew Olive or her
+uncle; calls from people who wanted to know them; calls from people who
+would be contented even to look at them; calls from autograph hunters
+who would be content simply to send up their cards; quiet calls from
+people connected with the Government; and calls from eager persons who
+could not have told anybody what they wanted. To none of these could the
+head clerk give any satisfaction. He had not seen his guests since the
+day before, and he knew naught about them.</p>
+
+<p>When Miss Maria Port heard that that horrid girl, Olive Asher, had shot
+an anarchist, she stiffened herself to her greatest length, and let her
+head fall on the back of her chair. She was scarcely able to call to the
+small girl who endured her service to bring her some water. &quot;Now all is
+over,&quot; she groaned, &quot;for I can never marry a man whose niece's hands are
+dripping with blood. She will live with him, of course, for he is just
+the old fool to allow that, and anyway there is no other place for her
+to go except the almshouse&mdash;that is, if they'll take her in.&quot; And at the
+terrified girl, who tremblingly asked if she wanted any more water, she
+threw her scissors.</p>
+
+<p>The captain and his niece arrived early in the day at Glenford station.
+The captain engaged a little one-horse vehicle which had frequently
+brought people to the toll-gate, and informed the driver that there was
+no baggage. The man, gazing at Olive, but scarcely daring to raise his
+eyes to her face, proceeded with solemn tread toward his vehicle as if
+he had been leading the line in a funeral.</p>
+
+<p>As they drove through the town they were obliged to pass the house of
+Miss Maria Port. The door was shut, and the shutters were closed. She
+had had a terrible night, and had slept but little, but hearing the
+sound of wheels upon the street, she had bounced out of bed and had
+peered through the blinds. When she saw who it was she cursed them both.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That was the only thing,&quot; she snapped, &quot;that could have kept me from
+gettin' him! So far as I know, that was the only thing!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When old Jane received the travelers at the toll-gate she warmly
+welcomed the captain, but she trembled before Olive. If the girl noticed
+the demeanor of the old woman, she pretended not to do so, and, speaking
+to her pleasantly, she passed within.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will they hang her?&quot; she said to the captain later.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What do you mean?&quot; he shouted. &quot;Have you gone crazy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The people in the town said they would,&quot; replied old Jane, beginning to
+cry a little.</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at her steadily. &quot;Did any particular person in the
+town say that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir,&quot; she answered; &quot;Miss Maria Port was the first to say it, so
+I've been told.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She is the one who ought to be hanged!&quot; said the captain, speaking very
+warmly. &quot;As for Miss Olive, she ought to have a monument set up for her.
+I'd do it myself if I had the money.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Old Jane answered not, but in her heart she said: &quot;But she killed a man!
+It is truly dreadful!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>By nightfall of that day the two hotels of Glenford were crowded, the
+visitors being generally connected with newspapers. On the next day
+there was a great deal of travel on the turnpike, and old Jane was kept
+very busy, the captain having resigned the entire business of
+toll-taking to her. Everybody stopped, asked questions, and requested to
+see the captain; and many drove through and came back again, hoping to
+have better luck next time. But their luck was always bad; old Jane
+would say nothing; and the captain and Olive were not to be seen. The
+gate to the little front garden was locked, and there was no passing
+through the tollhouse. To keep people from getting over the fence a
+bulldog, which the captain kept at the barn, was turned loose in the
+yard.</p>
+
+<p>There were men with cameras who got into the field opposite the
+toll-gate, and who took views from up and down the road, but their work
+could not be prevented, and Olive and her uncle kept strictly indoors.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the afternoon of the second day of siege that the captain,
+from an upper window, discovered a camera on three legs standing outside
+of his grounds at a short distance from the house. A man was taking
+sight at something at the back of the house. Softly the captain slipped
+down into the back yard, and looking up he saw Olive sitting at a
+window, reading.</p>
+
+<p>With five steps the captain went into the house and then reappeared at
+the back door with a musket in his hand. The man had stepped to his pack
+at a little distance to get a plate. The captain raised his musket to
+his shoulder; Olive sprang to her feet at the sound of the report; old
+Jane in the tollhouse screamed; and the camera flew into splinters.</p>
+
+<p>After this there were no further attempts to take pictures of the
+inmates of the house at the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>After two days of siege the newspaper reporters and the photographers
+left Glenford. They could not afford to waste any more time. But they
+carried away with them a great many stories about the captain and his
+erratic niece, mostly gleaned from a very respectable elderly lady of
+the town by the name of Port.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Dick Lancaster does not Write.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>n the third morning after their arrival at the toll-gate the captain
+and Olive ventured upon a little walk over the farm. It was very hard
+upon both of them to be shut up in the house so long. They saw no
+reporters, nor were there any men with cameras, but the scenery was not
+pleasant, nor was the air particularly exhilarating. They were not
+happy; they felt alone, as if they were in a strange place. Some of the
+captain's friends in the town came to the toll-gate, but there were not
+many, and Olive saw none of them. The whole situation reminded the girl
+of the death of her mother.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as it was known that the Ashers were at home there came letters
+from many quarters. One of these was from Mrs. Easterfield. She would be
+at Broadstone as soon as she could get her children started from the
+seashore. She longed to take Olive to her heart, but whether this was in
+commiseration or commendation was not quite plain to Olive. The letter
+concluded with this sentence: &quot;There is something behind all this, and
+when I come you must tell me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then there was one from her father in which he bemoaned what had
+happened. &quot;That such a thing should have come to my daughter!&quot; he
+wrote. &quot;To my daughter!&quot; There was a great deal more of it, but he said
+nothing about coming with his young wife to the toll-gate, and Olive's
+countenance was almost stern when she handed this letter to her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>Claude Locker wrote:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;How I long, how I rage to write to you, or to go to you! But if I
+     should write, it would be sure to give you pain, and if I should go
+     to you I should also go crazy. Therefore, I will merely state that
+     I love you madly; more now than ever before; and that I shall
+     continue to do so for the rest of my life, no matter what happens
+     to you, or to me, or to anybody.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Ever turned toward you,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CLAUDE LOCKER.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;How I wish I had been there with a sledgehammer!&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>And then there were the newspapers. Many of these the captain had
+ordered by the Glenford bookseller, and a number were sent by friends,
+and some even by strangers. And so they learned what was thought of them
+over a wide range of country, and this publicity Olive found very hard
+to bear. It was even worse than the deed she was forced to do, and which
+gave rise to all this disagreeable publicity. That deed was done in the
+twinkling of an eye, and was the only thing that could be done; but all
+this was prolonged torture. Of course, the newspapers were not
+responsible for this. The transaction was a public one in as public a
+place as could possibly be selected, and it was clearly their duty to
+give the public full information in regard to it. They knew what had
+happened, and how could they possibly know what had not happened? Nor
+could they guess that this was of more importance than the happening.
+And so they all viewed the action from the point of view that a young
+woman had blown out a man's brains on the steps of the Treasury. It was
+a most unusual, exciting, and tragic incident, and in a measure,
+incomprehensible; and coming at a time when there was a dearth of news,
+it was naturally much exploited. Many of the papers recognized the fact
+that Miss Asher had done this deed to save her uncle's life, and
+applauded it, and praised her quick-wittedness and courage; but all this
+was spoiled for Olive by the tone of commiseration for her in which it
+was all stated. She did not see why she should be pitied. Rather should
+she be congratulated that she was, fortunately, on the spot. Other
+journals did not so readily give in to the opinion that it was an act of
+self-defense. It might be so; but they expressed strong disapproval of
+the legal action in this strange affair. A young woman, accompanied by a
+relative, had killed an unknown man. The action of the authorities in
+this case had been rapid and unsatisfactory. The person who had fired
+the fatal shot and her companion had been cleared of guilt upon their
+own testimony, and the cause of the man who died had no one to defend
+it. If two persons can kill a man, and then state to the coroner's jury
+that it was all right, and thereupon repair to their homes without
+further interference by the law, then had the cause of justice in the
+capital of the nation reached a very strange pass.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the views of the reputable journals. But there were some
+which fell into the captain's hands that were well calculated to arouse
+his ire. Such a sensational occurrence did not often come in their way,
+and they made the most of it. They scented the idea that the girl had
+killed an unknown man to save her uncle's life; blamed the authorities
+severely for not finding out who he was; suggested there must be a
+secret reason for this; and hinted darkly at a scandal connected with
+the affair, which, if investigated, would be found to include some
+well-known names.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is outrageous!&quot; cried the captain. &quot;It is too abominable to be
+borne! Olive, why should we not tell the exact facts of this thing? We
+did agree&mdash;very willingly at the time&mdash;to keep the secret. But I am not
+willing now, and you are being sacrificed to the stock-market. That is
+the whole truth of it! If these editors knew the truth they would be
+chanting your praises. If that scoundrel had killed me, he would have
+killed you, and then he could have run away to go on with his President
+shooting. I am going to Washington this very day to tell the whole
+story. You shall not suffer that stocks may not fall and the political
+situation made alarming at election time. That is what it all means, and
+I won't stand it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will only make things worse, uncle,&quot; said Olive. &quot;Then the whole
+matter will be stirred up afresh. We will be summoned to investigations,
+and all sorts of disagreeable things. Every item of our lives will be in
+the papers, and some will be invented. It is very bad now, but in a
+little while the public will forget that a countryman and a country girl
+had a fracas in Washington. But the other thing will never be
+forgotten. It is very much better to leave it as it is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain, notwithstanding the presence of a lady, cursed the
+officials, the newspapers, the Government, and the whole country. &quot;I am
+going to do it!&quot; he cried vehemently. &quot;I don't care what happens!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>But Olive put her arms around him and coaxed him for her sake to let the
+matter rest. And, finally, the captain, grumblingly, assented.</p>
+
+<p>If Olive had been a girl brought up in a gentle-minded household,
+knowing nothing of the varied life she had lived when a navy girl;
+sometimes at this school and sometimes at that; sometimes in her native
+land, and sometimes in the midst of frontier life; sometimes with
+parents, and sometimes without them; and, had she been less aware from
+her own experiences and those of others, that this is a world in which
+you must stand up very stiffly if you do not want to be pushed down; she
+might have sunk, at least for a time, under all this publicity and
+blame. Even the praise had its sting.</p>
+
+<p>But she did not sink. The liveliness and the fun went out of her, and
+her face grew hard and her manner quiet. But she was not quiet within.
+She rebelled against the unfairness with which she was treated. No
+matter what the newspapers knew or did not know, they should have known,
+and should have remembered, that she had saved her uncle's life. If they
+had known more they would have been just and kind enough no doubt, but
+they ought to have been just and kind without knowing more.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Asher would now read no more papers. But Olive read them all.</p>
+
+<p>Letters still came; one of them from Mr. Easterfield. But every time a
+mail arrived there was a disappointment in the toll-gate household. The
+captain could scarcely refrain from speaking of his disappointment, for
+it was a true grief to him that Dick Lancaster had not written a word.
+Of course, Olive did not say anything upon the subject, for she had no
+right to expect such a letter, and she was not sure that she wanted one,
+but it was very strange that a person who surely was, or had been,
+somewhat interested in her uncle and herself should have been the only
+one among her recent associates who showed no interest whatever in what
+had befallen her. Even Mr. and Mrs. Fox had written. She wished they had
+not written, but, after all, stupidity is sometimes better than total
+neglect.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; said the captain one pleasant afternoon, &quot;suppose we take a
+drive to Broadstone? The family is not there, but it may interest you to
+see the place where I hope your friends will soon be living again. I can
+not bear to see you going about so dolefully. I want to brighten you up
+in some way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I'd like it,&quot; said Olive promptly. &quot;Let us go to Broadstone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that moment they heard talking in the tollhouse; then there were some
+quick steps in the garden; and, almost immediately, Dick Lancaster was
+in the house and in the room where the captain and his niece were
+sitting. He stepped quickly toward them as they rose, and gave Olive
+his left hand because the captain had seized his right and would not let
+it go.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been very slow getting here,&quot; he said, looking from one to the
+other. &quot;But I would not write, and I have been unconscionably delayed. I
+am so proud of you,&quot; he said, looking Olive full in the face, but still
+holding the captain by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>Olive's hand had been withdrawn, but it was very cheering to her to know
+that some one was proud of her.</p>
+
+<p>The captain poured out his delight at seeing the young professor&mdash;the
+first near friend he had seen since his adventure, and, in his opinion,
+the best. Olive said but little, but her countenance brightened
+wonderfully. She had always liked Mr. Lancaster, and now he showed his
+good sense and good feeling; for, while it was evidently on his mind, he
+made no allusion to anything they had done, or that had happened to
+them. He talked chiefly of himself.</p>
+
+<p>But the captain was not to be repressed, and his tone warmed up a little
+as he asked if Dick had been reading the newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>At this Olive left the room to make some arrangements for Mr.
+Lancaster's accommodation.</p>
+
+<p>Seizing this opportunity, Dick Lancaster stopped the captain, who he saw
+was preparing to go lengthily into the recent affair. &quot;Yes, yes,&quot; he
+said, speaking quickly, &quot;and my blood has run hot as I read those
+beastly papers. But let me say something to you while I can. I am deeply
+interested in something else just now. I came here, captain, to propose
+marriage to your niece. Have I your consent?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Consent!&quot; cried the captain. &quot;Why, it is the clearest wish of my heart
+that you should marry Olive!&quot; And seizing the young man by both arms, he
+shook him from head to foot. &quot;Consent!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;I should think
+so, I should think so! Will she take you, Dick? Is that&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't know,&quot; said Lancaster, &quot;I don't know. I am here to find out.
+But I hear her coming.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The happy captain thought it full time to go away somewhere. He felt
+that he could not control his glowing countenance, and that he might say
+or do something which might be wrong. So he departed with great
+alacrity, and left the two young people to themselves.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXIV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXIV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Miss Port puts in an Appearance.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>he captain clapped on his hat, and walked up the road toward Glenford.
+He was very much excited and he wanted to sing, but his singing days
+were over, and he quieted himself somewhat by walking rapidly. There was
+a buggy coming from town, but it stopped before it reached him and some
+one in it got out, while the vehicle proceeded slowly onward. The some
+one waited until the captain came up to her. It was Miss Maria Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How do you do?&quot; she said, holding out her hand. &quot;I was on my way to see
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain put both his hands in his pockets, and his face grew
+somewhat dark. &quot;Why do you want to see me?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him steadily for a moment, and then answered, speaking
+very quietly. &quot;I found that Mr. Lancaster had arrived in town, and had
+gone to your house, and that he was in such a hurry that he walked. So I
+immediately hired a buggy to come out here. I am very glad I met you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But what in the name of common sense,&quot; exclaimed the captain, &quot;did you
+come to see me for? What difference does it make to you whether Mr.
+Lancaster is here or not? What have you got to do with me and my
+affairs, anyway?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She smiled a smile which was very quiet and flat. &quot;Now, don't get
+angry,&quot; she said. &quot;We can talk over things in a friendly way just as
+well as not, and it will be a great deal better to do it. And I'd rather
+talk here in the public road than anywhere else; it's more private.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don't want a word to say to you,&quot; said the captain, preparing to move
+on. &quot;I have nothing at all to do with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ah,&quot; said Miss Port, with another smile, &quot;but I think you have. You've
+got to marry me, you know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then the captain stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth, but he could
+find no immediate words.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, indeed,&quot; said Miss Port, now speaking quietly; &quot;and when I saw Mr.
+Lancaster had come to town, I knew that I must see you at once. Of
+course, he has come to take away your niece, and that's the best thing
+to be done, for she wouldn't want to keep on livin' here where so many
+people have known her. At first I thought that would be a very good
+thing, for you would be separated from her, and that's what you need and
+deserve. Young men are young men, and they are often a good deal kinder
+than they would be if they stopped to think. But a person of mature age
+is different. He would know what is due to himself and his standing in
+society. At least, that is what I did think. But it suddenly flashed on
+me that they might want to get away as quick as they could&mdash;which would
+be proper, dear knows&mdash;and it would be just like you to go with them.
+And so I came right out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The captain had listened to all this because he very much wanted to know
+what she had to say, but now he exclaimed: &quot;Do you suppose I shall pay
+any attention to all the gossip about my affairs?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, don't go on like that,&quot; said Miss Port; &quot;it doesn't do any good,
+and if you'll only keep quiet, and think pleasantly about it, there will
+be no trouble at all. You know you've got to marry me; that's settled.
+Everybody knows about it, and has known about it for years. I didn't
+press the matter while father was alive because I knew it would worry
+him. But now I'm going to do it. Not in any anger or bad feelin', but
+gently, and as firmly as if I was that tree. I don't want to go to any
+law, but if I have to do it, I'll do it. I've got my proofs and my
+witnesses, and I'm all right. The people of your own house are
+witnesses. And there are ever so many more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Woman!&quot; cried the captain, &quot;don't you say another word! And don't you
+ever dare to speak to me again! I'm not going away, and my niece is not
+going away; and I assure you that I hate and despise you so much that
+all the law in the world couldn't make me marry you. Although you know
+as well as I do that all you've been saying has no sense or truth in
+it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port did not get angry. With wonderful self-repression she
+controlled her feelings. She knew that if she lost that control there
+would be an end to everything. She grew pale, but she spoke more gently
+than before. &quot;You know&quot;&mdash;she was about to say &quot;John,&quot; but she thought
+she would better not&mdash;&quot;that what I say about determination and all
+that, I simply say because you do not come to meet me half-way, as I
+would have you do. All I want is to get you to acknowledge my rights, to
+defend me from ridicule. You know that I am now alone in the world, and
+have no one to look to but you&mdash;to whom I always expected to look when
+father died&mdash;and if you should carry out your cruel words, and should
+turn from me as if I was a stranger and a nobody, after all these years
+of visitin' and attention from you, which everybody knows about, and has
+talked about, I could never expect anybody else&mdash;you bein' gone&mdash;to step
+forward&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this the face of the captain cleared, and as he gazed upon the
+unpleasant face and figure of this weather-worn spinster, the idea that
+any one with matrimonial intentions should &quot;step forward,&quot; as she put
+it, struck him as being so extremely ludicrous that he burst out
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>Then leaped into fire every nervelet of Miss Maria Port. &quot;Laugh at me,
+do you?&quot; cried she. &quot;I'll give you something to laugh at! And if you 're
+going to stand up for that thing you have in your house, that
+murderess&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She said no more. The captain stepped up to her with a smothered curse
+so that she moved back, frightened. But he did nothing. He was too
+enraged to speak. She was a woman, and he could not strike her to the
+ground. Before her sallow venom he was helpless. He was a man and she
+was a woman, and he could do nothing at all. He was too angry to stay
+there another second, and, without a word, he left her, walking with
+great strides toward the town.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Maria Port stood looking after him, panting a little, for her
+excitement had been great. Then, with a yellow light in her eyes, she
+hurried toward her vehicle, which had stopped.</p>
+
+<p>As Captain Asher strode into town he asked himself over and over again
+what should he do? How should he punish this wildcat&mdash;this ruthless
+creature, who spat venom at the one he loved best in the world, and who
+threatened him with her wicked claws? In his mind he looked from side to
+side for help; some one must fight his battle for him; he could not
+fight a woman. He had not reached town when he thought of Mrs. Faulkner,
+the wife of the Methodist minister. He knew her; she and her husband had
+been among the friends who had come out to see him; and she was a woman.
+He would go directly to her, and ask her advice.</p>
+
+<p>The captain was not shown into the parlor of the parsonage, but into the
+minister's study, that gentleman being away. He heard a great sound of
+talking as he passed the parlor door, and it was not long before Mrs.
+Faulkner came in. He hesitated as she greeted him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have company,&quot; he said, &quot;but can I see you for a very few minutes?
+It is important.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course you can,&quot; said she, closing the study door. &quot;Our Dorcas
+Society meets here to-day, but we have not yet come to order. I shall be
+glad to hear what you have to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So they sat down, and he told her what he had to say, and as she
+listened she grew very angry. When she heard the epithet which had been
+applied to Olive she sprang to her feet. &quot;The wretch!&quot; she cried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, you see, Mrs. Faulkner,&quot; said the captain, &quot;I can do nothing at
+all myself, and there is no way to make use of the law; that would be
+horrible for Olive, and it could not be done; and so I have come to ask
+help of you. I don't see that any other man could do more than I could
+do.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Faulkner sat silent for a few minutes. &quot;I am so glad you came to
+me,&quot; she said presently. &quot;I have always known Miss Port as a
+scandal-monger and a mischief-maker, but I never thought of her as a
+wicked woman. This persecution of you is shameful, but when I think of
+your niece it is past belief! You are right, Captain Asher; it must be a
+woman who must take up your cause. In fact,&quot; said she after a moment's
+thought, &quot;it must be women. Yes, sir.&quot; And as she spoke her face flushed
+with enthusiasm. &quot;I am going to take up your cause, and my friends in
+there, the ladies of the Dorcas Society, will stand by me, I know. I
+don't know what we shall do, but we are going to stand by you and your
+niece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Here was a friend worth having. The captain was very much affected, and
+was moved with unusual gratitude. He had been used to fighting his own
+battles in this world, and here was some one coming forward to fight for
+him.</p>
+
+<p>There came upon him a feeling that it would be a shame to let this true
+lady take up a combat which she did not wholly understand. He made up
+his mind in an instant that he would not care what danger might be
+threatened to other people, or to trade, or to society, he would be
+true to this lady, to Olive, and to himself. He would tell her the whole
+story. She should know what Olive had done, and how little his poor girl
+deserved the shameful treatment she had received.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Faulkner listened with pale amazement; she trembled from head to
+foot as she sat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you must tell no one but your husband,&quot; said the captain. &quot;This is
+a state secret, and he must promise to keep it before you tell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She promised everything. She would be so proud to tell her husband.</p>
+
+<p>When the captain had gone, Mrs. Faulkner, in a very unusual state of
+mind, went into the parlor, took the chair, and putting aside all other
+business, told to the eagerly receptive members the story of Miss Port
+and Captain Asher. How she had persecuted him, and maligned him, and of
+the shameful way in which she had spoken of his niece. But not one word
+did she tell of the story of the two gentlemen in the barouche, and of
+the air-gun. She was wild to tell everything, but she was a good woman.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, ladies,&quot; said Mrs. Faulkner, &quot;in my opinion, the thing for us to
+do is to go to see Maria Port; tell her what we think of her; and have
+all this wickedness stopped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Without debate it was unanimously agreed that the president's plan
+should be carried out. And within ten minutes the whole Dorcas Society
+of eleven members started out in double file to visit the house of Maria
+Port.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXV'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXV</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>The Dorcas on Guard.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>M</span>iss Port had not been home very long and was up in her bedroom, which
+looked out on the street, when she heard the sound of many feet, and,
+hurrying to the window, and glancing through the partly open shutters,
+she saw that a company of women were entering the gate into her front
+yard. She did not recognize them, because she was not familiar with the
+tops of their hats; and besides, she was afraid she might be seen if she
+stopped at the window; so she hurried to the stairway and listened.
+There were two great knocks at the door&mdash;entirely too loud&mdash;and when the
+servant-maid appeared she heard a voice which she recognized as that of
+Mrs. Faulkner inquiring for her. Instantly she withdrew into her chamber
+and waited, her countenance all alertness.</p>
+
+<p>When the maid came up to inform her that Mrs. Faulkner and a lot of
+ladies were down-stairs, and wanted to see her, Miss Port knit her
+brows, and shut her lips tightly. She could not connect this visit of so
+many Glenford ladies with anything definite; and yet her conscience told
+her that their business in some way concerned Captain Asher. He had had
+time to see them, and now they had come to see her; probably to induce
+her to relinquish her claims upon him. As this thought came into her
+mind she grew angry at their impudence, and, seating herself in a
+rocking-chair, she told the servant to inform the ladies that she had
+just reached home, and that it was not convenient for her to receive
+them at present.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Faulkner sent hack a message that, in that case, they would wait;
+and all the ladies seated themselves in the Port parlor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The impudence!&quot; said Miss Port to herself; &quot;but if they like waitin,'
+they can wait, I guess they'll get enough of it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So Maria Port sat in her room and the ladies sat in the parlor below;
+and they sat, and they sat, and they sat, and at last it began to grow
+dark.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I guess they'll be wantin' their suppers,&quot; said Maria, &quot;but they'll go
+and get them without seein' me. It's no more convenient for me to go
+down now than when they first came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There had been, and there was, a great deal of conversation down in the
+parlor, but it was carried on in such a low tone that, to her great
+regret, Miss Port could not catch a word of it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now,&quot; said Mrs. Pilsbury, &quot;I must go home, for my husband will want his
+supper and the children must be attended to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so must I,&quot; said Mrs. Barney and Mrs. Sloan. They would really like
+very much to stay and see what would happen next, but they had families.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ladies,&quot; said Mrs. Faulkner, &quot;of course, we can't all stay here and
+wait for that woman; but I propose that three of us shall stay and that
+the rest shall go home. I'll be one to stay. And then, in an hour three
+of you come back, and let us go and get our suppers. In this way we can
+keep a committee here all the time. All night, if necessary. When I come
+back I will bring a candlestick and some candles, for, of course, we
+don't want to light her lamps. If she should come down while I am away,
+I'd like some one to run over and tell me. It's such a little way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At this the ladies arose, and there was a great rustling and chattering,
+and the face of Miss Maria, in the room above, gleamed with triumph.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I knew I'd sit 'em out,&quot; said she; &quot;they haven't got the pluck I've
+got.&quot; But when the servant came up and told her that &quot;three of them
+ladies was a-sittin' in the parlor yet and said they was a-goin' to wait
+for her,&quot; she lost her temper. She sent down word that she didn't intend
+to see any of them, and she wanted them to go home.</p>
+
+<p>To this Mrs. Faulkner replied that they wished to see her, and that they
+would stay. And the committee continued to sit.</p>
+
+<p>Now Miss Port began to be seriously concerned. What in the world could
+these women want? They were very much in earnest; that was certain.
+Could it be possible that she had said more than she intended to Captain
+Asher, and that she had given him to understand that she would use any
+of these women as witnesses if she went to law? However, whatever they
+meant, she intended to sit them out. So she told her maid to make her
+some tea and to bring it up with some bread and butter and preserves,
+and a light. She also ordered her to be careful that the people in the
+parlor should see her as she went up-stairs. &quot;I guess they'll know I'm
+in earnest when they see the tea,&quot; she said. &quot;I've set out a mess of
+'em, and it won't take long to finish up them three!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She partook of her refreshments, and she reclined in her rocking-chair,
+and waited for the hungry ones below to depart. &quot;I'll give 'em half an
+hour,&quot; said she to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Before that time had elapsed she heard another stir below, and she
+exclaimed: &quot;I knew it&quot; and there were steps in the hallway, and some
+people went out. She sprang to her feet; she was about to run
+down-stairs and lock and bolt every door; but a sound arrested her. It
+was the talking of women in the parlor. She stopped, with her mouth wide
+open, and her eyes staring, and then the servant came up and told her
+that &quot;them three had gone, and that another three had come back, and
+they had told her to say that they were goin' to stay in squads all
+night till she came down to see them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Port sat down, her elbows on the table, and her chin in her hands.
+&quot;It must be something serious,&quot; she thought. &quot;The ladies of this town
+are not in the habit of staying out late unless it is to nurse bad
+cases, or to sit up with corpses.&quot; And then the idea struck her that
+probably there might be something the matter that she had not thought
+of. She had caused lots of mischief in her day, and it might easily be
+that she had forgotten some of it. But the more she thought about the
+matter, the more firmly she resolved not to go down and speak to the
+women. She would like to send for a constable and have them cleared out
+of the house, but she knew that none of the three constables in town
+would dare to use force with such ladies as Mrs. Faulkner and the
+members of the Dorcas Society.</p>
+
+<p>So she sat and waited, and listened, and grew very nervous, but was more
+obstinate now than ever, for she was beginning to be very fearful of
+what those women might have to say to her. She could &quot;talk down one
+woman, but not a pack of 'em.&quot; Thus time passed on, with occasional
+reports from the servant until the latter fell asleep, and came
+up-stairs no more. There were sounds of footsteps in the street, and
+Miss Port put out her light, and went to the front shutters. Three women
+were coming in. They entered the house, and in a few minutes afterward
+three women went out. Miss Port stood up in the middle of the floor, and
+was almost inclined to tear her hair.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They're goin' to stay all night!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;I really believe they
+'re goin' to stay all night!&quot; For a moment she thought of rushing
+down-stairs and confronting the impertinent visitors, but she stopped;
+she was afraid. She did not know what they might say to her, and she
+went to the banisters and listened. They were talking; always in a low
+voice. It seemed to her that these people could talk forever. Then she
+began to think of her front door, which was open; but, of course, nobody
+could come while those creatures were in the parlor. But if she missed
+anything she'd have them brought up in court if it took every cent she
+had in the world and constables from some other town. She slipped to the
+back stairs, and softly called the servant, but there was no answer. She
+was afraid to go down, for the back door of the parlor commanded all
+the other rooms on that floor. Now she felt more terribly lonely and
+more nervous. If she had had a pistol she would have fired it through
+the floor. Then those women would run away, and she would fasten up the
+house. But there they sat, chatter, chatter, chatter, till it nearly
+drove her mad. She wished now she had gone down at first.</p>
+
+<p>After a time, and not a very long time, there were some steps in the
+street and in the yard, and more women came into the house, but, worse
+than that, the others stayed. Family duties were over now, and those
+impudent creatures could be content to stay the rest of the evening.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the worried woman felt as if she would like to go to bed
+and cover up her head and so escape these persistent persecutors. But
+she shook her head. That would never do. She knew that when she awoke in
+the morning some of those women would still be in the parlor, and, to
+save her soul, she could not now imagine what it was that kept them
+there like hounds upon her track.</p>
+
+<p>It was now eleven o'clock. When had the Port house been open so late as
+that? The people in the town must be talking about it, and there would
+be more talking the next day. Perhaps it might be in the town paper. The
+morning would be worse than the night. She could not bear it any longer.
+There was now nothing to be heard in front but that maddening chatter in
+the parlor, and up the back stairs came the snores of the servant. She
+got a traveling-bag from a closet and proceeded to pack it; then she put
+on her bonnet and shawl and put into her bag all the money she had with
+her, trembling all the time as if she had been a thief: robbing her own
+house. She could not go down the back stairs, because, as has been said,
+she could have been seen from the parlor; but a carpenter had been
+mending the railing of a little piazza at the back of the house, and she
+remembered he had left his ladder. Down this ladder, with her bag in her
+hand, Miss Port silently moved. She looked into the kitchen; she could
+not see the servant, but she could hear her snoring on a bench. Clapping
+her hand over the girl's mouth, she whispered into her ear, and without
+a word the frightened creature sat up and followed Miss Port into the
+yard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, then,&quot; said Miss Port, whispering as if she were sticking needles
+into the frightened girl, &quot;I'm goin' away, and don't you ask no
+questions, for you won't get no answers. You just go to bed, and let
+them people stay in the parlor all night. They'll be able to take care
+of the house, I guess, and if they don't I'll make 'em suffer. In the
+morning you can see Mrs. Faulkner&mdash;for she's the ringleader&mdash;and tell
+her that you're goin' home to your mother, and that Miss Port expects
+her to pull down all the blinds in this house, and shut and bolt the
+doors. She is to see that the eatables is put away proper or else give
+to the poor&mdash;which will be you, I guess&mdash;and then she is to lock all the
+doors and take the front-door key to Squire Allen, and tell him I'll
+write to him. And what's more, you can say to the nasty thing that if I
+find anything wrong in my house, or anything missin', I 'll hold her and
+her husband responsible for it, and that I'm mighty glad I don't belong
+to their church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then she slipped out of the back gate of the yard, and made her way
+swiftly to the railroad-station. There was a train for the north which
+passed Glenford at half-past twelve, and which could be flagged. There
+was one man at the station, and he was very much surprised to see Miss
+Port.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is anything the matter?&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she snapped, &quot;there's some people sick, and I guess there'll be
+more of 'em a good deal sicker in the morning. I've got to go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A case of pizenin'?&quot; asked the man very earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; said she, wrapping her shawl around her; &quot;the worse kind of
+pizenin'!&quot; Then she talked no more.</p>
+
+<p>The servant-girl slept late, and there were a good many ladies in the
+parlor when she came down. She did not give them a chance to ask her
+anything, but told her message promptly. It was a message pretty fairly
+remembered, although it had grown somewhat sharper in the night. When it
+was finished the girl added: &quot;And I'm to have all the eatables in the
+house to take home to my mother, and Squire Allen is to pay me four
+dollars and seventy-five cents, which has been owin' to me for wages for
+ever so long.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVI'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXVI</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>Cold Tinder.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>O</span>live and Dick Lancaster sat together in the captain's parlor. She was
+very quiet&mdash;she had been very quiet of late&mdash;but he was nervous.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is very kind, Mr. Lancaster,&quot; said Olive, breaking the silence, &quot;for
+you to come to see us instead of writing. It is so much pleasanter for
+friends&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, it was not kind,&quot; he said, interrupting her. &quot;In fact, it was
+selfishness. And now I want to tell you quickly, Miss Asher, while I
+have the chance, the reason of my coming here to-day. It was not to
+offer you my congratulations or my sympathy, although you must know that
+I feel for you and your uncle as much in every way as any living being
+can feel. I came to offer my love. I have loved you almost ever since I
+knew you as much as any man can love a woman, and whenever I have been
+with you I could hardly hold myself back from telling you. But I was
+strong, and I did not speak, for I knew you did not love me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive was listening, looking steadily at him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; she said, &quot;I did not love you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He paid no attention to this remark, as if it related to something which
+he knew all about, but went on, &quot;I resolved to speak to you some time,
+but not until I had some little bit of a reason for supposing you would
+listen to me; but when I read the account of what you did in Washington,
+I knew you to be so far above even the girl I had supposed you to be;
+then my love came down upon me and carried me away. And all that has
+since appeared in the papers has made me so long to stand by your side
+that I could not resist this longing, and I felt that no matter what
+happened, I must come and tell you all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And now?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is nothing more,&quot; said Dick. &quot;I have told you all there is. I
+love you so truly that it seems to me as if I had been born, as if I had
+lived, as if I had grown and had worked, simply that I might be able to
+come to you and say, I love you. And now that I have told you this, I
+hope that I have not pained you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have not pained me,&quot; said Olive, &quot;but it is right that I should say
+to you that I do not love you.&quot; She said this very quietly and gently,
+but there was sadness in her tones.</p>
+
+<p>Dick Lancaster sprang up, and stood before her. &quot;Then let me love you&quot;
+he cried. &quot;Do not deny me that! Do not take the life out of me! the soul
+out of me! Do not turn me away into utter blackness! Do not say I shall
+not love you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive's clear, thoughtful eyes were looking into his. &quot;I believe you
+love me,&quot; she answered slowly. &quot;I believe every word you say. But what I
+say is also true. I will admit that I have asked myself if I could love
+you. There was a time when I was in great trouble, when I believed that
+it might be possible for me to marry some one without loving him, but I
+never thought that about <i>you</i>. You were different. I could not have
+married you without loving you. I believe you knew that, and so you did
+not ask me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His voice was husky when he spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you do not answer me,&quot; he said. &quot;You have seen into my very soul.
+May I love you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She still looked into his glowing eyes, but she did not speak. It was
+with herself she was communing, not with him.</p>
+
+<p>But there was something in the eyes which looked into his which made his
+heart leap, and he leaned forward.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Olive,&quot; he whispered, &quot;can you not love me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Her lips appeared as if they were about to move, but they did not, and
+in the next moment they could not. He had her in his arms.</p>
+
+<p>Poor foolish, lovely Olive! She thought she was so strong. She imagined
+that she knew herself so well. She had seen so much; she had been so
+far; she had known so many things and people that she had come to look
+upon herself as the decider of her own destiny. She had come to believe
+so much in herself and in her cold heart that she was not afraid to
+listen to the words of a burning heart! <i>Her</i> heart could keep so cool!</p>
+
+<p>And now, in a flash, the fire had spread! The coolest hearts are often
+made of tinder.</p>
+
+<p>Poor foolish, lovely, happy Olive! She scarcely understood what had
+happened to her. She only knew that she had been born and had lived, and
+had grown, that he might come to her and say he loved her. What had she
+been thinking of all this time?</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are so quick,&quot; she said, as she put back some of her disheveled
+hair.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dearest,&quot; he whispered, &quot;it seems to me as if I had been so slow, so
+slow, so very slow!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was a long time before Captain Asher returned, and when he entered
+the parlor he found these two still there. They had been sitting by the
+window, and when they came forward to meet him Dick's arm was around the
+waist of Olive. The captain looked at them for a moment, and then he
+gave a shout, and encircled them both in his great arms.</p>
+
+<p>When they were cool enough to sit down and Olive and Dick had ceased
+trying to persuade the captain that he was not the happiest of the
+three, Olive said to him: &quot;I have told Dick everything&mdash;about the
+air-gun and all. Of course, he must know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And I have been looking at you,&quot; said Dick, putting his hand upon the
+captain's shoulder, &quot;as the only hero I have ever met. Not only for what
+you have done, but for what you have refrained from doing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nonsense!&quot; said the captain. &quot;Olive now&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh! Olive is Olive!&quot; said Dick. And he did not mind in the least that
+the captain was present.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>It was on the next afternoon that the Broadstone carriage stopped at the
+toll-gate. Mrs. Easterfield sprang out of it, asking for nobody, for she
+had spied Olive in the arbor.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; she said, as she burst into tears and took the girl
+into her arms, &quot;it does seem to me as if I were your own mother!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The only one I have,&quot; said Olive, &quot;and very dear!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was some time after this that Mrs. Easterfield was calm enough to
+stop the flow of exciting conversation and to say to Olive, taking both
+her hands tenderly within her own: &quot;My dear, we have been talking a
+great deal of sentiment, and now I want seriously to speak to you on a
+matter of business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Business!&quot; asked Olive in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, it is really business from your point of view; and I have come
+round to that point of view myself. Olive, I want you to marry!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said Olive, &quot;that is it, is it? That is what you call business?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, dear; I am now looking at your future, and at marriage in the very
+sensible way you regarded those matters when you were staying with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But,&quot; said Olive, who could scarcely help laughing, &quot;there was a good
+reason then for my being so sensible, and that reason no longer exists.
+I can now afford single-blessedness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, Olive, dear, you can not. Circumstances are all against that
+consummation. You are not made for that sort of thing. And your uncle is
+an old man, and even with him you need a young protector. I want you to
+marry Richard Lancaster. You know my heart has been set on it for some
+time, and now I urge it. You could never bring forth a single objection
+to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Except that I did not love him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Neither did you love the young men you were considering as eligible.
+Now, do try to be a sensible girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield, are you laughing at me?&quot; asked Olive.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Far from it, my dear. I am desperately in earnest. You see, recent
+events&mdash;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dick Lancaster and I are engaged to be married,&quot; said Olive demurely,
+not waiting for the end of that sentence. &quot;And,&quot; she added, laughing at
+Mrs. Easterfield's astonished countenance, &quot;I have not yet considered
+whether or not it is sensible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>After Mrs. Easterfield had given a half dozen kisses to partly express
+her pleasure, she said: &quot;And where is he now? I must see him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He went back to his college late last night; it was impossible for him
+to stay here any longer at present.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>As Mrs. Easterfield was going away&mdash;she had waited and waited for the
+captain who had not come&mdash;Olive detained her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are so dear,&quot; she said, &quot;that I must tell you a great thing.&quot; And
+then she told the story of the two men in the barouche.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield turned pale, and sat down again. She had actually lost
+her self-possession. She made Olive tell her the story over and over
+again. &quot;It is too much,&quot; she said, &quot;for one day. I am glad the captain
+is not here, I would not know what to say to him. I may tell Tom?&quot; she
+said. &quot;I must tell him; he will be silent as a rock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive smiled. &quot;Yes, you may tell Tom,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have told Dick, but on no account must Harry ever know anything
+about it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement. That the girl could joke at
+such a moment!</p>
+
+<p>When the captain came home Olive told him how she had entrusted the
+great secret to Mrs. Easterfield and her husband.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well,&quot; said he, &quot;I intended to tell you, but haven't had a chance yet,
+that I spoke of the matter to Mrs. Faulkner. So I have told two persons
+and you have told three, and I suppose that is about the proportion in
+which men and women keep secrets.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXVII</i></h2>
+
+<h3><i>In which Some Great Changes are Recorded.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>A</span> few days after his return to his college Prof. Richard Lancaster found
+among his letters one signed &quot;Your backer, Claude Locker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The letter began:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;You owe her to me. You should never forget that. If I had done
+     better no one can say what might have been the result. This
+     proposition can not be gainsaid, for as no one ever saw me do
+     better, how should anybody know? I knew I was leaving her to you.
+     She might not have known it, but I did. I did not suppose it would
+     come so soon, but I was sure it would ultimately come to pass. It
+     has come to pass, and I feel triumphant. In the great race in which
+     I had the honor to run, you made a most admirable second. The best
+     second is he who comes in first. In order for a second to take
+     first place it is necessary that the leader in the race, be that
+     leader horse, man, or boat, should experience a change in
+     conditions. I experienced such a change, voluntary or involuntary
+     it is unnecessary to say. You came in first, and I congratulate you
+     as no living being can congratulate you who has not felt for a
+     moment or two that it was barely possible that he might, in some
+     period of existence, occupy the position which you now hold.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Do not be surprised if you hear of my early marriage. Some woman no
+    better-looking than I am may seek me out. If this should happen, and
+    you know of it, please think of me with gratitude, and remember that
+    I was once</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Your backer,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CLAUDE LOCKER.&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>Olive also received a letter from Mr. Locker, which ran thus:</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;Mrs. Easterfield told me. She wrote me a letter about it, and I
+     think her purpose was to make me thoroughly understand that I was
+     not in this matter at all. She did not say anything of the kind,
+     but I think she thought it would be a dreadful thing, if by any act
+     of mine, I should cause you to reconsider your arrangement with
+     Professor Lancaster. I have written to the said professor, and have
+     told him that it is not improbable that I shall soon marry. I don't
+     know yet to what lady I shall be united, but I believe in the truth
+     of the adage, 'that all things come to those who can not wait.'
+     They are in such a hurry that they take what they can get.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;If you do not think that this is a good letter, please send it back
+    and I will write another. What I am trying to say is, that I would
+    sacrifice my future wife, no matter who she may be, to see you
+    happy. And now believe me always</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Your most devoted acquaintance,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CLAUDE LOCKER.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;P.S.&mdash;Wouldn't it be a glorious thing if you were to be married in
+    church with all the rejected suitors as groomsmen and Lancaster as
+    an old Roman conqueror with the captive princess tied behind!&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>Now that all the turmoil of her life was over, and Olive at peace with
+herself, her thoughts dwelt with some persistency upon two of her
+rejected suitors. Until now she had had but little comprehension of the
+love a man may feel for a woman&mdash;perhaps because she herself never
+loved&mdash;but now she looked back upon that period of her life at
+Broadstone with a good deal of compunction. At that time it had seemed
+to her that it really made very little difference to her three lovers
+which one she accepted, or if she rejected them all. But now she asked
+herself if it could be possible that Du Brant and Hemphill had for her
+anything of the feeling she now had for Dick Lancaster. (Locker did not
+trouble her mind at all.) If so, she had treated them with a cruel and
+shameful carelessness. She had really intended to marry one of them, but
+not from any good and kind feeling; she was actuated solely by pique and
+self-interest; and she had, perhaps, sacrificed honest love to her
+selfishness; and, what was worse, had treated it with what certainly
+appeared like contempt, although she certainly had not intended that.</p>
+
+<p>She felt truly sorry, and cast about in her mind for some means of
+reparation. She could think of but one way: to find for each of them a
+very nice girl&mdash;a great deal nicer than herself&mdash;and to marry them all
+with her blessing. But, unfortunately for this scheme, Olive had no
+girl friends. She had acquaintances &quot;picked up here and there,&quot; as she
+said, but she knew very little about any of them, and not one of them
+had ever struck her as being at all angelic or superior in any way.
+Neither of the young men who were lying so heavily on her mind had
+written to any one, either at the toll-gate or at Broadstone, since the
+very public affair in which she had played a conspicuous part; and her
+consolation was that as each one had read that account he had said to
+himself: &quot;I am thankful that girl did not accept me! What a fortunate
+escape!&quot; But still she wished that she had behaved differently at
+Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>She said nothing to any one of these musings, but she ventured one day
+to ask Mr. Easterfield how Mr. Hemphill was faring. His reply was only
+half satisfactory. He reported the young man as doing very well, and
+being well; he was growing fat, and that did not improve his looks; and
+he was getting more and more taciturn and self-absorbed. &quot;Why was he
+taciturn?&quot; Olive asked herself. &quot;Was he brooding and melancholy?&quot; She
+did not know anything about the fat, and what might be its primal cause;
+but her mind was not set at ease about him.</p>
+
+<p>Things went on quietly and pleasantly at the toll-gate, and at
+Broadstone. Dick came down as often as he could and spent a day or two
+(usually including a Sunday) with Olive and her uncle. It was now
+October, and colleges were in full tide. It was also the hunting season,
+and that meant that Mr. Tom would be at Broadstone for a couple of
+weeks, and Mrs. Easterfield said she must have Olive at that time. And,
+in order to make the house lively, she invited Lieutenant Asher and his
+wife at the same time, as Olive and her young stepmother were now very
+good friends. Then the captain invited his old friend Captain Lancaster,
+Dick's father, to visit him at the toll-gate.</p>
+
+<p>These were bright days for these old shipmates; and, strange to say, as
+they sat and puffed, they did not talk so much of things that had been,
+as they puffed and made plans of things which were to be. And these
+plans always concerned the niece of one, and the son of the other.
+Captain Asher was not at all satisfied with Dick's position in the
+college. He could not see how eminence awaited any young man who taught
+theories; he would like Dick's future to depend on facts.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Two and two make four,&quot; said he; &quot;there is no need of any theory about
+that, and that's the sort of thing that suits me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Captain Lancaster smiled. He was a dry old salt, and listened more than
+he talked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Just now,&quot; he remarked, &quot;I guess Dick will stick to his theories, and
+for a while he won't be apt to give his mind to mathematics very much,
+except to that kind of figuring which makes him understand that one and
+one makes one.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>There was a thing the two old mates were agreed upon. No matter-what
+Dick's position might be in the college, his salary should be as large
+as that of any other professor. They could do it, and they would do it.
+They liked the idea, and they shook hands over it.</p>
+
+<p>Olive was greatly pleased with Captain Lancaster. &quot;There is the scent of
+the sea about him,&quot; she wrote to Dick, &quot;as there is about Uncle John and
+father, but it is different. It is constant and fixed, like the smell
+of salt mackerel. He would never keep a toll-gate; nor would he marry a
+young wife. Not that I object to either of these things, for if the one
+had not happened I would never have known you; and if the other had not
+happened, I might not have become engaged to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The two captains dined at Broadstone while Olive was there, and Captain
+Lancaster highly approved of Mrs. Easterfield. All seafaring men did&mdash;as
+well as most other men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a shame she had to marry a landsman,&quot; said Captain Lancaster,
+when he and Captain John had gone home. &quot;It seems to me she would have
+suited you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You might mention that the next time you go to her house,&quot; said Captain
+Asher. &quot;I don't believe it has ever been properly considered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was at this time that Olive's mind was set at rest about one of her
+discarded lovers. Mr. Du Brant wrote her a letter.</p>
+
+<div class='blkquot'><p>&quot;MY DEAR MISS ASHER&mdash;It is very long since I have had any
+     communication with you, but this silence on my part has been the
+     result of circumstances, and not owing, I assure you upon my honor,
+     to any diminution of the great regard (to use a moderate term)
+     which I feel for you. I had not the pleasure of seeing you when I
+     left Broadstone, but our mutual friend, Mrs. Easterfield, told me
+     you had sent to me a message. I firmly (but I trust politely)
+     declined to receive it. And so, my dear Miss Asher, as the offer I
+     made you then has never received any acknowledgment, I write now
+     to renew it. I lay my heart at your feet, and entreat you to do me
+     the honor of accepting my hand in marriage.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;And let me here frankly state that when first I read of your great
+    deed&mdash;you are aware, of course, to what I refer&mdash;I felt I must
+    banish all thought of you from my heart. Let me explain my position,
+    I had just received news of the death of my uncle, Count Rosetra,
+    and that I had inherited his title and estates. It is a noble name,
+    and the estates are great. Could I confer these upon one who was
+    being so publicly discussed&mdash;the actor in so terrible a drama? I
+    owed more to society, and to my noble race, and to my country than I
+    had done before becoming a noble. But ah, my torn heart! O Miss
+    Asher, that heart was true to you through all, and has asserted
+    itself in a vehement way. I recognized your deed as noble; I thought
+    of your beauty and your intellect; of your attractive vivacity; of
+    your manner and bearing, all so fine; and I realized how you would
+    grace my title and my home; how you would help me to carry out the
+    great ambitions I have.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Will you, lady, deign to accept my homage and my love? A favorable
+    answer will bring me to make my personal solicitations.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;Your most loving and faithful servant,</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;CHRISTIAN DU BRANT.</p>
+
+<p>    &quot;(Now Count Rosetra.)&quot; </p></div>
+
+<p>&quot;What a bombastic mixture!&quot; thought Olive, as she read this effusion. &quot;I
+wonder if there is any real love in it! If there is, it is so smothered
+it is easily extinguished.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And she extinguished it; and thoughts of Count Rosetra troubled her no
+more.</p>
+
+<p>She did not show Dick this letter, but she thought it due to Mrs.
+Easterfield to read it to her. &quot;He has got it into his head that an
+American woman, such as you, will make his house attractive to people he
+wants there,&quot; commented that lady. &quot;You have not considered me at all,
+you ungrateful girl! Only think how I could have exploited 'my friend,
+the countess'! And what a fine place for me to visit!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It had been arranged by the two houses that Dick and Olive should be
+married in the early summer when the college closed; and Mrs.
+Easterfield had arranged in her own mind that the wedding should be in
+her city house. It would not be too late in the season for a stylish
+wedding&mdash;a thing Mrs. Easterfield had often wished she could arrange,
+and it was hopeless to think of waiting until her little ones could help
+her to this desire of her heart. She held this great secret in reserve,
+however, for a delightful surprise at the proper time.</p>
+
+<p>But she and Olive both had a wedding surprise before Olive's visit was
+finished. It was, in fact, the day before Olive's return to the
+toll-gate that Mr. Easterfield walked in upon them as they were sitting
+at work in Mrs. Easterfield's room. He had been unexpectedly summoned to
+the city three days before, and had gone with no explanation to his
+wife. She did not think much about it, as he was accustomed to going and
+coming in a somewhat erratic manner.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It seems to me,&quot; she said, looking at him critically after the first
+greetings, &quot;that you have an important air.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am the bearer of important news,&quot; he said, puffing out his cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>In answer to the battery of excited inquiries which opened upon him he
+finally said: &quot;I was solemnly invited to town to attend a solemn
+function, and I solemnly went, and am now solemnly returned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pshaw!&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;I don't believe it's anything.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A wedding is something. A very great something. It is a solemn thing;
+and made more solemn by the loss of my secretary.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; almost screamed his wife. &quot;Mr. Hemphill?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The very man. And, O Miss Olive, if you could but have seen him in his
+wedding-clothes your heart would have broken to think that you had lost
+the opportunity of standing by them at the altar.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But who was the bride?&quot; asked Mrs. Easterfield impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Miss Eliza Grogworthy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, Tom, I know you are joking! Why can't you be serious?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am as serious as were that couple. I have known her for some time,
+and she was very visible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why, she is old enough to be his mother!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not quite, my dear. In such a case as this, one must be particular
+about ages. She is a few years older than he is probably, but she is not
+bad looking, and a good woman with a nice big house and lots of money.
+He has walked out of my office into a fine position, and I unselfishly
+congratulated him with all my heart.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Poor Mr. Hemphill!&quot; sighed Olive. She was thinking of the very young
+man she had sighed for when a very young girl.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He needs no pity,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield seriously. &quot;I should not be
+surprised if he feels glad that he was not&mdash;well, we won't say what,&quot; he
+added, looking mischievously at Olive. &quot;This is really a great deal
+better thing for him. He is not a favorite of my wife, but he is a
+thoroughly good fellow in his way, and I have always liked him. There
+were certain things necessary to him in this life, and he has got them.
+That can not be said about everybody by a long shot! No, he is to be
+congratulated.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Olive was silent. She was trying to make up her mind that he was really
+to be congratulated, and to get rid of a lingering doubt.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, that is the end of him in our affairs!&quot; exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield. &quot;Why didn't you tell us what you were going to town for?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because he asked me not to mention it to any one. And, besides, that is
+not all I went to town for.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; said his wife, &quot;any more weddings?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Mr. Easterfield, helping himself to an easy chair. &quot;You know
+I have lately been so much with nautical people I have acquired a taste
+for the sea.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not know it,&quot; said his wife; &quot;but what of it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, as Lieutenant Asher and his wife are here yet, and have no
+earthly reason for being anywhere in particular; and as Captain Asher
+seems to be tired of the toll-gate; and as Captain Lancaster doesn't
+care where he is; and as Miss Olive doesn't know what to do with herself
+until it is time for her to get married; and as you are always ready to
+go gadding; and as the children need bracing up; and as you can not get
+along without Miss Raleigh; and as Mrs. Blynn is a good housekeeper; and
+as I have an offer for renting our town house; I propose that we all go
+to sea together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The two ladies had listened breathlessly to these words, and now Olive
+sprang up in great excitement, and Mrs. Easterfield clapped her hands in
+delight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How clever you are, Tom!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;What a splendid idea! How can
+we go?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have leased a yacht, and we are going to the Mediterranean.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<a name='CHAPTER_XXXVIII'></a><h2><i>CHAPTER XXXVIII</i></h2>
+
+<h3>&quot;<i>It has just Begun!</i>&quot;</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='first'>T</span>his wonderful scheme which Mr. Easterfield had planned and carried out
+met with general favor. Perhaps if they had all been consulted before he
+made the plan there would have been many alterations, and discussions,
+and doubts. But the thing was done, and there was nothing to say but
+&quot;Yes&quot; or &quot;No.&quot; The time had come for the house party at Broadstone to
+break up, and the lieutenant and Mrs. Asher had arranged to spend the
+next few months in the city, but they gladly accepted Mr. Easterfield's
+generous invitation and would return to the toll-gate alter a few weeks
+preparatory to sailing, that the party might get together, for Captain
+Lancaster was to remain at the tollhouse. Mr. Easterfield also invited
+Claude Locker &quot;to make things lively in rough weather,&quot; and that young
+man accepted with much alacrity.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Easterfield was in such a state of delight that she nearly lost her
+self-possession. Sometimes, her husband told her, she scarcely spoke
+rationally. If she had been asked to wish anything that love or money
+could bring her, it would have been this very thing; but she would not
+have believed it possible. She was busy everywhere planning for
+everybody, and making out various lists. But, as she said, there is a
+little black spot in almost every joy. And her little black spot was
+Dick Lancaster.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Poor Professor Lancaster!&quot; she said to her husband. &quot;We to have such a
+great pleasure, and he shut up in close rooms! And Olive far away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you sure about Olive?&quot; asked Mr. Easterfield. &quot;She has never said
+positively that she is going. I most earnestly hope that she will not
+back out because Lancaster can not go. If she stays her uncle will
+stay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And for that very reason she will go,&quot; said Mrs. Easterfield. &quot;And I
+think Professor Lancaster will urge her to go. He is unselfish enough, I
+am sure, to wish her to have this great pleasure. And, talking of Olive,
+one thing is certain, Tom, we must be back early in the spring. There
+will be a great deal to do before the wedding. And, O Tom, I will tell
+you&mdash;but you must not tell any one, for I am keeping it for a
+surprise&mdash;I am going to give them a fine wedding. They will be married
+in church, of course, but the reception will be at our house. You will
+like that, I know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Will there be good eating?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then I shall like it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>All this was very well, but, nevertheless, this talk made the
+enthusiastic lady a little uneasy. It was true Olive had never said in
+words conclusively whether she would go or not. But she was extremely
+anxious that her father should go, and she implicitly followed Mrs.
+Easterfield's directions in making preparations for him, and was just as
+earnest in making her own; and her friend was certainly justified in
+thinking all this was a tacit consent.</p>
+
+<p>As for the two captains, they were so delighted at this heavenly
+prospect that they gave up talking about Dick and Olive, and read
+guide-books to each other, and studied maps, and sea-charts until their
+brains were nearly addled. They were a source of great amusement to the
+young people when Dick came for his frequent short visits.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident to all interested that Professor Lancaster approved of
+the expedition, for he entered heartily into all the talk about the
+various places to be visited, and all that was to be done on the vessel;
+and he did not bore them with any lamentations in regard to the coming
+separation between him and Olive. And, of course, every one respected
+his feelings, and said nothing to him about it.</p>
+
+<p>The weeks went by; all the preparations were made; and at last the time
+came when the company were to assemble at the toll-gate and Broadstone
+before the final plunge into the unknown. Olive wished to have them all
+to dinner on the first day of this short visit.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our house is a little one,&quot; she said to Mrs. Easterfield, &quot;but we can
+make it big enough. You know nautical people understand how to do that.
+What a jolly company we shall have! You know Dick will be there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, poor Dick!&quot; sighed Mrs. Easterfield, when Olive had left.</p>
+
+<p>The Easterfields, with Lieutenant Asher and his wife, arrived very
+promptly at the toll-gate on that important day, and their drive
+through the bright, crisp air put them in a merry mood. They had hoped
+to bring Mr. Locker, but he had not arrived. They found two captains at
+the toll-gate in even merrier mood. Dick Lancaster was there, having
+arrived that morning, and they were none of them surprised that he
+looked serious. The ladies were not immediately asked to go up-stairs to
+remove their wraps, for Olive was not there to receive them. She soon,
+however, made her appearance in a lovely white dress that had been made
+for the trip under Mrs. Easterfield's supervision. Dick Lancaster
+immediately got up from his chair and joined her; and the Reverend Mr.
+Faulkner appeared from some mysterious place, and the astonished guests
+were treated to a very pretty marriage ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>It was soon over, and the two jolly captains laughed heartily at the
+bewilderment of the Broadstone party. And then there was a wild time of
+hand-shaking and congratulations and embracing. By his wife's orders,
+Mr. Tom kissed Olive, which seemed perfectly proper to everybody except
+Mrs. Lieutenant Asher. She was also a young bride, with no similar
+experiences.</p>
+
+<p>Later, when all were composed, Olive explained. &quot;What has happened just
+now is all on account of Mr. Easterfield's invitation. I wrote
+immediately to Dick, and we settled it between us that he would ask for
+a vacation&mdash;they always give vacations when professors are married, and
+he knew of some one to take his place&mdash;and then we would be married, and
+ask Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield to invite us to take our wedding trip with
+them. Dick had to stay at the college until the last minute almost, and
+so we didn't say anything about the wedding&mdash;and we were both afraid
+of&mdash;well, we don't like a fuss&mdash;and so we planned this. And when Dick
+came he brought the license and Mr. Faulkner. And now I don't see how
+Mr. Easterfield can help inviting us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Easterfield was standing by his wife, and as Olive finished her
+explanation he took his wife's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of
+sympathy; and that heroic woman never flinched; nor did she ever say one
+word about that pretty wedding she had planned for the spring.</p>
+
+<p>They had all nearly finished the fried chicken with white sauce, when
+Claude Locker arrived. He had missed the regular train and had come on a
+freight; had got a horse when he reached Broadstone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am more tired than if I had walked,&quot; he grumbled. &quot;I am always in bad
+luck! I am an unlucky dog! But you are so good you will excuse me, Miss
+Asher.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is not my name,&quot; said Olive gravely.</p>
+
+<p>And with both eyes of the same size, Mr. Locker looked around, wondering
+why everybody was laughing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me introduce Mrs. Lancaster,&quot; said Dick with a bow.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you mean,&quot; cried Locker, starting up, &quot;that this thing is really
+done?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said Olive. &quot;It has just begun.&quot;</p>
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<h2>THE END</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Captain's Toll-Gate, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 13356-h.htm or 13356-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/3/5/13356/
+
+Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/old/13356-h/images/toll001.jpg b/old/13356-h/images/toll001.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64eddb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h/images/toll001.jpg
diff --git a/old/13356-h/images/toll002.jpg b/old/13356-h/images/toll002.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14fec2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h/images/toll002.jpg
diff --git a/old/13356-h/images/toll003.jpg b/old/13356-h/images/toll003.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..254e88d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h/images/toll003.jpg
diff --git a/old/13356-h/images/toll004.jpg b/old/13356-h/images/toll004.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48c951d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h/images/toll004.jpg
diff --git a/old/13356-h/images/toll005.jpg b/old/13356-h/images/toll005.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58e4dce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356-h/images/toll005.jpg
diff --git a/old/13356.txt b/old/13356.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7a70de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11030 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Captain's Toll-Gate, 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: The Captain's Toll-Gate
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Release Date: September 2, 2004 [EBook #13356]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE
+
+By
+
+FRANK R. STOCKTON
+
+_With a Memorial Sketch by Mrs. Stockton_
+
+
+1903
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+      I. OLIVE
+     II. MARIA PORT
+    III. MRS. EASTERFIELD
+     IV. THE SON OF AN OLD SHIPMATE
+      V. OLIVE PAYS TOLL
+     VI. MR. CLAUDE LOCKER
+    VII. THE CAPTAIN AND HIS GUEST GO FISHING AND COME HOME HAPPY
+   VIII. CAPTAIN ASHER IS NOT IN A GOOD HUMOR
+     IX. MISS PORT TAKES A DRIVE WITH THE BUTCHER
+      X. MRS. EASTERFIELD WRITES A LETTER
+     XI. MR. LOCKER IS RELEASED ON BAIL
+    XII. MR. RUPERT HEMPHILL
+   XIII. MR. LANCASTER'S BACKERS
+    XIV. A LETTER FOR OLIVE
+     XV. OLIVE'S BICYCLE TRIP
+    XVI. MR. LANCASTER ACCEPTS A MISSION
+   XVII. DICK IS NOT A PROMPT BEARER OF NEWS
+  XVIII. WHAT OLIVE DETERMINED TO DO
+    XIX. THE CAPTAIN AND DICK LANCASTER DESERT THE TOLL-GATE
+     XX. MR. LOCKER DETERMINES TO RUSH THE ENEMY'S POSITION
+    XXI. MISS RALEIGH ENJOYS A RARE PRIVILEGE
+   XXII. THE CONFLICTING SERENADES
+  XXIII. THE CAPTAIN AND MARIA
+   XXIV. MR. TOM ARRIVES AT BROADSTONE
+    XXV. THE CAPTAIN AND MR. TOM
+   XXVI. A STOP AT THE TOLL-GATE
+  XXVII. BY PROXY
+ XXVIII. HERE WE GO! LOVERS THREE!
+   XXIX. TWO PIECES OF NEWS
+    XXX. BY THE SEA
+   XXXI. AS GOOD AS A MAN
+  XXXII. THE STOCK-MARKET IS SAFE
+ XXXIII. DICK LANCASTER DOES NOT WRITE
+  XXXIV. MISS PORT PUTS IN AN APPEARANCE
+   XXXV. THE DORCAS ON GUARD
+  XXXVI. COLD TINDER
+ XXXVII. IN WHICH SOME GREAT CHANGES ARE RECORDED
+XXXVIII. "IT HAS JUST BEGUN!"
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Portrait of Frank B. Stockton _Etching by Jacques Reich from a
+photograph._
+
+The Holt, Mr. Stockton's home near Convent, N.J.
+
+Claymont, Mr. Stockton's home near Charles Town, West Virginia.
+
+A corner in Mr. Stockton's study at Claymont.
+
+The upper terraces of Mr. Stockton's garden at Claymont.
+
+
+
+
+A MEMORIAL SKETCH
+
+As this--The Captain's Toll-Gate--is the last of the works of Frank R.
