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diff --git a/16138-h/16138-h.htm b/16138-h/16138-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..95ee331 --- /dev/null +++ b/16138-h/16138-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14416 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cromptons, by Mrs. Mary J. Holmes</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +hr.short {text-align: center; width: 45%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +.small {font-size: 90%;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +p.caption {font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cromptons, by Mary J. Holmes</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Cromptons</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Mary J. Holmes</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 27, 2005 [eBook #16138]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 8, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Garcia, Ed Casulli and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROMPTONS ***</div> + +<h4>POPULAR NOVELS</h4> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h4><b>MRS. MARY J. HOLMES.</b></h4> + +<p> +<span class="small"> +TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE.<br/> +DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHTS.<br/> +ENGLISH ORPHANS.<br/> +HUGH WORTHINGTON.<br/> +HOMESTEAD ON HILLSIDE.<br/> +CAMERON PRIDE.<br/> +'LENA RIVERS.<br/> +ROSE MATHER.<br/> +MEADOW BROOK.<br/> +ETHELYN'S MISTAKE.<br/> +DORA DEANE.<br/> +MILBANK.<br/> +COUSIN MAUDE.<br/> +EDNA BROWNING.<br/> +MARIAN GREY.<br/> +WEST LAWN.<br/> +EDITH LYLE.<br/> +MILDRED.<br/> +DAISY THORNTON.<br/> +FOREST HOUSE.<br/> +CHATEAU D'OR.<br/> +MADELINE.<br/> +QUEENIE HETHERTON.<br/> +CHRISTMAS STORIES.<br/> +BESSIE'S FORTUNE.<br/> +GRETCHEN.<br/> +MARGUERITE.<br/> +DR. HATHERN'S DAUGHTERS.<br/> +MRS. HALLAM'S COMPANION.<br/> +PAUL RALSTON.<br/> +THE TRACY DIAMONDS.<br/> +THE CROMPTONS. (<i>NEW</i>)</span> +</p> + +<p class="center">"Mrs. Holmes is a peculiarly pleasant and fascinating +writer. Her books are always entertaining, and she +has the rare faculty of enlisting the sympathy +and affections of her readers, and of holding +their attention to her pages with +deep and absorbing interest."</p> + +<p class="center">Handsomely bound in cloth. Price, $1.00 each, +and sent <i>free</i> by mail on receipt of price.</p> + +<p class="center">G.W. Dillingham Co., Publishers,<br/> +NEW YORK.</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<img src="images/illust_001.jpg" width="457" height="700" alt="[Illustration]" /> +<p class="caption">“Here by this grave I promise all you ask.”</p> +</div> + +<h1>The Cromptons</h1> + +<h3>By</h3> + +<h2>MARY J. HOLMES</h2> + +<h4>G.W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY<br/> +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1899, 1901,</h4> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">[<i>All rights reserved.</i>]</p> + +<p class="center"><i>The Cromptons. Issued August, 1902.</i></p> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#PART_I"><b>PART I</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. THE STRANGER AT THE BROCK HOUSE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. THE PALMETTO CLEARING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. THE INTERVIEW</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. HOPING AND WAITING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. MISS DORY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. THE SERVICES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. COL. CROMPTON</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. THE CHILD OF THE CLEARING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. THE COLONEL AND JAKE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#1CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. EUDORA</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#PART_II"><b>PART II</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. HOWARD CROMPTON TO JACK HARCOURT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. JACK HARCOURT TO HOWARD CROMPTON</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. ELOISE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. THE ACCIDENT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. AMY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. AT MRS. BIGGS'S</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. RUBY ANN PATRICK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. MRS. BIGGS'S REMINISCENCES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. LETTER FROM REV. CHARLES MASON</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. PART SECOND OF REV. MR. MASON'S LETTER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. SUNDAY CALLS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. THE MARCH OF EVENTS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. GETTING READY FOR THE RUMMAGE SALE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. THE FIRST SALE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. AT THE RUMMAGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#2CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. THE AUCTION</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#PART_III"><b>PART III</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNING OF THE END</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. THE LITTLE RED CLOAK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. ELOISE AT THE CROMPTON HOUSE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. THE SHADOW OF DEATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. LOOKING FOR A WILL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. IN FLORIDA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. IN THE PALMETTO CLEARING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. THE LITTLE HAIR TRUNK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. WHAT HOWARD FOUND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. HOWARD'S TEMPTATION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#3CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. CONCLUSION</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +<h2> + THE CROMPTONS +</h2> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="PART_I"></a>PART I</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> +THE STRANGER AT THE BROCK HOUSE</h2> + +<p>The steamer "Hatty" which plied between Jacksonville +and Enterprise was late, and the people who +had come down from the Brock House to the landing +had waited half an hour before a puff of smoke in the +distance told that she was coming. There had been +many conjectures as to the cause of the delay, for she +was usually on time, and those who had friends on +the boat were growing nervous, fearing an accident, +and all were getting tired, when she appeared in the +distance, the puffs of smoke increasing in volume as +she drew nearer, and the sound of her whistle echoing +across the water, which at Enterprise spreads out into +a lake. She had not met with an accident, but had +been detained at Palatka waiting for a passenger of +whom the captain had been apprised.</p> + +<p>"He may be a trifle late, but if he is, wait. He +must take your boat," Tom Hardy had said to the +captain when engaging passage for his friend, and +Tom Hardy was not one whose wishes were often +disregarded. "Them Hardys does more business +with me in one year than ten other families and I +can't go agin Tom, and if he says wait for his friend, +why, there's nothing to do but wait," the captain said, +as he walked up and down in front of his boat, growing +more and more impatient, until at last as he was +beginning to swear he'd wait no longer for all the +Hardys in Christendom, two men came slowly towards +the landing, talking earnestly and not seeming +to be in the least hurry, although the "Hatty" began +to scream herself hoarse as if frantic to be gone.</p> + +<p>"How d'ye, Cap," Tom said, in his easy, off-hand +way. "Hope we haven't kept you long. This is my +friend I told you about. I suppose his berth is +ready?"</p> + +<p>He did not tell the name of his friend, who, as if +loath to cross the plank, held back for a few more +words. Tom gave him a little push at last, and said, +"Good-bye, you really must go. Success to you, but +don't for a moment think of carrying out that quixotic +plan you first mentioned. Better jump into the +river. Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>The plank was crossed and pulled in, and a mulatto +boy came forward to take the stranger's bag and pilot +him to his stateroom, which opened from what was +called the ladies' parlor. Coiled up in a corner on the +deck was a bundle of something which stirred as they +came near to it, and began to turn over, making the +stranger start with a slight exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Doan you be skeert, sar," the boy said, "dat's +nottin' but Mandy Ann, an onery nigger what b'longs +to ole Miss Harris in de clarin' up ter Ent'prise. She's +been hired out a spell in Jacksonville,—nuss to a little +gal, and now she's gwine home. Miss Dory done sent +for her, 'case Jake is gone and ole Miss is wus,—never +was very peart," and turning to the girl the boy Ted +continued: "You Mandy Ann, doan you know more +manners not to skeer a gemman, rollin' round like a +punkin? Get back wid yer."</p> + +<p>He spurned the bundle with his foot, while the +stranger stopped suddenly, as if a blow had been +struck him.</p> + +<p>"Who did you say she was? To whom does she +belong, I mean?" he asked, and the boy replied, +"Mandy Ann, a no count nigger, b'longs to Miss +Harris. Poor white trash! Crackers! Dis your +stateroom, sar. Kin I do somethin' for you?"</p> + +<p>The boy's head was held high, indicative of his +opinion of poor white trash and Crackers in general, +and Mandy Ann in particular.</p> + +<p>"No, thanks," the stranger said, taking his bag +and shutting himself into his stuffy little stateroom.</p> + +<p>"'Specs he's from de Norf; looks like it, an' dey +allus askin' who we 'longs to. In course we 'longs to +somebody. We has ter," Ted thought, as he made +his way back to Mandy Ann, who was wide-awake +and ready for any war of words which might come +up between herself and Ted, "who felt mighty smart +'case he was cabin boy on de 'Hatty.'"</p> + +<p>As Ted suspected, the stranger was of Northern +birth, which showed itself in his accent and cold, +proud bearing. He might have been thirty, and he +might have been more. His face did not show his +age. His features were regular, and his complexion +pale as a woman's. His eyes were a cross between +blue and gray, with a look in them which made you +feel that they were reading your inmost secrets, and +you involuntarily turned away when they were fixed +upon you. On this occasion he seemed colder and +prouder than usual, as he seated himself upon the +stool in his stateroom and looked about him,—not +at any thing that was there, for he did not see it, or +think how small and uncomfortable his quarters were, +although recommended as one of the staterooms <i>de +luxe</i> on the boat. His thoughts were outside, first +on Mandy Ann,—not because of anything about her +personally. He had seen nothing except a woolly +head, a dark blue dress, and two black, bare feet and +ankles, but because she was Mandy Ann, bound slave +of "ole Miss Harris, who lived in de clarin'," and for +that reason she connected him with something from +which he shrank with an indescribable loathing. At +last he concluded to try the narrow berth, but finding +it too hard and too short went out upon the rear deck, +and taking a chair where he would be most out of the +way and screened from observation, he sat until the +moon went down behind a clump of palms, and the +stars paled in the light of the sun which shone down +upon the beautiful river and the tangled mass of +shrubbery and undergrowth on either side of it.</p> + +<p>At last the passengers began to appear one by one, +with their cheery how dye's and good mornings, and +curious glances at this stranger in their midst, who, +although with them, did not seem to be one of them. +They were all Southerners and inclined to be friendly, +but nothing in the stranger's attitude invited sociability. +He was looking off upon the water in the +direction from which they had come, and never +turned his head in response to the loud shouts, when an +alligator was seen lying upon the shore, or a big turtle +was sunning itself on a log. He was a Northerner, +they knew from his general make-up, and a friend of +Tom Hardy, the captain said, when questioned with +regard to him. This last was sufficient to atone for +any proclivities he might have antagonistic to the +South. Tom Hardy, although living in Georgia, was +well known in Florida. To be his friend was to be +somebody; and two or three attempts at conversation +were made in the course of the morning. One man, +bolder than the rest, told him it was a fine day and a +fine trip, but that the "Hatty" was getting a little +too <i>passée</i> for real comfort. At the word <i>passée</i> the +stranger looked up with something like interest, and +admitted that the boat was <i>passée</i>, and the day fine, +and the trip, too. A cigar was next offered, but +politely declined, and then the attempt at an acquaintance +ceased on the part of the first to make it. Later +on an old Georgian planter, garrulous and good-humored, +swore he'd find out what stuff the Yankee +was made of, and why he was down there where few +of his kind ever came. His first move was the offer +of tobacco, with the words: "How d'ye, sir? Have +a chew?"</p> + +<p>The stranger's head went up a little higher than its +wont, and the proud look on the pale face deepened +as he declined the tobacco civilly, as he had the cigar.</p> + +<p>"Wall, now, don't chew tobacky? You lose a +good deal. I couldn't live without it. Sorter soothin', +an' keeps my jaws goin', and when I'm so full of +vim,—mad, you know,—that I'm fit to bust, why, I +spit and spit,—backy juice in course,—till I spit it +all out," the Georgian said, taking an immense chew, +and sitting down by the stranger, who gave no sign +that he knew of his proximity, but still kept his eyes +on the river as if absorbed in the scenery.</p> + +<p>The Georgian was not to be easily rebuffed. Crossing +his legs and planting his big hat on his knees, +he went on:</p> + +<p>"You are from the North, I calculate?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I thought so. We can mostly tell 'em. From +Boston, I reckon?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"New York, mabby? No? Chicago? No? +Wall, where in—" the Georgian stopped, checked by +a look in the bluish-gray eyes which seldom failed in +its effect.</p> + +<p>Evidently the stranger didn't choose to tell where +he lived, but the Georgian, though somewhat subdued, +was not wholly silenced, and he continued: +"Ever in Florida before?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Wall, I s'pose you're takin' a little pleasure trip +like the rest of us?"</p> + +<p>To this there was no response, the stranger thinking +with bitterness that his trip was anything but one +of pleasure. There was still one chord left to pull +and that was Tom Hardy, who in a way was voucher +for this interloper, and the Georgian's next question +was: "Do you know Tom well?"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean, Mr. Hardy?" the stranger asked, +and the Georgian replied. "In course, but I allus +calls him Tom. Have known him since he wore +gowns. My plantation jines old man Hardy's."</p> + +<p>There was no doubt, now, that the stranger was +interested, and had his companion been a close observer +he would have seen the kindling light in his +eyes, and the spots of red beginning to show on his +face. Whether to talk or not was a question in his +mind. Cowardice prompted him to remain silent, +and something which defied silence prompted him at +last to talk.</p> + +<p>"I was with Mr. Thomas Hardy in college," he +said, "and I have visited him in his home. He is my +best friend."</p> + +<p>"To-be-sure!" the Georgian said, hitching nearer +to the stranger, as if there was a bond of relationship +between them.</p> + +<p>The man had given no inkling of the date of his +visit, and as it was some years since Tom was graduated +the Georgian did not dream of associating the +visit with a few weeks before, when he had heard that +a high buck was at old man Hardy's and with +Tom was painting the neighborhood red and scandalizing +some of the more sober citizens with his excesses. +This quiet stranger with the proud face +and hard eyes never helped paint anything. It was +somebody else, whose name he had forgotten, but of +whom he went on to speak in not very complimentary +terms.</p> + +<p>"A high buck, I never happened to see squar in the +face," he said. "Had glimpses of him in the distance +ridin' ole man Hardy's sorrel, like he was crazy, and +oncet reelin' in the saddle. Yes, sar, <i>reelin'</i>, as if he'd +took too much. I b'lieve in a drink when you are dry, +but Lord land, whar's the sense of <i>reelin'</i>? I don't +see it, do you?"</p> + +<p>The stranger said he didn't and the Georgian went +on, now in a lower, confidential voice.</p> + +<p>"I actually hearn that this chap,—what the deuce +was his name? Have you an idee? He was from the +North?"</p> + +<p>If the stranger had an <i>idee</i> he didn't give it, and the +Georgian continued: "These two young chaps—Tom +ain't right young though, same age as you, I +reckon—called on some Cracker girls back in the +woods and the Northern feller staid thar two or three +days. Think of it—Cracker girls! Now, if'ted been +niggers, instead of Crackers!"</p> + +<p>"Ugh!" the stranger exclaimed, wakened into +something like life. "Don't talk any more about that +man! He must have been a sneak and villain and a +low-lived dog, and if there is any meaner name you +can give him, do so. It will fit him well, and please +me."</p> + +<p>"Call him a Cracker, but a Florida one. Georgy +is mostly better—not up to so much snuff, you know," +the Georgian suggested, while the Northerner drew a +quick breath and thought of Mandy Ann, and wondered +where she was and if he should see her again.</p> + +<p>He felt as if there was not a dry thread in one of his +garments when his companion left him, and returning +to his friends reported that he hadn't made much out +of the chap. He wasn't from New York, nor Boston, +nor Chicago, and "I don't know where in thunder +he is from, nor his name nuther. I forgot to ask it, +he was so stiff and offish. He was in college with +Tom Hardy and visited him years ago; that's all I +know," the planter said, and after that the stranger +was left mostly to himself, while the passengers busied +themselves with gossip, and the scenery, and trying to +keep cool.</p> + +<p>The day was hot and grew hotter as the sun rose +higher in the heavens, and the stranger felt very uncomfortable, +but it was not the heat which affected +him as much as the terrible network of circumstances +which he had woven for himself. It was the harvest +he was reaping as the result of one false step, when +his brain was blurred and he was somebody besides +the elegant gentleman whom people felt it an honor +to know. He was himself now, crushed inwardly, but +carrying himself just as proudly as if no mental fire +were consuming him, making him think seriously +more than once of jumping into the river and ending +it all. He was very luxurious and fastidious in his +tastes, and would have nothing unseemly in his home +at the North, where he had only to say to his servants +come and they came, and where, if he died on his +rosewood bedstead with silken hangings, they would +make him a grand funeral—smother him with flowers, +and perhaps photograph him as he lay in state. +Here, if he ended his life, in the river, with alligators +and turtles, he would be fished up a sorry spectacle, +and laid upon the deck with weeds and ferns clinging +to him, and no one knowing who he was till they sent +for Tom Hardy at that moment hurrying back to his +home in Georgia, from which he had come at the +earnest request of his friend. He did not like the +looks of himself bedraggled and wet, and dead, on the +deck of the "Hatty," with that curious crowd looking +at him, Mandy Ann with the rest. Strange that +thoughts of Mandy Ann should flit through his mind +as he decided against the cold bath in the St. John's +and <i>to face</i> it, whatever it was. Occasionally some +one spoke to him, and he always answered politely, +and once offered his chair to a lady who seemed to be +looking for one. But she declined it, and he was +again left alone. Once he went to the other end of +the boat for a little exercise and change, he said to +himself, but really for a chance of seeing Mandy Ann, +who of all the passengers interested him the most. +But Mandy Ann was not in sight, nor did he see her +again till the boat was moving slowly up to the wharf +at Enterprise, and with her braided tags of hair standing +up like little horns, and her worldly goods tied +up in a cotton handkerchief, she stood respectfully +behind the waiting crowd, each eager to be the first +to land.</p> + +<p>The Brock House was full—"not so much as a cot +or a shelf for one more," the clerk said to the stranger, +who was last at the desk. He had lingered behind the +others to watch Mandy Ann, with a half-formed resolution +to ask her to direct him to "ole Miss Harrises" +if, as Ted had said, she was going there. Mandy +Ann did not seem to be in any hurry and sauntered +leisurely up the lane a little beyond the Brock House, +where she sat down and stretching out her bare feet +began to suck an orange Ted had given her at parting, +telling her that though she was "an onery nigger +who belonged to a Cracker, she had rather far eyes +and a mouth that couldn't be beat for sass, adding +that he reckoned that thar tall man who didn't speak +to nobody might be wantin' to buy her, as he had +done ast him oncet how far it was to the clarin', an' +he couldn't want nobody thar but her." Mandy +Ann had taken the orange, but had spurned what +Ted had said of the tall man's intentions. She had +been told too many times, during her brief stay in +Jacksonville as a nurse girl, that she was of no manner +of account to believe any one wished to buy her, and +she paid no attention to the tall man, except to see +that he was the last to enter the hotel, where he was +told there was no room for him.</p> + +<p>"But I must have a place to sleep," he said. "It +is only for the night. I return on the 'Hatty.'"</p> + +<p>"Why not stay on her then? Some do who only +come up for the trip," was the clerk's reply.</p> + +<p>This was not a bad idea, although the stranger +shuddered as he thought of his ill-smelling stateroom +and short berth. Still it was better than camping out +doors, or—the clearing—where he might be accommodated. +He shuddered again when he thought of +that possibility—thanked the clerk for his suggestion—and +declined the book which had been pushed +towards him for his name. No use to register if he +was not to be a guest; no use to tell his name anyway, +if he could avoid it, as he had successfully on the boat, +and with a polite good-evening he stepped outside +just as Mandy Ann, having finished her orange, peel +and all, gathered herself up with a view to starting +for home.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> +THE PALMETTO CLEARING</h2> + +<p>The stranger had asked Ted on the boat, when he +came with some lemonade he had ordered, how far it +was from the Brock House to the palmetto clearing, +and if there was any conveyance to take him there. +Ted had stared at him with wonder—first, as to what +such as he could want at the clearing, and second, if +he was crazy enough to think there was a conveyance. +From being a petted cabin boy, Ted had grown to be +something of a spoiled one, and was what the passengers +thought rather too "peart" in his ways, while +some of the crew insisted that he needed "takin' +down a button hole lower," whatever that might +mean.</p> + +<p>"Bless yer soul, Mas'r," he said, in reply to the +question. "Thar ain't no conveyance to the clarin'. +It's off in de woods a piece, right smart. You sticks +to de road a spell, till you comes to a grave—what +used to be—but it's done sunk in now till nuffin's thar +but de stun an' some blackb'ry bushes clamberin' over +it. Then you turns inter de wust piece of road in +Floridy, and turns agin whar some yaller jasmine is +growin', an fore long you're dar."</p> + +<p>The direction was not very lucid, and the stranger +thought of asking the clerk for something more +minute, but the surprise in Ted's eyes when he inquired +the way to the clearing had put him on his +guard against a greater surprise in the clerk. He +would find his way somehow, and he went out into the +yard and looked in the direction of the sandy road +which led into the woods and which Mandy Ann was +taking, presumably on her way home. A second time +the thought came to him that she might direct him, +and he started rather rapidly after her, calling as he +went: "I say girl, I want you. Do you hear?"</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann heard, gave one glance over her +shoulder, saw who was following her, and began at +once to run, her bare feet and ankles throwing up the +sand, and her sunbonnet falling from her head down +her back, where it flapped from side to side as she +ran. She remembered what Ted had said of the +stranger, who might be thinking of buying her; this +was possible after all, as he had said he wanted her, +and though her home in the clearing was not one of +luxury, it was one of ease and indolence, and she had +no desire for a new one—certainly not with this man +whose face did not attract her. Just why she ran, +she did not know. It was of no use to appeal to <i>ole +missus</i>, who would not know whether she belonged +to her or some one else. Miss Dory was her only +hope. With promises of future good behavior and +abstinence from pilfering and lying, and badness generally, +she might enlist her sympathy and protection +till Jake came home, when all would be right. So she +sped on like a deer, glancing back occasionally to see +the stranger following her with rapid strides which, +however, did not avail to overtake her. The afternoon +was very warm—the road sandy and uneven—and +he soon gave up the chase, wondering why the +girl ran so fast, as if afraid of him. The last sight he +had of her was of her woolly head, turning off from the +road to the right, where it disappeared behind some +thick undergrowth. Ted had said, "Turn at the +grave," and he walked on till he reached the spot, +and stood by the low railing enclosing a sunken +grave, whether of man or woman he could not tell, +the lettering on the discolored stone was so obscure. +Studying it very carefully, he thought he made out +"Mrs." before the moss-blurred name.</p> + +<p>"A woman," he said, with a feeling how terrible it +must be to be buried and left alone in that dreary, +sandy waste, with no human habitation nearer than +the Brock House, and no sound of life passing by, +except from the same place, unless—and he started, +as he noticed for the first time what Ted had said was +the worst road in Florida, and what was scarcely +more than a footpath leading off to the right, and to +the clearing, of course—and he must follow it past +tangled weeds and shrubs, and briers, and dwarf palmettoes, +stumps of which impeded his progress.</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann had entirely disappeared, but here and +there in the sand he saw her footprints, the toes +spread wide apart, and knew he was right. Suddenly +there came a diversion, and he leaned against a tree +and breathed hard and fast, as one does when a shock +comes unexpectedly. His ear had caught the sound +of voices at no great distance from him. A negro's +voice—Mandy Ann's, he was sure—eager, excited, +and pleading; and another, soft and low, and reassuring, +but wringing the sweat from him in great drops, +and making his heart beat rapidly. He knew who +was with Mandy Ann, and that she, too, was hurrying +on to the clearing, still in the distance. Had there +been any doubt of her identity, it would have been +swept away when, through an opening in the trees, +he caught sight of a slender girlish figure, clad in the +homely garments of what Ted called poorwhite trash, +and of which he had some knowledge. There was, +however, a certain grace in the movements of the +girl which moved him a little, for he was not blind +to any point of beauty in a woman, and the beauty +of this girl, hurrying on so fast, had been his ruin, +as he in one sense had been hers.</p> + +<p>"Eudora!" he said, with a groan, and with a half +resolve to turn back rather than go on.</p> + +<p>Tom Hardy in their talk while the boat waited for +them at Palatka, had told him what <i>not</i> to do, and he +was there to follow Tom's advice—though, to do him +justice, there was a thought in his heart that possibly +he might do what he knew he ought to do, in spite of +Tom.</p> + +<p>"I'll wait and see, and if—" he said at last, as he +began to pick his way over the palmetto stumps and +ridges of sand till he came upon the clearing.</p> + +<p>It was an open space of two or three acres, cleared +from tanglewood and dwarf palmettoes. In the centre +was a log-house, larger and more pretentious than +many log-houses which he had seen in the South. A +Marshal Niel had climbed up one corner to the roof, +and twined itself around the chimney, giving a rather +picturesque effect to the house, and reminding the +stranger of some of the cabins he had seen in Ireland, +with ivy growing over them. There was an attempt +at a flower garden where many roses were blooming. +Some one was fond of flowers, and the thought gave +the stranger a grain of comfort, for a love of flowers +was associated in his mind with an innate refinement +in the lover, and there was for a moment a tinge of +brightness in the darkness settling upon his future. +Around the house there was no sign of life or stir, +except a brood of well-grown chickens, which, with +their mother, were huddled on the door step, evidently +contemplating an entrance into the house, the +door of which was open, as were the shutters to the +windows, which were minus glass, as was the fashion +of many old Florida houses in the days before the +Civil War. With a shoo to the chickens, which sent +some into the house and others flying into the yard, +the stranger stepped to the door and knocked, once +very gently, then more decidedly—then, as there +came no response, he ventured in, and driving out the +chickens, one of which had mounted upon a table +and was pecking at a few crumbs of bread left there, +he sat down and looked about him. In the loft which +could hardly be dignified with the name chamber, he +heard a low murmur of voices, and the sound of footsteps +moving rapidly, as if some one were in a hurry. +The room in which he sat was evidently living and +dining-room both, and was destitute of everything +which he deemed necessary to comfort. He had been +in a Cracker's house before, and it seemed to him now +that his heart turned over when he recalled his visits +there, and his utter disregard of his surroundings.</p> + +<p>"I was a fool, and blind, then; but I can see now," +he said to himself, as he looked around at the marks +of poverty, or shiftlessness, or both, and contrasted +them with his home in the North.</p> + +<p>The floor was bare, with the exception of a mat laid +before the door leading into another and larger room, +before one of the windows of which a white curtain +was gently blowing in the wind. A rough, uncovered +table pushed against the wall, three or four chairs, +and a hair-cloth settee completed the furniture, +with the exception of a low rocking-chair, in which +sat huddled and wrapped in a shawl a little old woman +whose yellow, wrinkled face told of the snuff habit, +and bore a strong resemblance to a mummy, except +that the woman wore a cap with a fluted frill, and +moved her head up and down like Christmas toys of +old men and women. She was evidently asleep, as +she gave no sign of consciousness that any one was +there.</p> + +<p>"Old Miss," the stranger said, and his breath again +came gaspingly, and Tom Hardy's advice looked +more and more reasonable, while he cursed himself +for the fool he had been, and would have given all he +was worth, and even half his life, to be rid of this +thing weighing him down like a nightmare from +which he could not awaken.</p> + +<p>He was roused at last by the sound of bare feet +on the stairs in a corner of the room. Some one was +coming, and in a moment Mandy Ann stood before +him, her eyes shining, and her teeth showing white +against the ebony of her skin. In her rush through +the woods Mandy Ann had come upon her young +mistress looking for the few berries which grew upon +the tangled bushes.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dory, Miss Dory!" she exclaimed, clutching +the girl's arm with such force that the pail fell to the +ground and the berries were spilled, "you ain't gwine +for ter sell me to nobody? Say you ain't, an' fo' de +Lawd I'll never touch nothin', nor lie, nor sass ole +Miss, nor make faces and mumble like she does. I'll +be a fust cut nigger, an' say my prars ebery night. +I'se done got a new one down ter Jacksonville. Say +you ain't."</p> + +<p>In her surprise Miss Dory did not at first speak; +then, shaking Mandy Ann's hand from her arm and +pushing back her sunbonnet she said: "What do +you mean, and where did you come from? The +'Hatty,' I s'pose, but she must be late. I'd given +you up. Who's gwine ter buy yer?"</p> + +<p>"Ted done tole me mabby de man on de boat from +de Norf, what got on ter Palatka, an' done as't the +way hyar, might be after me—an'—"</p> + +<p>She got no further, for her own arm was now +clutched as her mistress's had been, while Miss Dory +asked, "What man? How did he look? Whar is +he?" and her eyes, shining with expectancy, looked +eagerly around.</p> + +<p>Very rapidly Mandy Ann told all she knew of the +stranger, while the girl's face grew radiant as she +listened. "An' he done holler and say how he want +me an' follered me, an' when I turn off at the grave +he was still follerin' me. He's comin' hyar. You +won't sell me, shoo'," Mandy Ann said, and her mistress +replied, "Sell you? No. It was one of Ted's +lies. He is my friend. He's comin' to see me. +Hurry!"</p> + +<p>Eudora was racing now through the briers, and +weeds, and palmetto stumps, and dragging Mandy +Ann with her.</p> + +<p>"Never mind granny," she said, when they +reached the house and Mandy stopped to say how +d'ye to the old woman in the chair. "Come upstairs +with me and help me change my gown."</p> + +<p>"Faw de Lawd's sake, is he yer beau?" Mandy +Ann asked, as she saw the excitement of her mistress, +who was tearing around the room, now laughing, +now dashing the tears away and giving the most +contradicting orders as to what she was to wear and +Mandy Ann was to get for her.</p> + +<p>They heard the two knocks and knew that some +one had entered the house, but Mandy Ann was too +busy blacking a pair of boots to go at once, as she +had her hands to wash, and yet, although it seemed to +him an age, it was scarcely two minutes before she +came down the stairs, nimble as a cat, and bobbed +before him with a courtesy nearly to the floor. Her +mistress had said to her. "Mind your manners. You +say you have learned a heap in Jacksonville."</p> + +<p>"To be shoo'. I've seen de quality thar in Miss +Perkins's house," Mandy Ann replied, and hence the +courtesy she thought rather fetching, although she +shook a little as she confronted the stranger, whose +features never relaxed in the least, and who did not +answer her. "How d'ye, Mas'r," which she felt it +incumbent to say, as there was no one else to receive +him.</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann was very bright, and as she knew no +restraint in her Florida home, when alone with her +old Miss and young Miss, she was apt to be rather +familiar for a negro slave, and a little inclined to +humor. She knew whom the gentleman had come +to see, but when he said. "Is your mistress at +home?" she turned at once to the piece of parchment +in the rocking-chair and replied. "To be shoo. Dar +she is in de char over dar. Dat's ole Miss Lucy."</p> + +<p>Going up to the chair, she screamed in the woman's +ear, "Wake up, Miss Lucy. I'se done comed home +an' thar's a gemman to see you? Wake up!"</p> + +<p>She shook the bundle of shawls vigorously, until +the old lady was thoroughly roused and glared at her +with her dark, beady eyes, while she mumbled, "You +hyar, shakin' me so, you limb. You, Mandy Ann! +Whar did you come from?"</p> + +<p>"Jacksonville, in course. Whar'd you think? An' +hyar's a gemman come to see you, I tell you. Wake +up an' say how d'ye."</p> + +<p>"Whar is he?" the old woman asked, beginning +to show some interest, while the stranger arose and +coming forward said, "Excuse me, madam. It is +the young lady I wish to see—your daughter."</p> + +<p>"She hain't her mother. She's her granny," +Mandy Ann chimed in with a good deal of contempt +in her voice, as she nodded to the figure in the chair, +who, with some semblance of what she once was, put +out a skinny hand and said, "I'm very pleased to see +you. Call Dory. She'll know what to do."</p> + +<p>This last to Mandy Ann, who flirted away from her +and said to the stranger, "She hain't no sense +mostly—some days more, some days littler, an' to-day +she's littler. You wants to see Miss Dory? She's +upstars changin' her gown, 'case she knows you're +hyar. I done tole her, an' her face lit right up like +de sun shinin' in de mawnin'. Will you gim me your +caird?"</p> + +<p>This was Mandy Ann's master-stroke at good manners. +She had seen such things at "Miss Perkins's" +in Jacksonville, and had once or twice taken a card +on a silver tray to that lady, and why not bring the +fashion to her own home, if it were only a log-cabin, +and she a bare-foot, bare-legged waitress, instead of +Mrs. Perkins's maid Rachel, smart in slippers and cap, +and white apron. For a moment the stranger's face +relaxed into a broad smile at the ludicrousness of the +situation. Mandy Ann, who was quick of comprehension, +understood the smile and hastened to explain.</p> + +<p>"I done larn't a heap of things at Miss Perkins's, +which we can't do hyar, 'case of ole Miss bein' so +quar. Miss Dory'd like 'em right well."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," the stranger said, beginning to have +a good deal of respect for the poor slave girl trying +to keep up the dignity of her family.</p> + +<p>Taking a card from his case he handed it to Mandy +Ann, who looked at it carefully as if reading the +name, although she held it wrong side up. There +was no silver tray to take it on—there was no tray at +all—but there was a china plate kept as an ornament +on a shelf, and on this Mandy Ann placed the card, +and then darted up the stairs, finding her mistress +nearly dressed, and waiting for her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, his card? He gave it to you?" Eudora said, +flushing with pleasure that he had paid her this compliment, +and pressing her lips to the name when +Mandy Ann did not see her.</p> + +<p>"In course he done gin it to me. Dat's de way wid +de quality both Souf and Norf. We livin' hyar in de +clarin' doan know noffin'." Mandy Ann replied.</p> + +<p>On the strength of her three months sojourn with +Mrs. Perkins, who was undeniably quality, she felt +herself capable of teaching many things to her young +mistress, who had seldom repressed her, and who now +made no answer except to ask, "How do I look?"</p> + +<p>She had hesitated a moment as to the dress she +would wear in place of the one discarded. She had +very few to select from, and finally took down a white +gown sacred to her, because of the one occasion on +which she had worn it. It was a coarse muslin, but +made rather prettily with satin bows on the sleeves, +and shoulders, and neck. Several times, since she had +hung it on a peg under a sheet to keep it from getting +soiled, she had looked at it and stroked it, wondering +if she would ever wear it again. Now she took it +down and smoothed the bows of ribbon, and brushed +a speck from the skirt, while there came to her eyes +a rush of glad tears as she put it on, with a thought +that he would like her in it, and then tried to see its +effect in the little eight by twelve cracked glass upon +the wall. All she could see was her head and shoulders, +and so she asked the opinion of Mandy Ann, +who answered quickly, "You done look beautiful—some +like de young ladies in Jacksonville, and some +like you was gwine to be married."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I am," Eudora replied, with a joyous +ring in her voice. "Would you like to have me get +married?"</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann hesitated a moment and then said, +"I'se promised never to tole you no mo' lies, so dis +is de truffe, ef I was to drap dead. I'd like you to +marry some de gemmans in Jacksonville, or some +dem who comes to de Brock House, but not him +downstars!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" Eudora asked, and there was a little +sharpness in her voice.</p> + +<p>"'Case," Mandy Ann began, "you as't me, an' fo' +de Lawd I mus' tell de truffe. He's very tall an' gran', +an' w'ars fine close, an' han's is white as a cotton +bat, but his eyes doan set right in his head. They +look hard, an' not a bit smilin', an' he looks proud as +ef he thought we was dirt, an' dem white han's—I +do' know, but pears like they'd squeeze body an' soul +till you done cry wid pain. Doan you go for to marry +him, Miss Dory, will you?"</p> + +<p>At first Mandy Ann had opened and shut her black +fingers, as she showed how the stranger's white hands +would squeeze one's body and soul; then they closed +round her mistress's arm as she said, "Doan you +marry him, Miss Dory, will you?"</p> + +<p>"No," Eudora answered, "don't be a silly, but go +down and bring me a rose, if you can find one two-thirds +open. I wore one with this dress before and +he liked it, and as't me to give it to him. Mebby he +will now," she thought, while waiting for Mandy +Ann, who soon came back with a beautiful rose hidden +under her apron.</p> + +<p>"Strues I'm bawn, I b'lieve he's done gone to sleep +like ole Miss—he's settin' thar so still," she said.</p> + +<p>But he was far from being asleep. He had gone +over again and again with everything within his range +of vision, from the old woman nodding in her chair, +to the bucket of water standing outside the door, with +a gourd swimming on the top, and he was wondering +at the delay, and feeling more and more that he +should take Tom Hardy's advice, when he heard steps +on the stairs, which he knew were not Mandy Ann's, +and he rose to meet Eudora.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> +THE INTERVIEW</h2> + +<p>She was a short, slender little girl, not more than +sixteen or seventeen, with a sweet face and soft brown +eyes which drooped as she came forward, and then +looked at him shyly through a mist of tears which she +bravely kept back.</p> + +<p>"How d'ye. I'm so glad to see you," she said, +looking up at him with quivering lips which were so +unquestionably asking for a kiss that he gave it, while +her face beamed with delight at the caress, and she +did not mind how cold, and stiff, and reserved he grew +the next moment.</p> + +<p>He did not like her "How d'ye," although he knew +how common a salutation it was at the South. It +savored of Mandy Ann, and her accent was like +Mandy Ann's, and her white dress instead of pleasing +him filled him with disgust for himself, as he remembered +when he first saw it and thought it fine. She +had worn a rose then, and he had asked her for it, +and put it in his pocket, like an insane idiot, Tom +had said. She wore a rose now, but he didn't ask her +for it, and he dropped her hand almost as soon as +he took it, and called himself a brute when he saw +the color come and go in her face, and how she +trembled as she sat beside him. He knew she was +pretty, and graceful, and modest, and that she loved +him as no other woman ever would, but she was untrained, +and uneducated, and unused to the world—his +world, which would scan her with cold, wondering +eyes. He couldn't do it, and he wouldn't—certainly, +not yet. He would wait and see what came of his +plan which he must unfold, and tell her why he had +come. But not there where the old woman might +hear and understand, and where he felt sure Mandy +Ann was listening. She had stolen down the stairs +and gone ostensibly to meet a woman whom Eudora +called Sonsie, and who, she said, came every day to do +the work now Jake was away.</p> + +<p>"Who is Jake?" the man asked, and Eudora replied, +"The negro who has taken care of us since I +can remember. He is free, but does for us, and is in +Richmond now, valleying for a gentleman who pays +him big wage, and he spends it all for us."</p> + +<p>The stranger flushed at her words indicative of her +station, and then suggested that they go outside +where they could be sure of being alone, as he had +much to say to her.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you will walk part way with me on my +return to the 'Hatty,'" he said, glancing at his watch +and feeling surprised to find how late it was.</p> + +<p>Instantly Eudora, who had seemed so listless, woke +up with all the hospitality of her Southern nature +roused to action. "Surely you'll have supper with +me," she said. "Sonsie is here to get it and will have +it directly."</p> + +<p>There was no good reason for refusing, although +he revolted against taking supper in that humble +cabin, with possibly that old woman at the table; but +he swallowed his pride and, signifying his assent, went +outside, where they came upon Mandy Ann in a +crouching attitude under the open casement. She +was listening, of course, but sprang to her feet as the +two appeared, and said in response to her mistress's +"What are you doing here?" "Nothin', Miss Dory, +fo' de Lawd, nothing, but huntin' on de groun' for +somethin' what done drap out de windy upstars."</p> + +<p>The stranger knew she was lying, and Eudora +knew it, but said nothing except to bid the girl get up +and assist Sonsie with the supper. Mandy Ann had +once said of her mistress to Jake, "She hain't no +sperrit to spar," and Jake had replied, "Lucky for +you, Mandy Ann, that she hain't no sperrit, for ef she +had she'd of done pulled every har out of your head +afore now."</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann knew that neither her hair, nor any +part of her person, was in danger from her young +mistress, and after a few more scratches in the dirt +after an imaginary lost article, she arose and joined +Sonsie, to whom Eudora gave a few instructions, and +then with her guest walked across the clearing to a +bench which Jake had made for her, and which was +partially sheltered by a tall palm. Here they sat down +while he unfolded his plan, plainly and concisely, and +leaving no chance for opposition, had the crushed, +quivering creature at his side felt inclined to make it. +As Mandy Ann had said she hadn't much spirit, and +what little she had was slain as she listened, while her +face grew white as her dress, and her hands were +linked together on her lap. The sun had just gone +down, and the full moon was rising and throwing its +light upon the clearing and the girl, whose face and +attitude touched her companion, cold and hard as he +was, but he must carry his point.</p> + +<p>"You see it is for the best and you promise; you +will remember," he said, taking one of her hands and +wondering to find it so cold.</p> + +<p>"Yes, oh, yes," she replied, every word a gasp. "I +thought—I hoped—you had done come to take,—or +to stay—not here, but somewhar—but I see you +can't. You know best. I ain't fittin' to go yet, but +I'll try, and I promise all you ask; but don't let it be +long. The days are so lonesome since I come home, +and things seem different since I knew you; but I +promise, and will remember and do my best."</p> + +<p>Half his burden rolled away. He could be very +kind now, for he knew he could trust her to the death, +and putting his arm around her, he drew her close to +him and said, "You are a good girl, Eudora. I shall +not forget it; but why do you tremble so? Are you +cold?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—no," she answered, nestling so close to him +that the rose in her dress was loosened and fell to the +ground.</p> + +<p>He picked it up, but did not put it in his pocket as +a keepsake. He gave it back to her, and she fastened +it again to her dress, saying, "I do' know why I +shake, only it seems's if somethin' had died that I +hoped for. But it is all right, becase you care for +me. You love me."</p> + +<p>She lifted up her face on which the moonlight fell, +making a picture the man never forgot to the last day +of his life. He did not tell her he loved her, he could +not; but for answer he stooped and kissed her, and +she—poor, simple girl—was satisfied.</p> + +<p>"If I could tell Jake, it would be some comfort," +she said at last, timidly, and her companion answered +quickly. "Tell Jake! Never! You must not be too +familiar with your servants."</p> + +<p>"Jake is more than a servant. He is everything +to me," the girl answered, with rising spirit. "He +would die for me, and if anything happened to me +and you did not come, I think he would kill you."</p> + +<p>There was something of Southern fire in her eyes as +she said this, which made the stranger laugh as he +replied, "Nothing will happen, and I'm not afraid of +Jake."</p> + +<p>In his heart he was glad the negro was not there, +for something warned him that in the poor black man +he might find a formidable obstacle to his plan. +Meanwhile in the house Mandy Ann had been busy +with the supper-table. They ought to have a good +deal of light, she thought, remembering the lamps at +Mrs. Perkins's, and as there were only two candlesticks +in the house her fertile brain had contrived +two more from some large round potatoes, cutting a +flat piece from one end, making a hole in the centre +to hold the candle, and wrapping some white paper +around the standard. She had taken great pains with +the table, trying to imitate Mrs. Perkins's, and the +imitation was rather satisfactory to herself. The best +cloth had been brought out, and though it was yellow +with disuse it showed what it had been. A few roses +in a pitcher were in the centre of the table, and ranged +around them were the four candles, spluttering and +running down as tallow candles are apt to do. The +dishes troubled her, they were so thick and nicked +in so many places, that it was difficult to find one +which was whole. The stranger had the china plate, +which had done duty as a tray for his card, and he had +the only plated fork in the house: a Christmas gift +from Jake to the ole Miss, who scarcely appreciated it, +but insisted that it be wrapped in several folds of +tissue paper and kept in her bureau drawer. Mandy +Ann did not ask if she could have it. She took it and +rubbed it with soft sand to remove some discolorations +and laid it, with a horn-handled knife, by the +china plate.</p> + +<p>"Ef we only had napkins," she said, while Sonsie, +who had lived all her life near the clearing, and knew +nothing of the fashions of the world, asked what napkins +were. With a toss of her head indicative of her +superior knowledge, Mandy Ann replied, "You'd +know if you'd lived wid de quality in Jacksonville. +Miss Perkins's allus had 'em. Dey's squar little +towels what you holds in yer lap to wipe yer fingers +on when you've done eatin'. Dat's what they is, an' +de gemman or to hev one."</p> + +<p>"Can't he wipe his hands on de table cloth, for +oncet?" Sonsie asked, with a sudden inspiration +which was received with great scorn by Mandy Ann, +to whom there had also come an inspiration on which +she at once acted.</p> + +<p>In one of ole Miss's bureau drawers was a large +plain linen handkerchief which was never used. It +would serve the purpose nicely, and Mandy Ann +brought it out, holding it behind her lest it should be +seen by the old lady, who sometimes saw more than +Mandy Ann cared to have her see. It was rather +yellow like the table cloth, and the creases where it +was folded were a little dark, but Mandy Ann turned +it, and refolded and pressed it, and laid it on the china +plate, while Sonsie looked on and admired. Everything +was in readiness, and Mandy Ann called across +the clearing. "Hallo, Miss Dory. Supper's done +served."</p> + +<p>She had caught on to a good many things at Miss +Perkins's, and "served" was one of them. "I don't +s'pose Miss Dory will understan'," she thought, "but +he will, and see dat dis nigger know sumptin'."</p> + +<p>It was a novel situation in which the stranger found +himself, seated at that table with Eudora presiding +and Mandy Ann waiting upon them, her tray a +dinner-plate which she flourished rather conspicuously. +He was quick to observe and nothing escaped +him, from the improvised candlesticks to the napkin +by his china plate. He knew it was a handkerchief, +and smiled inwardly as he wondered what Tom +Hardy would say if he could see him now. The old +lady was not at the table. Mandy Ann had managed +that and attended to her in her chair, but as if eating +brightened her faculties, she began to look about +her and talk, and ask why she couldn't sit at her own +table.</p> + +<p>"'Case thar's a gemman hyar an' you draps yer +vittles so," Mandy Ann said in a whisper, with her +lips close to the old woman's ear.</p> + +<p>"Gentleman? Who's he? Whar's he from?" the +old woman asked—forgetting that she had spoken to +him.</p> + +<p>"I told you oncet he's Miss Dory's frien' an' from +de Norf. Do be quiet," Mandy Ann blew into the +deaf ears.</p> + +<p>"From the Nawth. I don't like the Nawth, 'case +I—" the old lady began, but Mandy Ann choked her +with a muffin, and she did not finish her sentence and +tell why she disliked the North.</p> + +<p>Eudora's face was scarlet, but she did not interfere. +Her grandmother was in better hands than hers, and +more forceful.</p> + +<p>"Granny is queer sometimes," she said by way of +apology, while her guest bowed in token that he +understood, and the meal proceeded in quiet with one +exception. Granny was choked with eating too fast, +and Mandy Ann struck her on her back and shook +her up, and dropped her dinner-plate and broke it in +her excitement.</p> + +<p>"For de Lawd's sake, 'tan't no use," she said, +gathering up the pieces and taking them to the +kitchen, where Sonsie laughed till the tears ran at +Mandy Ann's attempt "to be gran'," and its result.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the stranger ate Sonsie's corn cakes and +muffins, and said they were good, and drank muddy +coffee, sweetened with brown sugar out of a big +thick cup, and thought of his dainty service at home, +and glanced at the girl opposite him with a great pity, +which, however, did not move him one whit from his +purpose. He had told her his plan and she had accepted +it, and he told it again when, after supper, she +walked with him through the clearing and the woods +to the main road which led to the river. He did the +talking, while she answered yes or no, with a sound +of tears in her voice. When they reached the highway +they stopped by the sunken grave, and leaning +against the fence which inclosed it, Eudora removed +her sunbonnet, letting the moon shine upon her face, +as it had done when she sat in the clearing. It was +very white but there were no tears now in her eyes. +She was forcing them back and she tried to smile as +she said, "You are very kind, and I think I understand +what you want, and here by this grave I promise +all you ask, and will do my best—my very best."</p> + +<p>Her lips began to quiver and her voice to break, +for the visit from which she had expected so much +had proved a blank, and her high hopes were dead as +the woman by whose grave she stood. She had +folded her hands one over the other upon the top +rail of the fence, and her companion looked at them +and thought how small they were and shapely, too, +although brown with the work she had to do when +Jake and Mandy Ann were both gone and Sonsie +came only at meal times. He was not a brute. He +was simply a proud, cold, selfish man, whose will had +seldom been crossed, and who found himself in a tight +place from which he could not wholly extricate himself. +He was sorry for Eudora, for he guessed how +desolate she would be when he was gone, and there +was nothing left but that home in the clearing, with +old granny and Mandy Ann. He had not seen Jake, +of whom Eudora now spoke, saying, "Our house +never seemed so poor to me till I seen you in it. It +will be better when Jake comes, for he is to fix it up—he +knows how."</p> + +<p>It was the only excuse she had made, and she did +it falteringly, while her companion's heart rose up in +his throat and made him very uncomfortable, as he +thought of Jake and Mandy Ann caring for this +girl, while his income was larger than he could spend. +It had not occurred to him to offer her money till that +moment, and he did not know now that she would +take it. Turning his back to her as if looking at +something across the road, he counted a roll of bills, +and turning back took one of the little brown hands +resting on the rail in his and pressed the roll into it. +Just for an instant the slim fingers held fast to his +hand—then, as she felt the bills and saw what they +were, she drew back and dropped them upon the sand.</p> + +<p>"I can't; no, I can't," she said, when he urged +them upon her, telling her it was his right to give +and hers to take.</p> + +<p>As usual his will prevailed, and when at last he said +good-by and walked rapidly towards the river, while +she went slowly through the woods and across the +clearing to the log-house, where Mandy Ann was +having a frightful time getting ole Miss to bed, she +had in her possession more money than Jake would +earn in months.</p> + +<p>"I would send it all back," she thought, "if we +didn't need it badly, and he said it was right for me +to take it, but some of it <i>must</i> go. I'll send it just +before the 'Hatty' sails."</p> + +<p>There was no one to send but Mandy Ann, who, +after many misgivings on the part of her mistress, was +entrusted with a part of the money, with injunctions +neither to look at nor lose it, but to hold it tight +in her hand until she gave it to the gentleman. +Eudora had thought of writing a note, but the effort +was too great. Mandy Ann could say all she wanted +to have said, and in due time the negress started for +the boat, nothing loth to visit it again and bandy +words with Ted. The "Hatty" was blowing off +steam preparatory to starting, when a pair of bare +legs and feet were seen racing down the lane to the +landing, and Mandy Ann, waving her hand, was calling +out, "Hol' on dar, you cap'n. I'se sometin' berry +'portant for de gemman. Hol' on, I say," and she +dashed across the plank, nearly knocking Ted down +in her headlong haste. "Whar is 'ee?" she gasped, +and continued, "Leg-go, I tell ye. Le' me be," as +Ted seized her arm, asking what she wanted, and if +she was going back to Jacksonville.</p> + +<p>"No; leg-go, I tell you. I wants the man from de +Norf, what comed to see Miss Dory. I've sometin' +for him very partic'lar."</p> + +<p>She found him in his seat at the rear of the boat, +where he had sat on his way up, and had again appropriated +to himself, with no one protesting or noticing +him beyond a civil bow. They called him Boston, +knowing no other name, and wondered why he had +visited the Harrises as they knew he had. Ted, who +was allowed nearly as much freedom of speech on the +boat as Mandy Ann had at the clearing, had aired +his opinion that the gentleman wanted to buy Mandy +Ann, but this idea was scouted. Boston was not one +to buy negroes. Probably he was some kin to old +Granny Harris, who had distant connections in the +North, some one suggested. This seemed reasonable, +and the people settled upon it, and gave him a +wide berth as one who wished to be let alone. When +Mandy Ann rushed in and made her way to him +curiosity was again roused, but no one was near +enough to hear her as she put into his hands a paper, +saying breathlessly, "Miss Dory done send some of +it back with thanks, 'case she can't keep it all, and she +wants to know how d'ye, an' I mus' hurry, or dey +carries me off."</p> + +<p>The stranger took the paper, opened it, and +glanced at the bills; then at the girl who stood as if +she expected something. Taking a dollar from his +pocket he gave it to her saying, "Take this and be a +good girl to your young mistress, and now go."</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann did not move, but stood with her lips +twitching and her eyes filling with tears. No one had +ever given her a dollar before, and her better nature +cried out against what she had done.</p> + +<p>"Fo' de Lawd, I can't help 'fessin," she said, +thrusting her hand into her bosom and bringing out +a crumpled bill which she gave to the gentleman, who +saw that it was a ten and looked at her sternly as she +went on: "I done promised Miss Dory I'never tache +a thing, if she wouldn't sell me to you, but dar was +sich a pile, an' I wanted some beads, an' a red han'kercher, +an' a ring, an' I done took one. I don'no +how much, 'case I can't read, an' dat's why I was late +an' had to run so fass. You're good, you is, an' I +muss 'fess—may de Lawd forgive me."</p> + +<p>At this point Ted, who had been on some of the +large boats between Jacksonville and Charleston, and +had heard the cry warning the passengers to leave, +screamed close to her. "All asho', dat's gwine +asho'!" and seizing her arm he led her to the plank +and pushed her on to it, but not until she had shaken +her bill in his face and said, "Licke-e-dar, a dollar! +All mine—he done gin it to me, an' I'se gwine to buy +a gown, an' a han'kercher, an' some shoes, an' some +candy, an' some—" the rest of her intended purchases +were cut short by a jerk of the plank, which +sent her sprawling on her hands and knees, with a +jeer from Ted sounding in her ears. The "Hatty" +was off, and with a feeling of relief the stranger kept +his seat on the rear deck, or staid in his stateroom +until Palatka was reached, where he went on shore, +lifting his hat politely to the passengers, shaking +hands with the captain, and giving a quarter to Ted, +who nearly stood on his head for joy, and could +scarcely wait for the next trip to Enterprise, where +he would find Mandy Ann and tell her of his good +fortune, doubling or trebling the amount as he might +feel inclined at the time.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> +HOPING AND WAITING</h2> + +<p>The curiosity concerning the stranger at Enterprise +had nearly died out when it was roused again to +fever heat by the arrival at the clearing of a little girl, +whom the young mother baptized with bitter tears, +but refused to talk of the father except to say, "It +was all right and people would know it was when he +came, as he was sure to do."</p> + +<p>He didn't come, and the girl's face grew sadder and +whiter, and her eyes had in them always an expectant, +wistful look, as if waiting for some one or something, +which would lift from her the dark cloud under which +she was laboring. Jake, who had returned from +Richmond, suffered nearly as much as she did. His +pride in his family—such as the family was—was +great, and his affection for his young mistress unbounded.</p> + +<p>"Only tell me whar he is an' I'll done fetch him, or +kill him," he said, when in an agony of tears she laid +her baby in his lap and said, "Another for you to +care for till he comes, as I know he will."</p> + +<p>Eudora had said to the stranger that Jake would kill +him if anything happened to her, but now at the mention +of killing him she shuddered and replied, "No, +Jake, not that. You'll know sometime. I can't explain. +I done promised more than once. The last +time was by that grave yonder, when he was sayin' +good-by. It was same as an oath. I was to go to +school and learn to be a lady, but baby has come, and +I can't go now. It will make some differ with him +perhaps, an' he'll come for baby's sake. You b'lieve +me, Jake?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, honey—same as ef 'twas de Lawd himself +talkin' to me, an' I'll take keer of de little one till he +comes, an' if I sees somebody winkin' or hunchin' +de shoulder, I'll—I'll—"</p> + +<p>Jake clenched his fist to show what he would do, +and hugging the baby to him, continued, "Dis my +'ittle chile till its fader comes; doan' you worry. I'se +strong an' kin work, an' Mandy Ann's done got to +stir de stumps more'n she has."</p> + +<p>He cast a threatening look at Mandy Ann, who had +at first been appalled at the advent of the baby, and +for a while kept aloof even from Ted, when the +"Hatty" was in. Then she rallied and, like Jake, was +ready to do battle with any one who hunched their +shoulders at Miss Dory. She had two good square +fights with Ted on the subject, and two or three more +with some of her own class near the clearing, and as +she came off victor each time it was thought wise not +to provoke her, except as Ted from the safety of the +"Hatty's" deck sometimes called to her, when he +saw her on the shore with the baby in her arms and +asked how little Boston was getting along. Mandy +Ann felt that she could kill him, and every one else +who spoke slightingly of her charge. She had told +Jake over and over again all she could remember of +the stranger's visit, and more than she could remember +when she saw how eager he was for every detail. +She told him of the card taken to her mistress on a +china plate, of the table with its four candles, and ole +Miss's handkerchief for a napkin, and of her waiting +just as she had seen it done at Miss Perkins's.</p> + +<p>"The gemman was gran' an' tall, an' mighty fine +spoken, like all dem quality from de Norf," she said, +although in fact he was the first person she had ever +seen from the North; but that made no difference with +Mandy Ann. "He was a gemman—he had given her +a dollar, and he was shoo to come back."</p> + +<p>This she said many times to her young mistress, +keeping her spirits up, helping her to hope against +hope, while the seasons came and went, and letters +were sometimes received or sent, first to Tom Hardy +and forwarded by him either to the North or to Eudora. +There was no lack of money, but this was not +what the young girl wanted. Mandy Ann had said she +had not much <i>sperrit</i>, and she certainly had not enough +to claim her rights, but clung to a morbid fancy of +what was her duty, bearing up bravely for a long +time, trying to learn, trying to read the books recommended +to her in her Northern letters, and sent for by +Jake to Palatka, trying to understand what she read, +and, most pitiful of all, trying to be a lady, fashioned +after her own ideas, and those of Jake and Mandy +Ann. Jake told her what he had seen the quality do +in Richmond, while Mandy Ann boasted her superior +knowledge, because of her three months with Miss +Perkins's in Jacksonville, and rehearsed many times +the way she had seen young ladies "come into de +house, shake han's an' say how d'ye, an' hole' thar +kyard cases so" (illustrating with a bit of block), +"an' thar parasols so" (taking up granny's cane), +"an' set on the aidge of thar char straight up, an' +Miss Perkins bowin' an' smilin' an' sayin' how glad +she was to see 'em, an' den when dey's gone sayin' +sometimes, 'I wonder what sent 'em hyar to-day, +when it's so powerful hot, an' I wants to take my +sester'—dat's her nap, you know, after dinner, what +plenty ladies take—an' den you mus' sometimes speak +sharp like to Jake an' to me, an' not be so soff spoken, +as if we wasn't yer niggers, 'case we are, or I is, an' +does a heap o' badness; an' you orto pull my har f'or +it."</p> + +<p>Confused and bewildered Eudora listened, first to +Jake and then to Mandy Ann, but as she had no card +case, no parasol, and no ladies called upon her, she +could only try to remember the proper thing to do +when the time came, if it ever did. But she lost heart +at last. She was deserted. There was no need for +her to try to be a lady. Her life was slipping away, +but for baby there was hope, and many times in her +chamber loft, when Mandy Ann thought she was taking +her <i>sester</i>, and so far imitating "de quality," she +was praying that when she was dead, as she felt she +soon would be, her little child might be recognized +and taken where she rightfully belonged.</p> + +<p>And so the years went on till more than three were +gone since the stranger came on the "Hatty," and +one morning when she lay again at the wharf, and +Mandy Ann came down for something ordered from +Palatka, her eyes were swollen with crying, and when +Ted began his chaff she answered, "Doan't, Teddy, +doan't. I can't fought you now, nor sass you back, +'case Miss Dory is dead, an' Jake's done gone for de +minister."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> +MISS DORY</h2> + +<p>That day was one of the hottest of the season, and +the sun was beating down upon the piazza of the +Brock House where the Rev. Charles Mason sat +fanning himself with a huge palm leaf, and trying to +put together in his mind some points for the sermon +he was to preach the next Sunday in the parlor of the +hotel to the few guests who came there occasionally +during the summer. But it was of no use. With the +thermometer at ninety degrees in the shade, and not +a breath of air moving, except that made by his fan, +points did not come readily, and all he could think +of was Dives' thirsting for a drop of water from the +finger of Lazarus to cool his parched tongue. "If +it was hotter there than it is here I am sorry for him," +he thought, wiping his wet face and looking off across +the broad lake in the direction of Sanford, from which +a rowboat was coming very rapidly, the oarsman +bending to his work with a will, which soon brought +him to the landing place, near the hotel. Securing +his boat, he came up the walk and approaching Mr. +Mason accosted him with, "How d'ye, Mas'r +Mason. I knows you by sight, and I'se right glad +to find you hyar. You see, I'se that tuckered out +I'm fit to drap."</p> + +<p>The perspiration was standing in great drops on his +face as he sank panting upon a step of the piazza.</p> + +<p>"'Scuse me," he said, "but 'pears like I can't stan' +another minit, what with bein' up all night with Miss +Dory, an' gwine 'crost the lake twiste for nothin', +'case I didn't find him."</p> + +<p>By this time Mr. Mason had recognized the negro +as one he had seen occasionally around the hotel selling +vegetables and eggs, and who he had heard the +people say was worth his weight in gold.</p> + +<p>"How d'ye, Jake," he said, pleasantly. "I didn't +know you at first. Why have you been across the +lake twice this morning?"</p> + +<p>Jake's face clouded as he drew his big black hand +across his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dory done died at sun up," he replied. +"You know Miss Dory, in course."</p> + +<p>Mr. Mason was obliged to confess his ignorance +with regard to Miss Dory, and asked who she was.</p> + +<p>Jake looked disgusted. Not to know Miss Dory +was something inexcusable.</p> + +<p>"Why, she's Miss Dory," he said, "an' ole Miss +is her granny. We live up in the palmetto clearing, +back in de woods, an' I take keer of 'em."</p> + +<p>"You mean you belong to Miss Dora's grandmother?" +Mr. Mason asked, while Jake looked more +disgusted than ever.</p> + +<p>Not to know Miss Dory was bad enough, but not +to know who he was was much worse.</p> + +<p>"Lor' bless your soul, Mas'r Mason, I don't belong +to nobody but myself. I'se done bawn free, I was. +But father belonged to ole Miss Lucy, an' when my +mother died she took keer of me, an' I've lived with +her ever sense, all but two or three times I hired out +to some swells in Virginny, whar I seen high life. +They's mighty kine to me, dem folks was, an' let me +learn to read an' write, an' do some figgerin'. I'se +most as good a scholar as Miss Dory, an' I tole her +some de big words, an' what the quality in Virginny +does, when she was tryin' so hard to learn to be a +lady. She's dead now, the lam', an' my cuss be on +him as killed her."</p> + +<p>"Killed! Didn't she die a natural death?" Mr. +Mason asked.</p> + +<p>"No, sar. She jest pined an' pined for him, an' +got de shakes bad, an' died this mornin'," Jake replied, +"an' ole Miss done gone clar out of her head. +She never was over-bright, an' 'pears like she don't +know nothin' now. 'I leave it to you to do,' she said, +an I'm doin' on't the best I kin. I seen her laid out +decent in her best gownd—that's Miss Dory—an' +sent to Palatka for a coffin—a good one, too—an' +have been across the lake for Elder Covil to 'tend the +burial, 'case she done said, 'Send for him; he knows.' +But he ain't thar, an' I'se come for you. It'll be day +after to-morrer at one o'clock."</p> + +<p>Mr. Mason felt the water rolling down his back in +streams as he thought of a hot drive through the +Florida sand and woods, but he could not say no, +Jake's honest face was so anxious and pleading.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll come, but how?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll be hyar wid de mule an' de shay. Noon, +sharp," Jake replied. "Thankee, Mas'r Mason, +thankee. We couldn't bury Miss Dory without a +word of pra'r. I kin say de Lawd's, but I want somethin' +about de resurrection an' de life what I hearn in +Virginny. An' now I mus' go 'long home. Ole +Miss'll be wantin' me an' de chile."</p> + +<p>"What child?" Mr. Mason asked, in some surprise.</p> + +<p>Jake's face was a study as he hesitated a minute, +winking to keep his tears back before he said, "Sartin', +thar's a chile. Why shouldn't thar be, but fo' +God it's all right. Miss Dory said so, an' Elder Covil +knows, only he's done gone Norf or somewhar. It's +all right, an' you'll know 'tis the minit you see Miss +Dory's face—innocent as a baby's. Good day to you."</p> + +<p>He doffed his hat with a kind of grace one would +hardly have expected, and walked rapidly away, leaving +the Rev. Mr. Mason to think over what he had +heard, and wonder that he didn't ask the name of the +family he was to visit. "Miss Dory, ole Miss, and +Jake," were all he had to guide him, but the last name +was sufficient.