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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15695-8.txt b/15695-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa3f101 --- /dev/null +++ b/15695-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7571 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'Doc.' Gordon, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +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: 'Doc.' Gordon + +Author: Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill + +Release Date: April 24, 2005 [EBook #15695] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'DOC.' GORDON *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci, Joshua +Hutchinson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Doctor Gordon * * * had not even taken off his overcoat, +which was white with snow. Page 104.] + + + + +"Doc." Gordon + +By + +MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN + + +Author of + +"_The Debtor," "A Humble Romance," "The Heart's Highway," "Pembroke," +Etc._ + + +Illustrated in Water-Colors by FRANK T. MERRILL + +Copyright, 1906, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +H.L. MOORE +SPECIAL EDITION, +For Sale exclusively by us in Rahway, N.J. + + +NEW YORK AND LONDON +THE AUTHORS AND NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION +1906 + +COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY +MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN. + +_Entered at Stationers' Hall. +All rights reserved_. + +Composition and Electrotyping by +J.J. Little & Co. +Printed and bound by +Manhattan Press, New York. + +[Illustration: (FACSIMILE PAGE OF MANUSCRIPT FROM DOC. GORDON)] + + + + +"DOC." GORDON + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +It was very early in the morning, it was scarcely dawn, when the young +man started upon a walk of twenty-five miles to reach Alton, where he +was to be assistant to the one physician in the place, Doctor Thomas +Gordon, or as he was familiarly called, "Doc." Gordon. The young man's +name was James Elliot. He had just graduated, and this was to be his +first experience in the practice of his profession of medicine. He was +in his twenties. He was small, but from the springiness of his gait and +the erectness of his head he gave an impression of height. He was very +good-looking, with clearly-cut features, and dark eyes, in which shone, +like black diamonds, sparks of mischief. They were honest eyes, too. The +young fellow was still sowing his wild oats, but more with his hands +than with his soul. He was walking because of a great amount of restless +energy; he fairly revelled in stretching his legs over the country road +in the keen morning air. The train service between Gresham, his home +place, and Alton was very bad, necessitating two changes and waits of +hours, and he had fretted at the prospect. When a young man is about to +begin his career, he does not wish to sit hours in dingy little railroad +stations on his way toward it. It was much easier, and pleasanter, to +walk, almost run to it, as he was doing now. His only baggage was his +little medicine-case; his trunk had gone by train the day before. He was +very well dressed, his clothes had the cut of a city tailor. He was +almost dandified. His father was well-to-do: a successful peach-grower +on a wholesale scale. His great farm was sprayed over every spring with +delicate rosy garlands of peach blossoms, and in the autumn the trees +were heavy with the almond-scented fruit. He had made a fortune, and +aside from that had achieved a certain local distinction. He was then +mayor of Gresham, which had a city government. James was very proud of +his father and fond of him. Indeed, he had reason to be. His father had +done everything in his power for him, given him a good education, and +supplied him liberally with money. James had always had a sense of +plenty of money, which had kept him from undue love of it. He was now +beginning the practice of his profession, in a small way, it is true, +but that he recognized as expedient. "You had better get acclimated, +become accustomed to your profession in a small place, before you launch +out in a city," his father had said, and the son had acquiesced. It was +the natural wing-trying process before large flights were attempted, and +the course commended itself to his reason. James, as well as his father, +had good reasoning power. He whistled to himself as he walked along. He +was very happy. He had a sensation as of one who has his goal in sight. +He thought of his father, his mother, and his two younger sisters, but +with no distress at absenting himself from them, although he lived in +accord with his family. Twenty-five miles to his joyous youth seemed but +as a step across the road. He had no sense of separation. "What is +twenty-five miles?" he had said laughingly to his mother, when she had +kissed him good-by. He had no conception of her state of mind with +regard to the break in the home circle. He who was the breaker did not +even see the break. Therefore he walked along, conscious of an immense +joy in his own soul, and wholly unconscious of anything except joy in +the souls of those whom he had left behind. It was a glorious morning, a +white morning. The ground was covered with white frost, the trees, the +house-roofs, the very air, were all white. In the west a transparent +moon was slowly sinking; the east deepened with red and violet tints. +Then came the sun, upheaving above the horizon like a ship of glory, and +all the whiteness burned, and glowed, and radiated jewel-lights. James +looked about with the delight of a discoverer. It might have been his +first morning. He begun to meet men going to their work, swinging tin +dinner-pails. Even these humble pails became glorified, they gave back +the sunlight like burnished silver. He smelled the odors of breakfast +upon the men's clothes. He held up his head high with a sort of +good-humored arrogance as he passed. He would have fought to the death +for any one of these men, but he knew himself, quite innocently, upon +superior heights of education, and trained thought, and ambition. He met +a man swinging a pail; he was coughing: a wretched, long rattle of a +cough. James stopped him, opened his little medicine-case, and produced +some pellets. + +"Here, take one of these every hour until the cough is relieved, my +friend," said he. + +The man stared, swallowed a pellet, stared again, in an odd, suspicious, +surly fashion, muttered something unintelligible and passed on. + +There were three villages between Gresham and Alton: Red Hill, +Stanbridge, and Westover. James stopped in Red Hill at a quick-lunch +wagon, which was drawn up on the principal street under the lee of the +town hall, went in, ordered and ate with relish some hot frankfurters, +and drank some coffee. He had eaten a plentiful breakfast before +starting, but the keen air had created his appetite anew. Beside him at +the counter sat a young workingman, also eating frankfurters and +drinking coffee. Now and then he gave a sidelong and supercilious glance +at James's fine clothes. James caught one of the glances, and laughed +good-naturedly. + +"These quick-lunch wagons are a mighty good idea," said he. + +The man grunted and took a swallow of coffee. + +"Where do you work?" asked James. + +"None of your d---- business!" retorted the other man unexpectedly. +"Where do you work yourself?" + +James stared at him, then he burst into a roar. For a second the man's +surly mouth did not budge, then the corners twitched a little. + +"What in thunder are you mad about?" inquired James. "I am going to work +for Doctor Gordon in Alton, and I don't care a d---- where you work." +James spoke with the most perfect good nature, still laughing. + +Then the man's face relaxed into a broad grin. "Didn't know but you were +puttin' on lugs," said he. "I am about tired of all those damned +benefactors comin' along and arskin' of a man whot's none of their +business, when a man knows all the time they don't care nothin' about +it, and then makin' a man take somethin' he don't want, so as to get +their names in the papers." The man sniffed a sniff of fury, then his +handsome blue eyes smiled pleasantly, even with mischievous confidence +into James's, and he swallowed more coffee. + +"I am no benefactor, you can bet your life on that," said James. "I +don't mean to give you anything you want or don't want." + +"Didn't know but you was one of that kind," returned the man. + +"Why?" + +The man eyed James's clothes expressively. + +"Oh, you mean my clothes," said James. "Well, this suit and overcoat are +pretty fair, but if I were a benefactor I should be wearing seedy +clothes, and have my wallet stuffed with bills for other folks." + +"You bet you wouldn't," said the other man. "That ain't the way +benefactors go to work. What be you goin' to do at Doc Gordon's?" + +"Drive," replied James laconically. + +"Guess you can't take care of hosses in no sech togs as them." + +"I've got some others. I'm going to learn to doctor a little, too, if I +can." + +The man surveyed him, then he burst into a great laugh. "Well," said he, +"when I git the measles I'll call you in." + +"All right," said James, "I won't charge you a red cent. I'll doctor you +and all your children and your wife for nothing." + +"Guess you won't need to charge nothin' for the wife and kids, seein' as +I ain't got none," said the man. "Ketch me saddled up with a woman an' +kids, if I know what I'm about. Them's for the benefactors. I live in a +little shanty I rigged up myself out of two packin' boxes. I've got 'em +on a man's medder here. He let me squat for nothin'. I git my meals +here, an' I work on the railroad, an' I've got a soft snap, with nobody +to butt in. Here, Mame, give us another cup of coffee. Mame's the girl I +want, if I could hev one. Ain't you, Mame?" + +The girl, who was a blonde, with an exaggerated pompadour fastened with +aggressive celluloid pins, smiled pertly. "Reckon I h'ain't no more use +for men than you hev for women," said she, as she poured the coffee. All +that could be seen of her behind the counter was her head, and her waist +clad in a red blouse, pinned so high to her skirt in the rear that it +almost touched her shoulder blades. The blouse was finished at the neck +with a nice little turn-over collar fastened with a brooch set with +imitation diamonds and sapphires. + +"Now, Mame, you know," said the man with assumed pathos, "that it is +only because I'm a poor devil that I don't go kerflop the minute I set +eyes on you. But you wouldn't like to live in boxes, would you? Would +you now?" + +"Not till my time comes, and not in boxes, then, less I'm in a railroad +accident," replied the girl, with ghastly jocularity. + +"She's got another feller, or _you_ might git her if you've got a stiddy +job," the man said, winking at James with familiarity. + +"Just my luck," said James. He looked at the girl, and thought her +pretty and pathetic, with a vulgar, almost tragic, prettiness and +pathos. She was anæmic and painfully thin. Her blouse was puffed out +over her flat chest. She looked worn out with the miserable little +tediums of life, with constant stepping over ant-hills of stupidity and +petty hopelessness. Her work was not, comparatively speaking, arduous, +but the serving of hot coffee and frankfurters to workingmen was not +progressive, and she looked as if her principal diet was the left-overs +of the stock in trade. She seemed to exhale an odor of musty sandwiches +and sausages and muddy coffee. + +The man swallowed his second cup in fierce gulps. He glanced at his +Ingersoll watch. "Gee whiz!" said he. "It's time I was off! Good-by, +Mame." + +The girl turned her head with a toss, and did not reply. "Good-by," +James said. + +The man grinned. "Good-by, Doc," he said. "I'll call you when I git the +measles. You're a good feller. If you'd been a benefactor I'd run you +out." + +The man clattered down the steps of the gaudily painted little +structure. The girl whom he had called Mame turned and looked at James +with a sort of innocent boldness. "He's a queer feller," she observed. + +"He seems to be." + +"He is, you bet. Livin' in a house he's built out of boxes when he makes +big money. He's on strike every little while. I wouldn't look at him. +Don't know what he's drivin' at half the time. Reckon he's--" She +touched her head significantly. + +"Lots of folks are," said James affably. + +"That's so." She stared reflectively at James. "I'm keepin' this quick +lunch 'cause my father's sick," said she. "I see a lot of human nature +in here." + +"I suppose you do." + +"You bet. Every kind gits in here first and last, tramps up to swells +who think they're doin' somethin' awful funny to git frankfurters and +coffee in here. They must be hard driv." + +"I suppose they are sometimes." + +Mame's eyes, surveying James, suddenly grew sharp. "You ain't one?" she +asked accusingly. + +"You bet not." + +Mame's grew soft. "I knew you were all right," said she. "Sometimes they +say things to me that their fine lady friends would bounce 'em for, but +I knew the minute I saw you that you wasn't that kind if you be dressed +up like a gent. Reckon you've been makin' big money in your last place." + +"Considerable," admitted James. He felt like a villain, but he had not +the heart to accuse himself of being a gentleman before this pathetic +girl. + +Mame leaned suddenly over the counter, and her blonde crest nearly +touched his forehead. "Say," said she, in a whisper. + +"What?" whispered James back. + +"What he said ain't true. There ain't a mite of truth in it." + +"What he said," repeated James vaguely. + +Mame pouted. "How awful thick-headed you be," said she. "What he said +about my havin' a feller." She blushed rosily, and her eyes fell. + +James felt his own face suffused. He pulled out his pocket-book, and +rose abruptly. "I'm sorry," he said with stupidity. + +The rosy flush died away from the girl's face. "Nobody asked you to be +sorry," said she. "I could have any one of a dozen I know if I jest held +out my little finger." + +"Of course, you could," James said. He felt apologetic, although he did +not know exactly why. He fumbled over the change, and at last made it +right with a quarter extra for the girl. + +"It's a quarter too much," said she. + +"Keep it, please." + +She hesitated. She was frowning under her great blonde roll, her mouth +looked hurt. + +"What a fuss about a quarter," said James, with a laugh. "Keep it. +That's a good girl." + +Mame took a dingy handkerchief out of the bosom of her blouse, untied a +corner, and James heard a jingle of coins meeting. Then she laughed. +"You're an awful fraud," said she. + +"Why?" + +"You can't cheat me, if you did Bill Slattery." + +"I think I don't know what you mean." + +"You're a gent." + +The girl's thin, coarse laughter rang out after James as he descended +the steps of the quick-lunch wagon. She opened the door directly after +he had closed it, and stood on the top step with the cold wind agitating +her fair hair. "Say," she called after him. + +James turned as he walked away. "What is it?" + +"Nothin', only I was foolin' you, and so was Bill. I've got a feller, +and Bill's him." + +"I'll make you a present when you're married," James called back with a +laugh. + +"It's to come off next summer," cried the girl. + +"I won't forget," answered James. He knew the girl lied; that she was +not about to marry the workingman. He said to himself, as he strode on +refreshed with his coarse fare, that girls were extraordinary: first +they were bold to positive indecency, then modest to the borders of +insanity. + +James walked on. He reached Stanbridge about noon. Then he was hungry +again. There was a good hotel there, and he made a substantial meal. He +had a smoke and a rest of half an hour, then he resumed his walk. He +soon passed the outskirts of Stanbridge, which was a small, old city, +then he was in the country. The houses were sparsely set well back from +the road. He met nobody, except an occasional countryman driving a +wood-laden team. Presently the road lay between stately groves of oaks, +although now and then they stood on one side only of the highway. Nearly +all the oaks bore a shag of dried leaves about their trunks, like mossy +beards of old men, only the shag was a bright russet instead of white. +The ground under the oaks was like cloth-of-gold under the sun, the +fallen leaves yet retained so much color. James heard a sharp croak, +then a crow flew with wide flaps of dark wings across the road and +perched on an oak bough. It cocked its head, and watched him wisely. +James whistled at it, but it did not stir. It remained with its head +cocked in that attitude of uncanny wisdom. + +Suddenly James saw before him the figure of a girl, moving swiftly. She +must have come out of the wood. She went as freely as a woodland thing, +although she was conventionally dressed in a tailor suit of brown. Her +hat, too, was brown, and a brown feather curled over the brim. She +walked fast, with evidently as much enjoyment of the motion as James +himself. They both walked like winged things. + +Suddenly James had a queer experience. One sense became transposed into +another, as one changes the key in music. He heard absolutely nothing, +but it was as if he saw a noise. He saw a man standing on the right +between him and the girl. The man had not made the slightest sound, he +was sure. James had good ears, but sound and not sight was what betrayed +him, or rather sound transposed into sight. He stood as motionless as a +tree himself. James knew that he had been looking at the girl. Now she +was looking at him. James felt a long shudder creep over him. He had +never been afraid of anything except fear. Now he was afraid of fear, +and there was something about the man which awakened this terror, yet it +was inexplicable. He was a middle-aged man, and distinctly handsome. He +was something above the medium height, and very well dressed. He wore a +fur-lined coat which looked opulent. He had gray hair and a black +mustache. There was nothing menacing in his face. He was, indeed, +smiling a curious retrospective smile, as if at his own thoughts. +Although his eyes regarded James attentively, this smiling mouth seemed +entirely oblivious of him. The man gave an odd impression, as of two +personalities: the one observant, with an animal-like observance for his +own weal or woe, the other observant with intelligence. It was possibly +this impression of a dual personality which gave James his quick sense +of horror. He walked on, feeling his very muscles shrink. Just before +James reached the man he emerged easily, with not the slightest +appearance of stealth, from the wood, and walked on before him with a +rapid, swinging stride. There were then three persons upon the road: the +girl in brown, the strange man in the fur-lined coat, and James Elliot. +James quickened his pace, but the other man kept ahead of him, and +reached the girl. He stopped and James broke into a run. He saw the man +place a hand upon the girl's shoulder, and make a motion as if to turn +her face toward his. James came up with a shout, and the man disappeared +abruptly, with a quick backward glance at James, into the wood. + +The girl looked at James, and her little face under her brown plumed hat +was very white. "Oh," she gasped, as if she had always known him, "I am +so glad you are here! He frightened me terribly." + +She tried to smile at James, although her poor little mouth was +quivering. "Who was he?" she asked. + +[Illustration: "You don't think he will come back?" Page 21.] + +"I don't know." + +A sudden suspicion flashed into her eyes. "He wasn't with you?" + +"No. I saw him on the edge of the woods back there, and I didn't like +his looks. When he started to follow you I hurried to catch up." + +"Oh, thank you," said the girl fervently. "Do forgive me for asking if +you were with him. I knew you were not the minute I saw you. I did not +turn my face, although he tried to make me. I don't know why, but I do +know he was something terrible and wicked." The girl said this last with +a shudder. She caught hold of James's arm innocently, as a frightened +child might have done. "You don't think he will come back?" + +"No, and if he does I will take care of you." + +"He may be--armed." + +Suddenly the girl reeled. "Don't let me faint away. I won't faint away," +she said in an angry voice. James saw that she was actually biting her +lips to overcome the faintness. + +"If you will sit down on that rock for a moment," said James, "I have +something in my medicine-case which will revive you. I am a doctor." + +"I shall faint away if I sit down and give up to it, if I swallow your +whole case," said the girl weakly. "I know myself. Let me hold your arm +and walk, and don't make me talk, then I can get over it." She was +biting her lips almost to bleeding. + +James walked on as he was bidden, with the slender little brown-clad +figure clinging to him. He realized that he had fallen in with a girl +who had a will which was possibly superior to anything in his +medicine-case when it came to overcoming fright. + +They walked on until they came in sight of a farm-house, when the girl +spoke again, and James saw that the color was returning to her face. "I +am all right now," said she, and withdrew her hand from his arm. She +gave her head an angry, whimsical shake. "I am ashamed of myself," said +she, "but I was horribly frightened, and sometimes I do faint. I can +generally get the better of myself, but sometimes I can't. It always +makes me so angry. I do hope you don't think I am such an awful coward, +because I am not." + +"I think most girls whom I have known would have made much more fuss +than you did," said James. "You never screamed." + +"I never did scream in my life," said the girl. "I don't think I could. +I don't know how. I think if I did scream, I should certainly faint." + +James stopped and opened his medicine-case. "I think you had better take +just a swallow of brandy," said he. + +The girl thrust back the bottle which he offered her with high disdain. +"Brandy," said she, "just because I have been frightened a little! I +should be ashamed of myself if I did such a thing. I am ashamed now for +almost fainting away, but I should never forgive myself if I took brandy +because of it. If I haven't nerve enough to keep straight without +brandy, I should be a pretty poor specimen of a girl." She looked at him +indignantly, and James saw what he had not seen before (he had been so +engrossed with the strangeness of the situation), that she was a +beautiful girl with a singular type of beauty. She was very small, but +she gave the impression of intense springiness and wiriness. Although +she was thin, no one could have called her delicate. She looked as much +alive as a flame, with nerves on the surface from head to heel. Her eyes +were blue, not large, but full of light, her hair, which tossed around +her face in a soft fluff, was ash-blonde. Brown was the last color, +theoretically, which she should have worn, but it suited her. The ash +and brown, the two neutral tints, served to bring out the blue fire of +her eyes and the intense red of her lips. However, her beauty lay not so +much in her regular features as in the wonderful flame-like quality +which animated them, and which they assumed when she spoke or listened. +In repose, her face was as neutral as a rock or dead leaf. It was +neither beautiful nor otherwise. When it was animated, it was as if the +rock gave out silver lights of mica and rosy crystal under strong light, +and as if the dead leaf leapt into flame. James thought her much +prettier than any of his sisters or their friends, but he was led quite +unknowingly into this opinion, because of his own position as her +protector. That made him realize his own male gorgeousness and strength, +and he really saw the girl with such complacency instead of himself. + +They walked along, and all at once he stopped short. Something occurred +to him, which, strange to say, had not occurred before. He was not in +the least cowardly. He was brave almost to foolhardiness. All at once +it occurred to him that he ought to follow the man. + +"Good Lord!" said he and stopped. + +"What is the matter?" asked the girl. + +"Why, I must follow that man. He is a suspicious character. He ought not +to be left at large." + +"I suppose you don't care if you leave me alone," said the girl +accusingly. + +James stared at her doubtfully. There was that view of the situation. + +"I am going to see my friend Annie Lipton, who lives in Westover. There +is half a mile of lonely road before I get there. That man, for all I +know, may be keeping sight of us in the woods over there. While you are +going back to chase him, he may come up with me. Well, run along if you +want to. I am not afraid." But the girl's lips quivered, and she paled +again. + +James glanced at the stretch of road ahead. There was not a house in +sight. Woods were on one side, on the other was a rolling expanse of +meadowland covered with dried last year's grass, like coarse +oakum-colored hair. + +"I think I had better keep on with you," James said. + +"You can do exactly as you choose," the girl replied defiantly, but +tremulously. "I am not in the least dependent upon men to escort me. I +wander miles around by myself. This is the first time I have seemed to +be in the slightest danger. I dare say there was no danger this time, +only he came up behind like a cat, and--" + +"He didn't say anything?" + +"No, he didn't speak. He only tried to make me turn my head, so he could +see my face, and directly it seemed to me that I must die rather than +let him. He was trying to make me turn my head. I think maybe he was an +insane man." + +"I will go on with you," said James. + +They walked on for the half mile of which the girl had spoken. A sudden +shyness seemed to have come over both of them. Then they began to come +in sight of houses. "I am not afraid now," said the girl, "but I do +think you are very foolish if you go back alone and try to hunt that +man. Ten chances to one he is armed, and you haven't a thing to defend +yourself with, except that medicine-case." + +"I have my fists," replied James indignantly. + +"Fists don't count much against a revolver." + +"Well, I am going to try," said James with emphasis. + +"Good-by, then. You are treating me shamefully, though." + +James stared at her in amazement. She was actually weeping, tears were +rolling over her cheeks. + +"What do you mean?" said he. "Don't feel so badly." + +"You can't be very quick-witted not to see. If you should meet that man, +and get killed, I should really be the one who killed you and not the +man." + +"Why, no, you would not." + +The girl stamped her foot. "Yes, I should, too," said she, half-sobbing. +"You would not have been killed except for me. You know you would not." + +She spoke as if she actually saw the young man dead before her, and was +indignant because of it, and he burst into a peal of laughter. + +"Laugh if you want to," said she. "It does not seem to me any laughing +matter to go and get yourself killed by me, and my having that on my +mind my whole life. I think I should go mad." Her voice shook, an +expression of horror came into her blue eyes. + +James laughed again. "Very well, then," he said, "to oblige you I won't +get killed." + +He, in fact, began to consider that the day was waning, and what a +wild-goose chase it would probably be for him to attempt to follow the +man. So again they walked on until they reached the main street of +Westover. + +Westover was a small village, rather smaller than Gresham. They passed +three gin-mills, a church, and a grocery store. Then the girl stopped at +the corner of a side street. "My friend lives on this street," said she. +"Thank you very much. I don't know what I should have done if you had +not come. Good-by!" She went so quickly that James was not at all sure +that she heard his answering good-by. He thought again how very handsome +she was. Then he began to wonder where she lived, and how she would get +home from her friend's house, if the friend had a brother who would +escort her. He wondered who her friends were to let a girl like that +wander around alone in a State which had not the best reputation for +safety. He entertained the idea of waiting about until she left her +friend's house, then he considered the possible brother, and that the +girl herself might resent it, and he kept on. The western sky was +putting on wonderful tints of cowslip and rose deepening into violet. He +began considering his own future again, relegating the girl to the +background. He must be nearing Alton, he thought. After a three-mile +stretch of farming country, he saw houses again. Lights were gleaming +out in the windows. He heard wheels, and the regular trot of a horse +behind him, then a mud-bespattered buggy passed him, a shabby buggy, but +a strongly built one. The team of horses was going at a good clip. James +stood on one side, but the team and buggy had no sooner passed than he +heard a whoa! and a man's face peered around the buggy wing, not at +James, but at his medicine-case. James could just discern the face, +bearded and shadowy in the gathering gloom. Then a voice came. It +shouted, one word, the expressive patois of the countryside, that word +which may be at once a question and a salute, may express almost any +emotion. "Halloo!" said the voice. + +This halloo involved a question, or so James understood it. He quickened +his pace, and came alongside the buggy. The face, more distinct now, +surveyed him, its owner leaning out over the side of the buggy. "Who are +you? Where are you bound?" + +James answered the latter question. "I am going to Alton." + +"To Doctor Gordon's?" + +"Yes." + +"Then you are Doctor Elliot?" + +"Yes." + +"Get in." + +James climbed into the buggy. The other man took up the reins, and the +horse resumed his quick trot. + +"You didn't come by train?" remarked the man. + +"No. You are Doctor Gordon, I suppose?" + +"Yes, I am. Why the devil did you walk?" + +"To save my money," replied James, laughing. He realized nothing to be +ashamed of in his reply. + +"But I thought your father was well-to-do." + +"Yes, he is, but we don't ride when it costs money and we can walk. I +knew if I got to Alton by night, it would be soon enough. I like to +walk." James said that last rather defiantly. He began to realize a +certain amazement on the other man's part which might amount to an +imputation upon his father. "I have plenty of money in my pocket," he +added, "but I wanted the walk." + +Doctor Gordon laughed. "Oh, well, a walk of twenty-five miles is nothing +to a young fellow like you, of course," he said. "I can understand that +you may like to stretch your legs. But you'll have to drive if you are +ever going to get anywhere when you begin practice with me." + +"I suppose you have calls for miles around?" + +"Rather." Doctor Gordon sighed. "It's a dog's life. I suppose you +haven't got that through your head yet?" + +"I think it is a glorious profession," returned James, with his haughty +young enthusiasm. + +"I wasn't talking about the profession," said the doctor; "I was talking +of the man who has to grind his way through it. It's a dog's life. +Neither your body nor your soul are your own. Oh, well, maybe you'll +like it." + +"You seem to," remarked James rather pugnaciously. + +"I? What can I do, young man, but stick to it whether I like it or not? +What would they do? Yes, I suppose I am fool enough to like a dog's +life, or rather to be unwilling to leave it. No money could induce me +anyhow. I suppose you know there is not much money in it?" + +James said that he had not supposed a fortune was to be made in a +country practice. + +"The last bill any of them will pay is the doctor's," said Doctor +Gordon. Then he added with a laugh, "especially when the doctor is +myself. They have to pay a specialist from New York, but I wait until +they are underground, and the relatives, I find, stick faster to the +monetary remains than the bark to a tree. If I hadn't a little private +fortune, and my--sister a little of her own, I expect we should starve." + +James noticed with a little surprise the doctor's hesitation before he +spoke of his sister. It seemed then that he was not married. Somehow, +James had thought of him as married as a matter of course. + +Doctor Gordon hastened to explain, as if divining the other's attitude. +"I dare say you don't know anything about my family relations," said he. +"My widowed sister, Mrs. Ewing, keeps house for me. I live with her and +her daughter. I think you will like them both, and I think they will +like you, though I'll be hanged if I have grasped anything of you so far +but your medicine-case and your voice. Your voice is all right. You give +yourself away by it, and I always like that." + +James straightened himself a little. There was something bantering in +the other's tone. It made him feel young, and he resented being made to +feel young. He himself at that time felt older than he ever would feel +again. He realized that he was not being properly estimated. "If," said +he, with some heat, "a patient can make out anything by my voice as to +what I think, I miss my guess." + +"I dare say not," said Doctor Gordon, and his own voice was as if he put +the matter aside. + +He spoke to the horse, whose trot quickened, and they went on in +silence. + +At last James began to feel rather ashamed of himself. He unstiffened. +"I had quite an exciting and curious experience after I left +Stanbridge," said he. + +"Did you?" said the other in an absent voice. + +James went on to relate the matter in detail. His companion turned an +intent face upon him as he proceeded. "How far back was it?" he asked, +and his tone was noticeably agitated. + +"Just after I left the last house in Stanbridge. We went on together to +Westover. She mentioned something about going to see a friend there. I +think Lipton was the name, and she left me suddenly." + +"What was the girl like?" + +"Small and slight, and very pretty." + +"Dressed in brown?" + +"Yes." + +"How did the man look?" Doctor Gordon's voice fairly alarmed the young +man. + +"I hardly can say. I saw him distinctly, but only for a second. The +impression he gave me was of a middle-aged man, although he looked +young." + +"Good-looking?" + +"My God, no!" said James, as the man's face seemed to loom up before him +again. "He looked like the devil." + +"A man may look like the devil, and yet be distinctly handsome." + +"Well, I suppose he was; but give me the homeliest face on earth rather +than a face like that man's, if I must needs have anything to do with +him." The young fellow's voice broke. He was very young. He caught the +other man by his rough coat sleeve. "See here, Doctor Gordon," said he, +"my profession is to save life. That is the main end of it but, but--I +don't honestly know what I should think right, if I were asked to save +_that_ man's life." + +"Was he well dressed?" + +"More than well dressed, richly, a fur-lined coat--" + +"Tall?" + +"Yes, above the medium, but he stooped a little, like a cat, sort of +stretched to the ground like an animal, when he hurried along after the +girl in front of me." + +Doctor Gordon struck the horse with his whip, and he broke into a +gallop. "We are almost home," said he. "I shall have to leave you with +slight ceremony. I have to go out again immediately." + +Doctor Gordon had hardly finished speaking before they drew up in front +of a white house on the left of the road. "Get out," he said +peremptorily to James. The front door opened, and a parallelogram of +lighted interior became visible. In this expanse of light stood a tall +woman's figure. "Clara, this is the new doctor," called out Doctor +Gordon. "Take him in and take care of him." + +"Have you got to go away again?" said the woman's voice. It was sweet +and rich, but had a curious sad quality in it. + +"Yes, I must. I shall not be gone long. Don't wait supper." + +"Aren't you going to change the horse?" + +"Can't stop. Go right in, Elliot. Clara, look after him." + +James Elliot found himself in the house, confronting the most beautiful +woman he had ever seen, as the rapid trot of the doctor's horse receded +in vistas of sound. + +James almost gasped. He had never seen such a woman. He had seen pretty +girls. Now he suddenly realized that a girl was not a woman, and no more +to be compared with her than an uncut gem with one whose facets take the +utmost light. + +The boy stood staring at this wonderful woman. She extended her hand to +him, but he did not see it. She said some gracious words of greeting to +him, but he did not hear them. She might have been the Venus de Milo for +all he heard or realized of sentient life in her. He was rapt in +contemplation of herself, so rapt that he was oblivious of her. She +smiled. She was accustomed to having men, especially very young men, +take such an attitude on first seeing her. She did not wait any longer, +but herself took the young man's hand, and drew him gently into the +room, and spoke so insistently that she compelled him to leave her and +attend. "I suppose you are Doctor Gordon's assistant?" she said. + +James relapsed into the tricks of his childhood. "Yes, ma'am," he +replied. Then he blushed furiously, but the woman seemed to notice +neither the provincial term nor his confusion. He found himself somehow, +he did not know how, divested of his overcoat, and the vision had +disappeared, having left some words about dinner ringing in his ears, +and he was sitting before a hearth-fire in a large leather easy-chair. +Then he looked about the room in much the same dazed fashion in which he +had contemplated the woman. He had never seen a room like it. He was +used to conventionality, albeit richness, and a degree even of luxury. +Here were absolute unconventionality, richness, and luxury of a kind +utterly strange to him. The room was very large and long, extending +nearly the whole length of the house. There were many windows with +Eastern rugs instead of curtains. There were Eastern things hung on the +walls which gave out dull gleams of gold and silver and topaz and +turquoise. There were a great many books on low shelves. There were +bronzes, jars, and squat idols. There were a few pieces of Chinese ivory +work. There were many skins of lions, bears, and tigers on the floor, +besides a great Persian rug which gleamed like a blurred jewel. Besides +the firelight there was only one great bronze lamp to illuminate the +room. This lamp had a red shade, which cast a soft, fiery glow over +everything. There were not many pictures. The rich Eastern stuffs, and +even a skin or two of tawny hue, covered most of the wall-spaces above +the book-cases, giving backgrounds of color to bronzes and ivory +carvings, but there was one picture at the farther end of the room which +attracted James's notice. All that he could distinguish from where he +sat was a splash of splendid red. + +He gazed, and his curiosity grew. Finally he rose, traversed the room, +and came close to the picture. It was a portrait of the woman who had +met him at the door. The red was the red of a splendid robe of velvet. +The portrait was evidently the work of no mean artist. The texture of +the velvet was something wonderful, so were the flesh tones; but James +missed something in the face. The portrait had been painted, he knew +instinctively, before some great change had come into the woman's heart, +which had given her another aspect of beauty. + +James turned away. Then he noticed something else which seemed rather +odd about the room. All the windows were furnished with heavy wooden +shutters, and, early as it was, hardly dark, all were closed, and +fastened securely. James somehow got an impression of secrecy, that it +was considered necessary that no glimpse of the interior should be +obtained from without after the lamp was lit. They sat often carelessly +at his own home of an evening with the shades up, and all the interior +of the room plainly visible from the road. An utter lack of secrecy was +in James's own character. He scowled a little, as he returned to his +seat by the fire. He was too confused to think clearly, but he was +conscious of a certain homesickness for the wonted things of his life, +when the door opened and the woman reëntered. + +James rose, and she spoke in her sweet voice. It was rather lower +pitched than the voices of most women, and had a resonant quality. "Your +room is quite ready, Doctor Elliot," said she. "Your trunk is there. If +you would like to go there before dinner, I will pilot you. We have but +one maid, and she is preparing the dinner, which will be ready as soon +as you are. I hope Doctor Gordon and Clemency will have returned by that +time, too." + +By Clemency James understood that she meant her daughter, of whom Doctor +Gordon had spoken. He wondered at the unusual name, as he followed his +hostess. His room was on the same floor as the living-room. She threw +open a door at the other side of the hall, and James saw an exceedingly +comfortable apartment with a hearth-fire, with book-shelves, and a +couch-bed covered with a rug, and a desk. "I thought you would prefer +this room," said the woman. "There are others on the second floor, but +this has the advantage of your being able to use it as a sitting-room, +and you may like to have your friends, whom I trust you will find in +Alton, come in from time to time. You will please make yourself quite +at home." + +James had not yet fairly comprehended the beauty of the woman. He was +still too dazzled. Had he gone away at that time, he could not for the +life of him have described her, but he did glance, as a woman might have +done, at her gown. It was of a soft heavy red silk, trimmed with lace, +and was cut out in a small square at the throat. This glimpse of firm +white throat made James wonder as to evening costume for himself. At +home he never dreamed of such a thing, but here it might be different. +His hostess divined his thoughts. She smiled at him as if he were a +child. "No," said she, "you do not need to dress for dinner. Doctor +Gordon never does when we are by ourselves." + +Then she went away, closing the door softly after her. + +James noticed that over the windows of this room were only ordinary +shades, and curtains of some soft red stuff. There were no shutters. He +looked about him. He was charmed with his room, and it did away to a +great extent with his feeling of homesickness. It was not unlike what +his room at college had been. It was more like all rooms. He had no +feeling of the secrecy which the great living-room gave him, and which +irritated him. He brushed his clothes and his hair, and washed his hands +and face. While he was doing so he heard wheels and a horse's fast trot. +He guessed immediately that the doctor had returned. He therefore, as +soon as he had completed the slight changes in his toilet, started to +return to the living-room. Crossing the hall he met Doctor Gordon, who +seized him by the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Not a word before +Mrs. Ewing about what happened this afternoon." + +James nodded. "More mystery," thought he with asperity. + +"You have not spoken of it to her already, I hope," said Doctor Gordon +with quick anxiety. + +"No, I have not. I have scarcely seen her." + +"Well, not a word, I beg of you. She is very nervous." + +The doctor had been removing his overcoat and hat. When he had hung them +on some stag's horn in the hall, he went with James into the +living-room. + +There, beside the fire, sat the girl in brown whom James had met that +afternoon on the road. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +She looked up when he entered, and there was in her young girl face the +very slightest shade of recognition. She could not help it, for Clemency +was candor itself. Then she bowed very formally, and shook hands +sedately when Doctor Gordon introduced James as Doctor Elliot, his new +assistant, and carried off her part very well. James was not so +successful. He colored and was somewhat confused, but nobody appeared to +notice it. Clemency went on relating how glad she was that Uncle Tom met +her as she was coming home from Annie Lipton's. "I am never afraid," +said she, and her little face betrayed the lie, "but I was tired, and +besides I was beginning to be cold, for I went out without my fur." + +"You should not have gone without it. It grows so cold when the sun goes +down," said Mrs. Ewing. Then a chime of Japanese bells was heard which +announced dinner. + +"Doctor Elliot will be glad of dinner," said Doctor Gordon. "He has +walked all the way from Gresham." + +Clemency looked at him with approval, and tried to look as if she had +never seen him walking in her life. "That is a good walk," said she. +"Twenty-five miles it must be. If more men walked instead of working +poor horses all the time, it would be better for them." + +"That is a hint for your Uncle Tom," said Gordon laughingly. + + +"I never hint," said Clemency. "It is just a plain statement. Men are +walking animals. They could travel as well as horses in the course of +time if they only put their minds to it." + +"Well, your old uncle's bones must be saved, even at the expense of the +horse's," said Doctor Gordon. + +"Bones are improved by use," said Clemency severely, as she took her +seat at the dinner-table. They all laughed. The girl herself relaxed her +pretty face with a whimsical smile. It was quite evident that Clemency +was the spoiled and petted darling of the house, and that she traded +innocently upon the fact. The young doctor, although his first +impression of the elder woman was still upon him, yet realized the +charm of the young girl. The older woman was, as it were, crowned with +an aureole of perfection, but the young girl was crowned with +possibilities which dazzled with mystery. She looked prettier, now that +her outer garments were removed, and her thick crown of ash-blonde hair +was revealed. The lamp lit her eyes into bluer flame. She was a darling +of a young girl, and more a darling because she had the sweetest +confidence in everybody thinking her one. + +However, James Elliot, sitting in the well-appointed dining-room, which +was more like a city house than a little New Jersey dwelling, did not +for a second retreat from his first impression of Mrs. Ewing. Behind the +coffee-urn sat the woman with whom he had not fallen in love, that was +too poor a term to use. He had become a worshipper. He felt himself, +body and soul, prostrate before the Divinity of Womanhood itself. He +realized the grandeur of the abstract in the individual. What was any +spoiled, sweet young girl to that? And Mrs. Ewing was, in truth, a +wonderful creature. She was a large woman with a great quantity of +blue-black hair, which had the ripples one sees in antique statues. Her +eyes, black at first glance, were in reality dark blue. Her face gave +one a never-ending surprise. James had not known that a woman could be +so beautiful. Vague comparisons with the Greek Helen, or Cleopatra, came +into his head. Now and then he stole a glance at her. He dared not +often. She did not talk much, but he was rather pleased with that fact, +although her voice was so sweet and gracious. Speech in a creature like +that was not an essential. It might even be an excrescence upon a +perfection. It did not occur to the dazed mind of her worshipper that +Mrs. Ewing might have very simple and ordinary reasons for not +talking--that she might be tired or ill, or preoccupied. But after a +number of those stolen glances, James discovered with a great pang, as +if one should see for the first time that the arms of the Venus were +really gone, when his fancy had supplied them, that the woman did not +look well. In spite of her beauty, there was ill-health evident in her +face. James was a mere tyro in his profession as yet, but certain +infallible signs were there which he could not mistake. They were the +signs of suffering, possibly of very great suffering. She ate very +little, James noticed, although she made a pretense of eating as much +as any one. James saw that Doctor Gordon also noticed it. When the maid +was taking away Mrs. Ewing's plate, he spoke with a gruffness which +astonished the young man. "For Heaven's sake, why don't you eat your +dinner, Clara?" said he. "Emma, replace Mrs. Ewing's plate. Now, Clara, +eat your dinner." To James's utter astonishment, Mrs. Ewing obeyed like +a child. She ate every morsel, although she could not restrain her +expression of loathing. When the salad and dessert were brought on she +ate them also. + +Doctor Gordon watched her with what seemed, to the young man, positive +brutality. His mouth under his heavy beard quivered perceptibly whenever +he looked at his sister eating, his forehead became corrugated, and his +deep-set eyes sparkled. James was heartily glad when dinner was over, +and, at Doctor Gordon's request, he followed him into his office. + +Doctor Gordon's office was a small room at the back of the house. It had +an outer door communicating with a path which led to the stable. Two +sides of the room were lined with medical books, and two with bottles +containing diverse colored mixtures. A hanging lamp was over the center +of a long table in the middle of the room. Around it dangled prisms, +which cast rainbow colors over everything. The first thing which struck +one on entering the room was the extraordinary color scheme: the dull +gleams of the books, the medicine bottles which had lights like jewels, +and over all the flickers of prismatic hues. The long table was covered +with corks, empty bottles, books, a medicine-case, and newspapers, +besides a mighty inkstand and writing materials. There were also a box +of cigars, a great leather tobacco pouch, and, interspersed among all, a +multitude of pipes. The doctor drew a chair beside this chaotic table +lit with rainbow lights, and invited James to sit down. "Sit down a +moment," he said. "Will you have a pipe or a cigar?" + +"Cigar, please," replied James. The doctor pushed the box toward him. +James realized immediately a ten-cent cigar at the least when he began +to smoke. Doctor Gordon filled a pipe mechanically. His face still wore +the gloomy, almost fierce, expression which it had assumed at table. He +was a handsome man in a rough, sketchy fashion. His face was blurred +with a gray grizzle of beard. He wore his hair rather long, and he had +a fashion of running his fingers through it, which made it look like a +thick brush. He dressed rather carelessly, still like a gentleman. His +clothes were slouchy, and needed brushing, but his linen was immaculate. + +Doctor Gordon smoked in silence, which his young assistant was too shy +to break. The elder man finished his pipe, then he rose with an +impatient gesture and shook himself like a great shaggy dog. "Come, +young man," said he, "we don't want to spend the evening like this. Get +your hat and coat." + +James obeyed, and the two men left the office by the outer door which +opened on the stable. As they came around by the front of the house +Clemency stood in the doorway. + +"Are you going out, you and Doctor Elliot, Uncle Tom?" she called. + +"Yes, dear; why?" + +"Patients?" + +"No; we are going down to Georgie K.'s. Tell your mother to go to bed at +once." + +When the two men were out in the street, walking briskly in the keen +frosty air, James ventured a question. "Mrs. Ewing is not well, is she?" +he said. He fairly started at the way in which his question was +received. Doctor Gordon turned upon him even fiercely. + +"She is perfectly well, perfectly well," he replied. + +"She does not look--" began James. + +"When you are as old as I am you can venture to diagnose on a woman's +looks," said Gordon. "Clara is perfectly well." + +James said no more. They walked on in silence under a pale sky. Above a +low mountain range on their right was a faint light which indicated the +coming of the moon. The ground was frozen in hard ridges. James walked +behind the doctor on the narrow blue stone walk which served as +sidewalk. + +"This town has made no provision whatever for courting couples," said +Doctor Gordon suddenly, and to James's astonishment his whole manner and +voice had changed. It was far from gloomy. It was jocular even. + +James laughed. "Yes, it would be difficult for two to walk arm in arm, +however loving," he returned. + +"Just so," said the doctor, "and the funny part of it is that this +narrow sidewalk was intentional." + +"Not for such a purpose?" + +"Exactly so. It was given to the town by a rich spinster who died about +twenty years ago. It was given in her will on condition that it should +not be more than two feet wide." + +"For that reason?" + +"Just that reason. She had been jilted in her youth, and her heart had +been wrung by the sight of her rival passing her very window where she +sat watching for her lover, arm in arm with him. It was in summer, and +the dirt sidewalk was dry. She made up her mind, then and there, that +that sort of thing should be prevented." + +They had just reached a handsome old house standing close to the narrow +sidewalk. In fact, its windows opened directly upon it. + +"This is the house," the doctor said in corroboration. James laughed, +but he wondered within himself if he were being told fish tales. Doctor +Gordon made him feel so very young that he resented it. He resented it +the more when he realized the new glow of adoration in his heart for +that older woman whom they had left behind. He began wondering about +her: how much older she was. He said to himself that he did not care if +she were old enough to be his mother, his grandmother even, there was no +one in the whole world like her. + +Then they came to the hotel, the Evarts House. It was rather +pretentious, well built, with great columns in front supporting double +verandas. It was also well lighted. It was evidently far above the usual +order of a road house. Doctor Gordon entered, with James at his heels. +They went into the great low room at the right of the door, which was +the bar-room. Behind the bar stood an enormous man, yellow haired and +yellow bearded, dispensing drinks. The whole low interior was dim with +tobacco smoke, and scented with various liquors and spices. There was on +one side a great fireplace, in which stood earthen pitchers, in which +cider was being mulled with red-hot pokers, eager vinous faces watching. +Nobody was intoxicated, but there was a general hum of hilarity and +gusto of life about the place, an animal enjoyment of good cheer and +jollity. It was in truth not respectable to get entirely drunk in Alton. +It was genteel to become "set up," exhilarated, but the real gutter form +of inebriety was frowned upon to a much greater extent than in many +places where there was less license. + +"Hullo!" sang out Doctor Gordon as he entered. Immediately a grin of +comradeship overspread the pink face of the yellow-haired giant behind +the bar. "Hullo!" he responded. "Just step into the other room, and I'll +be there right away." + +James followed Doctor Gordon into what was evidently the state parlor of +the hotel. There was haircloth furniture, and a mahogany table, with +various stains of conviviality upon its polished surface. There was a +fire on the hearth, and on the mantel stood some gilded vases and a +glass case of wax-flowers, also a stuffed canary under a glass shade, +pathetic on his little twig. Doctor Gordon pointed to the flowers and +the canary. "Poor old man lost his wife, when he had been married two +years," he said. "She and the baby both died. That was before I came +here. Damned if I wouldn't have pulled them through. That was her bird, +and she made those fool flowers, poor little thing. I suppose if the +hotel were to take fire Georgie K. would go for them before all the cash +in the till." + +"He hasn't married again?" + +"Married again! It's my belief he'd shoot the man that mentioned it." + +Then Georgie K. entered, his rosy face distended with a smile of the +most intense hospitality, and before Doctor Gordon had a chance to +introduce James, he said, "What'll you take, gentlemen?" + +"This is my new assistant, from Gresham, Doctor Elliot," said Gordon. +Georgie K. made a bow, and scraped his foot at the same time with a +curiously boyish gesture. "What'll you take?" he asked again. That was +evidently his formula of hospitality, which must never be delayed. + +"Apple-jack," responded Doctor Gordon promptly. "You had better take +apple-jack too, young man. Georgie K. has gin that beats the record, and +peach brandy, but when it comes to his apple-jack--it's worth the whole +State of New Jersey." + +"All right," answered James. + +Soon he found himself seated at the stained old mahogany table with the +two men, and between two glasses, a bottle, and a pitcher of hot water. +Doctor Gordon dealt a pack of dirty cards while the hotel keeper poured +the apple-jack. James could not help staring at the elder doctor with +more and more amazement. He seemed to assimilate perfectly with his +surroundings. The tormented expression had gone from his face. He was +simply convivial, and of the same sort as Georgie K. He no longer +looked even a gentleman. He had become of the soil, the New Jersey soil. +As they drank and played, he told stories, and roared with laughter at +them. The stories also belonged to the soil, they were folk lore, wild, +coarse, but full of humanity. Although Doctor Gordon drank freely of the +rich mellow liquor, it did not apparently affect him. His cheeks above +his gray furze of beard became slightly flushed, that was all. + +James drank rather sparingly. The stuff seemed to him rather fiery, and +he remembered the goddess in the doctor's house. He could imagine her +look of high disdain at him should he return under the influence of +liquor. Besides, he did not particularly care for the apple-jack. + +It was midnight before they left. Georgie K. went to the door with them, +and he and the doctor shook hands heartily. "Come again," said Georgie +K., "and the sooner the better, and bring the young Doc. We'll make him +have a good time." + +Until they were near home, Doctor Gordon continued his strangely +incongruous conversation, telling story after story, and shouting with +laughter. When they came in sight of the house Gordon stopped suddenly +and leaned against a great maple beside the road. He stared at the +house, two of the upper windows of which were lighted, and gave a great +sigh, almost a groan. James stopped also and stared at him. He wondered +if the apple-jack had gone to the doctor's head after all. "What is the +matter?" he ventured. + +"Nothing, except the race is at a finish, and I am caught as I always +am," replied Doctor Gordon. + +"The race--" repeated James vaguely. + +"Yes, the race with myself. Myself has caught up with me, God help me, +and I am in its clutches. The time may come when you will try to race +with self, my boy. Let me tell you, you will never win. You will tire +yourself out, and make a damned idiot of yourself for nothing. I shall +race again to-morrow. I never learn the lesson, but perhaps you can, you +are young. Well, come along. Please be as quiet as you can when you go +into the house. My sister may be asleep. She is perfectly well, but she +is a little nervous. I need not repeat my request that you do not +mention your adventure with Clemency this afternoon to her." + +"Certainly not," said James. He walked on beside the doctor, and entered +the house, more and more mystified. James was not sure, but he thought +he heard the faintest little moan from upstairs. He glanced at Doctor +Gordon's face, and it was again the face of the man whom he had seen +before going to Georgie K.'s. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The next morning after breakfast, at which Mrs. Ewing did not appear, +Doctor Gordon observed that she always took her rolls and coffee in bed. +James followed Doctor Gordon into his office. Clemency, who had presided +at the coffee urn, had done so silently, and looked, so James thought, +rather sulky, as if something had gone wrong. Directly James was in the +office, the doctor's man, Aaron, appeared. He was a tall, lank +Jerseyman, incessantly chewing. His lean, yellow jaws appeared to have +acquired a permanent rotary motion, but he had keen eyes of intelligence +upon the doctor as he gave his orders. + +"Put in the team," said Gordon. "We are going to Haver's Corner. Old Sam +Edwards is pretty low, and I ought to have gone there yesterday, but I +didn't know whether that child with diphtheria at Tucker's Mill would +live the day out. Now he has seen the worst of it, thank the Lord! But +to-day I must go to Haver's. I want to make good time, for there's +something going on this afternoon, and I want an hour off if I can get +it." Again the expression of simple jocularity was over the man's face, +and James remembered what he had said the night before about again +running a race with himself the next day. + +After Aaron had gone out Gordon turned to James. He pointed to his great +medicine-case on the table. "You might see to it that the bottles are +all filled," he said. "You will find the medicines yonder." He pointed +to the shelf. "I have to speak to Clemency before I go." + +James obeyed. As he worked filling the bottles he heard dimly Gordon's +voice talking to Clemency on the other side of the wall. The girl seemed +to be expostulating. + +When Doctor Gordon returned Aaron was at his heels with an immense +bottle containing a small quantity of red fluid. "S'pose you'll want +this filled?" he said to Gordon with a grin which only disturbed for a +second his rotary jaws. + +"Oh, yes, of course," replied Gordon, "we want the aqua." + +James stared at him as he poured a little red-colored liquid from one of +the bottles on the shelves into the big one. "Now fill it up from the +pump, and put it in the buggy; be sure the cork is in tight," he said to +Aaron. + +Gordon looked laughingly at James when the man had gone. "I infer that +you are wondering what 'aqua' may be," he said. + +"I was brought up to think it was water," said James. + +"So it is, water pure and simple, with a little coloring matter thrown +in. Bless you, boy, the people around here want their medicines by the +quart, and if they had them by the quart, good-by to the doctor's job, +and ho for the undertaker! So the doctor is obliged to impose upon the +credulity of the avariciously innocent, and dilute the medicine. Bless +you, I have patients who would accuse me of cheating if I prescribed +less than a cupful of medicine at a time. They have to be humored. After +all, they are a harmless, good lot, but stiffened with hereditary ideas, +worse than by rheumatism. If I should give a few drops in half a glass +of water, and order a teaspoonful at a time, I should fly in the face of +something which no mortal man can conquer, sheer heredity. The +grandfathers and great-grandfathers of these people took their physic on +draft, the children must do likewise. Sometimes I even think the +medicine would lose its effect if taken in any other way. Nobody can +estimate the power of a fixed idea upon the body. All the same, it is a +confounded nuisance carrying around the aqua. I will confess, although I +see the necessity of yielding, that I have less patience with men's +stiff-necked stupidity than I have with their sins." + +James drove all the morning with Doctor Gordon about the New Jersey +country. It was a moist, damp day, such as sometimes comes even in +winter. It was a dog day with an atmosphere slightly cooler than that of +midsummer. Overcoats were oppressive, the horses steamed. The roads were +deep with red mud, which clogged the wheels and made the hoofs of the +horses heavy. "It's a damned soil," said Doctor Gordon. This morning +after appearing somewhat saturnine at breakfast, he was again in his +unnatural, rollicking mood. He hailed everybody whom he met. He joked +with the patients and their relatives in the farmhouses, approached +through cart-tracks of mire, and fluttered about by chickens, quacking +geese, and dead leaves. Now and then, stately ranks of turkeys charged +in line of battle upon the muddy buggy, and the team, being used to it, +stood their ground, and snorted contemptuously. The country people were +either saturnine with an odd shyness, which had something almost hostile +in it, or they were effusively hospitable, forcing apple-jack upon the +two doctors. James was much struck by the curious unconcern shown by the +relatives of the patients, and even by the patients themselves. In only +one case, and that of a child suffering from a bad case of measles, was +much interest evinced. The majority of the patients were the very old +and middle-aged, and they discussed, and heard discussed, their symptoms +with much the same attitude as they might have discussed the mechanism +of a wooden doll. If any emotion was shown it was that of a singular +inverted pride. "I had a terrible night, doctor," said one old woman, +and a smirk of self-conceit was over her ancient face. "Yes, mother +_did_ have an awful night," said her married daughter with a triumphant +expression. Even the children clustering about the doctor looked +unconsciously proud because their old grandmother had had an awful +night. The call of the two doctors at the house was positively +hilarious. Quantities of old apple-jack were forced upon them. The old +woman in the adjoining bedroom, although she was evidently suffering, +kept calling out a feeble joke in her cackling old voice. + +"Those people seem positively elated because that old soul is sick," +said James when he and the doctor were again in the buggy. + +"They are," said Doctor Gordon, "even the old woman herself, who knows +well enough that she has not long to live. Did you ever think that the +desire of distinction was one of the most, perhaps the most, intense +purely spiritual emotion of the human soul? Look at the way these people +live here, grubbing away at the soil like ants. The most of them have in +their lives just three ways of attracting notice, the momentary +consideration of their kind: birth, marriage, sickness and death. With +the first they are hardly actively concerned, even with the second many +have nothing to do. There are more women than men as usual, and although +the women want to marry, all the men do not. There remains only sickness +and death for a stand-by, so to speak. If one of them is really sick and +dies, the people are aroused to take notice. The sick person and the +corpse have a certain state and dignity which they have never attained +before. Why, bless you, man, I have one patient, a middle-aged woman, +who has been laid up for years with rheumatism, and she is fairly +vainglorious, and so is her mother. She brags of her invalid daughter. +If she had been merely an old maid on her hands, she would have been +ashamed of her, and the woman herself would have been sour and +discontented. But she has fairly married rheumatism. It has been to her +as a husband and children. I tell you, young man, one has to have his +little footstool of elevation among his fellows, even if it is a mighty +queer one, or he loses his self-respect, and self-respect is the best +jewel we have." + +They were now out in the road again, the team plodding heavily through +the red shale. "It's a damned soil," said the doctor for the second +time. He looked down at the young man beside him, and James again felt +that resentful sense of youth and inexperience. "I don't know how you've +been brought up," said the elder man. "I don't want to infuse heretic +notions into your innocent mind." + +James straightened himself. He tried to give the other man a knowing +look. "I have been about a good deal," he said. "You need not be afraid +of corrupting _me_." + +Doctor Gordon laughed. "Well, I shall not try," he said. "At least, I +shall not mean to corrupt you. I am a pessimist, but you are so young +that you ought not to be influenced by that. Lord, only think what may +be before you. You don't know. I am so far along that I know as far as I +am concerned. I did not know but you had been brought up to think that +whatever the Lord made was good, and that in saying that this red, gluey +New Jersey soil was darned bad, I was swearing the worst way. I don't +want to have millstones and that sort of thing about my neck. I was +quite up in the Scriptures at one time." + +"You need not be afraid," said James with dignity; "I think the soil +darned bad myself." He hesitated a little over the darned, but once it +was out, he felt proud of it. + +"Yes, it is," said Doctor Gordon, "and if the Lord made it, he did not +altogether succeed, and I see no earthly way of tracing the New Jersey +soil back to original sin and the Garden of Eden." + +"That's so," said James. + +Doctor Gordon's face grew sober, his jocular mood for the time had +vanished. He was his true self. "Did it ever occur to you that disease +was the devil?" he asked abruptly. "That is, that all these infernal +microbes that burrow in the human system to its disease and death, were +his veritable imps at work?" + +James shook his head, and looked curiously at his companion's face with +its gloomy corrugations. + +"Well, it has to me," said the doctor, "and let me ask you one thing. +You have been brought up to believe that the devil's particular +residence was hell, haven't you?" + +James replied in a bewildered fashion that he had. + +"Well," said Doctor Gordon, "if the devil lives here, as he must live, +when there's such failures in the way of soil, and such climates, and +such fiendish diseases, and crimes, why, this is hell." + +James stared at him. + +Doctor Gordon nodded half-gloomily, half-whimsically. "It's so," he +said. "We call it earth; but it's hell." + +James said nothing. The doctor's gloomy theology was too much for him. +Besides, he was not quite sure that the elder man was not chaffing him. + +"Well," said Doctor Gordon presently, "hell it is, but there are +compensations, such as apple-jack, and now and then there's something +doing that amuses one even here. I am going to take you to something +that enlivens hell this afternoon, if somebody doesn't send a call. I am +trying to get my work done this morning, the worst of it, so as to have +an hour this afternoon." + +The two returned a little after twelve, and found luncheon waiting for +them. Mrs. Ewing took her place at the table, and James thought that she +did not look quite so ill as she had done the evening before. She talked +more, and ate with some appetite. Doctor Gordon's face lightened, not +with the false gayety which James had seen, but he really looked quite +happy, and spoke affectionately to his sister. + +"What do you think, Tom," said she, "has come over Clemency? I don't +know when there has been a morning that she has not gone for a tramp, +rain or shine, but she has not stirred out to-day. She says she feels +quite well, but I don't know." + +"Oh, Clemency is all right," said Doctor Gordon, but his face darkened +again. As for Clemency, she bent over her plate and looked sulkier than +ever. She fairly pouted. + +"She can go out this afternoon," said Mrs. Ewing. "It looks as if it +were going to clear off." + +"No, I don't want to go," said Clemency. "I am all out of the humor of +it." She spoke with an air of animosity, as if somebody were to blame, +but when she saw Mrs. Ewing's anxious eyes she smiled. "I would much +prefer staying with you, dear," she said, "and finish Annie's Christmas +present." She spoke with such an affectionate air, that James looked +admiringly at her. She seemed a fellow-worshipper. He thought that he, +too, would much prefer staying with Mrs. Ewing than going with Doctor +Gordon on the mysterious outing which he had planned. + +However, directly after luncheon Gordon led James out into the stable +and called Aaron. "Are they ready, Aaron?" inquired the doctor. + +Aaron grinned, opened a rude closet, and produced a number of objects, +which James recognized at once as dummy pigeons. So Doctor Gordon was to +take him to a pigeon-shooting match. James felt a little disgusted. He +had, in fact, taken part in that sport with considerable gusto himself, +but, just now, he being fairly launched, as it were, upon the serious +things of life, took it somewhat in dudgeon that Doctor Gordon should +think to amuse him with such frivolities. But to his amazement the +elder man's face was all a-quiver with mirth and fairly eager. "Show the +pigeons to Doctor Elliot, Aaron," said Doctor Gordon. James took one of +the rude disks called pigeons from the hand of Aaron with indifference, +then he started and stared at Doctor Gordon, who laughed like a boy, +fairly doubling himself with merriment. Aaron did not laugh, he chewed +on, but his eyes danced. + +"Why, they are--" stammered James. + +"Just so, young man," replied Doctor Gordon. "They are wood. Aaron made +them on a lathe, and not a soul can tell them from the clay pigeons +unless they handle them. Now you are going to see some fun. Jim Goodman, +who is the meanest skunk in town, has cheated every mother's son of us +first and last, and this afternoon he is going to shoot against Albert +Dodd, and he's going to get his finish! Dodd knows about it. He'll have +clay pigeons all right. Goodman has put up quite a sum of money, and he +stands fair to lose for once in his life." + +"Come on, Aaron, put the bay mare in the buggy. We'll drive down to the +field. We haven't got much time to spare." + +Aaron backed the mare out of her stall and hitched her to the +mud-bespattered buggy, and the two men drove off with the wooden pigeons +under the seat. They had not far to go, to a large field intersected +with various footpaths and with, a large bare space, which evidently +served as a football gridiron. "This field is used like town property," +explained the doctor, "but the funny part of it is, it belongs to an old +woman who is, perhaps, the richest person in Alton, and asks such a +price for the land that nobody can buy it, and it has never occurred to +her to keep off trespassers. So everybody trespasses, and she pays the +taxes, and we are all satisfied, especially as there are plenty of +better building sites in Alton to be bought for less money. That old +woman bites her nose off every day, and never knows it." + +On this barren expanse, intersected with the narrow footpaths, covered +between with the no color of last year's dry weeds and grass, were +assembled some half dozen men and boys. They rushed up as the doctor's +buggy came alongside. "Got 'em?" they cried eagerly. Doctor Gordon +fumbled under the seat and drew out the batch of wooden pigeons, which +one young fellow, who seemed to be master of ceremonies, grasped and +rushed off with to the queer-looking machine erected in the centre of +the football clearing, for the purpose of making them take wing. The +others went with him. Doctor Gordon got out of his buggy, accompanied by +James, and they, too, joined the little group. "Got the others?" asked +Gordon in a half whisper. + +"Yes, you bet. We've got the others all right," said the young fellow, +and everybody laughed. + +Men and boys began to gather until the field was half filled with them. +They all wore grinning countenances. "For Heaven's sake, boys, don't act +as if it were so awful funny, or you'll spoil the whole thing," said the +young fellow who had come for the pigeons. + +Only one face was entirely sober, even severe, as with resolve, and that +was the face of a small, mean-looking man between forty and fifty. He +carried a gun, and looked at once important and greedy. "That's Jim +Goodman," whispered Doctor Gordon to James, "and he's a crack shot, too. +Albert isn't as sure, though he's pretty good, too." + +James began to catch the spirit of it himself. He felt at once disgusted +and uneasy about the doctor, but as for himself he was only a young +man, after all, and sport was still sweet to his soul. He shouted with +the rest when the first pigeon was launched into the air, and Albert +Dodd, a tall, serious young man, fired. He hit the bird, which at once +flew into fragments, as a clay pigeon properly should. + +Georgie K. came up and joined them. He was evidently not in the secret, +for he looked intensely puzzled when Jim Goodman, who had next shot, hit +his bird fairly, but it only hopped about and descended unbroken. "What +the deuce!" he said. + +"Hush up, Georgie K.," said Doctor Gordon. The other man turned and +looked at him keenly, but the doctor's imperturbable, smiling face was +on the sport. Georgie K.'s great pink face grew grave. Every time Albert +Dodd fired the pigeons dropped in pieces, every time Jim Goodman fired +they hopped as if they were alive. Jim Goodman swore audibly. He looked +to his cartridges. The whole field was in an uproar of mirth. The +gunshots were hardly audible for the yells and wild halloos of +merriment. The match at last was finished. Jim Goodman's last pigeon +hopped, and he was upon it in a rage. He took it up and examined it. It +was riddled with shot. He felt it, weighed it. Then his face grew +fairly black. From being only mean, he looked murderous. He was losing +money, and money was the closest thing to his soul. He looked around at +the yelling throng, one man at bay, and he achieved a certain dignity, +even in the midst of absurdity. + +"This darned pigeon is wood," said he. "They are all wood, all I have +shot. This is a put-up job! It ain't fair." He turned to the young +fellow who had taken the pigeons, and who acted as referee. + +"See here, John," he said, "you ain't going to see me done this way, be +you? You know it ain't a fair deal. Albert Dodd's shot clay pigeons, and +I've shot wood. It ain't fair." + +"No, it ain't fair," admitted the young fellow reluctantly, with a side +glance at Doctor Gordon. Gordon made a movement, but Georgie K. was +ahead of him. James saw a roll of bills pass from his hands to Jim +Goodman's. Gordon came up to Georgie K. + +"See here!" he said. + +"Well," replied Georgie K., without turning his head. + +"Georgie K." + +"I can't stop. Excuse me, Doc." Georgie K. jumped into a light wagon on +that side of the field, and was gone with a swift bounce over the hollow +which separated it from the road. Doctor Gordon hurried back to his own +buggy, with James following, got in and took the road after Georgie K. +"He mustn't pay that money," said Gordon. James said nothing. + +"I never thought of such a thing as that," said Doctor Gordon, driving +furiously, but they did not catch up with Georgie K. until they reached +the Evarts House, and he was out of his wagon. + +Doctor Gordon approached him, pocketbook in hand. "See here, Georgie +K.," he said, "I owe you a hundred." + +"Owe me nothing," said Georgie K. It had seemed impossible for his great +pink face to look angry and contemptuous, but it did. "I don't set up +for much," said he, "but I must say I like a square deal." + +"Good Lord! so do I," said Gordon. "Here, take this money. I had Aaron +make those darned wooden pigeons. Jim Goodman has skinned enough young +chaps here to deserve the taste of a skin himself." + +"He ain't skinned you." + +"Hasn't he? He owes me for two wives' last sicknesses, to say nothing +of himself and children, and he's living with his third, and I shall +have to doctor her for nothing or let her die. But that wasn't what I +did it for." + +Georgie K. turned upon him. "What on earth did you do it for, Doc?" said +he. + +"Because I felt the way you have felt yourself." + +"When?" + +"When the woman that made those wax-flowers, and loved that little +stuffed bird in there, died." + +Georgie K.'s face paled. "What's the matter, Doc?" + +"Nothing, I tell you." + +"What?" + +"Nothing. Who said there was anything? I had to have my little joke. I +tell you, Georgie K., I've _got_ to have my little joke, just as I've +got to have my game of euchre with you and my glass of apple-jack; a man +can't be driven too far. I meant to make it right with him. He's a mean +little cuss, but I am not mean. I intended to spend a hundred on my +joke, and you got ahead of me. For God's sake, take the money, Georgie +K." + +Georgie K., still with a white, shocked, inquiring face, extended his +hand and took the roll of bills which the doctor gave him. + +"Come in and take something," said he, and Doctor Gordon and James +accepted. They went again into the state parlor on whose shelf were the +wax-flowers and the stuffed canary, and they partook of apple-jack. + +Then Doctor Gordon and James took leave. Georgie K. gave Gordon a hearty +shake of the hand when he got into the buggy. Gordon looked at James +again with his gloomy face, as he took up the lines. "Failed in the race +again," he said. "Now we've got to hustle, for I have eight calls to +make before dinner, and it's late. I ought to change horses, but there +isn't time." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The weeks went on, and James led the same life with practically no +variation. The sense of a mystery or mysteries about the house never +left him, and it irritated him. He was not curious; he did not in the +least care to know in what the mystery consisted, but the fact of +concealment itself was obnoxious to him. As for himself, he never +concealed anything, and when it came to mystery, he had a vague idea of +something shameful, if not criminal. Doctor Gordon's incomprehensible +changes of mood, of almost more than mood, of character even, disturbed +him. Why a man should be one hour a country buffoon, the next an +absorbed gentleman, he could not understand. And he could not understand +also why Clemency had never left the house since he had met her on the +day of his arrival. She evidently was herself angry and sulky at being +housed, but she did not attempt to resist, and whenever Mrs. Ewing +expressed anxiety about her health, she laughed it off, and made some +excuse, such as the badness of the roads, or some Christmas work which +she was anxious to finish. However, at last Mrs. Ewing's concern grew so +evident that Doctor Gordon at dinner one day gave what seemed a +plausible reason for Clemency remaining indoors. "If you will have it, +Clara," he said, "Clemency has a slight pain in her side, and pleurisy +and pneumonia are all about, and I told her that she had better take no +chances, and the weather has been raw." + +Mrs. Ewing turned quite white. "Oh, Tom," she murmured, "why didn't you +tell me?" + +"I did not tell you, Clara dear, because you would immediately have had +the child in a galloping consumption, and it is really nothing at all. I +only want to be on the safe side." + +"It is a very little pain, mother dear," said Clemency. When Clemency +spoke to Mrs. Ewing, her voice had a singing quality. At such times, +although the young man's very soul was possessed of the mother, he could +not help viewing the daughter with favor. But he was puzzled about the +pleurisy. The girl seemed to him entirely well, although she was losing +a little of her warm color from staying indoors. Still, after all, a +pain is as invisible as a spirit. Her friend, Annie Lipton, spent a few +days with her, and then James saw very little of Clemency. The two girls +sat together in Clemency's room, and only the Lord of innocence and +ignorance knew what they talked about. They talked a great deal. James, +whenever he was in the house, was conscious of the distant murmur of +their sweet young voices, although he could not distinguish a word. +Annie Lipton was a prettier girl than Clemency, though without her +personal charm. Her beauty seemed to abash her, and make her indignant. +She was a girl who should have been a nun, and viewed love and lovers +from behind iron bars. She treated James with exceeding coolness. + +"Annie Lipton is an anomaly," Doctor Gordon remarked once over his +after-dinner pipe, when they sat in the study listening to the feminine +murmur on the other side of the wall. It sounded like the gentle ripple +of a summer sea. + +"Why?" returned James. + +"She defies her sex," replied Doctor Gordon, "and still there is nothing +mannish about her. She is a woman angry and ashamed at her womanhood. +If she ever marries, it will be at the cost of a terrible mental +struggle. There are women-haters among men, and there are a very few--so +few as to rank with albinos and white blackbirds in scarcity--man-haters +among women. Annie is a man-hater." + +"She is very pretty, too," said James. + +"If you attempt the conquest, I'll warn you there will be scaling +ladders and all the ancient paraphernalia of siege needed," said Doctor +Gordon laughingly. James colored. + +"It may be that I am a woman-hater," he replied, and looked very young. +Doctor Gordon again laughed. + +A little later they went to Georgie K.'s. They went nearly every evening +while Annie Lipton was with Clemency. After she had left they did not go +so often. "It is pretty dull for Clemency," Doctor Gordon would say, and +they would remain at home and play whist with the two ladies. James +began to be quite sure that Doctor Gordon's visits to Georgie K.'s were +mostly made when Mrs. Ewing looked worse than usual and did not eat her +dinner. James became convinced in his own mind that Mrs. Ewing was not +well, although he never dared broach the subject again to the doctor, +and although it made no difference whatever in his own attitude toward +her. As well might he have turned his back upon the Venus, because of +some slight abrasion which her beautiful body had received from the +ages. + +But one day, having come in unexpectedly alone, he found her on the +divan in the living-room, evidently weeping, and his heart went out to +her. He flung himself down on his knees beside her. + +"Oh, what is it? What is the matter?" he whispered. + +Her whole body was writhing. She uncovered her eyes and looked at him +pitifully, and yet with a certain dignity. Those beautiful eyes, +brimming with tears, were not reddened, and their gaze was steady. "If I +tell you, will you keep my secret?" she whispered back, "or, rather, it +is not a secret since Doctor Gordon knows it. I wish he did not, but +will you keep your knowledge from him?" + +"I promise you I will," said James fervently. + +"I am terribly ill," said Mrs. Ewing simply. "I suffer at times +tortures. Don't ask me what the matter is. It is too dreadful, and +although I have no reason to feel so, it seems to me ignominious. I am +ashamed of being so ill. I feel disgraced by it, wicked." She covered +her face again and sobbed. + +"Don't, don't," said James, out of his senses completely. "Don't, I +can't bear it. I love you so. Don't! I will cure you." + +"You cannot. Doctor Gordon does not admit that my case is hopeless, but +he gives no hope, and you must have noticed how he suffers when he sees +me suffer. He runs away from me because he can do nothing to help me. +That is the worst of it all. I could bear the pain for myself, but for +the others, too! Oh, I wish there was some little back door of life out +of which one could slip, and no blame to anybody, in a case like this. +But there is nothing but the horrible front door, which means such agony +to everybody who is left, as well as the one that goes." Mrs. Ewing had +completely lost control of herself. She sobbed again and moaned. + +James covered one of her cold hands with kisses. "Don't, don't," he +begged. "Don't, I love you." + +Suddenly Mrs. Ewing came to the comprehension of what he said. She +looked at his bent head--James had a curly head like a boy's--and a +strange look came into her eyes, as if she were regarding him across an +immeasurable gulf. Nobody had ever seemed quite so far away in the world +as this boy with his cry of love to the woman old enough to be his +mother. It was not the fact of her superior age alone, it was her +disease, it was her sense of being done forever with anything like this +that gave her, as it were, a view of earth from outside, and yet she had +a sense of comfort. James was even weeping. She felt his tears on her +hand. It did her good that anybody could love her so little as to be +able to stay by and see her suffer, and weep for her, and not rush forth +in a rage of misery like Thomas Gordon. In a second, however, she had +command of herself. She drew her hand away. "Doctor Elliot," she said, +"you forget yourself." + +"No, no, I don't," protested James. "It is not as if I--I were thinking +of you in that way. I am not. I know you could not possibly think of me +as a girl might. It is only because I love you. I have never seen +anybody like you." + +"You must put me out of your head," said Mrs. Ewing. "I am old enough to +be your mother; I am ill unto death. You must not love me in any way." + +"I cannot help it" + +Mrs. Ewing hesitated. "I have a mind to tell you something," she said in +a low voice. "Can I rely upon you?" + +"I would die before I told, if you said I was not to," cried James. + +"It might almost come to that," said the woman gravely. "A very serious +matter is involved, otherwise there would not be this secrecy. I cannot +tell you what the matter is, but I can tell you something which will +cure you of loving me." + +"I don't want to be cured," protested James, "and I have told you it is +a love like worship, it is not--" + +Mrs. Ewing interrupted him. "The worship of a young man is not to be +trusted," she said. "I cannot have you made to suffer. I will tell you, +but, remember, if you betray me you will do awful harm. Neither the +doctor nor Clemency even must know that I tell you. The doctor knows, of +course, the secret; Clemency does not know, and must never know. It +would be the undoing of all of us, the terrible undoing, if this were to +get out, but I will tell you. You are a good boy, and you shall be +spared needless pain. Listen." She leaned forward and whispered close to +his ear. James started back, and stared at her as white as death. Mrs. +Ewing smiled. "It hurts a little, I know," she said, "but better this +now than worse later. You are foolish to feel so about me; you were at a +disadvantage in coming here. It is only right that you should know. Now +never speak to me again about this. Think of me as your friend, and your +friend who is in very great suffering and pain, and have sympathy for +me, if you can, but not so much sympathy that you too will suffer. I +want sympathy, but not agony like poor Tom's. That makes it harder for +me." + +"Does she know?" asked James, half-gasping. + +"You mean does Clemency know I am ill?" + +"Yes." + +"She knows I am ill. She does not know how terrible it is. You must help +me to keep it from her. I almost never give way when she is present. I +knew she was taking a nap this afternoon, and the pain was so awful. It +is better now. I think I will go to my room and lie down for a while." +Mrs. Ewing rose, and extended her hand to James. "I have forgotten +already what you told me," she said. + +"I can never forget!" + +"You must, or you must go away from here." + +"I can never forget, but it shall be a thing of the past," said James. + +"That is right," Mrs. Ewing said with a maternal air. "It will only take +a little effort. You will see." + +She went out of the room with a flounce of red draperies, and left +James. He sat down beside a window and stared out blankly. The thought +came to him, how many avowals of love and deathless devotion such a +woman must have listened to. Her manner of receiving his made him think +that there had been many. "It is quite proper," he thought to himself. +"A woman like that is born to be worshiped." Then he thought of what she +had told him, and a sort of rage filled his heart. He recognized the +fact that she had been right in her estimation of the worship of a young +man. He is always trying to turn his idol into clay. + +The door opened and Clemency entered, but he did not notice it. She came +and sat down in front of him, and looked angrily at him, then for the +first time he saw her. He rose. "I beg your pardon, I did not hear you +come in," he said. + +"Sit down again," said Clemency pettishly. "Don't be silly. I am used +to having young men not see anybody but my mother when she comes into a +room, and it is quite right, too. I don't think there ever was a woman +so beautiful as she, do you?" + +"No, I don't," replied James. + +Clemency eyed him keenly. Then she blushed at the surmise which came to +her, and James also blushed at the knowledge of the surmise. "You can't +be much older than I am. I am twenty-three," said Clemency after a +while. Then the red suffused her very throat. + +"I am twenty-three, too," said James. Then he added bluntly, for he +began to be angry, "A man can think a woman the most beautiful he ever +saw without--" + +"Oh, I didn't think you were such a fool," said Clemency; then she +added, in a meek and shamed voice, "I should have been awfully disgusted +with you if you had not thought my mother the most beautiful woman you +ever saw, and I am used to men not seeing me. I don't want them to. I +think I feel something as Annie Lipton does about men. She says she +feels as if she wanted to kill every man who looks at her as if he +loved her. I think I should, too." + +"Miss Lipton has a great many admirers," remarked James by way of +changing the subject. + +"Oh, yes, every young man for miles around, ever since she was grown up. +She doesn't like any of them." Clemency looked at James with sudden +concern. "I am going to tell you something," she said, "even if it is +rather betraying confidence. I think I ought to. Annie told me she had +taken a great dislike to you, from the very first moment she saw you, so +it would be no use--" + +"I am sorry," replied James stiffly, "but as I had no particular feeling +for her, except admiration of her beauty, it makes no especial +difference." + +"I thought, of course, you would fall in love with her," said Clemency. +Then she added, with most inexplicable inverted jealousy, "You must have +very poor taste, or you would. You are the first one." + +"Some one has to be first," James said, laughing. + +"I don't know but I was horrid to tell you what I did," said Clemency, +looking at him doubtfully. + +"I don't thing it as horrid for a girl to assume that every man is in +love with her friend as it would be if she assumed something else," said +James. He knew that his speech was ungallant; but it seemed to him that +this girl fairly challenged him to rudeness. But she looked at him +innocently. + +"Oh, no, I never should think that," said she. "Being with two women so +very beautiful as my mother and Annie so much makes me quite sure that +nobody is thinking of me. It is only sometimes that I feel a little like +a piece of furniture, only chairs can't walk into rooms." She ended with +a girlish laugh. Then her face suddenly sobered. "Doctor Elliot, I want +you to tell me something," said she. "Uncle Tom wouldn't if I asked him, +and I don't dare ask him anyway. Do you think mother is very well?" + +James hesitated. "You ought to tell me," Clemency said imperatively. + +"I have thought sometimes that she did not look quite well," said James. + +"What do you think the matter is?" + +"It may be indigestion." + +"Do you think it is?" + +"I don't know. Doctor Gordon has told me nothing, and Mrs. Ewing has +told me nothing." + +"I thought doctors could tell from a person's looks." + +"Not always." + +"Doctors aren't much good anyhow," said Clemency. "I don't care if you +are one, and Uncle Tom is one. I notice people die just the same. So you +think it is indigestion? Well, it may be. Mother doesn't have much +appetite." + +"Yes, I have noticed that," said James. + +"Then there is something else I want to ask you," said Clemency. "I have +a right to know if you know. What does Uncle Tom make me stay in the +house so for?" + +"I don't know," replied James, looking honestly at her. + +"Don't you, honest? Hasn't he told you?" + +"No." + +"Of course, I know the first of it came from my meeting that man the day +you came here, but it does seem such utter nonsense that I have to stay +housed this way. I never met a man that frightened me before, and it is +not likely that I shall again. It does not stand to reason that that man +is hanging around here waiting to intercept me again. It is nonsense, +but Uncle Tom won't let me stir out. He has even ordered me to keep away +from the windows, and be sure that the curtains are drawn at night. I +don't know what the matter is. I can't say a word about it to mother, +she is so nervous. I have to pretend that I like to stay in the house, +and some days I really think I am going mad for fresh air. Uncle Tom +won't even let me go driving with him. So you don't know anything about +it?" + +"Nothing whatever." + +"Well, I can't stand it much longer," said Clemency with an obstinate +look. "As for the pain in my side, that's an awful lie; I haven't the +ghost of a pain. I can't stand it much longer. Here's Uncle Tom. You are +not going to tell him I said anything about it?" + +"Of course, I am not," answered James. He began to feel that he was +entangled in a web of secrecy, and his feeling of irritation increased. +He would have gotten out of it and spent Christmas at his own home, but +Doctor Gordon had an unusual number of patients suffering from grippe, +and pneumonia was almost epidemic, and he felt that he should not +leave. It was the second week of the new year when James, returning from +a call at a near-by patient, whither he had walked, found Mrs. Ewing in +the greatest distress. It was ten o'clock at night, and she was pacing +the living-room. Immediately when he entered she ran to him. "Oh," she +gasped, "Clemency, Clemency!" + +"Why, what is it?" asked James. Clemency had not been at the +dinner-table, but he had supposed her sulking, as she had been doing of +late, and that she had taken advantage of Doctor Gordon's absence at a +distant patient's to remain away from the table. + +"She begged so hard to go out, and said the pain was quite well," gasped +Mrs. Ewing, "that I said she might go and see Annie, and here it is ten +o'clock at night, and Tom has gone to Grover's Corner, and may not be +home until morning, and Aaron is with him, and I had no one to send. I +thought I would not say anything to you. I thought every minute she +would come in, and Emma has walked half a mile looking for her, and I am +horribly worried." + +"I will go directly and look for her," said James. "I will put the bay +in the light buggy, and drive to Westover. Don't worry. I'll bring her +back in half an hour." + +"The bay is so lame she can't travel, I heard Tom say this morning," +said Mrs. Ewing. + +"Then I'll take the gray." + +"She balks, you know." + +James laughed. "Oh, I'll risk the balking," he said. + +He hurried out to the stable and put the gray in the buggy. It was a +very short time before James was on the road, and the gray went as well +as could be desired, but just before she reached Westover she stopped +short, and James might as well have tried to move a mountain as that +animal with her legs planted at four angles of relentless obstinacy. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +James had considerable experience with, horses. He knew at once that it +was probably a hopeless undertaking to change the mare's mind, or rather +her obstinacy. However, he tried the usual methods, touching with the +whip, getting out and attempting to lead, but they were all, as he had +supposed from the first, in vain. A terrible sense of being up against +fate itself seized him: an animal's will unreasoning, unrelenting, +bears, in fact, the aspect of fate itself. It is at once sensate and +insensate. James thought of Clemency, and decided to waste no more time. + +The gray mare was near enough to a tree to tie her, and he tied her and +set out on foot. It was a very dark night, cloudy and chilly and +threatening snow. He walked on, as it were, through softly enveloping +shadows, which seemed to his excited fancy to be coming forward to meet +him. He began to be very much alarmed. He had wasted most of his young +sentiment upon Clemency's mother, but, after all, he suddenly +discovered that he had a feeling for the girl herself. He thought that +it was only the natural anxiety of any man of honor for the safety of a +helpless young girl out alone at night, and beset by possible dangers, +but he realized himself in a panic. His plan was of course to go +directly to Annie Lipton's home, some two miles farther on, then it +occurred to him that Clemency must inevitably have left there. If she +were lying dead or injured on the road, how in the world was he to see? +He felt in his pocket for matches, and found just one. He lit that and +peered around. While it burned he saw nothing except the frozen road +with its desolate borders of woods and brush, a fit scene for countless +tragedies. When the match burned out he thought of something else. +Supposing that Clemency were lying half-dead anywhere near the road, how +was she to know that a friend was near? Immediately he began to whistle. +Whistling was a trick of his, and he had a remarkably sweet, clear pipe. +He knew that Clemency, if she were to hear his whistle, would know who +was near. He whistled "Way down upon the Suwanee River" through, then he +began on the "Flower Song" from Faust, walking all the time quite +rapidly but with alert ears. He was half through the "Flower Song" when +he stopped short. He thought he heard something. He listened, and did +hear quite distinctly an exceedingly soft little voice, which might have +been the voice of shadows--"Is that you?" + +"Clemency," he cried out, and rushed toward the wood, and directly the +girl was clinging to him. She was panting with sobs, but she kept her +voice down to a whisper. "Speak low, speak low," she said in his ear. "I +don't know where he is. Oh, speak low." She clung to him with almost a +spasmodic grip of her slender arms. "If you had been ten minutes longer +I think I should have died," she whispered. "Don't make a sound. I don't +know where he is." + +"Was it--" began James. He felt himself trembling at the thought of what +the girl might be going to reveal to him. + +"Yes, that same dreadful man. Uncle Tom was right. I stayed too long at +Annie's. It was almost dark when I left there. She persuaded me to stay +to dinner. They had turkey. I was about half a mile below here when he, +the man, came out of the woods, just as he did before. I heard him, and +I knew. I did not look around. I ran, and I heard his footsteps behind +me. The darkness seemed to shut down all at once. I knew he could catch +me, and remembered what I had heard about wild animals when they were +hunted. I had gone a little past here, running just as softly as I +could, when I turned right into the woods, and ran back. Then I lay +right down in the underbrush and kept still. I heard him run past. Then +I heard him come back. He came into the woods. I expected every minute +he would step on me, but I kept still. Finally I heard him go away, but +I have not dared to stir since! I made up my mind I would keep still +until I heard a team pass. It did seem to me one must pass, and one +would have at any other time, but it has been hours I have been lying +there. Then I heard your whistle. I was almost afraid to speak then. +Don't speak above a whisper now. Did you come on foot?" + +"I had the gray mare, and she balked about half a mile from here. You +are sure you are not hurt?" + +"No, only I am trying hard not to faint. Let us walk on very fast, but +step softly, and don't talk." + +James put his arm around the girl and half carried her. She continued +to draw short, panting breaths, which she tried to subdue. They reached +the place where the gray mare loomed faintly out of the gloom with the +dark mass of the buggy behind her. + +"Let us get in," whispered Clemency. "Quick!" + +"I am afraid she won't budge." + +"Yes, she will for me. She has a tender mouth, that is why she balks. +You must have pulled too hard on the lines. Sometimes I have made her go +when even Uncle Tom couldn't." + +Clemency ran around to the gray's head and patted her, and James untied +her. Then the girl got into the buggy and took the reins, and James +followed. He was almost jostled out, the mare started with such impetus. +They made the distance home almost on a run. + +"Oh, I am so glad," panted Clemency. "You see I can seem to feel her +mouth when I hold the lines, and she knows. Was poor mother worried?" + +"A little." + +"I know she was almost crazy." + +"She will be all right when she sees you safe," said James. + +"Is Uncle Tom home yet? No, of course I know he isn't, or he would have +come instead of you. Oh, dear, I know he will scold me. I shall have to +tell him, but I mustn't tell mother about the man. What shall I tell +her? It is dreadful to have to lie, but sometimes one would rather run +the risk of fire and brimstone for one's self than have anybody else +hurt. If I tell mother she will have one of her dreadful nervous +attacks. I can't tell her. What shall I tell her, Doctor Elliot?" + +"I think the simplest thing will be to say that Miss Lipton persuaded +you to stay to supper, and so you were late, and I overtook you," said +James. + +"Mother will never believe that I stayed so long as that," said +Clemency. "I shall have to lie more than that. I don't know exactly what +to say. I could have Charlie Horton come in to play whist, and be taking +me home in his buggy. He always drives, and you could meet me on the +road." + +"Yes, you could do that." + +"It is a very complicated lie," said Clemency, "but I don't know that a +complicated lie is any worse than a simple one. I think I shall have to +lie the complicated one. You need not say anything, you know. You can +take the mare to the stable, and I will run in and get the lie all told +before you come. You won't lie, will you?" + +James could not help laughing. "No, I don't see any need of it," he +replied. + +"It is rather awful for you to have to live with people who have to lie +so," remarked Clemency, "but I don't see how it can be helped. If you +had seen my mother in one of her nervous attacks once, you would never +want to see her again. There is only one thing, I do feel very weak +still, and I am afraid I shall look pale. Hold the lines a minute. Don't +pull on them at all. Let them lie on your knees." + +"What are you doing?" asked James when he had complied. + +"Doing? I am pinching my cheeks almost black and blue, so mother won't +notice. I don't talk scared now, do I?" + +"Not very." + +"Well, I think I can manage that. I think I can manage my voice. I am +all over being faint. Oh, I will tell you what I will do. You haven't +got your medicine-case with you, have you?" + +"No, I started so hurriedly." + +"Well, I will go in the office way. I know where Uncle Tom keeps +brandy, and I will be so chilled that I'll have to take a little before +mother sees me. That will make me all right. I wouldn't take it for +myself, but I will for her." + +"And you are chilled, all right," said James. + +"Yes, I think I am," said Clemency. "I did not think of it, but I guess +it was cold there in the woods keeping still so long." Indeed, the girl +was shaking from head to foot, both with cold and nervous terror. "It +was awful," she said in a little whisper. + +James felt the girl shaking from head to foot. Suddenly a great +tenderness for the poor, little hunted thing came over him. He put his +arm around her. "Poor little soul," he said. "It must have been terrible +for you lying out there in the cold and dark and not knowing--" + +Clemency shrank into his embrace as a hurt child might have done. "It +was perfectly terrible," she said, with a little sob. "I didn't know but +he might come back any minute and find me." + +"It is all over now," James said soothingly. + +"Yes, for the time," Clemency replied with a little note of despair in +her voice, "but there is something about it all that I don't understand. +Only think how long I have had to stay in the house, and he must have +been on the watch. I don't know when it is ever going to end." + +"I think that I will end it to-morrow," said James with fierce +resolution. + +"You? How?" + +"I am going to put a stop to this. If an innocent girl can't step out of +the house for weeks at a time without being hounded this way, it is high +time something was done. I am going to get a posse of men and scour the +country for the scoundrel." + +"Oh, will you do that?" + +"Yes, I will. It is high time somebody did something." + +"You saw him. You know just how he looks?" + +"I could tell him from a thousand." + +Clemency drew a long breath. "Well," she said doubtfully, "if you can, +but--" + +"But what?" + +"Nothing, only somehow I doubt if Uncle Tom will think it advisable. +There must be some mystery about all this or Uncle Tom himself would +have done that very thing at first. I don't understand it. But I don't +believe Uncle Tom will consent to your hunting for the man. I think for +some reason he wants it kept secret." Suddenly, Clemency gave a +passionate little outcry. "Oh, how I do hate secrets!" she said. "How I +have always hated them! I want everything right out, and here I seem to +be in a perfect snarl of secrets! I wonder how long I shall have to stay +in the house." + +"Perhaps you are wrong, and your uncle will take measures now this has +happened for the second time," said James. + +"No, he won't," replied the girl hopelessly. "I am almost sure that he +will not." + +Clemency was right. After she had made her entry and told her little lie +successfully, and explained that she had taken some brandy because she +was chilled, and Mrs. Ewing had gently scolded her for staying so late, +and kissed and embraced her, and gotten back her own composure, Doctor +Gordon arrived, and James, who had waited for him in the study, told him +the story in whispers. "Now I think you had better let me get a posse of +men and scour the country to-morrow," he concluded. "It seems to me +that this thing has gone far enough." + +Doctor Gordon sat huddled up before him in an arm-chair. He had not even +taken off his overcoat, which was white with snow. The storm had begun. +"It will be easy to track him on account of the snow," added James. + +"Tracking is not necessary," replied Gordon, with his haggard face fixed +upon James. "I know exactly where the man is, and have known from the +first." + +"Then--" began James. + +"You don't know what you are talking about," Gordon said gloomily. "I +would have that fiend arrested to-morrow. I would have him hung from the +nearest tree if I had my way, but I can do absolutely nothing." + +"Nothing?" + +"No, I can do nothing, except what I have been doing, so far in vain, it +seems, to try to tire him out. I traded too much on his impatience, it +seemed. I did not think he would have held out so long." + +"You mean you will have to keep that poor little thing shut up the way +you have been doing?" + +"I see no other way. God knows I have tried to think of another, day and +night." + +"I don't see why you or I could not take her out sometimes when we +visit patients anyway," said James in a bewildered fashion. + +"You don't understand," replied Doctor Gordon irritably. "The main point +is: the girl must not be even seen by that man. That is the trouble. +Driving, she might be perfectly safe; in fact, in one way she is safe +anyhow. She is not in any danger of bodily harm, as you may think, but I +don't want her seen." + +"Why not let me take her out sometimes of an evening then?" said James, +more and more mystified. "If she wore a veil, and went out driving in +the evening, I can't see how anybody could get a glimpse of her." + +"You don't understand that we have to deal with a very devil incarnate," +said Doctor Gordon wearily. "He will be on the watch for just that very +manoeuvre. However, perhaps we may be able to manage that; I will see." + +"She will be ill if she remains in the house so closely," said James, +"especially a girl like her, who has been accustomed to lead such an +outdoor life. In fact, I don't think she does look very well now. It is +telling on her." + +"Yes, I think it is," agreed Doctor Gordon gloomily, "but again, I say, +I see no other way out of it. However, perhaps you or I can take her out +sometimes of an evening. I suppose it had better be you, on some +accounts. I will see. Well, I will take off my coat and get something to +eat. I suppose Clara and Clemency have gone to bed." + +"They went hours ago," replied James. It was, in fact, two in the +morning. James followed the doctor, haggard and weary, into the kitchen, +where, according to custom at such times, some dinner had been left to +keep warm on the range. "I'll sit down here," said Doctor Gordon. "It is +warmer than in the dining-room, and I am chilled through. If you don't +mind, Elliot, I wish you would get me a bottle of apple-jack from the +dining-room. I must have something to hearten me up, or I shall go by +the board, and I don't know what will become of her--of them." + +James sat and waited while the doctor ate and drank. When he had +finished he looked a little less haggard. He stretched himself before +the warm glow from the range and laughed. "Now I feel my fighting blood +is up again," he said. "After all, if there is anything in the Good +Book, the wicked shall not always triumph, and I may win out. I shall +do my best anyhow. But I confess you took the wind out of me with what +you told me when I came in. I am glad Clara does not know. Poor little +Clemency having to pave her way with lies, but it would kill Clara. Oh, +God, it does seem as if I had enough before. Take my advice, young man, +and try to think more of yourself than anybody else in the world. Don't +let your heart go out to anybody. Just as sure as you do, the door of +the worst torture-chamber in creation swings open. The minute you become +vulnerable through love, you haven't a strong place in your whole +armor." + +"What a doctrine!" observed James. + +"I know it, but I have taken a fancy to you, boy; and hang it if I want +you to suffer as I have to." + +"But a man would not be a man at all if he did not think enough of +somebody to suffer," said James, and now he was thinking of poor little +Clemency, and how she had nestled up to him for protection. + +"Maybe," said Doctor Gordon gloomily, "but sometimes I wonder whether it +pays in the long run to be what you call a man. Sometimes I wish that I +were a rock or a tree. I do to-night." + +"You will feel better after you have had a little sleep," James said, +as the two men rose. + +Suddenly one of Doctor Gordon's inexplicable changes of mood came over +him. He laughed. "If it were not so late we would go down to Georgie +K.'s," said he. "I never felt more awake. Well, I guess it's too late. +You must be dead tired yourself. I have not thanked you at all for your +rescue of the girl. She would have been down with a serious illness if +you had not gone, for she would have lain in that place being snowed +over until somebody came." + +"She was mighty clever to do what she did," said James. + +"Yes, she is clever," returned Doctor Gordon. "She is a good girl, and +it stings me to the very heart that she has to suffer such persecution. +Well, 'all's well that ends well.' Did it ever occur to you that God +made up to mankind for the horrors of creation, by stating that there +would be an end to it some day? Good God, if this terrible world had to +roll on to all eternity!" Doctor Gordon laughed again his unnatural +laugh. "Fancy if you were awakened to-night by the last trump," he said. +"How small everything would seem. Hang it, though, if I wouldn't try to +have a hand at that man's finish before the angel of the Lord got his +flaming sword at work." + +James looked at him with terror. + +"Don't mind me, boy," said Gordon. "I don't mean to blaspheme; but Job +is not in it with me just now. You cannot imagine what I had to contend +with before this melodramatic villain appeared on the stage. Sometimes I +think this is the finish," Gordon's mouth contracted. He looked savage. +James continued to stare at him. Gordon laid his hand on James's +shoulder. "Thank the Lord for one thing," he said almost tenderly, "that +he sent you here. Between us we will take care of poor little Clemency +anyhow. Now go to bed, and go to sleep." + +James obeyed as to the one, but he could not as to the other. He became, +as the hours wore on, so nervous that he was half-inclined to take a +sleeping powder. The room seemed full of flashes of lightning. He heard +sounds which made him cold with horror. He was highly strung nervously, +and was really in a state bordering upon hysteria. The mystery which +surrounded him was the main cause. He was never himself before an +unknown quantity. He had too much imagination. He made all sorts of +surmises as to the stranger who was haunting Clemency. Starting with two +known quantities, he might have accomplished something, but here he had +only one: Clemency herself. He had a good head for algebra, but a man +cannot work out a problem easily with only one known quantity. He began +to wonder if the poor girl herself were sleeping. He realized a sort of +protective tenderness for her, and indignation on her behalf. It did not +occur to him as being love. Still the image of her wonderful mother +dominated him. But his mind dwelt upon the girl. He thought of a piazza +whose roof opened as he knew upon Clemency's room. He wondered if a man +like that would stick at anything. Then he recalled what Doctor Gordon +had said about Clemency's not being in any bodily danger, and again he +speculated. The room began to grow pale with the late winter dawn. +Familiar objects began to gain clearness of outline. There were two +windows in James's room. They gave upon the piazza. Suddenly James made +a leap from his bed. He sprang to one of the windows. Flattened against +it was the face of the man. But the face was so destitute of +consciousness of him, that James doubted if he saw rightly. The wide +eyes seemed to gaze upon him without seeing him, the mouth smiled as if +at something within. The next moment James was sure that the face was +not there. He drew on his trousers, thrust his feet into his shoes, and +was out of his room and the house, and on the piazza. It was still +snowing, but the dawn was overcoming the storm. The whole world was lit +with dead white pallor like the face of a corpse. James rushed the +length of the piazza. He looked at the walk leading to it. He thought he +could distinguish footprints. He looked on the piazza, but the wind, +being on the other side of the house, there was not enough snow there to +make footprints visible. The snow on the walk was drifted. He looked at +it closely, and made sure of deep marks. He stood for a moment undecided +what to do. He disliked to arouse Doctor Gordon. He was afraid of +awakening Mrs. Ewing, if he ventured into the upper part of the house. +Then he thought of the man Aaron who slept in a room over the stable. He +reëntered the house, locked the front door, went softly into the +doctor's study, and out of the door which was near the stable. Then he +made a hard snowball, and threw it at Aaron's window. The window opened +directly, and Aaron's head appeared. James could see, even in the dim +light, and presumably just awakened from sleep, the rotary motion of his +jaws. He was probably not chewing anything, simply moving his mouth from +force of habit. "Hullo!" said Aaron, "that you Doctor Gordon?" + +"No, it is I," replied James. "Put on something as quick as you can, and +come down here. Something is wrong." + +Aaron's head disappeared. In an incredibly short space of time the +stable door was unlocked and slid cautiously back, and Aaron stood +there, huddled into his clothes. "What's up?" he asked. + +"I don't know. Have you got a lantern in the stable?" + +"Yep." + +"Light it quick, then, and come along with me." + +Aaron obeyed. "Anybody sick," he asked, coming alongside with the +flashing lantern. He threw a cloth over it so as to prevent the rays +shining into the house windows. "I don't want to frighten her," he said, +and James knew that he meant Mrs. Ewing. "She's awful nervous," said +Aaron. Then he said again, "What's up?" + +"I saw a man's face looking into one of my windows," replied James. + +Aaron gave a low whistle. "Somebody wanted the doc?" he inquired. + +"No," replied James shortly, "it was not." + +"Must have been." + +"No, it was not." + +"Must have been," repeated Aaron, chewing. + +"I tell you it was not. I knew--" James stopped. He suddenly wondered +how much he ought to tell the man, how much Doctor Gordon had told him. + +Aaron chewed imperturbably, but a sly look came into his face. "I have +eyes, and they see, and ears, and they hear," he said, after an odd +Scriptural fashion, "but don't you tell me nothin', Doctor Elliot. +Either I take what I get from the fountain-head, or I makes my own +conclusions that I can't help. Don't you tell me nothin'. S'pose we look +an' see ef there's footprints that show anythin'." + +Aaron flashed the lantern, all the time carefully shading it from the +house windows, over the walk which led to the front door and the piazza. +James followed him. "Well," said Aaron, "there's been somebody here, +but, with snow like this, it might have been a monkey or a rhinoceros +or an alligator. You can't make nothin' of them tracks. But they do go +out to the road, and turn toward Stanbridge." + +"Suppose we--" began James. He was about to suggest following the +prints, when he remembered Doctor Gordon's injunction to the contrary. + +However, Aaron anticipated him. "Might as well leave the devil alone," +said he. "It might have been the old one himself, for all we can tell by +them tracks. You had better go back to bed, Doctor Elliot. You ain't got +much on. It ain't near breakfast time yet. Better go back to bed." + +And James thought such a course the wiser one himself. He went back to +bed, but not to sleep. He kept his eyes fixed upon the windows. He was +prepared at any instant, should the man reappear, to spring out. He felt +almost murderous. "It has come to a pretty pass," he thought, "if that +scoundrel, whoever he may be, is lurking around the house at night." + +The daylight came slowly on account of the storm. When it did come, it +was an opaque white daylight. James began to smell coffee and frying +ham. He rose and dressed himself, and looked out of the window. It was +like looking into a blurred mirror. He began to wonder if he could have +been mistaken, if possibly that face had been simply a vision which had +come from his overwrought brain. He wondered if he should tell Doctor +Gordon, if it might not disturb him unnecessarily. He wondered if he +should have enforced secrecy upon Aaron. He was still undecided when the +Japanese gong sounded, and he went out to breakfast. Clemency was +looking worn and ill. Somehow the sight of her piteous little face +decided James. He thought how easily an athletic man could climb up one +of those piazza posts, which was, moreover, encircled by a strong old +vine which might almost serve as ladder. He made up his mind to tell +Doctor Gordon, and he did tell him when they were out upon their rounds, +tilting and sliding along the drifted country roads in an old sleigh. "I +don't think I can be mistaken," he said when he had finished. + +Doctor Gordon looked at him intently. "You are sure," he said. "You are +a nervous subject for a man, and you had not slept, and you had this man +very much on your mind, and there must have been some snow on the +window which could produce an illusion. Be very sure, because this is +serious." + +James thought again of Clemency's little white face. "Yes," he said, "I +am sure." + +"You have no doubt at all?" + +"None. The man had his face staring into the room. He did not seem to +see me, but looked past me at the bed." + +"He might easily have thought that room, being on the ground floor and +accessible to night-calls, was mine," said Doctor Gordon, as if to +himself. + +"I thought how easily he could have climbed up one of the piazza posts +to her room," said James. + +The Doctor started. "Yes, that is so," he said. "He might have had two +motives. That is so." + +The next call was at a patient's who had a slight attack of grippe. +Doctor Gordon left James there, saying that he would make another call +and be back for him directly. James noticed how he urged the horses out +of the drive at almost a run. He was back soon, and James having made up +his prescription, went out and got into the sleigh. Doctor Gordon looked +at him gloomily. "He is no longer where he has been staying," he said, +and his face settled into a stern melancholy. That evening, although the +storm continued, he suggested a visit to Georgie K.'s; and at supper +time he insisted upon Clemency's occupying another room that night. "The +wind is on your side of the house," he said, "and I am afraid you will +take more cold." Clemency stared and pouted, then said, "All right, +Uncle Tom!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Even the apple-jack and euchre at Georgie K.'s were not sufficient to +entirely establish Doctor Gordon in his devil-may-care mood. Georgie K. +kept looking at him with solicitation, which had something tender about +it. "Don't you feel well, Doc?" he asked. + +"Never felt better in my life," returned Gordon quickly. "To-night I am +feeling particularly good, because I really think I have evolved an +utterly new theory of death and disease which ought to make me famous, +if I ever get a chance to write a book about it." + +Georgie K. stared at him inquiringly. + +"I don't know that you will understand, old man," said Gordon, "but here +it is. It is simple in one way. Nobody will deny that we come of the +earth; well, we are sick and die of the earth. We grow old and weary and +drop into our graves, because of the tremendous, though unconscious and +involuntary, wear upon nerves and muscles and emotion which is required +to keep us here at all. Gravitation kills us all in the end, just as +surely as if we fell off a precipice. Gravitation is the destroyer, and +gravitation is earth-force. The same monster which produces us devours +us. That's so. I hope I shall get a chance to write that book. Clubs are +trumps; pass." + +"Sure you are well, Doc?" inquired Georgie K., again scowling anxiously. + +"Never felt better, didn't I just say so? You are a regular old hen, +Georgie K. You cluck at a fellow like a setting hen at one chicken." + +Still Doctor Gordon's gloomy face, although he tried to be jocular, did +not relax. Going home late that night, or rather early next morning, he +laid his hand heavily on James's shoulder. + +"Boy, I am about at the finish!" he groaned out. + +"Now, see here, Doctor Gordon, can't I be of some assistance if you were +to tell me?" asked James. He passed his hand under the older man's arm, +and helped him through a snowdrift as if he had been his father. A great +compassion filled his heart. + +But Gordon only groaned out a great sigh. "No," he said. "Secrecy is the +one shield I have. I don't say weapon, but shield. In these latter days +we try to content ourselves with shields; and secrecy is the strongest +shield on earth. If I were going to commit a crime, I should never even +intimate the slightest motive for it to any man living. I should trust +no man living to help me through with it." + +James felt a vague horror steal over him. He tried to speak lightly to +cover it. "I trust there is no question of crime?" he said, laughing. + +"Not the slightest," replied Gordon. "I have no intention to use a +weapon, but my shield I must stick to. Thank the Lord, you were awake +last night, and to-night Clemency is in another room. By the way, I have +bought a dog." + +"A dog?" + +"Yes, a bull terrier, well trained, but he has a voice like a whole pack +of hounds. Clemency likes dogs. I will venture that no one comes near +the house after this without waking him up." + +"You will keep him tied though." + +"Yes, unless I get driven too far," replied Gordon grimly. + +"Does Mrs. Ewing like dogs?" + +"She is as fond of them as Clemency." + +When, the next day, the dog arrived James was assured of the fact that +both Clemency and Mrs. Ewing did like dogs. They seemed more pleased +than he had ever seen them, and the dog responded readily to their +advances. He was a splendid specimen of his breed, very large, without a +spot on his white coat, and with beautiful eyes. Doctor Gordon had a +staple fixed in the vestibule, and the dog was leashed to it at night. +"I can't have my patients driven away," he said with a laugh. + +That evening Doctor Gordon had a call, and he took Aaron with him. That +left James alone with Clemency, as Mrs. Ewing retired almost immediately +after Doctor Gordon left. + +After the jingle of the sleigh-bells had died away Clemency laid down +her work and looked at James. The new dog was lying at her feet. "Uncle +Tom bought this dog on account of him," she said. As she spoke, she gave +an odd significant gesture over her shoulder as if the man were there, +and a look of horror came over her face. Immediately the dog growled, +and sprang up, raced to the door, and let forth a volley of howls and +barks. "He knows," said Clemency. "Isn't it queer? That dog knows there +is something wrong just by the way I spoke and looked." + +James himself was not quite so sure. He glanced at the closed shutters. +Then he went himself to the door to be sure that it was bolted as usual, +and through into the study. Everything was fast, but the dog continued +to race wildly back and forth from door to windows, barking wildly, with +a slender crest of hair erect on his glossy white back. Emma, the maid, +came in from the kitchen, and met James and Clemency in the hall. She +looked white, and was trembling. "I know there was somebody about the +house," she said. + +James hesitated. He thought of a possible patient. Still there had been +no ring at the office door. He considered a moment. Then he sent +Clemency, the maid, and the dog back into the parlor, and before he +opened the outer door of the office he locked the other which +communicated with the rest of the house, and put the key in his pocket. +Then he threw open the outer door and called, "Anybody there?" + +Utter silence answered him. He looked into a black wall of night. It was +not snowing, but the clouds were low and thick, and no stars were +visible. He called again in a shout, "Hullo there! Who is it?" and +obtained no response. Then he closed the door, fastened it, and returned +to the living-room. "I guess you were right," he said to Clemency. + +"Yes, I think so," said Clemency. She spoke to Emma. "Jack acted so +because of something I said to Doctor Elliot," she added. "He thought +something was wrong. He is very intelligent." The dog was again lying at +her feet. + +But Emma shook her head obstinately. She was the middle-aged daughter of +a New Jersey farmer, and had lived with the family ever since they had +resided in Alton. She had a harsh face, although rather good-looking, "I +have been used to dogs all my life," said she, "and I never knowed a dog +to act like that unless there was somebody about the house." + +"Well, I have done all I could," said James. "I called out the office +door, and nobody answered. It could not have been a patient." + +"There was somebody about the house," repeated Emma. "Well, I must go +and mix up the bread." + +When she was gone, Clemency looked palely at James. "Oh," she said, "do +you think it could have been that man?" + +"No," replied James firmly; "it must have been your gesture. That is a +very intelligent dog, and dogs have imagination. He imagined something +wrong." + +"I hope it was that," said Clemency faintly. "It seems to me I should +die if I thought that terrible man were hanging about the house. It is +bad enough never to be able to go out of doors." + +"Doctor Gordon says I may take you out driving some evening," said James +consolingly. + +Clemency looked at him with a brightening face. "Did he?" + +"Yes." + +Then to James's utter surprise Clemency broke down, and began to cry. +"Oh," she wailed, "I don't know as I want to go. I am afraid all the +time. If we were out driving, and he came up to the horse's head, what +could we do?" + +"He would get a cut across the face that he would remember," James +returned fiercely. + +"But he would see me." + +"It would be dark." + +"He might have a lantern." + +"You can wear a thick veil." + +Clemency sobbed harder than ever. "Oh, no," she wailed, "I don't want to +go so, in the dark, with a thick veil over my face, thinking every +minute he may come. Oh, no, I don't want to go." + +"You poor little soul," said James, and there was something in his voice +which he himself had never heard before. Clemency glanced up at him +quickly, and he saw as plainly as if he had been looking in a glass +himself in her blue eyes. Instantly emotions of which he had dreamed, +but never experienced, leaped up in his heart like flame. He knew that +he loved Clemency. What he had felt for her mother had been passionless +worship, giving all, and asking nothing. This was love which asked as +well as gave. "Clemency," he began, and his voice was hoarse with +emotion. She turned her head away, the tears were still on her cheeks, +but they were very red, and her cheeks were dimpling involuntarily. + +"Well?" she whispered. + +"Do you care anything about--me?" + +Clemency nodded, still keeping her face averted. + +"That means--" + +Clemency said nothing. + +"That means you love me," James whispered. + +Clemency nodded again. Then she turned her head slowly, and gave him a +narrow blue glance, and smiled like a shy child. + +"I was afraid--" she began. + +"Afraid of what, dear?" James put his arm about the girl, and the +ashe-blonde head dropped on his shoulder. + +"Afraid you--didn't." + +"Afraid I didn't care?" + +Clemency nodded against his breast. + +"I think I must have cared all the time, only at first, when I saw your +mother--" + +Clemency raised her head immediately and gave it an indignant toss. +"There," said she. "I knew it. Very well, if you would rather be my +stepfather, you can, only I think you would be a pretty one, no older, +to speak of, than I am, and I know my mother wouldn't have you anyway. +The idea of your thinking that my mother would get married again anyway, +and especially to you," Clemency said witheringly. She sat up straight +and looked at James. "I wish your father were a widower, then I would +marry him the minute he asked me," said she, "and see how you would +like it. I guess you would have a step-mother who would make you walk +chalk." Clemency tossed her head again. Then she gave a queer little +whimsical glance at James, and both of them burst out laughing, and she +was in his arms again, and he was kissing her. "There, that is enough," +said she presently. "I once wore out a doll I had kissing her. She was +wax, and it was warm weather, and I actually did wear that doll out. The +color all came off her cheeks, and she got soft." + +"You are not a doll, darling," said James fervently, and he would have +kissed her again, but she pushed him away. "No," said she, "I know the +color won't come off my cheeks, but I might get soft like that doll. One +can never tell. You must stop now. I want to talk to you. It is all +right about my mother." + +"It was only because I never saw such a woman in all my life before," +said James. "I never thought of marrying." + +"You would have had to take it out in thinking," said Clemency, "but it +is all right. I think myself that my mother is the most wonderful woman +that ever lived. I think the old Greek goddesses must have looked just +like her. I don't wonder you felt so about her. I don't know as I should +have thought much of you if you hadn't. Why, everybody falls down and +worships her. Of course I know that I am nothing compared to her. I +should be angry if you really thought so." + +"I don't think so in one way," James said honestly. "I don't think you +are as beautiful as your mother, but I love you, Clemency." + +"Well, that will do for me," said Clemency. "No, you need not kiss me +again. I think myself I shall make you a better wife than a +stepdaughter. You need not think for one minute that I would have minded +you as I do Uncle Tom." + +"But you will have to when we are married," said James. + +Clemency blushed and quivered. "Well, maybe I will," she whispered. "I +suppose I shall be just enough of a fool to stay in the house, if you +order me, the way I do when Uncle Tom does." + +"You shall stay in the house for no man alive when I have you in +charge," said James. "Clemency--" + +"What?" + +"I will take you out now, if you say so. I can protect you." + +"I know you can," Clemency said, "but I guess we had better not. You see +Uncle Tom doesn't know yet, and he will be coming home, and--" + +"I am going to tell him just as soon as he does," declared James. + +"I wonder if you had better not wait," Clemency said thoughtfully. + +"Wait? Why?" + +"Nothing, only poor Uncle Tom is frightfully worried about something +now. He worries about that dreadful man, and I am afraid he worries +about mother. I don't know exactly what he worries about; but I don't +want him worried about anything else." + +"I can't see for the life of me why he should worry about this," said +James with a piqued air. He was, in fact, considering quite naïvely that +he was not a bad match, taking into consideration his prospects, and +Clemency evidently needed all the protection she could get. + +Clemency understood directly what his tone implied. "Oh, goodness," said +she, "of course, as far as you are concerned, Uncle Tom will be pleased. +Why shouldn't he? and so will mother. Here you are young and handsome, +and well educated, and good, what more could anybody want for a girl, +unless they were on the lookout for a ducal coronet or something of that +sort? It isn't that, only there is something queer, there must be +something queer, about that man, and I don't know how much this might +complicate it. I don't know but Uncle Tom might have more occasion to +worry." + +"I don't see why," said James mystified, "but I'll wait a few days if +you say so, only I hate to have anything underhanded, you know. How +about your mother?" + +"Please wait and tell her when you tell Uncle Tom," pleaded Clemency. +All the time she was completely deceiving the young man. What she was +really afraid of was that James himself might run into danger from this +mysterious persecutor of hers if the fact of her betrothal became known. +"I shall not mind staying in the house at all now," she added. An +expression came over her face which James did not understand, which no +man would have understood. Clemency was wonderfully skilled at +needle-work, and she had plenty of material in the house. She was +reflecting innocently how she could begin at once upon some dainty +little frills for her trousseau. A delight, purely feminine, filled her +fair little face. + +"All the same," said James, "I am going to take you out before long. You +must have some fresh air." + +"I don't mind," said Clemency, then she broke off suddenly. She ran to +the farther end of the room, sat down, and snatched a book from the +table and opened it in the middle, "It is Uncle Tom," she remarked. + +James laughed, crossed the room swiftly, kissed her, then went into the +office to greet Doctor Gordon. Doctor Gordon stood by the office fire +taking off his overcoat. He looked gloomier than usual. "Who is in +there?" he asked, pointing to the living-room wall. + +"Your niece," answered James. He felt himself color, but the other man +did not notice it. + +"Mrs. Ewing has gone to bed?" + +"Yes, went directly after you left." + +Doctor Gordon's face grew darker. He had tossed his coat over a chair, +and stood staring absently at the table with its prismatic lights. + +"I know where he is," he said presently in a whisper. + +"You mean?" + +"Yes," said Doctor Gordon impatiently. "You know whom I mean. I saw him +go in--well, no matter where." + +"I suspect that he has been hanging about here," said James. + +"What makes you think so?" + +"The dog barked and acted queer." + +"Dogs always did hate him," said Doctor Gordon, with a queer expression. +Then he gave himself a shake. Here he said: "Let's have something hot +and a smoke." He called to Emma to bring some hot water and sugar and +lemons and glasses. Then he produced a bottle from a cabinet in the +office, and himself brewed a sort of punch, the like of which James had +never tasted before. + +"That's my own recipe," said Doctor Gordon, laughing. "Nobody knows what +it is, not even Georgie K. But--" he hesitated a little, then he added +laughing, "I have left it in my will for Georgie K. I made my will some +little time ago." + +James felt it incumbent upon himself to say something about Doctor +Gordon being still a young man comparatively, and healthy. To his +sanguine young mind a will seemed ominous. + +"Well, I have not reached the allotted span," Gordon replied, "but +healthier men than I have come to their end sooner than they expected, +and I wanted to make sure of some things. I wanted especially to make +sure that Clemency--Mrs. Ewing has relatives in the West, and--" + +James felt somewhat bewildered. He could not quite see what Gordon +meant, but he took another sip of the golden, fragrant compound before +him, and again remarked upon its excellence. + +"That makes me think," said Gordon, evidently glad himself to turn the +conversation. "A sip of this will do poor little Clemency good. You say +she is in the parlor." + +"Yes." + +Gordon opened the door and called Clemency, who came with a little +reluctance. The girl was afraid of her uncle's eyes. She sidled into the +office like a child who had done something wrong. She took her little +glass of punch, and never looked at James or her uncle. James, too, did +not look at her. He smoked, and almost turned his back upon her. Doctor +Gordon looked from one to the other, and his face changed. Clemency +slipped out as soon as she could, saying that she was tired. Then +Gordon turned abruptly upon James. "There is something between you two, +Clemency and you," he said in a brusque voice. + +James colored and hesitated. + +"Out with it," said Gordon peremptorily. + +"Clemency wished--" began James. + +"Wished you to keep it secret, of course. Well, she told me herself, +poor little soul, the moment she came into the room." + +James sat still. He did not know what to do. Finally he said in a +stammering voice that he hoped there would be no objection. + +"No objection certainly on my part or Mrs. Ewing, if Clemency has taken +a fancy to you," replied Doctor Gordon. "But--" he hesitated a moment. +"It is only fair to tell you that you yourself may later on entertain +some very reasonable objection," Gordon said grimly. + +"It is impossible," James cried eagerly. "I have known her only a few +weeks, but I feel as if it were a lifetime. Nothing can change me. And +as for money, if you mean anything of that kind, I don't care if she +hasn't a cent. I have my profession, and my father is well-to-do. Then, +besides, I have a little that an aunt, my mother's sister, left me. I +can support Clemency." + +"It is not that," Gordon said. "Clemency has--at least I think I can +secure it to her--a little fortune of her own, and she will have +something besides. I was not thinking of money at all." + +"Then there can be nothing," James said positively. His sense of +embarrassment had passed. He beamed at the older man. + +"There can be something else. There is something else," Gordon said +gloomily. "I don't know but I ought to tell you, but, the truth is, you +know my theory with regard to secrecy. I don't doubt but you can hold +your tongue, yet the whole affair is so dangerous, that I dare not, I +cannot, tell you yet. I can only say this, that there does exist some +obstacle to your marriage with my niece, and your engagement must be +regarded by myself in a tentative light. If the time ever comes when you +know all, and wish to withdraw, you can do so in my opinion with perfect +honor. In the meantime you had better say nothing to any one outside. +You had better not even tell Mrs. Ewing. I hope Clemency herself will +not. Perhaps when she has had a few hours in which to collect herself, +her face will not be quite so tell-tale." + +"Nothing whatever can change me," said James, with almost anger. + +Gordon shook his head. "I begin to think I may have done you a wrong +having you come here at all," he said. "I suppose I ought to have +thought of the possibility, but I have had so much on my mind." + +"You have done me the greatest good I ever had done me in my whole +life," James said fervently. + +Gordon rose and shook the young man's hand. "As far as Clemency and I +and Mrs. Ewing are concerned," he said, "nothing could have been better. +Well, we will hope for the best, my boy." He clapped James on the +shoulder and smiled, and James went to his room feeling dizzy with +happiness and mystery, and a trifle so with the doctor's punch. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The next morning James was awakened by loud voices coming from the +vicinity of the stable. He had not slept very well, and now at dawn felt +drowsy, but the voices would not let him sleep. He rose, dressed, and +went out in the stable-yard. There he found Doctor Gordon, Aaron, and a +strange man, small, and red-haired, and thin-faced, with shifty eyes, +holding by the bridle a fine black horse. + +"Don't want to buy a horse with a bridle on," Doctor Gordon was saying +as James appeared. + +"Do you think I'm the man to bear insults?" inquired the little +red-haired man with fierceness. + +"Insult nothing. It is business," said Gordon. + +"That's so," Aaron said, chewing and eyeing the black horse and the +red-haired man thoughtfully. + +"Well," said the little red-haired man with an air at once of injured +innocence and ferocity, "if you want to know why I object to selling +this horse without a bridle, come here, and I'll show you." Gordon and +Aaron and James approached. The red-haired man slipped the bridle, and +underneath it appeared a small sore. "There, that's the reason, and I'll +tell you the truth," said the man defiantly. "Here I am trying to sell +this darned critter; paid a cool hundred for him, and everybody says +jest as you do, won't buy him with the bridle on. Then I takes off the +bridle, and they sees this little bile, and there's an end to it. I +suppose it's the same with you. Well, good day, gentlemen. You're losin' +a darned good trade, but it ain't my fault. Here's an animal I paid a +cool hundred for, and I'm offering him for ninety. I'm ten dollars out, +besides my time." + +"Let me see that sore again," said Gordon. He slipped the bridle and +examined the place carefully. Then he looked hard at the horse, which +stood with great docility, although he held his head proudly. He was a +fine beast, glossy black in color, and had a magnificent tail. + +"Make it eighty-five," said Gordon. + +"Couldn't think of it." + +"I don't know as I want the horse anyway," said Gordon. + +"I'll call it eighty-seven and a half," said the little red-haired man. + +Gordon stood still for a moment. Then he pulled out his wallet. +"Eighty-six and call it square," he said. + +"All right," said the red-haired man. "It's a-givin' of him away, but +I'm so darned tired of trampin' the country with him, that I'll call it +eighty-six, and it's the biggest bargain you ever got in your life in +the way of horse flesh. I wouldn't let him go at that figure, but my +wife's sick, and I want to get home." + +The red-haired man carefully counted over the roll of bank-notes which +Doctor Gordon gave him, although it seemed to James that he used some +haste. He also thought that he was evidently anxious to be gone. He +refused Gordon's offer of breakfast, saying that he had already had some +at the hotel. Then he was gone, walking with uncommon speed for such a +small man. Aaron, James, and Doctor Gordon stood contemplating the new +purchase. James patted him. "He looks like a fine animal," he remarked. +Aaron shifted his quid, and said with emphasis, "Want me to hitch up and +bring that little red-haired cuss back?" + +"Why, what for?" asked Doctor Gordon. "I guess I have made a good trade, +Aaron." + +"You mark my words, there's somethin' out," said Aaron dogmatically. + +"I guess you're wrong this time," said Doctor Gordon, laughing. "Come, +Elliot, it is time for breakfast, and we have to drive to Wardville +afterward for that fever case." + +James followed Gordon into the dining-room. Clemency said good morning +almost rudely, then she hid her face behind the coffee-urn. Gordon +glanced at her and smiled tenderly, but the girl did not see it. James +never looked her way at all. She turned the coffee with apparent +concentration. She did not dare look at either of the two men. She had +never felt so disturbedly happy and so shy. She had not slept all night, +she was so agitated with happiness, but this morning she showed no +traces of sleeplessness. There was an unwonted color on her little fair +face, and her blue eyes were like jewels under her drooping lids. + +They were nearly through breakfast when the door which led into the +kitchen was abruptly thrown open, and Aaron stood there. In his hand he +flourished dramatically a great streaming mass of black. "Told you so," +he observed with a certain triumph. The others stared at him. + +"What on earth is that?" asked Gordon. + +"That new horse's tail; it comes off," replied Aaron with brevity. Then +he chewed. + +"Comes off?" + +Aaron nodded, still chewing. + +Gordon rose from the table saying something under his breath. + +"That ain't all," said Aaron, still with an air of sly triumph. + +"What else, for Heaven's sake?" cried Gordon. + +"Well, he cribs," replied Aaron laconically. Then he chewed. + +"That was why he didn't want to take the bridle off?" + +Aaron nodded. + +Gordon stood staring for a second, then he burst into a peal of +laughter. "Bless me if I ever got so regularly done," said he. "Say, +Aaron, that was a smart chap. He has talent, he has." + +"Aren't you going to try to find him?" asked James. + +"Well, we'll keep a lookout on the way to Wardville," said Gordon; "and, +Aaron, you may as well put the chestnut in the old buggy and drive +Stanbridge way, and see if you can get sight of him." + +"He's had a half-hour's start," said Aaron. "You might track a fox, but +you can't him." + +"I guess you are about right," said Gordon, "but we'll do all we can. +However, I think I'll try to get even with Sam Tucker. It's a good +chance. I'll drive the new horse to Wardville. Aaron, you just tie that +tail on again, and fasten it up so as to keep it out of the mud." + +Aaron grinned. "Goin' to get even for that white horse?" + +"I'm going to try it." + +Gordon was all interest. James regarded him as he had done so many times +before with wonder. That such a man should have such powers of +assimilation astounded him. He was actually as amused and interested in +being done, as he called it, and in trying in his turn to wipe off some +old score, as any countryman. He seemed, to the young man, to have +little burrows like some desperate animal, into which he could dive, and +be completely away from his enemies, and even from himself, when he +chose. + +He hurriedly drank the remainder of his coffee, and was in his office +getting his medicine-case ready. James lingered, in the hopes of +getting a word and a kiss from Clemency. But the child, the moment her +uncle went out, fled. It was odd. She wanted to stay and have a minute +with James alone more than she had ever wanted anything, but it was for +just that very reason that she ran away. + +James felt hurt. At that time, the mind of a girl, and its shy workings, +were entirely beyond his comprehension. He saw no earthly reason why +Clemency should have avoided him. He followed Gordon with rather a +downcast face into the office, and begun assisting him with his +medicines. Gordon himself was too full of interest in the horse trade to +remark anything. At times he chuckled to himself. Now and then he would +burst out anew in a great peal of laughter. "Hang it all! I don't like +to be done any better than any other man, but that little red-haired +scamp was clever and no mistake," he said, "showing me that little sore. +I believe he had sandpapered the poor beast on purpose. He took me in as +neatly as I ever saw anything done in my life. Well, Elliot, you wait +and see me get even with Sam Tucker. I have been waiting my chance. +About two years ago he worked me, and not half as cleverly as this +either. He made me feel that I was a fool. The red-haired one needed the +devil himself to get round him, and see through his little game. Sam +Tucker sold me, or rather traded with me a veritable fiend of a horse +for an old mare. The mare was old, but she had a lot of go in her, and +was sound, and the other, well, Sam had bought him for a song, because +nobody would drive him, and he had killed two men. He was a white horse +with as wicked an eye as you ever saw, and ears always cocked for +mischief, like the arch fiend's horns. Well, Sam, he made some kind of a +dye, and he actually dyed that animal a beautiful chestnut, and traded +him for my old mare. I even paid a little to boot. Well, next morning I +sent Aaron down to the store in a soaking rain, and the horse bolted at +a white rock beside the road, and the buggy was knocked into kindling +wood. Aaron wasn't hurt. He always comes out right side up. But when he +came leading that snorting, dancing beast home, the chestnut dye was +pretty well off, and I knew him in a minute. Well, he was shot, and I +was my old mare and some money out. I wasn't going to have men's lives +on my conscience. But this is another matter. Now I've got my chance to +get even, and I'm going to get my old mare back." + +Presently the two men were out on the road driving the black horse. He +went well enough, and seemed afraid of nothing. "There's not much the +matter with this animal except the tail and the cribbing, I guess," said +the doctor. "As for the tail, that is simply a question of ornament and +taste. The cribbing is more serious, of course, but I guess Sam Tucker +won't be in any danger of his life." They had not gone far before the +doctor drew up before a farmhouse on the left. A man with a serious +face, thin and wiry, was coming around the house with a wheelbarrowful +of potatoes. "Hullo, Sam!" called Doctor Gordon. The man left his barrow +and came alongside. James could see that he had a keen eye upon the +horse. "Fine morning," said the doctor. + +Sam Tucker gave a grunt by way of assent. He was niggardly with speech. + +"Have you got any more of those Baldwin apples to sell?" asked Doctor +Gordon, to James's intense surprise. + +Sam Tucker looked reflectively at the doctor for a full minute, then +gave utterance to a monosyllable. "Bar'l." + +"So you've got a barrel to sell," said Gordon. + +Sam nodded. + +"Well, I'll send my man over for them. They are mighty fine apples, and +Emma said yesterday that we were about out. I suppose they are the same +price." + +Sam nodded. + +"Seems as if you might take off a little, it is so late, and you might +have them spoiling on your hands," said Gordon, and James began to +wonder if they had come to drive a sharp bargain on apples instead of +horses. + +Sam shook his head emphatically. "Same," he said. + +"Well, I suppose I've got to pay it if you ask it," said Gordon. "I +can't buy any such apples elsewhere. You've got it your way. I'll send +the money over by Aaron." Doctor Gordon gathered up the reins, but Sam +Tucker seemed to experience a sudden convulsion all over his lank body. +"Horse," he said. + +Doctor Gordon drove on a yard, but Sam, running alongside, he stopped. +"Yes," he said placidly, "horse. What do you think of him?" + +Sam said nothing. He looked at the horse. + +"He's the biggest bargain I ever got," said Gordon. "I am going to hang +on to him. Once in a while there is an honest deal in horses. I am not +bringing up anything, Sam. I believe in letting bygones be bygones, +although you did risk my life and my man's. But this time I am all +right." Gordon gathered up the reins again, and again Sam Tucker stopped +him. James barely saw the man's mouth move. He could not hear that he +said anything, but a peculiar glow of eager greed lit up his long face, +and Gordon seemed to understand him perfectly. "You can take your oath +not," he said brusquely. "What do you take me for? You have stuck me +once, and now you think you are going to do it again. You can bet your +life you are not." Again he gathered up the reins. Sam Tucker's face +gleamed like a coal. James saw for the first time in its entirety the +trading instinct rampant. Again Gordon seemed to understand what had +apparently not been spoken. "No, Sam Tucker," he declared almost +brutally, "I will not trade back for that old mare you cheated me out +of, not if you were to give me your whole farm to boot. I know that old +mare. I wasn't the only one that got stuck. She's got the heaves. I know +her. No, sir, you don't do me again. I've got a good horse this time, +and I mean to hang on to him." + +Again Gordon attempted to drive on, and once more Sam stopped him. James +felt at last fairly dizzy, when he heard the farmer almost beg Gordon to +trade horses, offer him twenty-five dollars to boot, and the apples. He +sat in the buggy watching while the mare was led out of the stable, the +black horse was taken out of the traces, and the bridle was left on +without a remonstrance on Sam's part, and exchanged for a much newer +one, while twenty-five dollars in dirty bank-notes were carefully +counted out by Sam, and then Gordon jumped into the buggy and drove off. +He was quivering with suppressed mirth. "The biter is bitten this time," +he said as soon as he was out of hearing of Sam Tucker. Then he made an +exclamation of dismay. + +"What's the matter?" asked James. + +"Well, I have left my whip. I must risk it and go back. I paid a lot for +that whip." + +Gordon turned and drove back at a sharp trot. When they came alongside +the farm fence James saw the whip lying on the ground, and jumped out to +get it. He was back in the buggy, and they were just proceeding on +their way, when there was a shout, and Sam Tucker came rushing around +the house, and held the horse's tail as Aaron had done in the morning. +"Comes off," he gasped. + +"Of course," said the doctor coolly. "I didn't say it didn't. It's for +convenience in muddy weather." + +"Cribs," gasped Sam Tucker. + +"Yes, a little," said Gordon. "Keep him away from hitching-posts. You +didn't say you wanted a horse to hitch. He never cribs when he's driven. +Good-day, Sam." + +Gordon and James were off again. Gordon was doubled up with merriment, +in which James joined. "I'm glad to get behind old Fanny once more," +said Gordon. "She's worth two of that other animal! Clemency will be +glad to see her again. She felt badly when I traded her. In fact, I +wouldn't have done it if I had known how much the child cared for the +mare. She used to drive her a lot and pet her. I think it will be +perfectly safe for you to take Clemency out driving when there isn't a +moon. Fanny is pretty fast when she is touched with the whip, and, +though she's gentle, she hasn't much use for strangers. I don't think +she would stand a stranger at her head. I think you may go out to-night, +if you like. Poor Clemency needs the air. We'll use the team this +afternoon, and Fanny will be fresh by evening." + +James colored. He remembered how Clemency had avoided him that morning. +"Perchance she won't care to go," he said. + +"Of course, she will," said Gordon. "She will go, and I want her to, but +you must always bear in mind what I told you last night, and--" he +hesitated. "Don't do your utmost to make the poor little thing think you +are the moon and sun and stars in case you should change your mind," he +finished. + +"I shall never change my mind," James said hotly. + +"You will be justified if you do," Gordon said gravely. "Perhaps you +will not. But you are old enough, and ought to have self-command enough +to keep your head, and shield the poor child against possible +contingencies. You have not known each other very long. It is not +possible that she would die of it now, nor you. If you can only keep +your head, and meander along the path of love instead of plunging into +bottomless depths, it will be better for both of you. I know what I am +talking about. I am old enough to be your father. Go slow, for God's +sake, if you care about the girl." + +"She is the whole world to me," said James. + +"Then, go slow! It will be better for her if you are not the whole world +to her, until you know what a day may bring forth." + +"I don't care what a day brings forth." + +"You are tempting the gods?" said Gordon. "Elliot, you don't know what +you are talking about. I am not treating you fairly not to tell you the +whole story, but I don't see my way clear. You must bear in mind what I +say. I did not think of any such complication when you came here. I was +a fool not to. I know what young people are, and Clemency is a darling, +and you have your good points. The amount of it is, if I don't get stuck +by Sam Tucker in a horse trade, Fate sticks me in something bigger. I +don't see the inevitable, I suppose, because I am so close to it that it +is like facing the wall of a precipice all the time. We have to stop +here. The woman's daughter is coming down with a fever, which will not +kill her, and she will have it to brag of all her life. She will date +all earthly events from this fever. Whoa, Fanny!" + +That evening James and Clemency went for a drive. It was a clear night, +but dark, save for the stars. Clemency had a thick veil over her face, +which seemed entirely unnecessary. Directly as they started, she made a +little involuntary nestling motion toward the young man at her side. It +was as innocent as the nestling of a baby. James put his arm around her. +He thought with indignation of Doctor Gordon's warning, as if anything +in the world could cause him to change his mind about this dear child +who loved him. "You darling!" he whispered. "So you have not thought +better of it." + +"What do you mean?" Clemency whispered back. + +"Why, dear, you have fairly run away from me all day long." + +"I was afraid," Clemency whispered, then she put her head against his +shoulder, and laughed a delicious little laugh. "I never was in love +before, and I don't know how to act," said she. + +"Put up your veil," said James. + +"Why?" + +"I want a kiss." + +Clemency put up her veil obediently and kissed him like a child. Then +there was a sudden flash of light from a lantern, and a dark form was +at the mare's head. But she was true to her master's opinion of her. She +gave a savage duck at the man and started violently, so that James was +forced to release Clemency and devote his entire attention to driving. +Clemency shrank close to him, shivering like one in a chill. "He saw +me," she gasped. "It was that same man, and this time he saw me." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +James and Clemency had hardly started upon their drive before there was +a ring at the office door, and Doctor Gordon, who was alone there, +answered it. He was confronted by a man who lived half-way between Alton +and the next village on the north. He had walked some three miles to get +some medicine for his wife, who was suffering from rheumatism. He was +pathetically insistent upon the fact that his wife did not require a +call from the doctor, only some medicine. "Now, see here, Joe," said +Gordon, "if I really thought your wife needed a call, I would go, and it +should not cost you a cent more than the medicine, but I am dog tired, +and not feeling any too well myself, and if her symptoms are just as you +say, I think I can send her something which will fix her up all right." + +"She is just the way she was last year," said the man. He did not look +unlike Gordon, although he was poorly clad, and was a genuine son of the +New Jersey soil. His poor clothes, even his skin, had a clayey hue, as +if he had been really cast from the mother earth. It was frozen outside, +but a reddish crust from the last thaw was on his hulking boots. He +spoke with a drawl, which was nasal, and yet had something sweet in it. +"I would have came this afternoon, but I was afraid you might have went +out," he remarked. + +"Yes, I was out," replied Gordon, who was filling out a prescription. +The man stooped and patted the bull terrier, which had not evinced the +slightest emotion at his entrance. + +"Mighty fine dog," said the man. + +"Yes, he is a pretty good sort," replied Gordon. + +"Shouldn't like to meet him if I had came up to your house an' no one +round, and he had took a dislike to me." + +"I should not myself," said Gordon. "But he does not dislike you." + +"Dogs know me pooty well," said the man. "They ain't no particler likin' +for me. Don't want to run and jump an' wag, but they know I mean well, +and they mostly let me alone." + +"Yes, I guess that's so," said Gordon. "Jack would have barked if he had +not known you were all right, Joe." + +"Queer how much they know," said the man reflectively, and a dazed look +overspread his dingy face with its cloud of beard. If once he became +launched upon a current of reflection, he lost his mental bearings +instantly and drifted. + +"Well, they do know," said Gordon. "Now listen, Joe! You see this +bottle. You give your wife a spoonful of the medicine in a glass of +water every three hours. Mind, you make it a whole tumbler full of +water." + +"Yes, sir," replied the man. + +"Of course, you need not wake her up if she gets to sleep," said the +doctor, "but every three hours when she is awake." + +"Yes, sir." The man began fumbling in his pocket, but Gordon stopped +him. "No," he said, "put up your pocketbook, Joe. I don't want any +money. I get this medicine at wholesale, and it don't cost much." + +"I come prepared to pay," said the man. He straightened his shoulders +and flushed. + +"Oh, well," said Doctor Gordon, "wait. If you need more medicine, or it +seems necessary that I should drive over to see your wife, you can do a +little work on my garden in the spring, or you can let me have a bushel +of your new potatoes when they are grown next summer, or some apples, +and we'll call it square. Wait; I don't want any money for that bottle +of medicine to-night anyhow. Did you walk over, Joe?" + +Joe said that he had walked over. "Aaron might just as well drive you +home as not," said Gordon. "The sooner your wife has that medicine the +better. How is the baby getting along?" + +"First-rate. I'd just as soon walk, doctor." + +For answer Gordon opened the door and called Aaron, and told him to +hitch up and take the man home. + +"Doctor Elliot has gone with the bay," said Aaron. "The teams are about +played out, and there's nothin' except the gray." + +"Take her then." + +"She looked when I fed her jest now as if she was half a mind to balk at +takin' her feed," Aaron remarked doubtfully. + +"Nonsense! Give her a loose rein, and she'll be all right." + +Aaron went out grumbling. + +Gordon offered the man a cigar, which he accepted as if it had been a +diamond. "I'll save it up for next Sunday, when I've got a little time +to sense it," he said. "I know what your cigars be." + +Gordon forced another upon him, and the man looked as pleased as a +child. + +Presently a shout was heard, and Gordon opened the office door. + +"Here's Aaron with the buggy," he said. + +He stood in the doorway watching, but the gray, instead of balking, went +out of the yard with an angry plunge. Gordon shook his head. + +"Confound him, he's pulling too hard on the lines," he muttered. Then he +closed and locked the office door, and went into the living-room to find +it deserted. Gordon called up the stairs. "Have you gone to bed, Clara?" +His voice was at once tenderly solicitous and angry. + +Mrs. Ewing answered him from above, and in her tone was something +propitiating. "Yes, Tom, dear," she called. + +Gordon hesitated a moment. His face took on its expression of utmost +misery. "Is--the pain very bad?" he called then, and called as if he +were in actual fear. + +"No, dear," the woman's patient, beseeching voice answered, "not very +bad." + +"Not very?" + +"No, only I felt a little twinge, and thought I had better go to bed. I +am quite comfortable now. I think I shall go to sleep. I am sorry to +leave you alone all the evening, Tom." + +"That's right," called Gordon. His voice rang harsh, in spite of his +effort to control it. He threw his arm over his eyes, and fairly groped +his way back to his office, stifling his sobs. When he was in his office +he flung himself into a chair, and bent his head over his hands on the +table, and his whole frame shook. "Oh, my God!" he muttered. "Oh, my +God!" He did not weep, but he gasped like a child whom his mother has +commanded not to weep. Terrible emotion fairly convulsed him. He +struggled with it as with a visible foe. At last he sat up and filled +his pipe. The dog had crept close to him, and was nestling against him +and whimpering. Gordon patted his head. The dog licked his hand. + +The simple, ignorant sympathy of this poor speechless thing nearly +unnerved the man again, but he continued to smoke. He looked at the dog, +whose honest brown eyes were fixed upon him with an almost uncanny +understanding, and reflected how the woman upstairs, who was passing out +of his life, had become in a few days so associated with the animal, +that after she was gone he could never see him without a pang. He +looked about the office, with whose belongings she was less associated +than with anything in the house, and it seemed to him that everything +even there would have for him, after she had passed, a terrible sting of +reminiscence. It seemed to him, as he looked about, as if she were +already gone. He was, in fact, suffering as keenly in anticipation as he +would in reality. The horror, the worst horror of life, of being left +alive with the dead and the associations of the dead was already upon +him. Some people are comforted by such associations, others they rend. +Gordon was one whom they would rend, whom they did rend. He made up his +mind, as he sat there, that he would have to go away from Alton, and +enter new scenes for the healing of his spirit, and yet he knew that he +should not go: that at the last his courage would assert itself. + +He sat smoking, the dog's head on his knee. There was not a sound to be +heard in the house. Emma, the maid, had gone away to visit a sick +sister. She might not be back that night. So there was absolute silence, +even in the kitchen. Suddenly the dog lifted his head and listened to +something which Gordon could not himself hear. He watched the dog +curiously. The dog gave a low growl of fear and rage, and made for the +office door. He began scratching at the threshold, and emitted a perfect +volley of barks. It did not sound like one dog, but a whole pack. +Gordon, with an impulse which he could not understand, quickly put out +the prism-fringed lamp which hung over his table. Then he sprang to the +dog, and had the dog by the collar. "Be still, Jack," he said in a low +voice, and the dog obeyed instantly, although he was quivering under his +hand. Gordon could feel the muscles run like angry serpents under the +smooth white hair, he felt the crest of rage along his back. But the +animal was so well trained that he barked no more. He only growled very +softly, as if to himself, and quivered. + +Gordon ordered him to charge in a whisper, and the dog stretched himself +at his feet, although it was like the crouch of a live wire. Then Gordon +rose and went softly to a window beside the door. The office had very +heavy red curtains. It was impossible, since they were closely drawn, +that a ray of light from within should have been visible outside. Gordon +had reasoned it out quickly when he extinguished the lamp. Whoever was +without would have had no possible means of knowing that anything except +the dog was in the office, but the light once out, Gordon could peep +around the curtain and ascertain, without being himself seen, what or +who was about. He had a premonition of what he should see, and he saw +it. The stable door was almost directly opposite that of the office. +Between the two doors there was a driveway. On this driveway the only +pale thing to be seen in the darkness was the tall, black figure of a +man standing perfectly still, as if watching. His attitude was +unmistakable. The long lines of him, upreared from the pale streak of +the driveway, were as plainly to be read as a sign-post. They signified +watchfulness. His back was toward the office. He stood face toward the +curve of the drive toward the road, where any one entering would first +be seen. Gordon, peeping around his curtain, knew the dark figure as he +would have known his own shadow. In one sense it had been for years his +shadow, and that added to the horror of it. The man behind the curtain +watched, the man in the drive watched; and the dog, crouched at the +threshold of the door, watched with what sublimated sense God alone +knew, which enabled him to know as much as his master, and now and then +came the low growl. Gordon began to formulate a theory in his mind. He +remembered suddenly the man whom Aaron had driven home. He realized that +the watching man might easily have mistaken him for Gordon himself, +going away with his man to make a call upon some patient. He suspected, +with an intensity which became a certainty, that the man knew that +Clemency and Elliot were out and would presently return, and that it was +for them he was watching. All the time he thought of the sick woman +upstairs, and was glad that her room faced on the other side of the +house. He was in agony lest she should be disturbed. + +Doctor Gordon was usually a man of resources, but now he did not know +what to do. The dark figure on the park-drive made now and then a +precautionary motion of his right arm as he watched, which was +significant. Gordon knew that he was holding a revolver in readiness. In +the event of Aaron returning alone he would probably be puzzled, and +Gordon thought that he might slip away. In the event of James and +Clemency returning first, Gordon thought that he knew conclusively what +he purposed--a bullet for James, and then away with the girl, unless he +was hindered. + +Gordon let the curtain slip back into place, and with a warning gesture +to the dog, who was ready for action, he tiptoed across the room to the +table, in a drawer of which he kept his own revolver. He opened the +drawer softly, and rummaged with careful hands. No revolver was there. +He made sure. He even opened other drawers and rummaged, but the weapon +was certainly missing. He stood undecided for a moment. Then he went +softly out of the room, bidding in a whisper the dog to follow. He crept +upstairs and paused at a closed chamber door. Then he opened it very +carefully. Mrs. Ewing at once spoke. "Is that you, dear?" she said. + +"Yes, I wanted to tell you not to be frightened, dear, if you should +hear a shot or the dog bark." + +There was a rustling in the dark room. Mrs. Ewing was evidently sitting +up in bed. "Oh, Tom, what is it?" she whispered. + +Gordon forced a laugh. "Nothing at all," he replied, "except there's a +fox or something out in the yard, and Jack is wild. I may get a shot at +him. Do you know where my revolver is?" + +"Why, where you always keep it, dear, in the table drawer in the +office." + +"I don't seem to see it. I guess I will take your little pistol." + +"Oh, Tom, I am sorry, but I know that won't go off. Clemency tried it +the other day. You remember that time Emma dropped it. I think something +or other got bent. You know it was a delicate little thing." + +"Oh, well," said Gordon carelessly, "I dare say I can find my revolver." + +"I don't see who could have taken it away." said Mrs. Ewing. "I am sorry +about my pistol, because you gave it to me too, dear." + +"I'll get another for you," said Gordon, "Those little dainty, +lady-like, pearl-mounted weapons don't stand much." + +"I am feeling very comfortable, dear," Mrs. Ewing said in her anxious, +sweet voice. "You will be careful, won't you, with your revolver, with +that dog jumping about?" + +"Yes, dear. I dare say I shall not use the revolver anyway, but don't be +frightened if you should hear a little commotion." + +"No, Tom." + +"Go to sleep." + +"Yes, I think I can. I do feel rather sleepy." + +Gordon closed the door carefully and retraced his steps to the office, +the dog at his heels. He slipped the curtain again and looked out. The +man still stood watching in the driveway. Gordon had never been at such +a loss as to his best course of action. He was absolutely courageous, +but here he was unarmed, and he could have no reasonable doubt that if +he should go out, he would be immediately shot. In such a case, what of +the woman upstairs? And, moreover, what of James and Clemency? He +thought of any available weapon, but there was nothing except his own +stick. That was stout, it was true, but could he be quick enough with +it? His mad impulse to rush out unarmed except with that paltry thing +could hardly be restrained, but he had to think of other lives beside +his own. + +He began to think that the only solution of the matter was the return of +Aaron alone. The watching man would immediately realize that he had made +some mistake, that he, Gordon, was in the house, or had been left at the +home of a patient. He could have no possible reason for molesting the +man. He would probably slip aside into a shadow, then make his way back +to the road. In such a case Gordon determined that he and Aaron would +follow him to make sure that no harm came to James and Clemency. So +Gordon stood motionless waiting, in absolute silence, except for the +frequently recurring mutter of fear and rage of the dog. As time went on +he became more and more uneasy. It seemed to him finally that Aaron +should have been back long before. He moved stealthily across the room, +and consulted his watch by the low light of the hearth fire. Aaron had +been gone an hour. He should have returned, for the mare was a good +roadster when she did not balk. Gordon shook his head. He began to be +almost sure that the mare had balked. He returned to the window. His +every nerve was on the alert. The moment that James and Clemency should +drive into the yard, he made ready to spring, but the horrible fear lest +it should be entirely unavailing haunted him. If only Aaron would come. +Then the man would slip into cover of the shadows, and steal out into +the road, and Gordon would jump into the buggy, and he and Aaron would +follow him. He knew the man well enough to be sure that he would never +venture an attack upon James and Clemency with witnesses. If only Aaron +would come! Gordon became surer that the mare had balked. He vowed +within himself that she should be shot the next day if she had. Every +moment he thought he heard the sound of wheels and horse's hoofs. His +nervous tension became something terrible. Once he thought of stealing +through the house, and out by the front door, and walking to meet James +and Clemency so as to warn them. But that would leave the helpless woman +upstairs alone. He dared not do that. + +He thought then of going to the front of the house, and watching there, +and endeavoring to intercept James and Clemency before they turned into +the driveway. But he felt that he could not for one second relax his +watch upon the watching man, and he had no guarantee whatever that, at +the first sound of wheels, the man himself would not make for the front +of the house. Then he thought, as always, of not disturbing the sick +woman whose room faced the road. It seemed to him that his only course +was to remain where he was and wait for the return of Aaron before James +and Clemency. He knew now that the horse must have balked. His only hope +was that James and Clemency, since it was such a fine night, and time +is so short for lovers, might take such a long drive that even the balky +mare might relent. Always he heard at intervals the trot of a horse, +which only existed in his imagination. He began to wonder if he should +know when Aaron, or Clemency and James, actually did drive into the +yard, if he should be quick enough. Suddenly he thought of the dog: that +he would follow him, and of what might happen. The dog's chain-leash was +on the table. He stole across, got it, fastened it to the animal's +collar, and made the end secure to a staple which he had had fixed in +the wall for that purpose. As yet no intention of injury to the man +except in self-defense was in his mind. If actually attacked, he must +defend himself, of course, but he wished more than anything to drive the +intruder away with no collision. That was what he hoped for. The time +went on, and the strain upon the doctor's nerves was nearly driving him +mad. Sometimes the mare balked for hours. He began to hope that Aaron +would leave her, and return home on foot. That would settle the matter. +But he remembered a strange trait of obstinacy in Aaron. He remembered +how he had once actually sat all night in the buggy while the mare +balked. The man balked as well as the horse. "The damned fool," he +muttered to himself in an agony. The dog growled in response. Then it +was that first the thought came to Gordon of what might be done to save +them all. He stood aghast with the horror of it. He was essentially a +man of peace himself, unless driven to the wall. He was a good fighter +at bay, but there was in his heart, along with strength, utter good-will +and gentleness toward all his kind. He only wished to go his way in +peace, and for those whom he loved to go in peace, but that had been +denied him. He began considering the nature of the man whose dark figure +remained motionless on the driveway. He knew him from the first. It +sounded sensational, his recapitulation of his knowledge, but it was +entirely true. It was that awful truth, which is past human belief, +which no man dares put into fiction. That man out there had been from +his birth a distinct power for evil upon the face of the earth. He had +menaced all creation, so far as one personality may menace it. He was a +force of ill, a moral and spiritual monster, and the more dangerous, +because of a subtlety and resource which had kept him immune from the +law. He outstripped the law, whose blood-hounds had no scent keen enough +for him. He had broken the law, but always in such a way that there was +not, and never could be, any proof. There had not been even suspicion. +There had been knowledge on Gordon's part, and Mrs. Swing's, but +knowledge without proof is more helpless than suspicion with it. The man +was unassailable, free to go his way, working evil. + +Again Gordon thought he heard the nearing trot of a horse, and again the +dog growled. Gordon was not quite sure that time that a horse had not +passed the house. He told himself in despair that he could not be sure +of knowing when James and Clemency came, and again the awful thought +seized him, and again he reflected upon the man outside. Suppose, +instead of wearing the semblance of humanity, he had worn the semblance +of a beast, then his course would have been clear enough. Suppose it +were a hungry wolf watching out there, instead of a man, and this man +was worse than any wolf. He was like the weir-wolf of the old +Scandinavian legend. He had all the cowardly cruelty of a wolf, he was a +means of evil, but he had the trained brain of a man. + +Gordon thought he heard footsteps, and the man made a very slight +motion. Gordon thought joyfully that Aaron had left the balky mare, and +had returned, but it was not so. He had heard nothing except the +pulsations of the blood in his own overwrought brain. + +He wondered if he were really going mad, although all the time his mind +was steadily at work upon the awful problem which had been forced upon +it. Should any power for evil be allowed to exist upon the earth if +mortal man had strength to stamp it out? Suppose that was a poisonous +snake out there, and not a man. What was out there was worse than any +snake. Gordon reasoned as the first man in Eden may have reasoned; and +he did not know whether his reasoning were right or wrong. Meantime, the +danger increased every moment. Of one thing he was perfectly sure: he +had no personal motive for what he might or might not do. He had reached +that pass when he was himself, as far as he himself was concerned, +beyond hate of that man outside. It was a principle for which he argued. +Should a monster, something abnormal in strength and subtlety and +wickedness, something which menaced all the good in the world, be +allowed to exist? Gordon argued that it should not. He was driven to it +by years of fruitless struggling against this monstrous creation in the +shape of man. He had seen such suffering because of him; his whole life +had been so turned and twisted this way and that way because of him, +that he himself had in the end become abnormal, and mentally askew, with +the system of things. He was conscious of it himself. He had been +naturally a good, simple, broad-visioned man, full of charity, with +almost no subtlety. He had been forced to lead a life which strained and +diverted all these good traits. Where he would have been open, he had +been secret. Where he would have had no suspicion of any one, his first +sight now seemed to be for ulterior motives. He weighed and measured +where he naturally would have scattered broadcast. He had been obliged +to compress his broad vision into a narrow window of detection. He was +not the man he had been. Where he had gazed out of wide doors and +windows at life, he now gazed through keyholes, and despised himself for +so doing. In order to evade the trouble which had fallen to his lot, he +took refuge in another personality. Thomas Gordon was a man whom a +happy and untroubled life would have kept from all worldly blemish. Now +the gold was tarnished, and he himself always saw the tarnish, as one +sees a blur before the eye. Twenty years before, if any one had told him +that he would at any period of his life become capable of standing and +arguing with himself as to the right or wrong of what was now in his +mind, he would have been incredulous. He had in reality become another +man. Circumstances had evolved him, during the course of twenty years, +into something different, as persistent winds evolve a pliant tree into +another than its typical shape. Gordon had lost his type. + +As he stood at the window the room grew cold. The hearth fire had died +down. He knew that the furnace needed attention, but he dared not quit +his post and his argument. He became sure that the maid would not return +that night. He knew that Aaron was sitting with his human obstinacy +behind the obstinate brute, somewhere on the road. He knew that James +and Clemency might at any moment drive in, and he might rush out too +late to prevent murder and the kidnapping of the girl. He knew what the +man was there for. And he knew the one way to thwart him, but it was so +horrible a way that it needed all this argument, all this delay and +nearing of danger, before he adopted it. + +The increasing cold of the room seemed to act as a sort of physical goad +toward action. "By God, it _is_ right!" he muttered. Then he looked at +the dog crouching still with that wiry intentness before the door. The +dog came of a good breed of fighters. He was in himself both weapon and +wielder of weapon. He was a concentrated force. His white body was +knotted with nerves and muscles. The chances were good if--Gordon +pictured it to himself--and again the horror and doubt were over him. He +himself had acquired a certain stiffness and lassitude from years, and +long drives in one position. He would stand no chance unarmed against a +bullet. But the dog--that was another matter. The dog would make a +spring like the spring of death itself, and that white leap of attack +might easily cause the aim to go wrong. It would be like aiming at +lightning. He knew how the dog would gather himself together, all ready +for that terrible leap, the second he opened the door. He knew that he +might be able to open the door for the leap without attracting the +man's attention, faced as he was the other way, if he could keep the dog +quiet. He knew how it would be. He could see that tall dark figure +rolled on the drive, struggling as one struggles with death, for breath, +under the vise-like grip on his throat. Gordon knew that the dog's +unerring spring would be for the throat; that was the instinct of his +race, a noble race in its way, to seize vice and danger by the throat, +and attack the very threshold of life. + +Gordon returned to the window. It seemed to him again that he heard a +horse's trot. He felt sure that it was not the trot of the gray, who had +a slight lameness. He knew the trot of the gray. He became sure that +James and Clemency would the next moment enter the drive. He set his +mouth hard, crept toward the dog, and patted him. As he patted him he +felt the rage-crest rise higher on his back. Gordon bade him be quiet, +and slipped his leash from the staple. Then he took it from the collar. +He listened again. It seemed to him that his ears could not deceive him. +It seemed to him that James and Clemency were coming. He was almost +delirious. He fancied he heard their voices and the girl's laugh ring +out. Holding the dog firmly by the collar, he rose and very carefully +and noiselessly slipped the bolt of the door back. Then he waited a +second. Then as slowly and carefully, still holding the dog by the +collar, and whispering commands to hush his growls, he turned the door +knob. + +[Illustration: "There was a white flash of avenging brute force upon the +man." Page 177.] + +Then the thing was done. He flung the door open. He saw the man in the +drive, standing with his face toward the road. He had heard nothing. +Then he loosened his grasp of the straining dog's collar, and there was +a white flash of avenging brute force upon the man. Gordon saw only one +leap of the dog before the man was down. A futile pistol shot rang out. +Then came the snarl and growl of a fighting dog fastened upon his prey. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +When Clemency and James returned from their drive, they saw a glimmer of +light between the house and stable. "Aaron is out there with a lantern," +whispered Clemency. She sat up straight, leaned into her corner of the +buggy, and adjusted her hat and straightened her hair with the pretty +young girl motions of secrecy and modesty. + +James peered ahead into the darkness through which the lantern moved +like a will-o'-the-wisp. "Your uncle is here, too," he said. Then he +drew rein with a sudden, "Halloo, what is wrong?" Aaron came forward, +leaving the lantern on the ground. It lit weirdly Dr. Gordon, who was +kneeling on the ground beside a dark mass, which looked horribly +suggestive. Then James saw another dark mass to the right, the balky +mare and a buggy. + +"Doctor Gordon says you had better hitch to this post here," said Aaron +in a sort of hoarse whisper, "and then come to him. He says he needs +help, and Miss Clemency, he says, must go around the house and in the +front door, and be careful not to let the dog out, but go upstairs, and +if her mother is awake, tell her it ain't anything for her to fret +about, and Doctor Gordon will be in very soon." + +"Oh, Aaron, what is the matter?" said Clemency, in a frightened whisper, +as James sprang out of the buggy. + +"It ain't nothin'," replied Aaron doggedly. "Jest a man fell coming to +the office. Reckon he had a jag on. Doctor says he may have broke a rib. +He's doctorin' him. You jest run round the house, and in the front door, +Miss Clemency, and don't let out the dog, an' see to your ma." + +James assisted Clemency out, and she fled, with a wild glance over her +shoulder at the lantern-lit group in front of the office door. While +Aaron tied the horse to the post James ran to Doctor Gordon. When he +drew nearer the sight became sanguinary in its details, and he could +hear from the office the raging growls and howls of the dog. He also +heard him leap against the door, as if he would break it down. Gordon +had a pail of water and a basin beside him, and he was applying water +vigorously to the throat of the prostrate figure. The water in the +basin gleamed, in the lantern light, blood red. "Just empty this basin +and fill it up from the pail," ordered Gordon in a husky voice, and +again he squeezed the reddened cloth over the throat, which James now +discerned was badly torn. The man lay doubled up upon himself as limp as +a rag. + +"No, I don't think so," replied Gordon, as if in answer to an unspoken +question, as James, having complied with his request, drew near with the +basin of fresh water. + +"Was it the dog?" asked James in a low voice. + +"Yes, the fool came round to the office door, and--" Gordon stopped with +a miserable sigh which was almost a groan, and dipped the cloth in the +basin. + +"How did you get him off?" asked James. + +"I had the whip, and Aaron came in just then with that damned mare. She +had balked. I don't think it is the jugular. It can't be. Damn it, how +he bleeds! Run into the office, Elliot, and get the absorbent cotton and +the brandy. I've got to stop this somehow. Oh, my God!" + +James suddenly recognized the man on the ground, and gave an exclamation +which Gordon did not seem to notice. "For God's sake, don't let that +dog out!" he cried. "Don't risk the office door. Go around the house, +the front way! Be quick!" + +James obeyed. He rushed around the house, and opened the front door. +Immediately Clemency was clinging to him in the dim vestibule. "Mother +is asleep. I think Uncle Tom must have given her some medicine to make +her sleep. Oh, what is the matter? Who is that man out there, and what +ails him, and what ails the dog? I started to go in the office, but he +leapt against the door, so I didn't. I was afraid he might get out and +run upstairs and wake mother. Oh, what is it all about?" + +"Nothing for you to worry about, dear," replied James. "Now you must be +a good little girl, and let me go. Your uncle is in a hurry for some +things in the office." He put away her clinging arms gently, and hurried +on toward the office, but the girl followed him. "If I don't stand ready +to shut the door behind you, that dog will be out," she said. All at +once a conviction as to something seized her, and she cried out in +terror and horror, "Oh, I know it is that man out there, and Jack wants +to get at him. I know." + +"It is nothing for you to worry about, dear." + +"I know. Is he going to die? Is he hurt much?" + +"No, your uncle doesn't think so. Don't hinder me, dear." + +"No, I won't. I will stand ready and bang the door together after you +before Jack can get out. Oh, it is that man!" Clemency was +half-hysterical, but she stood her ground. When James opened the office +door cautiously and slipped through the opening, she pushed it together +with surprising strength. "Don't get bitten yourself," she called out +anxiously. + +For a moment James thought that he might be bitten, for the dog was so +frenzied that he was almost past the point of recognizing his friends. +He made a powerful leap upon James, the crest upon his back as rigid as +steel, but James snatched at his collar, threw him, and spoke, and the +well-trained animal succumbed before his voice. "Charge!" thundered the +young man, and the dog obeyed, although still bristling and growling. +James hurriedly caught up his leash and fastened him to the staple, then +he opened the inner office door, and spoke quickly and reassuringly to +Clemency, who was huddled behind it shaking with fear. "He is all +right. I have fastened him," he said. "Don't worry. Now I must go and +help your uncle." + +"He didn't bite you?" + +"Oh, no, he knew me the minute I spoke. Sit down here by the fire and +don't be frightened; that's a good little girl." + +With that James was out by the other door and in the drive beside +Gordon, who was still assiduously applying water to the red throat of +the prostrate man. "It is beginning to slack up a little," he said +hoarsely. "Here, give me the cotton, and see if you can't get a drop of +brandy between his teeth. They are clinched, but just now he moved a +little. He may be able to swallow. Aaron, put the team into the wagon, +and get a mattress and some blankets from the storeroom. Hurry, he may +come to himself any minute, and he must not stay here any longer than +necessary." Gordon was working fiercely as he spoke, and James took the +cork from the brandy flask, and attempted to force a little between the +man's clinched teeth. Aaron hurried into the stable and lit another +lantern, and went about executing his orders. James, kneeling over the +prostrate man, attempting to minister to him, saw the face fully in the +glare of the lantern. The unconscious face did not look as evil as he +remembered it. He even had a doubt if it were the face of the man who +had that evening stood at his horse's head, and so terrified Clemency. +Then he became convinced that it was the same. There could be no +mistaking the features, which were unusually regular and handsome, but +with a strange peculiarity of lines. It seemed to James that, even while +the man was unconscious, all his features presented slightly upturned +lines as of bitter derision, intersected with downward lines of +melancholy. All these lines were very delicate, but they served to give +expression. He looked like a man who had suffered and made others suffer +for his sufferings, with a cruel enjoyment at the spectacle. It was a +strange face, but not an evil one. However, after James had succeeded in +forcing a few drops of brandy, which were met with convulsive +swallowing, between the man's teeth, he moved again, and his eyes +opened, and immediately the evil shone out of the face like a malignant +flame in a lamp. Knowledge of, and delight in, evil gleamed out of the +sudden brightness of the man's great eyes. Then the evil seemed to leap +to rage, as a spark leaps to flame. He tried to raise himself, and +cursed in a choking voice. He seemed awake most fully to consciousness, +and to know exactly what had happened. The dog in the office sent forth +a perfect volley of barks. The man had been obliged to sink back, but +his right hand fumbled feebly for his pocket. + +"It is not there," Gordon said coolly. + +"Shoot him, you--or--" croaked the man in his voice of unnatural rage. + +"Time enough for that," said Gordon. He spoke coolly, but James saw him +shaking as if with the ague. He was deadly white, and his whole face +looked drawn and withered. Aaron came leading the team harnessed to the +wagon out of the stable. He had brought down the mattress and blankets, +as the doctor had directed, and the three men after the rude bed had +been made in the wagon lifted the man thereon. He seemed to be +conscious, but his muttering was so weak as to be almost inaudible, save +for occasional words. + +After he was in the wagon Gordon, turning to James, said: "You had +better go in the house and stay with the women. Aaron will go with me. I +shall take this man to the hotel, to Georgie K.'s." + +A perfect volley of mumbled remonstrances came from the prostrate figure +in the wagon. Gordon seemed to understand him. "No, I shall not take you +there," he said, "but to the hotel. You will be better cared for. I know +the proprietor." + +He got in beside the man, and seated himself on the floor of the wagon. +Aaron mounted to the driver's seat. + +"Tell Clemency and her mother not to worry if they are awake," Gordon +called to James as the horses started. + +James said yes and went into the house. He entered through the office +door, and directly Clemency was in his arms, all trembling and +half-weeping. "Oh, what has happened? Has Uncle Tom taken him away?" she +quavered. + +"Hush, dear, you will wake your mother. Yes, he has taken him away." + +"What was the matter, tell me." + +"He was unconscious. He had fallen." + +"He came to. I heard him speak. Were any bones broken?" + +"No, I think not. You must go to bed; it it very late, dear." + +Clemency had put fresh wood on the hearth, and the little place was all +a-waver and a-flicker with firelight. Grotesque shadows danced over the +walls and ceiling, and sprawled uncertainly on the floor. Clemency +looked up in James's face, and her own had a shocked whiteness and +horror, in spite of the tenderness in his. "Tell--" she began. + +"What, dear?" + +"Was it--that man?" + +James hesitated. + +"Tell me," Clemency said imperiously. + +"Yes, I think it was." + +Clemency glanced as if instinctively at the dog, lying asleep in a white +coil on the hearth. "What was the matter with him?" she asked in a +hardly audible voice. + +"He had fallen, dear, and was unconscious." + +"Nothing--" Clemency glanced again at the dog, and did not complete her +question. + +"He had recovered consciousness," James said hastily. + +"Then he is not going to die." It was impossible to say what kind of +relief was in the girl's voice, but relief there was. + +"I see no reason why he should. I don't think your uncle thought he +would die." + +"Where have they taken him?" + +"To the hotel. Now, Clemency dear, you must put all this out of your +mind and go to bed." + +Clemency obeyed like a child. She kissed James, took a candle, and went +upstairs. + +James went into his own room, but he did not undress or go to bed. +Instead, he sat at the window facing the street and stared into the +darkness, watching for Doctor Gordon's return. He sat there for nearly +two hours, then he heard wheels, and saw the dark mass of the team and +wagon lumber into sight. He ran through the house, and was in the drive +with a lantern when the team entered. "Have you been waiting for us, +Elliot?" called Doctor Gordon's tired voice. + +"Yes, I thought I would." + +"I stayed until I was sure he was comfortable," said Gordon. He +clambered over the wheel of the wagon like an old man. When he was in +the office with James, and the lamp was lit, he sank into a chair, and +looked at the younger man with an expression almost of despair. + +"He is not going to die of it?" asked James hesitatingly. + +"No," cried Gordon, "he shall not!" He looked up with sudden, fierce +resolution and alertness. "Why should he die?" he demanded. "He is far +from being old or feeble. His vitals are not touched. Why on earth +should you think he would die?" + +"I see no reason," James replied hastily, "only--" + +"Only what, for God's sake?" + +"I thought you looked discouraged." + +"Well, I am, and tired of the world, but this man is going to live. See +here, boy, suppose you see if there is any hot water in the kitchen, and +we'll have something to drink, then we will go to bed, and God grant we +don't have a night call." + +After Gordon had drank his face lightened somewhat, still he looked +years older than he had done at dinner time, with that awful aging of +the soul, which sometimes comes in an instant. When finally he went +upstairs James noticed how feebly he moved. It was on his tongue's end +to offer to assist him, but he did not dare. + +The next morning, before James was up, he heard the rapid trot of a +horse on the drive, and wondered if Doctor Gordon had had a call so +early. When the breakfast-bell rang only Clemency was at the table. The +maid had returned in season to get breakfast, and was waiting with a +severely interrogative face. + +She had noticed blood on the frozen surface of the drive and had stood +surveying it before she entered. She had asked Clemency if anything had +happened, and the girl had told her that a man had fallen near the +office door on the preceding evening and been injured, and Doctor Gordon +had taken him home. + +"What's the man's name?" Emma had inquired sharply. + +"I don't know," said Clemency, and indeed she did not know, but there +was something secretive in her manner. Emma set her mouth hard and +tossed her head. Curiosity was almost a lust with her. She was always +enraged when it was excited and not gratified. + +When James entered, she glanced severely at him and then at Clemency, as +she passed the muffins. She suspected something between them, and she +was baffled there. + +"Has Doctor Gordon gone out?" James asked. + +"Yes, he went right out as soon as he got up. Just had a cup of coffee; +wouldn't wait for breakfast," replied Emma in a nipping tone. + +Neither Clemency nor James made any comment. Both knew where he had +gone, and Emma, seeing that they both knew, grew more hostile than +ever. Her manner of serving the beefsteak was fairly warlike. + +After breakfast Aaron told James of some parting instructions which +Gordon had left with him. He had the team harnessed, and was to take +James to visit certain patients. + +James went off on a long drive across the country, calling on his way at +the scattered houses of the patients. He did not return until noon, just +before the luncheon-bell rang. Entering by the office door he found +Gordon sitting before the hearth-fire, smoking, and staring gloomily at +the leaping flames. He looked up when James entered, said good morning +in an abstracted fashion, and asked some questions about the patients +whom he had visited. James hesitated about inquiring for the man who had +been injured the night before, but finally he did so. The dog had sprung +up to greet him, and between his pats on the white head and commands of +"Down, sir, down!" he asked as casually as he could if Gordon had seen +his patient who had fallen in the drive the night before, and how he +was. Gordon turned upon James a face of such fierce misery that the +younger man fairly recoiled. "He isn't going to die?" he cried. + +"No, he is not going to die. He shall not die!" Gordon replied with +passionate emphasis. Then he added, in response to James's wondering, +half-frightened look, "I have been there all the morning. I have just +come home. I have left everything for him. I don't dare get a nurse. I +am afraid. He may talk a good deal. Georgie K. is with him now. I can +trust him, but I can't trust a nurse. I am going back after luncheon, +and you may go with me. I would like you to see him." + +"Does he seem to be very ill?" James asked timidly. + +"Not from the--the--wound," replied Gordon, "but I am afraid of +something else." + +"What?" + +"Erysipelas. I am afraid of that setting in. In fact, I am not +altogether sure that it has not. He is an erysipelas subject. He has +told me of two severe attacks which he has had. When he fell he got an +abrasion of the cheek. That looks worse than the--the--wound. I should +like you to see him. You have seen erysipelas cases, of course, in your +hospital practice." + +"Oh, yes." + +"There is the bell for luncheon. We will go directly afterward." + +James wondered within himself at the feverish haste with which Gordon +swallowed his luncheon, frequently looking at his watch. He was actually +showing more anxiety over this man who had hounded him, of whom he had +lived in dread, than James had seen him show over any patient since he +had been with him. It seemed to him inconsistent. Mrs. Ewing did not +come down to luncheon; Clemency said that she was not feeling as well as +usual but Gordon did not seem much disturbed even by that. He gave +Clemency some powders, with instructions how to administer them to the +sick woman before he left, but he did not show concern, and did not go +upstairs to see her. Clemency herself looked pale and anxious. + +She found a chance to whisper to James before he went. "Is that man very +much hurt?" she said close to his ear. + +"Hush, dear. I am afraid so." + +"Uncle Tom seems terribly worried. I have never seen him so worried even +over mother, and he doesn't seem worried about her now. Oh, James, she +is suffering frightfully, I know." Clemency gave a little sob. Then +Gordon's voice was heard calling imperiously, "Elliot, come along!" +James kissed the poor little face tenderly, and whispered that she must +not worry, that probably the powders would relieve her mother, and then +that she herself had better lie down and try to get a little sleep, and +hurried out. + +Gordon was seated in the buggy, waiting for him. "I don't want to lose +any time," he said brusquely as James got in beside him. "Even a few +minutes sometimes work awful changes in a case like this. If he is no +worse I will leave you with him, and make a call on Mrs. Wells. I +haven't seen her to-day, and yesterday it looked like pneumonia, then +there is that child with diphtheria at the Atwaters'. I ought to go +there myself, but if he is worse you will have to go, and to a few +others, and I must stay with him." + +Gordon drove furiously. Heads appeared at windows; people on the street +turned faces of wonder and alarm after him. It was soon noised about +Alton that there had been a terrible accident, that somebody was at the +point of death, but of that Gordon and James knew nothing. + +When they arrived at the hotel, Gordon, after he had tied his horse, +took his medicine-case, and, followed by James, entered, and went +directly upstairs to a large room at the back of the hotel. This room +was somewhat isolated in position, having a corridor on one side and +linen closets on another, it being a corner apartment with two outer +walls. Gordon opened the door softly and entered with James behind him. +The bed stood between the two west windows. It was a northwest room. The +afternoon sun had not yet reached it. It was furnished after the usual +fashion of country hotel bedrooms. It was clean and sparse, and the +furniture had the air of having a past, of having witnessed almost +everything which occurs to humanity. It seemed battered and stained, +though not with wear, but with humanity. The old-fashioned black walnut +bedstead in which the sick man lay seemed to have a thousand voices of +experiences. A great piece was broken off one corner of the footboard. +The wound in the wood looked sinister. Directly opposite the bed stood +the black walnut bureau, with its swung glass. The glass was cracked +diagonally, and reflected the bed and its occupant with an air of +experience. Gordon went directly to his patient. Beside him sat Georgie +K. He looked at the two doctors and shook his head gravely. His great +blond face was unshaven and paled with watching. Nobody spoke a word. +All three looked at the man in the bed, who lay either asleep, or +feigning sleep, or in a stupor. Gordon felt for his pulse softly, with +keen eyes upon his face. This face was unspeakably ghastly. The throat +was swathed in bandages. There was one tiny spot of red on the white of +the linen. The man's eyes were rolled upward. Around an abrasion on the +cheek, which glistened oily with some unguent which had been applied to +it, was a circle of painful red clearly defined from the pallor of the +rest of the cheek. + +Gordon spoke. "How do you feel?" he asked of the man, who evidently +heard and understood, but did not reply. He simply made a little motion +of facial muscles, of shoulders, of his whole body under the +bed-clothes, which indicated rage and impatience. + +"Does that place on your cheek burn?" asked Gordon. + +Again there was no answer, this time not even any motion. + +"Have you any pain?" asked Gordon. The man lay motionless. "Is there any +one in the parlor?" Gordon asked abruptly of Georgie K. + +"No, Doc. You can go right in there." + +Gordon beckoned to James, and the two went downstairs, and entered the +room of the wax flowers and the stuffed canary. + +"It looks like erysipelas," Gordon said with no preface. + +James nodded. + +"All I have done so far, in the absence of any positive proof of the +truth of that diagnosis, is to apply what you will think an old woman's +remedy, but I have known it to give good results in light cases, and I +did not like to resort to the more strenuous methods until I was sure of +my ground, for fear of complications. I applied a little mutton tallow, +and that was all, but the inflammation has increased since I saw him. It +now looks to me like a clearly defined case of erysipelas." + +"It does to me," said James. + +"So far--the--wound in the throat seems to be doing well," said Gordon +gloomily. Then he looked at the younger physician with an odd, helpless +expression. "His life must be saved," said he. "Which do you prefer of +the two methods of treating the disease--that is, of the two primary +ones? Of course, there are methods innumerable. I may have grown rusty +in my country practice. Do you prefer the leaches, the nitrate of +silver, the low diet, or the reverse?" + +"I think I prefer the reverse." + +"Well, you may be right," said Gordon, "and yet you have to consider +that this is a man in full vigor," he added, "that presumably he has +considerable reserve strength upon which to draw. Still if you prefer +the other treatment--" + +"I have seen very good results from it," said James. He was becoming +more and more astonished at the older man's helpless, almost appealing, +manner toward himself. "What is the man's name?" he asked. + +"I don't know what name he has given here," Gordon replied evasively. "I +will tell you later on what his name is." + +Suddenly the parlor door was flung open, and a woman appeared. She was +middle-aged, very large, clad in black raiment, which had an effect of +sliding and slipping from her when she moved. She kept clutching at the +buttons of her coat, which did not quite meet over her full front. She +brought together the ends of a black fur boa, she reached constantly for +the back of her skirts, and gave them a firm tug which relaxed the next +moment. Her decent black bonnet was askew, her large face was flushed. +She had been a strapping, handsome country girl once; now she was almost +indecent in her involuntary exuberance of coarse femininity. + +"How do you do, Mrs. Slocum?" Doctor Gordon said politely. + +James rose, Gordon introduced him. Mrs. Slocum did not bow, she jerked +her great chin upward, then she spoke with really alarming ferocity. +"Where has my boarder went? That's what I want to know. That's what I +have come here for, not for no bowin's and scrapin's. Where has my +boarder went?" + +A keen look came into Gordon's face. "I don't know who your boarder is, +Mrs. Slocum," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Mrs. Slocum looked at the doctor with a wide gape of surprise. + +"Thought you knew," said she. "His name is Meserve, Mr. Edward Meserve, +and if he has come and went, and not told where, he was good pay, and if +he was took sick whilst he was to my house, I could have asked twice as +much as I did before. I'd like to know what right you had to take my +boarder to the hotel. He was my boarder. He wan't your boarder. I want +him fetched right back. That's what I have came for." + +"Mrs. Slocum," said Gordon in a hard voice, "Mr. Meserve is too sick to +be moved, and his disease may be contagious. You might lose all your +other boarders, and whether he recovers or not, you would be obliged to +fumigate your house, and have his room repapered and plastered." + +"He's got money enough to pay for it," Mrs. Slocum said doggedly. + +"How do you know?" + +"You think he ain't?" + +Gordon looked imperturbable. + +"He always paid me regular, and he ain't been to meals or to home nights +two-thirds of the time." + +Gordon said nothing. + +"You mean if my other boarders went, and the room had to be done over, +he ain't got money enough to make it good?" + +Gordon said nothing. The woman fidgeted. "Well," said she, "if there's +any doubt of it, mebbe he _is_ better off here." Suddenly she gave a +suspicious glance at Gordon. "Say," said she, "the room here will have +to be done over. Who's goin' to pay for that?" + +"The room is isolated," replied Gordon briefly. + +The woman stared. She evidently did not know the meaning of the word. + +"Well," said she at last, "if the room _is_ insulted, it will have to be +done over. Who's going to pay for that?" + +"I am." + +"Well, I don't see why you couldn't pay _me_ for that as well as Mr. +Evans." + +"Don't you?" + +"No." + +"Well, I do. Now, Mrs. Slocum, I really have no more time to waste. Mr. +Meserve is a very sick man, and I have to go to him. I came down here +to consult with my assistant, and you have hindered us. Good-day!" + +But the woman still stood her ground. "I'm goin' to see him," she said. +"He's my boarder." + +"You will do so at your own risk, and also, if your call should prove +injurious to him, at a risk of being indicted for manslaughter, besides +possibly catching the disease." + +"You say it's ketching?" + +"I said it might be. We have not yet entirely formed our diagnosis." + +The woman stared yet again. Then she turned about with a switch which +disclosed fringy black petticoats and white stockings. "Well, form your +noses all you want to," said she. "You have took away my boarder, an' if +he gits well, and it ain't ketchin', I'll have the law on ye." + +Gordon drew a deep breath when the door closed behind her. "It seems +sometimes to me as if comedy were the haircloth shirt of tragedy," he +said grimly. "Well, Elliot, we will go upstairs and begin the fight. I +am going to fight to the death. I shall remain here to-night. You will +have to look after my other patients when you leave here. I am sorry to +put so much upon you." + +"Oh, that's all right," said James, following Gordon upstairs. But as he +spoke he wondered more and more that this man, after what he had known +of him, should be of more importance to Gordon than all others. + +Even during the short time they had been downstairs the angry red around +the abrasion on the cheek had widened, and widened toward the head. +Gordon opened his medicine-case and took out a bottle and hairbrush and +commenced work. Directly the entire cheek was blackened with the +application of iron. Georgie K. had brought glasses, and medicine had +been forced into the patient's mouth. "Now go and have some eggnog +mixed, Georgie K.," said Gordon, "and bring it here yourself, if you +will. I hate to trouble you." + +"That's all right, Doc," said Georgie K., and went. + +James remained only a short time, since he had the other calls to make. +He returned quite late to find that dinner had been kept waiting for +him, and Clemency in her pretty red gown was watching. Mrs. Ewing had +not come down all day. "Mother says she is easier," Clemency observed, +"only she thinks it better to keep perfectly still." Clemency said very +little about the man at the hotel. She seemed to dread the very mention +of him. She and James spent a long evening together, and she was +entirely charming. James began to put behind him all the mystery and +dark hints of evil. Clemency, although fond, was as elusive as a +butterfly. She had feminine wiles to her finger tips, but she was quite +innocent of the fact that they were wiles. It took the whole evening for +the young man to secure a kiss or two, and have her upon his knee for +the space of about five minutes. She nestled closely to him with a +little sigh of happiness for a very little while, then she slipped away, +and stood looking at him like an elf. "I am not going to do that much," +said she. + +"Why not, darling?" + +"Because I am not. It is silly. I love you, but I will not be silly. I +want only what will last. The love will last, but the silliness won't. +We are going to be married, but I shall not want to sit on your knee all +the time, and what is more, you will not want me to. Suppose we should +live to be very old. Who ever saw a very old woman sitting on her very +old husband's knee? The love will last, but that will not. We will not +have so very much of that which will not last." + +For all that, James caught Clemency and kissed her until her soft face +was crimson, but he said to himself, when he was in his own room, that +never was a girl so wise, and how much more he wanted to hold her upon +his knee--as if he had not already held her there--and yet she was not +coquettish. She was simply earnest, with an odd, wise, childlike +earnestness. + +Early the next morning James went to the hotel, and found Gordon haggard +and intense, sitting beside his patient, who was evidently worse. The +terrible red fire of Saint Anthony had mounted higher, and settled +lower. "It has attacked his throat now," Gordon said in a whisper. "I +expect every minute it will reach his brain. When it does, nobody but +you and I must be with him, not even Georgie K. He is getting some rest. +He was up half the night, bless him! But when it reaches the brain two +will be needed here, and the two must be you and I. Take this list, and +make the calls as quickly as you can, and come back here." James, with a +last glance at the black and swollen face of the man, who now seemed to +be in a state of coma, obeyed. He hurried through his list, and +returned. He found no apparent change in the patient, and tried to +persuade Gordon to take a little rest, but the elder man was obdurate. +"No" he said, "here I stay. I have had a bit to eat and drink. You go +down yourself and get something, then come back. The crisis may arrive +any second. Then I shall need you." + +The fire had outstripped the blackness on the man's cheek toward the +temple. One eye was closed. + +When James returned after a hurried lunch, he heard a loud, terrible +voice in the room. Outside the door a maid stood with a horrified face +listening. James grasped her roughly by the shoulder. "Get out of this," +he ordered. "If I find you or any one else here listening, you'll be +sorry for it." + +The maid gasped out an excuse and fled. James tried the door, but it was +locked. "Is that you, Elliot?" called Gordon above the other awful +voice. + +"Yes." + +The door was unlocked, and James sprang into the room, but he was hardly +quick enough, for the man was almost out of bed, when the two doctors +forced him back with all their strength. Then he sat up and raved, and +such raving! James felt his very blood cold within him. Revelations as +of a devil were in those ravings. Once in a while James opened the door +cautiously to be sure that no one was listening. The raving man +reiterated names as of a multitude. Gordon's was among them, and many +names of women, one especially--Catherine. He repeated that name more +frequently than the others, but the others were legion. There was +something indescribably horrible in hearing this repetition of names of +unknown people, accompanied with statements beyond belief regarding them +and the raving man. Gordon's face was ghastly, and so was the younger +doctor's. "Look and see if any one is listening, for God's sake," Gordon +gasped, after one terrific outburst, and James looked, but Georgie K. +was keeping watch that nobody approached the door. + +James never knew how long he was in that room with Gordon listening to +those frenzied ravings, and striving with him to keep the man from +injuring himself. The daylight waned, James lighted a lamp. Then a +mighty creaking was heard outside, and Georgie K., himself bearing a +great supper tray, knocked at the door. "It's me, and I brought you +something," he shouted, and then they heard his retreating footsteps. +Much delicacy was there in Georgie K., and much affection for Doctor +Gordon. + +James brought in the tray, and now and then he and Gordon took advantage +of a slight lull to take a bite, but neither had any desire for food. It +was only the instinctive sense that they must keep up their strength in +order that nobody else should hear what they were hearing, that forced +them to eat and drink. Well into the evening the ravings stopped +suddenly, the man fell back upon his pillow, and lay still. James +thought at first that all was over, but presently stertorous breathing +began. + +"Now get Georgie K. up," Gordon said hoarsely. "There is no further need +for us to be alone, and there will be directions to be given." + +James went out and found Georgie K. sitting up in his bar-room. + +"Doctor Gordon wants you," he said. + +"How is he?" asked Georgie K., following James. + +"Dying." + +Georgie K. made an indescribable sound in his throat as the two men +ascended the stair. + +The man was a long time dying. It seemed to James as if that awful +struggle of the soul for release from the body would never cease. He +knew, or thought he knew, that there was no suffering to the dying man, +but, after all, the sounds as of suffering seemed almost to prove it. +Gordon whispered for a while to Georgie K., as if the dying man might be +disturbed by audible speech. Then Georgie K. tiptoed out in his creaking +boots, and James knew that some arrangements were to be perfected for +the last services to the dead. Gordon stood over the bed, with his own +face as ghastly as that of its occupant. James dared not speak to him. + +It was midnight when the dreadful breathing ceased, and there was +silence. Georgie K. had returned. The three living men looked at one +another with ghastly understanding of what had happened, then they +hastily arranged some matters. The dead man was decently composed and +dressed, his throat swathed anew in linen handkerchiefs, and another +handkerchief laid over the discolored face, which had in death a strange +peace, as if relieved of an uneasy and wearing tenant. Before Georgie K. +went out, the village undertaker had been summoned, and had been waiting +for some time in the parlor with a young assistant. They mounted the +stairs bearing some appurtenances of their trade. Gordon addressed the +undertaker briefly, giving some directions, then he motioned to James, +and they passed out. Georgie K. remained in the room. He prevented the +undertaker from removing the linen swathe on the dead man's throat. "Doc +says it's catching," he said, and the undertaker drew back quickly. + +When Gordon and James were in the buggy on the way home, Gordon all at +once gave a great sigh, like that of a swimmer who yields to the force +of the current, or the fighter who sinks before his opponent. "I'm about +done, too," he said. "Here, take the lines, Elliot." + +James took the reins and looked anxiously at his companion's face, a +pale blue in the moonlight. "You are not ill?" he said. + +"No, only done up. For God's sake let me rest, and don't talk till we +get home!" James drove on. Gordon's head sank upon his breast, and he +began to breathe regularly. He did not wake until James roused him when +they reached home. + + * * * * * + +The next morning before breakfast James was awakened by a loud voice in +the office, the high-pitched one of a woman. He recalled how exhausted +Doctor Gordon had been the night before, and rose and dressed quickly. +When he entered the office Gordon was sitting huddled up in his old +armchair before the fire, while bolt upright beside him sat Mrs. Slocum, +discoursing in loud and angry tones, which Gordon seemed scarcely to +heed. When James entered she turned upon him. "Now I'll see if I can git +anythin' out of you," she said. "He" (pointing to Gordon) "don't act as +if he was half-alive. I'm goin' to have my rights if I have to go to law +to git 'em. Doctor Gordon took away my boarder. And if I'd had him sick +and die to my house, I could have got extra. Now what I want is jest +this, an' I'm goin' to hev it, too! Doctor Gordon said Mr. Meserve +didn't have money. I don't know nothin' about that. I ain't went through +his pockets, but his trunk is to my house, and there's awful nice men's +clothes into it, and I mean to hev 'em. That ain't nothin' more'n fair. +That's what I hev came here for, jest as soon as I heard the poor man +had passed away. I left my daughter to git the breakfast for the +boarders, and I hev came here to see about that trunk, and hisn's +clothes." + +James laughed. "But, Mrs. Slocum," he said, "what on earth do you want +with men's clothes? You can't wear them." + +To his intense surprise the great face of the woman suddenly reddened +like that of a young girl, but the next moment she gave her head a +defiant toss, and stared boldly at him. "What if I can't?" said she. +"There's other men as can wear 'em, and they'll jest fit Bill Todd. He's +been boardin' with me five year, and if he wants to git married and save +his board bill, it's his business and mine and nobody else's." + +James turned to Gordon, who seemed prostrated before this feminine +onslaught. "Do you object to this woman's having the trunk?" he asked. + +Gordon made an effort and roused himself. "She can have it after I have +examined it for papers," he said. + +"There ain't a scrap of writin' in the trunk," Mrs. Slocum vociferated. +"Me an' my boarder hev looked. There ain't no writin' an' no jewelry, +an' no money. He used to carry his money with him, and he had a bank +book in his pocket, and a long, red book he used to git money out of the +bank. I've seen 'em. Doctor Gordon said he didn't have no money. He did +hev money. Once he left the long, red book on his bureau, and I looked +in it, and the leaves that are as good as money wan't a quarter torn +out. I know he had money, an' I've been cheated out of it. But all I ask +is that trunk." + +"For God's sake take the trunk and clear out," shouted Gordon with +unexpected violence, "but if there is a scrap of written paper in that +trunk, and you keep it, you'll be sorry." + +"There ain't," said the woman with evident truthfulness. She rose and +clutched at the back of her skirt, and tugged at her boa and coat. +"Thank you, Doctor Gordon," said she. "When is the funeral goin' to be?" + +"Tell her to-morrow at two o'clock at the hotel, and tell her to leave," +said Gordon, and his voice was suddenly apathetic again. + +When the woman had gone Gordon turned to James. "How comedy will prick +through tragedy," he said. + +"Yes," James answered vaguely. He looked anxiously at Gordon, whose eyes +had at once a desperate and an utterly wearied appearance. "I will make +all the arrangements for the funeral, if you wish, Doctor Gordon," he +said. "I know the undertaker, and I can manage it as well as you. You +look used up." + +"I am pretty nearly," muttered Gordon. Then he gave an almost +affectionate glance at James. "Do you think you can manage it?" he said. + +James smiled. "It is a new thing to me, but I have no doubt I can," he +replied. + +"You cannot imagine what a weight you would take off my shoulders. Don't +spare money. See to it that everything is good and as it should be. The +bills are to be sent to me." + +Gordon answered an unspoken question of James. "Yes," he said, "he had +money, a considerable fortune, and he has no heirs--at least, I am as +sure as I need be that he has none. In his pockets were two bank books, +small check books, and a security register book. I have done them up in +a parcel. See to it that they are buried with him." + +"But," said James. + +"Oh, yes, I know. Sooner or later there will be advertisements in the +papers, and that sort of thing, but that will pass. God knows I would +not touch his money with the devil's pitchfork, nor allow anybody whom I +loved to touch it. Let him be buried under the name by which he was +known here. It is not the name, needless to say, on the bank books. +While living under other than his rightful name, he must have gone to +New York in person to supply himself with cash. There was some two +hundred dollars in bank notes in his wallet. That is with the other +things. Let the whole be buried with him, and see to it that Drake does +not discover it. You had better take the parcel now. Open the right +drawer of the table, and you will find it in the corner. Then, after +breakfast, you had better see Drake at once. I will attend to the +patients to-day." + +"You are not able." + +"Able is a word which I have eliminated from my vocabulary as applied to +myself." + +The funeral, which was held the next afternoon in the parlor of the +hotel, was at once a ghastly and a grotesque function. The two doctors, +the undertaker and his assistant, Georgie K. and the bar-tender, and +Mrs. Slocum with a female friend, and a man, evidently the boarder to +whom she had referred, were the only persons present. The boarder wore a +hat which had belonged to the dead man. It was many sizes too large for +his grayish blond, foolish little head, and, when he put it on, it +nearly obscured his eyes. Mrs. Slocum sniffed audibly through the +service, which was short, being conducted by the old Presbyterian +clergyman of Alton. He hardly spoke above a whisper of "the stranger who +had passed from our midst into the beyond." His concluding prayer was +quite inaudible. Mrs. Slocum had brought a bouquet of cheerful pink +geraniums from her window plants, which on the top of the closed black +casket made an odd spot of color and life in the dim room. Among the +blossoms were some rose-geranium leaves, whose fragrance seemed to +mantle everything like smoke. While the clergyman conducted the +inaudible services loud voices were heard in the bar-room, and the yelp +of a dog. On one side of the house was the hush of death, on the other +the din of life. James wondered what the clergyman found to say: all +that he had distinguished was the expression, "The stranger within our +midst." + +It all seemed horribly farcical to him. The dead man in his casket had +no personality for him; the sniffs of Mrs. Slocum, her boarder with the +hat, assumed, in his eyes, the character of a "Punch and Judy" show. But +along with that feeling came the realization of a most terrible pathos. +He felt a sort of pity for the dead man, whose very personality had +become nothing to him, and the pity was the greater because of that. It +became a pity for the very scheme of things, for man in the abstract, +born perhaps, through no fault of his own, to sin and misery, both +miserable and causing misery throughout his life, and then to end in the +grave, and vanish from the sight and minds of other men. He felt that it +would not be so sad if it were sadder, if Mrs. Slocum's sniffs had come +from her heart, and not from her sentimentality. He felt that a funeral +where love is not is the most mournful function on earth. Then, too, he +felt a great anxiety for Doctor Gordon, who sat shrugged up in his gray +overcoat, with his gray grizzle of beard meeting the collar, and his +forehead heavily corrugated over pent and gloomy eyes. + +He was heartily glad when the service was over, when the casket had been +lowered into the grave, when the village hearse had turned off into a +street, the horse going at a sharp trot, and he and Doctor Gordon were +left alone. He drove. Gordon sat hunched into a corner of the buggy, as +he had sat in the corner of the hotel parlor. James hesitated about +saying anything, but finally he spoke, he felt foolishly enough, +although he meant the words to be comforting. "You did all you could to +save his life," he said. + +Gordon made no reply. + +When they reached the house, Clemency's head disappeared from the +window, where she had evidently been watching. She met them at the +office door, with an odd, shocked, inquiring expression on her little +face. James kissed her furtively, while Gordon's back was turned, as he +divested himself of his gray coat. + +"Dinner is nearly ready," Clemency said in an agitated voice. + +"How is she?" asked Gordon, then before she had time to reply, he added +almost roughly, "What on earth are you fretting about?" + +"I am not fretting," Clemency answered in a weak little voice. + +"There is nothing in all this for you to concern yourself with. Put it +out of your head!" + +"Yes, Uncle Tom." + +"How is she?" + +"She has been asleep all the afternoon." + +"She has not had another attack?" + +"No, Uncle Tom." + +Then the dinner-bell rang. + +To James's surprise, but everything surprised him now, Gordon seemed to +recover his spirits. He ate heartily. He laughed and joked. After dinner +he went upstairs to see Mrs. Ewing, and when he came down insisted that +James should accompany him to the hotel for a game of euchre. James +would have preferred remaining with Clemency, whose eyes were wistful, +but Gordon hurried him away. They remained until nearly midnight in the +parlor, where the funeral had taken place a short time before, playing +euchre, telling stories, and drinking apple-jack. James noticed that the +hotel man often cast an anxious and puzzled glance at Gordon. He began +to fancy that what seemed mirth and jollity was the mere bravado of +misery and a ghastly mask of real enjoyment. He was glad when Gordon +made the move to leave. Georgie K. stood in the door watching the two +men untie the horse and get into the buggy. "Take care of yourself, +Doc," he hallooed, and there was real affection and concern in his +voice. + +Gordon drove now, and the mare, being on her homeward road, made good +time. James helped Gordon unharness, as Aaron had gone to bed. His deep +snores sounded through the stable from his room above. "It's a pity to +wake up anything," Gordon said. "Guess well put the mare up ourselves." +Now his voice was bitter again. Gordon had the key of the office door, +and after locking the stable the two men entered. Gordon threw some wood +on the fire. The lamp with its dangling prisms was burning. "Sit down a +minute," Gordon said, "'I have something to tell you. I may as well get +it off my mind now. It has got to come sometime." + +James sat down and lit a cigar. He felt himself in a nervous tension. +Gordon filled his pipe and lit it, then he began to speak in an odd, +monotonous voice, as though he were reciting. + +"That man's name was James Mendon. He was an Englishman. When I first +began practice it was in the West. That man had a ranch near the little +town where I lived with my sister Alice. Alice was a beautiful girl. We +had lost our parents, and she kept house for me. The man was as handsome +as a devil, and he had the devil's own way with women. God only knows +what a good girl like my sister saw in him. He had a bad name, even out +in that rough country. Horrible tales were circulated about his cruelty +to animals for one thing. His cowboys deserted him and told stories. +His very dog turned on him, and bit him. God knows how he was torturing +the animal. I saw the scar on his hand when he lay on his death-bed. +Well, however it was, my sister loved him and married him, and he +treated her like a fiend. She died, and it was a merciful release. He +deserted her three months before her death. Sold out all he had, and +left her without a cent. She came back to me, and three months later +Clemency was born." + +Gordon paused and looked at James. "Yes," he said, "that man was +Clemency's father." + +He waited, but only for a second. The young man spoke, and his clear +young voice rang out like a trumpet. "I never loved Clemency as I love +her now," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Gordon smiled at James. "God bless you, boy!" he said. + +"What possible difference do you think that could make?" demanded James +hotly. "Could that poor little girl help it?" + +"Of course she could not, but some men might object, and with reason, to +marrying a girl who came of such stock on her father's side." + +"I am not one of those men." + +"No, I don't think you are, but it is only my duty to put the case +plainly before you. That man who was buried this afternoon was simply +unspeakable. He was a monstrosity of perverted morality. I cannot even +bring myself to tell you what I know of him. I cannot even bring myself +to give you the least hint of what my poor young sister, Clemency's +mother, suffered in her brief life with him. You may fear heredity--" + +"Heredity, nothing! Don't I know Clemency?" + +"I myself really think that you have nothing whatever to fear. Clemency +is her mother's living and breathing image as far as looks go, and as +far as I can judge in the innermost workings of her mind. I have not +seen in her the slightest taint from her evil father, though God knows I +have watched for it with horror as the years have passed. After she was +born I smuggled her away by night, and gave out word that the child had +died at the same time with the mother. There was a private funeral, and +the casket was closed. I had hard work to carry it through successfully, +for I was young in those days, and broken-hearted at losing my sister, +but carry it through I did, and no one knew except a nurse. I trusted +her, I was obliged to do so, and I fear that she has betrayed me. I +established a practice in another town in another State, and there I met +Clara. She has told me that she informed you of the fact that she was my +wife, but not of our reasons for concealing it. Just before we were +married I became practically certain that Clemency's father had gained +in some way information that led him to suspect, if not to be absolutely +certain, that his child had not died with his wife. I had a widowed +sister, Mrs. Ewing, who lived in Iowa with her only daughter just about +Clemency's age. Just before our marriage she decided to remove to +England to live with some relatives of her deceased husband. They had +considerable property, and she had very little. I begged her to go +secretly, or rather to hint that she was going East to live with me, +which she did. Nobody in the little Iowa village, so far as I knew, was +aware of the fact that my sister and daughter had gone to England, and +not East to live with me. Clara and I were married privately in an +obscure little Western hamlet, and came East at once. We have lived in +various localities, being driven from one to another by the danger of +Clemency's father ascertaining the truth; and my wife has always been +known as Mrs. Ewing, and Clemency as her daughter. It has been a life of +constant watchfulness and deception, and I have been bound hand and +foot. Even had Clemency's father not been so exceedingly careful that it +would have been difficult to reach him by legal methods, there was the +poor child to be considered, and the ignominy which would come upon her +at the exposure of her father. I have done what I could. I am naturally +a man who hates deception, and wishes above all things to lead a life +with its windows open and shades up, but I have been forced into the +very reverse. My life has been as closely shuttered and curtained as my +house. I have been obliged to force my own wife to live after the same +fashion. Now the cause for this secrecy is removed, but as far as she is +concerned, the truth must still be concealed for Clemency's sake. It +must not be known that that dead man was her father, and the very +instant we let go one thread of the mystery the whole fabric will +unravel. Poor Clara can never be acknowledged openly as my wife, the +best and most patient wife a man ever had, and under a heavier sentence +of death this moment than the utmost ingenuity of man could contrive." +Gordon groaned, and let his head sink upon his hands. + +"She told me some time ago that she was ill," James said pityingly. + +"Ill? She has been upon the executioner's block for years. It is not +illness; that is too tame a word for it. It is torture, prolonged as +only the evil forces of Nature herself can prolong it." + +Gordon rose and shook himself angrily. "I am keeping her now almost +constantly under morphine," he said. "She has suffered more lately. The +attacks have been more frequent. There has never been the slightest +possibility of a surgical operation. From the very first it was utterly +hopeless, and if it had been the dog there, I should have put a bullet +through his head and considered myself a friend." Gordon gazed with +miserable reflection at the dog. "I am glad that the _direct_ cause of +that man's death was not what it might have been," he said. + +He shook himself again as a dog shakes off water. He laughed a miserable +laugh. "Well," he said, "Clemency is free now. She can go her ways as +she will. You see she resembled her mother so closely that I had to +guard her from even the sight of her father. He would have known the +truth at once. Clemency is free, but I have paid an awful price for her +freedom and for your life. If I had not done what you doubtless know I +did that night, you would have been shot, and it would have been a +struggle between myself and her father, with the very good chance of my +being killed, and Clara and the girl left defenseless. His revolver +carried six deaths in it. It would all have depended upon the quickness +of the dog, and I should have left too much hanging upon that." + +"I don't see what else you could do," James said in a low voice. He was +pale himself. He did not blame Gordon. He felt that he himself, in +Gordon's place, would have done as he had done, and yet he felt as if +faced close to a horror of murder and death, and he knew from the look +upon the other man's countenance that it was the same with him. + +"I saw no other way," Gordon said in a broken voice, "but--but I don't +know whether I am a murderer or an executioner, and I never shall know. +God help me! Well," he added with a sigh, "what is done, is done. Let us +go to bed." + +James said when they parted at his room door that he hoped Mrs. Ewing +would have a comfortable night. + +"Yes, she will," replied Gordon quietly. Then he gave the young man's +hand a warm clasp. "God bless you!" he whispered. "If this had turned +you against the child, it would have driven me madder than I am now. I +love her as if she were my own. You and your loyalty are all I have to +hold to." + +"You can hold to that to the end," James returned with warmth, and he +looked at Gordon as he might have looked at his own father. + +Late as it was, he wrote that night to his own father and mother, +telling them of his engagement to Clemency. There now can be no possible +need for secrecy with regard to it. James, in spite of his vague sense +of horror, felt an exhilaration at the thought that now all could be +above board, that the shutters could be flung open. He felt as if an +incubus had rolled from his mental consciousness. Clemency herself +experienced something of the same feeling. She appeared at the +breakfast-table the next morning with her hat. "Uncle says I may go with +you on your rounds," she said to James. She beamed, and yet there was a +troubled and puzzled expression on her pretty face. When she and James +had started, and were moving swiftly along the country road, she said +suddenly, "Will you tell me something?" + +James hesitated. + +"Will you?" she repeated. + +"I can't promise, dear," he said. + +"Why not?" she asked pettishly. + +"Because it might be something which I ought not to tell you." + +"You ought to tell me everything if--if--" she hesitated, and blushed. + +"If what?" asked James tenderly. + +She nestled up to him. "If you--feel toward me as you say you do." + +"If. Oh, Clemency!" + +"Then you ought to tell me. No, you needn't kiss me. I want you to tell +me something. I don't want to be kissed." + +"Well, what is that you want to know, dear?" + +"Will you promise to tell me?" + +"No, dear, I can't promise, but I will tell you if I am able without +doing you harm." + +"Who was that man who was buried yesterday, who had been hunting me so +long, and frightening me and Uncle Tom, and why have I been compelled to +stay housed as if I were a prisoner so much of my life?" + +"Because you were in danger, dear, from the man." + +"You are answering me in a circle." Clemency sat upright and looked at +James, and the blue fire in her eyes glowed. "Who was the man?" she +asked peremptorily. + +"I can't tell you, dear." + +"But you know." + +"Yes." + +"Why can't you tell me then?" + +"Because it is not best." + +Clemency shrugged her shoulders. "Why did he hunt me so?" + +"I can't tell you, dear." + +"But you know." + +"I am not sure." + +"But you think you know." + +"Yes." + +"Then tell me." + +"I can't, dear." + +"When will you tell me?" + +"Never!" + +Clemency looked at him, and again she blushed. "You will tell me +after--we are--married. You will have to tell me everything then," she +whispered. + +James shook his head. + +"Won't you then?" + +"No, dear, I shall never tell you while I live." + +Clemency made a sudden grasp at the reins. "Then I will never marry +you," she said. "I will never marry you, if you keep things from me." + +"I will never keep things from you that you ought to know, dear." + +"I ought to know this!" + +James remained silent. Clemency had brought the horse to a full stop. +"Won't you ever tell me?" she asked. + +"No, never! dear." + +"Then let me get out. This is Annie Lipton's street. I am going to see +her. I have not seen her for a long time. I will walk home. It is safe +enough now. You can tell me that much?" + +"Yes, it is, but Clemency, dear." + +"I am not Clemency, dear. I am not going to marry you. You say you wrote +your father and mother last night that we were going to get married. +Well, you can just write again and tell them we are not. No, you need +not try to stop me. I will get out. Good-by! I shall not be home to +luncheon. I shall stay with Annie. I like her very much better than I +like you." + +With that Clemency had slipped out of the buggy and hurried up a street +without looking back. James drove on. He felt disturbed, but not +seriously so. It was impossible to take Clemency's anger as a real +thing. It was so whimsical and childish. He had counted upon his long +morning with her, but he went on with a little smile on his face. + +He was half inclined to think, so slightly did he estimate Clemency's +anger, that she would not keep her word, and would be home for luncheon. +But when he returned she was not there, and she had not come when the +bell rang. + +"Why, where is Clemency?" Gordon said, when they entered the +dining-room. + +"She insisted upon stopping to see her friend Miss Lipton," said James. +"She said that she might not be home to lunch." Emma gave one of her +sharp, baffled glances at him, then, having served the two men, she +tossed her head and went out. Nobody knew how much she wished to listen +at the kitchen door, but she was above such a course. + +"Clemency and I had a bit of a tiff," James explained to Gordon. "She +seemed vexed because I would not tell her what you told me last night. +She is curious to know more about--that man." + +"She must not know," Gordon said quickly. "Never mind if she does seem a +little vexed. She will get over it. I know Clemency. She is like her +mother. The power of sustained indignation against one she loves is not +in the child, and she must not know. It would be a dreadful thing for +her to know. I myself cannot have it. It is enough of a horror as it is, +but to have that child look at me, and think--" Gordon broke off +abruptly. + +"She will never know through me," James said, "and I think with you that +her resentment will not last." + +"She will be home this afternoon," said Gordon, "and the walk will do +her good." + +But the two returned from their afternoon calls, and still Clemency had +not returned. Emma met them at the door. "Mrs. Ewing says she is worried +about Miss Clemency," she said. Gordon ran upstairs. When he came down +he joined James in the office. "I have pacified Clara," he said, "but +suppose you jump into the buggy, Aaron has not unharnessed yet, and +drive over to Annie Lipton's for her. It is growing colder, and Clemency +has not been outdoors much lately, and she has rather a delicate throat. +It is time now that she was home." + +James smiled. "Suppose she will not come with me?" he suggested. + +"Nonsense," said Gordon. "She will be only too glad if you meet her +half-way. She will come. Tell her I said that she must." + +"All right," replied James. + +He went out, got into the buggy, and drove along rapidly. He had the +team, and the horses were still quite fresh, as they had not been long +distances that day. There was a vague fear in the young man's mind, +although he tried to dispel it by the force of argument. "What has the +girl to fear now?" his reason kept dinning in his ears, but, in spite +of himself, something else, which seemed to him unreason, made him +anxious. When he reached Annie Lipton's home, a fine old house, overhung +with a delicate tracery of withered vines, he saw Annie's pretty head at +a front window. She opened the door before he had time to ring the bell, +and she looked with alarmed questioning at him. + +"I have come for Miss Ewing, her uncle--" James began, but Annie +interrupted him, her face paling perceptibly. "Clemency," she said; +"why, she left here directly after lunch. She said she must go. She felt +anxious about her mother, and did not want to leave her any longer. +Hasn't she come home yet?" + +"No," said James. + +"And you didn't meet her? You must have met her." + +"No." + +The two stood staring at each other. A delicate old face peeped out of +the door at the right of the halls. It was like Annie's, only dimmed by +age, and shaded by two leaf-like folds of gray hair as smooth as silver. +"Oh, mother, Clemency has not got home!" Annie cried. "Dr. Elliot, this +is my mother. Mother, Clemency has not got home. What do you think has +happened?" + +The lady came out in the hall. She had a quiet serenity of manner, but +her soft eyes looked anxious. "Could she have stopped anywhere, dear?" +she said. + +"You know, mother, there is not a single house between here and her own +where Clemency ever stops," said Annie. She was trembling all over. + +James made a movement to go. "What are you going to do?" cried Annie. + +"Stop at every house between here and Doctor Gordon's, and ask if the +people have seen her," replied James. + +Then he ran back to the buggy, and heard as he went a little nervous +call from Annie, "Oh, let us know if--" + +"I will let you know when I find her, Miss Lipton," he called back as he +gathered up the lines. He kept his word. He did stop at every house, and +at every one all knowledge of the girl was disclaimed. There were not +many houses, the road being a lonely one. He was met mostly by women who +seemed at once to share his anxiety. One woman especially asked very +carefully for a description of Clemency, and he gave a minute one. "You +say her mother is ill, too," said the woman. She was elderly, but still +pretty. She had kept her tints of youth as some withered flowers do, +and there seemed still to cling to her the atmosphere of youth, as +fragrance clings to dry rose leaves. She was dressed in rather a +superior fashion to most of the countrywomen, in soft lavender cashmere +which fitted her slight, tall figure admirably. James had a glimpse +behind her of a pretty interior: a room with windows full of blooming +plants, of easy-chairs and many cushioned sofas, beside book-cases. The +woman looked, so he thought, like one who had some private anxiety of +her own. She kept peering up and down the road, as they talked, as +though she, too, were on the watch for some one. She promised James to +keep a lookout for the missing girl. "Poor little thing," she murmured. +There was something in her face as she said that, a slight phase of +amusement, which caused James to stare keenly at her, but it had passed, +and her whole face denoted the utmost candor and concern. + +When James reached home he had a forlorn hope that he should find +Clemency there; that from a spirit of mischief she had taken some cross +track over the fields to elude him. But when Aaron met him in the drive, +and he saw the man's frightened stare, he knew that she had not come. +It was unnecessary to ask, but ask he did. "She has not come?" + +"No, Doctor Elliot," replied Aaron. He did not even chew. He tied the +horses, and followed James into the office, with his jaws stiff. Gordon +stood up when James entered, and looked past him for Clemency. "She was +not there?" he almost shouted. + +"She left the Liptons at two o'clock, and I have stopped at every house +on my way, and no one has seen her." + +"Oh, my God!" said Gordon, with a dazed look at James. + +"What do you think?" asked James. + +"I don't know what to think. I am utterly at a loss now. I supposed she +was entirely safe. There are almost no tramps at this season, and in +broad daylight. At two, you said? It is almost six. I don't know what to +do. What will come next? I must tell Clara something before I do +anything else." + +Gordon rushed out of the office, and they heard his heavy tread on the +stairs. Aaron stared at James, and still he did not chew. + +"It's almost dark," he said with a low drawl. + +"Yes." + +"We've got to take lanterns, and hunt along the road and fields." + +"Yes, we have." + +The dog, which had been asleep, got up, and came over to James, and laid +his white head on his knee. "We can take him," Aaron said. "Sometimes +dogs have more sense than us." + +"That is so," said James. He felt himself in an agony of helplessness. +He simply did not know what to do. He had sunk into a chair and his head +fairly rung. It seemed to him incredible that the girl had disappeared a +second time. A queer sense of unreality made him feel faint. + +Gordon reëntered the room. "I have told Clara that you have come back, +and that Clemency is to stay all night with Annie Lipton," he said. Then +he, too, stood staring helplessly. Emma had come into the room, and now +she spoke angrily to the three dazed men. "Git the lanterns lit, for +goodness' sake," said she, "and hunt and do something. I'm goin' to git +her supper, and I'll keep her pacified." Emma gave a jerk with a sharp +elbow toward Mrs. Ewing's room. "For goodness' sake, if you don't know +yet where she has went, why don't you do somethin'?" she demanded. The +men went before her sharp command like dust before her broom. "Keep as +still as you can," ordered Emma as they went out. "_She_ mustn't, git to +worryin' before she comes home." + +[Illustration: "Saw a little dark figure running toward him." Page 239.] + +For the next two hours Gordon, James, and Aaron searched. They walked, +each going his separate way into the fields and woods on the road, +having agreed upon a signal when the girl should be found. The signal +was to be a pistol shot. James went first to the wood, where he had +found Clemency on her former disappearance. He searched in every shadow, +throwing the gleam of his lantern into little dark nests of last year's +ferns, and hollows where last year's leaves had swirled together to die, +but no Clemency. At last, wearied and heart-sick, he came out on the +road. The moon was just up, a full moon, and the road lay stretched +before him like a silver ribbon covered with the hoar-frost. He gazed +down it hopelessly, and saw a little dark figure running toward him. He +was incredulous, but he called, "Clemency!" + +A glad little cry answered him. He himself ran forward, and the girl was +in his arms, sobbing and trembling as if her heart would break. + +"What has happened? What has happened, darling?" James cried in an +agony. "Are you hurt? What has happened?" + +"Something very strange has happened, but I am not hurt," sobbed +Clemency. James remembered the signal. "Wait a second, dear," he said; +"your uncle and Aaron are searching, and I promised to fire the pistol +if I found you." James fired his pistol in the air six times. Then he +returned to Clemency, who was leaning against a tree. "How I wish we had +driven here!" James said tenderly. + +"I can walk, if you help me," Clemency sobbed, leaning against him. "Oh, +I am so sorry I acted so this morning. I got punished for it. I haven't +been hurt, nobody has been anything but kind to me, but I have been +dreadfully frightened." + +Gordon and Aaron came running up. "Where have you been, Clemency?" +Gordon demanded in a harsh voice. "Another time you must do as you are +told. You are too old to behave like a child, and put us all in such a +fright." + +Clemency left James, and ran to her uncle, and clung to him sobbing +hysterically. "Oh, Uncle Tom, don't scold me," she whimpered. + +"Are you hurt? What has happened?" + +"I am not hurt a bit," sobbed Clemency. + +Gordon put his arm around her. "Well," he said, "as long as you are safe +keep your story until we get home. Elliot, take her other arm. She is +almost too used up to walk. Now stop crying, Clemency." + +When they were home, in the office, Clemency told her story, which was a +strange one. She had been on her way home from Annie Lipton's, and had +reached a certain house, when the door opened and a woman stood there +calling her. She described the woman and the house, and James gave a +start. "That must be the same woman whom I saw," he exclaimed. + +"She was a woman I had never seen," said Clemency. "I think she had only +lived there a very short time." + +Gordon nodded gloomily. "I know who she is, I fear," he said. "Strange +that I did not suspect." + +"She looked very kind and pleasant," said Clemency, "and I thought she +wanted something and there was no harm, but when I reached her the first +thing I knew she had hold of me, and her hands were like iron clamps. +She put one over my mouth, and held me with the other, and pulled me +into the house and locked the door. Then she made me go into a little +dark room in the middle of the house and she locked me in. She told me +if I screamed nobody would hear me, but she did speak kindly. She was +very kind. Once she even kissed me, although I did not want her to. She +brought a lamp in, and made me lie down on a couch in the room and drink +a glass of wine. She told me not to be afraid, nobody would hurt me. She +seemed to me to be always listening, and every now and then she went +out, but she always locked the door behind her. When she came back she +would look terribly worried. About half an hour ago she went out, and +when she came back brought a tray with tea and bread and cold chicken +for me. I told her I would starve before I ate anything while she kept +me there. She did not seem to pay much attention, she looked so +dreadfully worried. She sat down and looked at me. Finally, she said, as +if she were afraid to hear her own voice, 'Has any accident happened +near here lately that you have heard of?' I told her about the man that +fell down in our drive and died of erysipelas. I did not tell her +anything else. All at once she almost fell in a faint. Then she stood +up, and she looked as if she were dead. She told me to stay where I was +just fifteen minutes, then I might go, but I must not stir before. Then +she kissed me again, and her lips were like ice. She went out, and I +knew the door was not locked, but I was afraid to stir. I could hear her +running about. Then I heard the outer door slam, and I looked at my +watch, and it was fifteen minutes. Then I ran out and up the road as +fast as I could. Just before I saw Doctor Elliot the New York train +passed. I heard it. I think she was hurrying to catch that." + +Gordon nodded. + +"Oh, Uncle Tom, who was she, and why did she lock me up?" asked +Clemency. + +"Clemency," said Gordon, in a sterner voice than Clemency had ever heard +him use toward her, "never speak, never think, of that woman or that man +again. Now go out and eat your dinner." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Clemency was so worn out that Doctor Gordon insisted upon her going to +bed directly after dinner, and he and James had a solitary evening in +the office, with the exception of Gordon's frequent absence in his +wife's room. Each time when he returned he looked more gloomy. "I have +increased the morphine almost as much as I dare," he said, coming into +the office about ten. He sat down and lit his pipe. James laid down the +evening paper which he had been reading. "Is she asleep now?" he asked. + +"Yes. By the way, Elliot, have you guessed who that woman was who +kidnapped Clemency?" + +James hesitated. "I don't fairly know whether I am right, but I have +guessed," he replied. + +"Who?" + +"The nurse." + +"You are right. It was the nurse. That man had won her over, and set her +up housekeeping in Westover. He had been staying at the hotel there +before he came here. He was her lover, of course, although he was too +circumspect not to guard the secret. She has been living in that house +for the last three months under the name of Mrs. Wood, a widow. The +former occupants went away last summer, Aaron has been telling me. He +said that once he himself saw the man enter the house, and he had seen +the woman on the street. She had made herself quite popular in Westover. +It was no part of that man's policy to keep his vice behind locked +doors. Locks themselves are the best witness against evil. She attended +the Dutch Reformed Church regularly. She was present at all the church +suppers, and everybody has called on her in Westover. Now I think she +has fled, half-crazed with grief over the death of her lover, and afraid +of some sort of exposure. Unless I miss my guess, there will be a furor +around here shortly over her disappearance. She was not a bad woman as I +remember her, and she was attractive, with a kindly disposition. But he +had his way always with women, and I suppose she thought she was doing +him a service by kidnapping poor little Clemency. I am sorry for her. I +hope she did not go away penniless, but she has her nursing to fall +back upon. She was a good nurse. That makes me think. I must see if Mrs. +Blair cannot come here to-morrow. Clara must have somebody beside +Clemency and Emma. I should prefer a trained nurse, and this woman is +simply the self-taught village sort, but Clara prefers her. She shrinks +at the very mention of a trained nurse. Of course, it is unreasonable, +but the poor soul has always had an awful dread of hospitals and a +possible operation, and I believe that in some way she thinks a trained +nurse one of a dreadful trinity. She must be humored, of course. The +result cannot be changed." + +"You have no hope, then?" James said in a low voice. + +"I have had no more from the outset than if she had been already dead," +said Gordon. + +James said nothing. An enormous pity for the other man was within him. +He thought of Clemency, and he seemed to undergo the same pangs. He felt +such a terrible understanding of the other's suffering that it passed +the bounds of sympathy. It became almost experience. His young face took +on the same expression of dull misery as Gordon's. Presently Gordon +glanced at him, and spoke with a ring of gratitude and affection in his +tired voice. + +"You are a good fellow, Elliot," he said, "and you are the one ray of +comfort I have. I am glad that I have you to leave poor little Clemency +with." + +James looked at him with sudden alarm. "You are not ill?" he said. + +"No, but there is an end to everybody's rope, and sometimes I think I am +about at the end of mine. I don't know. Anyway, it is a comfort to me to +think that Clemency has you in case anything should happen to me." + +"She has me as long as I live," James said fervently. Red overspread his +young face, his eyes glistened. Again the great pity and understanding +with regard to the other man came over him, and a feeling for Clemency +which he had never before had: a feeling greater than love itself, the +very angel of love, divinest pity and protection, for all womanhood, +which was exemplified for himself in this one girl. His heart ached, as +if it were Clemency's upstairs, lying miserably asleep under the +influence of the drug, which alone could protect her from indescribable +pain. His mind projected itself into the future, and realized the +possibility of such suffering for her, and for himself. The honey-sting +of pain, which love has, stung him sharply. + +Gordon seemed to divine his thoughts. "God grant that you may never have +to undergo what I am undergoing, boy," he said. Then he added, "It was +in poor Clara's blood, her mother before her died the same way. Clemency +comes, on her mother's side at least, of a healthy race, morally and +physically, although the nervous system is oversensitive. If my poor +sister had been happy, she would have been alive to-day. And as far as I +know of the other side, there was perfect physical health, although he +had that abnormal lack of moral sense that led one to dream of +possession. Did you notice how much less evil he looked when he was +dead, even with that frightfully disfigured face?" + +"Yes." + +"There are strange things in this world," said Gordon with gloomy +reflection, "or else simple things which we are strange not to believe. +Sometimes I think people will have to take to the Bible again in that +literal sense in which so many are now inclined to disregard it. Well, +Elliot, I honestly feel that you have nothing to fear in taking poor +little Clemency. I should tell you if I thought otherwise. She will +make you happy, and I can think of no reason to warn you concerning any +possible lapses, in either her physical or her moral health, and I have +had her in my charge since she first drew the breath of life. Come, my +son, it is late, and we have a great deal to do to-morrow. This awful +business has made me neglect patients. I have to see Clara again, and +get what rest I can." Gordon looked older and wearier than James had +ever seen him, as he bade him good-night, old and weary as he had often +seen him look. A sudden alarm for Gordon himself came over him. He +wondered, after he had entered, his room, if he were not strained past +endurance. He recalled his own father's healthy, ruddy face, and Gordon +was no older. + +He lay awake a while thinking anxiously of Gordon, then his own happy +future blazoned itself before him, and he dreamed awake, and dreamed +asleep, of himself and Clemency, in that future, whose golden vistas had +no end, so far as his young eyes could see. The sense of relief from +anxiety over the girl was so intense that it was in itself a delight. +Clemency herself felt it. The next morning at breakfast she looked +radiant. Gordon had assured her the sick woman had rested quietly, and +told her that Mrs. Blair was coming. + +"To-day I can go where I choose," Clemency exclaimed gayly. + +"Not until afternoon," replied Gordon, then he relented at her look of +disappointment, and suggested that she go with Elliot to make his calls, +while he went with Aaron and the team. It was a beautiful morning; +spring seemed to have arrived. Everywhere was the plash of running +water, now and then came distant flutings of birds. "I know that was a +bluebird," Clemency said happily. "I feel sure mother will get well now. +It seems wicked to be glad that the man is dead, especially on such a +morning, but I wonder if it is, when he would have spoiled the morning." + +"Don't think about it, anyway!" James said. + +"I try not to." + +"You must not!" + +"I know why Uncle Tom did not want me to go out alone this morning," +Clemency said, with one of her quick wise looks, cocking her head like a +bird. + +"Why?" + +"He wanted to make sure that that woman has really gone." + +"Clemency, you must not mention that man or woman to me again," said +James. + +"I am not married to you yet," Clemency said, pouting. + +"That makes no difference, you must promise." + +"Well, then, I will. I am so happy this morning, that I will promise +anything." + +James looked about to be sure nobody was in sight before he kissed the +little radiant face. + +"I won't speak of them again, but I am right," Clemency said with a +little toss and blush, and it proved that she was. + +At luncheon Doctor Gordon told Clemency that she could go wherever she +liked. She gave a little glance at James, and said gayly, "All right, +Uncle Tom." + +That afternoon Gordon and James made some calls in company, driving far +into the hills. They had hardly started before Gordon said abruptly, +"Well, the woman is gone, and there is a wild excitement in Westover +over her disappearance. I believe they are about to drag the pond. A man +who knew her well by sight declares that she boarded that New York +train, but the people will not give up the theory that she has been +murdered for her jewelry. By the way, I think I need not worry over her +immediate necessities. It seems that she had worn a quantity of very +valuable jewels. Of course her going without any baggage except a +suit-case, and leaving behind the greater part of her wardrobe, does +look singular. But it seems that the house was rented furnished, and I +fancy she lived always in light marching orders, and probably carried +the most valuable of her possessions upon her person and in her +suit-case. Well, I am thankful she has decamped." + +"You don't fear her returning?" asked James with some anxiety. + +"No, I have no fear of that. She is probably broken-hearted over the +death of that man. She is not of the sort to kidnap on her own account. +It was only for him. Clemency has nothing more to fear." + +"I am thankful." + +"You can well believe that I am, when I tell you that this afternoon I +am absolutely sure, for the first time in years, that the girl is safe +to come and go as she pleases. I have had hideous uncertainty as well as +hideous certainty to cope with. Now it is down to the hideous certainty. +That is bad enough, but fate on an open field is less unmanning than +fate in ambush. I have long known to a nicety the fate in the field." +Gordon hesitated a second, then he said abruptly, with his face turned +from his companion, in a rough voice, "Clara can't last many days." + +James made an exclamation. + +"She has gone down hill rapidly during the last two days," said Gordon. +"I have been increasing the morphine. It can't last long." Gordon ended +the sentence with a hoarse sob. + +"I can't say anything," James faltered after a second, "but you know--" + +"Yes, I know," Gordon said. "You are as sorry as any one can be who is +not, so to speak, the hero, or rather the coward, of the tragedy. Yes, I +know. I'm obliged to you, Elliot, but all of us have to face death, +whether it is our own or the death of another dearer than ourselves, +alone. A soul is a horribly lonely thing in the worst places of life." + +"Have you told Clemency?" + +"No, I have put it off until the last minute. What good can it do? She +knows that Clara is very ill, but she does not know, she has never +known, the character of the illness. Sometimes I have a curious feeling +that instinct has asserted itself, and that Clemency, fond as she is of +my wife, has not exactly the affection which she would have had for her +own mother." + +"I don't think she knows any difference at all," James said. "I think +the poor little girl will about break her heart." + +"I did not mean to underestimate Clemency's affection," said Gordon, +"but what I say is true. The girl herself will never know it, and, you +may not believe it, but she will not suffer as she would suffer if Clara +were her own mother. These ties of the blood are queer things, nothing +can quite take their place. If Clemency had died first Clara would have +been indignant at the suggestion, but she herself would not have mourned +as she would mourn for her own daughter. I must touch up the horses a +bit. I want to get home. I may not be able to go out again to-night. +Last night I was up until dawn with Clara." Gordon touched the horses +with a slight flicker of the whip. He held the lines taut as they sprang +forward. His face was set ahead. James glancing at him had a realization +of the awful loneliness of the other man by his side. He seemed to +comprehend the vastness of the isolation of a grief which concerns one, +and one only, more than any other. Gordon had the expression of a +wanderer upon a desert or a frozen waste. Illimitable distances of +solitude seemed reflected in his gloomy eyes. + +James did not attempt to talk to him. It seemed like mockery, this +effort to approach with sympathy this set-apart man, who was +unapproachable. + +That night Gordon's wife was much worse. Gordon came down to James's +room about two o'clock. James had been awake for some time listening to +the sounds of suffering overhead, and he had lit his lamp and dressed, +thinking that he might be needed. Gordon stood in the doorway almost +reeling. He made an effort before he spoke. + +"Come into my office, will you?" he said. + +James at once followed him. Going through the hall the sounds of agony +became more distinct. When they entered the office Gordon fairly slammed +the door, then he turned to Elliot with a savage expression. "Hear +that," he said, as if he were accusing the other man. "Hear that, I say! +The last hypodermic has not taken effect yet, and her heart is weak. If +I give her more--" + +He stopped, staring at James, his face worked like a child's. Then +suddenly an almost idiotic expression came over it, the utter numbness +of grief. Then it passed away. Again he looked intelligently into the +young man's eyes. "If I don't give her more," he gasped out, "if I +don't, this may last hours. If I do--" + +The two men stood staring at each other. James thought of Clemency. "Has +Clemency been in to see her?" he asked. + +"Yes, she heard, and came in. I sent her out. She is in her own room +now; Emma is with her." Suddenly Gordon gave a look of despairing appeal +at James. "I--wish you would go up and see Clara," he whispered. + +James knew what he meant. He hesitated. + +"Go, and send Mrs. Blair down here," said Gordon. "Tell her I want to +see her." + +"Well," said James slowly. + +The two men did not look at each other again. Gordon sank into his +chair. James went out of the room and upstairs. He knocked on the door +of the sick-room, and Mrs. Blair, the village nurse, answered his knock. +She was a large woman in a voluminous wrapper. Her face had a settled +expression of gravity, almost of sternness. She looked at James. The +screams from the writhing mass of agony in the bed did not appear to be +moving her, whereas she in reality was herself screwed to such a pitch +of mental torture of pity that she was scarcely able to move. She was +rigid. + +"Doctor Gordon sent me," whispered James. "He wished me to see her. He +asked me to say to you that he would like to see you for a minute in the +office." + +The woman did not move for a second. Then she whispered close to James's +ear, "_It is on the bureau_." + +James nodded. They passed each other. James entered the room and closed +the door. A lamp was burning on a table with a screen before it. The bed +was in shadow. The screams never ceased. They were not human. James +could not realize that the beautiful woman whom he had known was making +such sounds. They sounded like the shrieks of an animal. All the soul +seemed gone from them. + +James approached the bed. There was a roll of dark eyes at him. Then a +voice ghastly beyond description, like the snarl of a hungry beast, came +from between the straight white lips. "More, more! Give me more! Be +quick!" + +James hesitated. + +"Quick, quick!" demanded the voice. + +James crossed the room to the dresser. The sick woman now interspersed +her screams with the word "quick!" + +James filled a hypodermic syringe from a glass on the bureau and +approached the bed again. He bared a shuddering arm and inserted the +instrument quickly. "Now try and be quiet," he said. "You will go to +sleep." + +Then he went out of the room. The screams had ceased. As James +approached the stair another door opened, and Clemency in a wrapper +looked out. She was very pale, her eyes were distended with fear, and +her mouth was trembling. "How is she?" she whispered. + +"Better, dear. Go back in your room and lie down. We are doing all we +can." + +When James entered the office Gordon and Mrs. Blair turned with one +accord, and fixed horribly searching eyes upon his face. He sat down +beside the table, and mechanically lit a cigar. + +"How did she seem?" Gordon asked almost inaudibly. + +"Better." + +"Was she quiet?" + +"Yes." + +Gordon gave a long sigh. His face was deadly white. He leaned back in +his chair, and both James and the nurse sprang. They thought he had +fainted. While James felt his pulse Mrs. Blair got some brandy. Gordon +swallowed the brandy, and raised his head. + +"It is nothing," he said in a harsh voice. "You had better go back to +her, Mrs. Blair." + +A look of strange dread came over the woman's grave face. + +"I will be there directly," said Gordon. + +Mrs. Blair went out. She left the door ajar. The house was so still that +one could seem to hear the silence. There was something terrible about +it after the turmoil of sound. Then the silence was broken. A scream +more terrible than ever pierced it like a sword. Another came. Gordon +sprang up and faced James. The young man's eyes fell before the look of +fierce questioning in Gordon's. + +"I could not," he gasped. "Oh, Doctor Gordon, I could not! Instead of +that I used water. I thought perhaps her mind being convinced that it +was morphine, she might--" + +"Mind!" shouted Gordon. "Mind, how much do you suppose the poor, +tortured thing has to bring to bear upon this? I tell you she is being +eaten alive. There is no other word for it. Gnawed, and worried, and +eaten alive." Gordon ran out of the room. + +James closed the door. The dog, who had been asleep beside the fire, +started up, came over to James, laid his white head on his knee and +whimpered, with an appealing look in his brown eyes, which were turned +toward the young man's face. Almost immediately Mrs. Blair entered the +room. She was very pale. "Doctor Gordon sent me down for the brandy," +she said abruptly. She went to the table on which the brandy flask +stood, but she seemed in no hurry to take it. + +"How is she?" asked James. + +"I think she is a little quieter." The nurse stood staring at the fire +for a second longer. Then she took the brandy flask and went out with a +soft, but jarring, tread. + +Doctor Gordon must have passed her on the stairs, for he returned almost +directly after she had left, and stood with his back to James, fussing +over some bottles on the shelves opposite the fireplace. He stood there +for some five minutes. James glancing over his shoulder saw that he was +trembling in a strange rigid fashion, but he seemed intent upon the +bottles. The house was very still again. Gordon at last seemed to have +finished whatever he was doing with the bottles. He left them and sat +down in his chair. The dog left James and went to him, but Gordon pushed +him away roughly. Then Gordon spoke to James without turning his face in +his direction. "I wish you would go upstairs," he said hoarsely. "Mrs. +Blair is alone, and I--I am about done too." + +James obeyed without a word. When he reached the head of the stairs he +felt a sudden draught of cold wind. Mrs. Blair came out of the +sick-room, closing the door behind her. Her face looked as stern as fate +itself. James knew what had happened the moment he saw her. + +James began to speak stammeringly, but she stopped him. "Call Doctor +Gordon," she said shortly. "She is dead." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +About two weeks after the death of Doctor Gordon's wife James went to +the post office before beginning his round of calls. Lately nearly all +the practice had devolved upon him. Gordon seemed sunken in a gloomy +apathy, from which he could rouse himself only for the most urgent +necessities. Once aroused he was fully himself, but for the most part he +sat in his office smoking or seemingly half-asleep. Once in a while a +very sick patient acted upon him as a momentary stimulus, but Alton was +unusually healthy just then. After an open and, for the most part, +snowless winter, which had occasioned much sickness, the spring brought +frost and light falls of snow, which seemed to give new life to people +in spite of unseasonableness. James had had little difficulty in +attending to most of the practice, although he was necessarily away from +home the greater part of the time. However, he often took Clemency with +him, and she would sit well wrapped up in the buggy reading a book while +he made calls. Then there were the long drives over solitary roads, +which, though rough, causing the wheels to jolt heavily in deep ridges +of frozen soil, or sink into the red mud almost to the hubs, as the case +might be, seemed like roads of Paradise to the young man. Although he +himself grieved for Gordon's wife, and Gordon himself filled him with +covert anxiety, yet he was young and the girl was young, and they were +both released from a miserable sense of insecurity and mystery, which +had irritated and saddened them; their thoughts now turned toward their +own springtime, as naturally and innocently as flowers bloom. There was +grief, and the shadow of trouble, but of past trouble; their eyes looked +upon life and love and joy instead of death, as helplessly as a flower +looks toward the sun. They were happy, although half-ashamed of their +happiness; but, after all, perhaps, being happy after bereavement and +trouble means simply that the soul has turned to God for consolation. + +James's face was beaming with his joyful thoughts as he drew up before +the village store, got out of the buggy, and tied the horse. When he +entered he said "good morning!" in a sort of general fashion. There were +many men lounging about. The morning mail had been distributed, and +although Alton people got very few letters, still there was a wide +interest in the post office, a little boxed-off space in a corner of the +store. The store-keeper, Henry Graves, was the postmaster. He felt the +importance of his position. When he sorted and distributed the mail from +the limp leather bag, he realized himself as an official of a great +republic. He loved to proudly ignore, and not even seem to see, the +interested and gaping faces watching the boxes. Doctor Gordon's box was +an object of especial interest. Indeed, that was the only one to be +depended upon to contain something when the two mails per day arrived. +Gordon, moreover, took the only New York paper which reached the little +hamlet. Alton had no paper of its own. The nearest was printed in +Stanbridge. One man, the Presbyterian minister, subscribed to the +Stanbridge paper, and paid for it in farm produce. He had a little farm, +and tilled the soil when he was not saving souls. The Stanbridge paper +had arrived the night before, and the minister had been good enough to +impart some of its contents to the curious throng in the store. He was +accustomed to do so. Likewise Gordon, when he was not too hurried, +would open his New York paper, and read the most startling "headers" to +a wide-eyed audience. This morning the paper was in the box as usual, +with a number of letters. The men pressed in a suggestive way around +James, as he took the parcel from the postmaster. There were no +lock-boxes. James hesitated a moment. He had not much time, but he was +good-natured, and the eager hunger in the men's eyes appealed to him. +There was something pathetic about this outreaching for intelligence of +their kind, and its progress or otherwise, among these plodding folk, +who had so to count their pence that a newspaper was an unheard-of +luxury to them. + +James opened the paper and glanced over the headlines on the first page. +Now, had he looked, he might have seen something sinister and malicious +in the curious eyes, but he was so dazed by the very first thing he saw +as to be for the moment oblivious to anything else. On the right of the +first page was the headline: "Strange dual life of a prominent physician +in Alton, New Jersey. Doctor Thomas B. Gordon has lived with his wife +for years, and called her his widowed sister, Mrs. Clara Ewing. Upon +her death, a few days since, he revealed the secret. Will give no +reasons for this strange conduct, simply states that he was justified, +even compelled, by circumstances." Then followed a caricature portrait +of Gordon, a photograph of the house, one of the village church, and the +cemetery and Gordon's wife's grave, with various surmises and comments, +enough to fill the column. James paled as he read. He had not known of +Gordon's action in telling that the dead woman was his wife. He looked +around in a bewildered fashion, and met the hungry eyes. One small, mean +face of a small man peered around his shoulder gloatingly. "Some news +this mornin'?" he observed, with a smack of the lips, as if he tasted +sweets. + +Then James arose to the occasion. He faced them all and smiled coolly. +"Yes," he replied; "you mean about Doctor Gordon?" + +There was a murmur of assent. + +James read the article from beginning to end. "I suppose it is news to +you," he said, when he had finished. He looked at them all with a +superior air. He looked older and more manly than when he had first come +in their midst. He _was_ older and more manly, and he was superior. The +men recognized it, not sullenly nor defiantly, but with the +unquestioning attitude of the New Jerseyman when he is really below the +scale in birth and education. Still their faces all expressed malicious +cunning and cruel curiosity, which they hesitated to put into words. +They knew that Elliot was to marry Gordon's niece; they were overawed by +both men, but they were afraid of Gordon. + +Still Jim Goodman found courage of his meanness and smallness and spoke. +"It seems a strange thing," he said, "that Doctor Gordon should hev came +and went here for years, and all of us thinkin' his wife were his sister +when she were not." + +"Well, what of it?" asked James. + +The men stared at one another. + +"What of it?" repeated James. "I don't suppose there is anything +criminal in a man's calling his wife by his sister's name. Doctor Gordon +has a sister named Ewing." + +Again the men stared at one another, and Jim Goodman was the only one +who had the miserable courage to speak. "S'pose him an' her were +married," he said, in a thin voice like the squeal of a fox. + +"Which of you wants to be knocked down can make a statement to the +contrary," thundered James. "Is that what you make of it?" + +Goodman shuffled from one foot to the other. Men nudged shoulders, +Goodman spoke. "Nobody never knows what is true or ain't true in them +newspapers," he observed, and there was a note of alarm in his voice. + +"I did not read a thing in the whole column which even implied such a +thing as you intimated," James said hotly. "Don't put it off on the +newspapers!" + +Then another man spoke, a farmer, tall, dry, lank, and impervious. He +was a man about whom were ill-reports. His wife had died some years +before, and he had a housekeeper, a florid, blonde creature, dressed +with dingy showiness, of whom people spoke with covert laughs. "All we +want to know is why Doctor Gordon has never said that her was his wife, +and not his sister," he said in a defiant nasal voice. + +The malignant Jim Goodman saw his chance. He jumped upon it like a +spider. "That's so," he said. "Why didn't he say she was his +housekeeper?" There was a shout of coarse laughter. The farmer gave a +hateful look at Goodman and puffed at a rank pipe. + +James was furious, but he saw the necessity of a statement of some kind, +and his wits leaped to action. "Well," he said, "suppose there was a +question of money." + +The crowd pressed closer and gaped. + +"Money!" said Goodman. + +"Yes, money," pursued James recklessly. "Did you never hear of people +being opposed to marriages, rich people I mean, and threatening to +disinherit a woman if she married the man they did not pick out for +her?" + +"Was that it?" asked Goodman. + +"I am not saying that it was or was not. I am not going to discuss +Doctor Gordon's secrets with you. It's none of your business, and none +of my business. All I am saying is this, suppose there had been a girl +years ago with a very rich bachelor brother. Suppose the brother had +been jilted by a girl, and hated the whole lot of women like poison, and +had no idea of getting married himself, and his sister would be his only +heiress, and he had set his foot down that she should not marry Doc--the +man she had set her heart upon. Suppose he went to--well, the South Sea +Islands, for the rest of his life, to get out of sight and sound of +women like the one who had jilted him, told his sister before he went +that if she married the man she wanted he would make a will and leave +his money away from her, build an hospital or a library or something, +suppose she hit upon the plan of marrying the man she wanted, and +keeping it quiet." + +"Was that it?" + +"Didn't I tell you that I would not say whether it was or not? I only +say suppose that was the case. Doctor Gordon has a married sister by the +name of Ewing living in foreign parts. You can see for yourself how easy +it might have been." + +"What about the girl?" asked Goodman in a dry voice. + +James flushed angrily. "That is nobody's business," said he. "She is +Doctor Gordon's niece." + +Goodman was unabashed. "How does it happen her name is Ewing?" he asked. + +"Couldn't it possibly have happened that two sisters of Doctor Gordon's +married two brothers?" James cried. He elbowed his way out. When he was +in the buggy driving home, he began to realize how the fairy tale which +he had related in the store would not in the least impose upon Clemency, +how she would almost inevitably hear of the statements in the papers. He +wondered more and more that Gordon should have divulged a secret which +he had kept so fiercely for so long. + +When he reached home he went at once into the office, and gave Gordon +his mail and the New York paper. Gordon glanced at it, then at James. +"Have you seen this?" he asked. + +James nodded. + +"I suppose you think me most inconsistent," said Gordon gloomily, "but +the truth is I kept the secret while Clara was alive, though I found I +could not, oh, God, I could not after she was dead and gone! I had not +realized what that would mean: to never acknowledge her as my wife, dead +or alive. I found that when it came to the death certificate, and the +notice in the paper, and the erection of a stone to her memory, that I +could not keep up the deception, no matter what the consequence. My God, +Elliot, I cannot commit sacrilege against the dead! Dead, she must have +her due. I anticipated this. There was something last night in the +_Stanbridge Record_, and yesterday, while you were out three reporters +from New York came. I told them that I had done what I had for good and +sufficient reasons, which were not dishonorable to myself or to others, +and beyond that I would say nothing. I suppose the poor fellows had to +tax their imaginations to fill their columns. I don't know what the +result will be with regard to Clemency, but I could not help it." There +was something painfully appealing in Gordon's look and manner. He seemed +so broken that James was alarmed. He said everything that he was able to +say to soothe him, commended the course which he had taken, and told him +what he had said at the store, without repeating the insinuations which +had led him to fabricate such a tale. Gordon smiled bitterly. "All your +fellowmen want of you is food for their animal appetites or their +mental," he said. "They must have meat and drink for their stomachs, as +well as for their curiosity and malice. I have lived here all these +years, and labored for them for mighty poor recompense, and sometimes +for none at all, and I'll warrant that to-day I am more in their minds +than I have ever been before, because they have found out my secret, +which has been the torture of my life. I wonder if Clemency has heard +anything about it." + +"I will go and see," replied James. + +The minute he saw Clemency, who was in the parlor, he knew that she +knew. By her side on the floor was the _Stanbridge Record_. She looked +at James and pointed to it without a word. Her face was white as death. +James took up the paper. That merely announced the fact of Mrs. Gordon's +death, dwelt upon her many beautiful qualities of mind and body, her +great suffering, and stated briefly the astonishment with which the news +was received that she was Doctor Gordon's wife, and not his sister, as +people had been led to suppose. "Little Annie Codman just brought it +over," said Clemency. "She said her mother sent it. It is just like her +mother. Mr. Codman never would have done such a thing." + +Mr. Codman was the minister. + +James, for a second, did not know what to say. He thought of the absurd +story which he had told, or rather suggested, at the store, and realized +that such a fabrication would not answer here. + +Immediately Clemency fired a point-blank question at him. "Who am I?" +she asked. + +"You are Doctor Gordon's niece, dear." + +"But--she was not my mother." + +"No, dear." + +"Who am I?" + +"You are the daughter of Doctor Gordon's youngest sister, who died when +you were born." + +Clemency sat reflecting, her forehead knit, a keen look in her blue +eyes. "I knew my father was dead," she said after a little. "Uncle Tom +has always told me that he passed away three months before I was born, +but--" She raised a puzzled, shocked, grieved face to James. "What is my +name?" she asked. "My real name?" + +James hesitated. Then his mind reverted to the tale which he had told at +the store. He could see no other way out of the difficulty. "Did you +never hear of two brothers marrying two sisters, dear?" he asked. + +Clemency gazed at him with a puzzled, almost suspicious, look. "I knew I +had an aunt and cousin in England named Ewing," she said, "but I always +supposed that my English aunt was not my real aunt, only my aunt by +marriage, that she had married my father's brother." + +"Your English aunt is your uncle's own sister," said James. + +"I see: my own mother and my aunt were sisters, and they married +brothers," Clemency said slowly. + +"That is unusual, but not unprecedented," said James. He had never been +involved in such a web of fabrication. He felt his cheeks burning. He +was sure that he looked guilty, but Clemency did not seem to notice it. +She was reflecting, still with that puzzled knitting of her forehead and +that introspective look in her blue eyes. "I wonder if I look in the +least like my own mother?" she said in a curious voice, as of one who +feels her way. + +"Once your uncle said to me that you were your own mother's very image," +replied James eagerly. He was glad to have the chance to say anything +truthful. + +Clemency's face lightened. She spoke with that fatuous innocence and +romance of young girls, and often of older women, to whom romance and +sentiment are in the place of reason. "Then I know who that man was," +she announced in a delighted voice. "You and Uncle Tom thought I would +never know, but I do know. I have found out my own self." + +"Who was he, dear?" + +"Oh, I don't know who he was really, and I don't know who that woman +was. She does mix up things a good deal, but this much I do know--why +Uncle Tom passed off my aunt for my mother, and why we were always +hiding from that man. He was in love with my mother, and he was in love +with me, because I am so much like her. Now, tell me honest, dear, +didn't Uncle Tom ever tell you that that man was in love with my mother +before I was born?" + +"Yes, dear," James answered, fairly bewildered over the fashion in which +truth was lending itself to the need of falsehood. + +Clemency nodded her head triumphantly. "There, I told you I knew," said +she. "Poor man, it was dreadful of him to pursue me so, and make us all +so unhappy, and of course I never could have married him, even if it had +not been for you. I do think he looked like a wicked man, and of course +I never could have endured the thought of marrying a man who had been in +love with my mother, even if he had been ever so good. But I can't help +being sorry for him; he must have loved my mother so much, and he must +have wasted his whole life; and then to die among strangers so suddenly, +poor man." + +James felt a sort of pleasure at hearing the girl express, all +unknowingly, sympathy for her dead father. The tears actually stood in +her eyes. "The queerest thing to me is that woman," she added musingly, +after a minute. Then again her face lightened. "Why, I do believe she +was his sister," she cried, "and that was the reason she wanted to get +me, and the reason why she was so dreadfully upset when she heard he was +dead, poor thing. Well, of course, I can't help feeling glad that I am +not in danger any more; but I am sorry for that poor man, even if he +wasn't good." A tear rolled visibly down Clemency's cheeks. Then she got +out her handkerchief and sobbed violently. "Oh, I haven't realized," she +moaned, "I haven't realized until this minute, how terrible it is that +she wasn't my mother." + +"She was as good as a mother to you, dear." + +"Yes, I know, but she wasn't, and it hurts me worse now she is gone than +it would have done when she was alive. I don't seem to have anything." + +"You have me." + +Then Clemency ran to him, and he held her on his knee and comforted her, +then tore himself away to make his morning round of calls. Clemency +followed him to the door, and kissed her hand to him as he drove away. +James had good reason to remember it, for it was the last loving +salutation from her for many a day. + +When he returned at noon the girl's manner was unaccountably changed +toward him. She only spoke to him directly when addressed, and then in +monosyllables. She never looked at him. She sat at the table at luncheon +and poured the chocolate, and there was almost absolute silence. Emma +waited jerkily as usual. James fancied once, when he met her eyes, that +there was an expression of covert triumph on her face. Emma had never +liked him. He had been conscious of the fact, but it had not disturbed +him. He had no more thought of this middle-aged, harsh-featured New +Jersey farmer's daughter than he had of one of the dining-chairs. Gordon +sat humped upon himself, as he sat nowadays, a marked stoop of age was +becoming visible in his broad shoulders, and he ate perfunctorily +without a word. James, after a number of futile attempts to talk to +Clemency, subsided himself into bewildered silence, and ate with very +little appetite. There were chops and potatoes and peas, and apple-pie, +for luncheon. When it came to the pie Emma served Clemency and Doctor +Gordon, and deliberately omitted James. Nobody seemed to notice it, +although James felt sure that the omission was intentional. He felt +himself inwardly amused at the antagonism which could take such a form, +and went without his pie uncomplainingly, while Gordon and Clemency ate +theirs. The dog at this juncture came slinking into the room and close +to James, who gave him a lump of sugar from the bowl which happened to +stand near him. At once Emma took the bowl and moved it to another part +of the table out of his reach. James felt a strong inclination to laugh. + +The dog sat up and begged for more sugar, and James, when they all left +the table, coolly took a handful of sugar from the bowl and carried it +into the office, the dog leaping at his side. Emma slammed the +dining-room door behind him. Clemency, without a look at him, +immediately ran upstairs to her own room. Gordon and James sat down in +the office as usual for a smoke until James should start upon his +afternoon rounds. Gordon asked him a few questions about the patients +whom he had seen that morning, but in a listless, abstracted fashion, +then he spoke of those whom James would see that afternoon. "You had +better take the team," he said. + +"Clemency is going with me," James said. + +Gordon looked at him with faint surprise. "I think you must be +mistaken," he said. "Clemency came to me just before luncheon and asked +if I had any objections to her spending a few days with Annie Lipton. I +told her we could get on perfectly well without her, and Aaron is going +to drive her over. She will have to take a suit-case. I knew you had to +go in another direction, and could not take her. I thought the change +would do her good. Didn't she say anything to you about it?" + +"I think it will do her good. She needs a little change," James replied +evasively. As he spoke Aaron came out of the stable leading the bay mare +harnessed to a buggy. + +"She is going right away," said Gordon, looking a little puzzled. He had +hardly finished speaking before Clemency's voice was heard in the hall. +It rang rather hard, but quite clearly. "Good-by," she called out. + +"Good-by," responded Gordon and James together. Gordon looked at James, +astonished that he did not go out to assist Clemency into the buggy, and +bid her good-by. He seemed about to question him, then he took another +puff at his pipe, and his face settled into its wonted expression of +gloomy retrospection. Boy's and girl's love affairs seemed as motes in a +beam of sunlight to him at this juncture. + +James started to go, the horses were stamping uneasily in the drive, and +he had a long round of calls to make that afternoon. + +Gordon removed his pipe. "I am putting a good deal on you, Elliot," he +said with a kind of hard sadness. + +"That's all right," James replied cheerfully, "I am strong. I can stand +it if the patients can. I fancied old Mrs. Steen was rather disgusted to +see me this morning. I heard her say something about sendin' a boy to +her daughter, and when I went into the bedroom, she glared at me, and +said, 'You?'" James laughed. + +"Her case is not at all desperate," Gordon said gloomily. "She is merely +on the downward road of life. Nothing ails her except that. You can +supply the few inadequate crutches of tonics as well as any one. There +is not one desperately sick patient on the whole list now, that I know +of, although I must confess that that Willoughby girl rather puzzles me. +She breaks every diagnosis all to pieces." + +"Hysteria," said James. + +"Oh, yes, I know hysteria is a good way to account for our own lack of +insight," said Gordon, "and it may be that girls are queer subjects. +Sometimes I wonder if they know what they know. Lilian Willoughby does +not." + +Gordon, to James's intense surprise, flared into a burst of anger. "Yes, +she does know," he declared. "Down in her inner consciousness I believe +she does, poor little overstrung, oversensitive girl, half-fed, as to +her body, on coarse food which she cannot assimilate, starved +emotionally. If a girl like that has to exist anyway, why cannot she be +born under different circumstances? That girl as daughter of a New +Jersey farmer is an anomaly. If she mates at all it must be with another +New Jersey farmer, then she dies after bringing a few degenerates into +the world. Providence does things like that, and the doctors are +supposed to right things. That girl has had symptoms of about every +known disease, and my diagnosis has failed to prove the existence of one +of them. Yet there are the symptoms. Call it hysteria, or what you will. +I call it an injustice on the part of the Higher Power. I suppose that +is blasphemy, but I am forced to it. Can that girl help the longings +for her rights, her longings which are abnormally acute because of her +over-fine nervous system? Those longings, situated as she is, can never +be satisfied in any way except for her own harm. Meantime she eats her +own heart, since she has nothing else, and heart-eating produces all +kinds of symptoms. I am absolutely powerless in such a case, though +sometimes I make a diagnosis which I think may be correct, sometimes I +think there is some organic trouble which I can mitigate. But always I +fall back upon the miserable truth which I am convinced underlies her +whole existence. She is a creature born into a life which does not and +never will afford her the proper food for her physical and spiritual +needs. Oh, the horror in this world, and what am I to set myself to +right it? Shut the door." + +"The horses are uneasy," James said. + +"Never mind, shut the door. Clemency is away, and Emma out in the +kitchen. I must speak to somebody, or I shall go mad." + +James shut the door and turned to Gordon, who sat rigid in his chair, +his hands clutching the arms. "Do you think I did right?" he groaned. +"You know what I did. Was it right?" + +"If you mean about your wife," James said, "I think you did entirely +right." + +"But you could not," Gordon returned bitterly. "It was too much for you +to attempt, and yet she was nothing to you as she was to me, and the sin +would not have been so terrible." + +"I had not the courage," James replied simply. + +"You did not think it right. You did not wish to burden your soul with +such a responsibility. I was wrong to try to shift it upon you, wrong +and cowardly, but she was bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; it was +a double crime for me, murder and suicide. It was not because you had +not the courage: you have faced surgical operations and dissecting. You +dared not commit what you were not sure was not a crime. There is no use +in your hedging, Elliot. I know the truth." + +"Still I think you did right," James said stubbornly. "She had to die +anyway. Death was upon her. You simply hastened it." + +Gordon looked at James, and his eyes seemed to fairly blaze with somber +fire; for a moment the young man thought his reason was unhinged. "But +what am I? Who is any man to take whip or spur to the decrees of the +Almighty, to hasten them?" + +"She was suffering--" James began. + +"What of that? Who can say, though she had led the life of a saint on +earth, so far as any one could see, what subtle sins of life itself her +pains were counteracting? Who can tell but I have deprived her of untold +joys which would have compensated a thousand times for those pains by +shortening them?" + +"Doctor Gordon, you are morbid," James said, looking at him uneasily. + +"How do you know I am morbid? Then that other--Mendon. Who is to say +that I was right even about that? It is probable I saved your life, and +possibly my own, as well as Clemency from misery. But who can say that +death would not have been better for both you and me than life, and even +misery for Clemency had that man lived? God had allowed him life upon +the earth. I may have shortened that life. He was a monster of +wickedness, but who can say that he was not a weapon of God, and that I +have not done incalculable mischief by depriving him of that weapon? +There is only one consolation which I have with regard to him; unless my +diagnosis was entirely at fault, he would have had that attack of +erysipelas anyway. I hardly think I deceive myself with regard to that, +and there is a very probable chance that the attack would have been +fatal. He had nearly lost his life twice before with the same disease. +That I know, and I do not think that unless the poison was already in +his blood, it would have developed so rapidly from that slight bruise. +So far as the simple wound from the dog went, he was in no danger +whatever. I have that consolation in his case, in not being absolutely +certain that I caused his death; I am not even absolutely sure that I +hastened it by any appreciable time. He might have been attacked that +very night with the disease. Still there is, and always will be, the +slight doubt." + +"I don't think you ought to brood over that, Doctor Gordon," James said +soothingly. He went close to the older man and laid a hand upon his +shoulder. Gordon looked up at him, and his face was convulsed. He spoke +with solemn and tragic emphasis. "It is not for mortal man to interfere +with the ways of God, and he does so at his own peril," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +The confidence which Gordon had reposed in James seemed for a time to +have given him a measure of relief. While he never for an instant +appeared like his old self, while the games of euchre at Georgie K.'s +were not resumed, nor the boyish enjoyment of things, which James now +recognized to have been simply feverish attempts to live through the +horrible ordeal of his life and keep his sanity, while he had now +settled down into a state of austere gloom, yet he begun again to attend +to his practice and to take interest in it. Clemency remained away for a +week. Then Gordon brought her home. She was at the dinner-table that +night when James returned rather late from a call on a far-off patient. +She simply said, "Good evening! Doctor Elliot," as if he had been the +merest acquaintance, and went on to serve his soup. James gave her a +bewildered, half-grieved, half-angered look, which she seemed not to +notice. Immediately after dinner she went to her own room. James, +smoking with Gordon in the office, heard her go upstairs. Gordon nodded +at James through the cloud of smoke. + +"She has taken a notion, my son," he said. "She told me on the way home +that she wished to break the engagement with you. She would give no +reason. She wished me to tell you. I don't take her seriously. She cares +as much for you as ever. Girls are queer cattle. She has some utterly +unimaginable idea in her head, which will run itself out. If I were you +I would pay no attention to it. Simply take her at her word, and let her +alone for a little while, and she herself will urge you for a +reconciliation. I know the child. She simply cannot remain at odds for +any length of time with any one whom she loves, and she does love you; +but she is freakish, and at times inclined to strain at her bit. Perhaps +Annie Lipton has been putting ideas into her head against marriage in +general. She may have frightened her, and they may have sworn celibacy +together in the watches of the night. Girls hatch more mischief when +they ought to be asleep. They are queer cattle." + +"The trouble began before Clemency went away," James said soberly. He +was quite pale. + +"Trouble? What trouble?" + +"I don't know. All I know is, that the very day when Clemency went away +she seemed changed to me. You remember how she called out good-by, and I +did not go out to help her off as I should naturally have done." + +"Yes, I do remember that, and I did wonder at your not going." + +"I did not go because I was quite sure that she did not wish it. She had +been very curt with me, and had shown me unmistakably that my attentions +were not welcome." + +"And you don't know why? There had been no quarrel?" + +"Not the slightest. I have not the faintest idea what the trouble is or +was, and why she wishes to break the engagement. All I know is that as +suddenly as a weather vane turns from west to north, she turned, and +seemed to have no more use for me." + +"Queer," Gordon said reflectively. He eyed James keenly. "You absolutely +know of no reason?" + +"I absolutely know of none. Clemency is the very first girl about whom I +have ever thought in this way. There is nothing in my whole life, past +or present, which I could not spread before her like an open book, so +far as any fear lest it should turn her against me." + +"I questioned her," Gordon said, "and she absolutely refused to give me +any reason for breaking her engagement. She simply repeated over and +over, 'I have changed my mind, Uncle Tom.' I asked her if she had seen +anybody else." + +James flushed hotly. "What did she say to that?" + +"She said, 'Whom could I have seen, Uncle Tom? You yourself know how +many men I have seen here, and you know I never see men at Annie's.' +There is no one else. You may be sure of that, and also sure that she +still cares for you. I know that from her whole manner. She has simply +taken one of those unaccountable freaks which the best of girls will +take. Just let her alone, and the whole will right itself. She may have +got a sudden scare at the idea of marriage itself, for all I know. I +still cling to the idea that Annie Lipton has been putting ideas into +her head, in spite of what you say of her coldness before she went +there. She may have started herself in the path, but Annie helped her +further on." + +"Of course I must leave here," James said gloomily. + +Gordon started. "Leave here?" + +"Yes, of course. Clemency will naturally not wish to have me a member of +the household in the existing state of things." + +"Clemency will wish it. Of course you are going to stay, Elliot." + +"I don't feel as if I could, Doctor Gordon." + +"Nonsense!" + +"It will naturally not be very pleasant for me," James said, coloring. + +"Why not?" asked Gordon irritably. "You are not a love-sick girl." + +"No, I am not," James returned with spirit. "I know I am jilted, but I +mean to take, and I think I am taking it, like a man. If Clemency does +not want me, I am sure I do not want her to have me. And I can stand +seeing her daily under the altered condition of things. I am no +milk-sop. Generally speaking, living under a roof when you are an object +of aversion to a member of the household, is not exactly pleasant." + +"You are not an object of aversion." + +"I might as well be." + +Gordon looked at the young man pitifully. "For God's sake, then don't +leave _me_, Elliot," he said. + +James stared at him. There was so much emotion in his face. + +"What do you think my life would be without you?" said Gordon. "Aside +from your assistance, which I cannot do without, you are my only solace, +especially since Clemency is in this mood. Stay for my sake, if it is +unpleasant, Elliot." + +"Well, I will stay, if you feel so about it, doctor," James replied. + +"Clemency is treating you shamefully," Gordon said. + +"A girl has a right to her own mind in such a matter, if she has in +anything." + +"The worst of it is, it is not her mind. I tell you I know that." + +"I am not so sure." + +"Wait and see! You underestimate yourself, boy." + +James laughed sadly. Then there was a knock on the office door and +Georgie K. appeared. He looked shyly at Gordon. He had a bottle under +his arm. "I have brought over a little apple-jack; thought it might do +you good," he stammered, his great face suffused like a girl's. + +Gordon looked affectionately at him. "Thank you, Georgie K.," he said. +"Sit down and we will have a game. I'll get the hot water and glasses. +Emma is out." + +"I'll get them," James said eagerly. He went out to the kitchen, but +Emma was not out. She was sitting sewing in a gingham apron. + +"What do you want?" she demanded severely. + +James explained meekly. + +"Well, go back to the office, and I'll fetch the things," Emma said in a +hostile tone. James obeyed. Presently Emma appeared bearing a tray with +the hot water and two glasses, Gordon did not notice the omission of a +third glass, until she had gone out. "Why, she only brought two +glasses," he said. + +James felt absurdly unequal to facing Emma again. "I don't think I'll +take anything to-night," he said. + +"Nonsense!" returned Gordon. He went to the door and shouted for Emma +with no response. "She can't have gone upstairs so quickly," he said. +But when after another shout he got no response, he went himself into +the dining-room, and got a tumbler from the sideboard. "She must have +gone upstairs at once," he remarked when he returned. "The kitchen is +dark." + +Georgie K. did not remain very late. He seemed nervously solicitous +with regard to Doctor Gordon. When he left he shook hands with him, and +bade him take good care of himself. + +"I love that man," Gordon said, when the door had closed behind him. + +When James entered his room that night he found fresh proof of Emma's +inexplicable hostility. The room was in total darkness. He lit matches +and searched for lamp or candles, to find none. He fumbled his way out +into the kitchen, and got a little lamp, which gave but a dim light, and +read, as was his habit, after he had gone to bed, with exceeding +difficulty. He also was subjected to a most absurd annoyance from the +presence of some gritty particles in the bed. After he extinguished his +lamp he could not go to sleep because of them, and lit his lamp again, +and tore the sheet off and shook it. The gritty particles seemed to him +to be crumbs of very hard and dry bread. He made the bed up again after +his clumsy masculine fashion. James had not much manual dexterity, and +rested very uncomfortably, from a pronounced inclination of the +coverings to slide off his feet, and over one side of the bed. + +The next morning Emma did not bring hot water for his shaving. She +usually set a pitcher outside his door, but this morning there was none. +He was obliged to go out to the kitchen and prefer a request for some. +"I have jest filled up the coffee-pot and the tea-kettle, and I guess +the water ain't very hot," Emma said in a malicious tone, as she filled +a pitcher for him. + +The water was not very hot. James had a severe experience shaving, and +his annoyances were not over then. There was no napkin beside his plate +at breakfast. He did not like to apply to Clemency, whose cold good +morning had served to establish a higher barrier between them, and who +sat behind the coffee urn with a forlorn but none the less severe look. +He also did not like to apply to Gordon for fear of offending her. It +was about as bad to ask Emma, but he finally did, in a low tone. + +Emma apparently did not hear. He was forced to repeat his request for a +napkin loudly. Gordon looked up. "Emma, why do you not set the table +properly?" he asked, in a severe tone. + +Emma tossed her head and muttered. She brought a napkin, and laid it +beside James's plate with an impetus as if it had been a lump of lead. +Presently James discovered that he had only one spoon, but he made that +do duty for his cereal and coffee, and said nothing. He was aware of +Emma's eyes of covert, malicious enjoyment upon him, as he +surreptitiously licked off the oatmeal, and put the spoon in his coffee. +He began to wonder what he could do, if this state of things was to +continue. It all seemed so absurd, the grievances were so exceedingly +petty. He could not imagine what had so turned Emma against him. He was +even more at a loss where she was concerned than in Clemency's case. A +girl engaged might find some foolish reason, which seemed enormous to +her, to turn the cold shoulder to him, but it was inconceivable that +Emma should. He had always treated her politely, even with a certain +deference, knowing, as he did, that she was an old and faithful servant, +and as the daughter of a farmer being, in her own estimation at least, +of a highly superior station to that of servants in general. He could +not imagine why Emma was subjecting him to these ridiculous +persecutions, before which he was almost helpless. She had heretofore +treated him loftily, as was her wont with everybody, except Gordon and +Clemency, but certainly she had neglected none of her duties with +regard to him. Miserable as James was concerning Clemency, he could not +but feel that if he were to be subjected to these incomprehensible +annoyances from Emma, life in the house would be almost impossible. He +could bear sorrow like a man, but to bear pinpricks beside was almost +too much to ask. That noon, when he returned from his rounds, he +realized that there was to be no cessation. Clemency was not at the +lunch-table. Gordon said she had a headache and was lying down. Emma in +passing James his cup of tea, contrived to spill it over him. He was not +scalded, but his shirt-front and collar were stained, thereby +necessitating a change, and he was in a hurry to be gone directly after +lunch. + +Gordon roused himself, however. "Be more careful another time, Emma," he +said sharply. + +Emma tossed her head. "Doctor Elliot moved jest as I was coming with the +cup," she said in a thin, waspish voice. + +"He did no such thing," Gordon said harshly, "and if he had, it was your +business to be careful. Get Doctor Elliot another cup of tea." + +Emma obeyed with a jerk. She set the cup and saucer down beside James's +plate as hard as she dared, and James at the first sip found that the +tea was salted. However, he said nothing. Gordon after his outburst had +resumed his former state of apathy, and was eating and drinking like a +machine, whose works were rusty and almost run down. He could not +trouble him with such an absurdity. Then, too, he was too vexed to +please the girl so much. He forced himself to drink the tea without a +grimace, knowing that Emma's eyes were upon him. But the climax was +almost reached. That night when on his return he wished to change his +collar before dinner, he found every one with the buttonholes torn. It +was skilfully done, so skilfully that no one could have declared +positively that it had not been done accidentally in the laundry. James +would not appear at the dinner-table in a soiled collar, and was forced +to hurry out to the village store and purchase new ones. These, with the +exception of the one he put on, he locked in his trunk. He was late for +dinner, and the soup was quite cold. When Doctor Gordon complained +irritably, Emma replied with one of her characteristic tosses of the +head that she couldn't help it, Doctor Elliot was late. James said +nothing. He swallowed his luke-warm soup in silence. He began to wonder +what he could do. He did not wish to complain to Doctor Gordon, +especially as the result might be the dismissal of Emma, and he felt +that he could say nothing to Clemency about it. Clemency appeared at the +dinner-table, but she looked pale and forlorn, and said good evening to +James without lifting her eyes. When her uncle asked if her head was +better, she said, "Yes, thank you," in a spiritless tone. She ate almost +nothing. After dinner, James had a call to make, and, on his return, +entered by the office door. He found Gordon fast asleep in his chair, +with the dog at his feet. The dog started up at sight of James, but he +motioned him down, and went softly out into the hall. There was a light +there, but none in the parlor. James heard distinctly a little sob from +the parlor. He hesitated a moment, then he entered the room. It was +suffused with moonlight. All the pale objects stood out like ghosts. +Clemency by the window, in a little white wool house-gown, looked, +ghostly. + +James went straight across to her, pulled up a chair beside her, seated +himself, and pulled one of her little hands away from her face almost +roughly, and held it firmly in spite of her weak attempt to remove it. +"Now, Clemency," he said in a determined voice, "this has gone quite far +enough. You told your uncle that you wished to break your engagement to +me. I have no wish to coerce you. If you really do not want to marry me, +why, I must make the best of it, but I have a right to know the reason +why, and I will know it." + +Clemency was silent, except for her sobs. + +"Tell me," said James. + +"Don't," whispered Clemency. + +"Tell me." + +Then Clemency let her other hand, which contained a moist little ball of +handkerchief, fall. She turned full upon him her tearful, swollen face. +"If you want to know what you know already," said she, in a hard voice, +"here it is. She wasn't my mother, but I loved her like one, and you +killed her." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +James sat as if turned to stone. All in a second he realized what it +must be. He let Clemency's hand go, and leaned back in his chair. "What +do you mean, Clemency?" he asked finally, but he realized how senseless +the question was. He knew perfectly well what she meant, and he knew +perfectly well that he was utterly helpless before her accusation. + +"You know," said Clemency, still in her unnatural hard voice. "You +killed her." + +"How?" + +"You know. You gave her more morphine, and her heart was weak. Emma +overheard Uncle Tom say so, and that more morphine was dangerous. She +might have been alive to-day if it had not been for you." + +James sat staring at the girl. She went on pitilessly. "You did not see +Emma that last time you came upstairs," she said, "but she saw you. She +was standing in the door of her room, and she had no light. She saw you +and Mrs. Blair going away from her room, and she heard Mrs. Blair tell +you she was dead. You killed her. I want nothing whatever to do with a +murderer." + +James remembered that draught of cold air. It must have come from the +open door of Emma's room at the end of the hall. He understood that Emma +could not have seen him coming upstairs, but that she had seen him with +Mrs. Blair at the door of the sick-room, and had jumped at her +conclusion. + +"Emma knew when you went upstairs first," said Clemency. "You left her +door a little ajar. Emma saw you giving her a hypodermic. And then when +that did not kill her you gave her another. Uncle Tom did not know. He +must never know, for it would kill him, but you did kill her." + +James was silent for a moment. He realized the impossibility of clearing +himself from the accusation unless he told the whole truth and +implicated Doctor Gordon. Finally he said, miserably enough, "You don't +know how horribly she was suffering, dear. You don't know what torments +she would have had to suffer." + +He knew when he said that that he incriminated himself. Clemency +retorted immediately, "You don't know. I have heard Uncle Tom say that +nobody can ever know. She might have gotten well. Anyway, you killed +her." With that Clemency sprang up and ran out of the room, and James +heard her sob. + +As for himself, he remained where he was for a long time. He never knew +how long. He felt numb. He realized himself to be in a gulf of +misunderstanding, from which he could not be extricated, even for the +sake of Clemency. It seemed to him again that he must go away, but he +remembered Gordon's pitiful plea to him to remain. Finally he went into +his room, to find that Emma, in her absurd malice, had left only the +coverlid on the bed. She had stripped it of the sheets and blankets. He +lay down with his clothes on and passed a sleepless night. + +The next morning at the breakfast-table he looked haggard and pale. He +could eat nothing. Doctor Gordon looked at him keenly. + +"What is the matter, Elliot?" he asked. + +Clemency gave a quick glance at him, and her face worked. + +"Nothing," replied James. + +"You look downright ill." + +"I am not ill." + +Clemency rose abruptly and left the table. + +"What is the matter, Clemency? Where are you going?" Gordon called out. + +"I have finished my breakfast," the girl replied in a stifled voice. + +Gordon insisted on making some calls that morning, and relieving James. +"You are worn out, my son," he said in a voice of real affection, and +clapped him on the shoulder. He sent James on a short round in spite of +his objections, and the consequence was that James reached home half an +hour before luncheon. + +It was a beautiful morning. Spring seemed to have come with a winged +leap. A faint down of green shaded the elms, and there was a pink cloud +of peach bloom in the distance. The cherry trees were swollen almost to +blossom, and the apple trees had pale radiances in the glance of the +sun. The grass was quite green, and here and there were dandelions. +Clemency was out in the yard, working in a little flower-garden, as +James drove in. She had on a black dress, and her fair head was +uncovered. She pretended not to see James, but he had hardly entered the +office before she came in. Her face was all suffused with pink. She +looked at him tenderly and angrily. + +"Are you ill?" she said, in an indignant voice which had, in spite of +herself, soft cadences. + +"No, Clemency." + +"Then why do you look so?" she demanded. + +James turned at that. "Clemency, you accuse me of cruelty," he said, +"but you yourself are cruel. You do not realize that you cannot tell a +man he is a murderer, and throw him over when he loves you, and yet have +him utterly unmoved by it." + +Suddenly Clemency was in his arms. "I love you, I love you," she sobbed. +"Don't be unhappy, don't look so. It breaks my heart. I love you, I do +love you, dear. I can't marry you, but I love you!" + +"If you love me, you can marry me." + +Clemency shrank away, then she clung to him again. "No," she said, "I +can't get over the thought of it. I can't help it, but I do love you. We +will go on just the same as ever, only we will not get married. You know +we were not going to get married just yet anyway. I love you. We will go +on just the same. Only don't look the way you did this morning at +breakfast." + +"How did I look?" + +"As if your heart were broken." + +"So it is, dear." + +"No, it is not. I love you, I tell you. What is the need of bothering +about marriage anyway? I am perfectly happy being engaged. Annie says +she is never going to get married. Let the marriage alone. Only you +won't look so any more, will you, dear?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +After this James encountered a strange state of things: the semblance of +happiness, which almost deceived him as to its reality. + +Clemency was as loving as she had ever been. Gordon congratulated James +upon the reconciliation. "I knew the child could never hold out, and it +was Annie Lipton," he said. James admitted that Annie Lipton might have +been the straw which turned the balance. He knew that Clemency had not +told Gordon of her conviction that he had given the final dose of +morphine to her aunt. Everything now went on as before. Clemency +suddenly became awake to Emma's petty persecutions of James, and they +ceased. James one day could not help overhearing a conversation between +the two. He was in the stable, and the kitchen windows were open. He +heard only a few words. "You don't mean to say you are goin' to hev +him?" said Emma in her strident voice. + +"No, I am not," returned Clemency's sweet, decided one. + +"What be you goin' with him again for then?" + +James knew how the girl blushed at that, but she answered with spirit. +"That is entirely my own affair, Emma," she said, "and as long as Doctor +Elliot remains under this roof, and pays for it, too, he must be treated +decently. You don't pass him things, you don't fill his lamp. Now you +must treat him exactly as you did before, or I shall tell Uncle Tom." + +"You won't tell him why?" said Emma, and there was alarm in her voice, +for she adored Gordon. + +"Did you ever know me to go from one to another in such a way?" asked +Clemency. "You know if I told Uncle Tom, he would not put up with it a +minute. He thinks the world of Doctor Elliot." + +"It's awful queer how men folks can be imposed on," said Emma. + +"That has nothing to do with it," Clemency said. "You must treat Doctor +Elliot respectfully, Emma." + +"I'm jest as good as he be," said Emma resentfully. + +"Well, what if you are? He's as good as you, isn't he? And he treats you +civilly. He always has." + +"I'm a good deal better than he be," Emma went on irascibly. "I wouldn't +have gone and went, and--" + +"Hush!" ordered Clemency in a frightened voice. "Emma, you must do as I +say." + +James drove out of the yard and heard no more, but after that he had no +fault to find with Emma, so far as her service was concerned. It is true +that she gave him malignant glances, but she made him comfortable, +albeit unwillingly. It was fortunate for him that she did so, or he +would have found his position almost unbearable. Doctor Gordon relaxed +again into his state of apathetic gloom. His strength also seemed to +wane. Almost the whole practice devolved upon James. Gordon seemed less +and less interested even in extreme cases. Georgie K. also lost his +power over him. Now and then of an evening he came, but Gordon, save to +offer him a cigar, took scarcely any notice of him. One evening Georgie +K. made a motion to James behind Gordon's back when he took leave, and +James made an excuse to follow him out. In the drive Georgie K. took +James by the arm, and the young man felt him tremble. "What ails him?" +asked Georgie K. + +"I hardly know," James replied in a whisper. + +"I know," said Georgie K. By the light from the office window James +could see that the man was actually weeping. His great ruddy face was +streaming with tears. "Don't I know?" he sobbed. + +James remembered the stuffed canary and the wax flowers, and the story +Gordon had told him of Georgie K.'s grief over his wife's death. + +"I dare say you are right," he returned. + +"He's breakin' his heart, that's what he's doin'," said Georgie K. +"Can't you get him to go away for a change or somethin'?" + +"I have tried." + +"He'll die of it," Georgie K. said with a great gulp as he went out of +the yard. + +When James reëntered the office Gordon looked up at him. "That poor old +fellow called you out to talk about me," he said quietly. "I know I'm +going downhill." + +"For heaven's sake, can't you go up, doctor?" + +"No, I am done for. I could get over losing her, but I can't get over +what--you know what." + +"But her death was inevitable, and greater agony was inevitable." + +Gordon turned upon him fiercely. "When you have been as long in this +cursed profession as I have," he said, "you will realize that nothing is +inevitable. She might have recovered for all I know. That woman, at +Turner Hill, who I thought was dying six months ago, being up and around +again, is an instance. I tell you mortal man has no right to thrust his +hand between the Almighty and fate. You know nothing, and I know +nothing." + +"I do know." + +"You don't know, and you don't even know that you don't know. There is +no use talking about this any longer. When I am gone you must marry +Clemency, and keep on with my practice." + +James considered when he was in his own room that the event of his +succeeding to the practice might not be so very remote, but as to his +marrying Clemency he doubted. He dared not hint of the matter to Gordon, +for he knew it would disturb him, but Clemency, as the days went on, +became more and more variable. At times she was loving, at times it was +quite evident that she shrank from him with a sort of involuntary +horror. James began to wonder if they ever could marry. He was fully +resolved not to clear himself at the expense of Doctor Gordon; in fact, +such a course never occurred to him. He had a very simple +straightforwardness in matters of honor, and this seemed to him a matter +of honor. No question with regard to it arose in his mind. Obviously it +was better that he should bear the brunt than Gordon, but he did ask +himself if it would ever be possible for Clemency to dissociate him from +the thought of the tragedy entirely, and if she could not, would it be +possible for her to be happy as his wife? That very day Clemency had +avoided him, and once when he had approached she had visibly shrunk and +paled. Evidently the child could not help it. She looked miserably +unhappy. She had grown thin lately, and had lost almost entirely her +sense of fun, which had always been so ready. + +James went to sleep, wondering how she would treat him the next day. He +never knew, for the girl shifted like a weather-cock, driven hither and +yon by her love and terror like two winds. The next day, however, solved +the problem in an entirely unexpected fashion. James, that morning after +breakfast, during which Clemency had sat pale and stern behind the +coffee-urn, and scarcely had noticed him, set off on a round of calls. +Doctor Gordon, to his surprise, announced his intention of making some +calls himself; he said that he would take the team, and James must drive +the balky mare, as the bay was to be taken to the blacksmith's. Gordon +that morning looked worse than usual, although he evinced such unwonted +energy. He trembled like a very old man. He ate scarcely anything, and +his mouth was set hard with a desperate expression. James wished to urge +him to remain at home, but he did not dare. Gordon, when he left the +breakfast-table, proposed that James should take Clemency with him, but +the girl replied curtly that she was too busy. Gordon started on his +long circuit, and James set off to make the rounds of Alton and +Westover. The mare seemed in a very favorable mood that morning. She did +not balk, and went at a good pace. It was not until James was on his +homeward road that the trouble began. Then the mare planted her four +feet at angles, in her favorite fashion, and became as immovable as a +horse of bronze. James touched her with the whip. He was in no patient +mood that morning. Finally he lashed her. He might as well have lashed a +stone, for all the effect his blows had. Then he got out and tried +coaxing. She did not seem to even see him. Her great eyes had a curious +introspective expression. Then he got again into the buggy and sat +still. A sense of obstinacy as great as the animal's came over him. +"Stand there and be d----d!" he said. + +"Go without your dinner if you want to." He leaned back in a corner of +the buggy, and began reflecting. + +His reflections were at once angry and gloomy. He was, he told himself, +tired of the situation. He began to wonder if he ought not, for the sake +of self-respect, to leave Alton and Clemency. He wondered if a man ought +to submit to be so treated, and yet he recognized Clemency's own view of +the situation, and a great wave of love and pity for the poor child +swept over him. The mare had halted in a part of the road where there +were no houses, and flowering alders filled the air with their faint +sweetness. Under that sweetness, like the bass in a harmony, he could +smell the pines in the woods on either hand. He also heard their voices, +like the waves of the sea. It was a very warm day, one of those days in +which Spring makes leaps toward Summer. James felt uncomfortably heated, +for the buggy was in the full glare of sunlight. All his solace came +from the fact that he himself, sitting there so quietly, was outwitting +the mare by showing as great obstinacy as her own. He knew that she +inwardly fretted at not arousing irritation. That a tickle, even a lash +of the whip, would delight her. He sat still, leaning his head back. He +was almost asleep when he heard a rumble of heavy wheels, and looking +ahead languidly perceived a wagon laden with household goods of some +spring-flitters approaching. He sat still and watched the great wagon +drawn by two lean, white horses, and piled high with the poor household +belongings--miserable wooden chairs and feather beds, and a child's +cradle rocking imminently on the top. A lank Jerseyman was driving. By +his side on the high seat was his stout wife holding a baby. The weak +wail of the child filled the air. James looked to make sure that there +was room for the team to pass. He thought there was, and sat idly +watching them. The woman looked at him, made some remark to the man, and +then both grinned weakly, recognizing the situation. The man on the team +drove carefully, but a stone on the outer side caused his team to swerve +a trifle. The wheels hit the wheels of the buggy, and the cradle tilted +swiftly on to the back of the balky mare, and she bolted. In all her +experience of a long, balky life, a cradle as a means of breaking her +spirit had not been encountered. James had not time to clutch the lines +which had fallen to the floor of the buggy before he was thrown out. He +felt the buggy tilting to its fall, he heard a crashing sound and a +fierce kicking, and then he knew no more. + +When he came to himself he was on the lounge in Doctor Gordon's office. +Emma was just disappearing with a pitcher in the direction of the +kitchen, and he felt something cool on his forehead. He smelled aromatic +salts, and heard a piteous little voice, like the bleat of a wounded +lamb, in his ears, and kisses on his cheeks, and a soft hand rubbing his +own. "Oh, darling," the little voice was saying, "oh, darling, are you +much hurt? Are you? Please speak to me. It is Clemency. Oh, he is dead! +He is dead!" Then came wild sobs, and Emma rushed into the room, and he +heard her say, "Here, put this ice on his head, quick!" + +James was still so faint that he could only gasp weakly. And he could +open his eyes to nothing but darkness and a marvellous spinning and whir +as of shadows in a wind. + +"He's comin' to," said Emma. Her voice sounded as if she felt moved. +"Don't take on so, Miss Clemency," she said; "he ain't dead." + +Again James felt the soft kisses and tears on his face, and again came +the poor little voice, "Oh, darling, please listen, please don't do so. +I will marry you. I will. I know you did just right. I read one of Uncle +Tom's books this morning, and I found out what awful suffering she might +have had hours longer. You did right. I will marry you. I will never +think of it again. Please don't look so. Are you dreadfully hurt? Oh, +when they came bringing you in I thought you were killed! There is a +great bruise on your head. Does it hurt much? You do feel better, don't +you? Oh, Emma, if Uncle Tom would only come. Can't you hear me, dear? I +will marry you. I take it all back. I will marry you! I will marry you +whenever you wish. Oh, please look at me! Please speak to me! Oh, Emma, +there is Uncle Tom. I am so glad." + +And then poor, little Clemency, all unstrung and frightened, sank into +an unconscious little heap on the floor as Gordon entered. "What the +devil?" he cried out. "I saw the buggy smashed on the road, and that +mare went down the Ford Hill road like a whirlwind. What, Elliot, are +you hurt, boy? Clemency, Emma, what has happened?" + +All the time Gordon was talking he was examining James, who was now able +to speak feebly. "The mare was frightened and threw me," he gasped. "I +was stunned. I am all right now. See to Clemency!" + +But Clemency was already staggering weakly to her feet. + +"Oh, Uncle Tom, he isn't killed, is he?" she sobbed. + +"Killed, no," said Gordon, "but he will be if you don't stop crying and +making a goose of yourself, Clemency." + +"We put ice on his head," sobbed Clemency. "He isn't--" + +"Of course he isn't. He was only stunned. That is only a flesh wound." + +"I tried to git some brandy down him, but I couldn't," said Emma. + +"Give it to me," said Gordon. He poured out some brandy in a spoon, and +James swallowed it. "He will be all right now," Gordon said. "You won't +be such a beauty that the women will run after you for a few days, +Elliot, but you're all right." + +"I feel all right," James said. + +"It is nothing more than a little boy with a bump on his forehead," said +Gordon to Clemency. "Now, child, stop crying, and go and bathe your +eyes. Emma, is luncheon ready?" + +When both women had gone Gordon, who had been applying some ointment to +James's forehead, said in a low voice, broken by emotion, "You are all +right, Elliot, but--you did have a close call." + +"I suppose I did," James said, laughing feebly. + +He essayed to rise, but Gordon held him down. "No, keep still," he said. +"You must not stir to-day. I will have your luncheon brought in. +Clemency will be only too happy to wait on you, hand and foot." + +"Poor little girl, I must have given her an awful fright," said James. + +"Well, you are not exactly the looking object to do anything else," said +Gordon laughing. + +"Where is there a glass?" + +"Where you won't have it. You won't be scarred. It is simply a temporary +eclipse of your beauty, and Clemency will love you all the more for it. +You need not worry. Talk about the vanity of women. I thought you were +above it, Elliot. Now lie still. If you get up you will be giddy." + +James lay still, smiling. He felt very happy, and his love for Clemency +seemed like a glow of pure radiance in his heart. He lay on the office +lounge all the afternoon. He fell asleep with Clemency sitting beside +holding his hand. Gordon had gone out to finish the calls. It was six +o'clock before he drove into the yard. James had just awakened and lay +feeling a great peace and content. Clemency was smiling down at his +discolored face, as if it were the face of an angel. The windows were +open, and the distant lowing of cattle, waiting at homeward bars, the +monotone of frogs, and the songs of circling swallows came in. James +felt as if he saw in a celestial vision the whole world and life, and +that it was all blessed and good, that even the pain and sorrow +blossomed in the end into ineffable flowers of pure delight. + +But when Doctor Gordon entered this vision was clouded, for Gordon's +face had reassumed its old expression of settled melancholy and despair. +He inquired how James found himself with an apathetic air, and then sat +down and mechanically filled his pipe. After it was filled he seemed to +forget to light it, so deep was his painful reverie. He sat with it in +hand, staring straight ahead. Then a strange thing happened. The office +door opened and Mrs. Blair, the nurse, entered. She was dressed in +black, she carried a black travelling bag, and she wore a black bonnet, +with a high black tuft on the top by way of trimming. Mrs. Blair was +very tall, and this black tuft, when she entered the door, barely grazed +the lintel. + +Gordon rose and said good evening, and regarded her in a bewildered +fashion, as did James and Clemency. + +Mrs. Blair spoke with no preface. "I am going to leave Alton," she said +in her severe voice, "and I want to tell you something first, and to say +good-by." She looked at Gordon, then at the others, one after another, +then at Gordon again. "I did not think at first that it would be +necessary for me to say what I am going to," she continued, "but I +overheard some things that were said that night, and I have been +thinking--and then I heard the other day (I don't know how true it is) +that Clemency and Doctor Elliot had had a falling out, and I didn't know +but--I didn't quite know what anybody thought, and I wanted you all to +know the truth. I didn't want any mistakes made to cause unhappiness." +She hesitated, her eyes upon Doctor Gordon grew more intense. "Maybe +_you_ think you gave her that dose of morphine that killed her," she +said steadily, "but you didn't. Doctor Elliot gave her water, and you +gave her mostly water. I had diluted the morphine, and you didn't know +it. I had made up my mind that she was going to have the morphine, but I +had made up my mind that nobody but me should have the responsibility of +it. I'm all alone in the world, and my conscience upheld me, and I felt +I'd rather take the blame, if there was to be any. I made up my mind to +wait till a certain time and then give it to her, and I did. I am the +one who gave her the morphine that killed her. I am going to leave Alton +for good. My trunk is down at the station. I came to tell you that I +gave her the morphine, and if I did wrong in helping God to shorten her +sufferings, I am the one to be punished, and I stand ready to bear the +punishment." + +Gordon looked at her. He did not speak, but it was with his face as if a +mask of dreadful misery had dropped from it. + +"Good-by!" said Mrs. Blair. She went out of the door, and the black tuft +on her bonnet barely grazed the lintel. + + +THE END + + + + +OTHER WORKS BY MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN + + +THE HUMBLE ROMANCE and Other Stories +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A collection of stories of New England life as clearly cut as etchings, +marvellous in simplicity and finish." + + +JANE FIELD: A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A tragedy told in a few words, moving with the unswerving directness of +a Greek play. The novel is lightened by a delicate love interest and +touches of homely humor." + + +THE NEW ENGLAND NUN AND OTHER STORIES +16mo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"Stories of New England village life, the best hitherto written by this +author, surpassing those contained in the collection entitled 'The +Humble Romance.'" + + +SILENCE AND OTHER STORIES +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A book like this marks an epoch. It is more important than a change of +administration."--FROM AN ENGLISH REVIEW. + + +THE LOVE OF PARSON LORD AND OTHER STORIES +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + + +PEMBROKE: A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.50 + +"The greatest American novel since 'The Scarlet Letter.'"--FROM ENGLISH +REVIEW. + + +JEROME: A POOR MAN. A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.50 + + +MADELON: A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + + +GILES COREY, YEOMAN +32mo. Cloth, 50c. + +"A great play."--BOSTON TRANSCRIPT. + + +THE PORTION OF LABOR: A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.50 + +"A great American novel." + + +THE UNDERSTUDIES +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"Stories of animal life, showing marvellous insight." + + +SIX TREES +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A unique collection of short stories." + + +THE DEBTOR +12mo. Cloth, $1.50 + +"The greatest Democratic novel ever written." + + +THE HEARTS HIGHWAY +12mo. Cloth, $1.50 + +"The greatest of the American historical romances." + + +THE WIND IN THE ROSEBUSH AND OTHER STORIES + +12mo. Cloth, $ 1.50 + +"A collection of wonderful tales of the wierd and supernatural which +Poe himself might have written." + + +THE JAMESONS +16mo, Cloth, 50c. + +"A most entertaining tale, full of kindly humor and sarcasm." + + +PEOPLE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD +16mo. Cloth, 50c. + +"A collection of most diverting sketches. It is like an old photograph +album, wherein each photograph is made lifelike by memory or narrative. +The doors of a whole country neighborhood are thrown open to the +reader." + + +BY THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL +(In Press) + +"A marvellous analysis of character." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's 'Doc.' Gordon, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'DOC.' 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Gordon by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman</title> +</head> +<body class="tei"> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 'Doc.' Gordon, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +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: 'Doc.' Gordon + +Author: Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill + +Release Date: April 24, 2005 [EBook #15695] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Unicode UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'DOC.' GORDON *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci, Joshua +Hutchinson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tei tei-text"> +<div class="tei tei-front"> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<h1 class="tei tei-head">"Doc." Gordon</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">by</p> +<p class="tei tei-p">MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">The Debtor," "A Humble Romance," +"The Heart's Highway," +"Pembroke," +Etc.</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Illustrated in Water-Colors by FRANK T. MERRILL</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Copyright, 1906, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">H.L. MOORE<br /> +SPECIAL EDITION,<br /> +For Sale exclusively by us in Rahway, N.J.</p> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">NEW YORK AND LONDON<br /> +THE AUTHORS AND NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION<br /> +1906</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY<br /> +MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p"><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Entered at Stationers' Hall.<br /> +All rights reserved</span>.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Composition and Electrotyping by<br /> +J.J. Little & Co.<br /> +Printed and bound by<br /> +Manhattan Press, New York.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image01.png" width="480" height="602" alt="Doctor Gordon * * * had not even taken off his overcoat, which was white with snow." class="tei tei-figure" /></p> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon * * * had not even taken off his overcoat, +which +was white with snow.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image05.png" width="480" height="638" alt="(FACSIMILE PAGE OF MANUSCRIPT FROM DOC. GORDON)" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div id="toc" class="tei tei-div"><a name="toc_1" id="toc_1"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head">Contents</h1><ul class="toc"> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_1">Contents</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_2">CHAPTER I</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_3">CHAPTER II</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_4">CHAPTER III</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_5">CHAPTER IV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_6">CHAPTER V</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_7">CHAPTER VI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_8">CHAPTER VII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_9">CHAPTER VIII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_10">CHAPTER IX</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_11">CHAPTER X</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_12">CHAPTER XI</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_13">CHAPTER XII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_14">CHAPTER XIII</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_15">CHAPTER XIV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_16">CHAPTER XV</a></li> +<li style="margin: 0em 0em;"><a href="#toc_17">CHAPTER XVI</a></li> +</ul></div> + +</div> +<div class="tei tei-body"> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_2" id="toc_2"></a> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page005">[pg 005]</span> +<a name="Pg005" id="Pg005" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER I</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was very early in the morning, it was +scarcely dawn, when the young man started +upon a walk of twenty-five miles to reach Alton, +where he was to be assistant to the one +physician in the place, Doctor Thomas Gordon, +or as he was familiarly called, "Doc." +Gordon. The young man's name was James +Elliot. He had just graduated, and this was +to be his first experience in the practice of his +profession of medicine. He was in his twenties. +He was small, but from the springiness +of his gait and the erectness of his head he +gave an impression of height. He was very +good-looking, with clearly-cut features, and +dark eyes, in which shone, like black diamonds, +sparks of mischief. They were honest +eyes, too. The young fellow was still sowing +his wild oats, but more with his hands than +with his soul. He was walking because of a +great amount of restless energy; he fairly revelled +<span class="tei-pb" id="page006">[pg 006]</span> +<a name="Pg006" id="Pg006" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in stretching his legs over the country +road in the keen morning air. The train service +between Gresham, his home place, and +Alton was very bad, necessitating two changes +and waits of hours, and he had fretted at +the prospect. When a young man is about +to begin his career, he does not wish to sit +hours in dingy little railroad stations on his +way toward it. It was much easier, and +pleasanter, to walk, almost run to it, as +he was doing now. His only baggage was +his little medicine-case; his trunk had gone +by train the day before. He was very well +dressed, his clothes had the cut of a city +tailor. He was almost dandified. His father +was well-to-do: a successful peach-grower +on a wholesale scale. His great farm +was sprayed over every spring with delicate +rosy garlands of peach blossoms, and in the +autumn the trees were heavy with the almond-scented +fruit. He had made a fortune, +and aside from that had achieved a certain +local distinction. He was then mayor of +Gresham, which had a city government. +James was very proud of his father and fond +of him. Indeed, he had reason to be. His +father had done everything in his power for +him, given him a good education, and supplied +<span class="tei-pb" id="page007">[pg 007]</span> +<a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>him liberally with money. James had +always had a sense of plenty of money, which +had kept him from undue love of it. He was +now beginning the practice of his profession, +in a small way, it is true, but that he recognized +as expedient. "You had better get +acclimated, become accustomed to your profession +in a small place, before you launch +out in a city," his father had said, and the +son had acquiesced. It was the natural wing-trying +process before large flights were attempted, +and the course commended itself to +his reason. James, as well as his father, had +good reasoning power. He whistled to himself +as he walked along. He was very happy. +He had a sensation as of one who has his goal +in sight. He thought of his father, his mother, +and his two younger sisters, but with no distress +at absenting himself from them, although +he lived in accord with his family. +Twenty-five miles to his joyous youth seemed +but as a step across the road. He had no sense +of separation. "What is twenty-five miles?" +he had said laughingly to his mother, when +she had kissed him good-by. He had no conception +of her state of mind with regard to +the break in the home circle. He who was +the breaker did not even see the break. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page008">[pg 008]</span> +<a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Therefore he walked along, conscious of an +immense joy in his own soul, and wholly unconscious +of anything except joy in the souls +of those whom he had left behind. It was a +glorious morning, a white morning. The +ground was covered with white frost, the +trees, the house-roofs, the very air, were all +white. In the west a transparent moon was +slowly sinking; the east deepened with red +and violet tints. Then came the sun, upheaving +above the horizon like a ship of glory, and +all the whiteness burned, and glowed, and +radiated jewel-lights. James looked about +with the delight of a discoverer. It might +have been his first morning. He begun to +meet men going to their work, swinging tin +dinner-pails. Even these humble pails became +glorified, they gave back the sunlight +like burnished silver. He smelled the odors +of breakfast upon the men's clothes. He +held up his head high with a sort of good-humored +arrogance as he passed. He would +have fought to the death for any one of these +men, but he knew himself, quite innocently, +upon superior heights of education, and +trained thought, and ambition. He met a +man swinging a pail; he was coughing: a +wretched, long rattle of a cough. James +<span class="tei-pb" id="page009">[pg 009]</span> +<a name="Pg009" id="Pg009" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stopped him, opened his little medicine-case, +and produced some pellets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here, take one of these every hour until +the cough is relieved, my friend," said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man stared, swallowed a pellet, stared +again, in an odd, suspicious, surly fashion, +muttered something unintelligible and passed +on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There were three villages between Gresham +and Alton: Red Hill, Stanbridge, and Westover. +James stopped in Red Hill at a quick-lunch +wagon, which was drawn up on the +principal street under the lee of the town +hall, went in, ordered and ate with relish +some hot frankfurters, and drank some coffee. +He had eaten a plentiful breakfast before +starting, but the keen air had created his +appetite anew. Beside him at the counter sat +a young workingman, also eating frankfurters +and drinking coffee. Now and then he +gave a sidelong and supercilious glance at +James's fine clothes. James caught one of the +glances, and laughed good-naturedly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"These quick-lunch wagons are a mighty +good idea," said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man grunted and took a swallow of +coffee.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Where do you work?" asked James.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page010">[pg 010]</span> +<a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"None of your d—— business!" retorted +the other man unexpectedly. "Where do you +work yourself?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stared at him, then he burst into a +roar. For a second the man's surly mouth +did not budge, then the corners twitched a +little.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What in thunder are you mad about?" +inquired James. "I am going to work for +Doctor Gordon in Alton, and I don't care a +d—— where you work." James spoke with +the most perfect good nature, still laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then the man's face relaxed into a broad +grin. "Didn't know but you were puttin' +on lugs," said he. "I am about tired of all +those damned benefactors comin' along and +arskin' of a man whot's none of their business, +when a man knows all the time they +don't care nothin' about it, and then makin' +a man take somethin' he don't want, so as to +get their names in the papers." The man +sniffed a sniff of fury, then his handsome blue +eyes smiled pleasantly, even with mischievous +confidence into James's, and he swallowed +more coffee.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am no benefactor, you can bet your life +on that," said James. "I don't mean to give +you anything you want or don't want."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page011">[pg 011]</span> +<a name="Pg011" id="Pg011" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Didn't know but you was one of that +kind," returned the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man eyed James's clothes expressively.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, you mean my clothes," said James. +"Well, this suit and overcoat are pretty fair, +but if I were a benefactor I should be wearing +seedy clothes, and have my wallet stuffed +with bills for other folks."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You bet you wouldn't," said the other +man. "That ain't the way benefactors go to +work. What be you goin' to do at Doc Gordon's?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Drive," replied James laconically.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Guess you can't take care of hosses in +no sech togs as them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I've got some others. I'm going to learn +to doctor a little, too, if I can."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man surveyed him, then he burst into +a great laugh. "Well," said he, "when I git +the measles I'll call you in."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All right," said James, "I won't charge +you a red cent. I'll doctor you and all your +children and your wife for nothing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Guess you won't need to charge nothin' +for the wife and kids, seein' as I ain't got +none," said the man. "Ketch me saddled up +with a woman an' kids, if I know what I'm +<span class="tei-pb" id="page012">[pg 012]</span> +<a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>about. Them's for the benefactors. I live in +a little shanty I rigged up myself out of two +packin' boxes. I've got 'em on a man's medder +here. He let me squat for nothin'. I git +my meals here, an' I work on the railroad, an' +I've got a soft snap, with nobody to butt in. +Here, Mame, give us another cup of coffee. +Mame's the girl I want, if I could hev one. +Ain't you, Mame?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The girl, who was a blonde, with an exaggerated +pompadour fastened with aggressive +celluloid pins, smiled pertly. "Reckon I +h'ain't no more use for men than you hev for +women," said she, as she poured the coffee. +All that could be seen of her behind the +counter was her head, and her waist clad in a +red blouse, pinned so high to her skirt in the +rear that it almost touched her shoulder +blades. The blouse was finished at the neck +with a nice little turn-over collar fastened +with a brooch set with imitation diamonds +and sapphires.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, Mame, you know," said the man +with assumed pathos, "that it is only because +I'm a poor devil that I don't go kerflop the +minute I set eyes on you. But you wouldn't +like to live in boxes, would you? Would you +now?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page013">[pg 013]</span> +<a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not till my time comes, and not in boxes, +then, less I'm in a railroad accident," replied +the girl, with ghastly jocularity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She's got another feller, or <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">you</span> might git +her if you've got a stiddy job," the man said, +winking at James with familiarity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Just my luck," said James. He looked at +the girl, and thought her pretty and pathetic, +with a vulgar, almost tragic, prettiness and +pathos. She was anæmic and painfully thin. +Her blouse was puffed out over her flat chest. +She looked worn out with the miserable little +tediums of life, with constant stepping over +ant-hills of stupidity and petty hopelessness. +Her work was not, comparatively speaking, +arduous, but the serving of hot coffee and +frankfurters to workingmen was not progressive, +and she looked as if her principal +diet was the left-overs of the stock in trade. +She seemed to exhale an odor of musty sandwiches +and sausages and muddy coffee.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man swallowed his second cup in fierce +gulps. He glanced at his Ingersoll watch. +"Gee whiz!" said he. "It's time I was off! +Good-by, Mame."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The girl turned her head with a toss, and +did not reply. "Good-by," James said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man grinned. "Good-by, Doc," he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page014">[pg 014]</span> +<a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>said. "I'll call you when I git the measles. +You're a good feller. If you'd been a benefactor +I'd run you out."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man clattered down the steps of the +gaudily painted little structure. The girl +whom he had called Mame turned and looked +at James with a sort of innocent boldness. +"He's a queer feller," she observed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He seems to be."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He is, you bet. Livin' in a house he's +built out of boxes when he makes big money. +He's on strike every little while. I wouldn't +look at him. Don't know what he's drivin' at +half the time. Reckon he's—" She touched +her head significantly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Lots of folks are," said James affably.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's so." She stared reflectively at +James. "I'm keepin' this quick lunch 'cause +my father's sick," said she. "I see a lot of +human nature in here."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suppose you do."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You bet. Every kind gits in here first +and last, tramps up to swells who think +they're doin' somethin' awful funny to git +frankfurters and coffee in here. They must +be hard driv."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suppose they are sometimes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mame's eyes, surveying James, suddenly +<span class="tei-pb" id="page015">[pg 015]</span> +<a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>grew sharp. "You ain't one?" she asked +accusingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You bet not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mame's grew soft. "I knew you were +all right," said she. "Sometimes they say +things to me that their fine lady friends would +bounce 'em for, but I knew the minute I saw +you that you wasn't that kind if you be +dressed up like a gent. Reckon you've been +makin' big money in your last place."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Considerable," admitted James. He felt +like a villain, but he had not the heart to accuse +himself of being a gentleman before this +pathetic girl.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mame leaned suddenly over the counter, +and her blonde crest nearly touched his forehead. +"Say," said she, in a whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What?" whispered James back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What he said ain't true. There ain't a +mite of truth in it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What he said," repeated James vaguely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mame pouted. "How awful thick-headed +you be," said she. "What he said about my +havin' a feller." She blushed rosily, and her +eyes fell.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt his own face suffused. He +pulled out his pocket-book, and rose abruptly. +"I'm sorry," he said with stupidity.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page016">[pg 016]</span> +<a name="Pg016" id="Pg016" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The rosy flush died away from the girl's +face. "Nobody asked you to be sorry," said +she. "I could have any one of a dozen I +know if I jest held out my little finger."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course, you could," James said. He +felt apologetic, although he did not know +exactly why. He fumbled over the change, +and at last made it right with a quarter extra +for the girl.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It's a quarter too much," said she.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Keep it, please."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She hesitated. She was frowning under +her great blonde roll, her mouth looked hurt.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What a fuss about a quarter," said James, +with a laugh. "Keep it. That's a good girl."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mame took a dingy handkerchief out of +the bosom of her blouse, untied a corner, and +James heard a jingle of coins meeting. Then +she laughed. "You're an awful fraud," +said she.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You can't cheat me, if you did Bill Slattery."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think I don't know what you mean."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You're a gent."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The girl's thin, coarse laughter rang out +after James as he descended the steps of the +quick-lunch wagon. She opened the door +<span class="tei-pb" id="page017">[pg 017]</span> +<a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>directly after he had closed it, and stood on +the top step with the cold wind agitating her +fair hair. "Say," she called after him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James turned as he walked away. "What +is it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothin', only I was foolin' you, and so +was Bill. I've got a feller, and Bill's him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'll make you a present when you're +married," James called back with a laugh.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It's to come off next summer," cried the +girl.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I won't forget," answered James. He +knew the girl lied; that she was not about to +marry the workingman. He said to himself, +as he strode on refreshed with his coarse fare, +that girls were extraordinary: first they were +bold to positive indecency, then modest to the +borders of insanity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James walked on. He reached Stanbridge +about noon. Then he was hungry again. +There was a good hotel there, and he made a +substantial meal. He had a smoke and a +rest of half an hour, then he resumed his +walk. He soon passed the outskirts of Stanbridge, +which was a small, old city, then he +was in the country. The houses were sparsely +set well back from the road. He met nobody, +except an occasional countryman driving +<span class="tei-pb" id="page018">[pg 018]</span> +<a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a wood-laden team. Presently the road +lay between stately groves of oaks, although +now and then they stood on one side only of +the highway. Nearly all the oaks bore a shag +of dried leaves about their trunks, like mossy +beards of old men, only the shag was a bright +russet instead of white. The ground under +the oaks was like cloth-of-gold under the +sun, the fallen leaves yet retained so much +color. James heard a sharp croak, then a +crow flew with wide flaps of dark wings +across the road and perched on an oak bough. +It cocked its head, and watched him wisely. +James whistled at it, but it did not stir. It +remained with its head cocked in that attitude +of uncanny wisdom.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly James saw before him the figure +of a girl, moving swiftly. She must have +come out of the wood. She went as freely +as a woodland thing, although she was conventionally +dressed in a tailor suit of brown. +Her hat, too, was brown, and a brown feather +curled over the brim. She walked fast, with +evidently as much enjoyment of the motion +as James himself. They both walked like +winged things.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly James had a queer experience. +One sense became transposed into another, as +<span class="tei-pb" id="page019">[pg 019]</span> +<a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>one changes the key in music. He heard absolutely +nothing, but it was as if he saw a noise. +He saw a man standing on the right between +him and the girl. The man had not made the +slightest sound, he was sure. James had good +ears, but sound and not sight was what betrayed +him, or rather sound transposed into +sight. He stood as motionless as a tree himself. +James knew that he had been looking at +the girl. Now she was looking at him. James +felt a long shudder creep over him. He had +never been afraid of anything except fear. +Now he was afraid of fear, and there was +something about the man which awakened +this terror, yet it was inexplicable. He was +a middle-aged man, and distinctly handsome. +He was something above the medium height, +and very well dressed. He wore a fur-lined +coat which looked opulent. He had gray hair +and a black mustache. There was nothing +menacing in his face. He was, indeed, smiling +a curious retrospective smile, as if at his +own thoughts. Although his eyes regarded +James attentively, this smiling mouth seemed +entirely oblivious of him. The man gave an +odd impression, as of two personalities: the +one observant, with an animal-like observance +for his own weal or woe, the other observant +<span class="tei-pb" id="page020">[pg 020]</span> +<a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>with intelligence. It was possibly +this impression of a dual personality which +gave James his quick sense of horror. He +walked on, feeling his very muscles shrink. +Just before James reached the man he +emerged easily, with not the slightest appearance +of stealth, from the wood, and +walked on before him with a rapid, swinging +stride. There were then three persons +upon the road: the girl in brown, the strange +man in the fur-lined coat, and James Elliot. +James quickened his pace, but the other man +kept ahead of him, and reached the girl. He +stopped and James broke into a run. He +saw the man place a hand upon the girl's +shoulder, and make a motion as if to turn +her face toward his. James came up with a +shout, and the man disappeared abruptly, +with a quick backward glance at James, into +the wood.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The girl looked at James, and her little +face under her brown plumed hat was very +white. "Oh," she gasped, as if she had always +known him, "I am so glad you are +here! He frightened me terribly."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She tried to smile at James, although her +poor little mouth was quivering. "Who was +he?" she asked.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image02.png" width="480" height="779" alt=""You don't think he will come back?"" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p">"You don't think he will come back?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page021">[pg 021]</span> +<a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A sudden suspicion flashed into her eyes. +"He wasn't with you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No. I saw him on the edge of the woods +back there, and I didn't like his looks. When +he started to follow you I hurried to catch +up."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, thank you," said the girl fervently. +"Do forgive me for asking if you were with +him. I knew you were not the minute I saw +you. I did not turn my face, although he +tried to make me. I don't know why, but I +do know he was something terrible and +wicked." The girl said this last with a shudder. +She caught hold of James's arm innocently, +as a frightened child might have done. +"You don't think he will come back?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, and if he does I will take care of +you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He may be—armed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly the girl reeled. "Don't let me +faint away. I won't faint away," she said +in an angry voice. James saw that she was +actually biting her lips to overcome the faintness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If you will sit down on that rock for a +moment," said James, "I have something in +my medicine-case which will revive you. I +am a doctor."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page022">[pg 022]</span> +<a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I shall faint away if I sit down and give +up to it, if I swallow your whole case," said +the girl weakly. "I know myself. Let me +hold your arm and walk, and don't make me +talk, then I can get over it." She was biting +her lips almost to bleeding.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James walked on as he was bidden, with +the slender little brown-clad figure clinging +to him. He realized that he had fallen in +with a girl who had a will which was possibly +superior to anything in his medicine-case +when it came to overcoming fright.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They walked on until they came in sight of +a farm-house, when the girl spoke again, and +James saw that the color was returning to +her face. "I am all right now," said she, +and withdrew her hand from his arm. She +gave her head an angry, whimsical shake. +"I am ashamed of myself," said she, "but +I was horribly frightened, and sometimes I +do faint. I can generally get the better of +myself, but sometimes I can't. It always +makes me so angry. I do hope you don't +think I am such an awful coward, because +I am not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think most girls whom I have known +would have made much more fuss than you +did," said James. "You never screamed."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page023">[pg 023]</span> +<a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I never did scream in my life," said the +girl. "I don't think I could. I don't know +how. I think if I did scream, I should certainly +faint."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stopped and opened his medicine-case. +"I think you had better take just a +swallow of brandy," said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The girl thrust back the bottle which he +offered her with high disdain. "Brandy," +said she, "just because I have been frightened +a little! I should be ashamed of myself +if I did such a thing. I am ashamed +now for almost fainting away, but I should +never forgive myself if I took brandy because +of it. If I haven't nerve enough to +keep straight without brandy, I should be a +pretty poor specimen of a girl." She looked +at him indignantly, and James saw what he +had not seen before (he had been so engrossed +with the strangeness of the situation), +that she was a beautiful girl with a +singular type of beauty. She was very small, +but she gave the impression of intense +springiness and wiriness. Although she was +thin, no one could have called her delicate. +She looked as much alive as a flame, with +nerves on the surface from head to heel. Her +eyes were blue, not large, but full of light, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page024">[pg 024]</span> +<a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her hair, which tossed around her face in a +soft fluff, was ash-blonde. Brown was the +last color, theoretically, which she should +have worn, but it suited her. The ash and +brown, the two neutral tints, served to bring +out the blue fire of her eyes and the intense +red of her lips. However, her beauty lay not +so much in her regular features as in the +wonderful flame-like quality which animated +them, and which they assumed when she spoke +or listened. In repose, her face was as neutral +as a rock or dead leaf. It was neither beautiful +nor otherwise. When it was animated, +it was as if the rock gave out silver lights of +mica and rosy crystal under strong light, +and as if the dead leaf leapt into flame. +James thought her much prettier than any +of his sisters or their friends, but he was +led quite unknowingly into this opinion, because +of his own position as her protector. +That made him realize his own male gorgeousness +and strength, and he really saw +the girl with such complacency instead of +himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They walked along, and all at once he +stopped short. Something occurred to him, +which, strange to say, had not occurred before. +He was not in the least cowardly. He +<span class="tei-pb" id="page025">[pg 025]</span> +<a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was brave almost to foolhardiness. All at +once it occurred to him that he ought to follow +the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good Lord!" said he and stopped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What is the matter?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, I must follow that man. He is a +suspicious character. He ought not to be +left at large."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suppose you don't care if you leave me +alone," said the girl accusingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stared at her doubtfully. There +was that view of the situation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am going to see my friend Annie Lipton, +who lives in Westover. There is half a +mile of lonely road before I get there. That +man, for all I know, may be keeping sight +of us in the woods over there. While you +are going back to chase him, he may come up +with me. Well, run along if you want to. +I am not afraid." But the girl's lips quivered, +and she paled again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James glanced at the stretch of road ahead. +There was not a house in sight. Woods were +on one side, on the other was a rolling expanse +of meadowland covered with dried +last year's grass, like coarse oakum-colored +hair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think I had better keep on with you," +James said.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page026">[pg 026]</span> +<a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You can do exactly as you choose," the +girl replied defiantly, but tremulously. "I +am not in the least dependent upon men to +escort me. I wander miles around by myself. +This is the first time I have seemed to +be in the slightest danger. I dare say there +was no danger this time, only he came up +behind like a cat, and—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He didn't say anything?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, he didn't speak. He only tried to +make me turn my head, so he could see my +face, and directly it seemed to me that I must +die rather than let him. He was trying to +make me turn my head. I think maybe he +was an insane man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will go on with you," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They walked on for the half mile of which +the girl had spoken. A sudden shyness +seemed to have come over both of them. +Then they began to come in sight of houses. +"I am not afraid now," said the girl, "but +I do think you are very foolish if you go +back alone and try to hunt that man. Ten +chances to one he is armed, and you haven't +a thing to defend yourself with, except that +medicine-case."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have my fists," replied James indignantly.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page027">[pg 027]</span> +<a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Fists don't count much against a revolver."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I am going to try," said James +with emphasis.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good-by, then. You are treating me +shamefully, though."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stared at her in amazement. She +was actually weeping, tears were rolling over +her cheeks.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you mean?" said he. "Don't +feel so badly."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You can't be very quick-witted not to +see. If you should meet that man, and get +killed, I should really be the one who killed +you and not the man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, no, you would not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The girl stamped her foot. "Yes, I should, +too," said she, half-sobbing. "You would +not have been killed except for me. You +know you would not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She spoke as if she actually saw the young +man dead before her, and was indignant +because of it, and he burst into a peal of +laughter.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Laugh if you want to," said she. "It +does not seem to me any laughing matter to +go and get yourself killed by me, and my +having that on my mind my whole life. I +<span class="tei-pb" id="page028">[pg 028]</span> +<a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>think I should go mad." Her voice shook, +an expression of horror came into her blue +eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James laughed again. "Very well, then," +he said, "to oblige you I won't get killed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He, in fact, began to consider that the day +was waning, and what a wild-goose chase it +would probably be for him to attempt to follow +the man. So again they walked on until +they reached the main street of Westover.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Westover was a small village, rather smaller +than Gresham. They passed three gin-mills, +a church, and a grocery store. Then the girl +stopped at the corner of a side street. "My +friend lives on this street," said she. "Thank +you very much. I don't know what I should +have done if you had not come. Good-by!" +She went so quickly that James was not at +all sure that she heard his answering good-by. +He thought again how very handsome +she was. Then he began to wonder where +she lived, and how she would get home from +her friend's house, if the friend had a brother +who would escort her. He wondered who her +friends were to let a girl like that wander +around alone in a State which had not the +best reputation for safety. He entertained +the idea of waiting about until she left her +<span class="tei-pb" id="page029">[pg 029]</span> +<a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>friend's house, then he considered the possible +brother, and that the girl herself might +resent it, and he kept on. The western sky +was putting on wonderful tints of cowslip +and rose deepening into violet. He began +considering his own future again, relegating +the girl to the background. He must be +nearing Alton, he thought. After a three-mile +stretch of farming country, he saw +houses again. Lights were gleaming out in +the windows. He heard wheels, and the +regular trot of a horse behind him, then a +mud-bespattered buggy passed him, a shabby +buggy, but a strongly built one. The team +of horses was going at a good clip. James +stood on one side, but the team and buggy +had no sooner passed than he heard a whoa! +and a man's face peered around the buggy +wing, not at James, but at his medicine-case. +James could just discern the face, bearded +and shadowy in the gathering gloom. Then +a voice came. It shouted, one word, the expressive +patois of the countryside, that word +which may be at once a question and a salute, +may express almost any emotion. "Halloo!" +said the voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">This halloo involved a question, or so +James understood it. He quickened his +<span class="tei-pb" id="page030">[pg 030]</span> +<a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>pace, and came alongside the buggy. The +face, more distinct now, surveyed him, its +owner leaning out over the side of the buggy. +"Who are you? Where are you bound?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James answered the latter question. "I +am going to Alton."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"To Doctor Gordon's?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then you are Doctor Elliot?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Get in."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James climbed into the buggy. The other +man took up the reins, and the horse resumed +his quick trot.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You didn't come by train?" remarked +the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No. You are Doctor Gordon, I suppose?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I am. Why the devil did you walk?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"To save my money," replied James, laughing. +He realized nothing to be ashamed of +in his reply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But I thought your father was well-to-do."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, he is, but we don't ride when it +costs money and we can walk. I knew if I +got to Alton by night, it would be soon enough. +I like to walk." James said that last rather +<span class="tei-pb" id="page031">[pg 031]</span> +<a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>defiantly. He began to realize a certain +amazement on the other man's part which +might amount to an imputation upon his +father. "I have plenty of money in my +pocket," he added, "but I wanted the walk."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon laughed. "Oh, well, a +walk of twenty-five miles is nothing to a +young fellow like you, of course," he said. +"I can understand that you may like to +stretch your legs. But you'll have to drive +if you are ever going to get anywhere when +you begin practice with me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suppose you have calls for miles +around?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Rather." Doctor Gordon sighed. "It's +a dog's life. I suppose you haven't got that +through your head yet?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think it is a glorious profession," returned +James, with his haughty young enthusiasm.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I wasn't talking about the profession," +said the doctor; "I was talking of the man +who has to grind his way through it. It's +a dog's life. Neither your body nor your +soul are your own. Oh, well, maybe you'll +like it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You seem to," remarked James rather +pugnaciously.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page032">[pg 032]</span> +<a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I? What can I do, young man, but stick +to it whether I like it or not? What would +they do? Yes, I suppose I am fool enough +to like a dog's life, or rather to be unwilling +to leave it. No money could induce me anyhow. +I suppose you know there is not much +money in it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James said that he had not supposed a fortune +was to be made in a country practice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The last bill any of them will pay is the +doctor's," said Doctor Gordon. Then he +added with a laugh, "especially when the doctor +is myself. They have to pay a specialist +from New York, but I wait until they are +underground, and the relatives, I find, stick +faster to the monetary remains than the +bark to a tree. If I hadn't a little private +fortune, and my—sister a little of her own, +I expect we should starve."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James noticed with a little surprise the +doctor's hesitation before he spoke of his +sister. It seemed then that he was not married. +Somehow, James had thought of him +as married as a matter of course.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon hastened to explain, as if +divining the other's attitude. "I dare say +you don't know anything about my family +relations," said he. "My widowed sister, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page033">[pg 033]</span> +<a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Mrs. Ewing, keeps house for me. I live with +her and her daughter. I think you will like +them both, and I think they will like you, +though I'll be hanged if I have grasped anything +of you so far but your medicine-case +and your voice. Your voice is all right. +You give yourself away by it, and I always +like that."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James straightened himself a little. There +was something bantering in the other's tone. +It made him feel young, and he resented +being made to feel young. He himself at +that time felt older than he ever would feel +again. He realized that he was not being +properly estimated. "If," said he, with some +heat, "a patient can make out anything by +my voice as to what I think, I miss my guess."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I dare say not," said Doctor Gordon, +and his own voice was as if he put the matter +aside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He spoke to the horse, whose trot quickened, +and they went on in silence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At last James began to feel rather ashamed +of himself. He unstiffened. "I had quite +an exciting and curious experience after I +left Stanbridge," said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did you?" said the other in an absent +voice.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page034">[pg 034]</span> +<a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James went on to relate the matter in detail. +His companion turned an intent face +upon him as he proceeded. "How far back +was it?" he asked, and his tone was noticeably +agitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Just after I left the last house in Stanbridge. +We went on together to Westover. +She mentioned something about going to see +a friend there. I think Lipton was the name, +and she left me suddenly."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What was the girl like?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Small and slight, and very pretty."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dressed in brown?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How did the man look?" Doctor Gordon's +voice fairly alarmed the young man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I hardly can say. I saw him distinctly, +but only for a second. The impression he +gave me was of a middle-aged man, although +he looked young."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good-looking?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"My God, no!" said James, as the man's +face seemed to loom up before him again. +"He looked like the devil."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A man may look like the devil, and yet +be distinctly handsome."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I suppose he was; but give me the +homeliest face on earth rather than a face +<span class="tei-pb" id="page035">[pg 035]</span> +<a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>like that man's, if I must needs have anything +to do with him." The young fellow's +voice broke. He was very young. He caught +the other man by his rough coat sleeve. +"See here, Doctor Gordon," said he, "my +profession is to save life. That is the main +end of it but, but—I don't honestly know +what I should think right, if I were asked +to save <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">that</span> man's life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was he well dressed?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"More than well dressed, richly, a fur-lined +coat—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tall?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, above the medium, but he stooped a +little, like a cat, sort of stretched to the +ground like an animal, when he hurried along +after the girl in front of me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon struck the horse with his +whip, and he broke into a gallop. "We are +almost home," said he. "I shall have to +leave you with slight ceremony. I have to +go out again immediately."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon had hardly finished speaking +before they drew up in front of a white +house on the left of the road. "Get out," +he said peremptorily to James. The front +door opened, and a parallelogram of lighted +interior became visible. In this expanse of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page036">[pg 036]</span> +<a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>light stood a tall woman's figure. "Clara, +this is the new doctor," called out Doctor +Gordon. "Take him in and take care of +him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Have you got to go away again?" said +the woman's voice. It was sweet and rich, +but had a curious sad quality in it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I must. I shall not be gone long. +Don't wait supper."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Aren't you going to change the horse?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Can't stop. Go right in, Elliot. Clara, +look after him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James Elliot found himself in the house, +confronting the most beautiful woman he had +ever seen, as the rapid trot of the doctor's +horse receded in vistas of sound.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James almost gasped. He had never seen +such a woman. He had seen pretty girls. +Now he suddenly realized that a girl was not +a woman, and no more to be compared with +her than an uncut gem with one whose facets +take the utmost light.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The boy stood staring at this wonderful +woman. She extended her hand to him, but +he did not see it. She said some gracious +words of greeting to him, but he did not hear +them. She might have been the Venus de +Milo for all he heard or realized of sentient +<span class="tei-pb" id="page037">[pg 037]</span> +<a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>life in her. He was rapt in contemplation +of herself, so rapt that he was oblivious of +her. She smiled. She was accustomed to +having men, especially very young men, take +such an attitude on first seeing her. She did +not wait any longer, but herself took the young +man's hand, and drew him gently into the +room, and spoke so insistently that she compelled +him to leave her and attend. "I suppose +you are Doctor Gordon's assistant?" +she said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James relapsed into the tricks of his childhood. +"Yes, ma'am," he replied. Then he +blushed furiously, but the woman seemed to +notice neither the provincial term nor his +confusion. He found himself somehow, he +did not know how, divested of his overcoat, +and the vision had disappeared, having left +some words about dinner ringing in his ears, +and he was sitting before a hearth-fire in a +large leather easy-chair. Then he looked +about the room in much the same dazed +fashion in which he had contemplated the +woman. He had never seen a room like it. +He was used to conventionality, albeit richness, +and a degree even of luxury. Here +were absolute unconventionality, richness, and +luxury of a kind utterly strange to him. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page038">[pg 038]</span> +<a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>The room was very large and long, extending +nearly the whole length of the house. +There were many windows with Eastern +rugs instead of curtains. There were Eastern +things hung on the walls which gave +out dull gleams of gold and silver and topaz +and turquoise. There were a great many +books on low shelves. There were bronzes, +jars, and squat idols. There were a few +pieces of Chinese ivory work. There were +many skins of lions, bears, and tigers on +the floor, besides a great Persian rug which +gleamed like a blurred jewel. Besides the +firelight there was only one great bronze +lamp to illuminate the room. This lamp +had a red shade, which cast a soft, fiery glow +over everything. There were not many pictures. +The rich Eastern stuffs, and even a +skin or two of tawny hue, covered most of +the wall-spaces above the book-cases, giving +backgrounds of color to bronzes and ivory +carvings, but there was one picture at the +farther end of the room which attracted +James's notice. All that he could distinguish +from where he sat was a splash of splendid +red.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He gazed, and his curiosity grew. Finally +he rose, traversed the room, and came close +<span class="tei-pb" id="page039">[pg 039]</span> +<a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to the picture. It was a portrait of the +woman who had met him at the door. The +red was the red of a splendid robe of velvet. +The portrait was evidently the work of no +mean artist. The texture of the velvet was +something wonderful, so were the flesh tones; +but James missed something in the face. +The portrait had been painted, he knew instinctively, +before some great change had +come into the woman's heart, which had +given her another aspect of beauty.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James turned away. Then he noticed something +else which seemed rather odd about the +room. All the windows were furnished with +heavy wooden shutters, and, early as it was, +hardly dark, all were closed, and fastened securely. +James somehow got an impression +of secrecy, that it was considered necessary +that no glimpse of the interior should be obtained +from without after the lamp was lit. +They sat often carelessly at his own home of +an evening with the shades up, and all the +interior of the room plainly visible from the +road. An utter lack of secrecy was in James's +own character. He scowled a little, as he returned +to his seat by the fire. He was too +confused to think clearly, but he was conscious +of a certain homesickness for the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page040">[pg 040]</span> +<a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>wonted things of his life, when the door +opened and the woman reëntered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James rose, and she spoke in her sweet +voice. It was rather lower pitched than the +voices of most women, and had a resonant +quality. "Your room is quite ready, Doctor +Elliot," said she. "Your trunk is there. If +you would like to go there before dinner, I +will pilot you. We have but one maid, and +she is preparing the dinner, which will be +ready as soon as you are. I hope Doctor +Gordon and Clemency will have returned by +that time, too."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">By Clemency James understood that she +meant her daughter, of whom Doctor Gordon +had spoken. He wondered at the unusual +name, as he followed his hostess. His room +was on the same floor as the living-room. She +threw open a door at the other side of the hall, +and James saw an exceedingly comfortable +apartment with a hearth-fire, with book-shelves, +and a couch-bed covered with a rug, +and a desk. "I thought you would prefer +this room," said the woman. "There are +others on the second floor, but this has the +advantage of your being able to use it as a +sitting-room, and you may like to have your +friends, whom I trust you will find in Alton, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page041">[pg 041]</span> +<a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>come in from time to time. You will please +make yourself quite at home."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James had not yet fairly comprehended +the beauty of the woman. He was still too +dazzled. Had he gone away at that time, he +could not for the life of him have described +her, but he did glance, as a woman might +have done, at her gown. It was of a soft +heavy red silk, trimmed with lace, and was +cut out in a small square at the throat. This +glimpse of firm white throat made James +wonder as to evening costume for himself. +At home he never dreamed of such a thing, +but here it might be different. His hostess +divined his thoughts. She smiled at him as +if he were a child. "No," said she, "you +do not need to dress for dinner. Doctor Gordon +never does when we are by ourselves."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then she went away, closing the door softly +after her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James noticed that over the windows of +this room were only ordinary shades, and +curtains of some soft red stuff. There were no +shutters. He looked about him. He was +charmed with his room, and it did away to +a great extent with his feeling of homesickness. +It was not unlike what his room at +college had been. It was more like all rooms. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page042">[pg 042]</span> +<a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>He had no feeling of the secrecy which the +great living-room gave him, and which irritated +him. He brushed his clothes and his +hair, and washed his hands and face. While +he was doing so he heard wheels and a horse's +fast trot. He guessed immediately that the +doctor had returned. He therefore, as soon +as he had completed the slight changes in his +toilet, started to return to the living-room. +Crossing the hall he met Doctor Gordon, who +seized him by the shoulder, and whispered in +his ear, "Not a word before Mrs. Ewing +about what happened this afternoon."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James nodded. "More mystery," thought +he with asperity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You have not spoken of it to her already, +I hope," said Doctor Gordon with quick +anxiety.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I have not. I have scarcely seen +her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, not a word, I beg of you. She is +very nervous."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The doctor had been removing his overcoat +and hat. When he had hung them on +some stag's horn in the hall, he went with +James into the living-room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There, beside the fire, sat the girl in brown +whom James had met that afternoon on the +road.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_3" id="toc_3"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page043">[pg 043]</span> +<a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER II</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She looked up when he entered, and there +was in her young girl face the very slightest +shade of recognition. She could not help it, +for Clemency was candor itself. Then she +bowed very formally, and shook hands sedately +when Doctor Gordon introduced James +as Doctor Elliot, his new assistant, and carried +off her part very well. James was not +so successful. He colored and was somewhat +confused, but nobody appeared to notice it. +Clemency went on relating how glad she was +that Uncle Tom met her as she was coming +home from Annie Lipton's. "I am never +afraid," said she, and her little face betrayed +the lie, "but I was tired, and besides I was +beginning to be cold, for I went out without +my fur."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You should not have gone without it. It +grows so cold when the sun goes down," said +Mrs. Ewing. Then a chime of Japanese bells +was heard which announced dinner.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Elliot will be glad of dinner," +<span class="tei-pb" id="page044">[pg 044]</span> +<a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>said Doctor Gordon. "He has walked all the +way from Gresham."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency looked at him with approval, and +tried to look as if she had never seen him +walking in her life. "That is a good walk," +said she. "Twenty-five miles it must be. If +more men walked instead of working poor +horses all the time, it would be better for +them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is a hint for your Uncle Tom," said +Gordon laughingly.</p> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I never hint," said Clemency. "It is +just a plain statement. Men are walking animals. +They could travel as well as horses in +the course of time if they only put their +minds to it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, your old uncle's bones must be +saved, even at the expense of the horse's," +said Doctor Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Bones are improved by use," said Clemency +severely, as she took her seat at the dinner-table. +They all laughed. The girl herself +relaxed her pretty face with a whimsical +smile. It was quite evident that Clemency +was the spoiled and petted darling of the +house, and that she traded innocently upon +the fact. The young doctor, although his +first impression of the elder woman was still +<span class="tei-pb" id="page045">[pg 045]</span> +<a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>upon him, yet realized the charm of the +young girl. The older woman was, as it were, +crowned with an aureole of perfection, but +the young girl was crowned with possibilities +which dazzled with mystery. She looked +prettier, now that her outer garments were +removed, and her thick crown of ash-blonde +hair was revealed. The lamp lit her eyes +into bluer flame. She was a darling of a +young girl, and more a darling because she +had the sweetest confidence in everybody +thinking her one.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">However, James Elliot, sitting in the well-appointed +dining-room, which was more like +a city house than a little New Jersey dwelling, +did not for a second retreat from his first +impression of Mrs. Ewing. Behind the coffee-urn +sat the woman with whom he had +not fallen in love, that was too poor a term to +use. He had become a worshipper. He felt +himself, body and soul, prostrate before the +Divinity of Womanhood itself. He realized +the grandeur of the abstract in the individual. +What was any spoiled, sweet young girl to +that? And Mrs. Ewing was, in truth, a wonderful +creature. She was a large woman +with a great quantity of blue-black hair, +which had the ripples one sees in antique +<span class="tei-pb" id="page046">[pg 046]</span> +<a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>statues. Her eyes, black at first glance, were +in reality dark blue. Her face gave one a +never-ending surprise. James had not known +that a woman could be so beautiful. Vague +comparisons with the Greek Helen, or Cleopatra, +came into his head. Now and then he +stole a glance at her. He dared not often. +She did not talk much, but he was rather +pleased with that fact, although her voice was +so sweet and gracious. Speech in a creature +like that was not an essential. It might even +be an excrescence upon a perfection. It did +not occur to the dazed mind of her worshipper +that Mrs. Ewing might have very simple and +ordinary reasons for not talking—that she +might be tired or ill, or preoccupied. But +after a number of those stolen glances, James +discovered with a great pang, as if one should +see for the first time that the arms of the +Venus were really gone, when his fancy had +supplied them, that the woman did not look +well. In spite of her beauty, there was ill-health +evident in her face. James was a +mere tyro in his profession as yet, but certain +infallible signs were there which he +could not mistake. They were the signs of +suffering, possibly of very great suffering. +She ate very little, James noticed, although +<span class="tei-pb" id="page047">[pg 047]</span> +<a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>she made a pretense of eating as much as +any one. James saw that Doctor Gordon +also noticed it. When the maid was taking +away Mrs. Ewing's plate, he spoke with a +gruffness which astonished the young man. +"For Heaven's sake, why don't you eat your +dinner, Clara?" said he. "Emma, replace +Mrs. Ewing's plate. Now, Clara, eat your +dinner." To James's utter astonishment, +Mrs. Ewing obeyed like a child. She ate +every morsel, although she could not restrain +her expression of loathing. When the +salad and dessert were brought on she ate +them also.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon watched her with what +seemed, to the young man, positive brutality. +His mouth under his heavy beard quivered +perceptibly whenever he looked at his sister +eating, his forehead became corrugated, and +his deep-set eyes sparkled. James was +heartily glad when dinner was over, and, at +Doctor Gordon's request, he followed him +into his office.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon's office was a small room at +the back of the house. It had an outer door +communicating with a path which led to the +stable. Two sides of the room were lined +with medical books, and two with bottles containing +<span class="tei-pb" id="page048">[pg 048]</span> +<a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>diverse colored mixtures. A hanging +lamp was over the center of a long table +in the middle of the room. Around it dangled +prisms, which cast rainbow colors over everything. +The first thing which struck one on +entering the room was the extraordinary +color scheme: the dull gleams of the books, +the medicine bottles which had lights like +jewels, and over all the flickers of prismatic +hues. The long table was covered with corks, +empty bottles, books, a medicine-case, and +newspapers, besides a mighty inkstand and +writing materials. There were also a box of +cigars, a great leather tobacco pouch, and, +interspersed among all, a multitude of pipes. +The doctor drew a chair beside this chaotic +table lit with rainbow lights, and invited +James to sit down. "Sit down a moment," +he said. "Will you have a pipe or a cigar?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Cigar, please," replied James. The doctor +pushed the box toward him. James +realized immediately a ten-cent cigar at the +least when he began to smoke. Doctor Gordon +filled a pipe mechanically. His face still +wore the gloomy, almost fierce, expression +which it had assumed at table. He was a +handsome man in a rough, sketchy fashion. +His face was blurred with a gray grizzle of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page049">[pg 049]</span> +<a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>beard. He wore his hair rather long, and he +had a fashion of running his fingers through +it, which made it look like a thick brush. +He dressed rather carelessly, still like a gentleman. +His clothes were slouchy, and needed +brushing, but his linen was immaculate.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon smoked in silence, which his +young assistant was too shy to break. The +elder man finished his pipe, then he rose +with an impatient gesture and shook himself +like a great shaggy dog. "Come, young +man," said he, "we don't want to spend the +evening like this. Get your hat and coat."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James obeyed, and the two men left the +office by the outer door which opened on the +stable. As they came around by the front of +the house Clemency stood in the doorway.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Are you going out, you and Doctor Elliot, +Uncle Tom?" she called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, dear; why?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Patients?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No; we are going down to Georgie K.'s. +Tell your mother to go to bed at once."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the two men were out in the street, +walking briskly in the keen frosty air, James +ventured a question. "Mrs. Ewing is not +well, is she?" he said. He fairly started at +the way in which his question was received. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page050">[pg 050]</span> +<a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Doctor Gordon turned upon him even fiercely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She is perfectly well, perfectly well," +he replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She does not look—" began James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When you are as old as I am you can +venture to diagnose on a woman's looks," +said Gordon. "Clara is perfectly well."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James said no more. They walked on in +silence under a pale sky. Above a low mountain +range on their right was a faint light +which indicated the coming of the moon. +The ground was frozen in hard ridges. +James walked behind the doctor on the narrow +blue stone walk which served as sidewalk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This town has made no provision whatever +for courting couples," said Doctor Gordon +suddenly, and to James's astonishment +his whole manner and voice had changed. It +was far from gloomy. It was jocular even.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James laughed. "Yes, it would be difficult +for two to walk arm in arm, however loving," +he returned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Just so," said the doctor, "and the funny +part of it is that this narrow sidewalk was intentional."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not for such a purpose?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Exactly so. It was given to the town by +<span class="tei-pb" id="page051">[pg 051]</span> +<a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a rich spinster who died about twenty years +ago. It was given in her will on condition +that it should not be more than two feet +wide."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"For that reason?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Just that reason. She had been jilted in +her youth, and her heart had been wrung +by the sight of her rival passing her very +window where she sat watching for her lover, +arm in arm with him. It was in summer, and +the dirt sidewalk was dry. She made up her +mind, then and there, that that sort of thing +should be prevented."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They had just reached a handsome old +house standing close to the narrow sidewalk. +In fact, its windows opened directly upon it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This is the house," the doctor said in corroboration. +James laughed, but he wondered +within himself if he were being told fish tales. +Doctor Gordon made him feel so very young +that he resented it. He resented it the more +when he realized the new glow of adoration +in his heart for that older woman whom they +had left behind. He began wondering about +her: how much older she was. He said to +himself that he did not care if she were old +enough to be his mother, his grandmother +even, there was no one in the whole world like +her.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page052">[pg 052]</span> +<a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then they came to the hotel, the Evarts +House. It was rather pretentious, well built, +with great columns in front supporting +double verandas. It was also well lighted. +It was evidently far above the usual order +of a road house. Doctor Gordon entered, with +James at his heels. They went into the great +low room at the right of the door, which was +the bar-room. Behind the bar stood an enormous +man, yellow haired and yellow bearded, +dispensing drinks. The whole low interior +was dim with tobacco smoke, and scented +with various liquors and spices. There was +on one side a great fireplace, in which stood +earthen pitchers, in which cider was being +mulled with red-hot pokers, eager vinous faces +watching. Nobody was intoxicated, but there +was a general hum of hilarity and gusto of +life about the place, an animal enjoyment of +good cheer and jollity. It was in truth not +respectable to get entirely drunk in Alton. +It was genteel to become "set up," exhilarated, +but the real gutter form of inebriety +was frowned upon to a much greater extent +than in many places where there was less +license.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hullo!" sang out Doctor Gordon as he +entered. Immediately a grin of comradeship +<span class="tei-pb" id="page053">[pg 053]</span> +<a name="Pg053" id="Pg053" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>overspread the pink face of the yellow-haired +giant behind the bar. "Hullo!" he responded. +"Just step into the other room, +and I'll be there right away."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James followed Doctor Gordon into what +was evidently the state parlor of the hotel. +There was haircloth furniture, and a mahogany +table, with various stains of conviviality +upon its polished surface. There was a fire +on the hearth, and on the mantel stood some +gilded vases and a glass case of wax-flowers, +also a stuffed canary under a glass shade, +pathetic on his little twig. Doctor Gordon +pointed to the flowers and the canary. "Poor +old man lost his wife, when he had been married +two years," he said. "She and the baby +both died. That was before I came here. +Damned if I wouldn't have pulled them +through. That was her bird, and she made +those fool flowers, poor little thing. I suppose +if the hotel were to take fire Georgie K. +would go for them before all the cash in the +till."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He hasn't married again?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Married again! It's my belief he'd shoot +the man that mentioned it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Georgie K. entered, his rosy face distended +with a smile of the most intense hospitality, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page054">[pg 054]</span> +<a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and before Doctor Gordon had a +chance to introduce James, he said, "What'll +you take, gentlemen?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This is my new assistant, from Gresham, +Doctor Elliot," said Gordon. Georgie K. +made a bow, and scraped his foot at the +same time with a curiously boyish gesture. +"What'll you take?" he asked again. That +was evidently his formula of hospitality, +which must never be delayed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Apple-jack," responded Doctor Gordon +promptly. "You had better take apple-jack +too, young man. Georgie K. has gin that beats +the record, and peach brandy, but when it +comes to his apple-jack—it's worth the whole +State of New Jersey."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All right," answered James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Soon he found himself seated at the stained +old mahogany table with the two men, and between +two glasses, a bottle, and a pitcher of hot +water. Doctor Gordon dealt a pack of dirty +cards while the hotel keeper poured the apple-jack. +James could not help staring at the +elder doctor with more and more amazement. +He seemed to assimilate perfectly with his +surroundings. The tormented expression had +gone from his face. He was simply convivial, +and of the same sort as Georgie K. He no +<span class="tei-pb" id="page055">[pg 055]</span> +<a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>longer looked even a gentleman. He had become +of the soil, the New Jersey soil. As +they drank and played, he told stories, and +roared with laughter at them. The stories +also belonged to the soil, they were folk lore, +wild, coarse, but full of humanity. Although +Doctor Gordon drank freely of the rich mellow +liquor, it did not apparently affect him. +His cheeks above his gray furze of beard became +slightly flushed, that was all.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James drank rather sparingly. The stuff +seemed to him rather fiery, and he remembered +the goddess in the doctor's house. He +could imagine her look of high disdain at +him should he return under the influence of +liquor. Besides, he did not particularly care +for the apple-jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was midnight before they left. Georgie +K. went to the door with them, and he and +the doctor shook hands heartily. "Come +again," said Georgie K., "and the sooner +the better, and bring the young Doc. We'll +make him have a good time."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Until they were near home, Doctor Gordon +continued his strangely incongruous conversation, +telling story after story, and shouting +with laughter. When they came in sight of +the house Gordon stopped suddenly and +<span class="tei-pb" id="page056">[pg 056]</span> +<a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>leaned against a great maple beside the road. +He stared at the house, two of the upper windows +of which were lighted, and gave a great +sigh, almost a groan. James stopped also +and stared at him. He wondered if the apple-jack +had gone to the doctor's head after all. +"What is the matter?" he ventured.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing, except the race is at a finish, +and I am caught as I always am," replied +Doctor Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The race—" repeated James vaguely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, the race with myself. Myself has +caught up with me, God help me, and I am +in its clutches. The time may come when you +will try to race with self, my boy. Let me +tell you, you will never win. You will tire +yourself out, and make a damned idiot of +yourself for nothing. I shall race again to-morrow. +I never learn the lesson, but perhaps +you can, you are young. Well, come +along. Please be as quiet as you can when +you go into the house. My sister may be +asleep. She is perfectly well, but she is a +little nervous. I need not repeat my request +that you do not mention your adventure with +Clemency this afternoon to her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Certainly not," said James. He walked +on beside the doctor, and entered the house, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page057">[pg 057]</span> +<a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>more and more mystified. James was not +sure, but he thought he heard the faintest +little moan from upstairs. He glanced at +Doctor Gordon's face, and it was again the +face of the man whom he had seen before +going to Georgie K.'s.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_4" id="toc_4"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page058">[pg 058]</span> +<a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER III</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning after breakfast, at which +Mrs. Ewing did not appear, Doctor Gordon +observed that she always took her rolls and +coffee in bed. James followed Doctor Gordon +into his office. Clemency, who had presided +at the coffee urn, had done so silently, +and looked, so James thought, rather sulky, +as if something had gone wrong. Directly +James was in the office, the doctor's man, +Aaron, appeared. He was a tall, lank Jerseyman, +incessantly chewing. His lean, yellow +jaws appeared to have acquired a permanent +rotary motion, but he had keen eyes of intelligence +upon the doctor as he gave his orders.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Put in the team," said Gordon. "We +are going to Haver's Corner. Old Sam Edwards +is pretty low, and I ought to have gone +there yesterday, but I didn't know whether +that child with diphtheria at Tucker's Mill +would live the day out. Now he has seen the +worst of it, thank the Lord! But to-day I +must go to Haver's. I want to make good +time, for there's something going on this +<span class="tei-pb" id="page059">[pg 059]</span> +<a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>afternoon, and I want an hour off if I can +get it." Again the expression of simple jocularity +was over the man's face, and James +remembered what he had said the night before +about again running a race with himself +the next day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After Aaron had gone out Gordon turned +to James. He pointed to his great medicine-case +on the table. "You might see to it that +the bottles are all filled," he said. "You will +find the medicines yonder." He pointed to the +shelf. "I have to speak to Clemency before +I go."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James obeyed. As he worked filling the +bottles he heard dimly Gordon's voice talking +to Clemency on the other side of the wall. +The girl seemed to be expostulating.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Doctor Gordon returned Aaron was +at his heels with an immense bottle containing +a small quantity of red fluid. "S'pose +you'll want this filled?" he said to Gordon +with a grin which only disturbed for a second +his rotary jaws.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, yes, of course," replied Gordon, "we +want the aqua."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stared at him as he poured a little +red-colored liquid from one of the bottles on +the shelves into the big one. "Now fill it up +<span class="tei-pb" id="page060">[pg 060]</span> +<a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>from the pump, and put it in the buggy; be +sure the cork is in tight," he said to Aaron.