+Stockton that will be given to the public, it is fitting that it be
+accompanied by some account of the man whose bright spirit illumined
+them all. It is proper, also, that something be said of the stories
+themselves; of the circumstances in which they were written, the
+influences that determined their direction, and the history of their
+evolution. It seems appropriate that this should be done by the one who
+knew him best; the one who lived with him through a long and beautiful
+life; the one who walked hand in hand with him along the whole of a
+wonderful road of ever-changing scenes: now through forests peopled with
+fairies and dryads, griffins and wizards; now skirting the edges of an
+ocean with its strange monsters and remarkable shipwrecks; now on the
+beaten track of European tourists, sharing their novel adventures and
+amused by their mistakes; now resting in lovely gardens imbued with
+human interest; now helping the young to make happy homes for
+themselves; now sympathizing with the old as they look longingly toward
+a heavenly home; and, oftenest, perhaps, watching girls and young men as
+they were trying to work out the problems of their lives. All this, and
+much more, crowded the busy years until the Angel of Death stood in the
+path; and the journey was ended.
+
+In regard to the present story--The Captain's Toll-Gate--although it is
+now after his death first published, it was all written and completed by
+Mr. Stockton himself. No other hand has been allowed to add to, or to
+take from it. Mr. Stockton had so strong a feeling upon the literary
+ethics involved in such matters that he once refused to complete a book
+which a popular and brilliant author, whose style was thought to
+resemble his own, had left unfinished. Mr. Stockton regarded the
+proposed act in the light of a sacrilege. The book, he said, should be
+published as the author left it. Knowing this fact, readers of the
+present volume may feel assured that no one has been permitted to tamper
+with it. Although the last book by Mr. Stockton to be published, it is
+not the last that he wrote. He had completed The Captain's Toll-Gate,
+and was considering its publication, when he was asked to write another
+novel dealing with the buccaneers. He had already produced a book
+entitled Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coasts. The idea of writing a
+novel while the incidents were fresh in his mind pleased him, and he put
+aside The Captain's Toll-Gate, as the other book--Kate Bonnet--was
+wanted soon, and he did not wish the two works to conflict in
+publication. Steve Bonnet, the crazy-headed pirate, was a historical
+character, and performed the acts attributed to him. But the charming
+Kate, and her lover, and Ben Greenaway were inventions.
+
+Francis Richard Stockton, born in Philadelphia in 1834, was, on his
+father's side, of purely English ancestry; on his mother's side, there
+was a mixture of English, French, and Irish. When he began to write
+stories these three nationalities were combined in them: the peculiar
+kind of inventiveness of the French; the point of view, and the humor
+that we find in the old English humorists; and the capacity of the Irish
+for comical situations.
+
+Soon after arriving in this country the eldest son of the first American
+Stockton settled in Princeton, N.J., and founded that branch of the
+family; while the father, with the other sons, settled in Burlington
+County, in the same State, and founded the Burlington branch of the
+family, from which Frank R. Stockton was descended. On the female side
+he was descended from the Gardiners, also of New Jersey. His was a
+family with literary proclivities. His father was widely known for his
+religious writings, mostly of a polemical character, which had a
+powerful influence in the denomination to which he belonged. His
+half-brother (much older than Frank) was a preacher of great eloquence,
+famous a generation ago as a pulpit orator.
+
+When Frank and his brother John, two years younger, came to the age to
+begin life for themselves, they both showed such decided artistic genius
+that it was thought best to start them in that direction, and to have
+them taught engraving; an art then held in high esteem. Frank chose
+wood, and John steel engraving. Both did good work, but their hearts
+were not in it, and, as soon as opportunity offered, they abandoned
+engraving. John went into journalism; became editorially connected with
+prominent newspapers; and had won a foremost place in his chosen
+profession; when he was cut off by death at a comparatively early age.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOLT, MR STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CONVENT. N.J.]
+
+Frank chose literature. He had, while in the engraving business, written
+a number of fairy tales, some of which had been published in juvenile
+magazines; also a few short stories, and quite an ambitious long story,
+which was published in a prominent magazine. He was then sufficiently
+well known as a writer to obtain without difficulty a place on the
+staff of Hearth and Home, a weekly New York paper, owned by Orange Judd,
+and conducted by Edward Eggleston. Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge had charge of
+the juvenile department, and Frank went on the paper as her assistant.
+Not long after Scribner's Monthly was started by Charles Scribner (the
+elder), in conjunction with Roswell Smith, and J.G. Holland. Later Mr.
+Smith and his associates formed The Century Company; and with this
+company Mr. Stockton was connected for many years: first on the Century
+Magazine, which succeeded Scribner's Monthly, and afterward on St.
+Nicholas, as assistant to Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge, and, still later, when
+he decided to give up editorial work, as a constant contributor. After a
+few years he resigned his position in the company with which he had been
+so pleasantly associated in order to devote himself exclusively to his
+own work. By this time he had written and published enough to feel
+justified in taking, what seemed to his friends, a bold, and even rash,
+step, because so few writers then lived solely by the pen. He was never
+very strong physically; he felt himself unable to do his editorial work,
+and at the same time write out the fancies and stories with which his
+mind was full. This venture proved to be the wisest thing for him; and
+from that time his life was, in great part, in his books; and he gave
+to the world the novels and stories which bear his name.
+
+I have mentioned his fairy stories. Having been a great lover of fairy
+lore when a child, he naturally fell into this form of story writing as
+soon as he was old enough to put a story together. He invented a goodly
+number; and among them the Ting-a-Ling stories, which were read aloud in
+a boys' literary circle, and meeting their hearty approval, were
+subsequently published in The Riverside Magazine, a handsome and popular
+juvenile of that period; and, much later, were issued by Hurd & Houghton
+in a very pretty volume. In regard to these, he wrote long afterward as
+follows:
+
+"I was very young when I determined to write some fairy tales because my
+mind was full of them. I set to work, and in course of time produced
+several which were printed. These were constructed according to my own
+ideas. I caused the fanciful creatures who inhabited the world of
+fairy-land to act, as far as possible for them to do so, as if they were
+inhabitants of the real world. I did not dispense with monsters and
+enchanters, or talking beasts and birds, but I obliged these creatures
+to infuse into their extraordinary actions a certain leaven of common
+sense."
+
+It was about this time, while very young, that he and his brother
+became ambitious to write stories, poems, and essays for the world at
+large. They sent their effusions to various periodicals, with the result
+common to ambitious youths: all were returned. They decided at last that
+editors did not know a good thing when they saw it, and hit upon a
+brilliant scheme to prove their own judgment. One of them selected an
+extract from Paradise Regained (as being not so well known as Paradise
+Lost), and sent it to an editor, with the boy's own name appended,
+expecting to have it returned with some of the usual disparaging
+remarks, which they would greatly enjoy. But they were disappointed. The
+editor printed it in his paper, thereby proving that he did know a good
+thing if he did not know his Milton. Mr. Stockton was fond of telling
+this story, and it may have given rise to a report, extensively
+circulated, that he tried to gain admittance to periodicals for many
+years before he succeeded. This is not true. Some rebuffs he had, of
+course--some with things which afterward proved great successes--but not
+as great a number as falls to the lot of most beginners.
+
+The Ting-a-Ling tales proved so popular that Mr. Stockton followed them
+at intervals with long and short stories for the young which appeared in
+various juvenile publications, and were afterward published in book
+form--Roundabout Rambles. Tales out of School, A Jolly Fellowship,
+Personally Conducted, The Story of Viteau, The Floating Prince, and
+others. Some years later, after he had begun to write for older readers,
+he wrote a series of stories for St. Nicholas, ostensibly for children,
+but really intended for adults. Children liked the stories, but the
+deeper meaning underlying them all was beyond the grasp of a child's
+mind. These stories Mr. Stockton took very great pleasure in writing,
+and always regarded them as some of his best work, and was gratified
+when his critics wrote of them in that way. They have become famous, and
+have been translated into several languages, notably Old Pipes and the
+Dryad, The Bee Man of Orne, and The Griffin and the Minor Canon. This
+last story was suggested by Chester Cathedral, and he wrote it in that
+venerable city. The several tales were finally collected into a volume
+under the title: The Bee Man of Orne and Other Stories, which is
+included in the complete edition of his novels and stories. During the
+whole of his literary career Mr. Stockton was an occasional contributor
+of short stories and essays to The Youth's Companion.
+
+Mr. Stockton considered his career as an editor of great advantage to
+him as an author. In an autobiographical paper he writes:
+"Long-continued reading of manuscripts submitted for publication which
+are almost good enough to use, and yet not quite up to the standard of
+the magazine, can not but be of great service to any one who proposes a
+literary career. Bad work shows us what we ought to avoid, but most of
+us know, or think we know, what that is. Fine literary work we get
+outside the editorial room. But the great mass of literary material
+which is almost good enough to print is seen only by the editorial
+reader, and its lesson is lost upon him in a great degree unless he is,
+or intends to be, a literary worker."
+
+The first house in which we set up our own household goods stood in
+Nutley, N.J. We had with us an elderly _attache_ of the Stockton family
+as maid-of-all-work; and to relieve her of some of her duties I went
+into New York, and procured from an orphans' home a girl whom Mr.
+Stockton described as "a middle-sized orphan." She was about fourteen
+years old, and proved to be a very peculiar individual, with strong
+characteristics which so appealed to Mr. Stockton's sense of humor that
+he liked to talk with her and draw out her opinions of things in
+general, and especially of the books she had read. Her spare time was
+devoted to reading books, mostly of the blood-curdling variety; and she
+read them to herself aloud in the kitchen in a very disjointed fashion,
+which was at first amusing, and then irritating. We never knew her real
+name, nor did the people at the orphanage. She had three or four very
+romantic ones she had borrowed from novels while she was with us, for
+she was very sentimental.
+
+Mr. Stockton bestowed upon her the name of Pomona, which is now a
+household word in myriads of homes. This extraordinary girl, and some
+household experiences, induced Mr. Stockton to write a paper for
+Scribner's Monthly which he called Rudder Grange. This one paper was all
+he intended to write, but it attracted immediate attention, was
+extensively noticed, and much talked about. The editor of the magazine
+received so many letters asking for another paper that Mr. Stockton
+wrote the second one; and as there was still a clamor for more, he,
+after a little time, wrote others of the series. Some time later they
+were collected in a book. For those interested in Pomona I will add,
+that while the girl was an actual personage, with all the
+characteristics given to her by her chronicler, the woman Pomona was a
+development in Mr. Stockton's mind of the girl as he imagined she would
+become, for the original passed out of our lives while still a girl.
+
+Rudder Grange was Mr. Stockton's first book for adult readers, and a
+good deal of comment has been made upon the fact that he had reached
+middle life when it was published. His biographers and critics assume
+that he was utterly unknown at that time, and that he suddenly jumped
+into favor, and they naturally draw the inference that he had until then
+vainly attempted to get before the public. This is all a misapprehension
+of the facts. It will be seen from what I have previously stated, that
+at this time he was already well known as a juvenile writer, and not
+only had no difficulty in getting his articles printed, but editors and
+publishers were asking him for stories. He had made but few slight
+attempts to obtain a larger audience. That he confined himself for so
+long a time to juvenile literature can be easily accounted for. For one
+thing, it grew out of his regular work of constantly catering for the
+young, and thinking of them. Then, again, editorial work makes urgent
+demands upon time and strength, and until freed from it he had not the
+leisure or inclination to fashion stories for more exacting and critical
+readers. Perhaps, too, he was slow in recognizing his possibilities.
+Certain it is that the public were not slow to recognize him. He did,
+however, experience difficulties in getting the collected papers of
+Rudder Grange published in book form. I will quote his own account,
+which is interesting as showing how slow he was to appreciate the fact
+that the public would gladly accept the writings of a humorist:
+
+"The discovery that humorous compositions could be used in journals
+other than those termed comic marked a new era in my work. Periodicals
+especially devoted to wit and humor were very scarce in those days, and
+as this sort of writing came naturally to me, it was difficult, until
+the advent of Puck, to find a medium of publication for writings of this
+nature. I contributed a good deal to this paper, but it was only partly
+satisfactory, for articles which make up a comic paper must be terse and
+short, and I wanted to write humorous tales which should be as long as
+ordinary magazine stories. I had good reason for my opinion of the
+gravity of the situation, for the editor of a prominent magazine
+declined a humorous story (afterward very popular) which I had sent him,
+on the ground that the traditions of magazines forbade the publication
+of stories strictly humorous. Therefore, when I found an editor at last
+who actually _wished_ me to write humorous stories, I was truly
+rejoiced. My first venture in this line was Rudder Grange. And, after
+all, I had difficulty in getting the series published in book form. Two
+publishers would have nothing to do with them, assuring me that although
+the papers were well enough for a magazine, a thing of ephemeral nature,
+the book-reading public would not care for them. The third publisher to
+whom I applied issued the work, and found the venture satisfactory."
+
+The book-reading public cared so much for this book that it would not
+remain satisfied with it alone. Again and again it demanded of the
+author more about Pomona, Euphemia, and Jonas. Hence The Rudder Grangers
+Abroad and Pomona's Travels.
+
+The most famous of Mr. Stockton's stories, The Lady or the Tiger?, was
+written to be read before a literary society of which he was a member.
+It caused such an interesting discussion in the society that he
+published it in the Century Magazine. It had no especial announcement
+there, nor was it heralded in any way, but it took the public by storm,
+and surprised both the editor and the author. All the world must love a
+puzzle, for in an amazingly short time the little story had made the
+circuit of the world. Debating societies everywhere seized upon it as a
+topic; it was translated into nearly all languages; society people
+discussed it at their dinners; plainer people argued it at their
+firesides; numerous letters were sent to nearly every periodical in the
+country; and public readers were expounding it to their audiences. It
+interested heathen and Christian alike; for an English friend told Mr.
+Stockton that in India he had heard a group of Hindoo men gravely
+debating the problem. Of course, a mass of letters came pouring in upon
+the author.
+
+A singular thing about this story has been the revival of interest in it
+that has occurred from time to time. Although written many years ago, it
+seems still to excite the interest of a younger generation; for, after
+an interval of silence on the subject of greater or less duration,
+suddenly, without apparent cause, numerous letters in relation to it
+will appear on the author's table, and "solutions" will be printed in
+the newspapers. This ebb and flow has continued up to the present time.
+Mr. Stockton made no attempt to answer the question he had raised.
+
+We both spent much time in the South at different periods. The dramatic
+and unconsciously humorous side of the negroes pleased his fancy. He
+walked and talked with them, saw them in their homes, at their
+"meetin's," and in the fields. He has drawn with an affectionate hand
+the genial, companionable Southern negro as he is--or rather as he
+was--for this type is rapidly passing away. Soon there will be no more
+of these "old-time darkies." They would be by the world forgot had they
+not been embalmed in literature by Mr. Stockton, and the best Southern
+writers.
+
+There is one other notable characteristic that should be referred to in
+writing of Mr. Stockton's stories--the machines and appliances he
+invented as parts of them. They are very numerous and ingenious. No
+matter how extraordinary might be the work in hand, the machine to
+accomplish the end was made on strictly scientific principles, to
+accomplish that exact piece of work. It would seem that if he had not
+been an inventor of plots he might have been an inventor of instruments.
+This idea is sustained by the fact that he had been a wood-engraver only
+a short time when he invented and patented a double graver which cuts
+two parallel lines at the same time. It is somewhat strange that more
+than one of these extraordinary machines has since been exploited by
+scientists and explorers, without the least suspicion on their part that
+the enterprising romancer had thought of them first. Notable among these
+may be named the idea of going to the north pole under the ice, the one
+that the center of the earth is an immense crystal (Great Stone of
+Sardis), and the attempt to manufacture a gun similar to the Peace
+Compeller in The Great War Syndicate.
+
+In all of Mr. Stockton's novels there were characters taken from real
+persons who perhaps would not recognize themselves in the peculiar
+circumstances in which he placed them. In the crowd of purely
+imaginative beings one could easily recognize certain types modified and
+altered. In The Casting away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine he
+introduced two delightful old ladies whom he knew, and who were never
+surprised at anything that might happen. Whatever emergency arose, they
+took it as a matter of course, and prepared to meet it. Mr. Stockton
+amused himself at their expense by writing this story. He was not at
+first interested in the Dusantes, and had no intention of ever saying
+anything further about them. When there was a demand for knowledge of
+the Dusantes Mr. Stockton did not heed it. He was opposed to writing
+sequels. But when an author of distinction, whose work and friendship he
+highly valued, wrote to him that if he did not write something about the
+Dusantes, and what they said when they found the board money in the
+ginger jar, he would do it himself, Mr. Stockton set himself to writing
+The Dusantes.
+
+I have been asked to give some account of the places in which Mr.
+Stockton's stories and novels were written, and their environments. Some
+of the Southern stories were written in Virginia, and, now and then, a
+short story elsewhere, as suggested by the locality, but the most of his
+work was done under his own roof-tree. He loved his home; it had to be a
+country home, and always had to have a garden. In the care of a garden
+and in driving, he found his two greatest sources of recreation.
+
+[Illustration: CLAYMONT, MR. STOCKTON'S HOME NEAR CHARLES TOWN, WEST
+VIRGINIA.]
+
+I have mentioned Nutley, which lies in New Jersey, near New York. His
+dwelling there was a pretty little cottage, where he had a garden, some
+chickens, and a cow. This was his home in his editorial days, and here
+Rudder Grange was written. It was a rented place. The next home we
+owned. It stood at a greater distance from New York, at the place called
+Convent, half-way between Madison and Morristown, in New Jersey. Here we
+lived a number of years after Mr. Stockton gave up editorial work; and
+here the greater number of his tales were written. It was a much larger
+place than we had at Nutley, with more chickens, two cows, and a much
+larger garden.
+
+Mr. Stockton dictated his stories to a stenographer. His favorite spot
+for this in summer was a grove of large fir-trees near the house. Here,
+in the warm weather, he would lie in a hammock. His secretary would be
+near, with her writing materials, and a book of her choosing. The book
+was for her own reading while Mr. Stockton was "thinking." It annoyed
+him to know he was being "waited for." He would think out pages of
+incidents, and scenes, and even whole conversations, before he began to
+dictate. After all had been arranged in his mind he dictated rapidly;
+but there often were long pauses, when the secretary could do a good
+deal of reading. In cold weather he had the secretary and an easy chair
+in the study--a room he had built according to his own fancy. A fire of
+blazing logs added a glow to his fancies.
+
+I may state here that we always spent a part of every winter in New
+York. A certain amount of city life was greatly enjoyed. Mr. Stockton
+thus secured much intellectual pleasure. He liked his clubs, and was
+fond of society, where he met men noted in various walks of life.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: Edward Gary, the secretary of the Century Club, in the
+obituary notice of Mr. Stockton written by him for the club's annual
+report, says of Mr. Stockton as a member: "It was but a dozen years ago
+that Frank R. Stockton entered the fellowship of the Century, in which
+he soon became exceedingly at home, winning friends here, as he won them
+all over the land and in other lands, by the charm of his keen and
+kindly mind shining in all that he wrote and said. He had an
+extraordinary capacity for work and a rare talent for diversion, and the
+Century was honored by his well-earned fame, and fortunate in its share
+in his ever fresh and varying companionship."]
+
+I am now nearing the close of a life which had had its trials and
+disappointments, its struggles with weak health and with unsatisfying
+labor. But these mostly came in the earlier years, and were met with
+courage, an ever fresh-springing hope, and a buoyant spirit that would
+not be intimidated. On the whole, as one looks back through the long
+vista, much more of good than of evil fell to his lot. His life had been
+full of interesting experiences, and one of, perhaps, unusual happiness.
+At the last there came to pass the fulfilment of a dream in which he had
+long indulged. He became the possessor of a beautiful estate containing
+what he most desired, and with surroundings and associations dear to his
+heart.
+
+He had enjoyed The Holt, his New Jersey home, and was much interested in
+improving it. His neighbors and friends there were valued companions.
+But in his heart there had always been a longing for a home, not
+suburban--a place in the _real_ country, and with more land. Finally,
+the time came when he felt that he could gratify this longing. He liked
+the Virginia climate, and decided to look for a place somewhere in that
+State, not far from the city of Washington. After a rather prolonged
+search, we one day lighted upon Claymont, in the Shenandoah Valley. It
+won our hearts, and ended our search. It had absolutely everything that
+Mr. Stockton coveted. He bought it at once, and we moved into it as
+speedily as possible.
+
+Claymont is a handsome colonial residence, "with all modern
+improvements"--an unusual combination. It lies near the historic old
+town of Charles Town, in West Virginia, near Harpers Ferry. Claymont is
+itself an historic place. The land was first owned by "the Father of his
+Country." This great personage designed the house, with its main
+building, two cottages (or lodges), and courtyards, for his nephew
+Bushrod, to whom he had given the land. Through the wooded park runs the
+old road, now grass grown, over which Braddock marched to his celebrated
+"defeat," guided by the youthful George Washington, who had surveyed the
+whole region for Lord Fairfax. During the civil war the place twice
+escaped destruction because it had once been the property of Washington.
+
+But it was not for its historical associations, but for the place
+itself, that Mr. Stockton purchased it. From the main road to the house
+there is a drive of three-quarters of a mile through a park of great
+forest-trees and picturesque groups of rocks. On the opposite side of
+the house extends a wide, open lawn; and here, and from the piazzas, a
+noble view of the valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains is obtained.
+Besides the park and other grounds, there is a farm at Claymont of
+considerable size. Mr. Stockton, however, never cared for farming,
+except in so far as it enabled him to have horses and stock. But his
+soul delighted in the big, old terraced garden of his West Virginia
+home. Compared with other gardens he had had, the new one was like
+paradise to the common world. At Claymont several short stories were
+written. John Gayther's Garden was prepared for publication here by
+connecting stories previously published into a series, told in a garden,
+and suggested by the one at Claymont. John Gayther, however, was an
+invention. Kate Bonnet and The Captain's Toll-Gate were both written at
+Claymont.
+
+[Illustration: A CORNER IN MR. STOCKTON'S STUDY AT CLAYMONT. Showing the
+desk at which all his later books were written.]
+
+Mr. Stockton was permitted to enjoy this beautiful place only three
+years. They were years of such rare pleasure, however, that we can
+rejoice that he had so much joy crowded into so short a space of his
+life, and that he had it at its close. Truly life was never sweeter to
+him than at its end, and the world was never brighter to him than when
+he shut his eyes upon it. He was returning from a winter in New York to
+his beloved Claymont, in good health, and full of plans for the summer
+and for his garden, when he was taken suddenly ill in Washington, and
+died three days later, on April 20, 1902, a few weeks after Kate Bonnet
+was published in book form.
+
+Mr. Stockton passed away at a ripe age--sixty-eight years. And yet his
+death was a surprise to us all. He had never been in better health,
+apparently; his brain was as active as ever; life was dear to him; he
+seemed much younger than he was. He had no wish to give up his work; no
+thought of old age; no mental decay. His last novels, his last short
+stories, showed no falling-off. They were the equals of those written in
+younger years. Nor had he lost the public interest. He was always sure
+of an audience, and his work commanded a higher price at the last than
+ever before. His was truly a passing away. He gently glided from the
+homes he had loved to prepare here to one already prepared for him in
+heaven, unconscious that he was entering one more beautiful than even he
+had ever imagined.
+
+Mr. Stockton was the most lovable of men. He shed happiness all around
+him, not from conscious effort but out of his own bountiful and loving
+nature. His tender heart sympathized with the sad and unfortunate, but
+he never allowed sadness to be near, if it were possible to prevent it.
+He hated mourning and gloom. They seemed to paralyze him mentally until
+his bright spirit had again asserted itself, and he had recovered his
+balance. He usually looked either upon the best, or the humorous side of
+life. Pie won the love of every one who knew him--even that of readers
+who did not know him personally, as many letters testify. To his friends
+his loss is irreparable, for never again will they find his equal in
+such charming qualities of head and heart.
+
+[Illustration: THE UPPER TERRACES OF MR. STOCKTON'S GARDEN AT
+CLAYMONT.]
+
+This is not the place for a critical estimate of the work of Frank R.
+Stockton.[2] His stories are, in great part, a reflex of himself. The
+bright outlook on life; the courageous spirit; the helpfulness; the
+sense of the comic rather than the tragic; the love of domestic life;
+the sweetness of pure affection; live in his books as they lived in
+himself. He had not the heart to make his stories end unhappily. He knew
+that there is much of the tragic in human lives, but he chose to ignore
+it as far as possible, and to walk in the pleasant ways which are
+numerous in this tangled world. There is much philosophy underlying a
+good deal that he wrote, but it has to be looked for; it is not
+insistent, and is never morbid. He could not write an impure word, or
+express an impure thought, for he belonged to the "pure in heart," who,
+we are assured, "shall see God."
+
+[Footnote 2: I may, however, properly quote from the sketch prepared by
+Mr. Gary for the Century Club: "He brought to his later work the
+discipline of long and rather tedious labor, with the capital amassed by
+acute observation, on which his original imagination wrought the
+sparkling miracles that we know. He has been called the representative
+American humorist. He was that in the sense that the characters he
+created had much of the audacity of the American spirit, the thirst for
+adventures in untried fields of thought and action, the subconscious
+seriousness in the most incongruous situations, the feeling of being at
+home no matter what happens. But how amazingly he mingled a broad
+philosophy with his fun, a philosophy not less wise and comprehending
+than his fun was compelling! If his humor was American, it was also
+cosmopolitan, and had its laughing way not merely with our British
+kinsmen, but with alien peoples across the usually impenetrable barrier
+of translation. The fortune of his jesting lay not in his ears, but in
+the hearts of his hearers. It was at once appealing and revealing. It
+flashed its playful light into the nooks and corners of our own being,
+and wove close bonds with those at whom we laughed. There was no
+bitterness in it. He was neither satirist nor preacher, nor of set
+purpose a teacher, though it must be a dull reader that does not gather
+from his books the lesson of the value of a gentle heart and a clear,
+level outlook upon our perplexing world."]
+
+
+MARIAN E. STOCKTON.
+
+CLAYMONT, _May 15, 1903_.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER I_
+
+_Olive._
+
+
+A long, wide, and smoothly macadamized road stretched itself from the
+considerable town of Glenford onward and northward toward a gap in the
+distant mountains. It did not run through a level country, but rose and
+fell as if it had been a line of seaweed upon the long swells of the
+ocean. Upon elevated points upon this road, farm lands and forests could
+be seen extending in every direction. But there was nothing in the
+landscape which impressed itself more obtrusively upon the attention of
+the traveler than the road itself. White in the bright sunlight and gray
+under the shadows of the clouds, it was the one thing to be seen which
+seemed to have a decided purpose. Northward or southward, toward the gap
+in the long line of mountains or toward the wood-encircled town in the
+valley, it was always going somewhere.
+
+About two miles from the town, and at the top of the first long hill
+which was climbed by the road, a tall white pole projected upward
+against the sky, sometimes perpendicularly, and sometimes inclined at a
+slight angle. This was a turnpike gate or bar, and gave notice to all in
+vehicles or on horses that the use of this well-kept road was not free
+to the traveling public. At the approach of persons not known, or too
+well known, the bar would slowly descend across the road, as if it were
+a musket held horizontally while a sentinel demanded the password.
+
+Upon the side of the road opposite to the great post on which the
+toll-gate moved, was a little house with a covered doorway, from which
+toll could be collected without exposing the collector to sun or rain.
+This tollhouse was not a plain whitewashed shed, such as is often seen
+upon turnpike roads, but a neat edifice, containing a comfortable room.
+On one side of it was a small porch, well shaded by vines, furnished
+with a settle and two armchairs, while over all a large maple stretched
+its protecting branches. Back of the tollhouse was a neatly fenced
+garden, well filled with old-fashioned flowers; and, still farther on, a
+good-sized house, from which a box-bordered path led through the garden
+to the tollhouse.
+
+It was a remark that had been made frequently, both by strangers and
+residents in that part of the country, that if it had not been for the
+obvious disadvantages of a toll-gate, this house and garden, with its
+grounds and fields, would be a good enough home for anybody. When he
+happened to hear this remark Captain John Asher, who kept the toll-gate,
+was wont to say that it was a good enough home for him, even with the
+toll-gate, and its obvious disadvantages.
+
+It was on a morning in early summer, when the garden had grown to be so
+red and white and yellow in its flowers, and so green in its leaves and
+stalks, that the box which edged the path was beginning to be
+unnoticed, that a girl sat in a small arbor standing on a slight
+elevation at one side of the garden, and from which a view could be had
+both up and down the road. She was rather a slim girl, though tall
+enough; her hair was dark, her eyes were blue, and she sat on the back
+of a rustic bench with her feet resting upon the seat; this position she
+had taken that she might the better view the road.
+
+With both her hands this girl held a small telescope which she was
+endeavoring to fix upon a black spot a mile or more away upon the road.
+It was difficult for her to hold the telescope steadily enough to keep
+the object-glass upon the black spot, and she had a great deal of
+trouble in the matter of focusing, pulling out and pushing in the
+smaller cylinder in a manner which showed that she was not accustomed to
+the use of this optical instrument.
+
+"Field-glasses are ever so much better," she said to herself; "you can
+screw them to any point you want. But now I've got it. It is very near
+that cross-road. Good! it did not turn there; it is coming along the
+pike, and there will be toll to pay. One horse, seven cents."
+
+She put down the telescope as if to rest her arm and eye. Presently,
+however, she raised the glass again. "Now, let us see," she said, "Uncle
+John? Jane? or me?" After directing the glass to a point in the air
+about two hundred feet above the approaching vehicle, and then to
+another point half a mile to the right of it, she was fortunate enough
+to catch sight of it again. "I don't know that queer-looking horse," she
+said. "It must be some stranger, and Jane will do. No, a little boy is
+driving. Strangers coming along this road would not be driven by little
+boys. I expect I shall have to call Uncle John." Then she put down the
+glass and rubbed her eye, after which, with unassisted vision, she gazed
+along the road. "I can see a great deal better without that old thing,"
+she continued. "There's a woman in that carriage. I'll go myself." With
+this she jumped down from the rustic seat, and with the telescope under
+her arm, she skipped through the garden to the little tollhouse.
+
+The name of this girl was Olive Asher. Captain John Asher, who took the
+toll, was her uncle, and she had now been living with him for about six
+weeks. Olive was what is known in certain social circles as a navy girl.
+About twenty years before she had come to her uncle's she had been born
+in Genoa, her father at the time being a lieutenant on an American
+war-vessel lying in the harbor of Villa Franca. Her first schooldays
+were passed in the south of France, and she spent some subsequent years
+in a German school in Dresden. Here she was supposed to have finished
+her education but when her father's ship was stationed on our Pacific
+coast and Olive and her mother went to San Francisco they associated a
+great deal with army people, and here the girl learned so much more of
+real life and her own country people that the few years she spent in the
+far West seemed like a post-graduate course, as important to her true
+education as any of the years she had spent in schools.
+
+After the death of her mother, when Olive was about eighteen, the girl
+had lived with relatives, East and West, hoping for the day when her
+father's three years' cruise would terminate, and she could go and make
+a home for him in some pleasant spot on shore. Now, in the course of
+these family visits she had come to stay with her father's brother, John
+Asher, who kept the toll-gate on the Glenford pike.
+
+Captain John Asher was an older man than his brother, the naval officer,
+but he was in the prime of life, and able to hold the command of a ship
+if he had cared to do it. But having been in the merchant service for a
+long time, and having made some money, he had determined to leave the
+sea and to settle on shore; and, finding this commodious house by the
+toll-gate, he settled there. There were some people who said that he had
+taken the position of toll-gate keeper because of the house, and there
+were others who believed that he had bought the house on account of the
+toll-gate. But no matter what people thought or said, the good captain
+was very well satisfied with his home and his official position. He
+liked to meet with people, and he preferred that they should come to him
+rather than that he should go to them. He was interested in most things
+that were going on in his neighborhood, and therefore he liked to talk
+to the people who were going by. Sometimes a good talking acquaintance
+or an interesting traveler would tie his horse under the shade of the
+maple-tree and sit a while with the captain on the little porch. Certain
+it was, it was the most hospitable toll-gate in that part of the
+country.
+
+There was a road which branched off from the turnpike, about a mile from
+the town, and which, after some windings, entered the pike again beyond
+the toll-gate, and although this road was not always in very good
+condition, it had seen a good deal of travel, which, in time, gave it
+the name of the shunpike. But since Captain Asher had lived at the
+toll-gate it was remarked that the shunpike was not used as much as in
+former times. There were penurious people who had once preferred to go a
+long way round and save money whose economical dispositions now gave way
+before the combined attractions of a better road, and a chat with
+Captain Asher.
+
+It had been predicted by some of her relatives that Olive would not be
+content with her life in her uncle's somewhat peculiar household. He was
+a bachelor, and seldom entertained company, and his ordinary family
+consisted of an elderly housekeeper and another servant. But Olive was
+not in the least dissatisfied. From her infancy up, she had lived so
+much among people that she had grown tired of them; and her good-natured
+uncle, with his sea stories, the garden, the old-fashioned house, the
+fields and the woods beyond, the little stream, which came hurrying down
+from the mountains, where she could fish or wade as the fancy pleased
+her, gave her a taste of some of the joys of girlhood which she had not
+known when she was really a girl.
+
+Another thing that greatly interested her was the toll-gate. If she had
+been allowed to do so, she would have spent the greater part of her time
+taking money, making change, and talking to travelers. But this her
+uncle would not permit. He did not object to her doing some occasional
+toll-gate work, and he did not wonder that she liked it, remembering how
+interesting it often was to himself, but he would not let her take toll
+indiscriminately.
+
+So they made a regular arrangement about it. When the captain was at his
+meals, or shaving, or otherwise occupied, old Jane attended to the
+toll-gate. At ordinary times, and when any of his special friends were
+seen approaching, the captain collected toll himself, but when women
+happened to be traveling on the road, then it was arranged that Olive
+should go to the gate.
+
+Two or three times it had happened that some young men of the town,
+hearing their sisters talk of the pretty girl who had taken their toll,
+had thought it might be a pleasant thing to drive out on the pike, but
+their money had always been taken by the captain, or else by the
+wooden-faced Jane, and nothing had come of their little adventures.
+
+The garden hedge which ran alongside the road was very high.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER II_
+
+_Maria Port._
+
+
+Olive stood impatiently at the door of the little tollhouse. In one hand
+she held three copper cents, because she felt almost sure that the
+person approaching would give her a dime or two five-cent pieces.
+
+"I never knew horses to travel so slowly as they do on this pike!" she
+said to herself. "How they used to gallop on those beautiful roads in
+France!"
+
+In due course of time the vehicle approached near enough to the
+toll-gate for Olive to take an observation of its occupant. This was a
+middle-aged woman, dressed in black, holding a black fan. She wore a
+black bonnet with a little bit of red in it. Her face was small and
+pale, its texture and color suggesting a boiled apple dumpling. She had
+small eyes of which it can be said that they were of a different color
+from her face, and were therefore noticeable. Her lips were not
+prominent, and were closely pressed together as if some one had begun to
+cut a dumpling, but had stopped after making one incision.
+
+This somewhat somber person leaned forward in the seat behind her young
+driver, and steadily stared at Olive. When the horse had passed the
+toll-bar the boy stopped it so that his passenger and Olive were face
+to face and very near each other.
+
+"Seven cents, please," said Olive.
+
+The cleft in the dumpling enlarged itself, and the woman spoke. "Bless
+my soul," she said, "are you Captain Asher's niece?"
+
+"I am," said Olive in surprise.
+
+"Well, well," said the other, "that just beats me! When I heard he had
+his niece with him I thought she was a plain girl, with short frocks and
+her hair plaited down her back."
+
+Olive did not like this woman. It is wonderful how quickly likes and
+dislikes may be generated.
+
+"But you see I am not," she replied. "Seven cents, please."
+
+"Don't you suppose I know what the toll is?" said the woman in the
+carriage. "I'm sure I've traveled over this road often enough to know
+that. But what I'm thinkin' about is the difference between what I
+thought the captain's niece was and what she really is."
+
+"It does not make any difference what the difference is," said Olive,
+speaking quickly and with perhaps a little sharpness in her voice, "all
+I want is for you to pay me the toll."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pay any toll," said the other.
+
+Olive's face flushed. "Little boy," she exclaimed, "back that horse!" As
+the youngster obeyed her peremptory request Olive gave a quick jerk to a
+rope and brought down the toll-gate bar so that it stretched itself
+across the road, barely missing in its downward sweep the nose of the
+unoffending horse. "Now," said Olive, "if you are ready to pay your
+toll you can go through this gate, and if you are not, you can turn
+round and go back where you came from."
+
+"I'm not goin' to pay any toll," said the other, "and I don't want to go
+through the gate. I came to see Captain Asher.--Johnny, turn your horse
+a little and let me get out. Then you can stop in the shade of this tree
+and wait until I'm ready to go back.--I suppose the captain's in," she
+said to Olive, "but if he isn't, I can wait."
+
+"Oh, he's at home," said Olive, "and, of course, if I had known you were
+coming to see him, I would not have asked you for your toll. This way,
+please," and she stepped toward a gate in the garden hedge.
+
+"When I've been here before," said the visitor, "I always went through
+the tollhouse. But I suppose things is different now."
+
+"This is the entrance for visitors," said Olive, holding open the gate.
+
+Captain Asher had heard the voices, and had come out to his front door.
+He shook hands with the newcomer, and then turned to Olive, who was
+following her.
+
+"This is my niece, my brother Alfred's daughter," he said, "and Olive,
+let me introduce you to Miss Maria Port."
+
+"She introduced herself to me," said Miss Port, "and tried to get seven
+cents out of me by letting down the bar so that it nearly broke my
+horse's nose. But we'll get to know each other better. She's very
+different from what I thought she was."
+
+"Most people are," said Captain Asher, as he offered a chair to Miss
+Port in his parlor, and sat down opposite to her. Olive, who did not
+care to hear herself discussed, quietly passed out of the room.
+
+"Captain," said Miss Port, leaning forward, "how old is she, anyway?"
+
+"About twenty," was the answer.
+
+"And how long is she going to stay?"
+
+"All summer, I hope," said Captain John.
+
+"Well, she won't do it, I can tell you that," remarked Miss Port.
+"She'll get tired enough of this place before the summer's out."
+
+"We shall see about that," said the captain, "but she is not tired yet."
+
+"And her mother's dead, and she's wearin' no mournin'."
+
+"Why should she?" said the captain. "It would be a shame for a young
+girl like her to be wearing black for two years."
+
+"She's delicate, ain't she?"
+
+"I have not seen any signs of it."
+
+"What did her mother die of?"
+
+"I never heard," said the captain; "perhaps it was the bubonic plague."
+
+Miss Port pushed back her chair and drew her skirts about her.
+
+"Horrible!" she exclaimed. "And you let that child come here!"
+
+The captain smiled. "Perhaps it wasn't that," he said. "It might have
+been an avalanche, and that is not catching."
+
+Miss Port looked at him seriously. "It's a great pity she's so
+handsome," she said.
+
+"I don't think so; I am glad of it," replied the captain.
+
+Miss Port heaved a sigh. "What that girl is goin' to need," she said,
+"is a female guardeen."
+
+"Would you like to take the place?" asked the captain with a grin.
+
+At that instant it might have been supposed that a certain dumpling
+which has been mentioned was made of very red apples and that its
+covering of dough was somewhat thin in certain places. Miss Port's eyes
+were bent for an instant upon the floor.
+
+"That is a thing," she said, "which would need a great deal of
+consideration."
+
+A sudden thrill ran through the captain which was not unlike a moment in
+his past career when a gentle shudder had run through his ship as its
+keel grazed an unsuspected sand-bar, and he had not known whether it was
+going to stick fast or not; but he quickly got himself into deep water
+again.
+
+"Oh, she is all right," said he briskly; "she has been used to taking
+care of herself almost ever since she was born. And by the way, Miss
+Port, did you know that Mr. Easterfield is at his home?"
+
+Miss Port was not pleased with the sudden change in the conversation,
+and she remembered, too, that in other days it had been the captain's
+habit to call her Maria.
+
+"I did not know he had a home," she answered. "I thought it was her'n.
+But since you've mentioned it, I might as well say that it was about him
+I came to see you. I heard that he came to town yesterday, and that her
+carriage met him at the station, and drove him out to her house. I
+hoped he had stopped a minute as he drove through your toll-gate, and
+that you might have had a word with him, or at least a good look at him.
+Mercy me!" she suddenly ejaculated, as a look of genuine disappointment
+spread over her face; "I forgot. The coachman would have paid the toll
+as he went to town, and there was no need of stoppin' as they went back.
+I might have saved myself this trip."
+
+The captain laughed. "It stands to reason that it might have been that
+way," he said, "but it wasn't. He stopped, and I talked to him for about
+five minutes."
+
+The face of Miss Port now grew radiant, and she pulled her chair nearer
+to Captain Asher. "Tell me," said she, "is he really anybody?"
+
+"He is a good deal of a body," answered the captain. "I should say he is
+pretty nearly six feet high, and of considerable bigness."
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Miss Port, "I'd thought he was a little dried-up sort
+of a mummy man that you might hang up on a nail and be sure you'd find
+him when you got back. Did he talk?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the captain, "he talked a good deal."
+
+"And what did he tell you?"
+
+"He did not tell me anything, but he asked a lot of questions."
+
+"What about?" said Miss Port quickly.
+
+"Everything. Fishing, gunning, crops, weather, people."
+
+"Well, well!" she exclaimed. "And don't you suppose his wife could have
+told him all that, and she's been livin' here--this is the second
+summer. Did he say how long he's goin' to stay?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And you didn't ask him?"
+
+"I told you he asked the questions," replied the captain.
+
+"Well, I wish I'd been here," Miss Port remarked fervently. "I'd got
+something out of him."
+
+"No doubt of that," thought the captain, but he did not say so.
+
+"If he expects to pass himself off as just a common man," continued Miss
+Port, "that's goin' to spend the rest of his summer here with his
+family, he can't do it. He's first got to explain why he never came near
+that young woman and her two babies for the whole of last summer, and,
+so far as I've heard, he was never mentioned by her. I think, Captain
+Asher, that for the sake of the neighborhood, if you don't care about
+such things yourself, you might have made use of this opportunity. As
+far as I know, you're the only person in or about Glenford that's spoke
+to him."
+
+The captain smiled. "Sometimes, I suppose," said he, "I don't say
+enough, and sometimes I say too much, but--"
+
+"Then I wish he'd struck you more on an average," interrupted Miss Port.
+"But there's no use talkin' any more about it. I hired a horse and a
+carriage and a boy to come out here this mornin' to ask you about that
+man. And what's come of it? You haven't got a single thing to tell
+anybody except that he's big."
+
+The captain changed the subject again. "How is your father?" he asked.
+
+"Pop's just the same as he always is," was the answer. "And now, as I
+don't want to lose the whole of the seventy-five cents I've got to pay,
+suppose you call in that niece of yours, and let me have a talk with
+her. Perhaps I can get something interesting out of her."
+
+The captain left the room, but he did not move with alacrity. He found
+Olive with a book in a hammock at the back of the house. When he told
+her his errand she sat up with a sudden bounce, her feet upon the
+ground.
+
+"Uncle," she said, "isn't that woman a horrid person?"
+
+The captain was a merry-minded man, and he laughed. "It is pretty hard
+for me to answer that question," said he; "suppose you go in and find
+out for yourself."
+
+Olive hesitated; she was a girl who had a very high opinion of herself
+and a very low opinion of such a person as this Miss Port seemed to be.
+Why should she go in and talk to her? Still undecided, she left the
+hammock and made a few steps toward the house. Then, with a sudden
+exclamation, she stopped and dropped her book.
+
+"Buggy coming," she exclaimed, "and that thing is running to take the
+toll!" With these words she started away with the speed of a colt.
+
+An approaching buggy was on the road; Miss Maria Port, walking rapidly,
+had nearly reached the back door of the tollhouse when Olive swept by
+her so closely that the wind of her fluttering garments almost blew
+away the breath of the elder woman.
+
+"Seven cents!" cried Olive, standing in the covered doorway, but she
+might have saved herself the trouble of repeating this formula, for the
+man in the buggy was not near enough to hear her.
+
+When Olive saw it was a man, she turned, and perceiving her uncle
+approaching the tollhouse, she hurried by him up the garden path,
+looking neither to the right nor to the left.
+
+"A pretty girl that is of yours!" exclaimed Miss Port. "She might just
+as well have slapped me in the face!"
+
+"But what were you going to do in here?" asked Captain Asher. "You know
+that's against the rules."
+
+"The rules be bothered," replied the irate Maria. "I thought it was Mr.
+Smiley. He's been away from his parish for a week, and there are a good
+many things I want to ask him."
+
+"Well, it is the Roman Catholic priest from Marlinsville," said Captain
+Asher, "and he wouldn't tell you anything if you asked him."
+
+The captain had a cheerful little chat with the priest, who was one of
+his most valued road friends; and when he returned to his garden he
+found Miss Port walking up and down the main path in a state of
+agitation.
+
+"I should think," said she, "that the company would have something to
+say about your takin' up your time talkin' to people on the road. I've
+heard that sometimes they get out, and spend hours talkin' and smokin'
+with you. I guess that's against the rules."
+
+"It is all right between the company and me," replied the captain. "You
+know I am a stockholder in a small way."
+
+"You are!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Well, I've got somethin' by comin'
+here, anyway." Stowing away this bit of information in regard to the
+captain's resources in her mind for future consideration, she continued:
+"I don't think much of that niece of your'n. Has she never lived
+anywhere where the people had good manners?"
+
+Olive, who had gone to her room in order to be out of the way of this
+queer visitor, now sat by an upper window, and it was impossible that
+she should fail to hear this remark, made by Miss Port in her most
+querulous tones. Olive immediately left the window, and sat down on the
+other side of the room.
+
+"Good manners!" she ejaculated, and fell to thinking. Her present
+situation had suddenly presented itself to her in a very different light
+from that in which she had previously regarded it. She was living in a
+very plain house in a very plain way, with a very plain uncle who kept a
+tollhouse; but she liked him; and, until this moment, she had liked the
+life. But now she asked herself if it were possible for her longer to
+endure it if she were to be condemned to intercourse with people like
+that thing down in the garden. If her uncle's other friends in Glenford
+were of that grade she could not stay here. She smiled in spite of her
+irritation as she thought of the woman's words--"Anywhere where the
+people had good manners."
+
+Good manners, indeed! She remembered the titled young officers in
+Germany with whom she had talked and danced when she was but seventeen
+years old, and who used to send her flowers. She remembered the people
+of rank in the army and navy and in the state who used to invite her
+mother and herself to their houses. She remembered the royal prince who
+had wished to be presented to her, and whose acquaintance she had
+declined because she did not like what she had heard of him. She
+remembered the good friends of her father in Europe and America, ladies
+and gentlemen of the army and navy. She remembered the society in which
+she had mingled when living with her Boston aunt during the past winter.
+Then she thought of Miss Port's question. Good manners, indeed!
+
+"Well," said the perturbed Maria, after having been informed by the
+captain that his niece was accustomed to move in the best circles, "I
+don't want to go into the house again, for if I was to meet her, I'm
+sure I couldn't keep my temper. But I'll say this to you, Captain Asher,
+that I pity the woman that's her guardeen. And now, if you'll help my
+boy turn round so he won't upset the carriage, I'll be goin'. But before
+I go I'll just say this, that if you'd been in the habit of takin'
+advantage of the chances that come to you, I believe that you'd be a
+good deal better off than you are now, even if you do own shares in the
+turnpike company."
+
+It was not difficult for the captain to recognize some of the chances to
+which she alluded; one of them she herself had offered him several
+times.
+
+"Oh, I am very well off as I am," he answered, "but perhaps some day I
+may have something to tell you of the Easterfields and about their
+doings up on the mountain."
+
+"About her doin's, you might as well say," retorted Miss Port. "No
+matter what you tell me, I don't believe a word about his ever doin'
+anything." With this she walked to the little phaeton, into which the
+captain helped her.
+
+"Uncle John," said Olive, a few minutes later, "are there many people
+like that in Glenford?"
+
+"My dear child," said the captain, "the people in Glenford, the most of
+them, I mean, are just as nice people as you would want to meet. They
+are ladies and gentlemen, and they are mighty good company. They don't
+often come out here, to be sure, but I know most of them, and I ought to
+be ashamed of myself that I have not made you acquainted with them
+before this. As to Maria Port, there is only one of her in Glenford,
+and, so far as I know, there isn't another just like her in the whole
+world. Now I come to think of it," he continued, "I wonder why some of
+the young people have not come out to call on you. But if that Maria
+Port has been going around telling them that you are a little girl in
+short frocks it is not so surprising."
+
+"Oh, don't bother yourself, Uncle John, about calls and society," said
+Olive. "If you can only manage that that woman takes the shunpike
+whenever she drives this way, I shall be perfectly satisfied with
+everything just as it is."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER III_
+
+_Mrs. Easterfield._
+
+
+On the side of the mountain, a few miles to the west of the gap to which
+the turnpike stretched itself, there was a large estate and a large
+house which had once belonged to the Sudley family. For a hundred years
+or more the Sudleys had been important people in this part of the
+country, but it had been at least two decades since any of them had
+lived on this estate. Some of them had gone to cities and towns, and
+others had married, or in some other fashion had melted away so that
+their old home knew them no more.
+
+Although it was situated on the borders of the Southern country, the
+house, which was known as Broadstone, from the fact that a great flat
+rock on the level of the surrounding turf extended itself for many feet
+at the front of the principal entrance, was not constructed after
+ordinary Southern fashions. Some of the early Sudleys were of English
+blood and proclivities, and so it was partly like an English house; some
+of them had taken Continental ideas into the family, and there was a
+certain solidity about the walls; while here and there the narrowness of
+the windows suggested southern Europe. Some parts of the great stone
+walls had been stuccoed, and some had been whitewashed. Here and there
+vines climbed up the walls and stretched themselves under the eaves. As
+the house stood on a wide bluff, there was a lawn from which one could
+see over the tree tops the winding river sparkling far below. There were
+gardens and fields on the open slopes, and beyond these the forests rose
+to the top of the mountains.
+
+The ceilings of the house were high, and the halls and rooms were wide
+and airy; the trees on the edge of the woods seemed always to be
+rustling in a wind from one direction or another, and a lady; Mrs.
+Easterfield; who several years before had been traveling in that part of
+the country; declared that Broadstone was the most delightful place for
+a summer residence that she had ever seen, either in this country or
+across the ocean. So, with the consent and money of her husband, she had
+bought the estate the summer before the time of our story, and had gone
+there to live.
+
+Mr. Easterfield was what is known as a railroad man, and held high
+office in many companies and organizations. When his wife first went to
+Broadstone he was obliged to spend the summer in Europe, and had agreed
+with her that the estate on the mountains would be the best place for
+her and the two little girls while he was away. This state of affairs
+had occasioned a good deal of talk, especially in Glenford, a town with
+which the Easterfields had but little to do, and which therefore had
+theorized much in order to explain to its own satisfaction the conduct
+of a comparatively young married woman who was evidently rich enough to
+spend her summers at any of the most fashionable watering-places, but
+who chose to go with her young family to that old barracks of a house,
+and who had a husband who never came near her or his children, and who,
+so far as the Glenford people knew, she never mentioned.
+
+Mrs. Margaret Easterfield was a very fine woman, both to look at and to
+talk to, but she did not believe that her duty to her fellow-beings
+demanded that she should devote her first summer months at her new place
+to the gratification of the eyes and ears of her friends and
+acquaintances, so she had gone to Broadstone with her family--all
+females--with servants enough, and for the whole of the summer they had
+all been very happy.
+
+But this summer things were going to be a little different at
+Broadstone, for Mrs. Easterfield had arranged for some house parties.
+Her husband was very kind and considerate about her plans, and promised
+her that he would make one of the good company at Broadstone whenever it
+was possible for him to do so.
+
+So now it happened that he had come to see his wife and children and the
+house in which they lived; and, having had some business at a railroad
+center in the South, he had come through Glenford, which was unusual, as
+the intercourse between Broadstone and the great world was generally
+maintained through the gap in the mountains.
+
+With his wife by his side and a little girl on each shoulder, Mr. Tom
+Easterfield walked through the grounds and the gardens and out on the
+lawn, and looked down over the tops of the trees upon the river which
+sparkled far below, and he said to his wife that if she would let him do
+it he would send a landscape-gardener, with a great company of Italians,
+and they would make the place a perfect paradise in about five days.
+
+"It could be ruined a great deal quicker by an army of locusts," she
+said, "and so, if you do not mind, I think I will wait for the locusts."
+
+It was not time yet for any of the members of the house parties to make
+their appearance, and it was the general desire of his family that Mr.
+Easterfield should remain until some of the visitors arrived, but he
+could not gratify them. Three days after his arrival he was obliged to
+be in Atlanta; and so, soon after breakfast one fine morning, the
+Easterfield carriage drove over the turnpike to the Glenford station,
+Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield on the back seat, and the two little girls
+sitting opposite, their feet sticking out straight in front of them.
+
+When they stopped at the toll-gate Captain Asher came down to collect
+the toll--ten cents for two horses and a carriage. Olive was sitting in
+the little arbor, reading. She had noticed the approaching equipage and
+saw that there was a lady in it, but for some reason or other she was
+not so anxious as she had been to collect toll from ladies. If she could
+have arranged the matter to suit herself she would have taken toll from
+the male travelers, and her Uncle John might attend to the women; she
+did not believe that men would have such absurd ideas about people or
+ask ridiculous questions.
+
+There was no conversation at the gate on this occasion, for the
+carriage was a little late, but as it rolled on Mrs. Margaret said to
+Mr. Tom:
+
+"It seems to me as though I have just had a glimpse of Dresden. What do
+you suppose could have suggested that city to me?"
+
+Mr. Tom could not imagine, unless it was the dust. She laughed, and said
+that he had dust and ballast and railroads on the brain; and when the
+oldest little girl asked what that meant, Mrs. Margaret told her that
+the next time her father came home she would make him sit down on the
+floor and then she would draw on that great bald spot of his head, which
+they had so often noticed, a map of the railroad lines in which he was
+concerned, and then his daughters would understand why he was always
+thinking of railroad-tracks and that sort of thing with the inside of
+his head, which, as she had told them, was that part of a person with
+which he did his thinking.
+
+"Don't they sell some sort of annual or monthly tickets for this
+turnpike?" asked Mr. Tom. "If they do, you would save yourself the
+trouble of stopping to pay toll and make change."
+
+"I so seldom use this road," she said, "that it would not be worth
+while. One does not stop on returning, you know."
+
+But notwithstanding this speech, when Mrs. Easterfield returned from the
+Glenford station, one little girl sitting beside her and the other one
+opposite, both of them with their feet sticking out, she ordered her
+coachman to stop when he reached the toll-gate.
+
+Olive was still sitting in the arbor, reading. The captain was not
+visible, and the wooden-faced Jane, noticing that the travelers were a
+lady and two little girls, did not consider that she had any right to
+interfere with Miss Olive's prerogatives; so that young lady felt
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to see what was wanted.
+
+"You know you do not have to pay going back," she said.
+
+"I know that," answered Mrs. Easterfield, "but I want to ask about
+tickets or monthly payments of toll, or whatever your arrangements are
+for that sort of thing."
+
+"I really do not know," said Olive, "but I will go and ask about it."
+
+"But stop one minute," exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield, leaning over the side
+of the carriage. "Is it your father who keeps this toll-gate?"
+
+For some reason or other which she could not have explained to herself,
+Olive felt that it was incumbent upon her to assert herself, and she
+answered: "Oh, no, indeed. My father is Lieutenant-Commander Alfred
+Asher, of the cruiser Hopatcong."
+
+Without another word Mrs. Easterfield pushed open the door of the
+carriage and stepped to the ground, exclaiming: "As I passed this
+morning I knew there was something about this place that brought back to
+my mind old times and old friends, and now I see what it was; it was
+you. I caught but one glimpse of you and I did not know you. But it was
+enough. I knew your father very well when I was a girl, and later I was
+with him and your mother in Dresden. You were a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, going to school, and I never saw much of you. But it is either
+your father or your mother that I saw in your face as you sat in that
+arbor, and I knew the face, although I did not know who owned it. I am
+Mrs. Easterfield, but that will not help you to know me, for I was not
+married when I knew your father."
+
+Olive's eyes sparkled as she took the two hands extended to her. "I
+don't remember you at all," she said, "but if you are the friend of my
+father and mother--"
+
+"Then I am to be your friend, isn't it?" interrupted Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I hope so," answered Olive.
+
+"Now, then," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I want you to tell me how in the
+world you come to be here."
+
+There were two stools in the tollhouse, and Olive, having invited her
+visitor to seat herself on the better one, took the other, and told Mrs.
+Easterfield how she happened to be there.
+
+"And that handsome elderly man who took the toll this morning is your
+uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my father's only brother," said Olive.
+
+"A good deal older," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, yes, but I do not know how much."
+
+"And you call him captain. Was he also in the navy?"
+
+"No," said Olive, "he was in the merchant service, and has retired. It
+seems queer that he should be keeping a toll-gate, but my father has
+often told me that Uncle John does not care for appearances, and likes
+to do things that please him. He likes to keep the tollhouse because it
+brings him in touch with the world."
+
+"Very sensible in him," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think I would like to
+keep a toll-gate myself."
+
+Captain Asher had seen the carriage stop, and knew that Mrs. Easterfield
+was talking to Olive, but he did not think himself called upon to
+intrude upon them. But now it was necessary for him to go to the
+tollhouse. Two men in a buggy with a broken spring and a coffee bag laid
+over the loins of an imperfectly set-up horse had been waiting for
+nearly a minute behind Mrs. Easterfield's carriage, desiring to pay
+their toll and pass through. So the captain went out of the garden-gate,
+collected the toll from the two men, and directed them to go round the
+carriage and pass on in peace, which they did.
+
+Then Mrs. Easterfield rose from her stool, and approached the tollhouse
+door, and, as a matter of course, the captain was obliged to step
+forward and meet her. Olive introduced him to the lady, who shook hands
+with him very cordially.
+
+"I have found the daughter of an old friend," said she, and then they
+all went into the tollhouse again, where the two ladies reseated
+themselves, and after some explanatory remarks Mrs. Easterfield said:
+
+"Now, Captain Asher, I must not stay here blocking up your toll-gate all
+the morning, but I want to ask of you a very great favor. I want you to
+let your niece come and make me a visit. I want a good visit--at least
+ten days. You must remember that her father and I, and her mother, too,
+were very good friends. Now there are so many things I want to talk over
+with Miss Olive, and I am sure you will let me have her just for ten
+short days. There are no guests at Broadstone yet, and I want her. You
+do not know how much I want her."
+
+Captain Asher stood up tall and strong, his broad shoulders resting
+against the frame of the open doorway. It was a positive delight to him
+to stand thus and look at such a beautiful woman. So far as he could
+see, there was nothing about her with which to find fault. If she had
+been a ship he would have said that her lines were perfect, spars and
+rigging just as he would have them. In addition to her other
+perfections, she was large enough. The captain considered himself an
+excellent judge of female beauty, and he had noticed that a great many
+fine women were too small. With Olive's personal appearance he was
+perfectly satisfied, although she was slight, but she was young, and
+would probably expand. If he had had a daughter he would have liked her
+to resemble Mrs. Easterfield, but that feeling did not militate in the
+least against Olive. In his mind it was not necessary for a niece to be
+quite as large as a daughter ought to be.
+
+"But what does Olive say about it?" he asked.
+
+"I have not been asked yet," replied Olive, "but it seems to me that
+I--"
+
+"Would like to do it," interrupted Mrs. Easterfield. "Now, isn't that
+so, dear Olive?"
+
+The girl looked at the captain. "It depends upon what you say about it,
+Uncle John."
+
+The captain slightly knitted his brows. "If it were for one night, or
+perhaps a couple of days," he said, "it would be different. But what am
+I to do without Olive for nearly two weeks? I am just beginning to
+learn what a poor place my house would be without her."
+
+At this minute a man upon a rapidly trotting pony stopped at the
+toll-gate.
+
+"Excuse me one minute," continued the captain, "here is a person who can
+not wait," and stepping outside he said good morning to a bright-looking
+young fellow riding a sturdy pony and wearing on his cap a metal plate
+engraved "United States Rural Delivery."
+
+The carrier brought but one letter to the tollhouse, and that was for
+Captain Asher himself. As the man rode away the captain thought he might
+as well open his letter before he went back. This would give the ladies
+a chance to talk further over the matter. He read the letter, which was
+not long, put it in his pocket, and then entered the tollhouse. There
+was now no doubt or sign of disturbance on his features.
+
+"I have considered your invitation, madam," said he, "and as I see Olive
+wants to visit you, I shall not interfere."
+
+"Of course she does," cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing to her feet,
+"and I thank you ever and ever so much, Captain Asher. And now, my
+dear," said she to Olive, "I am going to send the carriage for you
+to-morrow morning." And with this she put her arm around the girl and
+kissed her. Then, having warmly shaken hands with the captain, she
+departed.
+
+"Do you know, Uncle John," said Olive, "I believe if you were twenty
+years older she would have kissed you."
+
+With a grim smile the captain considered; would he have been willing to
+accept those additional years under the circumstances? He could not
+immediately make up his mind, and contented himself with the reflection
+that Olive did not think him old enough for the indiscriminate caresses
+of young people.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IV_
+
+_The Son of an Old Shipmate._
+
+
+When Olive came down to breakfast the next morning she half repented
+that she had consented to go away and leave her uncle for so long a
+time. But when she made known her state of mind the captain laughed at
+her.
+
+"My child," said he, "I want you to go. Of course, I did not take to the
+notion at first, but I did not consider then what you will have to tell
+when you come home. The people of Glenford will be your everlasting
+debtors. It might be a good thing to invite Maria Port out here. You
+could give her the best time she ever had in her life, telling her about
+the Broadstone people."
+
+"Maria Port, indeed!" said Olive. "But we won't talk of her. And you
+really are willing I should go?"
+
+"I speak the truth when I say I want you to go," replied the captain.
+
+Whereupon Olive assured him that he was truly a good uncle.
+
+After the Easterfield carriage had rolled away with Olive alone on the
+back seat, waving her handkerchief, the captain requested Jane to take
+entire charge of the toll-gate for a time; and, having retired to his
+own room, he took from his pocket the letter he had received the day
+before.
+
+"I must write an answer to this," he said, "before the postman comes."
+
+The letter was from one of the captain's old shipmates, Captain Richard
+Lancaster, the best friend he had had when he was in the merchant
+service. Captain Lancaster had often been asked by his old friend to
+visit him at the toll-gate, but, being married and rheumatic, he had
+never accepted the invitation. But now he wrote that his son, Dick, had
+planned a holiday trip which would take him through Glenford, and that,
+if it suited Captain Asher, the father would accept for the son the
+long-standing invitation. Captain Lancaster wrote that as he could not
+go himself to his old friend Asher, the next best thing would be for his
+son to go, and when the young man returned he could tell his father all
+about Captain Asher. There would be something in that like old times.
+Besides, he wanted his former shipmate to know his son Dick, who was, in
+his eyes, a very fine young fellow.
+
+"There never was such a lucky thing in the world," said Captain Asher to
+himself, when he had finished rereading the letter. "Of course, I want
+to have Dick Lancaster's son here, but I could not have had him if Olive
+had been here. But now it is all right. The young fellow can stay here a
+few days, and he will be gone before she gets back. If I like him I can
+ask him to come again; but that's my business. Handsome women, like that
+Mrs. Easterfield, always bring good luck. I have noticed that many and
+many a time."
+
+Then he set himself to work to write a letter to invite young Richard
+Lancaster to spend a few days with him.
+
+For the rest of that day, and the greater part of the next, Captain
+Asher gave a great deal of thinking time to the consideration of the
+young man who was about to visit him, and of whom, personally, he knew
+very little. He was aware that Captain Lancaster had a son and no other
+children, and he was quite sure that this son must now be a grown-up
+young man. He remembered very well that Captain Lancaster was a fine
+young fellow when he first knew him, and he did not doubt at all that
+the son resembled the father. He did not believe that young Dick was a
+sailor, because he and old Dick had often said to each other that if
+they married their sons should not go to sea. Of course he was in some
+business; and Captain Lancaster ought to be well able to give him a good
+start in life; just as able as he himself was to give Olive a good start
+in housekeeping when the time came.