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," the landlord said, when questioned. +"It's old Mrs. Harris and her grand-daughter out in +the palmetto clearing; they're Crackers. The old +woman is half demented, the whole family was queer, +and the girl the queerest of all—won't talk and keeps +her mouth shut as to her marriage, if there was one."</p> + +<p>"Who was the man?" Mr. Mason asked, and the +landlord replied, "Some Northern cuss she met in +Georgia where she was staying a spell with her kin. +A high blood, they say. Attracted by her pretty face, +I suppose, and then got tired of her, or was too proud +to own up. I wasn't landlord then, but I've heard +about it. I think he was here once three or four years +ago. He came on the 'Hatty' and staid on her—the +house was so full. Didn't register, nor anything—nor +tell his name to a livin' soul. One or two ast him +square, I b'lieve, but he either pretended not to hear +'em, or got out of it somehow. Acted prouder than +Lucifer. Walked along the shore and in the woods, +and went to the clearin'—some said to buy that limb +of a Mandy Ann, but more to see Miss Dory. All +the time he was on the boat he was so stiff and +starched that nobody wanted to tackle him, and that +girl—I mean Miss Dory—has kept a close mouth +about him, and when her baby was born, and some of +the old cats talked she only said, 'It is all right, I'm +a good girl,' and I b'lieve she was. But that Northern +cuss needs killin'. He sends her money, they say, +through some friend in Palatka, who keeps his mouth +shut tight, but neither she nor Jake will use a cent of +it. They are savin' it to educate the little girl and +make a lady of her, if nobody claims her. A lady out +of a Cracker! I'd laugh! That Jake is a dandy. He's +free, but has stuck to the Harrises because his father +belonged to old Mrs. Harris. He is smarter than +chain lightnin', if he is a nigger, and knows more than +a dozen of some white men. He drives a white mule, +and has managed to put a top of sail cloth on an old +ramshackle buggy, which he calls a 'shay.' You'll +go to the funeral in style."</p> + +<p>Mr. Mason made no reply. He was thinking of +Dory, and beginning to feel a good deal of interest +in her and her story, and anxious to see her, even if +she were dead. At precisely twelve o'clock on the +day appointed for the funeral Jake drove his white +mule and shay to the door of the Brock House. He +had on his Sunday clothes, and around his tall hat was +a band of black alpaca, the nearest approach to +mourning he could get, for crape was out of the question. +If possible, it was hotter than on the previous +day, and the sail cloth top was not much protection +from the sun as they drove along the sandy road, +over bogs and stumps, palmetto roots and low +bridges, and across brooks nearly dried up by the +heat. The way seemed interminable to Mr. Mason, +for the mule was not very swift-footed, and Jake was +too fond of him to touch him with a whip. A pull at +the lines, which were bits of rope, and a "Go 'long +dar, you lazy ole t'ing, 'fore I takes the hide off'n +you" was the most he did to urge the animal forward, +and Mr. Mason was beginning to think he +might get on faster by walking, when a turn in the +road brought the clearing in view.</p> + +<p>It had improved some since we first saw it, and was +under what the natives called right smart cultivation +for such a place. Jake had worked early and late to +make it attractive for his young mistress. He had +given the log-house a coat of whitewash, and planted +more climbing roses than had been there when the +man from the North visited it. A rude fence of +twisted poles had been built around it, and standing +before this fence were three or four ox-carts and a +democrat wagon with two mules attached to it. The +people who had come in these vehicles were waiting +expectantly for Jake and the minister, and the moment +they appeared in sight the white portion hurried +into the house and seated themselves—some in the few +chairs the room contained, some on the table, and +some on the long bench Jake had improvised with a +board and two boxes, and which threatened every +moment to topple over. There were a number of old +women with sunbonnets on their heads—two or +three higher-toned ones with straw bonnets—a few +younger ones with hats, while the men and boys were +all in their shirt sleeves. Some of them had come +miles that hot day to pay their last respects to Miss +Dory, who, in the room adjoining where they sat, lay +in her coffin, clad, as Jake had said, in her best gown, +the white one she had worn with so much pride the +day the stranger came. She had never worn it since, +but had said to Mandy Ann a few days before she +died, "I should like to be buried in it, if you can +smarten it up." And Mandy Ann who understood, +had done her best at smartening, and when Sonsie +and others said it was "yaller as saffern, an' not fittin' +for a buryin'," she had washed and ironed it, roughly, +it is true, but it was white and clean, and Sonsie was +satisfied. Mandy Ann had tried to freshen the satin +bows, but gave it up, and put in their place bunches +of wild flowers she had gathered herself. With a part +of the dollar given her by "the man from the Norf," +she had commissioned Ted to buy her a ring in Jacksonville. +It had proved too small for any finger, except +her little one, and she had seldom worn it. Now, +as she dressed her mistress for the last time an idea +came to her; she was a well-grown girl of sixteen, +and understood many things better than when she +was younger. Going to Jake, she said, "Ain't thar +somethin' 'bout a ring in that pra'r book you got in +Richmon' an' reads on Sundays?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, in de weddin' service," Jake replied, and +Mandy continued: "Doan' it show dey's married for +shoo'!"</p> + +<p>"For shoo? Yes. I wish Miss Dory had one," +Jake answered.</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann nodded. She had learned what she +wanted to know, and going to the little paper box +where she kept her ring she took it up, looked at it +lovingly, and tried it on. She had paid fifty cents +for it, and Ted had told her the real price was a dollar, +but he had got it for less, because the jeweler was selling +out. It tarnished rather easily, but she could rub +it up. It was her only ornament, and she prized it as +much as some ladies prize their diamonds, but she +loved her young mistress more than she loved the +ring, and her mistress, though dead, should have it. +It needed polishing, and she rubbed it until it looked +nearly as well as when Ted brought it to her from +Jacksonville.</p> + +<p>"I wish to de Lawd I knew ef dar was any partic'lar +finger," she thought, as she stood by the coffin looking +at the calm face of her mistress.</p> + +<p>By good luck she selected the right finger, on +which the ring slipped easily, then folding the hands +one over the other, and putting in them some flowers, +which, while they did not hide the ring, covered it +partially, so that only a very close observer would +be apt to think it was not real, she said, "If you +wasn't married with a ring you shall be buried with +one, an' it looks right nice on you, it do, an' I hope ole +granny Thomas'll be hyar an' see it wid her snaky +eyes speerin' 'round. Axed me oncet who I s'posed +de baby's fader was, an' I tole her de gemman from +de Norf, in course, an' den made up de lie an' tole her +dey had a weddin' on de sly in Georgy—kinder runaway, +an' his kin was mad an' kep' him to home 'cept +oncet when he comed hyar to see her, an' I 'clar for't +I doan think she b'lieve a word 'cept that he was +hyar. Everybody knowd that. I reckon she will +gin in when she see de ring."</p> + +<p>Pleased with what she had done, Mandy Ann left the +room just as the first instalment of people arrived, +and with them old granny Thomas. In the little +community of Crackers scattered through the neighborhood +there were two factions, the larger believing +in Eudora, and the smaller not willing to commit +themselves until their leader Mrs. Thomas had done +so. On the strength of living in a frame house, owning +two or three negroes and a democrat wagon, she +was a power among them. What she thought some +of those less favored than herself thought. When she +"gave in" they would, and not before. Up to the +present time there had been no signs of "giving in" +on the part of the lady, whose shoulders still hunched +and whose head shook when Eudora was mentioned. +She should go to the funeral, in course, she said. She +owed it to ole Miss Harris, and she really had a good +deal of respect for the nigger Jake. So she came in +her democrat wagon and straw bonnet, and because +she was Mrs. Thomas, walked uninvited into the room +where the coffin stood, and looked at Eudora.</p> + +<p>"I'd forgot she was so purty. It's a good while +sense I seen her," she thought, a feeling of pity rising +in her heart for the young girl whose face had never +looked fairer than it did now with the seal of death +upon it. "And s'true's I live she's got a ring on her +weddin' finger! Why didn't she never war it afore an' +let it be known?" she said to herself, stooping down +to inspect the ring, which to her dim old eyes seemed +like the real coin. "She wouldn't <i>lie</i> in her coffin, +an' I b'lieve she was good after all, an' I've been too +hard on her," she continued, waddling to a seat outside, +and communicating her change of sentiment to +the woman next to her, who told it to the next, until +it was pretty generally known that "ole Miss Thomas +had <i>gin in</i>, 'case Miss Dory had on her weddin' ring."</p> + +<p>Nearly every one else present had "gin in" long +before, and now that Mrs. Thomas had declared herself, +the few doubtful ones followed her lead, and +there were only kind, pitying words said of poor +Dory, as they waited for the minister to come, and +the services to begin.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> +THE SERVICES</h2> + +<p>The blacks were outside the house, and the whites +inside, when Jake drove his shay to the door, and the +Rev. Mr. Mason alighted, wiping the sweat from his +face and looking around with a good deal of curiosity. +A mulatto boy came forward to take charge of the +mule, and Jake ushered the minister into the room +where the coffin stood, and where were the four men +he had asked to be bearers.</p> + +<p>"I s'pose I'd or'ter of had six," he said in a +whisper; "but she's so light, four can tote her easy, +an' they's all very 'spectable. No low-downs. I means +everything shall be fust-class."</p> + +<p>Wrapped in shawls, with her head nodding up and +down, old Mrs. Harris sat, more deaf and more like +a dried mummy than she had been on the occasion of +the stranger's visit. Jake had bought her an ear +trumpet, but she seldom used it, unless compelled by +Mandy Ann, who now sat near her with the little +girl who, at sight of Jake, started to meet him. But, +Mandy Ann held her back and whispered, "Can't +you done 'have yerself at yer mammy's funeral an' +we the only mourners?"</p> + +<p>The child only understood that she was to keep +quiet, and sat down in her little chair, while Jake motioned +to Mr. Mason that he was to see Miss Dory.</p> + +<p>During her illness her hair had fallen out so fast that +it had been cut off, and now lay in soft rings around +her forehead, giving her more the look of a child +than of a girl of twenty, as the plate on her coffin indicated. +"Eudora, aged twenty," was all there was +on it, and glancing at it Mr. Mason wondered there +was no other name. Jake saw the look and whispered. +"I wan't gwine to lie an' put on 'Eudora +Harris,' for she ain't Eudora Harris, an' I didn't know +t'other name for shoo. Ain't she lovely!"</p> + +<p>"She is, indeed," Mr. Mason said, feeling the moisture +in his eyes, as he looked at the young, innocent +face on which there was no trace of guilt.</p> + +<p>He was sure of that without Jake's repeated assertion, +"Fo' God, it's all right, for she tole me so. +Mostly, she'd say nothin'. She'd promised she +wouldn't, but jess fo' she died she said agen to me, +'I tole him I'd keep dark till he come for me, but +it's all right. Send for Elder Covil 'crost the river. +He knows.' I've tole you this afore, I reckon, but +my mind is so full I git rattled."</p> + +<p>By this time the bent figure sitting in the rocking-chair, +near the coffin began to show signs of life and +whimper a little.</p> + +<p>"'Scuse me," Jake said, pulling a shawl more +squarely around her shoulders and straightening her +up. "Mas'r Mason, this is ole Miss Lucy. Miss +Lucy, this is Mas'r Mason, come to 'tend Miss Dory's +funeral. Peart up a little, can't you, and speak to +him."</p> + +<p>There didn't seem to be much "peart up" in the +woman, who began at once to cry. Instantly Mandy +Ann started up and wiped her face, and settled her +cap, and taking the trumpet screamed into it that she +was to behave herself and speak to the gemman.</p> + +<p>"Dory's dead," she moaned, and subsided into her +shawl and cap, with a faint kind of cry.</p> + +<p>"Dory's dead," was repeated, in a voice very different +from that of the old woman—a child's clear, +sweet voice—and turning, Mr. Mason saw a little +dark-haired, dark-eyed girl standing by Mandy Ann.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mason was fond of children, and stooping +down he kissed the child, who drew back and hid +behind Jake.</p> + +<p>"Me 'fraid," she said, covering her face with her +hands, and looking with her bright eyes through her +fingers at the stranger.</p> + +<p>Something in her eyes attracted and fascinated, and +at the same time troubled Mr. Mason, he scarcely +knew why. The old grandmother was certainly demented. +The landlord had said Eudora and the +whole family were queer. Was the child going to be +queer, too, and did she show it in her eyes? They +were very large and beautiful, and the long, curling +lashes, when she closed them, fell on her cheeks like +those of her dead mother, whom she resembled. She +seemed out of place in her surroundings, but he could +not talk to her then. The people in the next room +were beginning to get restless, and to talk in low +tones of their crops and the weather, and the big +alligator caught near the hotel. It was time to begin, +and taking the little girl in his arms, Jake motioned +to Mr. Mason. In the door between the two rooms +was a stand covered with a clean white towel. On it +was a Bible, a hymn-book, a cup of water, and two or +three flowers in another cup. Mr. Mason did not +need the Bible. Jake had asked for the Resurrection +and the Life, and he had brought his prayer-book, +and began the beautiful burial service of the Church, +to which the people listened attentively for a while; +then they began to get tired, and by the time the long +reading was through there were unmistakable signs +of discontent among them. They had expected +something more than reading a chapter. They +wanted remarks, with laudations of the deceased. +Miss Dory was worthy of them, and because there +were none they fancied the minister did not believe +it was all right with her, and they resented it. Even +old Miss Thomas had "gin in," and thar was the weddin' +ring, an' no sermon,—no remarks, and they +didn't like it. Another grievance was that no hymn +was given out, and there was the hymn-book at hand. +They had at least expected "Hark from the tombs," +if nothing else, but there was nothing. Singing constituted +a large part of their religious worship, and +they did not mean to have Miss Dory buried without +this attention.</p> + +<p>As Mr. Mason finished the services and sat down, +he was startled with an outburst of "Shall we meet +beyond the river." Everybody joined in the song, +negroes and all, their rich, full voices dominating the +others, and making Mr. Mason thrill in every nerve +as the quaint music filled the house, and went echoing +out upon the summer air. When the "Beautiful +River" was finished some one outside the door took +up the refrain:</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Oh, that will be joyful, joyful, joyful;<br /> +Oh, that will be joyful,<br /> +When we meet to part no more." +</p> + +<p>This appealed to the blacks, who entered into the +singing heart and soul, some of the older ones keeping +time with a swinging motion of their bodies, and +one old lady in her enthusiasm bringing down her +fist upon the doorstep, on which she was sitting, +and shouting in a way which warned Jake of danger. +He knew the signs, and putting down the little girl, +who had fallen asleep in his lap, he went to the old +negress, who was beginning to get under full headway, +and holding her uplifted arm, said to her:</p> + +<p>"Hush, Aunt Judy, hush; this ain't no place to have +the pow'. This ain't a pra'r meetin'; tis a 'Piscopal +funeral, this is, such as they have in Virginny."</p> + +<p>What Judy might have said is uncertain, for there +came a diversion in the scene. The child had followed +Jake to the door, where she stood wide-eyed and attentive, +and when the last words of the hymn ended, +she sang in a clear, shrill voice, "Be joyful when we +meet to part no more." Her voice was singularly +sweet and full, and Mr. Mason said to himself, "She'll +be a singer some day, if she is not crazy first." Nothing +now could keep old Judy from one more burst, and +her "Yes, thank de Lawd, we'll meet to part no mo'," +rang out like a clarion, and the religious services were +over.</p> + +<p>There still remained what was the most interesting +part to the audience—taking leave of the corpse—and +for a few minutes the sobs, and cries, and ejaculations +were bewildering to Mr. Mason, who had never had +an experience of this kind. Jake quieted the tumult +as soon as possible, reminding the people again that +this was a first-class 'Piscopal funeral, such as the +quality had in Virginny. The old grandmother was +led to the coffin by Mandy Ann, who shook her up +and told her to look at Miss Dory, but not cry much, +if she could help it. She didn't cry at all, but nearly +every one did in the adjoining room, where they +said to each other, "Ole Miss is takin' leave and +don't sense it an atom." The little girl was held up +by Jake, who made her kiss her mother.</p> + +<p>"Mamma's s'eep," the child said, as she kissed the +pale lips which would never smile on her again.</p> + +<p>There was a fresh outburst of sobs and tears from +the spectators, and then the coffin was closed, and the +procession took its way across the hot sands to the +little enclosure in the clearing, where other members +of the Harris family were buried. Remembering the +impatience of the people in the house, Mr. Mason +wished to shorten the service at the grave, but Jake +said: "No. We'll have the whole figger for Miss +Dory." Mr. Mason went the whole figure with uncovered +head under the broiling sun, and when he was +through he felt as if his brains were baked. The +Crackers did not seem to mind the heat at all. They +were accustomed to it, and after their return from the +grave, stayed round until the white mule and sail-topped +shay were brought up for Mr. Mason's return +to the hotel.</p> + +<p>As Jake was very busy, a young negro boy was sent +in his place. Naturally loquacious, he kept up a constant +stream of talk, but as he stammered frightfully +the most Mr. Mason could understand was that Miss +Dory was a dandy, ole Miss 'onery, whatever that +might mean, and Jake a big head, who thought he +knew everything because he was free and could read.</p> + +<p>The next day was Sunday, and Mr. Mason took for +the subject of his remarks in the parlor of the hotel +the story of Lazarus and Dives, and every time he +spoke of Dives receiving his good things in life, he +thought of the man whom the landlord had designated +a "Northern cuss"; and every time he spoke +of Lazarus, he thought of poor little Dory and that +humble grave in the sands of the palmetto clearing.</p> + +<p>It was covered before night with young dwarf +palmettoes, which Mandy Ann laid upon it with a +thought that they would keep her young mistress +cool. All through the day she had restrained her feelings, +because Jake told her that was the way to do.</p> + +<p>"Seems ef I should bust," she said to herself more +than once, and when at last the day was over, and +both ole Miss and the little girl were asleep, she stole +out to the newly made grave, and lying down upon it +among the palmettoes she cried bitterly, "Oh, Miss +Dory, Miss Dory, kin you har me? It's Mandy Ann, +an' I'm so sorry you're dead, an' sorry I was so bad +sometimes. I have tried to be better lately, sense I +got growed. Now, hain't I, an' I hain't tole many +lies, nor tached a thing sense I took that bill from +him. <i>Cuss</i> him, wharever he is! Cuss him to-night, +ef he's alive; an' ef his bed is soff' as wool, doan let +him sleep for thinkin' of Miss Dory. Doan let him +ever know peace of min' till he owns the 'ittle girl; +though, dear Lawd, what should we do without her—me +an' Jake?"</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann was on her knees now, with her hands +uplifted, as she prayed for <i>cusses</i> on the man who had +wrought such harm to her mistress. When the prayer +was finished she fell on her face again and sobbed, +"Miss Dory, Miss Dory, I must go in now an' see to +'ittle chile, but I hates to leave you hyar alone in de +san'. Does you know you's got on my ring? I gin +it to you, an' ole granny Thomas 'gin in' when she +seed it, an' said you mus' be good. I'se mighty glad +I gin it to you. 'Twas all I had to give, an' it will tell +'em whar you've gone that you was good."</p> + +<p>There was a dampness in the air that night, and +Mandy Ann felt it as she rose from the grave, and +brushed bits of palmetto from her dress and hair. +But she did not mind it, and as she walked to the +house she felt greatly comforted with the thought +that she had <i>cussed</i> him, and that Miss Dory was +wearing her ring as a sign that she was good, and +that "ole granny Thomas had gin in."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> +COL. CROMPTON</h2> + +<p>He was young to be a colonel, but the title was +merely nominal and complimentary, and not given for +any service to his country. When only twenty-one +he had joined a company of militia—young bloods +like himself—who drilled for exercise and pleasure +rather than from any idea that they would ever be +called into service. He was at first captain, then he +rose to the rank of colonel, and when the company +disbanded he kept the title, and was rather proud of +it, as he was of everything pertaining to himself and +the Cromptons generally. It was an old English +family, tracing its ancestry back to the days of William +the Conqueror, and boasting of two or three +titles and a coat-of-arms. The American branch was +not very prolific, and so far as he knew, the Colonel +was the only remaining Crompton of that line in this +country, except the son of a half-brother. This +brother, who was now dead, had married against his +father's wishes, and been cut off from the Crompton +property, which, at the old man's death, all came to +the Colonel. It was a fine estate, with a very grand +house for the New England town by the sea in which +it was situated. It was built by the elder Crompton, +who was born in England, and had carried out his +foreign ideas of architecture, and with its turrets +and square towers it bore some resemblance to the +handsome places he had seen at home. It was of +stone, and stood upon a rise of ground, commanding +a view of the sea two miles away, and the pretty +village on the shore with a background of wooded +hills stretching to the west. It was full of pictures +and bric-à-brac, and statuary from all parts of the +world, for the Colonel's father had travelled extensively, +and brought home souvenirs from every country +visited. Florida had furnished her quota, and +stuffed parokeets and red birds, and a huge alligator +skin adorned the walls of the wide hall, together with +antlers and pieces of old armor, and other curios. A +small fortune was yearly expended upon the grounds +which were very large, and people wondered that the +Colonel lavished so much upon what he seemed to +care so little for, except to see that it was in perfect +order, without a dried leaf, or twig, or weed to mar +its beauty.</p> + +<p>It had not always been thus with him. When he first +came into possession of the place he was just through +college, and had seemed very proud and fond of his +fine estate, and had extended his hospitality freely to +his acquaintances, keeping them, however, at a certain +distance, for the Crompton pride was always in the ascendant, +and he tolerated no familiarities, except such +as he chose to allow. This genial social life lasted a +few years, and then there came a change, following +a part of a winter spent in South Carolina and +Georgia with his intimate friend and college chum, +Tom Hardy. Communication between the North +and South was not as frequent and direct then as +it is now, and but little was known of his doings. At +first he wrote occasionally to Peter, his head servant, +to whom he entrusted the care of the house; then his +letters ceased and nothing was heard from him until +suddenly, without warning, he came home, looking +much older than when he went away, and with a look +upon his face which did not leave it as the days went +on.</p> + +<p>"'Spect he had a high old time with that Tom +Hardy, and is all tuckered out," Peter said, while the +Colonel, thinking he must give some reason for his +changed demeanor, said he had malaria, taken in +some Southern swamp.</p> + +<p>If there was any disease for which Peter had a +special aversion it was malaria, which he fancied he +knew how to treat, having had it once himself. +Quinine, cholagogue, and whiskey were prescribed +in large quantities, and Peter wondered why they +failed to cure. He did not suspect that the quinine +went into the fire, and the cholagogue down the +drain-pipe from the washstand. The Colonel's malaria +was not the kind to be cured by drugs, and there +came a day when, after the receipt of a letter from +Tom Hardy, he collapsed entirely, and Peter found +him shivering in his room, his teeth chattering, and +his fingers purple with cold.</p> + +<p>"You have got it bad this time," Peter said, suggesting +the doctor, and more quinine and cholagogue, +and a dose of Warburg's Tincture.</p> + +<p>The Colonel declined them all. What he needed was +another blanket, and to be let alone. Peter brought +the blanket and left him alone, while he faced this +new trouble which bore no resemblance to malaria. +He was just beginning to be more hopeful of the +future, and had his plans all laid, and knew what he +should do and say, and now this new complication had +arisen and brushed his scheme aside. He had sown +the wind and was reaping a cyclone, and he swore to +himself, and hardened his heart against the innocent +cause of his trouble, and thought once of suicide as he +had on the St. John's the year before. He spent +money, just the same, upon his handsome grounds; +but it was only for the pride he had in keeping them +up, and not for any pleasure he had in them. He +never picked a flower, or sat on any of the seats under +the trees, and, unless the day was very hot, was seldom +seen upon his broad piazza, where every day +Peter spread rugs and placed chairs because his master +liked to see them there, if they were not used. +His library was his favorite place, where he sat for +hours reading, smoking, and thinking, no one knew +of what, or tried to know, for he was not a man to be +easily approached, or questioned as to his business. +If he had malaria it clung to him year after year, +while he grew more reserved and silent, and saw less +and less of the people. Proud as Lucifer they called +him, and yet, because he was a Crompton, and because +of the money he gave so freely when it was +asked for, he was not unpopular; and when the town +began to grow in importance on account of its fine +beach and safe bathing, and a movement was made +to change its name from Troutburg to something less +plebeian, Crompton was suggested, and met with +general approval. No one was better pleased with +the arrangement than the Colonel himself, although +he did not smile when the news was brought to him. +He seldom smiled at anything, but there was a kindling +light in his eyes, and his voice shook a little as +he thanked the committee who waited upon him. +To be known as "Col. Crompton of Crompton" was +exceedingly gratifying to his vanity, and seemed in +a way to lift the malarious cloud from him for a time +at least.</p> + +<p>It was more than three years since Tom Hardy's +letter had thrown him into a chill, and everything as +yet was quiet. Nothing had come from the South +derogatory to him, and he had almost made himself +believe that this state of things might go on for years, +perhaps forever, though that was scarcely possible. +At all events he'd wait till the storm burst, and then +meet it somehow. He was a Crompton and had faith +in himself, and the faith was increased by the compliment +paid by his townspeople; and as he was not +one to receive a favor without returning it, he conceived +the idea of giving an immense lawn-party, to +which nearly everybody should be invited. He had +shut himself up too much, he thought—he must +mingle more with the people, and build around himself +a wall so strong that nothing in the future could +quite break it down.</p> + +<p>Peter and the rest of his servants were consulted +and entered heartily into his plan. Cards of invitation +were issued bearing the Crompton monogram, and a +notice inserted in the daily paper to the effect that +any who failed to receive a card were to know it was +a mistake, and come just the same. There was a great +deal of excitement among the people, for it had been +a long time since any hospitality had been extended to +them, and they were eager to go, knowing that something +fine was to be expected, as the Colonel never did +anything by halves. The day of the lawn-party was +perfect—neither too hot nor too cold—and the sun +which shone upon that humble funeral in the palmetto +clearing shone upon a very different scene in the +Crompton grounds, where the people began to assemble +as early as one o'clock. The grass on the lawn +was like velvet, without a stick or stone to be seen, +for two gardeners had been at work upon it since +sunrise, cutting and raking, and sprinkling, until it +was as fresh as after a soft summer shower. The late +roses and white lilies were in full bloom, the latter +filling the air with a sweet odor and making a lovely +background. There were tables and chairs under the +maples and elms, and rugs and pieces of carpet wherever +there was a suspicion of dampness in the ground. +There was a brass band in one part of the grounds, +and a string band in another, where the young people +danced under the trees. Refreshments were served at +five o'clock, and the festivities were kept up till the +sun went down, and half the children were sick from +overeating—the mothers were tired, and some of +the men a little shaky in their legs, and thick in their +speech, from a too frequent acquaintance with the +claret punch which stood here and there in great +bowls, free as water, and more popular. The crowning +event of the day came when the hundreds of lanterns +were lighted on the piazzas and in the trees, and +every window in the house blazed with candles placed +in so close proximity to each other, that objects +could be plainly seen at some distance.</p> + +<p>The Colonel was going to make a speech, and he +came out upon an upper balcony, where the light from +ten tall lamps fell full upon him, bringing out every +feature of his face distinctly. He was rather pale and +haggard, but the people were accustomed to that, +and charged it to the malaria. He was very distinguished +looking, they thought, as they stood waiting +for him to commence his speech. All the afternoon +he had been the most courteous of hosts—a little too +patronizing, perhaps, for that was his way, but very +polite, with a pleasant word for every one. He knew +he was making an impression, and felt proud in a way +as Crompton of Crompton, when he stepped out upon +the balcony and saw the eager, upturned faces, and +heard the shout which greeted him. And still there +was with him a feeling of unrest—a presentiment that +on his horizon, seemingly so bright, a dark cloud was +lowering, which might at any moment burst upon the +head he held so high. He was always dreading it, +but for the last few days the feeling had been stronger +until now it was like a nightmare, and his knees shook +as he bowed to the people confronting him and filling +the air with cheers.</p> + +<p>No contrast could have been greater than that +between the scene on which he looked down—the +park, the flowers, the fountains, and the people—and +the palmetto clearing in far away Florida. He did +not know of the funeral and the group assembled +around the log-cabin. But he knew of the clearing. +He had been there, and always felt his blood tingle +when he thought of it, and it was the picture of it +which had haunted him all day, and which came +and stood beside him, shutting out everything else, +as he began to thank the people for the honor conferred +upon him by calling the town by his name.</p> + +<p>He didn't deserve it, he said. He didn't deserve +anything from anybody.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you do," went up from a hundred throats, +for under the influence of the good cheer and the attention +paid them the man was for the time being +a hero.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't," he continued. "I am a morally +weak man—weaker than water where my pride is +concerned—and if you knew me as I know myself +you would say I was more deserving of tar and +feathers than the honor you have conferred upon +me."</p> + +<p>This was not at all what he intended to say, but the +words seemed forced from him by that picture of the +palmetto clearing standing so close to him. His +audience did not know what he meant. So far as they +knew he had been perfectly upright, with no fault but +his pride and coldness by which he came rightfully +as a Crompton. He must have visited the punch +bowls too often, they thought, and didn't know what +he was talking about. After a pause, during which he +was trying to thrust aside the clearing, and the log-house, +and the old woman in her chair, and Mandy +Ann, and to pull himself together, he went on to say:</p> + +<p>"You have been for a long time discussing the site +of a new school-house, in place of the old one which +stands so near the marshes, that it is a wonder your +children have not all died with fever and ague. Some +of you want it on the hill—some under the hill—some +in one place, and some in another. Nobody wants it +near his own premises. A school-house with a lot of +howling children is not a desirable neighbor to most +people. For my part I don't object to it. I like +children."</p> + +<p>Here he stopped suddenly as the image of a child +he had never seen came before him and choked his +utterance, while the people looked at each other, and +wondered how long he had been so fond of children. +It was generally conceded that he did not care for +them—disliked them in fact—and he had never been +known to notice one in any way. Surely he had been +too near the claret bowls. He detected the thought +of those nearest to him, and continued:</p> + +<p>"I am not one to show all I feel. It is not my +nature. I am interested in children, and as proof of it +I will tell you my plan. There are two acres of land +on the south side of the park. I fenced it off for an +artificial pond, but gave it up. There is a spring of +good water there, with plenty of shade trees for the +children to play under. I will give this land for the +new school-house."</p> + +<p>Here he was obliged to stop, the cheers were so +deafening. When they subsided he went on rapidly:</p> + +<p>"I will build the house, too. Such an one as will +not shame District No. 5 in Crompton. It shall be a +model house, well lighted and ventilated, with broad, +comfortable seats, especially for the little ones, whose +feet shall touch the floor. It shall be commenced at +once, and finished before the winter term."</p> + +<p>He bowed and sat down, white and perspiring at +every pore, and hardly knowing to what he had committed +himself. The cheers were now a roar which +went echoing out into the night, and were heard +nearly as far as the village on the beach, the people +wondering more and more at his generosity, and +sudden interest in their little ones. And no one wondered +more than himself. He did not care a picayune +for children, nor whether their feet touched the +floor or not, and he had not intended pledging himself +to build the house when he began. But as he talked, +the palmetto clearing stared him in the face, shutting +out everything from his vision, except a long seat +directly in front of him, on which several little girls +whose feet could not touch the ground were fast +asleep, their heads falling over upon each other, and +the last one resting upon the arm of the settee. It +was a pretty picture, and stirred in him feelings he +had never experienced before. He would do something +for the children, expiatory, he said to himself, +as he sat down, thinking he ought to be the proudest +and happiest of men to have the town called for him, +and to stand so high in the esteem of his fellow citizens. +What would they say if they knew what he did, +and how cowardly he was because of his pride. Sometime +they must know. It could not be otherwise, but +he would put off the evil day as long as he could, and +when, at last, his guests began to leave, and he went +down to bid them good-night, his head was high with +that air of patronage and superiority natural to him, +and which the people tolerated because he was Col. +Crompton.</p> + +<p>That night he had a chill—the result of so much +excitement to which he was not accustomed, he said +to Peter, who brought him a hot-water bag and an +extra blanket, and would like to have suggested his +favorite remedies, quinine and cholagogue, but experience +had taught him wisdom, and putting down +the hot-water bag and blanket, he left the room with +a casual remark about the fine day, and how well +everything had passed off, "only a few men a little +boozy," he said, "and three or four children with +bruised heads caused by a fall from a swing."</p> + +<p>The lawn-party had been a great success, and the +Colonel knew he ought to be the happiest man in +town, whereas he was the most miserable. He could +not hear Mandy Ann's curses as she knelt on her mistress's +grave, nor see her dusky arms swaying in the +darkness to emphasize her maledictions. He didn't +know there was a grave, but something weighed him +down with unspeakable remorse. Every incident of his +first visit South came back to him with startling vividness, +making him wonder why God had allowed him +to do what he had done. Then he remembered his +trip on the "Hatty," when he kept himself aloof from +everybody, with a morbid fear lest he should see +some one who knew him, or had heard of him, or +would meet him again. He remembered the log-house +and his supper, when Mandy Ann served from +a dinner-plate, and his napkin was a pocket handkerchief. +He remembered the mumbling old woman in +her chair; but most of all he remembered the girl who +sat opposite him. Her face was always with him, and +it came before him now, just as it was in the moonlight, +when she said: "You can trust me. I will do +the best I can."</p> + +<p>She had stood with her hands upon the fence and +he saw them as they looked then, and holding up his +own he said, "They were little brown hands, but +they should have been white like mine. Poor Dory!"</p> + +<p>There was a throb of pity in his heart as his remorse +increased, and the hot night seemed to quiver +with the echo of Mandy Ann's "cuss him, cuss him +wherever he may be, and if his bed is soff as wool +doan' let him sleep a wink." His bed was soft as +wool, but it had no attraction for him, and he sat with +his hot-water bag and blanket until his chill passed, +and was succeeded by a heat which made him put +blanket and bag aside, and open both the windows of +his room. The late moon had risen and was flooding +the grounds with its light, bringing out distinctly +the objects nearest to him. Some tables and chairs +were left standing, a few lanterns were hanging in the +trees, and in front of him was the long bench on +which the little girls had been sleeping, with their feet +from the ground, when he made his speech. The +sight of this brought to his mind the day three years +before when, just as his plans were perfected, there +had come a letter which made him stagger as from +a heavy blow, while all around him was chaos, dark +and impenetrable. In most men the letter would +have awakened a feeling of tenderness, but he was not +like most men. He was utterly selfish, and prouder +than any Crompton in the long line of that proud +race, and, instead of tenderness or pity, he felt an intense +anger against the fate which had thus dealt with +him when he was trying to do right.</p> + +<p>What to do next was the question, which Tom +Hardy, as cold and unfeeling as himself, answered for +him.</p> + +<p>"You are in an awful mess," he wrote, "and the +only course I see is to keep them supplied with +money, and let things run until they come to a focus, +as I suppose they must, though they may not. +Florida is a long ways from Massachusetts. Few +Northerners ever go to Enterprise, and if they do +they may not hear of the clearing and its inmates. +The girl is not over-bright. I beg your pardon, but +she isn't, and will be apt to be quiet when she makes +up her mind that she is deserted. The only one you +have to fear is that nigger, Jake; but I reckon we +can manage him; so cheer up and never make such an +infernal fool of yourself again."</p> + +<p>Something in this letter had grated on the Colonel's +feelings—the reference to the girl, perhaps—but he +had decided to follow Tom's advice, and let things +run until they came to a focus. They had run pretty +smoothly for three years, and only a few letters, forwarded +by his friend who now lived in Palatka, and +kept a kind of oversight of the clearing, came to +trouble him. These he always burned, but he could +not forget, and the past was always with him, not +exactly as it was on the night after his lawn-party, +when it seemed to him that all the powers of the +bottomless pit had united against him, and if ever a +man expiated his wrong-doing in remorse and mental +pain he was doing it. The laudations of the crowd +which had cheered him so lustily were of no account, +nor the honor conferred by giving the town his name. +Nothing helped him as he stood with the sweat rolling +down his face, and looked out upon his handsome +grounds, which he did not see because of the +palmetto clearing, and the little child, and the young +mother on whose grave the moon was shining. +Mandy Ann's curse was surely taking effect, for no +sleep came to him that night, and the next day found +him worn and pale, and when Peter, sure of a malarious +attack worse than usual, ventured to offer his +cholagogue and quinine, he was sworn at, and told +to take himself off with his infernal drugs.</p> + +<p>"I am tired with yesterday's mob. I shall be better +when I am rested, and get the taste out of my mouth +of Tom, Dick, and Harry tramping over the premises," +he thought.</p> + +<p>This was not very complimentary to the Tom's, and +Dick's, and Harry's who had tramped through his +grounds, but they did not know his thoughts, and +were full of the lawn-party, and the new school-house, +the work on which was commenced early in August, +when a large number of men appeared, and were +superintended and urged on by the Colonel himself. +He did not work, but he was there every day, issuing +orders and making suggestions, and in this way managing +to dissipate in part the cloud always hanging +over him, and which before long was to assume a +form which he could not escape.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> +THE CHILD OF THE CLEARING</h2> + +<p>The school-house was finished, and was a model of +comfort and convenience. It was well lighted and +ventilated, and every child of whatever age could +touch its feet to the floor. If it were in any sense expiatory, +it had proven a success, for the palmetto +clearing did not haunt the Colonel as it had done on +the day of the lawn-party. It was a long time since +he had heard from there, and he was beginning to +wonder if anything had happened, when Peter +brought him an odd-looking letter, directed wrong +side up, written with a pencil, and having about it +a faint perfume of very bad tobacco. It was addressed +to "Mr. Kurnal Krompton, Troutberg, Mass." The +writer evidently did not know of the recent change of +name, and the letter had been long on the way, but +had reached its destination at last, and was soiled and +worn, and very second-class in its appearance, Peter +decided, as he took it from the office and studied it +carefully. No such missive had, to his knowledge, +ever before found its way into the aristocratic precincts +of Crompton Place. If it had he had not seen +it, and he wondered who could have sent this one. +He found his master taking his breakfast, and, holding +the letter between his thumb and fingers, as if +there were contamination in its touch, he handed it +to him.</p> + +<p>"Fairly turned speckled when he looked at it," +Peter thought, as he left the room. "Wish I had +seen where it was mailed."</p> + +<p>An hour later, Jane, the housemaid, came to him +and said, "The Colonel wants you."</p> + +<p>Peter found him in his bedroom, packing a satchel +with a shaking hand and a face more speckled than it +had been when he read the letter.</p> + +<p>"Peter," he said, "fold up these shirts for me, and +put in some collars and socks. I am going on a little +trip, and may be gone two weeks, maybe more. Hold +your tongue."</p> + +<p>When he wished Peter to be particularly reticent, +he told him to hold his tongue. Peter understood, +and held it, and finished packing the satchel, ordered +the carriage for the eleven o'clock train, and saw his +master off, without knowing where he was going, +except that his ticket was for New York.</p> + +<p>"That smelly letter has something to do with it, +of course," he said. "I wish I knew where it was +from."</p> + +<p>He was arranging the papers on the library table, +when he stopped suddenly with an exclamation of +surprise, for there, under his hand, lay the smelly +letter, which the Colonel had forgotten to put away.</p> + +<p>"Phew! I thought I got a whiff of something +bad," he said, and read again the superscription, with +a growing contempt for the writer. "Nobody will +know if I read it, and I shall hold my tongue, as +usual," he thought, his curiosity at last overcoming +his sense of honor.</p> + +<p>Opening the envelope, he took out the piece of +foolscap, on which was neither date nor name of place.</p> + +<p>"Kurnal Krompton," it began. "Yer fren' in +Palatky done gone to Europe. He tole me yer name +'fore he went, an' so I rite meself to tell you Miss +Dory's ded, an' ole Miss, too. She done dide a week +ago, an' Miss Dory las' July. What shal I do wid de +chile? I shood of rit when Miss Dory dide, but +Mandy Ann an' me—you 'members Mandy Ann—sed +how you'd be comin' to fotch her rite away, an' +we cuddent bar to part wid her whilst ole Miss lived. +But now she's done ded de chile doan or'to be brung +up wid Crackers an' niggers, an' den dar's de place +belonged to ole Miss, an' dar's Mandy Ann. She +doan' or'ter be sole to nobody. I'd buy her an' set +her free ef I had de money, but I hain't. She's a rale +purty chile—de little girl. You mite buy Mandy +Ann an' take her for lil chile's nuss. Jake Harris."</p> + +<p>"Jerusalem!" Peter exclaimed. "Here's a go. +Who is Miss Dory? Some trollop, of course—and +she is dead, and old Miss, too. Who is old Miss? and +who is Mandy Ann the Colonel is to buy? I'd laugh, +rank Abolitionist as he is! And what will he do with +a child? Crackers and niggers? What is a Cracker?"</p> + +<p>Peter had no opinion on that head. He knew what +a nigger was, and at once detected another odor besides +bad tobacco, and opened the window to air the +room. Then he began to study the postmark to see +where the letter came from. It was not very clear, +and it took him some time to make out "Palatka, +Fla." The latter baffled him, it was so illegible, but +he was sure of "Palatka," and wondered where it +was. Hunting up an atlas, he went patiently through +State after State, till he found Palatka, on the St. +John's River, Florida.</p> + +<p>"Florida! That's where he's gone. There are +niggers enough there, but who the Crackers are is +beyond me," Peter said. "I believe I'll copy this, +letter."</p> + +<p>He did copy it, and then waited for developments.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Colonel was hurrying South as fast +as steam could take him. Arrived in New York, he +found himself in time to take a boat bound for Savannah, +and shutting himself up in his stateroom sat +down to analyze his feelings, and solve the problem +which had for so long been confronting him. A part +of it was solved for him. Eudora was dead; but there +was the child. Something must be done with her, and +Jake's words kept repeating themselves in his mind:</p> + +<p>"She doan or'ter be brung up wid Crackers an' +niggers."</p> + +<p>"No, she don't or'ter," the Colonel thought, involuntarily +adopting Jake's dialect; but what to do +with her was the question.</p> + +<p>If Tom Hardy had been home he would have consulted +him, but Tom was away, and he must face the +difficulty alone, knowing perfectly well what his duty +was, and finally making up his mind to do it. If he +chose to adopt a child it was no one's business. As +a Crompton he was above caring for gossip or public +opinion. To be sure the child would be a nuisance, +and a constant reminder of what he would like to +forget; but it was right, and he owed it to the mother +to care for her little girl. He began to think a good +deal of himself for this kind of reasoning, and by the +time he reached Jacksonville he had made up his +mind that he was a pretty nice man after all, and felt +happier than he had in years. Death had closed one +page of his life, and the distance between Florida and +Massachusetts would close the other, and he was +much like himself when he at last stepped on board +the "Hatty," and started up the river.</p> + +<p>There was room for him at the Brock House this +time, and he registered his name. "Col. James +Crompton, Crompton, Mass.," and said he had come +to look after a family in the palmetto clearing, +Harris was the name, and through a friend he was +interested in them. The landlord was not the same +who had been there on the occasion of the Colonel's +first visit, but he knew something about the clearing, +and volunteered whatever information he had concerning +the family, speaking of the recent death of the +demented old woman, and of the little child left to the +care of two negroes, and saying, he hoped the gentleman +had come to take it to its friends, if it had any.</p> + +<p>The Colonel bowed and said that was his business, +and early the next morning started on foot along the +road he had trodden twice before, and which brought +Eudora before him so vividly that it seemed as if she +were walking at his side, and once, as some animal +ran through the bushes near the grave at the turn +of the road, he started at the sound as if it had been +the rustle of Eudora's white dress as he heard it that +day. He was beginning to get nervous, and by the +time the clearing was reached he was as cold as he had +been at home, when Peter brought him the hot-water +bag and blanket. He noticed the improvements +which had been made in the place since he was there +last, and knew it was Jake's handiwork. He had +never seen the man, and shrank a little from meeting +him, knowing how infinitely superior to himself in a +moral way the poor African was. He remembered +Mandy Ann perfectly, and recognized her as she came +to the door, shading her eyes with her hand to look +at him; then she disappeared suddenly, and Jake, who +was at the rear of the house, fixing a barrel to catch +rain-water, was clutched by the arm, and nearly +thrown backwards, as the girl exclaimed: "For the +Lawd's sake, Jake, it's comin'—it's comin'—it's hyar!"</p> + +<p>"What's comin'? The las' day, that you look so +skeered?" Jake said, while Mandy Ann continued: +"De man from de Norf, Cunnel Crompton, you call +him—done come for lill chile!"</p> + +<p>She put her apron over her face and began to cry, +while Jake wiped his hands, and hurrying round the +house, met the Colonel just as he reached the door. +There was not the least servility in Jake's manner, +although it was respectful, as he said, "How d'ye, +Mas'r Crompton. I'm shoo it's you, an' I'se right +glad to see you, though I 'spects you done come for +the lill chile, an' I feel fit to bust when I think of +partin' wid her. Walk in, walk in; take a cheer, an' +I'll sen' Mandy Ann for de lill chile. She's in de +play-house I made her, jess dis side de graves, whar +she sits an' plays. Thar's a tree thar an' she calls it +de shady."</p> + +<p>"Thanks!" the Colonel said, taking a chair, while +Jake went for Mandy Ann, and found her struggling +with the child, not far from the door.</p> + +<p>The <i>chile</i> had seen the stranger as soon as Mandy +Ann; and as visitors were rare at the cabin, and she +was fond of society, she left her sand pies, and her +slice of bread and molasses, and started for the house, +meeting Mandy Ann, who seized her, saying, "Come +an' have on a clean frock and be <i>wassed</i>. Your face +is all sticky, an' han's, too—an' de gemman from de +Norf, de Cunnel, is hyar."</p> + +<p>As it happened, the <i>chile</i> didn't approve of changing +her dress and having her face washed. She was +in a hurry to see the gentleman, and she pulled back, +and fought, and called Mandy Ann an "ole nigger," +and told her to "leg-go," and finally wrenched herself +free, and ran like a little spider to the house, and +into the room where the Colonel was sitting. Starting +to his feet he stood looking down at the mite +staring at him with her great dark eyes, in which was +a look which had puzzled the Rev. Mr. Mason when +he saw her at her mother's funeral. She was a very +pretty child, with a round, chubby face just now +smeared with molasses, as were her fat little hands, +while her dress, open at the back, showed signs of the +sand and water with which it had come in contact. +And she stood, holding the Colonel with her eyes, +until he began to feel cold again, and to think of his +hot-water bag. He did not care for children, and this +one—*</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" he thought to himself. "Can I do it? +Yes, I must!"</p> + +<p>Then, putting out his hand, he said, "Little girl, +will you shake hands with me."</p> + +<p>Nothing abashed she was going forward, when +Mandy Ann rushed in and pulled her back, exclaiming: +"Oh, sar, not wid dem han's; dey mus' be +wassed."</p> + +<p>"You ole Mandy Ann nigger, you lemme be. I +won't be wassed," was the sharp reply, and the dark +eyes flashed with a fire which made the Colonel think +of himself when roused, and he began to feel a good +deal of respect for the spoiled tyrant.</p> + +<p>"Little girl," he said, very gently, but firmly, "Go +with Mandy and be washed, and then come and +see—" he came very near saying "see what I have +brought you," without at all knowing why it should +have come into his mind.</p> + +<p>It had never occurred to him to bring her anything, +but he wished now that he had, and began to wonder +what he had that would please a child. He was fond +of jewelry, and wore on his watch-chain several ornaments, +and among them a very small, delicately +carved book in ivory. He could detach it easily, and +he began to do so, while the child eyed him curiously. +She had seen very few gentlemen, and this one attracted +her, he was so tall and imposing; and when +he said again, "Go and be washed," she obeyed him, +and the Colonel was a second time alone, for Jake was +making his ablutions, and changing his working +clothes for his best, in which he looked very respectable, +when he at last rejoined his guest, and began +at once in a trembling voice to speak of the business +which had brought the Colonel there.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> +THE COLONEL AND JAKE</h2> + +<p>"I 'lowed you had the best right to her because +'twas you that sent the money," he said.</p> + +<p>The Colonel neither assented nor dissented, and +Jake went on: "Thar is nobody else. Miss Dory +never tole nothin'; she was silent as de grave +about—him—de fader of de lill chile, I mean. 'It's +all right,' she'd say. 'I tole him I wouldn't tell till +he came—an' I won't—but, it's all right. Elder Covil +knows—send for him.' That's just afore she died."</p> + +<p>"And did you send for him?" the Colonel asked +with some alarm, and Jake replied: "I went for him +an' he wasn't thar—had moved off—an' another gemman, +the Rev. Mr. Charles Mason, what I foun' at the +hotel, 'tended de buryin' with his pra'r book, 'case I +wanted somethin' 'bout de Resurrection an' de Life. +'Twas as fust class a funeral as we could have out +hyer. She wore her white gown—the one Mandy +Ann says she wore when you war hyer. You members +it?"</p> + +<p>The Colonel nodded, and Jake, thinking he could +do nothing better than repeat all the particulars, went +on: "She had a nice coffin from Palatka, an' Mandy +Ann done fixed her rale nice, wid flowers in her han's, +an' on her bosom, an', does you 'member givin' +Mandy Ann a dollar when you's here afore?"</p> + +<p>Again the Colonel nodded and Jake went on: +"Well, she done bought a ring wid some of it—not +rale gold, you know, but looked most like it—an' +what do you think Mandy Ann did, as the last thing +she could do for Miss Dory?"</p> + +<p>Jake was growing excited, and the Colonel nervous, +as the negro continued: "It was too small for her, +to be shue, but she thought a sight on't, but more of +Miss Dory's good name."</p> + +<p>There was a great ridge in the Colonel's forehead, +between his eyes, as he repeated, "Her good name?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sar," Jake answered. "What could you +'spec when dar's a lill chile, and no fader for shoo, as +anybody knows, but me an' Mandy Ann, an' Mas'r +Hardy. Naterally they'd talk. But I 'shured 'em +'twas all right, an' knocked down one or two Crackers +what grinned when I tole 'em, an' Mandy Ann did a +power of fitin'. She's great at it—jess like a cat, an' +we got 'em pretty much all under, except a few ole +women, who never quite gin in till de last. Ole +granny Thomas was de worst, an' de rest follered her; +but she gin in when she seen de ring Mandy Ann +slipped on Miss Dory's weddin' finger, an' dar wasn't +a s'picion on de lam' as she lay in her coffin."</p> + +<p>The Colonel's lips moved spasmodically, while Jake +continued: "Thar was a right smart of 'em hyar, an' +the minister read from de pra'r book jest as I seen 'em +in Virginny 'mongst de quality, an' when de blacks +set up a singin' so loud that ole Aunt Judy nighly had +de pow'—dat's a kind of fit, you know, when dey gits +to feelin' like kingdom come—I stopped her. I was +boun' to have de funeral fust class. When ole Miss +died, I let 'em have dar way, an' ole Aunt Judy had de +pow' till her missus, who was hyar, shook her out on't. +That was ole Miss Thomas, who stood out agin Miss +Dory till she seen de ring. She says to me, says she, +'Does you know whar de chile's fader is?' an' says I, +'S'posin' I do?' 'Then sen' for him,' says she. +'Tain't fittin' de chile to stay on hyar.' 'I'm gwine +to sen',' says I, an' I did, an' you've done come. Is +you gwine to take her?"</p> + +<p>Jake's broad chest heaved as he asked this question, +to which the Colonel replied, "That is what I came +for."</p> + +<p>Jake had assumed that he was the child's father, +and he did not contradict him, but said, "You call +her the child. Has she no name?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dory; dat's what her mother called her, but +to me dar's only one Dory, an' she's dead, an' 'twas +handy to say de <i>lill chile</i> or <i>honey</i>. Is you gwine to +take her right away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, when the 'Hatty' goes back," the Colonel +replied, with a feeling of pity for the negro, whose +face was quivering, and whose voice shook as he said, +"It's best, I s'pose, but 'twill be mighty lonesome +hyar, with the chile gone from de 'shady' whar she +plays, an' from de cradle whar I rocks her, an' from +dese arms what totes her many a time, when she goes +through de clarin' in de woods. You wouldn't be +wantin' me an Mandy Ann to go wid you? De chile +is wonderfully 'tached to us, an' has some spells only +we can manage."</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head. Jake and Mandy Ann +knew too much for him to take them North. The +child would soon forget its surroundings. People +would stop wondering after a while, and the past +would be bridged over, as far as was possible. On the +whole the future looked brighter than it had done for +years, and on this account the Colonel could afford +to be very suave and gentle with this poor negro.</p> + +<p>"No, Jake," he said, very kindly. "You would +not be happy at the North, it is so different from the +South. I cannot take you, nor Mandy Ann, but I +shall reward you for all you have done for the child, +and for her mother."</p> + +<p>The last words came slowly, and there was a kind +of tremor in the Colonel's voice.</p> + +<p>"I 'specs you are right," Jake said meekly; "but +it'll be mighty hard, an' what's gwine to become of +Mandy Ann? Who does she 'long to, now Miss Dory +an' ole Miss is both dead? I 'longs to myself, but +what of Mandy Ann?"</p> + +<p>Here was a problem the Colonel had not thought +of. But his mind worked rapidly and clearly, and +he soon reached a decision, but before he could speak +of it the child appeared. It had taken a long time to +wash and dress her, for the little hands were grimy, +and the face very sticky, and a good deal of scrubbing +had been necessary, with a good deal of squabbling, +too—and the Colonel had heard some of the altercations—the +child's voice the louder, as she protested +against the soap and water used so freely. +Jake had closed one of the doors to shut out the noise, +saying as he did so, "She's got a heap of sperrit, but +not from de Harrises, dey hadn't an atom."</p> + +<p>It did not puzzle the Colonel at all to know where +the <i>sperrit</i> came from, and he did not like the child +the less because of it. She was in the room now, +scrubbed till her face shone, and her hair, which was +curly, lay in rings upon her forehead. Mandy Ann +had put on her best frock, a white one, stiff with +starch, and standing out like a small balloon. The +Colonel liked her better in the limp, soiled gown, as +he had seen her first, but she was clean, and she came +to him and put up her hand as Mandy Ann had told +her to do. It was a little soft, fat, baby hand, such as +the Colonel had never touched in his life, and he took +it and held it a moment, while the old malarious feeling +crept over him, and he could have sworn that the +thermometer, which, when he left the "Hatty" had +stood at seventy-five, had fallen to forty degrees. As +a quietus during the washing, Mandy Ann had suggested +that "mabby de gemman done brung somethin'," +and remembering this the little girl at once +asked, "Has you done brung me sumptin'? Mandy +Ann tole me so."</p> + +<p>The Colonel's thermometer dropped lower still at +the speech, so decidedly African, and his pride rose up +in rebellion, and his heart sank, as in fancy he heard +this dialect in his Northern home. But he must bear +it, and when, as he did not at once respond to her +question, she said, "Has you done brung me sumptin'?" +he was glad he had removed the little ivory +book from his watch-chain. It was something, and +he gave it to her, saying, "This is for you—a little +book. Do you know what a book is?"</p> + +<p>She was examining the ornament on the back of +which was carved a miniature bar of music, with three +or four notes. The child had seen written music in +a hymn-book, which belonged to her mother, and +from which she had often pretended to sing, when +she played at a <i>funeral</i>, or prayer meeting, as she +sometimes did under the <i>shady</i>. Jake had not +spoken of this habit to the Colonel. He was waiting +to take him to the graves, and the play-house near +them, and he was watching the child as she examined +the carving. Lifting up her bright eyes to the Colonel, +she said, "Moosich—me sing," and a burst of childish +song rang through the room—part of a negro +melody, and "Me wants to be an angel" alternating +in a kind of melody, to which the Colonel listened in +wonder.</p> + +<p>"Me done sing dood," she said, and her eyes shone +and flashed, and her bosom rose and fell, as if she +were standing before an audience, sure of success and +applause.</p> + +<p>Jake did clap his hands when she finished, and said +to the Colonel, "She done goes on dat way very +often. She's wonderful wid her voice an' eyes. +'Specs she'll make a singer. She's a little quar—dem +Harrises—"</p> + +<p>Here he stopped suddenly, and asked, "Is you +cole?" as he saw the Colonel shiver. He knew the +Harrises were <i>quar</i>, and this dark-haired, dark-eyed +child singing in a shrill, high-pitched, but very sweet +voice, seemed to him uncanny, and he shrank from +her as she said. "Me sing some mo'."</p> + +<p>Jake now interfered, saying, "No, honey; we're +gwine to yer mother's grave."</p> + +<p>"Me go, too," the child answered, slipping her +hand into the Colonel's and leading the way to a little +enclosure where the Harrises were buried.</p> + +<p>The Colonel felt <i>quar</i> with that hand holding his +so tight, and the child hippy-ty-hopping by his side +over the boards Jake had put down for a walk to the +graveyard.</p> + +<p>"Dis mine. Me play here," the child said, more +intent upon her play-house than upon her mother's +grave.</p> + +<p>The play-house was a simple affair, which Jake +had constructed. There were two pieces of board +for a floor, and a small bench for a table, on which +were bits of broken cups and saucers, the slice of +bread and molasses the child had left when she went +to see the stranger, a rag doll, fashioned from a cob, +with a cloth head stuffed with bran, and a book, soiled +and worn as from frequent usage. The child made +the Colonel look at the doll which she called Judy, +"after ole mammy Judy, who came nigh havin' de +pow' at de funeral, an' who done made it for her," +Jake explained. The book—a child's reader—was +next taken up, the little girl saying, "Mamma's +book—me read," and opening it she made a pretense +of reading something which sounded like "Now I +lay me." The Colonel, who had freed his hand from +the fingers which had held it so fast, looked inquiringly +at Jake, who said, "Miss Dory's book; she done +read it a sight, 'case 'twas easier readin' dan dem +books from Palatka; an' she could larn somethin' +from it, but de long words floored her an' me, too, +who tried to help her."</p> + +<p>For a moment the Colonel seemed agitated, and +taking the book from the child he said, "Can I have +it?"</p> + +<p>"No, sar!" Jake answered emphatically. "I +wouldn't part wid it for de world. It's a part of Miss +Dory, an' she tried so hard to read good an' be a lady. +Mandy Ann lived a spell wid de quality, an' got some +o' dar ways, an' I got some in Virginny, an' we tole +'em to her, an' she done tried till towards de las' she +gin it up. ''Taint no use,' she said to me. 'I'm +'scouraged. I can never be a lady. Ef he comes after +I'm dead, tell him I tried an' couldn't.' She meant +the chile's fader, her husband. Ain't you her husband?"</p> + +<p>It was a direct question, and Jake's honest eyes +were looking steadily at the Colonel, whose lips were +white, and opened and shut two or three times before +he answered, "I am nobody's husband, and never +shall be. I knew your young mistress, and was interested +in her, and shall care for the child. Don't ask +me any more questions."</p> + +<p>Up to this moment Jake had felt quite softened +towards the man he had once thought to kill. But +now he wanted to knock him down, but restrained +himself with a great effort, and answered, "I axes yer +pardon, but I'se allus thought so—an'—an'—I thinks +so still."</p> + +<p>To this there was no reply, and Jake, who had sent +home his shaft, which he knew was making the proud +man quiver, spoke next of a monument for Miss +Dory, and asked where he'd better get it.</p> + +<p>"Where you think best," the Colonel answered. +"Only get a good one, and send the bill to me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sar; thank'ee, Mas'r," Jake said, beginning +to feel somewhat less like knocking the Colonel +down. "What shall I put on it?" he asked, and the +Colonel replied, "What was on her coffin?"</p> + +<p>"Jess 'Eudora, aged twenty.' I didn' know no +odder name—las' name, I mean. I was shue 'twan't +Harris."</p> + +<p>"Put the same on the monument," the Colonel +said; "and, Jake, keep the grave up. She was a good +girl."</p> + +<p>"Fo' de Lawd, I knows dat, an' I thank'ee, Mas'r, +for sayin' dem words by de grave whar mabby she +done har'em; thank'ee."</p> + +<p>The tears were in Jake's eyes, as he grasped the +Colonel's hand and looked into the face which had +relaxed from its sternness, and was quivering in every +muscle. The proud man was moved, and felt that if +he were alone he would have knelt in the hot sand by +Eudora's grave, and asked pardon for the wrong he +had done her. But Jake was there, and the child looking +on with wide-open eyes, and though she did not +understand what was said she knew that Jake was crying, +and charged it to the stranger—"the bad man, to +make Shaky cry—I hates 'oo," she said, beginning +to strike at him.</p> + +<p>"Hush! honey, hush!" Jake said, while the +Colonel began to feel the need of several hot-water +bags as he went back to the house where Mandy +Ann, remembering the hospitable ways at Miss Perkins's +when people called, had set out for him the +best the house afforded, including the china plate he +remembered so well.</p> + +<p>He felt that to eat would choke him, but forced +himself to take a sip of coffee and a bit of corn bread. +The little girl had remained behind in her play-house, +and he was glad of that. She was a restraint upon +him. He wanted to talk business, and he did not +know how much she would understand. When her +great bright eyes were on him he felt nervous as if she +were reading his thoughts, and was more himself with +her away. He must talk about her and her going +with him on the "Hatty," and Jake listened with a +swelling heart, and Mandy Ann with her apron over +her head to hide her tears. They knew it must be, +and tried to suppress their feelings.</p> + +<p>"It's like takin' my life," Jake said, "but it's for +de best. Miss Dory would say so, but, Mas'r Crompton, +you'll fotch her back sometime to de ole place. +You'll tell her of her mudder, an' me, an' Mandy Ann. +You won't let her done forget."</p> + +<p>Nothing could be further from the Colonel's intentions +than to let the child come back, and everything +he could do to make her forget was to be done, but +he could not say so to Jake, and with some evasive +answer he hurried on to business, and spoke of the +house and clearing, which now by right of inheritance +belonged to the child. As he assumed her guardianship +he should also assume an oversight of her property, +and it was his wish that Jake should stay on the +place, receiving a certain sum yearly for his services, +and having all he could make besides. For anything +of his own which he had spent on the clearing he was +to be repaid, and all the money Eudora had put by +was to be his. Jake felt like a millionaire, and expressed +his thanks with choking sobs. Then, glancing +at Mandy Ann, he asked as he had asked before, +"An' what 'bout Mandy Ann? I 'longs to myself, +but who's she 'long to, now ole Miss an' young Miss +is dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, who's nigger be I? Whar am I gwine?" +Mandy Ann cried, jerking her apron from her head.</p> + +<p>"In the natural sequence of things you belong to +the little girl," the Colonel replied, adding, "I might +buy you—"</p> + +<p>But he got no further. All of Mandy Ann's animosity, +when Ted suggested that the man from the +North had come to buy her, and she had begged her +mistress to save her from such a fate, had returned, +and she exclaimed vehemently, "Fo' de Lawd, not +dat ar. Lemme stay hyar. You 'members Ted, de +colored boy on de 'Hatty.' We's kep' company, +off an' on, a year, sometimes quarrelin', and den +makin' up. I can't leave Ted."</p> + +<p>Her soul was in her eyes, as she begged for herself +and Ted, and the Colonel hastened to say, "You +did not let me finish. I couldn't buy you, if I would, +and if I did I'd set you free. I will see that this is +done some time."</p> + +<p>"Bress you, Mas'r, for dat ar," Mandy Ann began, +but the Colonel stopped her by saying, "You are +young to be keeping company."</p> + +<p>"I'se 'most as ole as Miss Dory when lill chile was +born," was the reply, which silenced the Colonel with +regard to her age.</p> + +<p>He had quite a liking for Mandy Ann, and meant to +do all he could for her and Jake, and after some +further conversation it was arranged that she should +stay with the latter, the Colonel promising to see that +her wages were paid, and saying that she could keep +the money for herself. He was certainly acting +generously towards the two blacks, who would have +been happy but for the parting with the child, which +weighed so heavily upon them. There was not much +time left, for the "Hatty" sailed early the next morning, +and the Colonel must be on board that night.