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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The House of Martha, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The House of Martha
+
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+
+
+Release Date: July 13, 2006  [eBook #18822]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF MARTHA***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and the Project Gutenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/)
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE OF MARTHA
+
+by
+
+FRANK R. STOCKTON
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Boston and New York
+Houghton, Mifflin and Company
+The Riverside Press, Cambridge
+1891
+Copyright, 1891,
+By Frank B. Stockton.
+All rights reserved.
+The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
+Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAP.
+
+        I. My Grandmother and I
+
+       II. Relating to my Year in Europe
+
+      III. The Modern Use of the Human Ear
+
+       IV. I obtain a Listener
+
+        V. Chester Walkirk
+
+       VI. My Under-Study
+
+      VII. My Book
+
+     VIII. The Malarial Adjunct
+
+       IX. Walkirk's Idea
+
+        X. The Plan of Seclusion
+
+       XI. My Nun
+
+      XII. Eza
+
+     XIII. My Friend Vespa
+
+      XIV. I favor Permanency in Office
+
+       XV. How we went back to Genoa
+
+      XVI. I run upon a Sandbar
+
+     XVII. Regarding the Elucidation of National Characteristics
+
+    XVIII. An Illegible Word
+
+      XIX. Gray Ice
+
+       XX. Tomaso and I
+
+      XXI. Lucilla and I
+
+     XXII. I close my Book
+
+    XXIII. Racket Island
+
+     XXIV. The Interpolation
+
+      XXV. About Sylvia
+
+     XXVI. Mother Anastasia
+
+    XXVII. A Person
+
+   XXVIII. The Floating Grocery
+
+     XXIX. Fantasy?
+
+      XXX. A Discovery
+
+     XXXI. Taking up Unfinished Work
+
+    XXXII. Tomaso and Lucilla
+
+   XXXIII. The Distant Topsail
+
+    XXXIV. The Central Hotel
+
+     XXXV. Money makes the Mare go
+
+    XXXVI. In the Shade of the Oak
+
+   XXXVII. The Performance of my Under-Study
+
+  XXXVIII. A Broken Trace
+
+    XXXIX. A Soul Whisper?
+
+       XL. An Inspiration
+
+      XLI. Miss Laniston
+
+     XLII. The Mother Superior
+
+    XLIII. Was his Heart true to Poll?
+
+     XLIV. Preliminary Brotherhood
+
+      XLV. I make Coffee and get into Hot Water
+
+     XLVI. Going back for a Friend
+
+    XLVII. I interest Miss Laniston
+
+   XLVIII. In a Cold, Bare Room
+
+     XLIX. My Own Way
+
+        L. My Book of Travel
+
+       LI. A Loose End
+
+      LII. I finish the Sicilian Love-Story
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE OF MARTHA.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+MY GRANDMOTHER AND I.
+
+
+My grandmother sat in her own particular easy-chair by the open window
+of her back parlor. This was a pleasant place in which to sit in the
+afternoon, for the sun was then on the other side of the house, and she
+could look not only over the smooth grass of the side yard and the
+flower beds, which were under her especial care, but across the corner
+of the front lawn into the village street. Here, between two handsome
+maple-trees which stood upon the sidewalk, she could see something of
+what was going on in the outer world without presenting the appearance
+of one who is fond of watching her neighbors. It was not much that she
+saw, for the street was a quiet one; but a very little of that sort of
+thing satisfied her.
+
+She was a woman who was easily satisfied. As a proof of this, I may say
+that she looked upon me as a man who always did what was right. Indeed,
+I am quite sure there were cases when she saved herself a good deal of
+perplexing cogitation by assuming that a thing was right because I did
+it. I was her only grandchild: my father and mother had died when I was
+very young, and I had always lived with her,--that is, her house had
+always been my home; and as I am sure there had never been any reason
+why I should not be a dutiful and affectionate grandson, it was not
+surprising that she looked upon me with a certain tender partiality, and
+that she considered me worthy of all the good that she or fortune could
+bestow upon me.
+
+My grandmother was nearly seventy, but her physical powers had been
+excellently well preserved; and as to her mental vigor, I could see no
+change in it. Even when a little boy I had admired her powers of
+sympathetic consideration, by which she divined the needs and desires of
+her fellow-creatures; and now that I had become a grown man I found
+those powers as active and ready as they had ever been.
+
+The village in which we lived contained a goodly number of families of
+high standing and comfortable fortune. It was a village of well-kept and
+well-shaded streets, of close-cut grass, with no litter on the
+sidewalks. Our house was one of the best in the place, and since I had
+come of age I had greatly improved it. I had a fair inheritance from my
+mother, and this my grandmother desired me to expend without reference
+to what I was receiving and would receive from her. To her son's son
+would come ultimately everything that she possessed.
+
+Being thus able to carry out my ideas concerning the comfort and
+convenience of a bachelor, I had built a wing to my grandmother's house,
+which was occupied only by myself. It communicated by several doors with
+the main building, and these doors were nearly always open; but it was
+satisfactory to me to think that if I chose I might shut and lock them,
+and thus give my apartment the advantages of a separate house. The
+ground floor of my establishment consisted of a large and handsome
+library and study, with a good-sized anteroom opening from it, and above
+were my sleeping and dressing rooms. With the exception of the time
+devoted to reading, reflection, and repose, I lived with my grandmother.
+
+Neither of us, however, confined ourself to this village life. The
+winters my grandmother generally spent with a married sister in a
+neighboring city, and I was accustomed to visit and journey whenever it
+pleased me. Recently I had spent a year in Europe, and on my return I
+joined my grandmother for a while, before going to our village home.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+RELATING TO MY YEAR IN EUROPE.
+
+
+I do not suppose that any one ever enjoyed travel and residence in
+England and on the Continent more than I did; but I do not now intend to
+give any account of my experiences, nor of the effect they had upon me,
+save in one regard. I had traveled and lived for the most part alone,
+and one of the greatest pleasures connected with my life in Europe was
+the anticipation of telling my friends who had never crossed the ocean
+what I had seen, heard, and done.
+
+But when I returned to America I met with a great disappointment: my
+glowing anticipations were not realized. I could find scarcely any one
+who cared to know what I had seen, heard, or done.
+
+At this I was as much surprised as disappointed. I believed that I
+possessed fair powers of description and narration, and many of my
+traveling experiences were out of the common. In fact, I had endeavored
+to see things the ordinary traveler does not see, and to do things which
+he seldom does. I found, however, that my unusual experiences were of no
+advantage to me in making people desirous to hear accounts of my
+travels. I might as well have joined a party of personally conducted
+tourists.
+
+My friends and acquaintances in town were all glad to see me, not that
+they might hear what had happened to me, but that they might tell me
+what had happened to them. This disposition sometimes threw me into a
+state of absolute amazement. I could not comprehend, for instance, why
+Mrs. Gormer, who had known me for years, and who I thought would take
+such an active interest in everything that concerned me, should dismiss
+my European tour with a few remarks in regard to my health in the
+countries I had passed through, and then begin an animated account of
+the troubles she had had since I had been away: how the house she had
+been living in had had two feet of water in the cellar for weeks at a
+time, and how nobody could find out whether it was caused by a spring in
+the ground or the bursting of an unknown water-pipe,--but no matter what
+it was, they couldn't stay there; and what a dreadful time they had in
+finding another house; and how the day appointed for Jennie's wedding
+coming directly in the middle of the moving, it had to be postponed, for
+she declared she would never be married anywhere but at home; and how
+several of Mr. Barclay's relations came down from New Hampshire on
+purpose to be at the wedding, and had to stay either at hotels or with
+friends, for it was more than a week before her house could be made
+ready for the wedding. She then remarked that of course I had heard of
+the shameful way in which John had been treated in regard to that
+position in the Treasury department at Washington; and as I had not
+heard she went on and told me about it, until it was time for me to go.
+
+At my club, some of the men did not know that I had been away, but there
+were others who were very glad to hear that I had been in Europe,
+because it gave them an opportunity to tell me about that very exciting
+election of Brubaker, a man of whom I had never heard, who had been
+proposed by Shuster, with whom I was not acquainted, and seconded by
+Cushman, whom I did not know. I found no one desirous of hearing me talk
+about my travels, and those who were willing to do so were satisfied
+with a very few general points. Sometimes I could not but admire the
+facility and skill with which some of the people who stay at home were
+able to defend themselves against the attempted loquacity of the
+returned traveler.
+
+Occasionally, in social gatherings, I met with some one, generally a
+lady, who did take an interest in hearing that I had been in such or
+such a place; but this was always some place in which she had been, and,
+after comparing experiences, she would go on to tell of things which she
+had seen and done, and often ended by making me feel very sorry for
+having neglected my opportunities.
+
+"Yes," said one, "it must have been cold on the top of that lonely
+mountain, with nothing to warm you but those plump little wolves, and
+the constant fear that their mother might come back; but you ought to
+have been here during the blizzard." And then she went on with a full
+history of the great blizzard.
+
+Everywhere I was met by that blizzard. Those people who had not moved,
+or who had not had a puzzling disease in the family, or who had not been
+instrumental in founding a free kindergarten, could always fall back on
+the blizzard. I heard how their fathers could not get home on the train,
+of the awful prices the people charged for clearing away the snow, of
+the way in which Jane and Adelaide had to get on without music lessons
+for nearly ten days, and of the scarcity of milk. No one who had seen
+and felt that irrepressible storm suffered from it as I did. It chilled
+the aspirations of my soul, it froze the unspoken words of my mouth, it
+overwhelmed and buried every rising hope of speech, and smothered and
+sometimes nearly obliterated my most interesting recollection. Many a
+time I have mentally sent that blizzard to regions where its icy blasts
+would have melted as in a hot simoom.
+
+I truly believed that in our village I should find sensible people who
+would be glad to hear about interesting things which they never had
+seen. Many of them had not traveled, and a returned tourist was a
+comparative rarity in the place. I went down there on purpose to talk
+about Europe. It was too early for my grandmother's return to the
+country. I proposed to spend a week with my village friends, and, before
+their bright firesides, charm and delight them with accounts of those
+things which had so charmed and delighted me. The lives of city people
+are so filled with every sort of material that it is useless to try to
+crowd anything more into them. Here, however, were people with excellent
+intellects, whose craving for mental pabulum, especially in the winter,
+could be but partially satisfied.
+
+But bless me! I never heard of such an over-stock of mental pabulum as I
+found there. It was poured upon me by every one with whom I tried to
+converse. I was frequently permitted to begin statements which I
+believed must win their way, if they were allowed a fair start; but very
+soon something I said was sure to suggest something which had occurred
+in the village, and before I could brace myself the torrent would burst
+upon me. Never did I hear, in the same space of time, so much about
+things which had happened as I then heard from my village neighbors. It
+was not that so much had occurred, but that so much was said about what
+had occurred. It was plain there was no hope for me here, and after
+three days I went back to town.
+
+Now it was early summer, and my grandmother and I were again in our dear
+home in the village. As I have said, she was sitting by the open window,
+where she could look out upon the flowers, the grass, and a little of
+the life of her neighbors. I sat near her, and had been telling her of
+my three days in the Forest of Arden, and of the veritable Jaques whom I
+met there, when she remarked:--
+
+"That must have been extremely interesting; and, speaking of the woods,
+I wish you would say to Thomas that so soon as he can find time I want
+him to bring up some of that rich wood-soil and put it around those
+geraniums."
+
+This was the first time my grandmother had interjected any remark into
+my recitals. She had often asked me to tell her about my travels, and on
+every other occasion she had listened until she softly fell asleep. I
+now remembered having heard her say that it interfered with her night's
+rest to sleep in the daytime. Perhaps her present interruption was
+intended as a gentle rebuke, and no other kind of rebuke had ever come
+to me from my grandmother.
+
+I went out to find Thomas, oppressed by a mild despair. If I were to
+tell my tales to a stone, I thought, it would turn on me with a sermon.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE MODERN USE OF THE HUMAN EAR.
+
+
+During my lonely walks and rides through the country about our village,
+I began to cogitate and philosophize upon the present social value of
+the human ear. Why do people in society and in domestic circles have
+ears? I asked myself. They do not use them to listen to one another. And
+then I thought and pondered further, and suddenly the truth came to me:
+the ears of the present generation are not purveyors to the mind; they
+are merely agents of the tongue, who watch for breaks or weak places in
+the speech of others, in order that their principal may rush in and hold
+the field. They are jackals, who scent out a timid pause or an
+unsuspecting silence which the lion tongue straightway destroys. Very
+forcibly the conviction came to me that nowadays we listen only for an
+opportunity to speak.
+
+I was grieved that true listening had become a lost art; for without it
+worthy speech is impossible. To good listening is due a great part of
+the noble thought, the golden instruction, and the brilliant wit which
+has elevated, enlightened, and brightened the soul of man. There are
+fine minds whose workings are never expressed in writing; and even among
+those who, in print, spread their ideas before the world there is a
+certain cream of thought which is given only to listeners, if, happily,
+there be such.
+
+Modern conversation has degenerated into the Italian game of
+_moccoletto_, in which every one endeavors to blow out the candles of
+the others, and keep his own alight. In such rude play there is no
+illumination. "There should be a reform," I declared. "There should be
+schools of listening. Here men and women should be taught how, with
+sympathetic and delicate art, to draw from others the useful and
+sometimes precious speech which, without their skillful cooeperation,
+might never know existence. To be willing to receive in order that good
+may be given should be one of the highest aims of life.
+
+"Not only should we learn to listen in order to give opportunity for the
+profitable speech of others, but we should do so out of charity and good
+will to our fellow-men. How many weary sick-beds, how many cheerless
+lives, how many lonely, depressed, and silent men and women, might be
+gladdened, and for the time transformed, by one who would come, not to
+speak words of cheer and comfort, but to listen to tales of suffering
+and trial! Here would be one of the truest forms of charity; an almost
+unknown joy would be given to the world.
+
+"There should be brotherhoods and sisterhoods of listeners; like good
+angels, they should go out among those unfortunates who have none to
+hear that which it would give them so much delight to say."
+
+But alas! I knew of no such good angels. Must that which I had to tell
+remain forever untold for the want of one? This could not be; there must
+exist somewhere a man or a woman who would be willing to hear my
+accounts of travels and experiences which, in an exceptionable degree,
+were interesting and valuable.
+
+I determined to advertise for a listener.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+I OBTAIN A LISTENER.
+
+
+The writing of my advertisement cost me a great deal of trouble. At
+first I thought of stating that I desired a respectable and intelligent
+person, who would devote a few hours each day to the services of a
+literary man; but on reflection I saw that this would bring me a vast
+number of answers from persons who were willing to act as secretaries,
+proof-readers, or anything of the sort, and I should have no means of
+finding out from their letters whether they were good listeners or not.
+
+Therefore I determined to be very straightforward and definite, and to
+state plainly what it was I wanted. The following is the advertisement
+which I caused to be inserted in several of the city papers:--
+
+     "Wanted.--A respectable and intelligent person, willing to
+     devote several hours a day to listening to the recitals of a
+     traveler. Address, stating compensation expected, Oral."
+
+I mentioned my purpose to no one, not even to my grandmother, for I
+should merely make myself the object of the ridicule of my friends, and
+my dear relative's soul would be filled with grief that she had not been
+considered competent to do for me so slight a service. If I succeeded in
+obtaining a listener, he could come to me in my library, where no one
+would know he was not a stenographer to whom I was dictating literary
+matter, or a teacher of languages who came to instruct me in Arabic.
+
+I received a dozen or more answers to my advertisement, some of which
+were very amusing, and others very unsatisfactory. Not one of the
+writers understood what sort of services I desired, but all expressed
+their belief that they were fully competent to give them, whatever they
+might be.
+
+After a good deal of correspondence and some interviewing, I selected at
+last a person who I believed would prove himself a satisfactory
+listener. He was an elderly man, of genteel appearance, and apparently
+of a quiet and accommodating disposition. He assured me that he had once
+been a merchant, engaged in the importation of gunny-bags, and, having
+failed in business, had since depended on the occasional assistance
+given him by a widowed daughter-in-law. This man I engaged, and arranged
+that he should lodge at the village inn, and come to me every evening.
+
+I was truly delighted that so far I had succeeded in my plan. Now,
+instead of depending upon the whims, fancies, or occasional good-natured
+compliance of any one, I was master of the situation. My listener was
+paid to listen to me, and listen to me he must. If he did not do so
+intelligently, he should be dismissed. It would be difficult to express
+fully the delight given me by my new possession,--the ownership of
+attention.
+
+Every evening my listener came; and during a great part of every day I
+thought of what I should say to him when he should come. I talked to him
+with a feeling of freedom and absolute independence which thrilled me
+like champagne. What mattered it whether my speech interested him or
+not? He was paid to listen, without regard to interest; more than that,
+he was paid to show an interest, whether he felt it or not. Whether I
+bored him or delighted him, it made no difference; in fact, it would be
+a pleasure to me occasionally to feel that I did bore him. To have the
+full opportunity and the perfect right to bore a fellow-being is a
+privilege not lightly to be prized, and an added zest is given to the
+enjoyment of the borer by the knowledge that the bored one is bound to
+make it appear that he is not bored.
+
+In an easy-chair opposite to me my listener sat and listened for two
+hours every evening. I interested myself by watching and attempting to
+analyze the expressions on his face, but what these appeared to indicate
+made no difference in my remarks. I do not think he liked repetitions,
+but if I chose to tell a thing several times, I did so. He had no right
+to tell me that he had heard that before. Immunity from this remark was
+to me a rare enjoyment.
+
+I made it a point to talk as well as I could, for I like to hear myself
+talk well, but I paid no attention to the likings of my listener. Later
+I should probably do this, but at present it was a joy to trample upon
+the likings of others. My own likings in this respect had been so often
+trampled upon that I would not now deny myself the exercise of the
+right--bought and paid for--to take this sweet revenge.
+
+On the evenings of nine week-days and one Sunday, when I confined myself
+entirely to a description of a short visit to Palestine, I talked and my
+listener listened. About the middle of the evening of the tenth
+week-day, when I was engaged in the expression of some fancies evoked by
+the recollection of a stroll through the Egyptian department of the
+Louvre, I looked at my listener, and beheld him asleep.
+
+As I stopped speaking he awoke with a start, and attempted to excuse
+himself by stating that he had omitted to take coffee with his evening
+meal. I made no answer, but, opening my pocket-book, paid and discharged
+him.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+CHESTER WALKIRK.
+
+
+It is not my custom to be discouraged by a first failure. I looked over
+the letters which had been sent to me in answer to my advertisement, and
+wrote to another of the applicants, who very promptly came to see me.
+
+The appearance of this man somewhat discouraged me. My first thought
+concerning him was that a man who seemed to be so thoroughly alive was
+not likely to prove a good listener. But after I had had a talk with him
+I determined to give him a trial. Of one thing I was satisfied: he would
+keep awake. He was a man of cheerful aspect; alert in motion, glance,
+and speech. His age was about forty; he was of medium size, a little
+inclined to be stout, and his face, upon which he wore no hair, was
+somewhat ruddy. In dress he was neat and proper, and he had an air of
+friendly deference, which seemed to me to suit the position I wished him
+to fill.
+
+He spoke of himself and his qualifications with tact, if not with
+modesty, and rated very highly his ability to serve me as a listener;
+but he did so in a manner intended to convince me that he was not
+boasting, but stating facts which it was necessary I should know. His
+experience had been varied: he had acted as a tutor, a traveling
+companion, a confidential clerk, a collector of information for
+technical writers, and in other capacities requiring facility of
+adaptation to exigencies. At present he was engaged in making a
+catalogue for a collector of prints, whose treasures, in the course of
+years, had increased to such an extent that it was impossible for him to
+remember what his long rows of portfolios contained. The collector was
+not willing that work among his engravings should be done by artificial
+light, and, as the evenings of my visitor were therefore disengaged, he
+said he should be glad to occupy them in a manner which would not only
+be profitable to him, but, he was quite sure, would be very interesting.
+
+The man's name was Chester Walkirk, and I engaged him to come to me
+every evening, as my first listener had done.
+
+I began my discourses with Walkirk with much less confidence and
+pleasurable anticipation than I had felt with regard to the quiet,
+unassuming elderly person who had been my first listener, and whom I had
+supposed to be a very model of receptivity. The new man I feared would
+demand more,--if not by word, at least by manner. He would be more like
+an audience; I should find myself striving to please him, and I could
+not feel careless whether he liked what I said or not.
+
+But by the middle of the first evening all my fears and doubts in regard
+to Walkirk had disappeared. He proved to be an exceptionally good
+listener. As I spoke, he heard me with attention and evident interest;
+and this he showed by occasional remarks, which he took care should
+never be interruptions. These interpolations were managed with much
+tact; sometimes they were in the form of questions, which reminded me of
+something I had intended to say, but had omitted, which led me to speak
+further upon the subject, perhaps on some other phase of it. Now and
+then, by the expression on his countenance, or by a word or two, he
+showed interest, gratification, astonishment, or some other appropriate
+sentiment.
+
+When I stopped speaking, he would sit quietly and muse upon what I had
+been saying; or, if he thought me not too deeply absorbed in reflection,
+would ask a question, or say something relative to the subject in hand,
+which would give me the opportunity of making some remarks which it
+gratified me to know that he wanted to hear.
+
+I could not help feeling that I talked better to Walkirk than I had ever
+done to any one else; and I did not hesitate to admit to myself that
+this gratifying result was due in great part to his ability as a
+listener. I do not say that he drew me out, but he gave me opportunities
+to show myself in the broadest and best lights. This truly might be said
+to be good listening; it produced good speech.
+
+Day after day I became better and better satisfied with Chester Walkirk,
+and it is seldom that I have enjoyed myself more than in talking to him.
+I am sure that it gave me more actual pleasure to tell him what I had
+seen and what I had done than I had felt in seeing and doing those
+things. This may appear odd, but it is a fact. I readily revived in
+myself the emotions that accompanied my experiences, and to these
+recalled emotions was added the sympathetic interest of another.
+
+In other ways Walkirk won my favor. He was good-natured and intelligent,
+and showed that he was anxious to please me not only as a listener, but
+as a companion, or, I might better say, as an associate inmate of my
+study. What he did not know in this respect he set himself diligently to
+learn.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+MY UNDER-STUDY.
+
+
+In talking about my travels to Chester Walkirk, I continued for a time
+to treat the subject in the same desultory manner in which I had related
+my experiences to my first listener; but the superior intelligence, and
+I may say the superior attention, of Walkirk acted upon me as a
+restraint as well as an incentive. I made my descriptions as graphic and
+my statements as accurate as I could, and, stimulated by his occasional
+questions and remarks, I began to discourse systematically and with a
+well-considered plan. I went from country to country in the order in
+which I had traveled through them, and placed my reflections on social,
+political, or artistic points where they naturally belonged.
+
+It was plain to see that Walkirk's interest and pleasure increased when
+my rambling narrations resolved themselves into a series of evening
+lectures upon Great Britain, the Continent, and the north coast of
+Africa, and his pleasure was a decided gratification to me. If his
+engagements and mine had permitted, I should have been glad to talk to
+him at other times, as well as in the evening.
+
+After a month or more of this agreeable occupation, the fact began to
+impress itself upon me that I was devoting too much time to the pleasure
+of being listened to. My grandmother gently complained that the time I
+gave to her after dinner appeared to be growing less and less, and there
+was a good deal of correspondence and other business I was in the habit
+of attending to in the evening which now was neglected, or done in the
+daytime, when I should have been doing other things.
+
+I was not a man of leisure. My grandmother owned a farm about a mile
+from our village, and over the management of this I exercised a
+supervision. I was erecting some houses on land of my own on the
+outskirts of the village, and for this reason, as well as others, it
+frequently was necessary for me to go to the city on business errands.
+Besides all this, social duties had a claim on me, summer and winter.
+
+I had gradually formed the habit of talking with Walkirk on other
+subjects than my travels, and one evening I mentioned to him some of the
+embarrassments and annoyances to which I had been subjected during the
+day, on account of the varied character of my affairs. Walkirk sat for a
+minute or two, his chin in his hand, gazing steadfastly upon the carpet;
+then he spoke:--
+
+"Mr. Vanderley, what you say suggests something which I have been
+thinking of saying to you. I have now finished the catalogue of prints,
+on which I was engaged when I entered your service as a listener; and my
+days, therefore, being at my disposal, it would give me great pleasure
+to put them at yours."
+
+"In what capacity?" I asked.
+
+"In that of an under-study," said he.
+
+I assured him that I did not know what he meant.
+
+"I don't wonder at that," said he, with a smile, "but I will explain. In
+theatrical circles each principal performer is furnished with what is
+termed in the profession an under-study. This is an actor, male or
+female, as the case may be, who studies the part of the performer, and
+is capable of going through with it, with more or less ability, in case
+the regular actor, from sickness or any other cause, is prevented from
+appearing in his part. In this way the manager provides against
+emergencies which might at any time stop his play and ruin his business.
+Now, I should like very much to be your under-study, and I think in this
+capacity I could be of great service to you."
+
+I made no answer, but I am sure my countenance expressed surprise.
+
+"I do not mean," he continued, "to propose that I shall act as your
+agent in the various forms of business which press upon you, but I
+suggest that you allow me to do for you exactly what the under-study
+does for the actor; that is, that you let me take your place when it is
+inconvenient or impossible for you to take it yourself."
+
+"It strikes me," said I, "that, in the management of my affairs, it
+would be very seldom that you or any one else could take my place."
+
+"Of course," said Walkirk, "under present circumstances that would be
+impossible; but suppose, for instance, you take me with you to those
+houses you are building, that you show me what has been done and what
+you intend to do, and that you let me make myself familiar with the
+whole plan and manner of the work. This would be easy for me, for I have
+superintended house-building; and although I am neither a plumber, a
+mason, a carpenter, a paper-hanger, or a painter, I know how such people
+should do their work. Therefore, if you should be unable to attend to
+the matter yourself,--and in such case only,--I could go and see how the
+work was progressing; and this I could do with regard to your farm, or
+any other of your business with the details of which you should care to
+have me make myself familiar,--always remembering that I should not act
+as your regular agent in any one of these affairs, but as one who, when
+it is desirable, temporarily takes your place. I think, Mr. Vanderley,
+that it would be of advantage to you to consider my proposition."
+
+I did consider it, and the next evening I engaged Chester Walkirk as an
+under-study.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+MY BOOK.
+
+
+In order to be at hand when I might need him, Walkirk took up his
+residence at the village tavern, or, as some of us were pleased to call
+it, the inn. To make him available when occasion should require, I took
+him with me to the scene of my building operations and to my
+grandmother's farm, and he there showed the same intelligent interest
+that he gave to my evening recitals. I had no difficulty in finding
+occupation for my under-study, and, so far as I could judge, he attended
+to the business I placed in his hands as well as I could have done it
+myself; indeed, in some instances, he did it better, for he gave it more
+time and careful consideration.
+
+In this business of supplying my place in emergencies, Walkirk showed so
+much ability in promoting my interests that I became greatly pleased
+with the arrangement I had made with him. It was somewhat surprising to
+me, and I think to Walkirk, that so many cases arose in which I found it
+desirable that he should take my place. I was going to look at a horse:
+some visitors arrived; I sent Walkirk. There was a meeting of a
+scientific society which I wished very much to attend, but I could not
+do that and go to a dinner party to which I had been invited on the same
+evening; Walkirk went to the meeting, took notes, and the next day gave
+me a full report in regard to some particular points in which I was
+interested, and which were not mentioned in the short newspaper notice
+of the meeting.
+
+In other cases, of which at first I could not have imagined the
+possibility, my under-study was of use to me. I was invited to address
+my fellow townsmen and townswomen on the occasion of the centennial
+anniversary of the settlement of our village, and as I had discovered
+that Walkirk was a good reader I took him with me, in order that he
+might deliver my written address in case my courage should give out. My
+courage did not give out, but I am very sure that I was greatly
+supported and emboldened by the knowledge that if, at the last moment,
+my embarrassment should not allow me to begin my address, or if in the
+course of its delivery I should feel unable, for any reason, to go on
+with it, there was some one present who would read it for me.