+
+"Now, what in the name of common sense," ejaculated Captain Asher, "did
+I think of that for? What has he to do with Olive, or Olive with him?"
+And then he said to himself, thinking of the young man in the bosom of
+his family and without reference to anybody outside of it: "Yes, his
+father must be pretty well off. He did a good deal more trading than
+ever I did. But after all, I don't believe he invested his money any
+better than I did mine, and it is just as like as not if we were to show
+our hands, that Olive would get as much as Dick's son. There it is
+again. I can't keep my mind off the thing." And as he spoke he knocked
+the ashes out of his pipe, and began to stride up and down the garden
+walk; and as he did so he began to reproach himself.
+
+What right had he to think of his niece in that way? It was not doing
+the fair thing by her father, and perhaps by her, for that matter. For
+all he knew she might be engaged to somebody out West or down East, or
+in some other part of the world where she had lived. But this idea made
+very little impression on him. Knowing Olive as he did, he did not
+believe that she was engaged to anybody anywhere; he did not want to
+think that she was the kind of girl who would conceal her engagement
+from him, or who could do it, for that matter. But, everything
+considered, he was very glad Olive had gone to Broadstone, for, whatever
+the young fellow might happen to be, he wanted to know all about him
+before Olive met him.
+
+Captain Asher firmly believed that there was nothing of the matchmaker
+in his disposition, but notwithstanding this estimate of himself, he
+went on thinking of Olive and the son of his old shipmate, both
+separately and together. He had never said to anybody, nor intimated to
+anybody, that he was going to give any of his moderate fortune to his
+niece. In fact, before this visit to him he had not thought much about
+it, nor did it enter his mind that Olive's Boston aunt, her mother's
+sister, had favored this visit of the girl to her toll-gate uncle,
+hoping that he might think about it.
+
+In consequence of these cogitations, and in spite of the fact that he
+despised matchmaking, Captain Asher was greatly interested in the coming
+advent of his shipmate's son.
+
+When the same phaeton, the same horse, and the same boy that had brought
+Maria Port to the tollhouse, conveyed there a young man with two
+valises, one rather large, Captain Asher did not hurry from the house to
+meet his visitor. He had seen him coming, and had preferred to stand in
+his doorway and take a preliminary observation of him. Having taken
+this, Captain Asher was obliged to confess to himself that he was
+disappointed.
+
+The first cause of his disappointment was the fact that the young man
+wore a colored shirt and no vest, and a yellow leather belt. Now,
+Captain Asher for the greater part of his active life had worn colored
+shirts, sometimes very dark ones, with no vests, but he had not supposed
+that a young man coming to a house where there was a young lady
+accustomed to the best society would present himself in such attire. The
+captain instantly remembered that his visitor could not know that there
+was a young lady at the house, but this did not satisfy him. Such attire
+was not respectful, even to him. The leather belt especially offended
+him. The captain was not aware of the _neglige_ summer fashions for men
+which then prevailed.
+
+The next thing that disappointed him was that young Lancaster, seen
+across the garden, did not appear to be the strapping young fellow he
+had expected to see. He was moderately tall, and moderately broad, and
+handled his valise with apparent ease, but he did not look as though he
+were his father's son. Dick Lancaster had married the daughter of a
+captain when he was only a second mate, and that piece of good fortune
+had been generally attributed to his good looks.
+
+But these observations and reflections occupied a very short time, and
+Captain Asher walked quickly to meet his visitor. As he stepped out of
+the garden-gate he was disappointed again. The young man's trousers were
+turned up above his shoes. The weather was not wet, there was no mud,
+and if Dick Lancaster's son had not bought a pair of ready-made trousers
+that were too long for him, why should he turn them up in that
+ridiculous way?
+
+In spite of these first impressions, the captain gave his old friend's
+son a hearty welcome, and took him into the house. After dinner he
+subjected the young man to a crucial test; he asked him if he smoked. If
+the visitor had answered in the negative he would have dropped still
+further in the captain's estimation. It was not that the captain had any
+theories in regard to the sanitary advantages or disadvantages of
+tobacco; he simply remembered that nearly all the rascals with whom he
+had been acquainted had been eager to declare that they never used
+tobacco in any form, and that nearly all the good fellows he had known
+enjoyed their pipes. In fact, he could not see how good fellowship could
+be maintained without good talk and good tobacco, so he waited with an
+anxious interest for his guest's answer.
+
+"Oh, yes," said he, "I am fond of a smoke, especially in company," and
+so, having risen several inches in the good opinion of his host, he
+followed him to the little arbor in the garden.
+
+"Now, then," said Captain Asher, when his pipe was alight, "you have
+told me a great deal about your father, now tell me something about
+yourself. I do not even know what your business is."
+
+"I am Assistant Professor of Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College,"
+answered the young man.
+
+Captain Asher put down his pipe and gazed at his visitor across the
+arbor. This answer was so different from anything he had expected that
+for the moment he could not express his astonishment, and was obliged to
+content himself with asking where Sutton College was.
+
+"It is what they call a fresh-water college," replied the young man,
+"and I do not wonder that you do not know where it is. It is near our
+town. I graduated there and received my present appointment about three
+years ago. I was then twenty-seven."
+
+"Your father was good at mathematics," said Captain Asher. "He was a
+great hand at calculations, but he went in for practise, as I did, and
+not for theories. I suppose there are other professors who teach regular
+working mathematics."
+
+"Oh, yes," replied the young man, with a smile, "there is the Professor
+of Applied Mathematics, but of course the thorough student wants to
+understand the theories on which his practise is to be based."
+
+"I do not see why he should," replied the other. "If a good ship is
+launched for me, I don't care anything about the stocks she slides off
+of."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Lancaster, "but somebody has to think about them."
+
+In the afternoon Captain Asher showed his visitor his little farm, and
+took him out fishing. During these recreations he refrained, as far as
+possible, from asking questions, for he did not wish the young man to
+suppose that for any reason he had been sent there to undergo an
+examination. But in the evening he could not help talking about the
+college, not in reference to the work and life of the students, a
+subject that did not interest him, but in regard to the work and the
+prospects of the faculty.
+
+"What does your president teach?" he asked. "I believe all presidents
+have charge of some branch or other."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster, "our president is Professor of Mental and
+Moral Philosophy."
+
+"I thought it would be something of the kind," said the captain to
+himself. "Even the head Professor of Mathematical Theories would never
+get to the top of the heap. He is not useful enough for that."
+
+After he had gone to bed that night Captain Asher found himself laughing
+about the events of the day. He could not help it when he remembered how
+his mind had been almost constantly occupied with a consideration of his
+old shipmate's son with reference to his brother's daughter. And when he
+remembered that neither of these two young people had ever seen or heard
+of the other, it is not surprising that he laughed a little.
+
+"It's none of my business, anyway," thought the captain, "and I might as
+well stop bothering my head about it. I suppose I might as well tell
+him about Olive, for it is nothing I need keep secret. But first I'll
+see how long he is going to stay. It's none of his business, anyway,
+whether I have a niece staying with me or not."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER V_
+
+_Olive pays Toll._
+
+
+It is needless to say that Olive was charmed with Broadstone; with its
+mistress; with the two little girls; with the woods; the river; the
+mountains; and even the sky; which seemed different from that same sky
+when viewed from the tollhouse. She was charmed also with the rest of
+the household, which was different from anything of that kind that she
+had known, being composed entirely, with the exception of some servants,
+of women and little girls. Olive, accustomed all her life to men, men,
+men, grew rapturous over this Amazonian paradise.
+
+"Don't be too enthusiastic," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for a while you may
+like fresh butter without salt, but the longing for the condiment will
+be sure to come."
+
+There was Mrs. Blynn, the widow of a clergyman, with dark-brown eyes and
+white hair, who was always in a good humor, who acted as the general
+manager of the household, and also as particular friend to any one in
+the house who needed her services in that way. Then there was Miss
+Raleigh, who was supposed to be Mrs. Easterfield's secretary. She was a
+slender spinster of forty or more, with sad eyes and very fine teeth.
+She had dyspeptic proclivities, and never differed with anybody except
+in regard to her own diet. She seldom wrote for Mrs. Easterfield, for
+that lady did not like her handwriting, and she did not understand the
+use of the typewriter; nor did she read to the lady of the house, for
+Mrs. Easterfield could not endure to have anybody read to her. But in
+all the other duties of a secretary she made herself very useful. She
+saw that the books, which every morning were found lying about the
+house, were put in their proper places on the shelves, and, if
+necessary, she dusted them; if she saw a book turned upside down she
+immediately set it up properly. She was also expected to exert a certain
+supervision over the books the little girls were allowed to look at. She
+was an excellent listener and an appropriate smiler; Mrs. Easterfield
+frequently said that she never knew Miss Raleigh to smile in the wrong
+place. She took a regular walk every day, eight times up and down the
+whole length of the lawn.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield gave herself almost entirely to the entertainment of
+her guest. They roamed over the grounds, they found the finest points of
+view, at which Olive was expert, being a fine climber, and they tramped
+for long distances along the edge of the woods, where together they
+killed a snake. Mrs. Easterfield also allowed Olive the great privilege
+of helping her work in her garden of nature. This was a wide bed which
+was almost entirely shaded by two large trees. The peculiarity about
+this bed was that its mistress carefully pulled up all the flowering
+plants and cultivated the weeds.
+
+"You see," said she to Olive, "I planted here a lot of flower-seeds
+which I thought would thrive in the shade, but they did not, and after a
+while I found that they were all spindling and puny-looking, while the
+weeds were growing as if they were out in the open sunshine, so I have
+determined to acknowledge the principle of the survival of the fittest,
+and whenever anything that looks like a flower shows itself I jerk it
+out. I also thin out all but the best weeds. I hoe and rake the others,
+and water them if necessary. Look at that splendid Jamestown weed--here
+they call it jimson weed--did you ever see anything finer than that with
+its great white blossoms and dark-green leaves? I expect it to be twice
+as large before the summer is over. And all these others. See how
+graceful they are, and what delicate flowers some of them have!"
+
+"I wonder," said Olive, "if I should have had the strength of mind to
+pull up my flowers and leave my weeds."
+
+"The more you think about it," said Mrs. Easterfield, "the more you like
+weeds. They have such fine physiques, and they don't ask anybody to do
+anything for them. They are independent, like self-made men, and come up
+of themselves. They laugh at disadvantages, and even bricks and
+flagstones will not keep them down."
+
+"But, after all," said Olive, "give me the flowers that can not take
+care of themselves." And she turned toward a bed of carnations, bright
+under the morning sun.
+
+"Do you suppose, little girl," said Mrs. Easterfield, following her,
+"that I do not like flowers because I do like weeds? Everything in its
+place; weeds are for the shady spots, but I keep my flowers out of such
+places. This flower, for instance," touching Olive on the cheek. "And
+now let us go into the house and see what pleasant thing we can find to
+do there."
+
+In the afternoon the two ladies went out rowing on the river, and Mrs.
+Easterfield was astonished at Olive's proficiency with the oar. She had
+thought herself a good oarswoman, but she was nothing to Olive. She
+good-naturedly acknowledged her inferiority, however. How could she
+expect to compete with a navy girl? she said.
+
+"Are you fond of swimming?" asked Olive, as she looked down into the
+bright, clear water.
+
+"Oh, very," said Mrs. Easterfield. "But I am not allowed to swim in this
+river. It is considered dangerous."
+
+Olive looked up in surprise. It seemed odd that there should be anything
+that this bright, free woman was not allowed to do, or that there should
+be anybody who would not allow it.
+
+Then followed some rainy days, and the first clear day Mrs. Easterfield
+told Olive that she would take her a drive in the afternoon.
+
+"I shall drive you myself with my own horses," she said, "but you need
+not be afraid, for I can drive a great deal better than I can row. We
+must lose no time in seizing all the advantages of this Amazonian life,
+for to-morrow some of our guests will arrive, the Foxes and Mr. Claude
+Locker."
+
+"Who are the Foxes?" asked Olive.
+
+"They are the pleasantest visitors that any one could have," was the
+answer. "They always like everything. They never complain of being
+cold, nor talk about the weather being hot. They are interested in all
+games, and they like all possible kinds of food that one can give them
+to eat. They are always ready to go to bed when they think they ought
+to, and sit up just as long as they are wanted. Of course, they have
+their own ideas about things, but they don't dispute. They take care of
+themselves all the morning, and are ready for anything you want to do in
+the afternoon or evening. They have two children at home, but they never
+talk about them unless they are particularly asked to do so. They know a
+great many people, and you can tell by the way they speak of them that
+they won't talk scandal about you. In fact, they are model guests, and
+they ought to open a school to teach the art of visiting."
+
+"And what about Mr. Claude Locker?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "Oh, he is different," she said; "he is so
+different from the Foxes that words would not describe it. But you won't
+be long in becoming acquainted with him."
+
+The road over which the two ladies drove that afternoon was a beautiful
+one, sometimes running close to the river under great sycamores, then
+making a turn into the woods and among the rocks. At last they came to a
+cross-road, which led away from the river, and here Mrs. Easterfield
+stopped her horses.
+
+"Now, Olive," said she, for she was now very familiar with her guest, "I
+will leave the return route to you. Shall we go back by the river
+road--and the scenery will be very different when going in the other
+direction--or shall we drive over to Glenford, and go home by the
+turnpike? That is a little farther, but the road is a great deal
+better?"
+
+"Oh, let us go that way," cried Olive. "We will go through Uncle John's
+toll-gate, and you must let me pay the toll. It will be such fun to pay
+toll to Uncle John, or old Jane."
+
+"Very well," said Mrs. Easterfield, "we will go that way."
+
+When the horses had passed through Glenford and had turned their heads
+homeward, they clattered along at a fine rate over the smooth turnpike,
+and Olive was in as high spirits as they were.
+
+"Whoever comes out to take toll," said she, "I intend to be treated as
+an ordinary traveler and nothing else. I have often taken toll, but I
+never paid it in my life. And they must take it--no gratis traveling for
+me. But I hope you won't mind stopping long enough for me to say a few
+words after I have transacted the regular business."
+
+"Oh, no," said Mrs. Easterfield, "you can chat as much as you like. We
+have plenty of time."
+
+Olive held in her hand a quarter of a dollar; she was determined they
+should make change for her, and that everything should be done properly.
+
+Dick Lancaster sat in the garden arbor, reading. He was becoming a
+little tired of this visit to his father's old friend. He liked Captain
+Asher and appreciated his hospitality, but there was nothing very
+interesting for him to do in this place, and he had thought that it
+might be a very good thing if the several days for which he had been
+invited should terminate on the morrow. There were some very attractive
+plans ahead of him, and he felt that he had now done his full duty by
+his father and his father's old friend.
+
+Captain Asher was engaged with some matters about his little farm, and
+Lancaster had asked as a favor that he might be allowed to tend the
+toll-gate during his absence. It would be something to do, and,
+moreover, something out of the way.
+
+When he perceived the approach of Mrs. Easterfield's carriage Lancaster
+walked down to the tollhouse, and stopped for a minute to glance over
+the rates of toll which were pasted up inside the door as well as out.
+
+The carriage stopped, and when a young man stepped out from the
+tollhouse Olive gave a sudden start, and the words with which she had
+intended to greet her uncle or old Jane instantly melted away.
+
+"Don't push me out of the carriage," said Mrs. Easterfield,
+good-naturedly, and she, too, looked at the young man.
+
+"For two horses and a vehicle," said Dick Lancaster, "ten cents, if you
+please."
+
+Olive made no answer, but handed him the quarter with which he retired
+to make change. Mrs. Easterfield opened her mouth to speak, but Olive
+put her finger on her lips and shook her head; the situation astonished
+her, but she did not wish to ask that stranger to explain it.
+
+Lancaster came out and dropped fifteen cents into Olive's hand. He could
+not help regarding with interest the occupants of the carriage, and Mrs.
+Easterfield looked hard at him. Suddenly Olive turned in her seat; she
+looked at the house, she looked at the garden, she looked at the little
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse. Yes, it was really the same place.
+For an instant she thought she might have been mistaken, but there was
+her window with the Virginia creeper under the sill where she had
+trained it herself. Then she made a motion to her companion, who
+immediately drove on.
+
+"What does this mean?" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Who is that young
+man? Why didn't you give me a chance to ask after the captain, even if
+you did not care to do so?"
+
+"I never saw him before!" cried Olive. "I never heard of him. I don't
+understand anything about it. The whole thing shocked me, and I wanted
+to get on."
+
+"I don't think it a very serious matter," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Some
+passer-by might have relieved your uncle for a time."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," replied Olive. "Uncle John would never give
+the toll-gate into the charge of a passer-by, especially as old Jane was
+there. I know she was there, for the basement door was open, and she
+never goes away and leaves it so. That man is somebody who is staying
+there. I saw an open book on the arbor bench. Nobody reads in that arbor
+but me."
+
+"And that young man apparently," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I agree with
+you that it is surprising."
+
+For some minutes Olive did not speak. "I am afraid," she said,
+presently, "that my uncle is not acting quite frankly with me. I noticed
+how willing he was that I should go to your house."
+
+"Perhaps he expected this person and wanted to get you out of the way,"
+laughed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Well, my dear, I do not believe your uncle is such a schemer. He does
+not look like it. Take my word for it, it will all be as simple as a-b-c
+when it is explained to you."
+
+But Olive could not readily take this view of the case, and the drive
+home was not nearly so pleasant as it would have been if her uncle or
+old Jane had taken her quarter and given her fifteen cents in change.
+
+That night, soon after the family at Broadstone had retired to their
+rooms, Olive knocked at the door of Mrs. Easterfield's chamber.
+
+"Do you know," she exclaimed, when she had been told to enter, "that a
+horrible idea has come into my head? Uncle John may have been taken
+sick, and that man looked just like a doctor. Old Jane was busy with
+uncle, and as the doctor had to wait, he took the toll. Oh, I wish we
+had asked! It was cruel in me not to!"
+
+"Now, that is all nonsense," said Mrs. Easterfield. "If anything serious
+is the matter with your uncle he most surely would have let you know,
+and, besides, both the doctors in Glenford are elderly men. I do not
+believe there is the slightest reason for your anxiety. But to make you
+feel perfectly satisfied, I will send a man to Glenford early in the
+morning. I want to send there anyway."
+
+"But I would not like my uncle to think that I was trying to find out
+anything he did not care to tell me," said Olive.
+
+"Oh, don't trouble yourself about that," answered Mrs. Easterfield. "I
+will instruct the man. He need not ask any questions at the toll-gate.
+But when he gets to Glenford he can find out everything about that
+young man without asking any questions. He is a very discreet person.
+And I am also a discreet person," she added, "and you shall have no
+connection with my messenger's errand."
+
+After breakfast the next morning Mrs. Easterfield took Olive aside. "My
+man has returned," she said; "he tells me that Captain Asher took the
+toll, and was smoking his pipe in perfect health. He also saw the young
+man, and his natural curiosity prompted him to ask about him in the
+town. He heard that he is the son of one of the captain's old shipmates
+who is making him a visit. Now I hope this satisfies you."
+
+"Satisfies me!" exclaimed Olive. "I should have been a great deal better
+satisfied if I had heard he was sick, provided it was nothing dangerous.
+I think my uncle is treating me shamefully. It is not that I care a snap
+about his visitor, one way or another, but it is his want of confidence
+in me that hurts me. Could he have supposed I should have wanted to stay
+with him if I had known a young man was coming?"
+
+"Well, my dear," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not send anybody to find
+out what he supposed. But I am as certain as I can be certain of
+anything that there is nothing at all in this bugbear you have conjured
+up. No doubt the young man dropped in quite accidentally, and it was his
+bad luck that prevented him from dropping in before you left."
+
+Olive shook her head. "My uncle knew all about it. His manner showed it.
+He has treated me very badly."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VI_
+
+_Mr. Claude Locker._
+
+
+The Foxes arrived at Broadstone at the exact hour of the morning at
+which they had been expected. They always did this; even trains which
+were sometimes delayed when other visitors came were always on time when
+they carried the Foxes. They were both perfectly well and happy, as they
+always were.
+
+As rapidly as it was possible for human beings to do so they absorbed
+the extraordinary advantages of the house and it surroundings, and they
+said the right things in such a common-sense fashion that their hostess
+was proud that she owned such a place, and happy that she had invited
+them to see it.
+
+In their hearts they liked everything about the place except Olive, and
+they wondered how they were going to get along with such a glum young
+person, but they did not talk about her to Mrs. Easterfield; there was
+too much else.
+
+Mr. Claude Locker was expected on the train by which the Foxes had come,
+but he did not arrive; and this made it necessary to send again for him
+in the afternoon.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield tried very hard to cheer up Olive, and to make her
+entertain the Foxes in her usual lively way, but this was of no use;
+the young person was not in a good humor, and retired for an afternoon
+nap. But as this was an indulgence she very seldom allowed herself, it
+was not likely that she napped.
+
+Mr. Fox spoke to Mrs. Fox about her. "A queer girl," he said; "what do
+you suppose is the matter with her?"
+
+"The symptoms are those of green apples," replied Mrs. Fox, "and
+probably she will be better to-morrow."
+
+The carriage came back without Mr. Locker. But just as the soup-plates
+were being removed from the dinner-table he arrived in a hired vehicle,
+and appeared at the dining-room door with his hat in one hand, and a
+package in the other. He begged Mrs. Easterfield not to rise.
+
+"I will slip up to my room," said he, "if you have one for me, and when
+I come down I will greet you and be introduced."
+
+With this he turned and left the room, but was back in a moment. "It was
+a woman," he said, "who was at the bottom of it. It is always a woman,
+you know, and I am sure you will excuse me now that you know this. And
+you must let me begin wherever you may be in the dinner."
+
+"I have heard of Mr. Locker," said Mr. Fox, "but I never met him before.
+He must be very odd."
+
+"He admits that himself," said Mrs. Easterfield, "but he asserts that he
+spends a great deal of his time getting even with people."
+
+In a reasonable time Mr. Locker appeared and congratulated himself upon
+having struck the roast.
+
+"As a matter of fact," he said, "we will now all begin dinner together.
+What has gone before was nothing but overture. If I can help it I never
+get in until the beginning of the play."
+
+He bowed parenthetically as Mrs. Easterfield introduced him to the
+company; and, as she looked at him, Olive forgot for a moment her uncle
+and his visitor.
+
+"Don't send for soup, I beg of you," said Mr. Locker, as he took his
+seat. "I regard it as a rare privilege to begin with the inside cut of
+beef."
+
+Mr. Locker was not allowed to do all the talking; his hostess would not
+permit that; but under the circumstances he was allowed to explain his
+lateness.
+
+"You know I have been spending a week with the Bartons," he said, "and
+last night I came over from their house to the station in a carriage.
+There is a connecting train, but I should have had to take it very early
+in the evening, so I saved time by hiring a carriage."
+
+"Saved time?" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I saved all the time from dinner until the Bartons went to bed, which
+would have been lost if I had taken the train. Besides, I like to travel
+in carriages. One is never too late for a carriage; it is always bound
+to wait for you."
+
+In the recesses of his mind Mr. Fox now said to himself, "This is a
+fool." And Mrs. Fox, in the recesses of her mind, remarked, "I am quite
+sure that Mr. Fox will look upon this young man as a fool."
+
+"I spent what was left of the night at a tavern near the station,"
+continued Mr. Locker, "where I would have had to stay all night if I
+had not taken the carriage. And I should have been in plenty of time for
+the morning train if I had not taken a walk before breakfast. Apparently
+that is a part of the world where it takes a good deal longer to go back
+to a place than it does to get away from it."
+
+"But where did the woman come in?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, she came in with some tea and sandwiches in the middle of the
+afternoon," said Mr. Locker. "I was waiting in the parlor of the tavern.
+She was fairly young, and as I ate she stood and talked. She talked
+about Horace Walpole." At this even Olive smiled. "It was odd, wasn't
+it?" continued Mr. Locker, glancing from one to the other. "But that is
+what she did. She had been reading about him in an old book. She asked
+me if I knew anything about him, and I told her a great deal. It was so
+very interesting to tell her, and she was so interested, that when the
+train arrived I was too much occupied to think that it might start again
+immediately, but it did that very thing, and so I was left. However, the
+Walpole young woman told me there was a freight-train along in about an
+hour, and so we continued our conversation. When this train came I asked
+the engineer how many cigars he would take to let me ride in the cab. He
+said half a dozen, but as I only had five, I promised to send him the
+other by mail. However, as I smoked two of his five, I suppose I ought
+to send him three."
+
+"This young man," said Mr. Fox to himself, "is trying to appear more of
+a fool than he really is."
+
+"I have no doubt," said Mrs. Fox to herself, "that Mr. Fox is of the
+opinion that this young man is making an effort to appear foolish."
+
+That evening was a dull one. Mrs. Easterfield did her best, Claude
+Locker did his best, and Mr. and Mrs. Fox did their best to make things
+lively, but their success was poor. Miss Raleigh, the secretary, sat
+ready to give an approving smile to any liveliness which might arise,
+and Mrs. Blynn, with the dark eyes and soft white hair, sat sewing and
+waiting; never before had it been necessary for her to wait for
+liveliness in Mrs. Easterfield's house. A mild rain somewhat assisted
+the dullness, for everybody was obliged to stay indoors.
+
+Early the next morning Olive Asher went down-stairs, and stood in the
+open doorway looking out upon the landscape, glowing in the sunshine and
+brighter and more odorous from the recent rain. Some time during the
+night this young woman had made up her mind to give no further thought
+to her uncle who kept the toll-gate. There was no earthly reason why he,
+or anything he wanted to do, or did not want to do, or did, should
+trouble and annoy her. A few months before she had scarcely known him,
+not having seen him since she was a girl; and, in fact, he was no more
+to her now than he was before she went to his house. If he chose to
+offer her any explanation of his strange conduct, that would be very
+well; if he did not choose, that would also be very well. The whole
+affair was of no consequence; she would drop it entirely from her mind.
+
+Olive's bounding spirits now rose very high, and when Claude Locker came
+in with his shoes soaked from a tramp in the wet grass she greeted him
+in such a way that he could scarcely believe she was the grumpy girl of
+the day before. As they went into breakfast Mrs. Fox remarked to her
+husband in a low voice that Miss Asher seemed to have recovered entirely
+from her indisposition.
+
+In the course of the morning Mr. Locker found an opportunity to speak in
+private with Mrs. Easterfield. "I am in great trouble," he said; "I want
+to marry Miss Asher."
+
+"You show unusual promptness," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Not at all," replied Locker. "This sort of thing is not unusual with
+me. My mind is a highly sensitive plate, and receives impressions almost
+instantaneously. If it were a large mind these impressions might be
+placed side by side, and each one would perhaps become indelible. But it
+is small, and each impression claps itself down on the one before. This
+last one, however, is the strongest of them all, and obliterates
+everything that went before."
+
+"It strikes me," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that if you were to pay more
+attention to your poems and less to young ladies it would be better."
+
+"Hardly," said Mr. Locker; "for it would be worse for the poems."
+
+The general appearance of Mr. Locker gave no reason to suppose that he
+would be warranted in assuming a favorable issue from any of the
+impressions to which his mind was so susceptible. He was small, rather
+awkwardly set up, his head was large, and the features of his face
+seemed to have no relation to each other. His nose was somewhat stubby,
+and had nothing to do with his mouth or eyes. One of his eyebrows was
+drawn down as if in days gone by he had been in the habit of wearing a
+single glass. The other brow was raised over a clear and wide-open
+light-blue eye. His mouth was large, and attended strictly to its own
+business. It transmitted his odd ideas to other people, but it never
+laughed at them. His chin was round and prominent, suggesting that it
+might have been borrowed from somebody else. His cheeks were a little
+heavy, and gave no assistance in the expression of his ideas.
+
+His profession was that of a poet. He called himself a practical poet,
+because he made a regular business of it, turning his poetic
+inspirations into salable verse with the facility and success, as he
+himself expressed it, of a man who makes boxes out of wood. Moreover, he
+sold these poems as readily as any carpenter sold his boxes. Like
+himself, Claude Locker's poems were always short, always in request, and
+sometimes not easy to understand.
+
+The poem he wrote that night was a word-picture of the rising moon
+entangled in a sheaf of corn upon a hilltop, with a long-eared rabbit
+sitting near by as if astonished at the conflagration.
+
+"A very interesting girl, that Miss Asher," said Mr. Fox to his wife
+that evening. "I do not know when I have laughed so much."
+
+"I thought you were finding her interesting," said Mrs. Fox. "To me it
+was like watching a game of roulette at Monte Carlo. It was intensely
+interesting, but I could not imagine it as having anything to do with
+me."
+
+"No, my dear," said Mr. Fox, "it could have nothing to do with you."
+
+After Mrs. Easterfield retired she sat for a long time, thinking of
+Olive. That young person and Mr. Locker had been boating that afternoon,
+and Olive had had the oars. Mr. Locker had told with great effect how
+she had pulled to get out of the smooth water, and how she had dashed
+over the rapids and between the rocks in such a way as to make his heart
+stand still.
+
+"I should like to go rowing with her every day," he had remarked
+confidentially. "Each time I started I should make a new will."
+
+"Why a new one?" Mrs. Easterfield had asked.
+
+"Each time I should take something more from my relatives to give to
+her," had been the answer.
+
+As she sat and thought, Mrs. Easterfield began to be a little
+frightened. She was a brave woman, but it is the truly brave who know
+when they should be frightened, and she felt her responsibility, not on
+account of the niece of the toll-gate keeper, but on account of the
+daughter of Lieutenant Asher, whom she had once known so well. The thing
+which frightened her was the possibility that before anybody would be
+likely to think of such a thing Olive might marry Claude Locker. He was
+always ready to do anything he wanted to do at any time; and for all
+Mrs. Easterfield knew, the girl might be of the same sort.
+
+But Mrs. Easterfield rose to the occasion. She looked upon Olive as a
+wild young colt who had broken out of her paddock, but she remembered
+that she herself had a record for speed. "If there is to be any running
+I shall get ahead of her," she said to herself, "and I will turn her
+back. I think I can trust myself for that."
+
+Olive slept the sound sleep of the young, but for all that she had a
+dream. She dreamed of a kind, good, thoughtful, and even affectionate,
+middle-aged man; a man who looked as though he might have been her
+father, and whom she was beginning to look upon as a father,
+notwithstanding the fact that she had a real father dressed in a uniform
+and on a far-away ship. She dreamed ever so many things about this
+newer, although elder, father, and her dream made her very happy.
+
+But in the morning when she woke her dream had entirely passed from her
+mind, and she felt just as much like a colt as when she had gone to bed.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VII_
+
+_The Captain and his Guest go Fishing and come Home Happy._
+
+
+When Dick Lancaster told Captain Asher he had taken toll from two ladies
+in a phaeton he was quite eloquent in his description of said ladies. He
+declared with an impressiveness which the captain had not noticed in him
+before that he did not know when he had seen such handsome ladies. The
+younger one, who paid the toll, was absolutely charming. She seemed a
+little bit startled, but he supposed that was because she saw a strange
+face at the toll-gate. Dick wanted very much to know who these ladies
+were. He had not supposed that he would find such stylish people, and
+such a handsome turnout in this part of the country.
+
+"Oh, ho," said Captain Asher, "do you suppose we are all farmers and
+toll-gate keepers? If you do, you are very much mistaken, although I
+must admit that the stylish people, as you call them, are scattered
+about very thinly. I expect that carriage was from Broadstone over on
+the mountain. Was the team dapple gray, pony built?"
+
+"Yes," said Lancaster.
+
+"Then it was Mrs. Easterfield driving some of her company. I have seen
+her with that team. And by George," he exclaimed, "I bet my head the
+other one was Olive! Of course it was. And she paid toll! Well, well, if
+that isn't a good one! Olive paying toll! I wish I had been here to take
+it! That truly would have been a lark!"
+
+Dick Lancaster did not echo this wish of his host. He was very glad,
+indeed, that the captain had not been at the toll-gate when the ladies
+passed through. Captain Asher was still laughing.
+
+"Olive must have been amazed," he said. "It was queer enough for her to
+go through my gate and pay toll, but to pay it to an Assistant Professor
+of Theoretical Mathematics was a good deal queerer. I can't imagine what
+she thought about it."
+
+"She did not know I am that!" exclaimed Dick Lancaster. "There is
+nothing of the professor in my outward appearance--at least, I hope
+not."
+
+"No, I don't think there is," replied the captain. "But she must have
+been amazed, all the same. I wish I had been here, or old Jane, anyway.
+But, of course, when a stranger showed himself she would not have said
+anything."
+
+"But who is Olive?" asked Lancaster.
+
+"She's my niece," said the captain. "I don't think I have mentioned her
+to you. She is on a visit to me, but just now she is staying at
+Broadstone. I suppose she will be there about a week longer."
+
+"It's odd he has not mentioned her to me," thought Lancaster, and then,
+as the captain went to ask old Jane if she had seen Olive pass, the
+young man retired to the arbor with a book which he did not read.
+
+His desire to inform his host that it would be necessary to take leave
+of him on the morrow had very much abated. It would be very pleasant, he
+thought, to be a visitor in a family of which that girl was a member.
+But if she were not to return for a week, how could he expect to stay
+with the captain so long? There would be no possible excuse for such a
+thing. Then he thought it would be very pleasant to be in a country of
+which that young woman was one of the inhabitants. Anyway, he hoped the
+captain would invite him to make a longer stay. The great blue eyes with
+which the young lady had regarded him as she paid the toll would not
+fade out of his mind.
+
+"She must have wondered who it was that took the toll," said old Jane.
+"And there wasn't no need of it, anyway. I could have took it as I
+always have took it when you was not here, and before either of them
+came."
+
+"Either of them" struck the captain's ear strangely. Here was this old
+woman coupling these two young people in her mind!
+
+The next morning Captain Asher sat on his little piazza, smoking his
+pipe and thinking about Olive driving through the gate and paying toll
+to a stranger. But he now considered the incident from a different point
+of view. Of course, Olive had been surprised when she had seen the young
+man, but she might also have wondered how he happened to be there and
+she not know of it. If he were staying long enough to be entrusted with
+toll-taking it might--in fact, the captain thought it probably
+would--appear very strange to her that she should not know of it. So
+now he asked himself if it would not be a good thing if he were to write
+her a little note in which he should mention Mr. Lancaster and his
+visit. In fact, he thought the best thing he could do would be to write
+her a playful sort of a note, and tell her that she should feel honored
+by having her toll taken up by a college professor. But he did not
+immediately write the note. The more he thought about it, the more he
+wished he had been at the toll-gate when Mrs. Easterfield's phaeton
+passed by.
+
+Captain Asher did not write his note at all. He did not know what to
+say; he did not want to make too much of the incident, for it was really
+a trifling matter, only worthy of being mentioned in case he had
+something more important to write about. But he had nothing more
+important; there was no reason why he should write to Olive during her
+short stay with Mrs. Easterfield. Besides, she would soon be back, and
+then he could talk to her; that would be much better. Now, two strong
+desires began to possess him; one was for Olive to come home; and the
+other for Dick Lancaster to go away. There had been moments when he had
+had a shadowy notion of bringing the two together, but this idea had
+vanished. His mind was now occupied very much with thoughts of his
+beautiful niece and very little with the young man in the colored shirt
+and turned-up trousers who was staying with him.
+
+Dick Lancaster, in his arbor, was also thinking a great deal about
+Olive, and very little about that stalwart sailor, her uncle. If he had
+merely seen the young woman, and had never heard anything about her,
+her face would have impressed him, but the knowledge that she was an
+inmate of the house in which he was staying could not fail to affect him
+very much. He was puzzling his mind about the girl who had given him a
+quarter of a dollar, and to whom he had handed fifteen cents in change.
+He wondered how such a girl happened to be living at such a place. He
+wondered if there were any possibility of his staying there, or in the
+neighborhood, until she should come back; he wondered if there were any
+way by which he could see her again. He might have wondered a good many
+other things if Captain Asher had not approached the arbor. The captain
+having been aroused from his mental contemplation of Olive by a man in a
+wagon, had glanced over at the arbor and had suddenly been struck with
+the conviction that that young man looked bored, and that, as his host,
+he was not doing the right thing by him.
+
+"Dick," said the captain, "let's go fishing. It's not late yet, and I'll
+put my mare to the buggy, and we can drive to the river. We will take
+something to eat with us, and make a day of it."
+
+Lancaster hesitated a moment; he had been thinking that the time had
+come when he should say something about his departure, but this
+invitation settled the matter for that day; and in half an hour the two
+had started away, leaving the toll-gate in charge of old Jane, who was a
+veteran in the business, having lived at the toll-gate years before the
+captain.
+
+As they drove along the smooth turnpike Lancaster remembered with great
+interest that this road led to the gap in the mountains; that the
+captain had told him Broadstone was not very far from the gap; and that
+the river was not very far from Broadstone; and his face glowed with
+interest in the expedition.
+
+But when, after a few miles, they turned into a plain country road
+which, as the captain informed him, led in a southeasterly direction, to
+a point on the river where black bass were to be caught and where a boat
+could be hired, the corners of Dick Lancaster's mouth began to droop. Of
+necessity that road must reach the river miles to the south of
+Broadstone.
+
+It was a very good day for fishing, and the captain was pleased to see
+that the son of his old shipmate was a very fair angler. Toward the
+close of the afternoon, with the conviction that they had had a good
+time and that their little expedition had been a success, the two
+fishermen set out for home with a basket of bass: some of them quite a
+respectable size; stowed away under the seat of the buggy. When they
+reached the turnpike the old mare, knowing well in which direction her
+supper lay, turned briskly to the left, and set out upon a good trot.
+But this did not last very long. To her great surprise she was suddenly
+pulled up short; a carriage with two horses which had been approaching
+had also stopped.
+
+On the back seat of this carriage sat Mrs. Easterfield; on one side of
+her was a little girl, and on the other side was another little girl,
+each with her feet stuck out straight in front of her.
+
+"Oh, Captain Asher," exclaimed the lady, with a most enchanting smile,
+"I am so glad to meet you. I was obliged to go to Glenford to take one
+of my little girls to the dentist, and I inquired for you each time I
+passed your gate."
+
+The captain was very glad he had been so fortunate as to meet her, and
+as her eyes were now fixed upon his companion, he felt it incumbent upon
+him to introduce Mr. Richard Lancaster, the son of an old shipmate.
+
+"But not a sailor, I imagine," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Oh, no," said the captain, "Mr. Lancaster is Assistant Professor of
+Theoretical Mathematics in Sutton College."
+
+Dick could not imagine why the captain said all this, and he flushed a
+little.
+
+"Sutton College?" said Mrs. Easterfield. "Then, of course, you know
+Professor Brent."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster. "He is our president."
+
+"I never met him," said she, "but he was a classmate of my husband, and
+I have often heard him speak of him. And now for my errand, Captain
+Asher. Isn't it about time you should be wanting to see your niece?"
+
+The captain's heart sank. Did she intend to send Olive home?
+
+"I always want to see her," he said, but without enthusiasm.
+
+"But don't you think it would be nice," said the lady, "if you were to
+come to lunch with us to-morrow? It was to ask you this that I inquired
+for you at the toll-gate."
+
+Now, this was another thing altogether, and the captain's earnest
+acceptance would have been more coherent if it had not been for the
+impatience of his mare.
+
+"And I want you to bring your friend with you," continued Mrs.
+Easterfield. "The invitation is for you both, of course."
+
+Dick's face said that this would be heavenly, but his mouth was more
+prudent.
+
+"It will be strictly informal," continued Mrs. Easterfield. "Only myself
+and family, three guests, and Olive. We shall sit down at one. Good-by."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was entirely truthful when she said she was glad to
+meet the captain. Her anxiety about Olive and Claude Locker was somewhat
+on the increase. She was very well aware that the most dangerous thing
+for one young woman is one young man; and in thinking over this truism
+she had been impressed with the conviction that it was not well for Mr.
+Claude Locker to be the one man at Broadstone. Then, in thinking of
+possible young men, her mind naturally turned to the young man who was
+visiting Olive's uncle. She did not know anything about him, but he was
+a young man, and if he proved to be worth something, he could be asked
+to come again. So it was really to Dick Lancaster, and not to Captain
+Asher, that the luncheon invitation had been given.
+
+The appointment with the Glenford dentist had made it necessary for her
+to leave home that afternoon. To be sure, she had sent the Foxes with
+Olive and Claude Locker upon the drive through the gap, and, under
+ordinary circumstances, and with ordinary people, there would have been
+no reason for her to trouble herself about them, but neither the
+circumstances nor the people were ordinary, and she now felt anxious to
+get home and find out what Claude Locker and Olive had done with Mrs.
+and Mr. Fox.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VIII_
+
+_Captain Asher is not in a Good Humor._
+
+
+The next morning was very bright for Captain Asher; he was going to see
+Olive, and he did not know before how much he wished to see her.
+
+When Dick Lancaster came from the house to take his seat in the buggy
+the sight of the handsome suit of dark-blue serge, white shirt and
+collar, and patent-leather shoes, with the trousers hanging properly
+above them, placed Dick very much higher in the captain's estimation
+than the young man with the colored shirt and rolled-up trousers could
+ever have reached. The captain, too, was well dressed for the occasion,
+and Mrs. Easterfield had no reason whatever to be ashamed of these two
+gentlemen when she introduced them to her other visitors.
+
+She liked Professor Lancaster. Having lately had a good deal of Claude
+Locker, she was prepared to like a quiet and thoroughly self-possessed
+young man.
+
+Olive was the latest of the little company to appear, and when she came
+down she caused a genuine, though gentle sensation. She was most
+exquisitely dressed, not too much for a luncheon, and not enough for a
+dinner. This navy girl had not studied for nothing the art of dressing
+in different parts of the world. Her uncle regarded her with open-eyed
+astonishment.
+
+"Is this my brother's daughter?" he asked himself. "The little girl who
+poured my coffee in the morning and went out to take toll?"
+
+Olive greeted her uncle with absolute propriety, and made the
+acquaintance of Mr. Lancaster with a formal courtesy to which no
+objection could be made. Apparently she forgot the existence of Mr.
+Locker, and for the greater part of the meal she conversed with Mr. Fox
+about certain foreign places with which they were both familiar.
+
+The luncheon was not a success; there was a certain stiffness about it
+which even Mrs. Easterfield could not get rid of; and when the gentlemen
+went out to smoke on the piazza Olive disappeared, sending a message to
+Mrs. Easterfield that she had a bad headache and would like to be
+excused. Her excuse was a perfectly honest one, for she was apt to have
+a headache when she was angry; and she was angry now.
+
+The reason for her indignation was the fact that her uncle's visitor was
+an extremely presentable young man. Had it been otherwise, Olive would
+have given the captain a good scolding, and would then have taken her
+revenge by making fun of him and his shipmate's son. But now she felt
+insulted that her uncle should conceal from her the fact that he had an
+entirely proper young gentleman for a visitor. Could he think she would
+want to stay at his house to be with that young man? Was she a girl from
+whom the existence of such a person was to be kept secret? She was very
+angry, indeed, and her headache was genuine.
+
+Captain Asher was also angry. He had intended to take Olive aside and
+tell her all about Dick Lancaster, and how he had refrained from saying
+anything about him until he found out what sort of a young man he was.
+If, then, she saw fit to scold him, he was perfectly willing to submit,
+and to shake hands all around. But now he would have no chance to speak
+to her; she had not treated him properly, even if she had a headache. He
+admitted to himself that she was young and probably sensitive, but it
+was also true that he was sensitive, although old. Therefore, he was
+angry.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was disturbed; she saw there was something wrong
+between Olive and her uncle, and she did not like it. She had invited
+Lancaster with an object, and she did not wish that other people's
+grievances should interfere with said object. Olive was grumpy up-stairs
+and Claude Locker was in the doleful dumps under a tree, and if these
+two should grump and dump together, it might be very bad; consequently,
+Mrs. Easterfield was more anxious than ever that there should be at
+least two young men at Broadstone.
+
+For this reason she asked Lancaster if he were fond of rowing; and when
+he said he was, she invited him to join them in a boat party the next
+day to help her and Olive pull the big family boat. Mr. Fox did not like
+rowing, and Mr. Locker did not know how.
+
+On the drive home Captain Asher and Lancaster did not talk much. Even
+the young man's invitation to the rowing party did not excite much
+interest in the captain. These two men were both thinking of the same
+girl; one pleasantly, and the other very unpleasantly. Dick was charmed
+with her, although he had had very little opportunity of becoming
+acquainted with her, but he hoped for better luck the next day.
+
+The captain did not know what to make of her. He felt sure that she was
+at fault, and that he was at fault, and he could not see how things
+could be made straight between them. Only one thing seemed plain to him,
+and this was that, with things as they were at present, she was not
+likely to come back to his house; and this would not be necessary; he
+knew very well that there were other places she could visit; and that
+early in the fall her father would be home.
+
+Dick Lancaster walked to Broadstone the next morning because Captain
+Asher was obliged to go to Glenford on business, but the young man did
+not in the least mind a six-mile walk on a fine morning.
+
+All the way to Glenford the captain thought of Olive; sometimes he
+wished she had never come to him. Even now, with Lancaster to talk to,
+he missed her grievously, and if she should not come back, the case
+would be a great deal worse than if she had never come at all. But one
+thing was certain: If she returned as the young lady with whom he had
+lunched at Broadstone, he did not want her. He felt that he had been in
+the wrong, that she had been in the wrong; and it seemed as if things in
+this world were gradually going wrong. He was not in a good humor.
+
+When he stopped his mare in front of a store, Maria Port stepped up to
+him and said: "How do you do, captain? What have you done with your
+young man?"
+
+The captain got down from his buggy, hitched his mare to a post, and
+then shook hands with Miss Port.
+
+"Dick Lancaster has gone boating to-day with the Broadstone people," he
+said.
+
+"What!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Gone there again already? Why it was only
+yesterday you took dinner with them."
+
+"Lunch," corrected the captain.
+
+"Well, you may call it what you please," said Maria, "but I call it
+dinner. And them two's together without you, that you tried so hard to
+keep apart!"
+
+"I did not try anything of the kind," said the captain a little sharply;
+"it just happened so."
+
+"Happened so!" exclaimed Miss Port. "Well, I must say, Captain Asher,
+that you've a regular genius for makin' things happen. The minute she
+goes, he comes. I wish I could make things happen that way."
+
+The captain took no notice of this remark, and moved toward the door of
+the store.
+
+"Look here, captain," continued Miss Port, "can't you come and take
+dinner with us? You haven't seen Pop for ever so long. It won't be
+lunch, though, but an honest dinner."
+
+The captain accepted the invitation; for old Mr. Port was one of his
+ancient friends; and then he entered the store. Miss Port was on the
+point of following him; she had something to say about Olive; but she
+stopped.
+
+"I'll keep that till dinner-time," she said to herself.
+
+Old Mr. Port had always been a very pleasant man to visit, and he had
+not changed now, although he was nearly eighty years old. He had been a
+successful merchant in the days when Captain Asher commanded a ship, and
+there was good reason to believe that a large measure of his success was
+due to his constant desire to make himself agreeable to the people with
+whom he came in business contact. He was just as agreeable to his
+friends, of whom Captain Asher was one of the oldest.
+
+The people of Glenford often puzzled themselves as to what sort of a
+woman Maria's mother could have been. None of them had ever seen her,
+for she had died years before old Mr. Port had come into that healthful
+region to reside; but all agreed that her parents must have been a
+strangely assorted pair, unless, indeed, as some of the wiser suggested,
+she got her disposition from a grandparent.
+
+"That navy niece of yours must be a wild girl," said Miss Port to the
+captain as she carved the beef.
+
+"Wild!" exclaimed the captain. "I never saw anything wild about her."
+
+"Perhaps not," said his hostess, "but there's others that have. It was
+only three days ago that she took that young man, that goggle-eyed one,
+out on the river in a boat, and did her best to upset him. Whether she
+stood up and made the boat rock while he clung to the side, or whether
+she bumped the boat against rocks and sand-bars, laughin' the louder the
+more he was frightened, I wasn't told. But she did skeer him awful. I
+know that."
+
+"You seem to know a good deal about what is going on at Broadstone,"
+remarked the captain, somewhat sarcastically.
+
+"Indeed I do," said she; "a good deal more than they think. They've got
+such fine stomachs that they can't eat the beef they get at the gap, and
+Mr. Morris goes there three times a week, all the way from Glenford, to
+take them Chicago beef. The rest of the time they mostly eat chickens,
+I'm told."
+
+"And so your butcher takes meat and brings back news," said the captain.
+"The next time he passes the toll-gate I will tell him to leave the news
+with me, and I will see that it is properly distributed." And with this,
+he began to talk with Mr. Port.
+
+"Oh, you needn't be so snappish about her," insisted Maria. "If you are
+in that temper often, I don't wonder the young woman wanted to go away."
+
+The captain made no answer, but his glance at the speaker was not
+altogether a pleasant one. Old Mr. Port did not hear very well; but his
+eyesight was good, and he perceived from the captain's expression that
+his daughter had been saying something sharp. This he never allowed at
+his table; and, turning to her, he said gently, but firmly:
+
+"Maria, don't you think you'd better go up-stairs and go to bed?"
+
+"He's all the time thinkin' I'm a child," said Miss Maria, with a grin;
+"but how awfully he's mistook." Then she added: "Has that teacher got
+money enough to support a wife when he marries her? I don't suppose his
+salary amounts to much. I'm told it's a little bit of a college he
+teaches at."
+
+"I do not know anything about his salary," said the captain, and again
+attempted to continue the conversation with the father.
+
+But the daughter was not to be put down. "When is Olive Asher coming
+back to your house?" she asked.
+
+The captain turned upon her with a frown. "I did not say she was coming
+back at all," he snapped.
+
+Now old Mr. Port thought it time for him to interfere. To him Maria had
+always been a young person to be mildly counseled, but to be firmly
+punished if she did not obey said counsels. It was evident that she was
+now annoying his old friend; Maria had a great habit of annoying people,
+but she should not annoy Captain Asher.
+
+"Maria," said Mr. Port, "leave the table instantly, and go to bed."
+
+Miss Port smiled. She had finished her dinner, and she folded her napkin
+and dusted some crumbs from her lap. She always humored her father when
+he was really in earnest; he was very old and could not be expected to
+live much longer, and it was his daughter's earnest desire that she
+should be in good favor with him when he died. With a straight-cut smile
+at the captain, she rose and left the two old friends to their talk, and
+went out on the front piazza. There she saw Mr. Morris, the butcher, on
+his way home with an empty wagon. She stepped out to the edge of the
+sidewalk and stopped him.
+
+"Been to Broadstone?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," said the butcher with a sigh, and stopping his horse. Miss Port
+always wanted to know so much about Broadstone, and he was on his way to
+his dinner.
+
+"Well," said Miss Port, "what monkey tricks are going on there now? Has
+anybody been drowned yet? Did you see that young man that's stayin' at
+the toll-gate?"
+
+"Yes," said the butcher, "I saw him as I was crossing the bridge. He was
+in the big boat helping to row. Pretty near the whole family was in the
+boat, I take it."
+
+"That's like them, just like them!" she exclaimed. "The next thing we'll
+hear will be that they've all gone to the bottom together. I don't
+suppose one of them can swim. Was the captain's niece standin' up, or
+sittin' down?"
+
+"They were all sitting down," said the butcher, "and behaving like other
+people do in a boat." And he prepared to go on.
+
+"Stop one minute," said Miss Port. "Of course you are goin' out there
+day after to-morrow?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Morris. "I'm going to-morrow. They've ordered some extra
+things." Then he said, with a sort of conciliatory grin, "I'll get some
+more news, and have more time to tell it."
+
+"Now, don't be in such a hurry," said Miss Port, advancing to the side
+of the wagon. "I want very much to go to Broadstone. I've got some
+business with that Mrs. Blynn that I ought to have attended to long ago.
+Now, why can't I ride out with you to-morrow? That's a pretty broad seat
+you've got."
+
+The butcher looked at her in dismay. "Oh, I couldn't do that, Miss
+Port," he said. "I always have a heavy load, and I can't take
+passengers, too."
+
+"Now, what's the sense of your talkin' like that?" said Miss Port.
+"You've got a great big horse, and plenty of room, and would you have
+me go hire a carriage and a driver to go out there when you can take me
+just as well as not?"
+
+The butcher thought he would be very willing. He did not care for her
+society, and, moreover, he knew that both at Broadstone and in the town
+he would be ridiculed when it should be known that he had been taking
+Maria Port to drive.
+
+"Oh, I couldn't do it," he replied. "Of course, I'm willing to oblige--"
+
+"Oh, don't worry yourself any more, Mr. Morris," interrupted Miss Port.
+"I'm not askin' you to take me now, and I won't keep you from your
+dinner."
+
+The next morning as Mr. Morris, the butcher, was driving past the Port
+house at rather a rapid rate for a man with a heavy wagon, Miss Maria
+appeared at her door with her bonnet on. She ran out into the middle of
+the street, and so stationed herself that Mr. Morris was obliged to
+stop. Then, without speaking, she clambered up to the seat beside him.
+
+"Now, you see," said she, settling herself on the leather cushion, "I've
+kept to my part of the bargain, and I don't believe your horse will
+think this wagon is a bit heavier than it was before I got in. What's
+the name of the new people that's comin' to Broadstone?"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER IX_
+
+_Miss Port takes a Drive with the Butcher._
+
+
+As the butcher and Miss Port drove out of town the latter did not talk
+quite so much as was her wont. She seemed to have something on her mind,
+and presently she proposed to Mr. Morris that he should take the
+shunpike for a change.
+
+"That would be a mile and a half out of my way!" he exclaimed. "I can't
+do it."
+
+"I should think you'd get awfully tired of this same old road," said
+she.
+
+"The easiest road is the one I like every time," said Mr. Morris, who
+was also not inclined to talk.
+
+Miss Port did not care to pass the toll-gate that day; she was afraid
+she might see the captain, and that in some way or other he would
+interfere with her trip, but fortune favored her, as it nearly always
+did. Old Jane came to the gate, and as this stolid old woman never asked
+any questions, Miss Port contented herself with bidding her good
+morning, and sitting silent during the process of making change.
+
+This self-restraint very much surprised old Jane, who straightway
+informed the captain that Miss Port was riding with the butcher to
+Broadstone--she knew it was Broadstone, for he had no other customers
+that way--and she guessed something must be the matter with her, for
+she kept her mouth shut, and didn't say nothing to nobody.
+
+As the wagon moved on Miss Port heaved a sigh. Fearful that she might
+see the captain somewhere, she had not even allowed herself to survey
+the premises in order to catch a glimpse of the shipmate's son. This was
+a rare piece of self-denial in Maria, but she could do that sort of
+thing on occasion.
+
+When the butcher's wagon neared the Broadstone house Miss Port promptly
+got down, and Mr. Morris went to the kitchen regions by himself. She
+never allowed herself to enter a house by the back or side door, so now
+she went to the front, where, disappointed at not seeing any of the
+family although she had made good use of her eyes, she was obliged to
+ask a servant to conduct her to Mrs. Blynn. Before she had had time to
+calculate the cost of the rug in the hall, or to determine whether the
+walls were calcimined or merely whitewashed, she found herself with that
+good lady.
+
+Miss Port's business with Mrs. Blynn indicated a peculiar intelligence
+on the part of the visitor. It was based upon very little; it had not
+much to do with anything; it amounted to almost nothing; and yet it
+appeared to contain certain elements of importance which made Mrs. Blynn
+give it her serious consideration.
+
+After she had talked and peered about as long as she thought was
+necessary, Maria said she was afraid Mr. Morris would be waiting for
+her, and quickly took her leave, begging Mrs. Blynn not to trouble
+herself to accompany her to the door. When she left the house Maria did
+not seek the butcher's wagon, but started out on a little tour of
+observation through the grounds. She was quite sure Mr. Morris was
+waiting for her, but for this she did care a snap of her finger; he
+would not dare to go and leave her. Presently she perceived a young
+gentleman approaching her, and she recognized him instantly--it was the
+goggle-eyed man who had been described to her. Stepping quickly toward
+Mr. Locker, she asked him if he could tell her where she could find Miss
+Asher; she had been told she was in the grounds.
+
+The young man goggled his eye a little more than usual. "Do you know
+her?" said he.
+
+"Oh, yes," replied Maria; "I met her at the house of her uncle, Captain
+Asher."
+
+"And, knowing her, you want to see her"
+
+Astonished, Miss Port replied, "Of course."
+
+"Very well, then," said he; "beyond that clump of bushes is a seat. She
+sits thereon. Accept my condolences."
+
+"I will remember every word of that," said Miss Port to herself, "but I
+haven't time to think of it now. He's just ravin'."
+
+Olive had just had an interview with Mr. Locker which, in her eyes, had
+been entirely too protracted, and she had sent him away. He had just
+made her an offer of marriage, but she had refused even to consider it,
+assuring him that her mind was occupied with other things. She was busy
+thinking of those other things when she heard footsteps near her.
+
+"How do you do" said Miss Port, extending her hand.
+
+Olive rose, but she put her hands behind her back.
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Port, dropping her hand, but allowing herself no verbal
+resentment. She had come there for information, and she did not wish to
+interfere with her own business. "I happened to be here," she said, "and
+I thought I'd come and tell you how your uncle is. He took dinner with
+us yesterday, and I was sorry to see he didn't have much appetite. But I
+suppose he's failin', as most people do when they get to his age. I
+thought you might have some message you'd like to send him."
+
+"Thank you," said Olive with more than sufficient coldness, "but I have
+no message."
+
+"Oh!" said Miss Port. "You're in a fine place here," she continued,
+looking about her, "very different from the toll-gate; and I expect the
+Easterfields has everything they want that money can more than pay for."
+Having delivered this little shot at the reported extravagance of the
+lady of the manor, she remarked: "I don't wonder you don't want to go
+back to your uncle, and run out to take the toll. It must have been a
+very great change to you if you're used to this sort of thing."
+
+"Who said I was not going back?" asked Olive sharply.
+
+"Your uncle," said Miss Port. "He told me at our house. Of course, he
+didn't go into no particulars, but that isn't to be expected, he's not
+the kind of man to do that."
+
+Olive stood and looked at this smooth-faced, flat-mouthed spinster. She
+was pale, she trembled a little, but she spoke no word; she was a girl
+who did not go into particulars, especially with a person such as this
+woman standing before her.
+
+Miss Port did not wish to continue the conversation; she generally knew
+when she had said enough. "Well," she remarked, "as you haven't no
+message to send to your uncle, I might as well go. But I did think that
+as I was right on my way, you'd have at least a word for him. Good
+mornin'." And with this she promptly walked away to join Mr. Morris,
+cataloguing in her mind as she went the foolish and lazy hammocks and
+garden chairs, the slow motions of a man who was sweeping leaves from
+the broad stone, and various other evidences of bad management and
+probable downfall which met her eyes in every direction.
+
+When Miss Port approached the toll-gate on her return she was very
+anxious to stop, and hoped that the captain would be at the gate.
+Fortune favored her again, and there he stood in the doorway of the
+little tollhouse.
+
+"Oh, captain," she exclaimed, extending herself somewhat over the
+butcher's knees in order to speak more effectively, "I've been to
+Broadstone, and I've seen your niece. She's dressed up just like the
+other fine folks there, and she's stiffer than any of them, I guess. I
+didn't see Mrs. Easterfield, although I did want to get a chance to tell
+her what I thought about her plantin' weeds in her garden, and spreadin'
+new kinds of seeds over this country, which goes to weeds fast enough in
+the natural way. As to your niece, I must say she didn't show me no
+extra civility, and when I asked her if she had any message for you, she
+said she hadn't a word to say."
+
+The captain was not in the least surprised to hear that Olive had not
+treated Miss Port with extra civility. He remembered his niece treating
+this prying gossip with positive rudeness, and he had been somewhat
+amused by it, although he had always believed that young people should
+be respectful to their elders. He did not care to talk about Olive with
+Miss Port, but he had to say something, and so he asked if she seemed to
+be having a good time.
+
+"If settin' behind bushes with young men, and goggle-eyed ones at that,
+is havin' a good time," replied Miss Port, "I'm sure she's enjoyin'
+herself." And then, as she caught sight of Lancaster: "I suppose that's
+the young man who's visitin' you. I hope he makes his scholars study
+harder than he does. He isn't readin' his book at all; he's just starin'
+at nothin'. You might be polite enough to bring him out and introduce
+him, captain," she added in a somewhat milder tone.
+
+The captain did not answer; in fact, he had not heard all that Miss Port
+had said to him. If Olive had refused to send him a word, even the
+slightest message, she must be a girl of very stubborn resentments, and
+he was sorry to hear it. He himself was beginning to get over his
+resentment at her treatment of him at the Broadstone luncheon, and if
+she had been of his turn of mind everything might have been smoothed
+over in a very short time.
+
+"Well?" remarked Maria in an inquiring tone.
+
+"Excuse me," said the captain, "what were you saying?"
+
+Miss Maria settled herself in her seat. "If you and that young man
+wastin' his time in the garden can't keep your wits from
+wool-gatherin'," said she, "I hope old Jane has got sense enough to go
+on with the housekeepin'. I'll call again when you've sent your young
+man away, and got your young woman back."
+
+Maria said little to the taciturn butcher on their way to Glenford, but
+she smiled a good deal to herself. For years it had been the desire of
+her life to go to live in the toll-gate--not with any idea of ousting
+Captain Asher--oh, no, by no means. Old Mr. Port could not live much
+longer, and his daughter would not care to reside in the Glenford house
+by herself. But the toll-gate would exactly suit her; there was life;
+there was passing to and fro; there was money enough for good living and
+good clothes without any encroachment on whatever her father might leave
+her; and, above all, there was the captain, good for twenty years yet,
+in spite of his want of appetite, which she had mentioned to his niece.
+This would be a settlement which would suit her in every way, but so
+long as that niece lived there, there would be no hope of it; even the
+shipmate's son would be in the way. But she supposed he would soon be
+off.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER X_
+
+_Mrs. Easterfield writes a Letter._
+
+
+When Miss Port had left her, Olive was so much disturbed by what that
+placid spinster had told her that she totally forgot Claude Locker's
+proposal of marriage, as well as the other things she had been thinking
+about. These things had been not at all unpleasant; she had been
+thinking of her uncle and her return to the toll-gate house. Her visit
+to Broadstone was drawing to a close, and she was getting very tired of
+Mr. Locker and Mr. and Mrs. Fox. She found, now her anger had cooled
+down, that she was actually missing her uncle, and was thinking of him
+as of some one who belonged to her. Her own father had never seemed to
+belong to her; for periods of three years he was away on his ship; and,
+even when he had been on shore duty, she had sometimes been at school;
+and when she and her parents had been stationed somewhere together, the
+lieutenant had been a good deal away from home on this or that naval
+business. When a girl she had taken these absences as a matter of
+course, but since she had been living with her uncle her ideas on the
+subject had changed. She wanted now to be at home with him: and as
+Broadstone was so near the toll-gate she had no doubt that Mrs.
+Easterfield would sometimes want her to come to her when, perhaps, she
+would have different people staying with her.
+
+This was a very pleasant mental picture, and the more Olive had looked
+at it, the better she had liked it. As to the reconciliation with her
+uncle, it troubled her mind but little. So often had she been angry with
+people, and so often had everything been made all right again, that she
+felt used to the process. Her way was simple enough; when she was tired
+of her indignation she quietly dropped it; and then, taking it for
+granted that the other party had done the same, she recommenced her
+usual friendly intercourse, just as if there had never been a quarrel or
+misunderstanding. She had never found this method to fail--although, of
+course, it might easily have failed with one who was not Olive--and she
+had not the slightest doubt that if she wrote to her uncle that she was
+coming on a certain day, she would be gladly received by him when she
+should arrive.
+
+But now? After what that woman had told her, what now? If her uncle had
+said she was not coming back, there was an end to her mental pictures
+and her pleasant plans. And what a hard man he must be to say that!
+
+Slowly walking over the grass, Olive went to look for Mrs. Easterfield,
+and found her in her garden on her knees by a flower-bed digging with a
+little trowel.