</p> + +<p>Great as was their grief it was nothing compared +to the antagonism of the child, when she heard she +was to go with the Colonel, and leave Jake and Mandy +Ann behind. She would <i>not</i> go, she said, and fought +like a little tiger when that evening the Colonel came +for her, and Mandy Ann tried to dress her for the +journey. Under the table, and lounge, and chairs she +crawled in her efforts to hide, and finally springing +into Jake's lap begged him to keep her, promising to +be good and never call him nor Mandy Ann niggers +again, and nearly breaking Jake's heart with her tears +and pretty coaxings. At last worn out with excitement, +and feeling that the battle was against her, she +sobbed, "Go wid me, Shaky, if I goes."</p> + +<p>"I 'spects I'll hev to go part way—say to Savannah—ef +you gets her off quiet. Thar's that in her will +make her jump inter de river ef we pushes her too +far," Jake said, and the Colonel, who was sweating +like rain, and did not care for a scene on the "Hatty," +finally consented for Jake to accompany them to +Savannah, trusting Providence for what might follow.</p> + +<p>Thus quieted the child made no resistance when +Mandy Ann changed her soiled white dress for one +more suitable for the trip, and then began to pack +her few belongings. Here the Colonel stopped her. +He did not know much about children's clothes, but +he felt intuitively that nothing of the child's present +wardrobe would ever be worn at Crompton Place. +He did not say this in so many words, but Mandy +Ann understood him and asked, "Ain't she to carry +nothin'?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing but what is necessary on the road," the +Colonel replied, and an old satchel was filled with a +night-dress, a clean apron, a pair of stockings, and +Mandy Ann's tears, which fell like rain as she performed +her last office for the little girl, who, now that +Jaky was going, began to look forward to the trip +with childish delight.</p> + +<p>Judy was wrapped carefully in paper and put +into the satchel, and then she was ready. Mandy +Ann went with her to the boat, where, as it was late, +scarcely any one was visible except Ted, to whom +Mandy Ann intrusted her charge, bidding him <i>'muse</i> +her when he could, and whispering to him the good +luck which had come to her and Jake through the +Colonel's generosity. Then with a terrible wrench in +her heart, she took the child in her arms and said, +"Doan' you forget me, honey, an' some time you'll +be comin' agen. Oh, I can't bar it!" and with a wail +which was scarcely like a human cry she dropped the +child, and hurrying from the boat ran swiftly up the +lane, and was soon out of sight. There were two or +three bursts of tears for Mandy Ann, but for the most +part the little girl was quiet until Savannah was +reached, and she heard Jake was to leave her. Then +she showed of what she was capable, and the Colonel +looked on aghast, wondering what he should do when +Jake was gone. She had played on the way with +Judy, whose appearance had provoked a smile from +some of the passengers, making the Colonel wonder +if there were not something more reputable in looks +than Judy, with her features of ink and the sewed-up +gash in the side of her neck from which a little bran +was still oozing. He didn't know much about dolls, +but was sure there must be some in Savannah, and he +went on a tour of inspection, and found a gold ring +with a small stone in it for Mandy Ann in place of the +one buried with poor Dory. This he would give to +Jake to take home to the negro girl, he thought, and +then continued his search for dolls, finding one which +could stand up, and sit down, and was gorgeous in +a satin dress, with earrings in its ears. This was more +in keeping with his ideas, and he took it to the hotel, +hoping he had seen the last of Judy, who, he suggested, +should be thrown away. He didn't know +children. The little girl was delighted with her new +doll, which she handled gingerly, as if afraid to touch +it, and which she called Mandy Ann. But she clung +to Judy just the same, quite to the disgust of the +Colonel.</p> + +<p>Poor Jake grew thin during the few days they +spent in Savannah, and he knew he was nearing the +end.</p> + +<p>"I must buy her somfin'," he thought, and one +morning when he was walking with her past a dry +goods store he saw in the window a little scarlet +merino cloak, lined with white satin, and looking so +pretty that he stopped to look at it, while the little girl +jumped up and down, exclaiming, "Oh, the buffitel +cloak. Me wants it, Shaky; me wants it."</p> + +<p>Going into the store Jake inquired the price, which +was so large that his heart sank. It would take nearly +all the money he had with him to buy it, but reflecting +that the Colonel was paying his bills, and that on his +return home he could eat two meals a day, and light +ones at that, until he had saved the required sum, he +bought the cloak; and, when the final parting came, +wrapped it round the little girl, and carrying her to +the steamer put her down, and left hurriedly, while +she rolled on the floor screaming for Shaky, and +bumping her head against a settee. As the boat +moved off, Jake stood on the wharf watching it for a +long distance, with a feeling that all the brightness +of his life had vanished with the little girl, whom the +harassed and half-crazed Colonel would have given +much to have left with him had it been practicable.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="1CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> +EUDORA</h2> + +<p>The Colonel had been gone nearly three weeks and +no one knew where he was, or thought it strange that +they didn't. It was his habit to go suddenly and +return just as suddenly. Peter had his opinion, and +felt curious to know if the Colonel would bring back +Jake and Mandy Ann besides the child, and had many +a hearty laugh by himself as he imagined the consternation +of the household when this menagerie was +turned in upon them. Naturally his master would +let him know when to expect him, he thought, and +was greatly surprised one morning when a station +hack drove into the yard, and the Colonel entered the +house looking years older than when he went away.</p> + +<p>With him was a little girl, three years old or more, +clinging to his hand as if in fear. Her garments were +all coarse and old-fashioned, except the scarlet merino +cloak. The hood was drawn over her head, and from +it there looked out a pair of eyes, which, had Peter +ever heard of the word, he would have said were uncanny, +they were so large, and bright, and moved so +rapidly from one object to another. She dropped the +hood from her head, and began tugging at the ribbons +of her cloak, while her lip quivered as if she were +about to cry. It came at last, not like anything Peter +had ever heard, and was more like a howl than a cry, +for "Shaky; me wants Shaky."</p> + +<p>It was loud, and shrill, and penetrated to all parts +of the house, bringing Sally, the cook, Jane, the +chambermaid, and Sam, the coachman, all into the +hall, where they stood appalled at what they saw.</p> + +<p>"Shaky, Shaky," the child wailed on, frightened by +the strange faces around her, and as he did not come +she threw herself upon the floor, and began to bump +her head up and down, her last resort when her paroxysms +were at their height.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had borne a good deal since leaving +Savannah, and had more than once been tempted to +turn back and either bring Shaky, or leave the child +with him. She had cried for him till she was purple +in the face, and the stewardess had struck her on her +back to make her catch her breath, and then taken +her in her arms, and tried to comfort her. Perhaps +it was owing to her color that the child took to her +so readily that the Colonel said to her, "Keep her +quiet, if you can, and I do not care what I pay you."</p> + +<p>After that the little girl staid mostly with the +stewardess, and was comparatively happy. Judy was +a great comfort to her, and she kept it hugged to her +bosom through the day, and slept with it at night, +and when she reached the Crompton House it was in +the inside pocket of her cloak. Becoming detached +from the pocket as she rolled on the floor it fell at +Peter's feet, making him start, it was so unlike anything +he had seen in years.</p> + +<p>"Great guns!" he exclaimed, spurning it with his +foot, and sending it near the child, who snatched it +up with a cry of "Judy, Judy, my Judy."</p> + +<p>"Who is she, and where did she come from?" the +cook asked, while Jane tried to soothe the excited +child.</p> + +<p>"Her name is Eudora Harris," the Colonel said. +"Her father is a sneaking scoundrel; her mother was +a good woman, and my friend. She is dead, and there +is no one to care for her child but myself. I have +brought her home to bring up as my own. Jaky +is the colored man who took care of her with Mandy +Ann, a colored girl. She will cry for her by and by."</p> + +<p>As if to prove his words true the child set up a howl +for Mandy Ann; "me wants Mandy Ann," while the +Colonel continued, "She is to be treated in all respects +as a daughter of the house. Get her some decent +clothes at once, you women who understand such +things. Don't mind expense. Give her a pretty +room, and I think you'd better hunt up some young +person to look after her. Until the girl comes Jane +must sleep in the room with her, and don't bother me +unless it is necessary; I feel quite used up, and as if +I had been through a thrashing-machine. I am not +used to children, and this one is—well, to say the +least, very extraordinary."</p> + +<p>This was a good deal for the Colonel to say at one +time to his servants, who listened in wonder, none of +them knowing anything except Peter, who kept his +knowledge to himself. And this was all the explanation +the Colonel gave, either to his servants, or to the +people outside who knew better than to question him, +and who never mentioned the child in his presence. +Gossip, however, was rife in the neighborhood, and +many were the surmises as to the parentage of the +little girl who for a time turned the Crompton House +upside down, and made it a kind of bedlam when her +fits were on, and she was rolling on the floor, and +bumping her head, with cries for Shaky and Mandy +Ann. She was homesick, and cared nothing for the +beautiful things they brought her. Against the +pretty dresses she fought at first, and then submitted +to them, but kept her old one in a corner of her room, +and Susie, the girl hired to attend her, sometimes +found her there asleep with her head upon it, and +Judy held closely in her arms. They bought her a +doll-house which was fitted up with everything calculated +to please a child, but after inspecting it a while +she turned from it with a cry for her "shady" under +the palm tree in the clearing. The doll, Mandy Ann, +which the Colonel had bought in Savannah, never +took the place of Judy, who was her favorite, together +with the scarlet cloak, which she would seldom let out +of her sight. During the day she kept it round her, +saying, "Me's cold," and at night she had it near her +bed where she could see it the first thing in the morning.</p> + +<p>The Colonel knew the town was full of speculation +and surmises, but he did not care. Surmises which +went wide of the mark were better than the real truth +would have been, and that he could not tell. He had +left a large part of his past in Florida, and trusted it +would not follow him. He could not leave the little +girl, and he meant to do his duty by her, outwardly +at least. He had no love for her, and could not manufacture +one. He would rather she had never been +born; but inasmuch as she was born, and was very +much alive, she must be cared for.</p> + +<p>There was a private baptism in his library one Sunday +afternoon, and she was christened Amy Eudora. +Amy was for his mother; Eudora for no one knew +whom, except Peter, who thought of the smelly letter, +and knew that Eudora was for the young mother, +dead somewhere in Florida. But he held his tongue, +and tried to make up to the little girl her loss of +Shaky, for whom she cried for days. Then, as she +grew accustomed to her surroundings, she became +contented, and her merry chatter filled the house +from morning till night. Every one was devoted to +her, except the Colonel. He was kind, but never +encouraged her advances; never kissed her, never +took her in his lap, or allowed her in his library. She +called him father, and he answered to the name, while +she was Eudora Harris to others. He tried at first +to call her Amy, but she stoutly resisted.</p> + +<p>"Me's Dory. Shaky and Mandy Ann calls me +Dory," she would say, with a stamp of her foot, refusing +to answer to any name but Dory, which came +at last to be Dora as she grew older.</p> + +<p>She learned to read in the new school-house by the +south gate of the park, and when she heard that the +Colonel built it, she called it hers, and queened it over +her companions with an imperiousness worthy of the +Colonel himself. When questioned of her old home +her answers were vague. There was a river somewhere, +and her mother was sick, and she reckoned she +had no father but Shaky.</p> + +<p>As she grew older, she became very reticent of her +past, and, if she remembered it at all, she held her +tongue, like Peter. Once, when she was more than +usually aggressive, claiming not only the school-house +but everything in and around it, she was told +by the children that she lived with niggers till she +came to Crompton Place, and they guessed her +mother was one, and nobody knew anything about +her anyway. There was a fierce fight in which Dora +came off victorious, with a scratch or two on her face +and a torn dress. That afternoon the Colonel was +confronted by what seemed a little maniac, demanding +to know if her mother was black, and if she had +lived only with negroes until she came to Crompton.</p> + +<p>"No, to both questions, and never let me hear another +word on the subject as long as you live," was +the Colonel's answer, given with a sternness before +which the girl always quailed.</p> + +<p>She was afraid of the Colonel, and kept aloof from +him as much as possible, rarely seeing him except at +meal times, and then saying very little to him and +never dreaming how closely he watched her, attributing +every pecularity, and she had many, to the Harris +taint, of which he had a mortal terror. But however +much or little there might have been of the Harris +blood in her, the few who knew her found her charming, +as she grew from childhood into a beautiful girl +of eighteen, apparently forgetful of everything pertaining +to her Florida home. The doll-house, with +all the expensive toys bought for her, had been banished +to a room in the attic, and with them finally +went Judy and Mandy Ann. The red cloak she +seemed to prize more than all her possessions. It was +more in keeping with her surroundings than Judy, +and she often wrapped it around her as she sat upon +the piazza, when the day was cool, and sometimes +wore it on her shoulders to breakfast in the morning. +Once she asked the Colonel where it came from, and +he answered "Savannah," and went on reading his +paper with a scowl on his forehead which warned her +she was on dangerous ground. He was not fond of +questions, and she did not often trouble him with +them, but lived her silent life, increasing in beauty +with every year, and guarded so closely from contact +with the outer world that she scarcely had an intimate +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>It was not the Colonel's wish that she should have +any. Indeed, he hardly knew what he did want. He +was aristocratic, and exclusive, and wished to make +her so, and keep her from contact with the common +herd, as he secretly designated the people around +him. He knew she was beautiful, with an imperiousness +of manner she took from him, and a sweet +yielding graciousness she took from her mother. +Sometimes a smile, or turn of her head, or kindling in +her eyes, would bring the dead woman so vividly to +his mind that he would rise suddenly and leave the +room, as if a ghost were haunting him. On these occasions +he was sterner than usual with Eudora, who +chafed under the firm rein held upon her, and longed +to be free.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had it in his mind to take her to Europe, +hoping to secure a desirable marriage for her. +He should tell her husband, of course, who she was, +knowing that money and position would atone for the +Harris blood, and feeling that in this way he would +be entirely freed from the page of life which did not +now trouble him much. He was still Crompton of +Crompton, with his head as high as ever. The Civil +War had swept over the land like a whirlwind. Tom +Hardy had been among the first to enlist in the +Southern army, and been killed in a battle. The +Colonel had heard of his death with a pang, and also +with a certain feeling of relief, knowing that he was +about the only one who possessed a knowledge of his +folly, or his whereabouts. There was still Jake, who +wrote occasionally, asking for his <i>lill Miss</i> and telling +of Mandy Ann, whom the war had made free, and +who had married Ted, and was living in her own house +outside the clearing. Everything was out of the +way except Eudora, who, before he had proposed his +trip to Europe, took herself from him in a most summary +manner. The restraint laid upon her was becoming +more than she could bear, and she rebelled +against it.</p> + +<p>"I shall elope some day—see if I don't," she said +to Peter, who still remained in the family, and was +her confidant in most things. "I shall say 'yes' to the +first man who proposes, and leave this prison for the +world, and the grand sights which Adolph says are +everywhere. Here I am, cooped up with no young +society, and seldom allowed to attend a picnic, or +party, or concert, and I do so enjoy the latter, only +I often feel as if I could do better than the professionals. +Adolph says I can, and he knows."</p> + +<p>Adolph Candida was her music teacher, who, alone +of the young men in Crompton, had free access to the +house. He was a fine fellow as well as teacher, and +had done much to develop Dora's taste and love for +music, which had strengthened with her years, until +her voice was wonderful for its scope and sweetness. +Naturally there sprang up between the young people +an affection which ripened into love, and Candida +was told by Eudora to ask her father's sanction to +their marriage. That she could stoop to care for her +music teacher the Colonel never dreamed, and was +speechless with surprise and anger when asked by the +young Italian for her hand. To show him the door +was the work of a moment, and then Dora was sent +for. She came at once, with a look in her eyes which +made the Colonel hesitate a little before he told her +what he had done, and what he expected her to do.</p> + +<p>"If you disobey me in the slightest, you are no +longer a daughter of my house," he said, in the cold, +hard tone which Dora knew so well, and had feared +so much.</p> + +<p>But the fear was over now. Something had transformed +the timid girl into a woman, with a courage +equal to the Colonel's. For a time she stood perfectly +still, with her eyes fixed upon the angry man, listening +to him until he spoke of her as the daughter of the +house; then, with a gesture of her hands, which bade +him stop, she exclaimed, "I did not know I was +daughter of anything. For fifteen years I have lived +here, and though you have been kind to me in your +way, you have surrounded yourself with an air of reserve +so cold and impregnable that I have never dared +ask you who I am, since I was a child, and asked +you about my mother. You told me then never to +mention that subject again, and I never have. But +do you think I have forgotten that I had a mother? +I have not. I do forget some things in a strange +way. They come in a moment and go, and I cannot +bring them back, but the face I think was mother's +is not one of them. Of my father I remember nothing. +I have been told that when you brought me here +you said he was a scoundrel! Are you he? Are you +my father?"</p> + +<p>The Colonel was white as a sheet, and his lips +twitched nervously, as if it were hard for them to +frame the word No, which came at last decidedly. +Over Dora's face a look of disappointment passed, +and her hands grasped the back of a chair in front of +her, as if she needed support.</p> + +<p>"If you are not my father, who and what was my +mother?" was her next question, and the Colonel +replied, "She was an honest woman. Be satisfied +with that."</p> + +<p>"I never for a moment thought her dishonest," +the girl exclaimed, vehemently. "I remember her as +some one seen in a dream—a frail little body, with a +sweet face which seldom smiled. There were other +faces round us—dusky ones—negroes, weren't they?"</p> + +<p>Her eyes compelled the Colonel to bow assent, and +she continued, "I thought so, and our home was +South; not a grand home like this, but a cabin, I +think. Wasn't it a cabin?"</p> + +<p>Again the Colonel bowed, and Dora went on, +"There came a day when it was full of people, and +somebody was in a box, and I sat in Shaky's lap. I +have never forgotten him. He was all the father I +knew."</p> + +<p>The Colonel drew a long breath, and she went on, +"He held me up, and bade me kiss the white face in +the box. That was my mother?"</p> + +<p>Again her eyes made the Colonel bow assent, and +she continued, "After that there is a blank, with +misty recollections of another box on the table, and a +walk across hot sands with Shaky, and then I came +here, where you have tried hard to blot all the past +from my memory, as if it were something of which +to be ashamed. But I shall find my mother's family +some day, and Shaky, if he is living, and shall know +all about it. There was a girl, too—Mandy Ann. I +called the doll you gave me for her. She took care of +me when Shaky didn't. He is more distinct. He +took you to the graves the day you came for me, and +I went with you and showed you my play-house under +the palm tree—the poor little thing, but dearer to me +than the best you have ever given me, because it was +hedged round with love, even if it were the love of +negroes. Things are coming back to me now so +vividly, pressing on my brain which feels as if it would +burst, and I remember the blacks, and their prayer +meetings, and the songs they sang, and their hallelujahs +and amens sound in my ears, and I think they +always have, and helped me on and up when I have +been practising difficult music. When a child at +school I was often taunted and mocked for what the +children called my negro brogue and talk. We had +several battles in which I generally beat, although +I was one against a dozen. There is a good deal of +fight in me which I must have inherited from my +father, who, I suppose, was a Southerner, if you are +not he."</p> + +<p>The Colonel only glared at her, and she continued, +"I have been told, too, that there is a negro twang +in my voice, and I am glad of it, and try to imitate the +sounds which come to me from a past I so dimly +remember, and which I think are echoes from some +negro <i>prar</i> meeting. You see I have not forgotten +the dialect of my early surroundings, and some day—I +tell you again, I shall find the place and the graves +of my people, and know what you have kept from me +so carefully."</p> + +<p>"Better not. You'll be sorry if you do. Your +mother's family were Crackers," the Colonel said. +"You would not be proud of the connection, although +they were respectable people."</p> + +<p>If Dora had ever heard of Crackers she knew very +little about them, and cared less. She was greatly +excited, and her eyes flashed and glowed with that +light which Mr. Mason and Peter had noticed years +before, and from which the Colonel turned away as +from something dangerous.</p> + +<p>"My mother was a Cracker? My father was a Mr. +Harris—a Cracker, too. I am not your daughter, as +I have been weak enough at times to believe, and—yes, +I will confess it—I was weak enough to be proud +that I was a Crompton; but that is over now; my +father and mother were Crackers. I am a Cracker, +and Eudora Harris. I am eighteen, and my own +mistress—amenable to the authority of no one. I am +glad for that, as it makes me free to do as I please. +Good evening."</p> + +<p>She bowed and left the room, leaving him stunned +that she dared defy him, and half resolved to call her +back and tell her the truth. But he didn't, and it was +years before he saw her again.</p> + +<p>The next morning she was missing. She had gone +with Candida—where, he took no pains to inquire. +She sent him a New York paper, with a notice of her +marriage, and the names of herself and husband in the +list of passengers sailing on the Celtic. He put the +paper in the fire with the tongs, and after that a great +silence fell upon the house, and the Colonel grew more +reserved than ever, and more peculiar. He forbade +the servants to mention Dora's name, or tell him +where she was, if they knew. They didn't know, and +many years went by, and to all intents and purposes +she was dead to those who had known her as a bright, +beautiful girl. Jake, who wrote to inquire for her, +was told that she had run away and married, and the +Colonel neither knew nor cared where she was, and +was not to be troubled with any more letters, which +he should not answer. Jake was silenced, and there +was no link connecting the Colonel with the past, +except his memory which lashed him like the stings +of scorpions. His hair turned white as snow; there +was a stoop between his shoulders, and his fifty-five +years might have been sixty-five, he aged so fast, as +time went on, and his great house became so intolerable +to him that he at last hailed with delight an event +which, sad as it was in some respects, brought him +something of life and an interest in it.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="PART_II"></a>PART II</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> +HOWARD CROMPTON TO JACK HARCOURT</h2> + +<p class="right"> +"Crompton House, June —, 18—. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +"Dear Jack: +</p> + +<p>"I have bearded the lion in his den and found him +a harmless old cove, after all, with many of his fangs +extracted. You know, I am the son of his half-brother, +who was many years his junior. I fancy the +two never agreed very well, and when I wrote, proposing +that I should visit Crompton House, I was +surprised at the cordial reply, bidding me pack up my +traps and come at once. I packed up and came, and, +if I know myself, I shall stay. I am the only near +relative he has in the world. He has a large estate to +dispose of, was never married, and, of course, has no +children, unless—*</p> + +<p>"There must everlastingly be an <i>unless</i>, or a <i>but</i> +somewhere, and here it is—a big one in the shape of a +woman—a lovely woman, too, if she is nearer forty +than twenty. Don't you remember I once told you of +a girl whom my uncle brought home from the South, +and who ran off with her music teacher, an Italian. +Well, she is here—a wreck physically and mentally in +one sense; not exactly insane, but with memory so impaired +that she can tell nothing of her past, or perhaps +she does not wish to. She always says, when +questioned about it, 'I don't remember, and it makes +my head ache to try.'</p> + +<p>"It seems her first husband, Candida, took her +abroad and gave her every advantage in music, both +in Paris and Italy. When he died she married Homer +Smith, an American, who was associated with him in +some way. After his return to America he got up +what was known as the 'Homer Troupe.' He +dropped his last name, thinking the <i>Smith</i> Troupe +would not sound as well as Homer. His wife was the +drawing card. She had a wonderful voice as a girl, +they say, with a peculiarly pathetic tone in it, like +what you hear in negro concerts, and it was this and +her beauty which took with the people. She hated +the business, but was compelled to sing by her husband, +who, I fancy, was a tyrant and a brute. They +starred it in the far West mostly, until her health +and mind gave way, and she went raving mad on the +stage, I believe. He put her in a private asylum in +San Francisco. How long she was there I don't know, +and she don't know. She was always a little queer, +they say, and people predicted she would be crazy +some time. Her husband died suddenly in Santa +Barbara. Just before he died he tried to say something, +but could only manage to give his physician +the Colonel's address, and say, 'Tell him where my +wife is.'</p> + +<p>"Off started the Colonel, lame, and gouty, and +rheumatic as he is, and brought her home, and has +set her up as a kind of queen whose slightest wish is +to be obeyed. To do her justice she has not many +wishes. She is very quiet, talks but little, and seems +in a kind of brown study most of the time. Occasionally +she rouses up and asks if we are sure he is +dead—the he being her husband—the last one, presumably. +When we tell her he is she smiles and says, +'I think I'm glad, for now I shall never have to sing +again in public.' Then she says in a very different +tone, 'Baby is dead, too; and my head has ached so +hard ever since that I cannot think or remember, +only it was sudden and took my life away.'</p> + +<p>"She has an old red cloak which at times she wraps +around a shawl, and cuddles it as if it were a baby, +crooning some negro melody she heard South. There +must have been a little child who died, but she is not +clear on the subject. Sometimes it is a baby; sometimes +a grown girl; sometimes it died in one place; +sometimes in another; but always just before she was +going to sing, and the room was full of coffins until +she sank down, and knew no more. Whether my +uncle has taken pains to inquire about the child, I +don't know. He does not like children, and is satisfied +to have Amy back, and is trying to atone for his +former harshness. He calls her Amy, instead of +Eudora, because the latter was the name by which she +was known in the Homer Troupe, and he saw it +flaunted on a handbill advertising the last concert in +which she took part.</p> + +<p>"Don't think I have heard all this from him. He +is tighter than the bark of a tree with regard to his +affairs, and I do not think any one in the town knows +anything definite about her singing in public, or the +asylum; but there is a servant, Peter, who has grown +old in the family. He knows everything, and has told +me about my uncle bringing the child home, and how +she cried for days for Shaky, a colored man, and slept +in the red cloak, and kept it around her in the day-time +because he gave it to her. I have learned that +she was never lawfully adopted, and that my uncle +has made no will. Still she must be something to +him, but certainly not his lawful child, or why his +reticence with regard to her. I am the only near +relative bearing the Crompton name. I have made +myself very necessary to him—am in fact, in a way, a +son of the house. He is very much broken, and if +he dies without a will—*</p> + +<p>"Well, all things come to him who waits, and I +can afford to wait in such comfortable quarters. Do +you catch on, and call me a scamp with your Puritanical +notions? Not so fast, old fellow. You have +chosen to earn your living delving at the law. I earn +mine by being so useful to my uncle that he will not +part with me. He has already made me a kind of +agent to attend to his business, so that I look upon +myself as permanently fixed at Crompton House for +as long as I choose to stay. It is a grand old place, +with an income of I do not know how many thousands, +and if I should ever be fortunate enough to be +master, I shall say that for once in his life Howard +Crompton was in luck. I want you to come here, +Jack, when you have finished visiting your sister. I +asked my uncle if I could invite you, and he said, +'Certainly; I like to have young people in the house. +It pleases Amy.'</p> + +<p>"This is wonderful, as they say he used to keep +young people away, almost with lock and key, when +she was young. But now anything which pleases +Amy pleases him.</p> + +<p>"And now for another matter which involves a +girl, Eloise Smith. Who is she, you ask? Well, she +is neither high born, I fancy, nor city bred; nor much +like the girls from Wellesley and Lasell, with whom +we used to flirt. She is a country school-ma'am, and +is to be graduated this month in the Normal School +in Mayville, where you are visiting. What is she to +me? Nothing, except this: She has haunted me ever +since I heard of her, and I can't get rid of an idea +that in some way she is to influence my life. You +know I was always given to presentiments and vagaries, +and she is the last one. I might not have +thought much of her if my uncle were not in a great +way on her account. Long ago when they changed +the name of the town from Troutburg to Crompton +in his honor, he built a school-house on his premises, +and gave it to the town. Since then he has felt that +he had a right to control it, and say who should teach, +and who shouldn't. For a long time the people +humored him, and made him school inspector, whose +business it was to examine the teachers with regard +to their qualifications. With his old time notions, he +had some very old-time questions, which with others, +he always propounded. As a test of scholarship they +were ridiculous; but he was Col. Crompton, and the +people shrugged their shoulders and laughed at what +they called the Crompton formula. Here are a few of +the questions: First, What is logic? Second, Why +does the wind usually stop blowing when the sun goes +down? I don't know; do you? and we are both Harvarders. +The third introduces a man in old Colburn's +Arithmetic, driving his sheep or geese to +market. The fourth is a scorcher, and has to do with +the diameter of a grindstone, after a certain number +of inches have been ground from it. Then comes +what I call the <i>pièce de résistance</i>, but which my uncle +called 'killing two birds with one stone.' He has a +fad on writing and spelling, and required his victims +to put on paper the following:</p> + +<p>"'Mr. Wright has a right +To write the rites of the church.'</p> + +<p>"Blamed if I didn't get stuck on that last <i>rite</i> +when he gave it to me! If the teachers got safely +through with the sheep, or geese, and the grindstone, +and Mr. Wright, and the rest of them, he gave them a +certificate declaring them qualified to teach a district +school. In these days of methods, and analysis, and +different ways of looking at things, all that is exploded, +and the Crompton people have dropped my +uncle, who is furious, and charges it to young blood, +and the normal schools which have sprung up, and +in which he does not believe. 'No matter how many +diplomas a girl may have,' he says, 'proving that she +has stood up in a white gown, and read an essay nobody +within four feet of the rostrum could hear, or +care to hear, if they could, she ought to pass a good +solid examination to see if she were rooted and +grounded in the fundamentals,' and when he heard +that a normal graduate was engaged for District No. +5, he swore a blue streak at the girl, the trustee who +hired her, and the attack of gout which keeps him a +prisoner in the house, and will prevent his interviewing +Miss Smith, as he certainly would if he were able. +I tried to quiet him by offering to interview her myself. +Think of me in a district school-house, talking +to the teacher about the diameter of a grindstone! +The absurdity must have struck my uncle. You +should have seen the look he gave me over his spectacles, +as he said, 'You, who know nothing, except +ball games, and boat races, and raising the devil generally, +interview a girl with a diploma! You would +probably end by making love to her, but I won't have +it; mind, I won't have it! Remember, you are a +Crompton, and no Crompton ever married beneath +him!' Here he stopped suddenly, and turned so +white that I was alarmed, and asked what ailed him.</p> + +<p>"'Nothing,' he said, 'nothing but a twinge. I had +an awful one.'</p> + +<p>"I suppose he referred to his foot, which was +pretty bad that day. After a little, quite to my surprise, +he said, 'If you knew anything yourself, you +might manage to see if this Smith girl knows anything. +Amy can coach you. She is rooted and +grounded. She was taught in the old school-house, +which I would never have given the town but for +her.'</p> + +<p>"What he meant I don't know. What I do know +is that Amy has told me why the wind stops blowing +when the sun goes down, but I'll be hanged if I +understand much about the rarefaction of the air. +Do you? She was very glib with the sheep and the +geese, but the grindstone made her head ache, and +she gave it up. I think, however, I have all the +knowledge necessary to judge whether a girl is rooted +and grounded, and now I want to know something +about the girl. Manage to see her while you are in +Mayville. Attend the commencement exercises. She +is sure to read an essay in a white gown. Write me +what she is like, and if I am likely to fall in love with +her. Come as soon as you can.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Always your friend, <br/> +"HOWARD CROMPTON." +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> +JACK HARCOURT TO HOWARD CROMPTON</h2> + +<p class="right"> +Mayville, July —, 18—. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +"Dear Howard: +</p> + +<p>"That you are a scamp of the first water goes without +saying, insinuating yourself into an eccentric old +man's confidence in hopes to be his heir! I dare say, +Amy is his daughter, and you will have to work for a +living after all, and serve you right, too. But have +a good time while you can, and I'll help you after a +little, as I accept your invitation with pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Now for the girl! I have seen her, and if there +was ever a case of love at first sight, I'm that case. It +was this way. Mayville is not a very lively place, +and when my sister, Mrs. Lovell, who you know has +a summer home here, suggested one morning that we +attend the commencement exercises of the Normal +School, saying, that twenty-five or thirty young girls +were to be graduated, I concluded that it was better +than nothing. I hate such places, as a rule, they are +so close and stuffy, and the essays so long and dull, +and the girls all look pretty much alike, and I begged +Bell to get a seat as near the door as possible, so I +could go out when it became unendurable. Just then +your letter was brought to me, and after reading it, +nothing could have kept me from Eloise Smith. I +asked Bell if she knew her.</p> + +<p>"'I don't know many of the girls by name,' she +said, 'but I have heard of Eloise Smith. She sings +in the choir, and is a basket-boarder of Mrs. Brown's.'</p> + +<p>"'What the mischief is a basket-boarder?' I asked, +and Bell explained that girls sometimes hire a room, +and bring their food from home, and have the family +with whom they lodge cook it for them, or cook it +themselves on the family stove. A kind of picnic to +get an education, you see, and just think of all we +spent uselessly in college. Why, it would keep a lot +of basket-boarders. Well, we started for the chapel, +which was literally crammed, and the thermometer +at ninety. You know, Mr. Lovell is wealthy, and +from New York, and that makes Bell a kind of swell +woman in the place, while I fancy your humble servant +had something to do with the attention we received. +Instead of a seat by the door, we were pushed +to the front, within ten feet of the rostrum, and I was +wedged in with Bell on one side of me, afraid I'd jam +her sleeves, and on the other side was a woman, who +weighed at least two hundred, and was equally afraid +of her sleeves. In front of me was a hat so big that +I couldn't begin to see all the stage, and but for +Eloise I'd have got out some way, I was so uncomfortable +with Bell fanning on one side till that rheumatic +spot on my shoulder, which troubled me some +at Harvard, began to ache, and the fat woman the +other side mopping her face with a handkerchief saturated +with cheap perfumery, and the big hat in front +flopping and nodding this way and that, and no place +to stretch my long legs.</p> + +<p>"There was a prayer, a song circle, and <i>et ceteras</i>, +and a great flutter in a row of white dresses, and +many colored ribbons to my left. 'The Graduates,' +Bell whispered, and the business of the day began. +There were eight in all to read essays—nice looking +girls, and much like the Lasells and Wellesleys we +used to know. As for the essays—well, there was +either a good deal of bosh in them, or a profundity of +learning and thought to which Jack Harcourt never +attained. But the people cheered like mad whenever +one was ended, and sent up flowers, while I grew +hotter and hotter, and when the seventh went up, +and unfolded the 'Age of Progress and Reason,' +which looked as if it might last an age, I made up +my mind to bolt, and said so to Bell.</p> + +<p>"'Keep still; there's only one more after this one, +and that is Eloise Smith,' she said.</p> + +<p>"I thought of you, and settled myself for another +fifteen minutes, while a red-haired girl in glasses went +through the 'Age of Progress and Reason' with +great applause, and a basket of flowers, and bowed +herself off the stage. There was a little delay. Somebody +had fainted. I wonder they didn't all faint, the +air was so hot and thick; and to crown all, the window +near us had to be shut, because that fat woman +didn't want a draught on her back! When they got +the fainting person out, and the window shut, I saw +the flutter of a white dress, and knew the eighth and +last essay was coming.</p> + +<p>"'That's Eloise,' Bell said, as a slender little girl +walked on to the rostrum, looking as fresh, and cool, +and sweet as a—well, as the white lilies of which I am +so fond.</p> + +<p>"'By George!' I said, so loud that those nearest +me must have heard me, and wondered what ailed me.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she heard me, for she looked at me with +her beautiful eyes, which steadied me, and kept me +quiet all through her essay. Don't ask me what it +was about. I don't know. I was so absorbed in the girl +herself, she was so graceful, and pretty, and self-possessed, +and her voice was so musical that I could think +of nothing but her; and when she finished I cheered +louder than anybody else, and kept on cheering as +they do in plays when they want them to come back, +till Bell nudged my side, and whispered, 'Are you +crazy? Everybody is looking at you.'</p> + +<p>"I was a little ashamed to be spatting away alone, +but it pleased the fat woman, who proved to be Mrs. +Brown, the keeper of the basket-boarders.</p> + +<p>"'That's Miss Smith. She done nice, didn't she, +and she or'to of had some flowers,' she said to me; +and then I remembered with a pang that not a flower +had been sent up to her—the flower of them all—and +wished I had a whole green-house to give her.</p> + +<p>"Did she think of it? I wondered, as I watched her +after she sat down. The big hat had moved a little, +and I could see the top of Eloise's head, with its crown +of reddish-brown hair, on which a gleam of sunshine +from a window fell, bringing out tints of gold, as well +as red. That sounds rather poetical, don't it? for a +prosy chap who professes never to have been moved +by any piece of femininity, however dainty. I'll confess +I was moved by this little girl. She is very slight +and very young, I judge. I like Mrs. Brown, and +do not think her perfumery bad, or herself very fat, +and am glad they had the window shut for her. I +wouldn't have her in a draught for anything, because +she told me Eloise was the nicest girl she ever had +in her house, and the best scholar in her class. Of +course she is; I'd swear to that. She may not be +rooted and grounded in the fundamentals your queer +old uncle thinks necessary, and I doubt if she knows +about the grindstone, and the rest of it. I'd laugh to +see a great hulking fellow like you questioning her on +such subjects. I've a great mind to write out the +lingo, and send it to her anonymously, so she will be +prepared to satisfy your uncle, who, I fancy, is the +Great Mogul of Crompton.</p> + +<p>"I got quite chummy with Mrs. Brown before the +exercises were over, and she told me Eloise lived in +North Mayville with her grandmother, and that she +was real glad she had a place to teach in Crompton, +for she needed it.</p> + +<p>"'Poor?' I asked, feeling ashamed of myself for +the question.</p> + +<p>"But Mrs. Brown saw nothing wrong in it, and +answered, 'Very.'</p> + +<p>"Just then Bell nudged me again, and said, 'Let's +go. We can get out now. You don't care to see +them receive their diplomas?'</p> + +<p>"But I did, and sat it out till Eloise had hers, and I +saw her face again, and saw, too, what I had not +noticed before, that her dress looked poor and plain +beside the others. Of course she's poor; but what +do I care for that? I am a good deal struck, you +see, and if there were nothing else to bring me to +Crompton, Eloise would do it. So expect me in +September about the time her school commences. +When will that be?</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Very truly, <br/> +"JACK HARCOURT." +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> +ELOISE</h2> + +<p>It was a brown, old-fashioned house such as is common +in New England, with low ceilings, high windows, +and small panes of glass, and in the centre a +great chimney of a fashion a hundred years ago. In +the grass plot at the side, where clothes were bleached +and dried, there should have been a well-sweep and +curb to complete the picture, but instead there was a +modern pump where an elderly woman was getting +water, and throwing away three or four pails full, so +that the last might be fresh and sparkling for the +coffee she was to make for the early breakfast. +Above the eastern hills the sun was rising, coloring +everything with a rosy tinge, and the air was full of +the song which summer sings, of flowers and happy +insect life, when she is at her best. But the woman +neither heard the song nor saw the sunshine, her +heart was so heavy with thoughts of the parting +which was so near.</p> + +<p>"I can't let her know how bad I feel," she said, +fighting back her tears, as she prepared the dainty +breakfast which she could scarcely touch, but which +her grand-daughter, Eloise, ate with the healthy appetite +of youth, and then turned her attention to +strapping her trunk, while her grandmother began to +fill a paper box with slices of bread and butter, and +whatever else she could find, and thought Eloise +would like on the road.</p> + +<p>"There, I've got it done at last, and hope it will +hold till I get there, the old lock is so shaky," Eloise +said, rising to her feet, and shedding back from her +face a mass of soft, fluffy hair.</p> + +<p>"Please don't put up any more lunch. I can never +eat it all," she continued, turning to her grandmother; +then, as she saw the tears dropping from the +dim, old eyes, she sprang forward, and exclaimed, +"Don't cry. You know we promised we would both +be brave, and it is not so very long to Christmas. I +shall certainly be home then, and Crompton is not so +very far away."</p> + +<p>With a catching kind of sob, the elder woman +smiled upon the bright face uplifted to hers, and said: +"I didn't mean to cry, and I am going to be brave. +I am glad you have the chance."</p> + +<p>"So am I," the girl replied, her spirits rising as her +grandmother's tears were dried. "Ever since I was +engaged to go to Crompton I have felt an elation of +spirits, as if something were going to come of it. If +it were not for leaving you, and I had heard from +California, I should be very happy. When a letter +comes, forward it at once, and if necessary I shall go +there during the holidays, and bring her home. I am +glad we have her room all ready for her. I must see +it once more."</p> + +<p>Running upstairs she opened the door of a large +chamber, and stood for a moment inspecting it. +Everything was plain and cheap, from the pine washstand +to the rag carpet on the floor; but it was cosey +and home-like, and the girl who had worked in it so +much, papering and painting it herself, with her +grandmother's help, and then arranging and rearranging +the furniture until it suited her, thought +it fine, and said to herself, "She'll like it better than +any room she ever had at the grandest hotel. I wish +she were here. Mother's room, good-by."</p> + +<p>She kissed her hand to it and ran downstairs, for it +was time to go. The train was drawing up at the +station, a short distance from her grandmother's +door, and in a few minutes she was speeding away +towards Crompton. At nearly the same hour Jack +Harcourt was starting from New York for his promised +visit to Crompton. His letter has given some +insight into his character, but a look at his face will +give a better. It was not a very handsome face, but +it was one which every man, and woman, and child +would trust, and never be deceived. For a young +man of twenty-six he had seen a good deal of life, +both at home and abroad, but the bad side had made +but little impression upon him.</p> + +<p>"It slips from Jack like water from a duck's back, +while we poor wretches get smirched all over," +Howard Crompton was wont to say of him, when +smarting from some temptation to which he had +yielded, and which Jack had resisted.</p> + +<p>They had been friends since they were boys of +eighteen in Europe, and Howard had nursed him +through a fever contracted in Rome. They had also +been chums in Harvard, where both had pulled +through rather creditably, and where Jack had acted +as a restraint upon Howard, who was fonder of larks +than of study.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure he is the right kind of friend for +you?" Jack's sister—who was many years his senior, +and who stood to him in the place of a mother—sometimes +said to him; and he always answered, "He isn't +a bad sort, as fellows go. Too lazy, perhaps, for a +chap who has nothing but expectations from a +crabbed, half-cracked old uncle, and not always quite +on the square. But he is jolly good company, and I +like him."</p> + +<p>Something of this sort he said to his sister, who was +in her New York home on the day when he was +starting for Crompton, and had expressed her doubts +of Howard's perfect rectitude in everything.</p> + +<p>"He isn't a saint," he said to her, "but I don't forget +how he stuck to me in that beastly place on the +Riviera, while every soul of the party but him hurried +off, afraid of the fever. He is having a grand +time at Crompton, and I'm going to help him a while, +and then buckle down to hard work in the office. So +good-by, and don't worry."</p> + +<p>He kissed her and hurried off to the station, bought +the "Century," put several expensive cigars in the +pocket of his overcoat, took a chair in a parlor car, +and felt, as the train sped away out of the city, that it +was good to live, and that Crompton held some new +pleasure and excitement for him, who found sunshine +everywhere.</p> + +<p>Moving in the same direction and for the same +point was another train, in which Eloise sat, dusty +and tired, and homesick for the old grandmother and +the house under the big poplar tree. Added to this +was a harrowing anxiety for news from California.</p> + +<p>"If I do not hear by Christmas, I shall certainly +take an extra week in my vacation, and go there," +she thought; and then she began to wonder about +Crompton, and District No. 5, and if she would have +any trouble with the big boys and girls, and how she +would like Mrs. Biggs, who had boarded the school +teachers for twenty years, and was to board her; and +if by any chance she would ever see the inside of the +Crompton House, of which she had heard from a +friend who had visited in the town and had given +glowing descriptions of it.</p> + +<p>At last, as the air in the car grew cooler, she fell +asleep, and did not waken till the sun was down, and +a great bank of black clouds was looming up in the +west, with mutterings of thunder, and an occasional +flash of lightning showing against the dark sky. She +might not have wakened then if the car had not given +a lurch, with a jar which brought every one to his +feet. The train was off the track, and it would be two +or three hours before it was on again, the conductor +said to the crowd eagerly questioning him. There +was nothing to do but wait, and Eloise did it philosophically. +She had dined from her lunch box in the +middle of the day, and was now glad that her grandmother +had put so much in it, as it not only served +her for supper, but also a tired mother and two hungry +children. As the car began to grow close again, +she left it for a breath of the fresh air, which blew over +the hills as the storm came nearer. She heard some +one say it was time for the New York Express, which +was to pass them at Crompton, and it soon came +thundering on, but stopped suddenly when it found +its progress impeded. She saw the passengers alight +to ascertain the cause of the hindrance, and heard +their impatient exclamations at the delay, which +would seriously inconvenience some of them.</p> + +<p>"It may be midnight before we reach Crompton. +I wonder if Howard will meet me at that late hour," +she heard a young man say, the smoke from his cigar +blowing in her face as he passed where she was sitting +on a stump.</p> + +<p>"He is sure to be there. I saw him day before +yesterday, and he is wild to have you come. I fancy +he finds it rather dull with only a cranky old man and +a half-crazy woman for associates. Howard wants life +and fun," was the reply of his companion, and then +the two young men were out of hearing.</p> + +<p>Who Howard was, or the cranky old man and +half-crazy woman, Eloise had no idea, nor did she +give them a thought. One thing alone impressed +her,—the late hour when she would probably arrive +at Crompton. Would any one be there to meet her, +or any conveyance, and if not, how was she to find her +way to Mrs. Biggs?</p> + +<p>"Grandma says never cross a river till you reach it, +when you will probably find a plank, if nothing more," +she thought, and settled herself to wait through the +long hours which elapsed before the welcome "All +aboard!" was sounded, and the two trains were under +way,—the accommodation in front, and the express +in the rear.</p> + +<p>The storm had broken before the trains started, +and it increased in such violence that when Crompton +was reached it was raining in torrents. The wind was +like a hurricane, with alternate flashes of lightning +which lit up the darkness, and peals of thunder +which seemed to shake the trains as they stopped to +let off their passengers. There were but two, the +young man from the parlor car, and the girl from +the accommodation. The girl was almost drenched +to the skin in the downpour before she could open +her cotton umbrella, which was at once turned inside +out. Holding her satchel with one hand and struggling +to keep her hat on her head with the other, she +was trying to reach the shelter of the station, where a +faint light was shining, when the violence of the wind +and rain drove her backwards, almost into the arms +of a young man hurrying past her, in a slouched hat +and water-proof coat. Thinking him an official, she +seized his arm and said, "Oh, please, sir, tell me is +there any one here from Mrs. Biggs's, or any way to +get there?"</p> + +<p>Her question was inopportune, for at that moment +the stranger's umbrella met a like fate with her own, +and was turned inside out, while hers, loosened by +the opening of her hand, went sailing off into the +darkness and rain. She thought she heard an oath +before the stranger replied that he knew nothing of +Mrs. Biggs, and did not think any conveyance was +there at that hour.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Jack! Is that you? and did you ever +know such an infernal storm? Nearly takes one off +his feet. My umbrella has gone up; so will yours if +you open it. Didn't see you till I was right on you," +was his next exclamation, as a vivid flash of lightning +lit up the platform, and showed Eloise two young +men clasping hands within three feet of her.</p> + +<p>Howard Crompton had been to the station at the +appointed time, and learned of the delay of the train +in which he expected his friend. Later a telephone +had told him when the belated train would arrive, and +the carriage was again ordered, the coachman grumbling, +and the Colonel swearing to himself at having +the horses go out in such a storm. To Howard he +said nothing. That young man had so ingratiated +himself into his uncle's good opinion, as to be nearly +master of the situation. He wrote and answered most +of the Colonel's letters, collected his rents, and looked +after his business generally, and did it so well that the +Colonel was beginning to feel that he could not get on +without him, and to have serious thoughts of making +it worth his while to stay indefinitely.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have been further from Howard's +wishes than going out so late at night, and in such a +storm, but the one unselfish passion of his life was his +attachment to Jack Harcourt. He was not very well +pleased with the wetting he got, as his umbrella was +turned inside out; nor at all interested in the girl +asking so timidly for Mrs. Biggs, and in his pleasure +at meeting Jack he forgot her entirely, until the same +flash of lightning which showed her the two men +showed them her white face, with an appealing expression +on it which Jack never passed by, whether +it were matron or maid who needed his help. Who +the drooping little figure was, with the water running +down her jacket and off her hat in streams, he had no +idea from the glimpse he had of her features as the +lightning played over them for a moment. That she +was in trouble was evident, and in return to Howard's +greeting, he said, "This is a corker of a storm, and +no mistake, and I do believe I am wet through, +but,—" and he spoke a little lower,—"there's a girl +here near us,—alone, too, I do believe."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," Howard replied. "The station +master will see to her. Come on to the carriage. The +horses are plunging like mad. Sam can't hold them +much longer."</p> + +<p>He moved away, but Jack stood still, for a second +flash of lightning had shown him Eloise's face again. +It was very pale, and tears, as well as rain, were on her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Can I do anything for you?" he said, opening his +umbrella, and holding it over her.</p> + +<p>His voice was that of a friend, and Eloise recognized +it as such, and answered, "I don't know. I am +a stranger. I want to go to Mrs. Biggs's. Do you +know where she lives?"</p> + +<p>"I am a stranger, too, and have never heard of +Mrs. Biggs," Jack replied; "but the station agent +will know. He ought to be here. Hallo! you, sir! +Why are you not attending to your business? Here +is a young lady," he called out, as the agent at last +appeared coming slowly toward them, holding a lantern +with one hand, and his cap on with the other.</p> + +<p>"I didn't s'pose there was anybody here but Mr. +Crompton's friend. Who is she? Where does she +want to go? There ain't no conveyance here for +nowhere at this hour," he said, throwing the light of +his lantern fully on Eloise, whose face grew, if possible, +a shade paler, and whose voice shook as she +replied, "I want to go to Mrs. Biggs's. I am to +board with her. I am the new school teacher, Miss +Smith. Can I walk there when the storm is over? +How far is it?"</p> + +<p>"Great guns!" Jack said under his breath, holding +the whole of his umbrella now over the girl instead +of half, while the agent replied, "Walk to Widder +Biggs's! I'd say not. It's two good miles from here. +You'll have to sit in the depot till it stops rainin' a +little, and I'll find you a place till mornin'. Tim +Biggs was here when the train or'to of come, and +said he was expectin' a schoolmarm. Be you her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, oh, yes; thank you. Let me get into the +station as soon as I can. My umbrella is gone, and I +am so cold and wet," Eloise said, with catches in her +breath between the words.</p> + +<p>"Hold on a minit," the agent continued. "The +Crompton carriage goes within quarter of a mile of +the Widder Biggs's. I guess the young man will take +you. I will ask him."</p> + +<p>"No, let me. I'm sure he will," Jack interrupted +him, and thrusting his umbrella into Eloise's hand, +he stumbled through the darkness to the corner +where he heard Howard calling to him, "Jack, Jack, +where in thunder are you?"</p> + +<p>"Here," Jack replied, making for the voice, and +saying to Howard when he reached him, "Howard, +that's Eloise Smith, the girl I wrote you about,—the +school teacher. She hasn't a dry rag on her. Her +umbrella is lost. She wants to go to Widow Biggs's. +The agent says it is not far from the Crompton Place. +Can't we take her? Of course we can. I'll go for +her."</p> + +<p>He hurried off as well as he could, leaving Howard +in no very amiable frame of mind. He had laughed +at Jack's rhapsodies over Eloise Smith, and said to +himself, "His interest in her will never be very lasting, +no matter how pretty she is. Jack Harcourt and +a basket-boarder! Ha, ha! Rich. Still, I'd like to +see her."</p> + +<p>After that he had nearly forgotten her in his absorbing +efforts to keep the right side of his uncle, +and entertain Amy. And now she was here, and Jack +was proposing to have him take her to Widow Biggs's, +which was a quarter of a mile beyond the park gates, +Sam said, when consulted as to the widow's whereabouts. +There was no help for it, but he didn't like +it, and there was a scowl on his face as he waited for +Jack, who came at last with Eloise and the agent, +whose lantern shed a dim light on the handsomely-cushioned +carriage when the door was open.</p> + +<p>"I'm not fit to get in there, I am so wet," Eloise +said, drawing back a little.</p> + +<p>"As fit as we are," Jack replied, almost lifting her +in, and tilting his umbrella till one of the sticks struck +Howard in the eye, increasing his discomposure, and +making him wish both Eloise and Mrs. Biggs in a +much dryer place than he was.</p> + +<p>"Now, Howard, in with you. There's a little lull +in the rain. We'll take advantage of it," Jack continued, +as he followed Howard into the carriage, +where both sat down opposite Eloise, who crouched +in her corner, afraid she did not know of what. Certainly +not of the man who had been so kind to her, +and who she wished was sitting in front of her, instead +of the one who did not speak at all, except to ask +Sam how the deuce they were to know when they +reached the Widow Biggs's.</p> + +<p>"Easy enough. It is a squat-roofed house with +lalock and piney bushes in the yard."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but how are we to see a squat roof with lalocks +and pineys on this beastly night?" Howard +rejoined, in a tone which told that he was not anticipating +his trip to the widder Biggs's. "Drive on, for +heaven's sake," he continued, "and don't upset us. +It is darker than a pocket."</p> + +<p>"No, sir, not if I can help it. I never knew the +horses so 'fraid. Easy, Cass—easy Brute," Sam +answered, as in response to a flash of lightning Brutus +and Cassius both stood on their hind feet and pawed +the air with terror. "Easy, easy, boys. Lightnin' +can't strike you but once," Sam continued soothingly +to the restless, nervous horses, who were at last +gotten safely from the station, and started down the +road which lead through the village to Crompton +Place.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> +THE ACCIDENT</h2> + +<p>For a short time the carriage went on smoothly and +swiftly through the town, where the street lamps of +kerosene gave a little light to the darkness. Once +out of town in the country Sam became less sure +of his way, and as he could not see his hand before +him, he finally left the matter to the horses, trusting +their instinct to keep in the road.</p> + +<p>"I shall know when I reach the gate, and so will +Brute and Cass; but we've got to go farther to the +Widder Biggs's, and darned if I b'lieve they'll know +the place," he thought, with a growing conviction of +his inability to recognize Mrs. Biggs's squat roof and +lilacs and peonies.</p> + +<p>The storm which had abated for a short time was +increasing again. The peals of thunder were more +frequent, and with each flash of lightning the horses +grew more unmanageable, until at last they flew along +the highway at a speed which rocked the carriage +from side to side, and began at last to alarm its occupants. +Eloise in her corner was holding fast to the +strap, when a lurid flame filled the carriage for an instant +with a blaze of light. She had removed her hat, +and her face, silhouetted against the dark cushions, +startled both the young men with its beauty. It was +very white, except the cheeks which were flushed with +excitement. Her lips were apart, but her chief +beauty was in her eyes, which were full of terror, and +which shone like stars as they looked from one young +man to the other.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am afraid. Let me out. I'd rather walk," +she cried, starting to her feet and grasping the handle +of the door.</p> + +<p>"Please be quiet. There is no danger. You must +not get out," Howard said, laying both his hands on +hers, which he held for a moment, and pressed by +way of reassuring her as he pushed her gently back +into her seat.</p> + +<p>She felt the pressure and resented it, and releasing +her hands put them behind her, lest in the darkness +they should be touched again. The same lightning +which had showed her face to Howard had also given +her a glimpse of his black eyes kindling with surprise +and admiration at a beauty he had not expected. A +lurch of the carriage sent Jack from his seat, and +Eloise felt him close beside her. Was he going to +squeeze her hands, too? She didn't know, and was +holding them closely pressed behind her, when there +was another flash, a deafening peal of thunder, a +crash, and the next she knew the rain was falling upon +her face, her head was lying against some one's arm, +and two pairs of hands were tugging at her collar +and jacket.</p> + +<p>"Do you think she is dead?" was asked, in the +voice which had told her not to be afraid.</p> + +<p>"Dead!" a second voice replied. "She cannot be +dead. She must not be. Miss Smith, Miss Smith! +Where are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>It was on the arm of this speaker she was lying, +and she felt his breath on her face as he bent over +her. With a great effort she moved her head and +answered, "I'm not dead, nor hurt either, except my +foot, which is twisted under me."</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" Jack said, and instantly the two +pairs of hands groped in the dark for the twisted foot.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Eloise cried, sitting upright, as a sharp +pain shot from her ankle to her head. "Don't touch +me. I can't bear it. I am afraid it is broken. What +has happened, and where is the carriage?"</p> + +<p>"Home by this time, if Brutus and Cassius have +not demolished it in their mad fright," Howard said, +explaining that at the last heavy peal of thunder +the horses had swerved from the road and upset the +carriage at the entrance to the park; that Sam had +been thrown to some distance from the box, but had +gathered himself up, and gone after the horses tearing +up the avenue. "I shouted to him to come back with +a lantern as quickly as possible. He'll be here soon, +I think. Are you in great pain?"</p> + +<p>"When I move, yes," Eloise replied, and then, as +the full extent of the catastrophe burst upon her, she +began to cry,—not softly to herself, but hysterically, +with sobs which smote both Howard and Jack like +blows.</p> + +<p>It was a novel predicament in which they found +themselves,—near midnight, in a thunderstorm, with +a young girl on the ground unable to walk, and +neither of them knowing what to do. Howard said +it was a deuced shame, and Jack told her not to cry. +Sam was sure to come with a lantern soon, and they'd +see what was the matter. As he talked he put her +head back upon his shoulder, and she let it lie there +without protest.</p> + +<p>After what seemed a long time, Sam came up with +a lantern. The carriage was badly injured, he said, +having been dragged through the avenue on its side. +Brutus had a gouge on his shoulder from running +into a tall shrub; he had hurt his arm when he fell +from the box, and the Colonel was not in a very pious +state of mind on account of his damaged property.</p> + +<p>Eloise heard it all, but did not realize its import, +her foot was paining her so badly. Jack had helped +her up when Sam came, but she could not walk, and +her face looked so white when the lantern light fell +upon it, that both men feared she was going to faint.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?" Howard asked, standing +first on one foot and then on the other, and feeling +the water ooze over the tops of his shoes.</p> + +<p>"Take her to the Crompton house, of course. It +must be nearer than Mrs. Biggs's," Jack suggested.</p> + +<p>Before Howard could reply, Eloise exclaimed, +"Oh, no, I can hop on one foot to Mrs. Biggs's if +some one helps me. Is it far?"</p> + +<p>The two men looked inquiringly at each other and +then at Sam, who was the first to speak. In the +Colonel's state of mind, with regard to his carriage +and his horses, he did not think it advisable to introduce +a helpless stranger into the house, and he said, +"I'll tell you what; did you ever make a chair with +your hands crossed—so?"</p> + +<p>He indicated what he meant, and the chair was +soon made, and Eloise lifted into it.</p> + +<p>"That's just the thing; but you'll have to put an +arm around each of our necks to steady yourself," +Jack said. "So! That's right! hold tight!" he continued, +as Eloise put an arm around each neck.</p> + +<p>Sam was directing matters, and taking up the lantern +and Jack's umbrella, which he had found lying +in the mud, he said, "I'll light the way and hold the +umbrella over you. It don't rain much now."</p> + +<p>"My hat and satchel, please," Eloise said, but +neither could be found, and the strange cortége +started.</p> + +<p>For an instant the ludicrousness of the affair struck +both young men, convulsing them with laughter to +such an extent that the chair came near being pulled +apart and Eloise dropped to the ground. She felt it +giving way, and, taking her arm from Howard, clung +desperately to Jack.</p> + +<p>"Don't let me fall, please," she said.</p> + +<p>"No danger; hold fast as you are," Jack answered +cheerily, rather enjoying the feeling of the two arms +clasping his neck so tightly.</p> + +<p>What Howard felt was streams of water trickling +down his back from the umbrella, which Sam held at +exactly the right angle for him to get the full benefit +of a bath between his collar and his neck. He did +not like it, and was in a bad frame of mind mentally, +when, after what seemed an eternity to Eloise, they +came to three or four squat-roofed houses in a row, +at one of which Sam stopped, confidently affirming +it was the Widder Biggs's, although he could not see +the "lalock and pineys."</p> + +<p>"Knock louder! Kick, if necessary," Howard +said, applying his own foot to the door as there came +no answer to Sam's first appeal.</p> + +<p>There was a louder knock and call, and at last a +glimmer of light inside. Somebody was lighting a +candle, which was at once extinguished when the +door was open, and a gust of wind and rain swept in.</p> + +<p>"Are you Mrs. Biggs?" Sam asked, as a tall figure +in a very short night-robe was for a moment visible.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Biggs! Thunder, no! Don't you know a +man from a woman? She lives second house from +here," was the masculine response.</p> + +<p>The door was shut with a bang, and the cortége +moved on to the third house, which, by investigating +the lilac bushes and peonies, Sam made out belonged +to the Widder Biggs. It was harder to rouse her +than it had been to rouse her neighbor. She was a +little deaf, and the noise of the wind and rain added to +the difficulty. When she did awaken her first thought +was of burglars, and there was a loud cry to her son +Tim to come quick and bring his gun, for somebody +was breaking into the house.</p> + +<p>"Robbers don't make such a noise as that! Open +your window and see who's there," was Tim's sleepy +answer, as Sam's blows fell heavily upon the door, +accompanied with thuds from Howard's foot.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs opened her window cautiously, and +thrust out her head, minus her false hair, and enveloped +in a cotton nightcap.</p> + +<p>"Who is it? What has happened? Anybody sick +or dead?" she asked; and Sam replied, "Miss Smith +is here with a broken laig, for't I know!"</p> + +<p>"Miss Smith! A broken leg! For the land's sake, +Tim, get up quick!" the widow gasped.</p> + +<p>Closing the window and putting on a skirt, she +descended to the kitchen, lighted an oil lamp, and, +throwing open the door, looked at the group outside. +She was prepared for Sam and Miss Smith, and did +not mind her deshabille for them. But at the sight +of two gentlemen, and one of them young Mr. +Crompton, she came near dropping her lamp.</p> + +<p>"Gracious goodness!" she exclaimed. "Mr. +Crompton! And I half-dressed! Wait till I get on +some clothes, and my hair, and my teeth. I am a +sight to behold."</p> + +<p>"Never mind your teeth, nor your hair, nor your +best gown," Sam said, pushing open the door Mrs. +Biggs had partially closed, and entering the house, +followed by Howard and Jack, with Eloise still clinging +to Jack's neck, and half fainting with the pain +in her ankle which had increased from hanging down +so long.</p> + +<p>Tim had come by this time, fastening his suspenders +as he came, and caring less for his appearance +than his mother. She had disappeared, but soon returned +with teeth, and hair, and clothes in place, and +herself ready for the emergency. Following Tim's +directions they had put Eloise on a couch, where she +lay with her eyes closed, and so still that they thought +she had fainted.</p> + +<p>"Bring the camphire, Timothy, and the hartshorn, +and start up the oil stove for hot water, and move +lively." Mrs. Biggs said to her son. "I don't believe +she's broke her laig, poor thing. How white she is," +she continued, laying her hand on Eloise's forehead.