+
+It had long been my habit to attend with my grandmother, bi-monthly, an
+early evening whist party at the house of an elderly neighbor. I had a
+bad headache on one of these appointed evenings, and Walkirk, who was a
+perfectly respectable and presentable man, went with my grandmother in
+my stead. I afterward heard that he played an excellent hand at whist, a
+remark which had never been made of me.
+
+But I will not refer at present to any further instances of the
+usefulness of my under-study, except to say that, as I found his feet
+were of the same size and shape as my own, I sent him to be measured for
+a pair of heavy walking-shoes which I needed; and I once arranged for
+him to serve in my place on a coroner's jury, in the case of a drowned
+infant.
+
+The evening listenings still went on, and as the scope of my remarks
+grew wider, and their purpose became better defined, it began to dawn
+upon me that it was selfish to devote these accounts of remarkable
+traveling experiences to the pleasure of only two men, myself and my
+listener; the public would be interested in these things. I ought to
+write a book.
+
+This idea pleased me very much. As Walkirk was now able to take my place
+in so many ways, I could give a good deal of time each day to
+composition; and, moreover, there was no reason why such work should
+interfere with my pleasure in being listened to. I could write by day,
+and talk at night. It would be all the better for my book that I should
+first orally deliver the matter to Walkirk, and afterward write it. I
+broached this idea to Walkirk; but, while he did not say so in words, it
+was plain to me he did not regard it with favor. He reflected a little
+before speaking.
+
+"The writing of a book," he said, "is a very serious thing; and although
+it is not my province to advise you, I will say that if I were in your
+place I should hesitate a good while before commencing a labor like
+that. I have no doubt, judging from what I have already heard of your
+travels, that you would make a most useful and enjoyable book, but the
+question in my mind is, whether the pleasure you would give your readers
+would repay you for the time and labor you would put upon this work."
+
+This was the first time that Walkirk had offered me advice. I had no
+idea of taking it, but I did not resent it.
+
+"I do not look at the matter in that way," I said. "An absorbing labor
+will be good for me. My undertaking may result in overworking you, for
+you will be obliged to act as my under-study even more frequently than
+you do now."
+
+"Oh, I'm not afraid of work," said he; "I can stand any amount of it.
+But how about the evening discourses,--will they come to an end?"
+
+"Not at all," said I; "I shall go on giving you an account of my
+travels, just as before. This will help me to judge better what to put
+in and what to leave out."
+
+"I am very glad to hear that," he said, with animation; "I do not
+hesitate to own to you that I should very greatly regret to lose those
+most interesting accounts of your experiences."
+
+This was very complimentary, but, as he was paid to listen, the remark
+did not possess the force it would have had, had he paid to hear me.
+
+Enthusiastically I went to work upon my book, and I found that talking
+about my travels to Walkirk helped me to write about them for the
+public. But a week had not passed when I came to the conclusion that
+writing was in no way so pleasant as talking. I disliked labor with the
+pen; I disliked long sitting at my desk. The composition of the matter
+was enough for me; some one else should put it on paper. I must have a
+secretary. I went immediately to Walkirk, who was at the inn, working
+upon some of my accounts.
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "I can get somebody else to do that sort of thing. I
+want you to act as my amanuensis."
+
+To my surprise his face clouded. He seemed troubled, even pained.
+
+"I am very, very sorry," he said, "to decline any work which you may
+desire me to do, but I really must decline this. I cannot write from
+dictation. I cannot be your amanuensis. Although it may seem like
+boasting, this is one of the few things I cannot do: my nervous
+temperament, my disposition, in fact my very nature, stand in the way,
+and make the thing impossible."
+
+I could not understand Walkirk's objections to this sort of work, for he
+was a ready writer, a good stenographer, and had shown himself perfectly
+willing and able to perform duties much more difficult and distasteful
+than I imagined this possibly could be. But there are many things I do
+not understand, and which I consider it a waste of time to try to
+understand; and this was one of them.
+
+"Then I must get some one else," said I.
+
+"If you decide to do that," said Walkirk, "I will attend to the matter
+for you, and you need trouble yourself no further about it. I will go to
+the city, or wherever it is necessary to go, and get you an amanuensis."
+
+"Do so," said I, "but come and report to me before you make any
+engagement."
+
+The next day Walkirk made his report. He had not been as successful as
+he had hoped to be. If I had been doing my work in the city, he could
+have found me stenographers, amanuenses, or type-writers by the hundred.
+By living and working in the country, I made his task much more
+difficult. He had found but few persons who were willing to come to me
+every day, no matter what the weather, and only one or two who would
+consent to come to our village to live.
+
+But he had made a list of several applicants who might suit me, and who
+were willing to accept one or the other of the necessary conditions.
+
+"They are all women!" I exclaimed, when I looked at it.
+
+"Yes," said he; "it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, to find
+a competent man who would answer your purpose. The good ones could not
+afford to give you part of their time, which is all you require, and you
+would not want any other. With women the case is different; and besides,
+I am sure, from my own experience, that a lady amanuensis would suit
+your purpose much better than a man: she would be more patient, more
+willing to accommodate herself to your moods, in every way more
+available."
+
+I had not engaged Walkirk to be my under-study in matters of judgment,
+and I did not intend that he should act in that capacity; but there was
+force in his remarks, and I determined to give them due consideration.
+Although I had apartments of my own, I really lived in my grandmother's
+house; and of course it was incumbent upon me to consult her upon this
+subject. She looked at the matter in her usual kindly way, and soon came
+to be of the opinion that, if I could give a worthy and industrious
+young woman an opportunity to earn her livelihood, I ought to do it;
+taking care, of course, to engage no one who could not furnish the very
+best references.
+
+I now put the matter again into Walkirk's hands, and told him to produce
+the persons he had selected. He managed the matter with great skill, and
+in the course of one morning four ladies called upon me, in such a way
+that they did not interfere with each other. Of these applicants none
+pleased me. One of them was a dark-haired, dark-eyed, rather spare
+person, whose youthful energies had been so improved by years that I was
+sure her briskness of action, her promptness of speech, and her evident
+anxiety to get to work and to keep at it would eventually drive me
+crazy.
+
+Another was a skilled stenographer, who could write I forget how many
+hundred words a minute; and when I told her there were no minutes in
+which I could dictate as many words as that, even if I wanted to, and
+that there would be many minutes in which I should not dictate any words
+at all, she said she was afraid that if she fell into a dilly-dally,
+poky way of working it would impair her skill, and it might be
+difficult, when she left my employment, to regain her previous
+expertness. She was quite willing, however, to engage with me, and
+thought that if I would try to dictate as fast as possible I might, in
+time, be able to keep her nearly up to her normal standard.
+
+A third one was willing to write longhand, and to work as slowly and as
+irregularly as I pleased. I gave her a short trial, but her writing was
+so illegible that I could not discover whether or not she made mistakes
+in spelling. I had, however, my suspicions on this point.
+
+The fourth applicant I engaged to come for a week on trial. She
+exhibited no prominent disabilities, and I thought she might be made to
+answer my purpose; but as she possessed no prominent capabilities, and
+as she asked me to repeat almost every sentence which I dictated to her,
+I found it very tiresome to work with her, and I punished Walkirk by
+making him act as my under-study on the third and fourth days of her
+engagement. I requested him to dictate to her some detailed incidents of
+travel which I had told him, and which I was sure he remembered very
+well. He undertook the task with alacrity, but after two mornings' work
+he advised me to discharge her. Dictating to her, he said, was like
+talking into a tin spout with nobody at the other end. Somebody might
+come if you shouted long enough, but this was tiresome.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE MALARIAL ADJUNCT.
+
+
+The fifth applicant on Walkirk's list had a morning to herself. So soon
+as she entered my study I hoped that she would suit me, and I had not
+talked with her ten minutes before I decided that she would. Her
+personality was exceedingly agreeable; she was neither too young nor too
+old. She expressed herself with a good-humored frankness which I liked,
+and appeared to be of a very practical turn of mind. She was a practiced
+stenographer, was accustomed to write from dictation and to read aloud,
+could correct proof, and had some admirable references. Her abilities
+appeared so excellent, and her demeanor was so agreeable to me, that I
+engaged her.
+
+"I am very happy indeed, Mr. Vanderley," she said, with the pretty
+dimpled smile which had so frequently shown itself in the course of our
+conversation, "that you have given me this position. I am sure that I
+shall like it, and I shall try very hard to make my work satisfactory. I
+shall come up every morning in the nine o'clock train, as you desire;
+and I shall be obliged to bring my husband with me, but this will not in
+any way interfere with my work. He is suffering from a malarial disease,
+and is subject to periods of faintness, so that it would be impossible
+for me to leave him for the whole morning; but he can sit outside
+anywhere, under a tree, or perhaps somewhere in the house if it happens
+to rain. He is perfectly contented if he has a comfortable place to sit
+in. He is not able to attend to any business, and as I now have to be
+the bread-winner I am most deeply grateful for this work which you have
+given me. I am sure that the little trip in and out of town will do him
+good, and as I shall buy commutation tickets it will not be expensive.
+He came with me this morning, and if you will excuse me I will bring him
+in and introduce him." And without waiting for any remark from me she
+left the room, and shortly returned with the malarial subject. He was an
+extremely mild-mannered man, of light weight and sedate aspect. The few
+words in which he indicated his gratification with his wife's engagement
+suggested to me the need of sulphate of quinia.
+
+This revelation of a malarial adjunct to the labors of myself and this
+very agreeable lady greatly surprised me, and, I must admit, threw me
+back from that condition of satisfaction in which I had found myself
+upon engaging her; and yet I could think of no reasonable objection to
+make. The lady had promised that he should not be in the way, and the
+most I could say, even to myself, was that the arrangement did not
+appear attractive to me. Of course, with no reason but a chaotic
+distaste, I would not recede from my agreement, and deprive this worthy
+lady of the opportunity of supporting herself and her husband; and the
+two departed, to return on the following day prepared to labor and to
+wait.
+
+I inquired of Walkirk, I fear with some petulance, if he had known of
+the incumbrance attached to this candidate; and he replied that she had
+informed him that she was married, but he had no idea she intended to
+bring her husband with her. He was very sorry that this was necessary,
+but in his judgment the man would not live very long.
+
+My grandmother was greatly pleased when I told her of the arrangement I
+had made to assist a devoted wife to support an invalid husband. She
+considered it a most worthy and commendable action, and she was rejoiced
+that such an opportunity had been afforded me. She would do what she
+could to make the poor man comfortable while his wife was at work; and
+if he had any sense at all, and knew what was to his advantage, he would
+be very careful not to interfere with her duties.
+
+The next morning the couple appeared, and the lady was ensconced in the
+anteroom to my study, which I had fitted up for the use of my secretary,
+where, through the open window in front of her, she could see her
+husband, seated in a rocking-chair, under a wide-spreading apple-tree.
+By his side was a table, on which lay the morning paper and some books
+which my grandmother had sent out to him. For a time she gave him also
+her society, but, as she subsequently informed me, she did not find him
+responsive, and soon concluded that he would be happier if left to his
+reflections and the literature with which she had provided him.
+
+As an amanuensis I found my new assistant everything that could be
+desired. She wrote rapidly and correctly, never asked me to repeat,
+showed no nervousness at the delays in my dictation, and was ready to
+write the instant I was ready to speak. She was quick and intelligent in
+looking up synonyms, and appeared perfectly at home in the dictionary.
+But in spite of these admirable qualifications, I did not find myself,
+that morning, in a condition favorable to my best literary work.
+Whenever my secretary was not actually writing she was looking out of
+the window; sometimes she would smile and nod, and on three occasions,
+while I was considering, not what I should say next, but whether or not
+I could stand this sort of thing, she went gently to the window, and
+asked the invalid, in a clear whisper, intended to be entirely
+undisturbing, how he was getting on and if he wanted anything.
+
+Two days after this the air was damp and rain threatened, and the
+malarial gentleman was supplied with comfortable quarters in the back
+parlor. I do not know whether or not he liked this better than sitting
+under a tree, but I am sure that the change did not please his wife. She
+could not look at him, and she could not ask him how he was getting on
+and if he wanted anything. I could see that she was worried and fidgety,
+although endeavoring to work as faithfully and steadily as usual. Twice
+during a break in the dictation she asked me to excuse her for just one
+minute, while she ran into the parlor to take a peep at him.
+
+The next day it rained, and there seemed every probability that we
+should have continued wet weather, and that it would be days before the
+malarial one could sit under the apple-tree. Therefore I looked the
+situation fairly in the face. It was impossible for me to dictate to a
+nervous, anxious woman, whose obvious mental condition acted most
+annoyingly upon my nerves, and I suggested that she bring her husband
+into her room, and let him sit there while she worked. With this
+proposition my secretary was delighted.
+
+"Oh, that will be charming!" she cried. "He will sit just as still as a
+mouse, and will not disturb either of us, and I shall be able to see how
+he feels without saying a word."
+
+For four days the malarial gentleman, as quiet as a mouse, sat by my
+secretary's window, while she wrote at the table, and I walked up and
+down my study, or threw myself into one chair or another, endeavoring to
+forget that that man was sitting by the window; that he was trying his
+best not to do anything which might disturb me; that he did not read, or
+write, or occupy his mind in any way; that he heard every word I
+dictated to his wife without indicating that he was not deaf, or that he
+was capable of judging whether my words were good, bad, or unworthy of
+consideration. Not only did I endeavor not to think of him, but I tried
+not to see either him or his wife. The silent, motionless figure of the
+one, and the silent but animated and vivacious figure of the other,
+filled with an eager desire to do her work properly, with a bubbling and
+hearty love for her husband, and an evident joyousness in the fact that
+she could love, work, and watch, all at the same time, drove from my
+mind every thought of travel or foreign experiences. Without the
+malarial husband I should have asked for no better secretary; but he
+spoiled everything. He was like a raw oyster in a cup of tea.
+
+I could not drive from my mind the vision of that man even when I knew
+he was asleep in his bed. There was no way of throwing him off. His wife
+had expressed to my grandmother the delight she felt in having him in
+the room with her while she worked, and my grandmother had spoken to me
+of her own sympathetic pleasure in this arrangement. I saw it would be
+impossible to exile him again to the apple-tree, even if the ground
+should ever be dry enough. There was no hope that he would be left at
+his home; there was no hope that he would get better, and go off to
+attend to his own business; there was no hope that he would die.
+
+From dictating but little I fell to dictating almost nothing at all. To
+keep my secretary at work, I gave her some notes of travel of which to
+make a fair copy, while I occupied myself in wondering what I was going
+to do about that malarial husband.
+
+At last I ceased to wonder, and I did something. I went to the city,
+and, after a day's hard work, I secured a position for my secretary in a
+large publishing establishment, where her husband could sit by a window
+in a secluded corner, and keep as quiet as a mouse. The good lady
+overwhelmed me with thanks for my kindness. She had begun to fear that,
+as the season grew colder, the daily trip would not suit her husband,
+and she gave me credit for having thought the same thing.
+
+My grandmother and Walkirk were greatly concerned, as well as surprised,
+at what I had done. The former said that, if I attempted to write my
+book with my own hand, she feared the sedentary work would tell upon my
+health; and my under-study, while regretting very much that his efforts
+to provide me with an amanuensis had proved unsuccessful, showed very
+plainly, although he did not say so, that he hoped I had found that
+authorship was an annoying and unprofitable business, and that I would
+now devote myself to pursuits which were more congenial, and in which he
+could act for me when occasion required.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+WALKIRK'S IDEA.
+
+
+Walkirk very soon discovered that I had no intention whatever of giving
+up the writing of my book, and I quieted the fears of my grandmother, in
+regard to my health, by assuring her that the sedentary work connected
+with the production of my volume would not be done by me. Secretaries
+could be had, and I would get one.
+
+This determination greatly disturbed Walkirk. He did not wish to see me
+perform a service for myself which it was his business to perform for
+me, and in which he had failed. I know that he gave the matter the most
+earnest consideration, and two days after my late secretary and her
+husband had left me he came into my study, his face shining with a new
+idea.
+
+"Mr. Vanderley," said he, "to find you an amanuensis who will exactly
+suit you, and who will be willing to come here into the country to work,
+is, I think you will admit, a very difficult business; but I do not
+intend, if I can help it, to be beaten by it. I have thought of a plan
+which I believe will meet all contingencies, and I have come to propose
+it to you. You know that institution just outside the village,--the
+House of Martha?"
+
+I replied that I knew of it.
+
+"Well," he continued, "I did not think of it until a day or two ago, and
+I have since been inquiring into its organization and nature. That
+sisterhood of Martha is composed of women who propose not only to devote
+themselves to a life of goodness, but to imitate the industrious woman
+for whom they have named themselves. They work not only in their
+establishment, but wherever they can find suitable occupation, and all
+that they earn is devoted to the good of the institution. Some of them
+act as nurses for the sick,--for pay if people can afford it, for
+nothing if they cannot. Others have studied medicine, and practice in
+the same way. They also prepare medicines and dispense them, and do a
+lot of good things,--if possible, for money and the advantage of the
+House of Martha. But every woman who joins such an institution cannot
+expect immediately to find the sort of remunerative work she can best
+do, and I am informed that there are several women there who, at
+present, are unemployed. Now, it is my opinion that among these you
+could find half a dozen good secretaries."
+
+I laughed aloud. "Those women," said I, "are just the same as nuns. It
+is ridiculous to suppose that one of them would be allowed to come here
+as my secretary, even if she wanted to."
+
+"I am not so sure of that," persisted Walkirk; "I do not see why
+literary, or rather clerical, pursuits should not be as open to them as
+medicine or nursing."
+
+"You may not see it," said I, "but I fancy that they do."
+
+"It is impossible to be certain on that point," he replied, "until we
+have proposed the matter to them, and given them the opportunity to
+consider it."
+
+"If you imagine," I said, "that I have the effrontery to go to that
+nunnery--for it is no more nor less than that--and ask the Lady Abbess
+to lend me one of her nuns to write at my dictation, you have very much
+mistaken me."
+
+Walkirk smiled. "I hardly expected you to do that," said he, "although I
+must insist that it is not a nunnery, and there is no Lady Abbess. There
+is a Head Mother, and some sub-mothers, I believe. My idea was that Mrs.
+Vanderley should drive over there and make inquiries for you. A
+proposition from an elderly lady of such high position in the community
+would have a much better effect than if it came from a gentleman."
+
+Walkirk's plan amused me very much, and I told him I would talk to my
+grandmother about it. When I did so, I was much surprised to find that
+she received the idea with favor.
+
+"That Mr. Walkirk," she said, "is a man of a good deal of penetration
+and judgment, and if you could get one of those sisters to come here and
+write for you I should like it very much; and if the first one did not
+suit, you could try another without trouble or expense. The fact that
+you had a good many strings to your bow would give you ease of mind and
+prevent your getting discouraged. I don't want you to give up the idea
+of having a secretary."
+
+Then, with some hesitation, my good grandmother confided to me that
+there was another reason why this idea of employing a sister pleased
+her. She had been a little afraid that some lady secretary, especially
+like that very pleasant and exemplary person with the invalid husband,
+might put the notion into my head that it would be a good thing for me
+to have a wife to do my writing. Now, of course she expected me to get
+married some day. That was all right, but there was no need of my being
+in any hurry about it; and as to my wife doing my writing, that was not
+to be counted upon positively. Some wives might not be willing to do it,
+and others might not do it well; so, as far as that matter was
+concerned, nothing would be gained. But one of those sisters would never
+suggest matrimony. They were women apart from all that sort of thing.
+They had certain work to do in this world, and they did it for the good
+of the cause in which they were enlisted, without giving any thought to
+those outside matters which so often occupy the minds of women who have
+not, in a manner, separated themselves from the world. She would go that
+very afternoon to the House of Martha and make inquiries.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+THE PLAN OF SECLUSION.
+
+
+My grandmother returned from the House of Martha disappointed and
+annoyed. Life had always flowed very smoothly for her, and I had rarely
+seen her in her present mental condition.
+
+"I do not believe," she said, "that that institution will succeed. Those
+women are too narrow-minded. If they were in a regular stone-walled
+convent, it would be another thing, but they are only a sisterhood. They
+are not shut up there; it's their business and part of their religion to
+go out, and why they should not be willing to come here and do good, as
+well as anywhere else, I cannot see, for the life of me."
+
+"Then they objected to the proposition?" I asked.
+
+"Yes," she replied, "they did, and without any reason whatever. I saw
+their superior, whom they call Mother Anastasia, and from her I learned
+that there were several women in the establishment who were thoroughly
+competent to act as secretaries; but when I proposed that one of them
+should come and write for you, she said that would not do at all. I
+reasoned the matter with her: that literature was as high a profession
+as medicine, and as much good could be done with the practice of one as
+the other; and if the sisters went out to nurse and to cure, they might
+just as well go out to write for those who cannot write for themselves.
+To that she answered, it was not the writing she objected to,--that was
+all well enough,--but it was decidedly outside of the vocation of the
+order for one of the sisters to spend her mornings with a young
+gentleman. If he were sick and suffering, and had no one else to attend
+to him, it would be different. Upon this, I told her that you would be
+sick if you were obliged to do your own writing, and therefore I
+couldn't see the difference.
+
+"But I must admit she was very good-natured and pleasant about it, and
+she told me that if you chose to come to their visitors' room and make
+yourself comfortable there, and dictate, one of the sisters would sit at
+the table behind the grating and would write for you. I replied that I
+did not believe you would like that, but that I would mention it to
+you."
+
+I laughed. "So much for Walkirk's brilliant idea," I said. "I fancy
+myself going every morning to that nunnery to do my work in their
+cheerless visitors' room!"
+
+"Cheerless? I should say so!" exclaimed my grandmother,--"bare floors,
+bare walls, and hard wooden chairs. It is not to be thought of."
+
+That evening I informed Walkirk of the ill success of my grandmother's
+mission, but to my surprise he did not appear to be discouraged.
+
+"I don't think we need have any trouble at all in managing that affair,"
+said he. "Why shouldn't you have a grating put up in the doorway between
+your study and the secretary's room? Then the sister could go in there,
+the other door could be locked, and she would be as much shut off from
+the world as if she were behind a grating in the House of Martha. I
+believe, if this plan were proposed to the sisters, it would be agreed
+to."
+
+I scouted the idea as utterly absurd; but when, the next morning, I
+mentioned it to my grandmother, she caught at it eagerly, and no sooner
+had she finished her breakfast than she ordered her carriage and drove
+to the House of Martha.
+
+She returned triumphant.
+
+"We had a long discussion," she said, "but Mother Anastasia finally saw
+the matter in its proper light. She admitted that if a room could be
+arranged in this house, in which a sister could be actually secluded,
+there was no good reason why she should not work there as consistently
+with their rules as if she were in the House of Martha. Therefore, she
+agreed, if you concluded to carry out this plan, to send a sister every
+morning to write for you. So now, if you want a secretary from the House
+of Martha, you can have one."
+
+To this I replied that I most positively wanted one; and Walkirk was
+immediately instructed to have a suitable grating made for the doorway
+between my study and the secretary's room.
+
+Nearly a week was required for the execution of this work, and during
+this time I took a rest from literary composition and visited some
+friends, leaving all the arrangements for my new secretary in the hands
+of my grandmother and Walkirk. When I returned, the iron grating was in
+its place. It was a neat and artistic piece of work, but I did not like
+it. I object decidedly to anything which suggests restraint. The whole
+affair of the secretary was indeed very different from what I would have
+had it, but I had discovered that even in our advanced era of
+civilization one cannot always have everything he wants, albeit he be
+perfectly able and willing to pay for it.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+MY NUN.
+
+
+At nine o'clock on the morning of the appointed day my new secretary
+came, accompanied by one of those sisters called by Walkirk sub-mothers.
+
+My grandmother received the two, and conducted them to the secretary's
+room. I was sitting in my study, but no attention was paid to me. The
+sub-mother advanced to the grating, and, having examined it, appeared
+satisfied to find that it was securely fastened in the doorway. The nun,
+as I called her, although Walkirk assured me the term was incorrect,
+stood with her back toward me, and when her companion had said a few
+words to her, in a low tone, she took her seat at the table. She wore a
+large gray bonnet, the sides and top of which extended far beyond her
+face, a light gray shawl, and a gray gown. She sat facing the window,
+with her left side turned toward me, and from no point of my study could
+I get a glimpse of her features.
+
+The sub-mother looked out of the window, which opened upon little more
+than the once husband-sheltering apple-tree, and then, after a general
+glance around the room, she looked at me, and for the first time
+addressed me.
+
+"I will come for the sister at twelve o'clock," she said, and with that
+she followed my grandmother out of the room, and locked the door behind
+her.
+
+I stood and looked through the grating at my new secretary. I am not
+generally a diffident man, and have never been so with persons in my
+employment; but now, I must admit, I did not feel at my ease. The nun
+sat perfectly motionless; her hands were folded in her gray lap, and her
+gray bonnet was slightly bowed, so that I did not know whether she was
+gazing down at the table or out of the window.
+
+She was evidently ready for work, but I was not. I did not know exactly
+how to begin with such a secretary. With the others I had been outspoken
+from the first; I had told them what I wanted and what I did not want,
+and they had been ready enough to listen and ready enough to answer. But
+to this silent, motionless gray figure I did not feel that I could be
+outspoken. No words suggested themselves as being appropriate to speak
+out. If I could see her face but for a moment, and discover whether she
+were old or young, cross-looking or gentle, I might know what to say to
+her. My impulse was to tell her there was a hook on which she could hang
+her bonnet and shawl, but as I did not know whether or not these sisters
+ever took off their bonnets and shawls, I did not feel at liberty to
+make this suggestion.
+
+But it would not do to continue there, looking at her. She might be a
+very shy person, and if I appeared shy it would probably make her all
+the shyer; so I spoke.
+
+"You will find paper," I said, "in the drawer of your table, and there
+are pens, of different sorts, in that tray." She opened the drawer, took
+out some paper, and selected a pen, all without turning her head toward
+me. Having broken the ice, I now felt impelled to deliver a short
+lecture on my requirements; but how could I say what I required without
+knowing what manner of person it was of whom I required it? I therefore
+postponed the lecture, and determined to begin work without further
+delay, as probably that would be the best way to put us both at our
+ease. But it had been more than two weeks since I had done any work, and
+I could not remember what it was that I had been dictating, or
+endeavoring to dictate, to the lady with the malarial husband. I
+therefore thought it well to begin at a fresh point, and to leave the
+gap to be filled up afterward. I felt quite sure, when last at work, I
+had been treating of the south of France, and had certainly not reached
+Marseilles. I therefore decided to take a header for Marseilles, and
+into Marseilles I plunged.
+
+As soon as I began to speak the nun began to write, and having at last
+got her at work I felt anxious to keep her at it, and went steadily on
+through the lively seaport; touching upon one point after another as
+fast as I thought of them, and without regard to their proper sequence.
+But although I sometimes skipped from one end of the city to the other,
+and from history to street scenes, I dictated steadily, and the nun
+wrote steadily. She worked rapidly, and apparently heard and understood
+every word I said, for she asked no questions and did not hesitate. I am
+sure I never before dictated so continuously. I had been in the habit of
+stopping a good deal to think, not only about my work, but about other
+things, but now I did not wish to stop.
+
+This amanuensis was very different from any other I had had. The others
+worked to make money for themselves, or to please me, or because they
+liked it. This one worked from principle. The money which I paid for her
+labor did not become her money. It was paid to the House of Martha. She
+sat there and wrote to promote the principles upon which the House of
+Martha was founded. In fact, so far as I was concerned, she was nothing
+more than a principle.
+
+Now, to interfere with the working of a principle is not the right thing
+to do, and therefore I felt impelled to keep on dictating, which I did
+until the hall door of the secretary's room was unlocked and the
+sub-mother walked in. She came forward and said a few words to the nun,
+who stopped writing and wiped her pen. The other then turned to me, and
+in a low voice asked if the work of the sister was satisfactory. I
+advanced to the grating, and answered that I was perfectly satisfied,
+and was about to make some remarks, which I hoped would lead to a
+conversation, when the sub-mother--whose name I subsequently learned was
+Sister Sarah--made a little bow, and, saying if that were the case they
+would return at nine the next morning, left the room in company with the
+nun. The latter, when she arose from the table, turned her back to me,
+and went out without giving me the slightest opportunity of looking into
+her cavernous bonnet. This she did, I must admit, in the most natural
+way possible, which was probably the result of training, and gave one no
+idea of rudeness or incivility.