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked laughingly at James when +the man had gone. "I infer that you are +wondering what 'aqua' may be," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I was brought up to think it was water," +said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So it is, water pure and simple, with a +little coloring matter thrown in. Bless you, +boy, the people around here want their medicines +by the quart, and if they had them by +the quart, good-by to the doctor's job, and ho +for the undertaker! So the doctor is obliged +to impose upon the credulity of the avariciously +innocent, and dilute the medicine. +Bless you, I have patients who would accuse +me of cheating if I prescribed less than a cupful +of medicine at a time. They have to be +humored. After all, they are a harmless, good +lot, but stiffened with hereditary ideas, worse +than by rheumatism. If I should give a few +drops in half a glass of water, and order a +teaspoonful at a time, I should fly in the face +of something which no mortal man can conquer, +sheer heredity. The grandfathers and +great-grandfathers of these people took their +physic on draft, the children must do likewise. +Sometimes I even think the medicine +<span class="tei-pb" id="page061">[pg 061]</span> +<a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would lose its effect if taken in any other +way. Nobody can estimate the power of a +fixed idea upon the body. All the same, it is +a confounded nuisance carrying around the +aqua. I will confess, although I see the +necessity of yielding, that I have less patience +with men's stiff-necked stupidity than +I have with their sins."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James drove all the morning with Doctor +Gordon about the New Jersey country. It +was a moist, damp day, such as sometimes +comes even in winter. It was a dog day with +an atmosphere slightly cooler than that of +midsummer. Overcoats were oppressive, +the horses steamed. The roads were deep +with red mud, which clogged the wheels and +made the hoofs of the horses heavy. "It's +a damned soil," said Doctor Gordon. This +morning after appearing somewhat saturnine +at breakfast, he was again in his unnatural, +rollicking mood. He hailed everybody +whom he met. He joked with the patients +and their relatives in the farmhouses, +approached through cart-tracks of mire, and +fluttered about by chickens, quacking geese, +and dead leaves. Now and then, stately ranks +of turkeys charged in line of battle upon the +muddy buggy, and the team, being used to +<span class="tei-pb" id="page062">[pg 062]</span> +<a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>it, stood their ground, and snorted contemptuously. +The country people were either +saturnine with an odd shyness, which had +something almost hostile in it, or they were +effusively hospitable, forcing apple-jack upon +the two doctors. James was much struck by +the curious unconcern shown by the relatives +of the patients, and even by the patients themselves. +In only one case, and that of a child +suffering from a bad case of measles, was +much interest evinced. The majority of the +patients were the very old and middle-aged, +and they discussed, and heard discussed, their +symptoms with much the same attitude as +they might have discussed the mechanism of +a wooden doll. If any emotion was shown it +was that of a singular inverted pride. "I +had a terrible night, doctor," said one old +woman, and a smirk of self-conceit was over +her ancient face. "Yes, mother <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">did</span> have an +awful night," said her married daughter with +a triumphant expression. Even the children +clustering about the doctor looked unconsciously +proud because their old grandmother +had had an awful night. The call of the two +doctors at the house was positively hilarious. +Quantities of old apple-jack were forced +upon them. The old woman in the adjoining +<span class="tei-pb" id="page063">[pg 063]</span> +<a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>bedroom, although she was evidently suffering, +kept calling out a feeble joke in her +cackling old voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Those people seem positively elated because +that old soul is sick," said James when +he and the doctor were again in the buggy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They are," said Doctor Gordon, "even +the old woman herself, who knows well +enough that she has not long to live. Did +you ever think that the desire of distinction +was one of the most, perhaps the most, intense +purely spiritual emotion of the human +soul? Look at the way these people live here, +grubbing away at the soil like ants. The +most of them have in their lives just three +ways of attracting notice, the momentary +consideration of their kind: birth, marriage, +sickness and death. With the first they are +hardly actively concerned, even with the second +many have nothing to do. There are +more women than men as usual, and although +the women want to marry, all the men do not. +There remains only sickness and death for a +stand-by, so to speak. If one of them is really +sick and dies, the people are aroused to take +notice. The sick person and the corpse have +a certain state and dignity which they have +never attained before. Why, bless you, man, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page064">[pg 064]</span> +<a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>I have one patient, a middle-aged woman, +who has been laid up for years with rheumatism, +and she is fairly vainglorious, and so is +her mother. She brags of her invalid daughter. +If she had been merely an old maid on +her hands, she would have been ashamed of +her, and the woman herself would have been +sour and discontented. But she has fairly +married rheumatism. It has been to her as a +husband and children. I tell you, young man, +one has to have his little footstool of elevation +among his fellows, even if it is a mighty queer +one, or he loses his self-respect, and self-respect +is the best jewel we have."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They were now out in the road again, the +team plodding heavily through the red shale. +"It's a damned soil," said the doctor for the +second time. He looked down at the young +man beside him, and James again felt that resentful +sense of youth and inexperience. "I +don't know how you've been brought up," +said the elder man. "I don't want to infuse +heretic notions into your innocent mind."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James straightened himself. He tried to +give the other man a knowing look. "I have +been about a good deal," he said. "You need +not be afraid of corrupting <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">me</span>."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon laughed. "Well, I shall +<span class="tei-pb" id="page065">[pg 065]</span> +<a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>not try," he said. "At least, I shall not mean +to corrupt you. I am a pessimist, but you +are so young that you ought not to be influenced +by that. Lord, only think what may be +before you. You don't know. I am so far +along that I know as far as I am concerned. +I did not know but you had been brought up +to think that whatever the Lord made was +good, and that in saying that this red, gluey +New Jersey soil was darned bad, I was swearing +the worst way. I don't want to have millstones +and that sort of thing about my neck. +I was quite up in the Scriptures at one time."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You need not be afraid," said James with +dignity; "I think the soil darned bad myself." +He hesitated a little over the darned, +but once it was out, he felt proud of it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, it is," said Doctor Gordon, "and if +the Lord made it, he did not altogether succeed, +and I see no earthly way of tracing the +New Jersey soil back to original sin and the +Garden of Eden."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's so," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon's face grew sober, his jocular +mood for the time had vanished. He was +his true self. "Did it ever occur to you that +disease was the devil?" he asked abruptly. +"That is, that all these infernal microbes +<span class="tei-pb" id="page066">[pg 066]</span> +<a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that burrow in the human system to its disease +and death, were his veritable imps at +work?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James shook his head, and looked curiously +at his companion's face with its gloomy corrugations.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, it has to me," said the doctor, "and +let me ask you one thing. You have been +brought up to believe that the devil's particular +residence was hell, haven't you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James replied in a bewildered fashion that +he had.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," said Doctor Gordon, "if the devil +lives here, as he must live, when there's such +failures in the way of soil, and such climates, +and such fiendish diseases, and crimes, why, +this is hell."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stared at him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon nodded half-gloomily, half-whimsically. +"It's so," he said. "We call +it earth; but it's hell."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James said nothing. The doctor's gloomy +theology was too much for him. Besides, he +was not quite sure that the elder man was +not chaffing him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," said Doctor Gordon presently, +"hell it is, but there are compensations, such +as apple-jack, and now and then there's something +<span class="tei-pb" id="page067">[pg 067]</span> +<a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>doing that amuses one even here. I am +going to take you to something that enlivens +hell this afternoon, if somebody doesn't send +a call. I am trying to get my work done this +morning, the worst of it, so as to have an hour +this afternoon."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The two returned a little after twelve, and +found luncheon waiting for them. Mrs. Ewing +took her place at the table, and James +thought that she did not look quite so ill as +she had done the evening before. She talked +more, and ate with some appetite. Doctor +Gordon's face lightened, not with the false +gayety which James had seen, but he really +looked quite happy, and spoke affectionately +to his sister.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you think, Tom," said she, "has +come over Clemency? I don't know when +there has been a morning that she has not +gone for a tramp, rain or shine, but she has +not stirred out to-day. She says she feels +quite well, but I don't know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, Clemency is all right," said Doctor +Gordon, but his face darkened again. As for +Clemency, she bent over her plate and looked +sulkier than ever. She fairly pouted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She can go out this afternoon," said Mrs. +Ewing. "It looks as if it were going to clear +off."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page068">[pg 068]</span> +<a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I don't want to go," said Clemency. +"I am all out of the humor of it." She spoke +with an air of animosity, as if somebody +were to blame, but when she saw Mrs. Ewing's +anxious eyes she smiled. "I would +much prefer staying with you, dear," she +said, "and finish Annie's Christmas present." +She spoke with such an affectionate +air, that James looked admiringly at her. +She seemed a fellow-worshipper. He thought +that he, too, would much prefer staying with +Mrs. Ewing than going with Doctor Gordon +on the mysterious outing which he had +planned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">However, directly after luncheon Gordon +led James out into the stable and called Aaron. +"Are they ready, Aaron?" inquired the doctor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron grinned, opened a rude closet, and +produced a number of objects, which James +recognized at once as dummy pigeons. So +Doctor Gordon was to take him to a pigeon-shooting +match. James felt a little disgusted. +He had, in fact, taken part in that sport with +considerable gusto himself, but, just now, he +being fairly launched, as it were, upon the +serious things of life, took it somewhat in +dudgeon that Doctor Gordon should think +<span class="tei-pb" id="page069">[pg 069]</span> +<a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to amuse him with such frivolities. But to +his amazement the elder man's face was all +a-quiver with mirth and fairly eager. "Show +the pigeons to Doctor Elliot, Aaron," said +Doctor Gordon. James took one of the rude +disks called pigeons from the hand of Aaron +with indifference, then he started and stared +at Doctor Gordon, who laughed like a boy, +fairly doubling himself with merriment. +Aaron did not laugh, he chewed on, but his +eyes danced.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, they are—" stammered James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Just so, young man," replied Doctor Gordon. +"They are wood. Aaron made them on +a lathe, and not a soul can tell them from the +clay pigeons unless they handle them. Now +you are going to see some fun. Jim Goodman, +who is the meanest skunk in town, has +cheated every mother's son of us first and +last, and this afternoon he is going to shoot +against Albert Dodd, and he's going to get his +finish! Dodd knows about it. He'll have +clay pigeons all right. Goodman has put up +quite a sum of money, and he stands fair to +lose for once in his life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Come on, Aaron, put the bay mare in the +buggy. We'll drive down to the field. We +haven't got much time to spare."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page070">[pg 070]</span> +<a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron backed the mare out of her stall and +hitched her to the mud-bespattered buggy, +and the two men drove off with the wooden +pigeons under the seat. They had not far to +go, to a large field intersected with various +footpaths and with, a large bare space, which +evidently served as a football gridiron. +"This field is used like town property," explained +the doctor, "but the funny part of +it is, it belongs to an old woman who is, perhaps, +the richest person in Alton, and asks +such a price for the land that nobody can +buy it, and it has never occurred to her to +keep off trespassers. So everybody trespasses, +and she pays the taxes, and we are +all satisfied, especially as there are plenty of +better building sites in Alton to be bought for +less money. That old woman bites her nose +off every day, and never knows it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">On this barren expanse, intersected with +the narrow footpaths, covered between with +the no color of last year's dry weeds and +grass, were assembled some half dozen men +and boys. They rushed up as the doctor's +buggy came alongside. "Got 'em?" they +cried eagerly. Doctor Gordon fumbled under +the seat and drew out the batch of wooden +pigeons, which one young fellow, who seemed +<span class="tei-pb" id="page071">[pg 071]</span> +<a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to be master of ceremonies, grasped and +rushed off with to the queer-looking machine +erected in the centre of the football clearing, +for the purpose of making them take wing. +The others went with him. Doctor Gordon +got out of his buggy, accompanied by James, +and they, too, joined the little group. "Got +the others?" asked Gordon in a half whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, you bet. We've got the others all +right," said the young fellow, and everybody +laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Men and boys began to gather until the +field was half filled with them. They all wore +grinning countenances. "For Heaven's sake, +boys, don't act as if it were so awful funny, +or you'll spoil the whole thing," said the +young fellow who had come for the pigeons.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Only one face was entirely sober, even severe, +as with resolve, and that was the face +of a small, mean-looking man between forty +and fifty. He carried a gun, and looked at +once important and greedy. "That's Jim +Goodman," whispered Doctor Gordon to +James, "and he's a crack shot, too. Albert +isn't as sure, though he's pretty good, too."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James began to catch the spirit of it himself. +He felt at once disgusted and uneasy +about the doctor, but as for himself he was +<span class="tei-pb" id="page072">[pg 072]</span> +<a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>only a young man, after all, and sport was +still sweet to his soul. He shouted with the +rest when the first pigeon was launched into +the air, and Albert Dodd, a tall, serious +young man, fired. He hit the bird, which at +once flew into fragments, as a clay pigeon +properly should.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K. came up and joined them. He +was evidently not in the secret, for he looked +intensely puzzled when Jim Goodman, who +had next shot, hit his bird fairly, but it +only hopped about and descended unbroken. +"What the deuce!" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hush up, Georgie K.," said Doctor Gordon. +The other man turned and looked at +him keenly, but the doctor's imperturbable, +smiling face was on the sport. Georgie K.'s +great pink face grew grave. Every time Albert +Dodd fired the pigeons dropped in pieces, +every time Jim Goodman fired they hopped as +if they were alive. Jim Goodman swore audibly. +He looked to his cartridges. The +whole field was in an uproar of mirth. The +gunshots were hardly audible for the yells +and wild halloos of merriment. The match +at last was finished. Jim Goodman's last +pigeon hopped, and he was upon it in a rage. +He took it up and examined it. It was riddled +<span class="tei-pb" id="page073">[pg 073]</span> +<a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>with shot. He felt it, weighed it. Then his +face grew fairly black. From being only +mean, he looked murderous. He was losing +money, and money was the closest thing to +his soul. He looked around at the yelling +throng, one man at bay, and he achieved a +certain dignity, even in the midst of absurdity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"This darned pigeon is wood," said he. +"They are all wood, all I have shot. This is +a put-up job! It ain't fair." He turned to +the young fellow who had taken the pigeons, +and who acted as referee.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"See here, John," he said, "you ain't +going to see me done this way, be you? You +know it ain't a fair deal. Albert Dodd's shot +clay pigeons, and I've shot wood. It ain't +fair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, it ain't fair," admitted the young fellow +reluctantly, with a side glance at Doctor +Gordon. Gordon made a movement, but +Georgie K. was ahead of him. James saw a +roll of bills pass from his hands to Jim +Goodman's. Gordon came up to Georgie K.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"See here!" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," replied Georgie K., without turning +his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Georgie K."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page074">[pg 074]</span> +<a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't stop. Excuse me, Doc." Georgie +K. jumped into a light wagon on that side of +the field, and was gone with a swift bounce +over the hollow which separated it from the +road. Doctor Gordon hurried back to his +own buggy, with James following, got in and +took the road after Georgie K. "He mustn't +pay that money," said Gordon. James said +nothing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I never thought of such a thing as that," +said Doctor Gordon, driving furiously, but +they did not catch up with Georgie K. until +they reached the Evarts House, and he was +out of his wagon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon approached him, pocketbook +in hand. "See here, Georgie K.," he +said, "I owe you a hundred."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Owe me nothing," said Georgie K. It +had seemed impossible for his great pink face +to look angry and contemptuous, but it did. +"I don't set up for much," said he, "but I +must say I like a square deal."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good Lord! so do I," said Gordon. +"Here, take this money. I had Aaron make +those darned wooden pigeons. Jim Goodman +has skinned enough young chaps here to +deserve the taste of a skin himself."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He ain't skinned you."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page075">[pg 075]</span> +<a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hasn't he? He owes me for two wives' +last sicknesses, to say nothing of himself and +children, and he's living with his third, and I +shall have to doctor her for nothing or let her +die. But that wasn't what I did it for."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K. turned upon him. "What on +earth did you do it for, Doc?" said he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because I felt the way you have felt +yourself."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When the woman that made those wax-flowers, +and loved that little stuffed bird in +there, died."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K.'s face paled. "What's the +matter, Doc?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing, I tell you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing. Who said there was anything? +I had to have my little joke. I tell you, +Georgie K., I've <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">got</span> to have my little joke, +just as I've got to have my game of euchre +with you and my glass of apple-jack; a man +can't be driven too far. I meant to make it +right with him. He's a mean little cuss, but +I am not mean. I intended to spend a hundred +on my joke, and you got ahead of me. +For God's sake, take the money, Georgie K."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K., still with a white, shocked, inquiring +<span class="tei-pb" id="page076">[pg 076]</span> +<a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>face, extended his hand and took the +roll of bills which the doctor gave him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Come in and take something," said he, +and Doctor Gordon and James accepted. +They went again into the state parlor on +whose shelf were the wax-flowers and the +stuffed canary, and they partook of apple-jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Doctor Gordon and James took leave. +Georgie K. gave Gordon a hearty shake of +the hand when he got into the buggy. Gordon +looked at James again with his gloomy +face, as he took up the lines. "Failed in the +race again," he said. "Now we've got to +hustle, for I have eight calls to make before +dinner, and it's late. I ought to change +horses, but there isn't time."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_5" id="toc_5"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page077">[pg 077]</span> +<a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER IV</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The weeks went on, and James led the +same life with practically no variation. The +sense of a mystery or mysteries about the +house never left him, and it irritated him. +He was not curious; he did not in the least +care to know in what the mystery consisted, +but the fact of concealment itself was obnoxious +to him. As for himself, he never +concealed anything, and when it came to +mystery, he had a vague idea of something +shameful, if not criminal. Doctor Gordon's +incomprehensible changes of mood, of almost +more than mood, of character even, disturbed +him. Why a man should be one hour +a country buffoon, the next an absorbed gentleman, +he could not understand. And he +could not understand also why Clemency had +never left the house since he had met her on +the day of his arrival. She evidently was +herself angry and sulky at being housed, but +she did not attempt to resist, and whenever +Mrs. Ewing expressed anxiety about her +health, she laughed it off, and made some +<span class="tei-pb" id="page078">[pg 078]</span> +<a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>excuse, such as the badness of the roads, or +some Christmas work which she was anxious +to finish. However, at last Mrs. Ewing's concern +grew so evident that Doctor Gordon at +dinner one day gave what seemed a plausible +reason for Clemency remaining indoors. "If +you will have it, Clara," he said, "Clemency +has a slight pain in her side, and pleurisy +and pneumonia are all about, and I told her +that she had better take no chances, and the +weather has been raw."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Ewing turned quite white. "Oh, +Tom," she murmured, "why didn't you tell +me?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I did not tell you, Clara dear, because +you would immediately have had the child in +a galloping consumption, and it is really +nothing at all. I only want to be on the safe +side."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is a very little pain, mother dear," +said Clemency. When Clemency spoke to +Mrs. Ewing, her voice had a singing quality. +At such times, although the young man's +very soul was possessed of the mother, he +could not help viewing the daughter with favor. +But he was puzzled about the pleurisy. +The girl seemed to him entirely well, although +she was losing a little of her warm +<span class="tei-pb" id="page079">[pg 079]</span> +<a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>color from staying indoors. Still, after all, +a pain is as invisible as a spirit. Her friend, +Annie Lipton, spent a few days with her, +and then James saw very little of Clemency. +The two girls sat together in Clemency's +room, and only the Lord of innocence and ignorance +knew what they talked about. They +talked a great deal. James, whenever he was +in the house, was conscious of the distant +murmur of their sweet young voices, although +he could not distinguish a word. Annie +Lipton was a prettier girl than Clemency, +though without her personal charm. Her +beauty seemed to abash her, and make her +indignant. She was a girl who should have +been a nun, and viewed love and lovers from +behind iron bars. She treated James with exceeding +coolness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Annie Lipton is an anomaly," Doctor +Gordon remarked once over his after-dinner +pipe, when they sat in the study listening +to the feminine murmur on the other side of +the wall. It sounded like the gentle ripple of +a summer sea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why?" returned James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She defies her sex," replied Doctor Gordon, +"and still there is nothing mannish about +her. She is a woman angry and ashamed at +<span class="tei-pb" id="page080">[pg 080]</span> +<a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her womanhood. If she ever marries, it will +be at the cost of a terrible mental struggle. +There are women-haters among men, and +there are a very few—so few as to rank with +albinos and white blackbirds in scarcity—man-haters +among women. Annie is a man-hater."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She is very pretty, too," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If you attempt the conquest, I'll warn +you there will be scaling ladders and all the +ancient paraphernalia of siege needed," said +Doctor Gordon laughingly. James colored.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It may be that I am a woman-hater," he +replied, and looked very young. Doctor Gordon +again laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A little later they went to Georgie K.'s. +They went nearly every evening while Annie +Lipton was with Clemency. After she had +left they did not go so often. "It is pretty +dull for Clemency," Doctor Gordon would +say, and they would remain at home and +play whist with the two ladies. James began +to be quite sure that Doctor Gordon's +visits to Georgie K.'s were mostly made when +Mrs. Ewing looked worse than usual and did +not eat her dinner. James became convinced +in his own mind that Mrs. Ewing was not +well, although he never dared broach the subject +<span class="tei-pb" id="page081">[pg 081]</span> +<a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>again to the doctor, and although it made +no difference whatever in his own attitude toward +her. As well might he have turned his +back upon the Venus, because of some slight +abrasion which her beautiful body had received +from the ages.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But one day, having come in unexpectedly +alone, he found her on the divan in the living-room, +evidently weeping, and his heart went +out to her. He flung himself down on his +knees beside her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, what is it? What is the matter?" +he whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Her whole body was writhing. She uncovered +her eyes and looked at him pitifully, +and yet with a certain dignity. Those beautiful +eyes, brimming with tears, were not reddened, +and their gaze was steady. "If I tell +you, will you keep my secret?" she whispered +back, "or, rather, it is not a secret since Doctor +Gordon knows it. I wish he did not, but +will you keep your knowledge from him?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I promise you I will," said James fervently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am terribly ill," said Mrs. Ewing simply. +"I suffer at times tortures. Don't ask +me what the matter is. It is too dreadful, +and although I have no reason to feel so, it +<span class="tei-pb" id="page082">[pg 082]</span> +<a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>seems to me ignominious. I am ashamed of +being so ill. I feel disgraced by it, wicked." +She covered her face again and sobbed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't, don't," said James, out of his +senses completely. "Don't, I can't bear it. +I love you so. Don't! I will cure you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You cannot. Doctor Gordon does not +admit that my case is hopeless, but he gives +no hope, and you must have noticed how he +suffers when he sees me suffer. He runs away +from me because he can do nothing to help +me. That is the worst of it all. I could bear +the pain for myself, but for the others, too! +Oh, I wish there was some little back door of +life out of which one could slip, and no blame +to anybody, in a case like this. But there is +nothing but the horrible front door, which +means such agony to everybody who is left, +as well as the one that goes." Mrs. Ewing +had completely lost control of herself. She +sobbed again and moaned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James covered one of her cold hands with +kisses. "Don't, don't," he begged. "Don't, +I love you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly Mrs. Ewing came to the comprehension +of what he said. She looked at his +bent head—James had a curly head like a +boy's—and a strange look came into her eyes, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page083">[pg 083]</span> +<a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>as if she were regarding him across an immeasurable +gulf. Nobody had ever seemed +quite so far away in the world as this boy +with his cry of love to the woman old enough +to be his mother. It was not the fact of her +superior age alone, it was her disease, it was +her sense of being done forever with anything +like this that gave her, as it were, a view of +earth from outside, and yet she had a sense +of comfort. James was even weeping. She +felt his tears on her hand. It did her good +that anybody could love her so little as to be +able to stay by and see her suffer, and weep +for her, and not rush forth in a rage of misery +like Thomas Gordon. In a second, however, +she had command of herself. She drew her +hand away. "Doctor Elliot," she said, "you +forget yourself."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, no, I don't," protested James. "It +is not as if I—I were thinking of you in that +way. I am not. I know you could not possibly +think of me as a girl might. It is only +because I love you. I have never seen anybody +like you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You must put me out of your head," said +Mrs. Ewing. "I am old enough to be your +mother; I am ill unto death. You must not +love me in any way."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page084">[pg 084]</span> +<a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I cannot help it"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Ewing hesitated. "I have a mind to +tell you something," she said in a low voice. +"Can I rely upon you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I would die before I told, if you said I +was not to," cried James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It might almost come to that," said the +woman gravely. "A very serious matter is +involved, otherwise there would not be this +secrecy. I cannot tell you what the matter +is, but I can tell you something which will +cure you of loving me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't want to be cured," protested +James, "and I have told you it is a love like +worship, it is not—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Ewing interrupted him. "The worship +of a young man is not to be trusted," +she said. "I cannot have you made to suffer. +I will tell you, but, remember, if you betray +me you will do awful harm. Neither the doctor +nor Clemency even must know that I tell +you. The doctor knows, of course, the secret; +Clemency does not know, and must never +know. It would be the undoing of all of us, +the terrible undoing, if this were to get out, +but I will tell you. You are a good boy, and +you shall be spared needless pain. Listen." +She leaned forward and whispered close to +<span class="tei-pb" id="page085">[pg 085]</span> +<a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his ear. James started back, and stared at +her as white as death. Mrs. Ewing smiled. +"It hurts a little, I know," she said, "but +better this now than worse later. You are +foolish to feel so about me; you were at a disadvantage +in coming here. It is only right +that you should know. Now never speak to +me again about this. Think of me as your +friend, and your friend who is in very great +suffering and pain, and have sympathy for +me, if you can, but not so much sympathy +that you too will suffer. I want sympathy, +but not agony like poor Tom's. That makes +it harder for me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does she know?" asked James, half-gasping.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You mean does Clemency know I am +ill?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She knows I am ill. She does not know +how terrible it is. You must help me to keep +it from her. I almost never give way when +she is present. I knew she was taking a nap +this afternoon, and the pain was so awful. +It is better now. I think I will go to my +room and lie down for a while." Mrs. Ewing +rose, and extended her hand to James. +"I have forgotten already what you told +me," she said.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page086">[pg 086]</span> +<a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can never forget!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You must, or you must go away from +here."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can never forget, but it shall be a thing +of the past," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is right," Mrs. Ewing said with a +maternal air. "It will only take a little effort. +You will see."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She went out of the room with a flounce of +red draperies, and left James. He sat down +beside a window and stared out blankly. The +thought came to him, how many avowals of +love and deathless devotion such a woman +must have listened to. Her manner of receiving +his made him think that there had been +many. "It is quite proper," he thought to +himself. "A woman like that is born to be +worshiped." Then he thought of what she +had told him, and a sort of rage filled his +heart. He recognized the fact that she had +been right in her estimation of the worship +of a young man. He is always trying to turn +his idol into clay.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The door opened and Clemency entered, +but he did not notice it. She came and sat +down in front of him, and looked angrily at +him, then for the first time he saw her. He +rose. "I beg your pardon, I did not hear +you come in," he said.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page087">[pg 087]</span> +<a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sit down again," said Clemency pettishly. +"Don't be silly. I am used to having young +men not see anybody but my mother when +she comes into a room, and it is quite right, +too. I don't think there ever was a woman +so beautiful as she, do you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I don't," replied James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency eyed him keenly. Then she +blushed at the surmise which came to her, +and James also blushed at the knowledge of +the surmise. "You can't be much older +than I am. I am twenty-three," said Clemency +after a while. Then the red suffused +her very throat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am twenty-three, too," said James. +Then he added bluntly, for he began to be +angry, "A man can think a woman the most +beautiful he ever saw without—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I didn't think you were such a fool," +said Clemency; then she added, in a meek +and shamed voice, "I should have been awfully +disgusted with you if you had not +thought my mother the most beautiful woman +you ever saw, and I am used to men not seeing +me. I don't want them to. I think I feel +something as Annie Lipton does about men. +She says she feels as if she wanted to kill +<span class="tei-pb" id="page088">[pg 088]</span> +<a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>every man who looks at her as if he loved +her. I think I should, too."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Miss Lipton has a great many admirers," +remarked James by way of changing the subject.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, yes, every young man for miles +around, ever since she was grown up. She +doesn't like any of them." Clemency looked +at James with sudden concern. "I am going +to tell you something," she said, "even if it +is rather betraying confidence. I think I +ought to. Annie told me she had taken a +great dislike to you, from the very first moment +she saw you, so it would be no use—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am sorry," replied James stiffly, "but +as I had no particular feeling for her, except +admiration of her beauty, it makes no especial +difference."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I thought, of course, you would fall in +love with her," said Clemency. Then she +added, with most inexplicable inverted jealousy, +"You must have very poor taste, or +you would. You are the first one."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Some one has to be first," James said, +laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know but I was horrid to tell you +what I did," said Clemency, looking at him +doubtfully.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page089">[pg 089]</span> +<a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't thing it as horrid for a girl to +assume that every man is in love with her +friend as it would be if she assumed something +else," said James. He knew that his +speech was ungallant; but it seemed to him +that this girl fairly challenged him to rudeness. +But she looked at him innocently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, no, I never should think that," said +she. "Being with two women so very beautiful +as my mother and Annie so much +makes me quite sure that nobody is thinking +of me. It is only sometimes that I feel +a little like a piece of furniture, only chairs +can't walk into rooms." She ended with a +girlish laugh. Then her face suddenly sobered. +"Doctor Elliot, I want you to tell +me something," said she. "Uncle Tom +wouldn't if I asked him, and I don't dare +ask him anyway. Do you think mother is +very well?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated. "You ought to tell me," +Clemency said imperatively.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have thought sometimes that she did +not look quite well," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you think the matter is?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It may be indigestion."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Do you think it is?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know. Doctor Gordon has told +<span class="tei-pb" id="page090">[pg 090]</span> +<a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>me nothing, and Mrs. Ewing has told me +nothing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I thought doctors could tell from a person's +looks."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not always."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctors aren't much good anyhow," said +Clemency. "I don't care if you are one, and +Uncle Tom is one. I notice people die just +the same. So you think it is indigestion? +Well, it may be. Mother doesn't have much +appetite."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I have noticed that," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then there is something else I want to +ask you," said Clemency. "I have a right +to know if you know. What does Uncle Tom +make me stay in the house so for?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know," replied James, looking +honestly at her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't you, honest? Hasn't he told +you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course, I know the first of it came +from my meeting that man the day you came +here, but it does seem such utter nonsense +that I have to stay housed this way. I never +met a man that frightened me before, and it +is not likely that I shall again. It does not +stand to reason that that man is hanging +<span class="tei-pb" id="page091">[pg 091]</span> +<a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>around here waiting to intercept me again. +It is nonsense, but Uncle Tom won't let me +stir out. He has even ordered me to keep +away from the windows, and be sure that the +curtains are drawn at night. I don't know +what the matter is. I can't say a word about +it to mother, she is so nervous. I have to +pretend that I like to stay in the house, and +some days I really think I am going mad for +fresh air. Uncle Tom won't even let me go +driving with him. So you don't know anything +about it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing whatever."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I can't stand it much longer," said +Clemency with an obstinate look. "As for +the pain in my side, that's an awful lie; I +haven't the ghost of a pain. I can't stand it +much longer. Here's Uncle Tom. You are +not going to tell him I said anything about +it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course, I am not," answered James. +He began to feel that he was entangled in a +web of secrecy, and his feeling of irritation +increased. He would have gotten out of it +and spent Christmas at his own home, but +Doctor Gordon had an unusual number of +patients suffering from grippe, and pneumonia +was almost epidemic, and he felt that +<span class="tei-pb" id="page092">[pg 092]</span> +<a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>he should not leave. It was the second week +of the new year when James, returning from +a call at a near-by patient, whither he had +walked, found Mrs. Ewing in the greatest +distress. It was ten o'clock at night, and she +was pacing the living-room. Immediately +when he entered she ran to him. "Oh," she +gasped, "Clemency, Clemency!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, what is it?" asked James. Clemency +had not been at the dinner-table, but he +had supposed her sulking, as she had been +doing of late, and that she had taken advantage +of Doctor Gordon's absence at a distant +patient's to remain away from the table.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She begged so hard to go out, and said +the pain was quite well," gasped Mrs. Ewing, +"that I said she might go and see Annie, and +here it is ten o'clock at night, and Tom has +gone to Grover's Corner, and may not be +home until morning, and Aaron is with him, +and I had no one to send. I thought I would +not say anything to you. I thought every +minute she would come in, and Emma has +walked half a mile looking for her, and I am +horribly worried."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will go directly and look for her," said +James. "I will put the bay in the light +buggy, and drive to Westover. Don't worry. +I'll bring her back in half an hour."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page093">[pg 093]</span> +<a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The bay is so lame she can't travel, I +heard Tom say this morning," said Mrs. Ewing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then I'll take the gray."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She balks, you know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James laughed. "Oh, I'll risk the balking," +he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He hurried out to the stable and put the +gray in the buggy. It was a very short time +before James was on the road, and the gray +went as well as could be desired, but just before +she reached Westover she stopped short, +and James might as well have tried to move +a mountain as that animal with her legs +planted at four angles of relentless obstinacy.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_6" id="toc_6"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page094">[pg 094]</span> +<a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER V</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James had considerable experience with, +horses. He knew at once that it was probably +a hopeless undertaking to change the +mare's mind, or rather her obstinacy. However, +he tried the usual methods, touching +with the whip, getting out and attempting to +lead, but they were all, as he had supposed +from the first, in vain. A terrible sense of +being up against fate itself seized him: an +animal's will unreasoning, unrelenting, bears, +in fact, the aspect of fate itself. It is at +once sensate and insensate. James thought +of Clemency, and decided to waste no more +time.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The gray mare was near enough to a tree +to tie her, and he tied her and set out on foot. +It was a very dark night, cloudy and chilly +and threatening snow. He walked on, as it +were, through softly enveloping shadows, +which seemed to his excited fancy to be coming +forward to meet him. He began to be +very much alarmed. He had wasted most +of his young sentiment upon Clemency's +<span class="tei-pb" id="page095">[pg 095]</span> +<a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>mother, but, after all, he suddenly discovered +that he had a feeling for the girl herself. +He thought that it was only the natural anxiety +of any man of honor for the safety of +a helpless young girl out alone at night, and +beset by possible dangers, but he realized +himself in a panic. His plan was of course +to go directly to Annie Lipton's home, some +two miles farther on, then it occurred to +him that Clemency must inevitably have +left there. If she were lying dead or injured +on the road, how in the world was he +to see? He felt in his pocket for matches, +and found just one. He lit that and peered +around. While it burned he saw nothing +except the frozen road with its desolate +borders of woods and brush, a fit scene for +countless tragedies. When the match burned +out he thought of something else. Supposing +that Clemency were lying half-dead anywhere +near the road, how was she to know +that a friend was near? Immediately he began +to whistle. Whistling was a trick of +his, and he had a remarkably sweet, clear +pipe. He knew that Clemency, if she were +to hear his whistle, would know who was +near. He whistled "Way down upon the +Suwanee River" through, then he began on +<span class="tei-pb" id="page096">[pg 096]</span> +<a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the "Flower Song" from Faust, walking all +the time quite rapidly but with alert ears. He +was half through the "Flower Song" when +he stopped short. He thought he heard something. +He listened, and did hear quite distinctly +an exceedingly soft little voice, which +might have been the voice of shadows—"Is +that you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency," he cried out, and rushed toward +the wood, and directly the girl was clinging +to him. She was panting with sobs, but +she kept her voice down to a whisper. "Speak +low, speak low," she said in his ear. "I +don't know where he is. Oh, speak low." +She clung to him with almost a spasmodic +grip of her slender arms. "If you had been +ten minutes longer I think I should have +died," she whispered. "Don't make a sound. +I don't know where he is."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was it—" began James. He felt himself +trembling at the thought of what the girl +might be going to reveal to him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, that same dreadful man. Uncle +Tom was right. I stayed too long at Annie's. +It was almost dark when I left there. She +persuaded me to stay to dinner. They had +turkey. I was about half a mile below here +when he, the man, came out of the woods, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page097">[pg 097]</span> +<a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>just as he did before. I heard him, and I +knew. I did not look around. I ran, and I +heard his footsteps behind me. The darkness +seemed to shut down all at once. I knew +he could catch me, and remembered what I +had heard about wild animals when they +were hunted. I had gone a little past here, +running just as softly as I could, when I +turned right into the woods, and ran back. +Then I lay right down in the underbrush +and kept still. I heard him run past. Then +I heard him come back. He came into the +woods. I expected every minute he would +step on me, but I kept still. Finally I heard +him go away, but I have not dared to stir +since! I made up my mind I would keep +still until I heard a team pass. It did seem +to me one must pass, and one would have at +any other time, but it has been hours I have +been lying there. Then I heard your whistle. +I was almost afraid to speak then. Don't +speak above a whisper now. Did you come +on foot?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I had the gray mare, and she balked about +half a mile from here. You are sure you are +not hurt?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, only I am trying hard not to faint. +Let us walk on very fast, but step softly, and +don't talk."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page098">[pg 098]</span> +<a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James put his arm around the girl and +half carried her. She continued to draw +short, panting breaths, which she tried to +subdue. They reached the place where the +gray mare loomed faintly out of the gloom +with the dark mass of the buggy behind her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Let us get in," whispered Clemency. +"Quick!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am afraid she won't budge."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, she will for me. She has a tender +mouth, that is why she balks. You must +have pulled too hard on the lines. Sometimes +I have made her go when even Uncle Tom +couldn't."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency ran around to the gray's head +and patted her, and James untied her. Then +the girl got into the buggy and took the reins, +and James followed. He was almost jostled +out, the mare started with such impetus. They +made the distance home almost on a run.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I am so glad," panted Clemency. +"You see I can seem to feel her mouth when +I hold the lines, and she knows. Was poor +mother worried?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A little."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know she was almost crazy."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She will be all right when she sees you +safe," said James.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page099">[pg 099]</span> +<a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Is Uncle Tom home yet? No, of course +I know he isn't, or he would have come instead +of you. Oh, dear, I know he will scold +me. I shall have to tell him, but I mustn't +tell mother about the man. What shall I tell +her? It is dreadful to have to lie, but sometimes +one would rather run the risk of fire +and brimstone for one's self than have anybody +else hurt. If I tell mother she will +have one of her dreadful nervous attacks. +I can't tell her. What shall I tell her, Doctor +Elliot?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think the simplest thing will be to say +that Miss Lipton persuaded you to stay to +supper, and so you were late, and I overtook +you," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mother will never believe that I stayed +so long as that," said Clemency. "I shall +have to lie more than that. I don't know +exactly what to say. I could have Charlie +Horton come in to play whist, and be taking +me home in his buggy. He always drives, +and you could meet me on the road."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, you could do that."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is a very complicated lie," said Clemency, +"but I don't know that a complicated +lie is any worse than a simple one. I think +I shall have to lie the complicated one. You +<span class="tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span> +<a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>need not say anything, you know. You can +take the mare to the stable, and I will run +in and get the lie all told before you come. +You won't lie, will you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James could not help laughing. "No, I +don't see any need of it," he replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is rather awful for you to have to live +with people who have to lie so," remarked +Clemency, "but I don't see how it can be +helped. If you had seen my mother in one +of her nervous attacks once, you would never +want to see her again. There is only one +thing, I do feel very weak still, and I am +afraid I shall look pale. Hold the lines a +minute. Don't pull on them at all. Let them +lie on your knees."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What are you doing?" asked James when +he had complied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doing? I am pinching my cheeks almost +black and blue, so mother won't notice. +I don't talk scared now, do I?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not very."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I think I can manage that. I think +I can manage my voice. I am all over being +faint. Oh, I will tell you what I will do. You +haven't got your medicine-case with you, have +you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I started so hurriedly."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span> +<a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I will go in the office way. I know +where Uncle Tom keeps brandy, and I will be +so chilled that I'll have to take a little before +mother sees me. That will make me all right. +I wouldn't take it for myself, but I will for +her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And you are chilled, all right," said +James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I think I am," said Clemency. "I +did not think of it, but I guess it was cold +there in the woods keeping still so long." +Indeed, the girl was shaking from head to +foot, both with cold and nervous terror. "It +was awful," she said in a little whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt the girl shaking from head to +foot. Suddenly a great tenderness for the +poor, little hunted thing came over him. He +put his arm around her. "Poor little soul," +he said. "It must have been terrible for +you lying out there in the cold and dark and +not knowing—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency shrank into his embrace as a +hurt child might have done. "It was perfectly +terrible," she said, with a little sob. +"I didn't know but he might come back any +minute and find me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is all over now," James said soothingly.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span> +<a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, for the time," Clemency replied +with a little note of despair in her voice, "but +there is something about it all that I don't +understand. Only think how long I have +had to stay in the house, and he must have +been on the watch. I don't know when it is +ever going to end."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think that I will end it to-morrow," +said James with fierce resolution.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You? How?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am going to put a stop to this. If an +innocent girl can't step out of the house for +weeks at a time without being hounded this +way, it is high time something was done. I +am going to get a posse of men and scour the +country for the scoundrel."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, will you do that?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I will. It is high time somebody +did something."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You saw him. You know just how he +looks?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I could tell him from a thousand."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency drew a long breath. "Well," +she said doubtfully, "if you can, but—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But what?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing, only somehow I doubt if Uncle +Tom will think it advisable. There must be +some mystery about all this or Uncle Tom +<span class="tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span> +<a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>himself would have done that very thing at +first. I don't understand it. But I don't +believe Uncle Tom will consent to your hunting +for the man. I think for some reason he +wants it kept secret." Suddenly, Clemency +gave a passionate little outcry. "Oh, how +I do hate secrets!" she said. "How I have +always hated them! I want everything right +out, and here I seem to be in a perfect snarl +of secrets! I wonder how long I shall have +to stay in the house."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Perhaps you are wrong, and your uncle +will take measures now this has happened +for the second time," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, he won't," replied the girl hopelessly. +"I am almost sure that he will +not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency was right. After she had made +her entry and told her little lie successfully, +and explained that she had taken some brandy +because she was chilled, and Mrs. Ewing had +gently scolded her for staying so late, and +kissed and embraced her, and gotten back +her own composure, Doctor Gordon arrived, +and James, who had waited for him in the +study, told him the story in whispers. "Now +I think you had better let me get a posse of +men and scour the country to-morrow," he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span> +<a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>concluded. "It seems to me that this thing +has gone far enough."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon sat huddled up before him +in an arm-chair. He had not even taken off +his overcoat, which was white with snow. +The storm had begun. "It will be easy to +track him on account of the snow," added +James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tracking is not necessary," replied Gordon, +with his haggard face fixed upon James. +"I know exactly where the man is, and have +known from the first."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then—" began James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You don't know what you are talking +about," Gordon said gloomily. "I would +have that fiend arrested to-morrow. I would +have him hung from the nearest tree if I had +my way, but I can do absolutely nothing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I can do nothing, except what I have +been doing, so far in vain, it seems, to try to +tire him out. I traded too much on his impatience, +it seemed. I did not think he would +have held out so long."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You mean you will have to keep that poor +little thing shut up the way you have been +doing?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I see no other way. God knows I have +tried to think of another, day and night."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span> +<a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't see why you or I could not take +her out sometimes when we visit patients anyway," +said James in a bewildered fashion.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You don't understand," replied Doctor +Gordon irritably. "The main point is: the +girl must not be even seen by that man. +That is the trouble. Driving, she might be +perfectly safe; in fact, in one way she is safe +anyhow. She is not in any danger of bodily +harm, as you may think, but I don't want +her seen."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why not let me take her out sometimes +of an evening then?" said James, more and +more mystified. "If she wore a veil, and +went out driving in the evening, I can't see +how anybody could get a glimpse of her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You don't understand that we have to +deal with a very devil incarnate," said Doctor +Gordon wearily. "He will be on the +watch for just that very manœuvre. However, +perhaps we may be able to manage that; +I will see."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She will be ill if she remains in the house +so closely," said James, "especially a girl +like her, who has been accustomed to lead +such an outdoor life. In fact, I don't think +she does look very well now. It is telling on +her."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span> +<a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I think it is," agreed Doctor Gordon +gloomily, "but again, I say, I see no +other way out of it. However, perhaps you +or I can take her out sometimes of an evening. +I suppose it had better be you, on some +accounts. I will see. Well, I will take off +my coat and get something to eat. I suppose +Clara and Clemency have gone to bed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"They went hours ago," replied James. +It was, in fact, two in the morning. James +followed the doctor, haggard and weary, into +the kitchen, where, according to custom at +such times, some dinner had been left to keep +warm on the range. "I'll sit down here," +said Doctor Gordon. "It is warmer than in +the dining-room, and I am chilled through. +If you don't mind, Elliot, I wish you would +get me a bottle of apple-jack from the dining-room. +I must have something to hearten +me up, or I shall go by the board, and I don't +know what will become of her—of them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James sat and waited while the doctor ate +and drank. When he had finished he looked +a little less haggard. He stretched himself +before the warm glow from the range and +laughed. "Now I feel my fighting blood is +up again," he said. "After all, if there is +anything in the Good Book, the wicked shall +<span class="tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span> +<a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>not always triumph, and I may win out. I +shall do my best anyhow. But I confess you +took the wind out of me with what you told +me when I came in. I am glad Clara does +not know. Poor little Clemency having to +pave her way with lies, but it would kill +Clara. Oh, God, it does seem as if I had +enough before. Take my advice, young man, +and try to think more of yourself than anybody +else in the world. Don't let your heart +go out to anybody. Just as sure as you do, +the door of the worst torture-chamber in +creation swings open. The minute you become +vulnerable through love, you haven't a +strong place in your whole armor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What a doctrine!" observed James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know it, but I have taken a fancy to +you, boy; and hang it if I want you to suffer +as I have to."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But a man would not be a man at all if +he did not think enough of somebody to suffer," +said James, and now he was thinking +of poor little Clemency, and how she had +nestled up to him for protection.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Maybe," said Doctor Gordon gloomily, +"but sometimes I wonder whether it pays +in the long run to be what you call a man. +Sometimes I wish that I were a rock or a tree. +I do to-night."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span> +<a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You will feel better after you have had +a little sleep," James said, as the two men +rose.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly one of Doctor Gordon's inexplicable +changes of mood came over him. +He laughed. "If it were not so late we +would go down to Georgie K.'s," said he. +"I never felt more awake. Well, I guess +it's too late. You must be dead tired yourself. +I have not thanked you at all for your +rescue of the girl. She would have been down +with a serious illness if you had not gone, for +she would have lain in that place being snowed +over until somebody came."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She was mighty clever to do what she +did," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, she is clever," returned Doctor Gordon. +"She is a good girl, and it stings me +to the very heart that she has to suffer such +persecution. Well, 'all's well that ends well.' +Did it ever occur to you that God made up to +mankind for the horrors of creation, by stating +that there would be an end to it some day? +Good God, if this terrible world had to roll +on to all eternity!" Doctor Gordon laughed +again his unnatural laugh. "Fancy if you +were awakened to-night by the last trump," +he said. "How small everything would +<span class="tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span> +<a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>seem. Hang it, though, if I wouldn't try to +have a hand at that man's finish before the +angel of the Lord got his flaming sword at +work."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James looked at him with terror.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't mind me, boy," said Gordon. "I +don't mean to blaspheme; but Job is not in +it with me just now. You cannot imagine +what I had to contend with before this +melodramatic villain appeared on the stage. +Sometimes I think this is the finish," Gordon's +mouth contracted. He looked savage. +James continued to stare at him. Gordon +laid his hand on James's shoulder. "Thank +the Lord for one thing," he said almost tenderly, +"that he sent you here. Between us +we will take care of poor little Clemency +anyhow. Now go to bed, and go to sleep."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James obeyed as to the one, but he could +not as to the other. He became, as the hours +wore on, so nervous that he was half-inclined +to take a sleeping powder. The room seemed +full of flashes of lightning. He heard sounds +which made him cold with horror. He was +highly strung nervously, and was really in a +state bordering upon hysteria. The mystery +which surrounded him was the main cause. +He was never himself before an unknown +<span class="tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span> +<a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>quantity. He had too much imagination. +He made all sorts of surmises as to the stranger +who was haunting Clemency. Starting +with two known quantities, he might have accomplished +something, but here he had only +one: Clemency herself. He had a good head +for algebra, but a man cannot work out a +problem easily with only one known quantity. +He began to wonder if the poor girl herself +were sleeping. He realized a sort of protective +tenderness for her, and indignation on her +behalf. It did not occur to him as being love. +Still the image of her wonderful mother dominated +him. But his mind dwelt upon the girl. +He thought of a piazza whose roof opened as +he knew upon Clemency's room. He wondered +if a man like that would stick at anything. +Then he recalled what Doctor Gordon +had said about Clemency's not being in any +bodily danger, and again he speculated. The +room began to grow pale with the late winter +dawn. Familiar objects began to gain clearness +of outline. There were two windows in +James's room. They gave upon the piazza. +Suddenly James made a leap from his bed. +He sprang to one of the windows. Flattened +against it was the face of the man. But the +face was so destitute of consciousness of him, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span> +<a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that James doubted if he saw rightly. The +wide eyes seemed to gaze upon him without +seeing him, the mouth smiled as if at something +within. The next moment James was +sure that the face was not there. He drew +on his trousers, thrust his feet into his shoes, +and was out of his room and the house, and +on the piazza. It was still snowing, but the +dawn was overcoming the storm. The whole +world was lit with dead white pallor like the +face of a corpse. James rushed the length of +the piazza. He looked at the walk leading to +it. He thought he could distinguish footprints. +He looked on the piazza, but the +wind, being on the other side of the house, +there was not enough snow there to make +footprints visible. The snow on the walk +was drifted. He looked at it closely, and +made sure of deep marks. He stood for a +moment undecided what to do. He disliked +to arouse Doctor Gordon. He was afraid of +awakening Mrs. Ewing, if he ventured into +the upper part of the house. Then he thought +of the man Aaron who slept in a room over +the stable. He reëntered the house, locked +the front door, went softly into the doctor's +study, and out of the door which was near +the stable. Then he made a hard snowball, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span> +<a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and threw it at Aaron's window. The window +opened directly, and Aaron's head appeared. +James could see, even in the dim +light, and presumably just awakened from +sleep, the rotary motion of his jaws. He was +probably not chewing anything, simply moving +his mouth from force of habit. "Hullo!" +said Aaron, "that you Doctor Gordon?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, it is I," replied James. "Put on +something as quick as you can, and come +down here. Something is wrong."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron's head disappeared. In an incredibly +short space of time the stable door was +unlocked and slid cautiously back, and +Aaron stood there, huddled into his clothes. +"What's up?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know. Have you got a lantern +in the stable?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yep."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Light it quick, then, and come along with +me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron obeyed. "Anybody sick," he asked, +coming alongside with the flashing lantern. +He threw a cloth over it so as to prevent the +rays shining into the house windows. "I +don't want to frighten her," he said, and +James knew that he meant Mrs. Ewing. +"She's awful nervous," said Aaron. Then +he said again, "What's up?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span> +<a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I saw a man's face looking into one of my +windows," replied James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron gave a low whistle. "Somebody +wanted the doc?" he inquired.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," replied James shortly, "it was not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Must have been."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, it was not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Must have been," repeated Aaron, chewing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I tell you it was not. I knew—" James +stopped. He suddenly wondered how much +he ought to tell the man, how much Doctor +Gordon had told him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron chewed imperturbably, but a sly look +came into his face. "I have eyes, and they +see, and ears, and they hear," he said, after +an odd Scriptural fashion, "but don't you +tell me nothin', Doctor Elliot. Either I take +what I get from the fountain-head, or I makes +my own conclusions that I can't help. Don't +you tell me nothin'. S'pose we look an' see +ef there's footprints that show anythin'."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron flashed the lantern, all the time carefully +shading it from the house windows, over +the walk which led to the front door and the +piazza. James followed him. "Well," said +Aaron, "there's been somebody here, but, with +snow like this, it might have been a monkey +<span class="tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span> +<a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>or a rhinoceros or an alligator. You can't +make nothin' of them tracks. But they do +go out to the road, and turn toward Stanbridge."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Suppose we—" began James. He was +about to suggest following the prints, when +he remembered Doctor Gordon's injunction +to the contrary.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">However, Aaron anticipated him. "Might +as well leave the devil alone," said he. "It +might have been the old one himself, for all +we can tell by them tracks. You had better +go back to bed, Doctor Elliot. You ain't got +much on. It ain't near breakfast time yet. +Better go back to bed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And James thought such a course the wiser +one himself. He went back to bed, but not +to sleep. He kept his eyes fixed upon the +windows. He was prepared at any instant, +should the man reappear, to spring out. He +felt almost murderous. "It has come to a +pretty pass," he thought, "if that scoundrel, +whoever he may be, is lurking around the +house at night."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The daylight came slowly on account of the +storm. When it did come, it was an opaque +white daylight. James began to smell coffee +and frying ham. He rose and dressed himself, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span> +<a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and looked out of the window. It was +like looking into a blurred mirror. He began +to wonder if he could have been mistaken, +if possibly that face had been simply +a vision which had come from his overwrought +brain. He wondered if he should +tell Doctor Gordon, if it might not disturb +him unnecessarily. He wondered if he should +have enforced secrecy upon Aaron. He was +still undecided when the Japanese gong +sounded, and he went out to breakfast. +Clemency was looking worn and ill. Somehow +the sight of her piteous little face decided +James. He thought how easily an +athletic man could climb up one of those +piazza posts, which was, moreover, encircled +by a strong old vine which might almost +serve as ladder. He made up his mind to +tell Doctor Gordon, and he did tell him when +they were out upon their rounds, tilting and +sliding along the drifted country roads in an +old sleigh. "I don't think I can be mistaken," +he said when he had finished.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon looked at him intently. +"You are sure," he said. "You are a nervous +subject for a man, and you had not slept, +and you had this man very much on your +mind, and there must have been some snow +<span class="tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span> +<a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>on the window which could produce an illusion. +Be very sure, because this is serious."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James thought again of Clemency's little +white face. "Yes," he said, "I am sure."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You have no doubt at all?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"None. The man had his face staring into +the room. He did not seem to see me, but +looked past me at the bed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He might easily have thought that room, +being on the ground floor and accessible to +night-calls, was mine," said Doctor Gordon, +as if to himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I thought how easily he could have +climbed up one of the piazza posts to her +room," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The Doctor started. "Yes, that is so," he +said. "He might have had two motives. +That is so."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next call was at a patient's who had a +slight attack of grippe. Doctor Gordon left +James there, saying that he would make another +call and be back for him directly. +James noticed how he urged the horses out +of the drive at almost a run. He was back +soon, and James having made up his prescription, +went out and got into the sleigh. +Doctor Gordon looked at him gloomily. "He +is no longer where he has been staying," he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span> +<a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>said, and his face settled into a stern melancholy. +That evening, although the storm continued, +he suggested a visit to Georgie K.'s; +and at supper time he insisted upon Clemency's +occupying another room that night. +"The wind is on your side of the house," he +said, "and I am afraid you will take more +cold." Clemency stared and pouted, then +said, "All right, Uncle Tom!"</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_7" id="toc_7"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span> +<a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER VI</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Even the apple-jack and euchre at Georgie +K.'s were not sufficient to entirely establish +Doctor Gordon in his devil-may-care mood. +Georgie K. kept looking at him with solicitation, +which had something tender about it. +"Don't you feel well, Doc?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Never felt better in my life," returned +Gordon quickly. "To-night I am feeling +particularly good, because I really think I +have evolved an utterly new theory of death +and disease which ought to make me famous, +if I ever get a chance to write a book about +it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K. stared at him inquiringly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know that you will understand, +old man," said Gordon, "but here it is. It +is simple in one way. Nobody will deny that +we come of the earth; well, we are sick and +die of the earth. We grow old and weary +and drop into our graves, because of the +tremendous, though unconscious and involuntary, +wear upon nerves and muscles and +emotion which is required to keep us here at +<span class="tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span> +<a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>all. Gravitation kills us all in the end, just +as surely as if we fell off a precipice. Gravitation +is the destroyer, and gravitation is +earth-force. The same monster which produces +us devours us. That's so. I hope I +shall get a chance to write that book. Clubs +are trumps; pass."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Sure you are well, Doc?" inquired +Georgie K., again scowling anxiously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Never felt better, didn't I just say so? +You are a regular old hen, Georgie K. You +cluck at a fellow like a setting hen at one +chicken."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Still Doctor Gordon's gloomy face, although +he tried to be jocular, did not relax. +Going home late that night, or rather early +next morning, he laid his hand heavily on +James's shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Boy, I am about at the finish!" he +groaned out.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now, see here, Doctor Gordon, can't I +be of some assistance if you were to tell me?" +asked James. He passed his hand under the +older man's arm, and helped him through a +snowdrift as if he had been his father. A +great compassion filled his heart.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Gordon only groaned out a great sigh. +"No," he said. "Secrecy is the one shield I +<span class="tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span> +<a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>have. I don't say weapon, but shield. In +these latter days we try to content ourselves +with shields; and secrecy is the strongest +shield on earth. If I were going to commit +a crime, I should never even intimate the +slightest motive for it to any man living. I +should trust no man living to help me through +with it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt a vague horror steal over him. +He tried to speak lightly to cover it. "I +trust there is no question of crime?" he said, +laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not the slightest," replied Gordon. "I +have no intention to use a weapon, but my +shield I must stick to. Thank the Lord, you +were awake last night, and to-night Clemency +is in another room. By the way, I have +bought a dog."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A dog?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, a bull terrier, well trained, but he +has a voice like a whole pack of hounds. +Clemency likes dogs. I will venture that no +one comes near the house after this without +waking him up."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You will keep him tied though."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, unless I get driven too far," replied +Gordon grimly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does Mrs. Ewing like dogs?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span> +<a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She is as fond of them as Clemency."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When, the next day, the dog arrived James +was assured of the fact that both Clemency +and Mrs. Ewing did like dogs. They seemed +more pleased than he had ever seen them, +and the dog responded readily to their advances. +He was a splendid specimen of his +breed, very large, without a spot on his white +coat, and with beautiful eyes. Doctor Gordon +had a staple fixed in the vestibule, and the dog +was leashed to it at night. "I can't have +my patients driven away," he said with a +laugh.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">That evening Doctor Gordon had a call, +and he took Aaron with him. That left +James alone with Clemency, as Mrs. Ewing +retired almost immediately after Doctor Gordon +left.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After the jingle of the sleigh-bells had +died away Clemency laid down her work +and looked at James. The new dog was +lying at her feet. "Uncle Tom bought this +dog on account of him," she said. As she +spoke, she gave an odd significant gesture +over her shoulder as if the man were there, +and a look of horror came over her face. +Immediately the dog growled, and sprang +up, raced to the door, and let forth a volley +<span class="tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span> +<a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of howls and barks. "He knows," said +Clemency. "Isn't it queer? That dog +knows there is something wrong just by the +way I spoke and looked."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James himself was not quite so sure. He +glanced at the closed shutters. Then he went +himself to the door to be sure that it was +bolted as usual, and through into the study. +Everything was fast, but the dog continued +to race wildly back and forth from door to +windows, barking wildly, with a slender crest +of hair erect on his glossy white back. Emma, +the maid, came in from the kitchen, and met +James and Clemency in the hall. She looked +white, and was trembling. "I know there +was somebody about the house," she said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated. He thought of a possible +patient. Still there had been no ring at the +office door. He considered a moment. Then +he sent Clemency, the maid, and the dog +back into the parlor, and before he opened +the outer door of the office he locked the +other which communicated with the rest of +the house, and put the key in his pocket. +Then he threw open the outer door and called, +"Anybody there?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Utter silence answered him. He looked +into a black wall of night. It was not snowing, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span> +<a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>but the clouds were low and thick, and +no stars were visible. He called again in a +shout, "Hullo there! Who is it?" and obtained +no response. Then he closed the door, +fastened it, and returned to the living-room. +"I guess you were right," he said to Clemency.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I think so," said Clemency. She +spoke to Emma. "Jack acted so because of +something I said to Doctor Elliot," she added. +"He thought something was wrong. He is +very intelligent." The dog was again lying +at her feet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Emma shook her head obstinately. +She was the middle-aged daughter of a New +Jersey farmer, and had lived with the family +ever since they had resided in Alton. She had +a harsh face, although rather good-looking, +"I have been used to dogs all my life," said +she, "and I never knowed a dog to act like +that unless there was somebody about the +house."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I have done all I could," said +James. "I called out the office door, and +nobody answered. It could not have been a +patient."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There was somebody about the house," +repeated Emma. "Well, I must go and mix +up the bread."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span> +<a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When she was gone, Clemency looked palely +at James. "Oh," she said, "do you think it +could have been that man?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," replied James firmly; "it must have +been your gesture. That is a very intelligent +dog, and dogs have imagination. He imagined +something wrong."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I hope it was that," said Clemency faintly. +"It seems to me I should die if I thought that +terrible man were hanging about the house. +It is bad enough never to be able to go out +of doors."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Gordon says I may take you out +driving some evening," said James consolingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency looked at him with a brightening +face. "Did he?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then to James's utter surprise Clemency +broke down, and began to cry. "Oh," she +wailed, "I don't know as I want to go. I +am afraid all the time. If we were out driving, +and he came up to the horse's head, what +could we do?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He would get a cut across the face that +he would remember," James returned fiercely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But he would see me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It would be dark."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span> +<a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He might have a lantern."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You can wear a thick veil."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency sobbed harder than ever. "Oh, +no," she wailed, "I don't want to go so, in +the dark, with a thick veil over my face, +thinking every minute he may come. Oh, +no, I don't want to go."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You poor little soul," said James, and +there was something in his voice which he +himself had never heard before. Clemency +glanced up at him quickly, and he saw as +plainly as if he had been looking in a glass +himself in her blue eyes. Instantly emotions +of which he had dreamed, but never experienced, +leaped up in his heart like flame. He +knew that he loved Clemency. What he had +felt for her mother had been passionless +worship, giving all, and asking nothing. +This was love which asked as well as gave. +"Clemency," he began, and his voice was +hoarse with emotion. She turned her head +away, the tears were still on her cheeks, but +they were very red, and her cheeks were +dimpling involuntarily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well?" she whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Do you care anything about—me?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency nodded, still keeping her face +averted.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span> +<a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That means—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency said nothing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That means you love me," James whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency nodded again. Then she turned +her head slowly, and gave him a narrow blue +glance, and smiled like a shy child.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I was afraid—" she began.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Afraid of what, dear?" James put his +arm about the girl, and the ashe-blonde head +dropped on his shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Afraid you—didn't."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Afraid I didn't care?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency nodded against his breast.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think I must have cared all the time, +only at first, when I saw your mother—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency raised her head immediately and +gave it an indignant toss. "There," said she. +"I knew it. Very well, if you would rather +be my stepfather, you can, only I think you +would be a pretty one, no older, to speak of, +than I am, and I know my mother wouldn't +have you anyway. The idea of your thinking +that my mother would get married again +anyway, and especially to you," Clemency +said witheringly. She sat up straight and +looked at James. "I wish your father were a +widower, then I would marry him the minute +<span class="tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span> +<a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>he asked me," said she, "and see how you +would like it. I guess you would have a step-mother +who would make you walk chalk." +Clemency tossed her head again. Then she +gave a queer little whimsical glance at James, +and both of them burst out laughing, and she +was in his arms again, and he was kissing her. +"There, that is enough," said she presently. +"I once wore out a doll I had kissing her. She +was wax, and it was warm weather, and I +actually did wear that doll out. The color all +came off her cheeks, and she got soft."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are not a doll, darling," said James +fervently, and he would have kissed her +again, but she pushed him away. "No," +said she, "I know the color won't come off +my cheeks, but I might get soft like that doll. +One can never tell. You must stop now. I +want to talk to you. It is all right about my +mother."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It was only because I never saw such a +woman in all my life before," said James. +"I never thought of marrying."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You would have had to take it out in +thinking," said Clemency, "but it is all right. +I think myself that my mother is the most +wonderful woman that ever lived. I think +the old Greek goddesses must have looked +<span class="tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span> +<a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>just like her. I don't wonder you felt so +about her. I don't know as I should have +thought much of you if you hadn't. Why, +everybody falls down and worships her. Of +course I know that I am nothing compared +to her. I should be angry if you really +thought so."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't think so in one way," James +said honestly. "I don't think you are as +beautiful as your mother, but I love you, +Clemency."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, that will do for me," said Clemency. +"No, you need not kiss me again. I +think myself I shall make you a better wife +than a stepdaughter. You need not think +for one minute that I would have minded +you as I do Uncle Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But you will have to when we are married," +said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency blushed and quivered. "Well, +maybe I will," she whispered. "I suppose +I shall be just enough of a fool to stay in the +house, if you order me, the way I do when +Uncle Tom does."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You shall stay in the house for no man +alive when I have you in charge," said James. +"Clemency—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span> +<a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will take you out now, if you say so. +I can protect you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know you can," Clemency said, "but +I guess we had better not. You see Uncle +Tom doesn't know yet, and he will be coming +home, and—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am going to tell him just as soon as +he does," declared James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I wonder if you had better not wait," +Clemency said thoughtfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Wait? Why?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing, only poor Uncle Tom is frightfully +worried about something now. He worries +about that dreadful man, and I am afraid +he worries about mother. I don't know exactly +what he worries about; but I don't want +him worried about anything else."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't see for the life of me why he +should worry about this," said James with a +piqued air. He was, in fact, considering quite +naïvely that he was not a bad match, taking +into consideration his prospects, and Clemency +evidently needed all the protection she +could get.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency understood directly what his tone +implied. "Oh, goodness," said she, "of +course, as far as you are concerned, Uncle +Tom will be pleased. Why shouldn't he? +<span class="tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span> +<a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and so will mother. Here you are young +and handsome, and well educated, and good, +what more could anybody want for a girl, +unless they were on the lookout for a ducal +coronet or something of that sort? It isn't +that, only there is something queer, there +must be something queer, about that man, +and I don't know how much this might complicate +it. I don't know but Uncle Tom might +have more occasion to worry."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't see why," said James mystified, +"but I'll wait a few days if you say so, only +I hate to have anything underhanded, you +know. How about your mother?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Please wait and tell her when you tell +Uncle Tom," pleaded Clemency. All the +time she was completely deceiving the young +man. What she was really afraid of was +that James himself might run into danger +from this mysterious persecutor of hers if +the fact of her betrothal became known. "I +shall not mind staying in the house at all +now," she added. An expression came over +her face which James did not understand, +which no man would have understood. +Clemency was wonderfully skilled at needle-work, +and she had plenty of material in the +house. She was reflecting innocently how +<span class="tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span> +<a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>she could begin at once upon some dainty +little frills for her trousseau. A delight, +purely feminine, filled her fair little face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All the same," said James, "I am going +to take you out before long. You must have +some fresh air."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't mind," said Clemency, then she +broke off suddenly. She ran to the farther +end of the room, sat down, and snatched a +book from the table and opened it in the +middle, "It is Uncle Tom," she remarked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James laughed, crossed the room swiftly, +kissed her, then went into the office to greet +Doctor Gordon. Doctor Gordon stood by the +office fire taking off his overcoat. He looked +gloomier than usual. "Who is in there?" +he asked, pointing to the living-room wall.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Your niece," answered James. He felt +himself color, but the other man did not notice +it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mrs. Ewing has gone to bed?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, went directly after you left."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon's face grew darker. He had +tossed his coat over a chair, and stood staring +absently at the table with its prismatic +lights.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know where he is," he said presently +in a whisper.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span> +<a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You mean?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes," said Doctor Gordon impatiently. +"You know whom I mean. I saw him go +in—well, no matter where."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suspect that he has been hanging about +here," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What makes you think so?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The dog barked and acted queer."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dogs always did hate him," said Doctor +Gordon, with a queer expression. Then he +gave himself a shake. Here he said: "Let's +have something hot and a smoke." He called +to Emma to bring some hot water and sugar +and lemons and glasses. Then he produced +a bottle from a cabinet in the office, and himself +brewed a sort of punch, the like of which +James had never tasted before.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's my own recipe," said Doctor Gordon, +laughing. "Nobody knows what it is, +not even Georgie K. But—" he hesitated a +little, then he added laughing, "I have left +it in my will for Georgie K. I made my will +some little time ago."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt it incumbent upon himself to +say something about Doctor Gordon being +still a young man comparatively, and healthy. +To his sanguine young mind a will seemed +ominous.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span> +<a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I have not reached the allotted +span," Gordon replied, "but healthier men +than I have come to their end sooner than +they expected, and I wanted to make sure of +some things. I wanted especially to make +sure that Clemency—Mrs. Ewing has relatives +in the West, and—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt somewhat bewildered. He could +not quite see what Gordon meant, but he took +another sip of the golden, fragrant compound +before him, and again remarked upon +its excellence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That makes me think," said Gordon, evidently +glad himself to turn the conversation. +"A sip of this will do poor little Clemency +good. You say she is in the parlor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon opened the door and called Clemency, +who came with a little reluctance. The +girl was afraid of her uncle's eyes. She +sidled into the office like a child who had done +something wrong. She took her little glass of +punch, and never looked at James or her uncle. +James, too, did not look at her. He smoked, +and almost turned his back upon her. Doctor +Gordon looked from one to the other, and his +face changed. Clemency slipped out as soon +as she could, saying that she was tired. Then +<span class="tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span> +<a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Gordon turned abruptly upon James. "There +is something between you two, Clemency and +you," he said in a brusque voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James colored and hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Out with it," said Gordon peremptorily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency wished—" began James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Wished you to keep it secret, of course. +Well, she told me herself, poor little soul, the +moment she came into the room."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James sat still. He did not know what to +do. Finally he said in a stammering voice +that he hoped there would be no objection.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No objection certainly on my part or Mrs. +Ewing, if Clemency has taken a fancy to you," +replied Doctor Gordon. "But—" he hesitated +a moment. "It is only fair to tell you +that you yourself may later on entertain +some very reasonable objection," Gordon said +grimly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is impossible," James cried eagerly. +"I have known her only a few weeks, but I +feel as if it were a lifetime. Nothing can +change me. And as for money, if you mean +anything of that kind, I don't care if she +hasn't a cent. I have my profession, and my +father is well-to-do. Then, besides, I have a +little that an aunt, my mother's sister, left +me. I can support Clemency."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span> +<a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is not that," Gordon said. "Clemency +has—at least I think I can secure it to her—a +little fortune of her own, and she will have +something besides. I was not thinking of +money at all."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then there can be nothing," James said +positively. His sense of embarrassment had +passed. He beamed at the older man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There can be something else. There is +something else," Gordon said gloomily. "I +don't know but I ought to tell you, but, the +truth is, you know my theory with regard to +secrecy. I don't doubt but you can hold your +tongue, yet the whole affair is so dangerous, +that I dare not, I cannot, tell you yet. I can +only say this, that there does exist some obstacle +to your marriage with my niece, and +your engagement must be regarded by myself +in a tentative light. If the time ever comes +when you know all, and wish to withdraw, +you can do so in my opinion with perfect +honor. In the meantime you had better say +nothing to any one outside. You had better +not even tell Mrs. Ewing. I hope Clemency +herself will not. Perhaps when she has had +a few hours in which to collect herself, her +face will not be quite so tell-tale."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing whatever can change me," said +James, with almost anger.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span> +<a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon shook his head. "I begin to think +I may have done you a wrong having you +come here at all," he said. "I suppose I +ought to have thought of the possibility, but +I have had so much on my mind."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You have done me the greatest good I +ever had done me in my whole life," James +said fervently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon rose and shook the young man's +hand. "As far as Clemency and I and Mrs. +Ewing are concerned," he said, "nothing +could have been better. Well, we will hope for +the best, my boy." He clapped James on the +shoulder and smiled, and James went to his +room feeling dizzy with happiness and mystery, +and a trifle so with the doctor's punch.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_8" id="toc_8"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span> +<a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER VII</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning James was awakened by +loud voices coming from the vicinity of the +stable. He had not slept very well, and now +at dawn felt drowsy, but the voices would not +let him sleep. He rose, dressed, and went out +in the stable-yard. There he found Doctor +Gordon, Aaron, and a strange man, small, and +red-haired, and thin-faced, with shifty eyes, +holding by the bridle a fine black horse.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't want to buy a horse with a bridle +on," Doctor Gordon was saying as James appeared.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Do you think I'm the man to bear insults?" +inquired the little red-haired man +with fierceness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Insult nothing. It is business," said Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's so," Aaron said, chewing and eyeing +the black horse and the red-haired man +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," said the little red-haired man with +an air at once of injured innocence and ferocity, +"if you want to know why I object to +<span class="tei-pb" id="page138">[pg 138]</span> +<a name="Pg138" id="Pg138" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>selling this horse without a bridle, come here, +and I'll show you." Gordon and Aaron and +James approached. The red-haired man +slipped the bridle, and underneath it appeared +a small sore. "There, that's the reason, and +I'll tell you the truth," said the man defiantly. +"Here I am trying to sell this darned critter; +paid a cool hundred for him, and everybody +says jest as you do, won't buy him with the +bridle on. Then I takes off the bridle, and +they sees this little bile, and there's an end to +it. I suppose it's the same with you. Well, +good day, gentlemen. You're losin' a darned +good trade, but it ain't my fault. Here's an +animal I paid a cool hundred for, and I'm +offering him for ninety. I'm ten dollars out, +besides my time."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Let me see that sore again," said Gordon. +He slipped the bridle and examined the +place carefully. Then he looked hard at the +horse, which stood with great docility, although +he held his head proudly. He was a +fine beast, glossy black in color, and had a +magnificent tail.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Make it eighty-five," said Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Couldn't think of it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know as I want the horse anyway," +said Gordon.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span> +<a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'll call it eighty-seven and a half," said +the little red-haired man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon stood still for a moment. Then he +pulled out his wallet. "Eighty-six and call +it square," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All right," said the red-haired man. +"It's a-givin' of him away, but I'm so +darned tired of trampin' the country with +him, that I'll call it eighty-six, and it's the +biggest bargain you ever got in your life in +the way of horse flesh. I wouldn't let him +go at that figure, but my wife's sick, and I +want to get home."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The red-haired man carefully counted over +the roll of bank-notes which Doctor Gordon +gave him, although it seemed to James that +he used some haste. He also thought that he +was evidently anxious to be gone. He refused +Gordon's offer of breakfast, saying +that he had already had some at the hotel. +Then he was gone, walking with uncommon +speed for such a small man. Aaron, James, +and Doctor Gordon stood contemplating the +new purchase. James patted him. "He +looks like a fine animal," he remarked. +Aaron shifted his quid, and said with emphasis, +"Want me to hitch up and bring that +little red-haired cuss back?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page140">[pg 140]</span> +<a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, what for?" asked Doctor Gordon. +"I guess I have made a good trade, Aaron."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You mark my words, there's somethin' +out," said Aaron dogmatically.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I guess you're wrong this time," said +Doctor Gordon, laughing. "Come, Elliot, it +is time for breakfast, and we have to drive +to Wardville afterward for that fever case."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James followed Gordon into the dining-room. +Clemency said good morning almost +rudely, then she hid her face behind the coffee-urn. +Gordon glanced at her and smiled +tenderly, but the girl did not see it. James +never looked her way at all. She turned the +coffee with apparent concentration. She did +not dare look at either of the two men. She +had never felt so disturbedly happy and so +shy. She had not slept all night, she was so +agitated with happiness, but this morning +she showed no traces of sleeplessness. There +was an unwonted color on her little fair face, +and her blue eyes were like jewels under her +drooping lids.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">They were nearly through breakfast when +the door which led into the kitchen was abruptly +thrown open, and Aaron stood there. +In his hand he flourished dramatically a great +streaming mass of black. "Told you so," he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page141">[pg 141]</span> +<a name="Pg141" id="Pg141" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>observed with a certain triumph. The others +stared at him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What on earth is that?" asked Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That new horse's tail; it comes off," replied +Aaron with brevity. Then he chewed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Comes off?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron nodded, still chewing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon rose from the table saying something +under his breath.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That ain't all," said Aaron, still with an +air of sly triumph.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What else, for Heaven's sake?" cried +Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, he cribs," replied Aaron laconically. +Then he chewed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That was why he didn't want to take the +bridle off?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon stood staring for a second, then he +burst into a peal of laughter. "Bless me if +I ever got so regularly done," said he. "Say, +Aaron, that was a smart chap. He has talent, +he has."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Aren't you going to try to find him?" +asked James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, we'll keep a lookout on the way to +Wardville," said Gordon; "and, Aaron, you +may as well put the chestnut in the old buggy +<span class="tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span> +<a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and drive Stanbridge way, and see if you +can get sight of him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He's had a half-hour's start," said Aaron. +"You might track a fox, but you can't him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I guess you are about right," said Gordon, +"but we'll do all we can. However, I +think I'll try to get even with Sam Tucker. +It's a good chance. I'll drive the new horse +to Wardville. Aaron, you just tie that tail +on again, and fasten it up so as to keep it out +of the mud."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron grinned. "Goin' to get even for +that white horse?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'm going to try it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon was all interest. James regarded +him as he had done so many times before with +wonder. That such a man should have such +powers of assimilation astounded him. He +was actually as amused and interested in +being done, as he called it, and in trying in his +turn to wipe off some old score, as any countryman. +He seemed, to the young man, to +have little burrows like some desperate animal, +into which he could dive, and be completely +away from his enemies, and even from +himself, when he chose.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He hurriedly drank the remainder of his +coffee, and was in his office getting his medicine-case +<span class="tei-pb" id="page143">[pg 143]</span> +<a name="Pg143" id="Pg143" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ready. James lingered, in the hopes +of getting a word and a kiss from Clemency. +But the child, the moment her uncle went +out, fled. It was odd. She wanted to stay +and have a minute with James alone more +than she had ever wanted anything, but it +was for just that very reason that she ran +away.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt hurt. At that time, the mind +of a girl, and its shy workings, were entirely +beyond his comprehension. He saw no +earthly reason why Clemency should have +avoided him. He followed Gordon with +rather a downcast face into the office, and +begun assisting him with his medicines. +Gordon himself was too full of interest in +the horse trade to remark anything. At +times he chuckled to himself. Now and then +he would burst out anew in a great peal of +laughter. "Hang it all! I don't like to be +done any better than any other man, but that +little red-haired scamp was clever and no +mistake," he said, "showing me that little +sore. I believe he had sandpapered the poor +beast on purpose. He took me in as neatly +as I ever saw anything done in my life. +Well, Elliot, you wait and see me get even +with Sam Tucker. I have been waiting my +<span class="tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span> +<a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>chance. About two years ago he worked me, +and not half as cleverly as this either. He +made me feel that I was a fool. The red-haired +one needed the devil himself to get +round him, and see through his little game. +Sam Tucker sold me, or rather traded with +me a veritable fiend of a horse for an old +mare. The mare was old, but she had a lot +of go in her, and was sound, and the other, +well, Sam had bought him for a song, because +nobody would drive him, and he had killed +two men. He was a white horse with as +wicked an eye as you ever saw, and ears always +cocked for mischief, like the arch fiend's +horns. Well, Sam, he made some kind of a +dye, and he actually dyed that animal a beautiful +chestnut, and traded him for my old mare. +I even paid a little to boot. Well, next morning +I sent Aaron down to the store in a soaking +rain, and the horse bolted at a white rock +beside the road, and the buggy was knocked +into kindling wood. Aaron wasn't hurt. +He always comes out right side up. But +when he came leading that snorting, dancing +beast home, the chestnut dye was pretty well +off, and I knew him in a minute. Well, he +was shot, and I was my old mare and some +money out. I wasn't going to have men's +<span class="tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span> +<a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>lives on my conscience. But this is another +matter. Now I've got my chance to get even, +and I'm going to get my old mare back."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Presently the two men were out on the road +driving the black horse. He went well enough, +and seemed afraid of nothing. "There's not +much the matter with this animal except the +tail and the cribbing, I guess," said the doctor. +"As for the tail, that is simply a question +of ornament and taste. The cribbing is +more serious, of course, but I guess Sam +Tucker won't be in any danger of his life." +They had not gone far before the doctor drew +up before a farmhouse on the left. A man +with a serious face, thin and wiry, was coming +around the house with a wheelbarrowful +of potatoes. "Hullo, Sam!" called Doctor +Gordon. The man left his barrow and came +alongside. James could see that he had a +keen eye upon the horse. "Fine morning," +said the doctor.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam Tucker gave a grunt by way of assent. +He was niggardly with speech.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Have you got any more of those Baldwin +apples to sell?" asked Doctor Gordon, to +James's intense surprise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam Tucker looked reflectively at the doctor +for a full minute, then gave utterance to +a monosyllable. "Bar'l."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span> +<a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So you've got a barrel to sell," said +Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I'll send my man over for them. +They are mighty fine apples, and Emma said +yesterday that we were about out. I suppose +they are the same price."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Seems as if you might take off a little, +it is so late, and you might have them spoiling +on your hands," said Gordon, and James +began to wonder if they had come to drive a +sharp bargain on apples instead of horses.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam shook his head emphatically. "Same," +he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I suppose I've got to pay it if you +ask it," said Gordon. "I can't buy any such +apples elsewhere. You've got it your way. +I'll send the money over by Aaron." Doctor +Gordon gathered up the reins, but Sam Tucker +seemed to experience a sudden convulsion all +over his lank body. "Horse," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon drove on a yard, but Sam, +running alongside, he stopped. "Yes," he +said placidly, "horse. What do you think of +him?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Sam said nothing. He looked at the horse.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He's the biggest bargain I ever got," said +<span class="tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span> +<a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Gordon. "I am going to hang on to him. +Once in a while there is an honest deal in +horses. I am not bringing up anything, Sam. +I believe in letting bygones be bygones, although +you did risk my life and my man's. +But this time I am all right." Gordon +gathered up the reins again, and again +Sam Tucker stopped him. James barely +saw the man's mouth move. He could not +hear that he said anything, but a peculiar +glow of eager greed lit up his long face, and +Gordon seemed to understand him perfectly. +"You can take your oath not," he said +brusquely. "What do you take me for? +You have stuck me once, and now you think +you are going to do it again. You can bet +your life you are not." Again he gathered +up the reins. Sam Tucker's face gleamed like +a coal. James saw for the first time in its +entirety the trading instinct rampant. Again +Gordon seemed to understand what had apparently +not been spoken. "No, Sam +Tucker," he declared almost brutally, "I +will not trade back for that old mare you +cheated me out of, not if you were to give +me your whole farm to boot. I know that +old mare. I wasn't the only one that got +stuck. She's got the heaves. I know her. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span> +<a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>No, sir, you don't do me again. I've got a +good horse this time, and I mean to hang on +to him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Again Gordon attempted to drive on, and +once more Sam stopped him. James felt at +last fairly dizzy, when he heard the farmer +almost beg Gordon to trade horses, offer him +twenty-five dollars to boot, and the apples. +He sat in the buggy watching while the mare +was led out of the stable, the black horse was +taken out of the traces, and the bridle was +left on without a remonstrance on Sam's +part, and exchanged for a much newer one, +while twenty-five dollars in dirty bank-notes +were carefully counted out by Sam, and then +Gordon jumped into the buggy and drove +off. He was quivering with suppressed +mirth. "The biter is bitten this time," he +said as soon as he was out of hearing of Sam +Tucker. Then he made an exclamation of +dismay.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What's the matter?" asked James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I have left my whip. I must risk +it and go back. I paid a lot for that whip."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon turned and drove back at a sharp +trot. When they came alongside the farm +fence James saw the whip lying on the +ground, and jumped out to get it. He was +<span class="tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span> +<a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>back in the buggy, and they were just proceeding +on their way, when there was a shout, +and Sam Tucker came rushing around the +house, and held the horse's tail as Aaron +had done in the morning. "Comes off," he +gasped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course," said the doctor coolly. "I +didn't say it didn't. It's for convenience in +muddy weather."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Cribs," gasped Sam Tucker.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, a little," said Gordon. "Keep him +away from hitching-posts. You didn't say +you wanted a horse to hitch. He never cribs +when he's driven. Good-day, Sam."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon and James were off again. Gordon +was doubled up with merriment, in which +James joined. "I'm glad to get behind old +Fanny once more," said Gordon. "She's +worth two of that other animal! Clemency +will be glad to see her again. She felt badly +when I traded her. In fact, I wouldn't have +done it if I had known how much the child +cared for the mare. She used to drive her a +lot and pet her. I think it will be perfectly +safe for you to take Clemency out driving +when there isn't a moon. Fanny is pretty +fast when she is touched with the whip, and, +though she's gentle, she hasn't much use for +<span class="tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span> +<a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>strangers. I don't think she would stand a +stranger at her head. I think you may go +out to-night, if you like. Poor Clemency +needs the air. We'll use the team this afternoon, +and Fanny will be fresh by evening."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James colored. He remembered how Clemency +had avoided him that morning. "Perchance +she won't care to go," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course, she will," said Gordon. "She +will go, and I want her to, but you must always +bear in mind what I told you last night, +and—" he hesitated. "Don't do your utmost +to make the poor little thing think you +are the moon and sun and stars in case you +should change your mind," he finished.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I shall never change my mind," James +said hotly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You will be justified if you do," Gordon +said gravely. "Perhaps you will not. But +you are old enough, and ought to have self-command +enough to keep your head, and +shield the poor child against possible contingencies. +You have not known each other very +long. It is not possible that she would die +of it now, nor you. If you can only keep +your head, and meander along the path of +love instead of plunging into bottomless +depths, it will be better for both of you. I +<span class="tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span> +<a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>know what I am talking about. I am old +enough to be your father. Go slow, for +God's sake, if you care about the girl."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She is the whole world to me," said +James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then, go slow! It will be better for her +if you are not the whole world to her, until +you know what a day may bring forth."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't care what a day brings forth."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are tempting the gods?" said Gordon. +"Elliot, you don't know what you are +talking about. I am not treating you fairly +not to tell you the whole story, but I don't +see my way clear. You must bear in mind +what I say. I did not think of any such +complication when you came here. I was a +fool not to. I know what young people are, +and Clemency is a darling, and you have +your good points. The amount of it is, if I +don't get stuck by Sam Tucker in a horse +trade, Fate sticks me in something bigger. I +don't see the inevitable, I suppose, because +I am so close to it that it is like facing the +wall of a precipice all the time. We have to +stop here. The woman's daughter is coming +down with a fever, which will not kill her, +and she will have it to brag of all her life. +She will date all earthly events from this +fever. Whoa, Fanny!"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span> +<a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">That evening James and Clemency went +for a drive. It was a clear night, but dark, +save for the stars. Clemency had a thick veil +over her face, which seemed entirely unnecessary. +Directly as they started, she made a +little involuntary nestling motion toward the +young man at her side. It was as innocent +as the nestling of a baby. James put his arm +around her. He thought with indignation of +Doctor Gordon's warning, as if anything in +the world could cause him to change his mind +about this dear child who loved him. "You +darling!" he whispered. "So you have not +thought better of it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you mean?" Clemency whispered +back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, dear, you have fairly run away +from me all day long."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I was afraid," Clemency whispered, then +she put her head against his shoulder, and +laughed a delicious little laugh. "I never +was in love before, and I don't know how to +act," said she.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Put up your veil," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I want a kiss."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency put up her veil obediently and +kissed him like a child. Then there was a +<span class="tei-pb" id="page153">[pg 153]</span> +<a name="Pg153" id="Pg153" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>sudden flash of light from a lantern, and a +dark form was at the mare's head. But she +was true to her master's opinion of her. She +gave a savage duck at the man and started +violently, so that James was forced to release +Clemency and devote his entire attention +to driving. Clemency shrank close to +him, shivering like one in a chill. "He saw +me," she gasped. "It was that same man, and +this time he saw me."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_9" id="toc_9"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span> +<a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER VIII</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James and Clemency had hardly started +upon their drive before there was a ring at +the office door, and Doctor Gordon, who was +alone there, answered it. He was confronted +by a man who lived half-way between Alton +and the next village on the north. He had +walked some three miles to get some medicine +for his wife, who was suffering from +rheumatism. He was pathetically insistent +upon the fact that his wife did not require a +call from the doctor, only some medicine. +"Now, see here, Joe," said Gordon, "if I +really thought your wife needed a call, I +would go, and it should not cost you a cent +more than the medicine, but I am dog tired, +and not feeling any too well myself, and if +her symptoms are just as you say, I think I +can send her something which will fix her up +all right."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She is just the way she was last year," +said the man. He did not look unlike Gordon, +although he was poorly clad, and was a +genuine son of the New Jersey soil. His +poor clothes, even his skin, had a clayey hue, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page155">[pg 155]</span> +<a name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>as if he had been really cast from the mother +earth. It was frozen outside, but a reddish +crust from the last thaw was on his hulking +boots. He spoke with a drawl, which was +nasal, and yet had something sweet in it. +"I would have came this afternoon, but I +was afraid you might have went out," he remarked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I was out," replied Gordon, who was +filling out a prescription. The man stooped +and patted the bull terrier, which had not +evinced the slightest emotion at his entrance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mighty fine dog," said the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, he is a pretty good sort," replied Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Shouldn't like to meet him if I had came +up to your house an' no one round, and he +had took a dislike to me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I should not myself," said Gordon. "But +he does not dislike you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dogs know me pooty well," said the man. +"They ain't no particler likin' for me. Don't +want to run and jump an' wag, but they +know I mean well, and they mostly let me +alone."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I guess that's so," said Gordon. +"Jack would have barked if he had not +known you were all right, Joe."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page156">[pg 156]</span> +<a name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Queer how much they know," said the +man reflectively, and a dazed look overspread +his dingy face with its cloud of beard. If +once he became launched upon a current of +reflection, he lost his mental bearings instantly +and drifted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, they do know," said Gordon. +"Now listen, Joe! You see this bottle. You +give your wife a spoonful of the medicine in a +glass of water every three hours. Mind, you +make it a whole tumbler full of water."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, sir," replied the man.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course, you need not wake her up if +she gets to sleep," said the doctor, "but every +three hours when she is awake."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, sir." The man began fumbling in +his pocket, but Gordon stopped him. "No," +he said, "put up your pocketbook, Joe. I +don't want any money. I get this medicine +at wholesale, and it don't cost much."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I come prepared to pay," said the man. +He straightened his shoulders and flushed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, well," said Doctor Gordon, "wait. +If you need more medicine, or it seems necessary +that I should drive over to see your wife, +you can do a little work on my garden in the +spring, or you can let me have a bushel of +your new potatoes when they are grown next +<span class="tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span> +<a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>summer, or some apples, and we'll call it +square. Wait; I don't want any money for +that bottle of medicine to-night anyhow. Did +you walk over, Joe?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Joe said that he had walked over. "Aaron +might just as well drive you home as not," +said Gordon. "The sooner your wife has +that medicine the better. How is the baby +getting along?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"First-rate. I'd just as soon walk, doctor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For answer Gordon opened the door and +called Aaron, and told him to hitch up and +take the man home.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Elliot has gone with the bay," +said Aaron. "The teams are about played +out, and there's nothin' except the gray."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Take her then."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She looked when I fed her jest now as if +she was half a mind to balk at takin' her +feed," Aaron remarked doubtfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nonsense! Give her a loose rein, and +she'll be all right."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Aaron went out grumbling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon offered the man a cigar, which he +accepted as if it had been a diamond. "I'll +save it up for next Sunday, when I've got a +little time to sense it," he said. "I know +what your cigars be."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page158">[pg 158]</span> +<a name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon forced another upon him, and the +man looked as pleased as a child.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Presently a shout was heard, and Gordon +opened the office door.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Here's Aaron with the buggy," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He stood in the doorway watching, but the +gray, instead of balking, went out of the +yard with an angry plunge. Gordon shook +his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Confound him, he's pulling too hard on +the lines," he muttered. Then he closed and +locked the office door, and went into the living-room +to find it deserted. Gordon called +up the stairs. "Have you gone to bed, +Clara?" His voice was at once tenderly +solicitous and angry.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Ewing answered him from above, and +in her tone was something propitiating. "Yes, +Tom, dear," she called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon hesitated a moment. His face took +on its expression of utmost misery. "Is—the +pain very bad?" he called then, and +called as if he were in actual fear.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, dear," the woman's patient, beseeching +voice answered, "not very bad."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not very?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, only I felt a little twinge, and thought +I had better go to bed. I am quite comfortable +<span class="tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span> +<a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>now. I think I shall go to sleep. I am +sorry to leave you alone all the evening, Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's right," called Gordon. His voice +rang harsh, in spite of his effort to control +it. He threw his arm over his eyes, and fairly +groped his way back to his office, stifling his +sobs. When he was in his office he flung +himself into a chair, and bent his head over +his hands on the table, and his whole frame +shook. "Oh, my God!" he muttered. "Oh, +my God!" He did not weep, but he gasped +like a child whom his mother has commanded +not to weep. Terrible emotion fairly convulsed +him. He struggled with it as with a +visible foe. At last he sat up and filled his +pipe. The dog had crept close to him, and +was nestling against him and whimpering. +Gordon patted his head. The dog licked his +hand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The simple, ignorant sympathy of this poor +speechless thing nearly unnerved the man +again, but he continued to smoke. He looked +at the dog, whose honest brown eyes were +fixed upon him with an almost uncanny +understanding, and reflected how the woman +upstairs, who was passing out of his life, had +become in a few days so associated with the +animal, that after she was gone he could +<span class="tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span> +<a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>never see him without a pang. He looked +about the office, with whose belongings she +was less associated than with anything in the +house, and it seemed to him that everything +even there would have for him, after she had +passed, a terrible sting of reminiscence. It +seemed to him, as he looked about, as if she +were already gone. He was, in fact, suffering +as keenly in anticipation as he would in reality. +The horror, the worst horror of life, of +being left alive with the dead and the associations +of the dead was already upon him. +Some people are comforted by such associations, +others they rend. Gordon was one +whom they would rend, whom they did rend. +He made up his mind, as he sat there, that +he would have to go away from Alton, and +enter new scenes for the healing of his spirit, +and yet he knew that he should not go: that +at the last his courage would assert itself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He sat smoking, the dog's head on his +knee. There was not a sound to be heard in +the house. Emma, the maid, had gone away +to visit a sick sister. She might not be back +that night. So there was absolute silence, +even in the kitchen. Suddenly the dog lifted +his head and listened to something which +Gordon could not himself hear. He watched +<span class="tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span> +<a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the dog curiously. The dog gave a low growl +of fear and rage, and made for the office door. +He began scratching at the threshold, and +emitted a perfect volley of barks. It did not +sound like one dog, but a whole pack. Gordon, +with an impulse which he could not +understand, quickly put out the prism-fringed +lamp which hung over his table. Then he +sprang to the dog, and had the dog by the +collar. "Be still, Jack," he said in a low +voice, and the dog obeyed instantly, although +he was quivering under his hand. Gordon +could feel the muscles run like angry serpents +under the smooth white hair, he felt +the crest of rage along his back. But the +animal was so well trained that he barked +no more. He only growled very softly, as +if to himself, and quivered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon ordered him to charge in a whisper, +and the dog stretched himself at his +feet, although it was like the crouch of a live +wire. Then Gordon rose and went softly to +a window beside the door. The office had +very heavy red curtains. It was impossible, +since they were closely drawn, that a ray of +light from within should have been visible +outside. Gordon had reasoned it out quickly +when he extinguished the lamp. Whoever +<span class="tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span> +<a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was without would have had no possible +means of knowing that anything except the +dog was in the office, but the light once out, +Gordon could peep around the curtain and +ascertain, without being himself seen, what +or who was about. He had a premonition +of what he should see, and he saw it. The +stable door was almost directly opposite that +of the office. Between the two doors there +was a driveway. On this driveway the only +pale thing to be seen in the darkness was the +tall, black figure of a man standing perfectly +still, as if watching. His attitude was unmistakable. +The long lines of him, upreared +from the pale streak of the driveway, were +as plainly to be read as a sign-post. They +signified watchfulness. His back was toward +the office. He stood face toward the curve +of the drive toward the road, where any one +entering would first be seen. Gordon, peeping +around his curtain, knew the dark figure +as he would have known his own shadow. +In one sense it had been for years his shadow, +and that added to the horror of it. The man +behind the curtain watched, the man in the +drive watched; and the dog, crouched at the +threshold of the door, watched with what +sublimated sense God alone knew, which enabled +<span class="tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span> +<a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>him to know as much as his master, +and now and then came the low growl. Gordon +began to formulate a theory in his mind. +He remembered suddenly the man whom +Aaron had driven home. He realized that +the watching man might easily have mistaken +him for Gordon himself, going away +with his man to make a call upon some patient. +He suspected, with an intensity which +became a certainty, that the man knew that +Clemency and Elliot were out and would +presently return, and that it was for them he +was watching. All the time he thought of the +sick woman upstairs, and was glad that her +room faced on the other side of the house. +He was in agony lest she should be disturbed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon was usually a man of resources, +but now he did not know what to do. +The dark figure on the park-drive made now +and then a precautionary motion of his right +arm as he watched, which was significant. +Gordon knew that he was holding a revolver +in readiness. In the event of Aaron returning +alone he would probably be puzzled, and +Gordon thought that he might slip away. In +the event of James and Clemency returning +first, Gordon thought that he knew conclusively +what he purposed—a bullet for James, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span> +<a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and then away with the girl, unless he was +hindered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon let the curtain slip back into place, +and with a warning gesture to the dog, who +was ready for action, he tiptoed across the +room to the table, in a drawer of which he +kept his own revolver. He opened the drawer +softly, and rummaged with careful hands. +No revolver was there. He made sure. He +even opened other drawers and rummaged, +but the weapon was certainly missing. He +stood undecided for a moment. Then he went +softly out of the room, bidding in a whisper +the dog to follow. He crept upstairs and +paused at a closed chamber door. Then he +opened it very carefully. Mrs. Ewing at +once spoke. "Is that you, dear?" she said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I wanted to tell you not to be frightened, +dear, if you should hear a shot or the +dog bark."