</p> + +<p>This brought the tears in a copious shower, as +Eloise sat up and said, "It is my ankle. I think it is +sprained. If you could get off my boot."</p> + +<p>She tried to lift it, but let it drop with a cry of pain.</p> + +<p>"I'll bet it's sprained, and a sprain is wus than a +break. I had one twenty years ago come Christmas, +and went with my knee on a chair two weeks, and on +crutches three," was Mrs. Biggs's consoling remark, +as she held the lamp close to the fast-swelling foot, +to which the wet boot clung with great tenacity.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't bear it," Eloise said, as the process of +removing her boot commenced; then, closing her +eyes, she lay back upon the cushions, while one after +another, Mrs. Biggs, Howard, Jack, and Tim worked +at the refractory boot.</p> + +<p>It was such a small foot, Jack thought, pitying the +young girl, as he saw spasms of pain upon her face, +where drops of sweat were standing. He wiped these +away with Mrs. Biggs's apron, lying in a chair, and +smoothed her hair, and took one of her clenched +hands in his, and held it while the three tried to remove +the boot.</p> + +<p>"'Tain't no use,—it's got to be cut off,—mine did. +Tim, bring me the butcher knife,—the sharpest one," +Mrs. Biggs said.</p> + +<p>Eloise shuddered, and thought of the only other +pair of boots she had,—her best ones, which were to +have lasted a year. But there was no alternative. +The boot must be cut off, and Jack continued to hold +her hands while, piece by piece, the wet leather +dropped upon the floor.</p> + +<p>"Now for the stockin'; that'll come easier," Mrs. +Biggs said.</p> + +<p>"Must you take that off now?" Eloise asked, her +maidenly modesty prevailing over every other feeling.</p> + +<p>Howard and Jack understood, and went to the +window, while the stocking followed the fate of the +boot; and when they came back to the couch Eloise's +foot was in a basin of hot water, and Mrs. Biggs was +gently manipulating it, and declaring it the worst +sprain she ever knew, except her own, which, after +twenty years troubled her at times, and told her when +a storm was coming.</p> + +<p>"Ought she to have a doctor?" Jack asked, and +Mrs. Biggs replied, "A doctor? What for, except to +run up a bill. I know what to do. She'll have to keep +quiet a spell; wormwood and vinegar and hot water +will do the rest. Tim, go up garret and get a handful +of wormwood. It's the bundle of 'arbs to your right. +There's catnip, and horehound, and spearmint, and +sage, and wormwood. Be lively, and put it to steep +in some vinegar, and bring me that old sheet in the +under bureau drawer for bandages."</p> + +<p>She seemed to know what she was about. Eloise +was in good hands, and the two water-soaked young +men were about to leave when she said, "I guess one +of you will have to carry her to her chamber. I can't +trust Tim, he's such a blunderhead."</p> + +<p>"No, no! Oh, no! I can walk somehow," Eloise +said, starting to her feet, and sinking back as quickly.</p> + +<p>"Let me. I'll carry her!" Howard and Jack both +exclaimed; but something in Eloise's eyes gave the +preference to Jack, who lifted her as easily as if she +had been a child, and carried her up the narrow stairs +to the room which at intervals had been occupied by +one teacher after another for nearly twenty years, for +it was understood that Mrs. Biggs was to board the +teachers who had no home of their own in the district.</p> + +<p>But never had so forlorn or wretched an one been +there as poor Eloise. The world certainly looked +very dreary to her, and her lip quivered as she said +good-by to Jack, and tried to smile in reply to his +assurance that she would be better soon, and that he +would call and see her on the morrow. Then he was +gone, and Eloise heard the footsteps and voices of the +three men as they left the house and hurried away. +She was soon in bed, and as comfortable as Mrs. +Biggs could make her. That good lady was a born +nurse as well as a gossip, and as she arranged Eloise +for what there was left of the night, her tongue ran +incessantly, first on her own sprain,—every harrowing +detail of which was gone over,—then on the two +young men, Howard Crompton and t'other one, who +was he? She knew Mr. Howard,—everybody did. +He was Col. Crompton's nephew, and he ruled the +roost at the Crompton House, folks said, and would +most likely be the Colonel's heir, with Miss Amy, as +folks called her now. Had Miss Smith ever heard of +her?</p> + +<p>Eloise never had, and the pain in her ankle was so +sharp that she gave little heed to what Mrs. Biggs +was saying. She did not know either of the young +men, she said. Both had been kind to her, and one, +she thought, was a stranger, who came in the train +with her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," Mrs. Biggs answered briskly. "I remember +now. Cindy,—that's Miss Stiles, the housekeeper +at Crompton Place,—told me Mr. Howard +was to have company,—another high buck, I s'pose, +though Howard don't do nothin' worse than drive +horses pretty fast, and smoke most all the time. +Drinks wine at dinner, they say, which I disbelieve in +on account of Tim, who never took nothin' stronger'n +sweet cider through a straw."</p> + +<p>At last, to Eloise's relief, Mrs. Biggs said good-night, +and left her with the remark, "I don't s'pose +you'll sleep a wink. I didn't the first night after my +sprain, nor for a good many nights neither."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> +AMY</h2> + +<p>"If this isn't a lark I never had one," Howard said +to Jack, when they were safely housed and had +changed their clothes, not a thread of which was dry.</p> + +<p>Jack, whose luggage had not come, and who was +obliged to borrow from Howard's wardrobe, looked +like an overgrown boy in garments too small for him. +But he did not mind it, and with Howard discussed +the events of the evening, as they sat over the fire +the latter had lighted in his room. Naturally Eloise +was the subject of their conversation.</p> + +<p>"I wrote you I had a presentiment that she was to +come into my life in some way, but I had no idea it +was to be this way," Howard said, as he puffed at his +cigar and talked of their adventure and Eloise.</p> + +<p>That she was very handsome and had pretty little +feet went without saying, and that both were sorry for +her was equally, of course. Jack was the more so, +as his was the more unselfish and sympathetic nature.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, didn't she bear the cutting of that boot +like a hero, and how is she ever to get to school with +that ankle?" he said; "and I think she ought to have +a doctor to see if any bones are broken. Suppose you +get one in the morning, and tell him not to send his +bill to her but to me."</p> + +<p>Howard looked up quickly, and Jack went on, "I +wrote you that Mrs. Brown said she was poor, and I +should know it by her boots."</p> + +<p>"Her boots!" Howard repeated, and Jack continued, +"Yes, wet as they were I noticed they were +half-worn, and had been blacked many times. She +can't afford to pay many doctor's bills, and I ask you +again, how is she to get to school?"</p> + +<p>Howard did not know, unless they made another +chair and carried her.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't mind it much for the sake of her arm +around my neck. I can feel it yet. Can't you?" he +said.</p> + +<p>Jack could feel it and the little wet hand which +once or twice had touched his face, but something in +his nature forbade his talking about it. It might have +been fun for them, but he knew it was like death to +the girl, and that she had shrank from it all, and only +submitted because she could not help it. He was +very sorry for her, and thought of her the last moment +before he fell asleep, and the first moment he +awoke with Howard in the room telling him it was +after breakfast time, and his uncle, who did not like +to be kept waiting, was already in a temper and blowing +like a northeaster.</p> + +<p>The Colonel, who was suffering from an attack of +rheumatic gout, was more irritable than usual. He +had not liked having his horses and carriage go out +in the rain, and had sat up waiting for the return of +his nephew, and when Sam came in, telling what had +happened to the carriage and horses, and that he must +go back with a lantern to the park gates and see if the +new school mistress was alive, he went into a terrible +passion, swearing at the weather, and the late train, +and the school mistress who he seemed to think was +the cause of the accident.</p> + +<p>"What business had she in the carriage? Why +did she come in such a storm? Why didn't she +take the 'bus, and if the 'bus wasn't there, why didn't +she—?" He didn't know what, and it took all the +tact of Peter, who was still in the family and old like +his master, to quiet him.</p> + +<p>Then next morning his gout was so bad that he was +wheeled into the dining-room, where he was fast +growing angry at the delay of breakfast, and beginning +to swear again when Peter, who knew how to +manage him, went for Amy. Nothing quieted the +Colonel like a sight of Amy, with her sweet face and +gentle ways.</p> + +<p>"Please come. It's beginning to sizzle," Peter frequently +said to her when a storm was brewing, and +Amy always went, and was like oil on the troubled +waters.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" she now asked, and the Colonel replied, +"What is it! I should say, what is it! There's +the very old Harry to pay. Brutus has a big hole in +his breast, the carriage is smashed, silk cushions all +stained with a girl's blue gown, and that girl the +school-teacher I didn't want; and she's broken her +leg or something when they tipped over, and Howard +and his friend carried her to Widow Biggs's, and +the Lord knows what didn't happen!"</p> + +<p>Amy had a way of seeming to listen very attentively +when the Colonel talked to her, and always +smiled her appreciation and approbation of what he +said. Just how much she really heard or understood +was doubtful. Her mind seemed to run in two +channels,—one the present, the other the past,—and +both were blurred and indistinct,—especially the past. +She understood about the young girl, however, and at +once expressed her sympathy, and said, "We must +do something for her."</p> + +<p>To do something for any one in sickness or trouble +was her first thought, and many a home had been +made glad because of her since she came to Crompton.</p> + +<p>"Certainly; do what you like, only don't bring her +here," the Colonel replied, his voice and manner +softening, as they always did with Amy.</p> + +<p>She was a very handsome woman and looked +younger than her years. The storm which had swept +over her had not impaired her physical beauty, but +had touched her mentally in a way very puzzling to +those about her, and rather annoying to the Colonel, +who was trying to make amends for the harshness +which had driven her from his home. Sometimes her +quiet, passive manner irritated him, and he felt that +he would gladly welcome the old imperiousness with +which she had defied him. But it was gone. Something +had broken her on the wheel, killing her spirit +completely, or smothering it and leaving her a timid, +silent woman, who sat for hours with a sad, far-off +expression, as if looking into the past and trying to +gather up the tangled threads which had in a measure +obscured her intellect.</p> + +<p>"The Harrises are queer," kept sounding in the +Colonel's ears, with a thought that the taint in the +Harris blood was working in Amy's veins, intensified +by some great shock, or series of shocks.</p> + +<p>Once, after he brought her home, he questioned +her of her life as a singer, and of the baby, which she +occasionally mentioned, but he never repeated the +experiment. There was a fit of nervous trembling,—a +look of terror in her eyes, and a drawn expression +on her face, and for a moment she was like the girl +Eudora when roused. Then, putting her hand before +her eyes as if to shut out something hateful to her, +she said, "Oh, don't ask me to bring up a past I can't +remember without such a pain in my head and everywhere, +as if I were choking. It was very dreadful,—with +<i>him</i>,—not with Adolf,—he was so kind."</p> + +<p>"Did he ever beat you?—or what did the wretch +do? <i>Smith</i>, I mean," the Colonel asked, and Amy replied, +"Oh, no; it wasn't that. It was a constant +grind, grind,—swear, swear,—a breaking of my will, +till I had none left. He never struck me but once, +and then it was throwing something instead of a blow. +It hit me here, and it has ached ever since."</p> + +<p>She put her hand to one side of her temple, and +went on, "It was the night I heard baby was dead, +and I said I could not sing,—but he made me, and I +broke down, and I don't know much what happened +after till you came. I can't remember."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but the baby,—where did it die, and when?" +the Colonel asked.</p> + +<p>Amy had been getting quiet as she talked, but at +the mention of the baby, she began to tremble again, +and beat the air with her hands.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, I don't know," she said. "He +took her away, and she died. It is so black when I +try to think how it was, and it goes from me. Wait +a bit!" She sat very still a moment, and then in +a more natural voice said, "It may come back sometime, +and then I will tell you. It makes me worse to +talk about it now. It's this way: The inside of my +head shakes all over. The doctor said it was like a +bottle full of something which must settle. I <i>am</i> +settling here where everybody speaks so low and +kind, but when I am a little clear, with the sediment +going down, if you shake up the bottle, it is thick +and muddy again, and I can't remember."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" the Colonel said to himself, "that +bottle business isn't a bad comparison. She is all +shaken up, and I'll let her settle."</p> + +<p>He did not question her again of her life with +Homer Smith, or of the baby. Both were dead, and +he felt that it was just as well that they were. Homer +Smith ought to be dead, and as to the baby it would +have been very upsetting in the house, and might +have been queer, like the Harrises, or worse yet, like +its <i>cuss</i> of a father. On the whole, it was better as it +was, although he was sorry for Amy, and would do all +he could to make her happy, and some time, perhaps, +she would remember, and tell him where the baby +was buried, and he'd have it brought to Crompton, +and put in the Crompton vault. As for Homer +Smith, his carcase might rot in the desert of Arizona, +or anywhere, for aught he cared. He was very gentle +and patient with Amy, and watched the settling of +the bottle with a great deal of interest. Sometimes +he wondered how much she remembered of her +Florida life, if anything, and what effect the mention +of Jaky and Mandy Ann would have upon her, and +what effect it would have upon her if he took her to +the palmetto clearing, and found the negroes, if living. +But pride still stood in the way. More than +thirty-five years of silence were between him and +the past, which to all intents was as dead as poor +Dory; and why should he pull aside the dark curtain, +and let in the public gaze and gossip. He couldn't +and he wouldn't. All he could do for Amy in other +ways he would, and for her sake he controlled himself, +mightily, becoming, as Peter said, like a turtle dove +compared to what he once was, when the slightest +crossing of his will roused him into fury.</p> + +<p>Harsh, loud tones made Amy shiver, and brought +a look into her eyes which the Colonel did not like to +see, and with her he was usually very docile, or if +roused, the touch of her hand and the expression of +her eyes subdued him, as they did now when he told +her of his broken carriage and ruined cushions and +the young girl for whom Amy at once wished to do +something.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he had said; "only don't bring her +here," and he was beginning to wonder where +Howard was, and to feel irritated at the delay, when +the latter came in with Jack, and found a tolerably +urbane and courteous host.</p> + +<p>Naturally the conversation turned upon the storm +and accident, the particulars of which were briefly +gone over, while Amy stirred her coffee listlessly +and did not seem to listen. She was very lovely, Jack +thought, with no sign of her mental disorder, except +the peculiar expression of her eyes at times. Her +dress was faultless, her manner perfect, her language +good, and her smile the sweetest and saddest he had +ever seen, and Jack watched her curiously, while the +conversation drifted away from Eloise, in whom the +Colonel felt no interest. She was a graduate, and +probably knew nothing of what he thought essential +for a teacher to know. She was not rooted and +grounded in the fundamentals. Probably she had +never heard of the grindstone, or the sheep, and could +not work out the problems if she had. She was superficial. +She belonged to a new generation which had +put him and his theories on the shelf. Her blue dress +had stained the cushions of his carriage, and there was +a puddle of water in the hall where Sam had put down +her satchel and hat, which had been found in the +driveway near the stable. They had been thrown +from the carriage, and lain in the rain all night. The +hat was soaked through and through, and the ribbons +were limp and faded; but he did not care a rap what +became of them, he said to himself, when Howard +spoke of them and their condition, saying that bad as +they were he presumed she wanted them.</p> + +<p>Amy on the contrary was instantly on the alert, and +as they passed through the hall from the dining-room, +and she saw the poor crushed hat, she said to Jack, +"Is it hers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I'm afraid it is ruined," Jack answered, +taking it in his hand and examining it critically.</p> + +<p>"I will fix it," Amy replied, and, carrying it to her +room, she tried to bend it into shape and renovate +the bows of ribbon.</p> + +<p>But it was beyond her skill.</p> + +<p>"She can never wear it. I must send her one of +mine," she said, selecting a hat which she wore when +walking in the park. "You must take it to the young +lady at Mrs. Biggs's. What is her name? I don't +think I understood; they were all talking together +and confused me so," she said to her maid, who had +heard of the adventure from Sam, but had not caught +the right name.</p> + +<p>"It is Louise something. I don't remember +what," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Louise! That sounds like baby's name, and it +makes my head ache to think of it," Amy said sadly, +going to the window, and looking out at the rain and +fog, for the weather had not cleared.</p> + +<p>It was a wet morning, and Howard, who liked his +ease, shrugged his shoulders when Jack suggested +that they should call upon Miss Smith.</p> + +<p>"She ought to have her satchel and her hat," Jack +said, and Howard replied, "Oh, Amy sent Sarah off +with a hat half an hour ago. She would send all her +wardrobe if she thought the girl wanted it, and, by +George! why didn't she send a pair of boots? She +has dozens of them, I dare say," he continued, as he +recalled the bits of leather they had cut from Eloise's +foot, and left on Mrs. Biggs's floor.</p> + +<p>Jack had spoken of her boots, and he readily acceded +to Howard's proposition to ask Amy if she had +any cast-offs she thought would fit Miss Smith. +"They must wear about the same size, the girl is +so slight," Howard said as he went to Amy's room, +where he found her still standing by the window +drumming upon the pane as if fingering a piano and +humming softly to herself. She never touched the +grand instrument in the drawing-room, and when +asked to do so and sing, she answered, "I can't; I +can't. It would bring it all back and shake up the +bottle. I hate the memory of it when I sang to the +crowd and they applauded. I hear them now; it is +baby's death knell. I can never sing again as I did +then."</p> + +<p>And yet she did sing often to herself, but so low +that one could scarcely understand her words, except +to know they were some negro melody sung evidently +as a lullaby to a child. As Howard came up to her +he caught the words, "Mother's lil baby," and knew +it was what she sometimes sang with the red cloak +hugged to her bosom.</p> + +<p>"Miss Amy," he said, "I wonder if you haven't +a pair of half-worn boots for the young lady at Mrs. +Biggs's? We had to cut one of hers off, her foot was +so swollen."</p> + +<p>Amy was interested at once, and ordered Sarah, +who had returned from Mrs. Biggs's, to bring out all +her boots and slippers, insisting that several pairs be +sent for the girl to choose from. Sarah suggested +that slippers would be better than boots, as the young +lady could not wear the latter in her present condition.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Amy said, selecting a pair of white satin +slippers, with high French heels and fanciful rosettes. +"I wore them the night he told me baby was dead. +I've never had them on since. I don't want them. +Give them to her. They are hateful to me."</p> + +<p>Amy was in a peculiar mood this morning, such as +sometimes came upon her and made Peter say she +was a chip of the old block, meaning the Colonel, +who he never for a moment doubted was her father. +Sarah's suggestion that white satin slippers would +be out of place made no difference. They must go. +She was more stubborn than usual, and Sarah accounted +for it by saying in a low tone to Howard, +"Certain spells of weather always affect her and send +her back to a night when something dreadful must +have happened. Probably the baby she talks about +died. She's thinking about it now. Better take the +slippers. I've heard her talk of them before and +threaten to burn them."</p> + +<p>"All right," Howard said. "Miss Smith can send +them back if she does not want them."</p> + +<p>The slippers were made into a parcel so small that +Howard put them in his pocket and said he was +ready. It had stopped raining, and as the young men +preferred to walk they set off through the park, +laughing over their errand and the phase of excitement +in which they found themselves. Jack liked it, +and Howard, too, began to like it, or said he should +if the girl proved as good-looking by daylight as she +had been in the night.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> +AT MRS. BIGGS'S</h2> + +<p>Notwithstanding Mrs. Biggs's prediction that she +would not sleep a wink, Eloise did sleep fairly well. +She was young and tired. Her ankle did not pain her +much when she kept it still, and after she fell asleep +she did not waken till Mrs. Biggs stood by her bed +armed with hot coffee and bandages and fresh wormwood +and vinegar.</p> + +<p>"Do you feel like a daisy?" was Mrs. Biggs's +cheery greeting, as she put down the coffee and bowl +of vinegar in a chair and brought some water for +Eloise's face and hands.</p> + +<p>"Not much like a daisy," Eloise answered, with +a smile, "but better than I expected. I am going to +get up."</p> + +<p>"Better stay where you be. I did, and had 'em +wait on me," Mrs. Biggs said; but Eloise insisted, +thinking she must exercise.</p> + +<p>She soon found, however, that exercising was a +difficult matter. Her ankle was badly swollen, and +began to ache when she moved it, nor did Mrs. +Biggs's assurance that "it would ache more until +it didn't ache so bad" comfort her much. She managed, +however, to get into a chair, and took the +coffee, and submitted to have her ankle bathed and +bandaged and her foot slipped into an old felt shoe +of Mrs. Biggs's, which was out at the toe and out at +the side, but did not pinch at all.</p> + +<p>"Your dress ain't dry. You'll catch your death of +cold to have it on. You must wear one of mine," +Mrs. Biggs said, producing a spotted calico wrapper, +brown and white,—colors which Eloise detested.</p> + +<p>It was much too large every way, but Mrs. Biggs +lapped it in front and lapped it behind, and said the +length would not matter, as Eloise could only walk +with her knee in a chair and could hold up one +side. Eloise knew she was a fright, but felt that she +did not care, until Mrs. Biggs told her of the hat +which the lady from Crompton Place had sent her, +and that Sarah had said the young gentlemen would +probably call.</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking after all," she continued, "that +it is better to be up. The committee man, Mr. Bills, +who hired you, will call, and you can't see him and +the young men here. I'm a respectable woman, and +have boarded the teachers off and on for twenty +years,—all, in fact, except Ruby Ann, who has a +home of her own,—and I can't have my character +compromised now by inviting men folks into a bedroom. +You must come down to the parlor. There's +a bed-lounge there which I can make up at night, and +it'll save me a pile of steps coming upstairs."</p> + +<p>"How am I to get there?" Eloise asked in dismay, +and Mrs. Biggs replied, "It'll be a chore, I guess, +but you can do it. I did when my ankle was bad. I +took some strong coffee, same as I brought you, had +my foot done up, and slid downstairs, one at a time, +with my lame laig straight out. I can't say it didn't +hurt, for it did, but I had to grin and bear it. +Christian Science nor mind cure wasn't invented then, +or I should of used 'em, and said my ankle wasn't +sprained. There's plenty of nice people believes 'em +now. You can try 'em on, and we'll manage somehow."</p> + +<p>Eloise was appalled at the thought of going downstairs +to meet people, and especially the young men +from Crompton, clad in that spotted brown and white +gown, with nothing to relieve its ugliness, not even a +collar, for the one she had worn the previous day was +past being worn again until it had been laundered. +She looked at her handkerchief. That, too, was impossible.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Biggs," she said at last, "have you a handkerchief +you can loan me?"</p> + +<p>"To be sure! To be sure! Half a dozen, if you +like," Mrs. Biggs answered, hurrying from the room, +and soon returning with a handkerchief large enough +for a dinner napkin.</p> + +<p>It was coarse and half-cotton, but it was clean, and +Eloise tied it around her neck, greatly to Mrs. Biggs's +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh," she said, "you wanted it for that? Why +not have a lace ruffle? I'll get one in a jiffy."</p> + +<p>Eloise declined the ruffle. The handkerchief was +bad enough, but a lace ruffle with that gown would +have been worse.</p> + +<p>"Now, I'll call Tim to go in front and keep you +from falling. He is kind of awkward, but I'll go behind +and stiddy you, and you grit your teeth and put +on the mind cure, and down we go," Mrs. Biggs said, +calling Tim, who came shambling up the stairs, and +laughed aloud when he saw Eloise wrapped in his +mother's gown.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, I couldn't help it; mother has made +you into such a bundle," he said good-humoredly, as +he saw the pained look in Eloise's face. "I'll get +your trunk the next train, and you can have your +own fixin's. What am I to do?"</p> + +<p>This last was to his mother, who explained the way +she had gone downstairs when she sprained her ankle +twenty years ago come Christmas.</p> + +<p>"She must sit down somehow on the top stair and +slide down with one before her,—that's you,—and +one behind,—that's me,—and she's to put on the +mind cure. Miss Jenks says it does a sight of good."</p> + +<p>Tim looked at his mother and then at Eloise, whose +pitiful face appealed to him strongly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, go to grass," he said, "with your mind cure! +It's all rot! I'll carry her, if she will let me. I could +of done it last night as well as them fine fellows."</p> + +<p>He was a rough young boy of sixteen, with uncouth +ways; but there was something in his face +which drew Eloise to him, and when he said, "Shall +I carry you?" she answered gladly, "Oh, yes, please. +I don't think I have any mind to put on."</p> + +<p>Lifting her very gently in his strong arms, while +his mother kept saying she knew he'd let her fall, Tim +carried her down and into the best room, where he +set her in a rocking-chair, and brought a stool for her +lame foot to rest upon, and then said he would go +for her trunk, if she would give him her check. There +was something magnetic about Tim, and Eloise felt +it, and was sorry when he was gone. The world +looked very dreary with the fog and rain outside, +and the best room inside, with its stiff hair-cloth +furniture, glaring paper and cheap prints on the wall—one +of them of Beatrice Cenci, worse than anything +she had ever seen. She was very fastidious in her +tastes, and everything rude and incongruous offended +it, and she was chafing against her surroundings, +when Mrs. Biggs came bustling in, very much excited, +and exclaiming, "For the land's sake, they are +comin'! They are right here. They hain't let much +grass grow. Let me poke your hair back a little +from your forehead,—so! That's right, and more +becomin'."</p> + +<p>"Who are coming?" Eloise asked.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mr. Crompton and his friend. I don't +know his name," Mrs. Biggs replied, and Eloise felt +a sudden chill as she thought of the figure she must +present to them.</p> + +<p>If she could only look in the glass and adjust herself +a little, or if Mrs. Biggs would throw something over +the unsightly slipper and the ankle smothered in so +many bandages. The mirror was out of the question. +She had combed her hair with a side comb which had +come safely through the storm, but she felt that it was +standing on end, and that she was a very crumpled, +sorry spectacle in Mrs. Biggs's spotted gown, with +the handkerchief round her neck. Hastily covering +her foot with a fold of the wide gown, she clasped her +hands tightly together, and leaning her head against +the back of her chair, drew a long breath and waited.</p> + +<p>She heard the steps outside, and Mrs. Biggs's +"Good-mornin'; glad to see you. She is expectin' +you, or I am. Yes, her laig is pretty bad. Swelled +as big as two laigs, just as mine was twenty years ago +come Christmas, when I sprained it. Tim brought +her downstairs where she can see folks. She's in the +parlor. Walk in."</p> + +<p>Eloise's cheeks were blazing, but the rest of her +face was very pale, and her eyes had in them a hunted +look as the young men entered the room, preceded +by Mrs. Biggs in her working apron, with her sleeves +rolled up.</p> + +<p>"Miss Smith, this is Mr. Crompton," she said, +indicating Howard; "and the t'other one is—his +name has slipped my mind."</p> + +<p>"Harcourt," Jack said, feeling an intense sympathy +for the helpless girl, whose feelings he guessed and +whose hand he held a moment with a clasp in which +she felt the pity, and had hard work to keep the tears +back.</p> + +<p>Howard also took her hand and felt sorry for her, +but he did not affect her like Jack, and she did not like +his eyes, which she guessed saw everything. He had +a keen sense of the ridiculous, and the contrast +between Eloise and the gown which he knew must +belong to Mrs. Biggs struck him so forcibly that he +could scarcely repress a smile, as he asked how she +had passed the night. Mrs. Biggs answered for her. +Indeed, she did most of the talking.</p> + +<p>"She slep' pretty well, I guess; better'n I did when +I sprained my ankle twenty years ago come Christmas. +I never closed my eyes, even in a cat nap, and +she did. I crep' to her door twice to see how she was +gettin' on, and she was—not exactly snorin'—I don't +s'pose she ever does snore,—but breathin' reg'lar like, +jess like a baby, which I didn't do in a week when I +sprained my ankle."</p> + +<p>She would have added "twenty years ago come +Christmas," if Jack had not forestalled her by asking +Eloise if her ankle pained her much.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, while Mrs. Biggs chimed in, +"Can't help painin' her, swelled as 'tis,—big as two +ankles; look."</p> + +<p>She whisked off the bottom of her dress which +Eloise had put over her foot, and disclosed the shapeless +bundle encased in the old felt slipper.</p> + +<p>"Look for yourselves; see if you think it aches," +she said.</p> + +<p>This was too much for Eloise, who, regardless of +pain, drew her foot up under the skirt of her dress, +while her face grew scarlet. Both Howard and Jack +were sorry for her, and at last got the conversation +into another channel by saying they had brought her +satchel and hat, which they feared were ruined, and +asking if she had seen the hat Miss Amy had sent her.</p> + +<p>"Land sakes, no! I told her about it, but I hain't +had time to show it to her," Mrs. Biggs exclaimed, +starting from the room, while Howard explained that +his cousin had tried in vain to renovate the drenched +hat, and, finding it impossible, had sent one of her +own which she wished Miss Smith to accept with her +compliments.</p> + +<p>"How do you like it?" Mrs. Biggs asked, as she +came in with it.</p> + +<p>It was a fine leghorn, with a wreath of lilacs round +the crown, and Eloise knew that it was far more expensive +than anything she had ever worn.</p> + +<p>"It is very pretty," she said, "and very kind in +the lady to send it. Tell her I thank her. What is +her name?"</p> + +<p>Jack looked at Howard, who replied, "She has had +a good many, none of which pleased my uncle, the +last one least of all; so he calls her Miss Amy, and +wishes others to do so."</p> + +<p>Eloise was puzzled, but the sight of Mrs. Biggs tugging +at her wet satchel to open it diverted her mind.</p> + +<p>"Your things is sp'ilt, most likely, but you'd better +have 'em out. For the mercy's sake, look!" she said, +passing the satchel to Eloise, who was beyond caring: +for what was spoiled and what was not. "There's +somebody knockin'. It's Mr. Bills, most likely, the +committee man, come to see you; I told Tim to notify +him," Mrs. Biggs exclaimed, hurrying out, and saying +to Howard as she passed him, "You can visit a +spell before I fetch him in. She needs perkin' up, +poor thing."</p> + +<p>It proved to be a grocer's boy instead of Mr. Bills, +and Mrs. Biggs came back just as Howard was presenting +the slippers.</p> + +<p>"I did not think they were just what you wanted," +Howard explained, as he saw the look of surprise on +Eloise's face. "Miss Amy is not always quite clear in +her mind, but rather resolute when it is made up; and +when we told her we had to cut off your boot, she +insisted upon sending these."</p> + +<p>At this point Mrs. Biggs appeared, throwing up +both hands at what she saw, and exclaiming, "Wall, +if I won't give up! Satin slips for a spraint laig. Yes, +I'll give up!"</p> + +<p>She looked at Howard, who did not reply, but +turned his head to hide his laugh from Eloise, while +Mrs. Biggs went on, "I don't see how she can ever +get her feet into 'em. I can't mine, and I don't b'lieve +she can. Better send 'em back;" and she looked at +Eloise, who, if she was proud of any part of her +person, was proud of her feet.</p> + +<p>Flushing hotly she said, "They are not suitable for +me, of course, but I think I <i>could</i> get one on my well +foot."</p> + +<p>"I know you could; try it," Jack said.</p> + +<p>Stooping forward Eloise removed her boot, although +the effort brought a horrible twinge to her +lame ankle and made her feel faint for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Put it on for me, please," she said to Mrs. Biggs, +who, mistaking the right-hand slipper for the left, +began tugging at it.</p> + +<p>"I told you so," she said. "Your foot is twice as +big."</p> + +<p>"Try this one," Jack suggested, "or let me;" and +he fitted the slipper at once to the little foot, while +Mrs. Biggs exclaimed, "Wall, I vum, it does fit to a +T! If anything, it's too big."</p> + +<p>In spite of her pain and embarrassment there was +a look of exultation in Eloise's eyes, as they met those +of Jack, who was nearly as pleased as herself.</p> + +<p>"You will keep them and wear them some time," +he said; and when Eloise declined, saying they would +be of no use to her, Howard, who had been watching +this Cinderella play with a good deal of interest, and +wishing he had been the prince to fit the slipper instead +of Jack, said to Eloise, "I think it better for you +to keep them. Miss Amy will not like to have them +returned, and if they were, she'd give them to some +one else, or very likely send them to the Rummage +Sale we are to have in town."</p> + +<p>"That's so," Mrs. Biggs chimed in. "There is to +be a rummage sale, and Ruby Ann has spoke for +Tim's old clothes and mine, especially our shoes. +Keep 'em by all means."</p> + +<p>Eloise was beginning to feel faint again, and tired +with all this talk and excitement, and painfully conscious +that Howard's eyes were dancing with laughter +at the sight of her feet,—one swollen to three times +its natural size and pushed into Mrs. Biggs's old felt +shoe, and the other in Miss Amy's white satin slipper.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wish you would take it off!" she gasped, +feeling unequal to leaning forward again, and closing +her eyes wearily.</p> + +<p>She meant Mrs. Biggs, but Jack forestalled that +good woman, and in an instant had the slipper off +and the boot on, doing both so gently that she was +not hurt at all.</p> + +<p>"Thanks!" Eloise said, drawing her well foot +under the spotted calico, and wishing the young men +would go.</p> + +<p>How long they would have staid is uncertain if +there had not come a second knock at the kitchen +door. This time it was really Mr. Bills, and Mrs. +Biggs went out to meet him, while Eloise felt every +nerve quiver with dread. She must see him and tell +him how impossible it would be for her to commence +her duties on Monday. Perhaps he would dismiss +her altogether, and take another in her place, and +then—"What shall I do?" she thought, and, scarcely +knowing what she said, she cried, "Oh, I can't bear +it!" while the tears rolled down her cheeks, and +Howard and Jack gathered close to her,—the laugh +all gone from Howard's eyes, and a great pity shining +in Jack's.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," she continued, "I don't mean to be +childish, but everything is so dreadful! I don't mind +the pain so much; but to be here away from home, +and to lose the school, as I may, and—and,—I want +a handkerchief to wipe my face,—and this is ruined."</p> + +<p>She said this last as she took from her satchel the +handkerchief which had been so white and clean when +she left home, and which now was wet and stained +from a bottle of shoe blacking which had come uncorked +and saturated everything. She had borne +a great deal, and, as is often the case, a small matter +upset her entirely. The spoiled handkerchief was the +straw too many, and her tears came faster as she held +it in one hand, and with the other tried to wipe them +away.</p> + +<p>"Take mine, please; I've not used it," Jack said, +offering her one of fine linen, and as daintily perfumed +as a woman's.</p> + +<p>She took it unhesitatingly. She was in a frame of +mind to take anything, and smiled her thanks +through her tears.</p> + +<p>"I know I must seem very weak to you to be crying +like a baby; but you don't know how I dread +meeting Mr. Bills, or how much is depending upon +my having this school, or what it would be to me to +lose it, if he can't wait. Do you think he will?"</p> + +<p>She looked at Jack, who knew nothing whatever +of the matter, or of Mr. Bills, but who answered +promptly, "Of course he will wait; he must wait. +We shall see to that. Don't cry. I'm awfully sorry +for you; we both are."</p> + +<p>He was standing close to her, and involuntarily +laid his hand on her hair, smoothing it a little as he +would have smoothed his sister's. She seemed so +young and looked so small, wrapped up in Mrs. +Biggs's gown, that he thought of her for a moment +as a child to be soothed and comforted. She did not +repel the touch of his hand, but cried the harder and +wiped her face with his handkerchief until it was wet +with her tears.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Bills wants to know if he can come in now," +came as an interruption to the scene, which was +getting rather affecting.</p> + +<p>"In just a minute," Jack said. Then to Eloise, +"Brace up! We'll attend to Mr. Bills if he proves +formidable."</p> + +<p>She braced up as he bade her, and gave his handkerchief +back to him.</p> + +<p>"I shan't need it again. I am not going to be foolish +any longer, and I thank you so much," she said, +with a look which made Jack's pulse beat rapidly.</p> + +<p>"We'd better go now and give Mr. Bills a chance," +he said to Howard, who had been comparatively +silent and let him do the talking and suggesting.</p> + +<p>Howard could not define his feeling with regard to +Eloise. Her beauty impressed him greatly, and he +was very sorry for her, but he could not rid himself +of the conviction which had a second time taken possession +of him that in some way she was to influence +his life or cross his path.</p> + +<p>He bade her good-by, and told her to keep up good +courage, and felt a little piqued that she withdrew +her hand more quickly from him than she did from +Jack, who left her rather reluctantly. They found +Mr. Bills outside talking to Mrs. Biggs, who was +volubly narrating the particulars of the accident, so +far as she knew them, and referring constantly to her +own sprained ankle of twenty years ago, and the impossibility +of Miss Smith's being able to walk for some +time.</p> + +<p>With his usual impetuousness Jack took the initiative, +and said to Mr. Bills: "Your school can certainly +wait; it must wait. A week or two can make no difference. +At the end of that time, if she cannot walk, +she can be taken to and from the school-house every +day. To lose the school will go hard with her, and +she's so young."</p> + +<p>Jack was quite eloquent, and Mr. Bills looked at +him curiously, wondering who this smart young fellow +was, pleading for the new school-teacher. He +knew Howard, who, after Jack was through, said he +hoped Mr. Bills would wait; it would be a pity to disappoint +the girl when she had come so far.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps a week or two will make no difference," +Mr. Bills said, "though the young ones are getting +pretty wild, and their mothers anxious to have them +out of the way, but I guess we'll manage it somehow."</p> + +<p>He knew he should manage it when he saw Eloise. +She could not tell him of the need there was of money +in her grandmother's home, or the still greater need +if she took the trip to California which she feared she +must take. She only looked her anxiety, and Mr. +Bills, whose heart Mrs. Biggs said was "big as a +barn," warmed toward her, while mentally he began +to doubt her ability to "fill the bill," as he put it, she +looked so young and so small.</p> + +<p>"I'll let her off easy, if I have to," he thought, and +he said, "Folks'll want school to begin as advertised. +You can't go, but there's Ruby Ann Patrick. She'll +be glad to supply. She's kep' the school five years +runnin'. She wanted it when we hired you. She's +out of a job, and will be glad to take it till you can +walk. I'll see her to-day. You look young to manage +unruly boys, and there's a pile of 'em in Deestrick +No. 5 want lickin' half the time. Ruby Ann can lick +'em. She's five feet nine. You ain't more'n five."</p> + +<p>Eloise did not tell him how tall she was. In fact, +she didn't know. She must look very diminutive in +Mr. Bills's eyes, she thought, and hastened to say, +"I taught boys and young men older than I am in +the normal at Mayville, and never had any trouble. +I had only to speak to or look at them."</p> + +<p>"I b'lieve you, I b'lieve you," Mr. Bills said. "I +should mind you myself every time if you looked at +me, but boys ain't alike. There's Tom Walker, ringleader +in every kind of mischief, the wust feller you +ever see. Ruby Ann had one tussle with him, and +came off Number One. He'd most likely raise Cain +with a schoolmarm who couldn't walk and went on +crutches."</p> + +<p>"Oh-h!" Eloise said despairingly. "I shall not +have to do that!"</p> + +<p>"Mebby not; mebby not. Sprained ankles mostly +does, though. I had to when I sprained mine. I +used to hobble to the well and pump cold water on it; +that's tiptop for a sprain. Well, I must go now and +see Ruby Ann. Good-day. Keep a stiff upper lip, +and you'll pull through. Widder Biggs is a fust rate +nurse, and woman, too. Little too much tongue, +mebby. Hung in the middle and plays both ways. +Knows everybody's history and age from the Flood +down. She'll get at yours from A to izzard. Good-day!"</p> + +<p>He was gone, and Eloise was alone with her pain +and homesickness and discouragement. Turn which +way she would, there was not much brightness in her +sky, except when she thought of Jack Harcourt, +whose hand on her hair she could feel just as he had +felt her wet hand on his neck hours after the spot was +dried, ft seemed perfectly natural and proper that +he should care for her, just as it did that the lady +at the Crompton House should send her a hat. It +was lying on a chair near her with the slippers, and +she took it up and examined it again very carefully, +admiring the fineness of the leghorn, the beauty of +the lilac wreath, and the texture of the ribbons.</p> + +<p>"I shall never wear it," she thought. "It is too +handsome for me; but I shall always keep it, and be +glad for the thoughtfulness which prompted the lady +to send it."</p> + +<p>Then she wondered if she would ever see the lady +and thank her in person, or go to the Crompton +House; and if her trunk would ever come from the +station, so that she could divest herself of the detestable +cotton gown and put on something more becoming, +which would show him she was not quite +so much a guy as she looked in Mrs. Biggs's wardrobe. +The him was Jack, not Howard. He was not +in the running. She cared as little for him as she +imagined he cared for her. And here she did him +injustice. She interested him greatly, though not +in the way she interested Jack, whom he chaffed on +their way home, telling him he ought to offer his +services as nurse.</p> + +<p>"I wonder you did not wipe her eyes as well as +give her your handkerchief," he said. "I dare say +you will never have it laundered, lest her tears should +be washed out of it."</p> + +<p>"Never!" Jack replied, and, taking the handkerchief +from his pocket and folding it carefully, he put +it back again, saying, "No, sir; I shall keep it intact. +No laundryman's hands will ever touch it."</p> + +<p>"Pretty far gone, that's a fact," Howard rejoined, +and then continued: "I say, Jack, we'd better not +talk of Miss Smith before the Colonel. It will only +rouse him up, and make him swear at normal graduates +in general, and this one in particular. You know +I wrote you that he gave the lot and built the school-house, +and for years was inspector of Crompton +schools,—boss and all hands,—till a new generation +came up and shelved him. He fought hard, but had +to give in to young blood and modern ideas. He had +no voice in hiring Miss Smith,—was not consulted. +His choice was a Ruby Ann Patrick, a perfect Amazon +of an old maid; weighs two hundred, I believe, +and rides a wheel. You ought to see her. But then +she is rooted and grounded, and uncle does not think +Miss Smith is, though she was pretty well grounded +last night when she sat on that sand heap with her +foot twisted under her. I'm not a soft head like you, +to fall in love with her at first sight; but I'm awfully +sorry for her, and I don't wish to hear the Colonel +swear about her."</p> + +<p>Jack had never seen Howard more in earnest, and +his mental comment was, "Cares more for her than +I supposed. He'll bear watching. Poor little girl! +How white she was at times, and how tired her eyes +looked; and bright, too, as stars. I wonder if she +really ought not to have a doctor."</p> + +<p>He put this question to Howard, who replied: +"No, that Biggs woman is a full team on sprained +ankles. She'll get her up without a doctor, and I +don't suppose the girl has much to spend on the +craft."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but what is a little money to you or me, if +she really needs a doctor?" Jack said thoughtfully, +while Howard laughed and answered, "Don't be an +idiot, and lose your heart to a schoolma'am because +she happened to have had her arm around your neck +when we carried her in that chair. I can feel it yet, +and sometimes put up my hand when half awake to +see if it isn't there, but I am not going to make a fool +of myself."</p> + +<p>As they were near home Jack did not reply, but he +could have told of times when half awake and wide +awake he felt the arms and the hands and the hot +breath of the girl clinging to him in the darkness and +rain, and saw the eyes full of pain and dumb entreaty +not to hurt her more than they could help, as they +cut the soaked boot from the swollen foot. But he +said nothing, and, when the house was reached, went +at once to his own room, wondering what he could +do to make her more comfortable.</p> + +<p>Acting upon Howard's advice, Eloise was not mentioned, +either at lunch or at dinner. Amy had evidently +forgotten her, for she made no inquiry for her. +Neither did the Colonel. She was, however, much in +the minds of the young men, and each was wondering +how he could best serve her. Howard thought of a +sea chair, in which his uncle had crossed the ocean. +He had found it covered with dust in the attic, and +brought it to his room to lounge in. It would be far +more comfortable for Eloise than that stiff, straight-backed, +hair-cloth rocker in which she had to sit so +upright. He would send it to her with Amy's compliments, +if he could manage it without the knowledge +of Jack, who he would rather should not know +how much he was really interested in Eloise. Jack +was also planning what he could do, and thought of +a wheel chair, in which she could be taken to and +from school. He might possibly find one in the village +by the shore. He would inquire without consulting +Howard, whose joking grated a little, as it +presupposed the impossibility of his really caring for +one so far removed from his station in life as Eloise +seemed to be.</p> + +<p>Could she have known how much she was in the +minds of the young men at Crompton Place, she +would not have felt quite as forlorn and disconsolate +as she did during the long hours of the day, when she +sat helpless and alone, except as Mrs. Biggs tried to +entertain her with a flow of talk and gossip which did +not interest her. A few of the neighbors called in +the evening, and it seemed to Eloise that every one +had had a sprained ankle or two, of which they talked +continually, dwelling mostly upon the length of time +it took before they were able to walk across the floor, +to say nothing of the distance from Mrs. Biggs's to +the school-house. That would be impossible for +two or three weeks at least, and even then Miss Smith +would have to go on crutches most likely, was their +comforting assurance.</p> + +<p>"I've got some up garret that I used twenty years +ago. Too long for her, but Tim can cut them off. +They are just the thing. Lucky I kept them," Mrs. +Biggs said, while Eloise listened with a feeling like +death in her heart, and dreamed that night of hobbling +to school on Mrs. Biggs's crutches, while Jack +Harcourt helped and encouraged her, and Howard +Crompton stood at a distance laughing at her.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> +RUBY ANN PATRICK</h2> + +<p>She had taught the school in District No. 5 summer +and winter for five years. She had been a +teacher for fifteen years, her first experience dating +back to the days when the Colonel was school inspector, +and his formula in full swing. She had met +all his requirements promptly, knew all about the +geese and the grindstone, and the wind, and Mr. +Wright, and had a certificate in the Colonel's handwriting, +declaring her to be rooted and grounded in +the fundamentals, and qualified to teach a district +school anywhere. As Mr. Bills had said to Eloise, +she was five feet nine inches high and large in proportion, +with so much strength and vital force and determination, +that the most unruly boy in District No. +5 would hesitate before openly defying her authority. +She had conquered Tom Walker, the bully of the +school, and after the day when he was made to feel +the force there was in her large hand, he had done +nothing worse than make faces behind her back and +draw caricatures of her on his slate.</p> + +<p>As a rule, Ruby Ann was popular with the majority +of the people, and there had been some opposition +to a change. It was hardly fair, they said to the +Colonel, who took so much interest in the school, and +who was sure to feel angry and hurt if deprived of +the privilege of catechising the teachers in the office +he had erected for that purpose on his grounds. He +had not only built the school-house, but had kept it +in repair, and had added a classroom for the older +scholars because somebody said it was needed, and +had not objected when it was only used for wraps and +dinner pails, and balls and clubs in the summer, and +in the winter for coal and wood and sleds and skates +and other things pertaining to a school of wide-awake +girls and boys.</p> + +<p>This was the conservative party, but there was another +which wanted a change. They had been in a +rut long enough, and they laughed at the Colonel's +formula, which nearly every child knew by heart. +The Colonel was too old to run things,—they must +have something up to date, and when the president +of Mayville Normal School applied for a situation +for Eloise she was accepted, and Ruby Ann went to +the wall. She was greatly chagrined and disappointed +when she found herself supplanted by a normal +graduate, of whom she had not a much higher +opinion than the Colonel himself. When she heard +of the accident and that her rival was disabled, she +was conscious just for a moment of a feeling of exultation, +as if Eloise had received her just deserts. +She was, however, a kind-hearted, well-principled +woman, and soon cast the feeling aside as unworthy +of her, and tried to believe she was sorry for the girl, +who, she heard, was very young, and had been carried +in the darkness and rain to Mrs. Biggs's house +in Howard Crompton's arms.</p> + +<p>"I would almost be willing to sprain my ankle for +the sake of being carried in that way," Ruby thought, +and then laughed as she tried to fancy the young +man bending beneath the weight of her hundred and +ninety pounds.</p> + +<p>It was at this juncture that Mr. Bills came in asking +if she would take Miss Smith's place until she +was able to walk. It might be two weeks, and it +might be three, and it might be less, he said. Any +way, they didn't want a cripple in the school-house +for Tom Walker to raise Hail Columby with. Would +Ruby Ann swaller her pride and be a substitute?</p> + +<p>"It is a good deal to ask me to do after I have been +turned out of office," she said, "but I am not one to +harbor resentment. Yes, I'll take the school till Miss +Smith is able. How does she look? I hear she is +very young."</p> + +<p>"Well, she's some younger than you, I guess, and +looks like a child as she sits down," Mr. Bills replied. +"Why, you are big as two of her,—yes, three,—and +could throw her over the house."</p> + +<p>Ruby's face clouded, and Mr. Bills went on: "She +is handsome as blazes, with a mouth which keeps kind +of quivering, as if she wanted to cry, or something, +and eyes—well, you've got to see 'em to know what +they are like. They are just eyes which make an old +man like me feel,—I don't know how."</p> + +<p>Ruby laughed, but felt a little hurt as she thought +of her own small, light-blue eyes and lighter eyebrows, +which had never yet made any man, young or +old, feel "he didn't know how." She knew she was +neither young nor handsome nor attractive, but she +had good common sense, and after Mr. Bills was gone +she sat down to review the situation, and resolved to +accept it gracefully and to call upon Eloise. It would +be certainly <i>en regle</i> and Christian-like to do so, she +thought, and the next afternoon she presented herself +at Mrs. Biggs's door and asked if Miss Smith +were able to see any one.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs belonged to the radical party which +favored a change of teachers. Five years was long +enough for one person to teach in the same place, +she said, and they wanted somebody modern and +younger. She laid a great deal of stress upon that, +and on one occasion, when giving her opinion over +her gate to a neighbor, had added "smaller and better-looking." +Ruby was not a favorite with Mrs. +Biggs, whom she had called an inveterate gossip, +hunting up everbody's history and age, and making +them out two or three years older than they were. +She had lived at home and kept Mrs. Biggs out of a +boarder five years. She had called Tim a lout, and +kept him after school several times when his mother +needed him. Consequently Mrs. Biggs's sympathies +were all with Eloise, who was young and small and +good-looking, and she flouted the idea of having +Ruby hired even for a few days.</p> + +<p>"It's just a wedge to git her in again," she had +said to Tim, with whom she had discussed the matter. +"I know Ruby Ann, and she'll jump at the chance, +and keep it, too. She can wind Mr. Bills round her +fingers. I'd rather have Miss Smith with one laig +than Ruby Ann with three. Tom Walker ain't goin' +to raise Ned with such a slip of a girl."</p> + +<p>"I ruther guess not, when I'm there," Tim said, +squaring himself up as if ready to fight a dozen Tom +Walkers, when, in fact, he was afraid of one, and usually +kept out of his way.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs had not expected Ruby Ann to call, +and her face wore a vinegary expression when she +opened the door to her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I s'pose you can see her, but too much company +ain't good for sprained ankles," she replied in +response to Ruby's inquiry if she could see Miss +Smith. "You'll find her in the parlor, but don't +stay long. Talkin' 'll create a fever in her laig."</p> + +<p>Ruby was accustomed to Mrs. Biggs's vagaries, +and did not mind them.</p> + +<p>"I'll be very discreet," she said, as she passed on +to the parlor, curious to see the girl who had been +preferred to herself.</p> + +<p>She had heard from Mr. Bills that Eloise "was +handsome as blazes," but she was not prepared for +the face which looked up at her as she entered the +room. Something in the eyes appealed to her as it +had to Mr. Bills, and any prejudice she might have +had melted away at once, and she began talking to +Eloise as familiarly as if she had known her all her +life. At first Eloise drew back from the powerfully +built woman, who stood up so tall before her, and +whose voice was so strong and masculine, and whose +eyes travelled over her so rapidly, taking in every +detail of her dress and every feature of her face. +Mrs. Biggs's disfiguring cotton gown had been discarded +for a loose white jacket, which, with its knots +of pink ribbon, was very becoming, and Ruby found +herself studying it closely, and wondering if she could +make one like it, and how she would look in it. Then +she noticed the hands, so small and so white, and felt +an irresistible desire to take one of them in her broad +palm.</p> + +<p>"I do believe I could hold three like them in one +of mine," she thought, and sitting down by Eloise's +side, she laid her hand on the one resting on the arm +of the chair.</p> + +<p>There was something so friendly and warm and so +sympathetic in the touch that Eloise wanted to cry. +With a great effort she kept her tears back, but could +not prevent one or two from standing on her long +lashes, and making her eyes very bright as she answered +Ruby's rapid questions with regard to the accident.</p> + +<p>"And I hear Mr. Howard Crompton brought you +here himself. That was something of an honor, as +he seldom goes out of his way for any one," she said, +with a keen look of curiosity in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I never thought of the honor," Eloise replied. +"I could think of nothing but the pain, which was +terrible, and now everything is so dreary and so different +from what I hoped. Do you think it will be +long before I can walk?"</p> + +<p>"No; oh no," Ruby answered cheerily. "Let me +see your foot. It is swollen badly," she said, as she +replaced the old shawl Mrs. Biggs had thrown across +it. "What have you on it? Wormwood and vinegar, +I know by the odor. You should have a rubber +band, and nothing else. It is cleaner and saves +trouble. That's what I used, and was well in no +time."</p> + +<p>"Have you had a sprained ankle, too?" Eloise +asked, and Ruby Ann replied, "Certainly. Nearly +every one has at some time in his life. It is as common +as the measles."</p> + +<p>"I believe it," Eloise rejoined with a laugh. "So +many have called to see me, and almost every one had +had a sprain,—some as many as three; and each one +proposed a different remedy."</p> + +<p>"Naturally; but you try the rubber band. I'll +bring you one, and massage your ankle, and have +you well very soon."</p> + +<p>These were the first hopeful words Eloise had +heard, and her heart warmed towards this great blond +woman, who was proving herself a friend, and who +began to tell her of the school and her own experience +as teacher in District No. 5, which, she said, was +the largest and most important district in town, with +the oldest scholars both summer and winter. "There +are some unruly boys, especially Tom Walker, but I +am so big and strong that I conquered him by brute +force, and had no trouble after one battle. You will +conquer some other way. Tom is very susceptible +to good looks,—calls me a hayseed, and a chestnut, +and a muff. It will be different with you," and Ruby +pressed the hand she was holding. Then she spoke +of Col. Crompton, who used to examine the teachers, +and before whom she had been five times; usually +answering the same questions, especially those contained +in the "Formula," and to which Eloise would +not be subjected.</p> + +<p>"What is the Formula?" Eloise asked, and Ruby +told her, while Eloise listened bewildered, and glad +that she was to escape an ordeal she could never pass +with credit.</p> + +<p>It was easy to be confiding with Ruby, and Eloise +soon found herself talking freely of her life and school +days in Mayville, and the necessity there was for her +to teach, and the bitter disappointment it would be +to lose the school on which so much depended.</p> + +<p>"My father is dead," she said, "and my mother +is—" she hesitated, while a deep flush came to her +cheeks, "she is an invalid, and there is no one to care +for her now but me. She is in California, and I may +have to go for her, and must have the money."</p> + +<p>Just for a moment, when Mr. Bills asked her to +take Eloise's place, there had been in Ruby's mind +a half-formed hope that she might be wholly reinstated +in her old place as a teacher. But it was gone +now, and Jack Harcourt himself was not more kindly +disposed to the helpless girl than she was.</p> + +<p>"You shall not lose the school, nor the time +either," she said impulsively. "I am to take it till +you are able, and then I shall step out. In the mean +time, I shall do all I can for you,—shall enlist Tom +Walker on your side, and you will have no trouble."</p> + +<p>She arose to go, then sat down again and said, "I +hope you will be able to attend our Rummage Sale."</p> + +<p>"Rummage Sale!" Eloise repeated, remembering +to have heard the word in connection with the slippers +Miss Amy had sent her. "I don't think I quite +understand."</p> + +<p>"Don't you know what a Rummage Sale is?" +Ruby Ann asked, explaining what it was, and saying +they were to have one in a vacant house not far from +Mrs. Biggs's, the proceeds to go for a free library +for District No. 5. "I am one of the solicitors," she +continued, "but as you are a stranger you may not +have anything to contribute."</p> + +<p>As Rummage Sales were just beginning to dawn +on the public horizon Eloise had never heard of +them, but she became interested at once, because +Ruby Ann was so enthusiastic, and said, "I have two +or three white aprons I made myself. You can have +one of them if you think anybody will buy it."</p> + +<p>"Buy it!" Ruby repeated, rubbing her hands in +ecstasy. "It will bring a big price when they know +it was yours and you made it. I'll see that it has a +conspicuous place. And now I must go and see Mrs. +Biggs again about the sale. Good-by, and keep up +your courage."</p> + +<p>She stooped and kissed Eloise, who heard her next +in the kitchen talking to Mrs. Biggs, first of rubber +bands and massage, and then of the Rummage Sale. +When she was gone Mrs. Biggs came in and sat down +and began to give her opinion of the Rummage Sale, +and massage and rubber bands, and first the Rummage. +A good way to get rid of truck, and Ruby +Ann said they took everything. She had a lot of old +chairs and a warming pan and foot-stove, and she +s'posed she might give the spotted brown and white +calico wrapper which Eloise had worn. It was +faded and out of style. Yes, on the whole, she'd +give the wrapper. She never liked it very well, she +said; and then she spoke of the rubber band Ruby +Ann had recommended instead of wormwood and +vinegar, and of which she did not approve. What +did Ruby Ann know? though, to be sure, she was +old enough. How old did Eloise think she was? +Eloise had not given her age a thought, but, pressed +for an answer, ventured the reply that she might be +verging on to thirty.</p> + +<p>"Verging on to thirty! More likely verging on +to forty," Mrs. Biggs said, with a savage click of the +needles with which she was knitting Tim a sock. "I +know her age, if she does try to look young and wear +a sailor hat, and ride a wheel in a short gown! I'd +laugh to see me ridin' a wheel, and there ain't so +much difference between us neither. I know, for +we went to school together. She was a little girl, to +be sure, and sat on the low seat and learnt her a-b-c's. +I was four or five years older, and sat on a higher +seat with Amy Crompton, till the Colonel took her +from the district school and kep' her at home with a +governess."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs was very proud of the acquaintance she +had had with Amy Crompton, when the two played +together under the trees which shaded the school-house +the Colonel had built as <i>expiatory</i> years before, +and she continued: "Amy, you know, is the half-cracked +lady at the Crompton House who sent the +hat and slippers. She's been married twice,—run +away the first time. My land! what a stir there was +about it, and what a high hoss the Colonel rode. +Who her second was nobody knows,—some scamp +by the name of Smith,—that's your name, and a good +one, too, but about the commonest in the world, I +reckon. There's four John Smiths in town, and Joel +Smith, who brings my milk, and George Smith I buy +aigs of, and forty odd more. They say the Colonel +hates the name like pisen. Won't have anybody +work for him by that name. Dismissed his milkman +because he was a Smith, and between you and I, I +b'lieve half his opposition to you was your name. +Why, it's like a red rag to a bull."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know he was opposed to me personally," +Eloise said, and Mrs. Biggs replied, "Of course not; +how could he be? He never seen you. It's the normal, +and bein' put out of office—he and Ruby Ann. +They've run things long enough. They say he did +swear offel at the last school meetin' about normals +and ingrates and all that,—meanin' they'd forgot all +he'd done for 'em; but, my land, you can't b'lieve +half you hear. I don't b'lieve nothin', and try to keep +a close mouth 'bout what I do b'lieve. I ain't none +o' your gossips, and won't have folks sayin' the Widder +Biggs said so and so."</p> + +<p>Here Mrs. Biggs stopped to take breath and answer +a rap at the kitchen door, where George Smith +was standing with a basket of eggs. Eloise could +hear her badgering him because he charged too +much and because his hens did not lay larger eggs, +and threatening to withdraw her patronage if there +was not a change. Then items of the latest news +were exchanged, Mrs. Biggs doing her part well for +one who never repeated anything and never believed +anything. When George Smith was gone she returned +to her seat by Eloise and resumed her conversation, +which had been interrupted, and which was +mostly reminiscent of people and incidents in Crompton, +and especially of the Crompton House and its +occupants, with a second fling at Ruby Ann.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> +MRS. BIGGS'S REMINISCENCES</h2> + +<p>"Maybe I was too hard on Ruby Ann," she said, +measuring the heel of Tim's sock to see if it were +time to begin to narrow. "She's a pretty clever +woman, take her by and large, but I do hate to see a +dog frisk like a puppy, and she's thirty-five if she's +a day. You see, I know, 'cause, as I was tellin' you, +there was her and me and Amy Crompton girls together. +I am forty, Amy is thirty-eight or thirty-nine, +and Ruby Ann is thirty-five."</p> + +<p>Having settled Ruby's age and asked Eloise hers, +and told her she looked young for nineteen, the +good woman branched off upon the grandeur of the +Crompton House, with its pictures and statuary and +bric-à-brac, its flowers and fountains, and rustic arbors +and seats scattered over the lawn. Eloise had +heard something of the place from a school friend, +but never had it been so graphically described as by +Mrs. Biggs, and she listened with a feeling that in +the chamber of her childhood's memory a picture of +this place had been hung by somebody.</p> + +<p>"Was it my father?" she asked herself, and answered +decidedly, "No," as she recalled the little intercourse +she had ever had with him. "Was it my +mother?" she next asked herself, and involuntarily +her tears started as she thought of her mother, and +how unlikely it was that she had ever been in Crompton.</p> + +<p>Turning her head aside to hide her tears from Mrs. +Biggs, she said, "Tell me more of the place. It almost +seems as if I had been there."</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, Mrs. Biggs began a description +of the lawn party which she was too young to remember, +although she was there with her mother, +and had a faint recollection of music and candy and +lights in the trees, and an attack of colic the night +after as a result of overeating.</p> + +<p>"But, my land!" she said, "that was nothin' to the +blow-out on Amy's sixteenth birthday. The Colonel +had kep' her pretty close after he took her from +school. She had a governess and she had a maid, +but I must say she didn't seem an atom set up, and +was just as nice when she met us girls. 'Hello, +Betsey,' she'd say to me. That's my name, Betsey, +but I call myself 'Lisbeth. 'Hello, Betsey,' I can hear +her now, as she cantered past on her pony, in her +long blue ridin' habit. Sometimes she'd come to the +school-house and set on the grass under the apple +trees and chew gum with us girls. That was before +her party, which beat anything that was ever seen in +Crompton, or will be again. The avenue and yard +and stables were full of carriages, and there were +eighteen waiters besides the <i>canterer</i> from Boston."</p> + +<p>"The what?" Eloise asked, and Mrs. Biggs replied, +"The <i>canterer</i>, don't you know, the man who +sees to things and brings the vittles and his waiters. +They say he alone cost the Colonel five hundred dollars; +but, my land! that's no more for him than five +dollars is for me. He fairly swims in money. Such +dresses you never seen as there was there that night, +and such bare necks and arms, with a man at the door, +a man at the head of the stairs to tell 'em where to +go, and one in the gentlemen's room, and two girls +in the ladies' rooms to button their gloves and put +on their dancing pumps. The carousin' lasted till +daylight, and a tireder, more worn-out lot of folks +than we was you never seen. I was nearly dead."</p> + +<p>"Were you there?' Eloise asked, with a feeling +that there was some incongruity between the Crompton +party and Mrs. Biggs, who did not care to say +that she was one of the waitresses who buttoned +gloves and put on the dancing pumps in the dressing-room.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I was there," she said at last, "though +I wasn't exactly in the doin's. I've never danced +since I was dipped and jined the church. Do you +dance, or be you a perfessor?"</p> + +<p>Eloise had to admit that she did dance and was not +a professor, although she hoped to be soon.</p> + +<p>"What persuasion?" was Mrs. Biggs's next question, +and Eloise replied, "I was baptized in the Episcopal +Church in Rome."</p> + +<p>"The one in York State, I s'pose, and not t'other +one across the seas?" Mrs. Biggs suggested, and +Eloise answered, "Yes, the one across the seas in +Italy."</p> + +<p>"For goodness' sake! How you talk! You don't +mean you was born there?" Mrs. Biggs exclaimed, +with a feeling of added respect for one who was actually +born across the seas. "Do you remember it, +and did you know the Pope and the King?"</p> + +<p>Eloise said she did not remember being born, nor +did she know the Pope or the King.</p> + +<p>"I was a little girl when I left Italy, and do not remember +much, except that I was happier there than +I have ever been since."</p> + +<p>"I want to know! I s'pose you've had trouble in +your family?" was Mrs. Biggs's quick rejoinder, as +she scented some private history which she meant to +find out.</p> + +<p>But beyond the fact that her father was dead and +her mother in California, she could learn nothing +from Eloise, and returned to the point from which +they had drifted to the Episcopal Church in Rome.