+
+When they were gone I was piqued, almost angry with myself. I had
+intended stopping work a little before noon, in order to talk to that
+nun, even if she did not answer or look at me. She should discover that
+if she was a principle, I was, at least, an entity. I did not know
+exactly what I should say to her, but it would be something one human
+being would be likely to say to another human being who was working for
+him. If from the first I put myself on the proper level, she might in
+time get there. But although I had lost my present chance, she was
+coming again the next day.
+
+I entered the secretary's room by the hall door, and looked at the
+manuscript which had been left on the table. It was written in an
+excellent hand, not too large, very legible, and correctly punctuated.
+Everything had been done properly, except that after the first three
+pages she had forgotten to number the leaves at the top; but as every
+sheet was placed in its proper order, this was an omission which could
+be easily rectified. I was very glad she had made it, for it would give
+me something to speak to her about.
+
+At luncheon my grandmother asked me how I liked the new secretary, and
+added that if she did not suit me I could try another next day. I
+answered that so far she suited me, and that I had not the least wish at
+present to try another. I think my grandmother was about to say
+something regarding this sister, but I instantly begged her not to do
+so. I wished to judge her entirely on her merits, I said, and would
+rather not hear anything about her until I had come to a decision as to
+her abilities. I did not add that I felt such an interest in the
+anticipated discovery of the personality of this secretary that I did
+not wish that discovery interfered with.
+
+In the evening Walkirk inquired about the sister-amanuensis, but I
+merely answered that so far she had done very well, and dropped the
+subject. In my own mind I did not drop the subject until I fell asleep
+that night. I found myself from time to time wondering what sort of a
+woman was that nun. Was she an elderly, sharp-faced creature; was she a
+vapid, fat-faced creature, or a young and pleasing creature? And when I
+had asked myself these questions, I snubbed myself for taking the
+trouble to think about the matter, and then I began wondering again.
+
+But upon one point I firmly made up my mind: the relationship between my
+secretary and myself should not continue to be that of an entity
+dictating to a principle.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+EZA.
+
+
+The next day, when the nun and Sister Sarah entered the secretary's
+room, I advanced to the grating and bade them good-morning. They both
+bowed, and the nun took her seat at the table. Sister Sarah then turned
+to me and asked if I had a gold pen, adding that the sister was
+accustomed to writing with one. I answered that I had all kinds of pens,
+and if the sister wanted a gold one it was only necessary to ask me for
+it. I brought several gold pens, and handed them through the grating to
+the sub-mother, who gave them to the secretary, and then took her leave,
+locking the door behind her. My nun took one of the pens, tried it,
+arranged the paper, and sat ready to write. I stood by the grating,
+hoping to converse a little, if it should be possible.
+
+"Is there anything else you would like?" I said. "If there is, you know
+you must mention it."
+
+She gently shook her head. The idea now occurred to me that perhaps my
+nun was dumb; but I almost instantly thought that this could not be, for
+dumb people were almost always deaf, and she could hear well enough.
+Then it struck me that she might be a Trappist nun, and bound by a vow
+of silence; but I reflected that she was not really a nun, and
+consequently could not be a Trappist.
+
+Having been unsuccessful in my first attempt to make her speak, and
+having now stood silent for some moments, I felt it might be unwise to
+make another trial just then, for my object would be too plain. I
+therefore sat down and began dictating.
+
+I did not work as easily as I had done on the preceding morning, for I
+intended, if possible, to make my nun look at me, or speak, before the
+hour of noon, and thinking of this intention prevented me from keeping
+my mind upon my work. From time to time I made remarks in regard to the
+temperature of the room, the quality of the paper, or something of the
+kind. To these she did not answer at all, or slightly nodded, or shook
+her head in a deprecatory manner, as if they were matters not worth
+considering.
+
+Then I suddenly remembered the omission of the paging, and spoke of
+that. In answer she took up the manuscript she had written and paged
+every sheet. After this my progress was halting and uneven.
+Involuntarily my mind kept on devising plans for making that woman speak
+or turn her face toward me. If she would do the latter, I would be
+satisfied; and even if she proved to be an unveiled prophetess of
+Khorassan, there would be no further occasion for conjectures and
+wonderings, and I could go on with my work in peace. But it made me
+nervous to remain silent, and see that nun sitting there, pen in hand,
+but motionless as a post, and waiting for me to give her the signal to
+continue the exercise of the principle to which her existence was now
+devoted.
+
+I went on with my dictation. I had left Marseilles, had touched slightly
+upon Nice, and was now traveling by carriage on the Cornice Road to
+Mentone. "It was on this road," I dictated, "that an odd incident
+occurred to me. We were nearly opposite the old robber village of"--and
+then I hesitated and stopped. I could not remember the name of the
+village. I walked up and down my study, rubbing my forehead, but the
+name would not recur to me. I was just thinking that I would have to go
+to the library and look up the name of the village, when from out of the
+depths of the nun's bonnet there came a voice, low but distinct, and, I
+thought, a little impatient, and it said, "Eza."
+
+"Eza! of course!" I exclaimed,--"certainly it is Eza! How could I have
+forgotten it? I am very much obliged to you for reminding me of the name
+of that village. Perhaps you have been there?"
+
+In answer to this question I received the least little bit of a nod, and
+the nun's pen began gently to paw the paper, as if it wanted to go on.
+
+I was now really excited. She had spoken. Why should I not do something
+which should make her turn her face toward me,--something which would
+take her off her guard, as my forgetfulness had just done? But no idea
+came to my aid, and I felt obliged to begin to dictate the details of
+the odd incident, when suddenly the door opened, Sister Sarah walked in,
+and the morning's work was over.
+
+I had not done much, but I had made that nun speak. She said "Eza." That
+was a beginning, and I felt confident that I should get on very well in
+time. I was a little sorry that my secretary had been on the Cornice
+Road. I fancied that she might have been one of those elderly single
+women who become Baedeker tourists, and, having tired of this sort of
+thing, had concluded to devote her life to the work of the House of
+Martha. But this was mere idle conjecture. She had spoken, and I should
+not indulge in pessimism.
+
+I prepared a very good remark with which to greet the sub-mother on the
+next morning, and, although addressing Sister Sarah, I would be in
+reality speaking to my nun. I would say how well I was getting on. I had
+thought of saying _we_ were getting on, but reflected afterward that
+this would never do; I was sure that the House of Martha would not
+allow, under any circumstances, that sister and myself to constitute a
+_we_. Then I would refer to the help my secretary had been to me, and
+endeavor to express the satisfaction which an author must always feel
+for a suggestion of this kind, or any other, from one qualified to make
+them. If there was any gratitude or vanity in my nun's heart, I felt I
+could stir it up, if Sister Sarah would listen to me long enough; and if
+gratitude, or even vanity, could be stirred, the rigidity of my nun
+would be impaired, and she might find herself off her guard.
+
+But I had no opportunity of making my remark. At nine o'clock the door
+of the secretary's room opened, the nun entered, and the door was then
+closed and locked. Sister Sarah must have been in a hurry that morning.
+Just as well as not I might have made my remark directly to my nun, but
+I did not. She walked quickly to the table, arranged her paper, opened
+her inkstand, and sat down. I fancied that I saw a wavy wriggle of
+impatience in her shawl. Perhaps she wanted to know the rest of that odd
+incident near Eza. It may have been that it was impatient interest which
+had impaired her rigidity the day before.
+
+I went on with the odd incident, and made a very good thing of it. Even
+when on well-worn routes of travel, I tried to confine myself to
+out-of-the-way experiences. Walkirk had been very much interested in
+this affair when I had told it to him, and there was no reason why this
+nun should not also be interested, especially as she had seen Eza.
+
+I finished the narrative, and began another, a rather exciting one,
+connected with the breaking of a carriage wheel and an exile from Monte
+Carlo; but never once did curiosity or any other emotion impair the
+rigidity of that nun. She wrote almost as fast as I could dictate, and
+when I stopped I know she was filled with nervous desire to know what
+was coming next,--at least I fancied that her shawl indicated such
+nervousness; but hesitate as I might, or say what I might,--and I did
+say a good many things which almost demanded a remark or answer,--not
+one word came from her during the whole morning, nor did she ever turn
+the front of her bonnet toward me.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+MY FRIEND VESPA.
+
+
+I was very much disgusted at the present state of affairs. Three days
+had elapsed, and I did not know what sort of a human being my secretary
+was. I might as well dictate into a speaking-tube. A phonograph would be
+better; for although it might seem ridiculous to sit in my room and talk
+aloud to no one, what was I doing now? That nun was the same as no one.
+
+The next day was Sunday, and there would be no work, and no chance to
+solve the problem, which had become an actual annoyance to me; but I did
+not intend that this problem should continue to annoy me and interfere
+with my work. I am open and aboveboard myself, and if my secretary did
+not choose to be open and aboveboard, and behave like an ordinary human
+being, she should depart, and I would tell Walkirk to get me an ordinary
+human being, capable of writing from dictation, or depart himself. If he
+could not provide me with a suitable secretary, he was not the efficient
+man of business that he claimed to be. As to the absurdity of dictating
+to a mystery in a barrow bonnet, I would have no more of it.
+
+I do not consider myself an ill-tempered person, and my grandmother
+asserts that I have a very good temper indeed; but I must admit that on
+Monday morning I felt a little cross, and when Sister Sarah and the nun
+entered my antechamber I bade them a very cold good-morning, and allowed
+the former to go without attempting any conversation whatever. The nun
+having arrived, I would not send her away; but when the sub-mother came
+at noon, I intended to inform her that I did not any longer desire the
+services of the writing sister, and if she wished to know why I should
+tell her plainly. I would not say that I would as soon dictate to an
+inanimate tree-stump, but I would express that idea in as courteous
+terms as possible.
+
+For fifteen minutes I let the nun sit and wait. If her principles
+forbade idleness, I was glad to have a crack at her principles. Then I
+began to dictate steadily and severely. I found that the dismissal from
+my mind of all conjectures regarding the personality of my secretary was
+of great service to me, and I was able to compose much faster than she
+could write.
+
+It was about half past ten, I think, and the morning was warm and
+pleasant, when there gently sailed into the secretary's room, through
+the open window, a wasp. I saw him come in, and I do not think I ever
+beheld a more agreeable or benignant insect. His large eyes were filled
+with the light of a fatherly graciousness. His semi-detached body seemed
+to quiver with a helpful impulse, and his long hind legs hung down
+beneath him as though they were outstretched to assist, befriend, or
+succor. With wings waving blessings and a buzz of cheery greeting, he
+sailed around the room, now dipping here, now there, and then circling
+higher, tapping the ceiling with his genial back.
+
+The moment the nun saw the wasp, a most decided thrill ran down the back
+of her shawl. Then it pervaded her bonnet, and finally the whole of her.
+As the beneficent insect sailed down near the table, she abruptly sprang
+to her feet and pushed back her chair. I advanced to the grating, but
+what could I do? Seeing me there, and doubtless with the desire
+immediately to assure me of his kindly intentions, my friend Vespa made
+a swoop directly at the front of the nun's bonnet.
+
+With an undisguised ejaculation, and beating wildly at the insect with
+her hands, the nun bounded to one side and turned her face full upon me.
+I stood astounded. I forgot the wasp.
+
+I totally lost sight of the fact that a young woman was in danger of
+being badly stung. I thought of nothing but that she was a young woman,
+and a most astonishingly pretty one besides.
+
+The state of terror she was in opened wide her lovely blue eyes, half
+crimsoned her clear white skin, and threw her rosy lips and sparkling
+teeth into the most enchanting combinations.
+
+"Make it go away!" she cried, throwing up one arm, and thereby pushing
+back her gray bonnet, and exhibiting some of the gloss of her light
+brown hair. "Can't you kill it?"
+
+Most gladly would I have rushed in, and shed with my own hands the blood
+of my friend Vespa, for the sake of this most charming young woman,
+suddenly transformed from a barrow-bonneted principle. But I was
+powerless. I could not break through the grating; the other door of the
+secretary's room was locked.
+
+"Don't strike at it," I said; "remain as motionless as you can, then
+perhaps it will fly away. Striking at a wasp only enrages it."
+
+"I can't stay quiet," she cried; "nobody could!" and she sprang behind
+the table, making at the same time another slap at the buzzing insect.
+
+"You will surely be stung," I said, "if you act in that way. If you will
+slap at the wasp, don't use your hand; take something with which you can
+kill it."
+
+"What can I take?" she exclaimed, now running round the table, and
+stopping close to the grating. "Give me something."
+
+I hurriedly glanced around my study. I saw nothing that would answer for
+a weapon but a whisk broom, which I seized, and endeavored to thrust
+through the meshes of the grating.
+
+"Oh!" she cried, as the wasp made a desperate dive close to her face,
+"give me that, quick!" and she stretched out her hand to me.
+
+"I cannot," I replied; "I can't push it through. It won't go through.
+Take your bonnet."
+
+At this, my nun seized her bonnet by a sort of floating hood which hung
+around the bottom of it and jerked it from her head, bringing with it
+certain flaps and ligatures and combs, which, being thus roughly
+removed, allowed a mass of wavy hair to fall about her shoulders.
+
+Waving her bonnet in her hand, like a slung-shot, she sprang back and
+waited for the wasp. When the buzzing creature came near enough, she
+made a desperate crack at him, missing him; she struck again and again,
+now high, now low; she dashed from side to side of the room, and with
+one of her mad sweeps she scattered a dozen pages of manuscript upon the
+floor.
+
+The view of this combat was enrapturing to me; the face of my nun, now
+lighted by a passionate determination to kill that wasp, was a delight
+to my eyes. If I could have assured myself that the wasp would not sting
+her, I would have helped him to prolong the battle indefinitely. But my
+nun was animated by very different emotions. She was bound to be avenged
+upon the wasp, and avenged she was. Almost springing into the air, she
+made a grand stroke at him, as he receded from her, hit him, and dashed
+him against the wall. He fell to the floor, momentarily disabled, but
+flapping and buzzing. Then down she stooped, and with three great whacks
+with her bonnet she finished the battle. The wasp lay motionless.
+
+"Now," she said, throwing her bonnet upon the table, "I will close that
+window;" and she walked across the room, her blue eyes sparkling, her
+face glowing from her violent exercise, and her rich brown hair hanging
+in long waves upon her shoulders.
+
+"Don't do that," I said; "it will make your room too warm. There is a
+netting screen in the corner there. If you put that under the sash, it
+will keep out all insects. I wish I could do it for you."
+
+She took the frame and fitted it under the sash.
+
+"I am sorry I did not know that before," she said, as she returned to
+her table; "this is a very bad piece of business."
+
+I begged her to excuse me for not having informed her of the screen, but
+I did not say that I was sorry for what had occurred. I merely expressed
+my gratification that she had not been stung. Her chair had been pushed
+away from the table, its back against the wall, opposite to me. She
+seated herself upon it, gently panting. She looked from side to side at
+the sheets of manuscript scattered upon the floor.
+
+"I will pick them up presently and go to work, but I must rest a
+minute." She did not now seem to consider that it was of the slightest
+consequence whether I saw her face or not.
+
+"Never mind the papers," I said; "leave them there; they can be picked
+up any time."
+
+"I wish that were the worst of it;" and as she spoke she raised her eyes
+toward me, and the least little bit of a smile came upon her lips, as
+if, though troubled, she could not help feeling the comical absurdity of
+the situation.
+
+"It is simply dreadful," she continued. "I don't believe such a thing
+ever before happened to a sister."
+
+"There is nothing dreadful about it," said I; "and do you mean to say
+that the sisters of the House of Martha, who go out to nurse, and do all
+sorts of good deeds, never speak to the people they are befriending, nor
+allow them to look upon their faces?"
+
+"Of course," said she, "you have to talk to sick people; otherwise how
+could you know what they need? But this is a different case;" and she
+began to gather up her hair and twist it at the back of her head.
+
+"I do not understand," I remarked; "why is it a different case?"
+
+"It is as different as it can be," said she, picking up her comb from
+the floor and thrusting it through her hastily twisted knot of hair. "I
+should not have come here at all if your grandmother had not positively
+asserted that there would be nothing for me to do but to listen and to
+write. And Mother Anastasia and Sister Sarah both of them especially
+instructed me that I was not to speak to you nor to look at you, but
+simply to sit at the table and work for the good of the cause. That was
+all I had to do; and I am sure I obeyed just as strictly as anybody
+could, except once, when you forgot the name of Eza, and I was so
+anxious to have you go on with the incident that I could not help
+mentioning it. And now, I am sure I don't know what I ought to do."
+
+"Do?" I asked. "There is nothing to do except to begin writing where you
+left off. The wasp is dead."
+
+"I wish it had never been born," she said. "I have no doubt that the
+whole affair should come to an end now, and that I ought to go home; but
+I can't do that until Sister Sarah comes to unlock the door, and so I
+suppose we had better go to work."
+
+"We"! I would not have dared to use that word, but it fell from her lips
+in the easiest and most conventional manner possible. It was delightful
+to hear it. I never knew before what a pleasant sound the word had. She
+now set herself to work to gather up the papers from the floor, and,
+having arranged them in their proper order, she took up her bonnet.
+
+"Do you have to wear that?" I asked.
+
+"Certainly," she answered, clapping it on and pulling it well forward.
+
+"I should think it would be very hot and uncomfortable," I remarked.
+
+"It is," she admitted curtly; and, seating herself at the table, she
+took up her pen.
+
+I now perceived that if I knew what was good for myself I would cease
+from speaking on ordinary topics, and go on with my dictation. This I
+did, giving out my sentences as rapidly as possible, although I must
+admit I took no interest whatever in what I was saying, nor do I believe
+that my secretary was interested in the subject-matter of my work. She
+wrote rapidly, and, as well as I could judge, appeared excited and
+annoyed. I was excited also, but not in the least disturbed. My emotions
+were of a highly pleasing character. We worked steadily for some twenty
+minutes, when suddenly she stopped and laid down her pen.
+
+"Of course it isn't right to speak," she said, turning in her chair and
+speaking to me face to face, as one human being to another, "but as I
+have said so much already, I don't suppose a little more will make
+matters worse, and I must ask somebody's help in making up my mind what
+I ought to do. I suspect I have made all sorts of mistakes in this
+writing, but I could not keep my thoughts on my work. I have been trying
+my best to decide how I ought to act, but I cannot make up my mind."
+
+"I shall be delighted to help you, if I can," I ventured. "What's the
+point that you cannot decide?"
+
+"It is just this," she replied, fixing her blue eyes upon me with
+earnest frankness: "am I to tell the sisters what has happened or not?
+If I tell them, I know exactly what will be the result: I shall come
+here no more, and I shall have to take Sister Hannah's place at the
+Measles Refuge. There's nothing in this world that I hate like measles.
+I've had them, but that doesn't make the slightest difference. Sister
+Hannah has asked to be relieved, and I know she wants this place
+dreadfully."
+
+"She cannot come here!" I exclaimed. "I don't believe I ever had the
+measles, and I will not have them."
+
+"She is a stenographer," said she, "and she will most certainly be
+ordered to take my place if I make known what I have done to-day."
+
+"Supposing you were sure that you were not obliged to go to the Measles
+Refuge," I asked, "should you still regret giving up this position?"
+
+"Of course I should," she answered promptly. "I must work at something,
+or I cannot stay in the House of Martha; and there is no work which I
+like so well as this. It interests me extremely."
+
+"Now hear me," said I, speaking perhaps a little too earnestly, "and I
+do not believe any one could give you better advice than I am going to
+give you. What has occurred this morning was strictly and absolutely an
+accident. A wasp came in at the window and tried to sting you; and there
+is no woman in the world, be she a sister or not, who could sit still
+and let a wasp sting her."
+
+"No," she interrupted, "I don't believe Mother Anastasia could do it."
+
+"And what followed," I continued, "was perfectly natural, and could not
+possibly be helped. You were obliged to defend yourself, and in so doing
+you were obliged to act just as any other woman would act. Nothing else
+would have been possible, and the talking and all that came in with the
+rest. You couldn't help it."
+
+"That's the way the matter appeared to me," said she; "but the question
+would arise, if it were all right, why should I hesitate to tell the
+sisters?"
+
+"Hesitate!" I exclaimed. "You should not even think of such a thing. No
+matter what the sisters really thought about it, I am sure they would
+not let you come here any more, and you would be sent to the measles
+institution, and thus actually be punished for the attempted wickedness
+of a wasp."
+
+"But there is the other side of the matter," said she; "would it not be
+wicked in me not to tell them?"
+
+"Not at all," I replied. "You do not repeat to the sisters all that I
+tell you to write?"
+
+"Of course not," she interrupted.
+
+"And you do not consider it your duty," I continued, "to relate every
+detail of the business in which you are employed?"
+
+"No," she said. "They ask me some things, and some things I have
+mentioned to them, such as not having a gold pen."
+
+"Very good," said I. "You should consider that defending yourself
+against wasps is just as much your business here as anything else. If
+you are stung, it is plain you can't write, and the interests of your
+employer and of the House of Martha must suffer."
+
+"Yes," she assented, still with the steady gaze of her blue eyes.
+
+"Now your duty is clear," I went on. "If the sisters ask you if a wasp
+flew into your room and tried to sting you, and you had to jump around
+and kill it, and speak, before you could go on with your work, why, of
+course you must tell them; but if they don't ask you, don't tell them.
+It may seem ridiculous to you," I continued hurriedly, "to suppose that
+they would ask such a question, but I put it in this way to show you the
+principle of the thing."
+
+She withdrew her eyes from my face, and fixed them upon the floor.
+
+"The truth of the matter is," she said presently, "that I haven't done
+anything wrong; at least I didn't intend to. I might have crouched down
+in the corner, with my face to the wall, and have covered my head and
+hands with my shawl, but I should have been obliged to stay there until
+Sister Sarah came, and I should have been smothered to death; and
+besides, I didn't think of it; so what I did do was the only thing I
+could do, and I do not think I ought to be punished for it."
+
+"Now it is settled," I said. "Your duty is to work here for the benefit
+of your sisterhood, and you should not allow a wasp or any insect to
+interfere with it."
+
+She looked at me, and smiled a little abstractedly. Then she turned to
+the table.
+
+"I will go on with my work," she said, "and I will not say anything to
+the sisters until I have given the matter most earnest and careful
+consideration. I can do that a great deal better at home than I can
+here."
+
+It was very well that she stopped talking and applied herself to her
+work, for I do not believe it was ten minutes afterward when Sister
+Sarah unlocked the door, and came in to take her away.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+I FAVOR PERMANENCY IN OFFICE.
+
+
+As soon as my secretary had gone I went into her room and looked for my
+friend Vespa. I found him on the floor, quite dead, but not demolished.
+Picking him up and carrying him to my study, I carefully gummed him to a
+card. Under his motionless form I wrote, "The good services of this
+friend I shall ever keep in grateful remembrance." Then I pinned the
+card to the wall between two bookcases.
+
+During the rest of that day I found myself in a state of unreasonable
+exaltation. Several times I put to myself the questions: Why is it that
+you feel so cheerful and so gay? Why have you the inclination to whistle
+and to dance in your room? Why do you light a cigar, and let it go out
+through forgetfulness? Why do you answer your grandmother at random, and
+feel an inclination to take a long walk by yourself, although you know
+there are people invited to an afternoon tea?
+
+I was not able to give an adequate answer to these questions, nor did I
+very much care to. I knew that my high spirits were caused by the
+discoveries the good Vespa had enabled me to make, and the fact that
+this reason could not be proved adequate did not trouble me at all; but
+prudence and a regard for my own interests made it very plain to me that
+other people should not know I had been exalted, and how. If I desired
+my nun to continue as my secretary, I must not let any one know that I
+cared in the least to hear her voice, or to have the front of her bonnet
+turned towards me.
+
+At dinner, that day, my grandmother remarked to me:--
+
+"Are you still satisfied with the House of Martha's sister? Does she do
+your work as you wish to have it done?"
+
+I leaned back in my chair, and answered with deliberation:--
+
+"Yes, I think she will do very well, and that after more practice she
+will do better. As it is, she is industrious and attentive. I place
+great stress upon that point, for I do not like to repeat my sentences;
+but she has a quick ear, and catches every word."
+
+"Then," asked my grandmother, "you do not wish to make a change at
+present?"
+
+"Oh, no," I said; "it would be very annoying to begin again with a new
+amanuensis. I am getting accustomed to this person, and that is a very
+important matter with me. So I do not wish to make any change so long as
+this sister does her work properly."
+
+"I must say," resumed my grandmother, after a little pause, in which she
+seemed to be considering the subject, "that I was not altogether in
+favor of that young woman taking the position of your secretary. She can
+have had but little experience, and I thought that an older and steadier
+person would answer your purpose much better; but this one was
+unemployed at the time, and wished very much to do literary work; and as
+the institution needed the money you would pay, which would probably
+amount to a considerable sum if your book should be a long one, and as
+you were in a great hurry, and might engage some one from the city if
+one of the Martha sisters were not immediately available, Mother
+Anastasia and I concluded that it would be well to send this young
+person until one of the older sisters, competent for the work, should be
+disengaged. I thought you would be very anxious to have this change made
+as soon as possible, so that you might feel that you had a permanent
+secretary."
+
+"Oh, no," said I, trying very hard not to appear too much in earnest.
+"This person is very steady, and there is a certain advantage in her
+being young, without much experience as a secretary. I wish any one who
+writes for me to work in my way; and if such a person has been
+accustomed to work in other people's ways, annoyance and interruption
+must surely result, and that I wish very much to avoid. A secretary
+should be a mere writing-machine, and I do not believe an elderly person
+could be that. She would be sure to have notions how my work should or
+should not be done, and in some way or other would make those notions
+evident."
+
+"I don't quite agree with you," said my grandmother, "but of course you
+know your own business better than I do; and I suppose, after all, it
+doesn't make much difference whether the sister is young or not. They
+all dress alike, and all look ugly alike. I don't suppose there would be
+anything attractive about the Venus de Milo, if she wore a coal-scuttle
+bonnet and a gray woolen shawl."
+
+"No," I answered, "especially if she kept the opening of her
+coal-scuttle turned down over her paper, as if she were about to empty
+coals upon it."
+
+"That's very proper," said my grandmother, speaking a little more
+briskly. "All she has to do is to keep her eyes on her work, and I
+suppose, from what you say, that the flaps of her bonnet do not
+interfere with her keeping her ears on you. But if at any time you
+desire to make a change, all you have to do is to let me know, and I can
+easily arrange the matter."
+
+I promised that I would certainly let her know in case I had such a
+desire.
+
+That evening Walkirk remarked to me that he thought nothing could be
+more satisfactory for me than to have on tap, so to speak, an
+institution like the House of Martha, from which I could draw a
+secretary whenever I wanted one, and keep her for as long or as short a
+time as pleased me; and to have this supply in the immediate
+neighborhood was an extraordinary advantage.
+
+I agreed that the arrangement was a very good one; and I think he was
+about to ask some questions in regard to my nun, but I began my recital,
+and cut off any further conversation on the subject.
+
+My monologue was rather disjointed that evening, for my mind was
+occupied with other things, or, more strictly speaking, another thing. I
+felt quite sure, however, that Walkirk did not notice my preoccupation,
+for he gave the same earnest and interested attention to my descriptions
+which he had always shown, and which made him such an agreeable and
+valuable listener. Indeed, his manner put me at my ease, because, on
+account of the wandering of my mind, his general expression indicated
+that, if I found it necessary to pause in order that I might arrange
+what I should say next, he was very glad of the opportunity thus given
+him to reflect upon what I had just said. He was an admirable listener.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+HOW WE WENT BACK TO GENOA.