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was a rustling in the dark room. +Mrs. Ewing was evidently sitting up in bed. +"Oh, Tom, what is it?" she whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon forced a laugh. "Nothing at all," +he replied, "except there's a fox or something +out in the yard, and Jack is wild. I +may get a shot at him. Do you know where +my revolver is?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page165">[pg 165]</span> +<a name="Pg165" id="Pg165" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, where you always keep it, dear, in +the table drawer in the office."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't seem to see it. I guess I will take +your little pistol."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, Tom, I am sorry, but I know that +won't go off. Clemency tried it the other day. +You remember that time Emma dropped it. +I think something or other got bent. You +know it was a delicate little thing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, well," said Gordon carelessly, "I +dare say I can find my revolver."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't see who could have taken it away." +said Mrs. Ewing. "I am sorry about my pistol, +because you gave it to me too, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'll get another for you," said Gordon, +"Those little dainty, lady-like, pearl-mounted +weapons don't stand much."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am feeling very comfortable, dear," +Mrs. Ewing said in her anxious, sweet voice. +"You will be careful, won't you, with your +revolver, with that dog jumping about?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, dear. I dare say I shall not use the +revolver anyway, but don't be frightened if +you should hear a little commotion."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Go to sleep."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I think I can. I do feel rather +sleepy."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span> +<a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon closed the door carefully and retraced +his steps to the office, the dog at his +heels. He slipped the curtain again and +looked out. The man still stood watching in +the driveway. Gordon had never been at +such a loss as to his best course of action. +He was absolutely courageous, but here he +was unarmed, and he could have no reasonable +doubt that if he should go out, he would +be immediately shot. In such a case, what +of the woman upstairs? And, moreover, +what of James and Clemency? He thought +of any available weapon, but there was nothing +except his own stick. That was stout, it +was true, but could he be quick enough with +it? His mad impulse to rush out unarmed +except with that paltry thing could hardly +be restrained, but he had to think of other +lives beside his own.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He began to think that the only solution of +the matter was the return of Aaron alone. +The watching man would immediately realize +that he had made some mistake, that he, Gordon, +was in the house, or had been left at the +home of a patient. He could have no possible +reason for molesting the man. He +would probably slip aside into a shadow, +then make his way back to the road. In +<span class="tei-pb" id="page167">[pg 167]</span> +<a name="Pg167" id="Pg167" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>such a case Gordon determined that he and +Aaron would follow him to make sure that +no harm came to James and Clemency. So +Gordon stood motionless waiting, in absolute +silence, except for the frequently recurring +mutter of fear and rage of the dog. +As time went on he became more and more +uneasy. It seemed to him finally that Aaron +should have been back long before. He +moved stealthily across the room, and consulted +his watch by the low light of the +hearth fire. Aaron had been gone an hour. +He should have returned, for the mare was +a good roadster when she did not balk. Gordon +shook his head. He began to be almost +sure that the mare had balked. He returned +to the window. His every nerve was on the +alert. The moment that James and Clemency +should drive into the yard, he made +ready to spring, but the horrible fear lest it +should be entirely unavailing haunted him. +If only Aaron would come. Then the man +would slip into cover of the shadows, and +steal out into the road, and Gordon would +jump into the buggy, and he and Aaron would +follow him. He knew the man well enough +to be sure that he would never venture an +attack upon James and Clemency with witnesses. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span> +<a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>If only Aaron would come! Gordon +became surer that the mare had balked. He +vowed within himself that she should be shot +the next day if she had. Every moment he +thought he heard the sound of wheels and +horse's hoofs. His nervous tension became +something terrible. Once he thought of stealing +through the house, and out by the front +door, and walking to meet James and Clemency +so as to warn them. But that would +leave the helpless woman upstairs alone. He +dared not do that.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He thought then of going to the front of +the house, and watching there, and endeavoring +to intercept James and Clemency before +they turned into the driveway. But +he felt that he could not for one second relax +his watch upon the watching man, and +he had no guarantee whatever that, at the +first sound of wheels, the man himself would +not make for the front of the house. Then +he thought, as always, of not disturbing the +sick woman whose room faced the road. It +seemed to him that his only course was to +remain where he was and wait for the return +of Aaron before James and Clemency. +He knew now that the horse must have balked. +His only hope was that James and Clemency, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span> +<a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>since it was such a fine night, and time +is so short for lovers, might take such a long +drive that even the balky mare might relent. +Always he heard at intervals the trot of a +horse, which only existed in his imagination. +He began to wonder if he should know when +Aaron, or Clemency and James, actually did +drive into the yard, if he should be quick +enough. Suddenly he thought of the dog: +that he would follow him, and of what might +happen. The dog's chain-leash was on the +table. He stole across, got it, fastened it to +the animal's collar, and made the end secure +to a staple which he had had fixed in +the wall for that purpose. As yet no intention +of injury to the man except in self-defense +was in his mind. If actually attacked, +he must defend himself, of course, but he +wished more than anything to drive the intruder +away with no collision. That was +what he hoped for. The time went on, and +the strain upon the doctor's nerves was +nearly driving him mad. Sometimes the +mare balked for hours. He began to hope +that Aaron would leave her, and return +home on foot. That would settle the matter. +But he remembered a strange trait of obstinacy +in Aaron. He remembered how he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span> +<a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>had once actually sat all night in the buggy +while the mare balked. The man balked as +well as the horse. "The damned fool," he +muttered to himself in an agony. The dog +growled in response. Then it was that first +the thought came to Gordon of what might +be done to save them all. He stood aghast +with the horror of it. He was essentially a +man of peace himself, unless driven to the +wall. He was a good fighter at bay, but there +was in his heart, along with strength, utter +good-will and gentleness toward all his kind. +He only wished to go his way in peace, and +for those whom he loved to go in peace, but +that had been denied him. He began considering +the nature of the man whose dark figure +remained motionless on the driveway. +He knew him from the first. It sounded sensational, +his recapitulation of his knowledge, +but it was entirely true. It was that awful +truth, which is past human belief, which no +man dares put into fiction. That man out +there had been from his birth a distinct power +for evil upon the face of the earth. He had +menaced all creation, so far as one personality +may menace it. He was a force of ill, a +moral and spiritual monster, and the more +dangerous, because of a subtlety and resource +<span class="tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span> +<a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>which had kept him immune from the +law. He outstripped the law, whose blood-hounds +had no scent keen enough for him. +He had broken the law, but always in such +a way that there was not, and never could be, +any proof. There had not been even suspicion. +There had been knowledge on Gordon's +part, and Mrs. Swing's, but knowledge +without proof is more helpless than suspicion +with it. The man was unassailable, free +to go his way, working evil.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Again Gordon thought he heard the nearing +trot of a horse, and again the dog growled. +Gordon was not quite sure that time that a +horse had not passed the house. He told himself +in despair that he could not be sure of +knowing when James and Clemency came, +and again the awful thought seized him, and +again he reflected upon the man outside. +Suppose, instead of wearing the semblance +of humanity, he had worn the semblance of a +beast, then his course would have been clear +enough. Suppose it were a hungry wolf +watching out there, instead of a man, and +this man was worse than any wolf. He was +like the weir-wolf of the old Scandinavian +legend. He had all the cowardly cruelty of +a wolf, he was a means of evil, but he had +the trained brain of a man.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span> +<a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon thought he heard footsteps, and +the man made a very slight motion. Gordon +thought joyfully that Aaron had left the +balky mare, and had returned, but it was +not so. He had heard nothing except the +pulsations of the blood in his own overwrought +brain.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He wondered if he were really going mad, +although all the time his mind was steadily +at work upon the awful problem which had +been forced upon it. Should any power for +evil be allowed to exist upon the earth if mortal +man had strength to stamp it out? Suppose +that was a poisonous snake out there, +and not a man. What was out there was +worse than any snake. Gordon reasoned as +the first man in Eden may have reasoned; +and he did not know whether his reasoning +were right or wrong. Meantime, the danger +increased every moment. Of one thing he +was perfectly sure: he had no personal motive +for what he might or might not do. He +had reached that pass when he was himself, +as far as he himself was concerned, beyond +hate of that man outside. It was a principle +for which he argued. Should a monster, +something abnormal in strength and subtlety +and wickedness, something which menaced +<span class="tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span> +<a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>all the good in the world, be allowed to exist? +Gordon argued that it should not. He +was driven to it by years of fruitless struggling +against this monstrous creation in the +shape of man. He had seen such suffering +because of him; his whole life had been so +turned and twisted this way and that way +because of him, that he himself had in the +end become abnormal, and mentally askew, +with the system of things. He was conscious +of it himself. He had been naturally a good, +simple, broad-visioned man, full of charity, +with almost no subtlety. He had been forced +to lead a life which strained and diverted all +these good traits. Where he would have been +open, he had been secret. Where he would +have had no suspicion of any one, his first +sight now seemed to be for ulterior motives. +He weighed and measured where he naturally +would have scattered broadcast. He +had been obliged to compress his broad vision +into a narrow window of detection. He was +not the man he had been. Where he had gazed +out of wide doors and windows at life, he +now gazed through keyholes, and despised +himself for so doing. In order to evade the +trouble which had fallen to his lot, he took +refuge in another personality. Thomas Gordon +<span class="tei-pb" id="page174">[pg 174]</span> +<a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was a man whom a happy and untroubled +life would have kept from all +worldly blemish. Now the gold was tarnished, +and he himself always saw the tarnish, +as one sees a blur before the eye. +Twenty years before, if any one had told +him that he would at any period of his life +become capable of standing and arguing with +himself as to the right or wrong of what was +now in his mind, he would have been incredulous. +He had in reality become another +man. Circumstances had evolved him, +during the course of twenty years, into something +different, as persistent winds evolve a +pliant tree into another than its typical shape. +Gordon had lost his type.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As he stood at the window the room grew +cold. The hearth fire had died down. He +knew that the furnace needed attention, but +he dared not quit his post and his argument. +He became sure that the maid would not return +that night. He knew that Aaron was +sitting with his human obstinacy behind the +obstinate brute, somewhere on the road. He +knew that James and Clemency might at any +moment drive in, and he might rush out too +late to prevent murder and the kidnapping +of the girl. He knew what the man was +<span class="tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span> +<a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>there for. And he knew the one way to +thwart him, but it was so horrible a way that +it needed all this argument, all this delay and +nearing of danger, before he adopted it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The increasing cold of the room seemed to +act as a sort of physical goad toward action. +"By God, it <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">is</span> right!" he muttered. Then +he looked at the dog crouching still with that +wiry intentness before the door. The dog +came of a good breed of fighters. He was in +himself both weapon and wielder of weapon. +He was a concentrated force. His white body +was knotted with nerves and muscles. The +chances were good if—Gordon pictured it to +himself—and again the horror and doubt +were over him. He himself had acquired a +certain stiffness and lassitude from years, +and long drives in one position. He would +stand no chance unarmed against a bullet. +But the dog—that was another matter. The +dog would make a spring like the spring of +death itself, and that white leap of attack +might easily cause the aim to go wrong. It +would be like aiming at lightning. He knew +how the dog would gather himself together, +all ready for that terrible leap, the second he +opened the door. He knew that he might be +able to open the door for the leap without +<span class="tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span> +<a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>attracting the man's attention, faced as he +was the other way, if he could keep the dog +quiet. He knew how it would be. He could +see that tall dark figure rolled on the drive, +struggling as one struggles with death, for +breath, under the vise-like grip on his throat. +Gordon knew that the dog's unerring spring +would be for the throat; that was the instinct +of his race, a noble race in its way, to +seize vice and danger by the throat, and attack +the very threshold of life.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon returned to the window. It seemed +to him again that he heard a horse's trot. +He felt sure that it was not the trot of the +gray, who had a slight lameness. He knew +the trot of the gray. He became sure that +James and Clemency would the next moment +enter the drive. He set his mouth +hard, crept toward the dog, and patted him. +As he patted him he felt the rage-crest rise +higher on his back. Gordon bade him be +quiet, and slipped his leash from the staple. +Then he took it from the collar. He listened +again. It seemed to him that his ears could +not deceive him. It seemed to him that James +and Clemency were coming. He was almost +delirious. He fancied he heard their voices +and the girl's laugh ring out. Holding the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span> +<a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>dog firmly by the collar, he rose and very carefully +and noiselessly slipped the bolt of the +door back. Then he waited a second. Then +as slowly and carefully, still holding the dog +by the collar, and whispering commands to +hush his growls, he turned the door knob.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image03.png" width="480" height="707" alt=""There was a white flash of avenging brute force upon the man."" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p">"There was a white flash of avenging brute force upon the +man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then the thing was done. He flung the +door open. He saw the man in the drive, +standing with his face toward the road. He +had heard nothing. Then he loosened his +grasp of the straining dog's collar, and there +was a white flash of avenging brute force +upon the man. Gordon saw only one leap of +the dog before the man was down. A futile +pistol shot rang out. Then came the snarl +and growl of a fighting dog fastened upon his +prey.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_10" id="toc_10"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span> +<a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER IX</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Clemency and James returned from +their drive, they saw a glimmer of light between +the house and stable. "Aaron is out +there with a lantern," whispered Clemency. +She sat up straight, leaned into her corner +of the buggy, and adjusted her hat and +straightened her hair with the pretty young +girl motions of secrecy and modesty.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James peered ahead into the darkness +through which the lantern moved like a +will-o'-the-wisp. "Your uncle is here, too," +he said. Then he drew rein with a sudden, +"Halloo, what is wrong?" Aaron came +forward, leaving the lantern on the ground. +It lit weirdly Dr. Gordon, who was kneeling +on the ground beside a dark mass, which +looked horribly suggestive. Then James saw +another dark mass to the right, the balky +mare and a buggy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Gordon says you had better hitch +to this post here," said Aaron in a sort of +hoarse whisper, "and then come to him. He +says he needs help, and Miss Clemency, he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span> +<a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>says, must go around the house and in the +front door, and be careful not to let the dog +out, but go upstairs, and if her mother is +awake, tell her it ain't anything for her to +fret about, and Doctor Gordon will be in very +soon."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, Aaron, what is the matter?" said +Clemency, in a frightened whisper, as James +sprang out of the buggy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It ain't nothin'," replied Aaron doggedly. +"Jest a man fell coming to the office. +Reckon he had a jag on. Doctor says he may +have broke a rib. He's doctorin' him. You +jest run round the house, and in the front +door, Miss Clemency, and don't let out the +dog, an' see to your ma."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James assisted Clemency out, and she fled, +with a wild glance over her shoulder at the +lantern-lit group in front of the office door. +While Aaron tied the horse to the post James +ran to Doctor Gordon. When he drew nearer +the sight became sanguinary in its details, +and he could hear from the office the raging +growls and howls of the dog. He also heard +him leap against the door, as if he would +break it down. Gordon had a pail of water +and a basin beside him, and he was applying +water vigorously to the throat of the prostrate +<span class="tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span> +<a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>figure. The water in the basin gleamed, in +the lantern light, blood red. "Just empty +this basin and fill it up from the pail," ordered +Gordon in a husky voice, and again he +squeezed the reddened cloth over the throat, +which James now discerned was badly torn. +The man lay doubled up upon himself as limp +as a rag.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I don't think so," replied Gordon, as +if in answer to an unspoken question, as +James, having complied with his request, +drew near with the basin of fresh water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was it the dog?" asked James in a low +voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, the fool came round to the office +door, and—" Gordon stopped with a miserable +sigh which was almost a groan, and +dipped the cloth in the basin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How did you get him off?" asked James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I had the whip, and Aaron came in just +then with that damned mare. She had balked. +I don't think it is the jugular. It can't be. +Damn it, how he bleeds! Run into the office, +Elliot, and get the absorbent cotton and the +brandy. I've got to stop this somehow. Oh, +my God!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James suddenly recognized the man on the +ground, and gave an exclamation which Gordon +<span class="tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span> +<a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>did not seem to notice. "For God's +sake, don't let that dog out!" he cried. +"Don't risk the office door. Go around the +house, the front way! Be quick!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James obeyed. He rushed around the +house, and opened the front door. Immediately +Clemency was clinging to him in the +dim vestibule. "Mother is asleep. I think +Uncle Tom must have given her some medicine +to make her sleep. Oh, what is the matter? +Who is that man out there, and what +ails him, and what ails the dog? I started to +go in the office, but he leapt against the door, +so I didn't. I was afraid he might get out +and run upstairs and wake mother. Oh, +what is it all about?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing for you to worry about, dear," +replied James. "Now you must be a good +little girl, and let me go. Your uncle is in a +hurry for some things in the office." He put +away her clinging arms gently, and hurried +on toward the office, but the girl followed +him. "If I don't stand ready to shut the +door behind you, that dog will be out," she +said. All at once a conviction as to something +seized her, and she cried out in terror +and horror, "Oh, I know it is that man out +there, and Jack wants to get at him. I +know."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span> +<a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is nothing for you to worry about, +dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know. Is he going to die? Is he hurt +much?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, your uncle doesn't think so. Don't +hinder me, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I won't. I will stand ready and +bang the door together after you before Jack +can get out. Oh, it is that man!" Clemency +was half-hysterical, but she stood her ground. +When James opened the office door cautiously +and slipped through the opening, she pushed +it together with surprising strength. "Don't +get bitten yourself," she called out anxiously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For a moment James thought that he might +be bitten, for the dog was so frenzied that +he was almost past the point of recognizing +his friends. He made a powerful leap upon +James, the crest upon his back as rigid as +steel, but James snatched at his collar, threw +him, and spoke, and the well-trained animal +succumbed before his voice. "Charge!" +thundered the young man, and the dog obeyed, +although still bristling and growling. James +hurriedly caught up his leash and fastened +him to the staple, then he opened the inner +office door, and spoke quickly and reassuringly +to Clemency, who was huddled behind +<span class="tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span> +<a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>it shaking with fear. "He is all right. I +have fastened him," he said. "Don't worry. +Now I must go and help your uncle."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He didn't bite you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, no, he knew me the minute I spoke. +Sit down here by the fire and don't be frightened; +that's a good little girl."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">With that James was out by the other door +and in the drive beside Gordon, who was still +assiduously applying water to the red throat +of the prostrate man. "It is beginning to +slack up a little," he said hoarsely. "Here, +give me the cotton, and see if you can't get +a drop of brandy between his teeth. They +are clinched, but just now he moved a little. +He may be able to swallow. Aaron, put the +team into the wagon, and get a mattress and +some blankets from the storeroom. Hurry, +he may come to himself any minute, and he +must not stay here any longer than necessary." +Gordon was working fiercely as he spoke, and +James took the cork from the brandy flask, +and attempted to force a little between the +man's clinched teeth. Aaron hurried into +the stable and lit another lantern, and went +about executing his orders. James, kneeling +over the prostrate man, attempting to minister +to him, saw the face fully in the glare +<span class="tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span> +<a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of the lantern. The unconscious face did +not look as evil as he remembered it. He +even had a doubt if it were the face of the +man who had that evening stood at his horse's +head, and so terrified Clemency. Then he became +convinced that it was the same. There +could be no mistaking the features, which +were unusually regular and handsome, but +with a strange peculiarity of lines. It seemed +to James that, even while the man was unconscious, +all his features presented slightly +upturned lines as of bitter derision, intersected +with downward lines of melancholy. +All these lines were very delicate, but they +served to give expression. He looked like a +man who had suffered and made others suffer +for his sufferings, with a cruel enjoyment +at the spectacle. It was a strange face, but +not an evil one. However, after James had +succeeded in forcing a few drops of brandy, +which were met with convulsive swallowing, +between the man's teeth, he moved again, +and his eyes opened, and immediately the +evil shone out of the face like a malignant +flame in a lamp. Knowledge of, and delight +in, evil gleamed out of the sudden brightness +of the man's great eyes. Then the evil seemed +to leap to rage, as a spark leaps to flame. He +<span class="tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span> +<a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tried to raise himself, and cursed in a choking +voice. He seemed awake most fully to consciousness, +and to know exactly what had happened. +The dog in the office sent forth a perfect +volley of barks. The man had been +obliged to sink back, but his right hand +fumbled feebly for his pocket.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is not there," Gordon said coolly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Shoot him, you—or—" croaked the man +in his voice of unnatural rage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Time enough for that," said Gordon. +He spoke coolly, but James saw him shaking +as if with the ague. He was deadly white, +and his whole face looked drawn and withered. +Aaron came leading the team harnessed +to the wagon out of the stable. He +had brought down the mattress and blankets, +as the doctor had directed, and the three men +after the rude bed had been made in the +wagon lifted the man thereon. He seemed +to be conscious, but his muttering was so +weak as to be almost inaudible, save for occasional +words.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After he was in the wagon Gordon, turning +to James, said: "You had better go in the +house and stay with the women. Aaron will +go with me. I shall take this man to the +hotel, to Georgie K.'s."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span> +<a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A perfect volley of mumbled remonstrances +came from the prostrate figure in +the wagon. Gordon seemed to understand +him. "No, I shall not take you there," he +said, "but to the hotel. You will be better +cared for. I know the proprietor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He got in beside the man, and seated himself +on the floor of the wagon. Aaron mounted to +the driver's seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tell Clemency and her mother not to +worry if they are awake," Gordon called to +James as the horses started.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James said yes and went into the house. +He entered through the office door, and directly +Clemency was in his arms, all trembling +and half-weeping. "Oh, what has happened? +Has Uncle Tom taken him away?" +she quavered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hush, dear, you will wake your mother. +Yes, he has taken him away."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What was the matter, tell me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He was unconscious. He had fallen."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He came to. I heard him speak. Were +any bones broken?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I think not. You must go to bed; it +it very late, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency had put fresh wood on the hearth, +and the little place was all a-waver and +<span class="tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span> +<a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a-flicker with firelight. Grotesque shadows +danced over the walls and ceiling, and +sprawled uncertainly on the floor. Clemency +looked up in James's face, and her own +had a shocked whiteness and horror, in spite +of the tenderness in his. "Tell—" she began.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What, dear?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was it—that man?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tell me," Clemency said imperiously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I think it was."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency glanced as if instinctively at the +dog, lying asleep in a white coil on the hearth. +"What was the matter with him?" she asked +in a hardly audible voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He had fallen, dear, and was unconscious."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing—" Clemency glanced again at +the dog, and did not complete her question.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He had recovered consciousness," James +said hastily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then he is not going to die." It was +impossible to say what kind of relief was in +the girl's voice, but relief there was.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I see no reason why he should. I don't +think your uncle thought he would die."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Where have they taken him?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"To the hotel. Now, Clemency dear, you +<span class="tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span> +<a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>must put all this out of your mind and go to +bed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency obeyed like a child. She kissed +James, took a candle, and went upstairs.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James went into his own room, but he did +not undress or go to bed. Instead, he sat at +the window facing the street and stared into +the darkness, watching for Doctor Gordon's +return. He sat there for nearly two hours, +then he heard wheels, and saw the dark mass +of the team and wagon lumber into sight. He +ran through the house, and was in the drive +with a lantern when the team entered. "Have +you been waiting for us, Elliot?" called Doctor +Gordon's tired voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I thought I would."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I stayed until I was sure he was comfortable," +said Gordon. He clambered over +the wheel of the wagon like an old man. +When he was in the office with James, and +the lamp was lit, he sank into a chair, and +looked at the younger man with an expression +almost of despair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He is not going to die of it?" asked +James hesitatingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," cried Gordon, "he shall not!" He +looked up with sudden, fierce resolution and +alertness. "Why should he die?" he demanded. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span> +<a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>"He is far from being old or +feeble. His vitals are not touched. Why on +earth should you think he would die?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I see no reason," James replied hastily, +"only—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Only what, for God's sake?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I thought you looked discouraged."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I am, and tired of the world, but +this man is going to live. See here, boy, suppose +you see if there is any hot water in the +kitchen, and we'll have something to drink, +then we will go to bed, and God grant we +don't have a night call."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After Gordon had drank his face lightened +somewhat, still he looked years older than he +had done at dinner time, with that awful +aging of the soul, which sometimes comes in +an instant. When finally he went upstairs +James noticed how feebly he moved. It was +on his tongue's end to offer to assist him, +but he did not dare.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning, before James was up, +he heard the rapid trot of a horse on the +drive, and wondered if Doctor Gordon had +had a call so early. When the breakfast-bell +rang only Clemency was at the table. The +maid had returned in season to get breakfast, +and was waiting with a severely interrogative +face.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span> +<a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She had noticed blood on the frozen surface +of the drive and had stood surveying it before +she entered. She had asked Clemency if anything +had happened, and the girl had told her +that a man had fallen near the office door on +the preceding evening and been injured, and +Doctor Gordon had taken him home.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What's the man's name?" Emma had inquired +sharply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know," said Clemency, and indeed +she did not know, but there was something +secretive in her manner. Emma set +her mouth hard and tossed her head. Curiosity +was almost a lust with her. She was always +enraged when it was excited and not +gratified.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When James entered, she glanced severely +at him and then at Clemency, as she passed +the muffins. She suspected something between +them, and she was baffled there.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Has Doctor Gordon gone out?" James +asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, he went right out as soon as he got +up. Just had a cup of coffee; wouldn't wait +for breakfast," replied Emma in a nipping +tone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Neither Clemency nor James made any +comment. Both knew where he had gone, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span> +<a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and Emma, seeing that they both knew, grew +more hostile than ever. Her manner of serving +the beefsteak was fairly warlike.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After breakfast Aaron told James of some +parting instructions which Gordon had left +with him. He had the team harnessed, and +was to take James to visit certain patients.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James went off on a long drive across the +country, calling on his way at the scattered +houses of the patients. He did not return +until noon, just before the luncheon-bell rang. +Entering by the office door he found Gordon +sitting before the hearth-fire, smoking, and +staring gloomily at the leaping flames. He +looked up when James entered, said good +morning in an abstracted fashion, and asked +some questions about the patients whom he +had visited. James hesitated about inquiring +for the man who had been injured the +night before, but finally he did so. The dog +had sprung up to greet him, and between his +pats on the white head and commands of +"Down, sir, down!" he asked as casually +as he could if Gordon had seen his patient +who had fallen in the drive the night before, +and how he was. Gordon turned upon James +a face of such fierce misery that the younger +man fairly recoiled. "He isn't going to +die?" he cried.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span> +<a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, he is not going to die. He shall not +die!" Gordon replied with passionate emphasis. +Then he added, in response to James's +wondering, half-frightened look, "I have +been there all the morning. I have just +come home. I have left everything for him. +I don't dare get a nurse. I am afraid. He +may talk a good deal. Georgie K. is with +him now. I can trust him, but I can't trust +a nurse. I am going back after luncheon, +and you may go with me. I would like you +to see him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does he seem to be very ill?" James +asked timidly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not from the—the—wound," replied +Gordon, "but I am afraid of something +else."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Erysipelas. I am afraid of that setting in. +In fact, I am not altogether sure that it has +not. He is an erysipelas subject. He has told +me of two severe attacks which he has had. +When he fell he got an abrasion of the cheek. +That looks worse than the—the—wound. I +should like you to see him. You have seen +erysipelas cases, of course, in your hospital +practice."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, yes."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span> +<a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There is the bell for luncheon. We will +go directly afterward."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James wondered within himself at the feverish +haste with which Gordon swallowed his +luncheon, frequently looking at his watch. He +was actually showing more anxiety over this +man who had hounded him, of whom he had +lived in dread, than James had seen him show +over any patient since he had been with him. +It seemed to him inconsistent. Mrs. Ewing +did not come down to luncheon; Clemency +said that she was not feeling as well as usual +but Gordon did not seem much disturbed even +by that. He gave Clemency some powders, +with instructions how to administer them to +the sick woman before he left, but he did not +show concern, and did not go upstairs to see +her. Clemency herself looked pale and anxious.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She found a chance to whisper to James +before he went. "Is that man very much +hurt?" she said close to his ear.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hush, dear. I am afraid so."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Uncle Tom seems terribly worried. I +have never seen him so worried even over +mother, and he doesn't seem worried about +her now. Oh, James, she is suffering frightfully, +I know." Clemency gave a little sob. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span> +<a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Then Gordon's voice was heard calling imperiously, +"Elliot, come along!" James +kissed the poor little face tenderly, and +whispered that she must not worry, that probably +the powders would relieve her mother, +and then that she herself had better lie down +and try to get a little sleep, and hurried out.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon was seated in the buggy, waiting +for him. "I don't want to lose any time," +he said brusquely as James got in beside him. +"Even a few minutes sometimes work awful +changes in a case like this. If he is no +worse I will leave you with him, and make +a call on Mrs. Wells. I haven't seen her to-day, +and yesterday it looked like pneumonia, +then there is that child with diphtheria at +the Atwaters'. I ought to go there myself, +but if he is worse you will have to go, and to +a few others, and I must stay with him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon drove furiously. Heads appeared +at windows; people on the street turned faces +of wonder and alarm after him. It was soon +noised about Alton that there had been a terrible +accident, that somebody was at the point +of death, but of that Gordon and James knew +nothing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When they arrived at the hotel, Gordon, +after he had tied his horse, took his medicine-case, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span> +<a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and, followed by James, entered, and +went directly upstairs to a large room at the +back of the hotel. This room was somewhat +isolated in position, having a corridor on one +side and linen closets on another, it being a +corner apartment with two outer walls. Gordon +opened the door softly and entered with +James behind him. The bed stood between +the two west windows. It was a northwest +room. The afternoon sun had not yet reached +it. It was furnished after the usual fashion +of country hotel bedrooms. It was clean and +sparse, and the furniture had the air of having +a past, of having witnessed almost everything +which occurs to humanity. It seemed +battered and stained, though not with wear, +but with humanity. The old-fashioned black +walnut bedstead in which the sick man lay +seemed to have a thousand voices of experiences. +A great piece was broken off one corner +of the footboard. The wound in the wood +looked sinister. Directly opposite the bed +stood the black walnut bureau, with its swung +glass. The glass was cracked diagonally, and +reflected the bed and its occupant with an air +of experience. Gordon went directly to his +patient. Beside him sat Georgie K. He +looked at the two doctors and shook his head +<span class="tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span> +<a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>gravely. His great blond face was unshaven +and paled with watching. Nobody spoke a +word. All three looked at the man in the +bed, who lay either asleep, or feigning sleep, +or in a stupor. Gordon felt for his pulse +softly, with keen eyes upon his face. This +face was unspeakably ghastly. The throat +was swathed in bandages. There was one +tiny spot of red on the white of the linen. +The man's eyes were rolled upward. Around +an abrasion on the cheek, which glistened +oily with some unguent which had been applied +to it, was a circle of painful red clearly +defined from the pallor of the rest of the +cheek.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon spoke. "How do you feel?" he +asked of the man, who evidently heard and +understood, but did not reply. He simply +made a little motion of facial muscles, of +shoulders, of his whole body under the bed-clothes, +which indicated rage and impatience.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Does that place on your cheek burn?" +asked Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Again there was no answer, this time not +even any motion.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Have you any pain?" asked Gordon. +The man lay motionless. "Is there any one +in the parlor?" Gordon asked abruptly of +Georgie K.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span> +<a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Doc. You can go right in there."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon beckoned to James, and the two +went downstairs, and entered the room of the +wax flowers and the stuffed canary.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It looks like erysipelas," Gordon said +with no preface.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All I have done so far, in the absence of +any positive proof of the truth of that diagnosis, +is to apply what you will think an old +woman's remedy, but I have known it to give +good results in light cases, and I did not like +to resort to the more strenuous methods until +I was sure of my ground, for fear of complications. +I applied a little mutton tallow, +and that was all, but the inflammation has increased +since I saw him. It now looks to me +like a clearly defined case of erysipelas."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It does to me," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So far—the—wound in the throat seems +to be doing well," said Gordon gloomily. +Then he looked at the younger physician +with an odd, helpless expression. "His life +must be saved," said he. "Which do you +prefer of the two methods of treating the +disease—that is, of the two primary ones? +Of course, there are methods innumerable. I +may have grown rusty in my country practice. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page198">[pg 198]</span> +<a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Do you prefer the leaches, the nitrate +of silver, the low diet, or the reverse?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think I prefer the reverse."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, you may be right," said Gordon, +"and yet you have to consider that this is +a man in full vigor," he added, "that presumably +he has considerable reserve strength +upon which to draw. Still if you prefer the +other treatment—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have seen very good results from it," +said James. He was becoming more and more +astonished at the older man's helpless, almost +appealing, manner toward himself. +"What is the man's name?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know what name he has given +here," Gordon replied evasively. "I will tell +you later on what his name is."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly the parlor door was flung open, +and a woman appeared. She was middle-aged, +very large, clad in black raiment, which +had an effect of sliding and slipping from her +when she moved. She kept clutching at the +buttons of her coat, which did not quite meet +over her full front. She brought together the +ends of a black fur boa, she reached constantly +for the back of her skirts, and gave +them a firm tug which relaxed the next moment. +Her decent black bonnet was askew, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span> +<a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her large face was flushed. She had been a +strapping, handsome country girl once; now +she was almost indecent in her involuntary +exuberance of coarse femininity.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How do you do, Mrs. Slocum?" Doctor +Gordon said politely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James rose, Gordon introduced him. Mrs. +Slocum did not bow, she jerked her great chin +upward, then she spoke with really alarming +ferocity. "Where has my boarder went? +That's what I want to know. That's what I +have come here for, not for no bowin's and +scrapin's. Where has my boarder went?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A keen look came into Gordon's face. "I +don't know who your boarder is, Mrs. Slocum," +he said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_11" id="toc_11"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span> +<a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER X</h1> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Slocum looked at the doctor with a +wide gape of surprise.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Thought you knew," said she. "His +name is Meserve, Mr. Edward Meserve, and +if he has come and went, and not told where, +he was good pay, and if he was took sick +whilst he was to my house, I could have +asked twice as much as I did before. I'd +like to know what right you had to take my +boarder to the hotel. He was my boarder. +He wan't your boarder. I want him fetched +right back. That's what I have came for."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mrs. Slocum," said Gordon in a hard +voice, "Mr. Meserve is too sick to be moved, +and his disease may be contagious. You +might lose all your other boarders, and +whether he recovers or not, you would be +obliged to fumigate your house, and have his +room repapered and plastered."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He's got money enough to pay for it," +Mrs. Slocum said doggedly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How do you know?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You think he ain't?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span> +<a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked imperturbable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He always paid me regular, and he ain't +been to meals or to home nights two-thirds of +the time."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon said nothing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You mean if my other boarders went, and +the room had to be done over, he ain't got +money enough to make it good?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon said nothing. The woman fidgeted. +"Well," said she, "if there's any doubt of +it, mebbe he <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">is</span> better off here." Suddenly she +gave a suspicious glance at Gordon. "Say," +said she, "the room here will have to be done +over. Who's goin' to pay for that?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The room is isolated," replied Gordon +briefly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The woman stared. She evidently did not +know the meaning of the word.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," said she at last, "if the room <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">is</span> +insulted, it will have to be done over. Who's +going to pay for that?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I don't see why you couldn't pay +<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">me</span> for that as well as Mr. Evans."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't you?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I do. Now, Mrs. Slocum, I really +have no more time to waste. Mr. Meserve is +<span class="tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span> +<a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a very sick man, and I have to go to him. I +came down here to consult with my assistant, +and you have hindered us. Good-day!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the woman still stood her ground. +"I'm goin' to see him," she said. "He's +my boarder."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You will do so at your own risk, and also, +if your call should prove injurious to him, at +a risk of being indicted for manslaughter, besides +possibly catching the disease."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You say it's ketching?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I said it might be. We have not yet entirely +formed our diagnosis."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The woman stared yet again. Then she +turned about with a switch which disclosed +fringy black petticoats and white stockings. +"Well, form your noses all you want to," +said she. "You have took away my boarder, +an' if he gits well, and it ain't ketchin', I'll +have the law on ye."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon drew a deep breath when the door +closed behind her. "It seems sometimes to +me as if comedy were the haircloth shirt of +tragedy," he said grimly. "Well, Elliot, +we will go upstairs and begin the fight. I +am going to fight to the death. I shall remain +here to-night. You will have to look +after my other patients when you leave here. +I am sorry to put so much upon you."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span> +<a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, that's all right," said James, following +Gordon upstairs. But as he spoke he +wondered more and more that this man, +after what he had known of him, should be +of more importance to Gordon than all others.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Even during the short time they had been +downstairs the angry red around the abrasion +on the cheek had widened, and widened +toward the head. Gordon opened his medicine-case +and took out a bottle and hairbrush +and commenced work. Directly the +entire cheek was blackened with the application +of iron. Georgie K. had brought glasses, +and medicine had been forced into the patient's +mouth. "Now go and have some eggnog +mixed, Georgie K.," said Gordon, "and +bring it here yourself, if you will. I hate to +trouble you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's all right, Doc," said Georgie K., +and went.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James remained only a short time, since he +had the other calls to make. He returned +quite late to find that dinner had been kept +waiting for him, and Clemency in her pretty +red gown was watching. Mrs. Ewing had +not come down all day. "Mother says she +is easier," Clemency observed, "only she +thinks it better to keep perfectly still." +<span class="tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span> +<a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Clemency said very little about the man at +the hotel. She seemed to dread the very +mention of him. She and James spent a long +evening together, and she was entirely charming. +James began to put behind him all the +mystery and dark hints of evil. Clemency, +although fond, was as elusive as a butterfly. +She had feminine wiles to her finger tips, but +she was quite innocent of the fact that they +were wiles. It took the whole evening for the +young man to secure a kiss or two, and have +her upon his knee for the space of about five +minutes. She nestled closely to him with a +little sigh of happiness for a very little while, +then she slipped away, and stood looking at +him like an elf. "I am not going to do that +much," said she.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why not, darling?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because I am not. It is silly. I love you, +but I will not be silly. I want only what will +last. The love will last, but the silliness +won't. We are going to be married, but I +shall not want to sit on your knee all the time, +and what is more, you will not want me to. +Suppose we should live to be very old. Who +ever saw a very old woman sitting on her +very old husband's knee? The love will last, +but that will not. We will not have so very +much of that which will not last."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span> +<a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For all that, James caught Clemency and +kissed her until her soft face was crimson, but +he said to himself, when he was in his own +room, that never was a girl so wise, and how +much more he wanted to hold her upon his +knee—as if he had not already held her there—and +yet she was not coquettish. She was +simply earnest, with an odd, wise, childlike +earnestness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Early the next morning James went to the +hotel, and found Gordon haggard and intense, +sitting beside his patient, who was evidently +worse. The terrible red fire of Saint Anthony +had mounted higher, and settled lower. +"It has attacked his throat now," Gordon +said in a whisper. "I expect every minute +it will reach his brain. When it does, nobody +but you and I must be with him, not even +Georgie K. He is getting some rest. He +was up half the night, bless him! But when +it reaches the brain two will be needed here, +and the two must be you and I. Take this +list, and make the calls as quickly as you can, +and come back here." James, with a last +glance at the black and swollen face of the +man, who now seemed to be in a state of coma, +obeyed. He hurried through his list, and returned. +He found no apparent change in the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span> +<a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>patient, and tried to persuade Gordon to +take a little rest, but the elder man was obdurate. +"No" he said, "here I stay. I have +had a bit to eat and drink. You go down yourself +and get something, then come back. The +crisis may arrive any second. Then I shall +need you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The fire had outstripped the blackness on +the man's cheek toward the temple. One eye +was closed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When James returned after a hurried +lunch, he heard a loud, terrible voice in the +room. Outside the door a maid stood with +a horrified face listening. James grasped +her roughly by the shoulder. "Get out of +this," he ordered. "If I find you or any one +else here listening, you'll be sorry for it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The maid gasped out an excuse and fled. +James tried the door, but it was locked. "Is +that you, Elliot?" called Gordon above the +other awful voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The door was unlocked, and James sprang +into the room, but he was hardly quick enough, +for the man was almost out of bed, when the +two doctors forced him back with all their +strength. Then he sat up and raved, and +such raving! James felt his very blood cold +<span class="tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span> +<a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>within him. Revelations as of a devil were +in those ravings. Once in a while James +opened the door cautiously to be sure that +no one was listening. The raving man reiterated +names as of a multitude. Gordon's +was among them, and many names of women, +one especially—Catherine. He repeated that +name more frequently than the others, but the +others were legion. There was something indescribably +horrible in hearing this repetition +of names of unknown people, accompanied +with statements beyond belief regarding them +and the raving man. Gordon's face was +ghastly, and so was the younger doctor's. +"Look and see if any one is listening, for +God's sake," Gordon gasped, after one terrific +outburst, and James looked, but Georgie +K. was keeping watch that nobody approached +the door.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James never knew how long he was in that +room with Gordon listening to those frenzied +ravings, and striving with him to keep the +man from injuring himself. The daylight +waned, James lighted a lamp. Then a mighty +creaking was heard outside, and Georgie K., +himself bearing a great supper tray, knocked +at the door. "It's me, and I brought you +something," he shouted, and then they heard +<span class="tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span> +<a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his retreating footsteps. Much delicacy was +there in Georgie K., and much affection for +Doctor Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James brought in the tray, and now and +then he and Gordon took advantage of a slight +lull to take a bite, but neither had any desire +for food. It was only the instinctive sense +that they must keep up their strength in order +that nobody else should hear what they +were hearing, that forced them to eat and +drink. Well into the evening the ravings +stopped suddenly, the man fell back upon his +pillow, and lay still. James thought at first +that all was over, but presently stertorous +breathing began.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Now get Georgie K. up," Gordon said +hoarsely. "There is no further need for us +to be alone, and there will be directions to be +given."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James went out and found Georgie K. sitting +up in his bar-room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Gordon wants you," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How is he?" asked Georgie K., following +James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dying."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K. made an indescribable sound in +his throat as the two men ascended the stair.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The man was a long time dying. It seemed +<span class="tei-pb" id="page209">[pg 209]</span> +<a name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to James as if that awful struggle of the soul +for release from the body would never cease. +He knew, or thought he knew, that there was +no suffering to the dying man, but, after all, +the sounds as of suffering seemed almost to +prove it. Gordon whispered for a while to +Georgie K., as if the dying man might be disturbed +by audible speech. Then Georgie K. +tiptoed out in his creaking boots, and James +knew that some arrangements were to be perfected +for the last services to the dead. Gordon +stood over the bed, with his own face as +ghastly as that of its occupant. James dared +not speak to him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was midnight when the dreadful breathing +ceased, and there was silence. Georgie K. +had returned. The three living men looked at +one another with ghastly understanding of +what had happened, then they hastily arranged +some matters. The dead man was decently +composed and dressed, his throat swathed +anew in linen handkerchiefs, and another +handkerchief laid over the discolored face, +which had in death a strange peace, as if relieved +of an uneasy and wearing tenant. Before +Georgie K. went out, the village undertaker +had been summoned, and had been +waiting for some time in the parlor with a +<span class="tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span> +<a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>young assistant. They mounted the stairs +bearing some appurtenances of their trade. +Gordon addressed the undertaker briefly, giving +some directions, then he motioned to +James, and they passed out. Georgie K. remained +in the room. He prevented the undertaker +from removing the linen swathe on the +dead man's throat. "Doc says it's catching," +he said, and the undertaker drew back +quickly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When Gordon and James were in the buggy +on the way home, Gordon all at once gave a +great sigh, like that of a swimmer who yields +to the force of the current, or the fighter who +sinks before his opponent. "I'm about done, +too," he said. "Here, take the lines, Elliot."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James took the reins and looked anxiously +at his companion's face, a pale blue in the +moonlight. "You are not ill?" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, only done up. For God's sake let +me rest, and don't talk till we get home!" +James drove on. Gordon's head sank upon +his breast, and he began to breathe regularly. +He did not wake until James roused +him when they reached home.</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> * * * * *</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning before breakfast James +was awakened by a loud voice in the office, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span> +<a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the high-pitched one of a woman. He recalled +how exhausted Doctor Gordon had been the +night before, and rose and dressed quickly. +When he entered the office Gordon was sitting +huddled up in his old armchair before +the fire, while bolt upright beside him sat +Mrs. Slocum, discoursing in loud and angry +tones, which Gordon seemed scarcely to heed. +When James entered she turned upon him. +"Now I'll see if I can git anythin' out of +you," she said. "He" (pointing to Gordon) +"don't act as if he was half-alive. I'm goin' +to have my rights if I have to go to law to git +'em. Doctor Gordon took away my boarder. +And if I'd had him sick and die to my house, +I could have got extra. Now what I want is +jest this, an' I'm goin' to hev it, too! Doctor +Gordon said Mr. Meserve didn't have +money. I don't know nothin' about that. I +ain't went through his pockets, but his trunk +is to my house, and there's awful nice men's +clothes into it, and I mean to hev 'em. That +ain't nothin' more'n fair. That's what I hev +came here for, jest as soon as I heard the poor +man had passed away. I left my daughter to +git the breakfast for the boarders, and I hev +came here to see about that trunk, and hisn's +clothes."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span> +<a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James laughed. "But, Mrs. Slocum," he +said, "what on earth do you want with men's +clothes? You can't wear them."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">To his intense surprise the great face of +the woman suddenly reddened like that of a +young girl, but the next moment she gave her +head a defiant toss, and stared boldly at him. +"What if I can't?" said she. "There's +other men as can wear 'em, and they'll jest +fit Bill Todd. He's been boardin' with me +five year, and if he wants to git married and +save his board bill, it's his business and mine +and nobody else's."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James turned to Gordon, who seemed prostrated +before this feminine onslaught. "Do +you object to this woman's having the +trunk?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon made an effort and roused himself. +"She can have it after I have examined it for +papers," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There ain't a scrap of writin' in the +trunk," Mrs. Slocum vociferated. "Me an' +my boarder hev looked. There ain't no writin' +an' no jewelry, an' no money. He used to +carry his money with him, and he had a bank +book in his pocket, and a long, red book he +used to git money out of the bank. I've seen +'em. Doctor Gordon said he didn't have no +<span class="tei-pb" id="page213">[pg 213]</span> +<a name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>money. He did hev money. Once he left the +long, red book on his bureau, and I looked in +it, and the leaves that are as good as money +wan't a quarter torn out. I know he had +money, an' I've been cheated out of it. But +all I ask is that trunk."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"For God's sake take the trunk and clear +out," shouted Gordon with unexpected violence, +"but if there is a scrap of written paper +in that trunk, and you keep it, you'll be +sorry."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There ain't," said the woman with evident +truthfulness. She rose and clutched at +the back of her skirt, and tugged at her boa +and coat. "Thank you, Doctor Gordon," +said she. "When is the funeral goin' to be?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tell her to-morrow at two o'clock at the +hotel, and tell her to leave," said Gordon, +and his voice was suddenly apathetic again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When the woman had gone Gordon turned +to James. "How comedy will prick through +tragedy," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes," James answered vaguely. He +looked anxiously at Gordon, whose eyes had +at once a desperate and an utterly wearied +appearance. "I will make all the arrangements +for the funeral, if you wish, Doctor +Gordon," he said. "I know the undertaker, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page214">[pg 214]</span> +<a name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and I can manage it as well as you. You +look used up."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am pretty nearly," muttered Gordon. +Then he gave an almost affectionate glance at +James. "Do you think you can manage it?" +he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James smiled. "It is a new thing to me, but +I have no doubt I can," he replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You cannot imagine what a weight you +would take off my shoulders. Don't spare +money. See to it that everything is good and +as it should be. The bills are to be sent to +me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon answered an unspoken question of +James. "Yes," he said, "he had money, a +considerable fortune, and he has no heirs—at +least, I am as sure as I need be that he has +none. In his pockets were two bank books, +small check books, and a security register +book. I have done them up in a parcel. See +to it that they are buried with him."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, yes, I know. Sooner or later there +will be advertisements in the papers, and that +sort of thing, but that will pass. God knows +I would not touch his money with the devil's +pitchfork, nor allow anybody whom I loved +to touch it. Let him be buried under the name +<span class="tei-pb" id="page215">[pg 215]</span> +<a name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>by which he was known here. It is not the +name, needless to say, on the bank books. +While living under other than his rightful +name, he must have gone to New York in +person to supply himself with cash. There +was some two hundred dollars in bank notes +in his wallet. That is with the other things. +Let the whole be buried with him, and see to +it that Drake does not discover it. You had +better take the parcel now. Open the right +drawer of the table, and you will find it in +the corner. Then, after breakfast, you had +better see Drake at once. I will attend to +the patients to-day."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are not able."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Able is a word which I have eliminated +from my vocabulary as applied to myself."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The funeral, which was held the next +afternoon in the parlor of the hotel, was at +once a ghastly and a grotesque function. +The two doctors, the undertaker and his assistant, +Georgie K. and the bar-tender, and +Mrs. Slocum with a female friend, and a +man, evidently the boarder to whom she had +referred, were the only persons present. The +boarder wore a hat which had belonged to +the dead man. It was many sizes too large +for his grayish blond, foolish little head, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page216">[pg 216]</span> +<a name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and, when he put it on, it nearly obscured his +eyes. Mrs. Slocum sniffed audibly through +the service, which was short, being conducted +by the old Presbyterian clergyman of Alton. +He hardly spoke above a whisper of "the +stranger who had passed from our midst into +the beyond." His concluding prayer was +quite inaudible. Mrs. Slocum had brought +a bouquet of cheerful pink geraniums from +her window plants, which on the top of the +closed black casket made an odd spot of color +and life in the dim room. Among the blossoms +were some rose-geranium leaves, whose +fragrance seemed to mantle everything like +smoke. While the clergyman conducted the +inaudible services loud voices were heard in +the bar-room, and the yelp of a dog. On +one side of the house was the hush of death, +on the other the din of life. James wondered +what the clergyman found to say: all that he +had distinguished was the expression, "The +stranger within our midst."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It all seemed horribly farcical to him. The +dead man in his casket had no personality +for him; the sniffs of Mrs. Slocum, her +boarder with the hat, assumed, in his eyes, +the character of a "Punch and Judy" show. +But along with that feeling came the realization +<span class="tei-pb" id="page217">[pg 217]</span> +<a name="Pg217" id="Pg217" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of a most terrible pathos. He felt a sort +of pity for the dead man, whose very personality +had become nothing to him, and the +pity was the greater because of that. It became +a pity for the very scheme of things, for +man in the abstract, born perhaps, through no +fault of his own, to sin and misery, both miserable +and causing misery throughout his life, +and then to end in the grave, and vanish from +the sight and minds of other men. He felt +that it would not be so sad if it were sadder, +if Mrs. Slocum's sniffs had come from her +heart, and not from her sentimentality. He +felt that a funeral where love is not is the +most mournful function on earth. Then, too, +he felt a great anxiety for Doctor Gordon, +who sat shrugged up in his gray overcoat, +with his gray grizzle of beard meeting the +collar, and his forehead heavily corrugated +over pent and gloomy eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He was heartily glad when the service was +over, when the casket had been lowered into +the grave, when the village hearse had turned +off into a street, the horse going at a sharp trot, +and he and Doctor Gordon were left alone. +He drove. Gordon sat hunched into a corner +of the buggy, as he had sat in the corner of +the hotel parlor. James hesitated about saying +<span class="tei-pb" id="page218">[pg 218]</span> +<a name="Pg218" id="Pg218" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>anything, but finally he spoke, he felt foolishly +enough, although he meant the words to +be comforting. "You did all you could to +save his life," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon made no reply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When they reached the house, Clemency's +head disappeared from the window, where +she had evidently been watching. She met +them at the office door, with an odd, shocked, +inquiring expression on her little face. James +kissed her furtively, while Gordon's back was +turned, as he divested himself of his gray coat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Dinner is nearly ready," Clemency said +in an agitated voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How is she?" asked Gordon, then before +she had time to reply, he added almost +roughly, "What on earth are you fretting +about?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not fretting," Clemency answered in +a weak little voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There is nothing in all this for you to concern +yourself with. Put it out of your head!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, Uncle Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How is she?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She has been asleep all the afternoon."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She has not had another attack?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Uncle Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then the dinner-bell rang.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page219">[pg 219]</span> +<a name="Pg219" id="Pg219" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">To James's surprise, but everything surprised +him now, Gordon seemed to recover +his spirits. He ate heartily. He laughed +and joked. After dinner he went upstairs +to see Mrs. Ewing, and when he came down +insisted that James should accompany him +to the hotel for a game of euchre. James +would have preferred remaining with Clemency, +whose eyes were wistful, but Gordon +hurried him away. They remained until +nearly midnight in the parlor, where the +funeral had taken place a short time before, +playing euchre, telling stories, and drinking +apple-jack. James noticed that the hotel +man often cast an anxious and puzzled glance +at Gordon. He began to fancy that what +seemed mirth and jollity was the mere bravado +of misery and a ghastly mask of real +enjoyment. He was glad when Gordon made +the move to leave. Georgie K. stood in the +door watching the two men untie the horse +and get into the buggy. "Take care of yourself, +Doc," he hallooed, and there was real +affection and concern in his voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon drove now, and the mare, being on +her homeward road, made good time. James +helped Gordon unharness, as Aaron had gone +to bed. His deep snores sounded through the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page220">[pg 220]</span> +<a name="Pg220" id="Pg220" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stable from his room above. "It's a pity to +wake up anything," Gordon said. "Guess +well put the mare up ourselves." Now his +voice was bitter again. Gordon had the key +of the office door, and after locking the stable +the two men entered. Gordon threw some +wood on the fire. The lamp with its dangling +prisms was burning. "Sit down a minute," +Gordon said, "'I have something to tell you. +I may as well get it off my mind now. It has +got to come sometime."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James sat down and lit a cigar. He felt +himself in a nervous tension. Gordon filled +his pipe and lit it, then he began to speak in +an odd, monotonous voice, as though he were +reciting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That man's name was James Mendon. +He was an Englishman. When I first began +practice it was in the West. That man had a +ranch near the little town where I lived with +my sister Alice. Alice was a beautiful girl. +We had lost our parents, and she kept house +for me. The man was as handsome as a devil, +and he had the devil's own way with women. +God only knows what a good girl like my sister +saw in him. He had a bad name, even out in +that rough country. Horrible tales were circulated +about his cruelty to animals for one +<span class="tei-pb" id="page221">[pg 221]</span> +<a name="Pg221" id="Pg221" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>thing. His cowboys deserted him and told +stories. His very dog turned on him, and +bit him. God knows how he was torturing +the animal. I saw the scar on his hand when +he lay on his death-bed. Well, however it +was, my sister loved him and married him, +and he treated her like a fiend. She died, +and it was a merciful release. He deserted +her three months before her death. Sold +out all he had, and left her without a cent. +She came back to me, and three months later +Clemency was born."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon paused and looked at James. +"Yes," he said, "that man was Clemency's +father."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He waited, but only for a second. The +young man spoke, and his clear young voice +rang out like a trumpet. "I never loved +Clemency as I love her now," he said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_12" id="toc_12"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page222">[pg 222]</span> +<a name="Pg222" id="Pg222" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER XI</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon smiled at James. "God bless you, +boy!" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What possible difference do you think +that could make?" demanded James hotly. +"Could that poor little girl help it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course she could not, but some men +might object, and with reason, to marrying a +girl who came of such stock on her father's +side."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not one of those men."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I don't think you are, but it is only +my duty to put the case plainly before you. +That man who was buried this afternoon was +simply unspeakable. He was a monstrosity +of perverted morality. I cannot even bring +myself to tell you what I know of him. I +cannot even bring myself to give you the least +hint of what my poor young sister, Clemency's +mother, suffered in her brief life with him. +You may fear heredity—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Heredity, nothing! Don't I know Clemency?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I myself really think that you have nothing +<span class="tei-pb" id="page223">[pg 223]</span> +<a name="Pg223" id="Pg223" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>whatever to fear. Clemency is her mother's +living and breathing image as far as looks +go, and as far as I can judge in the innermost +workings of her mind. I have not seen +in her the slightest taint from her evil father, +though God knows I have watched for +it with horror as the years have passed. +After she was born I smuggled her away by +night, and gave out word that the child had +died at the same time with the mother. There +was a private funeral, and the casket was +closed. I had hard work to carry it through +successfully, for I was young in those days, +and broken-hearted at losing my sister, but +carry it through I did, and no one knew except +a nurse. I trusted her, I was obliged to +do so, and I fear that she has betrayed me. I +established a practice in another town in another +State, and there I met Clara. She has +told me that she informed you of the fact that +she was my wife, but not of our reasons for +concealing it. Just before we were married +I became practically certain that Clemency's +father had gained in some way information +that led him to suspect, if not to be absolutely +certain, that his child had not died with his +wife. I had a widowed sister, Mrs. Ewing, +who lived in Iowa with her only daughter just +<span class="tei-pb" id="page224">[pg 224]</span> +<a name="Pg224" id="Pg224" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>about Clemency's age. Just before our marriage +she decided to remove to England to live +with some relatives of her deceased husband. +They had considerable property, and she had +very little. I begged her to go secretly, or +rather to hint that she was going East to live +with me, which she did. Nobody in the little +Iowa village, so far as I knew, was aware of +the fact that my sister and daughter had gone +to England, and not East to live with me. +Clara and I were married privately in an obscure +little Western hamlet, and came East +at once. We have lived in various localities, +being driven from one to another by the danger +of Clemency's father ascertaining the +truth; and my wife has always been known as +Mrs. Ewing, and Clemency as her daughter. +It has been a life of constant watchfulness +and deception, and I have been bound hand +and foot. Even had Clemency's father not +been so exceedingly careful that it would +have been difficult to reach him by legal +methods, there was the poor child to be considered, +and the ignominy which would come +upon her at the exposure of her father. I +have done what I could. I am naturally a +man who hates deception, and wishes above +all things to lead a life with its windows open +<span class="tei-pb" id="page225">[pg 225]</span> +<a name="Pg225" id="Pg225" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and shades up, but I have been forced into +the very reverse. My life has been as closely +shuttered and curtained as my house. I have +been obliged to force my own wife to live +after the same fashion. Now the cause for +this secrecy is removed, but as far as she is +concerned, the truth must still be concealed +for Clemency's sake. It must not be known +that that dead man was her father, and the +very instant we let go one thread of the mystery +the whole fabric will unravel. Poor +Clara can never be acknowledged openly as +my wife, the best and most patient wife a +man ever had, and under a heavier sentence +of death this moment than the utmost ingenuity +of man could contrive." Gordon +groaned, and let his head sink upon his hands.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She told me some time ago that she was +ill," James said pityingly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Ill? She has been upon the executioner's +block for years. It is not illness; that is too +tame a word for it. It is torture, prolonged +as only the evil forces of Nature herself can +prolong it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon rose and shook himself angrily. +"I am keeping her now almost constantly +under morphine," he said. "She has suffered +more lately. The attacks have been +<span class="tei-pb" id="page226">[pg 226]</span> +<a name="Pg226" id="Pg226" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>more frequent. There has never been the +slightest possibility of a surgical operation. +From the very first it was utterly hopeless, +and if it had been the dog there, I should +have put a bullet through his head and considered +myself a friend." Gordon gazed with +miserable reflection at the dog. "I am glad +that the <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">direct</span> cause of that man's death was +not what it might have been," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He shook himself again as a dog shakes +off water. He laughed a miserable laugh. +"Well," he said, "Clemency is free now. She +can go her ways as she will. You see she resembled +her mother so closely that I had to +guard her from even the sight of her father. +He would have known the truth at once. Clemency +is free, but I have paid an awful price +for her freedom and for your life. If I had +not done what you doubtless know I did that +night, you would have been shot, and it would +have been a struggle between myself and her +father, with the very good chance of my +being killed, and Clara and the girl left defenseless. +His revolver carried six deaths in +it. It would all have depended upon the +quickness of the dog, and I should have left +too much hanging upon that."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't see what else you could do," +<span class="tei-pb" id="page227">[pg 227]</span> +<a name="Pg227" id="Pg227" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>James said in a low voice. He was pale himself. +He did not blame Gordon. He felt +that he himself, in Gordon's place, would +have done as he had done, and yet he felt as +if faced close to a horror of murder and +death, and he knew from the look upon the +other man's countenance that it was the same +with him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I saw no other way," Gordon said in a +broken voice, "but—but I don't know whether +I am a murderer or an executioner, and I +never shall know. God help me! Well," he +added with a sigh, "what is done, is done. +Let us go to bed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James said when they parted at his room +door that he hoped Mrs. Ewing would have a +comfortable night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, she will," replied Gordon quietly. +Then he gave the young man's hand a warm +clasp. "God bless you!" he whispered. "If +this had turned you against the child, it +would have driven me madder than I am +now. I love her as if she were my own. You +and your loyalty are all I have to hold to."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You can hold to that to the end," James +returned with warmth, and he looked at Gordon +as he might have looked at his own father.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Late as it was, he wrote that night to his +<span class="tei-pb" id="page228">[pg 228]</span> +<a name="Pg228" id="Pg228" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>own father and mother, telling them of his +engagement to Clemency. There now can be +no possible need for secrecy with regard to +it. James, in spite of his vague sense of horror, +felt an exhilaration at the thought that +now all could be above board, that the shutters +could be flung open. He felt as if an +incubus had rolled from his mental consciousness. +Clemency herself experienced something +of the same feeling. She appeared at +the breakfast-table the next morning with +her hat. "Uncle says I may go with you on +your rounds," she said to James. She beamed, +and yet there was a troubled and puzzled expression +on her pretty face. When she and +James had started, and were moving swiftly +along the country road, she said suddenly, +"Will you tell me something?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Will you?" she repeated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't promise, dear," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why not?" she asked pettishly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because it might be something which I +ought not to tell you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You ought to tell me everything if—if—" +she hesitated, and blushed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If what?" asked James tenderly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">She nestled up to him. "If you—feel toward +me as you say you do."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page229">[pg 229]</span> +<a name="Pg229" id="Pg229" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If. Oh, Clemency!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then you ought to tell me. No, you +needn't kiss me. I want you to tell me something. +I don't want to be kissed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, what is that you want to know, +dear?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Will you promise to tell me?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, dear, I can't promise, but I will tell +you if I am able without doing you harm."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who was that man who was buried yesterday, +who had been hunting me so long, +and frightening me and Uncle Tom, and why +have I been compelled to stay housed as if I +were a prisoner so much of my life?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because you were in danger, dear, from +the man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are answering me in a circle." Clemency +sat upright and looked at James, and +the blue fire in her eyes glowed. "Who was +the man?" she asked peremptorily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't tell you, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But you know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why can't you tell me then?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Because it is not best."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency shrugged her shoulders. "Why +did he hunt me so?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't tell you, dear."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page230">[pg 230]</span> +<a name="Pg230" id="Pg230" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But you know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not sure."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But you think you know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then tell me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"When will you tell me?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Never!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency looked at him, and again she +blushed. "You will tell me after—we are—married. +You will have to tell me everything +then," she whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James shook his head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Won't you then?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, dear, I shall never tell you while I +live."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency made a sudden grasp at the reins. +"Then I will never marry you," she said. +"I will never marry you, if you keep things +from me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will never keep things from you that +you ought to know, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I ought to know this!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James remained silent. Clemency had +brought the horse to a full stop. "Won't +you ever tell me?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, never! dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then let me get out. This is Annie Lipton's +<span class="tei-pb" id="page231">[pg 231]</span> +<a name="Pg231" id="Pg231" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>street. I am going to see her. I have +not seen her for a long time. I will walk +home. It is safe enough now. You can tell +me that much?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, it is, but Clemency, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not Clemency, dear. I am not +going to marry you. You say you wrote your +father and mother last night that we were +going to get married. Well, you can just write +again and tell them we are not. No, you need +not try to stop me. I will get out. Good-by! +I shall not be home to luncheon. I shall stay +with Annie. I like her very much better than +I like you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">With that Clemency had slipped out of the +buggy and hurried up a street without looking +back. James drove on. He felt disturbed, +but not seriously so. It was impossible +to take Clemency's anger as a real thing. +It was so whimsical and childish. He had +counted upon his long morning with her, but +he went on with a little smile on his face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He was half inclined to think, so slightly +did he estimate Clemency's anger, that she +would not keep her word, and would be home +for luncheon. But when he returned she was +not there, and she had not come when the bell +rang.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page232">[pg 232]</span> +<a name="Pg232" id="Pg232" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why, where is Clemency?" Gordon said, +when they entered the dining-room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She insisted upon stopping to see her +friend Miss Lipton," said James. "She said +that she might not be home to lunch." Emma +gave one of her sharp, baffled glances at him, +then, having served the two men, she tossed +her head and went out. Nobody knew how +much she wished to listen at the kitchen door, +but she was above such a course.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency and I had a bit of a tiff," James +explained to Gordon. "She seemed vexed +because I would not tell her what you told me +last night. She is curious to know more about—that +man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She must not know," Gordon said quickly. +"Never mind if she does seem a little vexed. +She will get over it. I know Clemency. She is +like her mother. The power of sustained indignation +against one she loves is not in the +child, and she must not know. It would be a +dreadful thing for her to know. I myself cannot +have it. It is enough of a horror as it is, +but to have that child look at me, and think—" +Gordon broke off abruptly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She will never know through me," James +said, "and I think with you that her resentment +will not last."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page233">[pg 233]</span> +<a name="Pg233" id="Pg233" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She will be home this afternoon," said +Gordon, "and the walk will do her good."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But the two returned from their afternoon +calls, and still Clemency had not returned. +Emma met them at the door. "Mrs. Ewing +says she is worried about Miss Clemency," +she said. Gordon ran upstairs. When he +came down he joined James in the office. "I +have pacified Clara," he said, "but suppose +you jump into the buggy, Aaron has not unharnessed +yet, and drive over to Annie Lipton's +for her. It is growing colder, and +Clemency has not been outdoors much lately, +and she has rather a delicate throat. It is +time now that she was home."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James smiled. "Suppose she will not come +with me?" he suggested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nonsense," said Gordon. "She will be +only too glad if you meet her half-way. She +will come. Tell her I said that she must."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"All right," replied James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He went out, got into the buggy, and drove +along rapidly. He had the team, and the +horses were still quite fresh, as they had not +been long distances that day. There was a +vague fear in the young man's mind, although +he tried to dispel it by the force of +argument. "What has the girl to fear now?" +<span class="tei-pb" id="page234">[pg 234]</span> +<a name="Pg234" id="Pg234" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his reason kept dinning in his ears, but, in +spite of himself, something else, which seemed +to him unreason, made him anxious. When +he reached Annie Lipton's home, a fine old +house, overhung with a delicate tracery of +withered vines, he saw Annie's pretty head +at a front window. She opened the door before +he had time to ring the bell, and she +looked with alarmed questioning at him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have come for Miss Ewing, her uncle—" +James began, but Annie interrupted him, her +face paling perceptibly. "Clemency," she +said; "why, she left here directly after lunch. +She said she must go. She felt anxious about +her mother, and did not want to leave her any +longer. Hasn't she come home yet?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And you didn't meet her? You must have +met her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The two stood staring at each other. A delicate +old face peeped out of the door at the +right of the halls. It was like Annie's, only +dimmed by age, and shaded by two leaf-like +folds of gray hair as smooth as silver. "Oh, +mother, Clemency has not got home!" Annie +cried. "Dr. Elliot, this is my mother. +Mother, Clemency has not got home. What +do you think has happened?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page235">[pg 235]</span> +<a name="Pg235" id="Pg235" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The lady came out in the hall. She had a +quiet serenity of manner, but her soft eyes +looked anxious. "Could she have stopped +anywhere, dear?" she said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You know, mother, there is not a single +house between here and her own where Clemency +ever stops," said Annie. She was trembling +all over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James made a movement to go. "What +are you going to do?" cried Annie.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Stop at every house between here and +Doctor Gordon's, and ask if the people have +seen her," replied James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then he ran back to the buggy, and heard +as he went a little nervous call from Annie, +"Oh, let us know if—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will let you know when I find her, Miss +Lipton," he called back as he gathered up the +lines. He kept his word. He did stop at +every house, and at every one all knowledge +of the girl was disclaimed. There were not +many houses, the road being a lonely one. +He was met mostly by women who seemed at +once to share his anxiety. One woman especially +asked very carefully for a description +of Clemency, and he gave a minute one. +"You say her mother is ill, too," said the +woman. She was elderly, but still pretty. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page236">[pg 236]</span> +<a name="Pg236" id="Pg236" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>She had kept her tints of youth as some +withered flowers do, and there seemed still +to cling to her the atmosphere of youth, as +fragrance clings to dry rose leaves. She was +dressed in rather a superior fashion to most +of the countrywomen, in soft lavender cashmere +which fitted her slight, tall figure admirably. +James had a glimpse behind her of +a pretty interior: a room with windows full +of blooming plants, of easy-chairs and many +cushioned sofas, beside book-cases. The +woman looked, so he thought, like one who +had some private anxiety of her own. She +kept peering up and down the road, as they +talked, as though she, too, were on the watch +for some one. She promised James to keep +a lookout for the missing girl. "Poor little +thing," she murmured. There was something +in her face as she said that, a slight phase of +amusement, which caused James to stare +keenly at her, but it had passed, and her +whole face denoted the utmost candor and +concern.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When James reached home he had a forlorn +hope that he should find Clemency there; +that from a spirit of mischief she had taken +some cross track over the fields to elude him. +But when Aaron met him in the drive, and he +<span class="tei-pb" id="page237">[pg 237]</span> +<a name="Pg237" id="Pg237" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>saw the man's frightened stare, he knew that +she had not come. It was unnecessary to ask, +but ask he did. "She has not come?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Doctor Elliot," replied Aaron. He +did not even chew. He tied the horses, and +followed James into the office, with his jaws +stiff. Gordon stood up when James entered, +and looked past him for Clemency. "She +was not there?" he almost shouted.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She left the Liptons at two o'clock, and +I have stopped at every house on my way, +and no one has seen her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, my God!" said Gordon, with a dazed +look at James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you think?" asked James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know what to think. I am utterly +at a loss now. I supposed she was entirely +safe. There are almost no tramps at this season, +and in broad daylight. At two, you said? +It is almost six. I don't know what to do. +What will come next? I must tell Clara something +before I do anything else."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon rushed out of the office, and they +heard his heavy tread on the stairs. Aaron +stared at James, and still he did not chew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It's almost dark," he said with a low +drawl.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page238">[pg 238]</span> +<a name="Pg238" id="Pg238" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"We've got to take lanterns, and hunt +along the road and fields."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, we have."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The dog, which had been asleep, got up, +and came over to James, and laid his white +head on his knee. "We can take him," +Aaron said. "Sometimes dogs have more +sense than us."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is so," said James. He felt himself +in an agony of helplessness. He simply did +not know what to do. He had sunk into a +chair and his head fairly rung. It seemed to +him incredible that the girl had disappeared +a second time. A queer sense of unreality +made him feel faint.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon reëntered the room. "I have told +Clara that you have come back, and that +Clemency is to stay all night with Annie Lipton," +he said. Then he, too, stood staring +helplessly. Emma had come into the room, +and now she spoke angrily to the three dazed +men. "Git the lanterns lit, for goodness' +sake," said she, "and hunt and do something. +I'm goin' to git her supper, and I'll +keep her pacified." Emma gave a jerk with +a sharp elbow toward Mrs. Ewing's room. +"For goodness' sake, if you don't know yet +where she has went, why don't you do somethin'?" +<span class="tei-pb" id="page239">[pg 239]</span> +<a name="Pg239" id="Pg239" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>she demanded. The men went before +her sharp command like dust before her +broom. "Keep as still as you can," ordered +Emma as they went out. "<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">She</span> mustn't, git +to worryin' before she comes home."</p> + +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p"> +<img src="images/image04.png" width="480" height="686" alt=""Saw a little dark figure running toward him."" class="tei tei-figure" /></p> +<p style="text-align: center" class="tei tei-p">"Saw a little dark figure running toward him." Page 239.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">For the next two hours Gordon, James, and +Aaron searched. They walked, each going +his separate way into the fields and woods on +the road, having agreed upon a signal when +the girl should be found. The signal was to +be a pistol shot. James went first to the +wood, where he had found Clemency on her +former disappearance. He searched in every +shadow, throwing the gleam of his lantern +into little dark nests of last year's ferns, and +hollows where last year's leaves had swirled +together to die, but no Clemency. At last, +wearied and heart-sick, he came out on the +road. The moon was just up, a full moon, and +the road lay stretched before him like a silver +ribbon covered with the hoar-frost. He gazed +down it hopelessly, and saw a little dark figure +running toward him. He was incredulous, +but he called, "Clemency!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A glad little cry answered him. He himself +ran forward, and the girl was in his arms, +sobbing and trembling as if her heart would +break.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page240">[pg 240]</span> +<a name="Pg240" id="Pg240" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What has happened? What has happened, +darling?" James cried in an agony. +"Are you hurt? What has happened?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Something very strange has happened, +but I am not hurt," sobbed Clemency. James +remembered the signal. "Wait a second, +dear," he said; "your uncle and Aaron are +searching, and I promised to fire the pistol if +I found you." James fired his pistol in the +air six times. Then he returned to Clemency, +who was leaning against a tree. "How I +wish we had driven here!" James said tenderly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can walk, if you help me," Clemency +sobbed, leaning against him. "Oh, I am so +sorry I acted so this morning. I got punished +for it. I haven't been hurt, nobody has been +anything but kind to me, but I have been +dreadfully frightened."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon and Aaron came running up. +"Where have you been, Clemency?" Gordon +demanded in a harsh voice. "Another +time you must do as you are told. You are +too old to behave like a child, and put us all +in such a fright."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency left James, and ran to her uncle, +and clung to him sobbing hysterically. "Oh, +Uncle Tom, don't scold me," she whimpered.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page241">[pg 241]</span> +<a name="Pg241" id="Pg241" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Are you hurt? What has happened?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not hurt a bit," sobbed Clemency.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon put his arm around her. "Well," +he said, "as long as you are safe keep your +story until we get home. Elliot, take her other +arm. She is almost too used up to walk. +Now stop crying, Clemency."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When they were home, in the office, Clemency +told her story, which was a strange one. +She had been on her way home from Annie +Lipton's, and had reached a certain house, +when the door opened and a woman stood +there calling her. She described the woman +and the house, and James gave a start. "That +must be the same woman whom I saw," he +exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She was a woman I had never seen," said +Clemency. "I think she had only lived there +a very short time."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon nodded gloomily. "I know who +she is, I fear," he said. "Strange that I did +not suspect."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She looked very kind and pleasant," said +Clemency, "and I thought she wanted something +and there was no harm, but when I +reached her the first thing I knew she had +hold of me, and her hands were like iron +clamps. She put one over my mouth, and +<span class="tei-pb" id="page242">[pg 242]</span> +<a name="Pg242" id="Pg242" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>held me with the other, and pulled me into the +house and locked the door. Then she made +me go into a little dark room in the middle +of the house and she locked me in. She told +me if I screamed nobody would hear me, but +she did speak kindly. She was very kind. +Once she even kissed me, although I did not +want her to. She brought a lamp in, and +made me lie down on a couch in the room and +drink a glass of wine. She told me not to be +afraid, nobody would hurt me. She seemed +to me to be always listening, and every now +and then she went out, but she always locked +the door behind her. When she came back +she would look terribly worried. About half +an hour ago she went out, and when she came +back brought a tray with tea and bread and +cold chicken for me. I told her I would +starve before I ate anything while she kept +me there. She did not seem to pay much attention, +she looked so dreadfully worried. +She sat down and looked at me. Finally, she +said, as if she were afraid to hear her own +voice, 'Has any accident happened near here +lately that you have heard of?' I told her +about the man that fell down in our drive +and died of erysipelas. I did not tell her +anything else. All at once she almost fell in +<span class="tei-pb" id="page243">[pg 243]</span> +<a name="Pg243" id="Pg243" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a faint. Then she stood up, and she looked +as if she were dead. She told me to stay +where I was just fifteen minutes, then I might +go, but I must not stir before. Then she +kissed me again, and her lips were like ice. +She went out, and I knew the door was not +locked, but I was afraid to stir. I could hear +her running about. Then I heard the outer +door slam, and I looked at my watch, and it +was fifteen minutes. Then I ran out and up +the road as fast as I could. Just before I saw +Doctor Elliot the New York train passed. I +heard it. I think she was hurrying to catch +that."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, Uncle Tom, who was she, and why +did she lock me up?" asked Clemency.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency," said Gordon, in a sterner +voice than Clemency had ever heard him use +toward her, "never speak, never think, of that +woman or that man again. Now go out and +eat your dinner."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_13" id="toc_13"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page244">[pg 244]</span> +<a name="Pg244" id="Pg244" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER XII</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency was so worn out that Doctor Gordon +insisted upon her going to bed directly +after dinner, and he and James had a solitary +evening in the office, with the exception +of Gordon's frequent absence in his wife's +room. Each time when he returned he looked +more gloomy. "I have increased the morphine +almost as much as I dare," he said, +coming into the office about ten. He sat down +and lit his pipe. James laid down the evening +paper which he had been reading. "Is she +asleep now?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes. By the way, Elliot, have you guessed +who that woman was who kidnapped Clemency?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated. "I don't fairly know +whether I am right, but I have guessed," he +replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The nurse."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are right. It was the nurse. That +man had won her over, and set her up housekeeping +in Westover. He had been staying +<span class="tei-pb" id="page245">[pg 245]</span> +<a name="Pg245" id="Pg245" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>at the hotel there before he came here. He +was her lover, of course, although he was too +circumspect not to guard the secret. She has +been living in that house for the last three +months under the name of Mrs. Wood, a +widow. The former occupants went away +last summer, Aaron has been telling me. He +said that once he himself saw the man enter +the house, and he had seen the woman on the +street. She had made herself quite popular +in Westover. It was no part of that man's +policy to keep his vice behind locked doors. +Locks themselves are the best witness against +evil. She attended the Dutch Reformed +Church regularly. She was present at all +the church suppers, and everybody has called +on her in Westover. Now I think she has +fled, half-crazed with grief over the death of +her lover, and afraid of some sort of exposure. +Unless I miss my guess, there will be +a furor around here shortly over her disappearance. +She was not a bad woman as I +remember her, and she was attractive, with +a kindly disposition. But he had his way always +with women, and I suppose she thought +she was doing him a service by kidnapping +poor little Clemency. I am sorry for her. +I hope she did not go away penniless, but she +<span class="tei-pb" id="page246">[pg 246]</span> +<a name="Pg246" id="Pg246" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>has her nursing to fall back upon. She was +a good nurse. That makes me think. I must +see if Mrs. Blair cannot come here to-morrow. +Clara must have somebody beside Clemency +and Emma. I should prefer a trained nurse, +and this woman is simply the self-taught village +sort, but Clara prefers her. She shrinks +at the very mention of a trained nurse. Of +course, it is unreasonable, but the poor soul +has always had an awful dread of hospitals +and a possible operation, and I believe that +in some way she thinks a trained nurse one +of a dreadful trinity. She must be humored, +of course. The result cannot be changed."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You have no hope, then?" James said in +a low voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have had no more from the outset than +if she had been already dead," said Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James said nothing. An enormous pity for +the other man was within him. He thought +of Clemency, and he seemed to undergo the +same pangs. He felt such a terrible understanding +of the other's suffering that it passed +the bounds of sympathy. It became almost +experience. His young face took on the same +expression of dull misery as Gordon's. Presently +Gordon glanced at him, and spoke with +a ring of gratitude and affection in his tired +voice.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page247">[pg 247]</span> +<a name="Pg247" id="Pg247" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are a good fellow, Elliot," he said, +"and you are the one ray of comfort I have. +I am glad that I have you to leave poor little +Clemency with."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James looked at him with sudden alarm. +"You are not ill?" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, but there is an end to everybody's +rope, and sometimes I think I am about at +the end of mine. I don't know. Anyway, it +is a comfort to me to think that Clemency +has you in case anything should happen to +me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She has me as long as I live," James said +fervently. Red overspread his young face, +his eyes glistened. Again the great pity and +understanding with regard to the other man +came over him, and a feeling for Clemency +which he had never before had: a feeling +greater than love itself, the very angel of +love, divinest pity and protection, for all +womanhood, which was exemplified for himself +in this one girl. His heart ached, as if +it were Clemency's upstairs, lying miserably +asleep under the influence of the drug, which +alone could protect her from indescribable +pain. His mind projected itself into the future, +and realized the possibility of such suffering +for her, and for himself. The honey-sting +<span class="tei-pb" id="page248">[pg 248]</span> +<a name="Pg248" id="Pg248" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of pain, which love has, stung him +sharply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon seemed to divine his thoughts. +"God grant that you may never have to +undergo what I am undergoing, boy," he +said. Then he added, "It was in poor Clara's +blood, her mother before her died the same +way. Clemency comes, on her mother's side +at least, of a healthy race, morally and physically, +although the nervous system is oversensitive. +If my poor sister had been happy, +she would have been alive to-day. And as +far as I know of the other side, there was +perfect physical health, although he had that +abnormal lack of moral sense that led one to +dream of possession. Did you notice how +much less evil he looked when he was dead, +even with that frightfully disfigured face?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"There are strange things in this world," +said Gordon with gloomy reflection, "or else +simple things which we are strange not to believe. +Sometimes I think people will have to +take to the Bible again in that literal sense +in which so many are now inclined to disregard +it. Well, Elliot, I honestly feel that you +have nothing to fear in taking poor little +Clemency. I should tell you if I thought +<span class="tei-pb" id="page249">[pg 249]</span> +<a name="Pg249" id="Pg249" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>otherwise. She will make you happy, and I +can think of no reason to warn you concerning +any possible lapses, in either her physical +or her moral health, and I have had her in +my charge since she first drew the breath of +life. Come, my son, it is late, and we have a +great deal to do to-morrow. This awful business +has made me neglect patients. I have +to see Clara again, and get what rest I can." +Gordon looked older and wearier than James +had ever seen him, as he bade him good-night, +old and weary as he had often seen him look. +A sudden alarm for Gordon himself came +over him. He wondered, after he had entered, +his room, if he were not strained past endurance. +He recalled his own father's healthy, +ruddy face, and Gordon was no older.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He lay awake a while thinking anxiously +of Gordon, then his own happy future blazoned +itself before him, and he dreamed +awake, and dreamed asleep, of himself and +Clemency, in that future, whose golden vistas +had no end, so far as his young eyes +could see. The sense of relief from anxiety +over the girl was so intense that it was in +itself a delight. Clemency herself felt it. +The next morning at breakfast she looked +radiant. Gordon had assured her the sick +<span class="tei-pb" id="page250">[pg 250]</span> +<a name="Pg250" id="Pg250" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>woman had rested quietly, and told her that +Mrs. Blair was coming.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"To-day I can go where I choose," Clemency +exclaimed gayly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not until afternoon," replied Gordon, then +he relented at her look of disappointment, +and suggested that she go with Elliot to make +his calls, while he went with Aaron and the +team. It was a beautiful morning; spring +seemed to have arrived. Everywhere was the +plash of running water, now and then came +distant flutings of birds. "I know that was +a bluebird," Clemency said happily. "I feel +sure mother will get well now. It seems +wicked to be glad that the man is dead, especially +on such a morning, but I wonder if it +is, when he would have spoiled the morning."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't think about it, anyway!" James +said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I try not to."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You must not!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know why Uncle Tom did not want me +to go out alone this morning," Clemency said, +with one of her quick wise looks, cocking her +head like a bird.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He wanted to make sure that that woman +has really gone."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page251">[pg 251]</span> +<a name="Pg251" id="Pg251" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency, you must not mention that +man or woman to me again," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not married to you yet," Clemency +said, pouting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That makes no difference, you must +promise."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, then, I will. I am so happy this +morning, that I will promise anything."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James looked about to be sure nobody was +in sight before he kissed the little radiant +face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I won't speak of them again, but I am +right," Clemency said with a little toss and +blush, and it proved that she was.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">At luncheon Doctor Gordon told Clemency +that she could go wherever she liked. She +gave a little glance at James, and said gayly, +"All right, Uncle Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">That afternoon Gordon and James made +some calls in company, driving far into the +hills. They had hardly started before Gordon +said abruptly, "Well, the woman is gone, +and there is a wild excitement in Westover +over her disappearance. I believe they are +about to drag the pond. A man who knew +her well by sight declares that she boarded +that New York train, but the people will not +give up the theory that she has been murdered +<span class="tei-pb" id="page252">[pg 252]</span> +<a name="Pg252" id="Pg252" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>for her jewelry. By the way, I think +I need not worry over her immediate necessities. +It seems that she had worn a quantity +of very valuable jewels. Of course her going +without any baggage except a suit-case, and +leaving behind the greater part of her wardrobe, +does look singular. But it seems that +the house was rented furnished, and I fancy +she lived always in light marching orders, +and probably carried the most valuable of her +possessions upon her person and in her suit-case. +Well, I am thankful she has decamped."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You don't fear her returning?" asked +James with some anxiety.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I have no fear of that. She is probably +broken-hearted over the death of that +man. She is not of the sort to kidnap on her +own account. It was only for him. Clemency +has nothing more to fear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am thankful."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You can well believe that I am, when I +tell you that this afternoon I am absolutely +sure, for the first time in years, that the girl +is safe to come and go as she pleases. I have +had hideous uncertainty as well as hideous +certainty to cope with. Now it is down to the +hideous certainty. That is bad enough, but +fate on an open field is less unmanning than +<span class="tei-pb" id="page253">[pg 253]</span> +<a name="Pg253" id="Pg253" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fate in ambush. I have long known to a +nicety the fate in the field." Gordon hesitated +a second, then he said abruptly, with +his face turned from his companion, in a +rough voice, "Clara can't last many days."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James made an exclamation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She has gone down hill rapidly during +the last two days," said Gordon. "I have +been increasing the morphine. It can't last +long." Gordon ended the sentence with a +hoarse sob.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I can't say anything," James faltered +after a second, "but you know—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I know," Gordon said. "You are +as sorry as any one can be who is not, so to +speak, the hero, or rather the coward, of the +tragedy. Yes, I know. I'm obliged to you, +Elliot, but all of us have to face death, +whether it is our own or the death of another +dearer than ourselves, alone. A soul is a horribly +lonely thing in the worst places of life."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Have you told Clemency?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I have put it off until the last minute. +What good can it do? She knows that Clara +is very ill, but she does not know, she has +never known, the character of the illness. +Sometimes I have a curious feeling that instinct +has asserted itself, and that Clemency, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page254">[pg 254]</span> +<a name="Pg254" id="Pg254" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fond as she is of my wife, has not exactly the +affection which she would have had for her +own mother."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't think she knows any difference +at all," James said. "I think the poor little +girl will about break her heart."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I did not mean to underestimate Clemency's +affection," said Gordon, "but what I +say is true. The girl herself will never know +it, and, you may not believe it, but she will +not suffer as she would suffer if Clara were +her own mother. These ties of the blood are +queer things, nothing can quite take their +place. If Clemency had died first Clara would +have been indignant at the suggestion, but +she herself would not have mourned as she +would mourn for her own daughter. I must +touch up the horses a bit. I want to get home. +I may not be able to go out again to-night. +Last night I was up until dawn with Clara." +Gordon touched the horses with a slight flicker +of the whip. He held the lines taut as they +sprang forward. His face was set ahead. +James glancing at him had a realization of +the awful loneliness of the other man by his +side. He seemed to comprehend the vastness +of the isolation of a grief which concerns one, +and one only, more than any other. Gordon +<span class="tei-pb" id="page255">[pg 255]</span> +<a name="Pg255" id="Pg255" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>had the expression of a wanderer upon a desert +or a frozen waste. Illimitable distances +of solitude seemed reflected in his gloomy +eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James did not attempt to talk to him. It +seemed like mockery, this effort to approach +with sympathy this set-apart man, who was +unapproachable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">That night Gordon's wife was much worse. +Gordon came down to James's room about +two o'clock. James had been awake for some +time listening to the sounds of suffering overhead, +and he had lit his lamp and dressed, +thinking that he might be needed. Gordon +stood in the doorway almost reeling. He +made an effort before he spoke.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Come into my office, will you?" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James at once followed him. Going through +the hall the sounds of agony became more distinct. +When they entered the office Gordon +fairly slammed the door, then he turned to +Elliot with a savage expression. "Hear +that," he said, as if he were accusing the +other man. "Hear that, I say! The last +hypodermic has not taken effect yet, and her +heart is weak. If I give her more—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He stopped, staring at James, his face +worked like a child's. Then suddenly an almost +<span class="tei-pb" id="page256">[pg 256]</span> +<a name="Pg256" id="Pg256" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>idiotic expression came over it, the utter +numbness of grief. Then it passed away. +Again he looked intelligently into the young +man's eyes. "If I don't give her more," he +gasped out, "if I don't, this may last hours. +If I do—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The two men stood staring at each other. +James thought of Clemency. "Has Clemency +been in to see her?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, she heard, and came in. I sent her +out. She is in her own room now; Emma is +with her." Suddenly Gordon gave a look of +despairing appeal at James. "I—wish you +would go up and see Clara," he whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James knew what he meant. He hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Go, and send Mrs. Blair down here," +said Gordon. "Tell her I want to see her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well," said James slowly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The two men did not look at each other +again. Gordon sank into his chair. James +went out of the room and upstairs. He +knocked on the door of the sick-room, and +Mrs. Blair, the village nurse, answered his +knock. She was a large woman in a voluminous +wrapper. Her face had a settled expression +of gravity, almost of sternness. She +looked at James. The screams from the writhing +mass of agony in the bed did not appear +<span class="tei-pb" id="page257">[pg 257]</span> +<a name="Pg257" id="Pg257" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to be moving her, whereas she in reality was +herself screwed to such a pitch of mental torture +of pity that she was scarcely able to move. +She was rigid.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Gordon sent me," whispered +James. "He wished me to see her. He asked +me to say to you that he would like to see you +for a minute in the office."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The woman did not move for a second. +Then she whispered close to James's ear, "<span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">It +is on the bureau</span>."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James nodded. They passed each other. +James entered the room and closed the door. +A lamp was burning on a table with a screen +before it. The bed was in shadow. The +screams never ceased. They were not human. +James could not realize that the beautiful +woman whom he had known was making such +sounds. They sounded like the shrieks of an +animal. All the soul seemed gone from them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James approached the bed. There was a +roll of dark eyes at him. Then a voice ghastly +beyond description, like the snarl of a hungry +beast, came from between the straight white +lips. "More, more! Give me more! Be +quick!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Quick, quick!" demanded the voice.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page258">[pg 258]</span> +<a name="Pg258" id="Pg258" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James crossed the room to the dresser. +The sick woman now interspersed her screams +with the word "quick!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James filled a hypodermic syringe from a +glass on the bureau and approached the bed +again. He bared a shuddering arm and inserted +the instrument quickly. "Now try +and be quiet," he said. "You will go to +sleep."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then he went out of the room. The screams +had ceased. As James approached the stair +another door opened, and Clemency in a +wrapper looked out. She was very pale, her +eyes were distended with fear, and her mouth +was trembling. "How is she?" she whispered.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Better, dear. Go back in your room and +lie down. We are doing all we can."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When James entered the office Gordon and +Mrs. Blair turned with one accord, and fixed +horribly searching eyes upon his face. He +sat down beside the table, and mechanically +lit a cigar.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How did she seem?" Gordon asked almost +inaudibly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Better."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was she quiet?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page259">[pg 259]</span> +<a name="Pg259" id="Pg259" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon gave a long sigh. His face was +deadly white. He leaned back in his chair, +and both James and the nurse sprang. They +thought he had fainted. While James felt +his pulse Mrs. Blair got some brandy. Gordon +swallowed the brandy, and raised his +head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is nothing," he said in a harsh voice. +"You had better go back to her, Mrs. Blair."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">A look of strange dread came over the woman's +grave face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will be there directly," said Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Blair went out. She left the door +ajar. The house was so still that one could +seem to hear the silence. There was something +terrible about it after the turmoil of +sound. Then the silence was broken. A +scream more terrible than ever pierced it like +a sword. Another came. Gordon sprang up +and faced James. The young man's eyes fell +before the look of fierce questioning in Gordon's.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I could not," he gasped. "Oh, Doctor +Gordon, I could not! Instead of that I +used water. I thought perhaps her mind +being convinced that it was morphine, she +might—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Mind!" shouted Gordon. "Mind, how +<span class="tei-pb" id="page260">[pg 260]</span> +<a name="Pg260" id="Pg260" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>much do you suppose the poor, tortured thing +has to bring to bear upon this? I tell you she +is being eaten alive. There is no other word +for it. Gnawed, and worried, and eaten +alive." Gordon ran out of the room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James closed the door. The dog, who had +been asleep beside the fire, started up, came +over to James, laid his white head on his knee +and whimpered, with an appealing look in his +brown eyes, which were turned toward the +young man's face. Almost immediately Mrs. +Blair entered the room. She was very pale. +"Doctor Gordon sent me down for the +brandy," she said abruptly. She went to the +table on which the brandy flask stood, but she +seemed in no hurry to take it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How is she?" asked James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think she is a little quieter." The nurse +stood staring at the fire for a second longer. +Then she took the brandy flask and went out +with a soft, but jarring, tread.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Doctor Gordon must have passed her on the +stairs, for he returned almost directly after +she had left, and stood with his back to James, +fussing over some bottles on the shelves opposite +the fireplace. He stood there for some +five minutes. James glancing over his shoulder +saw that he was trembling in a strange +<span class="tei-pb" id="page261">[pg 261]</span> +<a name="Pg261" id="Pg261" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>rigid fashion, but he seemed intent upon the +bottles. The house was very still again. Gordon +at last seemed to have finished whatever +he was doing with the bottles. He left them +and sat down in his chair. The dog left James +and went to him, but Gordon pushed him +away roughly. Then Gordon spoke to James +without turning his face in his direction. "I +wish you would go upstairs," he said hoarsely. +"Mrs. Blair is alone, and I—I am about done +too."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James obeyed without a word. When he +reached the head of the stairs he felt a sudden +draught of cold wind. Mrs. Blair came +out of the sick-room, closing the door behind +her. Her face looked as stern as fate itself. +James knew what had happened the moment +he saw her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James began to speak stammeringly, but +she stopped him. "Call Doctor Gordon," she +said shortly. "She is dead."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_14" id="toc_14"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page262">[pg 262]</span> +<a name="Pg262" id="Pg262" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER XIII</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">About two weeks after the death of Doctor +Gordon's wife James went to the post office +before beginning his round of calls. Lately +nearly all the practice had devolved upon +him. Gordon seemed sunken in a gloomy +apathy, from which he could rouse himself +only for the most urgent necessities. Once +aroused he was fully himself, but for the most +part he sat in his office smoking or seemingly +half-asleep. Once in a while a very sick patient +acted upon him as a momentary stimulus, +but Alton was unusually healthy just +then. After an open and, for the most part, +snowless winter, which had occasioned much +sickness, the spring brought frost and light +falls of snow, which seemed to give new life +to people in spite of unseasonableness. James +had had little difficulty in attending to most +of the practice, although he was necessarily +away from home the greater part of the time. +However, he often took Clemency with him, +and she would sit well wrapped up in the +buggy reading a book while he made calls. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page263">[pg 263]</span> +<a name="Pg263" id="Pg263" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Then there were the long drives over solitary +roads, which, though rough, causing the +wheels to jolt heavily in deep ridges of frozen +soil, or sink into the red mud almost to the +hubs, as the case might be, seemed like roads +of Paradise to the young man. Although he +himself grieved for Gordon's wife, and Gordon +himself filled him with covert anxiety, yet he +was young and the girl was young, and they +were both released from a miserable sense of +insecurity and mystery, which had irritated +and saddened them; their thoughts now turned +toward their own springtime, as naturally +and innocently as flowers bloom. There was +grief, and the shadow of trouble, but of past +trouble; their eyes looked upon life and love +and joy instead of death, as helplessly as a +flower looks toward the sun. They were +happy, although half-ashamed of their happiness; +but, after all, perhaps, being happy +after bereavement and trouble means simply +that the soul has turned to God for consolation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James's face was beaming with his joyful +thoughts as he drew up before the village +store, got out of the buggy, and tied the horse. +When he entered he said "good morning!" in +a sort of general fashion. There were many +<span class="tei-pb" id="page264">[pg 264]</span> +<a name="Pg264" id="Pg264" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>men lounging about. The morning mail had +been distributed, and although Alton people +got very few letters, still there was a wide +interest in the post office, a little boxed-off +space in a corner of the store. The store-keeper, +Henry Graves, was the postmaster. +He felt the importance of his position. When +he sorted and distributed the mail from the +limp leather bag, he realized himself as an +official of a great republic. He loved to +proudly ignore, and not even seem to see, the +interested and gaping faces watching the +boxes. Doctor Gordon's box was an object +of especial interest. Indeed, that was the +only one to be depended upon to contain +something when the two mails per day arrived. +Gordon, moreover, took the only New +York paper which reached the little hamlet. +Alton had no paper of its own. The nearest +was printed in Stanbridge. One man, the +Presbyterian minister, subscribed to the Stanbridge +paper, and paid for it in farm produce. +He had a little farm, and tilled the +soil when he was not saving souls. The Stanbridge +paper had arrived the night before, +and the minister had been good enough to +impart some of its contents to the curious +throng in the store. He was accustomed to +<span class="tei-pb" id="page265">[pg 265]</span> +<a name="Pg265" id="Pg265" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>do so. Likewise Gordon, when he was not too +hurried, would open his New York paper, +and read the most startling "headers" to a +wide-eyed audience. This morning the paper +was in the box as usual, with a number of +letters. The men pressed in a suggestive +way around James, as he took the parcel +from the postmaster. There were no lock-boxes. +James hesitated a moment. He had +not much time, but he was good-natured, and +the eager hunger in the men's eyes appealed +to him. There was something pathetic about +this outreaching for intelligence of their kind, +and its progress or otherwise, among these +plodding folk, who had so to count their +pence that a newspaper was an unheard-of +luxury to them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James opened the paper and glanced over +the headlines on the first page. Now, had he +looked, he might have seen something sinister +and malicious in the curious eyes, but he +was so dazed by the very first thing he saw +as to be for the moment oblivious to anything +else. On the right of the first page was the +headline: "Strange dual life of a prominent +physician in Alton, New Jersey. Doctor +Thomas B. Gordon has lived with his wife +for years, and called her his widowed sister, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page266">[pg 266]</span> +<a name="Pg266" id="Pg266" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Mrs. Clara Ewing. Upon her death, a few +days since, he revealed the secret. Will give +no reasons for this strange conduct, simply +states that he was justified, even compelled, +by circumstances." Then followed a caricature +portrait of Gordon, a photograph of +the house, one of the village church, and the +cemetery and Gordon's wife's grave, with +various surmises and comments, enough to +fill the column. James paled as he read. He +had not known of Gordon's action in telling +that the dead woman was his wife. He looked +around in a bewildered fashion, and met the +hungry eyes. One small, mean face of a +small man peered around his shoulder gloatingly. +"Some news this mornin'?" he observed, +with a smack of the lips, as if he tasted +sweets.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then James arose to the occasion. He +faced them all and smiled coolly. "Yes," +he replied; "you mean about Doctor Gordon?