</p> + +<p>"I kinder mistrusted you was a 'Piscopal. I do' +know why, but I can most always tell 'em," she said. +"The Cromptons is all that way of thinkin'. Old +Colonel is a vestedman, I b'lieve they call 'em, but +he swears offul. I don't call that religion; do you? +But folks ain't alike. I don't s'pose the Church is +to blame. There's now and then as good a 'Piscopal +as you'll find anywhere. Ruby Ann has jined 'em, +and goes it strong. B'lieves in candles and vestures; +got Tim into the choir one Sunday, and now you +can't keep him out of it. Wears a—a—I don't know +what you call it,—something that looks like a short +night-gown, and I have to wash it every other week. +I don't mind that, and I do b'lieve Tim is more of a +man than he was, and he sings beautiful. And hain't +learnt nothin' bad there yet, but the minister does +some things I don't approve; no, don't approve. +What do you think he does right before folks, in +plain sight, sittin' on the piazza?"</p> + +<p>Eloise could not hazard a guess as to the terrible +sin of which Mr. Mason, the rector of St. John's, was +guilty, and said so.</p> + +<p>"Well," and Mrs. Biggs's voice sank to a whisper +as she leaned forward, "<i>he smokes a cigar in broad +daylight</i>! What do you think of that for a minister +of the gospel?"</p> + +<p>She was so much in earnest, and her manner so +dramatic, that Eloise laughed the first real, hearty +laugh she had indulged in since she came to Crompton. +Smoking might be objectionable, but it did not +seem to her the most heinous crime in the world, and +she had a very vivid remembrance of a coat in which +there lurked the odor of many Havanas, and to which +she had clung desperately in the darkness and rain +on the night which seemed to her years ago. She +did not, however, express any opinion with regard to +the Rev. Arthur Mason's habits, or feel especially +interested in him. But Mrs. Biggs was, and once +launched on the subject, she told Eloise that he was +from the South, and had not been long in the place; +that he was unmarried, and all the girls were after +him, Ruby Ann with the rest, and she at least half +a dozen years older.</p> + +<p>"But, land's sake! What does that count with an +old maid when a young minister is in the market," +she said, adding that, with the exception of smoking, +she believed the new minister was a good man, +though for some reason Col. Crompton did not like +him, and had only been to church once since he came, +and wouldn't let Miss Amy go either.</p> + +<p>This brought her back to the Cromptons generally, +and during the next half hour Eloise had a pretty +graphic description of the Colonel and his eccentricities, +of Amy, when she was a young girl, of the +way she came to the Crompton House, and the mystery +which still surrounded her birth.</p> + +<p>"My Uncle Peter lived there when she came, and +lives there now,—a kind of vally to the old Colonel," +she said, "and he's told me of the mornin' the Colonel +brung her home, a queer-looking little thing,—in her +clothes, I mean,—and offul peppery, I judge, fightin' +everybody who came near her, and rollin' on the +floor, bumpin' and cryin' for a nigger who had took +care of her somewhere, nobody knows where, for the +Colonel never told, and if Uncle Peter knows, he +holds his tongue. She was a terrible fighter at school, +if things didn't suit her, but she's quiet enough now; +seems 's if she'd been through the fire, poor thing, +and they say she don't remember nothin', and begins +to shake if she tries to remember. The Colonel is +very kind to her; lets her have all the money she +wants, and she gives away a sight. Sent you a hat +and slips, almost new, and had never seen you. +That's like Amy, and, my soul, there she is now, +comin' down the road with the Colonel in the b'rouch. +Hurry, and you can see her; I'll move you."</p> + +<p>Utterly regardless of the lame foot, which dragged +on the floor and hurt cruelly, Mrs. Biggs drew Eloise +to the window in time to see a handsome open carriage +drawn by two splendid bays passing the house. +The Colonel was muffled up as closely as if it were +midwinter, and only a part of his face and his long, +white hair were visible, but he was sitting upright, +with his head held high, and looked the embodiment +of aristocratic pride and arrogance. The lady beside +him was very slight, and sat in a drooping kind of +posture, as if she were tired, or restless, or both. To +see her face was impossible, for she was closely veiled, +and neither she nor the Colonel glanced toward the +house as they passed.</p> + +<p>"I am so disappointed. I wanted to see her face," +Eloise said, watching the carriage until it was hidden +from view by a turn in the road. "You say she is +lovely?" and she turned to Mrs. Biggs.</p> + +<p>"Lovely don't express it. Seraphic comes nearer. +Looks as if she had some great sorrow she was constantly +thinking of, and trying to smile as she thought +of it," Mrs. Biggs replied. Then, as Eloise looked +quickly up, she exclaimed, "Well, if I ain't beat! It's +come to me what I've been tryin' to think of ever +sense I seen you. They ain't the same color; hers +is darker, but there is a look in your eyes for all the +world as hers used to be when she was a girl, and +wan't wearin' her high-heeled shoes and ridin' over +our heads. Them times she was as like the Colonel +as one pea is like another, and her eyes fairly snapped. +Other times they was soft and tender-like, and bright +as stars, with a look in 'em which I know now was +kinder,—well, kinder crazy-like, you know."</p> + +<p>Eloise had heard many things said of her own eyes, +but never before that they were crazy-like, and did +not feel greatly complimented. She laughed, however, +and said she would like to see the lady whose +eyes hers were like.</p> + +<p>Before Mrs. Biggs could reply there was a step +outside, and, tiptoeing to the window, she exclaimed, +in a whisper, "If I won't give it up, there's the 'Piscopal +minister, Mr. Mason, come to call on you! +Ruby Ann must of told him you belonged to 'em."</p> + +<p>She dropped her knitting, and, hurrying to the +door, admitted the Rev. Arthur Mason, and ushered +him at once into the room where Eloise was sitting, +saying as she introduced him, "I s'pose you have +come to see her."</p> + +<p>It was an awkward situation for the young man, +whose call was not prompted by any thought of +Eloise. His business was with Mrs. Biggs, who had +the reputation of being the parish register and town +encyclopædia, from which information regarding +everybody could be gleaned, and he had come to her +for information which he had been told she could +probably give him. He had been in Crompton but +three months, and had come there from a small parish +in Virginia. On the first Sunday when he officiated +in St. John's he had noticed in the audience a tall, +aristocratic-looking man, with long white hair and +beard, who made the responses loud and in a tone +which told the valuation he put upon himself. In +the same pew was a lady whose face attracted his attention, +it was so sweet and yet so sad, while the +beautiful eyes, he was sure, were sometimes full of +tears as she listened with rapt attention to what he +was saying of our heavenly home, where those we +have loved and lost will be restored to us. It scarcely +seemed possible, and yet he thought there was a nod +of assent, and was sure that a smile broke over her +face when he spoke of the first meeting of friends +in the next world, the mother looking for her child, +and the child coming to the gates of Paradise to meet +its mother. Who was she, he wondered, and who +was the old man beside her, who held himself so +proudly? He soon learned who they were, and hearing +that the Colonel was very lame, and the lady an +invalid, he took the initiative and called at the +Crompton House. The Colonel received him very +cordially, and made excuses for Amy's non-appearance, +saying she was not quite herself and shy +with strangers. He was very affable, and evidently +charmed with his visitor, until, as the conversation +flowed on, it came out that the rector was a Southerner +by birth, although educated for the ministry at +the North, and that his father, the Rev. Charles Mason, +was at present filling a vacancy in a little country +church in Enterprise, Florida, where he had been before +the war. The Rev. Arthur Mason could not +tell what it was that warned him of an instantaneous +change in the Colonel's manner, it was so subtle and +still so perceptible. There was a settling himself +back in his chair, a tighter clasping of his gold-headed +cane with which he walked, and which he always kept +in his hand. He was less talkative, and finally was +silent altogether, and when at last the rector arose to +go, he was not asked to stay or call again. Peter was +summoned to show him the door, the Colonel bowing +very stiffly as he went out. How he had offended, +if he had done so, the rector could not guess, +and, hearing within a week or two that the Colonel +was indisposed, he called again, but was not admitted. +Col. Crompton was too nervous to see any +one, he was told, and there the acquaintance had +ended. The Crompton pew was not occupied until +Howard came and was occasionally seen in it. Evidently +the new rector was a <i>persona non grata</i>, and he +puzzled his brain for a reason in vain, until a letter +from his father threw some light upon the subject +and induced him to call upon Mrs. Biggs.</p> + +<p>As usual she was very loquacious, scarcely allowing +him a word, and ringing changes on her own and +Eloise's sprained ankle, until he began to fear he +should have no chance to broach the object of his +visit without seeming to drag it in. The chance came +on the return of the Crompton carriage, with the +Colonel sitting stiff and straight and Amy drooping +under her veil beside him. Here was his opportunity, +and the rector seized it, and soon learned nearly +all Mrs. Biggs knew of Amy's arrival at Crompton +House and the surmises concerning her antecedents.</p> + +<p>"She's a Crompton if there ever was one, and why +the Colonel should keep so close a mouth all these +years beats me," was Mrs. Biggs's closing remark, +as she bowed the rector out and went back to Eloise, +who felt that she was getting very familiar with the +Crompton history, so far as Mrs. Biggs knew it.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> +LETTER FROM REV. CHARLES MASON</h2> + +<p class="right"> +"Enterprise, Fla., Sept. —, 18—. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +"My dear Arthur: +</p> + +<p>"I was glad to hear that you were so pleasantly +situated and liked your parish work. I trust it is +cooler there than here in Florida, where the thermometer +has registered higher day after day than +it has before in years. I rather like it, however, +as I am something of a salamander, and this, you +know, is not my first experience in Florida. I was +here between thirty and forty years ago, before I was +married. In fact, I met your mother here at the +Brock House, which before the war was frequented +by many Southerners, some of whom came in the +summer as well as in the winter.</p> + +<p>"It was while I was here that an incident occurred +which made a strong impression upon my +mind, and was recalled to it by your mention of +<i>Crompton</i> as the town where you are living. On one +of the hottest days of the season I attended a funeral, +the saddest, and, in some respects, the most peculiar +I ever attended. It was in a log-house some miles +from the river, and was that of a young girl, who lay +in her coffin with a pathetic look on her face, as if in +death she were pleading for some wrong to be +righted. I could scarcely keep back my tears when +I looked at her, and after all these years my eyes +grow moist when I recall that funeral in the palmetto +clearing, with only Crackers and negroes in attendance, +a demented old woman, a dark-eyed little girl, +the only relatives, and a free negro, Jake, and Mandy +Ann, a slave, belonging to Mrs. Harris, the only real +mourners. Mandy Ann attended to the child and +old woman, while Jake was master of ceremonies, +and more intelligent than many white people I have +met. Such a funeral as that was, with the cries and +groans and singing of both whites and blacks! One +old woman, called Judy, came near having the <i>power</i>, +as they call a kind of fit of spiritual exaltation. But +Jake shook her up, and told her to behave, as it was +a 'Piscopal funeral and not a pra'r meetin'. Mandy +Ann also shook up the old lady, Mrs. Harris, and +screamed in her ear through a trumpet, while the +little dark-eyed child joined in the refrain of the +negroes' song,</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"'Oh, it will be joyful<br/> +When we meet to part no more.' +</p> + +<p>"It was ludicrous, but very sad, and Jake's efforts +to keep order were pitiful. He called his young mistress +Miss Dory, and was most anxious to screen her +from the least suspicion of wrong. When I questioned +him with regard to the parentage of the little +girl, he wrung his hands and answered, 'I do' know +for shu', but fo' God it's all right. She tole me so, +fo' she died, an' Miss Dory never tole a lie. She +said to find Elder Covil, who knew, but he's done +gone off Norf, or somewhar.'</p> + +<p>"I felt sure it was all right when I saw the girl's +face. It must have been beautiful in life, and no taint +of guilt had ever marred its innocence. There could +have been no fault at her door, except concealment, +and the reason for that was buried in her grave. I +heard of a stranger who visited the clearing three +or four years before the funeral. Jake was away, but +Mandy Ann was there and full of the 'gemman,' who, +I have no doubt, was the girl's husband and a great +scamp. I left Florida within a week after that funeral, +and have never been here since, until I came +to take charge for a time of the church which has +been erected here. I should never have known the +place, it has changed so since the close of the war +and the influx of visitors from the North. The hotel, +which has been greatly improved and enlarged, is +always full in the season, and it is one of the most +popular winter resorts on the river.</p> + +<p>"One of my first inquiries was for the negroes Jake +and Mandy Ann. The latter is married and lives +near the hotel, with as many children, I thought, as +the old woman who lived in a shoe, the way they +swarmed out when I called to see their mother. She +had gone to Jacksonville to see 'ole Miss Perkinses, +who was dyin', and had sent for her 'case she done +live with her when she was a girl,' one of the pickaninnies +said. When I asked for Jake I was told he +was still in the palmetto clearing. No one could tell +me anything about the little girl who must now, if +living, be a woman of nearly forty. Indeed, no one +seemed to remember her, so changed are the people +since the war. Jake, I was sure, had not forgotten, +and a few days ago I went to see him. He is an old +man now, and if there is such a thing as an aristocratic +negro, he is one; with his face black as ebony, +his hair white as snow, and his eyes full of intelligence +and fire, especially when he talks of Miss Dory and +'de good ole times fo' she went to Georgy and met +de Northern cuss.' That is what he calls the man +who came for the little girl after the old grandmother +died.</p> + +<p>"I will tell you the story of his coming as Jake told +it to me in the little enclosure where Miss Dory is +buried, and where there is a very pretty monument +to her memory, with 'Eudora, aged 20,' upon it. +He was working in the yard, which was a garden of +bloom, and over the grave and around the monument +a Marshal Niel had twined itself, its clusters +of roses filling the air with perfume. Pushing them +a little aside, so that I could see the lettering more +distinctly, he said, 'That's what he tole me to put +thar, jess "Eudora, aged 20." I've left room for another +name when I'm perfectly shu'. I don't want +to put no lie on a grave stun, if her name wan't +Crompton.'</p> + +<p>"'Crompton!' I repeated, thinking of your parish.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, Mas'r Mason, fo' God I b'lieve it's Crompton +shu'. He comed an' fetched lil chile Dory, the +lil girl you seen at the funeral, what seems only +yestiddy, one way and in another a big lifetime sense +we buried her mother here.'</p> + +<p>"'Who is Mr. Crompton, and how did he know +about the child?' I asked, and Jake replied, 'He is +somebody from the Norf, and he'd sent money to +Mas'r Hardy in Palatka for Miss Dory, who put it +away for de chile. After she died Mas'r Hardy was +gwine to Europe, an' tole me 'twas Col. Crompton, +Troutburg, Massachusetts, who sent the money, but +he wouldn't say nothin' else, 'cept that Col. Crompton +had gin him his confidence and he should keep it. +I'm shoo that Miss Dory sent letters through Mas'r +Hardy to de Colonel, an' he writ to her. Not very +offen, though. She'd sen' one to Mas'r Hardy, an' +he'd sen' it Norf, an' then she'd wait and wait for de +answer, an' when it came you or'to seen her face light +up like sun-up on de river in a May mornin'. An' +her eyes,—she had wonnerful eyes,—would shine like +de stars frosty nights in Virginny. Maybe 'twas +mean, but sometimes I watched her readin' de letter, +her han's flutterin' as she opened it like a little +bird's wings when it's cotched. I think she was allus +'spectin' sumptin' what never comed. The letters +was short, but it took her a mighty time to read 'em, +'case you see she wasn't good at readin' writin', an' +I 'specs de Colonel's handwrite wasn't very plain. +She used to spell out de long words, whisperin' 'em +out sometimes, her face changin' till all de brightness +was gone, an' it was more like a storm on de river +than sun-up. Den she'd fold de letter, an' take up de +lil chile an' kiss it, an' say, "I've got <i>you</i>. We'll never +part." Den she'd burn de letter. I specs he tole +her to, an' she was shoo to mind. Den she'd go at +her readin' book agin, or writin', tryin' to larn, but +'twixt you an' I 'twan't in her, an', no direspec' +nuther, de Harrises couldn't larn from books. Dey's +quick to 'dapt theirselves to what they seen, an' she +didn't see nothin'.</p> + +<p>"'Once she said to me when de big words troubled +her an' floor'd me, "I can never be a lady dis way. +Ef he'd take me whar he is, an' 'mongst his people, +I should larn thar ways, but what can I do here +wid—" She didn't say "wid Jake an' Mandy Ann +an' ole granny, an' de rest of 'em," but she meant it. +If it hadn't been for the lil chile she could of gone to +school. I tole her oncet I'd sen' her an' take care +of de lil chile an' ole Miss,—me an' Mandy Ann. The +tears come in her eyes as she ast whar I'd git de +money, seein' we was layin' up what come from de +Norf for de chile. I'd done thought that out lyin' +awake nights an' plannin' how to make her a lady. +I'se bawn free, you know, an' freedom was sweet to +me an' slavery sour, but for Miss Dory I'd do it, an' +I said, "I'll sell myself to Mas'r Hardy, or some gemman +like him." Thar's plenty wants me, an' would +give a big price, an' she should have it all for her +schoolin'.</p> + +<p>"'You orter have seen her face then. Every part +of it movin' to oncet, an' her eyes so bright I could +not look at 'em for the quarness thar was in 'em, an' +I'll never forget her voice as she said, "That can't +be; but, Jakey, you are de noblest man, black or white, +I ever seen, an' my best frien', an' I loves you as if +you was my brodder."</p> + +<p>"'Dem's her very words, an' I would of sole myself +for her if I could. But de lam gin up after a +while. All de hope an' life went out of her, an' she +died' an' you done 'tended her funeral,—you 'members +it,—as fust class as I could make it. I tole you +sumptin' den, but not all this. It wasn't a fittin' time, +but seein' you brings it all back. Mandy Ann an' +me said we'd keep lil chile a while, bein' ole Miss was +alive, though she was no better than a broomstick +dressed in her clothes. She didn't know nothin', not +even that Miss Dory was dead, an' kep' askin' whose +chile it was,—ef it was Mandy Ann's, an' why it was +hyar. It kinder troubled her, I think, it was so +active an' noisy, an' sung so much. Used to play +at pra'r meetin' an' have de pow' powerful, as she +had seen de blacks have it when Mandy Ann took her +to thar meetin's. Seems ef she liked thar ways better +than what I tried to teach her from de Pra'r +Book, an' they is rather more livelier for a chile. All +de neighbors was interested in her, an' ole Miss +Thomas most of all. She's de one what stood out +de longest agin Miss Dory, 'case she didn't tell squar +what she'd promised not to. But she gin in at de +funeral, an' was mighty nice to the lil chile. When +ole Miss Lucy died she comed in her democrat +wagon, as she did for Miss Dory, an' coaxed lil chile +inter her lap, an' said she showed she had good blood, +an' or'to be brung up a lady, an' it wasn't fittin' for +her to stay whar she was, an' if I knew de fader I mus' +write to him.</p> + +<p>"'I knew dat as well as she did, an' after consultin' +wid Mandy Ann an' prayin' for light, it come +dat I must sen' on, an' I did, hopin' he wouldn' come, +for to part wid de lil chile was like tearin' my vitals +out, an' Mandy Ann's, too. He did come,—a big, +gran' man, wid a look which made me glad Miss +Dory was in heaven 'stead of livin' wid him. He'd +been hyar oncet before. Mebby I tole you, at de +funeral. My mind gets leaky, an' I can't 'member +exactly, an' so repeats.'</p> + +<p>"'I think not,' I said, 'and if you did, I have forgotten, +and am willing to hear it again.'</p> + +<p>"We were sitting now on a bench close by what +Jake said had been the little girl's play-house, which +she called her <i>Shady</i>, because it was under a palm tree.</p> + +<p>"'Yes, he comed,' Jake said, 'two or three weeks +after Miss Dory comed home from Georgy, whar +she was visitin' her kin. Mandy Ann tole me 'bout +him,—how he walked an' talked to Miss Dory, till +when he went away her face was white as the gown +she put on when she hearn he was comin'. You see, +Mandy Ann was on de boat wid him, an' tole her. +She was all of a twitter, like you've seen de little +hungry birds in de nest when dar mudder is comin' +wid a worm,—an' she was jess as cold an' slimpsy +an' starved when he went away as dem little birds is +when de mudder is shot on de wing an' never comes +wid de worm. You know what I mean. She s'pected +somethin' an' didn't get it.'</p> + +<p>"Jake was very eloquent in his illustrations, and +I looked admiringly at him as he went on: 'I was in +Virginny vallyin' for Mas'r Kane, a fine gemman +who gin me big wage, an' I was savin' it up to buy +some things for de house, 'case I reckoned how Miss +Dory seen somethin' different in Georgy. Her kin +was very 'spectable folks, an' she might want some +fixin's. Thar was nobody hyar but ole Miss Lucy, +who'd had some kind of a spell an' lost most of her +sense, an' didn't know more'n a chile. Mandy Ann +got somebody to write me that Miss Dory had a +beau,—a gran' man, an' I was that pleased that I ast +the price of a second-han' pianny, thinkin' mebby +she'd want to larn, 'case she sung so nice. Den I +never hearn anoder word, 'cept from Miss Dory, till +Mas'r Hardy writ Mas'r Kane to sen' me home, +'case I was needed. I s'posed ole Miss Lucy had +had another fit, an' started thinkin' all de way up de +river how I'd see Miss Dory standin' in de do' wid +de smile on her face, an' de light in her eyes, an' her +pleasant voice sayin' to me, "How d'ye, Jake, I'se +mighty glad to see you." 'Stid o' that she wasn't +thar, an' Mandy Ann come clatterin' down de stars, +an' I hearn a baby cry. In my s'prise I said, "What's +dat ar? Has ole Miss got a baby?"</p> + +<p>"'Mandy Ann laughed till she cried, den cried +without laughin', an' tole me wid her face to de wall, +an' I was so shamed I could of hid in de san', an' +Mandy Ann, they tole me, did run inter de woods +at fust to hide herself. Den she smarted up an' fit +for Miss Dory, who said nothin' 'cept, "Wait, it will +all be right. I tole him I would wait. I'm a good +girl," an' fo' Heaven, I b'lieved her, though some o' +de white trash didn't at fust, but they all did at the +last. Maybe I'm tirin' you?'</p> + +<p>"'No,' I said, 'go on,' and he continued: 'I'se +tole you most all dat happened after dat till she died +an' you comed to de funeral.</p> + +<p>"'When ole miss died, I writ to de Colonel, as I +tole you, an' he comed, gran', an' proud, an' stiff, an' +I tole him all 'bout Miss Dory same as I have you,—p'raps +not quite so much,—p'raps mo'. I don't remember, +'case as I said my memory is ole an' leaky, +and mebby I ain't tellin' it right in course as I tole +him. Some was in de house, an' some out hyar, +whar I said, "Dis is her grave. She's lyin' under +de san', but I'll fix her up in time an' she shall sleep +under de roses."</p> + +<p>"'I tole him everything was done in order, an' how +you preached about de Resurrection an' de Life, an' +how sweet she look in her coffin, an' Mandy Ann's +puttin' her ring on de weddin' finger, an' his mouf +trembled like, up and down, an' I b'lieve ef thar had +been a tear in his dried-up heart he'd of shed it.</p> + +<p>"'Oncet, when he seemed kinder softened, I ast +him squar," Ain't you her husband?"</p> + +<p>"'Thar was such a quar look in his eyes,—a starin' +at me a minit,—an' then he said, "I am nobody's husband, +an' never shall be."</p> + +<p>"'I b'lieve he lied, an' wanted to knock him down, +but wouldn't right thar by her grave. He tole me +I was to have all the money Miss Dory had been +layin' up, an' he would send me mo' for the stun. +I ast what I should put on it, an' he said, "What was +on her coffin plate?"</p> + +<p>"Eudora, aged 20," I tole him. "Put the same +on the stun," he said. He tole me I was to stay on +de place, an' have all I made. Then thar was Mandy +Ann, who 'longed to de lil chile. She was to stay +hyar, he said, an' he'd pay her wage which she could +keep herself. He'd settle wid de lil chile when de +time come, an' set Mandy Ann free. I think he +meant it, but he was spar'd de trouble, for de wah +corned like a big broom an' swep' slavery away, an' +mos' everyting souf wid it, an' Mandy Ann was free +any way widout de Colonel.</p> + +<p>"'After de chile went away I got to broodin' over +Miss Dory's wrongs, till I'se so worked up agin de +Colonel, dat when de wah broke out I was minded +to 'list, hopin' I'd meet him somewhar in battle an' +shoot him. Den I cooled down an' staid home an' +raised things an' worked for de poor folks hyar,—de +women, whose husban's an' brudders had gone to +de wah. Ted,—dat's de boy on de "Hatty" long +ago,—went to de wah wid a great flourish, promisin' +Mandy Ann he'd shoot the Colonel shu' ef he got a +chance. An' what do you think? At de fust crack of +de cannon in de fust battle he seen, he cut an' run, an' +kep' on runnin' till he got hyar, beggin' me an' Mandy +Ann to hide him, 'case he was a deserter. I held my +tongue, an' let Mandy Ann do as she pleased, an' +she hid him till de Federals come, when he jined them, +an' did get hit, but 'twas on de back or shoulder, +showin' which way he was runnin'.</p> + +<p>"'Den Mandy Ann married him, an' has ten chillenses, +an' washes an' scrubs for de Brock House +an' everybody, while Ted struts roun' wid a cigar in +his mouf, an' says he has neber seen a well day sense +de wah,—dat his shoulder pains him powerful at +times,—an' he is tryin' to get a pension, an' Mandy +Ann is helpin' him. Beats all what women won't do +for a man if they love him, no matter how big a +skunk he is. Miss Dory died for one, an' Mandy +Ann is slavin' herself to deff for one. I'se mighty +glad I'se not a woman.'</p> + +<p>"Here Jake stopped a moment, presumably to reflect +on the waywardness of Miss Dory and Mandy +Ann caring for two skunks,—one the Colonel and one +Ted, whose last name I did not know till I asked Jake, +who replied, 'Hamilton—a right smart name, I'm +told, an' 'long'd to de quality. Ole man Hamilton +come from de norf somewhar, an' bought Ted's +mother, a likely mulatto. Who his fader was I doan +know. He's more white dan black, an' is mighty +proud of his name,—Hamilton,—'case somebody +tole him thar was once a big man, Hamilton, an' +when Mandy Ann had twin boys, she was tole to call +'em Alexander an' Aaron,—sumptin',—I doan justly +remember what. It makes me think of a chestnut.'</p> + +<p>"'Burr,' I suggested, and he replied, 'Yes, sar, +dat's it,—Aaron Burr,—anoder big man,—an' dey +calls de twins Alex and Aaron. Fine boys, too, wid +Mandy Ann's get-up in 'em. Dar's two mo' twins,—little +gals; beats all what a woman Mandy Ann is for +twins,—an' she calls 'em Judy and Dory,—one for +young Miss, an' t'other for de rag doll lil chile took +norf wid her and called Judy, for an ole woman who +has gone to de Canaan she used to sing about—"Oh, +I'se boun' for de lan' of Canaan." She was powerful +in pra'r, an' at de fust meetin' after de wah, an' +she knew she was free, I b'lieve you could of hearn +her across de lake to Sanford, she shout "Glory, +bress de Lawd!" so loud. But for all she was free, +she wouldn't leave ole Miss Thomas. "I likes my +mistis, an' I ain't gwine to leave her wid somebody +else to comb her har, an' make her corn bread," she +said, when dey tried to persuade her to go to Palatky. +She staid wid ole Miss, who buried her decent, an' +has gone herself to jine her an' Miss Dory in de +better land, which seems to me is not far away; an' +offen, when I sees de sun go down in a glory of red +an' purple an' yaller,—I'se mighty fond of yaller,—I +says to myself, "It's dat way dey goes to de udder +world, whar, please God, I'll go some day fore berry +long,—for I tries to be good."</p> + +<p>"There was a rapt look in Jake's face as he turned +it to the west, and I would have given much to know +that my future was as assured as his."</p> + +<p>Here the first part of Mr. Mason's letter closed abruptly, +as a friend came to call, but he added hastily, +"To-morrow I'll finish, and tell you about the child +who now occupies all Jake's thoughts, praying every +day that he may see her again."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> +PART SECOND OF REV. MR. MASON'S LETTER</h2> + +<p>"I was interrupted yesterday, and hardly know +where to begin again, or what I have written, as Jake +was a little mixed and went forward and back at +times, showing that his memory was, as he said, +leaky, but when he struck the child he was bright as +a guinea. 'Lil Chile' and 'Honey Bee' he calls her. +He told me of her running into the house to meet +the Colonel, with her soiled frock, and her face and +hands besmeared with molasses; of her tussle with +Mandy Ann, who wanted to wash her face and change +her clothes, and of her fine appearance at the last in +a white gown, her best, which he had bought and +Mandy Ann made not long before, and which the +Colonel would not take with him. So they kept it, +and Mandy Ann washed and ironed it, and put it +away with some sweet herbs, and aired it every year +till she was married, when Jake cared for it till Mandy +Ann's twins were born,—Alex and Aaron. Then +Mandy Ann borrowed it for them to be christened +in, one of them one Sunday and one the next, so +that both had the honor of wearing it, while Jake +was sponsor, 'For,' said he, 'Mandy Ann has gin +up them hollerin' meetin's whar white folks done +come to see de ole darkies have a kind of powow, +as dey use to have befo' de wah. Clar for't if de +folks from de Norf don't gin de blacks money to sing +de ole-time songs an' rock an' weave back an' forth +till dey have de pow'. I don't think much of dat ar, +jess 'musin' theyselves wid our religion;' and Jake +looked his disgust, and continued:</p> + +<p>"'Mandy Ann like mighty well to jine 'em, but +I hole her back, an' now she's 'Piscopal, ef she's +anything,—an' when de girl twins come,—Dory an' +Judy,—she borrowed lil chile's gown agin. Dat +make fo' times, an' then I shet de gates, an' said, "No +mo' gown, an' no mo' twins," an' thar hain't been +no mo'.</p> + +<p>"'But I'se got a good ways from lil chile, who +wan't an atom shy of de Colonel, though he was of +her, an' when he took her han' I could almost see +him squirm like. I think he tried to be kind, an' he +gin her a lil ivory book he had on his watch-chain, +but you see he didn't feel it. He didn't care for +children, and it seemed as if he wanted to get away +from this one. But he couldn't. She was his'n; I'd +bet my soul on dat. He had to come after her an' +took her, though 'twas 'bout the wust job he ever +did, I reckon. She fit like a tiger cat about gwine +wid him, an' 's true's you bawn, I don't b'lieve she'd +gone ef he hadn't took me wid him to Savannah. I +can't tell you, Mas'r Mason, 'bout de partin' thar. +'Twas drefful, an' I kin see her now rollin' on de flo', +wid her heels an' han's in de air, an' she a-sayin' she +mus' stay wid Shaky. I bought her such a pretty +red cloak, all lined wid white silk, an' wrapped her +in it, an' took her on to de boat, an' left her thar, +she thinkin' I was comin' back, an' the last I seen of +her, as the boat moved off, she was jumpin' up an' +down, an' stretchin' her arms to me, an' the Cunnel +holdin' her tight, or I b'lieve she'd sprung overboard. +He'd a good time gettin' her home, I reckon. +She was the very old Harry when her dander was +up,' and the old negro laughed as he thought of what +the Colonel must have borne on that journey with his +troublesome charge.</p> + +<p>"There came a few lines to him, he said, telling of +Col. Crompton's safe arrival home, and that the child +was well. After a while the war broke out, and communication +with the North was cut off. The friend +in Palatka, who had returned from Europe and joined +the Confederate Army, was killed, and the letter +which Jake sent to Col. Crompton when peace was +restored was not answered for a long time. At last +the Colonel wrote that Eudora had married against +his wishes and gone to Europe, and Jake was not to +trouble him with any more letters concerning her.</p> + +<p>"An' that's all I knows of her,' he said, 'whether +she's dead or alive, or whar she is; but if I did know +I b'lieve I'd walk afoot to de Norf to see her. She +ain't my lil chile Dory no mo', but I allus thinks of +her like dat, an' I keeps de cradle she was rocked in +by my bed, an' sometimes, when I'se lonesome nights, +an' can't sleep for thinkin' of her, I puts my han' out +an' jogs it with a feelin' the lil one is thar, an' every +day I prays she may come back to me, an' I b'lieve +she will. Yes, sar, it comes to me that she will.'</p> + +<p>"The tears were running down the old man's face +when, on our going to the house, he showed me the +cradle close to his bed, a rude, old-fashioned, high-topped +thing, such as the poorest families used years +ago. There was a pillow, or cushion, in it, and a +little patchwork quilt, which, he said, Mandy Ann +pieced and made. He showed me, too, a second or +third school reader, soiled and worn and pencil +marked, and showing that it had been much used.</p> + +<p>"'This was Miss Dory's,' he said; 'the one she +studied de most, tryin' to learn, an' gettin' terribly +flustered wid de big words. I can see her now, +bendin' over it airly an' late; sometimes wid de chile +in her lap till she done tuckered out, an' laid it away +with a sithe as if glad to be shet of it. She couldn't +larn, an' de Lord took her whar dey don't ask what +you knows,—only dis: does you lub de Lord? an' she +did, de lamb.'</p> + +<p>"Jake was still crying, and I was not far from it +as I saw in fancy that poor young girl trying to learn, +trying to master the big words and their meaning, +in the vain hope of fitting herself for companionship +with a man who had deserted her, and who probably +never had for her more than a passing fancy, of which +he was ashamed and would gladly ignore.</p> + +<p>"'I showed him de book,' Jake said, 'an' tole him +how she tried to larn, an' I tried to help her all I +could, an' then he did have some feelin' an' his eyes +got red, but he didn't drap a tear; no, sar, not a +drap! He ast me could he have de book, an' I said, +"No, sar, not for nothin'. It's mine," an' he said, +proud-like, "As you please." He was mighty good +to me an' Mandy Ann 'bout money, an' when I writ +him she was married, he sent her two hundred dollars, +which she 'vested in a house, or Ted would of +spent it for fine close an' cigarettes. He must be +gettin' ole, as I be, an' they call de town Crompton, +after him, 'stid of Troutburg.'</p> + +<p>"Remembering your parish, I told him I had a +son settled in Crompton, Massachusetts. I hardly +thought there were two towns of the same name in +one State, and I'd inquire if Col. Crompton lived +there. His face brightened at once, and when I left +him, he grasped my hand and said, 'Bress de Lawd +for de grain of comfort you done give me. If she is +thar I'd walk all de road from Floridy to see her, if +I couldn't git thar no other way. Thankee, Mas'r +Mason, for comin' to see me. I'se pretty reg'lar at +church, an' sets by de do', an' allus gives a nickel for +myself an' one for Miss Dory dead an' for Miss Dory +livin', an' I makes Mandy Ann 'tend all I can, though +she'd rather go whar she says it's livelier. She is +mighty good to me,—comes ebery week an' clars up +an' scoles me for gittin' so dirty. She's great on a +scrub, Mandy Ann is. Muss you go? Well, I'm +glad you comed, an' I s'pec's I've tole you some +things twiste, 'case of my memory. Good-by.'</p> + +<p>"He accompanied me to the door, and shook hands +with all the grace of a born gentleman. Then I left +him, but have been haunted ever since by a picture +of that old negro in his lonely cabin, jogging that +empty cradle nights when he cannot sleep, and +contrasting him with Col. Crompton, whoever and +wherever he may be. Perhaps you can throw some +light on the subject. The world is not so very wide +that our sins are not pretty sure to find us out, and +that some Col. Crompton has been guilty of a great +wrong seems certain. Possibly he is one of your +parishioners, and you may know something of the +second Dory. I shall await your answer with some +anxiety.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Your father, <br/> +"CHARLES MASON." +</p> + +<p>This was the letter which had sent the Rev. Arthur +to call on Mrs. Biggs, with no thought of Eloise in +his mind. She was not yet an active factor in the +drama which was to be played out so rapidly. Returning +to his boarding place, the rector read his +father's letter a second time, and then answered it. +A part of what he wrote we give:</p> + +<p>"I have just come from an interview with a woman +who is credited with knowing the history of the place +forty years back, and I have no doubt that Shaky's +Col. Crompton is living here in Crompton Place, the +richest man in town and largest contributor to the +church. There is a lady living with him who people +believe is his daughter, although he has never +acknowledged her as such. Mrs. Biggs, the woman +I interviewed, gave me a most graphic account of the +manner of her arrival at Crompton Place, when she +was a little girl like the one you describe. She has a +lovely face, but is a little twisted in her brain. She +did run away with her music teacher, and her name +is Amy Eudora. There was no mention made of +Harris. They call her Miss Amy. There can't be +much doubt of her identity with Jaky's lil chile. +Send him on, and Mandy Ann, too,—and the four +twins, Alex and Aaron, Judy and Dory. I'll pay +half their fare! There's enough of the old Adam in +me to make me want to see them confront the proud +Colonel, who ignores me for reasons I could not +fathom, until I received your letter. Then I suspected +that because I am your son he feared that +some pages of his life, which he hoped were blotted +out by time and the ravages of war, might be revealed. +He is an old man, of course, but distinguished-looking +still, though much broken with +rheumatic gout, which keeps him mostly at home. +My respects to Shaky, whom I hope before long to +hear ringing the bell at Crompton Place. Is that +wicked? I suppose so, but I cannot help it.</p> + +<p> +"ARTHUR." +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> +SUNDAY CALLS</h2> + +<p>The day following the rector's call on Mrs. Biggs +was Sunday, and the morning was wet and misty, with +a thick, white fog which crept up from the sea and +hid from view objects at any distance away.</p> + +<p>"This is nearly as bad as London," Howard said +to Jack when, after breakfast, they stood looking out +upon the sodden grass and drooping flowers in the +park. "Have you a mind to go to church?"</p> + +<p>Jack shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "Not I; +it's too damp. Are you going?"</p> + +<p>Howard had not thought of doing so until that +moment, when an idea came suddenly into his mind, +and he answered, "I think so,—yes. Some one +ought to represent the Crompton pew. It is out +of the question for my uncle to go, and he would not +if he could. He has taken a violent prejudice against +the new rector, for no reason I can think of. He is +a good fellow,—the rector, I mean,—and not too +straight-laced to smoke a cigar, and he knows a fine +horse when he sees one, and preaches splendid sermons. +I think I shall go and encourage him."</p> + +<p>He did not urge Jack to accompany him, nor +would Jack have done so if he had. There was an +idea in his mind, as well as in Howard's, which he +intended to carry out, and half an hour after Howard +started for church, he, too, left the house and walked +slowly through the park in the direction of Mrs. +Biggs's.</p> + +<p>"I don't know as it is just the thing to call on Sunday," +he thought, hesitating a little as he came in +sight of the house, "but it seems an age since I saw +her. I'll just step to the door and inquire how she +is."</p> + +<p>His knock was not answered at first, but when he +repeated it he heard from the parlor what sounded +like—"The key is under the mat," in a voice he knew +did not belong to Mrs. Biggs. That good woman +was in church. Tim had gone to the choir in St. +John's, and Eloise was alone. Ruby Ann had been +to see her the night before with her massage and +rubber band, both of which had proved so successful +that Eloise was feeling greatly encouraged, and the +outlook was not quite so forlorn as when she first +landed at Mrs. Biggs's, helpless and homesick and +half crazed with pain. Her ankle was improving +fast, although she could not walk; but she had +hopes of taking her place in school within a week or +ten days. Mrs. Biggs had wondered why the young +men from Crompton Place did not call on Saturday, +and Eloise had felt a little disappointed when the day +had passed and she did not see them.</p> + +<p>"'Tain't noways likely they'll come to-day. Folks +know my principles, and that I don't b'lieve in Sunday +visiting," she said as she tidied up the room before +starting for church. "Nobody'll come, unless it +is Ruby Ann with her massage, that's no more good +than a cat's foot; so I'll just give the parlor a lick and +a promise till to-morrow, and 'fise you I'd be comfortable +in that wrapper."</p> + +<p>But Eloise insisted upon the white dressing jacket +with pink ribbons, in which Mrs. Biggs said she +looked "like a picter," regretting that the young +men could not see her.</p> + +<p>"If it wasn't for desiccating the Sabbath I wish +them high bucks would call," she added, as she gave +a final whisk to the duster and went to prepare for +church. "I'm goin' to lock the door and put the +key under the mat, so nobody can get in if they want +to. I might lose it if I carried it to meetin'. I did +once, and had to clamber inter the butry winder," +was her last remark as she left the house; and Eloise +heard the click of the key and knew she was locked +in and alone.</p> + +<p>She was not afraid, but began to imagine what she +could do in case of a fire, or if any one were to come +knocking at the door. "Sit still and not answer," +she was thinking when Jack came rapidly up the +walk. She saw his shadow as he passed the window, +and her heart gave a great bound, for she knew who +was "desiccating" the Sabbath by calling upon her. +The first knock she did not answer, but when the +second came, louder and more imperative than the +first, she called out, "The key is under the mat," regretting +her temerity in an instant, and trembling as +she thought, "What if I am doing something improper +to admit him, and Mrs. Biggs should disapprove!"</p> + +<p>The thought sent the blood to her cheeks, which +were scarlet as Jack came in, eager and delighted to +find her alone.</p> + +<p>"Locked up like a prisoner," he said, as he took +her hand, which he held longer than was at all necessary, +while he looked into her eyes, where the gladness +at seeing him again was showing so plainly.</p> + +<p>When he last saw her she was arrayed in Mrs. +Biggs's spotted calico, and he was quick to note the +change. He had thought her lovely before; she was +beautiful now, with the brightness in her eyes and the +color coming and going so rapidly on her cheeks. +Drawing a chair close to her, he sat down just where +he could look at her as he talked, and could watch the +varying expression on her face. Once he laid his +hand on the arm of her chair, but withdrew it when +he saw her troubled look, as if she feared he was +getting too familiar. He asked her about her sprain, +and was greatly interested, or seemed to be, in the +massage and rubber band which were helping her +so much. Then he spoke of Ruby Ann, the biggest +woman he ever saw, he believed, and just the one for +a school-teacher. He was past the school-house the +day before, he said. It seemed they had half a day +on Saturday and half a day on Wednesday. It was +the boys' recess, and he never heard such a hullaballoo +as they were making. A tall, lanky boy seemed +to be the leader, whom the others followed.</p> + +<p>"That must be Tom Walker, the one who makes +all the trouble, and whom Mr. Bills and Mrs. Biggs +think I can't manage," Eloise said, with a little gasp, +such as she always felt when she thought of Tom, +who, Tim had reported, was boasting of what he +meant to do with the lame schoolmarm when she +came.</p> + +<p>Jack detected the trouble in her voice, and asked +who Tom Walker was. It did not take long for +Eloise to tell all she knew, while Jack listened +thoughtfully, resolving to seek out Tom, and by +thrashing, or threatening, or hiring, turn him from +any plan he might have against this little girl, who +seemed to him far too young and dainty to be thrown +upon the mercy of the rabble he had seen by the +school-house with Tom Walker at their head.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about Tom. Big bullies like him +are always cowards. You'll get along all right," he +said encouragingly, with a growing desire to take +the helpless girl in his arms and carry her away from +Tom Walker and Mr. Bills and Mrs. Biggs, and the +whole of her surroundings, which she did not seem +at all to fit.</p> + +<p>He wanted to entertain her, and told her of an excursion +on the water he had taken the previous day +with Howard Crompton,—the last of the season, he +said, and very enjoyable. He wished she had been +there. Then he spoke of the Colonel, laughing at +his peculiarities, and asking if she had ever heard of +the Crompton "Formula." She said she had from +Ruby Ann, and was glad she was not to be subjected +to questioning on it, as she knew she should fail in +everything except the four <i>rights</i>. She might manage +them, but it was not necessary for her to be examined +by anybody, since her normal school diploma +was a license to teach anywhere in the State.</p> + +<p>"Hanged if I think I could manage the <i>rights</i>!" +Jack said. "Spelling is not my forte, and Howard, +who is great at it, missed the last one."</p> + +<p>"How is Mr. Howard?" Eloise asked, and Jack +replied, "All right. Has gone to church like a good +Christian. I ought to have gone, but I thought I'd +come here, as you might be lonely here alone."</p> + +<p>It flashed through Eloise's mind to wonder how he +knew she was alone, but she made no comment, except +to say that the rector, Mr. Arthur Mason, called +upon her the day before.</p> + +<p>"Did he?" Jack said. "I believe he is a fine fellow. +Howard likes him, but for some reason the +Colonel does not, and when Howard said he was going +to church, and suggested bringing Mr. Mason +home to lunch, he growled out something about not +liking company on Sunday. He is a queer old cove, +and does not seem to care for anybody but Miss Amy. +He is devoted to her, and she is a lovely woman, and +must once have been brilliant, but she puzzles me +greatly. She seems to be rational on every subject +except her life in California. If any allusion is made +to that she looks dazed at once, and says, 'I can't +talk about it. I don't remember.'"</p> + +<p>"My father died in California, and my mother is +there now," Eloise said sadly.</p> + +<p>Jack had not supposed she had a mother. Mrs. +Brown, who sat beside him at the commencement +exercises in Mayville, had spoken of her as an orphan, +and he replied, "I had somehow thought your mother +dead."</p> + +<p>"No; oh, no!" Eloise answered quickly. "She is +not dead; she is—"</p> + +<p>She stopped suddenly, and Jack knew by her voice +that her mother was a painful subject, and he began +at once to speak of something else. He was a good +talker, and Eloise a good listener, and neither took +any heed to the lapse of time, until there was the +sound of wheels before the house. A carriage had +stopped to let some one out; then it went on, and +Howard Crompton came up the walk and knocked +at the door just as Jack had done an hour before.</p> + +<p>"Pull the bobbin and come in," Jack called out, +and, a good deal astonished, Howard walked in, looking +unutterable things when he saw Jack there before +him, seemingly perfectly at home and perfectly +happy, and in very close proximity to Eloise, who +wondered what Mrs. Biggs would say if she came +and found both the "high bucks" there.</p> + +<p>"Hallo!" Jack said, while Howard responded, +"Hallo! What brought you here?"</p> + +<p>"A wish to see Miss Smith. What brought you?" +was Jack's reply, and Howard responded, "A wish +to see Miss Smith, of course. You didn't suppose I +came to see Mrs. Biggs, did you? Where is the old +lady?"</p> + +<p>Eloise explained that she had gone to church, and +Jack told of the key under the mat, and the talk +flowed on; and Eloise could not forbear telling them +of Mrs. Biggs's wish not to have the Sabbath "desiccated" +by visitors.</p> + +<p>"A regular Mrs. Malaprop," Jack said, while +Howard suggested that they leave before she came +home. "We can put the key under the mat, and +she'll never know of the 'desiccation,'" he said.</p> + +<p>Jack looked doubtfully at Eloise, who shook her +head.</p> + +<p>"No," she said, "I shall tell her you have been +here. It would be a deception not to."</p> + +<p>"As you like. And it's too late now, for here she +comes!" Howard said, as Mrs. Biggs passed the window +and stooped to find the key.</p> + +<p>It was not there. Turning the mat upside down, +she failed to discover it. The key was gone!</p> + +<p>"For goodness' sake, what can have happened?" +they heard her say, as she pushed the door open and +entered the room, where the two young men stood, +one on either side of Eloise, as if to protect her. +"Well, if I ain't beat!" the widow exclaimed, dropping +into a chair and beginning to untie her bonnet +strings as if they choked her. "Yes, I am beat. +Hain't you been to meetin'?" she asked rather severely, +her eyes falling on Howard, who answered +quickly, "Yes, I have, and on my way home called +to inquire for Miss Smith, and found this rascal here +before me. He had unlocked the door and taken +possession. You ought to have him arrested as a +burglar, breaking into your house on Sunday."</p> + +<p>"I s'pose I or'ter," Mrs. Biggs said, "and I hope +none of the neighbors seen you come in. Miss +Brown acrost the way is a great gossip, and there +hain't a speck of scandal ever been on my house in +my life, and I a-boardin' schoolma'ams for fifteen +years!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs was inclined to be a little severe on the +two young men invading her premises, but Jack was +equal to the emergency. She was tugging at her +bonnet strings, which were entangled in a knot, into +which the cord of her eyeglasses had become twisted.</p> + +<p>"I can swear that neither Mrs. Brown, nor any +one else was looking from the window when I came +in. She was probably at church," Jack said, offering +to help her, and finally undoing the knot which +had proved too much for her. "There you are," he +said, removing the bonnet, and setting her false +piece, which had become a little askew, more squarely +on her head. "You are all right now, and can blow +me up as much as you please. I deserve it," he added, +beaming upon her a smile which would have disarmed +her of a dozen prejudices.</p> + +<p>Jack's ways were wonderful with women, both +young and old, and Mrs. Biggs felt their influence +and laughed, as she said, "I ain't goin' to blow, +though I was took aback to see two men here, and +I'd like to know how you knew where to find the +key."</p> + +<p>"I told him," Eloise answered rather shamefacedly.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs shot a quick glance at her, and then +said, with a meaning nod, "I s'pose I'd of done the +same thing when John and me was courtin', and +young folks is all alike."</p> + +<p>Eloise's face was scarlet, while Jack pretended suddenly +to remember the lateness of the hour, and +started to leave the room. As he did so his eyes +fell upon a table on which a few books were lying.</p> + +<p>"You must find these lively," he said, turning them +over and reading their titles aloud. "'Pilgrim's +Progress,' 'Foxe's Martyrs,' 'Doddridge's Rise and +Fall,' 'Memoir of Payson,' all solid and good, but a +little heavy, 'United States History,' improving, but +tedious,—and,—upon my word, 'The Frozen Pirate'! +That is jolly! Have you read it?"</p> + +<p>Before Eloise could reply Mrs. Biggs exclaimed, +"Of course she hasn't, and I don't know how under +the sun it got in here, unless Tim put it here unbeknownst +to me. I never read novels, and that is the +wust I ever got hold of, and the biggest lie. I told +Tim so."</p> + +<p>She took it from the table and carried it from the +room, followed by the young men, who laughed as +they thought how the widow, who never read novels, +betrayed the fact that she had read "The Frozen +Pirate."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br/> +THE MARCH OF EVENTS</h2> + +<p>"I say, Howard," Jack began, when they were +out upon the road, "that girl ought to have something +besides 'The Frozen Pirate' and 'Foxe's Martyrs' +to brighten her up,—books and flowers, and +other things. Do you think she'd take them?"</p> + +<p>Howard's head was cooler than Jack's, and he replied, +"She would resent gifts from us, but would +take them from Amy. Anyhow, we can try that +dodge."</p> + +<p>"By Jove, you are right! We can send her a lot +of things with Mrs. Amy's compliments," Jack exclaimed. +"Flowers and books and candy, and—"</p> + +<p>He did not finish what was in his mind, but the +next morning, immediately after breakfast, he pretended +that he had an errand in the village, and +started off alone, preferring to walk, he said, when +Howard suggested the carriage, and also declining +Howard's company, which was rather faintly offered. +Howard never cared to walk when he could drive, +and then he had a plan which he could better carry +out with Jack away than with him present. He was +more interested in Eloise than he would like to confess +to Jack or any one, and he found himself thinking +of her constantly and wishing he could do something +to make her more comfortable than he was +sure she could be even in Mrs. Biggs's parlor. He +was very fastidious in his tastes, and Mrs. Biggs's parlor +was a horror to him, with its black hair-cloth furniture, +and especially the rocker in which Eloise sat, +and out of which she seemed in danger of slipping +every time she bent forward. He had thought of +his uncle's sea chair on the occasion of his first call, +and now he resolved to send it in Amy's name. +Something had warned him that in Eloise's make-up +there was a pride equal to his own. She might receive +favors from Amy, as she had the hat, and although +a chair would seem a good deal perhaps, he +would explain it on the ground of Amy's great desire +to help some one when he saw her. He'd send +it at once, he thought, and he wrote a note, saying, +"Miss Smith: Please accept this sea chair with the +compliments of Mrs. Amy, who thinks you will find +it more comfortable than the hair-cloth rocker, of +which I told her. As she seldom writes to any one, +she has made me her amanuensis, and hopes you will +excuse her. Yours, very truly, Howard Crompton, +for Mrs. Amy."</p> + +<p>It was a lie, Howard knew, but that did not trouble +him, and calling Sam, he bade him take it with the +chair and a bunch of hothouse roses to Miss Smith. +Sam took the chair and the note and the roses, and +started for Mrs. Biggs's, stopping in the avenue to +look at the shrub where Brutus had received the +gouge in his shoulder, and stopping again at a point +where some bits of glass from the broken window +of the carriage were lying. All this took time, so +that it was after eleven when he at last reached Mrs. +Biggs's gate, and met a drayman coming in an opposite +direction with Jack Harcourt on the cart, +seated in a very handsome wheel chair, and looking +supremely happy.</p> + +<p>Jack had been very busy all the morning visiting +furniture stores and inquiring for wheel chairs, which +he found were not very common. Indeed, there +were only three in the town, and one of these had +been sent from Boston for the approval of Col. +Crompton when his rheumatic gout prevented him +from walking. Something about it had not suited +him, and it had remained with the furniture dealer, +who, glad of a purchaser, had offered it to Jack for +nearly half the original price. Jack did not care for +the cost if the chair was what he wanted. It was +upholstered with leather, both the seat and the back, +and could be easily propelled from room to room +by Eloise herself, while Jack thought it quite likely +that he should himself some day take her out for an +airing, possibly to the school-house, which he had +passed on his way to the village. There was a shorter +road through the meadows and woods than the one +past the school-house, but Jack took the latter, hoping +he might see Tom Walker again, in which case +he meant to interview him. Nor was he disappointed, +for sauntering in the same direction and +chewing gum, with his cap on the back of his head +and his hands in his pockets, was a tall, wiry fellow, +whom Jack instantly spotted as Tom Walker, the +bully, who was to terrorize Eloise.</p> + +<p>"Now is my time," Jack thought, hastening his +steps and soon overtaking the boy, who, never caring +whether he was late or early at school, was taking +his time, and stopping occasionally to throw a +stone at some bird on the fence or a tree. "Hallo, +Tom!" Jack said in his cheery way as he came up +with the boy, whose ungracious answer was, "How +do you know my name is Tom?"</p> + +<p>At heart Tom was something of an anarchist, +jealous of and disliking people higher in the social +scale than he was, and this dislike extended particularly +to the young gentlemen from the Crompton +House, who had nothing to do but to enjoy themselves. +He did not like to be patronized, but there +was something in Jack's voice which made him accompany +his speech with a laugh, which robbed it +of some of its rudeness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know you, just as, I dare say, you know me, +Jack Harcourt, from New York, visiting at present +at the Crompton House," was Jack's reply, which +mollified Tom at once.</p> + +<p>If Jack had called himself Mr. Harcourt Tom would +have resented it as airs. But he didn't; he said <i>Jack</i>, +putting himself on a par with the boy, who took the +gum from his mouth for a moment, looked at it, replaced +it, and began to answer Jack's questions, which +at first were very far from Eloise. But they struck +her at last as they drew near the school-house.</p> + +<p>"I'm late, as usual," Tom said, rolling his gum +from side to side in his mouth. "I presume I'll catch +thunder, but I don't care. I'm not afraid of any +schoolmarm I've ever seen, and I mean to carry the +new one out on a couple of chips if she tries to boss +me."</p> + +<p>There was a look on Tom's face which Jack did not +like, but he said pleasantly, "No, you won't, when +you see how helpless she is, and how she needs a +young gentleman like you to stand by her."</p> + +<p>"I ain't a gentleman," Tom answered, but his +voice was a good deal softened. "I'm just Tom +Walker, who they lay everything to, and who the +boys expect to do all their dirty work for them."</p> + +<p>"I see," Jack answered; "you pick off the hot +chestnuts. <i>I</i> used to do that when a little shaver, till +I got my fingers blistered so badly I decided to let +some one else get burned in my place."</p> + +<p>"Did you ever cut up at school?" Tom asked, +with a growing interest in and respect for Jack, who +replied, "Oh, yes, I was pretty bad sometimes, and +am ashamed of it when I remember how I annoyed +some of my teachers. I have asked pardon of one +or two of the ladies when I have chanced to meet +them, but I never could have annoyed Miss Smith, +nor will you when you know her. You haven't seen +her yet?"</p> + +<p>"Nope!" Tom answered. "I hear she ain't bigger +than my thumb, and awful pretty, Tim Biggs says, +and he is threatening to thrash anybody who is mean +to her. I'd laugh to see him tackle me!"</p> + +<p>"He'll have no occasion to, for I predict you will +be the warmest champion Miss Smith has. See if +you are not," Jack said, offering his hand to Tom, as +they had now reached the school-house.</p> + +<p>"He is certainly a good deal of a ruffian," Jack +said to himself as he went on his way, while Tom +was not quite so sure of the two chips on which he +was to carry Eloise out if she tried to boss him. He'd +wait and see. That city chap from Crompton Place +had certainly been very friendly, and had not treated +him as if he was scum; and after taking his seat and +telling Ruby Ann, with quite an air when she asked +why he was so late, that he had been detained by Mr. +Harcourt, who wanted to talk with him, he took from +his desk his slate and rubbed out the caricature he +had drawn the day before of a young girl on crutches +trying to get up the steps of the school-house. He +was intending to show it to Tim Biggs and make him +angry, and to the other scholars and make them +laugh, and thus ferment a prejudice against Eloise, +for no reason at all except the natural depravity of +his nature.</p> + +<p>The word "champion" kept sounding in his ears, +and he wrote it two or three times on his slate, where +the girl on crutches had been. "I always supposed +champion belonged to prize-fighters, but Mr. Harcourt +didn't mean that kind. He meant I was to +stand up for her and behave myself. Well, I'll see +what kind of craft she is," he thought.</p> + +<p>With this decision Tom took up his lessons, and +had never been more studious and well behaved than +he was that day.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Jack had gone on his way to the village +and bought his chair, with some misgivings as to +how Eloise would receive it, even from Mrs. Amy. +"I guess I'd better go with it, and make it right +somehow," he thought, getting into the chair and +riding along in state, while the people he met looked +curiously at him. It was recess again when they +reached the school-house, where, as usual, Tom +Walker was leading the play. At sight of the dray +he stopped suddenly, and then went swiftly forward +to the cart, and said to Jack, "Goin' to take her out +in that?"</p> + +<p>Jack reddened a little, but answered pleasantly, +"Perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess she'll like it better than the chips +I told you about. I've thrown 'em away."</p> + +<p>A ring from Ruby Ann's bell told the boys their +recess was over, and with a bow Tom hurried off, +while Jack and his chair went on till they reached +Mrs. Biggs's door, just as Sam came up with the sea +chair. That good woman was washing in her back +kitchen, but in response to the drayman's knock she +came hurriedly, wiping the soap-suds from her arms +as she came, and holding up both hands as she saw +the two chairs deposited at the door, while Sam held +the note and roses, and Jack stood looking a little +shamefaced, as if he hardly knew what to say.</p> + +<p>"For the pity sakes and the old Harry, are you +moving a furniture store, or what?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Jack began to explain that Mrs. Amy thought, or +he thought—He could not quite bring himself to +lie as glibly as Howard would have done, had he been +there, and he stammered on, that he thought Miss +Smith would soon be able to get round in a wheel +chair, which he hoped she would accept with the compliments +of—He didn't say Mrs. Amy, but Mrs. +Biggs understood, and nodded that she did, helping +him out by saying it was just like Mrs. Amy, and +adding that it looked a good deal like the chair the +Colonel had for a spell and then returned to Lowell +& Brothers, where she saw it a few days ago in the +window.</p> + +<p>Jack made no reply, and Mrs. Biggs continued, +"I s'pose t'other chair is Mrs. Amy's compliments, +too. I'm sure I'm greatly obliged to her, and Miss +Smith will be. She is quite peart this morning. +Come in and see her."</p> + +<p>Jack did not think he would. He'd rather have +Mrs. Biggs present his chair, feeling sure that her +conscience was of the elastic kind, which would not +stop at means if a good end was attained.</p> + +<p>"Thanks," he replied. "Later in the day I may +come in. Good-morning."</p> + +<p>He walked away, leaving Mrs. Biggs alone with +Sam, who was told to take the chairs into Eloise's +room.</p> + +<p>"Something from the Crompton House. From +Mrs. Amy, they say. It is like her to be sending +things where she takes a notion as she has to you," +Mrs. Biggs said, while Eloise looked on in astonishment.</p> + +<p>She read Howard's note, and her surprise increased +as she said, "I ought not to keep them. Col. Crompton +would not like it if he knew."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you ought. Mrs. Amy does what she likes +without consulting the Colonel," Mrs. Biggs rejoined. +"It would not do to send them back and upset her, +and isn't there a verse somewhere in the Bible about +taking what the gods give ye?"</p> + +<p>Eloise knew what she meant, and replied, "'Take +the good the gods provide,' and they are certainly +providing for me bountifully, but I must at least write +a note of thanks to Mrs. Amy for her thoughtfulness +and kindness."</p> + +<p>To this Mrs. Biggs, who felt that she was in league +with the young men, also objected.</p> + +<p>"Better not," she said. "Better wait till you can +go and thank her in person. I'll have Tim wheel +you up some day. He'd like nothing better."</p> + +<p>To this Eloise finally assented, and at once exchanged +the hair-cloth rocker for the sea chair, which +she found a great improvement. When Tim came +from school he was told of the addition to the furniture +in the parlor by his mother, who added, "I +smelt a rat at once, and thought it a pity to spoil the +young men's fun. Mrs. Amy don't know nothin' +about them chairs, no more than the man in the +moon, and if Miss Smith had much worldly sense +she'd know they never came from Mrs. Amy. But +she hain't. She's nothin' but a child, and don't +dream that both them young men is jest bewitched +over her. I don't b'lieve Mr. Howard means earnest, +but t'other one does. He's got the best face. I'd +trust myself with him anywhere."</p> + +<p>Tim laughed at the idea that his mother could not +trust herself with anybody, but said nothing. He +was Eloise's devoted slave, and offered to wheel her +miles if she cared to go; but she was satisfied with a +few turns up and down the road, which gave her fresh +air and showed her something of the country. The +wheel chair was a great success, as well as the sea +chair, in which she was sitting when the young men +came in the afternoon to call, bringing some books +which Mrs. Amy thought would interest her, and a +box of candy, which Jack presented in his own person. +He could not face her with Mrs. Amy as Howard +could, and he felt himself a great impostor as he +received her thanks for Mrs. Amy, who, he was sure, +had entirely forgotten the girl.</p> + +<p>No mention was ever made of her in Amy's presence +or the Colonel's. He was not yet over his wrath +at the accident to his carriage and horse, which, with +strange perversity, he charged to the Normal. Brutus +was getting well, but there would always be a +scar on his shoulder, where the sharp-pointed shrub +had entered the flesh. The carriage had been repaired, +the stained cushions had been re-covered, and +the Colonel had sworn at the amount of the bill, and +said it never would have happened if the trustees had +hired Ruby Ann in the first place, as they should +have done. He knew she now had the school, and +felt a kind of grim satisfaction that it was so. She +was rooted and grounded, while the other one, as far +as he could learn, was a little pink and white doll, +with no fundamentals whatever. He had forgotten +that Howard was to sound her, and did not dream +how often that young man and his friend were at +Mrs. Biggs's, not sounding Eloise as to her knowledge, +but growing more and more intoxicated with +her beauty and sweetness and entire absence of the +self-consciousness and airs they were accustomed to +find in most young ladies.</p> + +<p>But for the non-arrival of the letter she was so anxious +to get Eloise would have been comparatively +happy, or at least content. Her ankle was gaining +rapidly, and she hoped soon to take her place in +school, Tim having offered to wheel her there every +day and back, and assuring her that, mean as he was, +Tom Walker was not mean enough to annoy her in +her helpless condition. For some reason Eloise had +not now much dread of Tom Walker, and expressed +a desire to see him.</p> + +<p>"Tell him to call," she said to Tim, who delivered +her message rather awkwardly, as if expecting a rebuff.</p> + +<p>"Oh, get out," was Tom's reply, "I ain't one of +your callin' kind, with cards and things, and she'll +see enough of me bimeby."</p> + +<p>The words sounded more ungracious than Tom intended. +He said he was not the calling kind, but +the fact that he had been asked to do so pleased him, +and two or three times he walked past Mrs. Biggs's +in hopes to see the little lady in whom he was beginning +to feel a good deal of interest. He met Jack +occasionally, and always received a bow of recognition +and a cheery "How are you, Tom?" until he +began to believe himself something more than a +loafer and a bully whom every hand was against. He +was rather anxious for the little Normal to begin her +duties, and she was anxious, too, for funds were low +and growing less all the time.</p> + +<p>"Wait till the Rummage is over. That is coming +next week. You will want to go to that and see +the people you have not seen, and your scholars, too. +They are sure to be there," Ruby Ann said to her.</p> + +<p>Ruby Ann was greatly interested in the Rummage +Sale, as she was in anything with which she had to +do, and all her spare time from her school duties was +given to soliciting articles for it, and arranging for +their disposition in the building where the sale was +to be held. Eloise was interested because those +around her were, and she offered her white apron a +second time as the only thing she had to give.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll do it up and flute the ruffles," Mrs. +Biggs said. "'Tain't mussy, but a little rinse and +starch won't harm it."</p> + +<p>She had given it a rinse and starch, and was ironing +it when Jack came in, rather unceremoniously, +as was his habit now that he came so often. This +time he went to the kitchen door, as the other was +locked, and found Mrs. Biggs giving the final touches +to the apron, which she held up for his inspection.</p> + +<p>"Rummage," she said. "Miss Smith's contribution. +Ain't it a beauty?"</p> + +<p>Jack was not much of a judge of aprons, but something +in this dainty little affair interested him, and he +wished at once that he knew of some one for whom +he could buy it. His sister Bell never wore aprons +to his knowledge, neither did Mrs. Amy. It was too +small for Ruby Ann, and it would never do to give +it back to Eloise. But he did not want any money +but his own spent for it, and he believed he'd speak +to Ruby Ann and have it put aside for him. He +could tell her he had a sister, and she could draw her +own inference.</p> + +<p>"I swan, if I was a little younger, I'd buy it myself," +Mrs. Biggs said, holding it up and slipping the +straps over her shoulders and her hands into its +pockets.</p> + +<p>Jack felt relieved when she took it off, gave it another +smooth with her iron, and folded it ready for +the sale.</p> + +<p>"I am going to put it in a box," she said, "with +a card on it saying it is Miss Smith's contribution, +and that she made every stitch herself."</p> + +<p>Jack was now resolved that it should be his at any +cost. As to its real value he had no idea, and when +Mrs. Biggs said it "or'to bring a good price, and +probably will seein' whose 'tis," he replied, "I should +say so,—four or five dollars at least."</p> + +<p>"For the Lord's sake," Mrs. Biggs exclaimed, +dropping her flatiron in her surprise. "Four or +five dollars! Are you crazy?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think it ought to bring more?" Jack +asked, and Mrs. Biggs replied, "Was you born yesterday, +or when? If it brings a dollar it'll do well. +Rummages ain't high priced. Four or five dollars! +Well, if I won't give up!"</p> + +<p>Jack did not reply, but he was beginning to feel a +good deal of interest in the Rummage Sale, and his +interest increased when he went in to see Eloise, and +heard from her that she was going down in the evening, +as Ruby Ann said it would be more lively then, +with more people present and possibly an auction.</p> + +<p>"Tim is to wheel me," she said, "and has promised +not to run into any one, or tip me over. I feel half +afraid of him, as he does stumble some."</p> + +<p>Jack looked at her a moment as she leaned back +in her chair, her blue dressing sacque open at the +throat showing her white neck.</p> + +<p>"Miss Smith," he said, "<i>I</i> shan't stumble. I'll +take you. I'd like to. I'll make it right with Tim."