+
+
+The next morning I awaited with considerable perturbation of mind the
+arrival of my nun. I felt assured that, after the occurrences of the
+previous day, there must certainly be some sort of a change in her. She
+could not go on exactly as she had gone on before. The nature of this
+anticipated change concerned me very much,--too much, I assured myself.
+Would she be more rigid and repellent than she had been before the
+advent of the wasp? But this would be impossible. On the other hand,
+would she be more like other people? Would she relax a little, and work
+like common secretaries? Or,--and I whistled as I thought of it,--having
+once done so, would she permanently cut loose from the absurdities
+enjoined upon her by the House of Martha people, and look at me and talk
+to me in the free, honest, ingenuous, frank, sincere, and thoroughly
+sensible manner in which she had spoken to me the day before?
+
+After revolving these questions in my mind for some time, another one
+rudely thrust itself upon me: would she come at all? It was already
+seven minutes past nine; she had never been so late. Now that I came to
+think of it, this would be the most natural result of the wasp business.
+The thought shocked me. I ceased to walk up and down my study, and
+stopped whistling. I think my face must have flushed; I know my pulse
+beat faster. My eyes fell upon the body of him who I believed had been
+my friend. I felt like crushing his remains with my fist. He had been my
+enemy! He had shown me what I had to lose, and he had made me lose it.
+
+Even in the midst of my agitation this thought made me smile. How much I
+was making of this affair of my secretary. What difference, after
+all--But I did not continue the latter question. It did make a
+difference, and it was of no use to reason about it. What was I to do
+about it? That was more to the point.
+
+At this instant, my nun, followed by Sister Sarah, entered the adjoining
+room. The latter merely bowed to me, went out, and locked the door
+behind her. I was very glad she did not speak to me, for the sudden
+revulsion of feeling produced by the appearance of the two would have
+prevented my answering her coherently. I do not know whether my nun
+bowed or not. If she did, the motion was very slight. She took her seat
+and prepared for work. I did not say anything, for I did not know what
+to say. The proper thing to do, in order to relieve my embarrassment and
+hers,--that is, if she had any,--was to begin work at once; but for the
+life of me I could not remember whether my dictation of the day before
+concerned Sicily or Egypt. I did not like to ask her, for that would
+seem like a trick to make her speak.
+
+But it would not do to keep her sitting there with an idle pen in her
+hand. I must say something, so I blurted out some remarks concerning the
+effect of the climate of the Mediterranean upon travelers from northern
+countries; and while doing this I tried my best to remember where, on
+the shores of this confounded sea, I had been the day before.
+
+Philosophizing and generalizing were, however, not in my line: I was
+accustomed to deal with action and definite observation, and I soon
+dropped the climate of the Mediterranean, and went to work on some of
+the soul-harrowing improvements in the Eternal City, alluding with
+particular warmth to the banishment of the models from the Spanish
+Stairs. Now the work went on easily, but I was gloomy and depressed. My
+nun sat at the table, more like a stiff gray-enveloped principle than
+ever before. I did not feel at liberty even to make a remark about the
+temperature of the room. I feared that whatever I said might be
+construed into an attempt to presume upon the accidental intercourse of
+the day before.
+
+For half an hour or more she went on with the work, but, during a pause
+in my dictation, she sat up straight in her chair and laid down her pen.
+Then, without turning her face to me, she began to speak. I stood
+open-mouthed, and, I need not say, delighted. Whatever her words might
+be, it rejoiced me to hear them; to know that she voluntarily recognized
+my existence, and desired to communicate with me.
+
+"I have spoken to Mother Anastasia," she said, her voice directed
+towards the screen in the open window, "and I told her that it was
+impossible for me to work without sometimes saying a few words to ask
+for what I need, or to request you to repeat a word which I did not
+catch. Since I began to write I have lost no less than twenty-three
+words. I have left blanks for them, and made memoranda of the pages;
+but, as I said to her, if this sort of thing went on, you would forget
+what words you had intended to use, and when you came to read the
+manuscript you could not supply them, and that therefore I was not doing
+my work properly, and honestly earning the money which would be paid to
+the institution. I also told her that you sometimes forgot where you
+left off the day before, and that I ought to read you a few lines of
+what I had last written, in order that you might make the proper
+connection. I think this is very necessary, for to-day you have left an
+awful gap. Yesterday we were writing about that old Crusader's bank in
+Genoa, and now you are at work at Rome, when we haven't even started for
+that city."
+
+Each use of this word "we" was to me like a strain of music from the
+heavens.
+
+"Do you think I did right?" she added.
+
+"Right!" I exclaimed. "Most assuredly you did. Nothing could be more
+helpful, and in fact more necessary, than to let me know just where I
+left off. What did the sisters say?"
+
+"I spoke only to Mother Anastasia," she replied. "She considered the
+matter a little while, and then said that she could see there must be
+times when you would require some information from me in regard to the
+work, and that there could be no reasonable objection to my giving such
+information; but she reminded me that the laws of the House of Martha
+require that the sisters must give their sole attention to the labor
+upon which they are employed, and must not indulge, when so engaged, in
+any conversation, even among themselves, that is not absolutely
+necessary."
+
+"Mother Anastasia is very sensible," said I, "and if I were to see her,
+I should be happy to express my appreciation of her good advice upon the
+subject. And, by the way, did she tell you that it was necessary to wear
+that hot bonnet while you are working?"
+
+"She did not say anything about it," she answered; "it was not needful.
+We always wear our bonnets outside of the House of Martha."
+
+I was about to make a further remark upon the subject, but restrained
+myself: it was incumbent on me to be very prudent. There was a pause,
+and then she spoke again.
+
+"You are not likely to see Mother Anastasia," she said, "but please do
+not say anything on the subject to Sister Sarah; she is very rigorous,
+and would not approve of talking under any circumstances. In fact, she
+does not approve of my coming here at all."
+
+"What earthly reason can she have for that?" I asked.
+
+"She thinks it's nonsensical for you to have a secretary," she answered,
+"and that it would be much better for you to do your own work, and make
+a gift of the money to the institution, and then I could go and learn to
+be a nurse. I only mention these things to show you that it would be
+well not to talk to her of Mother Anastasia's good sense."
+
+"You may rest assured," said I, "that I shall not say a word to her."
+
+"And now," said she, "shall we put aside what I have written to-day, and
+go back to Genoa? The last thing you dictated yesterday was this: 'Into
+this very building once came the old Crusaders to borrow money for their
+journeys to the Holy Land.'"
+
+We went to Genoa.
+
+"How admirably," I exclaimed, when she had gone, "with what wonderful
+tact and skill she has managed the whole affair! Not one word about the
+occurrences of yesterday, not an allusion which could embarrass either
+herself or me. If only she had looked at me! But she had probably
+received instructions on that point which she did not mention, and it is
+easy to perceive that she is honest and conscientious."
+
+But after all it was not necessary that I should see her face. I had
+seen it, and I could never forget it.
+
+Whistling was not enough for me that day; I sang.
+
+"What puts you into such remarkably good spirits?" asked my grandmother.
+"Have you reached an unusually interesting part of your work?"
+
+"Indeed I have," I answered, and I gave her such a glowing account of
+the way the Red Cross Knights, the White Cross Knights, and the Black
+Cross Knights clanked through the streets of Genoa, before setting sail
+to battle for the Great Cross, that the cheeks of the old lady flushed
+and her eyes sparkled with enthusiastic emotion.
+
+"I don't wonder it kindles your soul to write about such things," she
+said.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+I RUN UPON A SANDBAR.
+
+
+Day by day, the interest of my nun in her work appeared to increase.
+Every morning, so soon as she sat down at her table, she read to me the
+concluding portion of what had been written the day before; and if a
+Sunday intervened, she gave me a page or more. Her interest was
+manifested in various ways. Several times she so far forgot the
+instructions she must have received as to turn her face towards me, when
+asking me to repeat something that she did not catch, and on such
+occasions I could not for some moments remember what I had said, or
+indeed what I was about to say.
+
+Once she stopped writing, and, turning half round in her chair, looked
+fairly at me, and said that she thought I had made a mistake in saying
+that visitors were not allowed to go up the Tower of Pisa without a
+guide; for she, with two other ladies, had gone to the top without any
+one accompanying them. But she thought it was very wrong to allow people
+to do this, and that I should be doing a service to travelers if I were
+to say something on the subject.
+
+Of course I replied that I would make the correction, and that I would
+say something about the carelessness to which she referred. Then there
+ensued a pause, during which she turned her face towards the window,
+imagining, I have no doubt, that I was busy endeavoring to compose
+something suitable to say upon the subject; but I was not thinking of
+anything of the sort. I was allowing my mind to revel in the delight
+which I had had in looking at her while she spoke. When her pen began to
+scratch impatiently upon the paper, I plunged into some sort of a homily
+on the laxity of vigilance in leaning towers. But, even while dictating
+this, I was wondering what she would look like if, instead of that gray
+shawl and gown, she were arrayed in one of the charming costumes which
+often make even ordinary young ladies so attractive.
+
+As our daily work went on, my nun relaxed more frequently her proscribed
+rigidity, and became more and more like an ordinary person. When she
+looked at me or spoke, she always did so in such an unpremeditated
+manner, and with such an obvious good reason, that I could not determine
+whether her change of manner was due to accumulative forgetfulness, or
+to a conviction that it was absurd to continue to act a part which was
+not only unnatural under the circumstances, but which positively
+interfered with the work in hand. Some of her suggestions were of the
+greatest service, but I fear that the value of what she said was not as
+fully appreciated as was the pleasure of seeing and hearing her say it.
+
+Thus joyously passed the hours of work, and in the hours when I was not
+working I looked forward with glad anticipation to the next forenoon;
+but after a time I began to be somewhat oppressed by the fear that my
+work would come to an end before long for want of material. I was
+already nearing the southern limit of my travels, and my return
+northward had not been productive of the sort of subject-matter I
+desired. In my recitals to Walkirk I had gone much more into detail
+regarding my experiences, and had talked about a great many things which
+it had been pleasant to talk about, but which I did not consider good
+enough to put into my book. In dictating to my nun I had carefully
+sifted the mass to which Walkirk had listened, and had used only such
+matter as I thought would interest her and the general reader. My high
+regard for the intelligence of my secretary and her powers of
+appreciation had led me to discard too much, and therefore there was
+danger that my supply of subject-matter would give out before my nun
+grew to be an elderly woman; and this I did not desire.
+
+I had read and heard enough of the travels of others to be able to
+continue my descriptions of foreign countries for an indefinite period;
+but I had determined, from the first, that nothing should go into my
+book except my own actual experiences, and therefore I could not rely
+upon other books for the benefit of mine. But, in considering the
+matter, I concluded that, if my material should be entirely my own, it
+would answer my purpose to make that material what I pleased; and thus
+it happened that I determined to weave a story into my narrative. This
+plan, I assured myself, would be in perfect harmony with the design of
+my work. The characters could be drawn from the people whom I had met in
+my travels. The scenes could be those which I had visited, and the plot
+and tone of the story could be made to aid the reader in understanding
+the nature of the country and the people of which it was told. More than
+all, I could make the story as long as I pleased.
+
+This was a capital idea, and I began immediately to work upon it. I
+managed the story very deftly; at least that was my opinion. My two
+principal characters made their appearance in Sicily, and at first were
+so intermingled with scenery and incidents as not to be very prominent;
+then they came more to the front, and other characters introduced
+themselves upon occasion. As these personages appeared and reappeared, I
+hoped that they would gradually surround themselves with an interest
+which would steadily increase the desire to know more and more about
+them. Thus, as I went on, I said less and less about Sicily, and more
+and more about my characters, especially the young man and the young
+woman, the curious blending of whose lives I was endeavoring to depict.
+
+This went on very smoothly for a few days, and then, about eleven
+o'clock one morning, my nun suddenly leaned back in her chair and laid
+down her pen.
+
+"I cannot write any more of this," she said, looking out of the window.
+
+I was so astonished that I could scarcely ask her what she meant.
+
+"This is love-making," she continued, "and with love-making the sisters
+of the House of Martha can have nothing to do. It is one of our
+principal rules that we must not think about it, read about it, or talk
+about it; and of course it would have been forbidden to write about it,
+if such a contingency had ever been thought of. Therefore I cannot do
+any more work of that kind."
+
+In vain I expostulated; in vain I told her that this was the most
+important part of my book; in vain I declaimed about the absurdity of
+such a regulation; in vain I protested; in vain I reasoned. She shook
+her head, and said there was no use talking about it; she knew the
+rules, and should obey them.
+
+I had been standing near the grating, but now I threw myself into a
+chair, and sat silent, wondering what I should do. Must I give up this
+most admirable plan of carrying on my work, simply because those foolish
+sisters had made absurd rules for themselves? Must I wind up my book for
+want of material? Not for a moment did I think of getting another
+secretary, or of selecting some other sort of that stuff which literary
+people call padding, for the purpose of prolonging my pleasant labors. I
+was becoming interested in the love-story I had begun, and I wanted to
+go on with it, and I believed also that it would be of great advantage
+to my book; but, on the other hand, it was plain that my nun would not
+write this story, and it was quite as plain to me that I could not
+insist upon anything which would cause her to leave me.
+
+"Don't you think," she said presently, still looking towards the window,
+"that we had better do some sort of work for the rest of the morning? It
+is not right for me to sit here idle. Suppose you try to supply some of
+the words which were left out of the manuscript, in the first days of my
+writing for you."
+
+"Very well," said I; and, taking up her memoranda, she began to look for
+the vacant spaces which she had left in the manuscript pages. I supplied
+very few words, for to save my life I could not at this moment bring my
+mind to bear upon such trifles; but it was pretense of work, and better
+than embarrassing idleness. Before my secretary left me I must think of
+something to say to her in regard to the work for to-morrow; but what
+should I say? Should I tell her I would drop the story, or that I would
+modify it so as to make it feasible for her to write? Something must
+quickly be decided upon, and while I was tumultuously revolving the
+matter in my mind twelve o'clock and the sub-mother came. My secretary
+went away, with nothing but the little bow which she was accustomed to
+make when leaving the room.
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+REGARDING THE ELUCIDATION OF NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
+
+
+I was left in my study in a very unpleasant state of mind. I was
+agitated and apprehensive. Perhaps that young woman would not come any
+more. I had not told her that I was going to stop writing about love,
+and there was every reason to suppose she would not return. What an
+imbecile I had been! I had done nothing, because I could not think of
+exactly the right thing to do.
+
+I now felt that I must ask the advice of somebody in regard to this
+embarrassing and important affair. For a moment I thought of my
+grandmother, but she would be sure to begin by advising me to change my
+secretary. She seldom urged me to do what I did not want to do, but if I
+offered her a chance to give me advice on this occasion I knew what
+would be uppermost in her mind.
+
+So I put on my hat and went to Walkirk, at the inn. I found him at work
+on a mass of accounts, dating back for years, which I had given him to
+adjust. With great circumspection I laid before him this new affair.
+
+"You see," said I, "she is a first-class secretary. She has learned to
+do my work as I like it done, and I do not wish to make a change, and,
+on the other hand, I do not care to alter the plan of my book."
+
+Walkirk was always very respectful, but he could not restrain a smile at
+the situation.
+
+"It does seem to me," he said, "a very funny thing to dictate a
+love-story to one of the sisters of the House of Martha. Of course they
+are not nuns, they are not even Roman Catholics, but they are just as
+strict and strait-laced about certain things as if their house were
+really a convent. So far as I can see, there is but one thing to do, and
+that is to confine yourself to descriptions of travel; and perhaps it
+would be well to let your secretary know in some way that you intend to
+do so; otherwise I think she may throw up the business, and that would
+be a pity."
+
+It sometimes surprises me to discover what an obstinate person I am.
+When I want to do a thing, it is very difficult for me to change my
+mind.
+
+"She must not throw up the business," I said, "and I do not see how I
+can leave out the story. I have planned it far ahead, and to discard it
+I should have to go back and cut and mangle a great deal of good work
+that I have done."
+
+Walkirk reflected.
+
+"I admit," he replied, "that that would be very discouraging. Perhaps we
+can think of some plan of getting out of the difficulty."
+
+"I hope you can do that," said I, "for I cannot."
+
+"How would this do?" he asked presently. "Suppose I go and see Mother
+Anastasia this afternoon, and try and make her look at this matter from
+a strictly business point of view. I can tell her that the sort of thing
+you are doing is purely literature, that you can't keep such things out
+of literature, and that the people who engage in the mechanical work of
+literature cannot help running against those things at one time or
+another. I can try to make her understand what an advantageous
+connection this is, and what a great injury to the House of Martha it
+would be if it should be broken off. I can tell her that it is not
+improbable that you may take to writing as a regular business, and that
+you may give profitable employment to the sisters for years and years.
+There are a good many other things I might say, and you may be sure I
+shall do my very best."
+
+"Go," I said, "but be very careful about what you say. Don't make her
+think that I am too anxious to retain this particular sister, but make
+her understand that I do not wish to begin all over again with another
+one. Also, do not insist too strongly on my desire to write a
+love-story, but put it to her that when I plan out work of course I want
+to do the work as I have planned it. Try to keep these important points
+in your mind; then you can urge common sense upon her as much as you
+please."
+
+I sent a note to my grandmother saying that I should not be home to
+luncheon, and after having taken a bite at the inn I set out for a long
+walk. It was simply impossible for me to talk about common things until
+this matter was settled.
+
+It was about the middle of the afternoon when I returned to the inn, and
+Walkirk had not come back. I went away again, took a turn through the
+woods, and on approaching the inn I saw him walking down the shady road
+which led from the House of Martha. I hurried to meet him.
+
+So soon as he was near enough, Walkirk, with a beaming face, called
+out:--
+
+"All right, sir. I have settled that little matter for you."
+
+"How? What?" I exclaimed. "What have you done?"
+
+We had now reached each other, and stood together by the side of the
+road.
+
+"Well," said my under-study, "I have seen Mother Anastasia, and I have
+found her a very sensible woman,--an admirable woman, I assure you. She
+was a good deal surprised when I told her my errand, for that was the
+first she had heard of the love-story; in fact, I suppose your secretary
+had not had time to tell her about it. She commended the sister highly
+for her refusal to write it, saying that her action was in strict
+accordance with the spirit of their rules. When she had finished saying
+all she had to say on that point, I presented your side of the question;
+and I assure you, sir, that I clapped on it a very bright light, so that
+if she did not see its strong points the fault must be in her own eyes.
+As the event proved, there was nothing the matter with her eyes. I shall
+not try to repeat what I said, but I began by explaining to her the
+nature of your work, and showed her how impossible it was for you to
+write about foreign countries without referring to their people, and how
+you could not speak of the people without mentioning their peculiar
+manners and customs, and that this story was nothing more nor less than
+an interweaving of some of the characteristics of the people of Sicily
+with the descriptions of the country. Thus much I inferred from your
+remarks about the story.
+
+"I persisted that, although such characteristics had no connection with
+the life of the sisters of the House of Martha, they were a part of the
+world which you were describing, and that it could be no more harm for a
+sister, working for wages and the good of the cause, to assist in that
+description than it would be for one of them to make lace to be worn at
+a wedding, a ceremony with which the sisters could have nothing to do,
+and which in connection with themselves they could not even think about.
+This point made an impression on Mother Anastasia, and, having thought
+about it a minute or two, she said there was a certain force in it.
+
+"Then she asked me if this narrative of yours was a strongly accentuated
+love-story. Here she had me at a disadvantage, for I have not heard it;
+but I assured her that, knowing the scope and purpose of your work, I
+did not believe that you would accentuate any portion of it more than
+was absolutely necessary.
+
+"After some silent consideration, Mother Anastasia said she would go and
+speak with the sister who had been doing your work. She was gone a good
+while,--at least it seemed so to me; and when she came back she said
+that she had been making inquiries of the sister, and had come to the
+conclusion that there was no good reason why the House of Martha should
+not continue to assist you in the preparation of your book."
+
+"Did she say she would send the same sister?" I asked quickly.
+
+"No, she did not," answered Walkirk; "but not wishing to put the
+question too pointedly, I first thanked her, on your behalf, for the
+kindly consideration she had given the matter. I then remarked--without
+intimating that you said anything about it--that I hoped nothing would
+occur to retard the progress of the work, and that the present
+arrangement might continue without changes of any kind, because I knew
+that when you were dictating your mind was completely absorbed by your
+mental labors, and that any alteration in your hours of work, or the
+necessity of explaining your methods to a new amanuensis, annoyed and
+impeded you. To this she replied it was quite natural you should not
+desire changes, and that everything should go on as before."
+
+"Walkirk," I exclaimed, "you are a trump!" In my exuberant satisfaction
+I would have clapped him on the back; but it would not do to be so
+familiar with an under-study, and besides I did not wish him to
+understand the extent of my delight at the result of his mission. That
+sort of thing I liked to keep to myself.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+AN ILLEGIBLE WORD.
+
+
+Every morning there seemed to be some reason or other why I should
+anticipate with an animated interest the coming of my secretary, and on
+the morning after what I might call her "strike" the animation of said
+interest was very apparent to me, but I hope not to any one else. Over
+and over I said to myself that I must not let my nun see that I was
+greatly pleased with Walkirk's intervention. It would be wise to take
+the result as a matter of course.
+
+As the clock struck nine, she and Sister Sarah entered the anteroom, and
+the latter advanced to the grating and looked into my study, peering
+from side to side. I did not like this sister's face; she looked as if
+she had grown unpleasantly plump on watered milk.
+
+"Is it necessary," she asked, "that you should smoke tobacco during your
+working hours?"
+
+"I never do it," I replied indignantly,--"never!"
+
+"Several times," she said, "I have thought I perceived the smell of
+tobacco smoke in this sister's garments."
+
+"You are utterly mistaken!" I exclaimed. "During the hours of work these
+rooms are perfectly free from anything of the sort."
+
+She gave a little grunt and departed, and when she had locked the door I
+could not restrain a slight ejaculation of annoyance.
+
+"You must not mind Sister Sarah," said the sweet voice of my nun behind
+the barricade of her bonnet; "she is as mad as hops this morning."
+
+"What is the matter with her?" I asked, my angry feelings disappearing
+in an instant.
+
+"She and Mother Anastasia have had a long discussion about the message
+you sent in regard to my keeping on with the story. Sister Sarah is very
+much opposed to my doing your writing at all."
+
+"Well, as she is not the head of your House, I suppose we need not
+trouble ourselves about that," I replied. "But how does the arrangement
+suit you? Are you satisfied to continue to write my little story?"
+
+"Satisfied!" she said. "I am perfectly delighted;" and as she spoke she
+turned toward me, her eyes sparkling, and her face lighted by the most
+entrancing smile I ever beheld on the countenance of woman. "This is a
+thousand times more interesting than anything you have done yet,
+although I liked the rest very much. Of course I stopped when I supposed
+it was against our rules to continue; but now that I know it is all
+right I am--But no matter; let us go on with it. This is what I last
+wrote," and she read: "'Tomaso and the pretty Lucilla now seated
+themselves on the rock, by a little spring. He was trying to look into
+her lovely blue eyes, which were slightly turned away from him and
+veiled by their long lashes. There was something he must say to her, and
+he felt he could wait no longer. Gently he took the little hand which
+lay nearest him, and'--There is where I stopped," she said; and then,
+her face still bright, but with the smile succeeded by an air of earnest
+consideration, she asked, "Do you object to suggestions?"
+
+"Not at all," said I; "when they are to the point, they help me."
+
+"Well, then," she said, "I wouldn't have her eyes blue. Italian girls
+nearly always have black or brown eyes. It is hard to think of this girl
+as a blonde."
+
+"Oh, but her eyes are blue," I said; "it would not do at all to have
+them anything else. Some Italian girls are that way. At any rate, I
+couldn't alter her in my mind."
+
+"Perhaps not," she replied, "but in thinking about her she always seems
+to me to have black eyes; however, that is a matter of no importance,
+and I am ready to go on."
+
+Thus, on matters strictly connected with business, my nun and I
+conversed, and then we went on with our work. I think that from the very
+beginnings of literature there could have been no author who derived
+from his labors more absolute pleasure than I derived from mine: never
+was a story more interesting to tell than the story of Tomaso and
+Lucilla. It proved to be a very long one, much longer than I had
+supposed I could make it, and sometimes I felt that it was due to the
+general character of my book that I should occasionally insert some
+description of scenery or instances of travel.
+
+My secretary wrote as fast as I could dictate, and sometimes wished, I
+think, that I would dictate faster. She seldom made comments unless she
+thought it absolutely necessary to do so, but there were certain
+twitches and movements of her head and shoulders which might indicate
+emotions, such as pleasant excitement at the sudden development of the
+situation, or impatience at my delay in the delivery of interesting
+passages; and I imagined that during the interpolation of descriptive
+matter she appeared to be anxious to get through with it as quickly as
+possible, and to go on with the story.
+
+It was my wish to make my book a very large one; it was therefore
+desirable to be economical with the material I had left, and to eke it
+out as much as I could with fiction; but upon considering the matter I
+became convinced that it could not be very long before the material
+which in any way could be connected with the story must give out, and
+that therefore it would have to come to an end. How I wished I had spent
+more time in Sicily! I would have liked to write a whole book about
+Sicily.
+
+Of course I might take the lovers to other countries; but I had not
+planned anything of this kind, and it would require some time to work it
+out. Now, however, a good idea occurred to me, which would postpone the
+conclusion of the interesting portion of my work. I would have my
+secretary read what she had written. This would give me time to think
+out more of the story, and it is often important that an author should
+know what he has done before he goes on to do more. We had arrived at a
+point where the narrative could easily stop for a while; Tomaso having
+gone on a fishing voyage, and the middle-aged innkeeper, whose union
+with Lucilla was favored by her mother and the village priest, having
+departed for Naples to assume the guardianship of two very handsome
+young women, the daughters of an old friend, recently deceased.
+
+When I communicated to my nun my desire to change her work from writing
+to reading, she seemed surprised, and asked if there were not danger
+that I might forget how I intended to end the story. I reassured her on
+this point, and she appeared to resign herself to the situation.
+
+"Shall I begin with the first page of the manuscript," said she, "or
+read only what I have written?"
+
+"Oh, begin at the very beginning," I said. "I want to hear it all."
+
+Then she began, hesitating a little at times over the variable
+chirography of my first amanuensis. I drew up my chair near to the
+grating, but before she had read two pages I asked her to stop for a
+moment.
+
+"I think," said I, "it will be impossible for me to get a clear idea of
+what you are reading unless you turn and speak in my direction. You see,
+the sides of your bonnet interfere very much with my hearing what you
+say."
+
+For a few moments she remained in her ordinary position, and then she
+slowly turned her chair toward me. I am sure she had received
+instructions against looking into my study, which was filled with
+objects calculated to attract the attention of an intelligent and
+cultivated person. Then she read the manuscript, and as she did so I
+said to myself, over and over again, that for her to read to me was a
+thousand times more agreeable than for me to dictate to her.
+
+As she read, her eyes were cast down on the pages which she held in her
+hand; but frequently when I made a correction they were raised to mine,
+as she endeavored to understand exactly what I wanted her to do. I made
+a good many alterations which I think improved the work very much.
+
+Once she found it utterly impossible to decipher a certain word of the
+manuscript. She scrutinized it earnestly, and then, her mind entirely
+occupied by her desire properly to read the matter, she rose, and came
+close to the grating, holding the page so that I could see it.
+
+"Can you make out this word?" she asked. "I cannot imagine how any one
+could write so carelessly."
+
+I sprang to my feet and stood close to the grating. I could not take the
+paper from her, and it was necessary for her to hold it. I examined the
+word letter by letter. I gave my opinion of each letter, and I asked her
+opinion. It was a most illegible word. A good many things interfered
+with my comprehension of it. Among these were the two hands with which
+she held up the page, and another was the idea which came to me that in
+the House of Martha the sisters were fed on violets. I am generally
+quite apt at deciphering bad writing, but never before had I shown
+myself so slow and obtuse at this sort of thing.
+
+Suddenly a thought struck me. I glanced at the clock in my study. It
+wanted ten minutes of twelve.
+
+"It must be," said I, "that that word is intended to be
+'heaven-given,'--at any rate, we will make it that; and now I think I
+will get you to copy the last part of that page. You can do it on the
+back of the sheet."