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," said she, "I am thinking of getting married."
+
+The elder lady sprang to her feet, dropping her trowel, which barely
+missed her toes. She looked frightened. "What?" she exclaimed. "To
+whom?"
+
+"Not to anybody in particular," replied Olive. "I am considering the
+subject in general. Let's go sit on that bench, and talk about it."
+
+A little relieved, Mrs. Easterfield followed her. "I don't know what you
+mean," she said, when they were seated. "Women don't think of marriage
+in a general way; they consider it in a particular way."
+
+"Oh, I am different," said Olive; "I am a navy girl, and more like a
+man. I have to look out for myself. I think it is time I was married,
+and therefore I am giving the subject attention. Don't you think that is
+prudent?"
+
+"And you say you have no particular leanings?" the other inquired.
+
+"None whatever," said Olive. "Mr. Locker proposed to me less than an
+hour ago, but I gave him no answer. He is too precipitate, and he is
+only one person, anyway."
+
+"You don't want to marry more than one person!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+"No," said Olive, "but I want more than one to choose from."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield did not understand the girl at all. But this was not to
+be expected so soon; she must wait a little, and find out more.
+Notwithstanding her apparent indifference to Claude Locker, there was
+more danger in that direction than Mrs. Easterfield had supposed. A
+really persistent lover is often very dangerous, no matter how
+indifferent a young woman may be.
+
+"Have you been considering the professor?" she asked, with a smile. "I
+noticed that you were very gracious to him yesterday."
+
+"No, I haven't," said Olive. "But I suppose I might as well. I did try
+to make him have a good time, but I was still a little provoked and felt
+that I would like him to go back to my uncle and tell him that he had
+enjoyed himself. But now I suppose I must consider all the eligibles."
+
+"Why now?" asked Mrs. Easterfield quickly; "why now more than any
+previous time?"
+
+Olive did not immediately answer, but presently she said: "I am not
+going back to my uncle. There was a woman here just now--I don't know
+whether she was sent or not--who informed me that he did not expect me
+to return to his house. When my mother was living we were great
+companions for each other, but now you see I am left entirely alone. It
+will be a good while before father comes back, and then I don't know
+whether he can settle down or not. Besides, I am not very well
+acquainted with him, but I suppose that would arrange itself in time. So
+you see all I can do is to visit about until I am married, and therefore
+the sooner I am married and settled the better."
+
+"Perhaps this is a cold-blooded girl!" said Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+"But perhaps it is not!" Then, speaking aloud, she said: "Olive Asher,
+were you ever in love?"
+
+The girl looked at her with reflective eyes. "Yes," she said. "I was
+once, but that was the only time."
+
+"Would you mind telling me about it?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Not at all," replied the girl. "I was between thirteen and fourteen,
+and wore short dresses, and my hair was plaited. My father was on duty
+at the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and we lived in that city. There was a
+young man who used to come to bring messages to father; I think he was a
+clerk or a draftsman. I do not remember his name, except that his first
+name was Rupert, and father always called him by that. He was a
+beautiful man-boy or boy-man, however you choose to put it. His eyes
+were heavenly blue, his skin was smooth and white, his cheeks were red,
+and he had the most charming mouth I ever saw. He was just the right
+height, well shaped, and wore the most becoming clothes. I fell madly in
+love with him the second time I saw him, and continued so for a long
+time. I used to think about him and dream about him, and write little
+poems about him which nobody ever saw. I tried to make a sketch of his
+face once, but I failed and tore it up."
+
+"What did he do?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Nothing whatever," said Olive. "I never spoke to him, or he to me. I
+don't believe he ever noticed me. Whenever I could I went into the room
+where he was talking to father, but I was very quiet and kept in the
+background, and I do not think his eyes ever fell upon me. But that did
+not make any difference at all. He was beautiful above all other men in
+the world, and I loved him. He was my first, my only love, and it almost
+brings tears in my eyes now to think of him."
+
+"Then you really could love the right person if he were to come along,"
+said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Why do you think I couldn't? Of course I could. But the trouble is he
+doesn't come, so I must try to arrange the matter with what material I
+have."
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield left the garden she went rapidly to her room.
+There was a smile on her lips, and a light in her eye. A novel idea had
+come to her which amused her, pleased her, and even excited her. She sat
+down at her writing-table and began a letter to her husband. After an
+opening paragraph she wrote thus:
+
+"Is not Mr. Hemphill, of the central office of the D. and J., named
+Rupert? It is my impression that he is. You know he has been to our
+house several times to dinner when you invited railroad people, and I
+remember him very well. If his name is Rupert will you find out, without
+asking him directly, whether or not he was engaged about seven years ago
+at the navy-yard. I am almost positive I once had a conversation with
+him about the navy-yard and the moving of one of the great buildings
+there. If you find that he had a position there, don't ask him any more
+questions, and drop the subject as quickly as you can. But I then want
+you to send him here on whatever pretext you please--you can send me any
+sort of an important message or package--and if I find it desirable, I
+shall ask him to stay here a few days. These hard-worked secretaries
+ought to have more vacations. In fact, I have a very interesting scheme
+in mind, of which I shall say nothing now for fear you may think it
+necessary to reason about it. By the time you come it will have been
+worked out, and I will tell you all about it. Now, don't fail to send
+Mr. Hemphill as promptly as possible, if you find his name is Rupert,
+and that he has ever been engaged in the navy-yard."
+
+This letter was then sent to the post-office at the gap with an
+immediate-delivery stamp on it.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield went down-stairs, her face still glowing with the
+pleasure given by the writing of her letter, she met Claude Locker,
+whose face did not glow with pleasure.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" she asked.
+
+"I feel like a man who has been half decapitated," said he. "I do not
+know whether the execution is to be arrested and my wound healed, or
+whether it is to go on and my head roll into the dust."
+
+"A horrible idea!" said Mrs. Easterfield. "What do you really mean?"
+
+"I have proposed to Miss Asher and I was treated with indifference, but
+have not been discarded. Don't you see that I can not live in this
+condition? I am looking for her."
+
+"It will be a great deal better for you to leave her alone," replied
+Mrs. Easterfield. "If she has any answer for you she will give it when
+she is ready. Perhaps she is trying to make up her mind, and you may
+spoil all by intruding yourself upon her."
+
+"That will not do at all," said Locker, "not at all. The more Miss Asher
+sees of me in an unengaged condition the less she will like me. I am
+fully aware of this. I know that my general aspect must be very
+unpleasant, so if I expect any success whatever, the quicker I get this
+thing settled the better."
+
+"Even if she refuses you," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Yes," he answered; "then down comes the axe again, away goes my head,
+and all is over! Then there is another thing," he said, without giving
+Mrs. Easterfield a chance to speak. "There is that mathematical person.
+When will he be here again?"
+
+"I do not know," replied Mrs. Easterfield; "he has merely a general
+invitation."
+
+"I don't like him," said Locker. "He has been here twice, and that is
+two times too many. I hate him."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because he is unobjectionable," Locker answered, "and I am very much
+afraid Miss Asher likes unobjectionable people. Now I am
+objectionable--I know it--and the longer I remain unengaged the more
+objectionable I shall become. I wish you would invite nobody but such
+people as the Foxes."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because they are married," replied Locker. "But I must not wait here.
+Can you tell me where I shall be likely to find her?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield, "she is with the Foxes, and they are
+married."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XI_
+
+_Mr. Locker is released on Bail._
+
+
+Nearly the whole of that morning Dick Lancaster sat in the arbor in the
+tollhouse garden, his book in his hand. Part of the time he was thinking
+about what he would like to do, and part of the time he was thinking
+about what he ought to do. He felt sure he had stayed with the captain
+as long as he had been expected to, but he did not want to go away. On
+the contrary, he greatly desired to remain within walking distance of
+Broadstone. He was in love with Olive. When he had seen her at luncheon,
+cold and reserved, he had been greatly impressed by her, and when he
+went out boating with her the next day he gave her his heart
+unreservedly. When people fell in love with Olive they always did it
+promptly.
+
+As he sat, with Olive standing near the footlights of his mental stage
+and the drop-curtain hanging between her and all the rest of the world,
+the captain strolled up to him.
+
+"Dick," said he, "somehow or other my tobacco does not taste as it ought
+to. Give me a pipeful of yours."
+
+When the captain had filled his pipe from Dick's bag he lighted it and
+gave a few puffs. "It isn't a bit better than mine," said he, "but I
+will keep on and smoke it. Dick, let's go and take a walk over the
+hills. I feel rather stupid to-day. And, by the way, I hope you will be
+able to stay with me for the rest of your vacation. Have you made plans
+to go anywhere else?"
+
+"No plans of the slightest importance," answered Lancaster with joyous
+vivacity. "I shall be delighted to stay."
+
+This prompt acceptance somewhat surprised the captain. He had spoken
+without premeditation, and without thinking of anything at all except
+that he did not want everybody to go away and leave him. He had begun to
+know something of the pleasures of family life; of having some one to
+sit at the table with him; to whom he could talk; on whom he could look.
+In fact, although he did not exactly appreciate such a state of things,
+some one he could love. He was getting really fond of Dick Lancaster.
+
+As for Olive, he did not know what to think of her; sometimes he was
+sure she was not coming back, and at other times he thought it likely he
+might get a letter that very day appointing the time for her return. He
+stood puffing his pipe and thinking about this after Dick had spoken.
+
+"But it does not matter," he said to himself, "which way it happens. If
+she doesn't come I want him here, and if she does come, he is good
+enough for anybody, and perhaps she may be pleased." And then he
+indulged in a little fragment of the dream which had come to him before;
+he saw two young people in a charming home, not at the toll-gate, and
+himself living with them. Plenty of money for all moderate needs, and
+all happy and satisfied. Then with a sigh he knocked the tobacco from
+his pipe and said to himself: "If I hear she is coming, I will let her
+know he is still here, and then she must judge for herself."
+
+As they walked together over the hills, Dick Lancaster was very anxious
+to know something about Olive's return, but he did not like to ask. The
+captain had been very reticent on the subject of his niece, and Dick was
+a gentleman. But to his surprise, and very much to his delight, the
+captain soon began to talk about Olive. He told Dick how his brother had
+entered the navy when the elder was first mate on a merchant vessel; how
+Alfred had risen in the service; had married; and how his wife and
+daughter had lived in various parts of the world. Then he spoke of a
+good many things he had heard about Olive, and other things he had found
+out since she had lived with him; and as he went on his heart warmed,
+and Dick Lancaster listened with as warm a heart as that from which the
+captain spoke.
+
+And thus they walked over the hills, this young man and this elderly
+man, each in love with the same girl.
+
+During all the walk Dick never asked when Miss Asher was coming back to
+the tollhouse, nor did Captain Asher make any remarks upon the subject.
+It was not really of vital importance to Dick, as Broadstone was so
+near, and it was of such vital importance to the captain that it was
+impossible for him to speak of it.
+
+The next day the bright-hearted Richard trod buoyantly upon the earth;
+he did not care to read; he did not want to smoke; and he was not much
+inclined to conversation; he was simply buoyant, and undecided. The
+captain looked at him and smiled.
+
+"Why don't you walk over to Broadstone?" he said. "It will do you good.
+I want you to stay with me, but I don't expect you to be stuck down to
+this tollhouse all day. I am going about the farm to-day, but I shall
+expect you to supper."
+
+When he was ready to start Dick Lancaster felt a little perplexed. His
+ideas of friendly civility impelled him to ask the captain if there was
+anything he could do for him, if there was any message or missive he
+could take to his niece, or anything he could bring from her, but he was
+prudent and refrained; if the captain wished service of this sort he was
+a man to ask for it.
+
+The first person Dick met at Broadstone was Mrs. Easterfield, cutting
+roses.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Professor Lancaster," said she, as she put
+down her roses and her scissors. "Would you mind, before you enter into
+the general Broadstone society, sitting down on this bench and talking a
+little to me?"
+
+Dick could not help smiling. What man in the world, even if he were in
+love with somebody else, could object to sitting down by such a woman
+and talking to her?
+
+"What I am going to say," said Mrs. Easterfield, "is impertinent,
+unwarranted, and of an officious character. You and I know each other
+very slightly; neither of us has long been acquainted with Captain
+Asher, you have met his niece but twice, and I have never really known
+her until what you might call the other day. But in spite of all this, I
+propose that you and I shall meddle a little in their affairs. I have
+taken the greatest fancy to Miss Asher, and, if you can do it without
+any breach of confidence, I would like you to tell me if you know of any
+misunderstanding between her and her uncle."
+
+"I know of nothing of the kind," said Dick with great interest, "but I
+admit I thought there might be something wrong somewhere. He knew I was
+coming here to-day--in fact, he suggested it--but he sent Miss Asher no
+sort of message."
+
+"Can it be possible he is cherishing any hard feelings against her?" she
+remarked. "I should not have supposed he was that sort of man."
+
+"He is not that sort of man," said Dick warmly. "He was talking to me
+about her yesterday, and from what he said, I am sure he thinks she is
+the finest girl in the world."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," said she, "but it makes the situation more
+puzzling. Can it be possible that she is treating him badly?"
+
+"Oh, I could not believe that!" exclaimed Dick fervently. "I can not
+imagine such a thing."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled. He had really known the girl but for one day,
+for the first meeting did not count; and here he was defending the
+absolute beauty of her character. But the assumption of the genus young
+man often overtops the pyramids. She now determined to take him a little
+more into her confidence.
+
+"Miss Asher has intimated to me that she does not expect to go back to
+her uncle's house, and this morning she made a reference to the end of
+her visit here, but I thought you might be able to tell me something
+about her uncle. If he really does not expect her back I want her to
+stay here."
+
+"Alas," said Dick, "I can not tell you anything. But of one thing I feel
+sure, and that is that he would like her to come back."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I am not going to let her go away at
+present, and if Captain Asher should say anything to you on the subject,
+you are at liberty to tell him that. From what you said the other day, I
+suppose you will soon be leaving this quiet valley for the haunts of
+men."
+
+"Oh, no," exclaimed Dick. "He wants me to stay with him as long as I
+can, and I shall certainly do it."
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Easterfield, rising, "I must go and finish cutting my
+roses. I think you will find everybody on the tennis grounds."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield had cut in all twenty-three roses when Claude Locker
+came to her from the house. His face was beaming, and he skipped over
+the short grass.
+
+"Congratulate me," he said, as he stepped before her.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped her roses and her scissors and turned pale.
+"What do you mean?" she gasped.
+
+"Oh, don't be frightened," he said. "I have not been acquitted, but the
+execution has been stopped for the present, and I am out on bail. I
+really feel as though the wound in my neck had healed."
+
+"What stuff!" said Mrs. Easterfield, her color returning. "Try to speak
+sensibly."
+
+"Oh, I can do that," said Mr. Locker; "upon occasion I can do that very
+well. I proposed again to Miss Asher not twenty minutes ago. She gave me
+no answer, but she made an arrangement with me which I think is going to
+be very satisfactory; she said she could not have me proposing to her
+every time I saw her--it would attract attention, and in the end might
+prove annoying--but she said she would be willing to have me propose to
+her every day just before luncheon, provided I did not insist upon an
+answer, and would promise to give no indication whatever at any other
+time that I entertained any unusual regard for her. I agreed to this,
+and now we understand each other. I feel very confident and happy. The
+other person has no regular time for offering himself, and if any effort
+of mine can avail he shall not find an irregular opportunity."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "Come pick up my roses," she said. "I must go
+in."
+
+"It is like making love," said Locker as he picked up the flowers,
+"charming, but prickly." At this moment he started. "Who is that?" he
+exclaimed.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield turned. "Oh, that is Monsieur Emile Du Brant. He is one
+of the secretaries of the Austrian legation. He is to spend a week with
+us. Suppose you take my flowers into the house and I will go to meet
+him."
+
+Claude Locker, his arms folded around a mass of thorny roses, and a pair
+of scissors dangling from one finger, stood and gazed with savage
+intensity at the dapper little man--black eyes, waxed mustache, dressed
+in the height of fashion--who, with one hand outstretched, while the
+other held his hat, advanced with smiles and bows to meet the lady of
+the house. Locker had seen him before; he had met him in Washington; and
+he had received forty dollars for a poem of which this Austrian young
+person was the subject.
+
+He allowed the lady and her guest to enter the house before him, and
+then, like a male Flora, he followed, grinding his teeth, and indulging
+in imprecations.
+
+"He will have to put on some other kind of clothes," he muttered, "and
+perhaps he may shave and curl his hair. That will give me a chance to
+see her before lunch. I do not know that she expected me to begin
+to-day, but I am going to do it. I have a clear field so far, and nobody
+knows what may happen to-morrow."
+
+As Locker stood in the hallway waiting for some one to come and take his
+flowers, or to tell him where to put them, he glanced out of the back
+door. There, to his horror, he saw that Mrs. Easterfield had conducted
+her guest through the house, and that they were now approaching the
+tennis ground, where Professor Lancaster and Miss Asher were standing
+with their rackets in their hands, while Mr. and Mrs. Fox were playing
+chess under the shade of a tree.
+
+"Field open!" he exclaimed, dropping the roses and the scissors. "Field
+clear! What a double-dyed ass am I!" And with this he rushed out to the
+tennis ground; Mrs. Easterfield did not play.
+
+Before Mrs. Easterfield returned to the house she stood for a moment
+and looked at the tennis players.
+
+"Olive and three young men," she said to herself; "that will do very
+well."
+
+A little before luncheon Claude Locker became very uneasy, and even
+agitated. He hovered around Olive, but found no opportunity to speak to
+her, for she was always talking to somebody else, mostly to the
+newcomer. But she was a little late in entering the dining-room, and
+Locker stepped up to her in the doorway.
+
+"Is this your handkerchief?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she, stopping; "isn't it yours?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, "but I had to have some way of attracting your
+attention. I love you so much that I can scarcely see the table and the
+people."
+
+"Thank you," she said, "and that is all for the next twenty-four hours."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XII_
+
+_Mr. Rupert Hemphill._
+
+
+That afternoon it rained, so that the Broadstone people were obliged to
+stay indoors. Dick Lancaster found Mr. Fox a very agreeable and
+well-informed man, and Mrs. Fox was also an excellent conversationalist.
+Mrs. Easterfield, who, after the confidences of the morning, could not
+help looking at him as something more than an acquaintance, talked to
+him a good deal, and tried to make the time pass pleasantly, at which
+business she was an adept. All this was very pleasant to Dick, but it
+did not compensate him for the almost entire loss of the society of
+Olive, who seemed to devote herself to the entertainment of the Austrian
+secretary. Mrs. Easterfield was very sorry that the young foreigner had
+come at this time, but he had been invited the winter before; the time
+had been appointed; and the visit had to be endured.
+
+When the rain had ceased, and Dick was about to take his leave, his
+hostess declared she would not let him walk back through the mud.
+
+"You shall have a horse," she said, "and that will insure an early visit
+from you, for, of course, you will not trust the animal to other hands
+than your own. I would ask you to stay, but that would not be treating
+the captain kindly."
+
+As Dick was mounting Mr. Du Brant was standing at the front door, a
+smile on his swarthy countenance. This smile said as plainly as words
+could have done so that it was very amusing to this foreign young man to
+see a person with rolled-up trousers and a straw hat mount upon a horse.
+Claude Locker, whose soul had been chafing all the afternoon under his
+banishment from the society of the angel of his life, was also at the
+front door, and saw the contemptuous smile. Instantly a new and powerful
+emotion swept over his being in the shape of a strong feeling of
+fellowship for Lancaster. It made his soul boil with indignation to see
+the sneer which the Austrian directed toward the young man, a thoroughly
+fine young man, who, by said foreigner's monkeyful impudence, and
+another's mistaken favor, had been made a brother-in-misfortune of
+himself, Claude Locker.
+
+"I will make common cause with him against the enemy," thought Locker.
+"If I should fail to get her I will help him to." And although Dick's
+brown socks were plainly visible as he cantered away, Mr. Locker looked
+after him as a gallant and honored brother-in-arms.
+
+That evening Claude Locker fought for himself and his comrade. He
+persisted in talking French with Mr. Du Brant; and his remarkable
+management of that language, in which ignorance and a subtle facility in
+intentional misapprehension were so adroitly blended that it was
+impossible to tell one from the other, amused Olive, and so provoked the
+Austrian that at last he turned away and began to talk American
+politics with Mr. Fox, which so elated the poet that the ladies of the
+party passed a merry evening.
+
+"Would you like me to take him out rowing to-morrow?" asked Claude apart
+to his hostess.
+
+"With you at the oars?" she asked.
+
+"Of course," said Locker.
+
+"I am amazed," said she, "that you should suspect me of such
+cold-blooded cruelty."
+
+"You know you don't want him here," said Claude. "His salary can not be
+large, and he must spend the greater part of it on clothes--and oil."
+
+"Is it possible," she asked, "that you look upon that young man as a
+rival?"
+
+"By no means," he replied; "such persons never marry. They only prevent
+other people from marrying anybody. Therefore it is that I remember what
+sort of a boatman I am."
+
+"My dear," said Mr. Fox, when he and his wife had retired to their room,
+"after hearing what that Austrian has to say of the American people, I
+almost revere Mr. Locker."
+
+"I heard some of his remarks," she said, "and I imagined they would have
+an effect of that kind upon you."
+
+When the Broadstone surrey came from the train the next morning it
+brought a gentleman.
+
+"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox, when from the other side of the lawn she saw
+him alight. "Another young man with a valise! It seems to me that this
+is an overdose!"
+
+"Overdoses," remarked Mr. Fox, "are often less dangerous than just
+enough poison."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield received this visitor at the door. She had been waiting
+for him, and did not wish him to meet anybody when she was not present.
+After offering his respectful salutations, Mr. Hemphill, Mr.
+Easterfield's secretary in the central office of the D. and J.,
+delivered without delay a package of which he was the bearer, and
+apologized for his valise, stating that Mr. Easterfield had told him he
+must spend the night at Broadstone.
+
+"Most assuredly you would do that," said she, and to herself she added,
+"If I want you longer I will let you know."
+
+Mr. Rupert Hemphill was a very handsome man; his nose was fine; his eyes
+were dark and expressive; he wore silky side-whiskers, which, however,
+did not entirely conceal the bloom upon his cheeks; his teeth were very
+good; he was well shaped; and his clothes fitted him admirably.
+
+As has been said before, Mrs. Easterfield was exceedingly interested;
+she was even a little agitated, which was not common with her. She had
+Mr. Hemphill conducted to his room, and then she waited for him to come
+down; this also was not common with her.
+
+"Mr. Locker," she called from the open door, "do you know where Miss
+Asher is?"
+
+The poet stopped in his stride across the lawn, and approached the lady.
+"Oh, she is with the Du Brant," said he. "I have been trying to get in
+some of my French, but neither of them will rise to the fly. However, I
+am content; it is now three hours before luncheon, and if she has him
+to herself for that length of time, I think she will be thoroughly
+disgusted. Then it will be my time, as per agreement."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was a little disappointed. She wanted Olive by herself,
+but she did not want to make a point of sending for her. But fortune
+favored her.
+
+"There she is," exclaimed Locker; "she is just going into the library.
+Let me go tell her you want her."
+
+"Not at all," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Don't put yourself into danger of
+breaking your word by seeing her alone before luncheon. I'll go to her."
+
+Mr. Locker continued his melancholy stroll, and Mrs. Easterfield entered
+the library. Olive must not be allowed to go away until the moment
+arrived which had been awaited with so much interest.
+
+"I am looking for a copy of _Tartarin sur les Alps_. I am sure I saw it
+among these French books," said Olive, on her knees before a low
+bookcase. "Would you believe it, Mr. Du Brant has never read it, and he
+seems to think so much of education."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield knew exactly where the book was, but she preferred to
+allow Olive to occupy herself in looking for it, while she kept her eyes
+on the hall.
+
+"Wait a moment, Olive," said she; "a visitor has just arrived, and I
+want to make him acquainted with you."
+
+Olive rose with a book in her hand, and Mrs. Easterfield presented Mr.
+Hemphill to Miss Asher. As she did so, Mrs. Easterfield kept her eyes
+steadily fixed upon the young lady's face. With a pleasant smile Olive
+returned Mr. Hemphill's bow. She was generally glad to make new
+acquaintances.
+
+"Mr. Hemphill is one of my husband's business associates," said Mrs.
+Easterfield, still with her eyes on Olive. "He has just come from him."
+
+"Did he send us this fine day by you?" said Olive. "If so, we are
+greatly obliged to him."
+
+The young man answered that, although he had not brought the day, he was
+delighted that he had come in company with it.
+
+"What atrocious commonplaces!" thought Mrs. Easterfield. "The girl does
+not know him from Adam!"
+
+Here was a disappointment; the thrill, the pallor, the involuntary
+start, were totally absent; and the first act of the little play was a
+failure. But Mrs. Easterfield hoped for better things when the curtain
+rose again. She conducted Mr. Hemphill to the Foxes and let Olive go
+away with her book; and, as soon as she had the opportunity, she read
+the letter from her husband.
+
+"With this I send you Mr. Hemphill," he wrote. "I don't know what you
+want to do with him, but you must take good care of him. He is a most
+valuable secretary, and an estimable young man. As soon as you have done
+with him please send him back."
+
+"I am glad he is estimable," said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. "That
+will make the matter more satisfactory to Tom when I explain it to him."
+
+When Dick Lancaster, properly booted and wearing a felt hat, returned
+the borrowed horse, he was met by Mr. Locker, who had been wandering
+about the front of the house, and when he had dismounted Dick was
+somewhat surprised by the hearty handshake he received.
+
+"I am sorry to have to tell you," said the poet, "that there is another
+one."
+
+"Another what?" asked Dick.
+
+"Another unnecessary victim," replied Locker. And with this he returned
+to the front of the house.
+
+At last Olive came down the stairs, and she was alone. Locker stepped
+quickly up to her.
+
+"If I should marry," he said, "would I be expected to entertain that
+Austrian?"
+
+She stopped, and gave the question her serious consideration. "I should
+think," she said, "that that would depend a good deal upon whom you
+should marry."
+
+"How can you talk in that way?" he exclaimed. "As if there were anything
+to depend upon!"
+
+"Nothing to depend upon," said Olive, slightly raising her eyebrows.
+"That is bad." And she went into the dining-room.
+
+The afternoon was an exceptionally fine one, but the party at Broadstone
+did not take advantage of it; there seemed to be a spirit of unrest
+pervading the premises, and when the carriage started on a drive along
+the river only Mr. and Mrs. Fox were in it. Mrs. Easterfield would not
+leave Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and she did not encourage them to go.
+Consequently there were three young men who did not wish to go.
+
+"It seems to me," said Mr. Fox, as they rolled away, "that a young
+woman, such as Miss Asher, has it in her power to interfere very much
+with the social feeling which should pervade a household like this. If
+she were to satisfy herself with attracting one person, all the rest of
+us might be content to make ourselves happy in such fashions as might
+present themselves."
+
+"The rest of us!" exclaimed Mrs. Fox.
+
+"Yes," replied her husband. "I mean you, and Mrs. Easterfield, and
+myself, and the rest. That young woman's indeterminate methods of
+fascination interfere with all of us."
+
+"I don't exactly see how they interfere with me," said Mrs. Fox rather
+stiffly.
+
+"If the carriage had been filled, as was expected," said her husband, "I
+might have had the pleasure of driving you in a buggy."
+
+She turned to him with a smile. "Immediately after I spoke," she said,
+"I imagined you might be thinking of something of that kind."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was not a woman to wait for things to happen in their
+own good time. If possible, she liked to hurry them up. In this Olive
+and Hemphill affair there was really nothing to wait for; if she left
+them to themselves there would be no happenings. As soon as was
+possible, she took Olive into her own little room, where she kept her
+writing-table, and into whose sacred precincts her secretary was not
+allowed to penetrate.
+
+"Now, then," said she, "what do you think of Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"I don't think of him at all," said Olive, a little surprised. "Is there
+anything about him to think of?"
+
+"He sat by you at luncheon," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I know that," said Olive, "and he was better than an empty chair. I
+hate sitting by empty chairs."
+
+"Olive," exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield with vivacity, "you ought to
+remember that young man!"
+
+"Remember him?" the girl ejaculated.
+
+"Certainly," said Mrs. Easterfield. "After what you told me about him, I
+expected you would recognize him the moment you saw him. But you did not
+know him; you did not do anything I expected you to do; and I was very
+much disappointed."
+
+"What are you talking about?" asked Olive.
+
+"I am talking about Mr. Hemphill; Mr. Rupert Hemphill; who, about seven
+years ago, was engaged in the Philadelphia Navy-Yard, and who came to
+your house on business with your father. From what you told me of him I
+conjectured that he might now be my husband's Philadelphia secretary,
+for his name is Rupert, and I had reason to believe that he was once
+engaged in the navy-yard. When I found out I was entirely correct in my
+supposition I had him sent here, and I looked forward with the most
+joyous anticipations to being present when you first saw him. But it was
+all a fiasco! I suppose some people might think I was unwarrantably
+meddling in the affairs of others, but as it was in my power to create a
+most charming romance, I could not let the opportunity pass."
+
+Olive did not hear a word of Mrs. Easterfield's latest remarks; her
+round, full eyes were fixed upon the wall in front of her, but they saw
+nothing. Her mind had gone back seven years.
+
+"Is it possible," she exclaimed presently, "that that is my Rupert, my
+beautiful Rupert of the roseate cheeks, the Rupert of my heart, my only
+love! The Endymion-like youth I watched for every day; on whom I gazed
+and gazed and worshiped and longed for when he had gone; of whom I
+dreamed; to whom my soul went out in poetry; whose miniature I would
+have painted on the finest ivory if I had known how to paint; and whose
+image thus created I would have worn next my heart to look at every
+instant I found myself alone, if it had not been that my dresses were
+all fastened down the back! I am going to him this instant! I must see
+him again! My Rupert, my only love!" And with this she started to the
+door.
+
+"Olive," cried Mrs. Easterfield, springing from her chair, "stop, don't
+you do that! Come back. You must not--"
+
+But the girl had flown down the stairs, and was gone.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIII_
+
+_Mr. Lancaster's Backers._
+
+
+Olive found Mr. Hemphill under a tree upon the lawn. He was sitting on a
+low bench with one little girl upon each knee. He was not a stranger to
+the children, for they had frequently met him during their winter
+residences in cities. He was telling them a story when Olive approached.
+He made an attempt to rise, but the little girls would not let him put
+them down.
+
+"Don't move, Mr. Hemphill," said Olive; "I am going to sit down myself."
+And as she spoke she drew forward a low bench. "I am so glad to see you
+are fond of children, Mr. Hemphill," she continued; "you must have
+changed very much."
+
+"Changed!" he exclaimed. "I have always been fond of them."
+
+"Excuse me," said Olive, "not always. I remember a child you did not
+care for, on whom you did not even look, who was absolutely nothing to
+you, although you were so much to her."
+
+Mr. Hemphill stared. "I do not remember such a child," said he.
+
+"She existed," said Olive. "I was that child." And then she told him
+how she had seen him come to her father's house.
+
+Mr. Hemphill remembered Lieutenant Asher, he remembered going to his
+house, but he did not remember seeing there a little girl.
+
+"I was not so very little," said Olive; "I was fourteen, and I was just
+at an age to be greatly attracted by you. I thought you were the most
+beautiful young man I had ever beheld. I don't mind telling you, because
+I can not look upon you as a stranger, that I fell deeply in love with
+you."
+
+As Mr. Hemphill sat and listened to these words his face turned redder
+than the reddest rose, even his silky whiskers seemed to redden, his
+fine-cut red lips were parted, but he could not speak. The two little
+girls had been gazing earnestly at Olive. Now the elder one spoke.
+
+"I am in love," she said.
+
+"And so am I," piped up the younger one.
+
+"She's in love with Martha's little Jim," said the first girl, "but I am
+in love with Henry. He's eight. Both boys."
+
+"I wouldn't be in love with a girl," said the little one contemptuously.
+
+This interruption was a help to Mr. Hemphill, and his redness paled a
+little.
+
+"Of course you could not be expected to know anything of my feelings for
+you," said Olive, "and perhaps it is very well you did not, for business
+is business, and the feelings of girls should not be allowed to
+interfere with it. But my heart went out to you all the same. You were
+my first love."
+
+Now Mr. Hemphill crimsoned again worse than before. He had not yet
+spoken a word, and there was no word in the English language which he
+thought would be appropriate for the occasion.
+
+"You may think I am a little cruel to plump this sort of thing upon
+you," said Olive, "in such a sudden way, but I am not. All this was
+seven years ago, and a person of my age can surely speak freely of what
+happened seven years ago. I did not even know you when I met you, but
+Mrs. Easterfield told me about you, and now I remember everything, and I
+think it would have been inhuman if I had not told you of the part you
+used to play in my life. You have a right to know it."
+
+If Mr. Hemphill could have reddened any more he would have done so, but
+it was not possible. The thought flashed into his mind that it might be
+well to say something about her having found him very much changed, but
+in the next instant he saw that that would not do. How could he assume
+that he had ever been beautiful; how could he force her to say that he
+was not beautiful now, or that he still remained so?
+
+"I am very glad I have met you," said Olive, "and that I know who you
+are. And I am glad, too, to tell you that I forgive you for not taking
+notice of me seven years ago."
+
+"Is that all of your story?" asked the elder little girl.
+
+"Yes," said Olive, laughing, "that is all."
+
+"Well, then, let Mr. Hemphill go on with his," said she.
+
+"Oh, certainly," said Olive, jumping up; "and you must all excuse me
+for interfering with your story."
+
+Mr. Hemphill sat still, a little girl on each knee. He had not spoken a
+word since that beautiful girl had told him she had once loved him. And
+he could not speak now.
+
+"You look as if you had a plaster taken off," said the younger little
+girl. And, after waiting a moment for an answer, she slipped off his
+knee; the other followed; and the story was postponed.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield heard Olive's account of this incident she was
+utterly astounded. "What sort of a girl are you" she exclaimed. "What
+are you going to do about it now?"
+
+"Do?" said Olive quietly. "I have done."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was in a state of great perplexity. She had already
+asked Mr. Hemphill to stay until Saturday, three days off, and she could
+not tell him to go away, and the awkwardness of his remaining in the
+same house with Olive was something not easy to deal with.
+
+During Olive's interview with Mr. Hemphill and the little girls Claude
+Locker had been sitting alone at a distance, gazing at the group. He was
+waiting for an opportunity of social converse, for this was not
+forbidden him even if the time did not immediately precede the luncheon
+hour. He saw Hemphill's blazing face, and deeply wondered. If it had
+been the lady who had flushed he would have bounced upon the scene to
+defend her, but Olive was calm, and it was the conscious guilt of the
+man that made his face look like a freshly painted tin roof. This was an
+affair into which he had no right to intrude himself, and so he sat and
+sighed, and his heart grew heavy. How many ante-luncheon avowals would
+have to be made before she would take so much interest in him, one way
+or the other!
+
+Mr. Du Brant also sat at a distance. He was reading, or at least
+appearing to read; but he was so unaccustomed to holding a book in his
+hands that he did it very awkwardly, and Miss Raleigh, who was looking
+at him from the library window, made up her mind that if he dropped it,
+as she expected him to do, she would get the book and rub the dirt off
+the corners before it was put back into the bookcase. But when Olive
+left Mr. Hemphill she went so quickly into the house that the Austrian
+was unable to join her, and he, therefore, went to his room to prepare
+for dinner.
+
+Dick Lancaster had also been waiting, although not watching. He had
+hoped that he might have a chance for a little talk with Olive. But
+there was really no good reason to expect it, for he knew that two, and
+perhaps three, young men had stayed at home that afternoon in the hope
+that they might have the same opportunity. The odds against him were
+great.
+
+He began to think that perhaps he was engaged in a foolish piece of
+business, and was in danger of making himself disagreeably conspicuous.
+The other young men were guests at Broadstone, but if he came there
+every day as he had been doing, and as he wanted to do, it might be
+thought that he was taking advantage of Mrs. Easterfield's kindness. At
+that moment he heard the rustle of skirts, and, glancing up, saw Mrs.
+Easterfield, who was looking for him.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield's regard for Lancaster was growing, partly on account
+of the confidence she had already reposed in him. In her present state
+of mind she would have been glad to give him still more, for she did not
+know what to do about Olive and Mr. Hemphill, and there was no one with
+whom she could talk upon the subject; even if she had known Dick better
+her loyalty to Olive would have prevented that.
+
+"Have you found out anything about the captain and Olive?" she asked.
+"Has he spoken of her return?"
+
+"No," replied Dick; "he has not said a word on the subject, but I am
+very sure he would be overjoyed to have her come back. Every day when
+the postman arrives I believe he looks for a letter from her, and he
+shows that he feels it when he finds none. He is good-natured, and
+pleasant, but he is not as cheerful as when I first came."
+
+"Every day," said Mrs. Easterfield, as they walked together, "I love
+Olive more and more."
+
+"So do I," thought Dick.
+
+"But every day I understand her less and less," she continued. "She is
+truly a navy girl, and repose does not seem to be one of her
+characteristics. From what she has told me, I believe she has never
+lived in domestic peace and quiet until she came to stay with her uncle.
+It would delight me to see her properly married. I wish you would marry
+her."
+
+Dick stopped, and so did she, and they stood looking at each other. He
+did not redden, for he was not of the flushing kind; his face even grew
+a little hard.
+
+"Do you believe," said he, in a very different tone from his ordinary
+voice, "that I have the slightest chance?"
+
+"Of course I do," she answered. "I believe you have a very good chance,
+or I should not have spoken to you. I flatter myself that I have
+excellent judgment concerning young men, and I am very fond of Olive."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," exclaimed Dick, "you know I am in love with her. I
+suppose that has been easy enough to see, but it has all been very quick
+work with me; in fact, I have had very little to say to her, and have
+never said anything that could in the slightest degree indicate how I
+felt toward her. But I believe I loved her the second day I met her, and
+I am not sure it did not begin the day before."
+
+"I think that sort of thing is always quick work where Olive is
+concerned," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think it likely that many young
+men have fallen in love with her, and that they have to be very lively
+if they want a chance to tell her so. But don't be jealous. I know
+positively that none of them ever had the slightest chance. But now all
+that is passed. I know she is tired of an unsettled life, and it is
+likely she may soon be thinking of marrying, and there will be no lack
+of suitors. She has them now. But I want her to marry you."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," exclaimed Dick, "you have known me but a very little
+while----"
+
+"Don't mention that," she interrupted. "I do quick work as well as other
+people. I never before engaged in any matchmaking business, but if this
+succeeds, I shall be proud of it to the end of my days. You are in love
+with Olive, and she is worthy of you. I want you to try to win her, and
+I will do everything I can to help you. Here is my hand upon it."
+
+As Dick held that hand and looked into that face a courage and a belief
+in himself came into his heart that had never been there before. By day
+and by night his soul had been filled with the image of Olive, but up to
+this moment he had not thought of marrying her. That was something that
+belonged to the future, not even considered in his state of inchoate
+adoration. But now that he had been told he had reason to hope, he
+hoped; and the fact that one beautiful woman told him he might hope to
+win another beautiful woman was a powerful encouragement. Henceforth he
+would not be content with simply loving Olive; if it were within his
+power he would win, he would have her.
+
+"You look like a soldier going forth to conquest," said Mrs. Easterfield
+with a smile.
+
+"And you," said he impulsively, "you not only look like, but you are an
+angel."
+
+This was pretty strong for the young professor, but the lady understood
+him. She was very glad, indeed, that he could express himself
+impulsively, for without that power he could not win Olive.
+
+As Dick started away from Broadstone on his walk to the toll-gate he
+heard quick steps behind him and was soon overtaken by Claude Locker.
+
+"Hello," said that young man, "if you are on your way home I am going to
+walk a while with you. I have not done a thing to-day."
+
+When Dick heard these words his heart sank. He was on his way home
+accompanied by Olive--Olive in his heart, Olive in his soul, Olive in
+his brain, Olive in the sky and all over the earth--how dared a common
+mortal intrude himself upon the scene?
+
+"There is another thing," said Locker, who was now keeping step with
+him. "My soul is filled with murderous intent. I thirst for human life,
+and I need the restraints of companionship."
+
+"Who is it you want to kill?" asked Dick coldly.
+
+"It is an Austrian," replied the other. "I will not say what Austrian,
+leaving that to your imagination. I don't suppose you ever killed an
+Austrian. Neither have I, but I should like to do it. It would be a
+novel and delightful experience."
+
+Dick did not think it necessary that he should be told more; he
+perfectly understood the state of the case, for it was impossible not to
+see that this young man was paying marked attention to Olive, while Mr.
+Du Brant was doing the same thing. But still it seemed well to say
+something, and he remarked:
+
+"What is the matter with the Austrian?"
+
+"He is in love with Miss Asher," said Locker, "and so am I. I am
+beginning to believe he is positively dangerous. I did not think so at
+first, but I do now. He has actually taken to reading. I know that man;
+I have often seen him in Washington. He was always running after some
+lady or other, but I never knew him to read before. It is a dangerous
+symptom. He reads with one eye, while the other sweeps the horizon to
+catch a glimpse of her. By the way, that would be a splendid idea for a
+district policeman; if he stood under a lamp-post in citizen's dress
+reading a book, no criminal would suspect his identity, and he could
+keep one eye on the printed page, and devote the other to the cause of
+justice. But to return to our sallow mutton, or black sheep, if you
+choose. That Austrian ought to be killed!"
+
+Dick smiled sardonically. "He is not your only obstacle," he said.
+
+"I know it," replied Locker. "There's that Chinese laundried fellow,
+smooth-finished, who came up this morning. He must be an old offender,
+for I saw her giving it to him hot this morning. I am sure she was
+telling him exactly what she thought of him, for he turned as red as a
+pickled beet. So he will have to scratch pretty hard if he expects to
+get into her good graces again, and I suppose that is what he came here
+for. But I am not so much afraid of him as I am of that Austrian. If he
+keeps on the literary lay, and reads books with her, looking up the
+words in the dictionary, it is dangerous."
+
+"I do not see," said Lancaster, somewhat loftily, "why you speak of
+these things to me."
+
+"Then I'll tell you," said Locker quickly. "I speak of them to you
+because you are just as much concerned in them as I am. You are in love
+with Miss Asher--anybody can see that--and, in fact, I should think you
+were a pretty poor sort of a fellow if you were not, after having seen
+and talked with her. Consequently that Austrian is just as dangerous to
+you as he is to me. And as I have chosen you for my brother-in-arms, it
+is right that I tell you everything I know."
+
+"Brother-in-arms?" ejaculated Dick.
+
+"That is what it is," said Locker, "and I will tell you how it came
+about. The Austrian looked upon you with scorn and contempt because you
+rode a horse wearing rolled-up trousers and low shoes. As you did not
+see him and could not return the contempt, I did it for you. Having done
+this, a fellow feeling for you immediately sprang up within me. That is
+what always happens, you know. After that the feeling became a good deal
+stronger, and I said to myself that if I found I could not get Miss
+Asher; and it's seventy-six I don't, for that's generally the state of
+my luck; I would help you to get her, partly because I like you, and
+partly because that Austrian must be ousted, no matter what happens or
+how it is done. So I became your brother-in-arms, and if I find I am out
+of the race, I am going to back you up just as hard as I can, and here's
+my hand upon it."
+
+Dick stopped as he had stopped half an hour before, and gazed upon his
+companion.
+
+"Now don't thank me," continued Locker, "or say anything nice, because
+if I find I can come in ahead of you I am going to do it. But if we work
+together, I am sure we need not be afraid of that Austrian, or of that
+fiery-faced model for a ready-made-clothes shop. It is to be either you
+or me--first place for me, if possible."
+
+Dick could not help laughing. "You are a jolly sort of a fellow," said
+he, "and I will be your brother-in-arms. But it is to be first place for
+me, if possible." And they shook hands upon the bargain.
+
+That evening Mr. Hemphill found Olive alone. "I have been trying to get
+a chance to speak to you, Miss Asher," said he. "I want to ask you to
+help me, for I do not know what in the world to do."
+
+Olive looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"Since you spoke to me this afternoon," he went on, "I have been in a
+state of most miserable embarrassment; I can not for the life of me
+decide what I ought to say or what I ought to do, or what I ought not to
+say or what I ought not to do. If I should pass over as something not
+necessary to take into consideration the--the--most unusual statement
+you made to me, it might be that you would consider me as a boor, a man
+incapable of appreciating the--the--highest honors. Then again, if I do
+say anything to show that I appreciate such honors, you may well
+consider me presumptuous, conceited, and even insulting. I thought a
+while ago that I would leave this house before it would be necessary for
+me to decide how I should act when I met you, but I could not do that.
+Explanations would be necessary, and I would not be able to make them,
+and so, in sheer despair, I have come to you. Whatever you say I ought
+to do I will do. Of myself, I am utterly helpless."
+
+Olive looked at him with serious earnestness. "You are in a queer
+position," she said, "and I don't wonder you do not know what to do. I
+did not think of this peculiar consequence which would result from my
+revelation. As to the revelation itself, there is no use talking about
+it; it had to be made. It would have been unjust and wicked to allow a
+man to live in ignorance of the fact that such a thing had happened to
+him without his knowing it. But I think I can make it all right for
+you. If you had known when you were very young, in fact, when you were
+in another age of man, that a young girl in short dresses was in love
+with you, would you have disdained her affection?"
+
+"I should say not!" exclaimed Rupert Hemphill, his eyes fixed upon the
+person who had once been that girl in short dresses.
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, "there could have been nothing for her to
+complain of, no matter what she knew or what she did not know, and there
+is nothing he could complain of, no matter what he knew or did not know.
+And as both these persons have passed entirely out of existence, I think
+you and I need consider them no longer. And we can talk about tennis or
+bass fishing, or anything we like. And if you are a fisherman you will
+be glad to hear that there is first-rate bass fishing in the river now,
+and that we are talking of getting up a regular fishing party. We shall
+have to go two or three miles below here where the water is deeper and
+there are not so many rocks."
+
+That night Mr. Hemphill dreamed hard of a girl who had loved him when
+she was little, and who continued to love him now that she had grown to
+be wonderfully handsome. He was going out to sail with her in a boat far
+and far away, where nobody could find them or bring them back.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIV_
+
+_A Letter for Olive._
+
+
+The next morning, about an hour after breakfast, Mr. Du Brant proposed
+to Olive. He had received a letter the day before which made it probable
+that he might be recalled to Washington before the time which had been
+fixed for the end of his visit at Broadstone, and he consequently did
+not wish to defer for a moment longer than was necessary this most
+important business of his life. He told Miss Asher that he had never
+truly loved before; which was probably correct; and that as she had
+raised his mind from the common things of earth, upon which it had been
+accustomed to grovel, she had made a new man of him in an astonishingly
+short time; which, it is likely, was also true.
+
+He assured her that without any regard to outside circumstances, he
+could not live without her. If at any other time he had allowed his mind
+to dwell for a moment upon matrimony, he had thought of family,
+position, wealth, social station, and all that sort of thing, but now he
+thought of nothing but her, and he came to offer her his heart. In fact,
+the man was truly and honestly in love.
+
+Inwardly Olive smiled. "I can not ask him," she said to herself, "to say
+this again every day before dinner. He hasn't the wit of Claude Locker,
+and would not be able to vary his remarks; but I can not blast his hopes
+too suddenly, for, if I do that, he will instantly go away, and it would
+not be treating Mrs. Easterfield properly if I were to break up her
+party without her knowledge. But I will talk to her about it. And now
+for him.--Mr. Du Brant," she said aloud, speaking in English, although
+he had proposed to her in French, because she thought she could make her
+own language more impressive, "it is a very serious thing you have said
+to me, and I don't believe you have had time enough to think about it
+properly. Now don't interrupt. I know exactly what you would say. You
+have known me such a little while that even if your mind is made up it
+can not be properly made up, and therefore, for your own sake, I am
+going to give you a chance to think it all over. You must not say you
+don't want to, because I want you to; and when you have thought, and
+thought, and know yourself better--now don't say you can not know
+yourself better if you have a thousand years in which to consider
+it--for though you think that it is true it is not"
+
+"And if I rack my brains and my heart," interrupted Mr. Du Brant, "and
+find out that I can never change nor feel in any other way toward you
+than I feel now, may I then----"
+
+"Now, don't say anything about that," said Olive. "What I want to do now
+is to treat you honorably and fairly, and to give you a chance to
+withdraw if, after sober consideration, you think it best to do so. I
+believe that every young man who thinks himself compelled to propose
+marriage in such hot haste ought to have a chance to reflect quietly
+and coolly, and to withdraw if he wants to. And that is all, Mr. Du
+Brant. I must be off this minute, for Mrs. Easterfield is over there
+waiting for me."
+
+Mr. Du Brant walked thoughtfully away. "I do not understand," he said to
+himself in French, "why she did not tell me I need not speak to her
+again about it. The situation is worthy of diplomatic consideration, and
+I will give it that."
+
+From a distance Claude Locker beheld his Austrian enemy walking alone,
+and without a book.
+
+"Something has happened," he thought, "and the fellow has changed his
+tactics. Before, under cover of a French novel, he was a snake in the
+grass, now he is a snake hopping along on the tip of his tail. Perhaps
+he thinks this is a better way to keep a lookout upon her. I believe he
+is more dangerous than he was before, for I don't know whether a snake
+on tip tail jumps or falls down upon his victims."
+
+One thing Mr. Locker was firmly determined upon. He was going to try to
+see Olive as soon as it was possible before luncheon, and impress upon
+her the ardent nature of his feelings toward her; he did not believe he
+had done this yet. He looked about him. The party, excepting himself and
+Mr. Du Brant, were on the front lawn; he would join them and satirize
+the gloomy Austrian. If Olive could be made to laugh at him it would be
+like preparing a garden-bed with spade and rake before sowing his seeds.
+
+The rural mail-carrier came earlier than usual that day, and he brought
+Olive but one letter, but as it was from her father, she was entirely
+satisfied, and retired to a bench to read it.
+
+In about ten minutes after that she walked into Mrs. Easterfield's
+little room, the open letter in her hand. As Mrs. Easterfield looked up
+from her writing-table the girl seemed transformed; she was taller, she
+was straighter, her face had lost its bloom, and her eyes blazed.
+
+"Would you believe it!" she said, grating out the words as she spoke.
+"My father is going to be married!"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped her pen, and her face lost color. She had
+always been greatly interested in Lieutenant Asher. "What!" she
+exclaimed. "He? And to whom?"
+
+"A girl I used to go to school with," said Olive, standing as if she
+were framed in one solid piece. "Edith Marshall, living in Geneva. She
+is older than I am, but we were in the same classes. They are to be
+married in October, and she is to sail for this country about the time
+his ship comes home. He is to be stationed at Governor's Island, and
+they are to have a house there. He writes, and writes, and writes, about
+how lovely it will be for me to have this dear new mother. Me! To call
+that thing mother! I shall have no mother, but I have lost my father."
+With this she threw herself upon a lounge, and burst into passionate
+tears. Mrs. Easterfield rose, and closed the door.
+
+Claude Locker had no opportunity to press his suit before luncheon, for
+Olive did not come to that meal; she had one of her headaches. Every one
+seemed to appreciate the incompleteness of the party, and even Mrs.
+Easterfield looked serious, which was not usual with her. Mr. Hemphill
+was much cast down, for he had made up his mind to talk to Olive in such
+a way that she should not fail to see that he had taken to heart her
+advice, and might be depended upon to deport himself toward her as if he
+had never heard the words she had addressed to him. He had prepared
+several topics for conversation, but as he would not waste these upon
+the general company, he indulged only in such remarks as were necessary
+to good manners.
+
+Mr. Du Brant talked a good deal in a perfunctory manner, but inwardly he
+was somewhat elated. "Her emotions must have been excited more than I
+supposed," he thought. "That is not a bad sign."
+
+Mrs. Fox was a little bit--a very little bit--annoyed because Mr. Fox
+did not make as many facetious remarks as was his custom. He seemed like
+one who, in a degree, felt that he lacked an audience; Mrs. Fox could
+see no good reason for this.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield went up to Olive's room she found her bathing her
+eyes in cold water.
+
+"Will you lend me a bicycle" said Olive. "I am sure you have one."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement.
+
+"I want to go to my uncle," said Olive. "He is now all I have left in
+this world. I have been thinking, and thinking about everything, and I
+want to go to him. Whatever has come between us will vanish as soon as
+he sees me, I am sure of that. I do not know why he did not want me to
+come back to him, but he will want me now, and I should like to start
+immediately without anybody seeing me."
+
+"But a bicycle!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "You can't go that way. I
+will send you in the carriage."
+
+"No, no, no," cried Olive; "I want to go quietly. I want to go so that I
+can leave my wheel at the door and go right in. I have a short
+walking-skirt, and I can wear that. Please let me have the bicycle."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield made Olive sit down and she talked to her, but there
+was no changing the girl's determination to go to her uncle, to go
+alone, and to go immediately.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XV_
+
+_Olive's Bicycle Trip._
+
+
+Despite Olive's desire to set forth immediately on her bicycle trip, it
+was past the middle of the afternoon when she left Broadstone. She went
+out quietly, not by the usual driveway, and was soon upon the turnpike
+road. As she sped along the cool air upon her face refreshed her; and
+the knowledge that she was so rapidly approaching the dear old
+toll-gate, where, even if she did not find her uncle at the house, she
+could sit with old Jane until he came back, gave her strength and
+courage.
+
+Up a long hill she went, and down again to the level country. Then there
+was a slighter rise in the road, and when she reached its summit she
+saw, less than a mile away, the toll-gate surrounded by its trees, the
+thick foliage of the fruit-trees in the garden, the little tollhouse and
+the long bar, standing up high at its customary incline upon the
+opposite side of the road. Down the little hill she went; and then,
+steadily and swiftly, onward. Presently she saw that some one was on the
+piazza by the side of the tollhouse; his back was toward her, he was
+sitting in his accustomed armchair; she could not be mistaken; it was
+her uncle.
+
+Now and then, while upon the road, she had thought of what she should
+say when she first met him, but she had soon dismissed all ideas of
+preconceived salutations, or explanations. She would be there, and that
+would be enough. Her father's letter was in her pocket, and that was too
+much. All she meant to do was to glide up to that piazza, spring up the
+steps, and present herself to her uncle's astonished gaze before he had
+any idea that any one was approaching.
+
+She was within twenty feet of the piazza when she saw that her uncle was
+not alone; there was some one sitting in front of him who had been
+concealed by his broad shoulders. This person was a woman. She had
+caught sight of Olive, and stuck her head out on one side to look at
+her. Upon her dough-like face there was a grin, and in her eye a light
+of triumph. With one quick glance she seemed to say: "Ah, ha, you find
+me here, do you? What have you to say to that?"
+
+Olive's heart stood still. That woman, that Maria Port, sitting in close
+converse with her uncle in that public place where she had never seen
+any one but men! That horrid woman at such a moment as this! She could
+not speak to her; she could not speak to her uncle in her presence. She
+could not stop. With what she had on her mind, and with what she had in
+her pocket, it would be impossible to say a word before that Maria Port!
+Without a swerve she sped on, and passed the toll-gate. She only knew
+one thing; she could not stop.
+
+The wildest suspicions now rushed into her mind. Why should her uncle
+be thus exposing himself to the public gaze with Maria Port? Why did it
+give the woman such diabolical pleasure to be seen there with him? With
+a mind already prepared for such sickening revelations, Olive was
+convinced that it could mean nothing but that her uncle intended to
+marry Maria Port. What else could it mean? But no matter what it meant,
+she could not stop. She could not go back.
+
+On went her bicycle, and presently she gained sufficient command over
+herself to know that she should not ride into the town. But what else
+could she do? She could not go back while those two were sitting on the
+piazza. Suddenly she remembered the shunpike. She had never been on it,
+but she knew where it left the road, and where it reentered it. So she
+kept on her course, and in a few minutes had reached the narrow country
+road. There were ruts here and there, and sometimes there were stony
+places; there were small hills, mostly rough; and there were few
+stretches of smooth road; but on went Olive; sometimes trying with much
+effort to make good time, and always with tears in her eyes, dimming the
+roadway, the prospect, and everything in the world.
+
+"There now!" exclaimed Maria Port, springing to her feet. "What have you
+got to say to that? If that isn't brazen I never saw brass!"
+
+"What do you mean?" said the captain, rising in his chair.
+
+"Mean?" said Maria Port, leaning over the railing. "Look there! Do you
+see that girl getting away as fast as she can work herself? That's your
+precious niece, Olive Asher, scooting past us with her nose in the air
+as if we was sticks and stones by the side of the road. What have you
+got to say to that, Captain John, I'd like to know?"
+
+The captain ran down the path. "You don't mean to say that is Olive!" he
+cried.
+
+"That's who it is," answered Miss Port. "She looked me square in the
+face as she dashed by. Not a word for you, not a word for me. Impudence!
+That doesn't express it!"
+
+The captain paid no attention to her, but ran into the garden. Old Jane
+was standing near the house door. "Was that Miss Olive?" he cried. "Did
+you see her?"
+
+"Yes," said old Jane, "it was her. I saw her comin', and I came out to
+meet her. But she just shot through the toll-gate as if she didn't know
+there was a toll on bicycles."
+
+The captain stood still in the garden-path. He could not believe that
+Olive had done this to treat him with contempt. She must have heard some
+news. There must be something the matter. She was going into town at the
+top of her speed to send a telegram, intending to stop as she came back.
+She might have stopped anyway if it had not been for that
+good-for-nothing Maria Port. She hated Maria, and he hated her himself,
+at this moment, as she stood by his side, asking him what was the matter
+with him.
+
+"It's no more than you have to expect," said she. "She's a fine lady, a
+navy lady, a foreign lady, that's been with the aristocrats! She's got
+good clothes on that she never wore here, and where I guess she had a
+pretty stupid time, judgin' from how they carry on at that Easterfield
+place. Why in the world should she want to stop and speak to such
+persons as you and me?"
+
+The captain paid no attention to these remarks. "If she doesn't want to
+send a telegram, I don't see what she is going to town for in such a
+hurry. I suppose she thought she could get there sooner than a man could
+go on a horse," he said.
+
+"Telegram!" sneered Miss Port. "It's a great deal easier to send
+telegrams from the gap."
+
+"Then it is something worse," he thought. Perhaps she might be running
+away, though what in the world she was running from he could not
+imagine. Anyway, he must see her; he must find out. When she came back
+she must not pass again, and if she did not come back he must go after
+her. He ran to the road and put down the bar, calling to old Jane to
+come there and keep a sharp lookout. Then he quickly returned to the
+house.
+
+"What are you going to do" asked Miss Port. "I never saw a man in such a
+fluster."
+
+"If she does not come back very soon," said he, "I shall go to town
+after her."
+
+"Then I suppose I might as well be going myself," said she. "And by the
+way, captain, if you are going to town, why don't you take a seat in my
+carriage? Dear knows me and the boy don't fill it."
+
+But the captain would consider no such invitation. When he met Olive he
+did not want Maria Port to be along. He did not answer, and went into
+the house to make some change in his attire. Old Jane would not let
+Olive pass, and if he met her on the road or in the town he wanted to be
+well dressed.
+
+Miss Port still stood in the path by the house door. "That's not what I
+call polite," said she, "but he's awful flustered, and I don't mind."
+
+Far from minding, Maria was pleased; it pleased her to know that his
+niece's conduct had flustered him. The more that girl flustered him the
+better it would be, and she smiled with considerable satisfaction. If
+she could get that girl out of the way she believed she would find but
+little difficulty in carrying out her scheme to embitter the remainder
+of the good captain's life. She did not put it in that way to herself;
+but that was the real character of the scheme.
+
+Suddenly an idea struck her. It was of no use for her to stand and wait,
+for she knew she would not be able to induce the captain to go with her.
+It would be a great thing if she could, for to drive into town with him
+by her side would go far to make the people of Glenford understand what
+was going to happen. But, if she could not do this, she could do
+something else. If she started away immediately she might meet that
+Asher girl coming back, and it would be a very fine thing if she could
+have an interview with her before she saw her uncle.
+
+She made a quick step toward the house and looked in. The captain was
+not visible, but old Jane was standing near the back door of the
+tollhouse. The opportunity was not to be lost.
+
+"Good-by, John," said she in a soft tone, but quite loud enough for the
+old woman to hear. "I'll go home first, for I've got to see to gettin'
+supper ready for you. So good-by, John, for a little while." And she
+kissed her hand to the inside of the house.
+
+Then she hurried out of the gate; got into the little phaeton which was
+waiting for her under a tree; and drove away. She had come there that
+afternoon on the pretense of consulting the captain about her father's
+health, which she said disturbed her, and she had requested the
+privilege of sitting on the toll-gate piazza because she had always
+wanted to sit there, and had never been invited. The captain had not
+invited her then, but as she had boldly marched to the piazza and taken
+a seat, he had been obliged to follow.
+
+Captain Asher, wearing a good coat and hat, relieved old Jane at her
+post, and waited and waited for Olive to come back. He did not for a
+moment think she might return by the shunpike, for that was a rough
+road, not fit for a bicycle. And if she passed this way once, why should
+she object to doing it again?
+
+When more than time enough had elapsed for her return from the town, he
+started forth with a heavy heart to follow her. He told old Jane that if
+for any reason he should be detained in town until late, he would take
+supper with Mr. Port, and if, although he did not expect this, he should
+not come back that night, the Ports would know of his whereabouts. He
+did not take his horse and buggy because he thought it would be in his
+way. If he met Olive in the road he could more easily stop and talk to
+her if he were walking than if he had a horse to take care of.
+
+"I hope you're not runnin' after Miss Olive," said old Jane.
+
+The captain did not wish his old servant to imagine that it was
+necessary for him to run after his niece, and so he answered rather
+quickly: "Of course not." Then he set off toward the town. He did not
+walk very fast, for if he met Olive he would rather have a talk with her
+on the road than in Glenford.
+
+He walked on and on, not with his eyes on the smooth surface of the
+pike, but looking out afar, hoping that he might soon see the figure of
+a girl on a bicycle; and thus it was that he passed the entrance to the
+shunpike without noticing that a bicycle track turned into it.
+
+Olive struggled on, and the road did not improve. She worked hard with
+her body, but still harder with her mind. It seemed to her as though
+everything were endeavoring to crush her, and that it was almost
+succeeding. If she had been in her own room, seated, or walking the
+floor, indignation against her uncle would have given her the same
+unnatural vigor and energy which had possessed her when she read her
+father's letter; but it is impossible to be angry when one is physically
+tired and depressed, and this was Olive's condition now. Once she
+dismounted, sat down on a piece of rock, and cried. The rest was of
+service to her, but she could not stay there long; the road was too
+lonely. She must push on. So on she pressed, sometimes walking, and
+sometimes on her wheel, the pedals apparently growing stiffer at every
+turn. Slight mishaps she did not mind, but a fear began to grow upon her
+that she would never be able to reach Broadstone at all. But after a
+time--a very long time it seemed--the road grew more level and smooth;
+and then ahead she saw the white surface of the turnpike shining as it
+passed the end of her road. When she should emerge on that smooth, hard
+road it could not be long, even if she went slowly, before she reached
+home. She was still some fifty yards from the pike when she saw a man
+upon it, walking southward.
+
+As Dick Lancaster passed the end of the road he lifted his head, and
+looked along it. It was strange that he should do so, for since he had
+started on his homeward walk he had not raised his eyes from the ground.
+He had reached Broadstone soon after luncheon, before Olive had left on
+her wheel, and had passed rather a stupid time, playing tennis with
+Claude Locker, he had seen but little of Mrs. Easterfield, whose mind
+was evidently occupied. Once she had seemed about to take him into her
+confidence, but had suddenly excused herself, and had gone into the
+house. When the game was finished Locker advised him to go home.
+
+"She is not likely to be down until dinner time," he had said, "and this
+evening I'll defend our cause against those other fellows. I have
+several good things in my mind that I am sure will interest her, and I
+don't believe there's any use courting a girl unless you interest her."
+
+Lancaster had taken the advice, and had left much earlier than was
+usual.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVI_
+
+_Mr. Lancaster accepts a Mission._
+
+
+When Dick Lancaster saw Olive he stopped with a start, and then ran
+toward her.