</p> + +<p>Eloise could not mistake the eagerness in his voice, +and her cheeks flushed as she replied, "It is very +kind in you and kind in Tim, who perhaps will be +glad to be rid of the trouble."</p> + +<p>"Of course he will," Jack said quickly. "Day +after to-morrow, isn't it? I'll see you again and arrange +just when to call for you, and now I must go. +I'd forgotten that I was to drive with Howard this +morning. Good-by."</p> + +<p>He went whistling down the walk, thinking that a +Rummage Sale was more interesting than anything +which could possibly happen in the country, and that +he'd telegraph to his sister to send something for it. +As he started on his drive with Howard, he said, +"Let's go first to the telegraph office, I want to wire +to Bell."</p> + +<p>They drove to the office, and in a few minutes there +flashed across the wires to New York, "We are going +to have a Rummage Sale for the poor. Send a +lot of things, old and new, it does not matter which;—only +send at once."</p> + +<p>"I believe I made a mistake about the object of the +sale. I said 'For the poor,' and it's for a public +library, isn't it?" he said to Howard, who replied, +"Seems to me you are getting daft on the Rummage. +I don't care for it much. It will be like a Jews' or +pawnbroker's bazaar, with mostly old clothes to sell."</p> + +<p>"No, sir," Jack answered quickly. "It will not be +at all like a pawnbroker's shop. Bell will send a pile +of things. I know her, and Miss Smith is to be there +in the evening, and it's going to be a great success."</p> + +<p>"I see," and Howard laughed immoderately. "It +is going to be a great success because Miss Smith +is to be there. Is she for sale, and how is she going? +Are we to take her in a hand chair, as we carried her +that night in the rain?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir!" Jack answered, "I am to wheel her and +have heaps of fun, while you mope at home."</p> + +<p>Howard thought it very doubtful whether he +should mope at home. It would be worth something +to see Jack wheeling Eloise, and worth a good +deal more to see her, as he knew she would look +flushed and timid and beautiful, with all the strangers +around her. He had not felt much interest in the +Rummage. Old clothes were not to his fancy, but he +had promised a pair of half-worn boots to Ruby Ann, +who had cornered him on the street, and wrung from +him not only his boots, but half a dozen or more of +the fifty neckties she heard he had strung on a wire +around his room, so as to have them handy when he +wanted to choose one to wear. Neckties were his +weakness, and he never saw one which pleased him +without buying it, and his tailor had orders to notify +him of the last fashion as it came out. It was quite +a wrench to part with any of them, but as some were +<i>passée</i> he promised them to Ruby, but told her he +hardly thought he should attend the sale. Now, +however, he changed his mind. Eloise's presence +would make a vast difference, and he should go; and +he thought of a second pair of boots, and possibly a +vest and a few more neckties he might add to the pile +which he had heard from Peter was to be sent the +next day from the Crompton House to the Rummage.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br/> +GETTING READY FOR THE RUMMAGE SALE</h2> + +<p>Never had District No. 5 been so stirred on the +subject of any public entertainment as on the Rummage +Sale. It was something entirely new and +unique, and the whole neighborhood entered into it +with great enthusiasm. Between the little village +by the sea, which numbered about two thousand, and +the radius known as District No. 5, which could not +boast half that number, there was a kind of rivalry, +the district claiming that it excelled the village in the +quality of its inhabitants, if not in quantity. Its people +were mostly well educated and intelligent, and +they had Col. Crompton, with his fine house and +grounds. He was gouty and rheumatic and past +his prime it was true, but he was still a power among +them, and they were proud of him and proud of +themselves, and delighted that they had been the +first to carry out the idea of a Rummage Sale, which +had been brought to them by a visitor from western +New York, who explained its workings, and gave +almost fabulous accounts of the money made by such +sales. The village had intended to have one, but +District No. 5 was ahead, with the result that many +of the villagers joined in, glad to be rid of articles +which had been stowed away as useless.</p> + +<p>At first it seemed incredible that any one would +buy clothing which for years had hung in closets, or +been packed in trunks away from moths and carpet +bugs. But what had been done in other places could +be done in District No. 5, and never was a more +heterogeneous mass of goods of every description +gathered together than was sent to the Rummage +rooms the day before the sale, and dumped upon +tables and chairs and boxes, until they nearly reached +the rather low ceiling. There were old bonnets and +hats, and boots and shoes and dresses, and coats and +trousers and vests, and draperies and dishes, and +stoves and chairs and tables and bedsteads, with +books and old magazines and toys.</p> + +<p>There was Mrs. Biggs's foot-stove and warming-pan, +which had been her mother's, and a brass kettle, +which had belonged to her grandmother, and which +Mrs. Parker, the lady from western New York, said +was the most valuable of all the articles sent. Antiques +were sure to sell to relic hunters, and a big +price must be put upon them, she told the committee +who looked in dismay at the piles of goods as +they came pouring in, wondering how they were +ever to bring anything like order out of the confusion. +They could not have done it without Mrs. +Parker and Ruby Ann, the latter of whom had obtained +permission to dismiss school for two days, and +worked early and late. She had laid siege to the +Crompton House, from which most of the others +shrank. The Colonel was a rather formidable old +fellow to meet, if he was in a mood with twinges in +his foot, while Mrs. Amy was scarcely well enough +known to the people generally to make them care to +interview her.</p> + +<p>On the strength of having been to school with her +and known her since "she was knee high," Mrs. +Biggs offered to call upon her, but declined seeing +the Colonel, who, she heard, didn't believe in the +Rummage. Ruby Ann, however, was selected as the +fittest person to see both, and had undertaken the +task with her usual assurance and energy. She +found Amy a fine subject. The idea of giving always +appealed to her, and she began at once to think +of what she would send. The dresses she had worn +as a concert singer were hateful to her, and she +brought them from a closet and spread them upon +chairs and tables, while Ruby looked on admiringly +and wonderingly, too, as fans and gloves and sashes +and ribbons were laid with the dresses, and Amy grew +more excited and eager every moment.</p> + +<p>"We'll go to the attic now," she said; "my doll +house is there."</p> + +<p>They climbed the stairs and found the house +packed away as it had been for years.</p> + +<p>"It may as well be sold and make some child +happy," Amy said as she took off its wrappings.</p> + +<p>In it was Mandy Ann, the doll the Colonel had +bought in Savannah, and Judy, lying on her face in +a pile of dust. Amy took her up tenderly, saying, +"Do you think anybody will buy her?"</p> + +<p>There was a little choke in her voice as she asked +the question, for the sight of Judy had stirred memories +which often flitted through her weak brain and +puzzled her, they were so misty and yet so sweet, +like the negro melodies she hummed to herself or +sang to an imaginary baby.</p> + +<p>"Buy her? I guess they would," Ruby Ann replied, +all her blood astir at the thought of the doll +house, with Judy and Mandy Ann.</p> + +<p>She knew nothing of their antecedents, or how +they were connected with Amy's childhood, but she +felt intuitively that almost any price put upon them +would be paid because they belonged to Mrs. Amy, +and particularly because of the dilapidated appearance +of Judy, which was sure to rouse the mirth of +the spectators. She was very doubtful as to whether +she ought to take the dresses without consulting +some one besides Amy, to whom she said, "Are you +sure you want to give these away? They are different +from anything we shall have, and will seem +out of place."</p> + +<p>For a moment Amy looked at her with a strange +glitter in her eyes, as she said, "I hate them! I +have been going to burn them more than once. You +don't know what they represent to me. I shall burn +them, or tear them, if you don't take them."</p> + +<p>She made a motion as if she were going to tear +one of the lace flounces, when Ruby Ann stopped her +by saying, "Don't, Mrs. Amy,—please don't. I'll +take the dresses, of course. I only feared you might +be giving too much, with the doll house and Mandy +Ann and Judy. I want <i>them</i>, sure."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Amy said, her mood changing. "Take +them all; but don't try to improve them,—Mandy +Ann and Judy, I mean."</p> + +<p>There was another choke in her voice as she +smoothed Judy's old brown dress, and brushed a +bit of bran from her face. There was no danger that +Ruby would try to change either Mandy Ann or +Judy. They were perfect as they were, and telling +Amy when the articles would be sent for, she left her +and went to interview the Colonel, anticipating a different +reception from what she had received from +Mrs. Amy.</p> + +<p>"Better not handle him to-day; he had some awful +twinges this morning," Peter said, after she had +"picked him clean," as he expressed it, "and scarcely +left him a shoe to his foot or a coat to his back."</p> + +<p>Ruby knew she could not come again, and in spite +of Peter's advice, resolved to beard the lion at once. +She found him, with his lame foot on a cushion, and +a not very encouraging look on his face. He had +liked Ruby ever since she first came to be examined +as to her qualifications for a teacher, and he had +found her rooted and grounded in the fundamentals, +and he had taken sides stoutly for her when the +question of normal graduates came up and Eloise +had won the day. Ruby Ann's head was level, he +always said, and when she was ushered into his room, +he greeted her with as much of a smile as he could +command, with his foot aching as it did. But the +smile faded when she told him her errand, and said +she was sure he would be glad to contribute either +in money or clothing to so good a cause as the public +library. The Colonel had not been consulted with +regard to the library, except to be asked if he didn't +think it would be a fine thing for the school and +neighborhood generally. He was not very often +consulted about anything now. Plans were made +without him, and he was only asked to contribute, +which he generally did.</p> + +<p>Now, however, his back was up, Peter said to +Ruby Ann, warning her of what she was to expect. +He didn't believe in turning attics and cellars and +barns inside out and scattering microbes by the millions. +How did any one know what germs were +lurking in old clothes? He knew a man who died +of smallpox, and twenty-five years after his death +a coat, which had hung in his closet, was given away, +taking the disease with it to three or four people. +No, he didn't believe in a Rummage. It was just +a fad, got up by those who were always seeking for +something new, and he wouldn't give a thing, not +even an old stock such as he used to wear, and of +which Ruby Ann knew he must have several.</p> + +<p>"Who under heavens would buy an old stock, and +why?" he asked, and Ruby Ann replied, "Just because +it is an old stock and belonged to you."</p> + +<p>The "belonged to you" mollified him a little, as +it flattered his vanity, but the idea struck him as ridiculous, +and he would not give in, and as Ruby Ann +grew more and more persistent, telling of the antiques +gathered up, and among them Mrs. Biggs's +warming-pan and foot-stove and brass kettle,—old +Mrs. Baker's quill wheel, and some other old lady's +wedding bonnet, he grew furious and swore about +the Rummage Sale, and might have sworn at Ruby +Ann if she had not discreetly withdrawn and left him +to himself and his twinges.</p> + +<p>She was rather chagrined over her failure with +the Colonel, from whom she had expected so much, +but her success with Amy and the other members of +the household made amends, and she left tolerably +well satisfied with her work. She had not been gone +long when Peter was summoned by a sharp ring to +his master's room, and found him sitting very erect +in his chair, listening intently to sounds overhead, +where there was the scurrying of feet mingled with +Amy's voice and that of her maid, as box after box +was dragged across the floor.</p> + +<p>"Peter!" the Colonel began, "shut the door!"</p> + +<p>Peter had shut it and stood with his back against +it, as the Colonel went on, "What in thunder is all +that racket in the attic? Has the Rummage come +up there? It commenced some time ago. Sounded +as if they were pulling out trunks, then it stopped, +and now they are at it again."</p> + +<p>"That's just it. Mrs. Amy and Sarah were looking +for something for the sale, and now, I suppose, +they are pushing the boxes back. Mrs. Amy is +greatly interested. I've never seen her so much +like herself since she was a girl," was Peter's reply, +whereupon the Colonel consigned the Rummage to +perdition, with its old pots and kettles, and Mrs. +Biggs's warming-pan and foot-stove and brass kettle, +and Granny Baker's quill wheel and Mrs. Allen's +wedding bonnet. Who was going to buy such truck? +"And Peter," he said, in a lower tone of voice, +"what do you think? Ruby Ann actually asked for +my trousers! Yes, my trousers! And when I told +her I hadn't any but what were shiny at the knees, +she said it didn't matter; in fact, the shine would be +all the better, showing they had been worn. They'd +label 'em 'Col. Crompton's,' and hang them up with +the valuables,—meaning Widow Biggs's warming-pan +and foot-stove, and Widow Allen's bonnet, and +that other old woman's quill wheel, I dare say. +Think of it, Peter. My coat and trousers! She +asked for a coat, too,—strung on a line with warming-pans +and quill wheels and bonnets a hundred +years old, and the Lord only knows what else, and +labelled 'Col. Crompton.' If it had been anybody +but Ruby Ann, I'd turned her from the room. I +thought she had more sense,—upon my soul, I did! +What did she get out of you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much but some old clothes and shoes +and a boot-jack; she thought a good deal of that," +Peter said, and with a sniff of contempt the Colonel +replied, "Old clothes and a boot-jack; and what is +Mrs. Amy sending? Half the attic, I should think +from the noise they make up there."</p> + +<p>Hesitating a moment Peter said, "She is giving +the fancy gowns she used to wear, with the tops of +the waists and bottoms of the sleeves cut off. She +says they are hateful to her."</p> + +<p>The Colonel guessed what she meant, and replied, +"Quite right; Rummage and rag-bags good places +for them; but I say, Peter, I won't have them strung +up with warming-pans and quill wheels and my trousers. +You must stop it. Do you hear?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know your trousers were going," Peter +suggested, and the Colonel answered curtly, "Who +said they were, you blockhead? They are not going +unless Ruby gets them in the night. Upon my soul, +she is equal to it. I think I shall put them under +my pillow. It is Mrs. Amy's dresses I mean. What +else is she going to send?"</p> + +<p>"You remember the doll house you bought her +when she was a little girl?" Peter said.</p> + +<p>"Good thunder, yes! Will she give that away?" +the Colonel asked, with something in his tone which +was more than surprise.</p> + +<p>It hurt him that Amy should be willing to part +with the doll house. She must be queerer than +usual, and he thought of the Harris blood. Suddenly +he remembered Mandy Ann and Judy, and +asked if she was going to give them to the Rummage.</p> + +<p>"She means to. Yes, sir. They go with the doll +house, one as mistress, the other as maid. I heard +her say so. They are downstairs now," was Peter's +reply.</p> + +<p>The Colonel's countenance fell, and there was an +awful twinge in his foot, but he didn't mind it. His +thoughts flew back to the palmetto clearing, where +he first saw the little girl and Judy. Then they +travelled on to Savannah and the store where he +bought Mandy Ann, and so on through the different +phases of Amy's childhood, and he was surprised to +find how unwilling he was to part with what had been +so intimately associated with years which, on the +whole, had been happy, although at times a little +stormy. And Amy was going to send them to a +Rummage Sale!</p> + +<p>"I may be a weak old fool, but I won't have them +sold down there with quill wheels and warming-pans!" +he thought.</p> + +<p>But what could he do? They were Amy's, and if +she had made up her mind to send them, it would +take more than his opposition to prevent it. She +was very gentle and yielding as a whole, but behind +the gentleness and sweetness he knew there was a +spirit he did not like to rouse. He must manage +some other way. He had told Ruby he would +neither give his clothes nor money to the farce, and +he prided himself on never going back on his word. +But he didn't tell her he wouldn't buy anything, and +his face brightened as he said, very briskly, "Peter!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," was the prompt reply.</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," was Peter's still more prompt reply, +and his master continued, "I don't care a rap about +those dresses, but I won't have Mandy Ann and the +nigger baby and the doll house sold. I may be a +hard old cur. I s'pose I am, but I have now and +then a streak of,—I don't know what,—clinging to +the years of Mrs. Amy's childhood. She turned the +house upside down. She raised the very old Harry +sometimes, but she got into our hearts somehow, +didn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a long ways," was Peter's reply, as he waited +for what was next to come, and looked curiously at +the Colonel, who sat with his eyes closed, clutching +the arms of his chair tightly, as if suffering from a +fearful twinge.</p> + +<p>But if he were, he did not think of it. His mind +was again in the palmetto clearing, and he was standing +by Dory's grave in the sand, and a little child was +holding his hand, and looking at him with eyes which +had in them something of the same expression which +had once quickened his pulse, and made his heart +beat with a thrill he fancied was love, but which had +died almost as soon as it was born. As a result of +that episode he had Amy, whom he did love, and +because he loved her so much, he clung to the mementoes +of her babyhood, when she had been a torment +and a terror, and still a diversion in his monotonous +life.</p> + +<p>"Peter!" he said again. "Hold your tongue, +but get them somehow. Who is head of this tomfoolery?"</p> + +<p>"Ruby Ann is about as big a head as there is, I +guess. She and a woman from York State," Peter +replied, and the Colonel continued, "Well, I s'pose +those things will have to go to the sale, if Mrs. Amy +says so, but I won't have them mixed with the quill +wheels and boot-jacks and Widow Biggs's foot-stove +and brass kettle, and I won't have a pack of idiots +looking them over and buying them and saying they +belonged to the Cromptons. Mandy Ann Crompton +and Judy Crompton would sound fine,—both +niggers! No, sir! You are to go quietly to Ruby +Ann and buy 'em! Do you hear? Buy 'em! You +knew Mrs. Amy when she played with 'em. You +want 'em, and you'll pay the price, no matter what +it is. Lord Harry! I'll bet they'll put a big one on +'em, but no matter. I paid thirty dollars for the doll +house and five for Mandy Ann. I don't s'pose Judy +cost anything, but the child liked it best, and I believe +I'd rather have it than both the others, because—"</p> + +<p>He did not say why, but he gripped the arms of +his chair tightly, while drops of sweat stood upon his +forehead. He was in the clearing again with Dora +living, instead of dead, and the moon was shining +on her face as she stood in the turn of the road and +gave him the promise she had kept so faithfully. +Judy belonged to that far-off time, and he'd keep +her at any cost. He called himself a sentimental old +fool after Peter left him, and wondered why his eyes +grew misty and there was a lump in his throat as his +thoughts kept going back to the South he wished +he had never seen.</p> + +<p>"Poor little Dora!" he said to himself; "but for +me she might have been alive and married to some +respectable—No, by George!" he added suddenly, +with a start which made his foot jump as he +recalled the class into which Dora would probably +have married if he had not crossed her path. "No, +by George, I believe I'd rather she died in her youthful +beauty, and was buried by Jake in the sand, than +to see her the wife of some lout, and rubbing her +gums with snuff."</p> + +<p>He was roused from his reverie by wheels crunching +on the gravel walk up to a side door, and he +heard Sarah's voice and Cindy's, the cook's, and +finally Amy's giving directions, and felt sure some +one had come for whatever was to go from the +Crompton Place to the sale. Ruby had not intended +sending so soon when she left the house, but chancing +to meet a drayman who had just deposited a load +in the salesrooms, she bade him go for whatever was +ready, thinking, "I'll strike while the iron is hot, +and before Mrs. Amy has time to change her mind."</p> + +<p>There was no danger of that, at least as far as the +dresses were concerned. Like everything connected +with her stage life, they had been to her a kind of +nightmare whenever she thought of them, and she +was glad to be rid of them. Mandy Ann and Judy +did give her a few pangs, and especially the latter, +and as she wrapped it in tissue paper she held it for a +moment pressed close to her, and began a song she +had heard from the negroes as they sat around their +light-wood fire after their day's work was done. It +was a weird melody which Homer Smith had caught +up and revised and modernized, with a change of +words in some places, and made her sing, knowing +it would bring thunders of applause. She heard the +roar now, and saw the audience and the flowers +falling around her, and with an expression of disgust +she put Judy into Sarah's hands, and said, "Take her +away, and quick, too. She, or something, brings it +back."</p> + +<p>Sarah took poor, discarded Judy, tied her in her +chair in the old doll house, which was placed on top +of the two trunks containing Amy's concert dresses, +and then the drayman started up his horse, and the +Colonel heard the wheels a second time coming past +his window. With a great effort he succeeded in +getting upon his well foot, and, dragging the other +after him, hobbled on his crutches to the window in +time to see the cart as it turned into the avenue. As +far as he could see it he watched it as the doll house +swung from side to side, and the drayman held it to +keep it from falling off.</p> + +<p>"I don't see how Amy could have done it," the +Colonel said to himself when the dray disappeared +from view, and then becoming conscious of the pain +in his foot, he dragged himself back to his chair, +and ringing for Peter, said to him: "I think I'll lie +down a spell,—and, bring me a hot-water bag, I'm +pretty cold, and my foot just jumps; and, Peter, go +to-day and buy those things as if they were for yourself. +You mustn't lie, of course,—but get 'em somehow, +and bring them here to this big closet. The +chances are when Mrs. Amy comes to her senses +she'll want 'em, and raise Ned, as she used to. I'd +give a good deal to see her in a tantrum. I'd rather +have her that way than passive, as she is now. Will +nothing ever rouse her out of her apathy? Curse +that Homer Smith!"</p> + +<p>He was talking to himself rather than to Peter, +who got him on to the lounge, adjusted the cushions, +brought a hot-water bag, covered him up, and then +left him, saying, "Don't fret, I'll go this afternoon +and get Judy and Mandy Ann by fair means or +foul."</p> + +<p>"All right," the Colonel said drowsily. "Fair +means or foul, but don't lie, and don't let them think +they are for me. <i>You</i> want them, and must get +them, fair means or foul. You know where my purse +is. Hold your tongue, and go!"</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br/> +THE FIRST SALE</h2> + +<p>Order was being brought out of chaos in the Rummage +rooms, where twenty ladies were working industriously, +sorting, pricing, and marking the multitudinous +articles heaped upon the counters. Not +only District No. 5, but the village had emptied itself, +glad to be rid of the accumulations of years. Nearly +every room was occupied, and the committees were +showing great skill in assigning things to the different +departments. The antiques had a niche by +themselves; the quill wheel, the warming-pan, the +foot-stove, the brass kettle with Peter's boot-jack, +and many more articles of a similar character were +placed together. Jack's sister had responded quickly, +and a large box had arrived with articles curious and +new, which elicited cries of delight from the ladies +in charge, who marked them at a ridiculously low +price, less even, in some instances, than had been +paid for them, and labelled their corner "The New +York Store."</p> + +<p>Scarcely was this completed when the drayman +arrived from Crompton Place with the doll house +and the two trunks, the last of which were pounced +upon first, as Ruby Ann had reported what was in +them. Her description, however, had fallen far +short of the reality, and the ladies held their breath, +as one after another of the beautiful gowns was +taken out for exhibition. Few had ever seen anything +just like them. Homer Smith had prided +himself upon being a connoisseur in ladies' costumes +and had directed all of Amy's, taking care that there +was no sham about them. Everything was real, from +the fabric itself to the lace which trimmed it, and +which alone had cost him hundreds of dollars. And +now they were at a Rummage Sale, and the managers +did not know what to do with them. It was scarcely +possible that any one would buy them, and it would +be greatly out of place to exhibit them in the dry-goods +department with Mrs. Biggs's brown and +white spotted gown which she had contributed rather +unwillingly, insisting that it should not be sold for +less than a dollar. Ruby Ann suggested that they +be carefully folded in boxes and laid away by themselves +for inspection by any one who had a thought +of buying them. If they did not sell, and probably +they would not, they were to be returned either to +Amy or to the Colonel,—the latter most likely, as +Amy had expressed so strong a desire to be rid of +them. Her suggestion was acted upon, and the +dresses laid aside, and the attention of the managers +turned to the doll house and its occupants, Mandy +Ann and Judy, the latter of whom was greeted with +shrieks of laughter.</p> + +<p>Here was something that would sell, but what price +to put upon it was a puzzle. No one had any idea +of the original cost. Mrs. Biggs, who had joined the +working force and whose voice was loudest everywhere, +suggested ten dollars, with the privilege of +falling, but was at once talked down, as low prices +were to be the rule for everything, and five was quite +enough. There were few who would pay that for a +mere plaything for their children, so the card upon +it was marked five dollars, with the addition that it +had once belonged to Mrs. Amy Crompton Smith. +It was then placed conspicuously in a window before +which a group of eager, excited children gathered, +and to which early in the afternoon Peter came +leisurely.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had asked him several times why he +didn't go, and had finally grown so petulant that +Peter had started, wondering how much he'd have to +pay and what excuse he was to make for wanting it +himself. His instructions were not to lie, but get it +somehow without using the Colonel's name. Finding +Ruby Ann alone, he began, "I say, do you make +any sales before the thing opens?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, we can," Ruby answered. "Several +antiques are promised, if not actually sold, your boot-jack +with the rest. Could sell another if we had it. +Any particular thing you want?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I want that house in the window and the +two women in it,—Mandy Ann and Judy. It's +marked five dollars. Here's your money," and he +laid a crisp five-dollar bill in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Why, Peter,—why, Peter," Ruby exclaimed in +surprise, with a sense of regret that more had not +been asked, and a feeling of wonder as to why Peter +wanted it. "Are you buying it for yourself?" she +asked, and Peter replied, "Who should I buy it for? +I knew Mrs. Amy when she was a little girl and +played with it and slept with that nigger baby Judy. +I've bought it. It's mine, and I'll take it right away. +There's a drayman now, bringing a worn-out cook-stove +and an old lounge."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but, Peter,—please leave it till the sale is +over. It draws people to look at it, and then they'll +come in," Ruby said, while others of the ladies joined +their entreaties with hers.</p> + +<p>But Peter was firm. He had bought the doll house +and paid for it. It was his, and in spite of the protests +of the entire committee which gathered round him +like a swarm of bees he took it away, and an hour +later it was safely deposited in the Colonel's room +without Amy's knowledge. The Colonel was delighted.</p> + +<p>"Bring it close up," he said, "but first take off that +infernal card that it belonged to 'Mrs. Amy Crompton +Smith.' That's the way they'd marked my +trousers! Give me Mandy Ann and Judy. I haven't +seen them in more than twenty years,—yes, nearer +thirty. Upon my soul they wear well, especially the +old lady. She was never very handsome, but Amy +liked her best," he said, laughing a little as Peter put +Judy in his lap.</p> + +<p>He did not know that he had ever touched her +before, and he held her between his thumb and finger, +with something which felt like a swelling in his throat,—not +for Judy, nor for Amy, but for poor Dory, +thoughts of whom were haunting him these days with +a persistency he could not shake off.</p> + +<p>"What did you give?" he asked, and Peter replied. +"Five dollars,—just what it was marked."</p> + +<p>"Five dollars! Heavens and earth!" and Judy +fell to the floor, while the Colonel grasped his knees +with his hands and sat staring at Peter. "Five dollars! +Are you an idiot, and have none of them common +sense?" he asked, and Peter replied, "That +was the price, and I didn't like to beat them down.</p> + +<p>Ruby Ann isn't easy to tackle, and Mrs. Biggs was +there with her gab, if she is my niece, and said I got +it dirt cheap."</p> + +<p>"Go to thunder with your Ruby Ann and Mrs. +Biggs and dirt cheap!" the Colonel roared. "Who +said I wanted you to beat 'em down? Why, man, I +told you I gave thirty for the house and five for +Mandy Ann, and here they have sold the whole +caboodle, Judy and all, for five dollars! Five dollars! +Do you hear? Five dollars, for what cost thirty-five! +I consider they've insulted Mandy Ann and +Judy both. Five dollars! I'll be—"</p> + +<p>He didn't finish his sentence, for he heard Amy's +voice in the hall. She might be coming, and he said +hastily to Peter, "Put them in the closet. Don't let +her see them, or there'll be the old Harry to pay."</p> + +<p>Peter obeyed, but Amy did not come in, and after +a moment the Colonel continued, "We will keep +them here a while. I dare say she'll never think of +them again. She doesn't think much. Do you believe +she will ever be any better?"</p> + +<p>The Colonel's voice shook as he asked the question, +and Peter's shook a little as he replied, "Please God +she may. A great shock of some kind might do it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but where is the shock to come from, +hedged round as she is from every rough wind or +care?" the Colonel said, little thinking with what +strides the shock was hastening on, or through what +channel it was to come.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br/> +AT THE RUMMAGE</h2> + +<p>The rooms were ready at last, and twenty tired +ladies went through them to see that every thing was +in its proper place, and then went home with high +anticipations of the morrow and what it would bring. +It opened most propitiously and was one of those +soft, balmy September days, more like early June +than autumn. There were brisk sales and crowds of +people all day, with the probability of greater crowds +and brisker sales in the evening. Jack Harcourt was +in and out, watching the sale of what his sister had +sent, drinking cups of chocolate every time a pretty +girl asked him to do so, and buying toys and picture +books and candy, and distributing them among the +children gathered around the door and windows. He +thought he had looked at everything on sale, but +had failed to find the white apron. Where was it? he +wondered. He would not ask Ruby Ann or Mrs. +Biggs, as that would be giving himself away. It +would certainly be there in the evening when he was +to bring Eloise in her chair. He had settled that with +Tim, who gave up rather unwillingly, but was consoled +by being hired as errand boy,—an office he +could not have filled had he been hampered with a +wheel chair.</p> + +<p>The night was glorious, with a moon near its full, +and a little before seven Jack presented himself at +Mrs. Biggs's, finding Eloise ready and alone. Tim +was at the rooms, running hither and thither at everybody's +beck and call, and his mother was there, running +the whole thing,—judging from her manner as +she moved among the crowd filling the rooms nearly +to suffocation. Eloise had more than once changed +her mind about going, as she sat waiting for Jack. +She was shy with strangers, and there would be so +many there, and she would be so conspicuous in her +chair, with Mr. Harcourt in attendance, that she +began to doubt the propriety of going.</p> + +<p>"If it were Tim who was to take me, I believe I +should feel differently," she was thinking, when +Jack came in, breezy and excited,—full of the Rummage +and anxious to be off.</p> + +<p>"You are ready, I see," he said. "That's right. +We have no time to lose. And there's no end of fun. +I've been there half the day, and drank chocolate, +and eaten cake and candy till I never want to see any +more. But you will."</p> + +<p>He was adjusting her dress and getting the chair +in motion as he talked, and Eloise had no time to suggest +that she ought not to go, before she found herself +out upon the piazza, and Jack, who had locked +the door, was putting the key under the mat.</p> + +<p>"You see I remember where I found it that time +Howard and I desiccated the Sabbath by calling upon +you," he said, with a laugh in which Eloise joined.</p> + +<p>"Is Mr. Howard going?" she asked, and Jack replied, +"He is a kind of lazy fellow, but he'll be there +all right;" and the first one they saw distinctly as they +drew near the house was Howard, struggling with the +crowd.</p> + +<p>Howard had gone down on purpose to see Eloise, +and was wondering how with her chair she could +ever be gotten through that mass of people, when she +appeared at the door, and, with Howard, wondered +how she was to get in. She might not have accomplished +it if he had not come to the rescue with two +boys,—one Tim Biggs, the other a tall, freckled-faced, +light-haired fellow whom Jack greeted as Tom, +saying, "Can you manage to find a good position +for Miss Smith?"</p> + +<p>"You bet," came simultaneously from both boys, +and immediately four sharp elbows were being thrust +into the sides of the people, who moved all they could +and made a passage for Eloise and her chair near the +middle of the room, and in a comparatively sheltered +place where she could see everything without being +jostled.</p> + +<p>If she could see everything and everybody, so +everybody could see her, and for a moment there was +a hush in the large room where every eye was turned +upon Eloise, who began to feel very uncomfortable, +and wish she had not come. She had wondered what +she ought to wear, and had decided upon black as +always suitable. When she left California her mother +had urged her to take a small velvet cape lined with +ermine. It was the only expensive article of dress +she had, and she was very choice of it, but to-night +she wore it about her shoulders, as later the air was +inclined to blow up cool and damp from the sea. +Just as they reached the house Jack stooped to arrange +it, throwing it back on either side so that more +of the ermine would show.</p> + +<p>"There! You look just like a queen! Ermine is +very becoming to you," he said, and the people staring +at her thought so, too.</p> + +<p>Her head was uncovered, and her hair, which +waved softly around her forehead, was wound in a +flat knot low in her neck, making her look very +young, as she sat shrinking from the fire of eyes directed +towards her and saw, if she did not hear, the +low whispers of the people, many of whom had never +seen her before, and were surprised at her extreme +youth and beauty. Ruby Ann was at a distance, trying +to sell Mrs. Biggs's spotted brown and white +wrapper to a scrub woman who was haggling over the +price which Mrs. Biggs had insisted should be +put upon it. That good woman was busy in the +supper-room, or she would have made her way at +once to Eloise, who, as she looked over the sea of +faces confronting her, saw no one she knew except +Howard Crompton, who had been very uncomfortable +in the heat and air of the place until she came, +and with her fresh, fair young face seemed at once +to change the whole atmosphere. Jack, who was +not used to much exertion and had found even +Eloise's light weight a trifle heavy, especially up the +hill near the Rummage house, was sweating at every +pore, and fanning himself with a palm leaf he had +bought at the entrance.</p> + +<p>"By George!" he said to Howard, who was standing +by them. "It's hotter than a furnace in here. +I believe I'll have to go outside and cool off a minute, +if you'll stay and keep guard over Miss Smith."</p> + +<p>"Certainly;—with pleasure," Howard said, putting +his hand on Eloise's chair and asking if there +was anything he could do for her.</p> + +<p>She was watching the brown and white spotted +gown, and to Howard's question she shook her head, +while he continued, "Jack says the chocolate is pretty +fair. He ought to know—he has drank six cups. I +am going to bring you some."</p> + +<p>Before she could protest that she did not care for +chocolate, he left her and his place was at once taken +by the tall, lank, light-haired boy, whose elbows had +done so good execution in forcing a passage for the +chair. Tom had been watching her ever since she +came in, and making up his mind. He had heard she +was pretty, but that did not begin to express his +opinion of her, as she sat with the ermine over her +shoulders, the soft sheen on her hair, the bright color +on her cheeks, and a look in her eyes which fascinated +him, boy though he was, as it did many an older man, +from Mr. Bills to Jack, and Howard Crompton. If +his two chips had not been thrown away he would +have thrown them now, and still the feeling in him +which people called <i>cussedness</i> was so strong that he +could not repress a desire "to see what stuff she was +made off."</p> + +<p>Taking Howard's vacant place he pushed himself +forward until he was nearly in front of her, where +he could look into her face. She recognized him as +the boy Jack had called Tom, and guessed who he +was,—her eyes drooping under his rather bold gaze, +and her color coming and going. Tom was not sure +what he was going to say to her, and could never +understand why he said what he did. He had been +told so often by Mr. Bills and others that he needed +<i>licking</i>, and so many teachers had <i>licked</i> him, to say +nothing of his drunken father, that the idea was in his +mind, but as something wholly at variance with this +dainty little girl, who at last looked at him fearlessly. +She knew he was going to speak to her, but was not +prepared for his question.</p> + +<p>"You are the new schoolmarm, ain't you? Do +you think you could <i>lick</i> me?"</p> + +<p>Just for an instant Eloise was too much surprised +to answer, while the hot blood surged into her face, +then left it spotted here and there, making Tom +think of pink rose petals with white flecks in them. +But she didn't take her eyes from the boy, who was +ashamed of himself before she said with a pleasant +laugh, "I know I couldn't; and I don't believe I shall +ever wish to try. I am the new school-teacher, and +you are Mr. Thomas Walker!"</p> + +<p>She did not know why she put on the Mr. It came +inadvertently, but was the most fortunate thing she +could have done. To be called Thomas was gratifying, +but the Mr. was quite overpowering and made +Tom her ally at once.</p> + +<p>"I'm Thomas Walker,—yes," he said. "Miss +Patrick has told you about me, I dare say,—and Mr. +Bills, and Widder Biggs, and Tim. Oh, I know he's +told you a lot what I was goin' to do,—but it's a +lie. I have plagued Miss Patrick some, I guess, and +she whaled me awful once, but I've reformed. I +didn't s'pose you was so little. I could throw you +over the house, but I shan't. Say, when are you +going to begin? I'm tired of Miss Patrick's everlasting +same ways of doing things, and want something +new,—something modern, you know."</p> + +<p>He was getting very familiar, and Eloise was chatting +with him on the most friendly terms, when Howard +came back with a cup of chocolate, a part of +which was spilled before he reached her. Howard +knew who the young blackguard was, and glowered +at him disapprovingly, but Eloise said, "Mr. Crompton, +this is Thomas Walker, one of my biggest +scholars that is to be. Some difference in our height, +isn't there? but we shall get on famously. I like big +boys and taught a lot of them in Mayville."</p> + +<p>She smiled up at Tom and gave him her empty cup +to take away. He would have stood on his head if +she had asked him to, and he hurried off with the cup, +meeting Jack, who had cooled himself, bought a +pound of candy at one table and some flowers at +another, and was making his way back to Eloise. +He had also looked round a little for the apron he +was going to buy, but could not find it. He'd make +another tour of inspection later, he thought, for he +meant to have it, if it were still there. Taking his +stand on one side of Eloise's chair while Howard +stood on the other, the three made a striking tableau +at which many looked admiringly, commenting upon +the beauty of the young girl,—the kind, good-humored +face of Jack, and the haughty bearing of +Howard, who, an aristocrat to his finger tips, watched +the proceedings with an undisguised look of contempt +showing itself in his sarcastic smile and the expression +of his eyes.</p> + +<p>Eloise was greatly interested and so expressed +herself. She had seen the scrub woman haggling +with Ruby Ann over the brown and white spotted +wrapper, and had seen it laid aside until another customer +came, when the same haggling took place with +the same result, for Mrs. Biggs, who darted in and +out, still clung to the price put upon it and so retarded +the sale. The last time Ruby Ann brought it +out Howard and Jack both recognized it.</p> + +<p>"By Jove! I've half a mind to buy it myself as a +kind of souvenir," Jack said, but a look of disgust +in Eloise's face and a frown on Howard's deterred +him, and he kept very quiet for a while, wondering +where that apron was and if by any possibility it could +have been sold.</p> + +<p>The box of articles which Jack's sister had sent +from New York had been sold early in the day, and +Amy's dresses had not been opened. Nearly everything +of any value was gone. Two of Howard's neckties +still remained conspicuously near the young men, +who watched Tom Walker as he examined them very +critically, and they heard the saleswoman say, "They +belonged to Mr. Howard Crompton. They say he has +dozens of them and all first-class. This suits you +admirably,"—and she held up a white satin one with +a faint tinge of blue.</p> + +<p>Tom took it, disappeared for a few minutes, and +when he came back to the chair he was resplendent in +his new necktie which he had adjusted in the dressing-room, +adding to it a Rhine-stone pin bought at the +jewelry counter. Howard's vanity told him he was +complimented, and that restrained the laugh which +sprang to his lips at the incongruity between Tom's +dress and the satin necktie bought for a grand occasion +in Boston, which Howard had attended a few +months before. On his way back to the group to +which he felt he belonged Tom had stopped at the +candy table and inquired the price of the fanciful +boxes, his spirits sinking when told the pounds were +fifty cents and the half-pounds twenty-five. Money +was not very plenty with Tom, and what he had he +earned himself. The necktie had made a heavy draft +on him, and twenty cents was all he could find in +either pocket.</p> + +<p>"I say, Tim, lend me a nickel. I'll pay it back. I +hope to die if I don't," he said to Tim, who was hurrying +past him on some errand for his mother.</p> + +<p>"I hain't no nickels to lend," was Tim's answer, +as he disappeared in the crowd, leaving Tom hovering +near the candy table and looking longingly at the +only half-pound box left.</p> + +<p>"I say," he began, edging up to the girl in charge, +"can't you take out a piece or two and let me have +it for twenty cents? All the money I have in the +world! 'Strue's I live, and I want it awfully for the +new schoolmarm over there in the chair with them +swells standin' by her."</p> + +<p>It was the last half-pound box and the girl was +tired.</p> + +<p>"Yes, take it," she said, and Tom departed, happier +if possible with his candy than with his necktie.</p> + +<p>"I bought it for you. It's chocolate. I hope you +like it," he said, depositing his gift in Eloise's lap, +where Jack's box was lying open and half empty, +for Eloise's weakness was candy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you, Thomas," she said, beaming upon +him a smile which more than repaid him for having +spent all his money for her.</p> + +<p>She was really very happy and thought a good deal +of Rummage Sales. She had the best place in the +hall;—a good many people had spoken to her. She +had won Tom Walker, body and soul, and she knew +that her escorts, Howard and Jack, added <i>éclat</i> to +her position. She had scarcely thought of her foot, +which at last began to ache a little. She was getting +tired and wondered how much longer the sale would +last. Jack wondered so, too; not that he was tired. +He could have stood all night looking at Eloise and +seeing the people admire her; but he was rather stout +and apt to get very warm in a room where the atmosphere +was close as it was here, and he wanted to be +out in the fresh air again. He could take his time +wheeling Eloise home, and if Mrs. Biggs staid at the +rooms, as he heard her say she was going to do "till +the last dog was hung," he could stay out in the porch +and enjoy the moonlight with Eloise's eyes shining +upon him. But where was that apron? Perhaps it +hadn't come after all. He'd inquire. But of whom? +Mrs. Biggs was in the supper-room. He did not +care to go there again, for every time he appeared +somebody was sure to get off on him a cup of chocolate +or coffee, and he could not drink any more.</p> + +<p>Ruby Ann was busy,—her face very red and her +eyes very tired, as she tried to sell the most unsalable +articles to old women who wanted something for +nothing, and quarrelled with the quality and quarrelled +with the price. His only recourse was Eloise, +and he planned a long time how to approach the subject +without mentioning her apron. At last a happy +inspiration came to him, and when Howard's attention +was diverted another way he bent over her and +began.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="2CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br/> +THE AUCTION</h2> + +<p>"Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes +from? Somebody must have given very freely. I +never gave a thing except money. Bell sent a lot to +be sure, and it's all sold. They had a pile from the +Crompton House. They were good at begging. +They didn't expect anything of you, a stranger, of +course?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," Eloise replied. "I had an apron which +Miss Patrick seemed to think might sell for something. +It was rather pretty, and I made it myself. +I haven't seen it, and think it may have been sold, or +perhaps Mrs. Biggs, who had it in charge, forgot it. +She has had a great deal on her mind."</p> + +<p>Jack did not hear more than half Eloise was saying. +One fact alone was clear. She had expected +the apron to be there and he would look it up.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," he said, and going into the room +where Mrs. Biggs was trying to make half a loaf of +bread do duty as a whole loaf to a party just arrived, +he said to her, "Pardon me, Mrs. Biggs, but did +you send or bring Miss Smith's contribution to the +sale? I believe it was an apron. She has not seen +it."</p> + +<p>The bread fell from Mrs. Biggs's hand to the table, +and the knife followed it to the floor as she exclaimed, +"Lord of heavens! I forgot it till this minute. +Where's Tim?"</p> + +<p>She darted from the room and found Tim bringing +two pails of water, "the last gol darned thing he was +going to do that night," he said, as he put them +down. Seizing him by the collar his mother almost +shrieked, "Run home for your life, Tim!"</p> + +<p>"Why-er,—what-er! Is our house afire?" Tim +asked, and his mother replied, "No, but Miss Smith's +apron is there. I clean forgot it. You'll find it in a +paper box on my bed, or in my bureau, or on the +closet shelf, pushed away back, or somewhere. Now +clip it."</p> + +<p>Tim started without his hat, and the last thing he +heard was his mother's voice shrill as a clarion, "If +you don't find the key under the mat, climb inter the +but'ry winder, but don't upset the mornin's milk!"</p> + +<p>Business was beginning to slacken and sales were +few. Some of the people had gone home and others +were going, and still there were quantities of goods +unsold. An auction was the only alternative and Mr. +Bills, who, to his office of school commissioner, added +that of auctioneer, was sent for. There was no one +like him in Crompton for disposing of whatever was +to be disposed of, from a tin can to a stove-pipe hat. +He could judge accurately the nature and disposition +of his audience,—knew just what to say and when to +say it, and had the faculty of making people bid +whether they wanted to or not. To hear him was as +good as a circus, his friends said, and when it became +known that he was to auction off the goods remaining +from the sale, many who had left came back, filling +the rooms again nearly as full as they were early +in the evening.</p> + +<p>Eloise's chair was moved a little more to the +front,—a long counter was cleared, and on it Mr. +Bills took his stand, smiling blandly upon the crowd +around him and then bowing to Eloise and her escorts, +Jack and Howard. He was bound to do his +best before them and took up his work eagerly. He +was happiest when selling clothes which he could +try on, or pretend to, and after disposing of several +bonnets amid roars of laughter he took up Mrs. +Biggs's gown, which Ruby Ann had not been able +to sell. Here was something to his mind and he +held it out and up, and tried its length on himself and +expatiated upon its beauty and its style and durability +until he got a bid of twenty-five cents, and this from +Howard, who said to Eloise, "It seems a pity not to +start the old thing at something, and I suppose the +Charitable Society will take it. I believe there is one +in town."</p> + +<p>Eloise did not answer. The spotted gown was an +offence to her, and she shut her eyes while Mr. Bills, +delighted that he had a bid at last and from such a +source, began, "Thank you, sir. You know a good +thing when you see it, but only twenty-five cents! +A mere nothing. Somebody will give more, of course, +for this fine tea gown to put on hot afternoons. Just +the thing. Twenty-five cents! Twenty-five cents! +Do I hear more? Twenty-five! Did you say thirty?" +and he looked at Jack, who half nodded, and the bids, +raised five cents at a time, rolled on between Jack +and Howard and another young man, who cared +nothing for the gown, but liked the fun. Fifty cents +was reached at last, and there the bidding ceased and +Mr. Bills was ringing the changes on half a dollar, +half a dollar, for a <i>robe de chambre</i>;—he called it that +sometimes, and sometimes a tea gown, and once a +<i>robe de nu-it</i>, which brought peals of laughter from +those who understood the term, as he certainly did +not. In the dining-room Mrs. Biggs was busy washing +dishes, but kept her ears open to the sounds in the +next room, knowing Mr. Bills was there and anxious +to get in and see the fun. When the last shouts +reached her she dropped her dish towel, saying to +her companion, "I can't stand it any longer. I've +got to go and see what Bills is up to!"</p> + +<p>Elbowing her way in she caught sight of her gown +held aloft by Mr. Bills, and heard his voluble "Going, +going, at fifty cents."</p> + +<p>She had thought it low at a dollar, and here it was +as good as gone for fifty cents,—to whom she did not +know or care,—probably the scrub woman who had +looked at it earlier in the evening and offered sixty. +Her blood was up, and making her way to Mr. Bills +she snatched at her gown, exclaiming, "It's mine, +and shall never go for fifty cents, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>Here was a diversion, and Mr. Bills met it beautifully.</p> + +<p>"Jess so, Miss Biggs," he said, bowing low to her. +"I admire your taste and judgment. I've told 'em +time and time over it was worth more than fifty. The +fact is they don't know what is what, but you and I +do. Shall we double right up and shame 'em by +sayin' a dollar? A dollar! A dollar! and going!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs did not know that she assented, she was +so excited, and afterwards declared she didn't: but +the final Going was said, with "Gone! to Mrs. Biggs, +for one dollar. Cheap at that!"</p> + +<p>At this juncture, when the hilarity was at its height +and Mrs. Biggs was marching off with her property, +which she said she should never pay for, Tim appeared, +hatless and coatless, but with the box in his +hand. When Jack locked the door he pushed the +key further under the mat than was usual, and failing +to find it at once, and being in a hurry, Tim made his +entrance into the house through the pantry window, +upsetting the pan of milk and a bowl of something, +he did not stop to see what, in his haste to find the +box. It was not on the bed, nor on the bureau, nor +pushed back on a shelf in the closet. It was on a +chair near the door where his mother had put it and +then forgotten it. As the key was outside Tim made +his exit the way he came in, stopping a moment to +look at the milk the cat was lapping with a great +deal of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Bobbs, you'll have a good supper, and I shall +catch old hundred for giving it to you," he said, picking +up the pan and springing through the window.</p> + +<p>He was very warm, and taking off his coat he +threw it across his arm and started rapidly for the +sale, knowing before he reached it that Mr. Bills was +there by the sounds he heard. He had no thought +that the apron was not to be sold at auction. Probably +that was why it was wanted, and pushing +through the crowd to Mr. Bills he handed him the +box, saying, "Here 'tis. I 'bout run my legs off to +get it. Make 'em pay smart."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Bills! Mr. Bills!" came excitedly from Ruby +Ann, but Mr. Bills did not hear, the buzz of voices +was so great.</p> + +<p>He had opened the box and taken out the apron, +which he handled far more carefully than he had the +spotted gown.</p> + +<p>"Now this is something like first-class business," +he said, holding it up. "The prettiest thing you +ever saw,—a girl's apron, all ruffled and prinked, and,—yes,—made +by—"</p> + +<p>He had glanced at the card, which said it was made +by Miss Smith, and was about to announce that fact, +feeling sure it would bring bidders, when he chanced +to look at Eloise, whose face was nearly as white as +the apron, and in whose eyes he saw an expression +which checked the words. But he had no idea of +relinquishing the article, and misunderstood the motion +of Jack's hand to stop him.</p> + +<p>"Now, give me an offer," he began,—"a first-rate +one, too; none of your quarters, nor halves. Bid high +and show you know something. 'Tain't every day +you have a chance to buy as fine a thing as this. +You who have wives, or daughters, or sisters, or +sweethearts, or want it for yourselves, speak up! +Walk up! Roll up! Tumble up! Any way to get +up, only come up and bid!"</p> + +<p>He was looking at Jack, whose face was as red as +Eloise's was pale.</p> + +<p>"If the thing must be sold at auction it shall bring +a good price, and I'll get it, too," he thought.</p> + +<p>Standing close to him was Tom Walker, who all +the evening had hovered near Eloise.</p> + +<p>"Tom," Jack said. "I have a sister, you know."</p> + +<p>Tom didn't know, but he nodded, and Jack went +on: "That apron is the only thing I've seen that I +really want for her. I am not worth a cent to bid. +Will you do it for me?"</p> + +<p>Tom nodded again, and Jack continued, "Well, +start pretty high. Keep your eyes on me, and when +I look at you raise the bid if there is any against you. +Understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," Tom answered, understanding more +than Jack thought he did.</p> + +<p>He guessed whose apron it was and did not believe +much in the sister, but he had his instructions and +waited for the signal. Howard had watched the sale +of the spotted gown with a great deal of amusement, +but was beginning to feel tired with standing so long, +and was wondering when Jack proposed taking +Eloise home. That he would go with them was a +matter of course, and he was about to speak to Jack +when Tim came in and the apron sale began. He had +no idea whose it was until he saw the halt in Mr. +Bills's manner, and looked at Eloise. Then he knew, +and knew, too, that nothing could get Jack away till +the apron was disposed of. That Jack would buy it +he did not for a moment dream, for what could he do +with it? "But yes, he is going to buy it," he thought, +as he heard Jack's instructions to Tom, "and I mean +to have some fun with him, and run that apron up."</p> + +<p>Close to him was Tim, and the sight of him put an +idea into Howard's mind. It would be jolly for Tom +and Tim to bid against each other, while he and Jack +backed them.</p> + +<p>"Tim," he said, laying his hand on the boy's arm, +"I am going to buy that apron for Mrs. Amy, and I +want you to bid for me against Tom Walker and +everybody. I have no idea what it is worth, but when +I squeeze your arm <i>so</i>, bid higher!"</p> + +<p>He gave Tim's arm a clutch so tight that the boy +started away from him, saying, "Great Peter, don't +pinch like that! You hurt! 'cause I'm in my shirt +sleeves."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll be more careful," Howard said. +"Now begin, before Tom has time to open the ball."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but-er, what-er shall I bid?" Tim stammered.</p> + +<p>"How do I know? It's Miss Smith's, and on that +account valuable. Go in with a dollar."</p> + +<p>All this time Mr. Bills had been talking himself +hoarse over the merits of the apron, while his audience +were watching Howard and Jack, with a feeling +of certainty that they were intending to bid, but they +were not prepared for Tim's one dollar, which startled +every one and none more so than his mother, +who, having rolled up her spotted gown "in a <i>wopse</i>," +as she said, and put it with her dish pan and towels, +had come back in time to hear Tim's astonishing bid. +She could not see him for the crowd in front of her, +but she could make him hear, and her voice was +shrill and decided as she called out, "Timothy Biggs! +Be you crazy? and where are you to get your dollar, +I'd like to know!"</p> + +<p>"Tell mother to mind her business! I know what +I'm about!" Tim said to some one near him, while +Mr. Bills rang the changes on that dollar with +astonishing volubility, and Tom kept his eyes on Jack +for a signal to raise.</p> + +<p>Jack was taken by surprise, but readily understood +that it was Howard against whom he had to +contend and not Tim.</p> + +<p>"All right, old chap," he whispered, then looked +full at Tom, who, eager as a young race horse, +shouted a dollar and a half!</p> + +<p>"All right," Jack said again, and turned to Eloise +on whose face there was now some color, as she began +to share in the general excitement pervading the +room and finding vent in laughter and cheers when +Tom's bid was raised to two dollars by Tim, and two +and a quarter was as quickly shrieked by Tom. +Everybody now understood the contest and watched +it breathlessly, a great roar going up when Tim lost +his head and mistaking a slight movement of +Howard's hand on his arm, raised his own bid from +three dollars to three and a half!</p> + +<p>"That's right," Mr. Bills said; "you know a thing +or two. We are getting well under way. Never enjoyed +myself so well in my life. Three and a half! +three and a half! Who says four?"</p> + +<p>"I do," Tom yelled, his yell nearly drowned by +the cheers of the spectators, some of whom climbed +on chairs and tables to look at Tom and Tim standing, +one next to Howard and the other next to Jack, +with Eloise the central figure, her ermine cape thrown +back, and drops of sweat upon her forehead and +around her mouth.</p> + +<p>She almost felt as if it were herself Howard and +Jack were contending for instead of her apron, which +Mr. Bills was waving in the air like a flag, with a +feeling that he had nearly exhausted his vocabulary +and didn't know what next to say. Four dollars was a +great deal for an apron, he knew, but he kept on ringing +the changes on the four dollars,—a measly price +for so fine an article, and for so good a cause as a +Public Library. And while he talked and repeated +his <i>going, going</i>, faster and faster, Tim stood like a +hound on a leash fretting for a sign to raise.</p> + +<p>"You ain't goin' to be beat by Tom Walker, be +you?" he said, in a whisper to Howard, who gave +him a little squeeze, with the words "Go easy," +spoken so low that Tim did not hear them, and at +once raised the four dollars to four and a half, while +quick as lightning Tom responded with five dollars.</p> + +<p>Jack hadn't really looked at him, but it did not +matter. He was going to have the apron, and turning +to Howard he said, "I don't know how long you +mean to keep this thing up. I am prepared to go on +all night."</p> + +<p>Howard felt sure he was and decided to stop, and +his hand dropped from Tim's shoulder quite to the +disgust of that young man, who said, "You goin' to +let 'em lick us?"</p> + +<p>"I think I'll have to," Howard replied, while "Five +dollars, and going!" filled the room until the final +"Gone!" was spoken, and the people gave gasps of +relief that it was over.</p> + +<p>"Sold for five dollars to Thomas Walker, who will +please walk up to the captain's office and pay," Mr. +Bills said, handing the apron to Tom, who held it +awkwardly, as if afraid of harming it.</p> + +<p>"I guess it's yourn," he said, giving it to Jack, +who knew as little what to do with it as Tom.</p> + +<p>Ruby came to his aid and took it from him. She +had watched the performance with a great deal of +interest, comprehending it perfectly and feeling in a +way sorry for Eloise, whose lips quivered a little when +she went up to her, and bending over her said, "You +should feel complimented, but I'm afraid you are very +tired."</p> + +<p>"Yes, very tired and warm. I want to get into the +fresh air," Eloise said, shivering as if she were cold +instead of warm.</p> + +<p>Jack had gone to the cashier's desk to pay for the +apron, and Tom undertook the task of getting the +wheel chair through the crowd, running against the +people promiscuously, if they impeded his progress, +and caring little whom he hit if he got Eloise safely +outside the door. The night was at its best, almost +as light as day, as they emerged from the hot, close +room, and Eloise drew long breaths of the cool air +which blew up fom the sea, the sound of whose waves +beating upon the shore could be heard even above the +din of voices inside the building. The auction was +still going on, and Mr. Bills was doing his best, but +the interest flagged with the sale of the apron and +the breaking up of the group which had attracted so +much attention. Even Mrs. Biggs's grandmother's +brass kettle, on which so many hopes were built, +failed to create more than a ripple, as Mr. Bills rang +changes upon it both with tongue and knuckles, and +when his most eloquent appeals could not raise a +higher bid than ten cents, it was withdrawn by the +disgusted widow, who put it aside with her dish pan +and towels and gown, and then went to find Tim to +take them home.</p> + +<p>Howard had been called by Ruby into the room +where Amy's dresses were lying in the boxes just as +they came, and asked what they were to do with +them.</p> + +<p>"We could not offer them for sale, and she does +not want them back," she said.</p> + +<p>"Send them to the Colonel. She'll never know it, +and the chance is will never think of them again," +Howard said, and then hurried outside to where +Eloise was still waiting and talking to Tom.</p> + +<p>"That apron went first rate," he said. "You must +have felt glad they thought so much of you, 'cause +'twas you and not the apron, though that was pretty +enough."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Eloise replied, drawing her ermine cape +around her shoulders, "I don't know whether I was +glad or not. I felt as if I were being sold to the +highest bidder."</p> + +<p>"That's so," Tom said. "It was something like it. +Ain't you glad 'twas Mr. Harcourt bought you instead +of t'other?"</p> + +<p>Eloise laughed as she replied, "Why, Thomas, it +was <i>you</i> who bought me! Have you forgotten?"</p> + +<p>She seemed so much in earnest that for a moment +Tom thought she was, and said, "You ain't so green +as not to know that 'twas Mr. Harcourt eggin' me +on,—winkin' to me when to raise, and tellin' me to +go high! You are his'n, and I'm glad on't! I like +him better than t'other; ain't so big feelin'. Here +they come, both on 'em."</p> + +<p>Howard had finished his business with Ruby Ann, +and Jack had paid his five dollars and received the +apron, slightly mussed, but looking fairly well in the +box in which they put it. A good many people were +leaving the rooms again, and among them Tim, laden +with his mother's dish pan and towels, and dress and +brass kettle, and one or two articles which she had +bought.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Tim! You look some like a pack horse," +Tom said, but Tim did not answer.</p> + +<p>He was very tired, for with so many calling upon +him through the day and evening; he had run miles +and received only seventy cents for it. He was +chagrined that he had raised his own bid, and wondered +Tom did not chaff him. It would come in time, +he knew, and he felt angry at Tom, and angry with +the brass kettle and dish pan and dress which kept +him from wheeling Eloise instead of Tom, who, when +they finally started, took his place behind the chair +as a matter of course, while Howard and Jack walked +on either side. It was a splendid night, and when +Mrs. Biggs's house was reached Howard and Jack +would gladly have lingered outside talking to Eloise, +if they could have disposed of the boys. But the boys +were not inclined to be disposed of. Tom had become +somebody in his own estimation, and intended +to stay as long as the young men did, while Tim, having +found the key, this time instead of entering by the +pantry window, unlocked the door, deposited his +goods, and then came back, saying to Eloise with a +good deal of dignity for him, "Shall I take you in?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, please. I think it's time," she said, and +Howard and Jack knew they were dismissed. "Thank +you all so much for everything," she continued, giving +her hand to each of them in turn, and pressing +Tom's a little in token of the good feeling she felt +sure was established between them.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Mrs. Biggs came home, +rather crestfallen that her spotted gown and brass +kettle had not been more popular, but jubilant over +the sale, the proceeds of which, so far as known when +she left, were over two hundred and fifty dollars.</p> + +<p>"Never was anything like it before in Crompton," +she said, as she helped Eloise to her bed lounge. +"That apron sale beat all. Them young men didn't +care for the apron, of course, except that it was yours, +and what Mr. Harcourt will do with it I don't know. +Said he was goin' to send it to his sister. Maybe he +is. He paid enough for it. Five dollars! I was in +hopes they'd run it up to ten! and I was sorry when +'twas over. Mr. Bills kinder wilted after you all +went out, and the whole thing flatted. Well, good-night! +You was the star! the synacure,—is that the +word?—of all eyes, and looked awful pretty in that +white cape. I see you've got Tom Walker, body and +soul, but my land! you'd get anybody! Good-night, +again."</p> + +<p>She was gone at last, and Eloise was glad to lay her +tired head upon her pillow, falling asleep nearly as +soon as she touched it, but dreaming of the Rummage +Sale and that she was being auctioned off instead +of her apron. It was a kind of nightmare, and +her heart beat fast as the bids came rapidly,—sometimes +on Howard's side and sometimes on Jack's. +She called him <i>Jack</i> in her dreams, and finally awoke +with a start, saying aloud, "I am glad it was Jack +who bought me!"</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="PART_III"></a>PART III</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br/> +THE BEGINNING OF THE END</h2> + +<p>The Rummage Sale was a great success and netted +fully two hundred and fifty dollars, besides quantities +of goods of different kinds which were left and +given either to the poor or to the Charitable Society +in Crompton. The trunks containing Amy's dresses +had been sent home without Amy's knowledge, and +deposited in the closet with Mandy Ann and Judy, +the Colonel swearing at first that he would have nothing +pertaining to Homer Smith so near him. The +apron sale had been an absorbing topic of conversation, +the people wondering what Mr. Harcourt was +going to do with his purchase, and if he wouldn't +give it back to Eloise. Nothing was further from +his thought. He had bought it to keep, and he laid +it away in the bottom of his trunk with the handkerchief +Eloise had used when he first called upon her.</p> + +<p>He was growing more and more in love with her +and more unwilling to leave Crompton. He had already +staid longer than he had at first intended, but +it did not need Howard's urgent invitation for him +to prolong his visit. Every day he went to Mrs. +Biggs's, and sometimes twice a day, and took Eloise +out in her arm-chair for an airing,—once as far as +to the school-house where Ruby Ann still presided, +and where Eloise hoped soon to take up her duties. +She was very happy, or would have been if she could +have heard from California. Every day she hoped +for news, and every day was disappointed, until at +last nearly a week after the Rummage a letter came +forwarded by her grandmother from Mayville. It +was from a physician to whom Eloise had twice written +with regard to her mother, and this was his reply:</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Portland, Oregon, September —, 18—. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +"My Dear Miss Smith: +</p> + +<p>"I left San Francisco several months ago and have +been stopping in several places, and that is why your +letters were so long in reaching me. They both +came in the same mail, and I wrote to San Francisco +to see what I could learn with regard to your mother. +It seems that the private asylum of Dr. Haynes was +broken up, as there were only three patients when +Mrs. Smith left, and it did not pay. Soon after your +father died in Santa Barbara, your mother was removed +from the asylum by a gentleman whose name +I have thus far been unable to learn. I thought it +must have been some relative, but if you know nothing +of it my theory is wrong. Dr. Haynes went at +once with his family to Europe, and is travelling on +the continent. His address is, Care of Munroe & Co., +Bankers, 7 Rue Scribe. Paris. Write him again, as +he must know who took your mother from his care. +He may not be in Paris now, but your letter will +reach him in time. If there is anything I can do to +help you, I will gladly do it. If you were in San +Francisco you might find some of the attendants in +the asylum, who could give you the information you +desire.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Yours, very truly, <br/> +"J.P. ALLING, M.D." +</p> + +<p>It was Ruby who brought the letter one evening +two or three days before Eloise expected to make her +first appearance in school. Mrs. Biggs and Tim were +out and Eloise was alone. Tearing open the envelope, +she read it quickly, and then with the bitterest +cry Ruby had ever heard, covered her face with her +hands and sobbed: "My mother! Oh, my mother!"</p> + +<p>"Is she dead?" Ruby asked, and Eloise replied, +"Worse than that, perhaps. I don't know where she +is. Read what it says."</p> + +<p>She gave the letter to Ruby, who read it twice; +then, sitting down by Eloise and passing her arm +around her, she said, "I don't understand what it +means. Was your mother in a lunatic asylum?