+
+She was engaged in this writing when Sister Sarah came in.
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+GRAY ICE.
+
+
+During the engagement of my present secretary, a question had frequently
+arisen in my mind, which I wished to have answered, but which I had
+hesitated to ask, for fear the sister should imagine it indicated too
+much personal interest in her. This question related to her name, and
+now it was really necessary for me to know it. I did not wish any longer
+to speak to her as if she were merely a principle; she had become a most
+decided entity. However harsh and gray and woolly her name might be, I
+wanted to know it and to hear it from her own lips. The next morning I
+asked her what it was.
+
+She was sitting at the table arranging the pages she was going to read,
+and at the question she turned toward me. Her face was flushed, but not,
+I think, with displeasure.
+
+"Do you know," she said, "it has seemed to me the funniest thing in the
+world that you have never cared the least bit to know my name."
+
+"I did care," I replied, "in fact it was awkward not to know it; but of
+course I did not want to--interfere in any way with the rules of your
+establishment."
+
+"Ah," she said, "I have noticed your extreme solicitude in regard to our
+rules, but there is no rule against telling our names. Mine is Sister
+Hagar."
+
+"Hagar!" I exclaimed. "You do not mean that is your real name?"
+
+"It is the name given me by the House of Martha," she answered. "There
+is a list of names by which the sisters must be called, and as we enter
+the institution we take the names in their order on the list. Hagar came
+to me."
+
+"I shall not call you by that," said I, "and we may as well go on with
+our work."
+
+I was anxious to have her read, and to forget that she was called Hagar.
+
+She was a long time arranging the manuscript and putting the pages in
+order. I did not hurry her, but I could not see any reason for so much
+preparation. Presently she said, still arranging the sheets, and with
+her head bent slightly over her work: "I don't know whether or not I
+ought to tell you, but I dislike to be called Hagar. The next name on
+the list is Rebecca, and I am willing to take that, but the rules of the
+House do not allow us to skip an unappropriated name, and permit no
+choosing. However, Mother Anastasia has not pressed the matter, and,
+although I am entered as Sister Hagar, the sisters do not call me by
+that name."
+
+"What do they call you?"
+
+"Oh, they simply use the name that was mine before I entered the House
+of Martha," said she.
+
+"And what is that?" I asked quickly.
+
+"Ah," said my nun, pushing her sheets into a compact pile, and thumping
+their edges on the table to make them even, "to talk about that would be
+decidedly against the rules of the institution;--and now I am ready to
+read."
+
+Thus did she punish me for what she considered my want of curiosity or
+interest; I knew it as well as if she had told me so. I accepted the
+rebuff and said no more, and she went on with her reading.
+
+On this and the following day I became aware how infinitely more
+pleasant it was to listen than to be listened to,--at least under
+certain circumstances. I considered it wonderfully fortunate to be able
+to talk to such an admirable listener as Walkirk: but to sit and hear my
+nun read; to watch the charming play of her mouth, and the occasional
+flush of a smile when she came to something exciting or humorous; to
+look into the blue of her eyes, as she raised them to me while I
+considered an alteration, was to me an overwhelming rapture,--I could
+call it nothing less. But by the end of the third morning of reading my
+good sense told me that this sort of thing could not go on, and it would
+be judicious for me to begin again my dictation, and to let my secretary
+confine herself to her writing. The fact that on any morning I had not
+allowed her to read until the hour of noon was an additional proof that
+my decision was a wise one.
+
+The story of Tomaso and Lucilla now went bravely on, with enough
+groundwork of foreign land for the characters to stand on, and I tried
+very hard to keep my mind on the writing of my book and away from its
+writer. Outwardly I may have appeared to succeed fairly well in this
+purpose, but inwardly the case was different. However, if I could
+suppress any manifestations of my emotions, I told myself, I ought to be
+satisfied.
+
+A few mornings after the recommencement of the dictation I was a little
+late in entering my study, and I found my secretary already at the table
+in the anteroom. In answer to my morning salutation she merely bowed,
+and sat ready for work. She did not even offer to read what she had last
+written. This surprised me. Was she resenting what she might look upon
+as undue stiffness and reserve? If so, I was very sorry, but at the same
+time I would meet her on her own ground. If she chose to return to her
+old rigidity, I would accept the situation, and be as formal as she
+liked.
+
+More than this, I began to feel a little resentment. I would revert not
+only to my former manner, but to my former matter. I would wind up that
+love-story, and confine myself to the subject of foreign travel.
+
+Acting on this resolution, I made short work of Tomaso and Lucilla. The
+former determined not to think of marriage until he was several years
+older, and had acquired the necessary means to support a wife; and
+Lucilla accepted the advice of her mother and the priest, and obtained a
+situation in a lace-making establishment in Venice, where she resolved
+to work industriously until the middle-aged innkeeper had made up his
+mind whether or not he would marry one of the handsome girls to whom he
+had become guardian.
+
+To this very prosaic conclusion of the love-story I added some remarks
+intended as an apology for introducing such a story into my sketches of
+travel, and showing how the little narrative brought into view some of
+the characteristics of the people of Sicily. After that I discoursed of
+the present commerce of Italy as compared with that of the Middle Ages.
+
+My secretary took no notice whatever of my change of subject, but went
+on writing as I dictated. This apathy at last became so annoying to me
+that, excusing myself, I left my study before the hour of noon.
+
+It is impossible for me to say how the events, or rather the want of
+events, of that morning disturbed my mind. By turns I was angry, I was
+grieved, I was regretful, I was resentful. It is so easy sometimes for
+one person, with the utmost placidity, to throw another person into a
+state of mental agitation; and this I think is especially noticeable
+when the placid party is a woman.
+
+As the day wore on, my disquiet of mind and body and general ill humor
+did not abate, and, wishing that other people should not notice my
+unusual state of mind, I took an early afternoon train to the city;
+leaving a note for Walkirk, informing him that his services as listener
+would not be needed that evening. The rest of that day I spent at my
+club, where, fortunately for my mood, I met only a few old fellows who
+could not get out of town in the summer, and who had learned, from long
+practice, to be quite sufficient unto themselves. Seated in a corner of
+the large reading-room, I spent the evening smoking, holding in my hand
+an unread newspaper, and asking myself mental questions.
+
+I inquired why in the name of common sense I allowed myself to be so
+disturbed by the conduct of an amanuensis, paid by the day, and,
+moreover, a member of a religious order. I inquired why the fates should
+have so ordered it that this perfectly charming young woman should
+suddenly have become frozen into a mass of gray ice. I inquired if I had
+inadvertently done or said anything which would naturally wound the
+feelings or arouse the resentment of a sister of the House of Martha. I
+inquired if there could be any reasonable excuse for a girl who, on
+account of an omission or delay in asking her name, would assume a
+manner of austere rudeness to a gentleman who had always treated her
+with scrupulous courtesy. Finally I asked myself why it was that I
+persisted, and persisted, and persisted in thinking about a thing like
+this, when my judgment told me that I should instantly dismiss the whole
+affair from my mind, and employ my thoughts on something sensible; and
+to this I gave the only answer which I made to any of the inquiries I
+had put to myself. That was that I did not know why this was so, but it
+was so, and there was no help for it.
+
+Walking home from the station quite late at night, the question which
+had so much troubled me suddenly resolved itself, and I became convinced
+that the change in the manner of my secretary was due to increased
+pressure of the rules of the House of Martha. I would not, I could not,
+believe that a fit of pique, occasioned by my apparent want of interest
+in her, could make her thus cold and even rude. She was not the kind of
+girl to do this thing of her own volition. It was those wretched rules;
+and if they were to be enforced in this way, the head of the House of
+Martha should know that I considered the act a positive discourtesy, if
+nothing more.
+
+I was angry,--that was not to be wondered at; but it was a great relief
+to me to feel that I need not be angry with my secretary.
+
+
+
+
+XX.
+
+TOMASO AND I.
+
+
+The next day my amanuensis bade me good-morning in her former pleasant
+manner, but without turning toward me seated herself quickly at the
+table, and took the manuscript from the drawer. "Oh, ho!" I thought,
+"then you can speak; and it was not the rules which made you behave in
+that way, but your own pique, which has worn off a little." I glanced at
+her as she intently looked over the work of the day before, and I was
+considering whether or not it would be fitting for me to show that there
+might be pique on one side of the grating as well as on the other, when
+suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a burst of laughter,--girlish,
+irrepressible laughter. With the manuscript in her hands, my nun
+actually leaned back in her chair and laughed so heartily that I wonder
+my grandmother did not hear her.
+
+"I declare," she said, turning to me, her eyes glistening with tears of
+merriment, "this is the funniest thing I ever saw. Why, you have
+actually separated those poor lovers for life, and crushed every hope in
+the properest way. And then all the rest about commerce! I wouldn't have
+believed you could do it."
+
+"What do you mean?" I exclaimed. "You showed no surprise when you wrote
+it."
+
+Again she laughed.
+
+"Wrote it!" she cried. "I never wrote a line of it. It was Sister Sarah
+who was your secretary yesterday. Didn't you know that?"
+
+I stood for a moment utterly unable to answer; then I gasped, "Sister
+Sarah wrote for me yesterday! What does it mean?"
+
+"Positively," said she, pushing back her chair and rising to her feet,
+"this is not only the funniest, but the most wonderful thing in the
+world. Do you mean truly to say that you did not know it was Sister
+Sarah who wrote for you yesterday?"
+
+"I did not suspect it for an instant," I answered.
+
+"It was, it was!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands in her earnestness,
+and stepping closer to the grating. "When we came here yesterday, and
+found you were not in your room, a sudden idea struck her. 'I will stay
+here myself, this morning,' she said, 'and do his writing. I want to
+know what sort of a story this is that is being dictated to a sister of
+our House;' and so she simply turned me out and told me to go home. You
+don't know how frightened I was. I was afraid that, as we dress exactly
+alike, you might not at first notice that Sister Sarah was sitting at
+the table, and that you might begin with an awfully affectionate speech
+by Tomaso; for I knew that something of that kind was just on the point
+of breaking out, and I knew too that if you did it there would be lively
+times in the House of Martha, and perhaps here also. I fairly shivered
+the whole morning, and my only hope was that she would begin to snap at
+you as soon as you came in, and you would then know whom you had to deal
+with, and that you would have to put a lot of water into your
+love-making if you wanted any more help from the sisters. But if I had
+known that you would not find out that she was writing for you, I should
+certainly have died. I couldn't have stood it. But how in the world
+could you have kept on thinking that that woman was I? She is shorter
+and fatter, and not a bit like me, except in her clothes; and if you
+thought I was writing for you, why did you dictate that ridiculous
+stuff?"
+
+I stood confounded. Here were answers to devise.
+
+"Of course the dress deceived me," I said presently, "and not once did
+she turn her face toward me; besides, I did not imagine for a moment
+that any one but you could be sitting at that table."
+
+"But I cannot understand why," she pursued, "if you didn't know it was
+Sister Sarah, you made that sudden change in your story."
+
+For a moment I hesitated, and then I saw I might as well speak out
+honestly. When a man sees before him a pair of blue eyes like those
+which were then fixed upon me, the chances are that he will speak out
+honestly.
+
+"The fact is," I said, "that I'm a little--well, sensitive; and when
+you, or the person I thought was you, did not speak to me, nor look at
+me, nor pay any more heed to me than if I had been a talking-machine
+worked with a crank, I was somewhat provoked, and determined that if you
+suddenly chose to freeze in that way I would freeze too, and that you
+should have no more of that story in which you were so interested; and
+so I smashed the loves of Tomaso and Lucilla and took up commerce, which
+I was sure you would hate."
+
+At this there was a quick flash in her eyes, and the first tremblings of
+a smile at the corners of her mouth.
+
+"Oh!" she said, and that was all she did say, as she returned to the
+table and took her seat.
+
+"Is my explanation satisfactory?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, certainly," she answered; "and if you will excuse me for saying so,
+I think you are a very fortunate man. In trying to punish me you
+protected yourself,--that is, if you care to have secretaries from our
+institution."
+
+As I could not see her face, I could not determine what answer I should
+make to this remark, and she continued, as she turned over the sheets:--
+
+"What are you going to do with the pages which were written yesterday?"
+
+"Tear them up," I replied, "and throw them into the basket. I wish to
+annihilate them utterly."
+
+She obeyed me, and tore Sister Sarah's work into very small pieces.
+
+"Now we will go on with the original and genuine story," I said. "And as
+the occurrences of yesterday are entirely banished from my mind, and as
+all recollection of the point where we left off has gone, will you
+kindly read two or three pages of what you last wrote?"
+
+Several times I had perceived, or thought I had perceived, symptoms of
+emotion in the back of my secretary's shawl, and these symptoms, if such
+they were, were visible now. She occupied some minutes in selecting a
+suitable point at which to begin, but when she had done this she read
+without any signs of emotion, either in her shawl or in her face.
+
+The story of the Sicilian young people progressed slowly, not because of
+any lack of material, but because I was anxious to portray the phases as
+clearly and as effectively as I could possibly do it; and whenever I
+could prevent myself from thinking of something else, I applied my mind
+most earnestly to this object. I flatter myself that I did the work very
+well, and I am sure there were passages the natural fervor of which
+would have made Sister Sarah bounce at least a yard from her chair, had
+they been dictated to her, but my nun did not bounce in the least.
+
+Before the hour at which we usually stopped work I arose from my chair,
+and stated that that would be all for the day. My secretary looked at me
+quickly.
+
+"All for to-day?" she asked, a little smile of disapprobation upon her
+brow. "It cannot be twelve o'clock yet."
+
+"No," I answered, "it is not; but it is not easy to work out the answer
+which Lucilla ought now to make to Tomaso, and I shall have to take time
+for its consideration."
+
+"I shouldn't think it would be easy," said she, "but I hoped you had it
+already in your mind."
+
+"Then you are interested in it?" I asked.
+
+"Of course I am," she answered,--"who wouldn't be? And just at this
+point, too, when everything depends on what she says; but it is quite
+right for you to be very careful about what you make her say," and she
+gathered her sheets together to lay them away.
+
+Now I wanted to say something to her. I stopped work for that purpose,
+but I did not know what to say. An apology for my conduct of the day
+before would not be exactly in order, and an explanation of it would be
+exceedingly difficult. I walked up and down my study, and she continued
+to arrange her pages. When she had put them into a compact and very neat
+little pile, she opened the table drawer, placed them in it, examined
+some other contents of the drawer, and finally closed it, and sat
+looking out of the window. After some minutes of this silent
+observation, she half turned toward me, and without entirely removing
+her gaze from the apple-tree outside, she asked:--
+
+"Do you still want to know my name?"
+
+"Indeed I do!" I exclaimed, stepping quickly to the grating.
+
+"Well, then," she said, "it is Sylvia."
+
+At this moment we heard the footsteps of Sister Sarah in the hall, at
+least two minutes before the usual time.
+
+When they had gone, I stood by my study table, my arms folded and my
+eyes fixed upon the floor.
+
+"Horace Vanderley," I said to myself, "you are in love;" and to this
+frank and explicit statement I answered, quite as frankly, "That is
+certainly true; there can be no mistake about it."
+
+
+
+
+XXI.
+
+LUCILLA AND I.
+
+
+A Saturday afternoon, evening, and night, the whole of a Sunday and its
+night, with some hours of a Monday morning, intervened between the
+moment at which I had acknowledged to myself my feelings toward my
+secretary and the moment at which I might expect to see her again, and
+nearly the whole of this time was occupied by me in endeavoring to
+determine what should be my next step. To stand still in my present
+position was absolutely impossible: I must go forward or backward. To go
+backward was a simple thing enough; it was like turning round and
+jumping down a precipice; it made me shudder. To go forward was like
+climbing a precipice with beetling crags and perpendicular walls of ice.
+
+The first of these alternatives did not require any consideration
+whatever. To the second I gave all the earnest consideration of which I
+was capable, but I saw no way of getting up. The heights were
+inaccessible.
+
+In very truth, my case was a hard one. I could not make love to a woman
+through a grating; and if I could, I would not be dishonorable enough to
+do it, when that woman was locked up in a room, and could not get away
+in case she did not wish to listen to my protestations. But between the
+girl I loved and myself there was a grating compared with which the
+barrier in the doorway of my study was as a spider's web. This was the
+network of solemn bars which surrounded the sisters of the House of
+Martha,--the vows they had made never to think of love, to read of it or
+speak of it.
+
+To drop metaphors, it would be impossible for me to continue to work
+with her and conceal my love for her; it would be stupidly useless, and
+moreover cowardly, to declare that love; and it would be sensible,
+praiseworthy, and in every way advantageous for me to cease my literary
+labors and go immediately to the Adirondacks or to Mount Desert. But
+would I go away on Saturday or Sunday when she was coming on Monday? Not
+I.
+
+She came on Monday, surrounded by a gray halo, which had begun to grow
+as beautiful to my vision as the delicate tints of early dawn. When she
+began to read what she had last written, I seated myself in a chair by
+the grating. When she had finished, I sat silent for a minute, got up
+and walked about, came back, sat down, and was silent again. In my whole
+mind there did not seem to be one crevice into which an available
+thought concerning my travels could squeeze itself. She sat quietly
+looking out of the window at the apple-tree. Presently she said:--
+
+"I suppose you find it hard to begin work on Monday morning, after
+having rested so long. It must be difficult to get yourself again into
+the proper frame of mind."
+
+"On this Monday morning," I answered, "I find it very hard indeed."
+
+She turned, and for the first time that day fixed her eyes upon me. She
+did not look well; she was pale.
+
+"I had hoped," she said, with a little smile without any brightness in
+it, "that you would finish the story of Tomaso and Lucilla; but I don't
+believe you feel like composing, so how would you like me to read this
+morning?"
+
+"Nothing could suit me better," I answered; and in my heart I thought
+that here was an angelic gift, a relief and a joy.
+
+"I will begin," she said, "at the point where I left off reading." She
+took up a portion of the manuscript, she brought her chair within a yard
+of the grating, she sat down with her face toward me, and she read.
+Sometimes she stopped and spoke of what she was reading, now to ask a
+question, and now to tell something she had seen in the place I
+described. I said but little. I did not wish to occupy any of that
+lovely morning with my words,--words which were bound to mean nothing.
+As she read and talked, some color came into her face; she looked more
+like herself. What a shame to shut up such a woman in a House where she
+never had anything interesting to talk about, never anybody interested
+to talk to!
+
+After the reading of half a dozen pages during which she had not
+interrupted herself, she laid the manuscript in her lap, and asked me
+the time. I told her it wanted twenty minutes of twelve. She made no
+answer, but rose, put the manuscript in the drawer, and then returned
+with a little note which she had taken from her pocket.
+
+"Mother Anastasia desired me to give you this," she said, folding it so
+that she could push it through one of the interstices of the grating;
+"she told me to hand it to you as I was coming away, but I don't think
+she would object to your reading it a little before that."
+
+I took the note, unfolded it, and read it. Mother Anastasia wrote an
+excellent hand. She informed me that it had been decided that the sister
+of the House of Martha who had been acting as my amanuensis should not
+continue in that position, but should now devote herself to another
+class of work. If, however, I desired it, another sister would take her
+place.
+
+I stood unable to speak. I must have been as pale as the white paint on
+the door-frame near which I stood.
+
+"You see," said Sylvia, and from the expression upon her face I think
+she must have perceived that I did not like what I had read, "this is
+the work of Sister Sarah. I might as well tell you that at once, and I
+am sure there is no harm in my doing so. She has always objected to my
+writing for you; and although the morning she spent with you would have
+satisfied any reasonable person that there could be no possible
+objection to my doing it, she has not ceased to insist that I shall give
+it up, and go to the Measles Refuge. That, however, I will not do, but I
+cannot come here any more. Mother Anastasia and I are both sure that if
+I am not withdrawn from this work she will make no end of trouble. She
+has consented that I should go on until now simply because this day ends
+my month."
+
+I was filled with amazement, grief, and rage.
+
+"The horrible wretch!" I exclaimed. "What malignant wickedness!"
+
+"Oh," said Sylvia, holding up one finger, "you mustn't talk like that
+about the sister. She may think she is right, but I don't see how she
+can; and perhaps she would have some reason on her side if she could see
+me standing here talking about her, instead of attending to my work. But
+I determined that I would not go away without saying a word. You have
+always been very courteous to us, and I don't see why we should not be
+courteous to you."
+
+"Are you sorry to go?" I asked, getting as close to the grating as I
+could. "If they would let you, would you go on writing for me?"
+
+"I should be glad to go on with the work," she said; "it is just what I
+like."
+
+"Too bad, too bad!" I cried. "Cannot it be prevented? Cannot I see
+somebody? You do not know how much I--how exactly you"--
+
+"Excuse me," said Sylvia, "for interrupting you, but what time is it?"
+
+I glanced at the clock. "It wants four minutes of twelve," I gasped.
+
+"Then I must bid you good-by," she said.
+
+"Good-by?" I repeated. "How can you bid me good-by? Confound this
+grating! Isn't that door open?"
+
+"No," she replied, "it's locked. Do you want to shake hands with me?"
+
+"Of course I do!" I cried. "Good-by like this! It cannot be."
+
+"I think," she said quickly, "that if you could get out of your window,
+you might come to mine and shake hands."
+
+What a scintillating inspiration! What a girl! I had not thought of it!
+In a moment I had bounded out of my window, and was standing under hers,
+which was not four feet from the ground. There she was, with her
+beautiful white hand already extended. I seized it in both of mine.
+
+"Oh, Sylvia," I said, "I cannot have you go in this way. I want to tell
+you--I want to tell you how"--
+
+"You are very good," she interrupted, endeavoring slightly to withdraw
+her hand, "and when the story of Tomaso and Lucilla is finished and
+printed I am going to read it, rules or no rules."
+
+"It shall never be finished," I exclaimed vehemently, "if you do not
+write it," and, lifting her hand, I really believe I was about to kiss
+it, when with a quick movement she drew it from me.
+
+"She is coming," she said; "good-by! good-by!" and with a wave of her
+hand she was gone from the window.
+
+I did not return to my study. I stood by the side of the house, with my
+fists clenched and my eyes set. Then, suddenly, I ran to the garden
+wall; looking over it, I saw, far down the shaded village street, two
+gray figures walking away.
+
+
+
+
+XXII.
+
+I CLOSE MY BOOK.
+
+
+By the rarest good fortune my grandmother started that afternoon for a
+visit to an old friend at the seashore, and, in the mild excitement of
+her departure, I do not think she noticed anything unusual in my
+demeanor.
+
+"And so your amanuensis has left you?" she remarked, as she was eating a
+hasty luncheon. "Sister Sarah stopped for a moment and told me so. She
+said there was another one ready to take the place, if you wanted her."
+
+I tried to suppress my feelings, but I must have spoken sharply.
+
+"Want her!" I exclaimed. "I want none of her!"
+
+My grandmother looked at me for a moment.
+
+"I shall be sorry, Horace," she said, "if you find that the sisters do
+not work to suit you. I hoped that you might continue to employ them,
+because the House of Martha is at such a convenient distance, and offers
+you such a variety of assistance to choose from; and also because you
+would contribute to a most worthy cause. You know that all the money
+they may make is to go to hospitals and that sort of thing."
+
+"I was a little afraid, however," she continued, after a pause, "that
+the sister you engaged might not suit you. She was so much younger than
+the others that I feared that, away from the restraints of the
+institution, she might be a little frivolous. Was she ever frivolous?"
+
+"Not in the least," I answered; "not for an instant."
+
+"I am very glad to hear that," she remarked,--"very glad indeed. I take
+an interest in that sister. Years ago I knew her family, but that was
+before she was born. I remember that I was intending to speak to you
+about her, but in some way I was interrupted."
+
+"Well," I asked, "tell me now, who is she?"
+
+"She _is_," said my grandmother, "Sister Hagar, of the House of Martha.
+She _was_ Sylvia Raynor, of New Haven. I think that in some way her life
+has been darkened. Mother Anastasia takes a great interest in her, and
+favors her a good deal. I know there was opposition to her entering the
+House, but she was determined to do it. You say you are not going to
+engage another sister? Who is to be your amanuensis?"
+
+"No one," I answered. "I shall stop writing for the present. This is a
+very good time. I've nearly reached the end of--a sort of division of
+the book."
+
+"An excellent idea," said my grandmother, with animation. "You ought to
+go to the sea or the mountains. You have been working very hard. You are
+not looking well."
+
+"I shall go, I shall go," I answered quickly; "fishing, probably, but I
+can't say where. I'll write to you as soon as I decide."
+
+"Now that is very pleasant," said my grandmother, as she rose from the
+table, "very pleasant indeed; and if you write that you will be away
+fishing for a week or two, I shall stay at the Bromleys' longer than I
+intended,--perhaps until you return."
+
+"A week or two!" I muttered to myself.
+
+Walkirk had sharper eyes than those of my grandmother. I am sure that
+when he came that evening he saw immediately that something was the
+matter with me,--something of moment. He was a man of too much tact to
+allude to my state of mind; but in a very short time I saved him all the
+trouble of circumspection, for I growled out that I could not talk about
+travels at present, and then told him that I could not write about them,
+either, for I had lost my secretary. His countenance exhibited much
+concern.
+
+"But you can get another of the sisters," he said.
+
+What I replied to this I do not remember, but I know I expressed myself
+so freely, so explicitly, and with such force that Walkirk understood
+very well that I wanted the secretary I had lost, that I wanted none
+other, and that I wanted her very much indeed. In fact, he comprehended
+the situation perfectly.
+
+I was not sorry. I wanted somebody to whom I could talk about the
+matter, in whom I could confide. In ten minutes I was speaking to
+Walkirk in perfect confidence.
+
+"But you can't do anything," said he, when there came a pause. "This is
+a case in which there is nothing to do. My advice is that you go away
+for a time, and try to get over it."
+
+"I am going away," I replied.
+
+"You could do nothing better," Walkirk remarked. "I am altogether in
+favor of that, although of course such counsel is against my own
+interests."
+
+"Not at all," said I, catching his meaning, "for I shall take you with
+me."
+
+After a considerable pause in the conversation Walkirk inquired if I had
+decided where I would go.
+
+"No," I answered, "that is your affair. My desire is to get away from
+every place where there is any chance of seeing a woman. I wish to
+obliterate from my mind all idea of the female human being. In fact, I
+think I should like to take lodgings near a monastery, and have the
+monks come and write for me,--a different one every day."
+
+Walkirk smiled. "Since you wish me to select your retreat," he said, "I
+am bound to have an opinion regarding it. I might advise a visit to the
+Trappists of Kentucky, or to some remote fishing and hunting region; but
+it strikes me that a background made up of exclusive association with
+men would be very apt to bring out in strong relief any particular
+female image which you might have in your mind. I should say that the
+best way of getting rid of such an image would be to merge it in a lot
+of other female images."
+
+"Away with the idea!" I cried. "Walkirk, I will neither merge nor
+relieve. I will go with you to some place where we shall see neither men
+nor women; where we can hunt, fish, sail, sleep, read, smoke, and banish
+the world. I don't wish you to take a servant. We can do without
+service, and if necessary I can cook. I put the whole matter in your
+hands, Walkirk, and when you have decided on our destination let me
+know."
+
+The next afternoon Walkirk found me at my club in the city, and informed
+me that he had selected a place which he thought would suit my purposes.
+
+"No people?" I asked.
+
+"None but ourselves," replied he.
+
+"Very good," said I. "When can we start?"
+
+"I shall be ready to-morrow afternoon," he answered, "and I will call
+for you at your house."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII.
+
+RACKET ISLAND.
+
+
+We traveled all night, and early in the morning alighted at a small
+station, on the shore of a broad bay. Here we found moored a cat-rigged
+sailboat, of which Walkirk took possession, and we stowed therein the
+valises, guns, and fishing tackle which we had brought with us. I
+examined the craft with considerable interest. It was about twenty feet
+long, had a small cabin divided into two compartments, and appeared to
+be well stocked with provisions and other necessaries.
+
+"Is it to be a long cruise?" I said to Walkirk; "and do you know how to
+sail a boat?"