+
+"Miss Asher!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? What is the
+matter? You look pale."
+
+When she saw him coming Olive had dismounted, not with the active spring
+usual with her, but heavily and clumsily. She did not even smile as she
+spoke to him.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Mr. Lancaster," she said. "I am on my way back to
+Broadstone, and I would like to send a message to my uncle by you."
+
+"Back from where? And why on this road?" he was about to ask, but he
+checked himself. He saw that she trembled as she stood.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "you must stop and rest. Let me take your wheel
+and come over to this bank and sit down."
+
+She sat down in the shade and took off her hat; and for a moment she
+quietly enjoyed the cool breeze upon her head. He did not want to annoy
+her with questions, but he could not help saying:
+
+"You look very tired."
+
+"I ought to be tired," she answered, "for I have gone over a perfectly
+dreadful road. Of course, you wonder why I came this way, and the best
+thing for me to do is to begin at the beginning and to tell you all
+about it, so that you will know what I have been doing, and then
+understand what I would like you to do for me."
+
+So she told him all her tale, and, telling it, seemed to relieve her
+mind while her tired body rested. Dick listened with earnest avidity. He
+lost not the slightest change in her expression as she spoke. He was
+shocked when he heard of her father; he was grieved when he imagined how
+she must have felt when the news came to her; he was angry when he heard
+of the impertinent glare of Maria Port; and his heart was torn when he
+knew of this poor girl's disappointment, of her soul-harrowing
+conjectures, of her wearisome and painful progress along that rough
+road; of which progress she said but little, although its consequences
+he could plainly see. All these things showed themselves upon his
+countenance as he gazed upon her and listened, not only with his ears,
+but his heart.
+
+"I shall be more than glad," he said, when she had finished, "to carry
+any message, or to do anything you want me to do. But I must first
+relieve you of one of your troubles. Your uncle has not the slightest
+idea of marrying Miss Port. I don't believe he would marry anybody; but,
+of all women, not that vulgar creature. Let me assure you, Miss Asher,
+that I have heard him talk about her, and I know he has the most
+contemptuous opinion of her. I have heard him make fun of her, and I
+don't believe he would have anything to do with her if it were not for
+her father, who is one of his oldest friends."
+
+She looked at him incredulously. "And yet they were sitting close
+together," she said; "so close that at first I did not see her;
+apparently talking in the most private manner in a very public place.
+They surely looked very much like an engaged couple as I have noticed
+them. And old Jane has told me that everybody knows she is trying to
+trap him; and surely there is good reason to believe that she has
+succeeded."
+
+Dick shook his head. "Impossible, Miss Asher," he said. "He never would
+have such a woman. I know him well enough to be absolutely sure of that.
+Of course, he treats her kindly, and perhaps he is sociable with her. It
+is his nature to be friendly, and he has known her for a long time. But
+marry her! Never! I am certain, Miss Asher, he would never do that."
+
+"I wish I could believe it," said she.
+
+"I can easily prove it to you," he said. "I will take your message to
+your uncle, I will tell him all you want me to tell him, and then I will
+ask him, frankly and plainly, about Miss Port. I do not in the least
+object to doing it. I am well enough acquainted with him to know that he
+is a frank, plain man. I am sure he will be much amused at your
+supposition, and angry, too, when I tell him of the way that woman
+looked at you and so prevented you from stopping when you had come
+expressly to see him. Then I will immediately come to Broadstone to
+relieve your mind in regard to the Maria Port business, and to bring
+you whatever message your uncle has to send you."
+
+"No, no," said Olive, "you must not do that. It would be too much to
+come back to-day. You have relieved my mind somewhat about that woman,
+and I am perfectly willing to wait until to-morrow, when you can tell me
+exactly how everything is, and let me know when my uncle would like me
+to come and see him. I think it will be better next time not to take him
+by surprise. But I would be very, very grateful to you, Mr, Lancaster,
+if you would come as early in the morning as you can. I can wait very
+well until then, now that my mind is easier, but I am afraid that when
+to-morrow begins I shall be very impatient. My troubles are always worse
+in the morning. But you must not walk. My uncle has a horse and buggy.
+But perhaps it would be better to let Mrs. Easterfield send for you. I
+know she will be glad to do it."
+
+Dick assured her that he did not wish to be sent for; that he would
+borrow the captain's horse, and would be at Broadstone as early as was
+proper to make a visit.
+
+"Proper!" exclaimed Olive. "In a case like this any time is proper. In
+Mrs. Easterfield's name I invite you to breakfast. I know she will be
+glad to have me do it. And now I must go on. You are very, very good,
+and I am very grateful."
+
+Dick could not say that he was more grateful for being allowed to help
+her than she could possibly be for being helped, but his face showed it,
+and if she had looked at him she would have known it.
+
+"Miss Asher," he exclaimed as she rose, "your skirt is covered with
+dust. You must have fallen."
+
+"I did have one fall," she said, "but I was so worried I did not mind."
+
+"But you can not go back in that plight," he said; "let me dust your
+skirt." And breaking a little branch from a bush, he proceeded to make
+her look presentable. "And now," said he, when she had complimented him
+upon his skill, "I will walk with you to the entrance of the grounds.
+Perhaps as you are so tired," he said hesitatingly, "I can help you
+along, so that you will not have to work so hard yourself."
+
+"Oh, no," she answered; "that is not at all necessary. When I am on the
+turnpike I can go beautifully. I feel ever so much rested and stronger,
+and it is all due to you. So you see, although you will not go with me,
+you will help me very much." And she smiled as she spoke. He truly had
+helped her very much.
+
+Dick was unwilling that she should go on alone, although it was still
+broad daylight and there was no possible danger, and he was also
+unwilling because he wanted to go with her, but there was no use saying
+anything or thinking anything, and so he stood and watched her rolling
+along until she had passed the top of a little hill, and had departed
+from his view. Then he ran to the top of the little hill, and watched
+her until she was entirely out of sight.
+
+The rest of the way to the toll-gate seemed very short to Dick, but he
+had time enough to make up his mind that he would see the captain at the
+earliest possible moment; that he would deliver his message and the
+letter of Lieutenant Asher; that he would immediately bring up the
+matter of Maria Port and let the captain know the mischief that woman
+had done. Then, armed with the assurances the captain would give him, he
+would start for Broadstone after supper, and carry the good news to
+Olive. It would be a shame to let that dear girl remain in suspense for
+the whole night, when he, by riding, or even walking an inconsiderable
+number of miles, could relieve her. He found old Jane in the tollhouse.
+
+"Where is the captain" he asked.
+
+"The captain?" she repeated. "He's in town takin' supper with his
+sweetheart."
+
+Dick stared at her.
+
+"Perhaps you haven't heard that he's engaged to Maria Port," said the
+woman; "and I don't wonder you're taken back! But I suppose everybody
+will soon know it now, and the sooner the better, I say."
+
+"What are you talking about" exclaimed Dick. "You don't mean to tell me
+that the captain is going to marry Miss Port?"
+
+"Whether he wants to or not, he's gone so far he'll have to. I've knowed
+for a long time she's been after him, but I didn't think she'd catch him
+just yet."
+
+"I don't believe it." cried Dick. "It must be a mistake! How do you know
+it?"
+
+"Know!" said old Jane, who, ordinarily a taciturn woman, was now excited
+and inclined to volubility. "Don't you suppose I've got eyes and ears?
+Didn't I see them for ever and ever so long sittin' out on this piazza,
+where everybody could see 'em, a-spoonin' like a couple of young people?
+And didn't I see 'em tearin' themselves asunder as if they couldn't
+bear to be apart for an hour? And didn't I hear her tell him she was
+goin' home to get an extry good supper for him? And didn't I hear her
+call him 'dear John,' and kiss her hand to him. And if you don't believe
+me you can go into the kitchen and ask Mary; she heard the 'dear John'
+and saw the hand-kissin'. And then didn't he tell me he was goin' to the
+Ports' to supper, and if he stayed late and anybody asked for
+him--meaning you, most probable, and I think he might have left
+somethin' more of a message for you--that he was to be found with the
+Ports--with Maria most likely, for the old man goes to bed early?"
+
+Dick made no answer; he was standing motionless looking out upon the
+flowers in the garden.
+
+"And perhaps you haven't heard of Miss Olive comin' past on a bicycle,"
+old Jane remarked. "I saw her comin', and I knew by the look on her face
+that it made her sick to see that woman sittin' here, and I don't blame
+her a bit. When he started so early for town I thought he might be
+intendin' to look for her, and yet be in time for the Ports' supper, but
+she didn't come back this way at all, and I expect she went home by the
+shunpike."
+
+"Which she did," said Dick, showing by this remark that he was listening
+to what the old woman was saying.
+
+"But he cut me mighty short when I asked him," continued old Jane. "I
+tried to ease his mind, but as I found his mind didn't need no easin', I
+minded my own business, just as he was mindin' his. And now, sir, you'll
+have to eat your supper alone this time."
+
+If Dick's supper had consisted of nectar and the brains of nightingales
+he would not have noticed it; and, until late in the evening, he sat in
+the arbor, anxiously waiting for the captain's return. About ten o'clock
+old Jane, sleepy from having sat up so long, called to him from the door
+that he might as well come in and let her lock up the house. The captain
+was not coming home that night. He had stayed with the Ports once
+before, when the old man was sick.
+
+"I guess he's got a better reason for stayin' tonight," she said. "It'll
+be a great card for that Maria when the Glenford people knows it, and
+they'll know it you may be sure, if she has to go and walk the soles of
+her feet off tellin' them. One thing's mighty sure," she continued. "I'm
+not goin' to stay here with her in the house. He'll have to get somebody
+else to help him take toll. But I guess she'll want to do that herself.
+Nothin' would suit her better than to be sittin' all day in the
+tollhouse talkin' scandal to everybody that goes by."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVII_
+
+_Dick is not a Prompt Bearer of News._
+
+
+When the captain reached Glenford, and before he went to the Ports' he
+went to the telegraph-office, and made inquiries at various other
+places, but his niece had not been seen in town. He wandered about so
+long and asked so many questions that it was getting dark when he
+suddenly thought of the shunpike. He had not thought of it before, for
+it was an unfit road for bicycles, but now he saw that he had been a
+fool. That was the only way she could have gone back.
+
+Hurrying to a livery-stable, he hired a horse and buggy and a lantern,
+and drove to the shunpike. There he plainly saw the track of the bicycle
+as it had turned into that rough road. Then he drove on, examining every
+foot of the way, fearful that he might see, lying senseless by the side
+of the road, the figure of a girl, perhaps unconscious from fatigue,
+perhaps dead from an accident.
+
+When at last he emerged upon the turnpike he lost the track of the
+bicycle, but still he went on, all the way to Broadstone; a girl might
+be lying senseless by the side of the road, even on the pike, which at
+this time was not much frequented. Thus assuring himself that Olive had
+reached Broadstone in safety, or at least had not fallen by the way, he
+turned and drove back to town upon the pike, passing his own toll-gate,
+where the bar was always up after dark. He had promised to return the
+horse that night, and, as he had promised, he intended to do it. It was
+after nine o'clock when, returning from the livery-stable, he reached
+the Port house, and saw Maria sitting in the open doorway.
+
+She instantly ran out to meet him, asking him somewhat sharply why he
+had disappointed them. She had kept the supper waiting ever so long. He
+went in to see her father, who was sitting up for him, and she busied
+herself in getting him a fresh supper. Nice and hot the supper was, and
+although his answers to her questions had not been satisfactory, she
+concealed her resentment, if she had any. When the meal was over both
+father and daughter assured him that it was too late for him to go home
+that night, and that he must stay with them. Tired and troubled, Captain
+Asher accepted the invitation.
+
+As soon as he could get away from the Port residence the next morning
+Captain Asher went home. He had hoped he would have been able to leave
+before breakfast, but the solicitous Maria would not listen to this. She
+prepared him a most tempting breakfast, cooking some of the things with
+her own hands, and she was so attentive, so anxious to please, so kind
+in her suggestions, and in every way so desirous to make him happy
+through the medium of savory food and tender-hearted concern, that she
+almost made him angry. Never before, he thought, had he seen a woman
+make such a coddling fool of herself. He knew very well what it meant,
+and that provoked him still more.
+
+When at last he got away he walked home in a bad humor; he was even
+annoyed with Olive. Granting that what she had done was natural enough
+under the circumstances, and that she had not wished to stop when she
+saw him in company with a woman she did not like, he thought she might
+have considered him as well as herself. She should have known that it
+would give him great trouble for her to dash by in that way and neither
+stop nor come back to explain matters. She must have known that Maria
+Port was not going to stay always, and she might have waited somewhere
+until the woman had gone. If she had had the least idea of how much he
+wanted to see her she would have contrived some way to come back to him.
+But no, she went back to Broadstone to please herself, and left him to
+wander up and down the roads looking for her in the dark.
+
+When the captain met old Jane at the door of the tollhouse her
+salutation did not smooth his ruffled spirits, for she told him that she
+and Mr. Lancaster had sat up until nearly the middle of the night
+waiting for him, and that the poor young man must have felt it, for he
+had not eaten half a breakfast.
+
+The captain paid but little attention to these remarks and passed in,
+but before he crossed the garden he met Dick, who informed him that he
+had something very important to communicate. Important communications
+that must be delivered without a moment's loss of time are generally
+unpleasant, and knowing this, the captain knit his brows a little, but
+told Dick he would be ready for him as soon as he lighted his pipe. He
+felt he must have something to soothe his ruffled spirits while he
+listened to the tale of the woes of some one else.
+
+But at the moment he scratched his match to light his pipe his soul was
+illuminated by a flash of joy; perhaps Dick was going to tell him he was
+engaged to Olive; perhaps that was what she had come to tell him the day
+before. He had not expected to hear anything of this kind, at least not
+so soon, but it had been the wish of his heart--he now knew that without
+appreciating the fact--it had been the earnest wish of his heart for
+some time, and he stepped toward the little arbor with the alacrity of
+happy anticipation.
+
+As soon as they were seated Dick began to speak of Olive, but not in the
+way the captain had hoped for. He mentioned the great trouble into which
+she had been plunged, and gave the captain his brother's letter to read.
+When he had finished it the captain's face darkened, and his frown was
+heavy.
+
+"An outrageous piece of business," he said, "to treat a daughter in this
+way; to put a schoolmate over her head in the family! It is shameful!
+And this is what she was coming to tell me?"
+
+"Yes," said Dick, "that is it."
+
+Now there was another flash of joy in the captain's heart, which cleared
+up his countenance and made his frown disappear. "She was coming to me,"
+he thought. "I was the one to whom she turned in her trouble." And it
+seemed to this good captain as if he had suddenly become the father of a
+grown-up daughter.
+
+"But what message did she send me?" he asked quickly. "Did she say when
+she was coming again?"
+
+Dick hesitated; Olive had said that she wanted her uncle to say when he
+wanted to see her, so that there should be no more surprising, but this
+request had been conditional. Dick knew that she did not want to come if
+her uncle were going to marry Miss Port; therefore it was that he
+hesitated.
+
+"Before we go any further," he said, "I think I would better mention a
+little thing which will make you laugh, but still it did worry Miss
+Asher, and was one reason why she went back to Broadstone without
+stopping."
+
+"What is it" asked the captain, putting down his pipe.
+
+Dick did not come out plainly and frankly, as he had told Olive he would
+do when he mentioned the Maria Port matter. In his own heart he could
+not help believing now that Olive's suspicions had had good foundations,
+and old Jane's announcements, combined with the captain's own actions in
+regard to the Port family, had almost convinced him that this miserable
+engagement was a fact. But, of course, he would not in any way intimate
+to the captain that he believed in such nonsense, and therefore, in an
+offhand manner, he mentioned Olive's absurd anxiety in regard to Miss
+Port.
+
+When the captain heard Dick's statement he answered it in the most frank
+and plain manner; he brought his big hand down on his knee and swore as
+if one of his crew had boldly contradicted him. He did not swear at
+anybody in particular; there was the roar and the crash of the thunder
+and the flash of the lightning, but no direct stroke descended upon any
+one. He was angry that such a repulsive and offensive thing as his
+marriage to Maria Port should be mentioned, or even thought of, but he
+was enraged when he heard that his niece had believed him capable of
+such disgusting insanity. With a jerk he rose to his feet.
+
+"I will not talk about such a thing as this," he said. "If I did I am
+sure I should say something hard about my niece, and I don't want to do
+that." With this he strode away, and proceeded to look after the
+concerns of his little farm.
+
+Old Jane came cautiously to Dick. "Did he tell you when it was going to
+be, or anything about it?" she asked.
+
+"No," said Dick, "he would not even speak of it."
+
+"I suppose he expects us to mind our own business," said she, "and of
+course we'll have to do it, but I can tell him one thing--I'm goin' to
+make it my business to leave this place the day before that woman comes
+here."
+
+Dejected and thoughtful, Dick sat in the arbor. Here was a state of
+affairs very different from what he had anticipated. He had not been
+able to hurry to her the evening before; he had not gone to breakfast as
+she had invited him; he had not started off early in the forenoon; and
+now he asked himself when should he go, or, indeed, why should he go at
+all? She had no anxieties he could relieve. Anything he could tell her
+would only heap more unhappiness upon her, and the longer he could keep
+his news from her the better it would be for her.
+
+Olive had not joined the Broadstone party at dinner the night before.
+She had been too tired, and had gone directly to her room, where, after
+a time, Mrs. Easterfield joined her; and the two talked late. One who
+had overheard their conversation might well have supposed that the elder
+lady was as much interested in Lieutenant Asher's approaching nuptials
+as was the younger one. When she was leaving Mrs. Easterfield said:
+
+"You have enough on your mind to give it all the trouble it ought to
+bear, and so I beg of you not to think for a moment of that absurd idea
+about your uncle's engagement. I never saw the woman, but I have heard
+of her; she is a professional scandal-monger; and Captain Asher would
+not think for a moment of marrying her. When Mr. Lancaster comes
+to-morrow you will hear that she was merely consulting him on business,
+and that you are to go to the toll-gate to-morrow as soon as you can.
+But remember, this time I am going to send you in the carriage. No more
+bicycles."
+
+In spite of this well-intentioned admonition, Olive did not sleep well,
+and dreamed all night of Miss Port in the shape of a great cat covered
+with feathers like a chicken, and trying to get a chance to jump at her.
+Very early she awoke, and looking at her clock, she began to calculate
+the hours which must pass before Mr. Lancaster could arrive. It was
+rather strange that of the two troubles which came to her as soon as she
+opened her eyes, the suspected engagement of her uncle pushed itself in
+front of the actual engagement of her father; the one was something she
+_knew_ she would have to make up her mind to bear; the other was
+something she _feared_ she would have to make up her mind to bear.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+_What Olive determined to do._
+
+
+Olive was very much disappointed at breakfast time, and as soon as she
+had finished that meal she stationed herself at a point on the grounds
+which commanded the entrance. People came and talked to her, but she did
+not encourage conversation, and about eleven o'clock she went to Mrs.
+Easterfield in her room.
+
+"He is not coming," she said. "He is afraid."
+
+"What is he afraid of?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"He is afraid to tell me that the optimistic speculations with which he
+tried to soothe my mind arose entirely from his own imagination. The
+whole thing is exactly what I expected, and he hasn't the courage to
+come and say so. Now, really, don't you think this is the state of the
+case, and that if he had anything but the worst news to bring me he
+would have been here long ago?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked very serious. "I would not give up," she said,
+"until I saw Mr. Lancaster and heard what he has to say."
+
+"That would not suit me," said Olive. "I have waited and waited just as
+long as I can. It is as likely as not that he has concluded that he can
+not do anything here which will be of service to any one, and has
+started off to finish his vacation at some place where people won't
+bother him with their own affairs. He told me when I first met him that
+he was on his way North. And now, would you like me to tell you what I
+have determined to do?"
+
+"I would," said Mrs. Easterfield, but her expression did not indicate
+that she expected Olive's announcement to give her any pleasure.
+
+"I have been considering it all the morning," said Olive, "and I have
+determined to marry without delay. The greatest object of my life at
+present is to write to my father that I am married. I don't wish to tell
+him anything until I can tell him that. I would also be glad to be able
+to send the same message to the toll-gate house, but I don't suppose it
+will make much difference there."
+
+"Do you think," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that my inviting you here made
+all this trouble?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "It was not the immediate cause, but uncle knows I do
+not like that woman, and she doesn't like me, and it would not have
+suited him to have me stay very much longer with him. I thought at first
+he was glad to have me go on account of Mr. Lancaster, but now I do not
+believe that had anything to do with it. He did not want me with him,
+and what that woman came here and told me about his not expecting me
+back again was, I now believe, a roundabout message from him."
+
+"Now, Olive," said Mrs. Easterfield, "it would be a great deal better
+for you to stop all this imagining until you hear from Mr. Lancaster,
+if you don't see him. Perhaps the poor young man has sprained his ankle,
+or was prevented in some ordinary way from coming. But what is this
+nonsense about getting married?"
+
+"There is no nonsense about it," said Olive. "I am going to marry, but I
+have not chosen any one yet."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield uttered an exclamation of horror. "Choose!" she
+exclaimed. "What have you to do with choosing? I don't think you are
+much like other girls, but I did think you had enough womanly qualities
+to make you wait until you are chosen."
+
+"I intend to wait until I am chosen," said Olive, "but I shall choose
+the person who is to choose me. I have always thought it absurd for a
+young woman to sit and wait and wait until some one comes and sees fit
+to propose to her. Even under ordinary circumstances, I think the young
+woman has not a fair chance to get what she wants. But my case is
+extraordinary, and I can't afford to wait; and as I don't want to go out
+into the world to look for a husband, I am going to take one of these
+young men here."
+
+"Olive," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "you don't mean you are going to marry
+Mr. Locker?"
+
+"You forget," said Olive, "that I told you I have not made up my mind
+yet. But although I have not come to a decision, I have a leaning toward
+one of them. The more I think of it the more I incline in the direction
+of my old love."
+
+"Mr. Hemphill!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Olive, you are crazy, or
+else you are joking in a very disagreeable manner. There could be no
+one more unfit for you than he is."
+
+"I am not crazy, and I am not joking," replied the girl, "and I think
+Rupert would suit me very well. You see, I think a great deal more of
+Rupert than I do of Mr. Hemphill, although the latter gentleman has
+excellent points. He is commonplace, and, above everything else, I want
+a commonplace husband. I want some one to soothe me, and quiet me, and
+to give me ballast. If there is anything out of the way to be done I
+want to do it myself. I am sure he is in love with me, for his anxious
+efforts to make me believe that the frank avowal of my early affection
+had no effect upon him proves that he was very much affected. I believe
+that he is truly in love with me."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield's sharp eyes had seen this, and she had nothing to say.
+
+"I believe," continued Olive, "that a retrospect love will be a better
+foundation for conjugal happiness than any other sort of affection. One
+can always look back to it no matter what happens, and be happy in the
+memory of it. It would be something distinct which could never be
+interfered with. You can't imagine what an earnest and absorbing love I
+once had for that man!"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sprang to her feet. "Olive Asher," she cried, "I can't
+listen to you if you talk in this way!"
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, "if you object so much to Rupert--you must not
+forget that it would be Rupert that I would really marry if I became the
+wife of Mr. Hemphill--do you advise me to take Mr. Locker? And I will
+tell you this, he is not to be rudely set aside; he has warm-hearted
+points which I did not suspect at first. I will tell you what he just
+said to me. As I was coming up-stairs he hurried toward me, and his face
+showed that he was very anxious to speak to me. So before he could utter
+a word, I told him that he was too early; that his hour had not yet
+arrived. Then that good fellow said to me that he had seen I was in
+trouble, and that he had been informed it had been caused by bad news
+from my family. He had made no inquiries because he did not wish to
+intrude upon my private affairs, and all he wished to say now was that
+while my mind was disturbed and worried he did not intend to present his
+own affairs to my attention, even though I had fixed regular times for
+his doing so. But although he wished me to understand that I need not
+fear his making love to me just at this time, he wanted me to remember
+that his love was still burning as brightly as ever, and would be again
+offered me just as soon as he would be warranted in doing so."
+
+"And what did you say to that?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I felt like patting him on the head," Olive answered, "but instead of
+doing that I shook his hand just as warmly as I could, and told him I
+should not forget his consideration and good feeling."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sighed. "You have joined him fast to your car," she
+said, "and yet, even if there were no one else, he would be impossible."
+
+"Why so?" asked Olive quickly. "I have always liked him, and now I like
+him ever so much better. To be sure he is queer; but then he is so much
+queerer than I am that perhaps in comparison I might take up the part
+of commonplace partner. Besides, he has money enough to live on. He told
+me that when he first addressed me. He said he would never ask any woman
+to live on pickled verse feet, and he has also told me something of his
+family, which must be a good one."
+
+"Olive," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I don't believe at all in the necessity
+or the sense in your precipitating plans of marrying. It is all airy
+talk, anyway. You can't ask a man to step up and marry you in order that
+you may sit down and write a letter to your father. But if you are
+thinking of marrying, or rather of preparing to marry at some suitable
+time, why, in the name of everything that is reasonable, don't you take
+Mr. Lancaster? He is as far above the other young men you have met here
+as the mountains are above the plains; he belongs to another class
+altogether. He is a thoroughly fine young man, and has a most honorable
+profession with good prospects, and I know he loves you. You need not
+ask me how I know it--it is always easy for a woman to find out things
+like that. Now, here is a prospective husband for you whose cause I
+should advocate. In fact, I should be delighted to see you married to
+him. He possesses every quality which would make you a good husband."
+
+Olive smiled. "You seem to know a great deal about him," said she, "and
+I assure you that so far as he himself is concerned, I have no
+objections to him, except that I think he might have had the courage to
+come and tell me the truth this morning, whatever it is."
+
+"Perhaps he has not found out the truth yet," quickly suggested Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+Olive fixed her eyes upon her companion and for a few moments reflected,
+but presently she shook her head.
+
+"No, that can not be," she answered. "He would have let me know he had
+been obliged to wait. Oh, no, it is all settled, and we can drop that
+subject. But as for Mr. Lancaster, his connections would make any
+thought of him impossible. He, and his father, too, are both close
+friends of my uncle, and he would be a constant communication between me
+and that woman unless there should be a quarrel, which I don't wish to
+cause. No, I want to leave everything of that sort as far behind me as
+it used to be in front of me, and as Professor Lancaster is mixed up
+with it I could not think of having anything to do with him."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was silent. She was trying to make up her mind whether
+this girl were talking sense or nonsense. What she said seemed to be
+extremely nonsensical, but as she said it, it was difficult to believe
+that she did not consider it to be entirely rational.
+
+"Well," said Olive, "you have objected to two of my candidates, and I
+positively decline the one you offer, so we have left only the diplomat.
+He has proposed, and he has not yet received a definite answer. You have
+told me yourself that he belongs to an aristocratic family in Austria,
+and I am sure that would be a grand match. We have talked together a
+great deal, and he seems to like the things I like. I should see plenty
+of court life and high society, for he will soon be transferred from
+this legation, and if I take him I shall go to some foreign capital. He
+is very sharp and ambitious, and I have no doubt that some day he will
+be looked upon as a distinguished foreigner. Now, as it is the ambition
+of many American girls to marry distinguished foreigners, this alliance
+is certainly worthy of due consideration."
+
+"Stuff!" said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+Olive was not annoyed, and replied very quietly: "It is not stuff. You
+must know young women who have married foreigners and who did not do
+anything like so well as if they had married rising diplomats."
+
+Mrs. Blynn now knocked at the door on urgent household business.
+
+"I shall want to see you again about all this, Olive," said Mrs.
+Easterfield as they parted.
+
+"Of course," replied the girl, "whenever you want to."
+
+"Mrs. Blynn," said the lady of the house, "before you mention what you
+have come to talk about, please tell one of the men to put a horse to a
+buggy and come to the house. I want to send a message by him."
+
+The letter which was speedily on its way to Mr. Richard Lancaster was a
+very brief one. It simply asked the young gentleman to come to
+Broadstone, with bad news or good news, or without any news at all. It
+was absolutely necessary that the writer should see him, and in order
+that there might be no delay she sent a conveyance for him. Moreover,
+she added, it would give her great pleasure if Mr. Lancaster would come
+prepared to spend a couple of days at her house. She felt sure good
+Captain Asher would spare him for that short time. She believed that at
+this moment more gentlemen were needed at Broadstone, and, although she
+did not go on to say that she thought Dick was not having a fair chance
+at this very important crisis, that is what she expected the young man
+to understand.
+
+Just before luncheon, at the time when Claude Locker might have been
+urging his suit had he been less kind-hearted and generous, Olive found
+an opportunity to say a few words to Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"A capital idea has come into my head," she said. "What do you think of
+holding a competitive examination among these young men?"
+
+"More stuff, and more nonsense!" ejaculated Mrs. Easterfield. "I never
+knew any one to trifle with serious subjects as you are trifling with
+your future."
+
+"I am not trifling," said Olive. "Of course, I don't mean that I should
+hold an examination, but that you should. You know that parents--foreign
+parents, I mean--make all sorts of examinations of the qualifications
+and merits of candidates for the hands of their daughters, and I should
+be very grateful if you would be at least that much of a mother to me."
+
+"No examination would be needed," said the other quickly; "I should
+decide upon Mr. Lancaster without the necessity of any questions or
+deliberations."
+
+"But he is not a candidate," said Olive; "he has been ruled out.
+However," she added with a little laugh, "nothing can be done just now,
+for they have not all entered themselves in the competition; Mr.
+Hemphill has not proposed yet."
+
+At that instant the rest of the family joined them on their way to
+luncheon.
+
+The meal was scarcely over when Olive disappeared up-stairs, but soon
+came down attired in a blue sailor suit, which she had not before worn
+at Broadstone, and although the ladies of that house had been astonished
+at the number of costumes this navy girl carried in her unostentatious
+baggage, this was a new surprise to them.
+
+"Mr. Hemphill and I are going boating," said Olive to Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Olive!" exclaimed the other.
+
+"What is there astonishing about it?" asked the girl. "I have been out
+boating with Mr. Locker, and it did not amaze you. You need not be
+afraid; Mr. Hemphill says he has had a good deal of practise in rowing,
+and if he does not understand the management of a boat I am sure I do.
+It is only for an hour, and we shall be ready for anything that the rest
+of you are going to do this afternoon."
+
+With this, away she went, skipping over the rocks and grass, down to the
+river's edge, followed by Mr. Hemphill, who could scarcely believe he
+was in a world of common people and common things, while he, in turn,
+was followed by the mental anathemas of a poet and a diplomat.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIX_
+
+_The Captain and Dick Lancaster desert the Toll-Gate._
+
+
+When Captain Asher, in an angry mood, left his young friend and guest
+and went out into his barnyard and his fields in order to quiet his soul
+by the consideration of agricultural subjects, he met with but little
+success. He looked at his pigs, but he did not notice their plump
+condition; he glanced at his two cows, cropping the grass in the little
+meadow, but it did not impress him that they also were in fine
+condition; nor did he care whether the pasture were good or not. He
+looked at this; and he looked at that; and then he folded his arms and
+looked at the distant mountains. Suddenly he turned on his heel, walked
+straight to the stable, harnessed his mare to the buggy, and, without
+saying a word to anybody, drove out of the gate, and on to Glenford.
+
+Dick Lancaster, who was in the arbor, looked in amazement after the
+captain's departing buggy, and old Jane, with tears in her eyes, came
+out and spoke to him.
+
+"Isn't this dreadful" she said to him. "Supper with that woman and there
+all night, and back again as soon as he can get off this mornin'!"
+
+"Perhaps he is not going to her house," Dick suggested. "He may have
+business in town which he forgot yesterday."
+
+"If he'd had it he'd forgot it," replied the old woman. "But he hadn't
+none. He's gone to Maria Port's, and he may bring her back with him,
+married tight and fast, for all you or me knows. It would be just like
+his sailor fashion. When the captain's got anything to do he just does
+it sharp and quick."
+
+"I don't believe that," said Dick. "If he had had any such intention as
+that he certainly would have mentioned it to you or to me."
+
+The good woman shook her head. "When an old man marries a girl," she
+said, "she just leads him wherever she wants him to go, and he gives up
+everything to her, and when an old man marries a tough and seasoned and
+smoked old maid like Maria Port, she just drives him wherever she wants
+him to go, and he hasn't nothin' to say about it. It looks as if she
+told him to come in this mornin', and he's gone. It may be for a
+weddin', or it may be for somethin' else, but whatever it is, it'll be
+her way and not his straight on to the end of the chapter."
+
+Dick had nothing to answer. He was very much afraid that old Jane knew
+what she was talking about, and his mind was occupied with trying to
+decide what he, individually, ought to do about it. Old Jane was now
+obliged to go to the toll-gate to attend to a traveler, but when she
+came back she took occasion to say a few more words.
+
+"It's hard on me, sir," she said, "at my age to make a change. I've
+lived at this house, and I've took toll at that gate ever since I was a
+girl, long before the captain came here, and I've been with him a long
+time. My people used to own this house, but they all died, and when the
+place was sold and the captain bought it, he heard about me, and he said
+I should always have charge of the old toll-gate when he wasn't
+attendin' to it himself, just the same as when my father was alive and
+was toll-gate keeper, and I was helpin' him. But I've got to go now, and
+where I'm goin' to is more'n I know. But I'd rather go to the county
+poorhouse than stay here, or anywhere else, with Maria Port. She's a
+regular boa-constrictor, that woman is! She's twisted herself around
+people before this and squeezed the senses out of them; and that's
+exactly what she's doin' with the captain. If she could come here to
+live and bring her old father, and get him to sell the house in town and
+put the money in bank, and then if she could worry her husband and her
+father both to death, and work things so she'd be a widow with plenty of
+money and a good house and as much farm land as she wanted, and a
+toll-gate where she could set all day and take toll and give back lies
+and false witness as change, she'd be the happiest woman on earth."
+
+It had been long since old Jane had said as much at any one time to any
+one person, but her mind was stirred. Her life was about to change, and
+the future was very black to her.
+
+When dinner was ready the captain had not yet returned, and Dick ate his
+meal by himself. He was now beginning to feel used to this sort of
+thing. He had scarcely finished, and gone down to the garden-gate to
+look once more over the road toward Glenford, when the man in the buggy
+arrived, and he received Mrs. Easterfield's letter.
+
+He lost no moments in making up his mind. He would go to Broadstone, of
+course, and he did not think it at all necessary to stand on ceremony
+with the captain. The latter had gone off and left him without making
+any statement whatever, but he would do better, and he wrote a note
+explaining the state of affairs. As he was leaving old Jane came to bid
+him good-by.
+
+"I don't know," said she, "that you will find me here when you come
+back. The fact of it is I don't know nothin'. But one thing's certain,
+if she's here I ain't, and if she's too high and mighty to take toll in
+her honeymoon, the captain'll have to do it himself, or let 'em pass
+through free."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was on the lawn when Lancaster arrived, and in answer
+to the involuntary glance with which Dick's eyes swept the surrounding
+space, even while he was shaking hands with her, she said: "No, she is
+not here. She has gone boating, and so you must come and tell me
+everything, and then we can decide what is best to tell her."
+
+For an instant Dick's soul demurred. If he told Olive anything he would
+tell her all he knew, and exactly what had happened. But he would not
+lose faith in this noble woman who was going to help him with Olive if
+she could. So they sat down, side by side, and he told her everything he
+knew about Captain Asher and Miss Port.
+
+"It does look very much as if he were going to marry the woman," said
+Mrs. Easterfield. Then she sat silent and looked upon the ground, a
+frown upon her face.
+
+Dick was also silent, and his countenance was clouded. "Poor Olive," he
+thought, "it is hard that this new trouble should come upon her just at
+this time."
+
+But Mrs. Easterfield said in her heart: "Poor fellow, how little you
+know what has come upon you! The woman who has turned her uncle from
+Olive has turned Olive from you."
+
+"Well," said the lady at length, "do you think it is worth while to say
+anything to her about it? She has already surmised the state of affairs,
+and, so far as I can see, you have nothing of importance to tell her."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Dick, "but as she sent me on a mission I want to
+make known to her the result of it so far as there has been any result.
+It will be very unpleasant, of course--it will be even painful--but I
+wish to do it all the same."
+
+"That is to say," said Mrs. Easterfield with a smile that was not very
+cheerful, "you want to be with her, to look at her and to speak to her,
+no matter how much it may pain her or you to do it."
+
+"That's it," answered Dick.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield sat and reflected. She very much liked this young man,
+and, considering herself as his friend, were there not some things she
+ought to tell him? She concluded that there were such things.
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," she said, "have you noticed that there are other young
+men in love with Miss Asher?"
+
+"I know there is one," said Dick, "for he told me so himself."
+
+"That was Claude Locker?" said she with interest.
+
+"And he promised," continued Dick, "that if he failed he would do all he
+could to help me. I can not say that this is really for love of me, for
+his avowed object is to prevent Mr. Du Brant from getting her. We
+assumed that he was her lover, although I do not know that there is any
+real ground for it."
+
+"There is very good ground for it," said she, "for he has already
+proposed to her. What do you think of that?"
+
+"It makes no difference to me," said Dick; "that is, if he has not been
+accepted. What I want is to find myself warranted in telling Miss Asher
+how I feel toward her; it does not matter to me how the rest of the
+world feels."
+
+"Then there is another," said Mrs. Easterfield, "with whom she is now on
+the river--Mr. Hemphill. He is in love with her; and as he can not stay
+here very long, I think he will soon propose."
+
+"I can not help it," said Dick; "I love her, and the great object of my
+life just at present is to tell her so. You said you would help me, and
+I hope you will not withdraw from that promise."
+
+"No, indeed," said she, "but I do not know her as well as I thought I
+did. But here she comes now, and without the young man. I hope she has
+not drowned him!"
+
+Without heeding anything that had just been said to him Dick kept his
+eyes fixed upon the sparkling girl who now approached them. Every step
+she made was another link in his chain; Mrs. Easterfield glanced at him
+and knew this. She pitied him for what he had to tell her now, and more
+for what he might have to hear from her at another time. But Olive saved
+Dick from any present ordeal. She stepped up to him and offered him her
+hand.
+
+"I do not wonder, Mr. Lancaster," she said, "that you did not want to
+come back and tell me your doleful story, but as I know what it is, we
+need not say anything about it now, except that I am ever so much
+obliged to you for all your kindness to me. And now I am going to ask
+another favor. Won't you let me speak to Mrs. Easterfield a few
+moments?"
+
+As soon as they were seated, with the door shut, Olive began.
+
+"Well," said she, "he has proposed."
+
+"Mr. Hemphill!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Rupert," Olive answered, "yes, it is truly Rupert who proposed to me."
+
+"I declare," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "you come to me and tell me this as
+if it were a piece of glad news. Yesterday, and even this morning, you
+were plunged in grief, and now your eyes shine as if you were positively
+happy."
+
+"I have told you my aim and object in life," said the girl. "I am trying
+to do something, and to do it soon, and everything is going on smoothly.
+And as to being happy, I tell you, Mrs. Easterfield, there is no woman
+alive who could help being made happy by such a declaration as I have
+just received. No matter what answer she gave him, she would be bound
+to be happy."
+
+"Most other women would not have let him make it," said Mrs. Easterfield
+a little severely.
+
+"There is something in that," said Olive, "but they would not have the
+object in life I have. I may be unduly exalted, but you would not wonder
+at it if you had seen him and heard him. Mrs. Easterfield, that man
+loves me exactly as I used to love him, and he has told me his love just
+as I would have told him mine if I could have carried out the wish of my
+heart. His eyes glowed, his frame shook with the ardor of his passion.
+Two or three times I had to tell him that if he did not trim boat we
+should be upset. I never saw anything like his impassioned vehemence. It
+reminded me of Salvini. I never was loved like that before."
+
+"And what answer did you make to him?" asked Mrs. Easterfield, her voice
+trembling.
+
+"I did not make him any. It would not have been fair to the others or to
+myself to do that. I shall not swerve from my purpose, but I shall not
+be rash."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield rose suddenly and stepped to the open window; she could
+not sit still a moment longer; she needed air. "Olive," she said, "this
+is mad and wicked folly in you, and it is impertinent in him, no matter
+how much you encouraged him. I would like to send him back to his desk
+this minute. He has no right to come to his employer's house and behave
+in this manner."
+
+Olive did not get angry. "He is not impertinent," said she. "He knows
+nothing in this world but that I once loved him, and that now he loves
+me. Employer and employee are nothing to him. I don't believe he would
+go if you told him to, even if you could do such a thing, which I don't
+believe you would, for, of course, you would think of me as well as of
+him."
+
+"Olive Asher," cried Mrs. Easterfield in a voice which was almost a
+wail, "do you mean to say that you are to be considered in this matter,
+that for a moment you think of marrying this man?"
+
+"Yes," said Olive; "I do think of it, and the more I think of it the
+better I think of it. He is a good man; you have told me that yourself;
+and I can feel that he is good. I know he loves me. There can be no
+mistake about his words and his eyes. I feel as I never felt toward any
+other man, that I might become attached to him. And in my opinion a real
+attachment is the foundation of love, and you must never forget that I
+once loved him." The girl now stepped close to Mrs. Easterfield. "I am
+sorry to see those tears," she said; "I did not come here to make you
+unhappy."
+
+"But you have made me very unhappy," said the elder lady, "and I do not
+think I can talk any more about this now."
+
+When Olive had gone Mrs. Easterfield hurried down-stairs in search of
+Lancaster. She did not care what any one might think of her
+unconventional eagerness; she wanted to find him, and she soon
+succeeded. He was sitting in the shade with a book, which, when she
+approached him, she did not believe he was reading.
+
+"Yes," said she, as he started to his feet in evident concern, "I have
+been crying, and there is no use in trying to conceal it. Of course, it
+is about Olive, but I can not confide in you now, and I do not know that
+I have any right to do so, anyway. But I came here to beg you most
+earnestly not to propose to Miss Asher, no matter how good an
+opportunity you may have, no matter how much you want to do so, no
+matter how much hope may spring up in your heart."
+
+"Do you mean," said Dick, "that I must never speak to her? Am I too
+late? Is she lost to me?"
+
+"Not at all," said she, "you are not too late, but you may be too early.
+She is not lost to anybody, but if you should speak to her before I tell
+you to she will certainly be lost to you."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XX_
+
+_Mr. Locker determines to rush the Enemy's Position._
+
+
+The party at Broadstone was not in what might be called a congenial
+condition. There were among them elements of unrest which prevented that
+assimilation which is necessary to social enjoyment. Even the ordinarily
+placid Mr. Fox was dissatisfied. The trouble with him was--although he
+did not admit it--that he missed the company of Miss Asher. He had found
+her most agreeable and inspiriting, but now things had changed, and he
+did not seem to have any opportunity for the lively chats of a few days
+before. He remarked to his wife that he thought Broadstone was getting
+very dull, and he should be rather glad when the time came for them to
+leave. Mrs. Fox was not of his opinion; she enjoyed the state of affairs
+more than she had done when her husband had been better pleased. There
+was something going on which she did not understand, and she wanted to
+find out what it was. It concerned Miss Asher and one of the young men,
+but which one she could not decide. In any case it troubled Mrs.
+Easterfield, and that was interesting.
+
+Claude Locker seemed to be a changed man; he no longer made jokes or
+performed absurdities. He had become wonderfully vigilant, and seemed to
+be one who continually bided his time. He bided it so much that he was
+of very little use as a member of the social circle.
+
+Mr. Du Brant was also biding his time, but he did not make the fact
+evident. He was very vigilant also, but was very quiet, and kept himself
+in the background. He had seen Olive and Mr. Hemphill go out in the
+boat, but he determined totally to ignore that interesting occurrence.
+The moment he had an opportunity he would speak to Olive again, and the
+existence of other people did not concern him.
+
+Mr. Hemphill was walking by the river; Olive had not allowed him to come
+to the house with her, for his face was so radiant with the ecstasy of
+not having been discarded by her that she did not wish him to be seen.
+From her window Mrs. Easterfield saw this young man on his return from
+his promenade, and she knew it would not be many minutes before he would
+reach the house. She also saw the diplomat, who was glaring across the
+grounds at some one, probably Mr. Locker, who, not unlikely, was glaring
+back at him. She had come up-stairs to do some writing, but now she put
+down her pen and called to her secretary.
+
+"Miss Raleigh," said she, "it has been a good while since you have done
+anything for me."
+
+"Indeed it has," said the other with a sigh.
+
+"But I want you to do something this minute. It is strictly confidential
+business. I want you to go down on the lawn, or any other place where
+Miss Asher may be, and make yourself _mal a propos_. I am busy now, but
+I will relieve you before very long. Can you do that? Do you
+understand?"
+
+The aspect of the secretary underwent a total change. From a dull,
+heavy-eyed woman she became an intent, an eager emissary. Her hands
+trembled with the intensity of her desire to meddle with the affairs of
+others.
+
+"Of course I understand," she exclaimed, "and I can do it. You mean you
+don't want any of those young men to get a chance to speak to Miss
+Asher. Do you include Mr. Lancaster? Or shall I only keep off the
+others?"
+
+"I include all of them," said Mrs. Easterfield. "Don't let any of them
+have a chance to speak to her until I can come down. And hurry! Here is
+one coming now."
+
+Hurrying down-stairs, the secretary glanced into the library. There she
+saw Mrs. Fox in one armchair, and Olive in another, both reading. In the
+hall were the two little girls, busily engaged in harnessing two small
+chairs to a large armchair by means of a ball of pink yarn. Outside,
+about a hundred yards away, she saw Mr. Hemphill irresolutely
+approaching the house. Miss Raleigh's mind, frequently dormant, was very
+brisk and lively when she had occasion to waken it. She made a dive
+toward the children.
+
+"Dear little ones," she cried, "don't you want to come out under the
+trees and have the good Mr. Hemphill tell you a story? I know he wants
+to tell you one, and it is about a witch and two pussy-cats and a
+kangaroo. Come along. He is out there waiting for us." Down dropped the
+ball of yarn, and with exultant cries each little girl seized an
+outstretched hand of the secretary, and together they ran over the grass
+to meet the good Mr. Hemphill.
+
+Of course he was obliged to want to tell them a story; they expected it
+of him, and they were his employer's children. To be sure he had on mind
+something very practical and sensible he wished to say to Miss Olive,
+which had come to him during his solitary walk, and which he did not
+believe she would object to hearing, although he had said so much to her
+quite recently. As soon as he should begin to speak she would know that
+this was something she ought to know. It was about his mother, who had
+an income of her own, and did not in the least depend upon her son. Miss
+Olive would certainly agree with him that it was proper for him to tell
+her this.
+
+But the little girls seized his hands and led him away to a bench,
+where, having seated him almost forcibly, each climbed upon a knee. The
+good Mr. Hemphill sent a furtive glare after Miss Raleigh, who, with
+that smile of gentle gratification which comes to one after having just
+done a good deed to another, sauntered slowly away.
+
+"Don't come back again," cried out the older of the little girls. "He
+was put out in the last story, and we want this to be a long one. And
+remember, Mr, Rupert, it is to be about a witch and two pussy-cats--"
+
+"And a kangaroo," added the other.
+
+At the front door the secretary met Miss Asher, just emerging. "Isn't
+that a pretty picture" she said, pointing to the group under the trees.
+
+Olive looked at them and smiled. "It is beautiful," she said; "a
+regular family composition. I wish I had a kodak."
+
+"Oh, that would never do!" exclaimed Miss Raleigh. "He is just as
+sensitive as he can be, and, of course, it's natural. And the dear
+little things are so glad to get him to themselves so that they can have
+one of the long, long stories they like so much. May I ask what that is
+you are working, Miss Asher?"
+
+"It is going to be what they call a nucleus," said Olive, showing a
+little piece of fancy work. "You first crochet this, and then its
+ultimate character depends on what you may put around it. It may be a
+shawl, or a table cover, or even an apron, if you like crocheted aprons.
+I learned the stitch last winter. Would you like me to show it to you?"
+
+"I should like it above all things," said the secretary. And together
+they walked to a rustic bench quite away from the story-telling group.
+"So far I have done nothing but nucleuses," said Olive, as they sat
+down. "I put them away when they are finished, and then I suppose some
+time I shall take up one and make it into something."
+
+"Like those pastry shells," said Miss Raleigh, "which can be laid away
+and which you can fill up with preserves or jam whenever you want a pie.
+How many of these have you, Miss Asher?"
+
+"When this is finished there will be four," said Olive.
+
+At some distance, and near the garden, Dick Lancaster, strolling
+eastward, encountered Claude Locker, strolling westward.
+
+"Hello!" cried Locker. "I am glad to see you. Brought your baggage with
+you this time, I see. That means you are going to stay, of course."
+
+"A couple of days," replied Dick.
+
+"Well, a man can do a lot in that time, and you may have something to
+do, but I am not sure. No, sir," continued Locker, "I am not sure. I am
+on the point of making a demonstration in force. But the enemy is always
+presenting some new force. By enemy you understand me to mean that which
+I adore above all else in the world, but which must be attacked, and
+that right soon if her defenses are to be carried. Step this way a
+little, and look over there. Do you see that Raleigh woman sitting on a
+bench with her? Well, now, if I had not had such a beastly generous
+disposition I might be sitting on that bench this minute. I was deceived
+by a feint of the opposing forces this morning. I don't mean she
+deceived me. I did it myself. Although I had the right by treaty to
+march in upon her, I myself offered to establish a truce in order that
+she might bury her dead. I did not know who had been killed, but it
+looked as if there were losses of some kind. But it was a false alarm.
+The dead must have turned up only missing, and she was as lively as a
+cricket at luncheon, and went out in a boat with that tailor's
+model--sixteen dollars and forty-eight cents for the entire suit
+ready-made; or twenty-three dollars made to order."
+
+Dick smiled a little, but his soul rebelled within him. He regretted
+that he had given his promise to Mrs. Easterfield. What he wanted to do
+that moment was to go over to Captain Asher's niece and ask her to take
+a walk with him. What other man had a better right to speak to her than
+he had? But he respected his word; it would be very hard to break a
+promise made to Mrs. Easterfield; and he stood with his hands in his
+pockets, and his brows knit.
+
+"Now, I tell you what I am going to do," said Locker. "I am going to
+wait a little while--a very little while--and then I shall bounce over
+my earthworks, and rush her position. It is the only way to do it, and I
+shall be up and at her with cold steel. And now I will tell you what you
+must do. Just you hold yourself in reserve; and, if I am routed, you
+charge. You'd better do it if you know what's good for you, for that
+Austrian's over there pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French
+because that Raleigh woman doesn't get up and go. Now, I won't keep you
+any longer, but don't go far away. I can't talk any more, for I've got
+to have every eye fixed upon the point of attack."
+
+Dick looked at the animated face of his companion, and began to ask
+himself if the moment had not arrived when even a promise made to Mrs.
+Easterfield might be disregarded. Should he consent to allow his fate to
+depend upon the fortunes of Mr. Locker? He scorned the notion. It would
+be impossible for the girl who had talked so sweetly, so earnestly, so
+straight from her heart, when he had met her on the shunpike, to marry
+such a mountebank as this fellow, generous as he might be with that
+which could never belong to him. As to the diplomat, he did not
+condescend to bestow a thought upon such a black-pointed little
+foreigner.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXI_
+
+_Miss Raleigh enjoys a Rare Privilege._
+
+
+Miss Raleigh was very attentive to the instructions given her by Miss
+Asher, and while she exhibited the fashion of the new stitch Olive
+reflected.
+
+"I wonder," she said to herself, "if Mrs. Easterfield has done this. It
+looks very much like it, and if she did I am truly obliged to her. There
+is nothing I want so much now as a rest, and I didn't want to stay in
+the house either. Miss Raleigh," said she, suddenly changing the
+subject, "were you ever in love?"
+
+The secretary started. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
+
+"I don't mean anything," said Olive. "I simply wanted to know."
+
+"It is a queer question," said Miss Raleigh, her face changing to
+another shade of sallowness.
+
+"I know that," said Olive quickly, "but the answers to queer questions
+are always so much more interesting than those to any others. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Yes, they are," said Miss Raleigh thoughtfully, "but they are generally
+awfully hard to get. I have tried it myself."
+
+"Then you ought to have a fellow feeling for me," said Olive.
+
+"Well," said the other, looking steadfastly at her companion, "if you
+will promise to keep it all to yourself forever, I don't mind telling
+you that I was once in love. Would you like me to tell you who I was in
+love with?"
+
+"Yes," said Olive, "if you are willing to tell me."
+
+"Oh, I am perfectly willing," said the secretary. "It was Mr. Hemphill."
+
+Olive turned suddenly and looked at her in amazement.
+
+"Yes, it was Mr. Hemphill over there," said the other, speaking very
+tranquilly, as if the subject were of no importance. "You see, I have
+been living with the Easterfields for a long time, and in the winter we
+see a good deal of Mr. Hemphill. He has to come to the house on
+business, and often takes meals. He is Mr. Easterfield's private and
+confidential secretary. And, somehow or other, seeing him so often, and
+sometimes being his partner at cards when two were needed to make up a
+game, I forgot that I was older than he, and I actually fell in love
+with him. You see he has a good heart, Miss Asher; anybody could tell
+that from his way with children; and I have noticed that bachelors are
+often nicer with children than fathers are."
+
+"And he?" asked Olive.
+
+Miss Raleigh laughed a little laugh. "Oh, I did all the loving," she
+answered. "He never reciprocated the least little bit, and I often
+wondered why I adored him as much as I did. He was handsome, and he was
+good, and he had excellent taste; he was thoroughly trustworthy in his
+relations to the family, and I believe he would be equally so in all
+relations of life; but all that did not account for my unconquerable
+ardor, which was caused by a certain something which you know, Miss
+Asher, we can't explain."
+
+Olive tried hard not to allow any emotion to show itself in her face,
+but she did not altogether succeed. "And you still--" said she.
+
+"No, I don't," interrupted Miss Raleigh. "I love him no longer. There
+came a time when all my fire froze. I discovered that there was--"
+
+"I say, Miss Asher--" it was the voice of Claude Locker.
+
+Olive looked around at him. "Well?" said she.
+
+"Perhaps you have not noticed," said he, "that the tennis ground is now
+in the shade, and if you don't mind walking that way--" He said a good
+deal more which Miss Raleigh did not believe, understanding the young
+man thoroughly, and which Olive did not hear. Her mind was very busy
+with what she had just heard, which made a great impression on her. She
+did not know whether she was affronted, or hurt, or merely startled.
+
+Here was a man who loved her, a man she had loved, and one about whom
+she had been questioning herself as to the possibility of her loving him
+again. And here was a woman, a dyspeptic, unwholesome spinster, who had
+just said she had loved him. If Miss Raleigh had loved this man, how
+could she, Olive, love him? There was something repugnant about it which
+she did not attempt to understand. It went beyond reason. She felt it
+to be an actual relief to look up at Claude Locker, and to listen to
+what he was saying.
+
+"You mean," said she presently, "that you would like Miss Raleigh and me
+to come with you and play tennis."
+
+"I did not know Miss Raleigh played," he answered, "but I thought
+perhaps--"
+
+"Oh, no," said Olive. "I would not think of such a thing. In fact, Miss
+Raleigh and I are engaged. We are very busy about some important work."
+
+Mr. Locker gazed at the crocheted nucleus with an air of the loftiest
+disdain. "Of course, of course," said he, "but you really oblige me,
+Miss Asher, to speak very plainly and frankly and to say that I really
+do not care about playing tennis, but that I want to speak to you on a
+most important subject, which, for reasons that I will explain, must be
+spoken of immediately. So, if Miss Raleigh will be kind enough to
+postpone the little matter you have on hand--"
+
+Olive smiled and shook her head. "No, indeed, sir," she said; "I would
+not hurt a lady's feelings in that way, and moreover, I would not allow
+her to hurt her own feelings. It would hurt your feelings, Miss Raleigh,
+wouldn't it, to be sent away like a child who is not wanted?"
+
+"Yes," said the secretary, "I think it would."
+
+Mr. Locker listened in amazement. He had not thought the mature maiden
+had the nerve to say that.
+
+"Then again," said Olive, "this isn't the time for you to talk business
+with me, and you should not disturb me at this hour."
+
+"Oh," said Locker, bringing down the forefinger of his right hand upon
+the palm of his left, "that is a point, a very essential point. I
+voluntarily surrendered the period of discourse which you assigned to me
+for a reason which I now believe did not exist, and this is only an
+assertion of the rights vested in me by you."
+
+Miss Raleigh listened very attentively to these remarks, but could not
+imagine what they meant.
+
+Olive looked at him graciously. "Yes," she said, "you are very generous,
+but your period for discourse, as you call it, will have to be
+postponed."
+
+"But it can't be postponed," he answered. "If I could see you alone I
+could soon explain that to you. There are certain reasons why I must
+speak now."
+
+"I can't help it," said Olive. "I am not going to leave Miss Raleigh,
+and I am sure she does not want to leave me, so if you are obliged to
+speak you must speak before her."
+
+Mr. Locker gazed from one to the other of the two ladies who sat before
+him; each of them wore a gentle but determined expression. He addressed
+the secretary.
+
+"Miss Raleigh," said he, "if you understood the reason for my strong
+desire to speak in private with Miss Asher, perhaps you would respect it
+and give me the opportunity I ask for. I am here to make a proposition
+of marriage to this lady, and it is absolutely necessary that I make it
+without loss of time. Do you desire me to make it in your presence?"
+
+"I should like it very much," said Miss Raleigh.
+
+Mr. Locker gave her a look of despair, and turned to Olive. "Would you
+permit that?" he asked.
+
+"If it is absolutely necessary," she said, "I suppose I shall have to
+permit it."
+
+Mr. Locker had the soul of a lion in his somewhat circumscribed body,
+and he was not to be recklessly dared to action.
+
+"Very well, then," said he, "I shall proceed as if we were alone, and I
+hope, Miss Raleigh, you will at least see fit to consider yourself in a
+strictly confidential position."
+
+"Indeed I shall," she replied; "not one word shall ever--"
+
+"I hope not," interrupted Claude, "and I will add that if I should ever
+be accidentally present when a gentleman is about to propose to you,
+Miss Raleigh, I shall heap coals of fire upon your head by
+instantaneously withdrawing."
+
+The secretary was about to thank him, but Olive interrupted. "Now,
+Claude Locker," said she, "what can you possibly have to say to me that
+you have not said before?"
+
+"A good deal, Miss Asher, a good deal, although I don't wonder you
+suppose that no man could say more to you of his undying affection than
+I have already said. But, since I last spoke on the subject, I have been
+greatly impressed by the fact that I have not said enough about myself;
+that I have not made you understand me as I really am. I know very well
+that most people, and I suppose that at some time you have been among
+them, look upon me as a very frivolous young man, and not one to whom
+the right sort of a girl should give herself in marriage. But that is a
+mistake. I am as much to be depended upon as anybody you ever met. My
+apparently whimsical aspect is merely the outside--my shell, marked off
+in queer designs with variegated colors--but within that shell I am as
+domestic, as sober, and as surely to be found where I am expected to be
+as any turtle. This may seem a queer figure, but it strikes me as a very
+good one. When I am wanted I am there. You can always depend upon me."
+
+There was not a smile upon the face of either woman as he spoke. They
+were listening earnestly, and with the deepest interest. Miss Raleigh's
+eyes sparkled, and Olive seemed to be most seriously considering this
+new aspect in which Mr. Locker was endeavoring to place himself.
+
+"Perhaps you may think," Claude continued, "that you would not desire
+turtle-like qualities in a husband, you who are so bright, so bounding,
+so much like a hare, but I assure you, that is just the companion who
+would suit you. All day you might skip among the flowers, and in the
+fields, and wherever you were, you would always know where I was--making
+a steady bee-line for home; and you would know that I would be there to
+welcome you when you arrived."
+
+"That is very pretty!" said Miss Raleigh. And then she quickly added:
+"Excuse me for making a remark."
+
+"Now, Miss Asher," continued Locker, "I have tried, very imperfectly, I
+know, to make you see me as I really am, and I do hope you can put an
+end to this suspense which is keeping me in a nervous tingle. I can not
+sleep at night, and all day I am thinking what you will say when you do
+decide. You need not be afraid to speak out before Miss Raleigh. She is
+in with us now, and she can't get out. I would not press you for an
+answer at this moment, but there are reasons which I can not say
+anything about without meddling with other people's business. But my
+business with you is the happiness of my life, and I feel that I can not
+longer endure having it momentarily jeopardized."
+
+At the conclusion of this speech a faint color actually stole into Miss
+Raleigh's face, and she clasped her thin hands in the intensity of her
+approval.
+
+"Mr. Locker," said Olive, speaking very pleasantly, "if you had come to
+me to-day and had asked me for a decision based upon what you had
+already said to me, I think I might have settled the matter. But after
+what you have just told me, I can not answer you now. You give me things
+to think about, and I must wait."
+
+"Heavens" exclaimed Mr. Locker, clasping his hands. "Am I not yet to
+know whether I am to rise into paradise, or to sink into the infernal
+regions?"
+
+Olive smiled. "Don't do either, Mr. Locker," she said. "This earth is a
+very pleasant place. Stay where you are."
+
+He folded his arms and gazed at her. "It is a pleasant place," said he,
+"and I am mighty glad I got in my few remarks before you made your
+decision. I leave my love with you on approbation, and you may be sure I
+shall come to-morrow before luncheon to hear what you say about it."
+
+"I shall expect you," said Olive. And as she spoke her eyes were full of
+kind consideration.
+
+"Now, that's genuine," said Miss Raleigh, when Locker had departed. "If
+he had not felt every word he said he could not have said it before me."
+
+"No doubt you are right," said Olive. "He is very brave. And now you see
+this new line, which begins an entirely different kind of stitch!"
+
+In the middle distance Mr. Du Brant still strolled backward and forward,
+pulverizing his teeth and swearing in French. He seldom removed his eyes
+from Miss Asher, but still she sat on that bench and crocheted, and
+talked, and talked, and crocheted, with that everlasting Miss Raleigh!
+He had seen Locker with her, and he had seen him go; and now he hoped
+that the woman would soon depart. Then it would be his chance.
+
+The young Austrian had become most eager to make Olive his wife. He
+earnestly loved her; and, beyond that, he had come to see that a
+marriage with her would be most advantageous to his prospects. This
+beautiful and brilliant American girl, familiar with foreign life and
+foreign countries, would give him a position in diplomatic society which
+would be most desirable. She might not bring him much money; although he
+believed that all American girls had some money; but she would bring him
+favor, distinction, and, most likely, advancement. With such a wife he
+would be a welcome envoy at any court. And, besides, he loved her. But,
+alas, Miss Raleigh would not go away.
+
+About half an hour after Claude Locker left Olive he encountered Dick
+Lancaster.
+
+"Well," said he, "I charged. I was not routed, I can't say that I was
+even repulsed. But I was obliged to withdraw my forces. I shall go into
+camp, and renew the attack to-morrow. So, my friend, you will have to
+wait. I wish I could say that there is no use of your waiting, but I am
+a truthful person and can't do that."
+
+Lancaster was not pleased. "It seems to me," he said, "that you trifle
+with the most important affairs of life."
+
+"Trifle!" exclaimed Locker. "Would you call it trifling if I fail, and
+then to save her from a worse fate, were to back you up with all my
+heart and soul?"
+
+Dick could not help smiling. "By a worse fate," he said, "I suppose you
+mean--"
+
+"The Austrian," interrupted Locker. "Mrs. Easterfield has told me
+something about him. He may have a title some day, and he is about as
+dangerous as they make them. Instead of accusing me of trifling, you
+ought to go down on your knees and thank me for still standing between
+him and her."
+
+"That is a duty I would like to perform myself," said Dick.
+
+"Perhaps you may have a chance," sighed Locker, "but I most earnestly
+hope not. Look over there at that he-nurse. Those children have made him
+take them walking, and he is just coming back to the house."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXII_
+
+_The Conflicting Serenades._
+
+
+Mrs. Easterfield worked steadily at her letter, feeling confident all
+the time that her secretary was attending conscientiously to the task
+which had been assigned to her, and which could not fail to be a most
+congenial one. One of the greatest joys of Miss Raleigh's life was to
+interfere in other people's business; and to do it under approval and
+with the feeling that it was her duty was a rare joy.