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't call it that!" Eloise answered. "It +was a private asylum in San Francisco,—very private +and select, father said, but I never quite believed her +crazy. She was always quiet and sad and peculiar, +and hated the business, and so did I."</p> + +<p>"What was the business?" Ruby asked, and Eloise +answered hesitatingly, as if it were something of +which to be ashamed, "She sang in public with a +troupe,—his troupe. He made her. She was the star +and drew big houses, she was so beautiful and sang so +sweetly, without any apparent effort. It was just +like a bird, and when she sang the Southern melodies +she seemed to be in a trance, seeing things we could +not see. It made me cry to hear her. I know many +good women are public singers, but mother shrank +from it, and when they cheered like mad there used to +be a frightened look in her eyes, as if she wondered +why they were doing it and wanted to hide, and when +she got to our rooms she'd tremble and be so cold +and cry, while father sometimes scolded and sometimes +laughed at her. He tried to make me sing +once. I have a fair voice, but I rebelled and said I'd +run away before I'd do it. He was very angry, and +sent me North to my grandmother, saying I was too +great an expense to keep with him unless I would +help, and was a hindrance to my mother, who was +always so anxious about me. It nearly killed her to +part with me. I was all the comfort she had, she +said, and she always called me Baby. Father was +not kind to her, and it seemed as if he hated me, and +was jealous of mother's love for me. When I heard +he was dead, I could not feel badly, as I ought, and +did not cry. He was a very handsome man, and very +nice with people, who thought my mother a most +fortunate woman to have so polished and courteous a +husband. They should have seen him as I saw him at +times, and heard him swear, as I have heard him, and +call her names till she was white as a corpse and +fainted. I never saw her turn upon him but once. I +had asked her why she didn't leave him and go home, +if she had any to go to. That was when I was a little +girl.</p> + +<p>"'I have no home or friends in all the wide world +to go to' she said, and then, with a sneer which was +maddening, it meant so much, my father said, 'Ask +her who her father was and see if she can tell you.'</p> + +<p>"I didn't know then what he meant to insinuate, +but mother did, and there came a look into her eyes +which frightened me, and her voice was not mother's +at all, as she walked straight up to him and said, +'How dare you insult my mother!'</p> + +<p>"She looked like an enraged animal, and my father +must have been afraid she would attack him, for he +tried to soothe her and succeeded at last in doing so. +I think there was some mystery about her father and +mother, as she would never talk of them. Once I +asked her about them, and she said she hadn't any; +and she looked so strange that I never asked her +again. I knew she was born South, that her people +were poor, and her name Harris, and that is all I +know, except that no better or lovelier woman ever +lived, and if she is really crazy father made her so, and +I cannot feel any love for him, or respect. If I ever +had any, and I suppose I must have had, he killed it +long ago. The first thing I remember of him in +Rome, where I was born, he was practising some +music with mother,—playing for her while she sang, +and I was standing by him, putting my hands on his +arm and trying to hum the tune. With a jerk he said +to my nurse, 'Take her away and keep her away.'</p> + +<p>"I am wicked, I know, to talk as I am doing, but +it seems as if there was a spell over me urging me +to say things I never thought of saying. It's a comfort +to talk to some one who I know is my friend, and +you are so strong every way and have been so good +to me."</p> + +<p>She laid her head on Ruby's arm like a tired child, +and continued, "I wrote to mother very often after +I came to Mayville, and she replied, telling me how +she missed me, and how she always fixed her eyes on +some part of the house, fancying she saw me, and was +singing to me, and I used to listen nights and think +I heard her grand voice as it rose and fell, and the +people cheering, and she so beautiful standing there +for the crowd to gaze at, and wishing she could get +away from it all.</p> + +<p>"At last her letters ceased and father wrote that +her mind had given way suddenly;—that she was a +raving maniac,—dangerous, I think he said,—and I +thought of the way she looked at him once when I +was a child, and he told me to ask her about her +father. He said she was in Dr. Haynes's private +asylum, where she had the kindest of care. I think I +died many deaths in one when I heard that. I wrote +her again and again, and wanted to go to her, but my +father forbade it. No one saw her, he said, except +her attendant and the physician,—not even himself, +as the sight of him threw her into paroxysms. I +didn't wonder at that. He sent my letters back, telling +me she would not sense them, and they would +excite her if she did. Her only chance of recovery +was in her being kept perfectly quiet, with nothing +to remind her of the past.</p> + +<p>"A few months ago he died suddenly in Santa +Barbara. One of the troupe wrote to grandma, and, +as I told you, I did not cry; I couldn't. I was too +anxious about mother, and wrote at once to Dr. +Haynes, but received no answer. I waited a while +and wrote again, with the same result. Then I remembered +Dr. Alling, who had attended me for some +slight ailment, and wrote to him, with the result you +know. Some one has taken my mother away. Who +was it, and where is she? I feel as if I were going +mad when I think of the possibilities."</p> + +<p>She pressed her hands to her head and rocked to +and fro, while Ruby tried to quiet and comfort her.</p> + +<p>"I must go to San Francisco and find my mother. +I would start to-morrow, lame as I am, only I haven't +the money, and grandma hasn't it, either," she said. +"Father made a great deal of money at times, but +he spent it as freely. Always stopped at the best +hotels; had a suite of rooms, with our meals served +in them; drank the costliest wines, and smoked the +most expensive cigars, and bought mother such +beautiful dresses. I did not fare so well. Anything +was good enough for me after I refused to sing in +public, and that was an added source of trouble to +my mother. I was always a bone of contention and +it was, perhaps, as well in some respects that I was +sent away, only mother missed me so. I was so glad +to get this school, because it would give me something +for my mother, whom I hoped to bring home +before long. And now, I don't know where she is, +but I must find her. Oh, what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>It was not often that Eloise talked of herself and +her affairs. At school in Mayville she had been very +reticent with regard to her past, and had seldom mentioned +either her father or her mother. With Mrs. +Biggs she had been equally silent, and, try as she +would, the good woman had never been able to learn +anything beyond what Eloise had first told her,—that +her father was dead and her mother in California;—in +a sanitarium, Mrs. Biggs had finally decided, +and let the matter drop, thinking she should +some time know "if there was anything to know." +Ruby Ann had from the first seemed to Eloise like +one to be trusted, and she felt a relief in talking to +her, and said more than she had at first intended to +say.</p> + +<p>For a moment Ruby was silent, while Eloise's head +lay on her arm and Eloise's hand was holding hers. +She was thinking of the piano she wanted to buy, the +money for which was in the Crompton bank. There +was a struggle in her mind, and then she said, "I can +loan you the money. I know you will pay it back if +you live, and if you don't, no matter. I will not call +it a loss if it does you any good."</p> + +<p>At first Eloise demurred, longing to accept the +generous offer, and fearing that she ought not. But +Ruby overcame her scruples.</p> + +<p>"Naturally I shall keep your place in school, so +I owe you something for the business, don't you +see?" she said.</p> + +<p>Eloise did not quite see, but she yielded at last, +for her need was great.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I'd tell Mrs. Biggs all the sad story, +unless you want the whole town to know it. Tell her +you have had bad news from your mother, and are +going to her," Ruby suggested, when at last she +said good-night and went out, just as Mrs. Biggs +came in.</p> + +<p>"Goin' away! Goin' to Californy! Your mother +sick! What's the matter, and how under the sun are +you goin' alone, limpin' as you do? I knew Ruby +Ann would manage to keep the school if she once +got it!" were some of Mrs. Biggs's exclamations +when told Eloise was to leave her.</p> + +<p>Eloise parried her questions very skilfully, saying +nothing except that her mother needed her and she +was going to her, and Mrs. Biggs left her more +mystified than she had ever been in her life, but resolved +"to get at the bottom if she lived."</p> + +<p>That night Eloise, who was now sleeping in the +chamber to which she had first been taken, sat a +long time by her window, looking out upon the +towers and chimneys of Crompton Place, which were +visible above the trees in the park, and wondering at +the feeling of unrest which possessed her, and her unwillingness +to leave.</p> + +<p>"If I could only see him once more before I go," +she thought, the "him" being Jack, who, with Howard +Crompton, was in Worcester, attending a musical +festival.</p> + +<p>Not to see him was the saddest part of leaving +Crompton, and for a moment hot tears rolled down +her cheeks,—tears which, if Jack could have seen and +known their cause, would have brought him back +from Worcester and the prima donna who that night +was entrancing a crowded house with her song. +Dashing her tears away, Eloise's thoughts reverted +to Amy, who had been so kind to her.</p> + +<p>"I hoped to thank her in person," she said, "but +as that is impossible, I must write her a note for Tim +to take in the morning, together with the chairs."</p> + +<p>The note was written, and in it a regret expressed +that Eloise could not have seen her.</p> + +<p>"Maybe when she reads it she will call upon me +to-morrow," she thought, as she directed the note, +and that night she dreamed that Amy came to her, +with a face and voice so like her mother's that she +woke with a start and a feeling that she had really +seen her mother, as she used to stand before the footlights, +while the house rang with thunders of applause.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br/> +THE LITTLE RED CLOAK</h2> + +<p>Col. Crompton was in a bad way, both mentally +and bodily. The pain in his gouty foot had extended +to his knee, and was excruciating in the extreme; +but he almost forgot it in the greater trouble in his +mind. In the same mail which had brought Eloise's +letter from California there had been one for him, +which in the morning Peter had taken from the postman +and examined carefully, until he made out its +direction.</p> + +<p>"Mister Kurnel Krompton, of Krompton Plais, +Krompton, Massachusetts."</p> + +<p>So much room had been taken up on one side of +the envelope with the address, that half of "Massachusetts" +was on the other side, and Peter's memory +instantly went back to years before, when a letter +looking like this and odorous with bad tobacco had +come to the Colonel. He had a copy of the letter +still, and could repeat it by heart, and knew that it +was from Jake Harris,—presumably the "Shaky" +for whom the little girl Eudora had cried so pitifully. +This was undoubtedly from the same source. "What +can he want now? and what will the Colonel say?" +he thought, as he took the letter to his master's room.</p> + +<p>"A letter for you, sir," he said, putting it down +upon the table by the Colonel's chair, and then lingering +on the pretence of adjusting a curtain and brushing +up the hearth, but really waiting to see what +effect the letter would have.</p> + +<p>It was different from what he expected. With one +glance at the superscription, the Colonel grew deathly +pale, and his hands shook so that the letter dropped +upon the floor. Peter picked it up and handed it to +him, saying, "Can I help you, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, by leaving me, and holding your tongue! +There's the devil to pay!" was the answer.</p> + +<p>Peter was accustomed to hearing of his master's +debts in that direction, and to being told to hold his +tongue, and he answered, "All right, sir," and left +the room. For some moments the Colonel sat perfectly +still, his heart beating so fast that he could +scarcely breathe. Then he opened Jake's letter, and +read as follows:</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Palmetto Clarin', Oct. —, 18—.<br/> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +"Mister Kurnel Krompton,<br/> + "Deer Sir:<br/> + "Glory to God. I'se done sung all day for his +mussy in lettin' me heer from lil Miss Dory onc't mo' +an' 'noin' she ain't ded as I feared she was. Mas'r +Minister Mason, who done 'tended the funeral of +t'other Miss Dory done tole me how she's livin' with +you, an' a lil off in her mind. The lam'! What happened +her, I wonder? Her granny, ole Miss Lucy, +was quar. All the Harrises was quar. Mebby she +got it from them. A site of me will cure her sho'. +Tell her I'se comin' to see her as soon as I hear from +you that it is her, sho'. Thar might be some mistake, +an' I doan' want to take the long journey for nothin', +'case I'm ole, tho' I feels mighty peart now wid de +news. Rite me wen you git this. I shall wait till I +har, an' then start to onc't.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Yours to command, <br/> +"JAKE HARRIS." +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +"P.S.—Mandy Ann, you 'members her, what took +care of lil chile. She's a grown woman now in course, +an' has ten chillen, 'sides Ted. You 'members Ted, +on de 'Hatty.' No 'count at all; but Mandy Ann, +wall, she's a whopper, an' when she hears de nuse, +she 'most had de pow'. She sen's her regrets, an' +would come, too, if she hadn't so many moufs to feed, +an' Ted doin' nothin' but playin' gemman.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Onc't mo', yours, <br/> +"JAKE." +</p> + +<p>To describe the Colonel's state of mind as he read +this letter is impossible. He forgot the pain in his +leg and knee in the greater sensation of the cold, +prickly feeling which ran through his veins, making +his fingers feel like sticks, and powerless to hold the +letter, which dropped to the floor. With every year +he had hugged closer and closer the secret of his life, +becoming more and more morbid and more fearful, +lest in some way his connection with the palmetto +clearing should be known and he fall from the high +pedestal on which he had stood so long, and from +which his fall would be greater because he had been +there so long. It would all be right after he was +dead. He had seen to that, and didn't care what the +world would say when he was not alive to hear it. +But he was very much alive now, and his sin bade +fair to find him out.</p> + +<p>"Just as I feared when that rector told me who +his father was," he thought, cursing the chance which +had sent the Rev. Arthur Mason to Crompton,—cursing +the Rev. Charles for giving information to +Jake,—and cursing Jake for the letter, which he +spurned with his well foot, as it lay on the floor. He +had hoped the negro might be dead, as he had heard +nothing from him in a long time; and here he was, +alive and waiting for a word to come. "If he waits +for that he will wait to all eternity," he said to himself. +"I shall write and make it worth his while to +stay where he is. He knows too much of Amy's +birth and her mother's death to be trusted here. +Uncertainty is better than the truth. I have made +matters right for Amy, and confessed everything. +They'll find it when I'm gone, and can wag their +tongues all they please. It won't hurt me then, but +while I live I'll keep up the farce. It might have +been better to have told the truth at first, but I didn't, +and it's too late now. Who in thunder is that knocking +at the door? Not Amy, I hope,—and I can't +reach that letter," he continued, as there came a low +rap at the door.</p> + +<p>"Come in!" he called, when it was repeated, and +Cora, the housemaid, entered.</p> + +<p>She had been in the family but a few days and did +not yet understand her duties with regard to the +Colonel, and know that she was not to trouble him. +Tim Biggs had been commissioned by Eloise to take +her note to Mrs. Amy, together with the chairs.</p> + +<p>"You can't carry both at one time, so take the sea +this morning, and the wheel this afternoon," Mrs. +Biggs said, just as Tom Walker appeared.</p> + +<p>He had been to the house two or three times since +the Rummage, ostensibly to ask when Eloise was +going to commence her duties as teacher, but really +to see her and hear her pleasant "Good-morning, +Thomas, I am glad to see you."</p> + +<p>Whatever Mrs. Biggs knew was soon known to +half of District No. 5, and the news that Eloise was +going to California had reached Tom, and brought +him to inquire if it were true.</p> + +<p>"And won't you come back?" he asked, with real +concern on his homely face.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so. I hope so," Eloise replied, and he +continued, "I'm all-fired sorry you are goin', because,—well, +because I am; and I wish I could do something +for you."</p> + +<p>"You can," Eloise said. "You can take the wheel +chair back to the Crompton House and save Tim one +journey."</p> + +<p>Tom cared very little about saving Tim, but he +would do anything to serve Eloise, and the two boys +were soon on their way, quarrelling some as they +went, for each was jealous of the other's attention to +the "little schoolmarm," as they called her. Tom +reached the house first, but Tim was not far behind, +and both encountered Cora, who bade them leave the +chairs in the hall, while she inquired as to their disposition. +Had Peter been in sight she might have +consulted him, but he was in the grounds, and, entering +the Colonel's room she said, "If you please, sir, +what shall I do with the chairs?"</p> + +<p>"What chairs?" the Colonel asked, and Cora replied, +"A sea chair, I think, and a wheel chair, which +Tom Walker and Tim Biggs have just brought +home."</p> + +<p>"My sea chair, and my wheel chair! How in +thunder can that be, when I'm sitting in the wheel, +and how came Tom Walker, the biggest rascal in +town, by my chairs, or Tim Biggs either?" the +Colonel exclaimed; and Cora replied, "I think they +said the schoolma'am had them. Here's a note from +her to Mrs. Amy."</p> + +<p>Since his last attack of the gout the Colonel had in +a measure forgotten Eloise, and ceased to care +whether she were rooted and grounded in the fundamentals +or not. That Howard and Jack had been in +the habit of calling upon her he did not suspect, and +much less that for the last two weeks or more she +had been enjoying his sea chair, and the fruit and +flowers sent her with Mrs. Amy's compliments. At +the mention of her he roused at once.</p> + +<p>"That girl had my chair! How the devil came she +by it? A note for Mrs. Amy! Give it to me, and +pick up that paper on the floor and go!"</p> + +<p>Cora was not long in obeying, and the irascible old +man was again alone. First tearing Jake's letter in +strips, he turned Eloise's note over in his hand, and +read, "Mrs. Amy Smith, Crompton Place." The +name "Smith" always made him angry, and he repeated +it with a quick shutting together of his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Smith!" he said, "I can't abide it! And what +has she to say to Mrs. Smith?"</p> + +<p>The note was not sealed, and without the least +hesitancy he opened it and read, commenting as +he did so.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mrs. Smith." (Her dear Mrs. Smith! +I like that.) "I am going away (Glad to hear it) and +I wish to thank you for the many things you have +sent me. (The deuce she has! I didn't know it.) +The pretty hat I want to keep, with the slippers, +which remind me of my mother. (Slippers,—remind +her of her mother, who, I dare say, never wore anything +but big shoes, and coarse at that," the Colonel +growled, and read on.) The chairs I return, with my +thanks for them, and the fruit and flowers and books. +I would like so much to see you, and thank you personally, +but as this cannot be I must do it on paper. +Be assured I shall never forget your kindness to me, +a stranger.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Your very truly, <br/> +"E.A. SMITH." +</p> + +<p>"Smith again! E.A. Smith!" the Colonel said. +"Why couldn't she write her whole name? E.A., +ELIZA ANN, of course! That's who she is, ELIZA +ANN SMITH!"</p> + +<p>If there was one name he disliked as much as he did +Smith, it was Eliza Ann, and he repeated it again: +"ELIZA ANN SMITH! Fruit and flowers and books, +and shoes and my sea chair and a wheel chair sent +to her by Amy! Where did she get the wheel, I'd +like to know? I don't believe it!" he added, as a +sudden light broke upon him. "It's that dog Howard's +work, and that other chap."</p> + +<p>Ringing the bell which stood on the table beside +him, he bade Cora, who appeared, to send Mrs. Amy +to him. Amy had not slept well, and was more +easily confused than usual, but she came and asked +what he wanted. It did not occur to him to give her +the note, which he kept in his hand while he said, in +a much softer tone than that in which he had been +talking to himself, "Have you sent things to Eliza +Ann Smith,—fruit and flowers and books, and my +sea chair and a wheel chair, and a bonnet and shoes, +and the Lord knows what else?"</p> + +<p>Amy was bewildered at once.</p> + +<p>"Eliza Ann Smith!" she repeated. "I don't know +her. Who is she?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the girl that jammed a hole in Brutus's +neck and stained the cushions of my carriage, and +broke her leg at Mrs. Biggs's," the Colonel replied.</p> + +<p>At the mention of Mrs. Biggs, Amy's face brightened. +Since the day after the accident, when she sent +the hat and slippers, Eloise had not been mentioned +in her presence, and she had entirely forgotten her. +Now she was all interest again, and said, "Oh, yes; +I remember now, Poor girl! I did send her a hat +and some slippers, which I hated because I wore them +when I sang. Did they fit her?"</p> + +<p>"Lord Harry! How do I know? It isn't likely +your shoes would fit her. They would be a mile too +small!" the Colonel said, and Amy asked, "Does +she want anything?"</p> + +<p>"No," the Colonel replied. "Somebody has sent +her flowers and chairs and books and things. She +thought it was you and wished to thank you."</p> + +<p>"It was not I, and I am sorry I forgot her," Amy +rejoined, as she turned to leave him, with a confused +feeling in her brain, and a pang of regret that she had +perhaps neglected the little girl at Mrs. Biggs's.</p> + +<p>Once the Colonel thought to call her back and give +her the note. Then, thinking it did not matter, he +let her go without it. Just what influence was at +work in Amy's mind that morning it were difficult to +tell. Whatever it was, it prompted her on her return +to her room to take the little red cloak from the +closet where it was kept and examine it carefully. +It had been the best of its kind when it was bought, +and, though somewhat faded and worn, had withstood +the ravages of time wonderfully. It had encircled +her like a friend, both when she was sad and +when she was gay. It had been wrapped around the +Baby, of whom she never thought without a pang +and a blur before her eyes. It was the dearest article +she had in her wardrobe, and because of that and +because she had been so forgetful, she would send it +to Eliza Ann Smith!</p> + +<p>"But not for good," she said to Sarah, who was +commissioned to take it to Eloise the next morning. +"She can keep it till she is well. Somebody told +me she had a sprained ankle. I had one once, and I +put it across my lap and foot, it was so soft and warm. +Tell her I am sorry I forgot about her. I am not +always quite myself."</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>"Sent that old red cloak she's had ever since she +was knee high! I shouldn't s'pose there'd be a rag +of it left! She must be crazy as a loon to-day," was +Mrs. Biggs's comment, when Sarah told her errand. +"What possessed her?"</p> + +<p>Sarah only knew that her mistress was more dazed +than usual that morning, and had insisted upon her +bringing the cloak.</p> + +<p>"I think it rattled her when the chairs came back. +She didn't know anything about 'em, nor the Colonel +either," Sarah said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs laughed, and replied, "I didn't s'pose +they did. Them young men, I b'lieve, was at the +bottom of it, and I or'to have told Miss Smith to +send her thanks to them, but I wasn't quite sure +about the sea chair. So I let it slide, thinkin' it was +a good joke on 'em to thank Amy. They pretended +the things was from her."</p> + +<p>Taking the cloak from the girl, she carried it into +the room where Eloise had fallen asleep, with her +foot resting upon a hassock, and a shawl thrown over +it. Removing the shawl and putting the red cloak in +its place, Mrs. Biggs stole noiselessly out, saying to +herself, "I guess she'll wonder where that came from +when she wakes up."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br/> +ELOISE AT THE CROMPTON HOUSE</h2> + +<p>For an hour or more Eloise slept on, and then +awoke suddenly and saw the scarlet cloak across her +foot. At first it was the color which attracted her. +Then taking it in her hands she began to examine it, +while drops of sweat came out upon her forehead and +under her hair. She knew that cloak! She had worn +it many and many a time when she was a child. She +had seen her mother fold and pack it far more carefully, +when they were starting on a starring tour, +than she did the fine dresses she wore on the stage.</p> + +<p>"It is my mother's, but how came it here?" she +thought, as she took it into the kitchen where she +heard Mrs. Biggs at her work. "Where did you get +my mother's cloak?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs, who always washed on Saturdays, had +just put Tim's shirt through the wringer. Holding +it at arm's length with one hand and steadying herself +on the side of the tub with the other, she stared +blankly at Eloise for a moment, and then said, "Your +mother's cloak! Child alive, that's Mrs. Amy's. I've +seen her wear it a hundred times when she was a little +girl. She has got on a spell of givin' this mornin', +and sent it to you by Sarah. She's kep' it well all +these years. What ails you?" she continued, as +Eloise's face grew as white as the clothes in Mrs. +Biggs's basket.</p> + +<p>Ray after ray of light was penetrating her mind, +making her wonder she had not seen it before, and +bringing a possibility which made her brain reel for +a moment.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," Mrs. Biggs continued, "and tell me +why you think this is your mother's cloak."</p> + +<p>"I know it is," Eloise answered. "I have worn +it so many times, and once I tore a long rent in the +lining and mother darned it. It is here,—see!"</p> + +<p>She showed the place in the silk lining where a tear +had been and was mended.</p> + +<p>"For the Lord's sake, who be you?" Mrs. Biggs +exclaimed, still flourishing Tim's shirt, which she +finally dropped back into the tub, and in her excitement +came near sitting down in a pail of bluing water +instead of a chair.</p> + +<p>"I am Eloise Albertina Smith, and my father was +Homer Smith, and my mother was Eudora Harris +from Florida, and sang in concerts, and lost her +mind, and was in a private asylum in San Francisco, +and my father died, and a strange man took her +out a few months ago. I did not know where she +was, and was going to California to find her. I believe +your Mrs. Amy is she, and I am going to the +Crompton House to inquire!"</p> + +<p>"For Heaven's sake!" was Mrs. Biggs's next +ejaculation. "Harris was Amy's name before she +was called Crompton, and her name is Amy Eudora, +too; but I never heard she had a girl."</p> + +<p>"Yes, she had, and I am that girl," Eloise said, +"and I am going up there now, right off!"</p> + +<p>"You can't walk," Mrs. Biggs suggested. "That +ankle would turn before you got half way there. If +you must go,—and I believe I would,—Tim will git +a rig from the livery. Here, Tim," she called, as she +heard him whistling in the woodshed, "run to Miller's +and git a carriage and a span, quick as you can,—a +good one, too," she added, as the possibility grew +upon her that Eloise might belong to the Cromptons, +and if so, ought to go up in style.</p> + +<p>It did not take long for Tim to execute his mother's +order, and the best turn-out from Miller's stable soon +stood before the door.</p> + +<p>"I b'lieve I'll go, too. The washin' will keep, and +this won't," the widow said, beginning to change her +work-dress for a better one.</p> + +<p>Eloise was too much excited to care who went with +her, and with Mrs. Biggs she was soon driving up the +broad avenue under the stately maples to the door of +the Crompton House. Peter saw the carriage, and +thinking it came from town with callers on Amy, +went out to say she could not see them, as she was +not feeling well and was lying down.</p> + +<p>"But I must see her," Eloise said, alighting first +and brushing past him, while he stood open-mouthed +with surprise.</p> + +<p>"She thinks she is Amy's girl, and, I swan, I begin +to think so, too," Mrs. Biggs said, trying to explain +and getting things a good deal mixed, and so bewildering +the old man that he paid no attention to +Eloise, who, with the cloak on her arm, was in the +hall and saying to a maid who met her, "Take me +to Mrs. Amy."</p> + +<p>All her timidity was gone, as she gave the order +like one who felt perfectly at home.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Amy is asleep, and I don't like to disturb +her. She is unusually nervous this morning. Will +you see the Colonel instead?" the girl said, awed by +Eloise's air of authority.</p> + +<p>"My business is with Mrs. Amy, but perhaps I'd +better see Col. Crompton first," she replied.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs and Peter were in the house by this +time, and heard what Eloise was saying.</p> + +<p>"Better not," Peter began. "I don't know as +you can see him. You stay here. I'll inquire."</p> + +<p>He started up the stairs, followed by Eloise, who +had no idea of staying behind.</p> + +<p>"Wait," he said, motioning her back as he reached +the Colonel's door, and saw her close beside him. +"Let me go in first."</p> + +<p>He left the door ajar and walked into the room +where the Colonel was sitting just as he had sat the +morning before, when Jake's letter and Eloise's note +were brought to him. He had not slept at all during +the night, and was in a trembling condition, with a +feeling of numbness in his limbs which he did not +like.</p> + +<p>"Well?" he said sharply, as Peter came in, and he +saw by his face that something had happened. +"What's up now?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, but Miss Smith, the teacher," Peter +replied. "She wants to see you."</p> + +<p>"Miss Smith, the normal? Do you mean Eliza +Ann? Tell her to go away. I can't see anybody," +the Colonel said.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell her, but I'm afraid she won't go," Peter +replied, starting for the door, through which a little +figure came so swiftly as nearly to knock him down, +and Eloise, who had forgotten her lameness, stood +before the astonished Colonel, her face glowing with +excitement, and her eyes shining like stars as she +confronted him.</p> + +<p>Old as he was, the Colonel was not insensible to +female beauty, and the rare loveliness of this young +girl moved him with something like admiration, and +made his voice a little softer as he said, "Are you +Eliza Ann Smith? What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"I am not Eliza Ann," Eloise answered quickly. +"I am Eloise Albertina Smith. My father was +Homer Smith; my mother was Eudora Harris, from +Florida, a concert singer, till she lost her mind and +was put in a private asylum in San Francisco. You +took her out, and she is here. You call her Mrs. +Amy. She never told me of you. I don't know why. +She never talked much of her girlhood. I don't think +she was very happy. She sent me this cloak, and +that's how I knew she was here. I have worn it many +times when a child. I knew it in a moment, and I +have come to see her. Where is she?"</p> + +<p>This was worse than Jake's letter, and every nerve +in the Colonel's body was quivering with excitement, +and he felt as if a hundred prickly sensations were +chasing each other up and down his arms and legs, +and making his tongue thick as he tried to call for +Peter. Succeeding at last, he said faintly, "Take +this girl away before she kills me."</p> + +<p>"I shall not go," Eloise rejoined, "until I see my +mother. I tell you she is my mother. Has she never +spoken of me?"</p> + +<p>"Never," the Colonel answered. "She has talked +of a baby who died, and you are not dead."</p> + +<p>"No, but I am Baby,—her pet name for me always. +Why she should think me dead, I don't know. +Send for her, and see if she does not know me."</p> + +<p>She had come close to the trembling old man, and +put one of her hands on his cold, clammy one. He +didn't shake it off, but looked at her with an expression +in his eyes which roused her sympathy.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean any harm," she said. "I only want +my mother. Send for her, please."</p> + +<p>There was a motion of assent toward Peter, who +left the room, encountering Mrs. Biggs outside the +door. There was too much going on for her not to +have a hand in it, and she stood listening and waiting +till Amy came down the hall, her white cashmere +wrapper trailing softly behind her, and her hair coiled +under a pretty invalid cap. She had been roused +from a sound sleep, which had cleared her brain +somewhat, and when told the Colonel wished to see +her, she rose at once and started to go to him, fearing +he was worse. He heard her coming, and braced +himself up. Eloise heard her, and, with her head +thrown back and her hands clasped together, stood +waiting for her. For a moment Amy did not see her, +so absorbed was she in the expression of the Colonel, +who was watching her intently. When at last she did +see her, she started suddenly, while a strange light +leaped into her eyes. Then a wild, glad cry of +"Baby! Baby!" rang through the room, and was +answered by one of "Mother! Mother!" as the two +women sprang to each other's arms.</p> + +<p>Amy was the first to recover herself. Turning +Eloise around and examining her minutely, she said, +"I thought you dead. He told me so, and everything +has been a blank to me since."</p> + +<p>"You see she is my mother!" Eloise said to the +Colonel; "and if she is your daughter, you must be +my grandfather!"</p> + +<p>If the Colonel had been carved in stone he could +not have sat more motionless than he did, giving no +sign that he heard.</p> + +<p>"No matter! I shall find it all out for myself," +Eloise continued, as she turned again to her mother, +who was examining the red cloak as if she wondered +how it came there.</p> + +<p>The mention of "finding it out" affected the +Colonel more than anything else had done. Amy had +said the same thing to him once. She had not found +it out, but this slip of a girl would, he was sure, and +with something like a groan he sank back in his chair +with a call for Peter.</p> + +<p>"Take them away," he said huskily. "I can't bear +any more, and,—and,—the girl must stay, if Amy +wants her, and bring me a hot-water bag,—two of +them,—I was never so cold in my life."</p> + +<p>Peter nodded that he understood, and, ringing the +bell for Amy's maid, bade her take her mistress to +her room, and the young lady, too. "She is Mrs. +Amy's daughter," he added.</p> + +<p>There was no need to tell this, for Mrs. Biggs had +done her duty, and every servant in the house had +heard the news and was anxious to see the stranger. +Amy was always at her best in her own room, where +Sarah left her alone with Eloise, and hastened away +to gossip with Mrs. Biggs and Peter. The shock, +instead of making Amy worse, had for the time being +cleared her brain to some extent, so that she was +able to talk quite rationally to Eloise, whose first +question was why she had thought her dead. "I was +so homesick for you, and cried so much after you +went away that he was angry and hard with me,—very +hard,—and I said at last if he didn't send for +you I'd never sing again, and meant it, too," Amy +replied. "It was at Los Angeles on a concert night. +I must have been pretty bad, and he seemed half +afraid of me, and finally told me you were dead, and +had been for three weeks, and that he had meant to +keep it from me till the season was over. I believed +him, and something snapped in my head and let in a +pain and noise which have never left it; but they will +now I have found you. I went before the footlights +once that night, and the stage was full of coffins in +which you lay, and I saw the little grave in the New +England cemetery where he said you were buried. At +last I fainted, and have never sung again. They were +very kind to me at Dr. Haynes's, where he came often +to see me till I heard he was dead. I was not sorry; +he had been so,—so—I can't explain."</p> + +<p>"I know," Eloise said, remembering her father's +manner toward this weak, timid woman, who went +on: "Then Col. Crompton came and brought me +home. I used to live here years ago and called him +father, till he said he was not my father. I never +told you of him, or that this was once my home, +although I described the place to you as something +I had seen. If he were not my father I did not want +to know who was, and did not want to talk about it, +and after I married Mr. Smith it was very dreadful. +He hated the Colonel when he found he could not get +money from him, and sometimes taunted me with my +birth, saying I was a Harris and a Cracker; but the +cruelest of all was telling me you were dead. Why +did he do it?"</p> + +<p>"I think your fretting for me irritated him, and he +feared you might never sing again unless he sent for +me, and he did not want me," Eloise said. "He never +wanted me. He was a bad man, and I could not feel +sorry when he died."</p> + +<p>"You needn't," Amy exclaimed excitedly, and, +getting up she began to walk the floor as she continued, +"It is time things were cleared up. I am not +afraid of him now, although I was when he was living. +He broke all the spirit I had, till the sound of his +voice when he was angry made me shake. Thank +God he was not your father! there has been a lie all +the time, and that wore upon me. Your father,—Adolph +Candida,—is lying in the Protestant burying-ground +in Rome."</p> + +<p>Grasping her mother's arm Eloise cried, "Oh, +mother, what is this you are saying, and why have I +never heard it before?"</p> + +<p>Amy had been tolerably clear in her conversation +up to this point, but she was getting tired, and it was +a long, rambling story she told, with many digressions +and much irrelevant matter, but Eloise managed +to follow her and get a fairly correct version of +the truth. Candida, whom Amy loved devotedly, and +with whom she had been very happy, had died after a +brief illness when Eloise was an infant. Homer +Smith, the handsome American, who had attached +himself to the Candidas, was very kind to the young +widow, whom he induced to marry him, and to let +her little girl take his name.</p> + +<p>"I don't know why I did that," Amy said; "only +he always made me do what he pleased, and he pretended +to love you so much, and he didn't want his +friends to know he was my second husband when he +came to America. I couldn't understand that, but I +yielded, as I did in everything. He seemed to hate +the name of Candida, and was jealous of him in his +grave, and would never let me speak of him. I think +he was crazy, and he said I was, and shut me up. He +once wrote to Col. Crompton for money and got a +dreadful letter, telling him to go to that place where +I am afraid he has gone, and saying I was welcome +to come home any time, if I would leave the singing +master. There was a bad word before the 'singing,' +which I can't speak. I meant to go home some time +and take you with me. I hated the stage, and the +pain got in my head, and I forgot so many things +after he said you were dead, but never forgot you, +although I didn't talk about you much. I couldn't, +for a bunch came in my throat and choked me, and +my head seemed to open and shut on the top when +I thought of you. Col. Crompton has been very +kind to me since I came. I think now he is my +father. I asked him once, and he said, No. I believed +him then, and accepted in my mind some Mr. +Harris, for I knew my mother was a true woman. +We will find it all out, you and I."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Eloise replied, "and the pain will go away, +and you will tell me more of my own father. I know +now why I never could feel a daughter's love for the +other one. Does grandmother know? She was always +kind to me, and I love her."</p> + +<p>Amy shook her head, and said, "I think not, but +am not sure. It will be clearer by and by. I must +sleep now."</p> + +<p>When she was tired she always slept, and, adjusting +the cushions on the sofa, Eloise made her lie +down, and spread over her the little red cloak which +had been the means of bringing them together.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's right. Cover me with the dear old +cloak Jakey gave me," Amy said sleepily. "You'll +help me find him."</p> + +<p>Eloise didn't know who Jakey was, or what connection +he had with the cloak; but she answered +promptly, "Yes, I'll help you find him and everything."</p> + +<p>Thus reassured, Amy fell asleep, while Eloise sat +by her until startled by the entrance of Mrs. Biggs. +That worthy woman had been busy telling the servants +everything she knew about Eloise since she +came to Crompton, and that she had always mistrusted +she was somebody out of the common. +Then, as Eloise did not appear, and the carriage +from Miller's was still waiting at a dollar and a half +an hour, it occurred to her that if Eloise should not +prove to be somebody out of the common she would +have to pay the bill, as she had ordered the turn-out. +Going to Amy's room, she walked in unannounced, +and asked, "Be you goin' home with me, or goin' +to stay?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what I am to do," Eloise said, starting +to her feet.</p> + +<p>Amy decided for her. Mrs. Biggs had roused +her, and, hearing what was wanted, she protested +so vehemently against Eloise's leaving her even for +an hour, that Mrs. Biggs departed without her, +thinking to herself as she rode in state behind the +fleet horses, "It beats the Dutch what luck some +folks have. I've lost my boarder, and Ruby Ann +has got the school, just as I knew she would, and +mebby I'll have to pay for the rig. I wonder how +long I've had it."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/> +THE SHADOW OF DEATH</h2> + +<p>This was on Saturday, and by Monday the whole +town of Crompton, from District No. 5 to the village +on the seashore, was buzzing with the news told +eagerly from one to another. The young girl who +had sprained her ankle while coming to take charge +of the school in District No. 5 had, it was told, turned +out to be the daughter of Mrs. Amy, and was at the +Crompton House with her mother, who had thought +her dead. This some believed and some did not, +until assured by Mrs. Biggs, who, having done her +washing on Saturday, was free on Monday to call +upon her neighbors and repeat the story over and +over, ending always with, "I mistrusted from the +first that she was somebody."</p> + +<p>The second piece of news was scarcely less exciting, +but sad. After his interview with Eloise, the +Colonel had complained of nausea and faintness, and +had gone early to bed. Before going, however, he +had asked if Eliza Ann were still in the house. An +idea once lodged in his brain was apt to stay, and +Eliza Ann had taken too strong a hold upon his +senses to be easily removed.</p> + +<p>"Bring her here," he said.</p> + +<p>She came at once and asked what she could do for +him.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," he said. "You seem to be lame."</p> + +<p>He had evidently forgotten about the accident, +and Eloise did not remind him of it, but sat down +while he catechised her with regard to what she had +told him of herself. Some of his comments on +Homer Smith were not very complimentary, and +this emboldened Eloise to tell him who her real +father was.</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" he said emphatically. "I'm glad +you are not that rascal's, and because you are not +you can stay with Amy and fare as she fares. But +why did she think you dead?"</p> + +<p>Eloise told him all she thought necessary to tell +him, while his face grew purple with anger, and his +clenched fists beat the air as if attacking an imaginary +Homer Smith.</p> + +<p>"It's a comfort to know, if there is a God—and I +know there is—he is getting his deserts," he said. +Then, as his mood changed, he continued, "And you +are the little normal I didn't want, and you board +with Mrs. Biggs?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Eloise replied. "I am the normal you did +not want, and I board with Mrs. Biggs, where I heard +a great deal of Mrs. Amy, as they call her. I must +have a slow, stupid mind, or I should have suspected +who she was. I never heard the name Harris connected +with her. If I had I should have known. It +is so clear to me now."</p> + +<p>The Colonel looked at her a moment, and then +said, "If you are Amy's daughter you are a Harris, +and they are queer, with slow minds,—and now go. +I am infernally tired, and cannot keep up much +longer."</p> + +<p>He moved his hand toward her, and Eloise took +it and pressed it to her lips.</p> + +<p>"D-don't," the Colonel said, but held fast to the +soft, warm hand clasping his. "If one's life could +roll back," he added, more to himself than to Eloise, +as his head dropped wearily upon his breast, and he +whispered, "I am sorry for a great deal. God +knows I am sorry. Call Peter."</p> + +<p>The old servant came and got him to bed, and sat +by him most of the night. Toward morning, finding +that he was sleeping quietly, he, too, lay down +and slept until the early sun was shining into the +room. Waking with a start, he hurried to his master's +side, to find him with wide-open eyes full of terror +as he tried to ask what had happened to him. +All power to move except his head was gone, and +when he tried to talk his lips gave only inarticulate +sounds which no one could understand.</p> + +<p>"Paralysis," the doctor said when summoned. +"I have expected it a long time," he continued, and +would give no hope to Amy and Eloise, who hastened +to the sick-room.</p> + +<p>The moment they came in the Colonel's eyes +brightened, and when Amy stooped and kissed him +he tried to kiss her back. Then he fixed his eyes on +Eloise with a questioning glance, which made her +say to him, "Do you know me?"</p> + +<p>He struggled hard for a moment, and then replied, +"Yesh, 'Lisha Ann! Stay!" and those were the +only really intelligible words he ever spoke.</p> + +<p>They telegraphed to Worcester for Howard, and +learning that he was in Boston, telegraphed there, +and found him at the Vendome. "Come at once. +Your uncle is dying," the telegram said, and Howard +read it with a sensation for which he hated himself, +and which he could not entirely shake off. He tried +to believe he did not want his uncle to die, but if he +did die, what might it not do for him, the only direct +heir, if Amy were not a lawful daughter? And he +did not believe she was. She had not been adopted, +and he had never heard of a will, and before he was +aware of it a feeling that he was master of Crompton +Place crept over him. Amy would live there, of +course, just as she did now, even if he should marry, +as he might, and there came up before him the memory +of a rainy night and a helpless little girl sitting +on a mound of stones and dirt and crying with fear +and pain. He had seen Jack's interest in Eloise +with outward indifference, but with a growing jealousy +he was too proud to show. He admired her +greatly, and thought that under some circumstances +he might love her. As a Crompton he ought to look +higher, and if he proved to be the heir it would never +do to think of her even if Jack were not in his way. +All this passed like lightning through his mind as he +read the telegram and handed it to Jack, who, he insisted, +should return with him to Crompton.</p> + +<p>"I feel awfully shaky, and I want you there if +anything happens," he said, while Jack, whose first +thought had been that he would be in the way, was +not loath to go.</p> + +<p>Eloise was in Crompton, and ever since he left it, +a thought of her had been in his mind.</p> + +<p>"If I find her as sweet and lovely as I left her, I'll +ask her to be my wife, and take her away from Mrs. +Biggs," he was thinking as the train sped on over +the New England hills toward Crompton, which it +reached about two P.M.</p> + +<p>Peter was at the station with Sam, and to Howard's +eager questions answered, "Pretty bad. No +change since morning. Don't seem to know anybody +except Mrs. Amy and Miss Eloise. She's with +him all the time, and he tries to smile when she speaks +to him."</p> + +<p>"Who?" both the young men asked in the same +breath, and Peter told them all he knew of the matter +during the rapid drive to the house.</p> + +<p>Howard was incredulous, and made Peter repeat +the story twice, while his brain worked rapidly with +a presentiment that this new complication might +prove adverse to him.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it?" he asked Jack, who +replied, "I see no reason to doubt it," and he was +conscious of a pang of regret that he had not asked +Eloise to be his wife before her changed circumstances.</p> + +<p>"She would then know that I loved her for herself, +and not for any family relations," he thought.</p> + +<p>He had no doubt that Amy was Col. Crompton's +daughter, and if so, Eloise's position would be very +different from what it had been.</p> + +<p>"I'll wait the course of events, as this is no time +for love-making," he decided, as they drove up to +the door, from which the doctor was just emerging.</p> + +<p>"Matter of a few hours," he said to Howard. "I +am glad you have come. Evidently he wants to see +you, or wants something, nobody can make out what. +You have heard the news?"</p> + +<p>Howard bowed, and entering the house, ran up +to his uncle's room. The Colonel was propped on +pillows, laboring for breath, and trying to articulate +words impossible to speak, while, if ever eyes talked, +his were talking, first to Amy and then to Eloise, both +of whom were beside him, Amy smoothing his hair +and Eloise rubbing his cold hands.</p> + +<p>They had been with him for hours, trying to understand +him as he struggled to speak.</p> + +<p>"There is something he wants to tell us," Eloise +said, and in his eyes there was a look of affirmation, +while the lips tried in vain to frame the words, which +were only gurgling sounds.</p> + +<p>What did the dying man want to say? Was he +trying to reveal a secret kept so many years, and +which was planting his pillow with thorns? Was he +back in the palmetto clearing, standing in the moonlight +with Dora, and exacting a promise from her +which broke her heart? No one could guess, and +least of all the two women ministering to him so +tenderly,—Amy, because she loved him, and Eloise, +because she felt that he was more to her than a mere +stranger. She was very quiet and self-contained. +The events of the last two days had transformed her +from a timid girl into a fearless woman, ready to +fight for her own rights and those of her mother. +Once when Amy was from the room a moment she +bent close to the Colonel and said, "You are my +mother's father?"</p> + +<p>There was a choking sound and an attempt to +move the head which Eloise took for assent.</p> + +<p>"Then you are my grandfather?" she added.</p> + +<p>This time she was sure he nodded, and she said, "It +will all be right. You can rest now," but he didn't +rest.</p> + +<p>There was more on his mind which he could not +tell.</p> + +<p>"I believe it is Mr. Howard," Eloise thought, and +said to him, "He is coming on the next train. I +hear it now. He will soon be here. Is that what +you want?"</p> + +<p>The dying man turned his head wearily. There +was more besides Howard he wanted, but when at +last the young man came into the room, his eyes +shone with a look of pleased recognition, and he +tried to speak a welcome. In the hall outside Jack +was waiting, and as Eloise passed out he gave her his +hand, and leading her to a settee, sat down beside +her, and told her how glad he was for the news he +had heard of her, but feeling the while that he did +not know whether he were glad or not. She had +never looked fairer or sweeter to him than she did +now, and yet there was a difference which he detected, +and which troubled him. It would have been +easy to say "I love you," to the helpless little school-teacher +at Mrs. Biggs's, and he wished now he had +done so, and not waited till she became a daughter +of the Crompton House, as he believed she was. +Now he could only look his love into the eyes which +fell beneath his gaze, as he held her hand and questioned +her of the Colonel's sudden attack, and the +means by which she had discovered her relationship +to Amy.</p> + +<p>Again he repeated, "I am so glad for you," and +might have said more if Howard had not stepped +into the hall, his face clouded and anxious.</p> + +<p>"He wants you, I think," he said to Eloise. "At +least he wants something,—I don't know what."</p> + +<p>Eloise went to him at once, and again there was +a painful effort to speak. But whatever he would +say was never said, and after a little the palsied +tongue ceased trying to articulate, and only his +eyes showed how clear his reason was to the last. +If there was sorrow for the past, he could not express +it. If thoughts of the palmetto clearing were +in his mind, no one knew it. All that could be +guessed at was that he wanted Amy and Eloise with +him.</p> + +<p>"Call him father. I think he will like it," Eloise +said to her mother, while Howard looked up quickly, +and to Peter, who was present, it seemed as if a frown +settled on his face as a smile flickered around the +Colonel's mouth at the sound of the name Amy had +not given him since she came from California.</p> + +<p>All the afternoon and evening they watched him, +as his breathing grew shorter and the heavy lids fell +over the eyes, which, until they closed, rested upon +Amy, who held his hand and spoke to him occasionally, +calling him father, and asking if he knew her. +To the very last he responded to the question with +a quivering of the lids when he could no longer lift +them, and when the clock on the stairs struck twelve, +the physician who was present said to Eloise, "Take +your mother away; he is dead."</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br/> +LOOKING FOR A WILL</h2> + +<p>For three days the Colonel lay in the great drawing-room +of the Crompton House, the blinds of +which were closed, while knots of crape streamed +from every door, and the servants talked together +in low tones, sometimes of the dead man and sometimes +of the future, wondering who would be master +now of Crompton Place. Speculation on this point +was rife everywhere, and on no one had it a stronger +hold than on Howard himself. He would not like +to have had it known that within twenty-four hours +after his uncle's death he had gone through every +pigeon-hole and nook in the Colonel's safe and private +drawers, and turned over every paper searching +for a will, and when he found none, had congratulated +himself that in all human probability he +was the sole heir. He was very properly sad, with +an unmistakable air of ownership as he went about +the place, giving orders to the servants. To Amy +he paid great deference, telling the undertaker to +ask what she liked and abide by her decisions. And +here he was perfectly safe. With the shock of the +Colonel's death Amy had relapsed into a dazed, +silent mood, saying always, "I don't know; ask +Eloise," and when Eloise was asked, she replied, "I +have been here too short a time to give any orders. +Mr. Howard will tell you."</p> + +<p>Thus everything was left to him, as he meant it +should be, stipulating that Eloise meet the people +who came, some to offer their sympathy, and more +from a morbid curiosity to see whatever there was +to be seen. This Eloise did with a dignity which +surprised herself, and if Howard were the master, +she was the mistress, and apparently as much at +home as if she had lived there all her life. Ruby +was the first to call. She had not seen Eloise since +the astounding news that she was Amy's daughter.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad for you," she said, and the first tears +Eloise had shed sprang to her eyes as she laid her +head on Ruby's arm, just as she had done in the days +of her trouble and pain.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Biggs came, too,—very loud in her protestations +of delight and assertions that she had always +known Eloise was above the common.</p> + +<p>Never since the memorable lawn party many years +ago had there been so great a crowd in the house and +grounds as on the day of the funeral. In honor of +his memory, and because he had given the school-house +to the town, the school was closed, and the +pupils, with Ruby Ann at their head, marched up the +avenue with wreaths of autumn leaves and bouquets +of flowers intended for the grave. The Rev. Arthur +Mason read the burial service, and as he glanced at +the costly casket, nearly smothered in flowers, and +at the crowd inside and out, he could not keep his +thoughts from his father's description of another +funeral, where the dead woman lay in her cheap +coffin, with Crackers and negroes as spectators; and +only a demented woman, a little child, and black +Jake and Mandy Ann as mourners. The mourners +here were Amy and Howard, Eloise and Jack, and +next to him a plain-looking, elderly woman, who, +Mrs. Biggs told every one near her, was old Mrs. +Smith, Eloise's supposed grandmother from Mayville.</p> + +<p>Eloise had sent for her, and while telling the story +of deception and wrong which had been practised +so long, and to which the mother listened with +streaming eyes, she had said, "But it makes no difference +with us. You are mine just the same, and +wherever I live in the future, you are to live, too, +if you will."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Smith had smiled upon the young girl, and +felt bewildered and strange in this grand house and +at this grand funeral, unlike anything she had ever +seen. It seemed like an endless line of carriages and +foot passengers which followed the Colonel to the +grave, and when the services were over, a few friends +of the Colonel, who had come from a distance, returned +to the house, and among them Mr. Ferris, +the lawyer, who had been the Colonel's counsel and +adviser for years, and managed his affairs. This +was Howard's idea. He could not rest until he knew +whether there was in the lawyer's possession any will +or papers bearing upon Amy. When lunch was over +he took the old man into his uncle's library, and said, +hesitatingly, "I do not want to be too hasty, but it +is better to have such matters settled, and if I have +no interest in the Crompton estate I must leave, of +course. Did my uncle leave a will?"</p> + +<p>Lawyer Ferris looked at him keenly through his +glasses, took a huge pinch of snuff, and blew a good +deal of it from him and some in Howard's face, making +him sneeze before he replied, "Not that I know +of; more's the pity. I tried my best to have him +make one. The last time I urged it he said, 'There's +no need. I've fixed it. Amy will be all right.' I +was thinking of her. If there is no will, and she +wasn't adopted and wasn't his daughter, it's hard +lines for her."</p> + +<p>"But she was his daughter," came in a clear, decided +voice, and both the lawyer and Howard turned +to see Eloise standing in the door.</p> + +<p>Rain was beginning to fall, and she had come to +close a window, with no thought that any one was +in the library, until she heard the lawyer's last words, +which stopped her suddenly. Where her mother +was concerned she could be very brave, and, stepping +into the room, she startled the two men with her assertion, +"She was his daughter."</p> + +<p>"He told me so," she continued.</p> + +<p>"He did? When?" Howard asked, and Eloise +replied, "I asked him, and his eyes looked yes, and +when I said, 'You are my grandfather?' I was very +sure he nodded. I know he meant it."</p> + +<p>The lawyer smiled and answered her, "That is +something, but not enough. We must have a will +or some document. He might have been your +mother's father. I think he was; and still, she may +not be—be—"</p> + +<p>He hesitated, for Eloise's eyes were fixed upon +him, and the hot blood of shame was crimsoning +her face. After a moment he continued, "A will can +set things right; or, if we can prove a marriage, all +will be fair sailing for your mother and you."</p> + +<p>"I was not thinking of myself," Eloise returned. +"I am thinking of mother. I know all the dreadful +gossip and everything. Mrs. Biggs has told me, and +I am going to find out. Somebody knows, and I +shall find them."</p> + +<p>She looked very fearless as she left the room, and +Howard felt that she would be no weak antagonist +if he wanted to contest his right to the estate. But +he didn't, he told himself, and Mr. Ferris, too. He +was willing to abide by the law. If there was a will +he'd like to find it; and, in any case, should be generous +to Amy and—Eloise!</p> + +<p>"No doubt of it," the lawyer said, looking at him +now over his spectacles, and taking a second pinch +of snuff preparatory to the search among the dead +man's papers, which Howard suggested that he +make.</p> + +<p>Every place Howard had gone through was gone +through again,—every paper unfolded and every +envelope looked into. There was no will or scrap +of writing bearing upon Amy. There were some +receipts from Tom Hardy, of Palatka, for money +received from the Colonel and paid over to Eudora +Harris, and at these the lawyer looked curiously.</p> + +<p>"Harris was the name Amy sometimes went by +before her marriage, I believe," he said. "Eudora +was probably her mother. Now, if we can find Tom +Hardy we may learn something. Shall I write to +Palatka and inquire?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly," Howard replied, with a choke in his +throat which he managed to hide from the lawyer.</p> + +<p>He didn't mean to be a scoundrel. He only +wanted his own, and he meant to do right if chance +made him master of Crompton, he said to himself, +as he went to the drawing-room, where Jack and +Eloise were sitting with a few friends who seemed +to be waiting for something. Ruby and Mrs. Biggs, +who, on the strength of their intimacy with Eloise, +had remained in the house while the family was at +the grave, were there, evidently expectant. It was +not Howard's idea to broach the subject at once. +He wanted to talk it over with Jack and Eloise, and +make himself right with them. The lawyer had no +such scruples. He had read wills after many funerals, +and now that there was none to read, he spoke +up:</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry I can't oblige +you, but there ain't any will as we can find, and nothing +to show who Mrs. Amy is, and matters must rest +for a spell as they are. Meanwhile, Mr. Howard +Crompton, as the Colonel's nephew and only known +heir, must take charge of things."</p> + +<p>Eloise's face flushed, and Jack, who stole a look at +her, saw that her hands trembled a little. No one +spoke until Mrs. Biggs rose and said, "'Squire Ferris, +if no will ain't found, and nothin' is proved for +Mrs. Amy,—adoption nor nothin',—you know what +I mean,—can't she inherit?"</p> + +<p>"Not a cent!" was the reply.</p> + +<p>"You mean she'll have nothin'?"</p> + +<p>"Legally nothing!"</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Howard will have everything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, everything, as he is sole heir and next of +kin."</p> + +<p>"Get out with your 'sole heir and next of kin' +and law!" Mrs. Biggs exclaimed vehemently. "There +ain't no justice in law. Look a-here, Squire; when +women vote we'll have things different. Here is +Amy, been used to them elegancies all her life." She +swept her arm around the room, and, still keeping +it poised, continued: "And now she's to be turned +out because there ain't no will and you can't prove +nothin'! And that's law! It makes me so mad! +Who is goin' to take care of her, I'd like to know?"</p> + +<p>"I am!" and Eloise sprang to her feet, the central +figure now in the room. "I shall take care of +my mother! I don't care for the will, nor anything, +except to prove that she is Col. Crompton's legitimate +daughter, and that I will do. I am going +where she was born, if I can find the place, and take +her with me. I am not very lame now, and I would +start to-morrow if—"</p> + +<p>She stopped, remembering that in her purse were +only two and one half dollars, and this she owed to +Mrs. Biggs for board; then her eyes fell upon +Ruby, the friend who had stood by her in her need, +and who had been the first to congratulate her on +finding her mother. Ruby had offered her money +for the journey to California, and something in +Ruby's face told her it was still ready for her, and +she went on: "I was foolish enough to think Crompton +Place was her rightful home, and be glad for her, +but if it is not, I shall take her away at once. No +one need worry about mother! I shall care for her."</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" Mrs. Biggs rejoined, as Eloise sank +back in her chair. "That's what I call pluck! Law, +indeed! It makes me so mad! You can fetch her +to my house any minit. Your old room is ready +for you, and I won't charge a cent till you find something +to do and can pay. Maybe Ruby'll give up +the school. Won't you, Ruby Ann?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, if she wishes it," Ruby answered, and +going over to Eloise, she said, "You are a brave +little girl, and the money is still waiting for you if +you want it."</p> + +<p>As for Jack, he was ready to lay himself at her +feet, but all he could do then was to say to Ruby, +"Perhaps Miss Smith had better go to her room; +she seems tired," and taking her arm, he went with +her to the door, which Howard opened for her. +That young man did not feel very comfortable, and +as soon as Eloise was gone he said to the inmates of +the room, "If any of you think me such a cad as to +turn Mrs. Amy and her daughter from the house, or +to allow them to go, you are mistaken. If it should +prove that I am master here, they will share with me. +I can do no more."</p> + +<p>"Good for you!" Jack said, wringing Howard's +hand, while the party began to break up, as it was +time for those who lived at a distance to take the +train.</p> + +<p>Among those who arose to go was the Rev. Arthur +Mason, whom Howard had asked to lunch +after the burial. As he left the house he said to Jack, +who stood for a moment with him on the piazza, +"Please say to Miss Smith that I can direct her to +her mother's birthplace in Florida. My father is +preaching there."</p> + +<p>"Thanks! I will tell her," Jack replied, in some +surprise, and then went in to where Howard was +standing, with an expression on his face not quite +such as one ought to have when he has just come +into possession of a fortune.</p> + +<p>"I congratulate you, old boy," Jack said cheerily, +as he went up to him.</p> + +<p>"Don't!" Howard answered impetuously. +"Nothing is sure. A will may be found, or my +uncle's marriage proved; in either case, I sink back +into the cipher I was before. I cannot say I'm not +glad to have money, but I don't want people blaming +me. I can't help it if my uncle made no will +and did not marry Amy's mother, and I don't believe +he did, or why was he silent so many years?"</p> + +<p>Jack could not answer him and left the room, taking +his way, he hardly knew why, to the village, +where he fell in again with the rector. To talk of +the recent events at the Crompton House was natural, +and before they parted Jack knew the contents +of the Rev. Charles's letter to his son, and in his +mind there was no doubt of a secret marriage and +Amy's legitimacy.</p> + +<p>"It will be hard on Howard," he thought, "but +Amy ought to have her rights,—and,—Eloise! And +she shall!" he added, as he retraced his steps to the +Crompton House.</p> + +<p>Chancing to be alone with her, he told her in part +what he had heard from the rector, keeping back +everything pertaining to the poverty of the surroundings, +and speaking mostly of Jakey and Mandy +Ann, whom Amy might remember.</p> + +<p>"She does," Eloise replied, "and at every mention +of them her brain seems to get clearer. Peter +has brought me a copy of a letter which Col. Crompton +received from Jake just before he went for my +mother, and which he has kept all these years. It +may help me to find whatever there is to be found, +good or bad." She handed him the copy, and continued, +"The letter was mailed in Palatka, but from +what you tell me, Jakey is farther up the river. +Shall I have any trouble in finding him, do you +think?"</p> + +<p>"None whatever," Jack replied, a plan rapidly +maturing in his mind as to what he would do if +Eloise persisted in going to Florida. "Better leave +your mother here," he said, when she told him of her +determination to unravel the mystery.</p> + +<p>"No," she answered. "Mother must go. I expect +much from a sight of her old home and Jakey."</p> + +<p>Jack shivered as he recalled the Rev. Charles Mason's +picture of that home, but he would not enlighten +her. She must guess something from Jakey's +note to the Colonel, he thought. Evidently she did, +for she asked him what a Cracker was.</p> + +<p>"I ought to know, of course, and have some idea," +she said. "I asked mother, and she said she was +one. What did she mean?"</p> + +<p>"If you go to Florida you will probably learn +what a Cracker is," Jack replied, as he bade her +good-night, pitying her for what he knew was in +store for her.</p> + +<p>The next day a telegram from New York called +him to the city. But before he went he had an interview +with Ruby with regard to the journey which +Eloise was designing to take as soon as her mother +should have recovered from the shock of the Colonel's +death.</p> + +<p>For a few days after his departure matters moved +on quietly at the Crompton House, where Howard +assumed the head unostentatiously, and without +giving offence to any of the servants. The Crompton +estate, as reported to him by Lawyer Ferris, was +larger than he had supposed, and if it were his he +would be a richer man than he had ever hoped to be. +He liked money, and what it would bring him, and +if he had been sure of his foothold he would have +been very happy. And he was nearly sure. There +was no will in the house, he was certain, for he had +gone a second and third time through every place +where one could possibly have been put, and found +nothing. He was safe there, and as he did not know +all which Mr. Mason had written to his son, he did +not greatly fear the result of Eloise's trip to the +South, which he thought a foolish undertaking. +But she was bent upon going and the day was fixed. +Grandmother Smith had returned home to await +developments. Amy was ready. Eloise's lameness +was nearly gone, "And to-morrow we start," she +said to him one evening, when, after dinner, she +joined him in the library, where he spent most of his +time.</p> + +<p>Every day since his uncle's death, and he had seen +so much of Eloise, Howard's interest in her had increased, +until it amounted to a passion, if not positive +love. Jack was a formidable rival, he knew, +but now that he was probably master of Crompton +Place, where her mother would be happier than +elsewhere, she might think favorably of him. At +all events he'd take the chance, and now was his +time. Looking up quickly as she came in, and +drawing a chair close to him for her, he said, "Sit +down a moment while I talk to you." She sat +down, and he continued, "I wish you would give +up this journey, which can only end in disappointment. +I have no idea there was a marriage, or that +you could prove it if there was. My uncle was not +a brute. He loved Amy, and would not have kept +silent till he died if she had been his legitimate +daughter. Give up the project. I will gladly share +the fortune with you, and be a son to your mother. +Will you, Eloise? I must call you that, and I ask +you to be my wife. It is not so sudden as you may +think," he continued, as he saw her look of surprise. +"I do not show all I feel. I admired you from the +first, but Jack seemed to be ahead, and I gave way +to him, not understanding until within the last few +days how much you were to me. I love you, and +ask you again to be my wife."</p> + +<p>He had one of her hands in his, but it was cold +and pulseless, and it seemed to him it told her answer +before she said, very kindly, as if sorry to give +him pain:</p> + +<p>"I believe you are my cousin, or, rather, my mother's, +and I can esteem you as such, but I cannot be +your wife."</p> + +<p>"Because you love Jack Harcourt, I suppose," +Howard said, a little bitterly, and Eloise replied, "I +do not think we should bring Mr. Harcourt into the +discussion. When he asks me to be his wife it will +be time to know whether I love him or not. I cannot +marry you."