+
+"With this wind," he answered, "we should reach our destination in a
+couple of hours, and I consider myself a very fair skipper."
+
+"Up sail, then," I cried, "and I am not in the least hurry to know where
+I am going."
+
+Walkirk sailed a boat very well, but he did it in rather an odd way, as
+if he had learned it all out of a book, and never had handled a tiller
+before. I am not a bad amateur sailor myself, but I gave no
+consideration to the management of our craft. Walkirk had said that he
+knew where he was going, and was able to sail there, and I left the
+matter entirely to him; and whether or not this were his first essay in
+sailing, in due time we ran upon a low beach, and he exclaimed:--
+
+"Here we are!"
+
+I rose to my feet and looked about me. "Now, then," said I, "I shall ask
+you, where are we?"
+
+"This is Racket Island," he replied, "and as soon as we get the boat
+pulled up and the sail down I will tell you about it."
+
+"Racket Island," said Walkirk, a short time afterwards, as we stood
+together on a little sandy bluff, "was discovered two years ago by me
+and a friend, as we were sailing about in this bay. I suppose other
+people may have discovered it before, but as I have seen no proof of
+this I am not bound to believe it. We named it Racket Island, having
+found on the beach an old tennis racket, which had been washed there by
+the waves from no one knows where. The island is not more than half a
+mile long, with a very irregular coast. The other end of it, you see, is
+pretty well wooded. We stayed here for three days, sleeping in our boat;
+and so far as solitude is concerned, we might as well have been on a
+desert island in the midst of the Pacific. Now I propose that we do the
+same thing, and stay for three days, or three weeks, or as long as you
+please. This is the finest season of the year for camping out, and we
+can moor the boat securely, and cook and sleep on board of it. There is
+plenty of sand and there is plenty of shade, and I hope you will like
+it."
+
+"I do!" I cried. "On Racket Island let us settle!"
+
+For two days I experienced a sort of negative enjoyment. If I could not
+be at home dictating to my late secretary, or, better still, looking at
+her, as she sat close to the grating, reading to me, this was the next
+best thing I could do. I could walk over the island; I could sail around
+it; I could watch Walkirk fish; I could lie on the sand, and look at the
+sky; and I could picture Sylvia with her hair properly arranged, and
+attired in apparel suited to her. In my fancy I totally discarded the
+gray garb of the sisters of the House of Martha, and dressed my nun
+sometimes in a light summer robe, with a broad hat shading her face, and
+again in the richest costumes of silks and furs. Sometimes Walkirk
+interrupted these pleasant reveries, but that, of course, was to be
+expected.
+
+In several directions we could see points of land, but it did not
+interest me to know what these were, or how far away they were. Walkirk
+and I had Racket Island to ourselves. My grandmother was happy with her
+friends, and where the rest of the world happened to stow themselves I
+did not care. Several times I said this to myself, but it was a mistake.
+I cared very much where Sylvia stowed herself. Philosophize as I might,
+I thought of her continually in that doleful House of Martha; and as I
+thought of her there I cried out against the shortcomings of
+civilization.
+
+We had pitched a small tent in the shelter of a clump of trees on the
+higher part of the island; and near this, on the morning of our third
+day, I was sitting, smoking, and trying the effect of Sylvia's face
+under a wide black hat heavy with ostrich plumes, when Walkirk
+approached me, carrying a string of freshly caught fish.
+
+"I am sorry to say," said he, "that in coming here to escape the society
+of women we have made a failure, for one of them is sitting on the
+beach, on the other side of the island."
+
+I sprang to my feet with an abrupt exclamation.
+
+"How did the woman get here?" I cried. "I thought this place was
+deserted."
+
+"It is; I know every inch of it. No one lives here, but this female
+person came in a small sailboat. I saw it tied up, not far from where
+she is sitting."
+
+"If women come here," I said, "I want to go, and you may as well get
+ready to leave."
+
+"I think," remarked Walkirk, "that it would be well not to be in too
+great a hurry to leave. I know of no place where we are less likely to
+be disturbed, and so long as these dry nights continue there can be no
+pleasanter camping place. She may now be sailing away, and the chances
+are we shall never see her again."
+
+"I'll go and look into the matter," said I.
+
+I walked over the ridge of the little island, and soon caught sight of a
+female figure sitting on the sandy beach. Near by was the boat which
+Walkirk had mentioned. As soon as I saw her I stopped; but she must have
+heard my approach, for she turned toward me. I had come merely to make
+an observation of her, but now I must go on. As I approached her I
+turned as if I were about to walk along the shore, and as I passed her I
+raised my hat. She was a lady of middle age, of a reddish blonde
+complexion, and her hair was negligently put up under a plain straw hat.
+Her large blue eyes, her slightly uplifted brows, and the general
+expression of her rather thin face gave me the idea that she was a
+pleasantly disposed woman, who was either very tired or not in good
+health.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," she said. "On desert islands, you know, people
+speak to each other without ceremony."
+
+I stopped, and returned her salutation. "Excuse me," I remarked, "but
+this does not seem to be a desert island. May I be permitted to ask if
+it is a place of much resort?"
+
+"Of course you may," she answered. "People sometimes come here; but
+would you like it better if they did not? You need not answer; I know
+you would."
+
+This was a very free and easy lady, but if she liked that mood it suited
+me very well.
+
+"Since you will have it," I replied, "I will admit I came here because I
+thought my companion and I would have the island to ourselves."
+
+"And now you are disappointed," she said, with a smile.
+
+She was surely a person of very pleasant humor.
+
+"Good lady," said I, "you must not corner me. I came here because I
+thought it would be a good place in which to stop awhile and grumble
+undisturbed; and as you say it is proper to be unceremonious, may I ask
+how you happen to be here, and if you sail your boat yourself?"
+
+"I am here," she answered, "because I like this island. I take an
+interest in it for two reasons: one is that it is a good island, and the
+other is that I own it."
+
+"Really!" I exclaimed, in sudden embarrassment, "you must pardon me! I
+assure you I did not know that."
+
+"Don't apologize," she said, raising her hand. "Scarcely any one knows,
+or at least remembers, that I own this island. I bought it a good many
+years ago, intending to build upon it; but it was considered too remote
+from the mainland, and I have established a summer home on the island
+which you can just see, over there to the west; so this island is
+perfectly free to respectable seekers after solitude or fish. I may add
+that I do not sail my boat, but came here this morning with my brother
+and another gentleman. They have now gone up the beach to look for
+shells."
+
+"Madam," said I, "I feel that I am an intruder; but to assure you that I
+am a respectable one, allow me to introduce myself," and I presented my
+card.
+
+"No, thank you," she replied, with a smile, as she gently waved back my
+card; "we don't do that sort of thing here; as far as possible we omit
+all ordinary social customs. We come here to rid ourselves, for a time,
+of manners and customs. My other island is called the 'Tangent,' because
+there we fly off from our accustomed routine of life. We dress as we
+please, and we live as we please. We drop all connection with society
+and its conventions. We even drop the names by which society knows us. I
+am known as the 'Lady Who Sits on the Sand,' commonly condensed to the
+'Sand Lady.' My brother, who spends most of his time in his boat, is the
+'Middle-Aged Man of the Sea,' and his scientific friend is the 'Shell
+Man.' When we have stayed on the Tangent as long as the weather and our
+pleasure induce us, we return to our ordinary routine of life. Now, if
+you have any title which is characteristic of you, I shall be glad to
+hear it, as well as that of your companion. We consider ourselves
+capable of forming unbiased opinions in regard to what is generally
+known as respectability."
+
+It struck me as a very satisfactory thing to look upon this pleasant
+lady solely and simply as a human being. It is so seldom that we meet
+any one who can be looked upon in that light.
+
+"Madam," I said, "I greatly like your plan for putting yourselves out of
+the world for a time, but I find it difficult properly to designate
+myself."
+
+"Oh, anything will do," she said; "for instance, your reason for
+desiring to seclude yourself."
+
+"Very well, then," said I, "you may call me a 'Lover in Check.'"
+
+"Excellent!" she exclaimed,--"just the sort of person for this place;
+and what is the other one?"
+
+"Oh, he is an Understudy," I replied.
+
+"Delightful," she said; "I never saw one. And here come my brother and
+the Shell Man."
+
+I was now introduced formally by my new title to the Middle-Aged Man of
+the Sea, a hearty personage, with a curling beard, and to the Shell Man,
+who was tall, and wore spectacles.
+
+When my presence was explained, the brother was as cordial as the lady
+had been, and proffered any assistance which I might need during my
+sojourn on the island. When they took their leave, the Sand Lady urged
+me to inhabit her island as long as I pleased, and hoped that I and the
+Understudy would sometimes sail over to them, and see what it was to be
+on a Tangent. At this I shook my head, and they all laughed at me; but
+it was easy to see that they were people of very friendly dispositions.
+
+When I reported my interview to Walkirk, he remarked, "It is impossible
+to get away from people, but in all probability these folks will not
+come here again."
+
+"Perhaps not," I answered, and dropped the subject.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV.
+
+THE INTERPOLATION.
+
+
+"They did not seem in the least surprised to find us here," I said to
+Walkirk, as we were eating our dinner.
+
+"Who?" he asked. "Oh, the people who came over this morning? Quite
+likely they saw us when we were sailing this way. We passed their island
+at no great distance. There is no reason why they should object. Your
+soft hat and flannel shirt would not prevent them from seeing that you
+were a gentleman."
+
+I nodded, and sat silent for a time.
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "suppose we sail over to those people this afternoon?
+It might be interesting."
+
+"Very good," he answered, turning suddenly to watch a sea gull, which
+had made a great swoop toward us, as if attracted by the odors of our
+meal; "that will be an excellent thing to do."
+
+In making our way, that afternoon, in the direction of the Tangent, our
+course was not mathematically correct, for the wind did not favor us,
+and it was impossible to sail in a right line; but the sun was still
+high when we reached the larger island, and made the boat fast to a
+little pier.
+
+This island was much more attractive than the one on which we were
+camping. The ground receded from the beach in rolling slopes covered
+with short grass, and here and there were handsome spreading trees. On a
+bluff, a few hundred yards from the pier, stood a low, picturesque
+house, almost surrounded by a grove. The path to the house was plainly
+marked, and led us along the face of a little hill to a jutting point,
+where it seemed to make an abrupt turn upward. As we rounded this point,
+we saw on a rocky ledge not far ahead of us a lady dressed in white. She
+was standing on the ledge, looking out over the water, and apparently
+very much engaged with her own thoughts, for she had not yet perceived
+our approach.
+
+At the first glance I saw that the figure before us was not the Sand
+Lady. This was a tall and graceful woman, carrying no weight of years.
+She held her hat in her hand, and her dark hair was slightly blown back
+from a face which, seen in profile against the clear blue sky, appeared
+to me to be perfect in its outline. We stopped involuntarily, and at
+that moment she turned toward us. Her face was one of noble beauty, with
+great dark eyes, and a complexion of that fine glow which comes to women
+who are not quite brunettes.
+
+Walkirk started, and seized my arm. "Good heavens," he whispered, "it is
+Mother Anastasia!"
+
+As we now advanced toward the lady, I could scarcely believe what I had
+heard; certainly I could not comprehend it. Here was one of the most
+beautiful women I had ever beheld, dressed in a robe of soft white
+flannel, which, though simple, was tasteful and elegant. She had a bunch
+of wild flowers in her belt, and at her neck a bow of dark yellow
+ribbon. I particularly noticed these points, in my amazement at hearing
+Walkirk say that this was the Mother Superior of the House of Martha.
+
+As we approached, she greeted us pleasantly, very much as if she had
+expected our coming, and then, addressing Walkirk, she said, with a
+smile:
+
+"I see, sir, that you recognize me, and I suppose you are somewhat
+surprised to find me here, and thus," glancing at her dress.
+
+"Surprised, madam!" exclaimed Walkirk. "I am astounded."
+
+"Well," said she, "that sort of thing will happen occasionally. The
+people on this island have been expecting a visit from you gentlemen,
+but I really do not know where any of them are. It is not always easy to
+find them, but I will go and see if the Sand Lady is in the house, and
+if so I will tell her of your arrival. Of course," she continued, now
+turning to me, "you both will remember that in this place we put
+ourselves outside of a good many of the ordinary conventions, and are
+known by our characteristics instead of our names."
+
+I assured her we understood this, and considered it an admirable idea.
+
+"As you, sir," turning to Walkirk, "have met me before, I will
+immediately state that I am known on this island only as the
+'Interpolation.'"
+
+She turned to walk toward the house, but stopped. "We are all here to
+enjoy ourselves, and it is against the rules to worry each other with
+puzzles. I therefore will at once say, in explanation of my name, that I
+have briefly thrust myself into the life of my friends; and of my
+appearance, that the Middle-Aged Man of the Sea, who is a very
+self-willed person, caused the costume which I ordinarily wear, and in
+which I arrived, to be abstracted and hidden, so that I am obliged,
+while here, to wear clothes belonging to others. Now, you see, Mr.
+Understudy, everything is as plain as daylight."
+
+"They have been talking about us," I remarked, as the lady rapidly
+walked away, "and of course, having recognized you, she must know who I
+am."
+
+"Know you? There is no doubt of it," he answered. "She must have seen
+you often in the village, although you may never have noticed her."
+
+"I certainly never have," said I; "in fact, I make it a point not to
+look under the bonnets of those gray-garbed women."
+
+"When you meet them in the street?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"She knows us both," said Walkirk, "and she has now gone to the house to
+tell the people who we are; and yet I am surprised that she met us so
+serenely. She could not possibly have known that the two men on that
+little island were her neighbors in the village of Arden."
+
+I made no answer. I was strangely excited. I had flown to an uninhabited
+island to get away from Sylvia, and, if my conscience could be made to
+work properly, to get away from all thoughts of her; and here I had met,
+most unexpectedly and suddenly, with one who was probably the most
+intimate connection of the girl from whom I was flying. I was amazed; my
+emotion thrilled me from head to foot.
+
+"It is just like women," remarked Walkirk, as we slowly walked toward
+the house, "to put on disguises to conceal their identities, but they
+have no respect for our identities. Without doubt, at this moment Mother
+Anastasia is telling the lady of the house all about you and your
+grandmother, your position in society, and the manner in which you were
+furnished with a secretary from the House of Martha."
+
+Still I did not reply. "Mother Anastasia!" I said to myself. "Here is a
+gray-garbed sister transformed into a lovely woman. Why should not
+another sister be so transformed? Why should not Sylvia be here, in soft
+white raiment, with flowers and a broad hat? If one can be thus, why not
+the other?" The possibility fevered me.
+
+We found the mistress of the house--the same who was called the Sand
+Lady--upon a piazza. Her demeanor had been pleasant enough when we had
+seen her before, but now she greeted us as cordially as if we had been
+old friends. It was plain enough that Mother Anastasia had told her all
+about us. Her brother and the Shell Man were also there, and the first
+was friendly and the latter polite. The Mother Superior was on the
+piazza, but keeping a little in the background, as if she felt that she
+had had her turn.
+
+"And now, Mr. Lover in Check and Mr. Understudy," said the Sand Lady, "I
+present you with the freedom of this island, as I have already presented
+you with the freedom of the other. If what we happen to be doing
+interests you, join us. If it does not, interest yourselves as you
+please. That is our custom here."
+
+The mention of the name which I had applied to myself gave me a little
+shock. Under the circumstances I did not like it. It was possible that
+the Mother Superior of the House of Martha might know what it meant; and
+whether she knew it now, or ever should come to know it, I did not wish
+the knowledge to come to her in that way.
+
+"There is still another one of our family," said the Sand Lady; "but she
+is very independent, and may not care for me to present you just now. I
+will go and ask her."
+
+She stepped off the piazza, and went to a lady who was reading in a
+hammock, under a tree near by. In a minute or two this lady arose, and,
+with her book in her hand, came toward us. She was a woman of good
+figure, and with a certain air of loftiness. Her dress was extremely
+simple, and she may have been thirty years old. Approaching us, she
+said:--
+
+"I wish to introduce myself. I am a 'Person.' In this place that is all
+I am. It is my name. It denotes my characteristics. Your titles have
+been mentioned to me. The ceremony is over," and, with a little nod, she
+returned to her hammock.
+
+"Now," said the Man of the Sea, "who could prune away conventionalities
+better than that?" He then announced that in half an hour the tide would
+serve for fishing,--that he was going out in his boat, and would take
+any one who cared to accompany him; and this announcement having been
+made, he settled himself upon the piazza to talk to us. The conversation
+was interesting and lively. The people at this house were well worth
+knowing.
+
+The Sand Lady and Walkirk went in the boat to fish. The latter had been
+very prompt to accept the invitation. I do not know whether the Shell
+Man went with them or not. At all events, he disappeared, and Mother
+Anastasia and myself were left upon the piazza. It surprised me that
+events had so quickly shaped themselves to my advantage.
+
+"Do you insist," I said, when we were left alone, "on being called an
+Interpolation?"
+
+"Of course I do," she answered; "that is what I am."
+
+"You like plain speech."
+
+"I am very fond of it," was her reply.
+
+During the general conversation I had determined that as soon as an
+opportunity offered I would speak very plainly to this lady. I looked
+about me. The occupant of the hammock was not far away. I surmised that
+she could readily hear me if I spoke in my ordinary tone.
+
+"Plain speech appears difficult to you," remarked my companion.
+
+I still looked about me. "It strikes me," said I, "that beyond the other
+side of the house there is a bluff from which one might get a view of
+the mainland. Would you like to go and find out whether that is so or
+not?"
+
+"I have seen that view several times," she answered; and then, after a
+little pause, she added, "But I don't mind in the least seeing it
+again." Together we walked to the bluff. There we found two rude seats
+which had been made for the convenience of viewers, and on one of these
+she seated herself.
+
+"Now," said she, "please sit down, and you may immediately begin to ask
+me about Sister Ha--"
+
+"Oh, do not call her by that name!" I cried.
+
+She laughed. "Very well, then," said she, "what shall I call her?"
+
+"Sylvia," I replied.
+
+She opened her eyes. "Upon my word," she exclaimed, "this is progress!
+How did you come to know that her name is Sylvia?"
+
+"She told me," I answered. "But why do you think I want to ask you about
+Sylvia?"
+
+"I knew there was no other reason for your wishing to have a private
+talk with me; but I must admit that I would not have felt warranted to
+act upon my assumptions had you not announced yourself in this place as
+a Lover in Check."
+
+"But could not some one else have held me in check?" I asked.
+
+"No, sir," said she. "I have heard of the manner in which you parted
+from your late secretary."
+
+This conversation was getting to be plainer than I desired it to be. I
+was willing to declare my position, but I did not care to have it
+declared for me. I was silent for a minute.
+
+"I did not suppose," I then said, "that you were so well informed. You
+think that I am a lover held in check by the circumstances surrounding
+the lady you designated my late secretary?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"May I ask," I continued, with a little agitation, "if Sylvia considers
+me in this light, and if she has--expressed any opinion on the subject?"
+
+"Those are pretty questions," said the lady, fixing her dark eyes upon
+me. "She has said nothing about the light in which she considers you. In
+fact, all she has told me about you has been in answer to questions I
+have put to her; but had she spoken of you as a lover, checked or
+unchecked, of course you would have been none the wiser for me. Sylvia
+is a simple-hearted, frank girl, and I have thought that she might not
+have suspected the nature of your very decided liking for her; but now
+that I have found out that she let you know her as Sylvia I am afraid
+she is deeper than I thought her. I should not be surprised if you two
+had flirted dreadfully."
+
+"I never flirt," I answered emphatically.
+
+"That is right," said she. "Never do it."
+
+"But why," I asked, "did you allow her to continue to come to me, if you
+thought I had a decided liking for her, and all that?"
+
+"Because I chose to do it," she replied, with not the ripple of a smile
+nor the furrow of a frown upon her face.
+
+I looked at her in amazement.
+
+"Madam," said I, "Interpolation, Mother Anastasia, or whatever name you
+give yourself, begin now and tell me about Sylvia, and speak to me
+freely, as I speak to you. I love her with all my heart. If I can, I
+intend to marry her, Martha or no Martha. I care not what may be the
+odds against me. Now you see exactly where I stand, and as far as I am
+concerned you may speak without restraint."
+
+"You are certainly very clear and explicit," she said, "and I shall be
+glad to tell you about Sylvia."
+
+
+
+
+XXV.
+
+ABOUT SYLVIA.
+
+
+"Before I begin," continued my companion, slanting her hat so as to
+prevent the sun from meddling with the perfect tones of her complexion,
+"tell me what you already know about this young lady. I do not wish to
+waste any information."
+
+"All I know," said I, "is that her family name is Raynor,--my
+grandmother told me that,--that she is absolutely, utterly, and even
+wickedly out of place in the House of Martha, and that I want her for my
+wife."
+
+"Very good," said my companion, with a smile. "Now I know what not to
+tell you. I am very fond of Sylvia. In fact, I believe I love her better
+than any other woman in the world"--
+
+"So do I," I interrupted.
+
+She laughed. "For a lover in check you are entirely too ready to move.
+For years I have looked upon her as a younger sister, and there is no
+good thing which I would not have lavished upon her had I been able, but
+instead of that I did her an injury. At times I have thought it a
+terrible injury."
+
+"You mean," I asked, "that you have allowed her to enter the House of
+Martha?"
+
+"Your quickness is wonderful," she said, "but you do not put the case
+quite correctly. Had it been possible for me to prohibit her joining our
+sisterhood, I should have done so; but she was perfectly free to do as
+she pleased, and my advice against it was of no avail. It was my example
+which induced her to enter the House of Martha. She had had trouble. She
+wished to retire from the world, and devote herself to good works which
+should banish her trouble. I had so devoted myself. She loved me, and
+she followed me. I talked to her until I made her unhappy, and then I
+let her go her way. But the great object of my life for nearly a year
+has been to make that girl feel that her true way is out of the House of
+Martha."
+
+"Then she is not bound by vows or promises?" I asked, with some
+excitement.
+
+"Not in the least," said she. "She can leave us when she pleases. I do
+not think she likes her life or her duties, unless, indeed, they lead
+her in the direction of dictated literature; but she has a firm will,
+and, having joined us, has never shown the slightest sign of a desire to
+leave us. She always asserts that, when the proper time arrives, she
+shall vow herself a permanent member of our sisterhood."
+
+"What preposterous absurdity!" I exclaimed. "She will never conform to
+your rules. She hates nursing. She has too much good sense to insult her
+fine womanly nature by degrading and unnecessary sacrifices."
+
+"How delightfully confidential she must have been!--but I assure you,
+sir, that she never said that sort of thing to me. There were things she
+liked and things she did not like, but she showed no signs of
+rebellion."
+
+"Which was wise," I said, "knowing that you thought she ought not to be
+there, any way."
+
+"Oh, but she is a little serpent," exclaimed my companion, "and so wise
+to confide in you, and without flirting! It must have been charming to
+see."
+
+I did not reply to this remark, which I considered flippant, and my mind
+was not inclined to flippancy.
+
+"It may appear strange to you," she continued, "and would probably
+appear strange to any one who did not understand the case, that I should
+have allowed her to become your amanuensis, but this whole affair is a
+very peculiar one. In the first place, it is absolutely necessary that
+Sylvia should work. It is not only her duty as a sister, but without it
+she would fall into a morbid mental condition. She is not fitted in any
+way for the ordinary labors of our House, so I was glad to find
+something which would not only suit her, but would so interest her that
+it would help to draw her away from us, and back into the world, to
+which she rightfully belongs. This must appear an odd desire for a
+mother superior of a religious body, but it is founded on an earnest and
+conscientious regard for the true welfare of my young friend.
+
+"And then there was another reason for my allowing her to come to you.
+You would smile if you could picture to yourself the mental image I had
+formed of you, which was founded entirely on your grandmother's remarks
+when she came to see me about engaging one of our sisters as your
+secretary. Before this matter was discussed I may have seen you in the
+village, but I never had known you even by sight, and from what that
+good lady said of you I supposed that you were decidedly middle-aged in
+feeling, if not in years; that you were extremely grave and studious,
+and wished, when engaged upon literary composition, to be entirely
+oblivious of your surroundings; and that you desired an amanuensis who
+should be simply a writing-machine,--who would in no way annoy you by
+intruding upon you any evidence that she possessed a personality. A
+sister from our House, your grandmother urged, would be the very person
+you needed, and infinitely better suited to the position than the
+somewhat frivolous young women who very often occupy positions as
+amanuenses.
+
+"It was for these reasons that I sent Sylvia to write at the dictation
+of the sedate author of the forthcoming book on European travel. Even
+when I heard that a love-story had been introduced into the descriptions
+of countries, I concluded, after consideration, not to interfere. I did
+not think that it would be of any disadvantage to Sylvia if she should
+become a little interested in love affairs; but that you should become
+interested in a love affair, such as that you have mentioned to me, I
+did not imagine in the remotest degree."
+
+"I am sure," said I, "that your motives as far as Sylvia was concerned,
+and your action as far as I am concerned, were heaven-born. And now, as
+we are speaking plainly here together, let me ask you if you do not
+think you would be fulfilling what you consider your duty to Sylvia by
+aiding me to make her my wife! There can surely be no better way for her
+to fill her proper place in the world than to marry a man who loves her
+with his whole heart. I know that I love her above all the world; I
+believe that I am worthy of her."
+
+She answered me in a tone which was grave, but gentle. "Do you not know
+you are asking me to do something which is entirely impossible? In the
+first place, my official position precludes me from taking part in
+affairs of this nature; and although I am willing to admit that I see no
+reason why you might not be a suitable partner for Sylvia, I must also
+admit that, on the other hand, I have no reason to believe that Sylvia
+would be inclined to accept you as such a partner. I have no doubt that
+she has made herself very agreeable to you,--that is her nature; I know
+that she used to make herself very agreeable to people. You must
+remember that, even should Sylvia leave us, your chances may be no
+better than they are now."
+
+"Madam," I said, leaning toward her, and speaking with great
+earnestness, "I will take all possible chances! What I ask and implore
+of you is, that if you should ever be able to do the least little thing
+which would give me the opportunity to plead my own suit before Sylvia,
+you would do it. I can give her position and fortune. I think I am
+suited to her, and if love can make me better suited, I have love
+enough. Now tell me, will you not do this thing? If you have the
+opportunity, and see no reason against it, will you not help me?"
+
+"This is a hard position for me," she said, after a pause, "and all I
+can promise you is this: I love Sylvia, and I am going to do whatever I
+think will be of the greatest advantage to her."
+
+"Then," I asserted with continued earnestness, "it shall be my labor to
+prove that to love the man who loves her as I do will be her greatest
+good! If I do that, will you be on my side?"
+
+She smiled, looked at me a few moments, and then answered, "Yes."
+
+"Your hand upon it!" I cried, leaning still farther forward. She laughed
+at the enthusiastic warmth of my manner, and gave me her hand.
+
+"It is a promise!" I exclaimed, and was about to raise her fingers to my
+lips when she quickly drew them away.
+
+"I declare," she said, rising as she spoke, "I did not suppose that you
+would forget that I am the Mother Superior of the House of Martha."
+
+"Excuse me," I replied, "but you are not that; with your own mouth you
+have assured me that you are an Interpolation, and there is nothing in a
+social or moral law which forbids a suitable expression of gratitude to
+an Interpolation."
+
+"Sir," said she, "I think I have seen quite as much as is necessary of
+the view which you asked me here to look upon."
+
+
+
+
+XXVI.
+
+MOTHER ANASTASIA.
+
+
+In the half hour during which I remained alone upon the bluff, awaiting
+the return of Walkirk and the fishing party, I thought as much of the
+lady with whom I had been talking as the lady of whom I had been
+talking.
+
+"How is it possible," I asked myself, "that this gentlewoman, warm with
+her rich blooded beauty, alive with ripe youth, born to delight the soul
+of man and fire his heart, should content herself to be a head nurse in
+a hospital; to wander in an unsightly disguise among dismal sick-beds;
+to direct the management of measles-refuges; to shut herself up in a
+bare-floored, cold-walled institution with narrow-minded Sister Sarahs;
+to be, in a word, the Mother Superior of the House of Martha?"