+
+The letter was to her husband, and Mrs. Easterfield was writing it
+because she was greatly troubled, and even frightened. In the indulgence
+of a good-humored and romantic curiosity to know whether or not a
+grown-up young woman would return to a sentimental attachment of her
+girlhood, she had brought her husband's secretary to the house with
+consequences which were appalling. If this navy girl she had on hand had
+been a mere flirt, Mrs. Easterfield, an experienced woman of society,
+might not have been very much troubled, but Olive seemed to her to be
+much more than a flirt; she would trifle until she made up her mind, but
+when she should come to a decision Mrs. Easterfield believed she would
+act fairly and squarely. She wanted to marry; and, in her heart, Mrs.
+Easterfield commended her; without a mother; now more than ever without
+a father; her only near relative about to marry a woman who was
+certainly a most undesirable connection; Olive was surely right in
+wishing to settle in life. And, if piqued and affronted by her father's
+intended marriage, she wished immediately to declare her independence,
+the girl could not be blamed. And, from what she had said of Mr.
+Hemphill, Mrs. Easterfield could not in her own mind dissent. He was a
+good young man; he had an excellent position; he fervently loved Olive;
+she had loved him, and might do it again. What was there to which she
+could object? Only this: it angered and frightened her to think of Olive
+Asher throwing herself away upon Rupert Hemphill. So she wrote a very
+strong letter to her husband, representing to him that the danger was
+very great and imminent, and that he was needed at Broadstone just as
+soon as he could get there. Business could be set aside; his wife's
+happiness was at stake; for if this unfortunate match should be made, it
+would be her doing, and it would cloud her whole life. Of herself she
+did not know what to do, and if she had known, she could not have done
+it. But if he came he would not only know everything, but could do
+anything. This indicated her general opinion of Mr. Tom Easterfield.
+
+"Now," said she to herself, as she fixed an immediate-delivery stamp
+upon the letter, "that ought to bring him here before lunch to-morrow."
+
+When Olive saw fit to go to her room Miss Raleigh felt relieved from
+guard, and went to Mrs. Easterfield to report. She told that lady
+everything that had happened, even including her own emotions at
+various points of the interview. The amazed Mrs. Easterfield listened
+with the greatest interest.
+
+"I knew Claude Locker was capable of almost any wild proceeding," she
+said, "but I did not think he would do that!"
+
+"There is one thing I forgot," said the secretary, "and that is that I
+promised Mr. Locker not to mention a word of what happened."
+
+"I am very glad," replied Mrs. Easterfield, "that you remembered that
+promise after you told me everything, and not before. You have done
+admirably so far."
+
+"And if I have any other opportunities of interpolating myself, so to
+speak," said Miss Raleigh, "shall I embrace them?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. "I don't want you to be too obviously
+zealous," she answered. "I think for the present we may relax our
+efforts to relieve Miss Asher of annoyance." Mrs. Easterfield believed
+this. She had faith in Olive; and if that young woman had promised to
+give Claude Locker another hearing the next day she did not believe that
+the girl would give anybody else a positive answer before that time.
+
+Miss Raleigh went away not altogether satisfied. She did not believe in
+relaxed vigilance; for one thing, it was not interesting.
+
+Olive was surprised when she found that Mr. Lancaster was to stay to
+dinner, and afterward when she was informed that he had been invited to
+spend a few days, she reflected. It looked like some sort of a plan, and
+what did Mrs. Easterfield mean by it? She knew the lady of the house
+had a very good opinion of the young professor, and that might explain
+the invitation at this particular moment, but still it did look like a
+plan, and as Olive had no sympathy with plans of this sort she
+determined not to trouble her head about it. And to show her
+non-concern, she was very gracious to Mr. Lancaster, and received her
+reward in an extremely interesting conversation.
+
+Still Olive reflected, and was not in her usual lively spirits. Mr. Fox
+said to Mrs. Fox that it was an abominable shame to allow a crowd of
+incongruous young men to swarm in upon a country house party, and
+interfere seriously with the pleasures of intelligent and
+self-respecting people.
+
+That night, after Mrs. Easterfield had gone to bed, and before she
+slept, she heard something which instantly excited her attention; it was
+the sound of a guitar, and it came from the lawn in front of the house.
+Jumping up, and throwing a dressing-gown about her, she cautiously
+approached the open window. But the night was dark, and she could see
+nothing. Pushing an armchair to one side of the window, she seated
+herself, and listened. Words now began to mingle with the music, and
+these words were French. Now she understood everything perfectly. Mr. Du
+Brant was a musician, and had helped himself to the guitar in the
+library.
+
+From the position in which she sat Mrs. Easterfield could look upon a
+second-story window in a projecting wing of the house, and upon this
+window, which belonged to Olive's room, and which was barely perceptible
+in the gloom, she now fixed her eyes. The song and the thrumming went
+on, but no signs of life could be seen in the black square of that open
+window.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was not a bad French scholar, and she caught enough of
+the meaning of the words to understand that they belonged to a very
+pretty love song in which the flowers looked up to the sky to see if it
+were blue, because they knew if it were the fair one smiled, and then
+their tender buds might ope; and, if she smiled, his heart implored that
+she might smile on him. There was a second verse, much resembling the
+first, except that the flowers feared that clouds might sweep the sky;
+and they lamented accordingly.
+
+Now, Mrs. Easterfield imagined that she saw something white in the
+depths of the darkness of Olive's room, but it did not come to the
+front, and she was very uncertain about it. Suddenly, however, something
+happened about which she could not be in the least uncertain. Above
+Olive's room was a chamber appropriated to the use of bachelor visitors,
+and from the window of this room now burst upon the night a wild,
+unearthly chant. It was a song with words but without music, and the
+voice in which it was shot out into the darkness was harsh, was shrill,
+was insolently blatant. And thus the clamorous singer sang:
+
+    "My angel maid--ahoy!
+    If aught should you annoy,
+        By act or sound,
+        From sky or ground,
+        I then pray thee
+        To call on me
+    My angel maid--ahoy,
+    My ange--my ange--l maid
+    Ahoy! Ahoy! Ahoy!"
+
+The music of the guitar now ceased, and no French words were heard. No
+ditty of Latin origin, be it ever so melodious and fervid, could stand
+against such a wild storm of Anglo-Saxon vociferation. Every ahoy rang
+out as if sea captains were hailing each other in a gale!
+
+"What lungs he has" thought Mrs. Easterfield, as she put her hand over
+her mouth so that no one should hear her laugh. At the open window, at
+which she still steadily gazed, she now felt sure she saw something
+white which moved, but it did not come to the front.
+
+A wave of half-smothered objurgation now rolled up from below; it was
+not to be readily caught, but its tone indicated rage and
+disappointment. But the guitar had ceased to sound, and the French love
+song was heard no more. A little irrepressible laugh came from
+somewhere, but who heard it beside herself Mrs. Easterfield could not
+know. Then all was still, and the insects of the night, and the tree
+frogs, had the stage to themselves.
+
+Early in the morning Miss Raleigh presented herself before Mrs.
+Easterfield to make a report. "There was a serenade last night," she
+said, "not far from Miss Asher's window. In fact, there were two, but
+one of them came from Mr. Locker's room, and was simply awful. Mr. Du
+Brant was the gentleman who sang from the lawn, and I was very sorry
+when he felt himself obliged to stop. I do not think very much of him,
+but he certainly has a pleasant voice, and plays well on the guitar. I
+think he must have been a good deal cut up by being interrupted in that
+dreadful way, for he grumbled and growled, and did not go into the
+house for some time. I am sure he would have been very glad to fight if
+any one had come down."
+
+"You mean," said Mrs. Easterfield, "if Mr. Locker had come."
+
+"Well," said the secretary, "if Mr. Hemphill had appeared I have no
+doubt he would have answered. Mr. Du Brant seemed to me ready to fight
+anybody."
+
+"How do you know so much about him?" asked Mrs. Easterfield. "And why
+did you think of Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"Oh, he was looking out of his window," said Miss Raleigh. "He could not
+see, but he could hear."
+
+"I ask you again," said Mrs. Easterfield, "how do you know all this?"
+
+"Oh, I had not gone to bed, and, at the first sound of the guitar, I
+slipped on a waterproof with a hood, and went out. Of course, I wanted
+to know everything that was happening."
+
+"I had not the least idea you were such an energetic person," remarked
+Mrs. Easterfield, "and I think you were entirely too rash. But how about
+Mr. Lancaster? Do you know if he was listening?"
+
+Miss Raleigh stood silent for a moment, then she exclaimed: "There now,
+it is too bad! I entirely forgot him! I have not the slightest idea
+whether he was asleep or awake, and it would have been just as easy--"
+
+"Well, you need not regret it," said Mrs. Easterfield. "I think you did
+quite enough, and if anything of the kind occurs again I positively
+forbid you to go out of the house."
+
+"There is one thing we've got to look after," said Miss Raleigh,
+without heeding the last remark, "this may result in bloodshed."
+
+"Nonsense," said Mrs. Easterfield; "nothing of that kind is to be feared
+from the gentlemen who visit Broadstone."
+
+"Still," said Miss Raleigh, "don't you think it would be well for me to
+keep an eye on them?"
+
+"Oh, you may keep both eyes on them if you want to," said Mrs.
+Easterfield. Then she began to talk about something else, but, although
+she dismissed the matter so lightly, she was very glad at heart that she
+had sent for her husband. Things were getting themselves into unpleasant
+complications, and she needed Tom.
+
+There was a certain constraint at the breakfast table. Mr. Fox had heard
+the serenades, although his consort had slept soundly through the
+turmoil; and, while carefully avoiding any reference to the incidents of
+the night, he was anxiously hoping that somebody would say something
+about them. Mrs. Easterfield saw that Mr. Du Brant was in a bad humor,
+and she hoped he was angry enough to announce his early departure. But
+he contented himself with being angry, and said nothing about going
+away.
+
+Mr. Hemphill was serious, and looked often in the direction of Olive. As
+for Dick Lancaster, Miss Raleigh, whose eye was fixed upon him whenever
+it could be spared from the exigencies of her meal, decided that if
+there should be a fight he would be one of the fighters; his brow was
+dark and his glance was sharp; in fact, she was of the opinion that he
+glared. Claude Locker did not come to breakfast until nearly everybody
+had finished. His dreams had been so pleasant that he had overslept
+himself.
+
+In the eyes of Mrs. Easterfield Olive's conduct was positively charming.
+No one could have supposed that during the night she had heard anything
+louder than the ripple of the river. She talked more to Mr. Du Brant
+than to any one else, although she managed to draw most of the others
+into the conversation; and, with the assistance of the hostess, who gave
+her most good-humored help, the talk never flagged, although it did not
+become of the slightest interest to any one who engaged in it. They were
+all thinking about the conflict of serenades, and what might happen
+next.
+
+Shortly after breakfast Miss Raleigh came to Mrs. Easterfield. "Mr. Du
+Brant is with her," she said quickly, "and they are walking away. Shall
+I interpolate?"
+
+"No," said the other with a smile, "you can let them alone. Nothing will
+happen this morning, unless, indeed, he should come to ask for a
+carriage to take him to the station."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was busy in her garden when Dick Lancaster came to her.
+"What a wonderfully determined expression you have!" said she. "You look
+as if you were going to jump on a street-car without stopping it!"
+
+"You are right," said he, "I am determined, and I came to tell you so. I
+can't stand this sort of thing any longer. I feel like a child who is
+told he must eat at the second table, and who can not get his meals
+until every one else is finished."
+
+"And I suppose," she said, "you feel there will be nothing left for
+you."
+
+"That is it," he answered, "and I don't want to wait. My soul rebels! I
+can't stand it!"
+
+"Therefore," she said, "you wish to appear before the meal is ready, and
+in that case you will get nothing." He looked at her inquiringly. "I
+mean," said she, "that if you propose to Miss Asher now you will be
+before your time, and she will decline your proposition without the
+slightest hesitation."
+
+"I do not quite understand that," said Dick. "Would she decline all
+others?"
+
+"I am afraid not."
+
+"But why do you except me?" asked Dick. "Surely she is not engaged. I
+know you would tell me at once if that were so."
+
+"It is not so," said Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"Then I shall take my chances. With all this serenading and love-making
+going on around me and around the woman I love with all my heart. I can
+not stand and wait until I am told my time has come. The intensity and
+the ardor of my feelings for her give me the right to speak to her.
+Unless I know that some one else has stepped in before me and taken the
+place I crave, I have decided to speak to her just as soon as I can. But
+I thought it was due to you to come first and tell you."
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," said Mrs. Easterfield, speaking very quietly, "if you
+decide to go to Miss Asher and ask her to marry you, I know you will do
+it, for I believe you are a man who keeps his word to himself, but I
+assure you that if you do it you will never marry her. So you really
+need not bother yourself about going to her; you can simply decide to do
+it, and that will be quite sufficient; and you can stay here and hold
+these long-stemmed dahlias for me as I cut them."
+
+A troubled wistfulness showed itself upon the young man's face. "You
+speak so confidently," he said, "that I almost feel I ought to believe
+you. Why do you tell me that I am the only one of her suitors who would
+certainly be rejected if he offered himself?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield dropped the long-stemmed dahlias she had been holding;
+and, turning her eyes full upon Lancaster, she said, "Because you are
+the only one of them toward whom she has no predilections whatever. More
+than that, you are the only one toward whom she has a positive
+objection. You are the only one who is an intimate friend of her uncle,
+and who would be likely, by means of that intimate friendship, to bring
+her into connection with the woman she hates, as well as with a relative
+she despises on account of his intended marriage with that woman."
+
+"All that should not count at all," cried Dick. "In such a matter as
+this I have nothing to do with Captain Asher! I stand for myself and
+speak for myself. What is his intended wife to me? Or what should she be
+to her?"
+
+"Of course," said Mrs. Easterfield, "all that would not count at all if
+Olive Asher loved you. But you see she doesn't. I have had it from her
+own lips that her uncle's intended marriage is, and must always be, an
+effectual barrier between you and her."
+
+"What" cried Dick. "Have you spoken to her of me? And in that way?"
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield, "I have. I did not intend to tell you, but
+you have forced me to do it. You see, she is a young woman of
+extraordinary good sense. She believes she ought to marry, and she is
+going to try to make the very best marriage that she possibly can. She
+has suitors who have very strong claims upon her consideration--I am not
+going to tell you those claims, but I know them. Now, you have no
+claim--special claim, I mean--but for all this, I believe, as I have
+told you before, that you are the man she ought to marry, and I have
+been doing everything I can to make her cease considering them, and to
+consider you. And this is the way she came to give me her reasons for
+not considering you at all. Now the state of the case is plain before
+you."
+
+Dick bowed his head and fixed his eyes upon the dahlias on the ground.
+
+"Don't tread on the poor things," she said, "and don't despair. All you
+have to do is to let me put a curbed bit on you, and for you to consent
+to wear it for a little while. See," said she, moving her hands in the
+air, as if they were engaged upon the bridle of a horse, "I fasten this
+chain rather closely, and buckle the ends of the reins in the lowest
+curb. Now, you must have a steady hand and a resolute will until the
+time comes when the curb is no longer needed."
+
+"And do you believe that time will come?" he asked.
+
+"It will come," she said, "when two things happen; when she has reason
+to love you, and has no reason to object to you; and, in my opinion,
+that happy combination may arrive if you act sensibly."
+
+"But--" said Dick.
+
+At this moment a quick step was heard on the garden-path and they both
+turned. It was Olive.
+
+"Mr. Lancaster," she cried, "I want you; that is, if Mrs. Easterfield
+can spare you. We are making up a game of tennis. Mr. Du Brant and Mr.
+Hemphill are there, but I can not find Mr. Locker."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield could spare him, and Dick Lancaster, with the curbed
+chain pressing him very hard, walked away with Olive Asher.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+_The Captain and Maria._
+
+
+When the captain drove into Glenford on the day when his mind had been
+so much disturbed by Dick Lancaster's questions regarding a marriage
+between him and Maria Port, he stopped at no place of business, he
+turned not to the right nor to the left, but went directly to the house
+of his old friend with whom he had spent the night before.
+
+Mr. Simeon Port was sitting on his front porch, reading his newspaper.
+He looked up, surprised to see the captain again so soon.
+
+"Simeon," said the captain, "I want to see Maria. I have something to
+say to her."
+
+The old man laid down his newspaper. "Serious?" said he.
+
+"Yes, serious," was the answer, "and I want to see her now."
+
+Mr. Port reflected for a moment. "Captain," said he, "do you believe you
+have thought about this as much as you ought to?"
+
+"Yes, I have," replied the captain; "I've thought just as much as I
+ought to. Is she in the house?"
+
+Mr. Port did not answer. "Captain John," said he presently, "Maria isn't
+young, that's plain enough, considerin' my age; but she never does seem
+to me as if she'd growed up. When she was a girl she had ways of her
+own, and she could make water bile quick, and now she can make it bile
+just as quick as ever she did, and perhaps quicker. She's not much on
+mindin' the helm, Captain John, and there're other things about her that
+wouldn't be attractive to husbands when they come to find them out. And
+if I was you I'd take my time."
+
+"That's just what I intend to do," said the captain. "This is my time,
+and I am going to take it."
+
+Miss Port, who was busy in the back part of the house, heard voices, and
+now came forward. She was wiping her hands upon her apron, and one of
+them she extended to the captain.
+
+"I am glad to see you--John," she said, speaking in a very gentle voice,
+and hesitating a little at the last word.
+
+The captain looked at her steadfastly, and then, without taking her
+hand, he said: "I want to speak to you by yourself. I'll go into the
+parlor."
+
+She politely stepped back to let him pass her, and then her father
+turned quickly to her.
+
+"Did you expect to see him back so soon?" he asked.
+
+She smiled and looked down. "Oh, yes," said she, "I was sure he'd come
+back very soon."
+
+The old man heaved a sigh, and returned to his paper.
+
+Maria followed the captain. "John," said she, speaking in a low voice,
+"wouldn't you rather come into the dinin'-room? He's a little bit hard
+of hearin', but if you don't want him to hear anything he'll take in
+every word of it."
+
+"Maria Port," said the captain, speaking in a strong, upper-deck voice,
+"what I have to say I'll say here. I don't want the people in the street
+to hear me, but if your father chooses to listen I would rather he did
+it than not."
+
+She looked at him inquiringly. "Well," she answered, "I suppose he will
+have to hear it some time or other, and he might as well hear it now as
+not. He's all I've got in the world, and you know as well as I do that I
+run to tell him everything that happens to me as soon as it happens.
+Will you sit down?"
+
+"No," said the captain, "I can speak better standing. Maria Port, I have
+found out that you have been trying to make people believe that I am
+engaged to marry you."
+
+The smile did not leave Maria's face. "Well, ain't you?" said she.
+
+A look of blank amazement appeared on the face of the captain, but it
+was quickly succeeded by the blackness of rage. He was about to swear,
+but restrained himself.
+
+"Engaged to you?" he shouted, forgetting entirely the people in the
+street; "I'd rather be engaged to a fin-back shark!"
+
+The smile now left her face. "Oh, thank you very much," she said. "And
+this is what you meant by your years of devotion! I held out for a long
+time, knowing the difference in our ages and the habits of sailors, and
+now--just when I make up my mind to give in, to think of my father and
+not of myself, and to sacrifice my feelin's so that he might always
+have one of his old friends near him, now that he's got too feeble to go
+out by himself, and at his age you know as well as I do he ought to have
+somebody near him besides me, for who can tell what may happen, or how
+sudden--you come and tell me you'd rather marry a fish. I suppose you've
+got somebody else in your mind, but that don't make no difference to me.
+I've got no fish to offer you, but I have myself that you've wanted so
+long, and which now you've got."
+
+The angry captain opened his mouth to speak; he was about to ejaculate
+Woman! but his sense of propriety prevented this. He would not apply
+such an epithet to any one in the house of a friend. Wretch rose to his
+lips, but he would not use even that word; and he contented himself
+with: "You! You know just as well as you know you are standing there
+that I never had the least idea of marrying you. You know, too, that you
+have tried to make people think I had, people here in town and people
+out at my house, where you came over and over again pretending to want
+to talk about your father's health, when it did not need any more
+talking about than yours does. You know you have made trouble in my
+family; that you so disgusted my niece that she would not stop at my
+house, which had been the same thing as her home; you sickened my
+friends; and made my very servants ashamed of me; and all this because
+you want to marry a man who now despises you. I would have despised you
+long ago if I had seen through your tricks, but I didn't."
+
+There was a smile on Miss Port's face now, but it was not such a smile
+as that with which she had greeted the captain; it was a diabolical
+grin, brightened by malice. "You are perfectly right," she said;
+"everybody knows we are engaged to be married, and what they think about
+it doesn't matter to me the snap of my finger. The people in town all
+know it and talk about it, and what's more, they've talked to me about
+it. That niece of your'n knows it, and that's the reason she won't come
+near you, and I'm sure I'm not sorry for that. As for that old thing
+that helps you at the toll-gate, and as for the young man that's
+spongin' on you, I've no doubt they've got a mighty poor opinion of you.
+And I've no doubt they're right. But all that matters nothin' to me.
+You're engaged to be married to me; you know it yourself; and everybody
+knows it; and what you've got to do is to marry, or pay. You hear what I
+say, and you know what I'm goin' to stick to."
+
+It may be well for Captain Asher's reputation that he had no opportunity
+to answer Miss Port's remarks. At that instant Mr. Simeon Port appeared
+at the door which opened from the parlor on the piazza. He stepped
+quickly, his actions showing nothing of that decrepitude which his
+dutiful daughter had feared would prevent him from seeking the society
+of his friends. He fixed his eyes on his daughter and spoke in a loud,
+strong voice.
+
+"Maria," said he, "go to bed! I've heard what you've been saying, and
+I'm ashamed of you. I've been ashamed of you before, but now it's worse
+than ever. Go to bed, I tell you! And this time, go!"
+
+There was nothing in the world that Maria Port was afraid of except her
+father, and of him personally she had not the slightest dread. But of
+his dying without leaving her the whole of his fortune she had an
+abiding terror, which often kept her awake at night, and which sent a
+sickening thrill through her whenever a difficulty arose between her and
+her parent. She was quite sure what he would do if she should offend him
+sufficiently; he would leave her a small annuity, enough to support her;
+and the rest of his money would go to several institutions which she had
+heard him mention in this connection. If she could have married Captain
+Asher she would have felt a good deal safer; it would have taken much
+provocation to make her father leave his money out of the family if his
+old friend had been one of that family.
+
+Now, when she heard her father's voice, and saw his dark eyes glittering
+at her, she knew she was in great danger, and the well-known chill ran
+through her. She made no answer; she cared not who was present; she
+thought of nothing but that those eyes must cease to glitter, and that
+angry voice must not be heard again. She turned and walked to her room,
+which was on the same floor, across the hall.
+
+"And mind you go to bed!" shouted her father. "And do it regular. You're
+not to make believe to go to bed, and then get up and walk about as soon
+as my back is turned. I'm comin' in presently to see if you've obeyed
+me."
+
+She answered not, but entered her room, and closed the door after her.
+
+Mr. Port now turned to the captain. "I never could find out," he said,
+"where Maria got that mind of her'n. It isn't from my side, for my
+father and mother was as good people as ever lived, and it wasn't from
+her mother, for you knew her, and there wasn't anything of the kind
+about her."
+
+"No," said Captain Asher, "not the least bit of it."
+
+"It must have been from her grandmother Ellis," said the old man. "I
+never knew her, for she died before I was acquainted with the family,
+but I expect she died of deviltry. That's the only insight I can get
+into the reasons for Maria's havin' the mind she's got. But I tell you,
+Captain John, you've had a blessed escape! I didn't know she was in the
+habit of goin' out to your house so often. She didn't tell me that."
+
+"Simeon," said the captain, "I think I will go now. I have had enough of
+Maria. I don't suppose I'll hear from her very soon again."
+
+The old man smiled. "No," said he, "I don't think she'll want to trouble
+you any more."
+
+Miss Port, whose ear was at the keyhole of her door not twelve feet
+away, grinned malignantly.
+
+Soon after Captain Asher had gone Mr. Port walked to the door of his
+daughter's room, gave a little knock, and then opened the door a little.
+
+"You are in bed, are you?" said he. "Well, that's good for you. Turn
+down that coverlid and let me see if you've got your nightclothes on."
+She obeyed. "Very well," he continued; "now you stay there until I tell
+you to get up."
+
+Captain Asher went home, still in a very bad humor. He had ceased to be
+angry with Maria Port, he was done with her; and he let her pass out of
+his mind. But he was angry with other people, especially with Olive.
+She had allowed herself to have a most contemptuous opinion of him; she
+had treated him shamefully; and as he thought of her his indignation
+increased instead of diminishing. And young Lancaster had believed it!
+And old Jane! It was enough to make a stone slab angry, and the captain
+was not a stone slab.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+_Mr. Tom arrives at Broadstone._
+
+
+After the conclusion of the game of tennis in which Olive and three of
+her lovers participated, Claude Locker, returning from a long walk,
+entered the grounds of Broadstone. He had absented himself from that
+hospitable domain for purposes of reflection, and also to avoid the
+company of Mr. Du Brant. Not that he was afraid of the diplomat, but
+because of the important interview appointed for the latter part of the
+morning. He very much wished that no unpleasantness of any kind should
+occur before the time for that interview.
+
+Having found that he had given himself more time than was necessary for
+his reflections and his walk, he had rested in the shade of a tree and
+had written two poems. One of these was the serenade which he would have
+roared out on the night air on a very recent occasion if he had had time
+to prepare it. It was, in his opinion, far superior to the impromptu
+verses of which he had been obliged to make use, and it pleased him to
+think that if things should go well with him after the interview to
+which he was looking forward, he would read that serenade to its object,
+and ask her to substitute it in her memory for the inharmonic lines
+which he had used in order to smother the degenerate melody of a
+foreign lay. The other poem was intended for use in case his interview
+should not be successful. But on the way home Mr. Locker experienced an
+entire change of mind. He came to believe that it would be unwise for
+him to arrange to use either of those poems on that day. For all he
+knew, Miss Asher might like foreign degenerate lays, and she might be
+annoyed that he had interfered with one. He remembered that she had told
+him that if he had insisted on an immediate answer to his proposition it
+would have been very easy to give it to him. He realized what that
+meant; and, for all he knew, she might be quite as ready this morning to
+act with similar promptness. That Du Brant business might have settled
+her mind, and it would therefore be very well for him to be careful
+about what he did, and what he asked for.
+
+About half an hour before luncheon, when he neared the house and
+perceived Miss Asher on the lawn, it seemed to him very much as if she
+were looking for him. This he did not like, and he hurried toward her.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "I wish to propose an amendment."
+
+"To what?" asked Olive. "But first tell me where you have been and what
+you have been doing? You are covered with dust, and look as hot as if
+you had been pulling the boat against the rapids. I have not seen you
+the whole morning."
+
+"I have been walking," said he, "and thinking. It is dreadful hot work
+to think. That should be done only in winter weather."
+
+"It would be a woeful thing to take a cold on the mind," said Olive.
+
+"That is so!" he replied. "That is exactly what I am afraid of this
+morning, and that is the reason I want to propose my amendment. I beg
+most earnestly that you will not make this interview definitive. I am
+afraid if you do I may get chills in my mind, soul, and heart from which
+I shall never recover. I have an idea that the weather may not be as
+favorable as it was yesterday for the unveiling of tender emotions."
+
+"Why so?" asked Olive.
+
+"There are several reasons," returned Mr. Locker. "For one thing, that
+musical uproar last night. I have not heard anything about that, and I
+don't know where I stand."
+
+Olive laughed. "It was splendid," said she. "I liked you a great deal
+better after that than I did before."
+
+"Now tell me," he exclaimed hurriedly, "and please lose no time, for
+here comes a surrey from the station with a gentleman in it--do you like
+me enough better to give me a favorable answer, now, right here?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "I do not feel warranted in being so precipitate as
+that."
+
+"Then please say nothing on the subject," said Locker. "Please let us
+drop the whole matter for to-day. And may I assume that I am at liberty
+to take it up again to-morrow at this hour?"
+
+"You may," said Olive. "What gentleman is that, do you suppose?"
+
+"I know him," said Locker, "and, fortunately, he is married. He is Mr.
+Easterfield."
+
+"Here's papa! Here's papa!" shouted the two little girls as they ran out
+of the front door.
+
+"And papa," said the oldest one, "we want you to tell us a story just as
+soon as you have brushed your hair! Mr. Rupert has been telling us
+stories, but yours are a great deal better."
+
+"Yes," said the other little girl, "he makes all the children too good.
+They can't be good, you know, and there's no use trying. We told him so,
+but he doesn't mind."
+
+There was story-telling after luncheon, but the papa did not tell them,
+and the children were sent away. It was Mrs. Easterfield who told the
+stories, and Mr. Tom was a most interested listener.
+
+"Well," said he, when she had finished, "this seems to be a somewhat
+tangled state of affairs."
+
+"It certainly is," she replied, "and I tangled them."
+
+"And you expect me to straighten them?" he asked.
+
+"Of course I do," she replied, "and I expect you to begin by sending Mr.
+Hemphill away. You know I could not do it, but I should think it would
+be easy for you."
+
+"Would you object if I lighted a cigar?" he asked.
+
+"Of course not," she said. "Did you ever hear me object to anything of
+the kind?"
+
+"No," said he, "but I never have smoked in this room, and I thought
+perhaps Miss Raleigh might object when she came in to do your writing."
+
+"My writing!" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "Now don't trifle! This is no
+time to make fun of me. Olive may be accepting him this minute."
+
+"It seems to me," said Mr. Easterfield, slowly puffing his cigar, "that
+it would not be such a very bad thing if she did. So far as I have been
+able to judge, he is my favorite of the claimants. Du Brant and I have
+met frequently, and if I were a girl I would not want to marry him.
+Locker is too little for Miss Asher, and, besides, he is too flighty.
+Your young professor may be good enough, but from my limited
+conversation with him at the table I could not form much of an opinion
+as to him one way or another. I have an opinion of Hemphill, and a very
+good one. He is a first-class young man, a rising one with prospects,
+and, more than that, I think he is the best-looking of the lot."
+
+"Tom," said Mrs. Easterfield, "do you suppose I sent for you to talk
+such nonsense as that? Can you imagine that my sense of honor toward
+Olive's parents would allow me even to consider a marriage between a
+high-class girl, such as she is--high-class in every way--to a mere
+commonplace private secretary? I don't care what his attributes and
+merits are; he is commonplace to the backbone; and he is impossible. If
+what ought to be a brilliant career ends suddenly in Rupert Hemphill I
+shall have Olive on my conscience for the rest of my life."
+
+"That settles it," said Mr. Tom Easterfield; "your conscience, my dear,
+has not been trained to carry loads, and I shall not help to put one on
+it. Hemphill is a good man, but we must rule him out."
+
+"Yes," said she, "Olive is a great deal more than good. He must be
+ruled out."
+
+"But I can't send him away this afternoon," Tom continued. "That would
+put them both on their mettle, and, ten to one, he would considerately
+announce his engagement before he left."
+
+"No," said she. "Olive is very sharp, and would resent that. But now
+that you are here I feel safe from any immediate rashness on their
+part."
+
+"You are right," said Mr. Tom. "My very coming will give them pause. And
+now I want to see the girl."
+
+"What for?" asked Mrs. Easterfield.
+
+"I want to get acquainted with her. I don't know her yet, and I can't
+talk to her if I don't know her."
+
+"Are you going to talk to her about Hemphill?"
+
+"Yes, for one thing," he answered.
+
+"Well," said she, "you will have to be very circumspect. She is both
+alert, and sensitive."
+
+"Oh, I'll be circumspect enough," he replied. "You may trust me for
+that."
+
+It was not long after this that Mrs. Easterfield, being engaged in some
+hospitable duties, sent Olive to show Mr. Tom the garden, and it was
+rather a slight to that abode of beauty that the tour of the rose-lined
+paths occupied but a very few minutes, when Mr. Easterfield became
+tired, and desired to sit down. Having seated themselves on Mrs.
+Easterfield's favorite bench, Olive looked up at her companion, and
+asked:
+
+"Well, sir, what is it you brought me here to say to me?"
+
+Mr. Tom laughed, and so did she.
+
+"If it is anything about the gentlemen who are paying their addresses
+to me, you may as well begin at once, for that will save time, and
+really an introduction is not necessary."
+
+Mr. Easterfield's admiration for this young lady, which had been
+steadily growing, was not decreased by this remark. "This girl," said he
+to himself, "deserves a nimble-witted husband. Hemphill would never do
+for her. It seems to me," he said aloud, "that we are already well
+enough acquainted for me to proceed with the remarks which you have
+correctly assumed I came here to make."
+
+"Yes," said she, "I have always thought that some people are born to
+become acquainted, and when they meet they instantly perceive the fact,
+and the thing is accomplished. They can then proceed."
+
+"Very well," said he, "we will proceed."
+
+"I suppose," said Olive, "that Mrs. Easterfield has explained
+everything, and that you agree with her and with me that it is a
+sensible thing for a girl in my position to marry, and, having no one to
+attend wisely to such a matter for me, that I should endeavor to attend
+to it myself as wisely as I can. Also, that a little bit of pique,
+caused by the fact that I am to have an old schoolfellow for a
+stepmother, is excusable."
+
+"And it is this pique which puts you in such a hurry? I did not exactly
+understand that."
+
+"Yes, it does," said she. "I very much wish to announce my own
+engagement, if not my marriage, before any arrangements shall be made
+which may include me. Do you think me wrong in this?"
+
+"No, I don't," said Mr. Easterfield. "If I were a girl in your place I
+think I would do the same thing myself."
+
+Olive's face expressed her gratitude. "And now," said she, "what do you
+think of the young men? I feel so well acquainted with you through Mrs.
+Easterfield that I shall give a great deal of weight to your opinion.
+But first let me ask you one thing: After what you have heard of me do
+you think I am a flirt?"
+
+Mr. Tom knitted his brows a little, then he smiled, and then he looked
+out over the flower-beds without saying anything.
+
+"Don't be afraid to say so if you think so," said she. "You must be
+perfectly plain and frank with me, or our acquaintanceship will wither
+away."
+
+Under the influence of this threat he spoke. "Well," said he, "I should
+not feel warranted in calling you a flirt, but it does seem to me that
+you have been flirting."
+
+"I think you are wrong, Mr. Easterfield," said Olive, speaking very
+gravely. "I never saw any one of these young men before I came here
+except Mr. Hemphill, and he was an entirely different person when I knew
+him before, and I have given no one of them any special encouragement.
+If Mr. Locker were not such an impetuous young man, I think the others
+would have been more deliberate, but as it was easy to see the state of
+his mind, and as we are all making but a temporary stay here, these
+other young men saw that they must act quickly, or not at all. This,
+while it was very amusing, was also a little annoying, and I should
+greatly have preferred slower and more deliberate movements on the part
+of these young men. But all my feelings changed when my father's letter
+came to me. I was glad then that they had proposed already."
+
+"That is certainly honest," said Mr. Tom.
+
+"Of course it is honest," replied Olive. "I am here to speak honestly if
+I speak at all. Now, don't you see that if under these peculiar
+circumstances one eligible young man had proposed to me I ought to have
+considered myself fortunate? Now here are three to choose from. Do you
+not agree with me that it is my duty to try to choose the best one of
+them, and not to discourage any until I feel very certain about my
+choice?"
+
+"That is business-like," said Mr. Easterfield; "but do you love any one
+of them?"
+
+"No, I don't," answered Olive, "except that there is a feeling in that
+direction in the case of Mr. Hemphill. I suppose Mrs. Easterfield has
+told you that when I was a schoolgirl I was deeply in love with him; and
+now, when I think of those old times, I believe it would not be
+impossible for those old sentiments to return. So there really is a tie
+between him and me; even though it be a slight one; which does not exist
+at all between me and any one of the others."
+
+For a moment neither of them spoke. "That is very bad, young woman,"
+thought Mr. Tom. "A slight tie like that is apt to grow thick and strong
+suddenly." But he could not discourse about Mr. Hemphill; he knew that
+would be very dangerous. He would have to be considered, however, and
+much more seriously than he had supposed.
+
+"Well," said he, "I will tell you this: if I were a young man,
+unmarried, and on a visit to Broadstone at this time, I should not like
+to be treated as you are treating the young men who are here. It is all
+very well for a young woman to look after herself and her own interests,
+but I should be very sorry to have my fate depend upon the merits of
+other people. I may not be correct, but I am afraid I should feel I was
+being flirted with."
+
+"Well, then," said Olive, giving a quick, forward motion on the bench,
+"you think I ought to settle this matter immediately, and relieve myself
+at once from the imputation of trifling with earnest affection?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" cried Mrs. Easterfield. "Not at all! Don't do anything
+rash!"
+
+Olive leaned back on the bench, and laughed heartily. "There is so much
+excellent advice in this world," she said, "which is not intended to be
+used. However, it is valuable all the same. And now, sir, what is it you
+would like me to do? Something plain; intended for every-day use."
+
+Mr. Tom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "It does not appear to
+me," he said, "that you have told me very much I did not know before,
+for Mrs. Easterfield put the matter very plainly before me."
+
+"And it does not seem to me," said Olive, "that you have given me any
+definite counsel, and I know that is what you came here to do."
+
+"You are mistaken there," he said. "I came here to find out what sort of
+a girl you are; my counsels must depend on my discoveries. But there is
+one thing I want to ask you; you are all the time talking about three
+young men. Now, there are four of them here."
+
+"Yes," she answered quickly. "But only three of them have proposed;
+and, besides, if the other were to do so, he would have to be set aside
+for what I may call family reasons. I don't want to go into particulars
+because the subject is very painful to me."
+
+For a moment Mr. Tom did not speak. Then, determined to go through with
+what he had come to do, which was to make himself acquainted with this
+girl, he said: "I do not wish to discuss anything that is painful to
+you, but Mrs. Easterfield and I are very much disturbed for fear that in
+some way your visit to Broadstone created some misunderstanding or
+disagreeable feeling between you and your uncle. Now, would you mind
+telling me whether this is so, or not?"
+
+She looked at him steadily. "There is an unpleasant feeling between me
+and my uncle, but this visit has nothing to do with it. And I am going
+to tell you all about it. I hate to feel so much alone in the world that
+I can't talk to anybody about what makes me unhappy. I might have spoken
+to Mrs. Easterfield, but she didn't ask me. But you have asked me, and
+that makes me feel that I am really better acquainted with you than with
+her."
+
+This remark pleased Mr. Tom, but he did not think it would be necessary
+to put it into his report to his wife. He had promised to be very
+circumspect; and circumspection should act in every direction.
+
+"It is very hard for a girl such as I am," she continued, "to be alone
+in the world, and that is a very good reason for getting married as soon
+as I can."
+
+"And for being very careful whom you marry," interrupted Mr.
+Easterfield.
+
+"Of course," said she, "and I am trying very hard to be that. A little
+while ago I had a father with whom I expected to live and be happy, but
+that dream is over now. And then I thought I had an uncle who was going
+to be more of a father to me than my own father had ever been. But that
+dream is over, too."
+
+"And why?" asked Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"He is going to marry a woman," said Olive, "that is perfectly horrible,
+and with whom I could not live. And the worst of it all is that he never
+told me a word about it."
+
+As she said this Olive looked very solemn; and Mr. Tom, not knowing on
+the instant what would be proper to say, looked solemn also.
+
+"You may think it strange," said she, "that I talk in this way to you,
+but you came here to find out what sort of girl I am, and I am perfectly
+willing to help you do it. Besides, in a case like this, I would rather
+talk to a man than to a woman."
+
+Mr. Tom believed her, but he did not know at this stage of the
+proceedings what it would be wise to say. He was also fully aware that
+if he said the wrong thing it would be very bad, indeed.
+
+"Now, you see," said she, "there is another reason why I should marry as
+soon as possible. In my case most girls would take up some pursuit which
+would make them independent, but I don't like business. I want to be at
+the head of a household; and, what is more, I want to have something to
+do--I mean a great deal to do--with the selection of a husband."
+
+The conversation was taking a direction which frightened Mr. Tom. In the
+next moment she might be asking advice about the choice of a husband.
+It was plain enough that love had nothing to do with the matter, and Mr.
+Tom did not wish to act the part of a practical-minded Cupid. "And now
+let me ask a favor of you," said he. "Won't you give me time to think
+over this matter a little?"
+
+"That is exactly what I say to my suitors," said Olive, smiling.
+
+Mr. Tom smiled also. "But won't you promise me not to do anything
+definite until I see you again?" he asked earnestly.
+
+"That is not very unlike what some of my suitors say to me," she
+replied. "But I will promise you that when you see me again I shall
+still be heart-free."
+
+"There can be no doubt of that," Mr. Tom said to himself as they arose
+to leave the garden. "And, my young woman, you may deny being a flirt,
+but you permitted the addresses of two young men before you were upset
+by your father's letter. But I think I like flirts. At any rate, I can
+not help liking her, and I believe she has got a heart somewhere, and
+will find it some day."
+
+When Mr. Tom returned to the house he did not find his wife, for that
+lady was occupied somewhere in entertaining her guests. Now, although it
+might have been considered his duty to go and help her in her hospitable
+work, he very much preferred to attend to the business which she had
+sent for him to do. And walking to the stables, he was soon mounted on a
+good horse, and riding away southward on the smooth gray turnpike.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXV_
+
+_The Captain and Mr. Tom._
+
+
+Captain Asher was standing at the door of the tollhouse when he saw Mr.
+Easterfield approaching. He recognized him, although he had had but one
+brief interview with him one day at the toll-gate some time before. Mr.
+Easterfield was a man absorbed in business, and the first summer Mrs.
+Easterfield was at Broadstone he was in Europe engaged in large and
+important affairs, and had not been at the summer home at all. And so
+far this summer, he had been there but once before, and then for only a
+couple of days. Now, as the captain saw the gentleman coming toward the
+toll-gate he had no reason for supposing that he would not go through
+it. Nevertheless, his mind was disturbed. Any one coming from Broadstone
+disturbed his mind. He had not quite decided whether or not to ask any
+questions concerning the late members of his household, when the
+horseman stopped at the gate, and handed him the toll.
+
+"Good morning, captain," said Mr. Easterfield cheerily, for he had heard
+much in praise of the toll-gate keeper from his wife.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Easterfield," said the captain gravely.
+
+"I am glad I do not have to introduce myself," said Mr. Easterfield,
+"for I am only going through your gate as far as that tree to tie my
+horse. Then, if convenient to you, I should like to have a little talk
+with you."
+
+The captain's mind, which had been relieved when Mr. Easterfield paid
+his toll, now sank again. But he could not say a talk would be
+inconvenient. "If I had known that you were not going on," he said, "you
+need not have paid."
+
+"Like most people in this life," said Mr. Easterfield, "I pay for what I
+have already done, and not for what I am going to do. And now have you
+leisure, sir, for a short conversation?"
+
+The captain looked very glum. He felt not the slightest desire now to
+ask questions, and still less desire to be interrogated. However, he was
+not afraid of anything any one might say to him; and if a certain
+subject was broached, he had something to say himself.
+
+"Yes," said he; "do you prefer indoors or out of doors?"
+
+"Out of doors, if it suits," replied the visitor, "for I would like to
+take a smoke."
+
+"I am with you there," said the captain, as he led the way to the little
+arbor.
+
+Here Mr. Easterfield lighted a cigar, and the captain a pipe.
+
+"Now, sir," said the latter, when the tobacco in his bowl was in a
+satisfactory glow, "what is it you want to talk about?" He spoke as if
+he were behind entrenchments, and ready for an attack.
+
+"We have two of your guests with us," answered Mr. Easterfield,
+"Professor Lancaster, and your niece."
+
+"Oh," said the captain, evidently relieved. "I thought perhaps you had
+come to ask questions about some reports you may have heard in regard to
+me."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said Mr. Easterfield. "I would not think of
+mentioning your private affairs, about which I have not the slightest
+right or wish to speak. But as we have apparently appropriated two of
+your young people, I think, and Mrs. Easterfield agrees with me, that it
+is but right you should be informed as to their health, and what they
+are doing."
+
+The captain puffed vigorously. "When is Dick Lancaster coming back" he
+asked.
+
+"I can't say anything about that," replied Mr. Easterfield, "for I am
+not master of ceremonies. We would like to keep him as long as we can,
+but, of course, your claims must be considered."
+
+"I should think so," remarked the captain.
+
+"Professor Lancaster is a remarkably fine young man," said the other,
+"and as he is a friend of yours, and as I should like him to be a friend
+of mine, it would give me pleasure to talk to you more about him. But I
+may as well confess that my real object in coming here is to talk about
+your niece. Of course, as I said before, it might appear that I have no
+right to meddle with your family affairs, but in this case I certainly
+think I am justified; for, as Mrs. Easterfield invited the young lady to
+leave you and to come to her, and as all that has happened to her has
+happened at our house, and in consequence of that invitation, I think
+that you, as her nearest accessible relative, should be told of what has
+occurred."
+
+The captain made no answer, but gazed steadily into the face of the
+speaker.
+
+"Therefore," continued Mr. Easterfield, "I will simply state that my
+wife and I have very good reason to believe that your niece is about to
+engage herself in marriage; and I will only add that we are very sorry,
+indeed, that this should have occurred under our roof."
+
+A sudden and curious change came over the face of the captain; a light
+sparkled in his eye, and a faint flush, as if of pleasure, was visible
+under his swarthy skin. He leaned toward his companion.
+
+"Is it Dick Lancaster?" he asked quickly.
+
+Mr. Easterfield answered gravely: "I wish it were, but I am very sorry
+to say it is not."
+
+The light went out of the captain's eye. He leaned back on his bench and
+the little flush in his cheeks was succeeded by a somber coldness. "Very
+good," said he; "I don't want to hear anything more about it, and, what
+is more, it would not be right for you to tell me, even if I did want to
+know. It is none of my business."
+
+"Now, really, Captain Asher," began Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"No, sir," the captain interrupted. "It is none of my business, and I
+don't want to hear anything about it. And now, sir, I would like to tell
+you something. It is something I thought you came here to ask about, and
+I did not like it, but now I want to tell you of my own free will, in
+confidence. That is to say, I don't want you to speak of it to anybody
+in your house. I suppose you have heard something about my intending to
+marry a woman in town?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Easterfield, "I can not deny that I have, but I
+considered it was entirely your own affair, and I had not--"
+
+"Of course," interrupted the captain, "and I want to tell you--but I
+don't want my niece to hear it as coming from me--that that whole thing
+is a most abominable lie! That woman has been trying to make people
+believe I am going to marry her, and she has made a good many believe
+it, but I would rather cut my throat than marry her. But I have told her
+what I think of her in a way she can not mistake. And that ends her! I
+tell you this, Mr. Easterfield, because I believe you are a good man,
+and you certainly seem to be a friendly man, and I would like you to
+know it. I would have liked very much to tell everybody, especially my
+own flesh and blood, but now I assure you, sir, I am too proud to have
+her know it through me. Let her go on and marry anybody she pleases, and
+let her think anything she pleases about me. She has been satisfied with
+her own opinion of me without giving me a chance to explain to her, or
+to tell her the truth, and now she can stay satisfied with it until
+somebody else sets her straight."
+
+"But this is very hard, captain," said Mr. Easterfield; "hard on you,
+hard on her, and hard on all of us, I may say."
+
+The captain made no answer to these words, and did not appear to hear
+them. "I tell you, Mr. Easterfield," he said presently, "that I did not
+know until now how much I cared for that girl. I don't mind saying this
+to you because you come to me like a friend, and I believe in you. Yes,
+sir, I did not know how much I cared for her, and it is pretty hard on
+me to find out how little she cares for me."
+
+"You are wrong there," said Mr. Easterfield. "My wife tells me that Miss
+Asher has frequently talked to her about you and her life here, and it
+is certain she has--"
+
+"Oh, that does not make any difference," interrupted the captain. "I am
+talking about things as they are now. It was all very well as long as
+things seemed to be going right, but I believe in people who stand by
+you when things seem to be going wrong, and who keep on standing by you
+until they know how they are going, and that is exactly what she did not
+do. Now, there was Dick Lancaster; he came to me and asked me squarely
+about that affair. To be sure, I cut him off short, for it angered me to
+think that he, or anybody else, should have such an idea of me, and,
+besides, it was none of his business. But it should have been her
+business; she ought to have made it her business; and, even if the thing
+had stood differently, I would have told her exactly how it did stand;
+and then she could have said to me what she thought about it, and what
+she was going to do. But instead of that, she just made up her mind
+about me, and away went everything. Yes, sir, everything. I can't tell
+you the plans I had made for her and for myself, and, I may say, for
+Dick Lancaster. If it suited her, I wanted her to marry him, and if it
+suited her I wanted to go and live with them in his college town, or
+any other place they might want to go. Again and again, after I knew
+Dick, have I gone over this thing and planned it out this way, and that
+way, but always with us three in the middle of everything. Do you see
+that?" continued the captain after a slight pause, as he drew from his
+pocket a dainty little pearl paper-cutter. "That belongs to her. She
+used to sit out here, and cut the leaves of books as she read them. I
+can see her little hand now as it went sliding along the edges of the
+pages. When she went away she left it on the bench, and I took it. And
+I've kept it in my pocket to take out when I sit here, and cut books
+with it when I have 'em. I haven't many books that ain't cut, but I've
+sat here and cut 'em till there wasn't any left. And then I cut a lot of
+old volumes of Coast Survey Reports. It is a foolish thing for an old
+man to do, but then--but then--well, you see, I did it."
+
+There was a choke in the captain's voice as he leaned over to put the
+paper-cutter in his pocket and to pick up his pipe, which he had laid on
+the bench beside him. Mr. Easterfield was touched and surprised. He
+would not have supposed the captain to be a man of such tender
+sentiment. And he took him at once to his heart. "It is a shame," his
+thoughts ran, "for this man to be separated from the niece he so loves.
+She is a cold-hearted girl, or she does not understand him. It must not
+be."
+
+Had he been a woman he would have said all this, but, being a man, he
+found it difficult to break the silence which followed the captain's
+last words. He did not know what to say, although he had no hesitation
+in making up his mind what he was going to do about it all. He arose.
+
+"Captain Asher," he said, "I have now told you what I thought you should
+know, and I must take my departure. I would not presume for a moment to
+offer you any advice in regard to your family affairs, but there is one
+thing Mrs. Easterfield and I will interfere with, if we can, for we feel
+that we have a right to do it, and that is any definite and immediate
+engagement of your niece. If she should promise herself in marriage at
+our house we shall feel that we are responsible for it, and that, in
+fact, we brought it about. Whether the match shall seem desirable to you
+or not, we do not wish to be answerable for it."
+
+"Oh, I need not be counted in at all," said the captain, who had
+recovered his composure. "It is her own affair. I suppose it was the
+news of her father's intended marriage that put her in such a hurry."
+
+"You are right," said Mr. Easterfield.
+
+"Just like her" the captain exclaimed. "And I don't blame her. I'm with
+her there"
+
+When Mr. Tom reached Broadstone he dismounted at the stable, and walked
+to the house. Nobody was to be seen on the grounds. It was a warm
+afternoon when those whose hearts were undisturbed by the turmoils of
+love were apt to be napping, and those who were in the tumultuous state
+of mind referred to, preferred to separate themselves from each other
+and the rest of the world until the cause of their inquietude should
+consider the heat of the summer day as sufficiently mitigated for her to
+appear again among her fellow beings.
+
+Mr. Easterfield did not care to meet any of his guests, and hoped to
+find his wife in her room, that he might report, and consult. But, as he
+approached the house, he saw at an upper window a female head. It stayed
+there just long enough for him to see that it was Olive's head; then it
+disappeared. When he reached the hall door there stood Olive.
+
+Mr. Tom was a little disappointed. He wanted to see his wife
+immediately, and then to see Olive. But he could not say so.
+
+"Well," said the girl, coming down the steps, "it looks as if we had
+arranged to meet. But although we didn't, let's take a little walk. I
+have something I want to say to you."
+
+Mr. Easterfield turned, and walked away from the house. He was a
+masterful man, and did not like to have his plans interfered with.
+Therefore he made a dash, and had the first word. "Miss Asher," said he,
+"I am glad to hear anything you have to say, but first you must really
+listen to me."
+
+Olive looked at him with surprise. She also was a masterful person, and
+not accustomed to be treated in this way. But he gave her no chance.
+
+"Miss Asher," said he, "I have come to you to speak for one of your
+lovers, the truest, best lover you ever had, and I believe, ever will
+have."
+
+Olive looked at him steadfastly, and her face grew hard. "Mr.
+Easterfield," she said, "this will not do. I have told you I will not
+have it. Mrs. Easterfield and you have been very good and kind, and I
+have told you everything, but you do not seem to remember one thing I
+have said. I will not have anybody forced upon me; no matter if he
+happens to be an angel from heaven, or no matter how much better he may
+be than anybody else on earth. I have my reasons for this determination.
+They are good reasons, and, above all, they are my reasons. I don't want
+you to think me rude, but if you persist in forcing that gentleman upon
+my attention, I shall have to request that the whole subject be dropped
+between us."
+
+"Who in the name of common sense do you think I am talking about?"
+exclaimed Mr. Tom. "Do you think I refer to Mr. Lancaster?"
+
+"I do," she said. "You know you would not come to plead the cause of any
+one of the others."
+
+He looked down at her half doubtfully, wondering a little how she would
+take what he was going to say. "You are mistaken," he said quietly. "I
+have nothing whatever to say about Mr. Lancaster. The lover I speak of
+is your uncle."
+
+Then her face turned red. "Why do you use that expression? Did he send
+you to say it?"
+
+"Not at all. I came of my own free will. I went to see Captain Asher
+immediately after I left you. Perhaps you are thinking that I have no
+right to intrude in your family affairs, but I do not mind your thinking
+that. I had a long talk with your uncle. I found that the uppermost
+sentiment of his soul was his love for you. You had come into his life
+like the break of day. Every little thing you had owned or touched was
+dear to him because it had been yours, or you had used it. All his plans
+in life had been remade in reference to you."
+
+They had stopped and were standing facing each other. They could not
+walk and talk as they were talking.
+
+"Yet, but," she exclaimed, her face pale and her eyes fixed steadfastly
+upon him, "but what of that--"
+
+"There are no yets and buts," he exclaimed, half angry with her that she
+hesitated. "I know what you were going to say, but that woman you have
+heard of is nothing to him. He hates her worse than you hate her. She
+has imposed upon you; how I know not; but she is an impostor."
+
+At this instant she seized him by the arm. "Mr. Easterfield," she cried,
+and as she spoke the tears were running down her cheeks, "please let me
+have a carriage--something covered! I would go on my wheel, for that
+would be quicker, but I don't want anybody to speak to me or see me!
+Will you have it brought to the back door, Mr. Easterfield, please? I
+will run to the house, and be waiting when it comes."
+
+She did not wait for him to answer. He did not ask her where she was
+going. He knew very well. She ran to the house, and he hurried to the
+stable.
+
+Having given his orders, Mr. Tom went in search of his wife. The moment
+had arrived when it was absolutely necessary to let her know what was
+going on.
+
+He found her in her own room. "Where on earth have you been?" she
+exclaimed. "I have been looking everywhere for you."
+
+In as few words as possible he told her where he had been, and what he
+had done.
+
+"And where are you going now?" she asked.
+
+"I am going to change my coat," said the good Mr. Tom. "After my ride
+to the toll-gate and back this jacket is too dusty for me to drive with
+her."
+
+"Drive with her" exclaimed Mrs. Easterfield. "It will be very well for
+you to get rid of some of that dust, but when the carriage comes I will
+drive with Olive to see her uncle."
+
+And thus it happened that Mr. Tom stayed at home with the house party
+while the close carriage, containing his wife and that dear girl, Olive
+Asher, rolled swiftly southward over the smooth turnpike road.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVI_
+
+_A Stop at the Toll-gate._
+
+
+The four lovers at Broadstone walked, and wandered, and waited, after
+breakfast that morning, but only one of them knew definitely what he was
+waiting for, and that was Mr. Locker. He was waiting for half-past
+twelve o'clock, when he would join Miss Asher, if she gave him an
+opportunity; and he was sure she would give him one, for she was always
+to be trusted. He intended this interview to be decisive. It would not
+do for him to wait any longer; yes or no must be her word. She had been
+walking down by the river with the best clothes on the premises, and he
+now feared the owner of those clothes more than anybody else. He was a
+keen-sighted young man, for otherwise how could he have been a poet, and
+he assured himself that Miss Asher was taking Hemphill seriously.
+
+So Mr. Locker determined to charge the works of the enemy that day
+before luncheon. When the conflict was over his flag might float high
+and free or it might lie trampled in the dust, but the battle should be
+fought, and no quarter would be asked or given.
+
+As for Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Du Brant, they simply wandered, and waited,
+and bored the rest of the company. They did not care to do anything, for
+that might embarrass them in case Miss Asher appeared and wished to do
+something else; they did not want to stay in the house because she might
+show herself somewhere out of doors; they did not want to stay on the
+grounds because at any moment she might seat herself in the library with
+a book; above all things, they wanted to keep away from each other; and
+their indeterminate peregrinations made sick the souls of Mr. and Mrs.
+Fox.
+
+The diplomat did not know what he was going to do when he saw Miss Asher
+alone; everything would depend upon surrounding circumstances, for he
+was quick as well as wary, and could make up his mind on the instant.
+But good Rupert Hemphill had not even as much decision of purpose as
+this. He had already spent half an hour with the lady of his love, and
+he had not been very happy. Delighted that she had permitted him to join
+her, he had at once begun to speak of the one great object which
+dominated his existence, but she had earnestly entreated him not to do
+so.
+
+"It is such a pity," she had said, "for us never to talk of anything but
+that. There are so many things I like to talk about, especially the
+things of which I read. I am now reading Charles Lamb--that is, whenever
+I get a chance--and I don't believe anybody in these days ever does read
+the works of that dear old man. There is a complete set of his books in
+the library, and they do not look as if they had ever been opened. Did
+you ever read his little essays on Popular Fallacies? Some of them are
+just as true as they can be, although they seem like making fun,
+especially the one about the angry man being always in the wrong. I am
+inclined to side with the angry man. I know I am generally right when I
+am angry."
+
+Mr. Hemphill had not read these little essays, nor had he admitted that
+he had never read anything else by Mr. Lamb; but he had agreed that it
+was very common to be both angry and right. Then Olive had talked to him
+about other books, and his way had become very rough and exceedingly
+thorny, and he had wished he knew how to bring up the subject of some
+new figures in the German. But he had not succeeded in doing this. She
+had been in a bookish mood, and the mood had lasted until she had left
+him.
+
+Now he began to think that it would be better for him to give up
+wandering and waiting and go into the library and prepare himself for
+another talk with Olive, but he did not go; she might see him and
+suspect his design. He would wait until later. He took some books to his
+room.
+
+Dick Lancaster wandered and waited, but he was full of a purpose,
+although it was not exactly definite; he wanted to find Mrs. Easterfield
+and ask her to release him from his promise. He could not remain much
+longer at Broadstone, and Olive's morning walk with Hemphill had made
+him very nervous. She knew that these young men were in love with her,
+and he had a right to let her know that he was also. It might be
+imprudent for him to do this, but he could not see why it would not be
+as imprudent at any other time as now. Moreover, there might come no
+other time, and he had control of now.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield had not joined her guests because of her anxiety about
+Olive. Mr. Easterfield did not appear. For a time he was very
+particularly engaged in the garden. Mr. Fox grew very much irritated.
+
+"I tell you, my dear," said he, "every one who comes here makes this
+place more stupid and dull. I can't see exactly any reason for it, but
+these lovers are at the bottom of it. I hate lovers."
+
+"You should be very glad, my dear," replied Mrs. Fox, "that I was not of
+your opinion in my early life."
+
+But things changed for the better after a time. It is true that Mrs.
+Easterfield and Olive did not appear, but Mr. Easterfield showed
+himself, and did it with great advantage. The simple statement that his
+wife and Miss Asher had gone to make a call caused a feeling of relief
+to spread over the whole party. Until the callers returned there was no
+reason why they should not all enjoy themselves, and Mr. Easterfield was
+there to show them how to do it.
+
+As the Broadstone carriage rolled swiftly on there was not much
+conversation between its occupants. To the somewhat sensitive mind of
+Mrs. Easterfield it seemed that Olive was a little disappointed at the
+change of companions, but this may have been a mere fancy. The girl was
+so wrapped up in self-concentrated thought that it was not likely that
+she would have talked much to any one. Suddenly, however, Olive broke
+out:
+
+"Mr. Easterfield must be a thoroughly good man" she said.
+
+"He is," assented the other.
+
+"And you have always been entirely satisfied with him?"
+
+"Entirely," was the reply, without a smile.
+
+Now Olive turned her face toward her companion and laid her hand upon
+her arm. "You ought to be a happy woman," she said.
+
+"Now, what is this girl thinking of?" asked Mrs. Easterfield to herself.
+"Is she imagining that any one of the young fellows who are now
+besieging her can ever be to her what Tom is to me? Or is she making an
+ideal of my husband to the disparagement of her own lovers? Whichever
+way she thinks, she would better give up thinking."
+
+But the somewhat sensitive Mrs. Easterfield need not have troubled
+herself. The girl had already forgotten the good Mr. Tom, and her mind
+was intent upon getting to her uncle.
+
+"Will you please ask the man to stop," she said, "before he gets to the
+gate, and let me out? Then perhaps you will kindly drive on to the
+tollhouse and wait for me. I will not keep you waiting long."
+
+The carriage stopped, and Olive slipped out, and, before Mrs.
+Easterfield had any idea of what she was going to do, the girl climbed
+the rail fence which separated the road from the captain's pasture
+field. Between this field and the garden was a picket fence, not very
+high; and, toward a point about midway between the little tollhouse and
+the dwelling, Olive now ran swiftly. When she had nearly reached the
+fence she gave a great bound; put one foot on the upper rail to which
+the pickets were nailed; and then went over. What would have happened if
+the sharp pales had caught her skirts might well be imagined. But
+nothing happened.
+
+"That was a fine spring" said Mrs. Easterfield to herself. "She has
+seen him in the house, and wants to get there before he hears the
+carriage."
+
+Olive walked quietly through the garden to the house. She knew that her
+uncle was not at the gate, for from afar she had seen that the little
+piazza on which he was wont to sit was empty. She went noiselessly into
+the hall, and looked into the parlor. By a window in the back of the
+room she saw her uncle writing at a little table. With a rush of air she
+was at his side before he knew she was in the room. As he turned his
+head her arms were around his neck, and the pen in his hand made a great
+splotch of ink upon her white summer dress.
+
+"Now, uncle," she exclaimed, looking into his astonished face, "here I
+am and here I am going to stay! And if you want to know anything more
+about it, you will have to wait, for I am not going to make any
+explanations now. I am too happy to know that I have a dear uncle left
+to me in this world, and to know that we two are going to live together
+always to want to talk about whys and wherefores."
+
+"But, Olive" exclaimed the captain.
+
+"There are no buts," she interrupted. "Not a single but, my dear Uncle
+John! I have come back to stay with you, and that is all there is about
+it. Mrs. Easterfield is outside in her carriage, and I must go and send
+her away. But don't you come out, Uncle John; I have some things to say
+to her, and I will let you know when she is going."
+
+As Olive sped out of the room Captain Asher turned around in his chair
+and looked after her. Tears were running down his swarthy cheeks. He
+did not know how or why it had all happened. He only knew that Olive was
+coming back to live with him!