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">There was a murmur of assent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James read the article from beginning to +end. "I suppose it is news to you," he said, +when he had finished. He looked at them all +with a superior air. He looked older and +more manly than when he had first come in +<span class="tei-pb" id="page267">[pg 267]</span> +<a name="Pg267" id="Pg267" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>their midst. He <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">was</span> older and more manly, +and he was superior. The men recognized it, +not sullenly nor defiantly, but with the unquestioning +attitude of the New Jerseyman +when he is really below the scale in birth and +education. Still their faces all expressed +malicious cunning and cruel curiosity, which +they hesitated to put into words. They knew +that Elliot was to marry Gordon's niece; they +were overawed by both men, but they were +afraid of Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Still Jim Goodman found courage of his +meanness and smallness and spoke. "It +seems a strange thing," he said, "that Doctor +Gordon should hev came and went here +for years, and all of us thinkin' his wife were +his sister when she were not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, what of it?" asked James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The men stared at one another.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What of it?" repeated James. "I don't +suppose there is anything criminal in a man's +calling his wife by his sister's name. Doctor +Gordon has a sister named Ewing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Again the men stared at one another, and +Jim Goodman was the only one who had the +miserable courage to speak. "S'pose him +an' her were married," he said, in a thin voice +like the squeal of a fox.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page268">[pg 268]</span> +<a name="Pg268" id="Pg268" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Which of you wants to be knocked down +can make a statement to the contrary," +thundered James. "Is that what you make +of it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Goodman shuffled from one foot to the +other. Men nudged shoulders, Goodman +spoke. "Nobody never knows what is true +or ain't true in them newspapers," he observed, +and there was a note of alarm in his +voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I did not read a thing in the whole column +which even implied such a thing as you +intimated," James said hotly. "Don't put +it off on the newspapers!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then another man spoke, a farmer, tall, +dry, lank, and impervious. He was a man +about whom were ill-reports. His wife had +died some years before, and he had a housekeeper, +a florid, blonde creature, dressed with +dingy showiness, of whom people spoke with +covert laughs. "All we want to know is why +Doctor Gordon has never said that her was +his wife, and not his sister," he said in a defiant +nasal voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The malignant Jim Goodman saw his +chance. He jumped upon it like a spider. +"That's so," he said. "Why didn't he say +she was his housekeeper?" There was a +<span class="tei-pb" id="page269">[pg 269]</span> +<a name="Pg269" id="Pg269" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>shout of coarse laughter. The farmer gave a +hateful look at Goodman and puffed at a rank +pipe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James was furious, but he saw the necessity +of a statement of some kind, and his wits +leaped to action. "Well," he said, "suppose +there was a question of money."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The crowd pressed closer and gaped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Money!" said Goodman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, money," pursued James recklessly. +"Did you never hear of people being opposed +to marriages, rich people I mean, and +threatening to disinherit a woman if she married +the man they did not pick out for her?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was that it?" asked Goodman.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not saying that it was or was not. +I am not going to discuss Doctor Gordon's +secrets with you. It's none of your business, +and none of my business. All I am saying +is this, suppose there had been a girl years +ago with a very rich bachelor brother. Suppose +the brother had been jilted by a girl, +and hated the whole lot of women like poison, +and had no idea of getting married himself, +and his sister would be his only heiress, and +he had set his foot down that she should not +marry Doc—the man she had set her heart +upon. Suppose he went to—well, the South +<span class="tei-pb" id="page270">[pg 270]</span> +<a name="Pg270" id="Pg270" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Sea Islands, for the rest of his life, to get out +of sight and sound of women like the one who +had jilted him, told his sister before he went +that if she married the man she wanted he +would make a will and leave his money away +from her, build an hospital or a library or +something, suppose she hit upon the plan of +marrying the man she wanted, and keeping it +quiet."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Was that it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Didn't I tell you that I would not say +whether it was or not? I only say suppose +that was the case. Doctor Gordon has a +married sister by the name of Ewing living +in foreign parts. You can see for yourself +how easy it might have been."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What about the girl?" asked Goodman +in a dry voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James flushed angrily. "That is nobody's +business," said he. "She is Doctor Gordon's +niece."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Goodman was unabashed. "How does it +happen her name is Ewing?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Couldn't it possibly have happened that +two sisters of Doctor Gordon's married two +brothers?" James cried. He elbowed his +way out. When he was in the buggy driving +home, he began to realize how the fairy tale +<span class="tei-pb" id="page271">[pg 271]</span> +<a name="Pg271" id="Pg271" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>which he had related in the store would not +in the least impose upon Clemency, how she +would almost inevitably hear of the statements +in the papers. He wondered more and +more that Gordon should have divulged a +secret which he had kept so fiercely for so +long.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When he reached home he went at once +into the office, and gave Gordon his mail and +the New York paper. Gordon glanced at it, +then at James. "Have you seen this?" he +asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James nodded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suppose you think me most inconsistent," +said Gordon gloomily, "but the truth +is I kept the secret while Clara was alive, +though I found I could not, oh, God, I could +not after she was dead and gone! I had not +realized what that would mean: to never +acknowledge her as my wife, dead or alive. +I found that when it came to the death certificate, +and the notice in the paper, and the +erection of a stone to her memory, that I +could not keep up the deception, no matter +what the consequence. My God, Elliot, I +cannot commit sacrilege against the dead! +Dead, she must have her due. I anticipated +this. There was something last night in the +<span class="tei-pb" id="page272">[pg 272]</span> +<a name="Pg272" id="Pg272" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Stanbridge Record</span>, and yesterday, while you +were out three reporters from New York +came. I told them that I had done what I +had for good and sufficient reasons, which +were not dishonorable to myself or to others, +and beyond that I would say nothing. I suppose +the poor fellows had to tax their imaginations +to fill their columns. I don't know +what the result will be with regard to Clemency, +but I could not help it." There was +something painfully appealing in Gordon's +look and manner. He seemed so broken that +James was alarmed. He said everything that +he was able to say to soothe him, commended +the course which he had taken, and told him +what he had said at the store, without repeating +the insinuations which had led him +to fabricate such a tale. Gordon smiled bitterly. +"All your fellowmen want of you is +food for their animal appetites or their mental," +he said. "They must have meat and +drink for their stomachs, as well as for their +curiosity and malice. I have lived here all +these years, and labored for them for mighty +poor recompense, and sometimes for none at +all, and I'll warrant that to-day I am more in +their minds than I have ever been before, because +they have found out my secret, which +<span class="tei-pb" id="page273">[pg 273]</span> +<a name="Pg273" id="Pg273" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>has been the torture of my life. I wonder if +Clemency has heard anything about it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I will go and see," replied James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The minute he saw Clemency, who was in +the parlor, he knew that she knew. By her +side on the floor was the <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">Stanbridge Record</span>. +She looked at James and pointed to it without +a word. Her face was white as death. +James took up the paper. That merely announced +the fact of Mrs. Gordon's death, +dwelt upon her many beautiful qualities of +mind and body, her great suffering, and stated +briefly the astonishment with which the news +was received that she was Doctor Gordon's +wife, and not his sister, as people had been +led to suppose. "Little Annie Codman just +brought it over," said Clemency. "She said +her mother sent it. It is just like her mother. +Mr. Codman never would have done such a +thing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mr. Codman was the minister.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James, for a second, did not know what to +say. He thought of the absurd story which he +had told, or rather suggested, at the store, and +realized that such a fabrication would not answer +here.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Immediately Clemency fired a point-blank +question at him. "Who am I?" she asked.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page274">[pg 274]</span> +<a name="Pg274" id="Pg274" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are Doctor Gordon's niece, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But—she was not my mother."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who am I?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are the daughter of Doctor Gordon's +youngest sister, who died when you +were born."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency sat reflecting, her forehead knit, +a keen look in her blue eyes. "I knew my +father was dead," she said after a little. +"Uncle Tom has always told me that he +passed away three months before I was born, +but—" She raised a puzzled, shocked, +grieved face to James. "What is my name?" +she asked. "My real name?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James hesitated. Then his mind reverted to +the tale which he had told at the store. He +could see no other way out of the difficulty. +"Did you never hear of two brothers marrying +two sisters, dear?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency gazed at him with a puzzled, almost +suspicious, look. "I knew I had an +aunt and cousin in England named Ewing," +she said, "but I always supposed that my +English aunt was not my real aunt, only my +aunt by marriage, that she had married my +father's brother."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Your English aunt is your uncle's own +sister," said James.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page275">[pg 275]</span> +<a name="Pg275" id="Pg275" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I see: my own mother and my aunt were +sisters, and they married brothers," Clemency +said slowly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That is unusual, but not unprecedented," +said James. He had never been involved in +such a web of fabrication. He felt his cheeks +burning. He was sure that he looked guilty, +but Clemency did not seem to notice it. She +was reflecting, still with that puzzled knitting +of her forehead and that introspective look +in her blue eyes. "I wonder if I look in the +least like my own mother?" she said in a curious +voice, as of one who feels her way.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Once your uncle said to me that you were +your own mother's very image," replied James +eagerly. He was glad to have the chance to +say anything truthful.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency's face lightened. She spoke with +that fatuous innocence and romance of young +girls, and often of older women, to whom romance +and sentiment are in the place of reason. +"Then I know who that man was," she +announced in a delighted voice. "You and +Uncle Tom thought I would never know, but +I do know. I have found out my own self."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Who was he, dear?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, I don't know who he was really, and +I don't know who that woman was. She +<span class="tei-pb" id="page276">[pg 276]</span> +<a name="Pg276" id="Pg276" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>does mix up things a good deal, but this much +I do know—why Uncle Tom passed off my +aunt for my mother, and why we were always +hiding from that man. He was in love +with my mother, and he was in love with me, +because I am so much like her. Now, tell me +honest, dear, didn't Uncle Tom ever tell you +that that man was in love with my mother +before I was born?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, dear," James answered, fairly bewildered +over the fashion in which truth was +lending itself to the need of falsehood.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency nodded her head triumphantly. +"There, I told you I knew," said she. "Poor +man, it was dreadful of him to pursue me so, +and make us all so unhappy, and of course +I never could have married him, even if it +had not been for you. I do think he looked +like a wicked man, and of course I never +could have endured the thought of marrying +a man who had been in love with my mother, +even if he had been ever so good. But I can't +help being sorry for him; he must have loved +my mother so much, and he must have wasted +his whole life; and then to die among strangers +so suddenly, poor man."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt a sort of pleasure at hearing +the girl express, all unknowingly, sympathy +<span class="tei-pb" id="page277">[pg 277]</span> +<a name="Pg277" id="Pg277" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>for her dead father. The tears actually +stood in her eyes. "The queerest thing to +me is that woman," she added musingly, after +a minute. Then again her face lightened. +"Why, I do believe she was his sister," she +cried, "and that was the reason she wanted +to get me, and the reason why she was so +dreadfully upset when she heard he was dead, +poor thing. Well, of course, I can't help +feeling glad that I am not in danger any +more; but I am sorry for that poor man, even +if he wasn't good." A tear rolled visibly +down Clemency's cheeks. Then she got out +her handkerchief and sobbed violently. "Oh, +I haven't realized," she moaned, "I haven't +realized until this minute, how terrible it is +that she wasn't my mother."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She was as good as a mother to you, +dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I know, but she wasn't, and it hurts +me worse now she is gone than it would have +done when she was alive. I don't seem to have +anything."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You have me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Clemency ran to him, and he held her +on his knee and comforted her, then tore +himself away to make his morning round of +calls. Clemency followed him to the door, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page278">[pg 278]</span> +<a name="Pg278" id="Pg278" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and kissed her hand to him as he drove away. +James had good reason to remember it, for +it was the last loving salutation from her for +many a day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When he returned at noon the girl's manner +was unaccountably changed toward him. +She only spoke to him directly when addressed, +and then in monosyllables. She never +looked at him. She sat at the table at luncheon +and poured the chocolate, and there was +almost absolute silence. Emma waited jerkily +as usual. James fancied once, when he met +her eyes, that there was an expression of +covert triumph on her face. Emma had never +liked him. He had been conscious of the +fact, but it had not disturbed him. He had +no more thought of this middle-aged, harsh-featured +New Jersey farmer's daughter than +he had of one of the dining-chairs. Gordon +sat humped upon himself, as he sat nowadays, +a marked stoop of age was becoming +visible in his broad shoulders, and he ate +perfunctorily without a word. James, after +a number of futile attempts to talk to Clemency, +subsided himself into bewildered silence, +and ate with very little appetite. There were +chops and potatoes and peas, and apple-pie, +for luncheon. When it came to the pie Emma +<span class="tei-pb" id="page279">[pg 279]</span> +<a name="Pg279" id="Pg279" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>served Clemency and Doctor Gordon, and deliberately +omitted James. Nobody seemed +to notice it, although James felt sure that +the omission was intentional. He felt himself +inwardly amused at the antagonism +which could take such a form, and went +without his pie uncomplainingly, while Gordon +and Clemency ate theirs. The dog at +this juncture came slinking into the room +and close to James, who gave him a lump of +sugar from the bowl which happened to stand +near him. At once Emma took the bowl and +moved it to another part of the table out of +his reach. James felt a strong inclination to +laugh.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The dog sat up and begged for more sugar, +and James, when they all left the table, coolly +took a handful of sugar from the bowl and carried +it into the office, the dog leaping at his +side. Emma slammed the dining-room door +behind him. Clemency, without a look at +him, immediately ran upstairs to her own +room. Gordon and James sat down in the +office as usual for a smoke until James should +start upon his afternoon rounds. Gordon +asked him a few questions about the patients +whom he had seen that morning, but in a +listless, abstracted fashion, then he spoke of +<span class="tei-pb" id="page280">[pg 280]</span> +<a name="Pg280" id="Pg280" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>those whom James would see that afternoon. +"You had better take the team," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency is going with me," James said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked at him with faint surprise. +"I think you must be mistaken," he said. +"Clemency came to me just before luncheon +and asked if I had any objections to her +spending a few days with Annie Lipton. I +told her we could get on perfectly well without +her, and Aaron is going to drive her over. +She will have to take a suit-case. I knew +you had to go in another direction, and could +not take her. I thought the change would do +her good. Didn't she say anything to you +about it?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I think it will do her good. She needs a +little change," James replied evasively. As +he spoke Aaron came out of the stable leading +the bay mare harnessed to a buggy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She is going right away," said Gordon, +looking a little puzzled. He had hardly finished +speaking before Clemency's voice was +heard in the hall. It rang rather hard, but +quite clearly. "Good-by," she called out.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good-by," responded Gordon and James +together. Gordon looked at James, astonished +that he did not go out to assist Clemency into +the buggy, and bid her good-by. He seemed +<span class="tei-pb" id="page281">[pg 281]</span> +<a name="Pg281" id="Pg281" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>about to question him, then he took another +puff at his pipe, and his face settled into its +wonted expression of gloomy retrospection. +Boy's and girl's love affairs seemed as motes +in a beam of sunlight to him at this juncture.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James started to go, the horses were stamping +uneasily in the drive, and he had a long +round of calls to make that afternoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon removed his pipe. "I am putting a +good deal on you, Elliot," he said with a kind +of hard sadness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That's all right," James replied cheerfully, +"I am strong. I can stand it if the +patients can. I fancied old Mrs. Steen was +rather disgusted to see me this morning. I +heard her say something about sendin' a boy +to her daughter, and when I went into the bedroom, +she glared at me, and said, 'You?'" +James laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Her case is not at all desperate," Gordon +said gloomily. "She is merely on the +downward road of life. Nothing ails her +except that. You can supply the few inadequate +crutches of tonics as well as any one. +There is not one desperately sick patient on +the whole list now, that I know of, although +I must confess that that Willoughby girl +rather puzzles me. She breaks every diagnosis +all to pieces."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page282">[pg 282]</span> +<a name="Pg282" id="Pg282" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hysteria," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, yes, I know hysteria is a good way +to account for our own lack of insight," said +Gordon, "and it may be that girls are queer +subjects. Sometimes I wonder if they know +what they know. Lilian Willoughby does +not."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon, to James's intense surprise, flared +into a burst of anger. "Yes, she does know," +he declared. "Down in her inner consciousness +I believe she does, poor little overstrung, +oversensitive girl, half-fed, as to her body, +on coarse food which she cannot assimilate, +starved emotionally. If a girl like that has +to exist anyway, why cannot she be born under +different circumstances? That girl as daughter +of a New Jersey farmer is an anomaly. +If she mates at all it must be with another +New Jersey farmer, then she dies after bringing +a few degenerates into the world. Providence +does things like that, and the doctors +are supposed to right things. That girl has +had symptoms of about every known disease, +and my diagnosis has failed to prove the existence +of one of them. Yet there are the +symptoms. Call it hysteria, or what you will. +I call it an injustice on the part of the Higher +Power. I suppose that is blasphemy, but I +<span class="tei-pb" id="page283">[pg 283]</span> +<a name="Pg283" id="Pg283" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>am forced to it. Can that girl help the longings +for her rights, her longings which are +abnormally acute because of her over-fine +nervous system? Those longings, situated as +she is, can never be satisfied in any way except +for her own harm. Meantime she eats +her own heart, since she has nothing else, +and heart-eating produces all kinds of symptoms. +I am absolutely powerless in such a +case, though sometimes I make a diagnosis +which I think may be correct, sometimes I +think there is some organic trouble which I +can mitigate. But always I fall back upon +the miserable truth which I am convinced +underlies her whole existence. She is a creature +born into a life which does not and never +will afford her the proper food for her physical +and spiritual needs. Oh, the horror in +this world, and what am I to set myself to +right it? Shut the door."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The horses are uneasy," James said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Never mind, shut the door. Clemency is +away, and Emma out in the kitchen. I must +speak to somebody, or I shall go mad."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James shut the door and turned to Gordon, +who sat rigid in his chair, his hands clutching +the arms. "Do you think I did right?" he +groaned. "You know what I did. Was it +right?"</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page284">[pg 284]</span> +<a name="Pg284" id="Pg284" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If you mean about your wife," James +said, "I think you did entirely right."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But you could not," Gordon returned +bitterly. "It was too much for you to attempt, +and yet she was nothing to you as she +was to me, and the sin would not have been +so terrible."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I had not the courage," James replied +simply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You did not think it right. You did not +wish to burden your soul with such a responsibility. +I was wrong to try to shift it upon +you, wrong and cowardly, but she was bone +of my bone and flesh of my flesh; it was a +double crime for me, murder and suicide. It +was not because you had not the courage: +you have faced surgical operations and dissecting. +You dared not commit what you +were not sure was not a crime. There is no +use in your hedging, Elliot. I know the +truth."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Still I think you did right," James said +stubbornly. "She had to die anyway. Death +was upon her. You simply hastened it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked at James, and his eyes +seemed to fairly blaze with somber fire; for +a moment the young man thought his reason +was unhinged. "But what am I? Who is +<span class="tei-pb" id="page285">[pg 285]</span> +<a name="Pg285" id="Pg285" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>any man to take whip or spur to the decrees +of the Almighty, to hasten them?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She was suffering—" James began.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What of that? Who can say, though she +had led the life of a saint on earth, so far as +any one could see, what subtle sins of life itself +her pains were counteracting? Who can +tell but I have deprived her of untold joys +which would have compensated a thousand +times for those pains by shortening them?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Doctor Gordon, you are morbid," James +said, looking at him uneasily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How do you know I am morbid? Then +that other—Mendon. Who is to say that I +was right even about that? It is probable I +saved your life, and possibly my own, as well +as Clemency from misery. But who can say +that death would not have been better for +both you and me than life, and even misery +for Clemency had that man lived? God had +allowed him life upon the earth. I may have +shortened that life. He was a monster of +wickedness, but who can say that he was not +a weapon of God, and that I have not done +incalculable mischief by depriving him of +that weapon? There is only one consolation +which I have with regard to him; unless my +diagnosis was entirely at fault, he would +<span class="tei-pb" id="page286">[pg 286]</span> +<a name="Pg286" id="Pg286" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>have had that attack of erysipelas anyway. +I hardly think I deceive myself with regard +to that, and there is a very probable chance +that the attack would have been fatal. He +had nearly lost his life twice before with +the same disease. That I know, and I do not +think that unless the poison was already in +his blood, it would have developed so rapidly +from that slight bruise. So far as the simple +wound from the dog went, he was in no danger +whatever. I have that consolation in his +case, in not being absolutely certain that I +caused his death; I am not even absolutely +sure that I hastened it by any appreciable +time. He might have been attacked that +very night with the disease. Still there is, +and always will be, the slight doubt."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't think you ought to brood over +that, Doctor Gordon," James said soothingly. +He went close to the older man and laid a hand +upon his shoulder. Gordon looked up at him, +and his face was convulsed. He spoke with +solemn and tragic emphasis. "It is not for +mortal man to interfere with the ways of +God, and he does so at his own peril," he said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_15" id="toc_15"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page287">[pg 287]</span> +<a name="Pg287" id="Pg287" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER XIV</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The confidence which Gordon had reposed +in James seemed for a time to have given him +a measure of relief. While he never for an +instant appeared like his old self, while the +games of euchre at Georgie K.'s were not resumed, +nor the boyish enjoyment of things, +which James now recognized to have been +simply feverish attempts to live through the +horrible ordeal of his life and keep his sanity, +while he had now settled down into a state of +austere gloom, yet he begun again to attend to +his practice and to take interest in it. Clemency +remained away for a week. Then Gordon +brought her home. She was at the dinner-table +that night when James returned +rather late from a call on a far-off patient. +She simply said, "Good evening! Doctor Elliot," +as if he had been the merest acquaintance, +and went on to serve his soup. James +gave her a bewildered, half-grieved, half-angered +look, which she seemed not to notice. +Immediately after dinner she went to +her own room. James, smoking with Gordon +<span class="tei-pb" id="page288">[pg 288]</span> +<a name="Pg288" id="Pg288" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in the office, heard her go upstairs. Gordon +nodded at James through the cloud of smoke.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She has taken a notion, my son," he said. +"She told me on the way home that she +wished to break the engagement with you. +She would give no reason. She wished me to +tell you. I don't take her seriously. She +cares as much for you as ever. Girls are +queer cattle. She has some utterly unimaginable +idea in her head, which will run itself +out. If I were you I would pay no attention +to it. Simply take her at her word, and let +her alone for a little while, and she herself +will urge you for a reconciliation. I know +the child. She simply cannot remain at odds +for any length of time with any one whom +she loves, and she does love you; but she is +freakish, and at times inclined to strain at +her bit. Perhaps Annie Lipton has been putting +ideas into her head against marriage in +general. She may have frightened her, and +they may have sworn celibacy together in the +watches of the night. Girls hatch more mischief +when they ought to be asleep. They are +queer cattle."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The trouble began before Clemency went +away," James said soberly. He was quite +pale.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page289">[pg 289]</span> +<a name="Pg289" id="Pg289" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Trouble? What trouble?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't know. All I know is, that the very +day when Clemency went away she seemed +changed to me. You remember how she called +out good-by, and I did not go out to help her +off as I should naturally have done."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, I do remember that, and I did wonder +at your not going."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I did not go because I was quite sure that +she did not wish it. She had been very curt +with me, and had shown me unmistakably that +my attentions were not welcome."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"And you don't know why? There had +been no quarrel?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Not the slightest. I have not the faintest +idea what the trouble is or was, and why she +wishes to break the engagement. All I know +is that as suddenly as a weather vane turns +from west to north, she turned, and seemed +to have no more use for me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Queer," Gordon said reflectively. He +eyed James keenly. "You absolutely know +of no reason?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I absolutely know of none. Clemency is +the very first girl about whom I have ever +thought in this way. There is nothing in my +whole life, past or present, which I could not +spread before her like an open book, so far +<span class="tei-pb" id="page290">[pg 290]</span> +<a name="Pg290" id="Pg290" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>as any fear lest it should turn her against +me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I questioned her," Gordon said, "and +she absolutely refused to give me any reason +for breaking her engagement. She simply +repeated over and over, 'I have changed my +mind, Uncle Tom.' I asked her if she had +seen anybody else."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James flushed hotly. "What did she say +to that?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"She said, 'Whom could I have seen, +Uncle Tom? You yourself know how many +men I have seen here, and you know I never +see men at Annie's.' There is no one else. +You may be sure of that, and also sure that +she still cares for you. I know that from her +whole manner. She has simply taken one of +those unaccountable freaks which the best of +girls will take. Just let her alone, and the +whole will right itself. She may have got a +sudden scare at the idea of marriage itself, +for all I know. I still cling to the idea that +Annie Lipton has been putting ideas into her +head, in spite of what you say of her coldness +before she went there. She may have started +herself in the path, but Annie helped her further +on."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course I must leave here," James +said gloomily.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page291">[pg 291]</span> +<a name="Pg291" id="Pg291" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon started. "Leave here?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Yes, of course. Clemency will naturally +not wish to have me a member of the household +in the existing state of things."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency will wish it. Of course you +are going to stay, Elliot."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I don't feel as if I could, Doctor Gordon."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nonsense!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It will naturally not be very pleasant for +me," James said, coloring.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Why not?" asked Gordon irritably. +"You are not a love-sick girl."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I am not," James returned with +spirit. "I know I am jilted, but I mean to +take, and I think I am taking it, like a man. +If Clemency does not want me, I am sure I +do not want her to have me. And I can stand +seeing her daily under the altered condition +of things. I am no milk-sop. Generally +speaking, living under a roof when you are +an object of aversion to a member of the +household, is not exactly pleasant."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You are not an object of aversion."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I might as well be."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked at the young man pitifully. +"For God's sake, then don't leave <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">me</span>, Elliot," +he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James stared at him. There was so much +emotion in his face.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page292">[pg 292]</span> +<a name="Pg292" id="Pg292" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you think my life would be +without you?" said Gordon. "Aside from +your assistance, which I cannot do without, +you are my only solace, especially since Clemency +is in this mood. Stay for my sake, if it is +unpleasant, Elliot."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, I will stay, if you feel so about it, +doctor," James replied.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Clemency is treating you shamefully," +Gordon said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A girl has a right to her own mind in such +a matter, if she has in anything."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The worst of it is, it is not her mind. I +tell you I know that."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not so sure."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Wait and see! You underestimate yourself, +boy."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James laughed sadly. Then there was a +knock on the office door and Georgie K. appeared. +He looked shyly at Gordon. He +had a bottle under his arm. "I have brought +over a little apple-jack; thought it might do +you good," he stammered, his great face suffused +like a girl's.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked affectionately at him. +"Thank you, Georgie K.," he said. "Sit +down and we will have a game. I'll get the +hot water and glasses. Emma is out."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page293">[pg 293]</span> +<a name="Pg293" id="Pg293" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'll get them," James said eagerly. He +went out to the kitchen, but Emma was not +out. She was sitting sewing in a gingham +apron.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What do you want?" she demanded severely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James explained meekly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, go back to the office, and I'll fetch +the things," Emma said in a hostile tone. +James obeyed. Presently Emma appeared +bearing a tray with the hot water and two +glasses, Gordon did not notice the omission +of a third glass, until she had gone out. +"Why, she only brought two glasses," he +said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James felt absurdly unequal to facing +Emma again. "I don't think I'll take anything +to-night," he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nonsense!" returned Gordon. He went +to the door and shouted for Emma with no +response. "She can't have gone upstairs so +quickly," he said. But when after another +shout he got no response, he went himself +into the dining-room, and got a tumbler from +the sideboard. "She must have gone upstairs +at once," he remarked when he returned. +"The kitchen is dark."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Georgie K. did not remain very late. He +<span class="tei-pb" id="page294">[pg 294]</span> +<a name="Pg294" id="Pg294" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>seemed nervously solicitous with regard to +Doctor Gordon. When he left he shook hands +with him, and bade him take good care of himself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I love that man," Gordon said, when the +door had closed behind him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When James entered his room that night +he found fresh proof of Emma's inexplicable +hostility. The room was in total darkness. +He lit matches and searched for lamp or +candles, to find none. He fumbled his way +out into the kitchen, and got a little lamp, +which gave but a dim light, and read, as was +his habit, after he had gone to bed, with exceeding +difficulty. He also was subjected to +a most absurd annoyance from the presence +of some gritty particles in the bed. After +he extinguished his lamp he could not go to +sleep because of them, and lit his lamp again, +and tore the sheet off and shook it. The gritty +particles seemed to him to be crumbs of very +hard and dry bread. He made the bed up +again after his clumsy masculine fashion. +James had not much manual dexterity, and +rested very uncomfortably, from a pronounced +inclination of the coverings to slide +off his feet, and over one side of the bed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning Emma did not bring hot +<span class="tei-pb" id="page295">[pg 295]</span> +<a name="Pg295" id="Pg295" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>water for his shaving. She usually set a +pitcher outside his door, but this morning +there was none. He was obliged to go out to +the kitchen and prefer a request for some. +"I have jest filled up the coffee-pot and the +tea-kettle, and I guess the water ain't very +hot," Emma said in a malicious tone, as she +filled a pitcher for him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The water was not very hot. James had a +severe experience shaving, and his annoyances +were not over then. There was no napkin +beside his plate at breakfast. He did not +like to apply to Clemency, whose cold good +morning had served to establish a higher barrier +between them, and who sat behind the +coffee urn with a forlorn but none the less +severe look. He also did not like to apply +to Gordon for fear of offending her. It was +about as bad to ask Emma, but he finally did, +in a low tone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Emma apparently did not hear. He was +forced to repeat his request for a napkin +loudly. Gordon looked up. "Emma, why do +you not set the table properly?" he asked, +in a severe tone.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Emma tossed her head and muttered. She +brought a napkin, and laid it beside James's +plate with an impetus as if it had been a lump +<span class="tei-pb" id="page296">[pg 296]</span> +<a name="Pg296" id="Pg296" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of lead. Presently James discovered that he +had only one spoon, but he made that do duty +for his cereal and coffee, and said nothing. +He was aware of Emma's eyes of covert, malicious +enjoyment upon him, as he surreptitiously +licked off the oatmeal, and put the +spoon in his coffee. He began to wonder what +he could do, if this state of things was to continue. +It all seemed so absurd, the grievances +were so exceedingly petty. He could not imagine +what had so turned Emma against him. +He was even more at a loss where she was concerned +than in Clemency's case. A girl engaged +might find some foolish reason, which +seemed enormous to her, to turn the cold +shoulder to him, but it was inconceivable that +Emma should. He had always treated her +politely, even with a certain deference, knowing, +as he did, that she was an old and faithful +servant, and as the daughter of a farmer +being, in her own estimation at least, of a +highly superior station to that of servants in +general. He could not imagine why Emma +was subjecting him to these ridiculous persecutions, +before which he was almost helpless. +She had heretofore treated him loftily, as was +her wont with everybody, except Gordon and +Clemency, but certainly she had neglected none +<span class="tei-pb" id="page297">[pg 297]</span> +<a name="Pg297" id="Pg297" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of her duties with regard to him. Miserable +as James was concerning Clemency, he could +not but feel that if he were to be subjected +to these incomprehensible annoyances from +Emma, life in the house would be almost impossible. +He could bear sorrow like a man, +but to bear pinpricks beside was almost too +much to ask. That noon, when he returned +from his rounds, he realized that there was +to be no cessation. Clemency was not at the +lunch-table. Gordon said she had a headache +and was lying down. Emma in passing James +his cup of tea, contrived to spill it over him. +He was not scalded, but his shirt-front and +collar were stained, thereby necessitating a +change, and he was in a hurry to be gone directly +after lunch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon roused himself, however. "Be +more careful another time, Emma," he said +sharply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Emma tossed her head. "Doctor Elliot +moved jest as I was coming with the cup," +she said in a thin, waspish voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He did no such thing," Gordon said +harshly, "and if he had, it was your business +to be careful. Get Doctor Elliot another +cup of tea."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Emma obeyed with a jerk. She set the cup +<span class="tei-pb" id="page298">[pg 298]</span> +<a name="Pg298" id="Pg298" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and saucer down beside James's plate as hard +as she dared, and James at the first sip found +that the tea was salted. However, he said +nothing. Gordon after his outburst had resumed +his former state of apathy, and was +eating and drinking like a machine, whose +works were rusty and almost run down. He +could not trouble him with such an absurdity. +Then, too, he was too vexed to please the girl +so much. He forced himself to drink the tea +without a grimace, knowing that Emma's eyes +were upon him. But the climax was almost +reached. That night when on his return he +wished to change his collar before dinner, he +found every one with the buttonholes torn. +It was skilfully done, so skilfully that no +one could have declared positively that it had +not been done accidentally in the laundry. +James would not appear at the dinner-table +in a soiled collar, and was forced to hurry out +to the village store and purchase new ones. +These, with the exception of the one he put on, +he locked in his trunk. He was late for dinner, +and the soup was quite cold. When Doctor +Gordon complained irritably, Emma replied +with one of her characteristic tosses of +the head that she couldn't help it, Doctor +Elliot was late. James said nothing. He +<span class="tei-pb" id="page299">[pg 299]</span> +<a name="Pg299" id="Pg299" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>swallowed his luke-warm soup in silence. He +began to wonder what he could do. He did +not wish to complain to Doctor Gordon, especially +as the result might be the dismissal of +Emma, and he felt that he could say nothing +to Clemency about it. Clemency appeared at +the dinner-table, but she looked pale and forlorn, +and said good evening to James without +lifting her eyes. When her uncle asked +if her head was better, she said, "Yes, thank +you," in a spiritless tone. She ate almost +nothing. After dinner, James had a call to +make, and, on his return, entered by the office +door. He found Gordon fast asleep in +his chair, with the dog at his feet. The dog +started up at sight of James, but he motioned +him down, and went softly out into the hall. +There was a light there, but none in the parlor. +James heard distinctly a little sob from +the parlor. He hesitated a moment, then he +entered the room. It was suffused with moonlight. +All the pale objects stood out like +ghosts. Clemency by the window, in a little +white wool house-gown, looked, ghostly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James went straight across to her, pulled +up a chair beside her, seated himself, and +pulled one of her little hands away from her +face almost roughly, and held it firmly in spite +<span class="tei-pb" id="page300">[pg 300]</span> +<a name="Pg300" id="Pg300" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of her weak attempt to remove it. "Now, +Clemency," he said in a determined voice, +"this has gone quite far enough. You told +your uncle that you wished to break your engagement +to me. I have no wish to coerce +you. If you really do not want to marry me, +why, I must make the best of it, but I have a +right to know the reason why, and I will know +it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency was silent, except for her sobs.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tell me," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Don't," whispered Clemency.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Tell me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Then Clemency let her other hand, which +contained a moist little ball of handkerchief, +fall. She turned full upon him her tearful, +swollen face. "If you want to know what +you know already," said she, in a hard voice, +"here it is. She wasn't my mother, but I +loved her like one, and you killed her."</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_16" id="toc_16"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page301">[pg 301]</span> +<a name="Pg301" id="Pg301" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER XV</h1> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">James sat as if turned to stone. All in a +second he realized what it must be. He let +Clemency's hand go, and leaned back in his +chair. "What do you mean, Clemency?" he +asked finally, but he realized how senseless the +question was. He knew perfectly well what +she meant, and he knew perfectly well that +he was utterly helpless before her accusation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You know," said Clemency, still in her +unnatural hard voice. "You killed her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You know. You gave her more morphine, +and her heart was weak. Emma overheard +Uncle Tom say so, and that more morphine +was dangerous. She might have been +alive to-day if it had not been for you."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James sat staring at the girl. She went on +pitilessly. "You did not see Emma that last +time you came upstairs," she said, "but she +saw you. She was standing in the door of +her room, and she had no light. She saw you +and Mrs. Blair going away from her room, +and she heard Mrs. Blair tell you she was +<span class="tei-pb" id="page302">[pg 302]</span> +<a name="Pg302" id="Pg302" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>dead. You killed her. I want nothing whatever +to do with a murderer."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James remembered that draught of cold air. +It must have come from the open door of +Emma's room at the end of the hall. He +understood that Emma could not have seen +him coming upstairs, but that she had seen +him with Mrs. Blair at the door of the sick-room, +and had jumped at her conclusion.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Emma knew when you went upstairs +first," said Clemency. "You left her door a +little ajar. Emma saw you giving her a hypodermic. +And then when that did not kill +her you gave her another. Uncle Tom did +not know. He must never know, for it would +kill him, but you did kill her."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James was silent for a moment. He +realized the impossibility of clearing himself +from the accusation unless he told the whole +truth and implicated Doctor Gordon. Finally +he said, miserably enough, "You don't know +how horribly she was suffering, dear. You +don't know what torments she would have had +to suffer."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He knew when he said that that he incriminated +himself. Clemency retorted immediately, +"You don't know. I have heard Uncle +Tom say that nobody can ever know. She +<span class="tei-pb" id="page303">[pg 303]</span> +<a name="Pg303" id="Pg303" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>might have gotten well. Anyway, you killed +her." With that Clemency sprang up and +ran out of the room, and James heard her sob.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">As for himself, he remained where he was +for a long time. He never knew how long. +He felt numb. He realized himself to be in +a gulf of misunderstanding, from which he +could not be extricated, even for the sake of +Clemency. It seemed to him again that he +must go away, but he remembered Gordon's +pitiful plea to him to remain. Finally he +went into his room, to find that Emma, in her +absurd malice, had left only the coverlid on +the bed. She had stripped it of the sheets +and blankets. He lay down with his clothes +on and passed a sleepless night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">The next morning at the breakfast-table +he looked haggard and pale. He could eat +nothing. Doctor Gordon looked at him keenly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What is the matter, Elliot?" he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency gave a quick glance at him, and +her face worked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Nothing," replied James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You look downright ill."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I am not ill."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency rose abruptly and left the table.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What is the matter, Clemency? Where +are you going?" Gordon called out.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page304">[pg 304]</span> +<a name="Pg304" id="Pg304" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have finished my breakfast," the girl +replied in a stifled voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon insisted on making some calls that +morning, and relieving James. "You are +worn out, my son," he said in a voice of real +affection, and clapped him on the shoulder. +He sent James on a short round in spite of +his objections, and the consequence was that +James reached home half an hour before +luncheon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">It was a beautiful morning. Spring seemed +to have come with a winged leap. A faint +down of green shaded the elms, and there was +a pink cloud of peach bloom in the distance. +The cherry trees were swollen almost to blossom, +and the apple trees had pale radiances +in the glance of the sun. The grass was quite +green, and here and there were dandelions. +Clemency was out in the yard, working in a +little flower-garden, as James drove in. She +had on a black dress, and her fair head was +uncovered. She pretended not to see James, +but he had hardly entered the office before she +came in. Her face was all suffused with pink. +She looked at him tenderly and angrily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Are you ill?" she said, in an indignant +voice which had, in spite of herself, soft cadences.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page305">[pg 305]</span> +<a name="Pg305" id="Pg305" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, Clemency."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Then why do you look so?" she demanded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James turned at that. "Clemency, you accuse +me of cruelty," he said, "but you yourself +are cruel. You do not realize that you +cannot tell a man he is a murderer, and throw +him over when he loves you, and yet have him +utterly unmoved by it."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Suddenly Clemency was in his arms. "I +love you, I love you," she sobbed. "Don't +be unhappy, don't look so. It breaks my +heart. I love you, I do love you, dear. I +can't marry you, but I love you!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"If you love me, you can marry me."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency shrank away, then she clung to +him again. "No," she said, "I can't get +over the thought of it. I can't help it, but I +do love you. We will go on just the same as +ever, only we will not get married. You +know we were not going to get married just +yet anyway. I love you. We will go on just +the same. Only don't look the way you did +this morning at breakfast."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"How did I look?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"As if your heart were broken."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"So it is, dear."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, it is not. I love you, I tell you. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page306">[pg 306]</span> +<a name="Pg306" id="Pg306" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>What is the need of bothering about marriage +anyway? I am perfectly happy being +engaged. Annie says she is never going to +get married. Let the marriage alone. Only +you won't look so any more, will you, dear?"</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> +<a name="toc_17" id="toc_17"></a> +<span class="tei-pb" id="page307">[pg 307]</span> +<a name="Pg307" id="Pg307" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">CHAPTER XVI</h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p">After this James encountered a strange +state of things: the semblance of happiness, +which almost deceived him as to its reality.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Clemency was as loving as she had ever +been. Gordon congratulated James upon the +reconciliation. "I knew the child could +never hold out, and it was Annie Lipton," he +said. James admitted that Annie Lipton +might have been the straw which turned the +balance. He knew that Clemency had not +told Gordon of her conviction that he had +given the final dose of morphine to her aunt. +Everything now went on as before. Clemency +suddenly became awake to Emma's petty +persecutions of James, and they ceased. +James one day could not help overhearing +a conversation between the two. He was in +the stable, and the kitchen windows were +open. He heard only a few words. "You +don't mean to say you are goin' to hev him?" +said Emma in her strident voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I am not," returned Clemency's sweet, +decided one.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page308">[pg 308]</span> +<a name="Pg308" id="Pg308" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"What be you goin' with him again for +then?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James knew how the girl blushed at that, +but she answered with spirit. "That is entirely +my own affair, Emma," she said, "and +as long as Doctor Elliot remains under this +roof, and pays for it, too, he must be treated +decently. You don't pass him things, you +don't fill his lamp. Now you must treat him +exactly as you did before, or I shall tell Uncle +Tom."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You won't tell him why?" said Emma, +and there was alarm in her voice, for she +adored Gordon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Did you ever know me to go from one +to another in such a way?" asked Clemency. +"You know if I told Uncle Tom, he would +not put up with it a minute. He thinks the +world of Doctor Elliot."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It's awful queer how men folks can be +imposed on," said Emma.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"That has nothing to do with it," Clemency +said. "You must treat Doctor Elliot respectfully, +Emma."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'm jest as good as he be," said Emma +resentfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, what if you are? He's as good as +you, isn't he? And he treats you civilly. He +always has."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page309">[pg 309]</span> +<a name="Pg309" id="Pg309" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I'm a good deal better than he be," +Emma went on irascibly. "I wouldn't have +gone and went, and—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Hush!" ordered Clemency in a frightened +voice. "Emma, you must do as I say."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James drove out of the yard and heard no +more, but after that he had no fault to find +with Emma, so far as her service was concerned. +It is true that she gave him malignant +glances, but she made him comfortable, +albeit unwillingly. It was fortunate for him +that she did so, or he would have found his +position almost unbearable. Doctor Gordon +relaxed again into his state of apathetic +gloom. His strength also seemed to wane. +Almost the whole practice devolved upon +James. Gordon seemed less and less interested +even in extreme cases. Georgie K. +also lost his power over him. Now and then +of an evening he came, but Gordon, save to +offer him a cigar, took scarcely any notice +of him. One evening Georgie K. made a +motion to James behind Gordon's back when +he took leave, and James made an excuse to +follow him out. In the drive Georgie K. +took James by the arm, and the young man +felt him tremble. "What ails him?" asked +Georgie K.</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page310">[pg 310]</span> +<a name="Pg310" id="Pg310" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I hardly know," James replied in a +whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I know," said Georgie K. By the light +from the office window James could see that +the man was actually weeping. His great +ruddy face was streaming with tears. "Don't +I know?" he sobbed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James remembered the stuffed canary and +the wax flowers, and the story Gordon had +told him of Georgie K.'s grief over his wife's +death.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I dare say you are right," he returned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He's breakin' his heart, that's what he's +doin'," said Georgie K. "Can't you get him +to go away for a change or somethin'?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I have tried."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He'll die of it," Georgie K. said with a +great gulp as he went out of the yard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When James reëntered the office Gordon +looked up at him. "That poor old fellow +called you out to talk about me," he said +quietly. "I know I'm going downhill."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"For heaven's sake, can't you go up, doctor?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"No, I am done for. I could get over +losing her, but I can't get over what—you +know what."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"But her death was inevitable, and greater +agony was inevitable."</p> + +<span class="tei-pb" id="page311">[pg 311]</span> +<a name="Pg311" id="Pg311" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon turned upon him fiercely. "When +you have been as long in this cursed profession +as I have," he said, "you will realize +that nothing is inevitable. She might have +recovered for all I know. That woman, at +Turner Hill, who I thought was dying six +months ago, being up and around again, is an +instance. I tell you mortal man has no right +to thrust his hand between the Almighty and +fate. You know nothing, and I know nothing."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I do know."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"You don't know, and you don't even know +that you don't know. There is no use talking +about this any longer. When I am gone you +must marry Clemency, and keep on with my +practice."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James considered when he was in his own +room that the event of his succeeding to the +practice might not be so very remote, but as +to his marrying Clemency he doubted. He +dared not hint of the matter to Gordon, for +he knew it would disturb him, but Clemency, +as the days went on, became more and more +variable. At times she was loving, at times it +was quite evident that she shrank from him +with a sort of involuntary horror. James began +to wonder if they ever could marry. He +<span class="tei-pb" id="page312">[pg 312]</span> +<a name="Pg312" id="Pg312" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was fully resolved not to clear himself at the +expense of Doctor Gordon; in fact, such a +course never occurred to him. He had a very +simple straightforwardness in matters of +honor, and this seemed to him a matter of +honor. No question with regard to it arose in +his mind. Obviously it was better that he +should bear the brunt than Gordon, but he did +ask himself if it would ever be possible for +Clemency to dissociate him from the thought +of the tragedy entirely, and if she could not, +would it be possible for her to be happy +as his wife? That very day Clemency had +avoided him, and once when he had approached +she had visibly shrunk and paled. +Evidently the child could not help it. She +looked miserably unhappy. She had grown +thin lately, and had lost almost entirely her +sense of fun, which had always been so ready.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James went to sleep, wondering how she +would treat him the next day. He never +knew, for the girl shifted like a weather-cock, +driven hither and yon by her love and terror +like two winds. The next day, however, +solved the problem in an entirely unexpected +fashion. James, that morning after breakfast, +during which Clemency had sat pale +and stern behind the coffee-urn, and scarcely +had noticed him, set off on a round of calls. +<span class="tei-pb" id="page313">[pg 313]</span> +<a name="Pg313" id="Pg313" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Doctor Gordon, to his surprise, announced +his intention of making some calls himself; +he said that he would take the team, and +James must drive the balky mare, as the bay +was to be taken to the blacksmith's. Gordon +that morning looked worse than usual, although +he evinced such unwonted energy. +He trembled like a very old man. He ate +scarcely anything, and his mouth was set +hard with a desperate expression. James +wished to urge him to remain at home, but +he did not dare. Gordon, when he left the +breakfast-table, proposed that James should +take Clemency with him, but the girl replied +curtly that she was too busy. Gordon started +on his long circuit, and James set off to make +the rounds of Alton and Westover. The +mare seemed in a very favorable mood that +morning. She did not balk, and went at a +good pace. It was not until James was on +his homeward road that the trouble began. +Then the mare planted her four feet at +angles, in her favorite fashion, and became +as immovable as a horse of bronze. James +touched her with the whip. He was in no +patient mood that morning. Finally he lashed +her. He might as well have lashed a stone, +for all the effect his blows had. Then he got +out and tried coaxing. She did not seem to +<span class="tei-pb" id="page314">[pg 314]</span> +<a name="Pg314" id="Pg314" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>even see him. Her great eyes had a curious +introspective expression. Then he got again +into the buggy and sat still. A sense of obstinacy +as great as the animal's came over +him. "Stand there and be d——d!" he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Go without your dinner if you want to." +He leaned back in a corner of the buggy, +and began reflecting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">His reflections were at once angry and +gloomy. He was, he told himself, tired of +the situation. He began to wonder if he +ought not, for the sake of self-respect, to +leave Alton and Clemency. He wondered if +a man ought to submit to be so treated, and +yet he recognized Clemency's own view of +the situation, and a great wave of love and +pity for the poor child swept over him. The +mare had halted in a part of the road where +there were no houses, and flowering alders +filled the air with their faint sweetness. +Under that sweetness, like the bass in a harmony, +he could smell the pines in the woods +on either hand. He also heard their voices, +like the waves of the sea. It was a very +warm day, one of those days in which Spring +makes leaps toward Summer. James felt uncomfortably +heated, for the buggy was in the +full glare of sunlight. All his solace came +from the fact that he himself, sitting there +<span class="tei-pb" id="page315">[pg 315]</span> +<a name="Pg315" id="Pg315" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>so quietly, was outwitting the mare by showing +as great obstinacy as her own. He knew +that she inwardly fretted at not arousing irritation. +That a tickle, even a lash of the whip, +would delight her. He sat still, leaning his +head back. He was almost asleep when he +heard a rumble of heavy wheels, and looking +ahead languidly perceived a wagon laden with +household goods of some spring-flitters approaching. +He sat still and watched the great +wagon drawn by two lean, white horses, and +piled high with the poor household belongings—miserable +wooden chairs and feather beds, +and a child's cradle rocking imminently on +the top. A lank Jerseyman was driving. By +his side on the high seat was his stout wife +holding a baby. The weak wail of the child +filled the air. James looked to make sure +that there was room for the team to pass. +He thought there was, and sat idly watching +them. The woman looked at him, made some +remark to the man, and then both grinned +weakly, recognizing the situation. The man +on the team drove carefully, but a stone on +the outer side caused his team to swerve a +trifle. The wheels hit the wheels of the buggy, +and the cradle tilted swiftly on to the back +of the balky mare, and she bolted. In all her +experience of a long, balky life, a cradle as +<span class="tei-pb" id="page316">[pg 316]</span> +<a name="Pg316" id="Pg316" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a means of breaking her spirit had not been +encountered. James had not time to clutch +the lines which had fallen to the floor of the +buggy before he was thrown out. He felt the +buggy tilting to its fall, he heard a crashing +sound and a fierce kicking, and then he knew +no more.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When he came to himself he was on the +lounge in Doctor Gordon's office. Emma was +just disappearing with a pitcher in the direction +of the kitchen, and he felt something cool +on his forehead. He smelled aromatic salts, +and heard a piteous little voice, like the bleat +of a wounded lamb, in his ears, and kisses on +his cheeks, and a soft hand rubbing his own. +"Oh, darling," the little voice was saying, +"oh, darling, are you much hurt? Are you? +Please speak to me. It is Clemency. Oh, +he is dead! He is dead!" Then came wild +sobs, and Emma rushed into the room, and +he heard her say, "Here, put this ice on his +head, quick!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James was still so faint that he could only +gasp weakly. And he could open his eyes to +nothing but darkness and a marvellous spinning +and whir as of shadows in a wind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"He's comin' to," said Emma. Her voice +sounded as if she felt moved. "Don't take +<span class="tei-pb" id="page317">[pg 317]</span> +<a name="Pg317" id="Pg317" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>on so, Miss Clemency," she said; "he ain't +dead."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Again James felt the soft kisses and tears +on his face, and again came the poor little +voice, "Oh, darling, please listen, please +don't do so. I will marry you. I will. I +know you did just right. I read one of Uncle +Tom's books this morning, and I found out +what awful suffering she might have had +hours longer. You did right. I will marry +you. I will never think of it again. Please +don't look so. Are you dreadfully hurt? +Oh, when they came bringing you in I +thought you were killed! There is a great +bruise on your head. Does it hurt much? +You do feel better, don't you? Oh, Emma, +if Uncle Tom would only come. Can't you +hear me, dear? I will marry you. I take it +all back. I will marry you! I will marry +you whenever you wish. Oh, please look at +me! Please speak to me! Oh, Emma, there is +Uncle Tom. I am so glad."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">And then poor, little Clemency, all unstrung +and frightened, sank into an unconscious +little heap on the floor as Gordon +entered. "What the devil?" he cried out. +"I saw the buggy smashed on the road, and +that mare went down the Ford Hill road like +a whirlwind. What, Elliot, are you hurt, +<span class="tei-pb" id="page318">[pg 318]</span> +<a name="Pg318" id="Pg318" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>boy? Clemency, Emma, what has happened?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">All the time Gordon was talking he was +examining James, who was now able to speak +feebly. "The mare was frightened and threw +me," he gasped. "I was stunned. I am all +right now. See to Clemency!"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But Clemency was already staggering +weakly to her feet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Oh, Uncle Tom, he isn't killed, is he?" +she sobbed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Killed, no," said Gordon, "but he will be +if you don't stop crying and making a goose +of yourself, Clemency."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"We put ice on his head," sobbed Clemency. +"He isn't—"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Of course he isn't. He was only stunned. +That is only a flesh wound."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I tried to git some brandy down him, but +I couldn't," said Emma.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Give it to me," said Gordon. He poured +out some brandy in a spoon, and James swallowed +it. "He will be all right now," Gordon +said. "You won't be such a beauty that +the women will run after you for a few days, +Elliot, but you're all right."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I feel all right," James said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"It is nothing more than a little boy with +a bump on his forehead," said Gordon to +Clemency. "Now, child, stop crying, and go +<span class="tei-pb" id="page319">[pg 319]</span> +<a name="Pg319" id="Pg319" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and bathe your eyes. Emma, is luncheon +ready?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">When both women had gone Gordon, who +had been applying some ointment to James's +forehead, said in a low voice, broken by emotion, +"You are all right, Elliot, but—you did +have a close call."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"I suppose I did," James said, laughing +feebly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">He essayed to rise, but Gordon held him +down. "No, keep still," he said. "You must +not stir to-day. I will have your luncheon +brought in. Clemency will be only too happy +to wait on you, hand and foot."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Poor little girl, I must have given her an +awful fright," said James.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Well, you are not exactly the looking object +to do anything else," said Gordon laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Where is there a glass?"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Where you won't have it. You won't be +scarred. It is simply a temporary eclipse of +your beauty, and Clemency will love you all +the more for it. You need not worry. Talk +about the vanity of women. I thought you +were above it, Elliot. Now lie still. If you +get up you will be giddy."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">James lay still, smiling. He felt very +happy, and his love for Clemency seemed +<span class="tei-pb" id="page320">[pg 320]</span> +<a name="Pg320" id="Pg320" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>like a glow of pure radiance in his heart. He +lay on the office lounge all the afternoon. He +fell asleep with Clemency sitting beside holding +his hand. Gordon had gone out to finish +the calls. It was six o'clock before he drove +into the yard. James had just awakened +and lay feeling a great peace and content. +Clemency was smiling down at his discolored +face, as if it were the face of an angel. +The windows were open, and the distant lowing +of cattle, waiting at homeward bars, the +monotone of frogs, and the songs of circling +swallows came in. James felt as if he saw in +a celestial vision the whole world and life, +and that it was all blessed and good, that +even the pain and sorrow blossomed in the +end into ineffable flowers of pure delight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">But when Doctor Gordon entered this +vision was clouded, for Gordon's face had +reassumed its old expression of settled melancholy +and despair. He inquired how James +found himself with an apathetic air, and then +sat down and mechanically filled his pipe. +After it was filled he seemed to forget to light +it, so deep was his painful reverie. He sat +with it in hand, staring straight ahead. Then +a strange thing happened. The office door +opened and Mrs. Blair, the nurse, entered. +She was dressed in black, she carried a black +<span class="tei-pb" id="page321">[pg 321]</span> +<a name="Pg321" id="Pg321" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>travelling bag, and she wore a black bonnet, +with a high black tuft on the top by way of +trimming. Mrs. Blair was very tall, and this +black tuft, when she entered the door, barely +grazed the lintel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon rose and said good evening, and +regarded her in a bewildered fashion, as did +James and Clemency.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Mrs. Blair spoke with no preface. "I am +going to leave Alton," she said in her severe +voice, "and I want to tell you something +first, and to say good-by." She looked at +Gordon, then at the others, one after another, +then at Gordon again. "I did not +think at first that it would be necessary for +me to say what I am going to," she continued, +"but I overheard some things that +were said that night, and I have been thinking—and +then I heard the other day (I don't +know how true it is) that Clemency and Doctor +Elliot had had a falling out, and I didn't +know but—I didn't quite know what anybody +thought, and I wanted you all to know +the truth. I didn't want any mistakes made +to cause unhappiness." She hesitated, her +eyes upon Doctor Gordon grew more intense. +"Maybe <span style="font-style: italic" class="tei tei-hi">you</span> think you gave her that dose +of morphine that killed her," she said +steadily, "but you didn't. Doctor Elliot +<span class="tei-pb" id="page322">[pg 322]</span> +<a name="Pg322" id="Pg322" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>gave her water, and you gave her mostly +water. I had diluted the morphine, and you +didn't know it. I had made up my mind that +she was going to have the morphine, but I +had made up my mind that nobody but me +should have the responsibility of it. I'm all +alone in the world, and my conscience upheld +me, and I felt I'd rather take the blame, +if there was to be any. I made up my mind +to wait till a certain time and then give it to +her, and I did. I am the one who gave her +the morphine that killed her. I am going to +leave Alton for good. My trunk is down at +the station. I came to tell you that I gave +her the morphine, and if I did wrong in helping +God to shorten her sufferings, I am the +one to be punished, and I stand ready to bear +the punishment."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">Gordon looked at her. He did not speak, +but it was with his face as if a mask of dreadful +misery had dropped from it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Good-by!" said Mrs. Blair. She went +out of the door, and the black tuft on her +bonnet barely grazed the lintel.</p> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE END</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /> + +<div class="tei tei-div"> + +<h1 class="tei tei-head">OTHER WORKS BY MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN</h1> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE HUMBLE ROMANCE and Other Stories<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A collection of stories of New England life as clearly cut as etchings, +marvellous in simplicity and finish."</p> + + +<p class="tei tei-p">JANE FIELD: A Novel<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A tragedy told in a few words, moving with the unswerving directness of +a Greek play. The novel is lightened by a delicate love interest and +touches of homely humor."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE NEW ENGLAND NUN AND OTHER STORIES<br /> +16mo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Stories of New England village life, the best hitherto written by this +author, surpassing those contained in the collection entitled 'The +Humble Romance.'"</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">SILENCE AND OTHER STORIES<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A book like this marks an epoch. It is more important than a change of +administration."—FROM AN ENGLISH REVIEW.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE LOVE OF PARSON LORD AND OTHER STORIES<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">PEMBROKE: A Novel<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.50</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The greatest American novel since 'The Scarlet Letter.'"—FROM ENGLISH +REVIEW.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">JEROME: A POOR MAN. A Novel<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.50</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">MADELON: A Novel<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">GILES COREY, YEOMAN<br /> +32mo. Cloth, 50c.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A great play."—BOSTON TRANSCRIPT.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE PORTION OF LABOR: A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.50</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A great American novel."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE UNDERSTUDIES<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"Stories of animal life, showing marvellous insight."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">SIX TREES<br /> +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A unique collection of short stories."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE DEBTOR<br /> +12mo. Cloth, $1.50</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"The greatest Democratic novel ever written."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">THE HEARTS HIGHWAY<br /> +12mo. 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It is like an old photograph +album, wherein each photograph is made lifelike by memory or narrative. +The doors of a whole country neighborhood are thrown open to the +reader."</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">BY THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL<br /> +(In Press)</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p">"A marvellous analysis of character."</p> +</div> + +</div> + <div class="tei tei-back"> + <hr class="doublepage" /> + + + </div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's 'Doc.' Gordon, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'DOC.' 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Gordon, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +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: 'Doc.' Gordon + +Author: Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill + +Release Date: April 24, 2005 [EBook #15695] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'DOC.' GORDON *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Josephine Paolucci, Joshua +Hutchinson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Doctor Gordon * * * had not even taken off his overcoat, +which was white with snow. Page 104.] + + + + +"Doc." Gordon + +By + +MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN + + +Author of + +"_The Debtor," "A Humble Romance," "The Heart's Highway," "Pembroke," +Etc._ + + +Illustrated in Water-Colors by FRANK T. MERRILL + +Copyright, 1906, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +H.L. MOORE +SPECIAL EDITION, +For Sale exclusively by us in Rahway, N.J. + + +NEW YORK AND LONDON +THE AUTHORS AND NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION +1906 + +COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY +MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN. + +_Entered at Stationers' Hall. +All rights reserved_. + +Composition and Electrotyping by +J.J. Little & Co. +Printed and bound by +Manhattan Press, New York. + +[Illustration: (FACSIMILE PAGE OF MANUSCRIPT FROM DOC. GORDON)] + + + + +"DOC." GORDON + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +It was very early in the morning, it was scarcely dawn, when the young +man started upon a walk of twenty-five miles to reach Alton, where he +was to be assistant to the one physician in the place, Doctor Thomas +Gordon, or as he was familiarly called, "Doc." Gordon. The young man's +name was James Elliot. He had just graduated, and this was to be his +first experience in the practice of his profession of medicine. He was +in his twenties. He was small, but from the springiness of his gait and +the erectness of his head he gave an impression of height. He was very +good-looking, with clearly-cut features, and dark eyes, in which shone, +like black diamonds, sparks of mischief. They were honest eyes, too. The +young fellow was still sowing his wild oats, but more with his hands +than with his soul. He was walking because of a great amount of restless +energy; he fairly revelled in stretching his legs over the country road +in the keen morning air. The train service between Gresham, his home +place, and Alton was very bad, necessitating two changes and waits of +hours, and he had fretted at the prospect. When a young man is about to +begin his career, he does not wish to sit hours in dingy little railroad +stations on his way toward it. It was much easier, and pleasanter, to +walk, almost run to it, as he was doing now. His only baggage was his +little medicine-case; his trunk had gone by train the day before. He was +very well dressed, his clothes had the cut of a city tailor. He was +almost dandified. His father was well-to-do: a successful peach-grower +on a wholesale scale. His great farm was sprayed over every spring with +delicate rosy garlands of peach blossoms, and in the autumn the trees +were heavy with the almond-scented fruit. He had made a fortune, and +aside from that had achieved a certain local distinction. He was then +mayor of Gresham, which had a city government. James was very proud of +his father and fond of him. Indeed, he had reason to be. His father had +done everything in his power for him, given him a good education, and +supplied him liberally with money. James had always had a sense of +plenty of money, which had kept him from undue love of it. He was now +beginning the practice of his profession, in a small way, it is true, +but that he recognized as expedient. "You had better get acclimated, +become accustomed to your profession in a small place, before you launch +out in a city," his father had said, and the son had acquiesced. It was +the natural wing-trying process before large flights were attempted, and +the course commended itself to his reason. James, as well as his father, +had good reasoning power. He whistled to himself as he walked along. He +was very happy. He had a sensation as of one who has his goal in sight. +He thought of his father, his mother, and his two younger sisters, but +with no distress at absenting himself from them, although he lived in +accord with his family. Twenty-five miles to his joyous youth seemed but +as a step across the road. He had no sense of separation. "What is +twenty-five miles?" he had said laughingly to his mother, when she had +kissed him good-by. He had no conception of her state of mind with +regard to the break in the home circle. He who was the breaker did not +even see the break. Therefore he walked along, conscious of an immense +joy in his own soul, and wholly unconscious of anything except joy in +the souls of those whom he had left behind. It was a glorious morning, a +white morning. The ground was covered with white frost, the trees, the +house-roofs, the very air, were all white. In the west a transparent +moon was slowly sinking; the east deepened with red and violet tints. +Then came the sun, upheaving above the horizon like a ship of glory, and +all the whiteness burned, and glowed, and radiated jewel-lights. James +looked about with the delight of a discoverer. It might have been his +first morning. He begun to meet men going to their work, swinging tin +dinner-pails. Even these humble pails became glorified, they gave back +the sunlight like burnished silver. He smelled the odors of breakfast +upon the men's clothes. He held up his head high with a sort of +good-humored arrogance as he passed. He would have fought to the death +for any one of these men, but he knew himself, quite innocently, upon +superior heights of education, and trained thought, and ambition. He met +a man swinging a pail; he was coughing: a wretched, long rattle of a +cough. James stopped him, opened his little medicine-case, and produced +some pellets. + +"Here, take one of these every hour until the cough is relieved, my +friend," said he. + +The man stared, swallowed a pellet, stared again, in an odd, suspicious, +surly fashion, muttered something unintelligible and passed on. + +There were three villages between Gresham and Alton: Red Hill, +Stanbridge, and Westover. James stopped in Red Hill at a quick-lunch +wagon, which was drawn up on the principal street under the lee of the +town hall, went in, ordered and ate with relish some hot frankfurters, +and drank some coffee. He had eaten a plentiful breakfast before +starting, but the keen air had created his appetite anew. Beside him at +the counter sat a young workingman, also eating frankfurters and +drinking coffee. Now and then he gave a sidelong and supercilious glance +at James's fine clothes. James caught one of the glances, and laughed +good-naturedly. + +"These quick-lunch wagons are a mighty good idea," said he. + +The man grunted and took a swallow of coffee. + +"Where do you work?" asked James. + +"None of your d---- business!" retorted the other man unexpectedly. +"Where do you work yourself?" + +James stared at him, then he burst into a roar. For a second the man's +surly mouth did not budge, then the corners twitched a little. + +"What in thunder are you mad about?" inquired James. "I am going to work +for Doctor Gordon in Alton, and I don't care a d---- where you work." +James spoke with the most perfect good nature, still laughing. + +Then the man's face relaxed into a broad grin. "Didn't know but you were +puttin' on lugs," said he. "I am about tired of all those damned +benefactors comin' along and arskin' of a man whot's none of their +business, when a man knows all the time they don't care nothin' about +it, and then makin' a man take somethin' he don't want, so as to get +their names in the papers." The man sniffed a sniff of fury, then his +handsome blue eyes smiled pleasantly, even with mischievous confidence +into James's, and he swallowed more coffee. + +"I am no benefactor, you can bet your life on that," said James. "I +don't mean to give you anything you want or don't want." + +"Didn't know but you was one of that kind," returned the man. + +"Why?" + +The man eyed James's clothes expressively. + +"Oh, you mean my clothes," said James. "Well, this suit and overcoat are +pretty fair, but if I were a benefactor I should be wearing seedy +clothes, and have my wallet stuffed with bills for other folks." + +"You bet you wouldn't," said the other man. "That ain't the way +benefactors go to work. What be you goin' to do at Doc Gordon's?" + +"Drive," replied James laconically. + +"Guess you can't take care of hosses in no sech togs as them." + +"I've got some others. I'm going to learn to doctor a little, too, if I +can." + +The man surveyed him, then he burst into a great laugh. "Well," said he, +"when I git the measles I'll call you in." + +"All right," said James, "I won't charge you a red cent. I'll doctor you +and all your children and your wife for nothing." + +"Guess you won't need to charge nothin' for the wife and kids, seein' as +I ain't got none," said the man. "Ketch me saddled up with a woman an' +kids, if I know what I'm about. Them's for the benefactors. I live in a +little shanty I rigged up myself out of two packin' boxes. I've got 'em +on a man's medder here. He let me squat for nothin'. I git my meals +here, an' I work on the railroad, an' I've got a soft snap, with nobody +to butt in. Here, Mame, give us another cup of coffee. Mame's the girl I +want, if I could hev one. Ain't you, Mame?" + +The girl, who was a blonde, with an exaggerated pompadour fastened with +aggressive celluloid pins, smiled pertly. "Reckon I h'ain't no more use +for men than you hev for women," said she, as she poured the coffee. All +that could be seen of her behind the counter was her head, and her waist +clad in a red blouse, pinned so high to her skirt in the rear that it +almost touched her shoulder blades. The blouse was finished at the neck +with a nice little turn-over collar fastened with a brooch set with +imitation diamonds and sapphires. + +"Now, Mame, you know," said the man with assumed pathos, "that it is +only because I'm a poor devil that I don't go kerflop the minute I set +eyes on you. But you wouldn't like to live in boxes, would you? Would +you now?" + +"Not till my time comes, and not in boxes, then, less I'm in a railroad +accident," replied the girl, with ghastly jocularity. + +"She's got another feller, or _you_ might git her if you've got a stiddy +job," the man said, winking at James with familiarity. + +"Just my luck," said James. He looked at the girl, and thought her +pretty and pathetic, with a vulgar, almost tragic, prettiness and +pathos. She was anaemic and painfully thin. Her blouse was puffed out +over her flat chest. She looked worn out with the miserable little +tediums of life, with constant stepping over ant-hills of stupidity and +petty hopelessness. Her work was not, comparatively speaking, arduous, +but the serving of hot coffee and frankfurters to workingmen was not +progressive, and she looked as if her principal diet was the left-overs +of the stock in trade. She seemed to exhale an odor of musty sandwiches +and sausages and muddy coffee. + +The man swallowed his second cup in fierce gulps. He glanced at his +Ingersoll watch. "Gee whiz!" said he. "It's time I was off! Good-by, +Mame." + +The girl turned her head with a toss, and did not reply. "Good-by," +James said. + +The man grinned. "Good-by, Doc," he said. "I'll call you when I git the +measles. You're a good feller. If you'd been a benefactor I'd run you +out." + +The man clattered down the steps of the gaudily painted little +structure. The girl whom he had called Mame turned and looked at James +with a sort of innocent boldness. "He's a queer feller," she observed. + +"He seems to be." + +"He is, you bet. Livin' in a house he's built out of boxes when he makes +big money. He's on strike every little while. I wouldn't look at him. +Don't know what he's drivin' at half the time. Reckon he's--" She +touched her head significantly. + +"Lots of folks are," said James affably. + +"That's so." She stared reflectively at James. "I'm keepin' this quick +lunch 'cause my father's sick," said she. "I see a lot of human nature +in here." + +"I suppose you do." + +"You bet. Every kind gits in here first and last, tramps up to swells +who think they're doin' somethin' awful funny to git frankfurters and +coffee in here. They must be hard driv." + +"I suppose they are sometimes." + +Mame's eyes, surveying James, suddenly grew sharp. "You ain't one?" she +asked accusingly. + +"You bet not." + +Mame's grew soft. "I knew you were all right," said she. "Sometimes they +say things to me that their fine lady friends would bounce 'em for, but +I knew the minute I saw you that you wasn't that kind if you be dressed +up like a gent. Reckon you've been makin' big money in your last place." + +"Considerable," admitted James. He felt like a villain, but he had not +the heart to accuse himself of being a gentleman before this pathetic +girl. + +Mame leaned suddenly over the counter, and her blonde crest nearly +touched his forehead. "Say," said she, in a whisper. + +"What?" whispered James back. + +"What he said ain't true. There ain't a mite of truth in it." + +"What he said," repeated James vaguely. + +Mame pouted. "How awful thick-headed you be," said she. "What he said +about my havin' a feller." She blushed rosily, and her eyes fell. + +James felt his own face suffused. He pulled out his pocket-book, and +rose abruptly. "I'm sorry," he said with stupidity. + +The rosy flush died away from the girl's face. "Nobody asked you to be +sorry," said she. "I could have any one of a dozen I know if I jest held +out my little finger." + +"Of course, you could," James said. He felt apologetic, although he did +not know exactly why. He fumbled over the change, and at last made it +right with a quarter extra for the girl. + +"It's a quarter too much," said she. + +"Keep it, please." + +She hesitated. She was frowning under her great blonde roll, her mouth +looked hurt. + +"What a fuss about a quarter," said James, with a laugh. "Keep it. +That's a good girl." + +Mame took a dingy handkerchief out of the bosom of her blouse, untied a +corner, and James heard a jingle of coins meeting. Then she laughed. +"You're an awful fraud," said she. + +"Why?" + +"You can't cheat me, if you did Bill Slattery." + +"I think I don't know what you mean." + +"You're a gent." + +The girl's thin, coarse laughter rang out after James as he descended +the steps of the quick-lunch wagon. She opened the door directly after +he had closed it, and stood on the top step with the cold wind agitating +her fair hair. "Say," she called after him. + +James turned as he walked away. "What is it?" + +"Nothin', only I was foolin' you, and so was Bill. I've got a feller, +and Bill's him." + +"I'll make you a present when you're married," James called back with a +laugh. + +"It's to come off next summer," cried the girl. + +"I won't forget," answered James. He knew the girl lied; that she was +not about to marry the workingman. He said to himself, as he strode on +refreshed with his coarse fare, that girls were extraordinary: first +they were bold to positive indecency, then modest to the borders of +insanity. + +James walked on. He reached Stanbridge about noon. Then he was hungry +again. There was a good hotel there, and he made a substantial meal. He +had a smoke and a rest of half an hour, then he resumed his walk. He +soon passed the outskirts of Stanbridge, which was a small, old city, +then he was in the country. The houses were sparsely set well back from +the road. He met nobody, except an occasional countryman driving a +wood-laden team. Presently the road lay between stately groves of oaks, +although now and then they stood on one side only of the highway. Nearly +all the oaks bore a shag of dried leaves about their trunks, like mossy +beards of old men, only the shag was a bright russet instead of white. +The ground under the oaks was like cloth-of-gold under the sun, the +fallen leaves yet retained so much color. James heard a sharp croak, +then a crow flew with wide flaps of dark wings across the road and +perched on an oak bough. It cocked its head, and watched him wisely. +James whistled at it, but it did not stir. It remained with its head +cocked in that attitude of uncanny wisdom. + +Suddenly James saw before him the figure of a girl, moving swiftly. She +must have come out of the wood. She went as freely as a woodland thing, +although she was conventionally dressed in a tailor suit of brown. Her +hat, too, was brown, and a brown feather curled over the brim. She +walked fast, with evidently as much enjoyment of the motion as James +himself. They both walked like winged things. + +Suddenly James had a queer experience. One sense became transposed into +another, as one changes the key in music. He heard absolutely nothing, +but it was as if he saw a noise. He saw a man standing on the right +between him and the girl. The man had not made the slightest sound, he +was sure. James had good ears, but sound and not sight was what betrayed +him, or rather sound transposed into sight. He stood as motionless as a +tree himself. James knew that he had been looking at the girl. Now she +was looking at him. James felt a long shudder creep over him. He had +never been afraid of anything except fear. Now he was afraid of fear, +and there was something about the man which awakened this terror, yet it +was inexplicable. He was a middle-aged man, and distinctly handsome. He +was something above the medium height, and very well dressed. He wore a +fur-lined coat which looked opulent. He had gray hair and a black +mustache. There was nothing menacing in his face. He was, indeed, +smiling a curious retrospective smile, as if at his own thoughts. +Although his eyes regarded James attentively, this smiling mouth seemed +entirely oblivious of him. The man gave an odd impression, as of two +personalities: the one observant, with an animal-like observance for his +own weal or woe, the other observant with intelligence. It was possibly +this impression of a dual personality which gave James his quick sense +of horror. He walked on, feeling his very muscles shrink. Just before +James reached the man he emerged easily, with not the slightest +appearance of stealth, from the wood, and walked on before him with a +rapid, swinging stride. There were then three persons upon the road: the +girl in brown, the strange man in the fur-lined coat, and James Elliot. +James quickened his pace, but the other man kept ahead of him, and +reached the girl. He stopped and James broke into a run. He saw the man +place a hand upon the girl's shoulder, and make a motion as if to turn +her face toward his. James came up with a shout, and the man disappeared +abruptly, with a quick backward glance at James, into the wood. + +The girl looked at James, and her little face under her brown plumed hat +was very white. "Oh," she gasped, as if she had always known him, "I am +so glad you are here! He frightened me terribly." + +She tried to smile at James, although her poor little mouth was +quivering. "Who was he?" she asked. + +[Illustration: "You don't think he will come back?" Page 21.] + +"I don't know." + +A sudden suspicion flashed into her eyes. "He wasn't with you?" + +"No. I saw him on the edge of the woods back there, and I didn't like +his looks. When he started to follow you I hurried to catch up." + +"Oh, thank you," said the girl fervently. "Do forgive me for asking if +you were with him. I knew you were not the minute I saw you. I did not +turn my face, although he tried to make me. I don't know why, but I do +know he was something terrible and wicked." The girl said this last with +a shudder. She caught hold of James's arm innocently, as a frightened +child might have done. "You don't think he will come back?" + +"No, and if he does I will take care of you." + +"He may be--armed." + +Suddenly the girl reeled. "Don't let me faint away. I won't faint away," +she said in an angry voice. James saw that she was actually biting her +lips to overcome the faintness. + +"If you will sit down on that rock for a moment," said James, "I have +something in my medicine-case which will revive you. I am a doctor." + +"I shall faint away if I sit down and give up to it, if I swallow your +whole case," said the girl weakly. "I know myself. Let me hold your arm +and walk, and don't make me talk, then I can get over it." She was +biting her lips almost to bleeding. + +James walked on as he was bidden, with the slender little brown-clad +figure clinging to him. He realized that he had fallen in with a girl +who had a will which was possibly superior to anything in his +medicine-case when it came to overcoming fright. + +They walked on until they came in sight of a farm-house, when the girl +spoke again, and James saw that the color was returning to her face. "I +am all right now," said she, and withdrew her hand from his arm. She +gave her head an angry, whimsical shake. "I am ashamed of myself," said +she, "but I was horribly frightened, and sometimes I do faint. I can +generally get the better of myself, but sometimes I can't. It always +makes me so angry. I do hope you don't think I am such an awful coward, +because I am not." + +"I think most girls whom I have known would have made much more fuss +than you did," said James. "You never screamed." + +"I never did scream in my life," said the girl. "I don't think I could. +I don't know how. I think if I did scream, I should certainly faint." + +James stopped and opened his medicine-case. "I think you had better take +just a swallow of brandy," said he. + +The girl thrust back the bottle which he offered her with high disdain. +"Brandy," said she, "just because I have been frightened a little! I +should be ashamed of myself if I did such a thing. I am ashamed now for +almost fainting away, but I should never forgive myself if I took brandy +because of it. If I haven't nerve enough to keep straight without +brandy, I should be a pretty poor specimen of a girl." She looked at him +indignantly, and James saw what he had not seen before (he had been so +engrossed with the strangeness of the situation), that she was a +beautiful girl with a singular type of beauty. She was very small, but +she gave the impression of intense springiness and wiriness. Although +she was thin, no one could have called her delicate. She looked as much +alive as a flame, with nerves on the surface from head to heel. Her eyes +were blue, not large, but full of light, her hair, which tossed around +her face in a soft fluff, was ash-blonde. Brown was the last color, +theoretically, which she should have worn, but it suited her. The ash +and brown, the two neutral tints, served to bring out the blue fire of +her eyes and the intense red of her lips. However, her beauty lay not so +much in her regular features as in the wonderful flame-like quality +which animated them, and which they assumed when she spoke or listened. +In repose, her face was as neutral as a rock or dead leaf. It was +neither beautiful nor otherwise. When it was animated, it was as if the +rock gave out silver lights of mica and rosy crystal under strong light, +and as if the dead leaf leapt into flame. James thought her much +prettier than any of his sisters or their friends, but he was led quite +unknowingly into this opinion, because of his own position as her +protector. That made him realize his own male gorgeousness and strength, +and he really saw the girl with such complacency instead of himself. + +They walked along, and all at once he stopped short. Something occurred +to him, which, strange to say, had not occurred before. He was not in +the least cowardly. He was brave almost to foolhardiness. All at once +it occurred to him that he ought to follow the man. + +"Good Lord!" said he and stopped. + +"What is the matter?" asked the girl. + +"Why, I must follow that man. He is a suspicious character. He ought not +to be left at large." + +"I suppose you don't care if you leave me alone," said the girl +accusingly. + +James stared at her doubtfully. There was that view of the situation. + +"I am going to see my friend Annie Lipton, who lives in Westover. There +is half a mile of lonely road before I get there. That man, for all I +know, may be keeping sight of us in the woods over there. While you are +going back to chase him, he may come up with me. Well, run along if you +want to. I am not afraid." But the girl's lips quivered, and she paled +again. + +James glanced at the stretch of road ahead. There was not a house in +sight. Woods were on one side, on the other was a rolling expanse of +meadowland covered with dried last year's grass, like coarse +oakum-colored hair. + +"I think I had better keep on with you," James said. + +"You can do exactly as you choose," the girl replied defiantly, but +tremulously. "I am not in the least dependent upon men to escort me. I +wander miles around by myself. This is the first time I have seemed to +be in the slightest danger. I dare say there was no danger this time, +only he came up behind like a cat, and--" + +"He didn't say anything?" + +"No, he didn't speak. He only tried to make me turn my head, so he could +see my face, and directly it seemed to me that I must die rather than +let him. He was trying to make me turn my head. I think maybe he was an +insane man." + +"I will go on with you," said James. + +They walked on for the half mile of which the girl had spoken. A sudden +shyness seemed to have come over both of them. Then they began to come +in sight of houses. "I am not afraid now," said the girl, "but I do +think you are very foolish if you go back alone and try to hunt that +man. Ten chances to one he is armed, and you haven't a thing to defend +yourself with, except that medicine-case." + +"I have my fists," replied James indignantly. + +"Fists don't count much against a revolver." + +"Well, I am going to try," said James with emphasis. + +"Good-by, then. You are treating me shamefully, though." + +James stared at her in amazement. She was actually weeping, tears were +rolling over her cheeks. + +"What do you mean?" said he. "Don't feel so badly." + +"You can't be very quick-witted not to see. If you should meet that man, +and get killed, I should really be the one who killed you and not the +man." + +"Why, no, you would not." + +The girl stamped her foot. "Yes, I should, too," said she, half-sobbing. +"You would not have been killed except for me. You know you would not." + +She spoke as if she actually saw the young man dead before her, and was +indignant because of it, and he burst into a peal of laughter. + +"Laugh if you want to," said she. "It does not seem to me any laughing +matter to go and get yourself killed by me, and my having that on my +mind my whole life. I think I should go mad." Her voice shook, an +expression of horror came into her blue eyes. + +James laughed again. "Very well, then," he said, "to oblige you I won't +get killed." + +He, in fact, began to consider that the day was waning, and what a +wild-goose chase it would probably be for him to attempt to follow the +man. So again they walked on until they reached the main street of +Westover. + +Westover was a small village, rather smaller than Gresham. They passed +three gin-mills, a church, and a grocery store. Then the girl stopped at +the corner of a side street. "My friend lives on this street," said she. +"Thank you very much. I don't know what I should have done if you had +not come. Good-by!" She went so quickly that James was not at all sure +that she heard his answering good-by. He thought again how very handsome +she was. Then he began to wonder where she lived, and how she would get +home from her friend's house, if the friend had a brother who would +escort her. He wondered who her friends were to let a girl like that +wander around alone in a State which had not the best reputation for +safety. He entertained the idea of waiting about until she left her +friend's house, then he considered the possible brother, and that the +girl herself might resent it, and he kept on. The western sky was +putting on wonderful tints of cowslip and rose deepening into violet. He +began considering his own future again, relegating the girl to the +background. He must be nearing Alton, he thought. After a three-mile +stretch of farming country, he saw houses again. Lights were gleaming +out in the windows. He heard wheels, and the regular trot of a horse +behind him, then a mud-bespattered buggy passed him, a shabby buggy, but +a strongly built one. The team of horses was going at a good clip. James +stood on one side, but the team and buggy had no sooner passed than he +heard a whoa! and a man's face peered around the buggy wing, not at +James, but at his medicine-case. James could just discern the face, +bearded and shadowy in the gathering gloom. Then a voice came. It +shouted, one word, the expressive patois of the countryside, that word +which may be at once a question and a salute, may express almost any +emotion. "Halloo!" said the voice. + +This halloo involved a question, or so James understood it. He quickened +his pace, and came alongside the buggy. The face, more distinct now, +surveyed him, its owner leaning out over the side of the buggy. "Who are +you? Where are you bound?" + +James answered the latter question. "I am going to Alton." + +"To Doctor Gordon's?" + +"Yes." + +"Then you are Doctor Elliot?" + +"Yes." + +"Get in." + +James climbed into the buggy. The other man took up the reins, and the +horse resumed his quick trot. + +"You didn't come by train?" remarked the man. + +"No. You are Doctor Gordon, I suppose?" + +"Yes, I am. Why the devil did you walk?" + +"To save my money," replied James, laughing. He realized nothing to be +ashamed of in his reply. + +"But I thought your father was well-to-do." + +"Yes, he is, but we don't ride when it costs money and we can walk. I +knew if I got to Alton by night, it would be soon enough. I like to +walk." James said that last rather defiantly. He began to realize a +certain amazement on the other man's part which might amount to an +imputation upon his father. "I have plenty of money in my pocket," he +added, "but I wanted the walk." + +Doctor Gordon laughed. "Oh, well, a walk of twenty-five miles is nothing +to a young fellow like you, of course," he said. "I can understand that +you may like to stretch your legs. But you'll have to drive if you are +ever going to get anywhere when you begin practice with me." + +"I suppose you have calls for miles around?" + +"Rather." Doctor Gordon sighed. "It's a dog's life. I suppose you +haven't got that through your head yet?" + +"I think it is a glorious profession," returned James, with his haughty +young enthusiasm. + +"I wasn't talking about the profession," said the doctor; "I was talking +of the man who has to grind his way through it. It's a dog's life. +Neither your body nor your soul are your own. Oh, well, maybe you'll +like it." + +"You seem to," remarked James rather pugnaciously. + +"I? What can I do, young man, but stick to it whether I like it or not? +What would they do? Yes, I suppose I am fool enough to like a dog's +life, or rather to be unwilling to leave it. No money could induce me +anyhow. I suppose you know there is not much money in it?" + +James said that he had not supposed a fortune was to be made in a +country practice. + +"The last bill any of them will pay is the doctor's," said Doctor +Gordon. Then he added with a laugh, "especially when the doctor is +myself. They have to pay a specialist from New York, but I wait until +they are underground, and the relatives, I find, stick faster to the +monetary remains than the bark to a tree. If I hadn't a little private +fortune, and my--sister a little of her own, I expect we should starve." + +James noticed with a little surprise the doctor's hesitation before he +spoke of his sister. It seemed then that he was not married. Somehow, +James had thought of him as married as a matter of course. + +Doctor Gordon hastened to explain, as if divining the other's attitude. +"I dare say you don't know anything about my family relations," said he. +"My widowed sister, Mrs. Ewing, keeps house for me. I live with her and +her daughter. I think you will like them both, and I think they will +like you, though I'll be hanged if I have grasped anything of you so far +but your medicine-case and your voice. Your voice is all right. You give +yourself away by it, and I always like that." + +James straightened himself a little. There was something bantering in +the other's tone. It made him feel young, and he resented being made to +feel young. He himself at that time felt older than he ever would feel +again. He realized that he was not being properly estimated. "If," said +he, with some heat, "a patient can make out anything by my voice as to +what I think, I miss my guess." + +"I dare say not," said Doctor Gordon, and his own voice was as if he put +the matter aside. + +He spoke to the horse, whose trot quickened, and they went on in +silence. + +At last James began to feel rather ashamed of himself. He unstiffened. +"I had quite an exciting and curious experience after I left +Stanbridge," said he. + +"Did you?" said the other in an absent voice. + +James went on to relate the matter in detail. His companion turned an +intent face upon him as he proceeded. "How far back was it?" he asked, +and his tone was noticeably agitated. + +"Just after I left the last house in Stanbridge. We went on together to +Westover. She mentioned something about going to see a friend there. I +think Lipton was the name, and she left me suddenly." + +"What was the girl like?" + +"Small and slight, and very pretty." + +"Dressed in brown?" + +"Yes." + +"How did the man look?" Doctor Gordon's voice fairly alarmed the young +man. + +"I hardly can say. I saw him distinctly, but only for a second. The +impression he gave me was of a middle-aged man, although he looked +young." + +"Good-looking?" + +"My God, no!" said James, as the man's face seemed to loom up before him +again. "He looked like the devil." + +"A man may look like the devil, and yet be distinctly handsome." + +"Well, I suppose he was; but give me the homeliest face on earth rather +than a face like that man's, if I must needs have anything to do with +him." The young fellow's voice broke. He was very young. He caught the +other man by his rough coat sleeve. "See here, Doctor Gordon," said he, +"my profession is to save life. That is the main end of it but, but--I +don't honestly know what I should think right, if I were asked to save +_that_ man's life." + +"Was he well dressed?" + +"More than well dressed, richly, a fur-lined coat--" + +"Tall?" + +"Yes, above the medium, but he stooped a little, like a cat, sort of +stretched to the ground like an animal, when he hurried along after the +girl in front of me." + +Doctor Gordon struck the horse with his whip, and he broke into a +gallop. "We are almost home," said he. "I shall have to leave you with +slight ceremony. I have to go out again immediately." + +Doctor Gordon had hardly finished speaking before they drew up in front +of a white house on the left of the road. "Get out," he said +peremptorily to James. The front door opened, and a parallelogram of +lighted interior became visible. In this expanse of light stood a tall +woman's figure. "Clara, this is the new doctor," called out Doctor +Gordon. "Take him in and take care of him." + +"Have you got to go away again?" said the woman's voice. It was sweet +and rich, but had a curious sad quality in it. + +"Yes, I must. I shall not be gone long. Don't wait supper." + +"Aren't you going to change the horse?" + +"Can't stop. Go right in, Elliot. Clara, look after him." + +James Elliot found himself in the house, confronting the most beautiful +woman he had ever seen, as the rapid trot of the doctor's horse receded +in vistas of sound. + +James almost gasped. He had never seen such a woman. He had seen pretty +girls. Now he suddenly realized that a girl was not a woman, and no more +to be compared with her than an uncut gem with one whose facets take the +utmost light. + +The boy stood staring at this wonderful woman. She extended her hand to +him, but he did not see it. She said some gracious words of greeting to +him, but he did not hear them. She might have been the Venus de Milo for +all he heard or realized of sentient life in her. He was rapt in +contemplation of herself, so rapt that he was oblivious of her. She +smiled. She was accustomed to having men, especially very young men, +take such an attitude on first seeing her. She did not wait any longer, +but herself took the young man's hand, and drew him gently into the +room, and spoke so insistently that she compelled him to leave her and +attend. "I suppose you are Doctor Gordon's assistant?" she said. + +James relapsed into the tricks of his childhood. "Yes, ma'am," he +replied. Then he blushed furiously, but the woman seemed to notice +neither the provincial term nor his confusion. He found himself somehow, +he did not know how, divested of his overcoat, and the vision had +disappeared, having left some words about dinner ringing in his ears, +and he was sitting before a hearth-fire in a large leather easy-chair. +Then he looked about the room in much the same dazed fashion in which he +had contemplated the woman. He had never seen a room like it. He was +used to conventionality, albeit richness, and a degree even of luxury. +Here were absolute unconventionality, richness, and luxury of a kind +utterly strange to him. The room was very large and long, extending +nearly the whole length of the house. There were many windows with +Eastern rugs instead of curtains. There were Eastern things hung on the +walls which gave out dull gleams of gold and silver and topaz and +turquoise. There were a great many books on low shelves. There were +bronzes, jars, and squat idols. There were a few pieces of Chinese ivory +work. There were many skins of lions, bears, and tigers on the floor, +besides a great Persian rug which gleamed like a blurred jewel. Besides +the firelight there was only one great bronze lamp to illuminate the +room. This lamp had a red shade, which cast a soft, fiery glow over +everything. There were not many pictures. The rich Eastern stuffs, and +even a skin or two of tawny hue, covered most of the wall-spaces above +the book-cases, giving backgrounds of color to bronzes and ivory +carvings, but there was one picture at the farther end of the room which +attracted James's notice. All that he could distinguish from where he +sat was a splash of splendid red. + +He gazed, and his curiosity grew. Finally he rose, traversed the room, +and came close to the picture. It was a portrait of the woman who had +met him at the door. The red was the red of a splendid robe of velvet. +The portrait was evidently the work of no mean artist. The texture of +the velvet was something wonderful, so were the flesh tones; but James +missed something in the face. The portrait had been painted, he knew +instinctively, before some great change had come into the woman's heart, +which had given her another aspect of beauty. + +James turned away. Then he noticed something else which seemed rather +odd about the room. All the windows were furnished with heavy wooden +shutters, and, early as it was, hardly dark, all were closed, and +fastened securely. James somehow got an impression of secrecy, that it +was considered necessary that no glimpse of the interior should be +obtained from without after the lamp was lit. They sat often carelessly +at his own home of an evening with the shades up, and all the interior +of the room plainly visible from the road. An utter lack of secrecy was +in James's own character. He scowled a little, as he returned to his +seat by the fire. He was too confused to think clearly, but he was +conscious of a certain homesickness for the wonted things of his life, +when the door opened and the woman reentered. + +James rose, and she spoke in her sweet voice. It was rather lower +pitched than the voices of most women, and had a resonant quality. "Your +room is quite ready, Doctor Elliot," said she. "Your trunk is there. If +you would like to go there before dinner, I will pilot you. We have but +one maid, and she is preparing the dinner, which will be ready as soon +as you are. I hope Doctor Gordon and Clemency will have returned by that +time, too." + +By Clemency James understood that she meant her daughter, of whom Doctor +Gordon had spoken. He wondered at the unusual name, as he followed his +hostess. His room was on the same floor as the living-room. She threw +open a door at the other side of the hall, and James saw an exceedingly +comfortable apartment with a hearth-fire, with book-shelves, and a +couch-bed covered with a rug, and a desk. "I thought you would prefer +this room," said the woman. "There are others on the second floor, but +this has the advantage of your being able to use it as a sitting-room, +and you may like to have your friends, whom I trust you will find in +Alton, come in from time to time. You will please make yourself quite +at home." + +James had not yet fairly comprehended the beauty of the woman. He was +still too dazzled. Had he gone away at that time, he could not for the +life of him have described her, but he did glance, as a woman might have +done, at her gown. It was of a soft heavy red silk, trimmed with lace, +and was cut out in a small square at the throat. This glimpse of firm +white throat made James wonder as to evening costume for himself. At +home he never dreamed of such a thing, but here it might be different. +His hostess divined his thoughts. She smiled at him as if he were a +child. "No," said she, "you do not need to dress for dinner. Doctor +Gordon never does when we are by ourselves." + +Then she went away, closing the door softly after her. + +James noticed that over the windows of this room were only ordinary +shades, and curtains of some soft red stuff. There were no shutters. He +looked about him. He was charmed with his room, and it did away to a +great extent with his feeling of homesickness. It was not unlike what +his room at college had been. It was more like all rooms. He had no +feeling of the secrecy which the great living-room gave him, and which +irritated him. He brushed his clothes and his hair, and washed his hands +and face. While he was doing so he heard wheels and a horse's fast trot. +He guessed immediately that the doctor had returned. He therefore, as +soon as he had completed the slight changes in his toilet, started to +return to the living-room. Crossing the hall he met Doctor Gordon, who +seized him by the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Not a word before +Mrs. Ewing about what happened this afternoon." + +James nodded. "More mystery," thought he with asperity. + +"You have not spoken of it to her already, I hope," said Doctor Gordon +with quick anxiety. + +"No, I have not. I have scarcely seen her." + +"Well, not a word, I beg of you. She is very nervous." + +The doctor had been removing his overcoat and hat. When he had hung them +on some stag's horn in the hall, he went with James into the +living-room. + +There, beside the fire, sat the girl in brown whom James had met that +afternoon on the road. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +She looked up when he entered, and there was in her young girl face the +very slightest shade of recognition. She could not help it, for Clemency +was candor itself. Then she bowed very formally, and shook hands +sedately when Doctor Gordon introduced James as Doctor Elliot, his new +assistant, and carried off her part very well. James was not so +successful. He colored and was somewhat confused, but nobody appeared to +notice it. Clemency went on relating how glad she was that Uncle Tom met +her as she was coming home from Annie Lipton's. "I am never afraid," +said she, and her little face betrayed the lie, "but I was tired, and +besides I was beginning to be cold, for I went out without my fur." + +"You should not have gone without it. It grows so cold when the sun goes +down," said Mrs. Ewing. Then a chime of Japanese bells was heard which +announced dinner. + +"Doctor Elliot will be glad of dinner," said Doctor Gordon. "He has +walked all the way from Gresham." + +Clemency looked at him with approval, and tried to look as if she had +never seen him walking in her life. "That is a good walk," said she. +"Twenty-five miles it must be. If more men walked instead of working +poor horses all the time, it would be better for them." + +"That is a hint for your Uncle Tom," said Gordon laughingly. + + +"I never hint," said Clemency. "It is just a plain statement. Men are +walking animals. They could travel as well as horses in the course of +time if they only put their minds to it." + +"Well, your old uncle's bones must be saved, even at the expense of the +horse's," said Doctor Gordon. + +"Bones are improved by use," said Clemency severely, as she took her +seat at the dinner-table. They all laughed. The girl herself relaxed her +pretty face with a whimsical smile. It was quite evident that Clemency +was the spoiled and petted darling of the house, and that she traded +innocently upon the fact. The young doctor, although his first +impression of the elder woman was still upon him, yet realized the +charm of the young girl. The older woman was, as it were, crowned with +an aureole of perfection, but the young girl was crowned with +possibilities which dazzled with mystery. She looked prettier, now that +her outer garments were removed, and her thick crown of ash-blonde hair +was revealed. The lamp lit her eyes into bluer flame. She was a darling +of a young girl, and more a darling because she had the sweetest +confidence in everybody thinking her one. + +However, James Elliot, sitting in the well-appointed dining-room, which +was more like a city house than a little New Jersey dwelling, did not +for a second retreat from his first impression of Mrs. Ewing. Behind the +coffee-urn sat the woman with whom he had not fallen in love, that was +too poor a term to use. He had become a worshipper. He felt himself, +body and soul, prostrate before the Divinity of Womanhood itself. He +realized the grandeur of the abstract in the individual. What was any +spoiled, sweet young girl to that? And Mrs. Ewing was, in truth, a +wonderful creature. She was a large woman with a great quantity of +blue-black hair, which had the ripples one sees in antique statues. Her +eyes, black at first glance, were in reality dark blue. Her face gave +one a never-ending surprise. James had not known that a woman could be +so beautiful. Vague comparisons with the Greek Helen, or Cleopatra, came +into his head. Now and then he stole a glance at her. He dared not +often. She did not talk much, but he was rather pleased with that fact, +although her voice was so sweet and gracious. Speech in a creature like +that was not an essential. It might even be an excrescence upon a +perfection. It did not occur to the dazed mind of her worshipper that +Mrs. Ewing might have very simple and ordinary reasons for not +talking--that she might be tired or ill, or preoccupied. But after a +number of those stolen glances, James discovered with a great pang, as +if one should see for the first time that the arms of the Venus were +really gone, when his fancy had supplied them, that the woman did not +look well. In spite of her beauty, there was ill-health evident in her +face. James was a mere tyro in his profession as yet, but certain +infallible signs were there which he could not mistake. They were the +signs of suffering, possibly of very great suffering. She ate very +little, James noticed, although she made a pretense of eating as much +as any one. James saw that Doctor Gordon also noticed it. When the maid +was taking away Mrs. Ewing's plate, he spoke with a gruffness which +astonished the young man. "For Heaven's sake, why don't you eat your +dinner, Clara?" said he. "Emma, replace Mrs. Ewing's plate. Now, Clara, +eat your dinner." To James's utter astonishment, Mrs. Ewing obeyed like +a child. She ate every morsel, although she could not restrain her +expression of loathing. When the salad and dessert were brought on she +ate them also. + +Doctor Gordon watched her with what seemed, to the young man, positive +brutality. His mouth under his heavy beard quivered perceptibly whenever +he looked at his sister eating, his forehead became corrugated, and his +deep-set eyes sparkled. James was heartily glad when dinner was over, +and, at Doctor Gordon's request, he followed him into his office. + +Doctor Gordon's office was a small room at the back of the house. It had +an outer door communicating with a path which led to the stable. Two +sides of the room were lined with medical books, and two with bottles +containing diverse colored mixtures. A hanging lamp was over the center +of a long table in the middle of the room. Around it dangled prisms, +which cast rainbow colors over everything. The first thing which struck +one on entering the room was the extraordinary color scheme: the dull +gleams of the books, the medicine bottles which had lights like jewels, +and over all the flickers of prismatic hues. The long table was covered +with corks, empty bottles, books, a medicine-case, and newspapers, +besides a mighty inkstand and writing materials. There were also a box +of cigars, a great leather tobacco pouch, and, interspersed among all, a +multitude of pipes. The doctor drew a chair beside this chaotic table +lit with rainbow lights, and invited James to sit down. "Sit down a +moment," he said. "Will you have a pipe or a cigar?" + +"Cigar, please," replied James. The doctor pushed the box toward him. +James realized immediately a ten-cent cigar at the least when he began +to smoke. Doctor Gordon filled a pipe mechanically. His face still wore +the gloomy, almost fierce, expression which it had assumed at table. He +was a handsome man in a rough, sketchy fashion. His face was blurred +with a gray grizzle of beard. He wore his hair rather long, and he had +a fashion of running his fingers through it, which made it look like a +thick brush. He dressed rather carelessly, still like a gentleman. His +clothes were slouchy, and needed brushing, but his linen was immaculate. + +Doctor Gordon smoked in silence, which his young assistant was too shy +to break. The elder man finished his pipe, then he rose with an +impatient gesture and shook himself like a great shaggy dog. "Come, +young man," said he, "we don't want to spend the evening like this. Get +your hat and coat." + +James obeyed, and the two men left the office by the outer door which +opened on the stable. As they came around by the front of the house +Clemency stood in the doorway. + +"Are you going out, you and Doctor Elliot, Uncle Tom?" she called. + +"Yes, dear; why?" + +"Patients?" + +"No; we are going down to Georgie K.'s. Tell your mother to go to bed at +once." + +When the two men were out in the street, walking briskly in the keen +frosty air, James ventured a question. "Mrs. Ewing is not well, is she?" +he said. He fairly started at the way in which his question was +received. Doctor Gordon turned upon him even fiercely. + +"She is perfectly well, perfectly well," he replied. + +"She does not look--" began James. + +"When you are as old as I am you can venture to diagnose on a woman's +looks," said Gordon. "Clara is perfectly well." + +James said no more. They walked on in silence under a pale sky. Above a +low mountain range on their right was a faint light which indicated the +coming of the moon. The ground was frozen in hard ridges. James walked +behind the doctor on the narrow blue stone walk which served as +sidewalk. + +"This town has made no provision whatever for courting couples," said +Doctor Gordon suddenly, and to James's astonishment his whole manner and +voice had changed. It was far from gloomy. It was jocular even. + +James laughed. "Yes, it would be difficult for two to walk arm in arm, +however loving," he returned. + +"Just so," said the doctor, "and the funny part of it is that this +narrow sidewalk was intentional." + +"Not for such a purpose?" + +"Exactly so. It was given to the town by a rich spinster who died about +twenty years ago. It was given in her will on condition that it should +not be more than two feet wide." + +"For that reason?" + +"Just that reason. She had been jilted in her youth, and her heart had +been wrung by the sight of her rival passing her very window where she +sat watching for her lover, arm in arm with him. It was in summer, and +the dirt sidewalk was dry. She made up her mind, then and there, that +that sort of thing should be prevented." + +They had just reached a handsome old house standing close to the narrow +sidewalk. In fact, its windows opened directly upon it. + +"This is the house," the doctor said in corroboration. James laughed, +but he wondered within himself if he were being told fish tales. Doctor +Gordon made him feel so very young that he resented it. He resented it +the more when he realized the new glow of adoration in his heart for +that older woman whom they had left behind. He began wondering about +her: how much older she was. He said to himself that he did not care if +she were old enough to be his mother, his grandmother even, there was no +one in the whole world like her. + +Then they came to the hotel, the Evarts House. It was rather +pretentious, well built, with great columns in front supporting double +verandas. It was also well lighted. It was evidently far above the usual +order of a road house. Doctor Gordon entered, with James at his heels. +They went into the great low room at the right of the door, which was +the bar-room. Behind the bar stood an enormous man, yellow haired and +yellow bearded, dispensing drinks. The whole low interior was dim with +tobacco smoke, and scented with various liquors and spices. There was on +one side a great fireplace, in which stood earthen pitchers, in which +cider was being mulled with red-hot pokers, eager vinous faces watching. +Nobody was intoxicated, but there was a general hum of hilarity and +gusto of life about the place, an animal enjoyment of good cheer and +jollity. It was in truth not respectable to get entirely drunk in Alton. +It was genteel to become "set up," exhilarated, but the real gutter form +of inebriety was frowned upon to a much greater extent than in many +places where there was less license. + +"Hullo!" sang out Doctor Gordon as he entered. Immediately a grin of +comradeship overspread the pink face of the yellow-haired giant behind +the bar. "Hullo!" he responded. "Just step into the other room, and I'll +be there right away." + +James followed Doctor Gordon into what was evidently the state parlor of +the hotel. There was haircloth furniture, and a mahogany table, with +various stains of conviviality upon its polished surface. There was a +fire on the hearth, and on the mantel stood some gilded vases and a +glass case of wax-flowers, also a stuffed canary under a glass shade, +pathetic on his little twig. Doctor Gordon pointed to the flowers and +the canary. "Poor old man lost his wife, when he had been married two +years," he said. "She and the baby both died. That was before I came +here. Damned if I wouldn't have pulled them through. That was her bird, +and she made those fool flowers, poor little thing. I suppose if the +hotel were to take fire Georgie K. would go for them before all the cash +in the till." + +"He hasn't married again?" + +"Married again! It's my belief he'd shoot the man that mentioned it." + +Then Georgie K. entered, his rosy face distended with a smile of the +most intense hospitality, and before Doctor Gordon had a chance to +introduce James, he said, "What'll you take, gentlemen?" + +"This is my new assistant, from Gresham, Doctor Elliot," said Gordon. +Georgie K. made a bow, and scraped his foot at the same time with a +curiously boyish gesture. "What'll you take?" he asked again. That was +evidently his formula of hospitality, which must never be delayed. + +"Apple-jack," responded Doctor Gordon promptly. "You had better take +apple-jack too, young man. Georgie K. has gin that beats the record, and +peach brandy, but when it comes to his apple-jack--it's worth the whole +State of New Jersey." + +"All right," answered James. + +Soon he found himself seated at the stained old mahogany table with the +two men, and between two glasses, a bottle, and a pitcher of hot water. +Doctor Gordon dealt a pack of dirty cards while the hotel keeper poured +the apple-jack. James could not help staring at the elder doctor with +more and more amazement. He seemed to assimilate perfectly with his +surroundings. The tormented expression had gone from his face. He was +simply convivial, and of the same sort as Georgie K. He no longer +looked even a gentleman. He had become of the soil, the New Jersey soil. +As they drank and played, he told stories, and roared with laughter at +them. The stories also belonged to the soil, they were folk lore, wild, +coarse, but full of humanity. Although Doctor Gordon drank freely of the +rich mellow liquor, it did not apparently affect him. His cheeks above +his gray furze of beard became slightly flushed, that was all. + +James drank rather sparingly. The stuff seemed to him rather fiery, and +he remembered the goddess in the doctor's house. He could imagine her +look of high disdain at him should he return under the influence of +liquor. Besides, he did not particularly care for the apple-jack. + +It was midnight before they left. Georgie K. went to the door with them, +and he and the doctor shook hands heartily. "Come again," said Georgie +K., "and the sooner the better, and bring the young Doc. We'll make him +have a good time." + +Until they were near home, Doctor Gordon continued his strangely +incongruous conversation, telling story after story, and shouting with +laughter. When they came in sight of the house Gordon stopped suddenly +and leaned against a great maple beside the road. He stared at the +house, two of the upper windows of which were lighted, and gave a great +sigh, almost a groan. James stopped also and stared at him. He wondered +if the apple-jack had gone to the doctor's head after all. "What is the +matter?" he ventured. + +"Nothing, except the race is at a finish, and I am caught as I always +am," replied Doctor Gordon. + +"The race--" repeated James vaguely. + +"Yes, the race with myself. Myself has caught up with me, God help me, +and I am in its clutches. The time may come when you will try to race +with self, my boy. Let me tell you, you will never win. You will tire +yourself out, and make a damned idiot of yourself for nothing. I shall +race again to-morrow. I never learn the lesson, but perhaps you can, you +are young. Well, come along. Please be as quiet as you can when you go +into the house. My sister may be asleep. She is perfectly well, but she +is a little nervous. I need not repeat my request that you do not +mention your adventure with Clemency this afternoon to her." + +"Certainly not," said James. He walked on beside the doctor, and entered +the house, more and more mystified. James was not sure, but he thought +he heard the faintest little moan from upstairs. He glanced at Doctor +Gordon's face, and it was again the face of the man whom he had seen +before going to Georgie K.'s. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The next morning after breakfast, at which Mrs. Ewing did not appear, +Doctor Gordon observed that she always took her rolls and coffee in bed. +James followed Doctor Gordon into his office. Clemency, who had presided +at the coffee urn, had done so silently, and looked, so James thought, +rather sulky, as if something had gone wrong. Directly James was in the +office, the doctor's man, Aaron, appeared. He was a tall, lank +Jerseyman, incessantly chewing. His lean, yellow jaws appeared to have +acquired a permanent rotary motion, but he had keen eyes of intelligence +upon the doctor as he gave his orders. + +"Put in the team," said Gordon. "We are going to Haver's Corner. Old Sam +Edwards is pretty low, and I ought to have gone there yesterday, but I +didn't know whether that child with diphtheria at Tucker's Mill would +live the day out. Now he has seen the worst of it, thank the Lord! But +to-day I must go to Haver's. I want to make good time, for there's +something going on this afternoon, and I want an hour off if I can get +it." Again the expression of simple jocularity was over the man's face, +and James remembered what he had said the night before about again +running a race with himself the next day. + +After Aaron had gone out Gordon turned to James. He pointed to his great +medicine-case on the table. "You might see to it that the bottles are +all filled," he said. "You will find the medicines yonder." He pointed +to the shelf. "I have to speak to Clemency before I go." + +James obeyed. As he worked filling the bottles he heard dimly Gordon's +voice talking to Clemency on the other side of the wall. The girl seemed +to be expostulating. + +When Doctor Gordon returned Aaron was at his heels with an immense +bottle containing a small quantity of red fluid. "S'pose you'll want +this filled?" he said to Gordon with a grin which only disturbed for a +second his rotary jaws. + +"Oh, yes, of course," replied Gordon, "we want the aqua." + +James stared at him as he poured a little red-colored liquid from one of +the bottles on the shelves into the big one. "Now fill it up from the +pump, and put it in the buggy; be sure the cork is in tight," he said to +Aaron. + +Gordon looked laughingly at James when the man had gone. "I infer that +you are wondering what 'aqua' may be," he said. + +"I was brought up to think it was water," said James. + +"So it is, water pure and simple, with a little coloring matter thrown +in. Bless you, boy, the people around here want their medicines by the +quart, and if they had them by the quart, good-by to the doctor's job, +and ho for the undertaker! So the doctor is obliged to impose upon the +credulity of the avariciously innocent, and dilute the medicine. Bless +you, I have patients who would accuse me of cheating if I prescribed +less than a cupful of medicine at a time. They have to be humored. After +all, they are a harmless, good lot, but stiffened with hereditary ideas, +worse than by rheumatism. If I should give a few drops in half a glass +of water, and order a teaspoonful at a time, I should fly in the face of +something which no mortal man can conquer, sheer heredity. The +grandfathers and great-grandfathers of these people took their physic on +draft, the children must do likewise. Sometimes I even think the +medicine would lose its effect if taken in any other way. Nobody can +estimate the power of a fixed idea upon the body. All the same, it is a +confounded nuisance carrying around the aqua. I will confess, although I +see the necessity of yielding, that I have less patience with men's +stiff-necked stupidity than I have with their sins." + +James drove all the morning with Doctor Gordon about the New Jersey +country. It was a moist, damp day, such as sometimes comes even in +winter. It was a dog day with an atmosphere slightly cooler than that of +midsummer. Overcoats were oppressive, the horses steamed. The roads were +deep with red mud, which clogged the wheels and made the hoofs of the +horses heavy. "It's a damned soil," said Doctor Gordon. This morning +after appearing somewhat saturnine at breakfast, he was again in his +unnatural, rollicking mood. He hailed everybody whom he met. He joked +with the patients and their relatives in the farmhouses, approached +through cart-tracks of mire, and fluttered about by chickens, quacking +geese, and dead leaves. Now and then, stately ranks of turkeys charged +in line of battle upon the muddy buggy, and the team, being used to it, +stood their ground, and snorted contemptuously. The country people were +either saturnine with an odd shyness, which had something almost hostile +in it, or they were effusively hospitable, forcing apple-jack upon the +two doctors. James was much struck by the curious unconcern shown by the +relatives of the patients, and even by the patients themselves. In only +one case, and that of a child suffering from a bad case of measles, was +much interest evinced. The majority of the patients were the very old +and middle-aged, and they discussed, and heard discussed, their symptoms +with much the same attitude as they might have discussed the mechanism +of a wooden doll. If any emotion was shown it was that of a singular +inverted pride. "I had a terrible night, doctor," said one old woman, +and a smirk of self-conceit was over her ancient face. "Yes, mother +_did_ have an awful night," said her married daughter with a triumphant +expression. Even the children clustering about the doctor looked +unconsciously proud because their old grandmother had had an awful +night. The call of the two doctors at the house was positively +hilarious. Quantities of old apple-jack were forced upon them. The old +woman in the adjoining bedroom, although she was evidently suffering, +kept calling out a feeble joke in her cackling old voice. + +"Those people seem positively elated because that old soul is sick," +said James when he and the doctor were again in the buggy. + +"They are," said Doctor Gordon, "even the old woman herself, who knows +well enough that she has not long to live. Did you ever think that the +desire of distinction was one of the most, perhaps the most, intense +purely spiritual emotion of the human soul? Look at the way these people +live here, grubbing away at the soil like ants. The most of them have in +their lives just three ways of attracting notice, the momentary +consideration of their kind: birth, marriage, sickness and death. With +the first they are hardly actively concerned, even with the second many +have nothing to do. There are more women than men as usual, and although +the women want to marry, all the men do not. There remains only sickness +and death for a stand-by, so to speak. If one of them is really sick and +dies, the people are aroused to take notice. The sick person and the +corpse have a certain state and dignity which they have never attained +before. Why, bless you, man, I have one patient, a middle-aged woman, +who has been laid up for years with rheumatism, and she is fairly +vainglorious, and so is her mother. She brags of her invalid daughter. +If she had been merely an old maid on her hands, she would have been +ashamed of her, and the woman herself would have been sour and +discontented. But she has fairly married rheumatism. It has been to her +as a husband and children. I tell you, young man, one has to have his +little footstool of elevation among his fellows, even if it is a mighty +queer one, or he loses his self-respect, and self-respect is the best +jewel we have." + +They were now out in the road again, the team plodding heavily through +the red shale. "It's a damned soil," said the doctor for the second +time. He looked down at the young man beside him, and James again felt +that resentful sense of youth and inexperience. "I don't know how you've +been brought up," said the elder man. "I don't want to infuse heretic +notions into your innocent mind." + +James straightened himself. He tried to give the other man a knowing +look. "I have been about a good deal," he said. "You need not be afraid +of corrupting _me_." + +Doctor Gordon laughed. "Well, I shall not try," he said. "At least, I +shall not mean to corrupt you. I am a pessimist, but you are so young +that you ought not to be influenced by that. Lord, only think what may +be before you. You don't know. I am so far along that I know as far as I +am concerned. I did not know but you had been brought up to think that +whatever the Lord made was good, and that in saying that this red, gluey +New Jersey soil was darned bad, I was swearing the worst way. I don't +want to have millstones and that sort of thing about my neck. I was +quite up in the Scriptures at one time." + +"You need not be afraid," said James with dignity; "I think the soil +darned bad myself." He hesitated a little over the darned, but once it +was out, he felt proud of it. + +"Yes, it is," said Doctor Gordon, "and if the Lord made it, he did not +altogether succeed, and I see no earthly way of tracing the New Jersey +soil back to original sin and the Garden of Eden." + +"That's so," said James. + +Doctor Gordon's face grew sober, his jocular mood for the time had +vanished. He was his true self. "Did it ever occur to you that disease +was the devil?" he asked abruptly. "That is, that all these infernal +microbes that burrow in the human system to its disease and death, were +his veritable imps at work?" + +James shook his head, and looked curiously at his companion's face with +its gloomy corrugations. + +"Well, it has to me," said the doctor, "and let me ask you one thing. +You have been brought up to believe that the devil's particular +residence was hell, haven't you?" + +James replied in a bewildered fashion that he had. + +"Well," said Doctor Gordon, "if the devil lives here, as he must live, +when there's such failures in the way of soil, and such climates, and +such fiendish diseases, and crimes, why, this is hell." + +James stared at him. + +Doctor Gordon nodded half-gloomily, half-whimsically. "It's so," he +said. "We call it earth; but it's hell." + +James said nothing. The doctor's gloomy theology was too much for him. +Besides, he was not quite sure that the elder man was not chaffing him. + +"Well," said Doctor Gordon presently, "hell it is, but there are +compensations, such as apple-jack, and now and then there's something +doing that amuses one even here. I am going to take you to something +that enlivens hell this afternoon, if somebody doesn't send a call. I am +trying to get my work done this morning, the worst of it, so as to have +an hour this afternoon." + +The two returned a little after twelve, and found luncheon waiting for +them. Mrs. Ewing took her place at the table, and James thought that she +did not look quite so ill as she had done the evening before. She talked +more, and ate with some appetite. Doctor Gordon's face lightened, not +with the false gayety which James had seen, but he really looked quite +happy, and spoke affectionately to his sister. + +"What do you think, Tom," said she, "has come over Clemency? I don't +know when there has been a morning that she has not gone for a tramp, +rain or shine, but she has not stirred out to-day. She says she feels +quite well, but I don't know." + +"Oh, Clemency is all right," said Doctor Gordon, but his face darkened +again. As for Clemency, she bent over her plate and looked sulkier than +ever. She fairly pouted. + +"She can go out this afternoon," said Mrs. Ewing. "It looks as if it +were going to clear off." + +"No, I don't want to go," said Clemency. "I am all out of the humor of +it." She spoke with an air of animosity, as if somebody were to blame, +but when she saw Mrs. Ewing's anxious eyes she smiled. "I would much +prefer staying with you, dear," she said, "and finish Annie's Christmas +present." She spoke with such an affectionate air, that James looked +admiringly at her. She seemed a fellow-worshipper. He thought that he, +too, would much prefer staying with Mrs. Ewing than going with Doctor +Gordon on the mysterious outing which he had planned. + +However, directly after luncheon Gordon led James out into the stable +and called Aaron. "Are they ready, Aaron?" inquired the doctor. + +Aaron grinned, opened a rude closet, and produced a number of objects, +which James recognized at once as dummy pigeons. So Doctor Gordon was to +take him to a pigeon-shooting match. James felt a little disgusted. He +had, in fact, taken part in that sport with considerable gusto himself, +but, just now, he being fairly launched, as it were, upon the serious +things of life, took it somewhat in dudgeon that Doctor Gordon should +think to amuse him with such frivolities. But to his amazement the +elder man's face was all a-quiver with mirth and fairly eager. "Show the +pigeons to Doctor Elliot, Aaron," said Doctor Gordon. James took one of +the rude disks called pigeons from the hand of Aaron with indifference, +then he started and stared at Doctor Gordon, who laughed like a boy, +fairly doubling himself with merriment. Aaron did not laugh, he chewed +on, but his eyes danced. + +"Why, they are--" stammered James. + +"Just so, young man," replied Doctor Gordon. "They are wood. Aaron made +them on a lathe, and not a soul can tell them from the clay pigeons +unless they handle them. Now you are going to see some fun. Jim Goodman, +who is the meanest skunk in town, has cheated every mother's son of us +first and last, and this afternoon he is going to shoot against Albert +Dodd, and he's going to get his finish! Dodd knows about it. He'll have +clay pigeons all right. Goodman has put up quite a sum of money, and he +stands fair to lose for once in his life." + +"Come on, Aaron, put the bay mare in the buggy. We'll drive down to the +field. We haven't got much time to spare." + +Aaron backed the mare out of her stall and hitched her to the +mud-bespattered buggy, and the two men drove off with the wooden pigeons +under the seat. They had not far to go, to a large field intersected +with various footpaths and with, a large bare space, which evidently +served as a football gridiron. "This field is used like town property," +explained the doctor, "but the funny part of it is, it belongs to an old +woman who is, perhaps, the richest person in Alton, and asks such a +price for the land that nobody can buy it, and it has never occurred to +her to keep off trespassers. So everybody trespasses, and she pays the +taxes, and we are all satisfied, especially as there are plenty of +better building sites in Alton to be bought for less money. That old +woman bites her nose off every day, and never knows it." + +On this barren expanse, intersected with the narrow footpaths, covered +between with the no color of last year's dry weeds and grass, were +assembled some half dozen men and boys. They rushed up as the doctor's +buggy came alongside. "Got 'em?" they cried eagerly. Doctor Gordon +fumbled under the seat and drew out the batch of wooden pigeons, which +one young fellow, who seemed to be master of ceremonies, grasped and +rushed off with to the queer-looking machine erected in the centre of +the football clearing, for the purpose of making them take wing. The +others went with him. Doctor Gordon got out of his buggy, accompanied by +James, and they, too, joined the little group. "Got the others?" asked +Gordon in a half whisper. + +"Yes, you bet. We've got the others all right," said the young fellow, +and everybody laughed. + +Men and boys began to gather until the field was half filled with them. +They all wore grinning countenances. "For Heaven's sake, boys, don't act +as if it were so awful funny, or you'll spoil the whole thing," said the +young fellow who had come for the pigeons. + +Only one face was entirely sober, even severe, as with resolve, and that +was the face of a small, mean-looking man between forty and fifty. He +carried a gun, and looked at once important and greedy. "That's Jim +Goodman," whispered Doctor Gordon to James, "and he's a crack shot, too. +Albert isn't as sure, though he's pretty good, too." + +James began to catch the spirit of it himself. He felt at once disgusted +and uneasy about the doctor, but as for himself he was only a young +man, after all, and sport was still sweet to his soul. He shouted with +the rest when the first pigeon was launched into the air, and Albert +Dodd, a tall, serious young man, fired. He hit the bird, which at once +flew into fragments, as a clay pigeon properly should. + +Georgie K. came up and joined them. He was evidently not in the secret, +for he looked intensely puzzled when Jim Goodman, who had next shot, hit +his bird fairly, but it only hopped about and descended unbroken. "What +the deuce!" he said. + +"Hush up, Georgie K.," said Doctor Gordon. The other man turned and +looked at him keenly, but the doctor's imperturbable, smiling face was +on the sport. Georgie K.'s great pink face grew grave. Every time Albert +Dodd fired the pigeons dropped in pieces, every time Jim Goodman fired +they hopped as if they were alive. Jim Goodman swore audibly. He looked +to his cartridges. The whole field was in an uproar of mirth. The +gunshots were hardly audible for the yells and wild halloos of +merriment. The match at last was finished. Jim Goodman's last pigeon +hopped, and he was upon it in a rage. He took it up and examined it. It +was riddled with shot. He felt it, weighed it. Then his face grew +fairly black. From being only mean, he looked murderous. He was losing +money, and money was the closest thing to his soul. He looked around at +the yelling throng, one man at bay, and he achieved a certain dignity, +even in the midst of absurdity. + +"This darned pigeon is wood," said he. "They are all wood, all I have +shot. This is a put-up job! It ain't fair." He turned to the young +fellow who had taken the pigeons, and who acted as referee. + +"See here, John," he said, "you ain't going to see me done this way, be +you? You know it ain't a fair deal. Albert Dodd's shot clay pigeons, and +I've shot wood. It ain't fair." + +"No, it ain't fair," admitted the young fellow reluctantly, with a side +glance at Doctor Gordon. Gordon made a movement, but Georgie K. was +ahead of him. James saw a roll of bills pass from his hands to Jim +Goodman's. Gordon came up to Georgie K. + +"See here!" he said. + +"Well," replied Georgie K., without turning his head. + +"Georgie K." + +"I can't stop. Excuse me, Doc." Georgie K. jumped into a light wagon on +that side of the field, and was gone with a swift bounce over the hollow +which separated it from the road. Doctor Gordon hurried back to his own +buggy, with James following, got in and took the road after Georgie K. +"He mustn't pay that money," said Gordon. James said nothing. + +"I never thought of such a thing as that," said Doctor Gordon, driving +furiously, but they did not catch up with Georgie K. until they reached +the Evarts House, and he was out of his wagon. + +Doctor Gordon approached him, pocketbook in hand. "See here, Georgie +K.," he said, "I owe you a hundred." + +"Owe me nothing," said Georgie K. It had seemed impossible for his great +pink face to look angry and contemptuous, but it did. "I don't set up +for much," said he, "but I must say I like a square deal." + +"Good Lord! so do I," said Gordon. "Here, take this money. I had Aaron +make those darned wooden pigeons. Jim Goodman has skinned enough young +chaps here to deserve the taste of a skin himself." + +"He ain't skinned you." + +"Hasn't he? He owes me for two wives' last sicknesses, to say nothing +of himself and children, and he's living with his third, and I shall +have to doctor her for nothing or let her die. But that wasn't what I +did it for." + +Georgie K. turned upon him. "What on earth did you do it for, Doc?" said +he. + +"Because I felt the way you have felt yourself." + +"When?" + +"When the woman that made those wax-flowers, and loved that little +stuffed bird in there, died." + +Georgie K.'s face paled. "What's the matter, Doc?" + +"Nothing, I tell you." + +"What?" + +"Nothing. Who said there was anything? I had to have my little joke. I +tell you, Georgie K., I've _got_ to have my little joke, just as I've +got to have my game of euchre with you and my glass of apple-jack; a man +can't be driven too far. I meant to make it right with him. He's a mean +little cuss, but I am not mean. I intended to spend a hundred on my +joke, and you got ahead of me. For God's sake, take the money, Georgie +K." + +Georgie K., still with a white, shocked, inquiring face, extended his +hand and took the roll of bills which the doctor gave him. + +"Come in and take something," said he, and Doctor Gordon and James +accepted. They went again into the state parlor on whose shelf were the +wax-flowers and the stuffed canary, and they partook of apple-jack. + +Then Doctor Gordon and James took leave. Georgie K. gave Gordon a hearty +shake of the hand when he got into the buggy. Gordon looked at James +again with his gloomy face, as he took up the lines. "Failed in the race +again," he said. "Now we've got to hustle, for I have eight calls to +make before dinner, and it's late. I ought to change horses, but there +isn't time." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The weeks went on, and James led the same life with practically no +variation. The sense of a mystery or mysteries about the house never +left him, and it irritated him. He was not curious; he did not in the +least care to know in what the mystery consisted, but the fact of +concealment itself was obnoxious to him. As for himself, he never +concealed anything, and when it came to mystery, he had a vague idea of +something shameful, if not criminal. Doctor Gordon's incomprehensible +changes of mood, of almost more than mood, of character even, disturbed +him. Why a man should be one hour a country buffoon, the next an +absorbed gentleman, he could not understand. And he could not understand +also why Clemency had never left the house since he had met her on the +day of his arrival. She evidently was herself angry and sulky at being +housed, but she did not attempt to resist, and whenever Mrs. Ewing +expressed anxiety about her health, she laughed it off, and made some +excuse, such as the badness of the roads, or some Christmas work which +she was anxious to finish. However, at last Mrs. Ewing's concern grew so +evident that Doctor Gordon at dinner one day gave what seemed a +plausible reason for Clemency remaining indoors. "If you will have it, +Clara," he said, "Clemency has a slight pain in her side, and pleurisy +and pneumonia are all about, and I told her that she had better take no +chances, and the weather has been raw." + +Mrs. Ewing turned quite white. "Oh, Tom," she murmured, "why didn't you +tell me?" + +"I did not tell you, Clara dear, because you would immediately have had +the child in a galloping consumption, and it is really nothing at all. I +only want to be on the safe side." + +"It is a very little pain, mother dear," said Clemency. When Clemency +spoke to Mrs. Ewing, her voice had a singing quality. At such times, +although the young man's very soul was possessed of the mother, he could +not help viewing the daughter with favor. But he was puzzled about the +pleurisy. The girl seemed to him entirely well, although she was losing +a little of her warm color from staying indoors. Still, after all, a +pain is as invisible as a spirit. Her friend, Annie Lipton, spent a few +days with her, and then James saw very little of Clemency. The two girls +sat together in Clemency's room, and only the Lord of innocence and +ignorance knew what they talked about. They talked a great deal. James, +whenever he was in the house, was conscious of the distant murmur of +their sweet young voices, although he could not distinguish a word. +Annie Lipton was a prettier girl than Clemency, though without her +personal charm. Her beauty seemed to abash her, and make her indignant. +She was a girl who should have been a nun, and viewed love and lovers +from behind iron bars. She treated James with exceeding coolness. + +"Annie Lipton is an anomaly," Doctor Gordon remarked once over his +after-dinner pipe, when they sat in the study listening to the feminine +murmur on the other side of the wall. It sounded like the gentle ripple +of a summer sea. + +"Why?" returned James. + +"She defies her sex," replied Doctor Gordon, "and still there is nothing +mannish about her. She is a woman angry and ashamed at her womanhood. +If she ever marries, it will be at the cost of a terrible mental +struggle. There are women-haters among men, and there are a very few--so +few as to rank with albinos and white blackbirds in scarcity--man-haters +among women. Annie is a man-hater." + +"She is very pretty, too," said James. + +"If you attempt the conquest, I'll warn you there will be scaling +ladders and all the ancient paraphernalia of siege needed," said Doctor +Gordon laughingly. James colored. + +"It may be that I am a woman-hater," he replied, and looked very young. +Doctor Gordon again laughed. + +A little later they went to Georgie K.'s. They went nearly every evening +while Annie Lipton was with Clemency. After she had left they did not go +so often. "It is pretty dull for Clemency," Doctor Gordon would say, and +they would remain at home and play whist with the two ladies. James +began to be quite sure that Doctor Gordon's visits to Georgie K.'s were +mostly made when Mrs. Ewing looked worse than usual and did not eat her +dinner. James became convinced in his own mind that Mrs. Ewing was not +well, although he never dared broach the subject again to the doctor, +and although it made no difference whatever in his own attitude toward +her. As well might he have turned his back upon the Venus, because of +some slight abrasion which her beautiful body had received from the +ages. + +But one day, having come in unexpectedly alone, he found her on the +divan in the living-room, evidently weeping, and his heart went out to +her. He flung himself down on his knees beside her. + +"Oh, what is it? What is the matter?" he whispered. + +Her whole body was writhing. She uncovered her eyes and looked at him +pitifully, and yet with a certain dignity. Those beautiful eyes, +brimming with tears, were not reddened, and their gaze was steady. "If I +tell you, will you keep my secret?" she whispered back, "or, rather, it +is not a secret since Doctor Gordon knows it. I wish he did not, but +will you keep your knowledge from him?" + +"I promise you I will," said James fervently. + +"I am terribly ill," said Mrs. Ewing simply. "I suffer at times +tortures. Don't ask me what the matter is. It is too dreadful, and +although I have no reason to feel so, it seems to me ignominious. I am +ashamed of being so ill. I feel disgraced by it, wicked." She covered +her face again and sobbed. + +"Don't, don't," said James, out of his senses completely. "Don't, I +can't bear it. I love you so. Don't! I will cure you." + +"You cannot. Doctor Gordon does not admit that my case is hopeless, but +he gives no hope, and you must have noticed how he suffers when he sees +me suffer. He runs away from me because he can do nothing to help me. +That is the worst of it all. I could bear the pain for myself, but for +the others, too! Oh, I wish there was some little back door of life out +of which one could slip, and no blame to anybody, in a case like this. +But there is nothing but the horrible front door, which means such agony +to everybody who is left, as well as the one that goes." Mrs. Ewing had +completely lost control of herself. She sobbed again and moaned. + +James covered one of her cold hands with kisses. "Don't, don't," he +begged. "Don't, I love you." + +Suddenly Mrs. Ewing came to the comprehension of what he said. She +looked at his bent head--James had a curly head like a boy's--and a +strange look came into her eyes, as if she were regarding him across an +immeasurable gulf. Nobody had ever seemed quite so far away in the world +as this boy with his cry of love to the woman old enough to be his +mother. It was not the fact of her superior age alone, it was her +disease, it was her sense of being done forever with anything like this +that gave her, as it were, a view of earth from outside, and yet she had +a sense of comfort. James was even weeping. She felt his tears on her +hand. It did her good that anybody could love her so little as to be +able to stay by and see her suffer, and weep for her, and not rush forth +in a rage of misery like Thomas Gordon. In a second, however, she had +command of herself. She drew her hand away. "Doctor Elliot," she said, +"you forget yourself." + +"No, no, I don't," protested James. "It is not as if I--I were thinking +of you in that way. I am not. I know you could not possibly think of me +as a girl might. It is only because I love you. I have never seen +anybody like you." + +"You must put me out of your head," said Mrs. Ewing. "I am old enough to +be your mother; I am ill unto death. You must not love me in any way." + +"I cannot help it" + +Mrs. Ewing hesitated. "I have a mind to tell you something," she said in +a low voice. "Can I rely upon you?" + +"I would die before I told, if you said I was not to," cried James. + +"It might almost come to that," said the woman gravely. "A very serious +matter is involved, otherwise there would not be this secrecy. I cannot +tell you what the matter is, but I can tell you something which will +cure you of loving me." + +"I don't want to be cured," protested James, "and I have told you it is +a love like worship, it is not--" + +Mrs. Ewing interrupted him. "The worship of a young man is not to be +trusted," she said. "I cannot have you made to suffer. I will tell you, +but, remember, if you betray me you will do awful harm. Neither the +doctor nor Clemency even must know that I tell you. The doctor knows, of +course, the secret; Clemency does not know, and must never know. It +would be the undoing of all of us, the terrible undoing, if this were to +get out, but I will tell you. You are a good boy, and you shall be +spared needless pain. Listen." She leaned forward and whispered close to +his ear. James started back, and stared at her as white as death. Mrs. +Ewing smiled. "It hurts a little, I know," she said, "but better this +now than worse later. You are foolish to feel so about me; you were at a +disadvantage in coming here. It is only right that you should know. Now +never speak to me again about this. Think of me as your friend, and your +friend who is in very great suffering and pain, and have sympathy for +me, if you can, but not so much sympathy that you too will suffer. I +want sympathy, but not agony like poor Tom's. That makes it harder for +me." + +"Does she know?" asked James, half-gasping. + +"You mean does Clemency know I am ill?" + +"Yes." + +"She knows I am ill. She does not know how terrible it is. You must help +me to keep it from her. I almost never give way when she is present. I +knew she was taking a nap this afternoon, and the pain was so awful. It +is better now. I think I will go to my room and lie down for a while." +Mrs. Ewing rose, and extended her hand to James. "I have forgotten +already what you told me," she said. + +"I can never forget!" + +"You must, or you must go away from here." + +"I can never forget, but it shall be a thing of the past," said James. + +"That is right," Mrs. Ewing said with a maternal air. "It will only take +a little effort. You will see." + +She went out of the room with a flounce of red draperies, and left +James. He sat down beside a window and stared out blankly. The thought +came to him, how many avowals of love and deathless devotion such a +woman must have listened to. Her manner of receiving his made him think +that there had been many. "It is quite proper," he thought to himself. +"A woman like that is born to be worshiped." Then he thought of what she +had told him, and a sort of rage filled his heart. He recognized the +fact that she had been right in her estimation of the worship of a young +man. He is always trying to turn his idol into clay. + +The door opened and Clemency entered, but he did not notice it. She came +and sat down in front of him, and looked angrily at him, then for the +first time he saw her. He rose. "I beg your pardon, I did not hear you +come in," he said. + +"Sit down again," said Clemency pettishly. "Don't be silly. I am used +to having young men not see anybody but my mother when she comes into a +room, and it is quite right, too. I don't think there ever was a woman +so beautiful as she, do you?" + +"No, I don't," replied James. + +Clemency eyed him keenly. Then she blushed at the surmise which came to +her, and James also blushed at the knowledge of the surmise. "You can't +be much older than I am. I am twenty-three," said Clemency after a +while. Then the red suffused her very throat. + +"I am twenty-three, too," said James. Then he added bluntly, for he +began to be angry, "A man can think a woman the most beautiful he ever +saw without--" + +"Oh, I didn't think you were such a fool," said Clemency; then she +added, in a meek and shamed voice, "I should have been awfully disgusted +with you if you had not thought my mother the most beautiful woman you +ever saw, and I am used to men not seeing me. I don't want them to. I +think I feel something as Annie Lipton does about men. She says she +feels as if she wanted to kill every man who looks at her as if he +loved her. I think I should, too." + +"Miss Lipton has a great many admirers," remarked James by way of +changing the subject. + +"Oh, yes, every young man for miles around, ever since she was grown up. +She doesn't like any of them." Clemency looked at James with sudden +concern. "I am going to tell you something," she said, "even if it is +rather betraying confidence. I think I ought to. Annie told me she had +taken a great dislike to you, from the very first moment she saw you, so +it would be no use--" + +"I am sorry," replied James stiffly, "but as I had no particular feeling +for her, except admiration of her beauty, it makes no especial +difference." + +"I thought, of course, you would fall in love with her," said Clemency. +Then she added, with most inexplicable inverted jealousy, "You must have +very poor taste, or you would. You are the first one." + +"Some one has to be first," James said, laughing. + +"I don't know but I was horrid to tell you what I did," said Clemency, +looking at him doubtfully. + +"I don't thing it as horrid for a girl to assume that every man is in +love with her friend as it would be if she assumed something else," said +James. He knew that his speech was ungallant; but it seemed to him that +this girl fairly challenged him to rudeness. But she looked at him +innocently. + +"Oh, no, I never should think that," said she. "Being with two women so +very beautiful as my mother and Annie so much makes me quite sure that +nobody is thinking of me. It is only sometimes that I feel a little like +a piece of furniture, only chairs can't walk into rooms." She ended with +a girlish laugh. Then her face suddenly sobered. "Doctor Elliot, I want +you to tell me something," said she. "Uncle Tom wouldn't if I asked him, +and I don't dare ask him anyway. Do you think mother is very well?" + +James hesitated. "You ought to tell me," Clemency said imperatively. + +"I have thought sometimes that she did not look quite well," said James. + +"What do you think the matter is?" + +"It may be indigestion." + +"Do you think it is?" + +"I don't know. Doctor Gordon has told me nothing, and Mrs. Ewing has +told me nothing." + +"I thought doctors could tell from a person's looks." + +"Not always." + +"Doctors aren't much good anyhow," said Clemency. "I don't care if you +are one, and Uncle Tom is one. I notice people die just the same. So you +think it is indigestion? Well, it may be. Mother doesn't have much +appetite." + +"Yes, I have noticed that," said James. + +"Then there is something else I want to ask you," said Clemency. "I have +a right to know if you know. What does Uncle Tom make me stay in the +house so for?" + +"I don't know," replied James, looking honestly at her. + +"Don't you, honest? Hasn't he told you?" + +"No." + +"Of course, I know the first of it came from my meeting that man the day +you came here, but it does seem such utter nonsense that I have to stay +housed this way. I never met a man that frightened me before, and it is +not likely that I shall again. It does not stand to reason that that man +is hanging around here waiting to intercept me again. It is nonsense, +but Uncle Tom won't let me stir out. He has even ordered me to keep away +from the windows, and be sure that the curtains are drawn at night. I +don't know what the matter is. I can't say a word about it to mother, +she is so nervous. I have to pretend that I like to stay in the house, +and some days I really think I am going mad for fresh air. Uncle Tom +won't even let me go driving with him. So you don't know anything about +it?" + +"Nothing whatever." + +"Well, I can't stand it much longer," said Clemency with an obstinate +look. "As for the pain in my side, that's an awful lie; I haven't the +ghost of a pain. I can't stand it much longer. Here's Uncle Tom. You are +not going to tell him I said anything about it?" + +"Of course, I am not," answered James. He began to feel that he was +entangled in a web of secrecy, and his feeling of irritation increased. +He would have gotten out of it and spent Christmas at his own home, but +Doctor Gordon had an unusual number of patients suffering from grippe, +and pneumonia was almost epidemic, and he felt that he should not +leave. It was the second week of the new year when James, returning from +a call at a near-by patient, whither he had walked, found Mrs. Ewing in +the greatest distress. It was ten o'clock at night, and she was pacing +the living-room. Immediately when he entered she ran to him. "Oh," she +gasped, "Clemency, Clemency!" + +"Why, what is it?" asked James. Clemency had not been at the +dinner-table, but he had supposed her sulking, as she had been doing of +late, and that she had taken advantage of Doctor Gordon's absence at a +distant patient's to remain away from the table. + +"She begged so hard to go out, and said the pain was quite well," gasped +Mrs. Ewing, "that I said she might go and see Annie, and here it is ten +o'clock at night, and Tom has gone to Grover's Corner, and may not be +home until morning, and Aaron is with him, and I had no one to send. I +thought I would not say anything to you. I thought every minute she +would come in, and Emma has walked half a mile looking for her, and I am +horribly worried." + +"I will go directly and look for her," said James. "I will put the bay +in the light buggy, and drive to Westover. Don't worry. I'll bring her +back in half an hour." + +"The bay is so lame she can't travel, I heard Tom say this morning," +said Mrs. Ewing. + +"Then I'll take the gray." + +"She balks, you know." + +James laughed. "Oh, I'll risk the balking," he said. + +He hurried out to the stable and put the gray in the buggy. It was a +very short time before James was on the road, and the gray went as well +as could be desired, but just before she reached Westover she stopped +short, and James might as well have tried to move a mountain as that +animal with her legs planted at four angles of relentless obstinacy. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +James had considerable experience with, horses. He knew at once that it +was probably a hopeless undertaking to change the mare's mind, or rather +her obstinacy. However, he tried the usual methods, touching with the +whip, getting out and attempting to lead, but they were all, as he had +supposed from the first, in vain. A terrible sense of being up against +fate itself seized him: an animal's will unreasoning, unrelenting, +bears, in fact, the aspect of fate itself. It is at once sensate and +insensate. James thought of Clemency, and decided to waste no more time. + +The gray mare was near enough to a tree to tie her, and he tied her and +set out on foot. It was a very dark night, cloudy and chilly and +threatening snow. He walked on, as it were, through softly enveloping +shadows, which seemed to his excited fancy to be coming forward to meet +him. He began to be very much alarmed. He had wasted most of his young +sentiment upon Clemency's mother, but, after all, he suddenly +discovered that he had a feeling for the girl herself. He thought that +it was only the natural anxiety of any man of honor for the safety of a +helpless young girl out alone at night, and beset by possible dangers, +but he realized himself in a panic. His plan was of course to go +directly to Annie Lipton's home, some two miles farther on, then it +occurred to him that Clemency must inevitably have left there. If she +were lying dead or injured on the road, how in the world was he to see? +He felt in his pocket for matches, and found just one. He lit that and +peered around. While it burned he saw nothing except the frozen road +with its desolate borders of woods and brush, a fit scene for countless +tragedies. When the match burned out he thought of something else. +Supposing that Clemency were lying half-dead anywhere near the road, how +was she to know that a friend was near? Immediately he began to whistle. +Whistling was a trick of his, and he had a remarkably sweet, clear pipe. +He knew that Clemency, if she were to hear his whistle, would know who +was near. He whistled "Way down upon the Suwanee River" through, then he +began on the "Flower Song" from Faust, walking all the time quite +rapidly but with alert ears. He was half through the "Flower Song" when +he stopped short. He thought he heard something. He listened, and did +hear quite distinctly an exceedingly soft little voice, which might have +been the voice of shadows--"Is that you?" + +"Clemency," he cried out, and rushed toward the wood, and directly the +girl was clinging to him. She was panting with sobs, but she kept her +voice down to a whisper. "Speak low, speak low," she said in his ear. "I +don't know where he is. Oh, speak low." She clung to him with almost a +spasmodic grip of her slender arms. "If you had been ten minutes longer +I think I should have died," she whispered. "Don't make a sound. I don't +know where he is." + +"Was it--" began James. He felt himself trembling at the thought of what +the girl might be going to reveal to him. + +"Yes, that same dreadful man. Uncle Tom was right. I stayed too long at +Annie's. It was almost dark when I left there. She persuaded me to stay +to dinner. They had turkey. I was about half a mile below here when he, +the man, came out of the woods, just as he did before. I heard him, and +I knew. I did not look around. I ran, and I heard his footsteps behind +me. The darkness seemed to shut down all at once. I knew he could catch +me, and remembered what I had heard about wild animals when they were +hunted. I had gone a little past here, running just as softly as I +could, when I turned right into the woods, and ran back. Then I lay +right down in the underbrush and kept still. I heard him run past. Then +I heard him come back. He came into the woods. I expected every minute +he would step on me, but I kept still. Finally I heard him go away, but +I have not dared to stir since! I made up my mind I would keep still +until I heard a team pass. It did seem to me one must pass, and one +would have at any other time, but it has been hours I have been lying +there. Then I heard your whistle. I was almost afraid to speak then. +Don't speak above a whisper now. Did you come on foot?" + +"I had the gray mare, and she balked about half a mile from here. You +are sure you are not hurt?" + +"No, only I am trying hard not to faint. Let us walk on very fast, but +step softly, and don't talk." + +James put his arm around the girl and half carried her. She continued +to draw short, panting breaths, which she tried to subdue. They reached +the place where the gray mare loomed faintly out of the gloom with the +dark mass of the buggy behind her. + +"Let us get in," whispered Clemency. "Quick!" + +"I am afraid she won't budge." + +"Yes, she will for me. She has a tender mouth, that is why she balks. +You must have pulled too hard on the lines. Sometimes I have made her go +when even Uncle Tom couldn't." + +Clemency ran around to the gray's head and patted her, and James untied +her. Then the girl got into the buggy and took the reins, and James +followed. He was almost jostled out, the mare started with such impetus. +They made the distance home almost on a run. + +"Oh, I am so glad," panted Clemency. "You see I can seem to feel her +mouth when I hold the lines, and she knows. Was poor mother worried?" + +"A little." + +"I know she was almost crazy." + +"She will be all right when she sees you safe," said James. + +"Is Uncle Tom home yet? No, of course I know he isn't, or he would have +come instead of you. Oh, dear, I know he will scold me. I shall have to +tell him, but I mustn't tell mother about the man. What shall I tell +her? It is dreadful to have to lie, but sometimes one would rather run +the risk of fire and brimstone for one's self than have anybody else +hurt. If I tell mother she will have one of her dreadful nervous +attacks. I can't tell her. What shall I tell her, Doctor Elliot?" + +"I think the simplest thing will be to say that Miss Lipton persuaded +you to stay to supper, and so you were late, and I overtook you," said +James. + +"Mother will never believe that I stayed so long as that," said +Clemency. "I shall have to lie more than that. I don't know exactly what +to say. I could have Charlie Horton come in to play whist, and be taking +me home in his buggy. He always drives, and you could meet me on the +road." + +"Yes, you could do that." + +"It is a very complicated lie," said Clemency, "but I don't know that a +complicated lie is any worse than a simple one. I think I shall have to +lie the complicated one. You need not say anything, you know. You can +take the mare to the stable, and I will run in and get the lie all told +before you come. You won't lie, will you?" + +James could not help laughing. "No, I don't see any need of it," he +replied. + +"It is rather awful for you to have to live with people who have to lie +so," remarked Clemency, "but I don't see how it can be helped. If you +had seen my mother in one of her nervous attacks once, you would never +want to see her again. There is only one thing, I do feel very weak +still, and I am afraid I shall look pale. Hold the lines a minute. Don't +pull on them at all. Let them lie on your knees." + +"What are you doing?" asked James when he had complied. + +"Doing? I am pinching my cheeks almost black and blue, so mother won't +notice. I don't talk scared now, do I?" + +"Not very." + +"Well, I think I can manage that. I think I can manage my voice. I am +all over being faint. Oh, I will tell you what I will do. You haven't +got your medicine-case with you, have you?" + +"No, I started so hurriedly." + +"Well, I will go in the office way. I know where Uncle Tom keeps +brandy, and I will be so chilled that I'll have to take a little before +mother sees me. That will make me all right. I wouldn't take it for +myself, but I will for her." + +"And you are chilled, all right," said James. + +"Yes, I think I am," said Clemency. "I did not think of it, but I guess +it was cold there in the woods keeping still so long." Indeed, the girl +was shaking from head to foot, both with cold and nervous terror. "It +was awful," she said in a little whisper. + +James felt the girl shaking from head to foot. Suddenly a great +tenderness for the poor, little hunted thing came over him. He put his +arm around her. "Poor little soul," he said. "It must have been terrible +for you lying out there in the cold and dark and not knowing--" + +Clemency shrank into his embrace as a hurt child might have done. "It +was perfectly terrible," she said, with a little sob. "I didn't know but +he might come back any minute and find me." + +"It is all over now," James said soothingly. + +"Yes, for the time," Clemency replied with a little note of despair in +her voice, "but there is something about it all that I don't understand. +Only think how long I have had to stay in the house, and he must have +been on the watch. I don't know when it is ever going to end." + +"I think that I will end it to-morrow," said James with fierce +resolution. + +"You? How?" + +"I am going to put a stop to this. If an innocent girl can't step out of +the house for weeks at a time without being hounded this way, it is high +time something was done. I am going to get a posse of men and scour the +country for the scoundrel." + +"Oh, will you do that?" + +"Yes, I will. It is high time somebody did something." + +"You saw him. You know just how he looks?" + +"I could tell him from a thousand." + +Clemency drew a long breath. "Well," she said doubtfully, "if you can, +but--" + +"But what?" + +"Nothing, only somehow I doubt if Uncle Tom will think it advisable. +There must be some mystery about all this or Uncle Tom himself would +have done that very thing at first. I don't understand it. But I don't +believe Uncle Tom will consent to your hunting for the man. I think for +some reason he wants it kept secret." Suddenly, Clemency gave a +passionate little outcry. "Oh, how I do hate secrets!" she said. "How I +have always hated them! I want everything right out, and here I seem to +be in a perfect snarl of secrets! I wonder how long I shall have to stay +in the house." + +"Perhaps you are wrong, and your uncle will take measures now this has +happened for the second time," said James. + +"No, he won't," replied the girl hopelessly. "I am almost sure that he +will not." + +Clemency was right. After she had made her entry and told her little lie +successfully, and explained that she had taken some brandy because she +was chilled, and Mrs. Ewing had gently scolded her for staying so late, +and kissed and embraced her, and gotten back her own composure, Doctor +Gordon arrived, and James, who had waited for him in the study, told him +the story in whispers. "Now I think you had better let me get a posse of +men and scour the country to-morrow," he concluded. "It seems to me +that this thing has gone far enough." + +Doctor Gordon sat huddled up before him in an arm-chair. He had not even +taken off his overcoat, which was white with snow. The storm had begun. +"It will be easy to track him on account of the snow," added James. + +"Tracking is not necessary," replied Gordon, with his haggard face fixed +upon James. "I know exactly where the man is, and have known from the +first." + +"Then--" began James. + +"You don't know what you are talking about," Gordon said gloomily. "I +would have that fiend arrested to-morrow. I would have him hung from the +nearest tree if I had my way, but I can do absolutely nothing." + +"Nothing?" + +"No, I can do nothing, except what I have been doing, so far in vain, it +seems, to try to tire him out. I traded too much on his impatience, it +seemed. I did not think he would have held out so long." + +"You mean you will have to keep that poor little thing shut up the way +you have been doing?" + +"I see no other way. God knows I have tried to think of another, day and +night." + +"I don't see why you or I could not take her out sometimes when we +visit patients anyway," said James in a bewildered fashion. + +"You don't understand," replied Doctor Gordon irritably. "The main point +is: the girl must not be even seen by that man. That is the trouble. +Driving, she might be perfectly safe; in fact, in one way she is safe +anyhow. She is not in any danger of bodily harm, as you may think, but I +don't want her seen." + +"Why not let me take her out sometimes of an evening then?" said James, +more and more mystified. "If she wore a veil, and went out driving in +the evening, I can't see how anybody could get a glimpse of her." + +"You don't understand that we have to deal with a very devil incarnate," +said Doctor Gordon wearily. "He will be on the watch for just that very +manoeuvre. However, perhaps we may be able to manage that; I will see." + +"She will be ill if she remains in the house so closely," said James, +"especially a girl like her, who has been accustomed to lead such an +outdoor life. In fact, I don't think she does look very well now. It is +telling on her." + +"Yes, I think it is," agreed Doctor Gordon gloomily, "but again, I say, +I see no other way out of it. However, perhaps you or I can take her out +sometimes of an evening. I suppose it had better be you, on some +accounts. I will see. Well, I will take off my coat and get something to +eat. I suppose Clara and Clemency have gone to bed." + +"They went hours ago," replied James. It was, in fact, two in the +morning. James followed the doctor, haggard and weary, into the kitchen, +where, according to custom at such times, some dinner had been left to +keep warm on the range. "I'll sit down here," said Doctor Gordon. "It is +warmer than in the dining-room, and I am chilled through. If you don't +mind, Elliot, I wish you would get me a bottle of apple-jack from the +dining-room. I must have something to hearten me up, or I shall go by +the board, and I don't know what will become of her--of them." + +James sat and waited while the doctor ate and drank. When he had +finished he looked a little less haggard. He stretched himself before +the warm glow from the range and laughed. "Now I feel my fighting blood +is up again," he said. "After all, if there is anything in the Good +Book, the wicked shall not always triumph, and I may win out. I shall +do my best anyhow. But I confess you took the wind out of me with what +you told me when I came in. I am glad Clara does not know. Poor little +Clemency having to pave her way with lies, but it would kill Clara. Oh, +God, it does seem as if I had enough before. Take my advice, young man, +and try to think more of yourself than anybody else in the world. Don't +let your heart go out to anybody. Just as sure as you do, the door of +the worst torture-chamber in creation swings open. The minute you become +vulnerable through love, you haven't a strong place in your whole +armor." + +"What a doctrine!" observed James. + +"I know it, but I have taken a fancy to you, boy; and hang it if I want +you to suffer as I have to." + +"But a man would not be a man at all if he did not think enough of +somebody to suffer," said James, and now he was thinking of poor little +Clemency, and how she had nestled up to him for protection. + +"Maybe," said Doctor Gordon gloomily, "but sometimes I wonder whether it +pays in the long run to be what you call a man. Sometimes I wish that I +were a rock or a tree. I do to-night." + +"You will feel better after you have had a little sleep," James said, +as the two men rose. + +Suddenly one of Doctor Gordon's inexplicable changes of mood came over +him. He laughed. "If it were not so late we would go down to Georgie +K.'s," said he. "I never felt more awake. Well, I guess it's too late. +You must be dead tired yourself. I have not thanked you at all for your +rescue of the girl. She would have been down with a serious illness if +you had not gone, for she would have lain in that place being snowed +over until somebody came." + +"She was mighty clever to do what she did," said James. + +"Yes, she is clever," returned Doctor Gordon. "She is a good girl, and +it stings me to the very heart that she has to suffer such persecution. +Well, 'all's well that ends well.' Did it ever occur to you that God +made up to mankind for the horrors of creation, by stating that there +would be an end to it some day? Good God, if this terrible world had to +roll on to all eternity!" Doctor Gordon laughed again his unnatural +laugh. "Fancy if you were awakened to-night by the last trump," he said. +"How small everything would seem. Hang it, though, if I wouldn't try to +have a hand at that man's finish before the angel of the Lord got his +flaming sword at work." + +James looked at him with terror. + +"Don't mind me, boy," said Gordon. "I don't mean to blaspheme; but Job +is not in it with me just now. You cannot imagine what I had to contend +with before this melodramatic villain appeared on the stage. Sometimes I +think this is the finish," Gordon's mouth contracted. He looked savage. +James continued to stare at him. Gordon laid his hand on James's +shoulder. "Thank the Lord for one thing," he said almost tenderly, "that +he sent you here. Between us we will take care of poor little Clemency +anyhow. Now go to bed, and go to sleep." + +James obeyed as to the one, but he could not as to the other. He became, +as the hours wore on, so nervous that he was half-inclined to take a +sleeping powder. The room seemed full of flashes of lightning. He heard +sounds which made him cold with horror. He was highly strung nervously, +and was really in a state bordering upon hysteria. The mystery which +surrounded him was the main cause. He was never himself before an +unknown quantity. He had too much imagination. He made all sorts of +surmises as to the stranger who was haunting Clemency. Starting with two +known quantities, he might have accomplished something, but here he had +only one: Clemency herself. He had a good head for algebra, but a man +cannot work out a problem easily with only one known quantity. He began +to wonder if the poor girl herself were sleeping. He realized a sort of +protective tenderness for her, and indignation on her behalf. It did not +occur to him as being love. Still the image of her wonderful mother +dominated him. But his mind dwelt upon the girl. He thought of a piazza +whose roof opened as he knew upon Clemency's room. He wondered if a man +like that would stick at anything. Then he recalled what Doctor Gordon +had said about Clemency's not being in any bodily danger, and again he +speculated. The room began to grow pale with the late winter dawn. +Familiar objects began to gain clearness of outline. There were two +windows in James's room. They gave upon the piazza. Suddenly James made +a leap from his bed. He sprang to one of the windows. Flattened against +it was the face of the man. But the face was so destitute of +consciousness of him, that James doubted if he saw rightly. The wide +eyes seemed to gaze upon him without seeing him, the mouth smiled as if +at something within. The next moment James was sure that the face was +not there. He drew on his trousers, thrust his feet into his shoes, and +was out of his room and the house, and on the piazza. It was still +snowing, but the dawn was overcoming the storm. The whole world was lit +with dead white pallor like the face of a corpse. James rushed the +length of the piazza. He looked at the walk leading to it. He thought he +could distinguish footprints. He looked on the piazza, but the wind, +being on the other side of the house, there was not enough snow there to +make footprints visible. The snow on the walk was drifted. He looked at +it closely, and made sure of deep marks. He stood for a moment undecided +what to do. He disliked to arouse Doctor Gordon. He was afraid of +awakening Mrs. Ewing, if he ventured into the upper part of the house. +Then he thought of the man Aaron who slept in a room over the stable. He +reentered the house, locked the front door, went softly into the +doctor's study, and out of the door which was near the stable. Then he +made a hard snowball, and threw it at Aaron's window. The window opened +directly, and Aaron's head appeared. James could see, even in the dim +light, and presumably just awakened from sleep, the rotary motion of his +jaws. He was probably not chewing anything, simply moving his mouth from +force of habit. "Hullo!" said Aaron, "that you Doctor Gordon?" + +"No, it is I," replied James. "Put on something as quick as you can, and +come down here. Something is wrong." + +Aaron's head disappeared. In an incredibly short space of time the +stable door was unlocked and slid cautiously back, and Aaron stood +there, huddled into his clothes. "What's up?" he asked. + +"I don't know. Have you got a lantern in the stable?" + +"Yep." + +"Light it quick, then, and come along with me." + +Aaron obeyed. "Anybody sick," he asked, coming alongside with the +flashing lantern. He threw a cloth over it so as to prevent the rays +shining into the house windows. "I don't want to frighten her," he said, +and James knew that he meant Mrs. Ewing. "She's awful nervous," said +Aaron. Then he said again, "What's up?" + +"I saw a man's face looking into one of my windows," replied James. + +Aaron gave a low whistle. "Somebody wanted the doc?" he inquired. + +"No," replied James shortly, "it was not." + +"Must have been." + +"No, it was not." + +"Must have been," repeated Aaron, chewing. + +"I tell you it was not. I knew--" James stopped. He suddenly wondered +how much he ought to tell the man, how much Doctor Gordon had told him. + +Aaron chewed imperturbably, but a sly look came into his face. "I have +eyes, and they see, and ears, and they hear," he said, after an odd +Scriptural fashion, "but don't you tell me nothin', Doctor Elliot. +Either I take what I get from the fountain-head, or I makes my own +conclusions that I can't help. Don't you tell me nothin'. S'pose we look +an' see ef there's footprints that show anythin'." + +Aaron flashed the lantern, all the time carefully shading it from the +house windows, over the walk which led to the front door and the piazza. +James followed him. "Well," said Aaron, "there's been somebody here, +but, with snow like this, it might have been a monkey or a rhinoceros +or an alligator. You can't make nothin' of them tracks. But they do go +out to the road, and turn toward Stanbridge." + +"Suppose we--" began James. He was about to suggest following the +prints, when he remembered Doctor Gordon's injunction to the contrary. + +However, Aaron anticipated him. "Might as well leave the devil alone," +said he. "It might have been the old one himself, for all we can tell by +them tracks. You had better go back to bed, Doctor Elliot. You ain't got +much on. It ain't near breakfast time yet. Better go back to bed." + +And James thought such a course the wiser one himself. He went back to +bed, but not to sleep. He kept his eyes fixed upon the windows. He was +prepared at any instant, should the man reappear, to spring out. He felt +almost murderous. "It has come to a pretty pass," he thought, "if that +scoundrel, whoever he may be, is lurking around the house at night." + +The daylight came slowly on account of the storm. When it did come, it +was an opaque white daylight. James began to smell coffee and frying +ham. He rose and dressed himself, and looked out of the window. It was +like looking into a blurred mirror. He began to wonder if he could have +been mistaken, if possibly that face had been simply a vision which had +come from his overwrought brain. He wondered if he should tell Doctor +Gordon, if it might not disturb him unnecessarily. He wondered if he +should have enforced secrecy upon Aaron. He was still undecided when the +Japanese gong sounded, and he went out to breakfast. Clemency was +looking worn and ill. Somehow the sight of her piteous little face +decided James. He thought how easily an athletic man could climb up one +of those piazza posts, which was, moreover, encircled by a strong old +vine which might almost serve as ladder. He made up his mind to tell +Doctor Gordon, and he did tell him when they were out upon their rounds, +tilting and sliding along the drifted country roads in an old sleigh. "I +don't think I can be mistaken," he said when he had finished. + +Doctor Gordon looked at him intently. "You are sure," he said. "You are +a nervous subject for a man, and you had not slept, and you had this man +very much on your mind, and there must have been some snow on the +window which could produce an illusion. Be very sure, because this is +serious." + +James thought again of Clemency's little white face. "Yes," he said, "I +am sure." + +"You have no doubt at all?" + +"None. The man had his face staring into the room. He did not seem to +see me, but looked past me at the bed." + +"He might easily have thought that room, being on the ground floor and +accessible to night-calls, was mine," said Doctor Gordon, as if to +himself. + +"I thought how easily he could have climbed up one of the piazza posts +to her room," said James. + +The Doctor started. "Yes, that is so," he said. "He might have had two +motives. That is so." + +The next call was at a patient's who had a slight attack of grippe. +Doctor Gordon left James there, saying that he would make another call +and be back for him directly. James noticed how he urged the horses out +of the drive at almost a run. He was back soon, and James having made up +his prescription, went out and got into the sleigh. Doctor Gordon looked +at him gloomily. "He is no longer where he has been staying," he said, +and his face settled into a stern melancholy. That evening, although the +storm continued, he suggested a visit to Georgie K.'s; and at supper +time he insisted upon Clemency's occupying another room that night. "The +wind is on your side of the house," he said, "and I am afraid you will +take more cold." Clemency stared and pouted, then said, "All right, +Uncle Tom!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Even the apple-jack and euchre at Georgie K.'s were not sufficient to +entirely establish Doctor Gordon in his devil-may-care mood. Georgie K. +kept looking at him with solicitation, which had something tender about +it. "Don't you feel well, Doc?" he asked. + +"Never felt better in my life," returned Gordon quickly. "To-night I am +feeling particularly good, because I really think I have evolved an +utterly new theory of death and disease which ought to make me famous, +if I ever get a chance to write a book about it." + +Georgie K. stared at him inquiringly. + +"I don't know that you will understand, old man," said Gordon, "but here +it is. It is simple in one way. Nobody will deny that we come of the +earth; well, we are sick and die of the earth. We grow old and weary and +drop into our graves, because of the tremendous, though unconscious and +involuntary, wear upon nerves and muscles and emotion which is required +to keep us here at all. Gravitation kills us all in the end, just as +surely as if we fell off a precipice. Gravitation is the destroyer, and +gravitation is earth-force. The same monster which produces us devours +us. That's so. I hope I shall get a chance to write that book. Clubs are +trumps; pass." + +"Sure you are well, Doc?" inquired Georgie K., again scowling anxiously. + +"Never felt better, didn't I just say so? You are a regular old hen, +Georgie K. You cluck at a fellow like a setting hen at one chicken." + +Still Doctor Gordon's gloomy face, although he tried to be jocular, did +not relax. Going home late that night, or rather early next morning, he +laid his hand heavily on James's shoulder. + +"Boy, I am about at the finish!" he groaned out. + +"Now, see here, Doctor Gordon, can't I be of some assistance if you were +to tell me?" asked James. He passed his hand under the older man's arm, +and helped him through a snowdrift as if he had been his father. A great +compassion filled his heart. + +But Gordon only groaned out a great sigh. "No," he said. "Secrecy is the +one shield I have. I don't say weapon, but shield. In these latter days +we try to content ourselves with shields; and secrecy is the strongest +shield on earth. If I were going to commit a crime, I should never even +intimate the slightest motive for it to any man living. I should trust +no man living to help me through with it." + +James felt a vague horror steal over him. He tried to speak lightly to +cover it. "I trust there is no question of crime?" he said, laughing. + +"Not the slightest," replied Gordon. "I have no intention to use a +weapon, but my shield I must stick to. Thank the Lord, you were awake +last night, and to-night Clemency is in another room. By the way, I have +bought a dog." + +"A dog?" + +"Yes, a bull terrier, well trained, but he has a voice like a whole pack +of hounds. Clemency likes dogs. I will venture that no one comes near +the house after this without waking him up." + +"You will keep him tied though." + +"Yes, unless I get driven too far," replied Gordon grimly. + +"Does Mrs. Ewing like dogs?" + +"She is as fond of them as Clemency." + +When, the next day, the dog arrived James was assured of the fact that +both Clemency and Mrs. Ewing did like dogs. They seemed more pleased +than he had ever seen them, and the dog responded readily to their +advances. He was a splendid specimen of his breed, very large, without a +spot on his white coat, and with beautiful eyes. Doctor Gordon had a +staple fixed in the vestibule, and the dog was leashed to it at night. +"I can't have my patients driven away," he said with a laugh. + +That evening Doctor Gordon had a call, and he took Aaron with him. That +left James alone with Clemency, as Mrs. Ewing retired almost immediately +after Doctor Gordon left. + +After the jingle of the sleigh-bells had died away Clemency laid down +her work and looked at James. The new dog was lying at her feet. "Uncle +Tom bought this dog on account of him," she said. As she spoke, she gave +an odd significant gesture over her shoulder as if the man were there, +and a look of horror came over her face. Immediately the dog growled, +and sprang up, raced to the door, and let forth a volley of howls and +barks. "He knows," said Clemency. "Isn't it queer? That dog knows there +is something wrong just by the way I spoke and looked." + +James himself was not quite so sure. He glanced at the closed shutters. +Then he went himself to the door to be sure that it was bolted as usual, +and through into the study. Everything was fast, but the dog continued +to race wildly back and forth from door to windows, barking wildly, with +a slender crest of hair erect on his glossy white back. Emma, the maid, +came in from the kitchen, and met James and Clemency in the hall. She +looked white, and was trembling. "I know there was somebody about the +house," she said. + +James hesitated. He thought of a possible patient. Still there had been +no ring at the office door. He considered a moment. Then he sent +Clemency, the maid, and the dog back into the parlor, and before he +opened the outer door of the office he locked the other which +communicated with the rest of the house, and put the key in his pocket. +Then he threw open the outer door and called, "Anybody there?" + +Utter silence answered him. He looked into a black wall of night. It was +not snowing, but the clouds were low and thick, and no stars were +visible. He called again in a shout, "Hullo there! Who is it?" and +obtained no response. Then he closed the door, fastened it, and returned +to the living-room. "I guess you were right," he said to Clemency. + +"Yes, I think so," said Clemency. She spoke to Emma. "Jack acted so +because of something I said to Doctor Elliot," she added. "He thought +something was wrong. He is very intelligent." The dog was again lying at +her feet. + +But Emma shook her head obstinately. She was the middle-aged daughter of +a New Jersey farmer, and had lived with the family ever since they had +resided in Alton. She had a harsh face, although rather good-looking, "I +have been used to dogs all my life," said she, "and I never knowed a dog +to act like that unless there was somebody about the house." + +"Well, I have done all I could," said James. "I called out the office +door, and nobody answered. It could not have been a patient." + +"There was somebody about the house," repeated Emma. "Well, I must go +and mix up the bread." + +When she was gone, Clemency looked palely at James. "Oh," she said, "do +you think it could have been that man?" + +"No," replied James firmly; "it must have been your gesture. That is a +very intelligent dog, and dogs have imagination. He imagined something +wrong." + +"I hope it was that," said Clemency faintly. "It seems to me I should +die if I thought that terrible man were hanging about the house. It is +bad enough never to be able to go out of doors." + +"Doctor Gordon says I may take you out driving some evening," said James +consolingly. + +Clemency looked at him with a brightening face. "Did he?" + +"Yes." + +Then to James's utter surprise Clemency broke down, and began to cry. +"Oh," she wailed, "I don't know as I want to go. I am afraid all the +time. If we were out driving, and he came up to the horse's head, what +could we do?" + +"He would get a cut across the face that he would remember," James +returned fiercely. + +"But he would see me." + +"It would be dark." + +"He might have a lantern." + +"You can wear a thick veil." + +Clemency sobbed harder than ever. "Oh, no," she wailed, "I don't want to +go so, in the dark, with a thick veil over my face, thinking every +minute he may come. Oh, no, I don't want to go." + +"You poor little soul," said James, and there was something in his voice +which he himself had never heard before. Clemency glanced up at him +quickly, and he saw as plainly as if he had been looking in a glass +himself in her blue eyes. Instantly emotions of which he had dreamed, +but never experienced, leaped up in his heart like flame. He knew that +he loved Clemency. What he had felt for her mother had been passionless +worship, giving all, and asking nothing. This was love which asked as +well as gave. "Clemency," he began, and his voice was hoarse with +emotion. She turned her head away, the tears were still on her cheeks, +but they were very red, and her cheeks were dimpling involuntarily. + +"Well?" she whispered. + +"Do you care anything about--me?" + +Clemency nodded, still keeping her face averted. + +"That means--" + +Clemency said nothing. + +"That means you love me," James whispered. + +Clemency nodded again. Then she turned her head slowly, and gave him a +narrow blue glance, and smiled like a shy child. + +"I was afraid--" she began. + +"Afraid of what, dear?" James put his arm about the girl, and the +ashe-blonde head dropped on his shoulder. + +"Afraid you--didn't." + +"Afraid I didn't care?" + +Clemency nodded against his breast. + +"I think I must have cared all the time, only at first, when I saw your +mother--" + +Clemency raised her head immediately and gave it an indignant toss. +"There," said she. "I knew it. Very well, if you would rather be my +stepfather, you can, only I think you would be a pretty one, no older, +to speak of, than I am, and I know my mother wouldn't have you anyway. +The idea of your thinking that my mother would get married again anyway, +and especially to you," Clemency said witheringly. She sat up straight +and looked at James. "I wish your father were a widower, then I would +marry him the minute he asked me," said she, "and see how you would +like it. I guess you would have a step-mother who would make you walk +chalk." Clemency tossed her head again. Then she gave a queer little +whimsical glance at James, and both of them burst out laughing, and she +was in his arms again, and he was kissing her. "There, that is enough," +said she presently. "I once wore out a doll I had kissing her. She was +wax, and it was warm weather, and I actually did wear that doll out. The +color all came off her cheeks, and she got soft." + +"You are not a doll, darling," said James fervently, and he would have +kissed her again, but she pushed him away. "No," said she, "I know the +color won't come off my cheeks, but I might get soft like that doll. One +can never tell. You must stop now. I want to talk to you. It is all +right about my mother." + +"It was only because I never saw such a woman in all my life before," +said James. "I never thought of marrying." + +"You would have had to take it out in thinking," said Clemency, "but it +is all right. I think myself that my mother is the most wonderful woman +that ever lived. I think the old Greek goddesses must have looked just +like her. I don't wonder you felt so about her. I don't know as I should +have thought much of you if you hadn't. Why, everybody falls down and +worships her. Of course I know that I am nothing compared to her. I +should be angry if you really thought so." + +"I don't think so in one way," James said honestly. "I don't think you +are as beautiful as your mother, but I love you, Clemency." + +"Well, that will do for me," said Clemency. "No, you need not kiss me +again. I think myself I shall make you a better wife than a +stepdaughter. You need not think for one minute that I would have minded +you as I do Uncle Tom." + +"But you will have to when we are married," said James. + +Clemency blushed and quivered. "Well, maybe I will," she whispered. "I +suppose I shall be just enough of a fool to stay in the house, if you +order me, the way I do when Uncle Tom does." + +"You shall stay in the house for no man alive when I have you in +charge," said James. "Clemency--" + +"What?" + +"I will take you out now, if you say so. I can protect you." + +"I know you can," Clemency said, "but I guess we had better not. You see +Uncle Tom doesn't know yet, and he will be coming home, and--" + +"I am going to tell him just as soon as he does," declared James. + +"I wonder if you had better not wait," Clemency said thoughtfully. + +"Wait? Why?" + +"Nothing, only poor Uncle Tom is frightfully worried about something +now. He worries about that dreadful man, and I am afraid he worries +about mother. I don't know exactly what he worries about; but I don't +want him worried about anything else." + +"I can't see for the life of me why he should worry about this," said +James with a piqued air. He was, in fact, considering quite naively that +he was not a bad match, taking into consideration his prospects, and +Clemency evidently needed all the protection she could get. + +Clemency understood directly what his tone implied. "Oh, goodness," said +she, "of course, as far as you are concerned, Uncle Tom will be pleased. +Why shouldn't he? and so will mother. Here you are young and handsome, +and well educated, and good, what more could anybody want for a girl, +unless they were on the lookout for a ducal coronet or something of that +sort? It isn't that, only there is something queer, there must be +something queer, about that man, and I don't know how much this might +complicate it. I don't know but Uncle Tom might have more occasion to +worry." + +"I don't see why," said James mystified, "but I'll wait a few days if +you say so, only I hate to have anything underhanded, you know. How +about your mother?" + +"Please wait and tell her when you tell Uncle Tom," pleaded Clemency. +All the time she was completely deceiving the young man. What she was +really afraid of was that James himself might run into danger from this +mysterious persecutor of hers if the fact of her betrothal became known. +"I shall not mind staying in the house at all now," she added. An +expression came over her face which James did not understand, which no +man would have understood. Clemency was wonderfully skilled at +needle-work, and she had plenty of material in the house. She was +reflecting innocently how she could begin at once upon some dainty +little frills for her trousseau. A delight, purely feminine, filled her +fair little face. + +"All the same," said James, "I am going to take you out before long. You +must have some fresh air." + +"I don't mind," said Clemency, then she broke off suddenly. She ran to +the farther end of the room, sat down, and snatched a book from the +table and opened it in the middle, "It is Uncle Tom," she remarked. + +James laughed, crossed the room swiftly, kissed her, then went into the +office to greet Doctor Gordon. Doctor Gordon stood by the office fire +taking off his overcoat. He looked gloomier than usual. "Who is in +there?" he asked, pointing to the living-room wall. + +"Your niece," answered James. He felt himself color, but the other man +did not notice it. + +"Mrs. Ewing has gone to bed?" + +"Yes, went directly after you left." + +Doctor Gordon's face grew darker. He had tossed his coat over a chair, +and stood staring absently at the table with its prismatic lights. + +"I know where he is," he said presently in a whisper. + +"You mean?" + +"Yes," said Doctor Gordon impatiently. "You know whom I mean. I saw him +go in--well, no matter where." + +"I suspect that he has been hanging about here," said James. + +"What makes you think so?" + +"The dog barked and acted queer." + +"Dogs always did hate him," said Doctor Gordon, with a queer expression. +Then he gave himself a shake. Here he said: "Let's have something hot +and a smoke." He called to Emma to bring some hot water and sugar and +lemons and glasses. Then he produced a bottle from a cabinet in the +office, and himself brewed a sort of punch, the like of which James had +never tasted before. + +"That's my own recipe," said Doctor Gordon, laughing. "Nobody knows what +it is, not even Georgie K. But--" he hesitated a little, then he added +laughing, "I have left it in my will for Georgie K. I made my will some +little time ago." + +James felt it incumbent upon himself to say something about Doctor +Gordon being still a young man comparatively, and healthy. To his +sanguine young mind a will seemed ominous. + +"Well, I have not reached the allotted span," Gordon replied, "but +healthier men than I have come to their end sooner than they expected, +and I wanted to make sure of some things. I wanted especially to make +sure that Clemency--Mrs. Ewing has relatives in the West, and--" + +James felt somewhat bewildered. He could not quite see what Gordon +meant, but he took another sip of the golden, fragrant compound before +him, and again remarked upon its excellence. + +"That makes me think," said Gordon, evidently glad himself to turn the +conversation. "A sip of this will do poor little Clemency good. You say +she is in the parlor." + +"Yes." + +Gordon opened the door and called Clemency, who came with a little +reluctance. The girl was afraid of her uncle's eyes. She sidled into the +office like a child who had done something wrong. She took her little +glass of punch, and never looked at James or her uncle. James, too, did +not look at her. He smoked, and almost turned his back upon her. Doctor +Gordon looked from one to the other, and his face changed. Clemency +slipped out as soon as she could, saying that she was tired. Then +Gordon turned abruptly upon James. "There is something between you two, +Clemency and you," he said in a brusque voice. + +James colored and hesitated. + +"Out with it," said Gordon peremptorily. + +"Clemency wished--" began James. + +"Wished you to keep it secret, of course. Well, she told me herself, +poor little soul, the moment she came into the room." + +James sat still. He did not know what to do. Finally he said in a +stammering voice that he hoped there would be no objection. + +"No objection certainly on my part or Mrs. Ewing, if Clemency has taken +a fancy to you," replied Doctor Gordon. "But--" he hesitated a moment. +"It is only fair to tell you that you yourself may later on entertain +some very reasonable objection," Gordon said grimly. + +"It is impossible," James cried eagerly. "I have known her only a few +weeks, but I feel as if it were a lifetime. Nothing can change me. And +as for money, if you mean anything of that kind, I don't care if she +hasn't a cent. I have my profession, and my father is well-to-do. Then, +besides, I have a little that an aunt, my mother's sister, left me. I +can support Clemency." + +"It is not that," Gordon said. "Clemency has--at least I think I can +secure it to her--a little fortune of her own, and she will have +something besides. I was not thinking of money at all." + +"Then there can be nothing," James said positively. His sense of +embarrassment had passed. He beamed at the older man. + +"There can be something else. There is something else," Gordon said +gloomily. "I don't know but I ought to tell you, but, the truth is, you +know my theory with regard to secrecy. I don't doubt but you can hold +your tongue, yet the whole affair is so dangerous, that I dare not, I +cannot, tell you yet. I can only say this, that there does exist some +obstacle to your marriage with my niece, and your engagement must be +regarded by myself in a tentative light. If the time ever comes when you +know all, and wish to withdraw, you can do so in my opinion with perfect +honor. In the meantime you had better say nothing to any one outside. +You had better not even tell Mrs. Ewing. I hope Clemency herself will +not. Perhaps when she has had a few hours in which to collect herself, +her face will not be quite so tell-tale." + +"Nothing whatever can change me," said James, with almost anger. + +Gordon shook his head. "I begin to think I may have done you a wrong +having you come here at all," he said. "I suppose I ought to have +thought of the possibility, but I have had so much on my mind." + +"You have done me the greatest good I ever had done me in my whole +life," James said fervently. + +Gordon rose and shook the young man's hand. "As far as Clemency and I +and Mrs. Ewing are concerned," he said, "nothing could have been better. +Well, we will hope for the best, my boy." He clapped James on the +shoulder and smiled, and James went to his room feeling dizzy with +happiness and mystery, and a trifle so with the doctor's punch. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The next morning James was awakened by loud voices coming from the +vicinity of the stable. He had not slept very well, and now at dawn felt +drowsy, but the voices would not let him sleep. He rose, dressed, and +went out in the stable-yard. There he found Doctor Gordon, Aaron, and a +strange man, small, and red-haired, and thin-faced, with shifty eyes, +holding by the bridle a fine black horse. + +"Don't want to buy a horse with a bridle on," Doctor Gordon was saying +as James appeared. + +"Do you think I'm the man to bear insults?" inquired the little +red-haired man with fierceness. + +"Insult nothing. It is business," said Gordon. + +"That's so," Aaron said, chewing and eyeing the black horse and the +red-haired man thoughtfully. + +"Well," said the little red-haired man with an air at once of injured +innocence and ferocity, "if you want to know why I object to selling +this horse without a bridle, come here, and I'll show you." Gordon and +Aaron and James approached. The red-haired man slipped the bridle, and +underneath it appeared a small sore. "There, that's the reason, and I'll +tell you the truth," said the man defiantly. "Here I am trying to sell +this darned critter; paid a cool hundred for him, and everybody says +jest as you do, won't buy him with the bridle on. Then I takes off the +bridle, and they sees this little bile, and there's an end to it. I +suppose it's the same with you. Well, good day, gentlemen. You're losin' +a darned good trade, but it ain't my fault. Here's an animal I paid a +cool hundred for, and I'm offering him for ninety. I'm ten dollars out, +besides my time." + +"Let me see that sore again," said Gordon. He slipped the bridle and +examined the place carefully. Then he looked hard at the horse, which +stood with great docility, although he held his head proudly. He was a +fine beast, glossy black in color, and had a magnificent tail. + +"Make it eighty-five," said Gordon. + +"Couldn't think of it." + +"I don't know as I want the horse anyway," said Gordon. + +"I'll call it eighty-seven and a half," said the little red-haired man. + +Gordon stood still for a moment. Then he pulled out his wallet. +"Eighty-six and call it square," he said. + +"All right," said the red-haired man. "It's a-givin' of him away, but +I'm so darned tired of trampin' the country with him, that I'll call it +eighty-six, and it's the biggest bargain you ever got in your life in +the way of horse flesh. I wouldn't let him go at that figure, but my +wife's sick, and I want to get home." + +The red-haired man carefully counted over the roll of bank-notes which +Doctor Gordon gave him, although it seemed to James that he used some +haste. He also thought that he was evidently anxious to be gone. He +refused Gordon's offer of breakfast, saying that he had already had some +at the hotel. Then he was gone, walking with uncommon speed for such a +small man. Aaron, James, and Doctor Gordon stood contemplating the new +purchase. James patted him. "He looks like a fine animal," he remarked. +Aaron shifted his quid, and said with emphasis, "Want me to hitch up and +bring that little red-haired cuss back?" + +"Why, what for?" asked Doctor Gordon. "I guess I have made a good trade, +Aaron." + +"You mark my words, there's somethin' out," said Aaron dogmatically. + +"I guess you're wrong this time," said Doctor Gordon, laughing. "Come, +Elliot, it is time for breakfast, and we have to drive to Wardville +afterward for that fever case." + +James followed Gordon into the dining-room. Clemency said good morning +almost rudely, then she hid her face behind the coffee-urn. Gordon +glanced at her and smiled tenderly, but the girl did not see it. James +never looked her way at all. She turned the coffee with apparent +concentration. She did not dare look at either of the two men. She had +never felt so disturbedly happy and so shy. She had not slept all night, +she was so agitated with happiness, but this morning she showed no +traces of sleeplessness. There was an unwonted color on her little fair +face, and her blue eyes were like jewels under her drooping lids. + +They were nearly through breakfast when the door which led into the +kitchen was abruptly thrown open, and Aaron stood there. In his hand he +flourished dramatically a great streaming mass of black. "Told you so," +he observed with a certain triumph. The others stared at him. + +"What on earth is that?" asked Gordon. + +"That new horse's tail; it comes off," replied Aaron with brevity. Then +he chewed. + +"Comes off?" + +Aaron nodded, still chewing. + +Gordon rose from the table saying something under his breath. + +"That ain't all," said Aaron, still with an air of sly triumph. + +"What else, for Heaven's sake?" cried Gordon. + +"Well, he cribs," replied Aaron laconically. Then he chewed. + +"That was why he didn't want to take the bridle off?" + +Aaron nodded. + +Gordon stood staring for a second, then he burst into a peal of +laughter. "Bless me if I ever got so regularly done," said he. "Say, +Aaron, that was a smart chap. He has talent, he has." + +"Aren't you going to try to find him?" asked James. + +"Well, we'll keep a lookout on the way to Wardville," said Gordon; "and, +Aaron, you may as well put the chestnut in the old buggy and drive +Stanbridge way, and see if you can get sight of him." + +"He's had a half-hour's start," said Aaron. "You might track a fox, but +you can't him." + +"I guess you are about right," said Gordon, "but we'll do all we can. +However, I think I'll try to get even with Sam Tucker. It's a good +chance. I'll drive the new horse to Wardville. Aaron, you just tie that +tail on again, and fasten it up so as to keep it out of the mud." + +Aaron grinned. "Goin' to get even for that white horse?" + +"I'm going to try it." + +Gordon was all interest. James regarded him as he had done so many times +before with wonder. That such a man should have such powers of +assimilation astounded him. He was actually as amused and interested in +being done, as he called it, and in trying in his turn to wipe off some +old score, as any countryman. He seemed, to the young man, to have +little burrows like some desperate animal, into which he could dive, and +be completely away from his enemies, and even from himself, when he +chose. + +He hurriedly drank the remainder of his coffee, and was in his office +getting his medicine-case ready. James lingered, in the hopes of +getting a word and a kiss from Clemency. But the child, the moment her +uncle went out, fled. It was odd. She wanted to stay and have a minute +with James alone more than she had ever wanted anything, but it was for +just that very reason that she ran away. + +James felt hurt. At that time, the mind of a girl, and its shy workings, +were entirely beyond his comprehension. He saw no earthly reason why +Clemency should have avoided him. He followed Gordon with rather a +downcast face into the office, and begun assisting him with his +medicines. Gordon himself was too full of interest in the horse trade to +remark anything. At times he chuckled to himself. Now and then he would +burst out anew in a great peal of laughter. "Hang it all! I don't like +to be done any better than any other man, but that little red-haired +scamp was clever and no mistake," he said, "showing me that little sore. +I believe he had sandpapered the poor beast on purpose. He took me in as +neatly as I ever saw anything done in my life. Well, Elliot, you wait +and see me get even with Sam Tucker. I have been waiting my chance. +About two years ago he worked me, and not half as cleverly as this +either. He made me feel that I was a fool. The red-haired one needed the +devil himself to get round him, and see through his little game. Sam +Tucker sold me, or rather traded with me a veritable fiend of a horse +for an old mare. The mare was old, but she had a lot of go in her, and +was sound, and the other, well, Sam had bought him for a song, because +nobody would drive him, and he had killed two men. He was a white horse +with as wicked an eye as you ever saw, and ears always cocked for +mischief, like the arch fiend's horns. Well, Sam, he made some kind of a +dye, and he actually dyed that animal a beautiful chestnut, and traded +him for my old mare. I even paid a little to boot. Well, next morning I +sent Aaron down to the store in a soaking rain, and the horse bolted at +a white rock beside the road, and the buggy was knocked into kindling +wood. Aaron wasn't hurt. He always comes out right side up. But when he +came leading that snorting, dancing beast home, the chestnut dye was +pretty well off, and I knew him in a minute. Well, he was shot, and I +was my old mare and some money out. I wasn't going to have men's lives +on my conscience. But this is another matter. Now I've got my chance to +get even, and I'm going to get my old mare back." + +Presently the two men were out on the road driving the black horse. He +went well enough, and seemed afraid of nothing. "There's not much the +matter with this animal except the tail and the cribbing, I guess," said +the doctor. "As for the tail, that is simply a question of ornament and +taste. The cribbing is more serious, of course, but I guess Sam Tucker +won't be in any danger of his life." They had not gone far before the +doctor drew up before a farmhouse on the left. A man with a serious +face, thin and wiry, was coming around the house with a wheelbarrowful +of potatoes. "Hullo, Sam!" called Doctor Gordon. The man left his barrow +and came alongside. James could see that he had a keen eye upon the +horse. "Fine morning," said the doctor. + +Sam Tucker gave a grunt by way of assent. He was niggardly with speech. + +"Have you got any more of those Baldwin apples to sell?" asked Doctor +Gordon, to James's intense surprise. + +Sam Tucker looked reflectively at the doctor for a full minute, then +gave utterance to a monosyllable. "Bar'l." + +"So you've got a barrel to sell," said Gordon. + +Sam nodded. + +"Well, I'll send my man over for them. They are mighty fine apples, and +Emma said yesterday that we were about out. I suppose they are the same +price." + +Sam nodded. + +"Seems as if you might take off a little, it is so late, and you might +have them spoiling on your hands," said Gordon, and James began to +wonder if they had come to drive a sharp bargain on apples instead of +horses. + +Sam shook his head emphatically. "Same," he said. + +"Well, I suppose I've got to pay it if you ask it," said Gordon. "I +can't buy any such apples elsewhere. You've got it your way. I'll send +the money over by Aaron." Doctor Gordon gathered up the reins, but Sam +Tucker seemed to experience a sudden convulsion all over his lank body. +"Horse," he said. + +Doctor Gordon drove on a yard, but Sam, running alongside, he stopped. +"Yes," he said placidly, "horse. What do you think of him?" + +Sam said nothing. He looked at the horse. + +"He's the biggest bargain I ever got," said Gordon. "I am going to hang +on to him. Once in a while there is an honest deal in horses. I am not +bringing up anything, Sam. I believe in letting bygones be bygones, +although you did risk my life and my man's. But this time I am all +right." Gordon gathered up the reins again, and again Sam Tucker stopped +him. James barely saw the man's mouth move. He could not hear that he +said anything, but a peculiar glow of eager greed lit up his long face, +and Gordon seemed to understand him perfectly. "You can take your oath +not," he said brusquely. "What do you take me for? You have stuck me +once, and now you think you are going to do it again. You can bet your +life you are not." Again he gathered up the reins. Sam Tucker's face +gleamed like a coal. James saw for the first time in its entirety the +trading instinct rampant. Again Gordon seemed to understand what had +apparently not been spoken. "No, Sam Tucker," he declared almost +brutally, "I will not trade back for that old mare you cheated me out +of, not if you were to give me your whole farm to boot. I know that old +mare. I wasn't the only one that got stuck. She's got the heaves. I know +her. No, sir, you don't do me again. I've got a good horse this time, +and I mean to hang on to him." + +Again Gordon attempted to drive on, and once more Sam stopped him. James +felt at last fairly dizzy, when he heard the farmer almost beg Gordon to +trade horses, offer him twenty-five dollars to boot, and the apples. He +sat in the buggy watching while the mare was led out of the stable, the +black horse was taken out of the traces, and the bridle was left on +without a remonstrance on Sam's part, and exchanged for a much newer +one, while twenty-five dollars in dirty bank-notes were carefully +counted out by Sam, and then Gordon jumped into the buggy and drove off. +He was quivering with suppressed mirth. "The biter is bitten this time," +he said as soon as he was out of hearing of Sam Tucker. Then he made an +exclamation of dismay. + +"What's the matter?" asked James. + +"Well, I have left my whip. I must risk it and go back. I paid a lot for +that whip." + +Gordon turned and drove back at a sharp trot. When they came alongside +the farm fence James saw the whip lying on the ground, and jumped out to +get it. He was back in the buggy, and they were just proceeding on +their way, when there was a shout, and Sam Tucker came rushing around +the house, and held the horse's tail as Aaron had done in the morning. +"Comes off," he gasped. + +"Of course," said the doctor coolly. "I didn't say it didn't. It's for +convenience in muddy weather." + +"Cribs," gasped Sam Tucker. + +"Yes, a little," said Gordon. "Keep him away from hitching-posts. You +didn't say you wanted a horse to hitch. He never cribs when he's driven. +Good-day, Sam." + +Gordon and James were off again. Gordon was doubled up with merriment, +in which James joined. "I'm glad to get behind old Fanny once more," +said Gordon. "She's worth two of that other animal! Clemency will be +glad to see her again. She felt badly when I traded her. In fact, I +wouldn't have done it if I had known how much the child cared for the +mare. She used to drive her a lot and pet her. I think it will be +perfectly safe for you to take Clemency out driving when there isn't a +moon. Fanny is pretty fast when she is touched with the whip, and, +though she's gentle, she hasn't much use for strangers. I don't think +she would stand a stranger at her head. I think you may go out to-night, +if you like. Poor Clemency needs the air. We'll use the team this +afternoon, and Fanny will be fresh by evening." + +James colored. He remembered how Clemency had avoided him that morning. +"Perchance she won't care to go," he said. + +"Of course, she will," said Gordon. "She will go, and I want her to, but +you must always bear in mind what I told you last night, and--" he +hesitated. "Don't do your utmost to make the poor little thing think you +are the moon and sun and stars in case you should change your mind," he +finished. + +"I shall never change my mind," James said hotly. + +"You will be justified if you do," Gordon said gravely. "Perhaps you +will not. But you are old enough, and ought to have self-command enough +to keep your head, and shield the poor child against possible +contingencies. You have not known each other very long. It is not +possible that she would die of it now, nor you. If you can only keep +your head, and meander along the path of love instead of plunging into +bottomless depths, it will be better for both of you. I know what I am +talking about. I am old enough to be your father. Go slow, for God's +sake, if you care about the girl." + +"She is the whole world to me," said James. + +"Then, go slow! It will be better for her if you are not the whole world +to her, until you know what a day may bring forth." + +"I don't care what a day brings forth." + +"You are tempting the gods?" said Gordon. "Elliot, you don't know what +you are talking about. I am not treating you fairly not to tell you the +whole story, but I don't see my way clear. You must bear in mind what I +say. I did not think of any such complication when you came here. I was +a fool not to. I know what young people are, and Clemency is a darling, +and you have your good points. The amount of it is, if I don't get stuck +by Sam Tucker in a horse trade, Fate sticks me in something bigger. I +don't see the inevitable, I suppose, because I am so close to it that it +is like facing the wall of a precipice all the time. We have to stop +here. The woman's daughter is coming down with a fever, which will not +kill her, and she will have it to brag of all her life. She will date +all earthly events from this fever. Whoa, Fanny!" + +That evening James and Clemency went for a drive. It was a clear night, +but dark, save for the stars. Clemency had a thick veil over her face, +which seemed entirely unnecessary. Directly as they started, she made a +little involuntary nestling motion toward the young man at her side. It +was as innocent as the nestling of a baby. James put his arm around her. +He thought with indignation of Doctor Gordon's warning, as if anything +in the world could cause him to change his mind about this dear child +who loved him. "You darling!" he whispered. "So you have not thought +better of it." + +"What do you mean?" Clemency whispered back. + +"Why, dear, you have fairly run away from me all day long." + +"I was afraid," Clemency whispered, then she put her head against his +shoulder, and laughed a delicious little laugh. "I never was in love +before, and I don't know how to act," said she. + +"Put up your veil," said James. + +"Why?" + +"I want a kiss." + +Clemency put up her veil obediently and kissed him like a child. Then +there was a sudden flash of light from a lantern, and a dark form was +at the mare's head. But she was true to her master's opinion of her. She +gave a savage duck at the man and started violently, so that James was +forced to release Clemency and devote his entire attention to driving. +Clemency shrank close to him, shivering like one in a chill. "He saw +me," she gasped. "It was that same man, and this time he saw me." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +James and Clemency had hardly started upon their drive before there was +a ring at the office door, and Doctor Gordon, who was alone there, +answered it. He was confronted by a man who lived half-way between Alton +and the next village on the north. He had walked some three miles to get +some medicine for his wife, who was suffering from rheumatism. He was +pathetically insistent upon the fact that his wife did not require a +call from the doctor, only some medicine. "Now, see here, Joe," said +Gordon, "if I really thought your wife needed a call, I would go, and it +should not cost you a cent more than the medicine, but I am dog tired, +and not feeling any too well myself, and if her symptoms are just as you +say, I think I can send her something which will fix her up all right." + +"She is just the way she was last year," said the man. He did not look +unlike Gordon, although he was poorly clad, and was a genuine son of the +New Jersey soil. His poor clothes, even his skin, had a clayey hue, as +if he had been really cast from the mother earth. It was frozen outside, +but a reddish crust from the last thaw was on his hulking boots. He +spoke with a drawl, which was nasal, and yet had something sweet in it. +"I would have came this afternoon, but I was afraid you might have went +out," he remarked. + +"Yes, I was out," replied Gordon, who was filling out a prescription. +The man stooped and patted the bull terrier, which had not evinced the +slightest emotion at his entrance. + +"Mighty fine dog," said the man. + +"Yes, he is a pretty good sort," replied Gordon. + +"Shouldn't like to meet him if I had came up to your house an' no one +round, and he had took a dislike to me." + +"I should not myself," said Gordon. "But he does not dislike you." + +"Dogs know me pooty well," said the man. "They ain't no particler likin' +for me. Don't want to run and jump an' wag, but they know I mean well, +and they mostly let me alone." + +"Yes, I guess that's so," said Gordon. "Jack would have barked if he had +not known you were all right, Joe." + +"Queer how much they know," said the man reflectively, and a dazed look +overspread his dingy face with its cloud of beard. If once he became +launched upon a current of reflection, he lost his mental bearings +instantly and drifted. + +"Well, they do know," said Gordon. "Now listen, Joe! You see this +bottle. You give your wife a spoonful of the medicine in a glass of +water every three hours. Mind, you make it a whole tumbler full of +water." + +"Yes, sir," replied the man. + +"Of course, you need not wake her up if she gets to sleep," said the +doctor, "but every three hours when she is awake." + +"Yes, sir." The man began fumbling in his pocket, but Gordon stopped +him. "No," he said, "put up your pocketbook, Joe. I don't want any +money. I get this medicine at wholesale, and it don't cost much." + +"I come prepared to pay," said the man. He straightened his shoulders +and flushed. + +"Oh, well," said Doctor Gordon, "wait. If you need more medicine, or it +seems necessary that I should drive over to see your wife, you can do a +little work on my garden in the spring, or you can let me have a bushel +of your new potatoes when they are grown next summer, or some apples, +and we'll call it square. Wait; I don't want any money for that bottle +of medicine to-night anyhow. Did you walk over, Joe?" + +Joe said that he had walked over. "Aaron might just as well drive you +home as not," said Gordon. "The sooner your wife has that medicine the +better. How is the baby getting along?" + +"First-rate. I'd just as soon walk, doctor." + +For answer Gordon opened the door and called Aaron, and told him to +hitch up and take the man home. + +"Doctor Elliot has gone with the bay," said Aaron. "The teams are about +played out, and there's nothin' except the gray." + +"Take her then." + +"She looked when I fed her jest now as if she was half a mind to balk at +takin' her feed," Aaron remarked doubtfully. + +"Nonsense! Give her a loose rein, and she'll be all right." + +Aaron went out grumbling. + +Gordon offered the man a cigar, which he accepted as if it had been a +diamond. "I'll save it up for next Sunday, when I've got a little time +to sense it," he said. "I know what your cigars be." + +Gordon forced another upon him, and the man looked as pleased as a +child. + +Presently a shout was heard, and Gordon opened the office door. + +"Here's Aaron with the buggy," he said. + +He stood in the doorway watching, but the gray, instead of balking, went +out of the yard with an angry plunge. Gordon shook his head. + +"Confound him, he's pulling too hard on the lines," he muttered. Then he +closed and locked the office door, and went into the living-room to find +it deserted. Gordon called up the stairs. "Have you gone to bed, Clara?" +His voice was at once tenderly solicitous and angry. + +Mrs. Ewing answered him from above, and in her tone was something +propitiating. "Yes, Tom, dear," she called. + +Gordon hesitated a moment. His face took on its expression of utmost +misery. "Is--the pain very bad?" he called then, and called as if he +were in actual fear. + +"No, dear," the woman's patient, beseeching voice answered, "not very +bad." + +"Not very?" + +"No, only I felt a little twinge, and thought I had better go to bed. I +am quite comfortable now. I think I shall go to sleep. I am sorry to +leave you alone all the evening, Tom." + +"That's right," called Gordon. His voice rang harsh, in spite of his +effort to control it. He threw his arm over his eyes, and fairly groped +his way back to his office, stifling his sobs. When he was in his office +he flung himself into a chair, and bent his head over his hands on the +table, and his whole frame shook. "Oh, my God!" he muttered. "Oh, my +God!" He did not weep, but he gasped like a child whom his mother has +commanded not to weep. Terrible emotion fairly convulsed him. He +struggled with it as with a visible foe. At last he sat up and filled +his pipe. The dog had crept close to him, and was nestling against him +and whimpering. Gordon patted his head. The dog licked his hand. + +The simple, ignorant sympathy of this poor speechless thing nearly +unnerved the man again, but he continued to smoke. He looked at the dog, +whose honest brown eyes were fixed upon him with an almost uncanny +understanding, and reflected how the woman upstairs, who was passing out +of his life, had become in a few days so associated with the animal, +that after she was gone he could never see him without a pang. He +looked about the office, with whose belongings she was less associated +than with anything in the house, and it seemed to him that everything +even there would have for him, after she had passed, a terrible sting of +reminiscence. It seemed to him, as he looked about, as if she were +already gone. He was, in fact, suffering as keenly in anticipation as he +would in reality. The horror, the worst horror of life, of being left +alive with the dead and the associations of the dead was already upon +him. Some people are comforted by such associations, others they rend. +Gordon was one whom they would rend, whom they did rend. He made up his +mind, as he sat there, that he would have to go away from Alton, and +enter new scenes for the healing of his spirit, and yet he knew that he +should not go: that at the last his courage would assert itself. + +He sat smoking, the dog's head on his knee. There was not a sound to be +heard in the house. Emma, the maid, had gone away to visit a sick +sister. She might not be back that night. So there was absolute silence, +even in the kitchen. Suddenly the dog lifted his head and listened to +something which Gordon could not himself hear. He watched the dog +curiously. The dog gave a low growl of fear and rage, and made for the +office door. He began scratching at the threshold, and emitted a perfect +volley of barks. It did not sound like one dog, but a whole pack. +Gordon, with an impulse which he could not understand, quickly put out +the prism-fringed lamp which hung over his table. Then he sprang to the +dog, and had the dog by the collar. "Be still, Jack," he said in a low +voice, and the dog obeyed instantly, although he was quivering under his +hand. Gordon could feel the muscles run like angry serpents under the +smooth white hair, he felt the crest of rage along his back. But the +animal was so well trained that he barked no more. He only growled very +softly, as if to himself, and quivered. + +Gordon ordered him to charge in a whisper, and the dog stretched himself +at his feet, although it was like the crouch of a live wire. Then Gordon +rose and went softly to a window beside the door. The office had very +heavy red curtains. It was impossible, since they were closely drawn, +that a ray of light from within should have been visible outside. Gordon +had reasoned it out quickly when he extinguished the lamp. Whoever was +without would have had no possible means of knowing that anything except +the dog was in the office, but the light once out, Gordon could peep +around the curtain and ascertain, without being himself seen, what or +who was about. He had a premonition of what he should see, and he saw +it. The stable door was almost directly opposite that of the office. +Between the two doors there was a driveway. On this driveway the only +pale thing to be seen in the darkness was the tall, black figure of a +man standing perfectly still, as if watching. His attitude was +unmistakable. The long lines of him, upreared from the pale streak of +the driveway, were as plainly to be read as a sign-post. They signified +watchfulness. His back was toward the office. He stood face toward the +curve of the drive toward the road, where any one entering would first +be seen. Gordon, peeping around his curtain, knew the dark figure as he +would have known his own shadow. In one sense it had been for years his +shadow, and that added to the horror of it. The man behind the curtain +watched, the man in the drive watched; and the dog, crouched at the +threshold of the door, watched with what sublimated sense God alone +knew, which enabled him to know as much as his master, and now and then +came the low growl. Gordon began to formulate a theory in his mind. He +remembered suddenly the man whom Aaron had driven home. He realized that +the watching man might easily have mistaken him for Gordon himself, +going away with his man to make a call upon some patient. He suspected, +with an intensity which became a certainty, that the man knew that +Clemency and Elliot were out and would presently return, and that it was +for them he was watching. All the time he thought of the sick woman +upstairs, and was glad that her room faced on the other side of the +house. He was in agony lest she should be disturbed. + +Doctor Gordon was usually a man of resources, but now he did not know +what to do. The dark figure on the park-drive made now and then a +precautionary motion of his right arm as he watched, which was +significant. Gordon knew that he was holding a revolver in readiness. In +the event of Aaron returning alone he would probably be puzzled, and +Gordon thought that he might slip away. In the event of James and +Clemency returning first, Gordon thought that he knew conclusively what +he purposed--a bullet for James, and then away with the girl, unless he +was hindered. + +Gordon let the curtain slip back into place, and with a warning gesture +to the dog, who was ready for action, he tiptoed across the room to the +table, in a drawer of which he kept his own revolver. He opened the +drawer softly, and rummaged with careful hands. No revolver was there. +He made sure. He even opened other drawers and rummaged, but the weapon +was certainly missing. He stood undecided for a moment. Then he went +softly out of the room, bidding in a whisper the dog to follow. He crept +upstairs and paused at a closed chamber door. Then he opened it very +carefully. Mrs. Ewing at once spoke. "Is that you, dear?" she said. + +"Yes, I wanted to tell you not to be frightened, dear, if you should +hear a shot or the dog bark." + +There was a rustling in the dark room. Mrs. Ewing was evidently sitting +up in bed. "Oh, Tom, what is it?" she whispered. + +Gordon forced a laugh. "Nothing at all," he replied, "except there's a +fox or something out in the yard, and Jack is wild. I may get a shot at +him. Do you know where my revolver is?" + +"Why, where you always keep it, dear, in the table drawer in the +office." + +"I don't seem to see it. I guess I will take your little pistol." + +"Oh, Tom, I am sorry, but I know that won't go off. Clemency tried it +the other day. You remember that time Emma dropped it. I think something +or other got bent. You know it was a delicate little thing." + +"Oh, well," said Gordon carelessly, "I dare say I can find my revolver." + +"I don't see who could have taken it away." said Mrs. Ewing. "I am sorry +about my pistol, because you gave it to me too, dear." + +"I'll get another for you," said Gordon, "Those little dainty, +lady-like, pearl-mounted weapons don't stand much." + +"I am feeling very comfortable, dear," Mrs. Ewing said in her anxious, +sweet voice. "You will be careful, won't you, with your revolver, with +that dog jumping about?" + +"Yes, dear. I dare say I shall not use the revolver anyway, but don't be +frightened if you should hear a little commotion." + +"No, Tom." + +"Go to sleep." + +"Yes, I think I can. I do feel rather sleepy." + +Gordon closed the door carefully and retraced his steps to the office, +the dog at his heels. He slipped the curtain again and looked out. The +man still stood watching in the driveway. Gordon had never been at such +a loss as to his best course of action. He was absolutely courageous, +but here he was unarmed, and he could have no reasonable doubt that if +he should go out, he would be immediately shot. In such a case, what of +the woman upstairs? And, moreover, what of James and Clemency? He +thought of any available weapon, but there was nothing except his own +stick. That was stout, it was true, but could he be quick enough with +it? His mad impulse to rush out unarmed except with that paltry thing +could hardly be restrained, but he had to think of other lives beside +his own. + +He began to think that the only solution of the matter was the return of +Aaron alone. The watching man would immediately realize that he had made +some mistake, that he, Gordon, was in the house, or had been left at the +home of a patient. He could have no possible reason for molesting the +man. He would probably slip aside into a shadow, then make his way back +to the road. In such a case Gordon determined that he and Aaron would +follow him to make sure that no harm came to James and Clemency. So +Gordon stood motionless waiting, in absolute silence, except for the +frequently recurring mutter of fear and rage of the dog. As time went on +he became more and more uneasy. It seemed to him finally that Aaron +should have been back long before. He moved stealthily across the room, +and consulted his watch by the low light of the hearth fire. Aaron had +been gone an hour. He should have returned, for the mare was a good +roadster when she did not balk. Gordon shook his head. He began to be +almost sure that the mare had balked. He returned to the window. His +every nerve was on the alert. The moment that James and Clemency should +drive into the yard, he made ready to spring, but the horrible fear lest +it should be entirely unavailing haunted him. If only Aaron would come. +Then the man would slip into cover of the shadows, and steal out into +the road, and Gordon would jump into the buggy, and he and Aaron would +follow him. He knew the man well enough to be sure that he would never +venture an attack upon James and Clemency with witnesses. If only Aaron +would come! Gordon became surer that the mare had balked. He vowed +within himself that she should be shot the next day if she had. Every +moment he thought he heard the sound of wheels and horse's hoofs. His +nervous tension became something terrible. Once he thought of stealing +through the house, and out by the front door, and walking to meet James +and Clemency so as to warn them. But that would leave the helpless woman +upstairs alone. He dared not do that. + +He thought then of going to the front of the house, and watching there, +and endeavoring to intercept James and Clemency before they turned into +the driveway. But he felt that he could not for one second relax his +watch upon the watching man, and he had no guarantee whatever that, at +the first sound of wheels, the man himself would not make for the front +of the house. Then he thought, as always, of not disturbing the sick +woman whose room faced the road. It seemed to him that his only course +was to remain where he was and wait for the return of Aaron before James +and Clemency. He knew now that the horse must have balked. His only hope +was that James and Clemency, since it was such a fine night, and time +is so short for lovers, might take such a long drive that even the balky +mare might relent. Always he heard at intervals the trot of a horse, +which only existed in his imagination. He began to wonder if he should +know when Aaron, or Clemency and James, actually did drive into the +yard, if he should be quick enough. Suddenly he thought of the dog: that +he would follow him, and of what might happen. The dog's chain-leash was +on the table. He stole across, got it, fastened it to the animal's +collar, and made the end secure to a staple which he had had fixed in +the wall for that purpose. As yet no intention of injury to the man +except in self-defense was in his mind. If actually attacked, he must +defend himself, of course, but he wished more than anything to drive the +intruder away with no collision. That was what he hoped for. The time +went on, and the strain upon the doctor's nerves was nearly driving him +mad. Sometimes the mare balked for hours. He began to hope that Aaron +would leave her, and return home on foot. That would settle the matter. +But he remembered a strange trait of obstinacy in Aaron. He remembered +how he had once actually sat all night in the buggy while the mare +balked. The man balked as well as the horse. "The damned fool," he +muttered to himself in an agony. The dog growled in response. Then it +was that first the thought came to Gordon of what might be done to save +them all. He stood aghast with the horror of it. He was essentially a +man of peace himself, unless driven to the wall. He was a good fighter +at bay, but there was in his heart, along with strength, utter good-will +and gentleness toward all his kind. He only wished to go his way in +peace, and for those whom he loved to go in peace, but that had been +denied him. He began considering the nature of the man whose dark figure +remained motionless on the driveway. He knew him from the first. It +sounded sensational, his recapitulation of his knowledge, but it was +entirely true. It was that awful truth, which is past human belief, +which no man dares put into fiction. That man out there had been from +his birth a distinct power for evil upon the face of the earth. He had +menaced all creation, so far as one personality may menace it. He was a +force of ill, a moral and spiritual monster, and the more dangerous, +because of a subtlety and resource which had kept him immune from the +law. He outstripped the law, whose blood-hounds had no scent keen enough +for him. He had broken the law, but always in such a way that there was +not, and never could be, any proof. There had not been even suspicion. +There had been knowledge on Gordon's part, and Mrs. Swing's, but +knowledge without proof is more helpless than suspicion with it. The man +was unassailable, free to go his way, working evil. + +Again Gordon thought he heard the nearing trot of a horse, and again the +dog growled. Gordon was not quite sure that time that a horse had not +passed the house. He told himself in despair that he could not be sure +of knowing when James and Clemency came, and again the awful thought +seized him, and again he reflected upon the man outside. Suppose, +instead of wearing the semblance of humanity, he had worn the semblance +of a beast, then his course would have been clear enough. Suppose it +were a hungry wolf watching out there, instead of a man, and this man +was worse than any wolf. He was like the weir-wolf of the old +Scandinavian legend. He had all the cowardly cruelty of a wolf, he was a +means of evil, but he had the trained brain of a man. + +Gordon thought he heard footsteps, and the man made a very slight +motion. Gordon thought joyfully that Aaron had left the balky mare, and +had returned, but it was not so. He had heard nothing except the +pulsations of the blood in his own overwrought brain. + +He wondered if he were really going mad, although all the time his mind +was steadily at work upon the awful problem which had been forced upon +it. Should any power for evil be allowed to exist upon the earth if +mortal man had strength to stamp it out? Suppose that was a poisonous +snake out there, and not a man. What was out there was worse than any +snake. Gordon reasoned as the first man in Eden may have reasoned; and +he did not know whether his reasoning were right or wrong. Meantime, the +danger increased every moment. Of one thing he was perfectly sure: he +had no personal motive for what he might or might not do. He had reached +that pass when he was himself, as far as he himself was concerned, +beyond hate of that man outside. It was a principle for which he argued. +Should a monster, something abnormal in strength and subtlety and +wickedness, something which menaced all the good in the world, be +allowed to exist? Gordon argued that it should not. He was driven to it +by years of fruitless struggling against this monstrous creation in the +shape of man. He had seen such suffering because of him; his whole life +had been so turned and twisted this way and that way because of him, +that he himself had in the end become abnormal, and mentally askew, with +the system of things. He was conscious of it himself. He had been +naturally a good, simple, broad-visioned man, full of charity, with +almost no subtlety. He had been forced to lead a life which strained and +diverted all these good traits. Where he would have been open, he had +been secret. Where he would have had no suspicion of any one, his first +sight now seemed to be for ulterior motives. He weighed and measured +where he naturally would have scattered broadcast. He had been obliged +to compress his broad vision into a narrow window of detection. He was +not the man he had been. Where he had gazed out of wide doors and +windows at life, he now gazed through keyholes, and despised himself for +so doing. In order to evade the trouble which had fallen to his lot, he +took refuge in another personality. Thomas Gordon was a man whom a +happy and untroubled life would have kept from all worldly blemish. Now +the gold was tarnished, and he himself always saw the tarnish, as one +sees a blur before the eye. Twenty years before, if any one had told him +that he would at any period of his life become capable of standing and +arguing with himself as to the right or wrong of what was now in his +mind, he would have been incredulous. He had in reality become another +man. Circumstances had evolved him, during the course of twenty years, +into something different, as persistent winds evolve a pliant tree into +another than its typical shape. Gordon had lost his type. + +As he stood at the window the room grew cold. The hearth fire had died +down. He knew that the furnace needed attention, but he dared not quit +his post and his argument. He became sure that the maid would not return +that night. He knew that Aaron was sitting with his human obstinacy +behind the obstinate brute, somewhere on the road. He knew that James +and Clemency might at any moment drive in, and he might rush out too +late to prevent murder and the kidnapping of the girl. He knew what the +man was there for. And he knew the one way to thwart him, but it was so +horrible a way that it needed all this argument, all this delay and +nearing of danger, before he adopted it. + +The increasing cold of the room seemed to act as a sort of physical goad +toward action. "By God, it _is_ right!" he muttered. Then he looked at +the dog crouching still with that wiry intentness before the door. The +dog came of a good breed of fighters. He was in himself both weapon and +wielder of weapon. He was a concentrated force. His white body was +knotted with nerves and muscles. The chances were good if--Gordon +pictured it to himself--and again the horror and doubt were over him. He +himself had acquired a certain stiffness and lassitude from years, and +long drives in one position. He would stand no chance unarmed against a +bullet. But the dog--that was another matter. The dog would make a +spring like the spring of death itself, and that white leap of attack +might easily cause the aim to go wrong. It would be like aiming at +lightning. He knew how the dog would gather himself together, all ready +for that terrible leap, the second he opened the door. He knew that he +might be able to open the door for the leap without attracting the +man's attention, faced as he was the other way, if he could keep the dog +quiet. He knew how it would be. He could see that tall dark figure +rolled on the drive, struggling as one struggles with death, for breath, +under the vise-like grip on his throat. Gordon knew that the dog's +unerring spring would be for the throat; that was the instinct of his +race, a noble race in its way, to seize vice and danger by the throat, +and attack the very threshold of life. + +Gordon returned to the window. It seemed to him again that he heard a +horse's trot. He felt sure that it was not the trot of the gray, who had +a slight lameness. He knew the trot of the gray. He became sure that +James and Clemency would the next moment enter the drive. He set his +mouth hard, crept toward the dog, and patted him. As he patted him he +felt the rage-crest rise higher on his back. Gordon bade him be quiet, +and slipped his leash from the staple. Then he took it from the collar. +He listened again. It seemed to him that his ears could not deceive him. +It seemed to him that James and Clemency were coming. He was almost +delirious. He fancied he heard their voices and the girl's laugh ring +out. Holding the dog firmly by the collar, he rose and very carefully +and noiselessly slipped the bolt of the door back. Then he waited a +second. Then as slowly and carefully, still holding the dog by the +collar, and whispering commands to hush his growls, he turned the door +knob. + +[Illustration: "There was a white flash of avenging brute force upon the +man." Page 177.] + +Then the thing was done. He flung the door open. He saw the man in the +drive, standing with his face toward the road. He had heard nothing. +Then he loosened his grasp of the straining dog's collar, and there was +a white flash of avenging brute force upon the man. Gordon saw only one +leap of the dog before the man was down. A futile pistol shot rang out. +Then came the snarl and growl of a fighting dog fastened upon his prey. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +When Clemency and James returned from their drive, they saw a glimmer of +light between the house and stable. "Aaron is out there with a lantern," +whispered Clemency. She sat up straight, leaned into her corner of the +buggy, and adjusted her hat and straightened her hair with the pretty +young girl motions of secrecy and modesty. + +James peered ahead into the darkness through which the lantern moved +like a will-o'-the-wisp. "Your uncle is here, too," he said. Then he +drew rein with a sudden, "Halloo, what is wrong?" Aaron came forward, +leaving the lantern on the ground. It lit weirdly Dr. Gordon, who was +kneeling on the ground beside a dark mass, which looked horribly +suggestive. Then James saw another dark mass to the right, the balky +mare and a buggy. + +"Doctor Gordon says you had better hitch to this post here," said Aaron +in a sort of hoarse whisper, "and then come to him. He says he needs +help, and Miss Clemency, he says, must go around the house and in the +front door, and be careful not to let the dog out, but go upstairs, and +if her mother is awake, tell her it ain't anything for her to fret +about, and Doctor Gordon will be in very soon." + +"Oh, Aaron, what is the matter?" said Clemency, in a frightened whisper, +as James sprang out of the buggy. + +"It ain't nothin'," replied Aaron doggedly. "Jest a man fell coming to +the office. Reckon he had a jag on. Doctor says he may have broke a rib. +He's doctorin' him. You jest run round the house, and in the front door, +Miss Clemency, and don't let out the dog, an' see to your ma." + +James assisted Clemency out, and she fled, with a wild glance over her +shoulder at the lantern-lit group in front of the office door. While +Aaron tied the horse to the post James ran to Doctor Gordon. When he +drew nearer the sight became sanguinary in its details, and he could +hear from the office the raging growls and howls of the dog. He also +heard him leap against the door, as if he would break it down. Gordon +had a pail of water and a basin beside him, and he was applying water +vigorously to the throat of the prostrate figure. The water in the +basin gleamed, in the lantern light, blood red. "Just empty this basin +and fill it up from the pail," ordered Gordon in a husky voice, and +again he squeezed the reddened cloth over the throat, which James now +discerned was badly torn. The man lay doubled up upon himself as limp as +a rag. + +"No, I don't think so," replied Gordon, as if in answer to an unspoken +question, as James, having complied with his request, drew near with the +basin of fresh water. + +"Was it the dog?" asked James in a low voice. + +"Yes, the fool came round to the office door, and--" Gordon stopped with +a miserable sigh which was almost a groan, and dipped the cloth in the +basin. + +"How did you get him off?" asked James. + +"I had the whip, and Aaron came in just then with that damned mare. She +had balked. I don't think it is the jugular. It can't be. Damn it, how +he bleeds! Run into the office, Elliot, and get the absorbent cotton and +the brandy. I've got to stop this somehow. Oh, my God!" + +James suddenly recognized the man on the ground, and gave an exclamation +which Gordon did not seem to notice. "For God's sake, don't let that +dog out!" he cried. "Don't risk the office door. Go around the house, +the front way! Be quick!" + +James obeyed. He rushed around the house, and opened the front door. +Immediately Clemency was clinging to him in the dim vestibule. "Mother +is asleep. I think Uncle Tom must have given her some medicine to make +her sleep. Oh, what is the matter? Who is that man out there, and what +ails him, and what ails the dog? I started to go in the office, but he +leapt against the door, so I didn't. I was afraid he might get out and +run upstairs and wake mother. Oh, what is it all about?" + +"Nothing for you to worry about, dear," replied James. "Now you must be +a good little girl, and let me go. Your uncle is in a hurry for some +things in the office." He put away her clinging arms gently, and hurried +on toward the office, but the girl followed him. "If I don't stand ready +to shut the door behind you, that dog will be out," she said. All at +once a conviction as to something seized her, and she cried out in +terror and horror, "Oh, I know it is that man out there, and Jack wants +to get at him. I know." + +"It is nothing for you to worry about, dear." + +"I know. Is he going to die? Is he hurt much?" + +"No, your uncle doesn't think so. Don't hinder me, dear." + +"No, I won't. I will stand ready and bang the door together after you +before Jack can get out. Oh, it is that man!" Clemency was +half-hysterical, but she stood her ground. When James opened the office +door cautiously and slipped through the opening, she pushed it together +with surprising strength. "Don't get bitten yourself," she called out +anxiously. + +For a moment James thought that he might be bitten, for the dog was so +frenzied that he was almost past the point of recognizing his friends. +He made a powerful leap upon James, the crest upon his back as rigid as +steel, but James snatched at his collar, threw him, and spoke, and the +well-trained animal succumbed before his voice. "Charge!" thundered the +young man, and the dog obeyed, although still bristling and growling. +James hurriedly caught up his leash and fastened him to the staple, then +he opened the inner office door, and spoke quickly and reassuringly to +Clemency, who was huddled behind it shaking with fear. "He is all +right. I have fastened him," he said. "Don't worry. Now I must go and +help your uncle." + +"He didn't bite you?" + +"Oh, no, he knew me the minute I spoke. Sit down here by the fire and +don't be frightened; that's a good little girl." + +With that James was out by the other door and in the drive beside +Gordon, who was still assiduously applying water to the red throat of +the prostrate man. "It is beginning to slack up a little," he said +hoarsely. "Here, give me the cotton, and see if you can't get a drop of +brandy between his teeth. They are clinched, but just now he moved a +little. He may be able to swallow. Aaron, put the team into the wagon, +and get a mattress and some blankets from the storeroom. Hurry, he may +come to himself any minute, and he must not stay here any longer than +necessary." Gordon was working fiercely as he spoke, and James took the +cork from the brandy flask, and attempted to force a little between the +man's clinched teeth. Aaron hurried into the stable and lit another +lantern, and went about executing his orders. James, kneeling over the +prostrate man, attempting to minister to him, saw the face fully in the +glare of the lantern. The unconscious face did not look as evil as he +remembered it. He even had a doubt if it were the face of the man who +had that evening stood at his horse's head, and so terrified Clemency. +Then he became convinced that it was the same. There could be no +mistaking the features, which were unusually regular and handsome, but +with a strange peculiarity of lines. It seemed to James that, even while +the man was unconscious, all his features presented slightly upturned +lines as of bitter derision, intersected with downward lines of +melancholy. All these lines were very delicate, but they served to give +expression. He looked like a man who had suffered and made others suffer +for his sufferings, with a cruel enjoyment at the spectacle. It was a +strange face, but not an evil one. However, after James had succeeded in +forcing a few drops of brandy, which were met with convulsive +swallowing, between the man's teeth, he moved again, and his eyes +opened, and immediately the evil shone out of the face like a malignant +flame in a lamp. Knowledge of, and delight in, evil gleamed out of the +sudden brightness of the man's great eyes. Then the evil seemed to leap +to rage, as a spark leaps to flame. He tried to raise himself, and +cursed in a choking voice. He seemed awake most fully to consciousness, +and to know exactly what had happened. The dog in the office sent forth +a perfect volley of barks. The man had been obliged to sink back, but +his right hand fumbled feebly for his pocket. + +"It is not there," Gordon said coolly. + +"Shoot him, you--or--" croaked the man in his voice of unnatural rage. + +"Time enough for that," said Gordon. He spoke coolly, but James saw him +shaking as if with the ague. He was deadly white, and his whole face +looked drawn and withered. Aaron came leading the team harnessed to the +wagon out of the stable. He had brought down the mattress and blankets, +as the doctor had directed, and the three men after the rude bed had +been made in the wagon lifted the man thereon. He seemed to be +conscious, but his muttering was so weak as to be almost inaudible, save +for occasional words. + +After he was in the wagon Gordon, turning to James, said: "You had +better go in the house and stay with the women. Aaron will go with me. I +shall take this man to the hotel, to Georgie K.'s." + +A perfect volley of mumbled remonstrances came from the prostrate figure +in the wagon. Gordon seemed to understand him. "No, I shall not take you +there," he said, "but to the hotel. You will be better cared for. I know +the proprietor." + +He got in beside the man, and seated himself on the floor of the wagon. +Aaron mounted to the driver's seat. + +"Tell Clemency and her mother not to worry if they are awake," Gordon +called to James as the horses started. + +James said yes and went into the house. He entered through the office +door, and directly Clemency was in his arms, all trembling and +half-weeping. "Oh, what has happened? Has Uncle Tom taken him away?" she +quavered. + +"Hush, dear, you will wake your mother. Yes, he has taken him away." + +"What was the matter, tell me." + +"He was unconscious. He had fallen." + +"He came to. I heard him speak. Were any bones broken?" + +"No, I think not. You must go to bed; it it very late, dear." + +Clemency had put fresh wood on the hearth, and the little place was all +a-waver and a-flicker with firelight. Grotesque shadows danced over the +walls and ceiling, and sprawled uncertainly on the floor. Clemency +looked up in James's face, and her own had a shocked whiteness and +horror, in spite of the tenderness in his. "Tell--" she began. + +"What, dear?" + +"Was it--that man?" + +James hesitated. + +"Tell me," Clemency said imperiously. + +"Yes, I think it was." + +Clemency glanced as if instinctively at the dog, lying asleep in a white +coil on the hearth. "What was the matter with him?" she asked in a +hardly audible voice. + +"He had fallen, dear, and was unconscious." + +"Nothing--" Clemency glanced again at the dog, and did not complete her +question. + +"He had recovered consciousness," James said hastily. + +"Then he is not going to die." It was impossible to say what kind of +relief was in the girl's voice, but relief there was. + +"I see no reason why he should. I don't think your uncle thought he +would die." + +"Where have they taken him?" + +"To the hotel. Now, Clemency dear, you must put all this out of your +mind and go to bed." + +Clemency obeyed like a child. She kissed James, took a candle, and went +upstairs. + +James went into his own room, but he did not undress or go to bed. +Instead, he sat at the window facing the street and stared into the +darkness, watching for Doctor Gordon's return. He sat there for nearly +two hours, then he heard wheels, and saw the dark mass of the team and +wagon lumber into sight. He ran through the house, and was in the drive +with a lantern when the team entered. "Have you been waiting for us, +Elliot?" called Doctor Gordon's tired voice. + +"Yes, I thought I would." + +"I stayed until I was sure he was comfortable," said Gordon. He +clambered over the wheel of the wagon like an old man. When he was in +the office with James, and the lamp was lit, he sank into a chair, and +looked at the younger man with an expression almost of despair. + +"He is not going to die of it?" asked James hesitatingly. + +"No," cried Gordon, "he shall not!" He looked up with sudden, fierce +resolution and alertness. "Why should he die?" he demanded. "He is far +from being old or feeble. His vitals are not touched. Why on earth +should you think he would die?" + +"I see no reason," James replied hastily, "only--" + +"Only what, for God's sake?" + +"I thought you looked discouraged." + +"Well, I am, and tired of the world, but this man is going to live. See +here, boy, suppose you see if there is any hot water in the kitchen, and +we'll have something to drink, then we will go to bed, and God grant we +don't have a night call." + +After Gordon had drank his face lightened somewhat, still he looked +years older than he had done at dinner time, with that awful aging of +the soul, which sometimes comes in an instant. When finally he went +upstairs James noticed how feebly he moved. It was on his tongue's end +to offer to assist him, but he did not dare. + +The next morning, before James was up, he heard the rapid trot of a +horse on the drive, and wondered if Doctor Gordon had had a call so +early. When the breakfast-bell rang only Clemency was at the table. The +maid had returned in season to get breakfast, and was waiting with a +severely interrogative face. + +She had noticed blood on the frozen surface of the drive and had stood +surveying it before she entered. She had asked Clemency if anything had +happened, and the girl had told her that a man had fallen near the +office door on the preceding evening and been injured, and Doctor Gordon +had taken him home. + +"What's the man's name?" Emma had inquired sharply. + +"I don't know," said Clemency, and indeed she did not know, but there +was something secretive in her manner. Emma set her mouth hard and +tossed her head. Curiosity was almost a lust with her. She was always +enraged when it was excited and not gratified. + +When James entered, she glanced severely at him and then at Clemency, as +she passed the muffins. She suspected something between them, and she +was baffled there. + +"Has Doctor Gordon gone out?" James asked. + +"Yes, he went right out as soon as he got up. Just had a cup of coffee; +wouldn't wait for breakfast," replied Emma in a nipping tone. + +Neither Clemency nor James made any comment. Both knew where he had +gone, and Emma, seeing that they both knew, grew more hostile than +ever. Her manner of serving the beefsteak was fairly warlike. + +After breakfast Aaron told James of some parting instructions which +Gordon had left with him. He had the team harnessed, and was to take +James to visit certain patients. + +James went off on a long drive across the country, calling on his way at +the scattered houses of the patients. He did not return until noon, just +before the luncheon-bell rang. Entering by the office door he found +Gordon sitting before the hearth-fire, smoking, and staring gloomily at +the leaping flames. He looked up when James entered, said good morning +in an abstracted fashion, and asked some questions about the patients +whom he had visited. James hesitated about inquiring for the man who had +been injured the night before, but finally he did so. The dog had sprung +up to greet him, and between his pats on the white head and commands of +"Down, sir, down!" he asked as casually as he could if Gordon had seen +his patient who had fallen in the drive the night before, and how he +was. Gordon turned upon James a face of such fierce misery that the +younger man fairly recoiled. "He isn't going to die?" he cried. + +"No, he is not going to die. He shall not die!" Gordon replied with +passionate emphasis. Then he added, in response to James's wondering, +half-frightened look, "I have been there all the morning. I have just +come home. I have left everything for him. I don't dare get a nurse. I +am afraid. He may talk a good deal. Georgie K. is with him now. I can +trust him, but I can't trust a nurse. I am going back after luncheon, +and you may go with me. I would like you to see him." + +"Does he seem to be very ill?" James asked timidly. + +"Not from the--the--wound," replied Gordon, "but I am afraid of +something else." + +"What?" + +"Erysipelas. I am afraid of that setting in. In fact, I am not +altogether sure that it has not. He is an erysipelas subject. He has +told me of two severe attacks which he has had. When he fell he got an +abrasion of the cheek. That looks worse than the--the--wound. I should +like you to see him. You have seen erysipelas cases, of course, in your +hospital practice." + +"Oh, yes." + +"There is the bell for luncheon. We will go directly afterward." + +James wondered within himself at the feverish haste with which Gordon +swallowed his luncheon, frequently looking at his watch. He was actually +showing more anxiety over this man who had hounded him, of whom he had +lived in dread, than James had seen him show over any patient since he +had been with him. It seemed to him inconsistent. Mrs. Ewing did not +come down to luncheon; Clemency said that she was not feeling as well as +usual but Gordon did not seem much disturbed even by that. He gave +Clemency some powders, with instructions how to administer them to the +sick woman before he left, but he did not show concern, and did not go +upstairs to see her. Clemency herself looked pale and anxious. + +She found a chance to whisper to James before he went. "Is that man very +much hurt?" she said close to his ear. + +"Hush, dear. I am afraid so." + +"Uncle Tom seems terribly worried. I have never seen him so worried even +over mother, and he doesn't seem worried about her now. Oh, James, she +is suffering frightfully, I know." Clemency gave a little sob. Then +Gordon's voice was heard calling imperiously, "Elliot, come along!" +James kissed the poor little face tenderly, and whispered that she must +not worry, that probably the powders would relieve her mother, and then +that she herself had better lie down and try to get a little sleep, and +hurried out. + +Gordon was seated in the buggy, waiting for him. "I don't want to lose +any time," he said brusquely as James got in beside him. "Even a few +minutes sometimes work awful changes in a case like this. If he is no +worse I will leave you with him, and make a call on Mrs. Wells. I +haven't seen her to-day, and yesterday it looked like pneumonia, then +there is that child with diphtheria at the Atwaters'. I ought to go +there myself, but if he is worse you will have to go, and to a few +others, and I must stay with him." + +Gordon drove furiously. Heads appeared at windows; people on the street +turned faces of wonder and alarm after him. It was soon noised about +Alton that there had been a terrible accident, that somebody was at the +point of death, but of that Gordon and James knew nothing. + +When they arrived at the hotel, Gordon, after he had tied his horse, +took his medicine-case, and, followed by James, entered, and went +directly upstairs to a large room at the back of the hotel. This room +was somewhat isolated in position, having a corridor on one side and +linen closets on another, it being a corner apartment with two outer +walls. Gordon opened the door softly and entered with James behind him. +The bed stood between the two west windows. It was a northwest room. The +afternoon sun had not yet reached it. It was furnished after the usual +fashion of country hotel bedrooms. It was clean and sparse, and the +furniture had the air of having a past, of having witnessed almost +everything which occurs to humanity. It seemed battered and stained, +though not with wear, but with humanity. The old-fashioned black walnut +bedstead in which the sick man lay seemed to have a thousand voices of +experiences. A great piece was broken off one corner of the footboard. +The wound in the wood looked sinister. Directly opposite the bed stood +the black walnut bureau, with its swung glass. The glass was cracked +diagonally, and reflected the bed and its occupant with an air of +experience. Gordon went directly to his patient. Beside him sat Georgie +K. He looked at the two doctors and shook his head gravely. His great +blond face was unshaven and paled with watching. Nobody spoke a word. +All three looked at the man in the bed, who lay either asleep, or +feigning sleep, or in a stupor. Gordon felt for his pulse softly, with +keen eyes upon his face. This face was unspeakably ghastly. The throat +was swathed in bandages. There was one tiny spot of red on the white of +the linen. The man's eyes were rolled upward. Around an abrasion on the +cheek, which glistened oily with some unguent which had been applied to +it, was a circle of painful red clearly defined from the pallor of the +rest of the cheek. + +Gordon spoke. "How do you feel?" he asked of the man, who evidently +heard and understood, but did not reply. He simply made a little motion +of facial muscles, of shoulders, of his whole body under the +bed-clothes, which indicated rage and impatience. + +"Does that place on your cheek burn?" asked Gordon. + +Again there was no answer, this time not even any motion. + +"Have you any pain?" asked Gordon. The man lay motionless. "Is there any +one in the parlor?" Gordon asked abruptly of Georgie K. + +"No, Doc. You can go right in there." + +Gordon beckoned to James, and the two went downstairs, and entered the +room of the wax flowers and the stuffed canary. + +"It looks like erysipelas," Gordon said with no preface. + +James nodded. + +"All I have done so far, in the absence of any positive proof of the +truth of that diagnosis, is to apply what you will think an old woman's +remedy, but I have known it to give good results in light cases, and I +did not like to resort to the more strenuous methods until I was sure of +my ground, for fear of complications. I applied a little mutton tallow, +and that was all, but the inflammation has increased since I saw him. It +now looks to me like a clearly defined case of erysipelas." + +"It does to me," said James. + +"So far--the--wound in the throat seems to be doing well," said Gordon +gloomily. Then he looked at the younger physician with an odd, helpless +expression. "His life must be saved," said he. "Which do you prefer of +the two methods of treating the disease--that is, of the two primary +ones? Of course, there are methods innumerable. I may have grown rusty +in my country practice. Do you prefer the leaches, the nitrate of +silver, the low diet, or the reverse?" + +"I think I prefer the reverse." + +"Well, you may be right," said Gordon, "and yet you have to consider +that this is a man in full vigor," he added, "that presumably he has +considerable reserve strength upon which to draw. Still if you prefer +the other treatment--" + +"I have seen very good results from it," said James. He was becoming +more and more astonished at the older man's helpless, almost appealing, +manner toward himself. "What is the man's name?" he asked. + +"I don't know what name he has given here," Gordon replied evasively. "I +will tell you later on what his name is." + +Suddenly the parlor door was flung open, and a woman appeared. She was +middle-aged, very large, clad in black raiment, which had an effect of +sliding and slipping from her when she moved. She kept clutching at the +buttons of her coat, which did not quite meet over her full front. She +brought together the ends of a black fur boa, she reached constantly for +the back of her skirts, and gave them a firm tug which relaxed the next +moment. Her decent black bonnet was askew, her large face was flushed. +She had been a strapping, handsome country girl once; now she was almost +indecent in her involuntary exuberance of coarse femininity. + +"How do you do, Mrs. Slocum?" Doctor Gordon said politely. + +James rose, Gordon introduced him. Mrs. Slocum did not bow, she jerked +her great chin upward, then she spoke with really alarming ferocity. +"Where has my boarder went? That's what I want to know. That's what I +have come here for, not for no bowin's and scrapin's. Where has my +boarder went?" + +A keen look came into Gordon's face. "I don't know who your boarder is, +Mrs. Slocum," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Mrs. Slocum looked at the doctor with a wide gape of surprise. + +"Thought you knew," said she. "His name is Meserve, Mr. Edward Meserve, +and if he has come and went, and not told where, he was good pay, and if +he was took sick whilst he was to my house, I could have asked twice as +much as I did before. I'd like to know what right you had to take my +boarder to the hotel. He was my boarder. He wan't your boarder. I want +him fetched right back. That's what I have came for." + +"Mrs. Slocum," said Gordon in a hard voice, "Mr. Meserve is too sick to +be moved, and his disease may be contagious. You might lose all your +other boarders, and whether he recovers or not, you would be obliged to +fumigate your house, and have his room repapered and plastered." + +"He's got money enough to pay for it," Mrs. Slocum said doggedly. + +"How do you know?" + +"You think he ain't?" + +Gordon looked imperturbable. + +"He always paid me regular, and he ain't been to meals or to home nights +two-thirds of the time." + +Gordon said nothing. + +"You mean if my other boarders went, and the room had to be done over, +he ain't got money enough to make it good?" + +Gordon said nothing. The woman fidgeted. "Well," said she, "if there's +any doubt of it, mebbe he _is_ better off here." Suddenly she gave a +suspicious glance at Gordon. "Say," said she, "the room here will have +to be done over. Who's goin' to pay for that?" + +"The room is isolated," replied Gordon briefly. + +The woman stared. She evidently did not know the meaning of the word. + +"Well," said she at last, "if the room _is_ insulted, it will have to be +done over. Who's going to pay for that?" + +"I am." + +"Well, I don't see why you couldn't pay _me_ for that as well as Mr. +Evans." + +"Don't you?" + +"No." + +"Well, I do. Now, Mrs. Slocum, I really have no more time to waste. Mr. +Meserve is a very sick man, and I have to go to him. I came down here +to consult with my assistant, and you have hindered us. Good-day!" + +But the woman still stood her ground. "I'm goin' to see him," she said. +"He's my boarder." + +"You will do so at your own risk, and also, if your call should prove +injurious to him, at a risk of being indicted for manslaughter, besides +possibly catching the disease." + +"You say it's ketching?" + +"I said it might be. We have not yet entirely formed our diagnosis." + +The woman stared yet again. Then she turned about with a switch which +disclosed fringy black petticoats and white stockings. "Well, form your +noses all you want to," said she. "You have took away my boarder, an' if +he gits well, and it ain't ketchin', I'll have the law on ye." + +Gordon drew a deep breath when the door closed behind her. "It seems +sometimes to me as if comedy were the haircloth shirt of tragedy," he +said grimly. "Well, Elliot, we will go upstairs and begin the fight. I +am going to fight to the death. I shall remain here to-night. You will +have to look after my other patients when you leave here. I am sorry to +put so much upon you." + +"Oh, that's all right," said James, following Gordon upstairs. But as he +spoke he wondered more and more that this man, after what he had known +of him, should be of more importance to Gordon than all others. + +Even during the short time they had been downstairs the angry red around +the abrasion on the cheek had widened, and widened toward the head. +Gordon opened his medicine-case and took out a bottle and hairbrush and +commenced work. Directly the entire cheek was blackened with the +application of iron. Georgie K. had brought glasses, and medicine had +been forced into the patient's mouth. "Now go and have some eggnog +mixed, Georgie K.," said Gordon, "and bring it here yourself, if you +will. I hate to trouble you." + +"That's all right, Doc," said Georgie K., and went. + +James remained only a short time, since he had the other calls to make. +He returned quite late to find that dinner had been kept waiting for +him, and Clemency in her pretty red gown was watching. Mrs. Ewing had +not come down all day. "Mother says she is easier," Clemency observed, +"only she thinks it better to keep perfectly still." Clemency said very +little about the man at the hotel. She seemed to dread the very mention +of him. She and James spent a long evening together, and she was +entirely charming. James began to put behind him all the mystery and +dark hints of evil. Clemency, although fond, was as elusive as a +butterfly. She had feminine wiles to her finger tips, but she was quite +innocent of the fact that they were wiles. It took the whole evening for +the young man to secure a kiss or two, and have her upon his knee for +the space of about five minutes. She nestled closely to him with a +little sigh of happiness for a very little while, then she slipped away, +and stood looking at him like an elf. "I am not going to do that much," +said she. + +"Why not, darling?" + +"Because I am not. It is silly. I love you, but I will not be silly. I +want only what will last. The love will last, but the silliness won't. +We are going to be married, but I shall not want to sit on your knee all +the time, and what is more, you will not want me to. Suppose we should +live to be very old. Who ever saw a very old woman sitting on her very +old husband's knee? The love will last, but that will not. We will not +have so very much of that which will not last." + +For all that, James caught Clemency and kissed her until her soft face +was crimson, but he said to himself, when he was in his own room, that +never was a girl so wise, and how much more he wanted to hold her upon +his knee--as if he had not already held her there--and yet she was not +coquettish. She was simply earnest, with an odd, wise, childlike +earnestness. + +Early the next morning James went to the hotel, and found Gordon haggard +and intense, sitting beside his patient, who was evidently worse. The +terrible red fire of Saint Anthony had mounted higher, and settled +lower. "It has attacked his throat now," Gordon said in a whisper. "I +expect every minute it will reach his brain. When it does, nobody but +you and I must be with him, not even Georgie K. He is getting some rest. +He was up half the night, bless him! But when it reaches the brain two +will be needed here, and the two must be you and I. Take this list, and +make the calls as quickly as you can, and come back here." James, with a +last glance at the black and swollen face of the man, who now seemed to +be in a state of coma, obeyed. He hurried through his list, and +returned. He found no apparent change in the patient, and tried to +persuade Gordon to take a little rest, but the elder man was obdurate. +"No" he said, "here I stay. I have had a bit to eat and drink. You go +down yourself and get something, then come back. The crisis may arrive +any second. Then I shall need you." + +The fire had outstripped the blackness on the man's cheek toward the +temple. One eye was closed. + +When James returned after a hurried lunch, he heard a loud, terrible +voice in the room. Outside the door a maid stood with a horrified face +listening. James grasped her roughly by the shoulder. "Get out of this," +he ordered. "If I find you or any one else here listening, you'll be +sorry for it." + +The maid gasped out an excuse and fled. James tried the door, but it was +locked. "Is that you, Elliot?" called Gordon above the other awful +voice. + +"Yes." + +The door was unlocked, and James sprang into the room, but he was hardly +quick enough, for the man was almost out of bed, when the two doctors +forced him back with all their strength. Then he sat up and raved, and +such raving! James felt his very blood cold within him. Revelations as +of a devil were in those ravings. Once in a while James opened the door +cautiously to be sure that no one was listening. The raving man +reiterated names as of a multitude. Gordon's was among them, and many +names of women, one especially--Catherine. He repeated that name more +frequently than the others, but the others were legion. There was +something indescribably horrible in hearing this repetition of names of +unknown people, accompanied with statements beyond belief regarding them +and the raving man. Gordon's face was ghastly, and so was the younger +doctor's. "Look and see if any one is listening, for God's sake," Gordon +gasped, after one terrific outburst, and James looked, but Georgie K. +was keeping watch that nobody approached the door. + +James never knew how long he was in that room with Gordon listening to +those frenzied ravings, and striving with him to keep the man from +injuring himself. The daylight waned, James lighted a lamp. Then a +mighty creaking was heard outside, and Georgie K., himself bearing a +great supper tray, knocked at the door. "It's me, and I brought you +something," he shouted, and then they heard his retreating footsteps. +Much delicacy was there in Georgie K., and much affection for Doctor +Gordon. + +James brought in the tray, and now and then he and Gordon took advantage +of a slight lull to take a bite, but neither had any desire for food. It +was only the instinctive sense that they must keep up their strength in +order that nobody else should hear what they were hearing, that forced +them to eat and drink. Well into the evening the ravings stopped +suddenly, the man fell back upon his pillow, and lay still. James +thought at first that all was over, but presently stertorous breathing +began. + +"Now get Georgie K. up," Gordon said hoarsely. "There is no further need +for us to be alone, and there will be directions to be given." + +James went out and found Georgie K. sitting up in his bar-room. + +"Doctor Gordon wants you," he said. + +"How is he?" asked Georgie K., following James. + +"Dying." + +Georgie K. made an indescribable sound in his throat as the two men +ascended the stair. + +The man was a long time dying. It seemed to James as if that awful +struggle of the soul for release from the body would never cease. He +knew, or thought he knew, that there was no suffering to the dying man, +but, after all, the sounds as of suffering seemed almost to prove it. +Gordon whispered for a while to Georgie K., as if the dying man might be +disturbed by audible speech. Then Georgie K. tiptoed out in his creaking +boots, and James knew that some arrangements were to be perfected for +the last services to the dead. Gordon stood over the bed, with his own +face as ghastly as that of its occupant. James dared not speak to him. + +It was midnight when the dreadful breathing ceased, and there was +silence. Georgie K. had returned. The three living men looked at one +another with ghastly understanding of what had happened, then they +hastily arranged some matters. The dead man was decently composed and +dressed, his throat swathed anew in linen handkerchiefs, and another +handkerchief laid over the discolored face, which had in death a strange +peace, as if relieved of an uneasy and wearing tenant. Before Georgie K. +went out, the village undertaker had been summoned, and had been waiting +for some time in the parlor with a young assistant. They mounted the +stairs bearing some appurtenances of their trade. Gordon addressed the +undertaker briefly, giving some directions, then he motioned to James, +and they passed out. Georgie K. remained in the room. He prevented the +undertaker from removing the linen swathe on the dead man's throat. "Doc +says it's catching," he said, and the undertaker drew back quickly. + +When Gordon and James were in the buggy on the way home, Gordon all at +once gave a great sigh, like that of a swimmer who yields to the force +of the current, or the fighter who sinks before his opponent. "I'm about +done, too," he said. "Here, take the lines, Elliot." + +James took the reins and looked anxiously at his companion's face, a +pale blue in the moonlight. "You are not ill?" he said. + +"No, only done up. For God's sake let me rest, and don't talk till we +get home!" James drove on. Gordon's head sank upon his breast, and he +began to breathe regularly. He did not wake until James roused him when +they reached home. + + * * * * * + +The next morning before breakfast James was awakened by a loud voice in +the office, the high-pitched one of a woman. He recalled how exhausted +Doctor Gordon had been the night before, and rose and dressed quickly. +When he entered the office Gordon was sitting huddled up in his old +armchair before the fire, while bolt upright beside him sat Mrs. Slocum, +discoursing in loud and angry tones, which Gordon seemed scarcely to +heed. When James entered she turned upon him. "Now I'll see if I can git +anythin' out of you," she said. "He" (pointing to Gordon) "don't act as +if he was half-alive. I'm goin' to have my rights if I have to go to law +to git 'em. Doctor Gordon took away my boarder. And if I'd had him sick +and die to my house, I could have got extra. Now what I want is jest +this, an' I'm goin' to hev it, too! Doctor Gordon said Mr. Meserve +didn't have money. I don't know nothin' about that. I ain't went through +his pockets, but his trunk is to my house, and there's awful nice men's +clothes into it, and I mean to hev 'em. That ain't nothin' more'n fair. +That's what I hev came here for, jest as soon as I heard the poor man +had passed away. I left my daughter to git the breakfast for the +boarders, and I hev came here to see about that trunk, and hisn's +clothes." + +James laughed. "But, Mrs. Slocum," he said, "what on earth do you want +with men's clothes? You can't wear them." + +To his intense surprise the great face of the woman suddenly reddened +like that of a young girl, but the next moment she gave her head a +defiant toss, and stared boldly at him. "What if I can't?" said she. +"There's other men as can wear 'em, and they'll jest fit Bill Todd. He's +been boardin' with me five year, and if he wants to git married and save +his board bill, it's his business and mine and nobody else's." + +James turned to Gordon, who seemed prostrated before this feminine +onslaught. "Do you object to this woman's having the trunk?" he asked. + +Gordon made an effort and roused himself. "She can have it after I have +examined it for papers," he said. + +"There ain't a scrap of writin' in the trunk," Mrs. Slocum vociferated. +"Me an' my boarder hev looked. There ain't no writin' an' no jewelry, +an' no money. He used to carry his money with him, and he had a bank +book in his pocket, and a long, red book he used to git money out of the +bank. I've seen 'em. Doctor Gordon said he didn't have no money. He did +hev money. Once he left the long, red book on his bureau, and I looked +in it, and the leaves that are as good as money wan't a quarter torn +out. I know he had money, an' I've been cheated out of it. But all I ask +is that trunk." + +"For God's sake take the trunk and clear out," shouted Gordon with +unexpected violence, "but if there is a scrap of written paper in that +trunk, and you keep it, you'll be sorry." + +"There ain't," said the woman with evident truthfulness. She rose and +clutched at the back of her skirt, and tugged at her boa and coat. +"Thank you, Doctor Gordon," said she. "When is the funeral goin' to be?" + +"Tell her to-morrow at two o'clock at the hotel, and tell her to leave," +said Gordon, and his voice was suddenly apathetic again. + +When the woman had gone Gordon turned to James. "How comedy will prick +through tragedy," he said. + +"Yes," James answered vaguely. He looked anxiously at Gordon, whose eyes +had at once a desperate and an utterly wearied appearance. "I will make +all the arrangements for the funeral, if you wish, Doctor Gordon," he +said. "I know the undertaker, and I can manage it as well as you. You +look used up." + +"I am pretty nearly," muttered Gordon. Then he gave an almost +affectionate glance at James. "Do you think you can manage it?" he said. + +James smiled. "It is a new thing to me, but I have no doubt I can," he +replied. + +"You cannot imagine what a weight you would take off my shoulders. Don't +spare money. See to it that everything is good and as it should be. The +bills are to be sent to me." + +Gordon answered an unspoken question of James. "Yes," he said, "he had +money, a considerable fortune, and he has no heirs--at least, I am as +sure as I need be that he has none. In his pockets were two bank books, +small check books, and a security register book. I have done them up in +a parcel. See to it that they are buried with him." + +"But," said James. + +"Oh, yes, I know. Sooner or later there will be advertisements in the +papers, and that sort of thing, but that will pass. God knows I would +not touch his money with the devil's pitchfork, nor allow anybody whom I +loved to touch it. Let him be buried under the name by which he was +known here. It is not the name, needless to say, on the bank books. +While living under other than his rightful name, he must have gone to +New York in person to supply himself with cash. There was some two +hundred dollars in bank notes in his wallet. That is with the other +things. Let the whole be buried with him, and see to it that Drake does +not discover it. You had better take the parcel now. Open the right +drawer of the table, and you will find it in the corner. Then, after +breakfast, you had better see Drake at once. I will attend to the +patients to-day." + +"You are not able." + +"Able is a word which I have eliminated from my vocabulary as applied to +myself." + +The funeral, which was held the next afternoon in the parlor of the +hotel, was at once a ghastly and a grotesque function. The two doctors, +the undertaker and his assistant, Georgie K. and the bar-tender, and +Mrs. Slocum with a female friend, and a man, evidently the boarder to +whom she had referred, were the only persons present. The boarder wore a +hat which had belonged to the dead man. It was many sizes too large for +his grayish blond, foolish little head, and, when he put it on, it +nearly obscured his eyes. Mrs. Slocum sniffed audibly through the +service, which was short, being conducted by the old Presbyterian +clergyman of Alton. He hardly spoke above a whisper of "the stranger who +had passed from our midst into the beyond." His concluding prayer was +quite inaudible. Mrs. Slocum had brought a bouquet of cheerful pink +geraniums from her window plants, which on the top of the closed black +casket made an odd spot of color and life in the dim room. Among the +blossoms were some rose-geranium leaves, whose fragrance seemed to +mantle everything like smoke. While the clergyman conducted the +inaudible services loud voices were heard in the bar-room, and the yelp +of a dog. On one side of the house was the hush of death, on the other +the din of life. James wondered what the clergyman found to say: all +that he had distinguished was the expression, "The stranger within our +midst." + +It all seemed horribly farcical to him. The dead man in his casket had +no personality for him; the sniffs of Mrs. Slocum, her boarder with the +hat, assumed, in his eyes, the character of a "Punch and Judy" show. But +along with that feeling came the realization of a most terrible pathos. +He felt a sort of pity for the dead man, whose very personality had +become nothing to him, and the pity was the greater because of that. It +became a pity for the very scheme of things, for man in the abstract, +born perhaps, through no fault of his own, to sin and misery, both +miserable and causing misery throughout his life, and then to end in the +grave, and vanish from the sight and minds of other men. He felt that it +would not be so sad if it were sadder, if Mrs. Slocum's sniffs had come +from her heart, and not from her sentimentality. He felt that a funeral +where love is not is the most mournful function on earth. Then, too, he +felt a great anxiety for Doctor Gordon, who sat shrugged up in his gray +overcoat, with his gray grizzle of beard meeting the collar, and his +forehead heavily corrugated over pent and gloomy eyes. + +He was heartily glad when the service was over, when the casket had been +lowered into the grave, when the village hearse had turned off into a +street, the horse going at a sharp trot, and he and Doctor Gordon were +left alone. He drove. Gordon sat hunched into a corner of the buggy, as +he had sat in the corner of the hotel parlor. James hesitated about +saying anything, but finally he spoke, he felt foolishly enough, +although he meant the words to be comforting. "You did all you could to +save his life," he said. + +Gordon made no reply. + +When they reached the house, Clemency's head disappeared from the +window, where she had evidently been watching. She met them at the +office door, with an odd, shocked, inquiring expression on her little +face. James kissed her furtively, while Gordon's back was turned, as he +divested himself of his gray coat. + +"Dinner is nearly ready," Clemency said in an agitated voice. + +"How is she?" asked Gordon, then before she had time to reply, he added +almost roughly, "What on earth are you fretting about?" + +"I am not fretting," Clemency answered in a weak little voice. + +"There is nothing in all this for you to concern yourself with. Put it +out of your head!" + +"Yes, Uncle Tom." + +"How is she?" + +"She has been asleep all the afternoon." + +"She has not had another attack?" + +"No, Uncle Tom." + +Then the dinner-bell rang. + +To James's surprise, but everything surprised him now, Gordon seemed to +recover his spirits. He ate heartily. He laughed and joked. After dinner +he went upstairs to see Mrs. Ewing, and when he came down insisted that +James should accompany him to the hotel for a game of euchre. James +would have preferred remaining with Clemency, whose eyes were wistful, +but Gordon hurried him away. They remained until nearly midnight in the +parlor, where the funeral had taken place a short time before, playing +euchre, telling stories, and drinking apple-jack. James noticed that the +hotel man often cast an anxious and puzzled glance at Gordon. He began +to fancy that what seemed mirth and jollity was the mere bravado of +misery and a ghastly mask of real enjoyment. He was glad when Gordon +made the move to leave. Georgie K. stood in the door watching the two +men untie the horse and get into the buggy. "Take care of yourself, +Doc," he hallooed, and there was real affection and concern in his +voice. + +Gordon drove now, and the mare, being on her homeward road, made good +time. James helped Gordon unharness, as Aaron had gone to bed. His deep +snores sounded through the stable from his room above. "It's a pity to +wake up anything," Gordon said. "Guess well put the mare up ourselves." +Now his voice was bitter again. Gordon had the key of the office door, +and after locking the stable the two men entered. Gordon threw some wood +on the fire. The lamp with its dangling prisms was burning. "Sit down a +minute," Gordon said, "'I have something to tell you. I may as well get +it off my mind now. It has got to come sometime." + +James sat down and lit a cigar. He felt himself in a nervous tension. +Gordon filled his pipe and lit it, then he began to speak in an odd, +monotonous voice, as though he were reciting. + +"That man's name was James Mendon. He was an Englishman. When I first +began practice it was in the West. That man had a ranch near the little +town where I lived with my sister Alice. Alice was a beautiful girl. We +had lost our parents, and she kept house for me. The man was as handsome +as a devil, and he had the devil's own way with women. God only knows +what a good girl like my sister saw in him. He had a bad name, even out +in that rough country. Horrible tales were circulated about his cruelty +to animals for one thing. His cowboys deserted him and told stories. +His very dog turned on him, and bit him. God knows how he was torturing +the animal. I saw the scar on his hand when he lay on his death-bed. +Well, however it was, my sister loved him and married him, and he +treated her like a fiend. She died, and it was a merciful release. He +deserted her three months before her death. Sold out all he had, and +left her without a cent. She came back to me, and three months later +Clemency was born." + +Gordon paused and looked at James. "Yes," he said, "that man was +Clemency's father." + +He waited, but only for a second. The young man spoke, and his clear +young voice rang out like a trumpet. "I never loved Clemency as I love +her now," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Gordon smiled at James. "God bless you, boy!" he said. + +"What possible difference do you think that could make?" demanded James +hotly. "Could that poor little girl help it?" + +"Of course she could not, but some men might object, and with reason, to +marrying a girl who came of such stock on her father's side." + +"I am not one of those men." + +"No, I don't think you are, but it is only my duty to put the case +plainly before you. That man who was buried this afternoon was simply +unspeakable. He was a monstrosity of perverted morality. I cannot even +bring myself to tell you what I know of him. I cannot even bring myself +to give you the least hint of what my poor young sister, Clemency's +mother, suffered in her brief life with him. You may fear heredity--" + +"Heredity, nothing! Don't I know Clemency?" + +"I myself really think that you have nothing whatever to fear. Clemency +is her mother's living and breathing image as far as looks go, and as +far as I can judge in the innermost workings of her mind. I have not +seen in her the slightest taint from her evil father, though God knows I +have watched for it with horror as the years have passed. After she was +born I smuggled her away by night, and gave out word that the child had +died at the same time with the mother. There was a private funeral, and +the casket was closed. I had hard work to carry it through successfully, +for I was young in those days, and broken-hearted at losing my sister, +but carry it through I did, and no one knew except a nurse. I trusted +her, I was obliged to do so, and I fear that she has betrayed me. I +established a practice in another town in another State, and there I met +Clara. She has told me that she informed you of the fact that she was my +wife, but not of our reasons for concealing it. Just before we were +married I became practically certain that Clemency's father had gained +in some way information that led him to suspect, if not to be absolutely +certain, that his child had not died with his wife. I had a widowed +sister, Mrs. Ewing, who lived in Iowa with her only daughter just about +Clemency's age. Just before our marriage she decided to remove to +England to live with some relatives of her deceased husband. They had +considerable property, and she had very little. I begged her to go +secretly, or rather to hint that she was going East to live with me, +which she did. Nobody in the little Iowa village, so far as I knew, was +aware of the fact that my sister and daughter had gone to England, and +not East to live with me. Clara and I were married privately in an +obscure little Western hamlet, and came East at once. We have lived in +various localities, being driven from one to another by the danger of +Clemency's father ascertaining the truth; and my wife has always been +known as Mrs. Ewing, and Clemency as her daughter. It has been a life of +constant watchfulness and deception, and I have been bound hand and +foot. Even had Clemency's father not been so exceedingly careful that it +would have been difficult to reach him by legal methods, there was the +poor child to be considered, and the ignominy which would come upon her +at the exposure of her father. I have done what I could. I am naturally +a man who hates deception, and wishes above all things to lead a life +with its windows open and shades up, but I have been forced into the +very reverse. My life has been as closely shuttered and curtained as my +house. I have been obliged to force my own wife to live after the same +fashion. Now the cause for this secrecy is removed, but as far as she is +concerned, the truth must still be concealed for Clemency's sake. It +must not be known that that dead man was her father, and the very +instant we let go one thread of the mystery the whole fabric will +unravel. Poor Clara can never be acknowledged openly as my wife, the +best and most patient wife a man ever had, and under a heavier sentence +of death this moment than the utmost ingenuity of man could contrive." +Gordon groaned, and let his head sink upon his hands. + +"She told me some time ago that she was ill," James said pityingly. + +"Ill? She has been upon the executioner's block for years. It is not +illness; that is too tame a word for it. It is torture, prolonged as +only the evil forces of Nature herself can prolong it." + +Gordon rose and shook himself angrily. "I am keeping her now almost +constantly under morphine," he said. "She has suffered more lately. The +attacks have been more frequent. There has never been the slightest +possibility of a surgical operation. From the very first it was utterly +hopeless, and if it had been the dog there, I should have put a bullet +through his head and considered myself a friend." Gordon gazed with +miserable reflection at the dog. "I am glad that the _direct_ cause of +that man's death was not what it might have been," he said. + +He shook himself again as a dog shakes off water. He laughed a miserable +laugh. "Well," he said, "Clemency is free now. She can go her ways as +she will. You see she resembled her mother so closely that I had to +guard her from even the sight of her father. He would have known the +truth at once. Clemency is free, but I have paid an awful price for her +freedom and for your life. If I had not done what you doubtless know I +did that night, you would have been shot, and it would have been a +struggle between myself and her father, with the very good chance of my +being killed, and Clara and the girl left defenseless. His revolver +carried six deaths in it. It would all have depended upon the quickness +of the dog, and I should have left too much hanging upon that." + +"I don't see what else you could do," James said in a low voice. He was +pale himself. He did not blame Gordon. He felt that he himself, in +Gordon's place, would have done as he had done, and yet he felt as if +faced close to a horror of murder and death, and he knew from the look +upon the other man's countenance that it was the same with him. + +"I saw no other way," Gordon said in a broken voice, "but--but I don't +know whether I am a murderer or an executioner, and I never shall know. +God help me! Well," he added with a sigh, "what is done, is done. Let us +go to bed." + +James said when they parted at his room door that he hoped Mrs. Ewing +would have a comfortable night. + +"Yes, she will," replied Gordon quietly. Then he gave the young man's +hand a warm clasp. "God bless you!" he whispered. "If this had turned +you against the child, it would have driven me madder than I am now. I +love her as if she were my own. You and your loyalty are all I have to +hold to." + +"You can hold to that to the end," James returned with warmth, and he +looked at Gordon as he might have looked at his own father. + +Late as it was, he wrote that night to his own father and mother, +telling them of his engagement to Clemency. There now can be no possible +need for secrecy with regard to it. James, in spite of his vague sense +of horror, felt an exhilaration at the thought that now all could be +above board, that the shutters could be flung open. He felt as if an +incubus had rolled from his mental consciousness. Clemency herself +experienced something of the same feeling. She appeared at the +breakfast-table the next morning with her hat. "Uncle says I may go with +you on your rounds," she said to James. She beamed, and yet there was a +troubled and puzzled expression on her pretty face. When she and James +had started, and were moving swiftly along the country road, she said +suddenly, "Will you tell me something?" + +James hesitated. + +"Will you?" she repeated. + +"I can't promise, dear," he said. + +"Why not?" she asked pettishly. + +"Because it might be something which I ought not to tell you." + +"You ought to tell me everything if--if--" she hesitated, and blushed. + +"If what?" asked James tenderly. + +She nestled up to him. "If you--feel toward me as you say you do." + +"If. Oh, Clemency!" + +"Then you ought to tell me. No, you needn't kiss me. I want you to tell +me something. I don't want to be kissed." + +"Well, what is that you want to know, dear?" + +"Will you promise to tell me?" + +"No, dear, I can't promise, but I will tell you if I am able without +doing you harm." + +"Who was that man who was buried yesterday, who had been hunting me so +long, and frightening me and Uncle Tom, and why have I been compelled to +stay housed as if I were a prisoner so much of my life?" + +"Because you were in danger, dear, from the man." + +"You are answering me in a circle." Clemency sat upright and looked at +James, and the blue fire in her eyes glowed. "Who was the man?" she +asked peremptorily. + +"I can't tell you, dear." + +"But you know." + +"Yes." + +"Why can't you tell me then?" + +"Because it is not best." + +Clemency shrugged her shoulders. "Why did he hunt me so?" + +"I can't tell you, dear." + +"But you know." + +"I am not sure." + +"But you think you know." + +"Yes." + +"Then tell me." + +"I can't, dear." + +"When will you tell me?" + +"Never!" + +Clemency looked at him, and again she blushed. "You will tell me +after--we are--married. You will have to tell me everything then," she +whispered. + +James shook his head. + +"Won't you then?" + +"No, dear, I shall never tell you while I live." + +Clemency made a sudden grasp at the reins. "Then I will never marry +you," she said. "I will never marry you, if you keep things from me." + +"I will never keep things from you that you ought to know, dear." + +"I ought to know this!" + +James remained silent. Clemency had brought the horse to a full stop. +"Won't you ever tell me?" she asked. + +"No, never! dear." + +"Then let me get out. This is Annie Lipton's street. I am going to see +her. I have not seen her for a long time. I will walk home. It is safe +enough now. You can tell me that much?" + +"Yes, it is, but Clemency, dear." + +"I am not Clemency, dear. I am not going to marry you. You say you wrote +your father and mother last night that we were going to get married. +Well, you can just write again and tell them we are not. No, you need +not try to stop me. I will get out. Good-by! I shall not be home to +luncheon. I shall stay with Annie. I like her very much better than I +like you." + +With that Clemency had slipped out of the buggy and hurried up a street +without looking back. James drove on. He felt disturbed, but not +seriously so. It was impossible to take Clemency's anger as a real +thing. It was so whimsical and childish. He had counted upon his long +morning with her, but he went on with a little smile on his face. + +He was half inclined to think, so slightly did he estimate Clemency's +anger, that she would not keep her word, and would be home for luncheon. +But when he returned she was not there, and she had not come when the +bell rang. + +"Why, where is Clemency?" Gordon said, when they entered the +dining-room. + +"She insisted upon stopping to see her friend Miss Lipton," said James. +"She said that she might not be home to lunch." Emma gave one of her +sharp, baffled glances at him, then, having served the two men, she +tossed her head and went out. Nobody knew how much she wished to listen +at the kitchen door, but she was above such a course. + +"Clemency and I had a bit of a tiff," James explained to Gordon. "She +seemed vexed because I would not tell her what you told me last night. +She is curious to know more about--that man." + +"She must not know," Gordon said quickly. "Never mind if she does seem a +little vexed. She will get over it. I know Clemency. She is like her +mother. The power of sustained indignation against one she loves is not +in the child, and she must not know. It would be a dreadful thing for +her to know. I myself cannot have it. It is enough of a horror as it is, +but to have that child look at me, and think--" Gordon broke off +abruptly. + +"She will never know through me," James said, "and I think with you that +her resentment will not last." + +"She will be home this afternoon," said Gordon, "and the walk will do +her good." + +But the two returned from their afternoon calls, and still Clemency had +not returned. Emma met them at the door. "Mrs. Ewing says she is worried +about Miss Clemency," she said. Gordon ran upstairs. When he came down +he joined James in the office. "I have pacified Clara," he said, "but +suppose you jump into the buggy, Aaron has not unharnessed yet, and +drive over to Annie Lipton's for her. It is growing colder, and Clemency +has not been outdoors much lately, and she has rather a delicate throat. +It is time now that she was home." + +James smiled. "Suppose she will not come with me?" he suggested. + +"Nonsense," said Gordon. "She will be only too glad if you meet her +half-way. She will come. Tell her I said that she must." + +"All right," replied James. + +He went out, got into the buggy, and drove along rapidly. He had the +team, and the horses were still quite fresh, as they had not been long +distances that day. There was a vague fear in the young man's mind, +although he tried to dispel it by the force of argument. "What has the +girl to fear now?" his reason kept dinning in his ears, but, in spite +of himself, something else, which seemed to him unreason, made him +anxious. When he reached Annie Lipton's home, a fine old house, overhung +with a delicate tracery of withered vines, he saw Annie's pretty head at +a front window. She opened the door before he had time to ring the bell, +and she looked with alarmed questioning at him. + +"I have come for Miss Ewing, her uncle--" James began, but Annie +interrupted him, her face paling perceptibly. "Clemency," she said; +"why, she left here directly after lunch. She said she must go. She felt +anxious about her mother, and did not want to leave her any longer. +Hasn't she come home yet?" + +"No," said James. + +"And you didn't meet her? You must have met her." + +"No." + +The two stood staring at each other. A delicate old face peeped out of +the door at the right of the halls. It was like Annie's, only dimmed by +age, and shaded by two leaf-like folds of gray hair as smooth as silver. +"Oh, mother, Clemency has not got home!" Annie cried. "Dr. Elliot, this +is my mother. Mother, Clemency has not got home. What do you think has +happened?" + +The lady came out in the hall. She had a quiet serenity of manner, but +her soft eyes looked anxious. "Could she have stopped anywhere, dear?" +she said. + +"You know, mother, there is not a single house between here and her own +where Clemency ever stops," said Annie. She was trembling all over. + +James made a movement to go. "What are you going to do?" cried Annie. + +"Stop at every house between here and Doctor Gordon's, and ask if the +people have seen her," replied James. + +Then he ran back to the buggy, and heard as he went a little nervous +call from Annie, "Oh, let us know if--" + +"I will let you know when I find her, Miss Lipton," he called back as he +gathered up the lines. He kept his word. He did stop at every house, and +at every one all knowledge of the girl was disclaimed. There were not +many houses, the road being a lonely one. He was met mostly by women who +seemed at once to share his anxiety. One woman especially asked very +carefully for a description of Clemency, and he gave a minute one. "You +say her mother is ill, too," said the woman. She was elderly, but still +pretty. She had kept her tints of youth as some withered flowers do, +and there seemed still to cling to her the atmosphere of youth, as +fragrance clings to dry rose leaves. She was dressed in rather a +superior fashion to most of the countrywomen, in soft lavender cashmere +which fitted her slight, tall figure admirably. James had a glimpse +behind her of a pretty interior: a room with windows full of blooming +plants, of easy-chairs and many cushioned sofas, beside book-cases. The +woman looked, so he thought, like one who had some private anxiety of +her own. She kept peering up and down the road, as they talked, as +though she, too, were on the watch for some one. She promised James to +keep a lookout for the missing girl. "Poor little thing," she murmured. +There was something in her face as she said that, a slight phase of +amusement, which caused James to stare keenly at her, but it had passed, +and her whole face denoted the utmost candor and concern. + +When James reached home he had a forlorn hope that he should find +Clemency there; that from a spirit of mischief she had taken some cross +track over the fields to elude him. But when Aaron met him in the drive, +and he saw the man's frightened stare, he knew that she had not come. +It was unnecessary to ask, but ask he did. "She has not come?" + +"No, Doctor Elliot," replied Aaron. He did not even chew. He tied the +horses, and followed James into the office, with his jaws stiff. Gordon +stood up when James entered, and looked past him for Clemency. "She was +not there?" he almost shouted. + +"She left the Liptons at two o'clock, and I have stopped at every house +on my way, and no one has seen her." + +"Oh, my God!" said Gordon, with a dazed look at James. + +"What do you think?" asked James. + +"I don't know what to think. I am utterly at a loss now. I supposed she +was entirely safe. There are almost no tramps at this season, and in +broad daylight. At two, you said? It is almost six. I don't know what to +do. What will come next? I must tell Clara something before I do +anything else." + +Gordon rushed out of the office, and they heard his heavy tread on the +stairs. Aaron stared at James, and still he did not chew. + +"It's almost dark," he said with a low drawl. + +"Yes." + +"We've got to take lanterns, and hunt along the road and fields." + +"Yes, we have." + +The dog, which had been asleep, got up, and came over to James, and laid +his white head on his knee. "We can take him," Aaron said. "Sometimes +dogs have more sense than us." + +"That is so," said James. He felt himself in an agony of helplessness. +He simply did not know what to do. He had sunk into a chair and his head +fairly rung. It seemed to him incredible that the girl had disappeared a +second time. A queer sense of unreality made him feel faint. + +Gordon reentered the room. "I have told Clara that you have come back, +and that Clemency is to stay all night with Annie Lipton," he said. Then +he, too, stood staring helplessly. Emma had come into the room, and now +she spoke angrily to the three dazed men. "Git the lanterns lit, for +goodness' sake," said she, "and hunt and do something. I'm goin' to git +her supper, and I'll keep her pacified." Emma gave a jerk with a sharp +elbow toward Mrs. Ewing's room. "For goodness' sake, if you don't know +yet where she has went, why don't you do somethin'?" she demanded. The +men went before her sharp command like dust before her broom. "Keep as +still as you can," ordered Emma as they went out. "_She_ mustn't, git to +worryin' before she comes home." + +[Illustration: "Saw a little dark figure running toward him." Page 239.] + +For the next two hours Gordon, James, and Aaron searched. They walked, +each going his separate way into the fields and woods on the road, +having agreed upon a signal when the girl should be found. The signal +was to be a pistol shot. James went first to the wood, where he had +found Clemency on her former disappearance. He searched in every shadow, +throwing the gleam of his lantern into little dark nests of last year's +ferns, and hollows where last year's leaves had swirled together to die, +but no Clemency. At last, wearied and heart-sick, he came out on the +road. The moon was just up, a full moon, and the road lay stretched +before him like a silver ribbon covered with the hoar-frost. He gazed +down it hopelessly, and saw a little dark figure running toward him. He +was incredulous, but he called, "Clemency!" + +A glad little cry answered him. He himself ran forward, and the girl was +in his arms, sobbing and trembling as if her heart would break. + +"What has happened? What has happened, darling?" James cried in an +agony. "Are you hurt? What has happened?" + +"Something very strange has happened, but I am not hurt," sobbed +Clemency. James remembered the signal. "Wait a second, dear," he said; +"your uncle and Aaron are searching, and I promised to fire the pistol +if I found you." James fired his pistol in the air six times. Then he +returned to Clemency, who was leaning against a tree. "How I wish we had +driven here!" James said tenderly. + +"I can walk, if you help me," Clemency sobbed, leaning against him. "Oh, +I am so sorry I acted so this morning. I got punished for it. I haven't +been hurt, nobody has been anything but kind to me, but I have been +dreadfully frightened." + +Gordon and Aaron came running up. "Where have you been, Clemency?" +Gordon demanded in a harsh voice. "Another time you must do as you are +told. You are too old to behave like a child, and put us all in such a +fright." + +Clemency left James, and ran to her uncle, and clung to him sobbing +hysterically. "Oh, Uncle Tom, don't scold me," she whimpered. + +"Are you hurt? What has happened?" + +"I am not hurt a bit," sobbed Clemency. + +Gordon put his arm around her. "Well," he said, "as long as you are safe +keep your story until we get home. Elliot, take her other arm. She is +almost too used up to walk. Now stop crying, Clemency." + +When they were home, in the office, Clemency told her story, which was a +strange one. She had been on her way home from Annie Lipton's, and had +reached a certain house, when the door opened and a woman stood there +calling her. She described the woman and the house, and James gave a +start. "That must be the same woman whom I saw," he exclaimed. + +"She was a woman I had never seen," said Clemency. "I think she had only +lived there a very short time." + +Gordon nodded gloomily. "I know who she is, I fear," he said. "Strange +that I did not suspect." + +"She looked very kind and pleasant," said Clemency, "and I thought she +wanted something and there was no harm, but when I reached her the first +thing I knew she had hold of me, and her hands were like iron clamps. +She put one over my mouth, and held me with the other, and pulled me +into the house and locked the door. Then she made me go into a little +dark room in the middle of the house and she locked me in. She told me +if I screamed nobody would hear me, but she did speak kindly. She was +very kind. Once she even kissed me, although I did not want her to. She +brought a lamp in, and made me lie down on a couch in the room and drink +a glass of wine. She told me not to be afraid, nobody would hurt me. She +seemed to me to be always listening, and every now and then she went +out, but she always locked the door behind her. When she came back she +would look terribly worried. About half an hour ago she went out, and +when she came back brought a tray with tea and bread and cold chicken +for me. I told her I would starve before I ate anything while she kept +me there. She did not seem to pay much attention, she looked so +dreadfully worried. She sat down and looked at me. Finally, she said, as +if she were afraid to hear her own voice, 'Has any accident happened +near here lately that you have heard of?' I told her about the man that +fell down in our drive and died of erysipelas. I did not tell her +anything else. All at once she almost fell in a faint. Then she stood +up, and she looked as if she were dead. She told me to stay where I was +just fifteen minutes, then I might go, but I must not stir before. Then +she kissed me again, and her lips were like ice. She went out, and I +knew the door was not locked, but I was afraid to stir. I could hear her +running about. Then I heard the outer door slam, and I looked at my +watch, and it was fifteen minutes. Then I ran out and up the road as +fast as I could. Just before I saw Doctor Elliot the New York train +passed. I heard it. I think she was hurrying to catch that." + +Gordon nodded. + +"Oh, Uncle Tom, who was she, and why did she lock me up?" asked +Clemency. + +"Clemency," said Gordon, in a sterner voice than Clemency had ever heard +him use toward her, "never speak, never think, of that woman or that man +again. Now go out and eat your dinner." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Clemency was so worn out that Doctor Gordon insisted upon her going to +bed directly after dinner, and he and James had a solitary evening in +the office, with the exception of Gordon's frequent absence in his +wife's room. Each time when he returned he looked more gloomy. "I have +increased the morphine almost as much as I dare," he said, coming into +the office about ten. He sat down and lit his pipe. James laid down the +evening paper which he had been reading. "Is she asleep now?" he asked. + +"Yes. By the way, Elliot, have you guessed who that woman was who +kidnapped Clemency?" + +James hesitated. "I don't fairly know whether I am right, but I have +guessed," he replied. + +"Who?" + +"The nurse." + +"You are right. It was the nurse. That man had won her over, and set her +up housekeeping in Westover. He had been staying at the hotel there +before he came here. He was her lover, of course, although he was too +circumspect not to guard the secret. She has been living in that house +for the last three months under the name of Mrs. Wood, a widow. The +former occupants went away last summer, Aaron has been telling me. He +said that once he himself saw the man enter the house, and he had seen +the woman on the street. She had made herself quite popular in Westover. +It was no part of that man's policy to keep his vice behind locked +doors. Locks themselves are the best witness against evil. She attended +the Dutch Reformed Church regularly. She was present at all the church +suppers, and everybody has called on her in Westover. Now I think she +has fled, half-crazed with grief over the death of her lover, and afraid +of some sort of exposure. Unless I miss my guess, there will be a furor +around here shortly over her disappearance. She was not a bad woman as I +remember her, and she was attractive, with a kindly disposition. But he +had his way always with women, and I suppose she thought she was doing +him a service by kidnapping poor little Clemency. I am sorry for her. I +hope she did not go away penniless, but she has her nursing to fall +back upon. She was a good nurse. That makes me think. I must see if Mrs. +Blair cannot come here to-morrow. Clara must have somebody beside +Clemency and Emma. I should prefer a trained nurse, and this woman is +simply the self-taught village sort, but Clara prefers her. She shrinks +at the very mention of a trained nurse. Of course, it is unreasonable, +but the poor soul has always had an awful dread of hospitals and a +possible operation, and I believe that in some way she thinks a trained +nurse one of a dreadful trinity. She must be humored, of course. The +result cannot be changed." + +"You have no hope, then?" James said in a low voice. + +"I have had no more from the outset than if she had been already dead," +said Gordon. + +James said nothing. An enormous pity for the other man was within him. +He thought of Clemency, and he seemed to undergo the same pangs. He felt +such a terrible understanding of the other's suffering that it passed +the bounds of sympathy. It became almost experience. His young face took +on the same expression of dull misery as Gordon's. Presently Gordon +glanced at him, and spoke with a ring of gratitude and affection in his +tired voice. + +"You are a good fellow, Elliot," he said, "and you are the one ray of +comfort I have. I am glad that I have you to leave poor little Clemency +with." + +James looked at him with sudden alarm. "You are not ill?" he said. + +"No, but there is an end to everybody's rope, and sometimes I think I am +about at the end of mine. I don't know. Anyway, it is a comfort to me to +think that Clemency has you in case anything should happen to me." + +"She has me as long as I live," James said fervently. Red overspread his +young face, his eyes glistened. Again the great pity and understanding +with regard to the other man came over him, and a feeling for Clemency +which he had never before had: a feeling greater than love itself, the +very angel of love, divinest pity and protection, for all womanhood, +which was exemplified for himself in this one girl. His heart ached, as +if it were Clemency's upstairs, lying miserably asleep under the +influence of the drug, which alone could protect her from indescribable +pain. His mind projected itself into the future, and realized the +possibility of such suffering for her, and for himself. The honey-sting +of pain, which love has, stung him sharply. + +Gordon seemed to divine his thoughts. "God grant that you may never have +to undergo what I am undergoing, boy," he said. Then he added, "It was +in poor Clara's blood, her mother before her died the same way. Clemency +comes, on her mother's side at least, of a healthy race, morally and +physically, although the nervous system is oversensitive. If my poor +sister had been happy, she would have been alive to-day. And as far as I +know of the other side, there was perfect physical health, although he +had that abnormal lack of moral sense that led one to dream of +possession. Did you notice how much less evil he looked when he was +dead, even with that frightfully disfigured face?" + +"Yes." + +"There are strange things in this world," said Gordon with gloomy +reflection, "or else simple things which we are strange not to believe. +Sometimes I think people will have to take to the Bible again in that +literal sense in which so many are now inclined to disregard it. Well, +Elliot, I honestly feel that you have nothing to fear in taking poor +little Clemency. I should tell you if I thought otherwise. She will +make you happy, and I can think of no reason to warn you concerning any +possible lapses, in either her physical or her moral health, and I have +had her in my charge since she first drew the breath of life. Come, my +son, it is late, and we have a great deal to do to-morrow. This awful +business has made me neglect patients. I have to see Clara again, and +get what rest I can." Gordon looked older and wearier than James had +ever seen him, as he bade him good-night, old and weary as he had often +seen him look. A sudden alarm for Gordon himself came over him. He +wondered, after he had entered, his room, if he were not strained past +endurance. He recalled his own father's healthy, ruddy face, and Gordon +was no older. + +He lay awake a while thinking anxiously of Gordon, then his own happy +future blazoned itself before him, and he dreamed awake, and dreamed +asleep, of himself and Clemency, in that future, whose golden vistas had +no end, so far as his young eyes could see. The sense of relief from +anxiety over the girl was so intense that it was in itself a delight. +Clemency herself felt it. The next morning at breakfast she looked +radiant. Gordon had assured her the sick woman had rested quietly, and +told her that Mrs. Blair was coming. + +"To-day I can go where I choose," Clemency exclaimed gayly. + +"Not until afternoon," replied Gordon, then he relented at her look of +disappointment, and suggested that she go with Elliot to make his calls, +while he went with Aaron and the team. It was a beautiful morning; +spring seemed to have arrived. Everywhere was the plash of running +water, now and then came distant flutings of birds. "I know that was a +bluebird," Clemency said happily. "I feel sure mother will get well now. +It seems wicked to be glad that the man is dead, especially on such a +morning, but I wonder if it is, when he would have spoiled the morning." + +"Don't think about it, anyway!" James said. + +"I try not to." + +"You must not!" + +"I know why Uncle Tom did not want me to go out alone this morning," +Clemency said, with one of her quick wise looks, cocking her head like a +bird. + +"Why?" + +"He wanted to make sure that that woman has really gone." + +"Clemency, you must not mention that man or woman to me again," said +James. + +"I am not married to you yet," Clemency said, pouting. + +"That makes no difference, you must promise." + +"Well, then, I will. I am so happy this morning, that I will promise +anything." + +James looked about to be sure nobody was in sight before he kissed the +little radiant face. + +"I won't speak of them again, but I am right," Clemency said with a +little toss and blush, and it proved that she was. + +At luncheon Doctor Gordon told Clemency that she could go wherever she +liked. She gave a little glance at James, and said gayly, "All right, +Uncle Tom." + +That afternoon Gordon and James made some calls in company, driving far +into the hills. They had hardly started before Gordon said abruptly, +"Well, the woman is gone, and there is a wild excitement in Westover +over her disappearance. I believe they are about to drag the pond. A man +who knew her well by sight declares that she boarded that New York +train, but the people will not give up the theory that she has been +murdered for her jewelry. By the way, I think I need not worry over her +immediate necessities. It seems that she had worn a quantity of very +valuable jewels. Of course her going without any baggage except a +suit-case, and leaving behind the greater part of her wardrobe, does +look singular. But it seems that the house was rented furnished, and I +fancy she lived always in light marching orders, and probably carried +the most valuable of her possessions upon her person and in her +suit-case. Well, I am thankful she has decamped." + +"You don't fear her returning?" asked James with some anxiety. + +"No, I have no fear of that. She is probably broken-hearted over the +death of that man. She is not of the sort to kidnap on her own account. +It was only for him. Clemency has nothing more to fear." + +"I am thankful." + +"You can well believe that I am, when I tell you that this afternoon I +am absolutely sure, for the first time in years, that the girl is safe +to come and go as she pleases. I have had hideous uncertainty as well as +hideous certainty to cope with. Now it is down to the hideous certainty. +That is bad enough, but fate on an open field is less unmanning than +fate in ambush. I have long known to a nicety the fate in the field." +Gordon hesitated a second, then he said abruptly, with his face turned +from his companion, in a rough voice, "Clara can't last many days." + +James made an exclamation. + +"She has gone down hill rapidly during the last two days," said Gordon. +"I have been increasing the morphine. It can't last long." Gordon ended +the sentence with a hoarse sob. + +"I can't say anything," James faltered after a second, "but you know--" + +"Yes, I know," Gordon said. "You are as sorry as any one can be who is +not, so to speak, the hero, or rather the coward, of the tragedy. Yes, I +know. I'm obliged to you, Elliot, but all of us have to face death, +whether it is our own or the death of another dearer than ourselves, +alone. A soul is a horribly lonely thing in the worst places of life." + +"Have you told Clemency?" + +"No, I have put it off until the last minute. What good can it do? She +knows that Clara is very ill, but she does not know, she has never +known, the character of the illness. Sometimes I have a curious feeling +that instinct has asserted itself, and that Clemency, fond as she is of +my wife, has not exactly the affection which she would have had for her +own mother." + +"I don't think she knows any difference at all," James said. "I think +the poor little girl will about break her heart." + +"I did not mean to underestimate Clemency's affection," said Gordon, +"but what I say is true. The girl herself will never know it, and, you +may not believe it, but she will not suffer as she would suffer if Clara +were her own mother. These ties of the blood are queer things, nothing +can quite take their place. If Clemency had died first Clara would have +been indignant at the suggestion, but she herself would not have mourned +as she would mourn for her own daughter. I must touch up the horses a +bit. I want to get home. I may not be able to go out again to-night. +Last night I was up until dawn with Clara." Gordon touched the horses +with a slight flicker of the whip. He held the lines taut as they sprang +forward. His face was set ahead. James glancing at him had a realization +of the awful loneliness of the other man by his side. He seemed to +comprehend the vastness of the isolation of a grief which concerns one, +and one only, more than any other. Gordon had the expression of a +wanderer upon a desert or a frozen waste. Illimitable distances of +solitude seemed reflected in his gloomy eyes. + +James did not attempt to talk to him. It seemed like mockery, this +effort to approach with sympathy this set-apart man, who was +unapproachable. + +That night Gordon's wife was much worse. Gordon came down to James's +room about two o'clock. James had been awake for some time listening to +the sounds of suffering overhead, and he had lit his lamp and dressed, +thinking that he might be needed. Gordon stood in the doorway almost +reeling. He made an effort before he spoke. + +"Come into my office, will you?" he said. + +James at once followed him. Going through the hall the sounds of agony +became more distinct. When they entered the office Gordon fairly slammed +the door, then he turned to Elliot with a savage expression. "Hear +that," he said, as if he were accusing the other man. "Hear that, I say! +The last hypodermic has not taken effect yet, and her heart is weak. If +I give her more--" + +He stopped, staring at James, his face worked like a child's. Then +suddenly an almost idiotic expression came over it, the utter numbness +of grief. Then it passed away. Again he looked intelligently into the +young man's eyes. "If I don't give her more," he gasped out, "if I +don't, this may last hours. If I do--" + +The two men stood staring at each other. James thought of Clemency. "Has +Clemency been in to see her?" he asked. + +"Yes, she heard, and came in. I sent her out. She is in her own room +now; Emma is with her." Suddenly Gordon gave a look of despairing appeal +at James. "I--wish you would go up and see Clara," he whispered. + +James knew what he meant. He hesitated. + +"Go, and send Mrs. Blair down here," said Gordon. "Tell her I want to +see her." + +"Well," said James slowly. + +The two men did not look at each other again. Gordon sank into his +chair. James went out of the room and upstairs. He knocked on the door +of the sick-room, and Mrs. Blair, the village nurse, answered his knock. +She was a large woman in a voluminous wrapper. Her face had a settled +expression of gravity, almost of sternness. She looked at James. The +screams from the writhing mass of agony in the bed did not appear to be +moving her, whereas she in reality was herself screwed to such a pitch +of mental torture of pity that she was scarcely able to move. She was +rigid. + +"Doctor Gordon sent me," whispered James. "He wished me to see her. He +asked me to say to you that he would like to see you for a minute in the +office." + +The woman did not move for a second. Then she whispered close to James's +ear, "_It is on the bureau_." + +James nodded. They passed each other. James entered the room and closed +the door. A lamp was burning on a table with a screen before it. The bed +was in shadow. The screams never ceased. They were not human. James +could not realize that the beautiful woman whom he had known was making +such sounds. They sounded like the shrieks of an animal. All the soul +seemed gone from them. + +James approached the bed. There was a roll of dark eyes at him. Then a +voice ghastly beyond description, like the snarl of a hungry beast, came +from between the straight white lips. "More, more! Give me more! Be +quick!" + +James hesitated. + +"Quick, quick!" demanded the voice. + +James crossed the room to the dresser. The sick woman now interspersed +her screams with the word "quick!" + +James filled a hypodermic syringe from a glass on the bureau and +approached the bed again. He bared a shuddering arm and inserted the +instrument quickly. "Now try and be quiet," he said. "You will go to +sleep." + +Then he went out of the room. The screams had ceased. As James +approached the stair another door opened, and Clemency in a wrapper +looked out. She was very pale, her eyes were distended with fear, and +her mouth was trembling. "How is she?" she whispered. + +"Better, dear. Go back in your room and lie down. We are doing all we +can." + +When James entered the office Gordon and Mrs. Blair turned with one +accord, and fixed horribly searching eyes upon his face. He sat down +beside the table, and mechanically lit a cigar. + +"How did she seem?" Gordon asked almost inaudibly. + +"Better." + +"Was she quiet?" + +"Yes." + +Gordon gave a long sigh. His face was deadly white. He leaned back in +his chair, and both James and the nurse sprang. They thought he had +fainted. While James felt his pulse Mrs. Blair got some brandy. Gordon +swallowed the brandy, and raised his head. + +"It is nothing," he said in a harsh voice. "You had better go back to +her, Mrs. Blair." + +A look of strange dread came over the woman's grave face. + +"I will be there directly," said Gordon. + +Mrs. Blair went out. She left the door ajar. The house was so still that +one could seem to hear the silence. There was something terrible about +it after the turmoil of sound. Then the silence was broken. A scream +more terrible than ever pierced it like a sword. Another came. Gordon +sprang up and faced James. The young man's eyes fell before the look of +fierce questioning in Gordon's. + +"I could not," he gasped. "Oh, Doctor Gordon, I could not! Instead of +that I used water. I thought perhaps her mind being convinced that it +was morphine, she might--" + +"Mind!" shouted Gordon. "Mind, how much do you suppose the poor, +tortured thing has to bring to bear upon this? I tell you she is being +eaten alive. There is no other word for it. Gnawed, and worried, and +eaten alive." Gordon ran out of the room. + +James closed the door. The dog, who had been asleep beside the fire, +started up, came over to James, laid his white head on his knee and +whimpered, with an appealing look in his brown eyes, which were turned +toward the young man's face. Almost immediately Mrs. Blair entered the +room. She was very pale. "Doctor Gordon sent me down for the brandy," +she said abruptly. She went to the table on which the brandy flask +stood, but she seemed in no hurry to take it. + +"How is she?" asked James. + +"I think she is a little quieter." The nurse stood staring at the fire +for a second longer. Then she took the brandy flask and went out with a +soft, but jarring, tread. + +Doctor Gordon must have passed her on the stairs, for he returned almost +directly after she had left, and stood with his back to James, fussing +over some bottles on the shelves opposite the fireplace. He stood there +for some five minutes. James glancing over his shoulder saw that he was +trembling in a strange rigid fashion, but he seemed intent upon the +bottles. The house was very still again. Gordon at last seemed to have +finished whatever he was doing with the bottles. He left them and sat +down in his chair. The dog left James and went to him, but Gordon pushed +him away roughly. Then Gordon spoke to James without turning his face in +his direction. "I wish you would go upstairs," he said hoarsely. "Mrs. +Blair is alone, and I--I am about done too." + +James obeyed without a word. When he reached the head of the stairs he +felt a sudden draught of cold wind. Mrs. Blair came out of the +sick-room, closing the door behind her. Her face looked as stern as fate +itself. James knew what had happened the moment he saw her. + +James began to speak stammeringly, but she stopped him. "Call Doctor +Gordon," she said shortly. "She is dead." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +About two weeks after the death of Doctor Gordon's wife James went to +the post office before beginning his round of calls. Lately nearly all +the practice had devolved upon him. Gordon seemed sunken in a gloomy +apathy, from which he could rouse himself only for the most urgent +necessities. Once aroused he was fully himself, but for the most part he +sat in his office smoking or seemingly half-asleep. Once in a while a +very sick patient acted upon him as a momentary stimulus, but Alton was +unusually healthy just then. After an open and, for the most part, +snowless winter, which had occasioned much sickness, the spring brought +frost and light falls of snow, which seemed to give new life to people +in spite of unseasonableness. James had had little difficulty in +attending to most of the practice, although he was necessarily away from +home the greater part of the time. However, he often took Clemency with +him, and she would sit well wrapped up in the buggy reading a book while +he made calls. Then there were the long drives over solitary roads, +which, though rough, causing the wheels to jolt heavily in deep ridges +of frozen soil, or sink into the red mud almost to the hubs, as the case +might be, seemed like roads of Paradise to the young man. Although he +himself grieved for Gordon's wife, and Gordon himself filled him with +covert anxiety, yet he was young and the girl was young, and they were +both released from a miserable sense of insecurity and mystery, which +had irritated and saddened them; their thoughts now turned toward their +own springtime, as naturally and innocently as flowers bloom. There was +grief, and the shadow of trouble, but of past trouble; their eyes looked +upon life and love and joy instead of death, as helplessly as a flower +looks toward the sun. They were happy, although half-ashamed of their +happiness; but, after all, perhaps, being happy after bereavement and +trouble means simply that the soul has turned to God for consolation. + +James's face was beaming with his joyful thoughts as he drew up before +the village store, got out of the buggy, and tied the horse. When he +entered he said "good morning!" in a sort of general fashion. There were +many men lounging about. The morning mail had been distributed, and +although Alton people got very few letters, still there was a wide +interest in the post office, a little boxed-off space in a corner of the +store. The store-keeper, Henry Graves, was the postmaster. He felt the +importance of his position. When he sorted and distributed the mail from +the limp leather bag, he realized himself as an official of a great +republic. He loved to proudly ignore, and not even seem to see, the +interested and gaping faces watching the boxes. Doctor Gordon's box was +an object of especial interest. Indeed, that was the only one to be +depended upon to contain something when the two mails per day arrived. +Gordon, moreover, took the only New York paper which reached the little +hamlet. Alton had no paper of its own. The nearest was printed in +Stanbridge. One man, the Presbyterian minister, subscribed to the +Stanbridge paper, and paid for it in farm produce. He had a little farm, +and tilled the soil when he was not saving souls. The Stanbridge paper +had arrived the night before, and the minister had been good enough to +impart some of its contents to the curious throng in the store. He was +accustomed to do so. Likewise Gordon, when he was not too hurried, +would open his New York paper, and read the most startling "headers" to +a wide-eyed audience. This morning the paper was in the box as usual, +with a number of letters. The men pressed in a suggestive way around +James, as he took the parcel from the postmaster. There were no +lock-boxes. James hesitated a moment. He had not much time, but he was +good-natured, and the eager hunger in the men's eyes appealed to him. +There was something pathetic about this outreaching for intelligence of +their kind, and its progress or otherwise, among these plodding folk, +who had so to count their pence that a newspaper was an unheard-of +luxury to them. + +James opened the paper and glanced over the headlines on the first page. +Now, had he looked, he might have seen something sinister and malicious +in the curious eyes, but he was so dazed by the very first thing he saw +as to be for the moment oblivious to anything else. On the right of the +first page was the headline: "Strange dual life of a prominent physician +in Alton, New Jersey. Doctor Thomas B. Gordon has lived with his wife +for years, and called her his widowed sister, Mrs. Clara Ewing. Upon +her death, a few days since, he revealed the secret. Will give no +reasons for this strange conduct, simply states that he was justified, +even compelled, by circumstances." Then followed a caricature portrait +of Gordon, a photograph of the house, one of the village church, and the +cemetery and Gordon's wife's grave, with various surmises and comments, +enough to fill the column. James paled as he read. He had not known of +Gordon's action in telling that the dead woman was his wife. He looked +around in a bewildered fashion, and met the hungry eyes. One small, mean +face of a small man peered around his shoulder gloatingly. "Some news +this mornin'?" he observed, with a smack of the lips, as if he tasted +sweets. + +Then James arose to the occasion. He faced them all and smiled coolly. +"Yes," he replied; "you mean about Doctor Gordon?" + +There was a murmur of assent. + +James read the article from beginning to end. "I suppose it is news to +you," he said, when he had finished. He looked at them all with a +superior air. He looked older and more manly than when he had first come +in their midst. He _was_ older and more manly, and he was superior. The +men recognized it, not sullenly nor defiantly, but with the +unquestioning attitude of the New Jerseyman when he is really below the +scale in birth and education. Still their faces all expressed malicious +cunning and cruel curiosity, which they hesitated to put into words. +They knew that Elliot was to marry Gordon's niece; they were overawed by +both men, but they were afraid of Gordon. + +Still Jim Goodman found courage of his meanness and smallness and spoke. +"It seems a strange thing," he said, "that Doctor Gordon should hev came +and went here for years, and all of us thinkin' his wife were his sister +when she were not." + +"Well, what of it?" asked James. + +The men stared at one another. + +"What of it?" repeated James. "I don't suppose there is anything +criminal in a man's calling his wife by his sister's name. Doctor Gordon +has a sister named Ewing." + +Again the men stared at one another, and Jim Goodman was the only one +who had the miserable courage to speak. "S'pose him an' her were +married," he said, in a thin voice like the squeal of a fox. + +"Which of you wants to be knocked down can make a statement to the +contrary," thundered James. "Is that what you make of it?" + +Goodman shuffled from one foot to the other. Men nudged shoulders, +Goodman spoke. "Nobody never knows what is true or ain't true in them +newspapers," he observed, and there was a note of alarm in his voice. + +"I did not read a thing in the whole column which even implied such a +thing as you intimated," James said hotly. "Don't put it off on the +newspapers!" + +Then another man spoke, a farmer, tall, dry, lank, and impervious. He +was a man about whom were ill-reports. His wife had died some years +before, and he had a housekeeper, a florid, blonde creature, dressed +with dingy showiness, of whom people spoke with covert laughs. "All we +want to know is why Doctor Gordon has never said that her was his wife, +and not his sister," he said in a defiant nasal voice. + +The malignant Jim Goodman saw his chance. He jumped upon it like a +spider. "That's so," he said. "Why didn't he say she was his +housekeeper?" There was a shout of coarse laughter. The farmer gave a +hateful look at Goodman and puffed at a rank pipe. + +James was furious, but he saw the necessity of a statement of some kind, +and his wits leaped to action. "Well," he said, "suppose there was a +question of money." + +The crowd pressed closer and gaped. + +"Money!" said Goodman. + +"Yes, money," pursued James recklessly. "Did you never hear of people +being opposed to marriages, rich people I mean, and threatening to +disinherit a woman if she married the man they did not pick out for +her?" + +"Was that it?" asked Goodman. + +"I am not saying that it was or was not. I am not going to discuss +Doctor Gordon's secrets with you. It's none of your business, and none +of my business. All I am saying is this, suppose there had been a girl +years ago with a very rich bachelor brother. Suppose the brother had +been jilted by a girl, and hated the whole lot of women like poison, and +had no idea of getting married himself, and his sister would be his only +heiress, and he had set his foot down that she should not marry Doc--the +man she had set her heart upon. Suppose he went to--well, the South Sea +Islands, for the rest of his life, to get out of sight and sound of +women like the one who had jilted him, told his sister before he went +that if she married the man she wanted he would make a will and leave +his money away from her, build an hospital or a library or something, +suppose she hit upon the plan of marrying the man she wanted, and +keeping it quiet." + +"Was that it?" + +"Didn't I tell you that I would not say whether it was or not? I only +say suppose that was the case. Doctor Gordon has a married sister by the +name of Ewing living in foreign parts. You can see for yourself how easy +it might have been." + +"What about the girl?" asked Goodman in a dry voice. + +James flushed angrily. "That is nobody's business," said he. "She is +Doctor Gordon's niece." + +Goodman was unabashed. "How does it happen her name is Ewing?" he asked. + +"Couldn't it possibly have happened that two sisters of Doctor Gordon's +married two brothers?" James cried. He elbowed his way out. When he was +in the buggy driving home, he began to realize how the fairy tale which +he had related in the store would not in the least impose upon Clemency, +how she would almost inevitably hear of the statements in the papers. He +wondered more and more that Gordon should have divulged a secret which +he had kept so fiercely for so long. + +When he reached home he went at once into the office, and gave Gordon +his mail and the New York paper. Gordon glanced at it, then at James. +"Have you seen this?" he asked. + +James nodded. + +"I suppose you think me most inconsistent," said Gordon gloomily, "but +the truth is I kept the secret while Clara was alive, though I found I +could not, oh, God, I could not after she was dead and gone! I had not +realized what that would mean: to never acknowledge her as my wife, dead +or alive. I found that when it came to the death certificate, and the +notice in the paper, and the erection of a stone to her memory, that I +could not keep up the deception, no matter what the consequence. My God, +Elliot, I cannot commit sacrilege against the dead! Dead, she must have +her due. I anticipated this. There was something last night in the +_Stanbridge Record_, and yesterday, while you were out three reporters +from New York came. I told them that I had done what I had for good and +sufficient reasons, which were not dishonorable to myself or to others, +and beyond that I would say nothing. I suppose the poor fellows had to +tax their imaginations to fill their columns. I don't know what the +result will be with regard to Clemency, but I could not help it." There +was something painfully appealing in Gordon's look and manner. He seemed +so broken that James was alarmed. He said everything that he was able to +say to soothe him, commended the course which he had taken, and told him +what he had said at the store, without repeating the insinuations which +had led him to fabricate such a tale. Gordon smiled bitterly. "All your +fellowmen want of you is food for their animal appetites or their +mental," he said. "They must have meat and drink for their stomachs, as +well as for their curiosity and malice. I have lived here all these +years, and labored for them for mighty poor recompense, and sometimes +for none at all, and I'll warrant that to-day I am more in their minds +than I have ever been before, because they have found out my secret, +which has been the torture of my life. I wonder if Clemency has heard +anything about it." + +"I will go and see," replied James. + +The minute he saw Clemency, who was in the parlor, he knew that she +knew. By her side on the floor was the _Stanbridge Record_. She looked +at James and pointed to it without a word. Her face was white as death. +James took up the paper. That merely announced the fact of Mrs. Gordon's +death, dwelt upon her many beautiful qualities of mind and body, her +great suffering, and stated briefly the astonishment with which the news +was received that she was Doctor Gordon's wife, and not his sister, as +people had been led to suppose. "Little Annie Codman just brought it +over," said Clemency. "She said her mother sent it. It is just like her +mother. Mr. Codman never would have done such a thing." + +Mr. Codman was the minister. + +James, for a second, did not know what to say. He thought of the absurd +story which he had told, or rather suggested, at the store, and realized +that such a fabrication would not answer here. + +Immediately Clemency fired a point-blank question at him. "Who am I?" +she asked. + +"You are Doctor Gordon's niece, dear." + +"But--she was not my mother." + +"No, dear." + +"Who am I?" + +"You are the daughter of Doctor Gordon's youngest sister, who died when +you were born." + +Clemency sat reflecting, her forehead knit, a keen look in her blue +eyes. "I knew my father was dead," she said after a little. "Uncle Tom +has always told me that he passed away three months before I was born, +but--" She raised a puzzled, shocked, grieved face to James. "What is my +name?" she asked. "My real name?" + +James hesitated. Then his mind reverted to the tale which he had told at +the store. He could see no other way out of the difficulty. "Did you +never hear of two brothers marrying two sisters, dear?" he asked. + +Clemency gazed at him with a puzzled, almost suspicious, look. "I knew I +had an aunt and cousin in England named Ewing," she said, "but I always +supposed that my English aunt was not my real aunt, only my aunt by +marriage, that she had married my father's brother." + +"Your English aunt is your uncle's own sister," said James. + +"I see: my own mother and my aunt were sisters, and they married +brothers," Clemency said slowly. + +"That is unusual, but not unprecedented," said James. He had never been +involved in such a web of fabrication. He felt his cheeks burning. He +was sure that he looked guilty, but Clemency did not seem to notice it. +She was reflecting, still with that puzzled knitting of her forehead and +that introspective look in her blue eyes. "I wonder if I look in the +least like my own mother?" she said in a curious voice, as of one who +feels her way. + +"Once your uncle said to me that you were your own mother's very image," +replied James eagerly. He was glad to have the chance to say anything +truthful. + +Clemency's face lightened. She spoke with that fatuous innocence and +romance of young girls, and often of older women, to whom romance and +sentiment are in the place of reason. "Then I know who that man was," +she announced in a delighted voice. "You and Uncle Tom thought I would +never know, but I do know. I have found out my own self." + +"Who was he, dear?" + +"Oh, I don't know who he was really, and I don't know who that woman +was. She does mix up things a good deal, but this much I do know--why +Uncle Tom passed off my aunt for my mother, and why we were always +hiding from that man. He was in love with my mother, and he was in love +with me, because I am so much like her. Now, tell me honest, dear, +didn't Uncle Tom ever tell you that that man was in love with my mother +before I was born?" + +"Yes, dear," James answered, fairly bewildered over the fashion in which +truth was lending itself to the need of falsehood. + +Clemency nodded her head triumphantly. "There, I told you I knew," said +she. "Poor man, it was dreadful of him to pursue me so, and make us all +so unhappy, and of course I never could have married him, even if it had +not been for you. I do think he looked like a wicked man, and of course +I never could have endured the thought of marrying a man who had been in +love with my mother, even if he had been ever so good. But I can't help +being sorry for him; he must have loved my mother so much, and he must +have wasted his whole life; and then to die among strangers so suddenly, +poor man." + +James felt a sort of pleasure at hearing the girl express, all +unknowingly, sympathy for her dead father. The tears actually stood in +her eyes. "The queerest thing to me is that woman," she added musingly, +after a minute. Then again her face lightened. "Why, I do believe she +was his sister," she cried, "and that was the reason she wanted to get +me, and the reason why she was so dreadfully upset when she heard he was +dead, poor thing. Well, of course, I can't help feeling glad that I am +not in danger any more; but I am sorry for that poor man, even if he +wasn't good." A tear rolled visibly down Clemency's cheeks. Then she got +out her handkerchief and sobbed violently. "Oh, I haven't realized," she +moaned, "I haven't realized until this minute, how terrible it is that +she wasn't my mother." + +"She was as good as a mother to you, dear." + +"Yes, I know, but she wasn't, and it hurts me worse now she is gone than +it would have done when she was alive. I don't seem to have anything." + +"You have me." + +Then Clemency ran to him, and he held her on his knee and comforted her, +then tore himself away to make his morning round of calls. Clemency +followed him to the door, and kissed her hand to him as he drove away. +James had good reason to remember it, for it was the last loving +salutation from her for many a day. + +When he returned at noon the girl's manner was unaccountably changed +toward him. She only spoke to him directly when addressed, and then in +monosyllables. She never looked at him. She sat at the table at luncheon +and poured the chocolate, and there was almost absolute silence. Emma +waited jerkily as usual. James fancied once, when he met her eyes, that +there was an expression of covert triumph on her face. Emma had never +liked him. He had been conscious of the fact, but it had not disturbed +him. He had no more thought of this middle-aged, harsh-featured New +Jersey farmer's daughter than he had of one of the dining-chairs. Gordon +sat humped upon himself, as he sat nowadays, a marked stoop of age was +becoming visible in his broad shoulders, and he ate perfunctorily +without a word. James, after a number of futile attempts to talk to +Clemency, subsided himself into bewildered silence, and ate with very +little appetite. There were chops and potatoes and peas, and apple-pie, +for luncheon. When it came to the pie Emma served Clemency and Doctor +Gordon, and deliberately omitted James. Nobody seemed to notice it, +although James felt sure that the omission was intentional. He felt +himself inwardly amused at the antagonism which could take such a form, +and went without his pie uncomplainingly, while Gordon and Clemency ate +theirs. The dog at this juncture came slinking into the room and close +to James, who gave him a lump of sugar from the bowl which happened to +stand near him. At once Emma took the bowl and moved it to another part +of the table out of his reach. James felt a strong inclination to laugh. + +The dog sat up and begged for more sugar, and James, when they all left +the table, coolly took a handful of sugar from the bowl and carried it +into the office, the dog leaping at his side. Emma slammed the +dining-room door behind him. Clemency, without a look at him, +immediately ran upstairs to her own room. Gordon and James sat down in +the office as usual for a smoke until James should start upon his +afternoon rounds. Gordon asked him a few questions about the patients +whom he had seen that morning, but in a listless, abstracted fashion, +then he spoke of those whom James would see that afternoon. "You had +better take the team," he said. + +"Clemency is going with me," James said. + +Gordon looked at him with faint surprise. "I think you must be +mistaken," he said. "Clemency came to me just before luncheon and asked +if I had any objections to her spending a few days with Annie Lipton. I +told her we could get on perfectly well without her, and Aaron is going +to drive her over. She will have to take a suit-case. I knew you had to +go in another direction, and could not take her. I thought the change +would do her good. Didn't she say anything to you about it?" + +"I think it will do her good. She needs a little change," James replied +evasively. As he spoke Aaron came out of the stable leading the bay mare +harnessed to a buggy. + +"She is going right away," said Gordon, looking a little puzzled. He had +hardly finished speaking before Clemency's voice was heard in the hall. +It rang rather hard, but quite clearly. "Good-by," she called out. + +"Good-by," responded Gordon and James together. Gordon looked at James, +astonished that he did not go out to assist Clemency into the buggy, and +bid her good-by. He seemed about to question him, then he took another +puff at his pipe, and his face settled into its wonted expression of +gloomy retrospection. Boy's and girl's love affairs seemed as motes in a +beam of sunlight to him at this juncture. + +James started to go, the horses were stamping uneasily in the drive, and +he had a long round of calls to make that afternoon. + +Gordon removed his pipe. "I am putting a good deal on you, Elliot," he +said with a kind of hard sadness. + +"That's all right," James replied cheerfully, "I am strong. I can stand +it if the patients can. I fancied old Mrs. Steen was rather disgusted to +see me this morning. I heard her say something about sendin' a boy to +her daughter, and when I went into the bedroom, she glared at me, and +said, 'You?'" James laughed. + +"Her case is not at all desperate," Gordon said gloomily. "She is merely +on the downward road of life. Nothing ails her except that. You can +supply the few inadequate crutches of tonics as well as any one. There +is not one desperately sick patient on the whole list now, that I know +of, although I must confess that that Willoughby girl rather puzzles me. +She breaks every diagnosis all to pieces." + +"Hysteria," said James. + +"Oh, yes, I know hysteria is a good way to account for our own lack of +insight," said Gordon, "and it may be that girls are queer subjects. +Sometimes I wonder if they know what they know. Lilian Willoughby does +not." + +Gordon, to James's intense surprise, flared into a burst of anger. "Yes, +she does know," he declared. "Down in her inner consciousness I believe +she does, poor little overstrung, oversensitive girl, half-fed, as to +her body, on coarse food which she cannot assimilate, starved +emotionally. If a girl like that has to exist anyway, why cannot she be +born under different circumstances? That girl as daughter of a New +Jersey farmer is an anomaly. If she mates at all it must be with another +New Jersey farmer, then she dies after bringing a few degenerates into +the world. Providence does things like that, and the doctors are +supposed to right things. That girl has had symptoms of about every +known disease, and my diagnosis has failed to prove the existence of one +of them. Yet there are the symptoms. Call it hysteria, or what you will. +I call it an injustice on the part of the Higher Power. I suppose that +is blasphemy, but I am forced to it. Can that girl help the longings +for her rights, her longings which are abnormally acute because of her +over-fine nervous system? Those longings, situated as she is, can never +be satisfied in any way except for her own harm. Meantime she eats her +own heart, since she has nothing else, and heart-eating produces all +kinds of symptoms. I am absolutely powerless in such a case, though +sometimes I make a diagnosis which I think may be correct, sometimes I +think there is some organic trouble which I can mitigate. But always I +fall back upon the miserable truth which I am convinced underlies her +whole existence. She is a creature born into a life which does not and +never will afford her the proper food for her physical and spiritual +needs. Oh, the horror in this world, and what am I to set myself to +right it? Shut the door." + +"The horses are uneasy," James said. + +"Never mind, shut the door. Clemency is away, and Emma out in the +kitchen. I must speak to somebody, or I shall go mad." + +James shut the door and turned to Gordon, who sat rigid in his chair, +his hands clutching the arms. "Do you think I did right?" he groaned. +"You know what I did. Was it right?" + +"If you mean about your wife," James said, "I think you did entirely +right." + +"But you could not," Gordon returned bitterly. "It was too much for you +to attempt, and yet she was nothing to you as she was to me, and the sin +would not have been so terrible." + +"I had not the courage," James replied simply. + +"You did not think it right. You did not wish to burden your soul with +such a responsibility. I was wrong to try to shift it upon you, wrong +and cowardly, but she was bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; it was +a double crime for me, murder and suicide. It was not because you had +not the courage: you have faced surgical operations and dissecting. You +dared not commit what you were not sure was not a crime. There is no use +in your hedging, Elliot. I know the truth." + +"Still I think you did right," James said stubbornly. "She had to die +anyway. Death was upon her. You simply hastened it." + +Gordon looked at James, and his eyes seemed to fairly blaze with somber +fire; for a moment the young man thought his reason was unhinged. "But +what am I? Who is any man to take whip or spur to the decrees of the +Almighty, to hasten them?" + +"She was suffering--" James began. + +"What of that? Who can say, though she had led the life of a saint on +earth, so far as any one could see, what subtle sins of life itself her +pains were counteracting? Who can tell but I have deprived her of untold +joys which would have compensated a thousand times for those pains by +shortening them?" + +"Doctor Gordon, you are morbid," James said, looking at him uneasily. + +"How do you know I am morbid? Then that other--Mendon. Who is to say +that I was right even about that? It is probable I saved your life, and +possibly my own, as well as Clemency from misery. But who can say that +death would not have been better for both you and me than life, and even +misery for Clemency had that man lived? God had allowed him life upon +the earth. I may have shortened that life. He was a monster of +wickedness, but who can say that he was not a weapon of God, and that I +have not done incalculable mischief by depriving him of that weapon? +There is only one consolation which I have with regard to him; unless my +diagnosis was entirely at fault, he would have had that attack of +erysipelas anyway. I hardly think I deceive myself with regard to that, +and there is a very probable chance that the attack would have been +fatal. He had nearly lost his life twice before with the same disease. +That I know, and I do not think that unless the poison was already in +his blood, it would have developed so rapidly from that slight bruise. +So far as the simple wound from the dog went, he was in no danger +whatever. I have that consolation in his case, in not being absolutely +certain that I caused his death; I am not even absolutely sure that I +hastened it by any appreciable time. He might have been attacked that +very night with the disease. Still there is, and always will be, the +slight doubt." + +"I don't think you ought to brood over that, Doctor Gordon," James said +soothingly. He went close to the older man and laid a hand upon his +shoulder. Gordon looked up at him, and his face was convulsed. He spoke +with solemn and tragic emphasis. "It is not for mortal man to interfere +with the ways of God, and he does so at his own peril," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +The confidence which Gordon had reposed in James seemed for a time to +have given him a measure of relief. While he never for an instant +appeared like his old self, while the games of euchre at Georgie K.'s +were not resumed, nor the boyish enjoyment of things, which James now +recognized to have been simply feverish attempts to live through the +horrible ordeal of his life and keep his sanity, while he had now +settled down into a state of austere gloom, yet he begun again to attend +to his practice and to take interest in it. Clemency remained away for a +week. Then Gordon brought her home. She was at the dinner-table that +night when James returned rather late from a call on a far-off patient. +She simply said, "Good evening! Doctor Elliot," as if he had been the +merest acquaintance, and went on to serve his soup. James gave her a +bewildered, half-grieved, half-angered look, which she seemed not to +notice. Immediately after dinner she went to her own room. James, +smoking with Gordon in the office, heard her go upstairs. Gordon nodded +at James through the cloud of smoke. + +"She has taken a notion, my son," he said. "She told me on the way home +that she wished to break the engagement with you. She would give no +reason. She wished me to tell you. I don't take her seriously. She cares +as much for you as ever. Girls are queer cattle. She has some utterly +unimaginable idea in her head, which will run itself out. If I were you +I would pay no attention to it. Simply take her at her word, and let her +alone for a little while, and she herself will urge you for a +reconciliation. I know the child. She simply cannot remain at odds for +any length of time with any one whom she loves, and she does love you; +but she is freakish, and at times inclined to strain at her bit. Perhaps +Annie Lipton has been putting ideas into her head against marriage in +general. She may have frightened her, and they may have sworn celibacy +together in the watches of the night. Girls hatch more mischief when +they ought to be asleep. They are queer cattle." + +"The trouble began before Clemency went away," James said soberly. He +was quite pale. + +"Trouble? What trouble?" + +"I don't know. All I know is, that the very day when Clemency went away +she seemed changed to me. You remember how she called out good-by, and I +did not go out to help her off as I should naturally have done." + +"Yes, I do remember that, and I did wonder at your not going." + +"I did not go because I was quite sure that she did not wish it. She had +been very curt with me, and had shown me unmistakably that my attentions +were not welcome." + +"And you don't know why? There had been no quarrel?" + +"Not the slightest. I have not the faintest idea what the trouble is or +was, and why she wishes to break the engagement. All I know is that as +suddenly as a weather vane turns from west to north, she turned, and +seemed to have no more use for me." + +"Queer," Gordon said reflectively. He eyed James keenly. "You absolutely +know of no reason?" + +"I absolutely know of none. Clemency is the very first girl about whom I +have ever thought in this way. There is nothing in my whole life, past +or present, which I could not spread before her like an open book, so +far as any fear lest it should turn her against me." + +"I questioned her," Gordon said, "and she absolutely refused to give me +any reason for breaking her engagement. She simply repeated over and +over, 'I have changed my mind, Uncle Tom.' I asked her if she had seen +anybody else." + +James flushed hotly. "What did she say to that?" + +"She said, 'Whom could I have seen, Uncle Tom? You yourself know how +many men I have seen here, and you know I never see men at Annie's.' +There is no one else. You may be sure of that, and also sure that she +still cares for you. I know that from her whole manner. She has simply +taken one of those unaccountable freaks which the best of girls will +take. Just let her alone, and the whole will right itself. She may have +got a sudden scare at the idea of marriage itself, for all I know. I +still cling to the idea that Annie Lipton has been putting ideas into +her head, in spite of what you say of her coldness before she went +there. She may have started herself in the path, but Annie helped her +further on." + +"Of course I must leave here," James said gloomily. + +Gordon started. "Leave here?" + +"Yes, of course. Clemency will naturally not wish to have me a member of +the household in the existing state of things." + +"Clemency will wish it. Of course you are going to stay, Elliot." + +"I don't feel as if I could, Doctor Gordon." + +"Nonsense!" + +"It will naturally not be very pleasant for me," James said, coloring. + +"Why not?" asked Gordon irritably. "You are not a love-sick girl." + +"No, I am not," James returned with spirit. "I know I am jilted, but I +mean to take, and I think I am taking it, like a man. If Clemency does +not want me, I am sure I do not want her to have me. And I can stand +seeing her daily under the altered condition of things. I am no +milk-sop. Generally speaking, living under a roof when you are an object +of aversion to a member of the household, is not exactly pleasant." + +"You are not an object of aversion." + +"I might as well be." + +Gordon looked at the young man pitifully. "For God's sake, then don't +leave _me_, Elliot," he said. + +James stared at him. There was so much emotion in his face. + +"What do you think my life would be without you?" said Gordon. "Aside +from your assistance, which I cannot do without, you are my only solace, +especially since Clemency is in this mood. Stay for my sake, if it is +unpleasant, Elliot." + +"Well, I will stay, if you feel so about it, doctor," James replied. + +"Clemency is treating you shamefully," Gordon said. + +"A girl has a right to her own mind in such a matter, if she has in +anything." + +"The worst of it is, it is not her mind. I tell you I know that." + +"I am not so sure." + +"Wait and see! You underestimate yourself, boy." + +James laughed sadly. Then there was a knock on the office door and +Georgie K. appeared. He looked shyly at Gordon. He had a bottle under +his arm. "I have brought over a little apple-jack; thought it might do +you good," he stammered, his great face suffused like a girl's. + +Gordon looked affectionately at him. "Thank you, Georgie K.," he said. +"Sit down and we will have a game. I'll get the hot water and glasses. +Emma is out." + +"I'll get them," James said eagerly. He went out to the kitchen, but +Emma was not out. She was sitting sewing in a gingham apron. + +"What do you want?" she demanded severely. + +James explained meekly. + +"Well, go back to the office, and I'll fetch the things," Emma said in a +hostile tone. James obeyed. Presently Emma appeared bearing a tray with +the hot water and two glasses, Gordon did not notice the omission of a +third glass, until she had gone out. "Why, she only brought two +glasses," he said. + +James felt absurdly unequal to facing Emma again. "I don't think I'll +take anything to-night," he said. + +"Nonsense!" returned Gordon. He went to the door and shouted for Emma +with no response. "She can't have gone upstairs so quickly," he said. +But when after another shout he got no response, he went himself into +the dining-room, and got a tumbler from the sideboard. "She must have +gone upstairs at once," he remarked when he returned. "The kitchen is +dark." + +Georgie K. did not remain very late. He seemed nervously solicitous +with regard to Doctor Gordon. When he left he shook hands with him, and +bade him take good care of himself. + +"I love that man," Gordon said, when the door had closed behind him. + +When James entered his room that night he found fresh proof of Emma's +inexplicable hostility. The room was in total darkness. He lit matches +and searched for lamp or candles, to find none. He fumbled his way out +into the kitchen, and got a little lamp, which gave but a dim light, and +read, as was his habit, after he had gone to bed, with exceeding +difficulty. He also was subjected to a most absurd annoyance from the +presence of some gritty particles in the bed. After he extinguished his +lamp he could not go to sleep because of them, and lit his lamp again, +and tore the sheet off and shook it. The gritty particles seemed to him +to be crumbs of very hard and dry bread. He made the bed up again after +his clumsy masculine fashion. James had not much manual dexterity, and +rested very uncomfortably, from a pronounced inclination of the +coverings to slide off his feet, and over one side of the bed. + +The next morning Emma did not bring hot water for his shaving. She +usually set a pitcher outside his door, but this morning there was none. +He was obliged to go out to the kitchen and prefer a request for some. +"I have jest filled up the coffee-pot and the tea-kettle, and I guess +the water ain't very hot," Emma said in a malicious tone, as she filled +a pitcher for him. + +The water was not very hot. James had a severe experience shaving, and +his annoyances were not over then. There was no napkin beside his plate +at breakfast. He did not like to apply to Clemency, whose cold good +morning had served to establish a higher barrier between them, and who +sat behind the coffee urn with a forlorn but none the less severe look. +He also did not like to apply to Gordon for fear of offending her. It +was about as bad to ask Emma, but he finally did, in a low tone. + +Emma apparently did not hear. He was forced to repeat his request for a +napkin loudly. Gordon looked up. "Emma, why do you not set the table +properly?" he asked, in a severe tone. + +Emma tossed her head and muttered. She brought a napkin, and laid it +beside James's plate with an impetus as if it had been a lump of lead. +Presently James discovered that he had only one spoon, but he made that +do duty for his cereal and coffee, and said nothing. He was aware of +Emma's eyes of covert, malicious enjoyment upon him, as he +surreptitiously licked off the oatmeal, and put the spoon in his coffee. +He began to wonder what he could do, if this state of things was to +continue. It all seemed so absurd, the grievances were so exceedingly +petty. He could not imagine what had so turned Emma against him. He was +even more at a loss where she was concerned than in Clemency's case. A +girl engaged might find some foolish reason, which seemed enormous to +her, to turn the cold shoulder to him, but it was inconceivable that +Emma should. He had always treated her politely, even with a certain +deference, knowing, as he did, that she was an old and faithful servant, +and as the daughter of a farmer being, in her own estimation at least, +of a highly superior station to that of servants in general. He could +not imagine why Emma was subjecting him to these ridiculous +persecutions, before which he was almost helpless. She had heretofore +treated him loftily, as was her wont with everybody, except Gordon and +Clemency, but certainly she had neglected none of her duties with +regard to him. Miserable as James was concerning Clemency, he could not +but feel that if he were to be subjected to these incomprehensible +annoyances from Emma, life in the house would be almost impossible. He +could bear sorrow like a man, but to bear pinpricks beside was almost +too much to ask. That noon, when he returned from his rounds, he +realized that there was to be no cessation. Clemency was not at the +lunch-table. Gordon said she had a headache and was lying down. Emma in +passing James his cup of tea, contrived to spill it over him. He was not +scalded, but his shirt-front and collar were stained, thereby +necessitating a change, and he was in a hurry to be gone directly after +lunch. + +Gordon roused himself, however. "Be more careful another time, Emma," he +said sharply. + +Emma tossed her head. "Doctor Elliot moved jest as I was coming with the +cup," she said in a thin, waspish voice. + +"He did no such thing," Gordon said harshly, "and if he had, it was your +business to be careful. Get Doctor Elliot another cup of tea." + +Emma obeyed with a jerk. She set the cup and saucer down beside James's +plate as hard as she dared, and James at the first sip found that the +tea was salted. However, he said nothing. Gordon after his outburst had +resumed his former state of apathy, and was eating and drinking like a +machine, whose works were rusty and almost run down. He could not +trouble him with such an absurdity. Then, too, he was too vexed to +please the girl so much. He forced himself to drink the tea without a +grimace, knowing that Emma's eyes were upon him. But the climax was +almost reached. That night when on his return he wished to change his +collar before dinner, he found every one with the buttonholes torn. It +was skilfully done, so skilfully that no one could have declared +positively that it had not been done accidentally in the laundry. James +would not appear at the dinner-table in a soiled collar, and was forced +to hurry out to the village store and purchase new ones. These, with the +exception of the one he put on, he locked in his trunk. He was late for +dinner, and the soup was quite cold. When Doctor Gordon complained +irritably, Emma replied with one of her characteristic tosses of the +head that she couldn't help it, Doctor Elliot was late. James said +nothing. He swallowed his luke-warm soup in silence. He began to wonder +what he could do. He did not wish to complain to Doctor Gordon, +especially as the result might be the dismissal of Emma, and he felt +that he could say nothing to Clemency about it. Clemency appeared at the +dinner-table, but she looked pale and forlorn, and said good evening to +James without lifting her eyes. When her uncle asked if her head was +better, she said, "Yes, thank you," in a spiritless tone. She ate almost +nothing. After dinner, James had a call to make, and, on his return, +entered by the office door. He found Gordon fast asleep in his chair, +with the dog at his feet. The dog started up at sight of James, but he +motioned him down, and went softly out into the hall. There was a light +there, but none in the parlor. James heard distinctly a little sob from +the parlor. He hesitated a moment, then he entered the room. It was +suffused with moonlight. All the pale objects stood out like ghosts. +Clemency by the window, in a little white wool house-gown, looked, +ghostly. + +James went straight across to her, pulled up a chair beside her, seated +himself, and pulled one of her little hands away from her face almost +roughly, and held it firmly in spite of her weak attempt to remove it. +"Now, Clemency," he said in a determined voice, "this has gone quite far +enough. You told your uncle that you wished to break your engagement to +me. I have no wish to coerce you. If you really do not want to marry me, +why, I must make the best of it, but I have a right to know the reason +why, and I will know it." + +Clemency was silent, except for her sobs. + +"Tell me," said James. + +"Don't," whispered Clemency. + +"Tell me." + +Then Clemency let her other hand, which contained a moist little ball of +handkerchief, fall. She turned full upon him her tearful, swollen face. +"If you want to know what you know already," said she, in a hard voice, +"here it is. She wasn't my mother, but I loved her like one, and you +killed her." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +James sat as if turned to stone. All in a second he realized what it +must be. He let Clemency's hand go, and leaned back in his chair. "What +do you mean, Clemency?" he asked finally, but he realized how senseless +the question was. He knew perfectly well what she meant, and he knew +perfectly well that he was utterly helpless before her accusation. + +"You know," said Clemency, still in her unnatural hard voice. "You +killed her." + +"How?" + +"You know. You gave her more morphine, and her heart was weak. Emma +overheard Uncle Tom say so, and that more morphine was dangerous. She +might have been alive to-day if it had not been for you." + +James sat staring at the girl. She went on pitilessly. "You did not see +Emma that last time you came upstairs," she said, "but she saw you. She +was standing in the door of her room, and she had no light. She saw you +and Mrs. Blair going away from her room, and she heard Mrs. Blair tell +you she was dead. You killed her. I want nothing whatever to do with a +murderer." + +James remembered that draught of cold air. It must have come from the +open door of Emma's room at the end of the hall. He understood that Emma +could not have seen him coming upstairs, but that she had seen him with +Mrs. Blair at the door of the sick-room, and had jumped at her +conclusion. + +"Emma knew when you went upstairs first," said Clemency. "You left her +door a little ajar. Emma saw you giving her a hypodermic. And then when +that did not kill her you gave her another. Uncle Tom did not know. He +must never know, for it would kill him, but you did kill her." + +James was silent for a moment. He realized the impossibility of clearing +himself from the accusation unless he told the whole truth and +implicated Doctor Gordon. Finally he said, miserably enough, "You don't +know how horribly she was suffering, dear. You don't know what torments +she would have had to suffer." + +He knew when he said that that he incriminated himself. Clemency +retorted immediately, "You don't know. I have heard Uncle Tom say that +nobody can ever know. She might have gotten well. Anyway, you killed +her." With that Clemency sprang up and ran out of the room, and James +heard her sob. + +As for himself, he remained where he was for a long time. He never knew +how long. He felt numb. He realized himself to be in a gulf of +misunderstanding, from which he could not be extricated, even for the +sake of Clemency. It seemed to him again that he must go away, but he +remembered Gordon's pitiful plea to him to remain. Finally he went into +his room, to find that Emma, in her absurd malice, had left only the +coverlid on the bed. She had stripped it of the sheets and blankets. He +lay down with his clothes on and passed a sleepless night. + +The next morning at the breakfast-table he looked haggard and pale. He +could eat nothing. Doctor Gordon looked at him keenly. + +"What is the matter, Elliot?" he asked. + +Clemency gave a quick glance at him, and her face worked. + +"Nothing," replied James. + +"You look downright ill." + +"I am not ill." + +Clemency rose abruptly and left the table. + +"What is the matter, Clemency? Where are you going?" Gordon called out. + +"I have finished my breakfast," the girl replied in a stifled voice. + +Gordon insisted on making some calls that morning, and relieving James. +"You are worn out, my son," he said in a voice of real affection, and +clapped him on the shoulder. He sent James on a short round in spite of +his objections, and the consequence was that James reached home half an +hour before luncheon. + +It was a beautiful morning. Spring seemed to have come with a winged +leap. A faint down of green shaded the elms, and there was a pink cloud +of peach bloom in the distance. The cherry trees were swollen almost to +blossom, and the apple trees had pale radiances in the glance of the +sun. The grass was quite green, and here and there were dandelions. +Clemency was out in the yard, working in a little flower-garden, as +James drove in. She had on a black dress, and her fair head was +uncovered. She pretended not to see James, but he had hardly entered the +office before she came in. Her face was all suffused with pink. She +looked at him tenderly and angrily. + +"Are you ill?" she said, in an indignant voice which had, in spite of +herself, soft cadences. + +"No, Clemency." + +"Then why do you look so?" she demanded. + +James turned at that. "Clemency, you accuse me of cruelty," he said, +"but you yourself are cruel. You do not realize that you cannot tell a +man he is a murderer, and throw him over when he loves you, and yet have +him utterly unmoved by it." + +Suddenly Clemency was in his arms. "I love you, I love you," she sobbed. +"Don't be unhappy, don't look so. It breaks my heart. I love you, I do +love you, dear. I can't marry you, but I love you!" + +"If you love me, you can marry me." + +Clemency shrank away, then she clung to him again. "No," she said, "I +can't get over the thought of it. I can't help it, but I do love you. We +will go on just the same as ever, only we will not get married. You know +we were not going to get married just yet anyway. I love you. We will go +on just the same. Only don't look the way you did this morning at +breakfast." + +"How did I look?" + +"As if your heart were broken." + +"So it is, dear." + +"No, it is not. I love you, I tell you. What is the need of bothering +about marriage anyway? I am perfectly happy being engaged. Annie says +she is never going to get married. Let the marriage alone. Only you +won't look so any more, will you, dear?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +After this James encountered a strange state of things: the semblance of +happiness, which almost deceived him as to its reality. + +Clemency was as loving as she had ever been. Gordon congratulated James +upon the reconciliation. "I knew the child could never hold out, and it +was Annie Lipton," he said. James admitted that Annie Lipton might have +been the straw which turned the balance. He knew that Clemency had not +told Gordon of her conviction that he had given the final dose of +morphine to her aunt. Everything now went on as before. Clemency +suddenly became awake to Emma's petty persecutions of James, and they +ceased. James one day could not help overhearing a conversation between +the two. He was in the stable, and the kitchen windows were open. He +heard only a few words. "You don't mean to say you are goin' to hev +him?" said Emma in her strident voice. + +"No, I am not," returned Clemency's sweet, decided one. + +"What be you goin' with him again for then?" + +James knew how the girl blushed at that, but she answered with spirit. +"That is entirely my own affair, Emma," she said, "and as long as Doctor +Elliot remains under this roof, and pays for it, too, he must be treated +decently. You don't pass him things, you don't fill his lamp. Now you +must treat him exactly as you did before, or I shall tell Uncle Tom." + +"You won't tell him why?" said Emma, and there was alarm in her voice, +for she adored Gordon. + +"Did you ever know me to go from one to another in such a way?" asked +Clemency. "You know if I told Uncle Tom, he would not put up with it a +minute. He thinks the world of Doctor Elliot." + +"It's awful queer how men folks can be imposed on," said Emma. + +"That has nothing to do with it," Clemency said. "You must treat Doctor +Elliot respectfully, Emma." + +"I'm jest as good as he be," said Emma resentfully. + +"Well, what if you are? He's as good as you, isn't he? And he treats you +civilly. He always has." + +"I'm a good deal better than he be," Emma went on irascibly. "I wouldn't +have gone and went, and--" + +"Hush!" ordered Clemency in a frightened voice. "Emma, you must do as I +say." + +James drove out of the yard and heard no more, but after that he had no +fault to find with Emma, so far as her service was concerned. It is true +that she gave him malignant glances, but she made him comfortable, +albeit unwillingly. It was fortunate for him that she did so, or he +would have found his position almost unbearable. Doctor Gordon relaxed +again into his state of apathetic gloom. His strength also seemed to +wane. Almost the whole practice devolved upon James. Gordon seemed less +and less interested even in extreme cases. Georgie K. also lost his +power over him. Now and then of an evening he came, but Gordon, save to +offer him a cigar, took scarcely any notice of him. One evening Georgie +K. made a motion to James behind Gordon's back when he took leave, and +James made an excuse to follow him out. In the drive Georgie K. took +James by the arm, and the young man felt him tremble. "What ails him?" +asked Georgie K. + +"I hardly know," James replied in a whisper. + +"I know," said Georgie K. By the light from the office window James +could see that the man was actually weeping. His great ruddy face was +streaming with tears. "Don't I know?" he sobbed. + +James remembered the stuffed canary and the wax flowers, and the story +Gordon had told him of Georgie K.'s grief over his wife's death. + +"I dare say you are right," he returned. + +"He's breakin' his heart, that's what he's doin'," said Georgie K. +"Can't you get him to go away for a change or somethin'?" + +"I have tried." + +"He'll die of it," Georgie K. said with a great gulp as he went out of +the yard. + +When James reentered the office Gordon looked up at him. "That poor old +fellow called you out to talk about me," he said quietly. "I know I'm +going downhill." + +"For heaven's sake, can't you go up, doctor?" + +"No, I am done for. I could get over losing her, but I can't get over +what--you know what." + +"But her death was inevitable, and greater agony was inevitable." + +Gordon turned upon him fiercely. "When you have been as long in this +cursed profession as I have," he said, "you will realize that nothing is +inevitable. She might have recovered for all I know. That woman, at +Turner Hill, who I thought was dying six months ago, being up and around +again, is an instance. I tell you mortal man has no right to thrust his +hand between the Almighty and fate. You know nothing, and I know +nothing." + +"I do know." + +"You don't know, and you don't even know that you don't know. There is +no use talking about this any longer. When I am gone you must marry +Clemency, and keep on with my practice." + +James considered when he was in his own room that the event of his +succeeding to the practice might not be so very remote, but as to his +marrying Clemency he doubted. He dared not hint of the matter to Gordon, +for he knew it would disturb him, but Clemency, as the days went on, +became more and more variable. At times she was loving, at times it was +quite evident that she shrank from him with a sort of involuntary +horror. James began to wonder if they ever could marry. He was fully +resolved not to clear himself at the expense of Doctor Gordon; in fact, +such a course never occurred to him. He had a very simple +straightforwardness in matters of honor, and this seemed to him a matter +of honor. No question with regard to it arose in his mind. Obviously it +was better that he should bear the brunt than Gordon, but he did ask +himself if it would ever be possible for Clemency to dissociate him from +the thought of the tragedy entirely, and if she could not, would it be +possible for her to be happy as his wife? That very day Clemency had +avoided him, and once when he had approached she had visibly shrunk and +paled. Evidently the child could not help it. She looked miserably +unhappy. She had grown thin lately, and had lost almost entirely her +sense of fun, which had always been so ready. + +James went to sleep, wondering how she would treat him the next day. He +never knew, for the girl shifted like a weather-cock, driven hither and +yon by her love and terror like two winds. The next day, however, solved +the problem in an entirely unexpected fashion. James, that morning after +breakfast, during which Clemency had sat pale and stern behind the +coffee-urn, and scarcely had noticed him, set off on a round of calls. +Doctor Gordon, to his surprise, announced his intention of making some +calls himself; he said that he would take the team, and James must drive +the balky mare, as the bay was to be taken to the blacksmith's. Gordon +that morning looked worse than usual, although he evinced such unwonted +energy. He trembled like a very old man. He ate scarcely anything, and +his mouth was set hard with a desperate expression. James wished to urge +him to remain at home, but he did not dare. Gordon, when he left the +breakfast-table, proposed that James should take Clemency with him, but +the girl replied curtly that she was too busy. Gordon started on his +long circuit, and James set off to make the rounds of Alton and +Westover. The mare seemed in a very favorable mood that morning. She did +not balk, and went at a good pace. It was not until James was on his +homeward road that the trouble began. Then the mare planted her four +feet at angles, in her favorite fashion, and became as immovable as a +horse of bronze. James touched her with the whip. He was in no patient +mood that morning. Finally he lashed her. He might as well have lashed a +stone, for all the effect his blows had. Then he got out and tried +coaxing. She did not seem to even see him. Her great eyes had a curious +introspective expression. Then he got again into the buggy and sat +still. A sense of obstinacy as great as the animal's came over him. +"Stand there and be d----d!" he said. + +"Go without your dinner if you want to." He leaned back in a corner of +the buggy, and began reflecting. + +His reflections were at once angry and gloomy. He was, he told himself, +tired of the situation. He began to wonder if he ought not, for the sake +of self-respect, to leave Alton and Clemency. He wondered if a man ought +to submit to be so treated, and yet he recognized Clemency's own view of +the situation, and a great wave of love and pity for the poor child +swept over him. The mare had halted in a part of the road where there +were no houses, and flowering alders filled the air with their faint +sweetness. Under that sweetness, like the bass in a harmony, he could +smell the pines in the woods on either hand. He also heard their voices, +like the waves of the sea. It was a very warm day, one of those days in +which Spring makes leaps toward Summer. James felt uncomfortably heated, +for the buggy was in the full glare of sunlight. All his solace came +from the fact that he himself, sitting there so quietly, was outwitting +the mare by showing as great obstinacy as her own. He knew that she +inwardly fretted at not arousing irritation. That a tickle, even a lash +of the whip, would delight her. He sat still, leaning his head back. He +was almost asleep when he heard a rumble of heavy wheels, and looking +ahead languidly perceived a wagon laden with household goods of some +spring-flitters approaching. He sat still and watched the great wagon +drawn by two lean, white horses, and piled high with the poor household +belongings--miserable wooden chairs and feather beds, and a child's +cradle rocking imminently on the top. A lank Jerseyman was driving. By +his side on the high seat was his stout wife holding a baby. The weak +wail of the child filled the air. James looked to make sure that there +was room for the team to pass. He thought there was, and sat idly +watching them. The woman looked at him, made some remark to the man, and +then both grinned weakly, recognizing the situation. The man on the team +drove carefully, but a stone on the outer side caused his team to swerve +a trifle. The wheels hit the wheels of the buggy, and the cradle tilted +swiftly on to the back of the balky mare, and she bolted. In all her +experience of a long, balky life, a cradle as a means of breaking her +spirit had not been encountered. James had not time to clutch the lines +which had fallen to the floor of the buggy before he was thrown out. He +felt the buggy tilting to its fall, he heard a crashing sound and a +fierce kicking, and then he knew no more. + +When he came to himself he was on the lounge in Doctor Gordon's office. +Emma was just disappearing with a pitcher in the direction of the +kitchen, and he felt something cool on his forehead. He smelled aromatic +salts, and heard a piteous little voice, like the bleat of a wounded +lamb, in his ears, and kisses on his cheeks, and a soft hand rubbing his +own. "Oh, darling," the little voice was saying, "oh, darling, are you +much hurt? Are you? Please speak to me. It is Clemency. Oh, he is dead! +He is dead!" Then came wild sobs, and Emma rushed into the room, and he +heard her say, "Here, put this ice on his head, quick!" + +James was still so faint that he could only gasp weakly. And he could +open his eyes to nothing but darkness and a marvellous spinning and whir +as of shadows in a wind. + +"He's comin' to," said Emma. Her voice sounded as if she felt moved. +"Don't take on so, Miss Clemency," she said; "he ain't dead." + +Again James felt the soft kisses and tears on his face, and again came +the poor little voice, "Oh, darling, please listen, please don't do so. +I will marry you. I will. I know you did just right. I read one of Uncle +Tom's books this morning, and I found out what awful suffering she might +have had hours longer. You did right. I will marry you. I will never +think of it again. Please don't look so. Are you dreadfully hurt? Oh, +when they came bringing you in I thought you were killed! There is a +great bruise on your head. Does it hurt much? You do feel better, don't +you? Oh, Emma, if Uncle Tom would only come. Can't you hear me, dear? I +will marry you. I take it all back. I will marry you! I will marry you +whenever you wish. Oh, please look at me! Please speak to me! Oh, Emma, +there is Uncle Tom. I am so glad." + +And then poor, little Clemency, all unstrung and frightened, sank into +an unconscious little heap on the floor as Gordon entered. "What the +devil?" he cried out. "I saw the buggy smashed on the road, and that +mare went down the Ford Hill road like a whirlwind. What, Elliot, are +you hurt, boy? Clemency, Emma, what has happened?" + +All the time Gordon was talking he was examining James, who was now able +to speak feebly. "The mare was frightened and threw me," he gasped. "I +was stunned. I am all right now. See to Clemency!" + +But Clemency was already staggering weakly to her feet. + +"Oh, Uncle Tom, he isn't killed, is he?" she sobbed. + +"Killed, no," said Gordon, "but he will be if you don't stop crying and +making a goose of yourself, Clemency." + +"We put ice on his head," sobbed Clemency. "He isn't--" + +"Of course he isn't. He was only stunned. That is only a flesh wound." + +"I tried to git some brandy down him, but I couldn't," said Emma. + +"Give it to me," said Gordon. He poured out some brandy in a spoon, and +James swallowed it. "He will be all right now," Gordon said. "You won't +be such a beauty that the women will run after you for a few days, +Elliot, but you're all right." + +"I feel all right," James said. + +"It is nothing more than a little boy with a bump on his forehead," said +Gordon to Clemency. "Now, child, stop crying, and go and bathe your +eyes. Emma, is luncheon ready?" + +When both women had gone Gordon, who had been applying some ointment to +James's forehead, said in a low voice, broken by emotion, "You are all +right, Elliot, but--you did have a close call." + +"I suppose I did," James said, laughing feebly. + +He essayed to rise, but Gordon held him down. "No, keep still," he said. +"You must not stir to-day. I will have your luncheon brought in. +Clemency will be only too happy to wait on you, hand and foot." + +"Poor little girl, I must have given her an awful fright," said James. + +"Well, you are not exactly the looking object to do anything else," said +Gordon laughing. + +"Where is there a glass?" + +"Where you won't have it. You won't be scarred. It is simply a temporary +eclipse of your beauty, and Clemency will love you all the more for it. +You need not worry. Talk about the vanity of women. I thought you were +above it, Elliot. Now lie still. If you get up you will be giddy." + +James lay still, smiling. He felt very happy, and his love for Clemency +seemed like a glow of pure radiance in his heart. He lay on the office +lounge all the afternoon. He fell asleep with Clemency sitting beside +holding his hand. Gordon had gone out to finish the calls. It was six +o'clock before he drove into the yard. James had just awakened and lay +feeling a great peace and content. Clemency was smiling down at his +discolored face, as if it were the face of an angel. The windows were +open, and the distant lowing of cattle, waiting at homeward bars, the +monotone of frogs, and the songs of circling swallows came in. James +felt as if he saw in a celestial vision the whole world and life, and +that it was all blessed and good, that even the pain and sorrow +blossomed in the end into ineffable flowers of pure delight. + +But when Doctor Gordon entered this vision was clouded, for Gordon's +face had reassumed its old expression of settled melancholy and despair. +He inquired how James found himself with an apathetic air, and then sat +down and mechanically filled his pipe. After it was filled he seemed to +forget to light it, so deep was his painful reverie. He sat with it in +hand, staring straight ahead. Then a strange thing happened. The office +door opened and Mrs. Blair, the nurse, entered. She was dressed in +black, she carried a black travelling bag, and she wore a black bonnet, +with a high black tuft on the top by way of trimming. Mrs. Blair was +very tall, and this black tuft, when she entered the door, barely grazed +the lintel. + +Gordon rose and said good evening, and regarded her in a bewildered +fashion, as did James and Clemency. + +Mrs. Blair spoke with no preface. "I am going to leave Alton," she said +in her severe voice, "and I want to tell you something first, and to say +good-by." She looked at Gordon, then at the others, one after another, +then at Gordon again. "I did not think at first that it would be +necessary for me to say what I am going to," she continued, "but I +overheard some things that were said that night, and I have been +thinking--and then I heard the other day (I don't know how true it is) +that Clemency and Doctor Elliot had had a falling out, and I didn't know +but--I didn't quite know what anybody thought, and I wanted you all to +know the truth. I didn't want any mistakes made to cause unhappiness." +She hesitated, her eyes upon Doctor Gordon grew more intense. "Maybe +_you_ think you gave her that dose of morphine that killed her," she +said steadily, "but you didn't. Doctor Elliot gave her water, and you +gave her mostly water. I had diluted the morphine, and you didn't know +it. I had made up my mind that she was going to have the morphine, but I +had made up my mind that nobody but me should have the responsibility of +it. I'm all alone in the world, and my conscience upheld me, and I felt +I'd rather take the blame, if there was to be any. I made up my mind to +wait till a certain time and then give it to her, and I did. I am the +one who gave her the morphine that killed her. I am going to leave Alton +for good. My trunk is down at the station. I came to tell you that I +gave her the morphine, and if I did wrong in helping God to shorten her +sufferings, I am the one to be punished, and I stand ready to bear the +punishment." + +Gordon looked at her. He did not speak, but it was with his face as if a +mask of dreadful misery had dropped from it. + +"Good-by!" said Mrs. Blair. She went out of the door, and the black tuft +on her bonnet barely grazed the lintel. + + +THE END + + + + +OTHER WORKS BY MARY E. WILKINS-FREEMAN + + +THE HUMBLE ROMANCE and Other Stories +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A collection of stories of New England life as clearly cut as etchings, +marvellous in simplicity and finish." + + +JANE FIELD: A Novel +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A tragedy told in a few words, moving with the unswerving directness of +a Greek play. The novel is lightened by a delicate love interest and +touches of homely humor." + + +THE NEW ENGLAND NUN AND OTHER STORIES +16mo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"Stories of New England village life, the best hitherto written by this +author, surpassing those contained in the collection entitled 'The +Humble Romance.'" + + +SILENCE AND OTHER STORIES +Post 8vo. Cloth, $1.25 + +"A book like this marks an epoch. 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Cloth, $ 1.50 + +"A collection of wonderful tales of the wierd and supernatural which +Poe himself might have written." + + +THE JAMESONS +16mo, Cloth, 50c. + +"A most entertaining tale, full of kindly humor and sarcasm." + + +PEOPLE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD +16mo. Cloth, 50c. + +"A collection of most diverting sketches. It is like an old photograph +album, wherein each photograph is made lifelike by memory or narrative. +The doors of a whole country neighborhood are thrown open to the +reader." + + +BY THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL +(In Press) + +"A marvellous analysis of character." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's 'Doc.' Gordon, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'DOC.' 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