+
+That she should occupy this position seemed to me a crime. There were
+many women in the world who could do all she was doing, but there were
+few who could take her place in the world of full, true life.
+
+When the fishing party returned, I went to the house to take leave of
+our new friends.
+
+"You must go?" said the Sand Lady. "And where, may I ask, is it
+imperative that you should go?"
+
+"To the island where you have so kindly allowed us to sojourn," I
+replied.
+
+"You sleep in the cabin of your boat, I believe?" she said; and I
+answered that we did.
+
+"Very well, then," continued she, "why not bring your floating home to
+this island? It is in every way better than that. I will give you
+exclusive rights over a little bay and an adjoining dell. There you can
+cook your own meals when you like, or you can come to us when you like;
+we always have more than enough for all who inhabit this island. In the
+evening you can sit alone on the beach and think of the far-away loved
+one, or you can come up to the house and play whist or twenty questions.
+The Understudy can go fishing with my brother; they suit each other
+admirably. What do you say?"
+
+"I say, madam," I replied, with a bow, "the sands of which you are the
+lady are the dust of diamonds, and your invitation is a golden joy."
+
+"Bless me," she exclaimed, "what must you be out of check!"
+
+That evening we sailed to Racket Island, brought away our belongings,
+and established ourselves in the land-locked little bay, about a quarter
+of a mile from the house of the Sand Lady.
+
+Early the next morning I walked around to a pier where I had noticed a
+good-sized yacht was moored. It was still there; apparently no one had
+left the island. After our breakfast on the beach I told Walkirk to
+devote himself to independent occupations, and walked up to the house. I
+found the lady who had called herself a Person and the one of whom I did
+not like to think as an Interpolation sitting together upon the piazza.
+I joined them.
+
+"Wouldn't you be very much obliged to me," asked the Person, after a
+scattering conversation, in which I suppose I appeared as but a
+perfunctory performer, "if I were to go away and leave you alone with
+this lady?"
+
+"As this is an island of plain speaking," I replied, "I will say, yes."
+
+Both ladies laughed, and the Person retired to her hammock.
+
+"Now, then," asked Mother Anastasia, "what is the meaning of this
+alarming frankness?"
+
+"I wish to talk to you of Sylvia," I answered.
+
+"If you imagine," she said, "that I intend to spend the short time I
+shall remain upon this island in talking of Sylvia, you are very much
+mistaken."
+
+"Then let us talk of yourself," I replied.
+
+She turned upon me with a frown and a laugh.
+
+"If I had known," she said, "your habits of ingenuousness and candor, I
+should have made you dictate to Sylvia through a speaking-tube. You have
+known me less than a day. You have known her for a month. Can it be
+possible that you talk to her as freely as you talk to me?"
+
+"Madam," I exclaimed, "I love Sylvia, and therefore could not speak
+freely to her."
+
+"Your distinctions are wonderfully clear-cut," she said; "but why do you
+wish to talk of me? I suppose you want to know why I am Mother Superior
+of the House of Martha?"
+
+"Yes," I answered, "that is a thing I cannot understand; but of course I
+should not feel justified in even alluding to it if, yesterday, you had
+not so kindly given me your confidence in regard to yourself and
+Sylvia."
+
+"It seems to me," she remarked, "that, as you decline to recognize the
+name given to that young woman by our institution, you should call her
+Miss Raynor; but I will say no more of that."
+
+"It would be well," said I. "She is Sylvia to me. You must remember that
+I never met her in the circles of conventionalism."
+
+She laughed. "This whole affair is certainly very independent of
+conventionalism; and as to your curiosity about me, that is very easily
+gratified. Nearly five years ago I connected myself with the House of
+Martha. Although there were sisters older than myself, I was chosen
+Mother Superior, because I possessed rather more administrative
+abilities than any of the others. I think I have governed the House
+fairly well, even if, in regard to the matter of furnishing secretaries
+to literary men, there has been some dissatisfaction."
+
+"You allude to Sister Sarah?" said I.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "and had she been head of the House, your peace of
+mind would not have been disturbed. But what I did in that case I did
+conscientiously and with good intent."
+
+"And you are not sorry for it?" I asked.
+
+"It may be that I shall be sorry for you," she replied, "but that is all
+I have to say on that point. In a very short time I shall return to my
+duties and to my sombre bonnet and gown, and these interpolated days,
+which in a manner have been forced upon me, should be forgotten."
+
+"But one thing you must not forget," I exclaimed: "it was in this time
+that you promised me"--
+
+"You selfish, selfish man," she interrupted, "you think only of
+yourself. I shall talk no more of yourself, of myself, or of Sylvia. My
+friends are at the other side of the house, and I am going to them." And
+she went.
+
+While Walkirk and I were sailing that afternoon, he managing the boat
+and I stretched upon some cushions, I told him of my conversations with
+Mother Anastasia. I considered him worthy of my confidence, and it was
+pleasant to give it to him.
+
+"She is a rare, strange woman," said he. "I thought her very handsome
+when I visited her at the House of Martha; but since I have seen her
+here, dressed in becoming clothes, I consider that she possesses
+phenomenal attractions."
+
+"And I hope," I remarked, "that she may be phenomenally good-natured,
+and give me some chances of seeing Sylvia Raynor."
+
+"That would indeed be phenomenal," said Walkirk, laughing, "considering
+that she is a Mother Superior, and the young lady is a member of the
+sisterhood. But everything relating to the case is peculiar, and in my
+opinion Mother Anastasia is more peculiar than anything else."
+
+That evening we were invited to dine at the house of the Sand Lady. It
+was a delightful occasion. Everybody was in good spirits, and the
+general tone of the conversation was singularly lively and unrestrained.
+Mother Anastasia would not play cards, but we amused ourselves with
+various sprightly social games, in which the lady who preferred to be
+called a Person showed a vivacious though sometimes nipping wit. I had
+no opportunity for further private talk with Mother Anastasia, nor did I
+desire one. I wished to interest her in my love for Sylvia, but not to
+bore her with it.
+
+The next day, at about eleven o'clock, the Sand Lady and the Shell Man
+walked over to our little bay, where they found Walkirk and me fencing
+upon the level beach.
+
+"Stop your duel, gentlemen," said the lady. "I come to give you the
+farewells of the Interpolation. She was sorry she could not do this
+herself, but she went away very early this morning."
+
+"Went away!" I cried, dropping my foil upon the sand. "Where did she
+go?"
+
+"She sailed in our yacht for Sanford," answered the Sand Lady, "to take
+the morning train for her beloved House of Martha. My brother
+accompanied her to the town, but he will be back to-day."
+
+I was surprised and grieved, and showed it.
+
+"We are all sorry to have her go," said the Sand Lady, "and sorry to see
+her wearing that doleful gray garb, which my brother allowed her to
+assume this morning."
+
+"I am glad," I exclaimed, "that I did not see her in it!"
+
+The lady looked at me with her pleasant, quiet smile.
+
+"You seem very much interested in her."
+
+"I am," I replied, "very much interested, both directly and indirectly,
+and I am exceedingly sorry that she departed without my knowing it."
+
+This time the Sand Lady laughed. "Good-morning, gentlemen," said she.
+"Go on with your duel."
+
+
+
+
+XXVII.
+
+A PERSON.
+
+
+I fenced no more. "Walkirk," I cried, "let us get our traps on board,
+and be off!"
+
+My under-study looked troubled,--more troubled than I had ever seen him
+before.
+
+"Why do you think of this?" he asked. "Where do you propose to go?"
+
+"Home," said I, "to my own house. That is the place where I want to be."
+
+Walkirk stood still and looked at me, his face still wearing an air of
+deep concern.
+
+"It is not my place to advise," he said, "but it seems to me that your
+return at this moment would have a very odd appearance, to say the
+least. Every one would think that you were pursuing Mother Anastasia,
+and she herself would think so."
+
+"No," said I, "she will not suppose anything of the kind. She will know
+very well on whose account I came. And as for the people here, they
+might labor under a mistake at first, because of course I should not
+offer them any explanation, but they would soon learn the real state of
+the case; that is, if they correspond with the Mother Superior."
+
+"You propose, then," said Walkirk, "to lay siege to the House of Martha,
+and to carry away, if you can, Miss Sylvia Raynor?"
+
+"I have made no plans," I answered, "but I can look after my interests
+better in Arden than I can here. I do not like this sudden departure of
+the Mother Superior. I very much fear that something has induced her to
+withdraw the good will with which she previously seemed to look upon my
+attachment to Miss Raynor. Were this not so, she would have advised with
+me before she left. Nothing could have been more natural. Now I believe
+she has set herself against me, and has gone away with the intention of
+permanently separating Sylvia and myself."
+
+"Have you any reason," asked Walkirk, "to impute such an intention to
+her?"
+
+"Her sudden flight indicates it," I replied; "and besides, you know,
+although she is not a Roman Catholic, she is at the head of a religious
+house, and persons in that position are naturally averse to anybody
+marrying the sisters under their charge. Even if she does not approve of
+Miss Raynor's remaining in the House, she may not want her to date a
+love affair from the establishment. If I remain here, Miss Raynor may be
+spirited entirely out of my sphere of action."
+
+"It strikes me," said Walkirk, "the way to get her spirited out of your
+sight and knowledge is for you to go home at this juncture. In that
+case, Mother Anastasia would be bound, in duty to the young lady and her
+family, to send her away. Do you not agree with me that if you were to
+reach Arden in the natural course of events, so to speak, and especially
+if you got there after your grandmother had returned, you would avoid a
+great deal of undesirable complication, and perhaps actual opposition?"
+
+"You are right," I answered; "it would not look well for me to start
+away so suddenly. We will wait a day or two, and then drop off
+naturally."
+
+Walking toward the house, in the afternoon, I met the Person. She
+advanced toward me, holding out her hand with an air of peremptory
+friendliness.
+
+"I am heartily glad to see you. I want you to amuse me. I could not ask
+this of you so long as that fascinating abbess was on the island."
+
+I was a little surprised at this salutation, and not at all pleased. I
+did not fancy this lady. She had an air as if she were availing herself
+of her right to be familiar with her inferiors.
+
+"I fear it is not in my power to do anything to amuse you," said I.
+
+"Entirely too modest," she answered. "Let us walk over to this bench in
+the shade. You are not desired at the house; everybody is taking a nap."
+
+I went with her to the bench she had pointed out, and we sat down.
+
+"Now, then," said she, turning toward me, "will you do me the favor to
+flirt with me? Say for twenty-five minutes," looking at her watch; "that
+will bring us to four o'clock, when I must go indoors."
+
+At first I thought the woman was insane, but a glance at her face showed
+that there was no reason for fear of that kind.
+
+"That sounds crazy, doesn't it?" she asked, "but it isn't. It is an
+honest expression of a very natural wish. Hundreds of ladies have
+doubtless looked at you and had that wish; but social conventions
+forbade their expressing it. Here we have no conventions, and I speak my
+mind."
+
+"Madam," said I, "or miss, there are few things I hold in such
+abhorrence as flirtation." As I said this I looked at her severely, and
+she looked at me quizzically. She had gray eyes, which were capable of a
+great variety of expressions, and her face, suffused by the light of a
+bantering jocularity, was an attractive one. I was obliged to admit
+this, in spite of my distaste for her.
+
+"I like that," she said; "it sounds so well, after your vigorous
+flirtation with our abbess. If I had not seen a good deal of that, I
+should not have dared to ask you to flirt with me. I thought you liked
+it, and now that she is gone might be willing to take up with some one
+else."
+
+I was irritated and disquieted. I had been very earnest in my attentions
+to Mother Anastasia. Perhaps this lady had seen me attempt to kiss her
+hand. I must set myself right.
+
+"You are utterly mistaken," said I. "What I had to say to Mother
+Anastasia related entirely to another person."
+
+"One of the sisters in her institution?" she asked. "She had nothing to
+do with any other persons, so far as I know. Truly, that is a capital
+idea!" she exclaimed, without waiting for response from me. "In order to
+flirt with a member of the sisterhood, a gentleman must direct his
+attentions to the Mother Superior who represents them, and the flirting
+is thus done by proxy. Now don't attempt to correct me. The idea is
+entirely too delightful for me to allow it to be destroyed by any bare
+statements or assertions."
+
+"I suppose," I answered, "that Mother Anastasia has taken you into her
+confidence?"
+
+"Thank you very much for that most gratifying testimony to my powers of
+insight!" she cried. "The Mother Superior gave me no confidences. So you
+have been smitten by a gray-gown. How did you happen to become
+acquainted with her? I do not imagine they allow gentleman visitors at
+the House of Martha?"
+
+"Madam, you know, or assume to know, so much of my affairs," said I,
+"that in order to prevent injurious conjectures regarding the House of
+Martha, its officers and inmates, I shall say that I became acquainted
+in a perfectly legitimate manner with a young lady living therein, who
+has not yet taken the vows of the permanent sisterhood, and I intend, as
+soon as circumstances will permit, to make her an offer of marriage. I
+assure you, I regret extremely that I have been obliged to talk in this
+way to a stranger, and nothing could have induced me to do it but the
+fear that your conjectures and surmises might make trouble. I ask as a
+right that you will say no more of the matter to any one."
+
+"Would you mind telling me the lady's name?" she asked.
+
+"Of course I shall do no such thing," I answered, rising from my seat,
+with my face flushing with indignation.
+
+"This is odd flirting, isn't it?" said she, still retaining her
+seat,--"a quarrel at the very outset. I shall not be prevented from
+informing you why you ought to tell me the name of the lady. You see
+that if you don't give me her name my ungovernable curiosity will set me
+to working the matter out for myself, and it is quite as likely as not
+that I shall go to the House of Martha, and ask questions, and pry, and
+watch, and make no end of trouble. If a blooming bride is to be picked
+from that flock of ash-colored gruel-mixers, I want to know who it is to
+be. I used to be acquainted with a good many of them, but I haven't
+visited the House for some time."
+
+I had never known any one assume toward me a position so unjustifiable
+and so unseemly as that in which this lady had deliberately placed
+herself. I could find no words to express my opinion of her conduct, and
+was on the point of walking away, when she rose and quickly stepped to
+my side.
+
+"Don't go away angry," she said. "On this island we don't get angry; it
+is too conventional. I am bound to find out all about this affair,
+because it interests me. It is something quite out of the common; and
+although you are in a measure right in saying that I have nothing to do
+with your affairs, you must know you have in a measure mixed yourself up
+with my affairs. I am one of the original subscribers to the House of
+Martha, and used to take a good deal of interest in the establishment,
+as was my right and privilege; but the sisters bored me after a time,
+and as I have been traveling in Europe for more than a year I now know
+very little of what has been going on there. But if there is a young
+woman in that House who prefers marriage to hospital life and
+tailor-made costumes to ash-bags, I say that she has mistaken her
+vocation, and ought to be helped out of it; and although I know you to
+be a pretty peppery gentleman, I am perfectly willing to help her in
+your direction, if that is the way she wants to go. I offer myself to
+you as an ally. Take me on your side, and tell me all about it. It would
+be perfectly ridiculous to let me go down there imagining that this or
+that underdone-griddle-cake-faced young woman was your lady-love. I
+might make mistakes, and do more harm than good."
+
+"Madam," I replied, "let us have done with this. I have never said one
+word to the young lady in question of my feelings toward her, and it is
+in the highest degree improper and unjust that she should be discussed
+in connection with them. I have laid the matter before Mother Anastasia,
+as she stands in position of parent to the young lady; but with no one
+else can I possibly act, or even discuss the subject," and I bowed.
+
+"I don't like this," she said, without noticing that I had taken leave
+of her. "Mother Anastasia did not intend to leave here until to-morrow,
+and she went away early this morning. She has some pressing business on
+hand, and ten chances to one she has gone to fillip your young lady out
+of your sight and hearing. Don't you see that it would not look at all
+well for one of her sisters to marry, or even to receive the attentions
+of a gentleman, immediately after she had left the institution?"
+
+This suggestion, so like my own suspicions, greatly disturbed me.
+
+"Are you in earnest," said I, "or is all this chaffer? What reasonable
+interest can you take in me and my affairs?"
+
+"I take no interest whatever," said she, "excepting that I have heard
+you are both eccentric and respectable, and that I have found you
+amusing, and in this class of people I am always interested. But I will
+say to you that if there is a woman in that House who might make a
+suitable and satisfactory marriage, if an opportunity were allowed her,
+I believe she should be allowed the opportunity, and, acting upon
+general principles of justice and a desire to benefit my fellow-mortals,
+I should use my influence to give it to her. So you see that I should
+really be acting for the girl, and not for you, although of course it
+would amount to the same thing. And if Mother Anastasia has gone to pull
+down the curtain on this little drama, I am all the more anxious to jerk
+it up again. Come, now, Mr. Lover in Check,--and when I first heard your
+name I had no idea how well it fitted,--confide in me. It would delight
+me to be in this fight; and you can see for yourself that it would be a
+very humdrum matter for me to join your opponents, even if I should be
+of their opinion. They do not need my help."
+
+This argument touched me. I needed help. Should Mother Anastasia choose
+to close the doors of the House of Martha against me, what could I do?
+It might divert this lady to act on my behalf. If she procured an
+interview for me with Sylvia, I would ask no more of her. There was
+nothing to risk except that Sylvia might be offended if she heard that
+she had been the object of compacts. But something must be risked,
+otherwise I might be simply butting my head against monastic brickwork.
+
+"Madam," said I, "whatever your motives may be, I accept your offer to
+fight on my side, and the sooner the battle begins the better. The young
+lady to whom I wish to offer myself in marriage, and with whom I am most
+eager to meet, is Miss Sylvia Raynor, a novice, or something of the
+kind, in the House of Martha."
+
+With her brows slightly knitted, as if she did not exactly understand my
+words, my companion looked at me for an instant. Then her eyes sparkled,
+her lips parted, and a flush of quick comprehension passed over her
+face. She put back her head and laughed until she almost lost her
+breath. I looked upon her, shocked and wounded to the soul.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, her eyes filled with the tears of laughter, "but
+it can't be helped; I withdraw my offer. I cannot be on your side, at
+least just now. But I shall remain neutral,--you can count on that,"
+and, still laughing, she went her way.
+
+Any one more disagreeably unpleasant than this woman I had never met.
+When I told Walkirk what had happened I could not restrain my burning
+indignation, and I declared I would not remain another hour on the
+island with her. He listened to me with grave concern.
+
+"This is very unfortunate," he said, "but do not let us be precipitate."
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII.
+
+THE FLOATING GROCERY.
+
+
+I now positively decided that the next day I would leave this island,
+where people flew off at such disagreeable tangents; but as I was here
+on invitation, I could not go away without taking leave of my hostess.
+Accordingly, in the evening Walkirk and I went up to the house.
+
+The Sand Lady was manifestly grieved when she heard of our intended
+departure, and her brother was quite demonstrative in his expressions of
+regret; even the Shell Man, who had discovered in Walkirk some tastes
+similar to his own, demurred at our going. The Person, however, made no
+allusion to the subject, and gave us, indeed, as little of her society
+as she apparently did of her thoughts.
+
+In order not to produce the impression that I was running after Mother
+Anastasia, as Walkirk had put it, I announced that we should continue
+our cruise for an indefinite time. I was sorry to leave these good
+people, but to stay with that mocking enigma of a woman was impossible.
+She had possessed herself, in the most crafty and unwarrantable manner,
+of information which she had no right to receive and I had no right to
+give, and then contemptuously laughed in my face. My weakness may have
+deserved the contempt, but that made no difference in my opinion of the
+woman who had inflicted it upon me. I was glad, when we bade good-night
+and farewell to the little party, that the Person was not present.
+
+But early the next morning, just as we were hoisting sail on our boat,
+this lady appeared, walking rapidly down to our beach. She was dressed
+in a light morning costume, with some sort of a gauzy fabric thrown over
+her head, and if I had not hated her so thoroughly I should have
+considered her a very picturesque and attractive figure.
+
+"I am glad I am in time," she called out. "I don't want you to go away
+with too bad an opinion of me, and I came to say that what you have
+confided to me is just as safe with me as it would be with anybody else.
+Do you think you can believe that if you try?"
+
+It was impossible for me to make any answer to this woman, but I took
+off my hat and bowed. The sail filled, and we glided away.
+
+Walkirk was not in good spirits. It was plain enough that he liked the
+Tangent Island and wanted to stay; and he had good reason, for he had
+found pleasant company, and this could not always be said to be the case
+when sailing in a small boat or camping out with me. My intention was to
+sail to a town on the mainland, some thirty miles distant, there leave
+our boat, and take a train for Arden. This, I considered, was
+sacrificing to appearances as much time as I could allow.
+
+But the breeze was light and fitful, and we made but little progress,
+and about the middle of the forenoon a fog came slowly creeping up from
+the sea. It grew thicker and heavier, until in an hour or two we were
+completely shut out from all view of the world about us. There was now
+no wind. Our sail hung damp and flabby; moisture, silence, and obscurity
+were upon us.
+
+The rest of the day we sat doleful, waiting for the fog to lift and the
+wind to rise. My fear was that we might drift out to sea or upon some
+awkward shoals; for, though everything else was still, the tide would
+move us. What Walkirk feared, if anything, I do not know, but he kept up
+a good heart, and rigged a lantern some little distance aloft, which, he
+said, might possibly keep vessels from running into us. He also
+performed, at intervals, upon a cornet which he had brought with him.
+This was a very wise thing to do, but, for some reason or other, such
+music, in a fog, depressed my spirits; however, as it seemed quite
+suitable to the condition of my affairs I did not interfere, and the
+notes of Bonnie Doon or My Old Kentucky Home continued to be soaked into
+the fog.
+
+Night came on; the fog still enveloped us, and the situation became
+darker. We had our supper, and I turned in, with the understanding that
+at midnight I was to take the watch, and let Walkirk sleep. It was of no
+use to make ourselves any more uncomfortable than need be.
+
+It was between two and three o'clock when I was called to go on watch;
+and after I had been sitting in the stern smoking and thinking for an
+hour or more, I noticed that the light on the mast had gone out. It was,
+however, growing lighter, and, fancying that the fog was thinner, I
+trusted to the coming of the day and a breeze, and made no attempt to
+take down and refill the lantern.
+
+Not long after this my attention was attracted by something which
+appeared like the nucleus of a dark cloud forming in the air, a short
+distance above the water, and not far away on our port quarter. Rapidly
+the cloud grew bigger and blacker. It moved toward us, and in a few
+moments, before I had time to collect my thoughts and arouse Walkirk, it
+was almost upon us, and then I saw that it was the stern of a vessel,
+looming high above my head.
+
+I gave a wild shout; Walkirk dashed out of his bunk; there was a call
+from above; then I felt a shock, and our boat keeled over on her
+starboard side. In a moment, however, she receded from the other vessel,
+and righted herself. I do not know that Walkirk had ever read in a book
+what he ought to do in such an emergency, but he seized a boat hook and
+pushed our boat away from the larger vessel.
+
+"That's right!" cried a voice from above. "I'll heave ye a line. Keep
+her off till we have drifted past ye, and then I'll haul ye in."
+
+Slowly the larger vessel, which was not very large, but which drifted
+faster than our little boat, floated past us, until we were in tow at
+her bow. We could now see the form of a man leaning over the rail of the
+vessel, and he called out to us to know if we were damaged, and if we
+wanted to come aboard. I was about to reply that we were all right, and
+would remain where we were, when Walkirk uttered an exclamation.
+
+"We are taking in water by the bucketful," said he; "our side has been
+stove in."
+
+"Impossible!" I exclaimed. "We were not struck with enough force for
+that."
+
+But examination proved that he was correct. One or more of our planks
+had been broken just below the water line and our boat was filling,
+though not rapidly.
+
+"Stoved in, eh?" shouted the voice from above. "Well, ye needn't sink.
+I'll haul yer bowline taut, and I'll heave ye another to make fast to
+yer stern. That'll keep yer little craft afloat until ye can unlade her;
+and the quicker ye get yer traps up here the better, if ye don't want
+'em soaked."
+
+Acting upon these suggestions, Walkirk and I went vigorously to work,
+and passed up our belongings as rapidly as possible to the man above,
+who, by leaning over the rails, could easily reach them. When everything
+movable had been taken out of our boat, the man let down a ladder and I
+climbed on board the larger vessel, after which he came down to our
+boat, detached the boom, gaff, and sail, and unshipped the mast; all of
+which we afterwards hoisted on board his vessel by means of a block and
+tackle.
+
+"Now, then," said our new companion, "ye're safe, and yer boat can
+capsize if it's a mind to, but it can't sink; and when it's better
+daylight, and Abner's on deck, perhaps we'll rig out a couple of spars
+and haul her up at the stern; but there's time enough to settle all
+that. And now I'd like to know how ye came to be driftin' around here
+with no light out."
+
+I explained, but added I had not seen any light on his vessel.
+
+"Well," said the man, looking upward, "that light's out, and ten to one
+it was out when we run inter ye. I'spect Abner didn't calkerlate for
+fillin' it for day work and night work too."
+
+The speaker was a grizzled man, middle-aged, and rather too plump for a
+sailor. He had a genial, good-natured countenance, and so far as I could
+see was the only occupant of the vessel.
+
+His craft was truly a peculiar one. It was sloop-rigged, and on the
+after part of the deck, occupying about one third of the length of the
+vessel, was a structure resembling a small one-storied house, which rose
+high above the rest of the deck, like the poop of an old-fashioned
+man-of-war. In the gable end of this house, which faced upon the deck,
+there was a window and a door. The boom of the mast was rigged high
+enough to allow it to sweep over the roof.
+
+"I reckon you gents think this is a queer kind of a craft," said the
+man, with a grin of pleasure at our evident curiosity; "and if ye think
+that, ye are about right, for there isn't jist such another one as far
+as I know. This is a floating grocery, and I am captain of the sloop or
+keeper of the store, jist as it happens. In that house there is a good
+stock of flour, sugar, feed, trimmings, notions, and small dry goods,
+with some tinware and pottery, and a lot of other things which you
+commonly find in a country grocery store. I have got the trade of about
+half the families in this bay; all of them on the islands, and a good
+many of them on the mainland, especially sech as has piers of their own.
+I have regular days for touching at all the different p'ints; and it is
+a mighty nice thing, I can tell ye, to have yer grocery store come round
+to ye instead of yer having to go to it, especially if ye live on an
+island or out in the country."
+
+Walkirk and I were very much interested in this floating grocery store,
+which was an entirely novel thing to us, and we asked a good many
+questions about it.
+
+"There's only me and Abner aboard," said the grocer-skipper, "but that's
+enough, for we do a good deal more anchorin' than sailin'. Abner, he's
+head clerk, and don't pretend to be no sailor at all; but he lays a hold
+of anythin' I tell him to, and that's all I ask of him in the sailorin'
+line. But he is first class behind the counter, I can tell ye, and in
+keepin' the books I couldn't find nobody like Abner,--not in this State.
+Now it may strike ye, gents, that I am not much of a sailor neither, to
+be driftin' about here at night in this fog instead of anchorin' and
+tootin' a foghorn; but ye see, I did anchor in the fore part of the
+night, and after Abner had gone to his bunk--we don't keep regular
+watches, but kinder divide the night between us, when we are out on the
+bay, which isn't common, for we like to tie up at night, and do our
+sailin' in the daytime--it struck me that as the tide was runnin' out we
+might as well let it take us to Simpson's Bar, which, if ye don't know
+this bay, is a big shallow place, where there is always water enough for
+us, bein' a good deal on the flat-bottomed order, but where almost any
+steamin' craft at low tide would stick in the mud before they could run
+into us. So thinks I, If we want to get on in the direction of Widder
+Kinley's (whose is the last house I serve down the bay), and to feel
+safe besides, we had better up anchor, and I upped it. But I had ought
+to remembered about that light; it wasn't the square thing to be
+driftin' about without the light, no more fur me than fur ye. I've
+sounded a good many times, but we don't seem to have reached the bar
+yet. It must be pretty near time for Abner to turn out," and he looked
+at his watch.
+
+"Your assistant must be a sound sleeper," I remarked.