+
+Meantime old Jane was entertaining Mrs. Easterfield at the toll-gate,
+where no money was paid, but a great deal of information gained. The old
+woman had seen Miss Olive run into the house, and she was elated and
+excited, and consequently voluble. Mrs. Easterfield got the full account
+of the one-sided courtship of the captain and Miss Port. Even the
+concluding episode of Maria having been put to bed had somehow reached
+the ears of old Jane. It is really wonderful how secret things do become
+known, for not one of the three actors in that scene would have told it
+on any account. But old Jane knew it, and told it with great glee, to
+Mrs. Easterfield's intense enjoyment. Then she proceeded to praise Olive
+for the spirit she had shown under these trying circumstances; and, in
+this connection, naturally there came into the recital the spirit the
+old woman herself had shown under these same trying circumstances, and
+how she had got all ready to leave the minute the nuptial knot was tied
+and before that Maria Port could reach the toll-gate, although it was
+like tearing herself apart to leave the spot where she had lived so many
+years. "But," she concluded, "it is all right now. The captain tells me
+it's all a lie of her own makin'. She's good at that business, and if
+lies was salable she'd be rich."
+
+Just as the old woman reached this, what seemed to her unsophisticated
+mind, impossible business proposition, Olive appeared. Mrs. Easterfield
+was surprised to see her so soon, and, to tell the truth, a little
+disappointed. She had been greatly interested and amused by the old
+woman's rapid tale, which she would not interrupt, but had put aside in
+her mind several questions to ask, and one of them was in relation to
+her husband's late visit to the captain. She had had no detailed account
+from him, and she wondered how much this old body knew about it. She
+seemed to know pretty much everything. But Olive's appearance put an end
+to this absorbing conversation.
+
+"Has you come to stay, dearie?" eagerly asked old Jane, as Olive grasped
+her hand.
+
+"To be sure I have, Jane! I have come to stay forever!"
+
+"Thank goodness!" exclaimed the old woman. "How the captain will
+brighten up! But my! I must go and alter the supper!"
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield," said Olive, when the old woman had departed, "you
+will have to go back without me. I can not leave my uncle, and I am
+going to stay here right along. You must not think I am ungrateful to
+you, or unmindful of Mr. Easterfield's great kindness, but this is my
+place for the present. Some day I know you will be good enough to let me
+pay you another visit."
+
+"And what am I to do with all those young men?" asked Mrs. Easterfield
+mischievously. She would have added, "And one of them your future
+husband?" But she remembered the coachman.
+
+Olive laughed. "They will annoy you less when I am not there. If you
+will be so good as to ask your maid to pack up my belongings, I will
+send for my trunk." She glanced at the coachman. "Would you mind taking
+a little walk with me along the road?"
+
+"I shall be glad to do so," said Mrs. Easterfield, getting out of the
+carriage.
+
+"Now, my dear Mrs. Easterfield," said Olive when they were some distance
+from the toll-gate and the house, "I am going to ask you to add to all
+your kindness one more favor for me."
+
+"That has such an ominous sound," said Mrs. Easterfield, "that I am not
+disposed to promise beforehand."
+
+"It is about those three young men you mentioned."
+
+"I mentioned no number, and there are four."
+
+"In what I am going to ask of you one of them can be counted out. He is
+not in the affair. Only three are in this business. Won't you be so good
+as to decline them all for me? I know that you can do it better than I
+can. You have so much tact. And you must have done the thing many a
+time, and I have not done it once. I am very awkward; I don't know how;
+and, to confess the truth, I have put myself into a pretty bad fix."
+
+"Upon my word," cried Mrs. Easterfield, "that is a pretty thing for one
+woman to ask of another!
+
+"I know it is," said Olive, "and I would not ask it of anybody but the
+truest friend--of no one but you. But you see how difficult it is for me
+to attend to it. And it must be done. I have given up all idea of
+marrying, I am going to stay here, and when my father comes with his
+young lady he will find me settled and fixed, and he and she will have
+nothing to do with making plans for me. Now, dear Mrs. Easterfield, I
+know you will do this favor for me, and let me say that I wish you would
+be particularly gentle and pleasant in speaking to Mr. Locker. I think
+he is really a very kind and considerate young man. He certainly showed
+himself that way. I know you can talk so nicely to him that perhaps he
+will not mind very much. As for Mr. Du Brant, you can tell him plainly
+that I have carefully considered his proposition--and that is the exact
+truth--and that I find it will be wise for me not to accept it. He is a
+man of affairs, and will understand that I have given him a
+straightforward, practical answer, and he will be satisfied. You must
+not be sharp with Mr. Hemphill, as I know you will be inclined to be.
+Please remember that I was once in love with him, and respect my
+feelings as well as his. Besides, he is good, and he is in earnest, and
+he deserves fair treatment. I am sorry that I have worried you about
+him, and I will tell you now that I have found out he would not do at
+all. I found it out this morning when I was talking to him about books.
+His mind is neither broad nor cultivated."
+
+"I could have told you that," said Mrs. Easterfield, "and saved you all
+the trouble of taking that walk by the river."
+
+"And then there is one more thing," continued Olive; "it is about
+Professor Lancaster. I am sure you will agree with me that it will not
+do for him to come back here. I am just going to start housekeeping
+again. I've got the supper on my mind this minute. You can't imagine how
+everything has turned topsy-turvy since I left. I suppose he will be
+wanting to go North, anyway. In fact, he told me so."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield laughed. She did not believe that Mr. Lancaster would
+want to go North, or West, or East, although South might suit him. But
+she saw the point of Olive's request; it would be awkward to have him at
+the tollhouse.
+
+"Oh, I will take care of him," she said, "and he shall continue his
+vacation trip just as soon as Mr. Easterfield and I choose to give him
+up."
+
+"You see," said Olive in an explanatory way, "I have not anything in the
+world to do with him, but I thought he might want to come back to see
+uncle again. And, really," she added, speaking with a great deal of
+earnestness, "I don't want to be bothered with any more young men! And
+now I will call uncle. You know I had to say all these things to you
+immediately."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield walked quickly back to her carriage, but she did not
+wait to see Captain Asher. As a hostess it was necessary for her to
+hurry back home; and as a quick-witted, sensible woman she saw that it
+would be well to leave these two happy people to themselves. This was
+not the time for them to talk to her. So, when the captain, unwilling to
+wait any longer, appeared at the door of the house, these two dear
+friends had kissed and parted, and the carriage was speeding away.
+
+On her way home Mrs. Easterfield forgot her slight chagrin at what her
+husband had not done, in her joy at what he had accomplished. He had
+neglected to take her fully into his confidence, and had acted very much
+as if he had been a naval commander, who had cut his telegraphic
+connections in order not to be embarrassed by orders from the home
+government. But, on the other hand, he had saved her from the terrible
+shock of hearing Olive declare that she had just engaged herself to
+Rupert Hemphill. If it had not been for the extraordinary promptness of
+her good Tom--a style of action he had acquired in the railroad
+business--it would have been just as likely as not that Olive would have
+accepted that young man before she had had an opportunity of finding out
+his want of breadth and cultivation.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVII_
+
+_By Proxy._
+
+
+About half-past twelve Claude Locker made his appearance in the spacious
+hall. He looked out of the front door; he looked out of the back door;
+he peered into the parlor; he glanced up the stairway; and then he
+peeped into the library. He had not seen the lady of the house since her
+return, and he was waiting for Olive. This morning his fate was to be
+positively decided; he would take a position that would allow of no
+postponement; he would tell her plainly that a statement that she was
+not prepared to give him an answer that day would be considered by him
+as a final rejection. She must haul down her flag or he would surrender
+and present to her his sword.
+
+Claude Locker saw nothing of Miss Asher, but it was not long before the
+lady of the house came down-stairs.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Locker," she exclaimed, "I am so glad to see you! Come into the
+library, please."
+
+He hesitated a minute. "I beg your pardon," said he, "but I have an
+appointment--"
+
+"I know that," said she, "and you may be surprised to hear that it is
+with me and not with Miss Asher. Come in and I will tell you about it."
+
+Claude Locker actually ran after his hostess into the library, both of
+his eyes wide open.
+
+"And now," said she, "please sit down, and hear what I have to say."
+
+Locker seated himself on the edge of a chair; he did not feel happy; he
+suspected something was wrong.
+
+"Is she sick?" he asked. "Can't she come down?"
+
+"She is very well," was the reply, "but she is not here. She is with her
+uncle."
+
+"Then I am due at her uncle's house before one o'clock," said he.
+
+"No," she answered, "you are due here."
+
+He fixed upon her a questioning glance.
+
+"Miss Asher," she continued, "has deputed me to give you her answer. She
+can not come herself, but she does not forget her agreement with you."
+
+The young man still gazed steadfastly. "If it is to be a favorable
+decision," said he, "I hope you will be able to excuse any exuberance of
+demeanor on my part."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled. "In that case," she said, "I do not suppose I
+should have been sent as an envoy."
+
+His brow darkened, and instinctively he struck one hand with the other.
+"That is exactly what I expected!" he exclaimed. "The signs all pointed
+that way. But until this moment, my dear madam, I hoped. Yes, I had
+presumed to hope that I might kindle in her heart a little nickering
+flame. I had tried to do this, and I had left but one small match head,
+which I intended to strike this day. But now I see I had a piece of the
+wrong end of the match. After this I must be content forever to stay in
+the cold."
+
+"I am glad you view the matter so philosophically," said Mrs.
+Easterfield, "and Olive particularly desired me to say--"
+
+"Don't call her Olive, if you please," he interrupted. "It is like
+speaking to me through the partly open door of paradise, through which I
+can not enter. Slam it shut, I beg of you, and talk over the top of the
+wall."
+
+"Miss Asher wants you to know," continued Mrs. Easterfield, "that while
+she has decided to decline your addresses, she is deeply grateful to you
+for the considerate way in which you have borne yourself toward her. I
+know she has a high regard for you, and that she will not forget your
+kindness."
+
+Mr. Locker put his hands in his pockets. "Do you know," said he, "as
+this thing had to be done, I prefer to have you do it than to have her
+do it. Well, it is done now! And so am I!"
+
+"You never did truly expect to get her, did you, Mr. Locker?" asked Mrs.
+Easterfield.
+
+"Never," he answered; "but I do not flinch at what may be
+impossibilities. Nobody, myself included, can imagine that I shall rival
+Keats, and yet I am always trying for it."
+
+"Is it Keats you are aiming at?" she said.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "it does not look like it, does it? But it is."
+
+"And you don't feel disheartened when you fail?" said she.
+
+Mr. Locker took his hands from his pockets, and folded his arms. "Yes,
+I do," he said; "I feel as thoroughly disheartened as I do now. But I
+have one comfort; Keats and Miss Asher dropped me; I did not drop them.
+So there is nothing on my conscience. And now tell me, is she going to
+take Lancaster? I hope so."
+
+"She could not do that," answered Mrs. Easterfield, "for I know he has
+not asked her."
+
+"Then he'd better skip around lively and do it," said Mr. Locker, "not
+only for his own sake, but for mine. If I should be cast aside for the
+Hemphill clothes I should have no faith in humanity. I would give up
+verse, and I would give up woman."
+
+"Don't be afraid of anything like that," said Mrs. Easterfield,
+laughing. "It may be somewhat of a breach of confidence, but I am going
+to tell you nevertheless; because I think you deserve it; that I am also
+deputed to decline the addresses of Mr. Hemphill, and Mr. Du Brant."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Locker. "Mrs. Easterfield, I envy you; and if you don't
+feel like performing the rest of your mission, you can depute it to me.
+I don't know anything at this moment that would give me so much joy."
+
+"I would not be so disloyal or so cruel as that," said she. "But I shall
+not be in a hurry. I shall let them eat their lunch in peace and hope."
+
+"Not much peace," said he. "Her empty chair will put that to flight. I
+know how it feels to look at her empty chair."
+
+"Then you really love her?" said Mrs. Easterfield, much moved.
+
+"With every fiber," said he.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield found herself much embarrassed at the luncheon table.
+She had made her husband understand the state of affairs, but had not
+had time to enter into particulars with him, and she did not find it
+easy satisfactorily to explain to the company the absence of Miss Asher
+without calling forth embarrassing questions as to her return, and she
+wished carefully to avoid telling them that her guest was not coming
+back for the present. If she made this known then she feared there might
+be a scene at the table.
+
+Mr. Hemphill turned pale when, that afternoon, his hostess, in an
+exceedingly clear and plain manner, made known to him his fate. For a
+few moments he did not speak. Then he said very quietly: "If she had
+not, of her own accord, told me that she had once loved me, I should
+never have dared to say anything like that to her."
+
+"I do not think you need any excuse, Mr. Hemphill," said Mrs.
+Easterfield. "In fact, if you loved her, I do not see how you could help
+speaking after what she herself said to you."
+
+"That is true," he replied. "And I love her with all my heart!"
+
+"She ought never to have told you of that girlish fancy," said his
+hostess. "It was putting you in a very embarrassing position, and I am
+bound to say to you, Mr. Hemphill, that I also am very much to blame.
+Knowing all this, as I did, I should not have allowed you to meet her."
+
+"Oh, don't say that!" exclaimed Mr. Hemphill. "Don't say that! Not for
+the world would I give up the memory of hearing her say she once loved
+me! I don't care how many years ago it was. I am glad you let me come
+here. I am glad she told me. I shall never forget the happiness I have
+had in this house. And now, Mrs. Easterfield, let me ask you one
+thing--"
+
+At this moment Mrs. Easterfield, who was facing the door, saw her
+husband enter the hall, and by his manner she knew he was looking for
+her.
+
+"Excuse me," she said to Hemphill, "I will be back in an instant."
+
+And she ran out. "Tom," she cried, "you must go away. I can not see you
+now. I am very busy declining the addresses of a suitor, and can not be
+interrupted."
+
+Mr. Tom looked at her in surprise, although it was not often Mrs.
+Easterfield could surprise him. He saw that she was very much in
+earnest.
+
+"Well," said he, "if you are sure you are going to decline him I won't
+interrupt you. And when you have sealed his fate you will find me in my
+room. I want particularly to see you."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield went back to the library and Hemphill continued: "You
+need not answer if you do not think it is right," said he, "but do you
+believe at any time she thought seriously of me?"
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled as she answered: "Now, you see the advantage of
+an agent in such matters as this. You could not have asked her that
+question, or if you did she would not answer you. And now I am going to
+tell you that she did have some serious thought of you. Whatever
+encouragement she gave you, she treated you fairly. She is a very
+practical young woman--"
+
+"Excuse me," said Hemphill hurriedly, "but if you please, I would rather
+you did not tell me anything more. Sometimes it is not well to try to
+know too much. I can't talk now, Mrs. Easterfield, for I am dreadfully
+cut up, but at the same time I am wonderfully proud. I don't know that
+you can understand this."
+
+"Yes, I can," she said; "I understand it perfectly."
+
+"You are very kind," he said. As he was about to leave the room he
+stopped and turned to Mrs. Easterfield. "Is she going to marry Professor
+Lancaster?" he asked.
+
+"Really, Mr. Hemphill," she replied, "I can not say anything about that.
+I do not know any more than you do."
+
+"Well, I hope she may," he said. "It would be a burning shame if she
+were to accept that Austrian; and as for the other little man, he is too
+ugly. You must excuse me for speaking of your friends in this way, Mrs.
+Easterfield, but really I should feel dreadfully if I thought I had been
+set aside for such a queer customer as he is."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield did not laugh then; but when Hemphill had gone, and she
+had joined her husband, they had a good time together.
+
+"And so they all recommend Lancaster," said he.
+
+"So far," she answered; "but I have yet to hear what Mr. Du Brant has to
+say."
+
+"I think you have had enough of this discarding business," said Mr.
+Tom. "You would better leave Du Brant to me."
+
+"Oh, no," said she; "I promised Olive. And, besides, I think I like it."
+
+"I believe you do," said Mr. Tom. "And now I want to say something
+important. It is not right that Broadstone should be given up entirely
+to the affairs of Miss Asher and her lovers. I think, for instance, that
+our friend Fox looks very much dissatisfied."
+
+"That is because Olive is not here," she replied.
+
+"Not only that," he answered. "He loses her, and does not get anything
+else in her place. Now, we must make this house lively, as it ought to
+be. Let Du Brant off for to-day and let us make up a party to go out on
+the river. We will take two boats, and have some of the men to do the
+rowing. Postpone dinner so we can have a long afternoon."
+
+Mr. Du Brant did not go on the river excursion. He had some letters to
+write, and begged to be excused. He had not asked when Miss Asher was
+expected back, or anything about her return. He did not understand the
+state of affairs, and was afraid he might receive some misleading
+information. But if she should come that afternoon or the next day he
+determined to be on the spot. After that he might not be able to remain
+at Broadstone, and it would be a glorious opportunity for him if she
+should come back that afternoon.
+
+It was twilight when the boating party returned. Under the genial
+influence of Mr. Tom and his wife they had all enjoyed themselves as
+much as it was possible for them to do so without Olive.
+
+When Claude Locker, a little behind the others, reached the top of the
+hill he perceived, not far away, Mr. Du Brant strolling. These two had
+not spoken since the night of the interrupted serenade. Each of them had
+desired to avoid words or actions which might disturb the peace of this
+hospitable home, and consequently had very successfully succeeded in
+avoiding each other. But now Mr. Locker walked straight up to the
+secretary of legation, holding out his hand.
+
+"Now, Mr. Du Brant," said he, "since we are both in the same boat, let
+us shake hands and let bygones be bygones."
+
+But the young Austrian did not take the proffered hand. For a moment he
+looked as though he were about to turn away without taking any notice of
+Locker, but he had not the strength of mind to do this. He turned and
+remarked with a scowl:
+
+"What do you mean by same boat? I have nothing to do with you on the
+water or on the land!"
+
+Mr. Locker shrugged his shoulders. "So you have not been told," said he.
+
+"Told!" exclaimed Du Brant, now very much interested. "Told what?"
+
+"That you will have to find out," said the other. "It is not my business
+to tell you. But I don't mind saying that as I have been told I thought
+perhaps you might have been."
+
+"Told what?" exclaimed Mr. Du Brant again, stepping up closer to the
+other.
+
+"Don't shout so," said Locker; "they will think we are quarreling.
+Didn't I say I am not the person to tell you anything, and if you did
+not understand me I will say it again."
+
+For some seconds the Austrian looked steadily at his companion. Then he
+said, "Have you been refused by Miss Asher?"
+
+"Well," said Locker with a sigh, "as that is my business, I suppose I
+can talk about it if I want to. Yes, I have."
+
+Again Du Brant was silent for a time. "Did she tell you herself?" he
+asked.
+
+"No, she did not," was the answer. "She kindly sent me word by Mrs.
+Easterfield. I suppose your turn has not come yet. I was at the head of
+the list." And, fearing that if he stayed longer he might say too much,
+Mr. Locker walked slowly away, whistling disjointedly as he went.
+
+That evening Mrs. Easterfield discovered that she had been deprived of
+the anticipated pleasure of conveying to Mr. Du Brant the message which
+Olive had sent him. That gentleman, unusually polite and soft-spoken,
+found her by herself, and thus accosted her: "You must excuse me, madam,
+for speaking upon a certain subject without permission from you, but I
+have reason to believe that you are the bearer of a message to me from
+Miss Asher."
+
+"How in the world did you find that out?" she asked.
+
+"It was the--Locker," he answered. "I do not think it was his intention
+to inform me fully; he is not a master of words and expressions; he is a
+little blundering; but, from what he said, I supposed you were kind
+enough to be the bearer of such a message."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Easterfield; "not being able to be here herself, Miss
+Asher requested me to say to you that she must decline--"
+
+"Excuse me, madam," he interrupted, "but it is I who decline. I bear
+toward you, madam, the greatest homage and respect, but what I had the
+honor to say to Miss Asher I said to her alone, and it is only from her
+that it is possible for me to receive an answer. Therefore, madam, it is
+absolutely necessary that I decline to be a party to the interview you
+so graciously propose. It breaks my heart, my dear madam, even to seem
+unwilling to listen to anything you might deign to say to me, but in
+this case I must be firm, I must decline. Can you pardon me, dear madam,
+for speaking as I have been obliged to speak?"
+
+"Oh, of course," said Mrs. Easterfield. "And really, since you know so
+much, it is not necessary for me to tell you anything more."
+
+"Ah," said the diplomat, with a little bow and an incredulous
+expression, as if the lady could have no idea what he might yet know, "I
+am so much obliged to you! I am so thankful!"
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXVIII_
+
+_Here we go! Lovers Three!_
+
+
+The three discarded lovers of Broadstone--all discarded, although one of
+them would not admit it--would have departed the next day had not that
+day been Sunday, when there were no convenient trains. Mr. Du Brant was
+due in Washington; Mr. Hemphill was needed very much at his desk,
+especially since Mr. Easterfield had decided to spend a few days with
+his wife; and Claude Locker wanted to go. When he had finished the thing
+he happened to be doing it was his habit immediately to begin something
+else. All was at an end between him and Miss Asher. He acknowledged
+this, and he did not wish to stay at Broadstone. But, as it could not be
+helped, they all stayed over Sunday.
+
+Mr. Easterfield planned an early afternoon expedition to a mission
+church in the mountains; it would be a novel experience, and a
+delightful trip, and everybody must go.
+
+In the course of the morning Mr. Du Brant strolled in the eastern parts
+of the grounds, and Mr. Locker strolled over that portion of the lawn
+which lay to the west. Mr. Du Brant did not meet with any one with whom
+he cared to talk, but Mr. Locker was fortunate enough to meet Miss
+Raleigh.
+
+"I am glad to see you," said he; "you are the person above all other
+persons I wish to talk to."
+
+"It delights me to hear that," said the lady, her face showing that she
+spoke the truth.
+
+"Let us go over there and sit down," said he. "Now, then," he continued,
+"you were present, Miss Raleigh, at a very peculiar moment in my life, a
+momentous moment, I may say. You enjoyed a privilege--if you consider it
+such--not vouchsafed to many mortals."
+
+"I did consider it a privilege, you may be sure," exclaimed Miss
+Raleigh, "and I value it. You do not know how highly I value it!"
+
+"You heard me offer myself, body and soul, to the lady I loved. You were
+taken into our confidence, you saw me laid upon the table--"
+
+"Oh, dreadful!" cried the lady. "Don't put it that way."
+
+"Well, then," said he, "you saw me postponed for future consideration.
+You promised you would regard everything you heard as confidential; by
+so doing you enabled me to speak when otherwise I might not have dared
+to do so. I am deeply grateful to you; and, as you already know so much
+about my hopes and my aspirations, I think it right you should know all
+there is to know."
+
+The conscience of Miss Raleigh stirred itself very vigorously within
+her, and her voice was much subdued as she said:
+
+"I am sure you are very good."
+
+"Well, then," said Locker, "the proposal you heard me make has been
+declined. I am discarded; and not directly in a face-to-face interview,
+but through another by a message. It would have been inconvenient for
+Miss Asher personally to communicate the intelligence, so as Mrs.
+Easterfield was coming this way she kindly consented to convey the
+intelligence."
+
+"I declare," exclaimed Miss Raleigh, "I had not heard of that! Mrs.
+Easterfield made me her confidant in the early stages of this affair, or
+I should say, these affairs. But she has not told me that."
+
+"She will doubtless give herself that pleasure later," said Locker.
+
+"No," said she, "she will not think any more about it. I am of no
+further use. And may I ask if you know anything about the two other
+gentlemen?"
+
+"Both turned down," said Locker.
+
+"I might have supposed that," answered the lady; "for if Miss Asher
+would not take you she certainly would not be content with either of
+them."
+
+"With all my heart I thank you," said Locker warmly. "Such words are
+welcome to a wounded heart."
+
+For a moment Miss Raleigh was silent, then she remarked, "It is very
+hard to be discarded."
+
+"You are right there!" exclaimed Locker. "But how do you happen to know
+anything about it?"
+
+"I have been discarded myself," she answered.
+
+The larger eye of Mr. Locker grew still larger, the other endeavored to
+emulate its companion's size; and his mouth became a rounded opening.
+"Discarded?" he cried.
+
+"Yes," said she.
+
+The countenance of the young man was now bright with interest and
+curiosity. "I don't suppose it would be right to ask you," said he,
+"even although I have taken you so completely into my confidence--but,
+never mind. Don't think of it. Of course, I would not propose such a
+question."
+
+"Of course not," said she, "you are too manly for that." And then she
+was silent again. Naturally she hesitated to reveal the secrets of her
+heart, and to a gentleman with whom her acquaintance was of such recent
+date; but she earnestly wanted to repose confidence in another, as well
+as to receive it, and it was so seldom, so very seldom, that such an
+opportunity came to her.
+
+"I do not know," she said, "that I ought to, but still--"
+
+"Oh, don't, if you don't want to," said Locker.
+
+"But I think I do want to," she replied. "You are so kind, so good, and
+you have confided in me. Yes, I was once discarded, not exactly by word
+of mouth, or even by message, but still discarded."
+
+"A stranger to me, of course," said Locker, his whole form twisting
+itself into an interrogation-point.
+
+"No," said she, "and as I have begun I will go on. It was Mr. Hemphill."
+
+"What!" he exclaimed. "That--"
+
+"Yes, it was he," said she, speaking slowly, and in a low voice. "He was
+Mr. Easterfield's secretary and I was Mrs. Easterfield's secretary, and,
+of course, we were thrown much together. He has very good qualities; I
+do not hesitate now to say that; and they impressed themselves upon me.
+In every possible way I endeavored to make things pleasant for him. I do
+not believe that when he was at work he ever wanted a glass of cold
+water that he did not find it within reach. I early discovered that he
+was very fond of cold water."
+
+"A most commendable dissipation," interrupted Locker.
+
+"He had no dissipations," said Miss Raleigh. "His character was
+unimpeachable. In very many ways I was attracted to him, in very many
+ways I endeavored to make life pleasant for him; and I am afraid that
+sometimes I neglected Mrs. Easterfield's interests so that I might do
+little things for him, such as dusting, keeping his ink-pots full,
+providing fresh blotting-paper, and many other trifling services which
+devotion readily suggested."
+
+Locker heaved a sigh of commiseration which she mistook for one of
+sympathy.
+
+"I will not go into particulars," she continued, "but at last he
+discovered that--well, I will be plain with you--he discovered that I
+loved him. Then, sir--it is humiliating to me to say it, but I will not
+flinch--he discarded me. He did not use words, but his manner was
+sufficient. Never again did I go near his desk, never did I tender him
+the slightest service. It was a terrible blow! It was humiliating"
+
+"I should think so," said Locker, "from him"
+
+"But I will say no more," she remarked with a sigh. "I have told you
+what you have heard that you may understand how thoroughly I sympathize
+with you, for all is over with me in that direction, as I suppose all
+is over with you in your direction. And now I must go, for this long
+conference may be remarked. But before I go, I will say that if ever
+you--"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no!" interrupted Locker, "it would not do at all! I really
+have begun to believe that I was cut out for a bachelor."
+
+"What!" said Miss Raleigh, with great severity. "Do you suppose, sir,
+that I--"
+
+"Not at all, not at all" cried Locker. "Not for one moment do I suppose
+that you--"
+
+"If for one moment," said she, "I had imagined you would suppose--"
+
+"But I assure you, Miss Raleigh, I never did suppose that you would
+imagine I would think--but if you do suppose I thought you imagined I
+could possibly conceive--"
+
+"But I really did think," said Miss Raleigh, speaking more gently. "But
+if I was wrong--"
+
+"Nay, think no more about it," Locker interrupted, "and let us be
+friends again."
+
+He offered her his hand, which she shook warmly, and then departed.
+
+It had been arranged that Lancaster was not to leave Broadstone on the
+next day. He had expected to do so, but Mr. Easterfield had planned for
+a day's fishing for himself, Mr. Fox, and the professor, and he would
+not let the latter off. The ladies had accepted an invitation to
+luncheon that day; the next day some new visitors were expected; and in
+order not to interfere with Mr. Easterfield's plans, evidently intended
+to restore to Broadstone some of the social harmony which had recently
+been so disturbed, Dick consented to stay, although he really wanted to
+go. He could not forget that his vacation was passing.
+
+"Very well, then," Mrs. Easterfield remarked to him that Sunday evening,
+"if you must go on Tuesday, I suppose you must, although I think it
+would be better for you if I were to keep my eye on you for a little
+while longer."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Lancaster, "but the time has come when curb-bits,
+cages, and good advice are not for me. I must burst loose from
+everything and go my way, right or wrong, whatever it may be."
+
+"I see that," said she; "but if it had not been for the curbed bit and
+all that, you would be leaving this place a discarded lover, like the
+rest of them. They depart with their love-affairs finished forever,
+ended; you go as free to woo, to win, or to lose as you ever were. And
+you owe this entirely to me, so whatever else you do, don't sneer at my
+curbs and my cages; to them you owe your liberty."
+
+The professor fully appreciated everything she had done for him, and
+told her so earnestly and warmly. But she interrupted his grateful
+expressions.
+
+"It would have been very hard on me," she said, "if Olive had asked me
+to carry to you the news of your rejection. That is what I did for the
+others, I suppose you know."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Lancaster; "Locker told me."
+
+"I might have supposed that," said she. "And now I feel bound to tell
+you also, although it is not a message, that Olive does not expect to
+see you at her uncle's house. She infers that you are going to continue
+your vacation journey."
+
+"I have made my plans for my journey," said he, "and I do not think,
+Mrs. Easterfield, that you will care to have me talk them over with
+you."
+
+"No, indeed," she replied; "I do not want to hear a word about them, but
+I am going to give you one piece of advice, whether you like it or not.
+Don't be in a hurry to ask her to marry you. At this moment she does not
+want to marry anybody. Her position has entirely changed. She wanted to
+marry so that her plans might be settled before her father and his new
+wife arrive; and now she considers that they are settled. So be careful.
+It is true that the objections she formerly had to you are removed, but
+before you ask her to marry you, you should seriously ask yourself what
+reason there is she should do so. She does not know you very well; she
+is not interested in you; and I am very sure she is not in love with
+you. Now you know, for I have told you so, that I would be delighted to
+see you two married. I believe you would suit each other admirably, but
+although you may agree with me in this opinion, I am quite sure she does
+not; at least, not yet. Now, this is all I am going to say, except that
+you have my very best wishes that you may get her."
+
+"I shall never forget that," said he, "but I see I am not to be free
+from the memory, at least, of the curb and the cage."
+
+After breakfast on Monday the three discarded lovers departed in a
+dog-cart, Mr. Du Brant in front with the driver, and Claude Locker and
+Hemphill behind. For some minutes the party was silent. If
+circumstances had permitted they would have gone separately.
+
+As long as he could see the mansion of Broadstone, Claude Locker spoke
+no word. When the time had come to go he had not wanted to go. When
+taking leave of Dick Lancaster he had congratulated that favored young
+man upon the fact that he had not been rejected, and had assured him
+that if he had remained at Broadstone he would have done his best to
+back him up as he had said he would.
+
+Hemphill was not inclined to talk. Of course, Locker did not care to
+converse with the young diplomat, and consequently he found himself
+bored, and to relieve his feelings he burst into song. His words were
+impromptu, and although the verse was not very good, it was very
+impressive. It began as follows:
+
+    "Here we go,
+        Lovers three,
+    All steeped deep
+        In miseree."
+
+At this Mr. Hemphill turned and looked at him, while a deep grunt came
+from the front seat, but the singer kept on without much attention to
+meter, and none at all to tune.
+
+    "This is so,
+        Here we go,
+    Flabbergasted,
+        Hopes all blasted,
+    Flags half-masted.
+        While it lasted,
+    We poor--"
+
+"Look here," cried Du Brant, turning round suddenly, "I beg you desist
+that. You are insulting. And what you say is not true, as regards me at
+least. You can sing for yourself."
+
+"Not true!" cried Locker. "Oh, ho, oh ho! Perhaps you have forgotten
+yourself, kind sir."
+
+This little speech seemed to make Du Brant very angry, and he fairly
+shouted at Locker: "No, I haven't forgotten myself, and I have not
+forgotten you! You have insulted me before, and I should like to make
+you pay for it! I should like to have satisfaction from you, sir"
+
+"That sounds well," cried Locker. "Do you mean to fight?"
+
+"I want the satisfaction due to a gentleman," answered the young
+Austrian.
+
+"Good," cried Locker, "that would suit me exactly. It would brighten me
+up. Let's do it now. I am not going to stop at Washington, and this is
+the only time I can give you. Driver, can we get to the station in time
+if we stop a little while?"
+
+The person addressed was a young negro who had become intensely
+interested in the conversation.
+
+"Oh, yes, sah," he answered. "We'll git dar twenty minutes before de
+train does, and if you takes half an hour I can whip up. That train's
+mostly late, anyway."
+
+"All right," cried Locker. "And now, sir, how shall we fight? What have
+you got to fight with?"
+
+"This is folly," growled Du Brant. "I have nothing to fight with. I do
+not fight with fists, like you Americans."
+
+"Haven't you a penknife" coolly asked Locker. "If not, I daresay Mr.
+Hemphill will lend you one."
+
+Du Brant now fairly trembled with anger. "When I fight," said he, "I
+fight like a gentleman; with a sword or a pistol."
+
+"I am sorry," said Locker, "but if I remembered to bring my sword and
+pistol I must have put them in the bottom of my trunk, and that has gone
+on to the station. Have you two pistols or swords with you? Or do you
+think you could get sufficient satisfaction out of a couple of piles of
+stones that we could hurl at each other?"
+
+Du Brant made no English answer to this, but uttered some savage remarks
+in French.
+
+"Do you understand what all that means?" inquired Locker of Hemphill,
+who had been quietly listening to what had been going on.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "he is cursing you up hill, and down dale."
+
+"Oh," said Locker, "it sounds to me as if he were calculating his last
+week's expenses. But when he gets to French cursing, I drop him. I can't
+fight him that way."
+
+The colored boy now showed that he was very much disappointed. He had
+expected the pleasure of a fight, and he was afraid he was going to lose
+it.
+
+"I tell you, sah," he said to Locker, "why don't you try kick-shins? Do
+you know what kick-shins is? You don't know what kick-shins is? Well,
+kick-shins is this: one fellow stands in front of the other fellow, and
+one takes hold of the collar of the other fellow, and the other fellow
+takes hold of his collar, and then they kicks each other's shins, and
+the one what squeals fust, he's licked, and the other one gits the gal.
+You've got pretty thin shoes, sah," addressing Du Brant, "and your feet
+ain't half as big as his'n, but your toes is more p'inted."
+
+"No kick-shins for me," said Locker. "I've got to be economical about my
+clothes."
+
+Du Brant's rage now became ungovernable. "Do you apologize," he cried,
+"or I take you by the throat, and I strangle you."
+
+Hemphill, who had been smiling mildly at the kick-shin proposition, now
+turned himself about. "You will not do that," he said, "and if you don't
+sit quiet and keep your mouth shut, I'll toss you out of this cart, and
+make you walk the rest of the way to the station."
+
+As Hemphill looked quite big and strong enough to execute this threat,
+and as he was too quiet a man to be ignored, Du Brant turned his face to
+the horse, and said no more.
+
+"I did not know you were such a trump" cried Locker. "Give me your hand.
+I should hate to be strangled by a foreigner!"
+
+When they took the train Du Brant went by himself into the smoking-car,
+and Locker and Hemphill had a seat together.
+
+"Do you know," said Locker, "I am beginning to like you, although I must
+admit that before this morning I can remember no feeling of the sort."
+
+"That is not surprising," said Hemphill. "A man is not generally fond of
+his rival."
+
+"We will let it go at that," said Locker, "we'll let it go at that! I
+should not wonder, if we had all stayed at Broadstone; and if the
+central object of interest had also remained; and, if I had failed, as
+I have failed, to make the proper impression; and if the professor, whom
+I promised to back up in case I should find myself out of the combat,
+should also have failed; I should not wonder if I had backed up you."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXIX_
+
+_Two Pieces of News._
+
+
+It was nearly two weeks after Mrs. Easterfield drove away from the
+captain's toll-gate before she went back there again. There were many
+reasons for thus depriving herself of Olive's society. Mr. Tom had
+stayed with her for an unusually long time; a house full of visitors,
+mostly relatives, had succeeded the departed lovers, and Foxes; and,
+besides, Olive was so very busy and so very happy--as she learned from
+many little notes--cleaning the house from garret to cellar, and loving
+her uncle better every day, that it really would have been a misdemeanor
+to interfere with her ardent pursuits.
+
+But now Olive had written that she wanted to tell her a lot of things
+which could not go into a letter, and so the Broadstone carriage stopped
+again at the toll-gate.
+
+Two great things had Olive to tell, and she was really glad that her
+uncle was not at home so that she might get at once to the telling.
+
+In the first place, old Mr. Port was dead, and Captain Asher was in
+great trouble about this. Of course, he could not keep away from the
+deathbed of his old friend, nor could he neglect to do all honor to his
+memory, but it was a terrible thing for him to have to go into the
+house where Maria Port lived. After what had happened it was almost too
+much for his courage, although he was a brave man. But he had conquered
+his feelings, and he was there now. The funeral would be to-morrow.
+
+When Mrs. Easterfield heard all that Olive had to tell her about Maria
+Port, her heart went out to that brave man who kept the toll-gate.
+
+The next thing that Olive had to tell was that she had heard from her
+father, who wrote that he would soon arrive in this country; that he
+would then go West, where he would marry Olive's former schoolmate; and
+that, on their wedding tour, he would make a little visit at the
+tollhouse so that Olive might see her new mother.
+
+"Now, isn't this enough," cried Olive, "to make any girl spread her
+wings and fly to the ends of the earth? But I have no wings; they have
+all gone away in a dog-cart. But I don't feel about that as I used to
+feel," she continued, a little hardness coming into her face. "I am
+settled now just the same as if I were married, and father and Edith
+Malcolmsen may come just as soon as they please. They shall make no
+plans for me; I am going to stay here with Uncle John. This house is
+mine now, and I am seriously thinking of having it painted. I shall stay
+here just as if I were one of those trees, and my father and my new
+mother--"
+
+Here tears came into Olive's eyes and Mrs. Easterfield stopped her.
+
+"Olive," said she, "I will give you a piece of advice. When your father
+and his young wife come here, treat her exactly as if she were your old
+friend. If you do so I think you will get along very well. This is
+partly selfish advice, for I greatly desire the opportunity to treat
+your father hospitably. He was my friend when I was a girl, you
+remember, and I looked up to him with very great admiration."
+
+And so these two friends sat and talked, and talked, and talked until it
+was positively shameful, considering that the Broadstone horses were
+accustomed to be fed and watered at noon, and that the coachman was very
+hungry.
+
+When, at last, Mrs. Easterfield drove home, and it must have been three
+in the afternoon, she left Olive very much comforted, even in regard to
+the unfortunate obligations which had fallen upon her uncle. For now
+that her old father had gone, all intercourse with the Port woman would
+cease.
+
+But in her own mind Mrs. Easterfield was not so very much comforted. It
+was all well enough to talk about Olive and her uncle and the happiness
+and safety of the home he had given her, but that sort of thing could
+not last very long. He was an elderly man and she was a girl. In the
+natural course of events, she would probably be left alone while she was
+very young. She would then be alone, for her father's wife could never
+be a mother to her when he was at sea, and their home would never be a
+home for her when he was on shore. What Olive wanted, in Mrs.
+Easterfield's opinion, was a husband. An uncle, such as Captain Asher,
+was very charming, but he was not enough.
+
+During this pleasant afternoon, when Captain Asher was in town
+attending to some arrangements for the burial of Mr. Port, Miss Maria
+was sitting discreetly alone in her darkened chamber. She had a great
+many things to think about, and if she had allowed her conscience full
+freedom of action, there would have been much more upon her mind. She
+might have been troubled by the recollection that since her father's
+very determined treatment of her when she had endeavored to fix herself
+upon the affections of Captain Asher, she had so conducted herself
+toward her venerable parent that she had actually nagged the life out of
+him; and that had she been the dutiful daughter she ought to have been
+he might have been living yet. But thoughts of this nature were not
+common to Maria Port. She had made herself sure that the will was all
+right, and he was very old. There was a time for all things, and Maria
+was now about to begin life for herself. To her plans for this new life
+she now gave almost her sole attention.
+
+She had one great object in view which overshadowed everything else, and
+this was to marry Captain Asher. This she could have done before, she
+firmly believed, had it not been for her old father and that horrid
+girl, the captain's niece. As for the elderly man who kept the toll-gate
+she did not mind him. If not interfered with, she was sure she could
+make him marry her, and then the great ambition of her life would be
+satisfied.
+
+Unpretentious as was her establishment in town, she did not care to
+spend the money necessary to keep it up, and although she was often an
+unkind woman, she was not cruel enough to think of inflicting herself
+as a boarder upon any housewife in the town. No, the toll-gate was the
+home for her; and if Captain Asher chose to inflict himself upon her for
+a few years longer, she would try to endure it.
+
+One obstacle to her plans was now gone, and she must devote herself to
+the work of getting rid of the other one. While Olive Asher remained at
+the tollhouse there was no chance for her in that quarter.
+
+The funeral was over, and when the bereaved Miss Port took leave of
+Captain Asher she exhibited a quiet gratitude which was very becoming
+and suitable. During the short time when he had visited the house every
+day she had showed him no resentment on account of what had passed
+between them, and had treated him very much as if he had been one of her
+father's old friends with whom she was not very well acquainted and to
+whom she was indebted for various services connected with the sad
+occasion.
+
+When he took final leave of her he shook her hand, and as he did so he
+gave her a peculiar grasp which, in his own mind, indicated that he and
+she had now nothing more to do with each other, and that the
+acquaintance was adjourned without day. She bade him a simple farewell,
+and as he left the house she grinned at his broad back. This grin
+expressed, to herself at least, that the old and rather faulty
+acquaintance was at an end, and that the new connection which she
+intended to establish between herself and him would be upon an entirely
+different basis.
+
+He did not ask her if there was anything more that he could do for her,
+for he did not desire to mix himself up with her affairs, which he knew
+she was eminently able to manage for herself, and it was with a deep
+breath of relief that he got into his buggy and drove home to his
+toll-gate.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXX_
+
+_By the Sea._
+
+
+When Lieutenant Asher and his bride arrived at his brother's toll-gate
+they were surprised as well as delighted by the cordiality of their
+greeting. Each of them had expected a little stiffness during the first
+interview, but there was nothing of the kind, although young Mrs. Asher
+was bound to admit, when she took time to think upon the subject, that
+Olive treated her exactly as if she had been a dear old schoolmate, and
+not at all as her father's wife. This made things very pleasant and easy
+at that time, she thought, although it might have to be corrected a
+little after a while.
+
+Things were all very pleasant, and there never had been so much talk at
+the tollhouse since the first stone of its foundation had been laid. The
+day after the arrival of the newly married couple Mrs. Easterfield
+called upon them, and invited the whole family to dinner.
+
+"I have never realized how much she must have thought of my parents!"
+said Olive to herself, as she gazed upon her father and Mrs.
+Easterfield. "They are so very glad to see each other!"
+
+She did not know that Lieutenant Asher had been to the present Mrs.
+Easterfield almost as much of a divinity as Mr. Hemphill had been to
+her girlish fancy; the difference being that the young cadet was well
+aware of the adoration of this child, not yet in long dresses, and
+greatly enjoyed and encouraged it. When, a few years later, the child
+heard of his marriage, she had outgrown the love with the lengthening of
+the skirts. But she had a tender recollection of it which she cherished.
+
+The dinner the next day was a great success, and after it the lieutenant
+and Mrs. Easterfield earnestly discussed Olive when they had the
+opportunity for a _tete-a-tete_. She was so much to each of them, and he
+was grateful that his daughter had fallen under the influence of this
+old friend, now a charming woman.
+
+"She is so beautiful," said the lady, "that she ought to be married as
+soon as possible to the most suitable bachelor in the United States."
+
+"Not so fast! Not so fast" said the lieutenant. "Edith and I are going
+to housekeeping very soon, and then we shall want Olive."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield smiled, but made no reply.
+
+When the lieutenant and his wife, with Olive, came a few days afterward
+to make their proper dinner call, he found an occasion to speak to their
+hostess.
+
+"Do you know," said he, "that this is a strange girl of mine?" She
+positively refuses to come and live with us. We had counted upon having
+her, and had made all our arrangements for it. She is as good and nice
+as she can be, but we can not move her."
+
+"You ought not to try," said Mrs. Easterfield; "it would be a shame for
+her to go away and leave her uncle. You have one young lady, and you
+should not ask for both. Olive must marry, and the captain must go and
+live with her."
+
+"Have you arranged all that?" said he. "I remember you were a great
+schemer when quite a little girl."
+
+"I am as great as ever," said she. "And I have selected the gentleman."
+
+"Oh, ho!" cried the lieutenant. "And is that all settled? Olive should
+have told me that."
+
+"She could not do it," said Mrs. Easterfield; "for it is not all
+settled. There are some obstacles in the way; and the greatest of them
+is that she does not love him."
+
+The lieutenant laughed. "Then that is settled. I know Olive."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield flushed, and then laughed. "I doubt that knowledge. It
+is certain you do not know me! The young man loves her with all his
+heart; there is no objection to him; and I am most earnestly in favor of
+the match."
+
+"Ah" said the lieutenant, with a bow; "if that is the case, I must get a
+pencil and paper and calculate what I can give her for her trousseau. I
+hope the wedding will not come off very soon, for I am decidedly short
+at present, on account of recent matrimonial expenses. Would you mind
+telling me his name? Is he naval?"
+
+"Oh, no," said she; "he is pedagogy."
+
+"What!" he cried, his eyes wide open.
+
+Then she laughed and told him all about Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Of course," concluded Mrs. Easterfield, "I can not ask you not to
+speak to _anybody_ about what I have told you, but I do hope you will
+prevent its getting to Olive's ears. I am afraid it would make a breach
+between us if she knew that I was trying to make a match for her. And,
+you see, that is exactly what I am doing."
+
+"And you are right," said the lieutenant; "and what is more, I am with
+you! You don't know," he added in a softer tone, "how grateful I am to
+you for your care of Olive now that my dear wife is gone!"
+
+For the moment he totally forgot that his dear wife had merely gone to
+the edge of the bluff with the captain and Olive to look at the river.
+
+That evening, as they sat together, Lieutenant Asher told his brother
+all that Mrs. Easterfield had confided to him about Dick Lancaster. The
+captain was delighted.
+
+"That is what I have wanted," he said, "almost from the beginning, and I
+want it more than ever now. I am getting to be an old fellow, and I want
+to see her settled before I sail."
+
+"You know, John," said the lieutenant, "that I find Olive is a little
+more of a girl of her own mind than she used to be. I don't believe she
+would rest quietly under the housekeeping of a girl so nearly her own
+age."
+
+The captain gave some vigorous puffs. "I should think not!" he said to
+himself. "Olive would have that young woman swabbing the decks before
+they had been out three days! You are right," said he aloud, "but we
+must all look out that Olive does not hear anything about this."
+
+It was not until they were continuing their bridal trip that Lieutenant
+Asher considered the subject of mentioning Dick Lancaster to his wife.
+Then, after considering it, he concluded not to do it. In the first
+place, he knew that he was getting to be a little bit elderly, and he
+did not care about discussing the perfections of the young man who had
+been selected as a suitable partner for his wife's school friend. This
+was all very foolish, of course, but people often are very foolish.
+
+Thus it was that Olive Asher never heard of the tripartite alliance
+between her father, her uncle, and her good friend at Broadstone.
+
+When Captain Asher learned, a few days after his brother had left, that
+the Broadstone family had gone to the seashore, he sat reflectively and
+asked himself if he were doing the right thing by Olive. The season was
+well advanced; it was getting very hot at the toll-gate, and at many
+other gates in that region; and this navy girl ought to have a breath of
+fresh air. It is wonderful that he had not thought of it before!
+
+At breakfast the next morning Olive stopped pouring coffee when he told
+her his plans to go to the sea.
+
+"With you, Uncle John!" she cried. "That would be better than anything
+in the world! You sail a boat?" she asked inquiringly.
+
+"Sail a boat!" roared the captain. "I have a great mind to kick over
+this table! My dear, I can sail a boat, keel uppermost, if the water's
+deep enough! Sail a boat!" he repeated. "I sailed a catboat from Boston
+to Egg Harbor before your mother was born. By the way, you seem very
+anxious about boat sailing. Are you afraid of the water?"
+
+She laughed gaily. "I deserve that," she said, "and I accept it. But
+perhaps I have done something that you never did. I have sailed a
+felucca."
+
+"Very good," said the captain; "if there's a felucca where we're going
+you can sail me in one."
+
+They went to a Virginia seaside resort, these two, and left old Jane in
+charge of the toll-gate.
+
+Early in the day after they arrived they went out to engage a boat. When
+they found one which suited the captain's critical eye, he said to the
+owner thereof: "I will take her for the morning, but I don't want
+anybody to sail me. I will do that myself."
+
+"I don't know about that," said the man; "when my boat goes out--"
+
+He stopped speaking suddenly and looked the captain over and over, up
+and down. "All right, sir," said he. "And you don't want nobody to
+manage the sheet?"
+
+"No," interpolated Olive, "I'll manage the sheet."
+
+So they went out on the bounding sea. And as the wind whistled the hat
+off her head so that she had to fling it into the bottom of the boat,
+Olive wished that her uncle kept a toll-gate on the sea. Then she could
+go out with him and stop the little boats and the great steamers, and
+make them drop seven cents or thirteen cents into her hands as she stood
+braced in the stern; and she was just beginning to wonder how she could
+toss up the change to them if they dropped her a quarter, when the
+captain began to sing Tom Bowline. He was just as gay-hearted as she
+was.
+
+It was about noon when they returned, for the captain was a very
+particular man and he had hired the boat only for the morning. Olive had
+scarcely taken ten steps up the beach before she found herself shaking
+hands with a young man.
+
+"How on earth!" she exclaimed.
+
+"It was not on earth at all," he said; "I came by water. I wanted to
+find out if what I had heard of the horrors of a coastwise voyage were
+true; and I found that it was absolutely correct."
+
+"But here!" she exclaimed. "Why here? You could not have known!"
+
+"Of course not," he answered; "if I had known I am sure I would have
+felt that I ought not to come. But I didn't know, and so you see I am as
+innocent as a butterfly. More innocent, in fact, for that little
+wagwings knows where he ought not to go, and he goes there all the
+same."
+
+Captain Asher was still at the boat, making some practical suggestions
+to her owner; who, being not yet forty, had many things to learn about
+the sails and rigging of a catboat.
+
+"Mr. Locker," said Olive, looking at him very intently, "did you come
+here to renew any of your previous performances?"
+
+"As a serenader?" said he. "Oh, no! But perhaps you mean as a
+love-maker?"
+
+"That is it," said Olive.
+
+Mr. Locker took off his hat, and rubbed his head. "No," said he, "I
+didn't; but I wish I could say I did. But that's impossible. I presume
+I am right in assuming this impossibility?"
+
+"Entirely," said Olive.
+
+"And, furthermore, I truly didn't know you were here. I think you may
+rest satisfied that that flame is out, although--By the way, I believe I
+could make some verses on that subject containing these lines:
+
+    "'I do not want the flame,
+    I better like the coal--'
+
+meaning, of course, that I hope our friendship may continue."
+
+She smiled. "There are no objections to that," she said.
+
+"Perhaps not, perhaps not," he said, clutching his chin with his hand;
+"but some other lines come into my head. Of course, he didn't want the
+coal to go out.
+
+    "'He blew too hard,
+    The flame revived.'"
+
+"That will do! That will do!" cried Olive. "I don't want any more of
+that poem."
+
+"And the result of it all," said he, "is only a burnt match."
+
+"Nothing but a bit of charcoal," added Olive.
+
+At this moment up came the captain. Olive had told him all about Mr.
+Locker, and he was not glad to see him. Olive noticed this, and she
+spoke quickly. "Here's Mr. Locker, uncle; he has dropped down quite
+accidentally at this place."
+
+"Oh" said the captain incredulously.
+
+"You know he used to like me too much. But he knows me better now."
+
+"Charming frankness of friendship!" said Locker.
+
+"And as I like him very much, I am glad he is here," continued Olive.
+
+The young man bowed in gratitude, but Olive's words embarrassed him
+somewhat, and he did not know exactly what would be suitable for him to
+say. So he took refuge in a change of subject. "Captain," said he, "can
+you fish?"
+
+A look of scornful amazement showed itself upon the old mariner's face.
+"I have tried it," said he.
+
+"And so have I," cried Locker, "but I never had any luck in fishing
+and--some other things. I am vilely unlucky. I expect that's because I
+don't know how to fish."
+
+"It is very likely," said Olive, "that your bad luck comes from not
+knowing where to fish."
+
+The young man took off his hat and held it for a little while, although
+the sun was very hot.
+
+During the course of that afternoon and evening Captain Asher grew to
+like Claude Locker. The young man told such gravely comical stories,
+especially about his experiences in boats and on the water, that the
+captain was very glad he had happened to drop down upon that especial
+watering-place. He wanted Olive to have some society besides his own,
+and a discarded lover was better than any other young man they might
+meet. He knew that Olive was a girl who would not go back on her word.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXI_
+
+_As good as a Man._
+
+
+The next day our three friends went fishing in a catboat belonging to
+the young seaman of forty, and they took their dinner with them,
+although Mr. Locker declared that he did not believe that he would want
+any.
+
+They had a good time on the water, for the captain had made careful
+inquiries about the best fishing grounds, and the mishaps of Locker were
+so numerous and so provocative of queer remarks from himself, that the
+captain and Olive sometimes forgot to pull up their fish, so preengaged
+were they in laughing. The sky was bright, the water smooth, and even
+Mr. Locker caught fish, although it might have been thought that he did
+everything possible to prevent himself doing so.
+
+When their boat ran up the beach late in the afternoon the captain and
+Olive were still laughing, and Mr. Locker was as sober as a soda-water
+fountain from which spouts such intermittent sparkle. Dear as was the
+toll-gate, this was a fine change from that quiet home.
+
+The next morning, upon the sand, Claude Locker approached Olive. "Would
+you like to decline my addresses for the second time?" he abruptly
+asked.
+
+"Of course not" she exclaimed.
+
+"Well, then," said he, extending his hand, "good-by!"
+
+"What are you talking about?" said Olive. "What does this mean?"
+
+"It means," said he, "that I have fallen in love with you again. I think
+I am rather worse than I was before. If I stay here I shall surely
+propose. Nothing can stop me--not even the presence of your uncle if it
+is impossible for me to see you alone--and, if you don't want any of
+that, it is necessary that I go, and go quickly."
+
+"Of course I don't want it," she said. "But why need you be so foolish?
+We were getting along so nicely as friends. I expected to have lots of
+fun here with you and uncle."
+
+"Fun!" groaned Locker. "It might have been fun for you and the captain,
+but what of the poor torn heart? I know I must go, and now. If I stay
+here five minutes longer I shall be at your feet, and it will be far
+better if I take to my own. Good-by!" And, with a warm grasp of her
+hand, he departed.
+
+Olive looked after him as he walked to the hotel. If he had known how
+much she regretted to see him go he would have come back, and all his
+troubles would have begun again.
+
+"Hello!" cried the captain when Locker had entered the house, "I was
+looking for you. We can run out, and have some fishing this morning. The
+tide will suit. You did so well yesterday that I think to-day. I can
+even teach you to take out a hook."
+
+"Take out a hook?" said Locker. "I have a hook within me which no man
+in this world, and but one woman, can take out. And as this she must not
+even be asked to do, I go. Farewell!"
+
+"What's the matter with the young man" asked the captain of Olive a
+little later.
+
+"Oh, he has fallen in love with me again," said Olive, with a sigh,
+"and, of course, that spoils everything. I wish people could be more
+sensible."
+
+The captain looked down upon her admiringly. "I don't see any hope for
+people," he said. And this was the first personal compliment he had ever
+paid his niece.
+
+When Claude Locker had gone, Olive missed him more than she thought she
+could miss anybody. Much of the life seemed to have gone out of the
+place, and the captain's high spirits waned as if he was suffering from
+the depression which follows a stimulant.
+
+"If that young fellow had been better-looking," said the captain, "if he
+had more solid sense, and a good business, with both his eyes alike, I
+might have been more willing to let him go."
+
+"If he had been all that," asked Olive with a smile, "why shouldn't you
+have been willing to let him stay?"
+
+The captain did not answer. No matter what young Locker might have been,
+he could never have been Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Uncle," said Olive that afternoon, "where shall we go next?"
+
+"I don't know," said he, "but let's go to-morrow. I don't believe I like
+so many strangers except when they pay toll."
+
+They traveled about a good deal; and in a general way enjoyed
+themselves; but they were both old travelers, and mere novelty was not
+enough for them. Each loved the company of the other, but each would
+have liked to have Locker along. It grieved Olive to think that she
+wanted him, or anybody, but she would not even try to deceive herself.
+The weather grew cooler, and she said to her uncle: "Let us go back to
+the toll-gate; it must be perfectly beautiful there now, with the
+mountains putting on their gold and red."
+
+So they started for home, planning for a stop in Washington on their
+way.
+
+Brightness and people were coming back to Washington. The air was
+cooler, and city life was stirring. Olive and her uncle stayed several
+days longer than they had intended; as most people do who visit
+Washington. On one of these days as they were returning to their hotel
+from the Smithsonian grounds, where they had been looking at autumn
+leaves from all quarters of this wide land; many of them unknown to
+them; they looked with interest from the shaded grounds on one side of
+the street to the great public building on the other side, which they
+were then passing, and at the broad steps ascending from the sidewalk to
+the basement floor.
+
+As they moved on thus slowly they noticed a man standing upon the upper
+steps of one of these stairs. His back was toward them; and, as their
+eyes fell upon him he stepped upon the upper sidewalk. He was walking
+with a cane which seemed to be rather short for him. He stood still for
+a moment, and appeared to be waiting for some one. Then, suddenly his
+whole frame thrilled with nervous action; he slightly lowered his head,
+and, in an instant, he brought his cane to his shoulder, as if it had
+been a gun. The captain had seen that sort of thing before. It was an
+air-gun. Without a word he made a dash at the man. He was elderly, but
+in a case like this he was swift. As he ran he glanced out in the
+direction in which the gun was aimed. Along the broad, sunlighted avenue
+a barouche was passing. On the back seat sat two gentlemen,
+well-dressed, erect. Even in a flash one would notice an air of dignity
+in their demeanor.
+
+There was not time to strike down the weapon, but before the man had
+heard steps behind him the captain gave him a tremendous blow between
+the shoulders which staggered him, and spoiled his aim. Then the captain
+seized the air-gun. There was a whiz, and a click on the pavement. Then
+the man turned.
+
+His black eyes flashed out of a swarthy face nearly covered with beard;
+his soft hat had fallen off when the captain struck him, and his black
+hair stood up like bristles on a shoe-brush. He was not a large man; he
+wore a loose woolen jacket; his sleeves were short, and his hands were
+hairy.
+
+All this Olive saw, for she had been quick to follow her uncle; but the
+captain, who firmly held the air-gun, saw nothing but the glaring face
+of a devil.
+
+The man jerked furiously at the gun, but the captain's grasp was too
+strong. Then the fellow released his hold upon the gun, and, with a
+savage fury, threw himself upon the older man. The two stood near the
+top of the steps, and the shock of the attack was so great that both
+fell, slipping down several of the stone steps.
+
+Olive tried to scream, but in her fright her voice utterly left her. She
+could not make a sound. As they lay upon the steps, the captain beneath,
+the man seized his victim by the neck with both hands, pressing his
+great thumbs deeply into his throat. Apparently he did not notice Olive.
+All the efforts of his devilish soul were bent upon stifling the voice
+and the life out of the witness of his attempted crime. Olive sprang
+down, and stood over the struggling men. Her uncle's eyes stared at her,
+and seemed bursting from his head. His face was growing dark. Again
+Olive tried to scream; and, in a frenzy, she seized the man to pull him
+from the captain. As she did so her hand fell upon something protruding
+under his woolen jacket. With a quick flash of instinct her sense of
+feeling recognized this thing. She jerked up the jacket, and there was
+the stock of a pistol protruding from his hip pocket. In an instant
+Olive drew it.
+
+A horrid sound issued from the mouth of Captain Asher; he was choking to
+death. In the same second that she heard it Olive thrust the muzzle of
+the pistol against the side of the man's head and pulled the trigger.
+
+The man's head fell forward and his hairy hands released their grip, but
+they still remained at the captain's throat. The latter gave a great
+gasp, and for an instant he turned his eyes full upon the face of his
+niece. Then his lids closed.
+
+Now there were footsteps, and, looking up, Olive saw a negro cabman in
+faded livery and an old silk hat, who stood staring. Before she could
+speak to him there came another man, a policeman, who, equally amazed,
+stared at the group below him. Only these two had heard the pistol
+shots. There were no other people passing on the avenue, and as it was
+past office hours there was no one in the great public building.
+
+Until they reached the top of the steps the policeman and cabman could
+see nothing. Now they stood astounded as they stared down upon an
+elderly man lying on his back on the steps; another man, apparently
+lifeless, lying on top of him with his hands upon his throat; and a girl
+standing a little below them with a smoking pistol in her hand.
+
+Before they had time to speak or move Olive called out, "Take that man
+off my uncle."
+
+In a moment the policeman, followed by the negro, ran down the steps and
+pulled the black-headed man off the captain, and the limp body slipped
+down several steps.
+
+The policeman now turned toward Olive. "Take this," she said, handing
+him the pistol. "I shot him. He was trying to kill my uncle."
+
+The two men raised the captain to a sitting position. He was now
+breathing, though in gasps, with his eyes opened.
+
+The policeman took the pistol, looked at it, then at Olive, then at the
+captain, and then down at the body on the steps. He was trying to get an
+idea of what had happened without asking. If the negro had not been
+present he might have asked questions, but this was an unusual
+situation, and he felt his responsibility, and his importance. Olive now
+stepped toward him, and in obedience to her quick gesture he bent his
+head, and she whispered something to him. Instantly he was quivering
+with excitement. He thrust the pistol into his pocket, and turned to the
+negro. "Run," said he, "and get your cab! Don't say a word to a soul and
+I will give you five dollars."
+
+The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
+There, on the upper step." Then she went to her uncle and sat down by
+him.
+
+"Are you hurt?" she said. "Can you speak?"
+
+The captain put his arm around her shoulder, fixing a loving look upon
+her, and murmured, "You are as good as a man!"
+
+The policeman picked up the air-gun, and gazed upon it as if it had been
+a telegram in cipher from a detective. Then he tried to conceal it under
+his coat, but it was too long.
+
+"Let me have it," said Olive; "I will put it behind me."
+
+She had barely concealed it when the cab drove up.
+
+"Now," said the policeman, "you two must go with me. Can you walk, sir?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said the captain in a voice clear, but weak.
+
+Olive rose, holding the air-gun behind her, and the policeman and the
+cabman helped the captain to the carriage. Olive followed, and the
+policeman, actuated by some strong instinct, did not look around to see
+if she were doing so. He had no more idea that she would run away than
+that the stone steps would move. When he saw that she had taken the
+air-gun into the carriage with her, he closed the door.
+
+"Did your fall hurt you, uncle?" said Olive, looking anxiously into his
+face.
+
+"My throat hurts dreadfully," he said, "and I'm stiff. But I'll be
+stiffer to-morrow."
+
+The policeman picked up the hat of the black-haired man, and going down
+the steps, he placed it on his head. "Now help me up with this
+gentleman," he said to the cabman; "we must put him on the box-seat
+between us. Take him under the arms, and we'll carry him naturally. He
+must be awfully drunk!"
+
+So they lifted him up the steps, and, after much trouble, got him on the
+box-seat. Fortunately they were both big men. Then they drove away to
+police headquarters. The officer was the happiest policeman in
+Washington. This was the greatest piece of work he had known of during
+his service; and he was doing it all himself. With the exception of the
+driver, nobody else was mixed up in it in the least degree. What he was
+doing was not exactly right; it was not according to custom and
+regulation. He should have called for assistance, for an ambulance; but
+he had not, and his guardian angel had kept all foot-passengers from the
+steps of the public building. He did not know what it all meant, but he
+was doing it himself, and if that black driver should slip from his seat
+(of which he occupied a very small portion) and he should break his
+neck, the policeman would clutch the reins, and be happier than any man
+in Washington.
+
+There were very many people who looked at the drunken man who was being
+carried off by the policeman, but the cabman drove swiftly, and gave
+such people very little opportunity for close observation.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXII_
+
+_The Stock-Market is Safe._
+
+
+There was a great stir at the police station, but Olive and her uncle
+saw little of it. They were quickly taken to private rooms, where the
+captain was attended by a police surgeon. He had been bruised and badly
+treated, but his injuries were not serious.