</p> + +<p>She arose to go, while Howard tried to detain her, +feeling every moment how his love was growing for +this girl who had so recently come into his life, and +was crossing his path, as he had felt she would when +he first heard of her from his uncle, and had promised +to sound her as to her fitness for a teacher. +There had been no need for that; his uncle was dead, +and she was going from him, perhaps to return as a +usurper.</p> + +<p>"Eloise," he said again, with more feeling in his +voice than when he first spoke, "you must listen to +me. I cannot give you up. I would rather lose +Crompton, if it is mine, than to lose you."</p> + +<p>Rising to his feet, he took her face between his +hands and kissed it passionately.</p> + +<p>"How dare you!" she said, wresting herself from +him.</p> + +<p>"Because I dare! Jack may have the second +kiss, but I have had the first," he replied. Then his +manner changed, and he said, entreatingly, "Forgive +me, Eloise, I was beside myself for a moment. +Don't give me an answer now. Think of what I +have said while you are gone, if you will go; and if +you fail, remember this is your home and your mother's, +just as much as it will be if you succeed. Promise +me you will come back here whatever happens. +You will come?"</p> + +<p>"For a time, yes; till I know what to do if I fail," +she replied.</p> + +<p>Then she went out and left him alone, to go again +through the pigeon-holes and drawers and shelves +he had been through so often and found nothing.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/> +IN FLORIDA</h2> + +<p>The Boston train was steaming into the Central +Station in New York, and Eloise was gathering up +her satchels and wraps, and looking anxiously out +into the deepening twilight, wondering if the cars +would be gone from the Jersey side, and what she +should do if they were. She had intended taking a +train which reached New York earlier, but there was +some mistake in her reading of the time-table, and +now it was growing dark, and for a moment her +courage began to fail her, and she half wished herself +back in Crompton, where every one had been so +kind to her, and where every one had looked upon +the journey as useless, except the rector and Ruby. +These had encouraged her to go, and Ruby had furnished +the money and had been very hopeful, and +told her there was nothing to fear even in New York, +which Eloise dreaded the most. Howard had seen +her to the train and got her seats in the parlor car, +and said to her, as he had once before:</p> + +<p>"I'd like to offer you money, but you say you have +enough."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," Eloise answered; "more than enough. +Ruby has been so kind."</p> + +<p>Then he said good-by, and went back to the house, +which seemed empty and desolate.</p> + +<p>"I ought at least to have gone to New York with +them, but that little girl is so proud and independent, +I dare say she would not have let me," he said to +himself, and all day his thoughts followed them, +until by some clairvoyant process he seemed to see +them at the station alone and afraid, just as for a +short time Eloise was afraid and wished she had not +come.</p> + +<p>Then, rallying, she said to herself, "This won't +do. I must keep up," and she helped her mother +from the car, and began to walk through the long +station toward the street. Only half the distance +had been gone over when a hand was laid upon her +shoulder, and a voice which made her heart bound +with delight, said to her, "Here you are! I was +afraid I had missed you in the crowd."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Harcourt, I am so glad! How did you +know we were coming?" Eloise exclaimed, her +gladness showing in her eyes and sounding in her +voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I knew," Jack answered, taking her satchel +and wraps and umbrella from her, and giving his disengaged +arm to her mother. "I have a friend at +court who lets me know what is going to happen. +It is Ruby. She telegraphed."</p> + +<p>Calling a carriage, which was evidently waiting for +him, Jack put the ladies into it, attended to the baggage, +and then sprang in himself. With him opposite +her, Eloise felt no further responsibility. Everything +would be right, she was sure, and it was. They +were in time for the south-bound train, and after a +word with the porter, were ushered into a drawing-room +compartment, which Jack said was to be theirs +during the long journey.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," Eloise said. "It is large and comfortable, +and away from the people, but I'm afraid +it costs too much."</p> + +<p>"It's all right," Jack answered, beginning to remove +Amy's jacket, with an air of being at home.</p> + +<p>Just then Eloise glanced from the window and saw +they were moving.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Harcourt!" she screamed. "We have +started! You will be carried off! Do hurry!"</p> + +<p>She put both hands on his arm to force him from +the room, while he laughed and said, "Did you +think I would let you go to Florida alone? I am +going with you. I have a section all to myself outside, +where you can sit when you are tired in here. +Are you sorry?"</p> + +<p>"Sorry!" she repeated. "I was never so glad +in my life. But are you sure you ought to go? Is +it right?"</p> + +<p>"You mean proper? Perfectly!" he answered. +"Your mother is with us. Your friend Ruby knows +I am going, and Mr. Mason, and Mrs. Biggs, and +everybody else by this time. It's all right. Mrs. +Grundy will approve."</p> + +<p>Eloise was too happy to care for Mrs. Grundy, +and her happiness increased with every hour which +brought her nearer to Florida, and she saw more +and more how thoroughly kind and thoughtful Jack +was. Sometimes he sat with her and her mother +in the compartment he had engaged for them, but +oftener when Amy was resting she sat with him in +his section, planning what she was to do first when +Florida was reached, and how she was to find Jakey. +Jack knew exactly what to do, but he liked to listen +to her and watch the expression of her face, which +seemed to him to grow more beautiful every hour. +On the last evening they were to be upon the road, +she was sitting with him just before the car lamps +were lighted, and he said to her, "Suppose you don't +succeed? What will you do?"</p> + +<p>For a moment Eloise was silent; then she replied, +"I shall take mother home to my grandmother's. +I call her that still, although you know she is not +really mine, but I love her just the same, and shall +take care of her and mother. I can do it. Ruby +will let me have the school, I am sure, if I ask her, +but I couldn't take it from her now. I can get another +somewhere, or if not a school, I can find something +to do. I am not afraid of work."</p> + +<p>She was trying to be very brave, but there was a +pathetic look in her face which moved Jack strangely. +Her hands were lying in her lap, and taking the one +nearest to him, he said, "Eloise, I'll tell you what +you are going to do, whether you succeed or not. +You are going to be my wife! Yes, my wife!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Harcourt!" Eloise exclaimed, trying to +withdraw her hand from him.</p> + +<p>But he only held it closer, while he said, "Don't +Mr. Harcourt me! Call me Jack, and I shall know +you assent. I think I have loved you ever since I +saw you on the rostrum in Mayville,—at any rate, +ever since that stormy night when you came near +being killed. I did not mean to speak here in the +car, but I am glad I have settled it."</p> + +<p>He was taking her consent for granted, and was +squeezing her hand until she said involuntarily, "Oh, +Jack, you hurt me!"</p> + +<p>Then he dropped it and, stooping, kissed her, saying, +"I am answered. You have called me Jack. +You are mine,—my little wife,—the dearest a man +ever had."</p> + +<p>He kissed her again, while she whispered, "Oh, +Jack, how can you, with all the people looking on? +and it isn't very dark yet."</p> + +<p>"There are not many to look on, and they are in +front of us, and I don't care if the whole world sees +me," Jack replied, passing his arm around her and +drawing her close to him.</p> + +<p>"You must not, right here in the car; besides that, +I haven't told you I would," she said, making an +effort to free herself from him, as the porter began to +light the lamps.</p> + +<p>He was satisfied with her answer, and kept his arm +around her in the face of the porter, who was too +much accustomed to such scenes to pay any attention +to this particular one. He had spotted them +as lovers from the first and was not surprised, but +when eleven o'clock came and every berth was made +up except that of Jack, who still sat with Eloise beside +him, loath to let her go, the negro grew uneasy and +anxious to finish his night's work.</p> + +<p>"Sir," he said at last to Jack, "'scuse me, but you +might move into the gentlemen's wash-room whiles +I make up the berth; it's gwine on toward mornin'."</p> + +<p>In a flash Eloise sprang up, and without a word +went to her mother, who was sleeping quietly, just +as she had left her three hours before. A lurch of +the train awoke her, and, kneeling beside her, Eloise +said to her, "Mr. Harcourt has asked me to be his +wife. Are you glad?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, daughter, very glad. Are we in Florida?" +Amy replied.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother, and before long we shall reach +your old home and Jakey," was Eloise's answer, as +she kissed her mother good-night and sought her +own pillow to think of the great happiness which +had come to her in Jack Harcourt's love, and which +would compensate for any disappointment there +might be in store for her.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/> +IN THE PALMETTO CLEARING</h2> + +<p>There were not many guests at the Brock House +as the season had not fully opened, and Jack had no +trouble to find rooms for the ladies and himself. +Amy's was in front, looking upon the St. John's, +which here spreads out into Lake Monroe. She had +had glimpses of the river from the railway car, but +had not seen it as distinctly as now, when she stood +by the window with an expression on her face as if +she were thinking of the past, before her reason was +clouded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the river!—the beautiful river!" she said. +"It brings things back,—the boat I went in; not like +that," and she pointed to a large, handsome steamboat +lying at the wharf. "Not like that. What was +its name?"</p> + +<p>Jack, who was in the room, and who had read Mr. +Mason's letter to his son, suggested, "The 'Hatty'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the 'Hatty'!" Amy said. "Strange, I remember +it when I have forgotten so much. And he +was with me,—my father. Wasn't he my father?"</p> + +<p>She looked at Eloise, who answered promptly, +"Yes, he was your father."</p> + +<p>"I thought so. He said I was to call him so," +Amy went on, more to herself than to Eloise. "I +didn't always, he was so cold and proud and hard +with me, but he was kind at the last, and he is dead, +and this is Florida, where the oranges and palm trees +grow. They are there,—see!" and she pointed to +the right, where a tall palm tree raised its head above +an orange grove below.</p> + +<p>She was beginning to remember, and Eloise and +Jack kept silent while she went on: "And we are here +to find my mother and Jakey."</p> + +<p>She looked again at Eloise, who answered her: +"To find Jakey,—yes; and to-morrow we shall see +him. To-night you must rest."</p> + +<p>"Yes, rest to-night, and to-morrow go to Jakey," +Amy replied, submissive as a little child to whatever +Eloise bade her do.</p> + +<p>She was very tired, and slept soundly without once +waking, and her first question in the morning was, +"Is it to-morrow, and are we in Florida?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dearest, we are in Florida, and going to find +Jakey," was Eloise's reply, as she kissed her mother's +face, and thought how young and fair it was still, +with scarcely a line upon it.</p> + +<p>Only the eyes and the droop of the mouth showed +signs of past suffering, and these were passing away +with a renewal of old scenes and memories. Jack +had found the Rev. Mr. Mason, who received him +cordially.</p> + +<p>"I was expecting you," he said. "A telegram +from my son told me you were on the way. I have +not seen Jake, as it was only yesterday I had the +despatch. I have one piece of news, however, for +which I am sorry. Elder Covil died in Virginia +soon after the war, and nothing can be learned from +him."</p> + +<p>Jack was greatly disappointed. His hope had +been to find Elder Covil, if living, or some trace of +him, and that was swept away; but he would not tell +Eloise. She was all eagerness and excitement, and +was ready soon after breakfast for the drive to the +palmetto clearing, and Amy seemed almost as excited +and eager. Born amid palms and orange trees, +and magnolias and negroes, the sight of them +brought back the past in a misty kind of way, which +was constantly clearing as Eloise helped her to remember. +Of Mr. Mason she of course had no +recollection, and shrank from him when presented +to him. He did not tell her he had buried her +mother. He only said he knew Jakey, and was +going to take her to him, and they were soon on +their way. The road was very different from the one +over which he had been driven behind the white +mule, and there were marks of improvement everywhere,—gardens +and fields and cabins with little +negroes swarming around the doors, and these, with +the palm trees and the orange trees, helped to revive +Amy's memories of the time when she played +with the little darkys among the dwarf palmettos +and ate oranges in the groves.</p> + +<p>In the doorway of one of the small houses a colored +woman was standing, looking at the carriage as it +passed. Recognizing Mr. Mason, she gave him a +hearty "How d'ye, Mas'r Mason?" to which he responded +without telling his companions that it was +Mandy Ann. He wished Amy to see Jake first.</p> + +<p>"Here we are," he said at last. "This is the +clearing; this is the house, and there is Jake himself."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a negro in the distance, and to a +small house,—half log and half frame, for Jake had +added to and improved it within a few years.</p> + +<p>"I'se gwine to make it 'spectable, so she won't be +'shamed if she ever comes back to see whar she was +bawn," he had thought, and to him it seemed almost +palatial, with its addition, which he called a "linter," +and which consisted of a large room furnished with +a most heterogeneous mass of articles gathered here +and there as he could afford them.</p> + +<p>Conspicuous in one corner was "lil Dory's cradle," +which had been painted red, with a lettering in white +on one side of it, "In memory of lil chile Dory." +This he had placed in what he called the parlor that +morning, after dusting it carefully and putting a fresh +pillow case on the scanty pillow where Amy's head +had lain. He was thinking of her and wondering he +did not hear from the Colonel, when the sound of +carriage wheels made him look up and start for his +house. Mr. Mason was the first to alight; then Jack; +then Eloise; and then Amy, whose senses for a moment +left her entirely.</p> + +<p>"What is it? Where are we?" she said, pressing +her hands to her forehead.</p> + +<p>Evidently the place did not impress her, except as +something strange.</p> + +<p>"Let's go!" she whispered to Eloise. "We've +nothing to do here; let's go back to the oranges and +palmettos."</p> + +<p>"But, mother, Jakey is here!" Eloise replied, her +eyes fixed upon the old man to whom Mr. Mason had +been explaining, and whose "Bress de Lawd. I feels +like havin' de pow', ef I b'lieved in it," she heard distinctly.</p> + +<p>Then he came rapidly toward them, and she could +see the tears on his black face, which was working +nervously.</p> + +<p>"Miss Dory! Miss Dory! 'Tain't you! Oh, de +Lawd,—so growed,—so changed! Is it you for +shu'?" he said, stretching his hands toward Amy, +who drew closer to Eloise.</p> + +<p>"Go gently, Jake; gently! Remember her mind +is weak," Mr. Mason said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sar. I 'members de Harris's mind mostly +was weak. Ole Miss didn't know nuffin', an' Miss +Dory was a little quar, an' dis po' chile is like 'em," +was Jake's reply, which brought a deep flush to +Eloise's face.</p> + +<p>She had felt her cheeks burning all the time she +had been looking round on her mother's home, +wondering what Jack would think of it. At Jake's +mention of the Harrises she glanced at him so appealingly, +that for answer he put his arm around her +and whispered, "Keep up, darling, I see your mother +is waking up."</p> + +<p>Jake had taken one of her hands, and was looking +in her face as if he would find some trace of the "lil +chile Dory" who left him years ago. And she was +scanning him, not quite as if she knew him, but with +a puzzled, uncertain manner, in which there was now +no fear.</p> + +<p>"Doan' you know me, Miss Dory? I'm Shaky,—ole +Shaky,—what use' to play b'ar wid you, an' tote +you on his back," he said to her.</p> + +<p>"I think I do. Yes. Where's Mandy Ann?" +Amy asked.</p> + +<p>"She 'members,—she does!" Jake cried, excitedly. +"Mandy Ann was de nuss girl what looked +after her an' ole Miss." Then to Amy he said, +"Mandy Ann's done grow'd like you, an' got chillen +as big as you. Twins, four on 'em, as was christened +in your gown. Come into de house. You'll member +then. Come inter de gret room, but fust wait +a minit. I seen a boy out dar,—Aaron,—one of +Mandy Ann's twins, an' I'se gwine to sen' for Mandy +Ann.</p> + +<p>"Hello, you flat-footed chap!" he called. "Make +tracks home the fastest you ever did, an' tell yer +mother to come quick, 'case lil Miss Dory's hyar. +Run, I say."</p> + +<p>The boy Aaron started, and Jake led the way to +the door of the "gret room," which he threw open +with an air of pride.</p> + +<p>"Walk in, gemmen an' ladies, walk in," he said, +holding Amy's hand.</p> + +<p>They walked in, and he led Amy to a lounge and +sat down beside her, close to the red cradle, to which +he called her attention.</p> + +<p>"Doan' you 'member it, Miss Dory?" he said, +giving it a jog. "I use' ter rock yer to sleep wid +you kickin' yer heels an' doublin' yer fists, an' callin' +me ole fool, an' I singin':</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"'Lil chile Dory, Shaky's lil lam',<br /> +Mudder's gone to heaven,<br /> +Shaky leff behime<br /> +To care for lil chile Dory, Shaky's lil lam'.' +</p> + +<p>Doan' you 'member it, honey,—an' doan' you member +me? I'm Shaky,—I is."</p> + +<p>There was a touching pathos in Jakey's voice as +he sang, and it was intensified when he asked, "Doan' +you 'member me, honey?"</p> + +<p>Both Mr. Mason and Jack turned their heads aside +to hide the moisture in their eyes, while Eloise's tears +fell fast as she watched the strange pair,—the wrinkled +old negro and the white-faced woman, in whom +a wonderful transformation seemed to be taking +place. With the first sound of the weird melody +and the words "Lil chile Dory, Shaky's lil lam'," she +leaned forward and seemed to be either listening +intently or trying to recall something which came +and went, and which she threw out her hands to retain. +As the singing went on the expression of her +face changed from one of painful thought to one of +perfect peace and quiet, and when it ceased and +Jakey appealed lo her memory, she answered him, +"Yes, Shaky, I remember." Then to Eloise she +said, "The lullaby of my childhood, which has rung +in my ears for years. He used to want me to sing +a negro melody to the people, and said it made them +cry. That's because I wanted to cry, as I do now, +and can't. I believe I must have sung it that last +night in Los Angeles before everything grew dark."</p> + +<p>Moving closer to Jakey she laid her head upon his +arm and whispered to him, "Sing it again, Shaky. +The tightness across the top of my head is giving +way. It has ached so long."</p> + +<p>Jake began the song again, his voice more tremulous +than before, while Amy's hands tightened on +his arm, and her head sank lower on his breast. As +he sang he jogged the cradle with one foot, and kept +time with the other and a swaying motion of his +body, which brought Amy almost across his lap. +When she lifted up her head there were tears in her +eyes, and they ran at last like rivers down her cheeks, +while a storm of hysterical sobs shook her frame and +brought Eloise to her.</p> + +<p>"Don't cry so," she said. "You frighten me."</p> + +<p>Amy put her aside, and answered, "I must cry; it +cools my brain. There are oceans yet to come,—all +the pent-up tears of the years—since he told me you +were dead. I am so glad to cry."</p> + +<p>For some moments she wept on, until Jakey began +to soothe her with his "Doan' cry no mo', honey. +Summat has done happened you bad, but it's done +gone now, an' we're all here,—me an' I do' know +her name, but she's you uns, an' Mas'r Mason an' de +oder gemman. We're all here, an' de light is breakin'. +Doan' you feel it, honey?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I feel it," she said, lifting up her head and +wiping away her tears. "The light is breaking; my +head is better. This is the old home. How did we +get here?"</p> + +<p>Her mind was misty still, but Eloise felt a crisis +was past, and that in time the films which had clouded +her mother's brain would clear away, not wholly, +perhaps, for she was a Harris, and "all the Harrises," +Jake said, "were quar." She was very quiet now, +and listened as they talked, but could recall nothing +of her mother or the funeral, which Mr. Mason +had attended. She seemed very tired, and at Eloise's +suggestion lay clown upon the lounge and soon fell +asleep, while Jack put question after question to Jake, +hoping some light would be thrown upon the mystery +they had come to unravel.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/> +THE LITTLE HAIR TRUNK</h2> + +<p>Jake could tell them but little more than he had +told Mr. Mason on a former visit. This he repeated +with some additions, while Eloise listened, sometimes +with indignation at Col. Crompton, and sometimes +with shame and a thought as to what Jack +would think of it. Her mother's family history was +being unrolled before her, and she did not like it. +There was proud blood in her veins, and she felt it +coming to the surface and rebelling against the family +tree of which she was a branch,—the Harrises, the +Crackers, and, more than all, the uncertainty as to +her mother's legitimacy, which she began to fear +must remain an uncertainty. It was not a very desirable +ancestry, and she glanced timidly at Jack to +see how he was taking it. His face was very placid +and unmoved as he questioned Jake of the relatives +in Georgia, whom Amy's mother had visited.</p> + +<p>"We must find them," he said. "Do you know +anything of them? Were they Harrises, or what?"</p> + +<p>Jake said they were "Browns an' Crackers; not +the real no 'counts. Thar's a difference, an' I'm shu' +ole Miss Lucy was fust class, 'case Miss Dory was a +lady bawn."</p> + +<p>"Are there no papers anywhere to tell us who they +were?" Jack asked, and Jake replied, "Thar's papers +in de little har trunk whar I keeps de writin' book +Miss Dory used, an' de book she read in to learn, +but dem's no 'count. Some receipts an' bills an' +some letters ole Mas'r Harris writ to Miss Lucy 'fo' +they was married,—love letters, in course, which I +seen Miss Dory tie up wid a white ribbon. I've +never opened dem, 'case it didn't seem fittin' like to +read what a boy writ to a gal."</p> + +<p>"Why, Jake," Jack exclaimed, "don't you see +those letters may tell us where Miss Lucy lived in +Georgia? and that is probably where Miss Dory visited. +Bring us the trunk."</p> + +<p>"'Clar for't. I never thought of that," Jake said, +rising with alacrity and going into the room where +he slept.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mason, too, stepped out for a few moments, +leaving Eloise alone with Jack. Now was her time, +and, going up to him, she said, "Jack, I want to tell +you now, you mustn't marry me!"</p> + +<p>"Mustn't marry you!" Jack repeated. "Are you +crazy?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," Eloise answered with a sob, "but I +may be in time, or queer, like all the Harrises,—mother +and her mother and 'old Miss.' We are all +Harrises, and,—and,—oh, Jack, I know what a +Cracker is now; mother is one; I am one, and it is +all so dreadful; and mother nobody, perhaps. I +can't bear it, and you must not marry me."</p> + +<p>"I shall marry you," Jack said, folding her in his +arms. "Do you think I care who your family are, +or how queer they are? You'll never be queer. I'll +shield you so carefully from every care that you can't +even spell the word."</p> + +<p>He took her hands and made her look at him, +while he kissed her lips and said, "It is you I want, +with all the Harrises and Crackers in Christendom +thrown in, if necessary. Are you satisfied?"</p> + +<p>He knew she was, and was kissing her again when +Jake appeared with the trunk, which he said had held +Miss Dory's clothes when she went to Georgia. +There was a musty odor about it when he opened it, +and the few papers inside were yellow with age.</p> + +<p>"Dis yer is de reader Miss Dory use' to go over +so much," Jake said, handing the book to Eloise, who +turned its worn pages reverently, as if touching the +hands of the dead girl, who, Jake said, "had rassled +with the big words an' de no 'count pieces. She +liked de po'try, an' got by heart 'bout de boy on de +burnin' deck, but de breakin' waves floo'd her, 'case +'twan't no story like Cassy-by-anker."</p> + +<p>He pointed the latter poem out to Eloise, who +said, "Will you give me this book?"</p> + +<p>Jake hesitated before he replied, "He wanted it, +the Colonel, an' I tole him no, but you're different. +I'll think about it."</p> + +<p>Mr. Mason had returned by this time, and with +Jack was looking at the bundle of letters tied with +a satin ribbon which Jake said Miss Dory had taken +from her white dress, the one he believed she was +married in, as it was her bestest. There were four +letters and a paper which did not seem to be a letter, +and which slipped to the floor at Eloise's feet as +Jack untied the ribbon. There was also a small envelope +containing a card with "James Crompton" +upon it, the one Mandy Ann had carried her mistress +on a china plate, and which poor Dora had kept +as a souvenir of that visit. With the card were the remains +of what must have been a beautiful rose. The +petals were brown and crumbling to dust, but still +gave out a faint perfume, which Eloise detected. +While she was looking at these mementos of a past, +Jack was running his eyes over the almost illegible +directions on the letters, making out "Miss Lucy +Brown, Atlanta, Ga."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't help us much," he said to Mr. Mason. +"Brown is a common name, and the Atlanta +before the war was not like the Atlanta of to-day."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps something inside will give a cue," Mr. +Mason suggested, and Jack opened one of the letters +carefully, for it was nearly torn apart.</p> + +<p>The spelling was bad and the writing was bad, but +it rang true with a young man's love for the girl of his +choice, and it seemed to Jack like sacrilege to read +it. Very hurriedly he went through the four letters, +finding nothing to guide him but "Atlanta," and a +few names of people who must have been living in +the vicinity.</p> + +<p>"Here's another," Eloise said, passing him the +paper which she had picked from the floor.</p> + +<p>Jack took it, and opening it, glanced at the contents. +Then, with a cry of "Eureka!" he began a +sort of pirouette, while Eloise and Mr. Mason wondered +if he, too, had gone quar, like the Harrises.</p> + +<p>"It's the marriage certificate," he said, sobering +down at last, and reading aloud that at the Hardy +Plantation, Fulton County, Georgia, on December—, +18—, the Rev. John Covil united in marriage +James Crompton, of Troutburg, Massachusetts, and +Miss Eudora Harris, of Volucia County, Florida.</p> + +<p>Upon no one did the finding of this certificate produce +so miraculous an effect as upon Jake.</p> + +<p>"Fo' de Lawd!" he exclaimed, "I feels as if I mus' +have de pow',—what I hain't had since I jined de +'Piscopals. To think dat ar was lyin' in thar all dis +time, an' I not know it. I 'members now dat Elder +Covil comed hyar oncet after the lil chile was bawn, +to see Miss Dory, an' I seen him write a paper an' +give it to her, an' she put it in her bosom. I axed +no questions, but I know now 'twas this. The Cunnel +tole her not to tell, an' if she said she wouldn't, +she wouldn't. Dat's like de Harrises,—dey's mighty +quar, stickin' to dar word till they die like that Cassy-by-anker +on de burnin' ship. Glory to God, glory! +I mus' shout, I mus' hurrah. Glory!"</p> + +<p>He went careering round the room like one mad, +knocking over a chair, waking up Amy, and bringing +her to the scene of action.</p> + +<p>"Bress de Lawd!" he said, taking her by the arm +and giving her a whirl, "we've done foun' your mudder's +stifficut in de letters whar she put it an' tied +'em wid her weddin' ribbon. Glory hollerluyer!"</p> + +<p>Amy looked frightened, and when Eloise explained +to her she did not seem as much impressed +as the others. Her mind had grasped Jake and the +old home, and could not then take in much more. +Still, in a way she understood, and when Eloise said +to her, "Col. Crompton was really your father,—married +to your mother,—and you were Amy +Crompton, and not Harris," she said, "I am glad, +and wish he knew. He used to taunt me with my +low birth and call me a Cracker. When are we +going home?"</p> + +<p>Her mind had reverted at once to Crompton Place, +now hers in reality, although she probably did not +think of that.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad, and congratulate you that +Crompton Place is your home without a doubt," +Jack said to her. Then, turning to Eloise, he continued, +in a low tone, "I can't tell you how glad I +am for you, provided you don't feel so high and +mighty that you want to cast me off."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Jack," Eloise replied, "don't talk such nonsense. +I am still of the Harris blood and part +Cracker, and maybe quar. If you can stand that I +think I can stand you."</p> + +<p>At this point there was the sound of hurrying feet +outside, and a woman's voice was heard saying, +"Now, mind your manners, or you'll cotch it." Then +four woolly heads were thrust in at the door and with +them was Mandy Ann.</p> + +<p>"Hyar she comes wid de fo' twins," Jake said, +going forward to meet her. "Mandy Ann," he began, +"hyar's de lil chile Dory. Miss Amy they done +call her. Would you know'd her?"</p> + +<p>"Know'd her? I reckon so,—anywhar in de +dark. Praise de Lawd, an' now let His servant 'part +in peace, 'case my eyes has seen de lil chile oncet +mo'," Mandy Ann exclaimed, going up to Amy and +putting her hands on her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"She's 'peatin' some o' de chant in de Pra'r Book. +Mandy Ann is mighty pious, she is," Jake said in a +low tone, while Amy drew back a little, and looked +timidly at the tall negress calling her lil chile Dory.</p> + +<p>"Mandy Ann wasn't so big," she said, turning to +the twins, Alex and Aaron, Judy and Dory, who +brought the past back more vividly when Mandy +Ann was about their size.</p> + +<p>A look of inquiry passed from Mandy Ann to Jake, +who touched his forehead, while Mandy whispered, +"Quar, like ole Miss an' all of 'em. Oh, de pity of +it! What happened her?" Then to Amy she said, +with all the motherhood of her ten children in her +voice, "Doan' you 'member me, Mandy Ann, what +use' to dress you in de mornin', an' comb yer har, an' +wass yer face?"</p> + +<p>"Up, instead of down," Amy said quickly, while +everybody laughed instead of herself.</p> + +<p>"To be shu'," Mandy Ann rejoined. "I reckon I +did sometimes wass up 'sted of down. I couldn't +help it, 'case you's gen'rally pullin' an' haulin' an' +kickin' me to git away, but you 'members me, an' +Judy, wid dis kind of face?"</p> + +<p>She touched her eyes and nose and mouth to show +where Judy's features were marked with ink, and +then Amy laughed, and as if the mention of Judy +took her back to the vernacular of her childhood, +she said, "Oh, yes, I done 'members Judy. Whar is +she?"</p> + +<p>This lapse of her mother into negro dialect was +more dreadful to Eloise than anything which had +gone before, but Mr. Mason, who read her concern +in her face, said to her, "It's all right, and shows she +is taking up the tangled threads."</p> + +<p>No one present knew of Judy's sale at the Rummage, +and no one could reply to the question, "Whar +is she?" Amy forgot it in a moment in her interest +in the twins, whom Mandy presented one after +another, saying, "I've six mo' grow'd up, some on +'em, an' one is married, 'case I'se old,—I'se fifty-three, +an' you's about forty."</p> + +<p>To this Amy paid no attention. She was still absorbed +with the twins, who, Mandy Ann told her, +had worn her white frock at their christening. +Mandy Ann had not yet heard of the finding of the +marriage certificate, and when Jake told her she did +not seem greatly surprised.</p> + +<p>"I allus knew she was married, without a stifficut," +she said. "I b'lieved it the fust time he come befo' +lil Miss Dory was bawn."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about his coming," Eloise said, and +Mandy Ann, who liked nothing better than to talk, +began at the beginning, and told every particular of +the first visit, when Miss Dora wore the white gown +she was married in and buried in, and the rose on +her bosom. "And you think this is it?" Eloise +asked, holding carefully in a bit of paper the ashes +of what had once been a rose.</p> + +<p>"I 'clar for't, yes," Mandy said, "I seen her put +it somewhar with the card he done gin me. You'se +found it?"</p> + +<p>Eloise nodded and held fast to the relics of a past +which in this way was linking itself to the present. +"Tell us of the second time, when he took mother," +Eloise suggested, and here Mandy Ann was very +eloquent, describing everything in detail, repeating +much which Jake had told, telling of the ring,—a real +stone, sent her from Savannah, and which she had +given her daughter as it was too small for her now. +From a drawer in the chamber above she brought a +little white dress, stiff with starch and yellow and +tender with time, which she said "lil Miss Dory wore +when she first saw her father."</p> + +<p>This Eloise seized at once, saying, "You will let +me have it as something which belonged to mother +far back."</p> + +<p>Mandy Ann looked doubtful. There would probably +be grandchildren, and Jake's scruples might be +overcome and the white gown do duty again as a +christening robe. But Jake spoke up promptly.</p> + +<p>"In course it's your'n, an' de book, too, if you +wants it, though it's like takin' a piece of de ole times. +Strange Miss Dora don't pay no 'tention, but is so +wropp'd up in dem twins. 'Specs it seems like when +de little darkys use' to play wid her," he continued, +looking at Amy, who, if she heard what Mandy Ann +was saying, gave no sign, but seemed, as Jake said, +"wropp'd up" in the twins.</p> + +<p>There was not much more for Mandy Ann to tell +of the Colonel, except to speak of the money he had +sent to her and Jake, proving that he was not "the +wustest man in the world, if she did cuss him kneeling +on Miss Dory's grave the night after the burial." +She spoke of that and of "ole Miss Thomas, who was +the last to <i>gin in</i>," and wouldn't have done it then but +for the ring on her finger. At this point Jake, who +thought she had told enough, said to her, "Hole +on a spell. Your tongue is like a mill wheel when +it starts. Thar's some things you or'to keep to your +self. Ole man Crompton is dead, an' God is takin' +keer of him. He knows all the good thar was at the +last, an' I 'specs thar was a heap."</p> + +<p>By this time Amy had tired of the twins, who had +fingered her rings and buttons, and stroked her dress +and hair, and called her a pretty lady, and asked her +on the sly for a nickel. She was getting restless, +when Jakey said, "If you'd like to see your mudder's +grave, come wid me."</p> + +<p>From the house to the enclosure where the Harrises +were buried he had made a narrow road, beside +which eucalyptus trees and oleanders were growing, +and along this walk the party followed him to Eudora's +grave.</p> + +<p>"I can have 'Crompton' put hyar now that I am +shu'," Jake said, pointing to the vacant space after +Eudora. "I wish dar was room for 'belobed wife +of Cunnel Crompton.' I reckons, though, she wasn't +'belobed,' or why was he so dogon mean to her?" he +added, kneeling by the grave and picking a dead leaf +and bud which his quick eye had detected amid the +bloom. "Couldn't you done drap a tear 'case your +mother is lyin' here?" he said to Amy, who shook +her head.</p> + +<p>The dead mother was not as real to her as the living +Jake, to whom she said, "As you talk to me I +remember something of her, and people making a +noise. But it is long ago, and much has happened +since. I can't cry. Is it wrong?"</p> + +<p>She looked at Eloise, who replied, "No, darling; +you have cried enough for one day. Some time we +will come here again, and you'll remember more. +Let us go."</p> + +<p>"What is your plan now?" Mr. Mason asked Jack +when, after a half hour spent with Jake, they were +driving back to the Brock House.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking," Jack replied, "that I will +leave the ladies for a few days at the hotel, while I go +to Palatka and Atlanta, and see if anything can be +learned of the Browns, or Harrises, or the Hardy +plantation, where the marriage took place. I wish +to get all the facts I can, although the certificate +should be sufficient to establish Mrs. Amy's right to +the estate. I don't think she realizes her position, +as heir to the finest property in Crompton."</p> + +<p>She didn't realize it at all, but was very willing to +stay at the Brock House with Eloise, while Jack went +to Palatka and Atlanta to see what he could find. It +was not much. Tom Hardy had been killed in the +war, and had left no family. This he was told in +Palatka. In Atlanta he learned that before the war +there had been a plantation near the city owned by +a Hardy family, all of whom were dead or had disappeared. +There were Browns in plenty in the Directory, +and Jack saw them all, but none had any connection +with the Harrises. At last he struck an old +negress, who had belonged to the Hardys, and who +remembered a double wedding at the plantation years +before, and who said that an Andrew Jackson Brown, +who must have been present, as he was a son of the +house, was living in Boston, and was a conductor of +a street car. With this information as the result of +his search Jack went back to Enterprise, where he +found Amy greatly improved in mind and body. +Every day Jake and Mandy Ann had been to see her, +or with Eloise she had driven to the clearing, where +her dormant faculties continued to awaken with the +familiar objects of her childhood. Many people and +much talking still bewildered her, and her memory +was treacherous on many points, but to a stranger +who knew nothing of her history she seemed a quiet, +sane woman, "not a bit quar," Eloise said to Jack as +she welcomed him back. "And I believe she will +continue to improve when we get her home, away +from the people who talk to her so much and confuse +her. When can we go?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, if you like," Jack said, and the next +day they left Enterprise, after bidding an affectionate +good-by to Mandy Ann, with whom they left a substantial +remembrance of their visit.</p> + +<p>Amy would have liked to take the twins with her, +but Eloise said, "Not yet, mother; wait and see, and +perhaps they will all come later."</p> + +<p>It was sure that Jakey was to follow them soon +and spend as much time with them as he pleased.</p> + +<p>"Stay always, if you will. We owe you everything," +Eloise said to him, when at parting he stood +on the platform with his "God bress you, Mas'r Harcourt +an' Miss Amy, an' Miss t'other one," until the +train was out of sight.</p> + +<p>They made the journey by easy stages, for Amy +was worn with excitement, and it was a week after +leaving Florida when a telegram was received at the +Crompton House saying they would arrive that evening.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/> +WHAT HOWARD FOUND</h2> + +<p>Jack had sent Howard a postal on the road to +Florida, and a few lines from Enterprise on the day +of their arrival. Since that time he had been so busy +that he had failed to write, thinking he could tell +the news so much better, and Howard argued from +his silence that the errand had been unsuccessful. +Crompton Place was undoubtedly his, and still he +had not been altogether happy in his rôle as heir. +The servants had been very respectful; people had +treated him with deference; trades-people had sought +his patronage; subscription papers had poured in +upon him from all quarters, and in many ways he +was made to feel that he was really Crompton of +Crompton, with a prospective income of many thousands. +He had gone over his uncle's papers, and +knew exactly what he was worth, and when his dividends +and rents were due. He was a rich man, unless +they found something unexpected in Florida, and he +did not believe they would. It seemed impossible +that if there were a marriage it should have been kept +secret so long. "My uncle would certainly have told +it at the last and not left a stain on Amy," he said +to himself again and again, and nearly succeeded in +making himself believe that he had a right to be +where he was,—his uncle's heir and head of the +house. Why no provision was made for Amy he +could not imagine. "But it will make no difference," +he said; "I shall provide for her and Eloise."</p> + +<p>At the thought of her his heart gave a great throb, +for she was dearer to him than he had supposed. "I +believe I'd give up Crompton if I could win her," he +thought, "but that cannot be; Jack is the lucky fellow," +and then he began to calculate how much he +would give Amy out and out. "She can live here, +of course, if she will, but she must have something +of her own. Will twenty thousand be enough, or +too much?" he said, and from the sum total of the +estate he subtracted twenty thousand dollars, with +so large a remainder that he decided to give her that +amount in bonds and mortgages, which would cause +her as little trouble as possible. There were some +government bonds in a private drawer, through +which he had searched for a will. He would have +a look at them and see which were the more desirable +for Amy. He had been through that drawer +three or four times, and there was no thought of the +will now as he opened it, wondering that it came so +hard, as if something were binding on the top or +side. It shut harder, or, rather, it didn't shut at all, +and with a jerk he pulled it out to see what was the +matter. As he did so a folded sheet of foolscap, +which had been lodged between the drawer and the +side of the desk, fell to the floor. With a presentiment +of the truth Howard took it up and read, "THE +LAST WILL AND CONFESSION OF JAMES CROMPTON!"</p> + +<p>It had come at last, and, unfolding the sheet, Howard +began to read, glancing first at the date, which +was a few weeks after Amy came from California.</p> + +<p>"KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS," it began, +"that I, JAMES CROMPTON, am a coward and a sneak +and a villain, and have lived a lie for forty years, +hiding a secret I was too proud to divulge at first, +and which grew harder and harder to tell as time +went on and people held me so high as the soul of +honor and rectitude. Honor! There isn't a hair +of it on my head! I broke the heart of an innocent +girl, and left her to die alone. AMY EUDORA SMITH +is my own daughter, the lawful child of my marriage +with EUDORA HARRIS, which took place December—, +18—, on the Hardy Plantation, Fulton County, +in Georgia, several miles from Atlanta."</p> + +<p>Up to this point Howard had been standing, but +now the floor seemed to rise up and strike him in the +face. Sitting down in the nearest chair, he breathed +hard for a moment, and then went on with what the +Colonel called his CONFESSION, which he had not had +courage to make verbally while living.</p> + +<p>When in college he had for his room-mate Tom +Hardy from Atlanta. The two were fast friends, +and when the Colonel was invited to visit Georgia +he did so gladly. Some miles from the town was the +plantation owned by the Hardys. This the Colonel +visited in company with his friend. A small log-house +on a part of the farm was rented to a Mr. +Brown, a perfectly respectable man, but ignorant +and coarse. His family consisted of himself and +wife and son, and daughter Mary, a pretty girl of +twenty, and a cousin from Florida, Eudora Harris, +a beautiful girl of sixteen, wholly uneducated and +shy as a bird. There was about her a wonderful +fascination for the Colonel, who went with his friend +several times to the Brown's, and mixed with them +familiarly for the sake of the girl whose eyes welcomed +him so gladly, and in which he at last read +unmistakable signs of love for himself, while the +broad jokes of her friends warned him of his danger. +Then his calls ceased, for nothing was further from +his thought than marriage with Eudora. At last +there came to him and Tom a badly written and +spelled invitation to Mary's wedding, which was to +take place on the afternoon of the nineteenth day of +December, 18—.</p> + +<p>"Let's go; there'll be no end of fun," Tom said, +but when the day came he was ill in bed with influenza, +and the Colonel went without him, reaching the +house just as the family were taking a hasty lunch, +preparatory to the feast which was to follow the wedding.</p> + +<p>"I sat down with them," the Colonel wrote, "and +made myself one of them, and drank vile whiskey +and home-made wine until my head began to feel as +big as two heads, and I do not think I knew what I +was about. As bad luck would have it, the man who +was to stand with Eudora as groomsman failed to +come, and I was asked to take his place.</p> + +<p>"'Certainly, I am ready for anything,' I said, and +my voice sounded husky and unnatural, and I wondered +what ailed me.</p> + +<p>"'Then, s'posin' you and Dory get spliced, and +we'll have a double weddin'. You have sparked it +long enough, and we don't stand foolin' here,' Mr. +Brown said to me, in a half-laughing, half-threatening +tone.</p> + +<p>"I looked at Eudora, and her beautiful eyes were +shining upon me with a look which made my pulses +quicken as they never had before. I don't know +what demon possessed me, unless it were the demon +of the whiskey punch, of which I had drank far too +much, and which prompted me to say, 'All right, if +Eudora is willing.'</p> + +<p>"To do her justice, she hesitated a moment, but +when I kissed her she yielded, and with the touch +of her lips there came over me a feeling I mistook +for love, and everything was forgotten except the +girl. Elder Covil performed the double ceremony, +and looked questioningly at me, as if doubtful +whether I were in my right mind or not. I thought +I was, and felt extremely happy, until I woke to what +I had done, and from which there was no escape. I +was bound to a girl whose sweet disposition and +great beauty were her only attractions, and whose +environments made me shudder. I could not bring +her to Crompton Place and introduce her to my +friends, and I did not know what to do.</p> + +<p>"Tom was furious when he heard of it, and suggested +suicide and divorce, and everything else that +was bad. But Dora's eyes held me for two weeks, +and then I became so disillusionized and so sick of +my surroundings, that I was nearly ready to follow +Tom's advice and blow out my brains.</p> + +<p>"'If you won't kill yourself,' he said, 'send the +girl home to Florida, and leave her there till you +make up your mind what to do. There must be +some way to untie that knot. If not, you are in for +it.'</p> + +<p>"I sent her home, and after two or three weeks, +during which Tom and I revolved a hundred plans, +I decided on one, and went to see her in her home—and +such a home! A log-house in a palmetto clearing, +with a foolish old grandmother who did not +know enough to ask or care what I was to Eudora. +I could not endure it, and I told Eudora how impossible +it was for me to take her North until she +had some education and knowledge of the world. +I would leave her, I said, until I could decide upon +a school to which I would send her, and, as it would +be absurd for a married woman to be attending +school, she was to retain her maiden name of Harris, +and tell no one of our marriage until I gave her permission +to do so. I think she would have jumped +into the river at my bidding, and she promised all +that I required.</p> + +<p>"'I shall never tell I am your wife until you say +I may,' she said to me when I left her, but there was +a look in her eyes like that I once saw in a pet dog +I had shot, and which in dying licked my hands.</p> + +<p>"Through Tom Hardy, who left Atlanta for +Palatka, I sent her money regularly and wrote occasionally, +while she replied through the same medium. +Loving, pitiful letters they were, and would +have moved the heart of any man who was not a +brute and steeped to the dregs in pride and cowardice. +I burned them as soon as I read them, for +fear they might be found. I told her to do the same +with mine, and have no doubt she did. I did mean +fair about the school, and was making inquiries, +slowly, it is true, as my heart was not in it, and I +had nearly decided upon Lexington, Kentucky, when +the birth of a little girl changed everything, but did +not reconcile me to the situation. I never cared for +children,—disliked them rather than otherwise,—and +the fact that I was a father did not move me a whit.</p> + +<p>"There was a letter imploring me to come and see +our baby, and I promised to go, with a vague idea +that I might some time keep my word. But I didn't. +I had no love for Eudora, none for the child; and +still a thought of it haunted me continually, and was +the cause of my giving the grounds and the school-house +to the town. I wanted to expiate my sin, +and at the same time increase my popularity, for at +that time I was trying to make up my mind to +acknowledge my marriage and bring Eudora home. +The poor girl never knew it, for on the day of the +lawn party she was buried. Tom Hardy wrote me +she was dead, and that he was about starting for Europe, +and had given Jake, a faithful servant of the +family, my address. God knows my remorse when +I heard it, and still I put off going for the child until +Jake wrote me that the grandmother, too, had died, +and added that it was not fitting for the little girl to +be brought up with Crackers and negroes. He did +not know that I had heard of Eudora's death from +Tom, and was waiting for—I did not know what, +unless it was to hear from him personally. There +was more manliness in that negro's nature than in +mine, and I knew it, and was ashamed of myself, and +went for my daughter and stood by my wife's grave, +and heard from Jake the story of her life, and knew +she had kept her promise and never opened her lips, +except to say that 'it was all right.'</p> + +<p>"The people believed her for the most part, and +anathematized the unknown man who had deserted +her, but they could not heap upon me all the odium +I deserved. Why the story has never reached here +I hardly know, except that intercourse between the +North and the extreme South was not as easy as it +is now, and then the war swept off Tom Hardy and +most likely all who knew of the marriage.</p> + +<p>"When I brought Amy home I was too proud to +acknowledge her as my daughter. The Harrises +and the palmetto clearing stood in the way, and I +let people think what they chose, hating myself with +an added hatred for allowing a stain to rest on her +birth. I was fond of her in a way, and angry when +she married Candida, who died in Rome. Then she +married a Smith, who took her round the country to +sing in concerts, until her mind gave way, when he +put her in a private asylum in San Francisco. I was +very proud of her, and loved her more than she ever +knew, but could not confess my relationship to her. +When she married Candida I cast her off. She must +have some of my spirit, for she never came begging +for favors. Her rascally second husband wrote once +for money, but I shut him up so that he never wrote +again, and the next I heard was a message from +Santa Barbara, where he died, and where, before he +died, he had bidden his physician to write to me that +his wife was in an asylum in San Francisco. I found +her and brought her home, shattered in health and +in mind, but I think she will recover. If she does +before I die, I have sworn to tell her the truth, and +will do it, so help me God!</p> + +<p>"She has at times spoken of a baby who died,—Smith's +probably, and I hated him and did not care +for his child. I have thought to make my will, but +would rather write this confession, which will explain +things and put Amy right as my heir. I have, +however, one request to make to her, or those who +attend to her affairs. I want my nephew, Howard, +to have twenty thousand dollars,—enough for any +young man to start on if there is any get-up in him, +and Howard has considerable.</p> + +<p> +"Written by me and signed this — day of July, 18—, the anniversary +of Eudora's funeral and the big picnic on my grounds. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +"JAMES M. CROMPTON." +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br/> +HOWARD'S TEMPTATION</h2> + +<p>Howard did not know how long it took him to read +this paper. It seemed to him an age, and when it +was read he felt as if turning into stone. There was +a fire in the grate before which he sat, and something +said to him, "Burn it," so distinctly, that he looked +over his shoulder to see who was there. "It's the +devil," he thought, and his hand went toward the +flame, then drew back quickly. He knew now what +his uncle had tried so hard to tell them, and remembered +how often his eyes had turned in the direction +of the private drawer. He had put his confession +there, and it had become wedged in and was out of +sight, until frequent opening and shutting the drawer +had brought it into view. He read the document +again, and felt the perspiration oozing out of every +pore. The twenty thousand recommended for him +made him laugh, as he thought that was the sum he +had intended for Amy, and which looked very small +for his own needs. "Six times two are twelve," +he said, calculating the interest at six per cent. +"Twelve hundred a year is not much when one expected +as many thousands. I believe I'll burn it!" +and again the paper was held so near the fire that a +corner of it was scorched.</p> + +<p>"I can't do it," he said, drawing it back a second +time. "It would do no good, either, if they find out +in Florida. I don't see, though, how they can, and +if they have, Jack would have written, but I can't +burn it yet. I must think a while."</p> + +<p>He put the paper aside, and, without his overcoat, +went out into the cold, sleety rain, which was falling +heavily. It chilled him at once, but he did not think +of it as he went through the grounds and gardens +and fields of the Crompton Place, where everything +was in perfect order and bespoke the wealth of the +owner. It was a fair heritage, and he could not give +it up without a pang. He never knew how many +miles he walked back and forth across the fields and +through the woods. Nor did he know that he was +cold, until he returned to the house with drenched +garments and a chill which he felt to his bones. He +had taken a heavy cold, and staid in-doors the next +morning, shivering before the grate, which he told +Peter to heap with coal until it was hot as—. He +didn't finish the sentence, but added, "I'm infernally +cold,—influenza, I reckon, but I won't have any nostrums +brought to me. All I want is a good fire."</p> + +<p>Peter heaped up the fire until the room seemed to +him like a furnace, and then left the young man alone +with his thoughts and his temptation, which was assailing +him a second time, stronger than before. He +firmly believed the devil was there, urging him to +burn the paper, and held several spirited conversations +with him, pro and con, the cons finally gaining +the victory.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon Jack's telegram was brought +to him. "We'll be home this evening."</p> + +<p>"That means seven o'clock, and dinner at halfpast +seven," he said to Peter. "Send Sam with the +carriage, and see that there are fires in their rooms."</p> + +<p>He had given his orders and then sat down to decide +what he would do.</p> + +<p>"I know the Old Harry is here with me, but his +company is better than none," he said, wishing he +had a shawl, he was so cold, with the room at 90 degrees.</p> + +<p>The short day drew to a close. Peter came in +and lighted the gas, and put more coal on the grate, +and said Sam had gone to the station. Half an hour +later Howard heard the whistle of the train, and then +the sound of wheels coming up the avenue.</p> + +<p>"Now or never!" was whispered in his ear, and +his hand, with the paper in it, went toward the fire.</p> + +<p>There was a fierce struggle, and Howard felt that +he was really fighting with an unseen foe; then his +hand came back with the paper in it, safe except for +a second scorch on one side.</p> + +<p>"By the great eternal, it is never! I swear it!" +he said, as his arm dropped beside him and the paper +fell to the floor.</p> + +<p>There was a sound below of people entering the +house. They had come, and he heard Eloise's voice +as she passed his door on her way to her room with +Amy. Was Jack there too? he was wondering—when +Jack came in, gay and breezy, but startled +when he met the woe-begone face turned toward him.</p> + +<p>"By George! old man," he said, "Peter told me +you were shut up with a cold, but I didn't expect this. +Why, you look like a ghost, and are sweating like a +butcher, and no wonder. The thermometer must be +a hundred. What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Jack," Howard said, "for forty-eight hours I +have had a hand-to-hand tussle with the devil. He +was here bodily, as much as you are, but I beat him, +and swore I wouldn't burn the paper. Read it!"</p> + +<p>He pointed to it upon the floor at his feet.</p> + +<p>"I had it pretty near the fire twice, and singed it +some," he continued, as Jack took it up, and, glancing +at the first words, exclaimed, "A will! You found +one, then?"</p> + +<p>"Not a regularly attested will, but answers every +purpose," Howard replied, while Jack read on with +lightning rapidity, understanding much that was +dark before, and guessing in part what it was to +Howard to have all his hopes swept away.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" he said, as he finished reading, "there +was good in the old man after all. I didn't think so +when I heard Jakey's story, and saw where his wife +lived and died. We found the marriage certificate."</p> + +<p>"You did!" Howard exclaimed, a great gladness +that he had not destroyed the paper taking possession +of him. "Why didn't you write and tell me? +It would have saved me that fight with the devil."</p> + +<p>"I don't know why I didn't," Jack replied. "I +was awfully busy, and went at once to Palatka to see +if Tom Hardy left any family there, and found he +was never married. Then I went to Atlanta to find +some trace of the Browns and the Hardy plantation. +The latter had been sold, the Hardys were all gone, +and the Browns, too,—killed in the war, most likely, +except one who is a street-car conductor in Boston, +and I am going to hunt him up, as I believe he was +at the wedding, although he must have been quite +young. Yes, I ought to have written, and I'm sorry +for you, upon my soul. You look as if you'd had a +taste of the infernal regions. I'm glad you didn't +burn it."</p> + +<p>He took Howard's hand and held it, while he told +him, very briefly, the circumstances of their finding +the certificate, of whose existence Col. Crompton +could not have known. "And, Howard," he added, +"I've something else to tell you. Eloise is to be my +wife. We settled it in the train before I knew she +was a great heiress. Can't you congratulate me?" +he asked, as Howard did not speak.</p> + +<p>"I expected it. You've got everything,—money +and girl, too," Howard said at last. "You are a +lucky dog, and, whether you believe me or not, I'd +rather have the girl than the money. I asked her to +marry me. Did she tell you?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not," Jack replied, and Howard went +on, "Well, I did, and kissed her, too!"</p> + +<p>"Did she kiss you?" Jack asked a little sharply, +and Howard replied, "No, sir; she was madder than +a hatter; you've no cause to be jealous."</p> + +<p>"All right," Jack answered, his brow clearing. +"All right. I'm more sorry for you now than I was +before. I didn't know you really cared for her that +way; but, I say, aren't you coming to dinner? The +bell has rung twice, and I still in my travelling clothes +and you in your dressing-gown."</p> + +<p>Howard shook his head. "Don't you see, I am +sick with an infernal cold," he said. "Got it tramping +in the rain without my overcoat, and that fight +I told you of has unstrung me. It was a regular +battle. But you go yourself, and perhaps Eloise will +come to see me. I shall show her the Colonel's confession, +and she can do as she pleases about telling +her mother."</p> + +<p>Jack left him and went to the dinner, which had +been kept waiting some time, and at which Amy did +not appear. She had gone at once to bed, Eloise explained, +when she took her seat at the table with +Jack. When told of Howard's message, she said, +"Of course I'll go to him," and half an hour later +she was in his room, and greatly shocked at his white, +haggard face, which indicated more than the cold of +which he complained. He did not tell her of his +temptation. It was not necessary. He congratulated +her upon her success, and upon her engagement, +of which Jack had told him. Then he gave +her the paper he had found, and watched her as she +read it, sometimes with flashes of indignation upon +her face, and again with tears of pity in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"He was a bad man," she said, with great energy, +and then added, "A good one, too, in some respects, +although I cannot understand the pride which made +him such a coward."</p> + +<p>"I can," Howard rejoined. "It's the Crompton +pride, stronger than life itself. I know, for I am a +Crompton. You, probably, are more Harris than +Crompton, and do not feel so deeply."</p> + +<p>He did not mean to reflect upon her mother's +family, but Eloise's face was very red as she said, +"The Harrises and Browns are not people to be +proud of, I know, but they were as honest, perhaps, +as the Cromptons, and they are mine, and if they all +came here to-night I would not disown them."</p> + +<p>She looked every inch a Crompton as she spoke, +and Howard laughed and said, "Good for you, little +cousin; I believe you would, and if Jack finds the conductor +in Boston, I dare say you will have him at +your wedding. When is it to be?"</p> + +<p>"Just as soon as arrangements can be made," +Jack replied, coming in in time to hear the last of +Howard's remark, "and, of course, we'll have the +street conductor if he will come. I start to-morrow +to find him."</p> + +<p>He took an early train the next morning for Boston, +and two days after he wrote to Eloise: "I believe +there are a million street cars in the city and +fifty conductors by the name of Brown. Fortunately, +however, there is only one Andrew Jackson, +or Andy, as they call him, and I found him on one +of the suburban trains, rather old to be a conductor, +but seemed young for his years. He is your grandmother's +cousin, and was present at the double wedding, +when Eudora Harris was married by Elder +Covil to James Crompton, 'a mighty proud-lookin' +chap,' he said, 'who deserted her in less than a +month. I remember him well. Pop threatened to +shoot him if he ever cotched him, but the wah broke +out and pop was killed, and all of us but me, who +married a little Yankee girl what brought things to +us prisoners in Washington. She's right smart +younger than I am, and I've got eight children and +five grandchildren, peart and lively as rabbits. And +you want me to swear that I seen Eudory married? +Wall, I will, for I did, and I'd like to see her girl—Amy +you call her. Mabby Mary Jane an' me will +come to visit her when I have a spell off.'</p> + +<p>"All this he said in a breath, and when I told him +I was to marry Amy's daughter, he called me his +cousin, and asked when the wedding was to be. If +it had not been for those eight children and five +grandchildren, thirteen Browns in all, which I felt +sure he would bring with him, I should have promised +him and Mary Jane an invitation. As it was, I +did nothing rash. I got his affidavit, and we parted +the best of friends, he urging me to call at his shanty +and see Mary Jane and the kids. I had to decline, +but told him perhaps I'd bring my wife to see them. +What do you say? Expect me to-morrow.</p> + +<p class="right"> +"Lovingly, <br/> +"JACK." +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="3CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/> +CONCLUSION</h2> + +<p>It did not take long for all Crompton to know that +Amy was Col. Crompton's daughter, and that the +Colonel had left a paper to that effect, which Mr. +Howard had found, and that Eloise had also found +the marriage certificate, proving her mother's legitimacy +beyond a doubt, and making her sole heir to +the Crompton estate. It was Friday night when the +travellers returned from the South, and on Saturday +morning, Mrs. Biggs's washing day, she heard +the news. Leaving her clothes in the suds, and her +tubs of rinsing and bluing water upon the floor, she +started for the Crompton House, which she reached +breathless with haste and excitement, and eager to +congratulate Amy and Eloise.</p> + +<p>"I swan, it 'most seem's if I was your relation," +she said, shaking Eloise's hand, and telling her she +always mistrusted she was somebody more than common, +"and I hope we shall be neighborly. I s'pose +you'll live here?"</p> + +<p>Eloise received her graciously, and said she should +never forget her kindness, and told her some incidents +of her journey, and, as Mrs. Biggs reported to +Tim, "treated me as if I was just as good as she, if +she is a Crompton."</p> + +<p>Ruby Ann came later in the day, genuinely glad +for Eloise, and sure that nothing would ever change +the young girl's friendship for herself, no matter what +her position might be. Many others called that day +and the following Monday, and Eloise received them +with a dignity of which she was herself unconscious, +and which they charged to the Crompton blood. +Howard, who was still suffering from a severe cold, +kept his room until Jack returned. Then he came +out with a feeling of humiliation, not so much that +he had lost the estate, as that he had thought to burn +the paper which took it from him. This feeling, +however, gradually wore off under Jack's geniality +and Eloise's friendliness, and Amy's sweetness of +manner as she called him Cousin Howard, and said +she hoped he would look upon Crompton as his +home. Then he was to have twenty thousand dollars +when matters were adjusted, and that was something +to one who, when he came to Crompton, had +scarcely a dollar. His visit had paid, and, though +he was not the master, he was the favored guest and +cousin, who, at Eloise's request, took charge of affairs +after Jack went home to New York.</p> + +<p>Early in December Jake came from the South, and +was welcomed warmly by Amy and Eloise. To the +servants he was a great curiosity, with his negro +dialect and quaint ways, but no one could look at +the old man's honest face without respecting him. +Even Peter, who detected about him an order of the +bad tobacco which had so offended his nostrils in the +letters to his master, and who on general principles +disliked negroes, was disarmed of his prejudices by +Jake's confiding simplicity and thorough goodness. +Taking him one day for a drive around the country +and through the village, he bought him some first-class +cigars with the thought "Maybe they'll take +that smell out of his clothes."</p> + +<p>"Thankee, Mas'r Peter, thankee," Jake said, +smacking his lips with his enjoyment of the flavor +of the Havanas. "Dis yer am mighty fine, but I +s'pecks I or'to stick to my backy. I done brought a +lot wid me."</p> + +<p>He smoked the Havanas as long as they lasted, +with no special diminution of odor as Peter could +discover, and then returned to his backy and his +clay pipe.</p> + +<p>In the love and tender care with which she was +surrounded, Amy's mind recovered its balance to a +great extent, with an occasional lapse when anything +reminded her of her life in California as a public +singer, or when she was very tired. She was greatly +interested in Eloise's wedding, which was fixed for +the 10th of January, her twentieth birthday. Jack, +who came from New York every week, would have +liked what he called a blow-out, but the recent death +of the Colonel and Amy's mourning precluded that, +and only a very few were bidden to the ceremony, +which took place in the drawing-room of the Crompton +House, instead of the church. Amy gave the +bride away, and a stranger would never have suspected +that she was what Jakey called quar. After +Eloise left for her bridal trip she began to assume +some responsibility as mistress of the house and to +understand Mr. Ferris a little when he talked to her +on business. Jake was a kind of ballast to her during +Eloise's absence, but a Northern winter did not +agree with the old man, who wore nearly as much +clothing to keep him warm as Harry Gill, and then +complained of the cold.</p> + +<p>"Florida suits me best, and I've a kind of hankerin' +for de ole place whar deys all buried," he said, and in +the spring he returned to his Lares and Penates, leaving +Amy a little unsettled with his loss, but she soon +recovered her spirits in the excitement of going +abroad.</p> + +<p>It was Jack who suggested this trip, which he +thought would benefit them all, and early in May they +sailed for Europe, taking Ruby with them, not in any +sense as a waiting maid, as some ill-natured ones suggested, +but as a companion to Amy, and as the friend +who had been so kind to Eloise in her need.</p> + +<p>That summer Howard was a conspicuous figure +at a fashionable watering place with his fast horse +and stylish buggy, and every other appearance of +wealth and luxury. He had received his twenty +thousand dollars and more, too, for Eloise was disposed +to be very generous toward him, and Amy assented +to whatever she suggested.</p> + +<p>"I'll have one good time and spend a whole year's +interest if I choose," he said, and he had a good time +and made love to a little Western heiress, whose eyes +were like those of Eloise, and first attracted him to +her, and who before the season was over promised to +be his wife.</p> + +<p>Just before she left for Europe Eloise brought +her grandmother, Mrs. Smith, from Mayville, and +established her in Crompton Place as its mistress, +but that good woman had little to say, and allowed +the servants to have their way in everything. The +change from her quiet home to all the grandeur and +ceremony of the Crompton House did not suit her, +and she returned, like Jakey, to her household gods +when the family came back in the spring.</p> + +<hr class="short" /> + +<p>Several years have passed since then, and Crompton +Place is just as lovely as it was when we first saw +it on the day of the lawn party. Three children are +there now; two girls, Dora and Lucy, and a sturdy +boy, who was christened James Harris Crompton, but +is called Harry. The doll-house has been brought +to light, with Mandy Ann and Judy, to the great +delight of the little girls, and Amy is never brighter +than when playing with the children, and telling +them of the palms and oranges, alligators and negroes +in Florida, which she speaks of as home.</p> + +<p>Eloise is very happy, and if a fear of the Harris +taint ever creeps into her mind, it is dissipated at +once in the perfect sunshine which crowns her life. +Nearly every year Jakey comes to visit "chile Dory +an' her lil ones," and once Mandy Ann spent a summer +in Crompton as cook in place of Cindy, who was +taking a vacation. But Northern ways of regularity +and promptness did not suit her.</p> + +<p>"'Clar for't," she said, "I jess can't git use't to de +Yankee Doodle quickstep nohow. At Miss Perkinses +dey wasn't partic'lar ef things was half an hour +behime."</p> + +<p>Her mind dwelt a good deal on what she had seen +at Miss Perkins's, more than forty years before, and +on her children and Ted, and when Cindy returned +in the autumn she went back to him and the twins, +laden with gifts from Amy and Eloise, the latter of +whom saw that her mother gave more judiciously +than she would otherwise have done. Both Amy +and Eloise are fond of driving, and nearly every day +the carriage goes out, but the coachman is no longer +Sam. He is married and lives in the village, and his +place is filled by Tom Walker, who wears a brown +livery, and fills the position with a dignity one would +scarcely expect in the tall, lank boy, once the bully +in school and the blackguard of the town.</p> + +<p>There have been three or four different teachers +in District No. 5,—all normal graduates, and all during +their term of office boarding with Mrs. Biggs, +who is never tired of boasting of her intimacy with +the Cromptons, and Eloise in particular. Every detail +of the accident is repeated again and again, with +many incidents of Amy's girlhood. Then she takes +up the Colonel and his private marriage, and with his +introduction we end our story and leave her to tell +hers in her own way.</p> + +<p class="center">THE END.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CROMPTONS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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