+
+Olive was put in charge of a matron, who wondered greatly what brought
+her there. Very soon they were examined separately, and the tale of each
+of them was almost identical with that of the other; only Olive was able
+to tell more about the two gentlemen in the barouche, for she had been
+at her uncle's side, and there was nothing to obstruct her vision.
+
+When the examination was ended the police captain enjoined each of them
+to say no word to any living soul about what they had testified to him.
+This was a most important matter, and it was necessary that it be hedged
+around with the greatest secrecy.
+
+When Olive retired to her plain but comfortable cot she was tired and
+weak from the reaction of her restrained emotions, but she did not
+immediately go to sleep for thinking that she had killed a man. And yet
+for this killing there was not in this girl's mind one atom of regret.
+She was so grateful that she had been there, and had been enabled to do
+it. She had seen her uncle almost at his last gasp, and she had saved
+him from making that last gasp. Moreover, she had saved the life of the
+man who had saved the most important life in the land. She knew the face
+of the gentleman in the barouche who sat on the side nearest her; she
+knew what her uncle had done, and she was proud of him; she knew what
+she had done for him; and she regarded the black-haired man with the
+hairy hands no more than she would have regarded a wild beast who had
+suddenly sprung upon them. She thought of him, of course, with horror,
+but her feelings of thankfulness for her uncle's safety were far too
+strong. At last her grateful heart closed her eyes, and let her rest.
+
+There were no letters found on the body of the black-haired man which
+gave any clue to his name; but there were papers which showed that he
+was from southern France; that he was an anarchist; that he was in this
+country upon a mission; and that he had been for two weeks in
+Washington, waiting for an opportunity to fulfil that mission. Which
+opportunity had at last shown itself in front of him just as Captain
+John Asher rushed up behind him.
+
+This information was so important that extraordinary methods were
+pursued. Communications were immediately made with the State Department,
+and with the higher police authorities; and it was quickly determined
+that, whatever else might be done, the strictest secrecy must be
+enforced. The coroner's jury was carefully selected and earnestly
+admonished; and, early the next morning, when the captain and Olive were
+required to testify before it, they were made to understand how
+absolutely necessary it was they should say nothing except to answer the
+questions which were asked them. The coroner was eminently discreet in
+regard to his questions; and the verdict was that Olive was acting in
+her own defense as well as that of her uncle when she shot his
+assailant.
+
+Among the officials whose positions enabled them to know all these
+astonishing occurrences it was unanimously agreed that, so far as
+possible, everybody should be kept in ignorance of the crime which had
+been attempted, and of the deliverance which had taken place.
+
+Very early the next afternoon the air was filled with the cries of
+newsboys, and each paper that these boys sold contained a full and
+detailed account of a remarkable attempt by an unknown foreigner upon
+the life of Captain John Asher, a visitor in Washington, and the heroic
+conduct of his niece, Miss Olive Asher, who shot the murderous assailant
+with his own pistol. There were columns and columns of this story, but
+strange to say, in not one of the papers was there any allusion to the
+two gentlemen in the barouche, or to the air-gun.
+
+How this most important feature of the occurrence came to be omitted in
+all the accounts of it can only be explained by those who thoroughly
+understand the exigencies of the stock-market, and the probable effect
+of certain classes of news upon approaching political situations, and
+who have made themselves familiar with the methods by which the
+pervasive power of the press is sometimes curtailed.
+
+In the later afternoon editions there were portraits of Olive, and her
+uncle. Olive was broad-shouldered, with black hair and a determined
+frown, while the captain was a little man with a long beard. There were
+no portraits of the anarchist. He passed away from the knowledge of man,
+and no one knew even his name: his crime had blotted him out; his
+ambition was blotted out; even the evil of his example was blotted out.
+There was nothing left of him.
+
+When they were released from detention the captain and Olive quickly
+left the station--which they did without observation--and entered a
+carriage which was waiting for them a short distance away. The fact that
+another carriage with close-drawn curtains had stopped at the station
+about ten minutes before, and that a thickly veiled lady (the matron)
+and an elderly man with his collar turned up and his hat drawn down (one
+of the police officers in plain clothes) had entered the carriage and
+had been driven rapidly away had drawn off the reporters and the
+curiosity mongers on the sidewalk and had contributed very much to the
+undisturbed exit of Captain and Miss Asher.
+
+These two proceeded leisurely to the railroad-station, where they took a
+train which would carry them to the little town of Glenford. Their
+affairs at the hotel could be arranged by telegram. There were calls at
+that hotel during the rest of the day from people who knew Olive or her
+uncle; calls from people who wanted to know them; calls from people who
+would be contented even to look at them; calls from autograph hunters
+who would be content simply to send up their cards; quiet calls from
+people connected with the Government; and calls from eager persons who
+could not have told anybody what they wanted. To none of these could the
+head clerk give any satisfaction. He had not seen his guests since the
+day before, and he knew naught about them.
+
+When Miss Maria Port heard that that horrid girl, Olive Asher, had shot
+an anarchist, she stiffened herself to her greatest length, and let her
+head fall on the back of her chair. She was scarcely able to call to the
+small girl who endured her service to bring her some water. "Now all is
+over," she groaned, "for I can never marry a man whose niece's hands are
+dripping with blood. She will live with him, of course, for he is just
+the old fool to allow that, and anyway there is no other place for her
+to go except the almshouse--that is, if they'll take her in." And at the
+terrified girl, who tremblingly asked if she wanted any more water, she
+threw her scissors.
+
+The captain and his niece arrived early in the day at Glenford station.
+The captain engaged a little one-horse vehicle which had frequently
+brought people to the toll-gate, and informed the driver that there was
+no baggage. The man, gazing at Olive, but scarcely daring to raise his
+eyes to her face, proceeded with solemn tread toward his vehicle as if
+he had been leading the line in a funeral.
+
+As they drove through the town they were obliged to pass the house of
+Miss Maria Port. The door was shut, and the shutters were closed. She
+had had a terrible night, and had slept but little, but hearing the
+sound of wheels upon the street, she had bounced out of bed and had
+peered through the blinds. When she saw who it was she cursed them both.
+
+"That was the only thing," she snapped, "that could have kept me from
+gettin' him! So far as I know, that was the only thing!"
+
+When old Jane received the travelers at the toll-gate she warmly
+welcomed the captain, but she trembled before Olive. If the girl noticed
+the demeanor of the old woman, she pretended not to do so, and, speaking
+to her pleasantly, she passed within.
+
+"Will they hang her?" she said to the captain later.
+
+"What do you mean?" he shouted. "Have you gone crazy?"
+
+"The people in the town said they would," replied old Jane, beginning to
+cry a little.
+
+The captain looked at her steadily. "Did any particular person in the
+town say that?"
+
+"Yes, sir," she answered; "Miss Maria Port was the first to say it, so
+I've been told."
+
+"She is the one who ought to be hanged!" said the captain, speaking very
+warmly. "As for Miss Olive, she ought to have a monument set up for her.
+I'd do it myself if I had the money."
+
+Old Jane answered not, but in her heart she said: "But she killed a man!
+It is truly dreadful!"
+
+By nightfall of that day the two hotels of Glenford were crowded, the
+visitors being generally connected with newspapers. On the next day
+there was a great deal of travel on the turnpike, and old Jane was kept
+very busy, the captain having resigned the entire business of
+toll-taking to her. Everybody stopped, asked questions, and requested to
+see the captain; and many drove through and came back again, hoping to
+have better luck next time. But their luck was always bad; old Jane
+would say nothing; and the captain and Olive were not to be seen. The
+gate to the little front garden was locked, and there was no passing
+through the tollhouse. To keep people from getting over the fence a
+bulldog, which the captain kept at the barn, was turned loose in the
+yard.
+
+There were men with cameras who got into the field opposite the
+toll-gate, and who took views from up and down the road, but their work
+could not be prevented, and Olive and her uncle kept strictly indoors.
+
+It was on the afternoon of the second day of siege that the captain,
+from an upper window, discovered a camera on three legs standing outside
+of his grounds at a short distance from the house. A man was taking
+sight at something at the back of the house. Softly the captain slipped
+down into the back yard, and looking up he saw Olive sitting at a
+window, reading.
+
+With five steps the captain went into the house and then reappeared at
+the back door with a musket in his hand. The man had stepped to his pack
+at a little distance to get a plate. The captain raised his musket to
+his shoulder; Olive sprang to her feet at the sound of the report; old
+Jane in the tollhouse screamed; and the camera flew into splinters.
+
+After this there were no further attempts to take pictures of the
+inmates of the house at the toll-gate.
+
+After two days of siege the newspaper reporters and the photographers
+left Glenford. They could not afford to waste any more time. But they
+carried away with them a great many stories about the captain and his
+erratic niece, mostly gleaned from a very respectable elderly lady of
+the town by the name of Port.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIII_
+
+_Dick Lancaster does not Write._
+
+
+On the third morning after their arrival at the toll-gate the captain
+and Olive ventured upon a little walk over the farm. It was very hard
+upon both of them to be shut up in the house so long. They saw no
+reporters, nor were there any men with cameras, but the scenery was not
+pleasant, nor was the air particularly exhilarating. They were not
+happy; they felt alone, as if they were in a strange place. Some of the
+captain's friends in the town came to the toll-gate, but there were not
+many, and Olive saw none of them. The whole situation reminded the girl
+of the death of her mother.
+
+As soon as it was known that the Ashers were at home there came letters
+from many quarters. One of these was from Mrs. Easterfield. She would be
+at Broadstone as soon as she could get her children started from the
+seashore. She longed to take Olive to her heart, but whether this was in
+commiseration or commendation was not quite plain to Olive. The letter
+concluded with this sentence: "There is something behind all this, and
+when I come you must tell me."
+
+Then there was one from her father in which he bemoaned what had
+happened. "That such a thing should have come to my daughter!" he
+wrote. "To my daughter!" There was a great deal more of it, but he said
+nothing about coming with his young wife to the toll-gate, and Olive's
+countenance was almost stern when she handed this letter to her uncle.
+
+Claude Locker wrote:
+
+     "How I long, how I rage to write to you, or to go to you! But if I
+     should write, it would be sure to give you pain, and if I should go
+     to you I should also go crazy. Therefore, I will merely state that
+     I love you madly; more now than ever before; and that I shall
+     continue to do so for the rest of my life, no matter what happens
+     to you, or to me, or to anybody.
+
+    "Ever turned toward you,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER.
+
+    "How I wish I had been there with a sledgehammer!"
+
+And then there were the newspapers. Many of these the captain had
+ordered by the Glenford bookseller, and a number were sent by friends,
+and some even by strangers. And so they learned what was thought of them
+over a wide range of country, and this publicity Olive found very hard
+to bear. It was even worse than the deed she was forced to do, and which
+gave rise to all this disagreeable publicity. That deed was done in the
+twinkling of an eye, and was the only thing that could be done; but all
+this was prolonged torture. Of course, the newspapers were not
+responsible for this. The transaction was a public one in as public a
+place as could possibly be selected, and it was clearly their duty to
+give the public full information in regard to it. They knew what had
+happened, and how could they possibly know what had not happened? Nor
+could they guess that this was of more importance than the happening.
+And so they all viewed the action from the point of view that a young
+woman had blown out a man's brains on the steps of the Treasury. It was
+a most unusual, exciting, and tragic incident, and in a measure,
+incomprehensible; and coming at a time when there was a dearth of news,
+it was naturally much exploited. Many of the papers recognized the fact
+that Miss Asher had done this deed to save her uncle's life, and
+applauded it, and praised her quick-wittedness and courage; but all this
+was spoiled for Olive by the tone of commiseration for her in which it
+was all stated. She did not see why she should be pitied. Rather should
+she be congratulated that she was, fortunately, on the spot. Other
+journals did not so readily give in to the opinion that it was an act of
+self-defense. It might be so; but they expressed strong disapproval of
+the legal action in this strange affair. A young woman, accompanied by a
+relative, had killed an unknown man. The action of the authorities in
+this case had been rapid and unsatisfactory. The person who had fired
+the fatal shot and her companion had been cleared of guilt upon their
+own testimony, and the cause of the man who died had no one to defend
+it. If two persons can kill a man, and then state to the coroner's jury
+that it was all right, and thereupon repair to their homes without
+further interference by the law, then had the cause of justice in the
+capital of the nation reached a very strange pass.
+
+Such were the views of the reputable journals. But there were some
+which fell into the captain's hands that were well calculated to arouse
+his ire. Such a sensational occurrence did not often come in their way,
+and they made the most of it. They scented the idea that the girl had
+killed an unknown man to save her uncle's life; blamed the authorities
+severely for not finding out who he was; suggested there must be a
+secret reason for this; and hinted darkly at a scandal connected with
+the affair, which, if investigated, would be found to include some
+well-known names.
+
+"This is outrageous!" cried the captain. "It is too abominable to be
+borne! Olive, why should we not tell the exact facts of this thing? We
+did agree--very willingly at the time--to keep the secret. But I am not
+willing now, and you are being sacrificed to the stock-market. That is
+the whole truth of it! If these editors knew the truth they would be
+chanting your praises. If that scoundrel had killed me, he would have
+killed you, and then he could have run away to go on with his President
+shooting. I am going to Washington this very day to tell the whole
+story. You shall not suffer that stocks may not fall and the political
+situation made alarming at election time. That is what it all means, and
+I won't stand it!"
+
+"You will only make things worse, uncle," said Olive. "Then the whole
+matter will be stirred up afresh. We will be summoned to investigations,
+and all sorts of disagreeable things. Every item of our lives will be in
+the papers, and some will be invented. It is very bad now, but in a
+little while the public will forget that a countryman and a country girl
+had a fracas in Washington. But the other thing will never be
+forgotten. It is very much better to leave it as it is."
+
+The captain, notwithstanding the presence of a lady, cursed the
+officials, the newspapers, the Government, and the whole country. "I am
+going to do it!" he cried vehemently. "I don't care what happens!"
+
+But Olive put her arms around him and coaxed him for her sake to let the
+matter rest. And, finally, the captain, grumblingly, assented.
+
+If Olive had been a girl brought up in a gentle-minded household,
+knowing nothing of the varied life she had lived when a navy girl;
+sometimes at this school and sometimes at that; sometimes in her native
+land, and sometimes in the midst of frontier life; sometimes with
+parents, and sometimes without them; and, had she been less aware from
+her own experiences and those of others, that this is a world in which
+you must stand up very stiffly if you do not want to be pushed down; she
+might have sunk, at least for a time, under all this publicity and
+blame. Even the praise had its sting.
+
+But she did not sink. The liveliness and the fun went out of her, and
+her face grew hard and her manner quiet. But she was not quiet within.
+She rebelled against the unfairness with which she was treated. No
+matter what the newspapers knew or did not know, they should have known,
+and should have remembered, that she had saved her uncle's life. If they
+had known more they would have been just and kind enough no doubt, but
+they ought to have been just and kind without knowing more.
+
+Captain Asher would now read no more papers. But Olive read them all.
+
+Letters still came; one of them from Mr. Easterfield. But every time a
+mail arrived there was a disappointment in the toll-gate household. The
+captain could scarcely refrain from speaking of his disappointment, for
+it was a true grief to him that Dick Lancaster had not written a word.
+Of course, Olive did not say anything upon the subject, for she had no
+right to expect such a letter, and she was not sure that she wanted one,
+but it was very strange that a person who surely was, or had been,
+somewhat interested in her uncle and herself should have been the only
+one among her recent associates who showed no interest whatever in what
+had befallen her. Even Mr. and Mrs. Fox had written. She wished they had
+not written, but, after all, stupidity is sometimes better than total
+neglect.
+
+"Olive," said the captain one pleasant afternoon, "suppose we take a
+drive to Broadstone? The family is not there, but it may interest you to
+see the place where I hope your friends will soon be living again. I can
+not bear to see you going about so dolefully. I want to brighten you up
+in some way."
+
+"I'd like it," said Olive promptly. "Let us go to Broadstone."
+
+At that moment they heard talking in the tollhouse; then there were some
+quick steps in the garden; and, almost immediately, Dick Lancaster was
+in the house and in the room where the captain and his niece were
+sitting. He stepped quickly toward them as they rose, and gave Olive
+his left hand because the captain had seized his right and would not let
+it go.
+
+"I have been very slow getting here," he said, looking from one to the
+other. "But I would not write, and I have been unconscionably delayed. I
+am so proud of you," he said, looking Olive full in the face, but still
+holding the captain by the hand.
+
+Olive's hand had been withdrawn, but it was very cheering to her to know
+that some one was proud of her.
+
+The captain poured out his delight at seeing the young professor--the
+first near friend he had seen since his adventure, and, in his opinion,
+the best. Olive said but little, but her countenance brightened
+wonderfully. She had always liked Mr. Lancaster, and now he showed his
+good sense and good feeling; for, while it was evidently on his mind, he
+made no allusion to anything they had done, or that had happened to
+them. He talked chiefly of himself.
+
+But the captain was not to be repressed, and his tone warmed up a little
+as he asked if Dick had been reading the newspapers.
+
+At this Olive left the room to make some arrangements for Mr.
+Lancaster's accommodation.
+
+Seizing this opportunity, Dick Lancaster stopped the captain, who he saw
+was preparing to go lengthily into the recent affair. "Yes, yes," he
+said, speaking quickly, "and my blood has run hot as I read those
+beastly papers. But let me say something to you while I can. I am deeply
+interested in something else just now. I came here, captain, to propose
+marriage to your niece. Have I your consent?"
+
+"Consent!" cried the captain. "Why, it is the clearest wish of my heart
+that you should marry Olive!" And seizing the young man by both arms, he
+shook him from head to foot. "Consent!" he exclaimed. "I should think
+so, I should think so! Will she take you, Dick? Is that--"
+
+"I don't know," said Lancaster, "I don't know. I am here to find out.
+But I hear her coming."
+
+The happy captain thought it full time to go away somewhere. He felt
+that he could not control his glowing countenance, and that he might say
+or do something which might be wrong. So he departed with great
+alacrity, and left the two young people to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXIV_
+
+_Miss Port puts in an Appearance._
+
+
+The captain clapped on his hat, and walked up the road toward Glenford.
+He was very much excited and he wanted to sing, but his singing days
+were over, and he quieted himself somewhat by walking rapidly. There was
+a buggy coming from town, but it stopped before it reached him and some
+one in it got out, while the vehicle proceeded slowly onward. The some
+one waited until the captain came up to her. It was Miss Maria Port.
+
+"How do you do?" she said, holding out her hand. "I was on my way to see
+you."
+
+The captain put both his hands in his pockets, and his face grew
+somewhat dark. "Why do you want to see me?" he asked.
+
+She looked at him steadily for a moment, and then answered, speaking
+very quietly. "I found that Mr. Lancaster had arrived in town, and had
+gone to your house, and that he was in such a hurry that he walked. So I
+immediately hired a buggy to come out here. I am very glad I met you."
+
+"But what in the name of common sense," exclaimed the captain, "did you
+come to see me for? What difference does it make to you whether Mr.
+Lancaster is here or not? What have you got to do with me and my
+affairs, anyway?"
+
+She smiled a smile which was very quiet and flat. "Now, don't get
+angry," she said. "We can talk over things in a friendly way just as
+well as not, and it will be a great deal better to do it. And I'd rather
+talk here in the public road than anywhere else; it's more private."
+
+"I don't want a word to say to you," said the captain, preparing to move
+on. "I have nothing at all to do with you."
+
+"Ah," said Miss Port, with another smile, "but I think you have. You've
+got to marry me, you know."
+
+Then the captain stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth, but he could
+find no immediate words.
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Miss Port, now speaking quietly; "and when I saw Mr.
+Lancaster had come to town, I knew that I must see you at once. Of
+course, he has come to take away your niece, and that's the best thing
+to be done, for she wouldn't want to keep on livin' here where so many
+people have known her. At first I thought that would be a very good
+thing, for you would be separated from her, and that's what you need and
+deserve. Young men are young men, and they are often a good deal kinder
+than they would be if they stopped to think. But a person of mature age
+is different. He would know what is due to himself and his standing in
+society. At least, that is what I did think. But it suddenly flashed on
+me that they might want to get away as quick as they could--which would
+be proper, dear knows--and it would be just like you to go with them.
+And so I came right out."
+
+The captain had listened to all this because he very much wanted to know
+what she had to say, but now he exclaimed: "Do you suppose I shall pay
+any attention to all the gossip about my affairs?"
+
+"Now, don't go on like that," said Miss Port; "it doesn't do any good,
+and if you'll only keep quiet, and think pleasantly about it, there will
+be no trouble at all. You know you've got to marry me; that's settled.
+Everybody knows about it, and has known about it for years. I didn't
+press the matter while father was alive because I knew it would worry
+him. But now I'm going to do it. Not in any anger or bad feelin', but
+gently, and as firmly as if I was that tree. I don't want to go to any
+law, but if I have to do it, I'll do it. I've got my proofs and my
+witnesses, and I'm all right. The people of your own house are
+witnesses. And there are ever so many more."
+
+"Woman!" cried the captain, "don't you say another word! And don't you
+ever dare to speak to me again! I'm not going away, and my niece is not
+going away; and I assure you that I hate and despise you so much that
+all the law in the world couldn't make me marry you. Although you know
+as well as I do that all you've been saying has no sense or truth in
+it."
+
+Miss Port did not get angry. With wonderful self-repression she
+controlled her feelings. She knew that if she lost that control there
+would be an end to everything. She grew pale, but she spoke more gently
+than before. "You know"--she was about to say "John," but she thought
+she would better not--"that what I say about determination and all
+that, I simply say because you do not come to meet me half-way, as I
+would have you do. All I want is to get you to acknowledge my rights, to
+defend me from ridicule. You know that I am now alone in the world, and
+have no one to look to but you--to whom I always expected to look when
+father died--and if you should carry out your cruel words, and should
+turn from me as if I was a stranger and a nobody, after all these years
+of visitin' and attention from you, which everybody knows about, and has
+talked about, I could never expect anybody else--you bein' gone--to step
+forward--"
+
+At this the face of the captain cleared, and as he gazed upon the
+unpleasant face and figure of this weather-worn spinster, the idea that
+any one with matrimonial intentions should "step forward," as she put
+it, struck him as being so extremely ludicrous that he burst out
+laughing.
+
+Then leaped into fire every nervelet of Miss Maria Port. "Laugh at me,
+do you?" cried she. "I'll give you something to laugh at! And if you 're
+going to stand up for that thing you have in your house, that
+murderess--"
+
+She said no more. The captain stepped up to her with a smothered curse
+so that she moved back, frightened. But he did nothing. He was too
+enraged to speak. She was a woman, and he could not strike her to the
+ground. Before her sallow venom he was helpless. He was a man and she
+was a woman, and he could do nothing at all. He was too angry to stay
+there another second, and, without a word, he left her, walking with
+great strides toward the town.
+
+Miss Maria Port stood looking after him, panting a little, for her
+excitement had been great. Then, with a yellow light in her eyes, she
+hurried toward her vehicle, which had stopped.
+
+As Captain Asher strode into town he asked himself over and over again
+what should he do? How should he punish this wildcat--this ruthless
+creature, who spat venom at the one he loved best in the world, and who
+threatened him with her wicked claws? In his mind he looked from side to
+side for help; some one must fight his battle for him; he could not
+fight a woman. He had not reached town when he thought of Mrs. Faulkner,
+the wife of the Methodist minister. He knew her; she and her husband had
+been among the friends who had come out to see him; and she was a woman.
+He would go directly to her, and ask her advice.
+
+The captain was not shown into the parlor of the parsonage, but into the
+minister's study, that gentleman being away. He heard a great sound of
+talking as he passed the parlor door, and it was not long before Mrs.
+Faulkner came in. He hesitated as she greeted him.
+
+"You have company," he said, "but can I see you for a very few minutes?
+It is important."
+
+"Of course you can," said she, closing the study door. "Our Dorcas
+Society meets here to-day, but we have not yet come to order. I shall be
+glad to hear what you have to say."
+
+So they sat down, and he told her what he had to say, and as she
+listened she grew very angry. When she heard the epithet which had been
+applied to Olive she sprang to her feet. "The wretch!" she cried.
+
+"Now, you see, Mrs. Faulkner," said the captain, "I can do nothing at
+all myself, and there is no way to make use of the law; that would be
+horrible for Olive, and it could not be done; and so I have come to ask
+help of you. I don't see that any other man could do more than I could
+do."
+
+Mrs. Faulkner sat silent for a few minutes. "I am so glad you came to
+me," she said presently. "I have always known Miss Port as a
+scandal-monger and a mischief-maker, but I never thought of her as a
+wicked woman. This persecution of you is shameful, but when I think of
+your niece it is past belief! You are right, Captain Asher; it must be a
+woman who must take up your cause. In fact," said she after a moment's
+thought, "it must be women. Yes, sir." And as she spoke her face flushed
+with enthusiasm. "I am going to take up your cause, and my friends in
+there, the ladies of the Dorcas Society, will stand by me, I know. I
+don't know what we shall do, but we are going to stand by you and your
+niece."
+
+Here was a friend worth having. The captain was very much affected, and
+was moved with unusual gratitude. He had been used to fighting his own
+battles in this world, and here was some one coming forward to fight for
+him.
+
+There came upon him a feeling that it would be a shame to let this true
+lady take up a combat which she did not wholly understand. He made up
+his mind in an instant that he would not care what danger might be
+threatened to other people, or to trade, or to society, he would be
+true to this lady, to Olive, and to himself. He would tell her the whole
+story. She should know what Olive had done, and how little his poor girl
+deserved the shameful treatment she had received.
+
+Mrs. Faulkner listened with pale amazement; she trembled from head to
+foot as she sat.
+
+"And you must tell no one but your husband," said the captain. "This is
+a state secret, and he must promise to keep it before you tell."
+
+She promised everything. She would be so proud to tell her husband.
+
+When the captain had gone, Mrs. Faulkner, in a very unusual state of
+mind, went into the parlor, took the chair, and putting aside all other
+business, told to the eagerly receptive members the story of Miss Port
+and Captain Asher. How she had persecuted him, and maligned him, and of
+the shameful way in which she had spoken of his niece. But not one word
+did she tell of the story of the two gentlemen in the barouche, and of
+the air-gun. She was wild to tell everything, but she was a good woman.
+
+"Now, ladies," said Mrs. Faulkner, "in my opinion, the thing for us to
+do is to go to see Maria Port; tell her what we think of her; and have
+all this wickedness stopped."
+
+Without debate it was unanimously agreed that the president's plan
+should be carried out. And within ten minutes the whole Dorcas Society
+of eleven members started out in double file to visit the house of Maria
+Port.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXV_
+
+_The Dorcas on Guard._
+
+
+Miss Port had not been home very long and was up in her bedroom, which
+looked out on the street, when she heard the sound of many feet, and,
+hurrying to the window, and glancing through the partly open shutters,
+she saw that a company of women were entering the gate into her front
+yard. She did not recognize them, because she was not familiar with the
+tops of their hats; and besides, she was afraid she might be seen if she
+stopped at the window; so she hurried to the stairway and listened.
+There were two great knocks at the door--entirely too loud--and when the
+servant-maid appeared she heard a voice which she recognized as that of
+Mrs. Faulkner inquiring for her. Instantly she withdrew into her chamber
+and waited, her countenance all alertness.
+
+When the maid came up to inform her that Mrs. Faulkner and a lot of
+ladies were down-stairs, and wanted to see her, Miss Port knit her
+brows, and shut her lips tightly. She could not connect this visit of so
+many Glenford ladies with anything definite; and yet her conscience told
+her that their business in some way concerned Captain Asher. He had had
+time to see them, and now they had come to see her; probably to induce
+her to relinquish her claims upon him. As this thought came into her
+mind she grew angry at their impudence, and, seating herself in a
+rocking-chair, she told the servant to inform the ladies that she had
+just reached home, and that it was not convenient for her to receive
+them at present.
+
+Mrs. Faulkner sent hack a message that, in that case, they would wait;
+and all the ladies seated themselves in the Port parlor.
+
+"The impudence!" said Miss Port to herself; "but if they like waitin,'
+they can wait, I guess they'll get enough of it!"
+
+So Maria Port sat in her room and the ladies sat in the parlor below;
+and they sat, and they sat, and they sat, and at last it began to grow
+dark.
+
+"I guess they'll be wantin' their suppers," said Maria, "but they'll go
+and get them without seein' me. It's no more convenient for me to go
+down now than when they first came."
+
+There had been, and there was, a great deal of conversation down in the
+parlor, but it was carried on in such a low tone that, to her great
+regret, Miss Port could not catch a word of it.
+
+"Now," said Mrs. Pilsbury, "I must go home, for my husband will want his
+supper and the children must be attended to."
+
+"And so must I," said Mrs. Barney and Mrs. Sloan. They would really like
+very much to stay and see what would happen next, but they had families.
+
+"Ladies," said Mrs. Faulkner, "of course, we can't all stay here and
+wait for that woman; but I propose that three of us shall stay and that
+the rest shall go home. I'll be one to stay. And then, in an hour three
+of you come back, and let us go and get our suppers. In this way we can
+keep a committee here all the time. All night, if necessary. When I come
+back I will bring a candlestick and some candles, for, of course, we
+don't want to light her lamps. If she should come down while I am away,
+I'd like some one to run over and tell me. It's such a little way."
+
+At this the ladies arose, and there was a great rustling and chattering,
+and the face of Miss Maria, in the room above, gleamed with triumph.
+
+"I knew I'd sit 'em out," said she; "they haven't got the pluck I've
+got." But when the servant came up and told her that "three of them
+ladies was a-sittin' in the parlor yet and said they was a-goin' to wait
+for her," she lost her temper. She sent down word that she didn't intend
+to see any of them, and she wanted them to go home.
+
+To this Mrs. Faulkner replied that they wished to see her, and that they
+would stay. And the committee continued to sit.
+
+Now Miss Port began to be seriously concerned. What in the world could
+these women want? They were very much in earnest; that was certain.
+Could it be possible that she had said more than she intended to Captain
+Asher, and that she had given him to understand that she would use any
+of these women as witnesses if she went to law? However, whatever they
+meant, she intended to sit them out. So she told her maid to make her
+some tea and to bring it up with some bread and butter and preserves,
+and a light. She also ordered her to be careful that the people in the
+parlor should see her as she went up-stairs. "I guess they'll know I'm
+in earnest when they see the tea," she said. "I've set out a mess of
+'em, and it won't take long to finish up them three!"
+
+She partook of her refreshments, and she reclined in her rocking-chair,
+and waited for the hungry ones below to depart. "I'll give 'em half an
+hour," said she to herself.
+
+Before that time had elapsed she heard another stir below, and she
+exclaimed: "I knew it" and there were steps in the hallway, and some
+people went out. She sprang to her feet; she was about to run
+down-stairs and lock and bolt every door; but a sound arrested her. It
+was the talking of women in the parlor. She stopped, with her mouth wide
+open, and her eyes staring, and then the servant came up and told her
+that "them three had gone, and that another three had come back, and
+they had told her to say that they were goin' to stay in squads all
+night till she came down to see them."
+
+Miss Port sat down, her elbows on the table, and her chin in her hands.
+"It must be something serious," she thought. "The ladies of this town
+are not in the habit of staying out late unless it is to nurse bad
+cases, or to sit up with corpses." And then the idea struck her that
+probably there might be something the matter that she had not thought
+of. She had caused lots of mischief in her day, and it might easily be
+that she had forgotten some of it. But the more she thought about the
+matter, the more firmly she resolved not to go down and speak to the
+women. She would like to send for a constable and have them cleared out
+of the house, but she knew that none of the three constables in town
+would dare to use force with such ladies as Mrs. Faulkner and the
+members of the Dorcas Society.
+
+So she sat and waited, and listened, and grew very nervous, but was more
+obstinate now than ever, for she was beginning to be very fearful of
+what those women might have to say to her. She could "talk down one
+woman, but not a pack of 'em." Thus time passed on, with occasional
+reports from the servant until the latter fell asleep, and came
+up-stairs no more. There were sounds of footsteps in the street, and
+Miss Port put out her light, and went to the front shutters. Three women
+were coming in. They entered the house, and in a few minutes afterward
+three women went out. Miss Port stood up in the middle of the floor, and
+was almost inclined to tear her hair.
+
+"They're goin' to stay all night!" she exclaimed. "I really believe they
+'re goin' to stay all night!" For a moment she thought of rushing
+down-stairs and confronting the impertinent visitors, but she stopped;
+she was afraid. She did not know what they might say to her, and she
+went to the banisters and listened. They were talking; always in a low
+voice. It seemed to her that these people could talk forever. Then she
+began to think of her front door, which was open; but, of course, nobody
+could come while those creatures were in the parlor. But if she missed
+anything she'd have them brought up in court if it took every cent she
+had in the world and constables from some other town. She slipped to the
+back stairs, and softly called the servant, but there was no answer. She
+was afraid to go down, for the back door of the parlor commanded all
+the other rooms on that floor. Now she felt more terribly lonely and
+more nervous. If she had had a pistol she would have fired it through
+the floor. Then those women would run away, and she would fasten up the
+house. But there they sat, chatter, chatter, chatter, till it nearly
+drove her mad. She wished now she had gone down at first.
+
+After a time, and not a very long time, there were some steps in the
+street and in the yard, and more women came into the house, but, worse
+than that, the others stayed. Family duties were over now, and those
+impudent creatures could be content to stay the rest of the evening.
+
+For a moment the worried woman felt as if she would like to go to bed
+and cover up her head and so escape these persistent persecutors. But
+she shook her head. That would never do. She knew that when she awoke in
+the morning some of those women would still be in the parlor, and, to
+save her soul, she could not now imagine what it was that kept them
+there like hounds upon her track.
+
+It was now eleven o'clock. When had the Port house been open so late as
+that? The people in the town must be talking about it, and there would
+be more talking the next day. Perhaps it might be in the town paper. The
+morning would be worse than the night. She could not bear it any longer.
+There was now nothing to be heard in front but that maddening chatter in
+the parlor, and up the back stairs came the snores of the servant. She
+got a traveling-bag from a closet and proceeded to pack it; then she put
+on her bonnet and shawl and put into her bag all the money she had with
+her, trembling all the time as if she had been a thief: robbing her own
+house. She could not go down the back stairs, because, as has been said,
+she could have been seen from the parlor; but a carpenter had been
+mending the railing of a little piazza at the back of the house, and she
+remembered he had left his ladder. Down this ladder, with her bag in her
+hand, Miss Port silently moved. She looked into the kitchen; she could
+not see the servant, but she could hear her snoring on a bench. Clapping
+her hand over the girl's mouth, she whispered into her ear, and without
+a word the frightened creature sat up and followed Miss Port into the
+yard.
+
+"Now, then," said Miss Port, whispering as if she were sticking needles
+into the frightened girl, "I'm goin' away, and don't you ask no
+questions, for you won't get no answers. You just go to bed, and let
+them people stay in the parlor all night. They'll be able to take care
+of the house, I guess, and if they don't I'll make 'em suffer. In the
+morning you can see Mrs. Faulkner--for she's the ringleader--and tell
+her that you're goin' home to your mother, and that Miss Port expects
+her to pull down all the blinds in this house, and shut and bolt the
+doors. She is to see that the eatables is put away proper or else give
+to the poor--which will be you, I guess--and then she is to lock all the
+doors and take the front-door key to Squire Allen, and tell him I'll
+write to him. And what's more, you can say to the nasty thing that if I
+find anything wrong in my house, or anything missin', I 'll hold her and
+her husband responsible for it, and that I'm mighty glad I don't belong
+to their church."
+
+Then she slipped out of the back gate of the yard, and made her way
+swiftly to the railroad-station. There was a train for the north which
+passed Glenford at half-past twelve, and which could be flagged. There
+was one man at the station, and he was very much surprised to see Miss
+Port.
+
+"Is anything the matter?" he said.
+
+"Yes," she snapped, "there's some people sick, and I guess there'll be
+more of 'em a good deal sicker in the morning. I've got to go."
+
+"A case of pizenin'?" asked the man very earnestly.
+
+"Yes," said she, wrapping her shawl around her; "the worse kind of
+pizenin'!" Then she talked no more.
+
+The servant-girl slept late, and there were a good many ladies in the
+parlor when she came down. She did not give them a chance to ask her
+anything, but told her message promptly. It was a message pretty fairly
+remembered, although it had grown somewhat sharper in the night. When it
+was finished the girl added: "And I'm to have all the eatables in the
+house to take home to my mother, and Squire Allen is to pay me four
+dollars and seventy-five cents, which has been owin' to me for wages for
+ever so long."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVI_
+
+_Cold Tinder._
+
+
+Olive and Dick Lancaster sat together in the captain's parlor. She was
+very quiet--she had been very quiet of late--but he was nervous.
+
+"It is very kind, Mr. Lancaster," said Olive, breaking the silence, "for
+you to come to see us instead of writing. It is so much pleasanter for
+friends--"
+
+"Oh, it was not kind," he said, interrupting her. "In fact, it was
+selfishness. And now I want to tell you quickly, Miss Asher, while I
+have the chance, the reason of my coming here to-day. It was not to
+offer you my congratulations or my sympathy, although you must know that
+I feel for you and your uncle as much in every way as any living being
+can feel. I came to offer my love. I have loved you almost ever since I
+knew you as much as any man can love a woman, and whenever I have been
+with you I could hardly hold myself back from telling you. But I was
+strong, and I did not speak, for I knew you did not love me."
+
+Olive was listening, looking steadily at him.
+
+"No," she said, "I did not love you."
+
+He paid no attention to this remark, as if it related to something which
+he knew all about, but went on, "I resolved to speak to you some time,
+but not until I had some little bit of a reason for supposing you would
+listen to me; but when I read the account of what you did in Washington,
+I knew you to be so far above even the girl I had supposed you to be;
+then my love came down upon me and carried me away. And all that has
+since appeared in the papers has made me so long to stand by your side
+that I could not resist this longing, and I felt that no matter what
+happened, I must come and tell you all."
+
+"And now?" asked Olive.
+
+"There is nothing more," said Dick. "I have told you all there is. I
+love you so truly that it seems to me as if I had been born, as if I had
+lived, as if I had grown and had worked, simply that I might be able to
+come to you and say, I love you. And now that I have told you this, I
+hope that I have not pained you."
+
+"You have not pained me," said Olive, "but it is right that I should say
+to you that I do not love you." She said this very quietly and gently,
+but there was sadness in her tones.
+
+Dick Lancaster sprang up, and stood before her. "Then let me love you"
+he cried. "Do not deny me that! Do not take the life out of me! the soul
+out of me! Do not turn me away into utter blackness! Do not say I shall
+not love you!"
+
+Olive's clear, thoughtful eyes were looking into his. "I believe you
+love me," she answered slowly. "I believe every word you say. But what I
+say is also true. I will admit that I have asked myself if I could love
+you. There was a time when I was in great trouble, when I believed that
+it might be possible for me to marry some one without loving him, but I
+never thought that about _you_. You were different. I could not have
+married you without loving you. I believe you knew that, and so you did
+not ask me."
+
+His voice was husky when he spoke again.
+
+"But you do not answer me," he said. "You have seen into my very soul.
+May I love you?"
+
+She still looked into his glowing eyes, but she did not speak. It was
+with herself she was communing, not with him.
+
+But there was something in the eyes which looked into his which made his
+heart leap, and he leaned forward.
+
+"Olive," he whispered, "can you not love me?"
+
+Her lips appeared as if they were about to move, but they did not, and
+in the next moment they could not. He had her in his arms.
+
+Poor foolish, lovely Olive! She thought she was so strong. She imagined
+that she knew herself so well. She had seen so much; she had been so
+far; she had known so many things and people that she had come to look
+upon herself as the decider of her own destiny. She had come to believe
+so much in herself and in her cold heart that she was not afraid to
+listen to the words of a burning heart! _Her_ heart could keep so cool!
+
+And now, in a flash, the fire had spread! The coolest hearts are often
+made of tinder.
+
+Poor foolish, lovely, happy Olive! She scarcely understood what had
+happened to her. She only knew that she had been born and had lived, and
+had grown, that he might come to her and say he loved her. What had she
+been thinking of all this time?
+
+"You are so quick," she said, as she put back some of her disheveled
+hair.
+
+"Dearest," he whispered, "it seems to me as if I had been so slow, so
+slow, so very slow!"
+
+It was a long time before Captain Asher returned, and when he entered
+the parlor he found these two still there. They had been sitting by the
+window, and when they came forward to meet him Dick's arm was around the
+waist of Olive. The captain looked at them for a moment, and then he
+gave a shout, and encircled them both in his great arms.
+
+When they were cool enough to sit down and Olive and Dick had ceased
+trying to persuade the captain that he was not the happiest of the
+three, Olive said to him: "I have told Dick everything--about the
+air-gun and all. Of course, he must know it."
+
+"And I have been looking at you," said Dick, putting his hand upon the
+captain's shoulder, "as the only hero I have ever met. Not only for what
+you have done, but for what you have refrained from doing."
+
+"Nonsense!" said the captain. "Olive now--"
+
+"Oh! Olive is Olive!" said Dick. And he did not mind in the least that
+the captain was present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was on the next afternoon that the Broadstone carriage stopped at the
+toll-gate. Mrs. Easterfield sprang out of it, asking for nobody, for she
+had spied Olive in the arbor.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, as she burst into tears and took the girl
+into her arms, "it does seem to me as if I were your own mother!"
+
+"The only one I have," said Olive, "and very dear!"
+
+It was some time after this that Mrs. Easterfield was calm enough to
+stop the flow of exciting conversation and to say to Olive, taking both
+her hands tenderly within her own: "My dear, we have been talking a
+great deal of sentiment, and now I want seriously to speak to you on a
+matter of business."
+
+"Business!" asked Olive in surprise.
+
+"Yes, it is really business from your point of view; and I have come
+round to that point of view myself. Olive, I want you to marry!"
+
+"Oh," said Olive, "that is it, is it? That is what you call business?"
+
+"Yes, dear; I am now looking at your future, and at marriage in the very
+sensible way you regarded those matters when you were staying with me."
+
+"But," said Olive, who could scarcely help laughing, "there was a good
+reason then for my being so sensible, and that reason no longer exists.
+I can now afford single-blessedness."
+
+"No, Olive, dear, you can not. Circumstances are all against that
+consummation. You are not made for that sort of thing. And your uncle is
+an old man, and even with him you need a young protector. I want you to
+marry Richard Lancaster. You know my heart has been set on it for some
+time, and now I urge it. You could never bring forth a single objection
+to him."
+
+"Except that I did not love him."
+
+"Neither did you love the young men you were considering as eligible.
+Now, do try to be a sensible girl."
+
+"Mrs. Easterfield, are you laughing at me?" asked Olive.
+
+"Far from it, my dear. I am desperately in earnest. You see, recent
+events--"
+
+"Dick Lancaster and I are engaged to be married," said Olive demurely,
+not waiting for the end of that sentence. "And," she added, laughing at
+Mrs. Easterfield's astonished countenance, "I have not yet considered
+whether or not it is sensible."
+
+After Mrs. Easterfield had given a half dozen kisses to partly express
+her pleasure, she said: "And where is he now? I must see him!"
+
+"He went back to his college late last night; it was impossible for him
+to stay here any longer at present."
+
+As Mrs. Easterfield was going away--she had waited and waited for the
+captain who had not come--Olive detained her.
+
+"You are so dear," she said, "that I must tell you a great thing." And
+then she told the story of the two men in the barouche.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield turned pale, and sat down again. She had actually lost
+her self-possession. She made Olive tell her the story over and over
+again. "It is too much," she said, "for one day. I am glad the captain
+is not here, I would not know what to say to him. I may tell Tom?" she
+said. "I must tell him; he will be silent as a rock."
+
+Olive smiled. "Yes, you may tell Tom," she said.
+
+"I have told Dick, but on no account must Harry ever know anything
+about it."
+
+Mrs. Easterfield looked at her in amazement. That the girl could joke at
+such a moment!
+
+When the captain came home Olive told him how she had entrusted the
+great secret to Mrs. Easterfield and her husband.
+
+"Well," said he, "I intended to tell you, but haven't had a chance yet,
+that I spoke of the matter to Mrs. Faulkner. So I have told two persons
+and you have told three, and I suppose that is about the proportion in
+which men and women keep secrets."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVII_
+
+_In which Some Great Changes are Recorded._
+
+
+A few days after his return to his college Prof. Richard Lancaster found
+among his letters one signed "Your backer, Claude Locker."
+
+The letter began:
+
+     "You owe her to me. You should never forget that. If I had done
+     better no one can say what might have been the result. This
+     proposition can not be gainsaid, for as no one ever saw me do
+     better, how should anybody know? I knew I was leaving her to you.
+     She might not have known it, but I did. I did not suppose it would
+     come so soon, but I was sure it would ultimately come to pass. It
+     has come to pass, and I feel triumphant. In the great race in which
+     I had the honor to run, you made a most admirable second. The best
+     second is he who comes in first. In order for a second to take
+     first place it is necessary that the leader in the race, be that
+     leader horse, man, or boat, should experience a change in
+     conditions. I experienced such a change, voluntary or involuntary
+     it is unnecessary to say. You came in first, and I congratulate you
+     as no living being can congratulate you who has not felt for a
+     moment or two that it was barely possible that he might, in some
+     period of existence, occupy the position which you now hold.
+
+    "Do not be surprised if you hear of my early marriage. Some woman no
+    better-looking than I am may seek me out. If this should happen, and
+    you know of it, please think of me with gratitude, and remember that
+    I was once
+
+    "Your backer,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER."
+
+Olive also received a letter from Mr. Locker, which ran thus:
+
+     "Mrs. Easterfield told me. She wrote me a letter about it, and I
+     think her purpose was to make me thoroughly understand that I was
+     not in this matter at all. She did not say anything of the kind,
+     but I think she thought it would be a dreadful thing, if by any act
+     of mine, I should cause you to reconsider your arrangement with
+     Professor Lancaster. I have written to the said professor, and have
+     told him that it is not improbable that I shall soon marry. I don't
+     know yet to what lady I shall be united, but I believe in the truth
+     of the adage, 'that all things come to those who can not wait.'
+     They are in such a hurry that they take what they can get.
+
+    "If you do not think that this is a good letter, please send it back
+    and I will write another. What I am trying to say is, that I would
+    sacrifice my future wife, no matter who she may be, to see you
+    happy. And now believe me always
+
+    "Your most devoted acquaintance,
+
+    "CLAUDE LOCKER.
+
+    "P.S.--Wouldn't it be a glorious thing if you were to be married in
+    church with all the rejected suitors as groomsmen and Lancaster as
+    an old Roman conqueror with the captive princess tied behind!"
+
+Now that all the turmoil of her life was over, and Olive at peace with
+herself, her thoughts dwelt with some persistency upon two of her
+rejected suitors. Until now she had had but little comprehension of the
+love a man may feel for a woman--perhaps because she herself never
+loved--but now she looked back upon that period of her life at
+Broadstone with a good deal of compunction. At that time it had seemed
+to her that it really made very little difference to her three lovers
+which one she accepted, or if she rejected them all. But now she asked
+herself if it could be possible that Du Brant and Hemphill had for her
+anything of the feeling she now had for Dick Lancaster. (Locker did not
+trouble her mind at all.) If so, she had treated them with a cruel and
+shameful carelessness. She had really intended to marry one of them, but
+not from any good and kind feeling; she was actuated solely by pique and
+self-interest; and she had, perhaps, sacrificed honest love to her
+selfishness; and, what was worse, had treated it with what certainly
+appeared like contempt, although she certainly had not intended that.
+
+She felt truly sorry, and cast about in her mind for some means of
+reparation. She could think of but one way: to find for each of them a
+very nice girl--a great deal nicer than herself--and to marry them all
+with her blessing. But, unfortunately for this scheme, Olive had no
+girl friends. She had acquaintances "picked up here and there," as she
+said, but she knew very little about any of them, and not one of them
+had ever struck her as being at all angelic or superior in any way.
+Neither of the young men who were lying so heavily on her mind had
+written to any one, either at the toll-gate or at Broadstone, since the
+very public affair in which she had played a conspicuous part; and her
+consolation was that as each one had read that account he had said to
+himself: "I am thankful that girl did not accept me! What a fortunate
+escape!" But still she wished that she had behaved differently at
+Broadstone.
+
+She said nothing to any one of these musings, but she ventured one day
+to ask Mr. Easterfield how Mr. Hemphill was faring. His reply was only
+half satisfactory. He reported the young man as doing very well, and
+being well; he was growing fat, and that did not improve his looks; and
+he was getting more and more taciturn and self-absorbed. "Why was he
+taciturn?" Olive asked herself. "Was he brooding and melancholy?" She
+did not know anything about the fat, and what might be its primal cause;
+but her mind was not set at ease about him.
+
+Things went on quietly and pleasantly at the toll-gate, and at
+Broadstone. Dick came down as often as he could and spent a day or two
+(usually including a Sunday) with Olive and her uncle. It was now
+October, and colleges were in full tide. It was also the hunting season,
+and that meant that Mr. Tom would be at Broadstone for a couple of
+weeks, and Mrs. Easterfield said she must have Olive at that time. And,
+in order to make the house lively, she invited Lieutenant Asher and his
+wife at the same time, as Olive and her young stepmother were now very
+good friends. Then the captain invited his old friend Captain Lancaster,
+Dick's father, to visit him at the toll-gate.
+
+These were bright days for these old shipmates; and, strange to say, as
+they sat and puffed, they did not talk so much of things that had been,
+as they puffed and made plans of things which were to be. And these
+plans always concerned the niece of one, and the son of the other.
+Captain Asher was not at all satisfied with Dick's position in the
+college. He could not see how eminence awaited any young man who taught
+theories; he would like Dick's future to depend on facts.
+
+"Two and two make four," said he; "there is no need of any theory about
+that, and that's the sort of thing that suits me."
+
+Captain Lancaster smiled. He was a dry old salt, and listened more than
+he talked.
+
+"Just now," he remarked, "I guess Dick will stick to his theories, and
+for a while he won't be apt to give his mind to mathematics very much,
+except to that kind of figuring which makes him understand that one and
+one makes one."
+
+There was a thing the two old mates were agreed upon. No matter-what
+Dick's position might be in the college, his salary should be as large
+as that of any other professor. They could do it, and they would do it.
+They liked the idea, and they shook hands over it.
+
+Olive was greatly pleased with Captain Lancaster. "There is the scent of
+the sea about him," she wrote to Dick, "as there is about Uncle John and
+father, but it is different. It is constant and fixed, like the smell
+of salt mackerel. He would never keep a toll-gate; nor would he marry a
+young wife. Not that I object to either of these things, for if the one
+had not happened I would never have known you; and if the other had not
+happened, I might not have become engaged to you."
+
+The two captains dined at Broadstone while Olive was there, and Captain
+Lancaster highly approved of Mrs. Easterfield. All seafaring men did--as
+well as most other men.
+
+"It is a shame she had to marry a landsman," said Captain Lancaster,
+when he and Captain John had gone home. "It seems to me she would have
+suited you."
+
+"You might mention that the next time you go to her house," said Captain
+Asher. "I don't believe it has ever been properly considered."
+
+It was at this time that Olive's mind was set at rest about one of her
+discarded lovers. Mr. Du Brant wrote her a letter.
+
+     "MY DEAR MISS ASHER--It is very long since I have had any
+     communication with you, but this silence on my part has been the
+     result of circumstances, and not owing, I assure you upon my honor,
+     to any diminution of the great regard (to use a moderate term)
+     which I feel for you. I had not the pleasure of seeing you when I
+     left Broadstone, but our mutual friend, Mrs. Easterfield, told me
+     you had sent to me a message. I firmly (but I trust politely)
+     declined to receive it. And so, my dear Miss Asher, as the offer I
+     made you then has never received any acknowledgment, I write now
+     to renew it. I lay my heart at your feet, and entreat you to do me
+     the honor of accepting my hand in marriage.
+
+    "And let me here frankly state that when first I read of your great
+    deed--you are aware, of course, to what I refer--I felt I must
+    banish all thought of you from my heart. Let me explain my position,
+    I had just received news of the death of my uncle, Count Rosetra,
+    and that I had inherited his title and estates. It is a noble name,
+    and the estates are great. Could I confer these upon one who was
+    being so publicly discussed--the actor in so terrible a drama? I
+    owed more to society, and to my noble race, and to my country than I
+    had done before becoming a noble. But ah, my torn heart! O Miss
+    Asher, that heart was true to you through all, and has asserted
+    itself in a vehement way. I recognized your deed as noble; I thought
+    of your beauty and your intellect; of your attractive vivacity; of
+    your manner and bearing, all so fine; and I realized how you would
+    grace my title and my home; how you would help me to carry out the
+    great ambitions I have.
+
+    "Will you, lady, deign to accept my homage and my love? A favorable
+    answer will bring me to make my personal solicitations.
+
+    "Your most loving and faithful servant,
+
+    "CHRISTIAN DU BRANT.
+
+    "(Now Count Rosetra.)"
+
+"What a bombastic mixture!" thought Olive, as she read this effusion. "I
+wonder if there is any real love in it! If there is, it is so smothered
+it is easily extinguished."
+
+And she extinguished it; and thoughts of Count Rosetra troubled her no
+more.
+
+She did not show Dick this letter, but she thought it due to Mrs.
+Easterfield to read it to her. "He has got it into his head that an
+American woman, such as you, will make his house attractive to people he
+wants there," commented that lady. "You have not considered me at all,
+you ungrateful girl! Only think how I could have exploited 'my friend,
+the countess'! And what a fine place for me to visit!"
+
+It had been arranged by the two houses that Dick and Olive should be
+married in the early summer when the college closed; and Mrs.
+Easterfield had arranged in her own mind that the wedding should be in
+her city house. It would not be too late in the season for a stylish
+wedding--a thing Mrs. Easterfield had often wished she could arrange,
+and it was hopeless to think of waiting until her little ones could help
+her to this desire of her heart. She held this great secret in reserve,
+however, for a delightful surprise at the proper time.
+
+But she and Olive both had a wedding surprise before Olive's visit was
+finished. It was, in fact, the day before Olive's return to the
+toll-gate that Mr. Easterfield walked in upon them as they were sitting
+at work in Mrs. Easterfield's room. He had been unexpectedly summoned to
+the city three days before, and had gone with no explanation to his
+wife. She did not think much about it, as he was accustomed to going and
+coming in a somewhat erratic manner.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, looking at him critically after the first
+greetings, "that you have an important air."
+
+"I am the bearer of important news," he said, puffing out his cheeks.
+
+In answer to the battery of excited inquiries which opened upon him he
+finally said: "I was solemnly invited to town to attend a solemn
+function, and I solemnly went, and am now solemnly returned."
+
+"Pshaw!" said Mrs. Easterfield. "I don't believe it's anything."
+
+"A wedding is something. A very great something. It is a solemn thing;
+and made more solemn by the loss of my secretary."
+
+"What!" almost screamed his wife. "Mr. Hemphill?"
+
+"The very man. And, O Miss Olive, if you could but have seen him in his
+wedding-clothes your heart would have broken to think that you had lost
+the opportunity of standing by them at the altar."
+
+"But who was the bride?" asked Mrs. Easterfield impatiently.
+
+"Miss Eliza Grogworthy."
+
+"Now, Tom, I know you are joking! Why can't you be serious?"
+
+"I am as serious as were that couple. I have known her for some time,
+and she was very visible."
+
+"Why, she is old enough to be his mother!"
+
+"Not quite, my dear. In such a case as this, one must be particular
+about ages. She is a few years older than he is probably, but she is not
+bad looking, and a good woman with a nice big house and lots of money.
+He has walked out of my office into a fine position, and I unselfishly
+congratulated him with all my heart."
+
+"Poor Mr. Hemphill!" sighed Olive. She was thinking of the very young
+man she had sighed for when a very young girl.
+
+"He needs no pity," said Mr. Easterfield seriously. "I should not be
+surprised if he feels glad that he was not--well, we won't say what," he
+added, looking mischievously at Olive. "This is really a great deal
+better thing for him. He is not a favorite of my wife, but he is a
+thoroughly good fellow in his way, and I have always liked him. There
+were certain things necessary to him in this life, and he has got them.
+That can not be said about everybody by a long shot! No, he is to be
+congratulated."
+
+Olive was silent. She was trying to make up her mind that he was really
+to be congratulated, and to get rid of a lingering doubt.
+
+"Well, that is the end of him in our affairs!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Easterfield. "Why didn't you tell us what you were going to town for?"
+
+"Because he asked me not to mention it to any one. And, besides, that is
+not all I went to town for."
+
+"Oh," said his wife, "any more weddings?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Easterfield, helping himself to an easy chair. "You know
+I have lately been so much with nautical people I have acquired a taste
+for the sea."
+
+"I did not know it," said his wife; "but what of it?"
+
+"Well, as Lieutenant Asher and his wife are here yet, and have no
+earthly reason for being anywhere in particular; and as Captain Asher
+seems to be tired of the toll-gate; and as Captain Lancaster doesn't
+care where he is; and as Miss Olive doesn't know what to do with herself
+until it is time for her to get married; and as you are always ready to
+go gadding; and as the children need bracing up; and as you can not get
+along without Miss Raleigh; and as Mrs. Blynn is a good housekeeper; and
+as I have an offer for renting our town house; I propose that we all go
+to sea together."
+
+The two ladies had listened breathlessly to these words, and now Olive
+sprang up in great excitement, and Mrs. Easterfield clapped her hands in
+delight.
+
+"How clever you are, Tom!" she exclaimed. "What a splendid idea! How can
+we go?"
+
+"I have leased a yacht, and we are going to the Mediterranean."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XXXVIII_
+
+"_It has just Begun!_"
+
+
+This wonderful scheme which Mr. Easterfield had planned and carried out
+met with general favor. Perhaps if they had all been consulted before he
+made the plan there would have been many alterations, and discussions,
+and doubts. But the thing was done, and there was nothing to say but
+"Yes" or "No." The time had come for the house party at Broadstone to
+break up, and the lieutenant and Mrs. Asher had arranged to spend the
+next few months in the city, but they gladly accepted Mr. Easterfield's
+generous invitation and would return to the toll-gate alter a few weeks
+preparatory to sailing, that the party might get together, for Captain
+Lancaster was to remain at the tollhouse. Mr. Easterfield also invited
+Claude Locker "to make things lively in rough weather," and that young
+man accepted with much alacrity.
+
+Mrs. Easterfield was in such a state of delight that she nearly lost her
+self-possession. Sometimes, her husband told her, she scarcely spoke
+rationally. If she had been asked to wish anything that love or money
+could bring her, it would have been this very thing; but she would not
+have believed it possible. She was busy everywhere planning for
+everybody, and making out various lists. But, as she said, there is a
+little black spot in almost every joy. And her little black spot was
+Dick Lancaster.
+
+"Poor Professor Lancaster!" she said to her husband. "We to have such a
+great pleasure, and he shut up in close rooms! And Olive far away!"
+
+"Are you sure about Olive?" asked Mr. Easterfield. "She has never said
+positively that she is going. I most earnestly hope that she will not
+back out because Lancaster can not go. If she stays her uncle will
+stay."
+
+"And for that very reason she will go," said Mrs. Easterfield. "And I
+think Professor Lancaster will urge her to go. He is unselfish enough, I
+am sure, to wish her to have this great pleasure. And, talking of Olive,
+one thing is certain, Tom, we must be back early in the spring. There
+will be a great deal to do before the wedding. And, O Tom, I will tell
+you--but you must not tell any one, for I am keeping it for a
+surprise--I am going to give them a fine wedding. They will be married
+in church, of course, but the reception will be at our house. You will
+like that, I know."
+
+"Will there be good eating?"
+
+"Plenty of it."
+
+"Then I shall like it."
+
+All this was very well, but, nevertheless, this talk made the
+enthusiastic lady a little uneasy. It was true Olive had never said in
+words conclusively whether she would go or not. But she was extremely
+anxious that her father should go, and she implicitly followed Mrs.
+Easterfield's directions in making preparations for him, and was just as
+earnest in making her own; and her friend was certainly justified in
+thinking all this was a tacit consent.
+
+As for the two captains, they were so delighted at this heavenly
+prospect that they gave up talking about Dick and Olive, and read
+guide-books to each other, and studied maps, and sea-charts until their
+brains were nearly addled. They were a source of great amusement to the
+young people when Dick came for his frequent short visits.
+
+It was evident to all interested that Professor Lancaster approved of
+the expedition, for he entered heartily into all the talk about the
+various places to be visited, and all that was to be done on the vessel;
+and he did not bore them with any lamentations in regard to the coming
+separation between him and Olive. And, of course, every one respected
+his feelings, and said nothing to him about it.
+
+The weeks went by; all the preparations were made; and at last the time
+came when the company were to assemble at the toll-gate and Broadstone
+before the final plunge into the unknown. Olive wished to have them all
+to dinner on the first day of this short visit.
+
+"Our house is a little one," she said to Mrs. Easterfield, "but we can
+make it big enough. You know nautical people understand how to do that.
+What a jolly company we shall have! You know Dick will be there."
+
+"Yes, poor Dick!" sighed Mrs. Easterfield, when Olive had left.
+
+The Easterfields, with Lieutenant Asher and his wife, arrived very
+promptly at the toll-gate on that important day, and their drive
+through the bright, crisp air put them in a merry mood. They had hoped
+to bring Mr. Locker, but he had not arrived. They found two captains at
+the toll-gate in even merrier mood. Dick Lancaster was there, having
+arrived that morning, and they were none of them surprised that he
+looked serious. The ladies were not immediately asked to go up-stairs to
+remove their wraps, for Olive was not there to receive them. She soon,
+however, made her appearance in a lovely white dress that had been made
+for the trip under Mrs. Easterfield's supervision. Dick Lancaster
+immediately got up from his chair and joined her; and the Reverend Mr.
+Faulkner appeared from some mysterious place, and the astonished guests
+were treated to a very pretty marriage ceremony.
+
+It was soon over, and the two jolly captains laughed heartily at the
+bewilderment of the Broadstone party. And then there was a wild time of
+hand-shaking and congratulations and embracing. By his wife's orders,
+Mr. Tom kissed Olive, which seemed perfectly proper to everybody except
+Mrs. Lieutenant Asher. She was also a young bride, with no similar
+experiences.
+
+Later, when all were composed, Olive explained. "What has happened just
+now is all on account of Mr. Easterfield's invitation. I wrote
+immediately to Dick, and we settled it between us that he would ask for
+a vacation--they always give vacations when professors are married, and
+he knew of some one to take his place--and then we would be married, and
+ask Mr. and Mrs. Easterfield to invite us to take our wedding trip with
+them. Dick had to stay at the college until the last minute almost, and
+so we didn't say anything about the wedding--and we were both afraid
+of--well, we don't like a fuss--and so we planned this. And when Dick
+came he brought the license and Mr. Faulkner. And now I don't see how
+Mr. Easterfield can help inviting us."
+
+Mr. Easterfield was standing by his wife, and as Olive finished her
+explanation he took his wife's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze of
+sympathy; and that heroic woman never flinched; nor did she ever say one
+word about that pretty wedding she had planned for the spring.
+
+They had all nearly finished the fried chicken with white sauce, when
+Claude Locker arrived. He had missed the regular train and had come on a
+freight; had got a horse when he reached Broadstone.
+
+"I am more tired than if I had walked," he grumbled. "I am always in bad
+luck! I am an unlucky dog! But you are so good you will excuse me, Miss
+Asher."
+
+"That is not my name," said Olive gravely.
+
+And with both eyes of the same size, Mr. Locker looked around, wondering
+why everybody was laughing.
+
+"Let me introduce Mrs. Lancaster," said Dick with a bow.
+
+"Do you mean," cried Locker, starting up, "that this thing is really
+done?"
+
+"No," said Olive. "It has just begun."
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Captain's Toll-Gate, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAPTAIN'S TOLL-GATE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 13356.txt or 13356.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/3/5/13356/
+
+Produced by Stephen Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/13356.zip b/old/13356.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3a2e04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/13356.zip