+
+"Yes, he is," replied the man. "He needs lots of sleep, and I make it a
+p'int to give it to him. If it isn't positively necessary, I don't wake
+him up until the regular time. Of course, if it had been our boat that
+had been stoved in, and she had been like to sink, I'd have called
+Abner; but as it was yer boat, and none of us was in no danger, I didn't
+call him. Here he is, though, on time."
+
+At this, a tall, lean man, not quite so much grizzled as the other, made
+his appearance on deck. He gazed from one to the other of us, and upon
+our various belongings, which were strewn upon the deck, with
+undisguised amazement.
+
+His companion laughed aloud. "I don't wonder, Abner," he cried, "that ye
+open yer eyes; 't ain't often two gentlemen come on board in the night,
+bag and baggage; but these two stoved in their boat agin our rudder, and
+here they are, with their craft triced up to keep her from sinkin'."
+
+Abner made no answer, but walked to the side of the vessel, looked over,
+and satisfied himself that this last statement was correct.
+
+"Capt'n Jabe," said he, turning to the other, "we can't sail much, can
+we, with that thing hangin' there?"
+
+"Well, now, Abner," replied the captain, "we are not sailin' at the
+present time,--we are driftin'; for it is my idee to drop anchor as soon
+as we get to Simpson's Bar, and this tide is bound to carry us over it
+if we wait long enough, so we must keep soundin', and not slip over
+without knowin' it."
+
+"It strikes me," said Abner, "that we should save a lot of trouble if we
+should put the anchor out and let it hang; then, when we come to the
+bar, she'll ketch and fetch us up without our havin' it on our minds."
+
+"You see, gents," said Captain Jabe to us, "Abner don't pretend to be no
+sailor, but he's got his idees about navigation, for all that."
+
+Abner took no notice of this remark. "Capt'n," said he, "does these
+gents want to turn in?"
+
+"Not till they have had some breakfast," replied Captain Jabe, and we
+assented.
+
+"All right," said Abner, "I'll tackle the grub," and, opening the door
+of the grocery store, he went inside. In a few minutes he reappeared.
+"Capt'n," said he, in a voice which he intended to be an aside, "are you
+goin' to count 'em as mealers, or as if they was visitin' the family?"
+
+Captain Jabe laughed. "Well, Abner," said he, "I guess we will count
+them as mealers, though I don't intend to make no charge."
+
+Abner nodded, and again entered the little house.
+
+"What are mealers?" I asked of the captain.
+
+"In this part of the country," he answered, "there's a good many city
+folks comes for the summer, and they take houses; but they don't want
+the trouble of cookin', so they make a contract with some one livin'
+near to give them their meals regular, and this sort of folks goes by
+the general name of mealers. What Abner wanted to know fur was about
+openin' the cans. You see, most of our victuals is in cans, and if Abner
+knowed you was regular payin' mealers he would open fresh ones; but if
+you was visitin' the family, he'd make you help eat up what was left in
+the cans, just as we do ourselves."
+
+It was not long before the thrifty Abner had given us a substantial
+breakfast; and then Walkirk and I were glad to take possession of a
+spare couple of bunks, for we were tired and sleepy, and the monotonous
+fog still hung around us.
+
+It was about noon when I waked and went on deck, where I found Walkirk,
+Captain Jabe, and Abner engaged in consultation. There was a breeze
+blowing, and every particle of fog had disappeared.
+
+"We've been considerin'," said the captain, addressing me, "what's the
+best thing to do with yer boat; there's no use tryin' to tinker her up,
+for she has got a bad hole in her, and it is our fault, too. One of the
+iron bands on our rudder got broke and sprung out a good while ago, and
+it must have been the sharp end of that which punched into yer boat when
+we drifted down on her. We ain't got no tackle suitable to h'ist her on
+board, and as to towin' her--a big boat like that, full of water,--'t
+ain't possible. We've lost a lot of time already, and now there's a good
+wind and we are bound to make the best of it; so me and Abner thinks the
+best thing ye can do is to sink yer boat right here on the bar where we
+are now anchored, having struck it all right, as ye see, and mark the
+spot with an oil-cag. Anybody that knows this bay can come and git her
+if she is on Simpson's Bar, buoyed with an oil-cag."
+
+I was sorry that we should not be able to repair our boat and continue
+our trip in her, but I saw that this would be impossible, and I asked
+Captain Jabe if he could take us to Brimley.
+
+"I can do that," he answered, "but not straight. I have got fust to sail
+over to Widder Kinley's, which is on that p'int which ye can just see
+over there on the edge of the water, and where I was due yesterday
+afternoon. Then I've got to touch at three or four other places along
+the east shore; and then, if this wind holds, I guess I can git across
+the bay to my own house, where I have got to lay up all day to-morrow.
+The next day is Saturday, and then I am bound to be in Brimley to take
+in stock. There ye two gents can take the cars for wherever ye want to
+go; and if ye choose to give me the job of raisin' yer boat and sendin'
+it to its owners, I'll do it for ye as soon as I can fix things
+suitable, and will charge ye just half price for the job, considerin'
+that nuther of us had our lights out, and we ought to share damages."
+
+I agreed to the proposed disposition of our boat, and asked Captain Jabe
+if I could not hire him to take us direct to Brimley.
+
+"No, sir!" he answered. "I never pass by my customers, especially Widder
+Kinley, for she is the farthest off of any of them."
+
+"And she must be lookin' out sharp for us, too," said Abner, "for she
+bakes Thursdays, and she ought to sot her bread last night."
+
+"And I am a great deal afeard," continued Captain Jabe, "that her yeast
+cakes won't be any too fresh when she gits 'em; and the quicker that
+boat's down to the bottom and our anchor up off the bottom, the better
+it will be for the Widder Kinley's batch of bread."
+
+In the course of half an hour an empty oil-keg was moored over the spot
+where our boat lay upon the sandy bar, and we were sailing as fast as
+such an unwieldy vessel, with her mainsail permanently reefed above the
+roof of her grocery store, could be expected to sail. Our tacks were
+long and numerous, and although Walkirk and I lent a hand whenever there
+was occasion for it, and although there was a fair wind, the distant
+point rose but slowly upon our horizon.
+
+"I hope," I remarked to Captain Jabe, "that the Widow Kinley will buy a
+good bill of you, after you have taken all this trouble to get to her."
+
+"Dunno," said he; "she don't generally take more than she has ordered
+the week before, and all she has ordered this time is two yeast cakes."
+
+"Do you mean," exclaimed Walkirk, "that you are taking all this time and
+trouble to deliver two yeast cakes, worth, I suppose, four cents?"
+
+"That's the price on 'em," said the captain; "but if the Widder Kinley
+didn't git 'em she wouldn't do no bakin' this week, and that would upset
+her housekeepin' keel up."
+
+Late in the afternoon we delivered the yeast cakes to the Widow Kinley,
+whom we found in a state of nervous agitation, having begun to fear that
+another night would pass without her bread being "sot." Then we coasted
+along the shore, tying up at various little piers, where the small
+farmers' and fishermen's families came on board to make purchases.
+
+Now Abner was in his glory. Wearing a long apron made of blue-and-white
+bed-ticking, he stood behind the counter in the little house on deck,
+and appeared to be much more at ease weighing sugar, coffee, and flour
+than in assisting to weigh anchor. I seated myself in the corner of this
+floating grocery, crowded, shelves, floor, and counter, with such goods
+as might be expected to be found at an ordinary country store.
+
+It seemed to me that nearly every one who lived near the points at which
+we touched came on board the floating grocery, but most of them came to
+talk, and not to buy. Many of those who did make purchases brought farm
+produce or fish, with which to "trade." It was an interesting spectacle,
+and amused me. During our slow progress from one place to another,
+Captain Jabe told me of an old woman who once offered him an egg which
+she wished to take out in groceries, half in tea and half in snuff.
+
+"We don't often do business down as fine as that," said the captain;
+"but then, on the other hand, we don't calkerlate to supply hotels, and
+couldn't if we wanted to."
+
+Walkirk appeared uneasy at the detentions which still awaited us.
+
+"Couldn't you take us straight on to Brimley," he asked of the captain,
+"and sail back to your home in the morning?"
+
+"No, sir!" answered Captain Jabe, with much decision. "My old woman
+'spects me to-night,--in p'int of fact, she 'spected me a good deal
+before night,--and I am not goin' to have her thinkin' I am run down in
+a fog, and am now engaged in feedin' the sharks. There is to be a
+quiltin' party at our house to-morrer arternoon, and there's a lot to be
+done to get ready for it. Abner and me will have to set up pretty late
+this night, I can tell yer!"
+
+"Is there no way of getting to the railroad," I asked, "but by your
+boat?"
+
+"No," said Captain Jabe, "I can't see that there is. Pretty nigh all the
+folks that will be at the bee to-morrow will come in boats. None of them
+live nigh to a railroad station, and if they did, and could take ye back
+with 'em, they wouldn't leave early enough for ye to ketch the last
+train: so the best thing ye can do is to stick by me, and I'll guarantee
+to git ye over to Brimley in time for the mornin' train on Saturday."
+
+
+
+
+XXIX.
+
+FANTASY?
+
+
+We reached Captain Jabe's house a little after nightfall, and received a
+hearty welcome and a good supper from his wife. Walkirk and I slept on
+board the floating grocery, as also did Abner; that is to say, if he
+slept at all, for he and the captain were busy at the house when we
+retired. The quilting party, we were informed, was expected to be a
+grand affair, provided, of course, there were no signs of rain; for
+country people are not expected to venture out for pleasure in rainy
+weather.
+
+Captain Jabe's house, as we saw it the next morning, was a good-sized
+waterside farmhouse, wide-spreading and low-roofed. The place had a sort
+of amphibious appearance, as if depending for its maintenance equally
+upon the land and the water. The house stood a little distance back from
+the narrow beach, and in its front yard a net was hung to dry and to be
+mended; a small boat, in course of repair, lay upon some rude stocks,
+while bits of chain, an old anchor, several broken oars, and other
+nautical accessories were scattered here and there.
+
+At the back of the house, however, there was nothing about the barn, the
+cow-yard, the chicken-yard, and the haystacks to indicate that Captain
+Jabe was anything more than a thrifty small-farmer. But, farmer and
+sailor as he was, Captain Jabe was none the less a grocer, and I think
+to this avocation he gave his chief attention.
+
+He took me into a small room by the side of his kitchen, and showed me
+what he called his "sinkin' fund stock."
+
+"Here, ye see," said he, "is canned fruit and vegetables, smoked and
+salted meat and fish, cheeses, biscuits, and a lot of other things that
+will keep. None of these is this year's goods. Some of them have been
+left over from last year, some from the year before that, and some is
+still older. Whenever I git a little short, I put a lot of these goods
+on board and sell 'em with the discount off,--twenty per cent for last
+year's stock, forty per cent off for the year before that, and so on
+back. So, ye see, if I have got anythin' on hand that is five years old,
+I am bound to give it away for nothin', if I stick to my principles. At
+fust me and my old woman tried eatin' what was left over; but discount
+isn't no good to her, and she wants the best victuals that is goin'. Did
+ye ever think, sir, what this world would be without canned victuals?"
+
+I assured him that I never had, but would try to do so if possible.
+
+The day proved to be a very fine one, and early in the afternoon the
+people invited to the quilting party began to arrive, and by two o'clock
+the affair was in full swing. The quilting frame was set up in a large
+chamber at the right of the parlor, the "comfortable" to be quilted was
+stretched upon it, and at the four sides sat as many matrons and elderly
+maidens as could crowd together, each with needle in hand. Long cords
+rubbed with chalk were snapped upon the surface of the quilt to mark out
+the lines to be stitched; wax, thread, and scissors were passed from one
+to another; and every woman began to sew and to talk as fast as she
+could.
+
+I stood in the doorway and watched this scene with considerable
+interest, for I had never before seen anything of the kind. The quilting
+ladies, to every one of whom I had been presented, cordially invited me
+to enter and take a seat with them; some of the more facetious offering
+to vacate their places in my favor, and, more than that, to show me how
+to thread and use a needle. I found from their remarks that it was
+rather an unusual thing for a man to take an interest in this part of
+the proceedings at a quilting party.
+
+After a time I went into the parlor, which room was then occupied by the
+young men and young women. It was ever so much pleasanter out-of-doors
+than in this somewhat gloomy and decidedly stuffy parlor; but as these
+people were guests at a quilting party, they knew it was proper to enjoy
+themselves within the house to which they had been invited.
+
+The young folks were not nearly so lively and animated as their elders
+in the next room, but they had just begun to play a game which could be
+played in the house, and in which every one could participate, and as
+the afternoon wore on they would doubtless become warmed up. Walkirk was
+making the best of it, and had entered the game; but I declined all
+invitations to do so.
+
+Before long there was some laughing and a good deal of romping, and I
+fancied that the girls, some of whom were not at all bad looking, would
+have been pleased if I had joined in the sport. But this did not suit
+me; I still was, as I declared myself, a Lover in Check, and the society
+of young women was not attractive to me.
+
+I went outside, where a group of elderly men were discussing the tax
+rates; and after remaining a few minutes with them, I came to the
+conclusion that the pleasantest thing I could do would be to take a
+stroll over the country.
+
+I made my way over some rolling meadow land, where three or four of
+Captain Jabe's cows were carefully selecting the edible portions of the
+herbage, and, having passed the crest of a rounded hill, I found myself
+on the edge of a piece of woodland, which seemed to be of considerable
+extent. This suited my mood exactly, and I was soon following the curves
+and bends of a rude roadway, in places almost overgrown by vines and
+bushes, which led me deeper and deeper into the shadowed recesses of the
+woods. It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was still
+well up, and out in the open the day was warm for an up-and-down-hill
+stroll; but here in the woods it was cool and quiet, and the air was
+full of the pleasant summer smells that come from the trees, the leaves,
+and the very earth of the woods.
+
+It was not long before I came upon a stream of a character that somewhat
+surprised me. It was not very wide, for at this spot the trees met above
+it, darkening its waters with their quivering shadows; but it was
+evidently deep, much deeper than the woodland streams of its size to
+which I had been accustomed. I would have liked to cross it and continue
+my walk, but I saw no way of getting over. With a broken branch I
+sounded the water near the shore, and found it over two feet deep; and
+as it was no doubt deeper toward the middle, I gave up the idea of
+reaching the other side. But as I had no particular reason for getting
+over, especially as I should be obliged to get back again, I contented
+myself easily with my present situation, and, taking a seat on the
+upheaved root of a large tree, I lighted a cigar, and gave myself up to
+the delights of this charming solitude. I was glad to be away from
+everybody, even from Walkirk, the companion I had chosen for my summer
+journey.
+
+There were insects gently buzzing in the soft summer air; on the other
+side of the stream, in a spot unshadowed by the trees, the water was
+sparkling in the sunlight, and every little puff of the fitful breeze
+brought to me the smell of wild grapes, from vines which hung from the
+trees so low that they almost touched the water. It was very still in
+these woods. I heard nothing but the gently rustling leaves, the faint
+buzzing in the air, and an occasional tiny splash made by some small
+fish skimming near the surface of the stream. When I sat down on the
+root of the tree, I intended to think, reflect, make plans, determine
+what I should do next; but I did nothing of the sort. I simply sat and
+drank in the loveliness of this woodland scene.
+
+The stream curved away from me on either hand, and the short stretch of
+it which I could see to the left seemed to come out of the very heart of
+the woods. Suddenly I heard in this direction a faint regular sound in
+the water, as if some animal were swimming. I could not see anything,
+but as the sounds grew stronger I knew that it must be approaching. I
+did not know much of the aquatic animals in this region; perhaps it
+might be an otter, a muskrat, I knew not what. But, whatever it was, I
+wanted to see it, and, putting down my cigar, I slipped softly behind
+the tree at whose foot I had been sitting.
+
+Now the swimming object was in view, coming rapidly toward me down the
+middle of the stream. There was but little of it above the water, and
+the shadows were so heavy that I could see nothing but a dark point,
+with a bright ripple glancing away from it on either side. Nearer and
+nearer it came into the better lighted portion of the stream. It was not
+a small animal. The ripples it made were strong, and ran out in long
+lines; its strokes were vigorous; the head that I saw grew larger and
+larger. Steadily it came on; it reached the spot in the clear light of
+the sun. It was the head of a human swimmer. On the side nearest me, I
+could see, under the water, the strokes of a dark-clad arm. Above the
+water was only a face, turned toward me and upward. A mass of long hair
+swept away from it, its blue eyes gazed dreamily into the treetops; for
+a moment the sunbeams touched its features. My heart stopped
+beating,--it was the face of Sylvia.
+
+Another stroke and it had passed into the shadow. The silvery ripples
+came from it to me, losing themselves against the shore. It passed on
+and on, away from me. I made one step from behind the tree; then
+suddenly stopped. On went the head and upturned face, touched once more
+by a gleam of light, and then it disappeared around a little bluff
+crowned with a mass of shrubbery and vines. I listened, breathless; the
+sounds of the strokes died away. All was still again.
+
+For some minutes I stood, bewildered, dazed, doubting whether I had been
+awake or dreaming. My mind could not grasp what had happened,--even my
+imagination could not help me. But one thing I knew: whether this had
+all been real, or whether it had been a dream, I had seen the face of
+Sylvia. This I knew as I knew I lived.
+
+Slowly I came away, scarcely knowing how I walked or where I emerged
+from the woods, and crossed the open country to the house of Captain
+Jabe.
+
+
+
+
+XXX.
+
+A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+I found the quilting party at supper. I could see them through the open
+windows of the large living-room, and I heard their chatter and laughing
+when I was still a considerable distance from the house. With my mind
+quivering with the emotions excited by what had happened in the woods,
+it was impossible for me to join a party like this. I walked around the
+barn and into a little orchard, where, between two gnarled apple-trees,
+there hung an old hammock, into which I threw myself.
+
+There I lay, piling conjecture and supposition high upon each other; but
+not at all could I conjecture how it was that the face which I had last
+seen in my own home, under the gray bonnet of a sister of Martha, should
+flash upon my vision in this far-away spot, and from the surface of a
+woodland stream.
+
+It was growing dusky, when I heard a loud whistle, and my name was
+called. I whistled in return, and in a few moments Walkirk came running
+to me.
+
+"I was beginning to get frightened," he said. "I have been looking
+everywhere for you. We have had supper, and the party is breaking up.
+There is no moon to-night, and the people must start early for their
+homes."
+
+"Let them all get away," I replied; "and when they are entirely out of
+sight and hearing let me know, and I'll go in to supper."
+
+"I am afraid," said Walkirk, hesitating, "that they will not like that.
+You know these country people are very particular about leave-taking,
+and all that sort of thing."
+
+"I can't help it," I answered. "I don't feel at all like seeing people
+at present. You can go and bid them good-by in my name."
+
+"As an under-study?" said he, smiling. "Well, if I can tell them you are
+out of condition and not feeling like yourself, that will make it all
+right, and will also explain why you kept yourself away all the
+afternoon." With this he left me, promising to return when the guests
+had departed. It was a long time before he came back, and it was then
+really dark.
+
+"Your supper is awaiting you," he announced, "and I am afraid that Mrs.
+Jabe is contemplating a hot footbath and some sort of herb tea; and we
+ought to turn in pretty early to-night, for Captain Jabe has announced
+that he will sail between four and five o'clock in the morning."
+
+"Walkirk," said I, sitting up in the hammock, "I have no intention of
+sailing to-morrow. I prefer to stay here for a time; I don't know for
+how long."
+
+"Stay here!" exclaimed Walkirk. "What on earth can you do here? What
+possible attraction can this place have?"
+
+"My good Walkirk," I said, rising and walking toward the house, "I am
+here, and here I want to stay. Reasons are the most awkward things in
+the world. They seldom fit; let us drop them. Perhaps, if Captain and
+Mrs. Jabe think I did not treat their company with proper courtesy, they
+may feel that I am making amends by desiring to stay with them. Any way,
+I am going to stay."
+
+Captain Jabe and his wife were very much surprised when I announced my
+intention of remaining at their place for a day or two longer, but, as I
+had surmised, they were also flattered.
+
+"This is a quiet place," said the captain, "but as ye ain't very well,
+and seem to like to keep to yerself, I don't see why it shouldn't suit
+ye. There's plenty o' good air, and fishin' if ye want it, and we can
+accommodate ye and give ye plenty to eat. I shall be back to-morrow
+night, and expect to stay home over Sunday myself."
+
+Walkirk was very much dissatisfied, and made a strong attempt to turn me
+from my purpose. "If you intend to do anything in regard to Miss
+Raynor," he said, "I really think you ought to get home as soon as you
+can. Mother Anastasia is now having everything her own way, you know."
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "you blow hot and cold. If it had not been for you, I
+should be home this minute; but you dissuaded me from a hot chase after
+Mother Anastasia, and now my ardor for the chase has cooled, and I am
+quite inclined to let that sport wait."
+
+Walkirk looked at me inquiringly. It was evident that he did not
+understand my mood.
+
+The next morning I found myself in a quandary. I had determined to make
+a long tramp inland, and if necessary to ford or swim streams, and I
+could not determine whether or not it would be wise to take Walkirk with
+me. I concluded at last to take him; it would be awkward to leave him
+behind, and he might be of use. We provided ourselves with fishing rods
+and tackle and two pairs of wading-boots, as well as with a luncheon
+basket, well filled by Mrs. Jabe, and started on our expedition. I felt
+in remarkably good spirits.
+
+I had formed no acceptable hypothesis in regard to what I had seen the
+day before, but I was going to do something better than that; I was
+going to find out if what had occurred could possibly be real and
+actual. If I should be convinced that this was impossible, then I
+intended to accept the whole affair as a dream which had taken place
+during an unconscious nap.
+
+When we reached the woodland stream, Walkirk gazed about him with
+satisfaction. "This looks like sport," he said. "I see no reason why
+there should not be good fishing in this creek. I did not suppose we
+should find such pleasant woods and so fine a stream in Captain Jabe's
+neighborhood."
+
+"You must know," said I, "that I have a talent for exploration and
+discovery. Had it not been for this stream, I should not have thought of
+such a thing as allowing Captain Jabe and Abner to sail off by
+themselves this morning."
+
+"Really," replied Walkirk, "you care much more for angling than I
+supposed."
+
+Truly I cared very little for angling, but I had discovered that Walkirk
+was an indefatigable and patient fisherman. I had intended that he
+should cross the stream with me, but it now occurred to me that it would
+be far better to let him stay on this side, while I pursued my
+researches alone. Accordingly I proposed that he should fish in the part
+of the stream which I had seen the day before, while I pressed on
+farther. "In this way," I remarked artfully, "we shall not interfere
+with each other." Had I supposed that there was the slightest
+possibility of the appearance on the stream of the apparition of the day
+before, I should have requested Walkirk to fish from the top of a
+distant tree. But I had no fears on this score. If what I had seen had
+been a phantasm, my under-study would have to doze to see it, and I knew
+he would not do that; and if what I had seen was real, it would not
+appear this morning, for the water was too low for swimming. The creek,
+as I now perceived, was affected by the tide, and its depth was very
+much less than on the preceding afternoon.
+
+I turned to the right, and followed the stream for some distance; now
+walking by its edge, and now obliged, by masses of undergrowth, to make
+a detour into the woods. At last I came to a spot where the stream,
+although wide, appeared shallow. In fact, even in the centre I could see
+the stones at the bottom. I therefore put on my wading-boots and boldly
+crossed. The woods here were mostly of pine, free from undergrowth, and
+with the ground softened to the foot by a thick layer of pine needles.
+
+Now that I was on the other side of the creek, I desired to make my way
+out of the woods, which could not, I imagined, be very extensive. To
+discover a real basis for yesterday's vision, I believed that it would
+be necessary to reach open country. Leaving the stream behind me, it was
+not long before I came to a rude pathway; and although this seemed to
+follow the general direction of the creek, I determined to turn aside
+from the course I was taking and follow it. After walking for nearly a
+mile, sometimes seeing the waters of the stream, and sometimes entirely
+losing sight of them, I found the path making an abrupt turn, and in a
+few minutes was out of the woods.
+
+The country before me was very much like that about Captain Jabe's
+residence. There were low rolling hills covered with coarse grass and
+ragged shrubbery, with here and there a cluster of trees. Not a sign of
+human habitation was in sight. Reaching the top of a small hill, I saw
+at my right, and not very far before me, a wide expanse of water. This I
+concluded must be the bay, although I had not expected to see it in this
+direction.
+
+I went down the hill toward the shore. "If what I seek is in reality," I
+said to myself, "it will naturally love to live somewhere near the
+water." Near the beach I struck a path again, and this I followed, my
+mind greatly agitated by the thoughts of what I might discover, as well
+as by the fear that I might discover nothing.
+
+After a walk of perhaps a quarter of an hour I stopped suddenly. I had
+discovered something. I looked about me, utterly amazed. I was on the
+little beach which the Sand Lady had assigned to Walkirk and me as a
+camping ground.
+
+I sat down, vainly endeavoring to comprehend the situation. Out of the
+mass of wild suppositions and conjectures which crowded themselves into
+my mind there came but one conviction, and with that I was satisfied:
+Sylvia was here.
+
+It mattered not that the Sand Lady had said that hers was the only house
+upon the island; it mattered not that Captain Jabe had said nothing of
+his neighbor; in truth, nothing mattered. One sister of the House of
+Martha had come to this place; why not another? What I had seen in the
+woods had been no fantasy. Sylvia was here.
+
+
+
+
+XXXI.
+
+TAKING UP UNFINISHED WORK.
+
+
+My reasons for believing that Sylvia was on this island were
+circumstantial, it is true, but to me they were entirely conclusive, and
+the vehement desire of my soul was to hasten to the house and ask to see
+her. But I did not feel at all sure that this would be the right thing
+to do. The circumstances of this case were unusual. Sylvia was a sister
+of a religious house. It was not customary for gentlemen to call upon
+such sisters, and the lady who was the temporary custodian of this one
+might resent such an attempt.
+
+It was, however, impossible for me entirely to restrain my impulses, and
+without knowing exactly what I intended to do I advanced toward the
+house. Very soon I saw its chimneys above the trees which partly
+surrounded it. Then, peeping under cover of a thicket, I went still
+nearer, so that, if there had been any people in the surrounding
+grounds, I could have seen them; but I saw no one, and I sat down on a
+log and waited. It shamed me to think that I was secretly watching a
+house, but despite the shame I continued to sit and watch.
+
+There was the flutter of drapery on a little porch. My heart beat
+quickly, my eyes were fixed upon the spot; but nothing appeared except a
+maid who brought out some towels, which she hung on a bush to dry. Then
+again I watched and watched.
+
+After a time four people came out from the house, two of them carrying
+colored parasols. I knew them instantly. There was the Middle-Aged Man
+of the Sea, and his friend the Shell Man; and there was the Sand Lady,
+and my enemy who called herself a Person. They went off toward the
+little pier. Sylvia was not with them, nor did she join them. They
+entered their boat and sailed away. They were going fishing, as was
+their custom. The fact that Sylvia was not with them, and that no one of
+them had stayed behind to keep her company, caused my heart to fall. In
+cases like mine, it takes very little to make the heart fall. The
+thought forced itself into my mind that perhaps, after all, I had seen a
+vision, and had been building theories on dreams.
+
+Suddenly the shutter of an upper window opened, and I saw Sylvia!
+
+It was truly Sylvia. She was dressed in white, not gray. Her hair was
+massed upon her head. There was no gray bonnet. She looked up at the
+sky, then at the trees, and withdrew.
+
+My heart was beating as fast as it pleased. My face was glowing, and
+shame had been annihilated. I sat and watched. Presently a door opened,
+and Sylvia came out.
+
+Now I rose to my feet. I must go to her. It might not be honorable to
+take her at this disadvantage, but there are moments when even honor
+must wait for a decision upon its case. However, there was no necessity
+for my going to Sylvia; she was coming to me.
+
+As she walked directly to the spot where I stood, I saw Sylvia as I had
+seen her in my day-dreams,--a beautiful girl, dressed as a beautiful
+girl should dress in summer time. In one hand she carried a portfolio,
+in the other a little leathern case. As she came nearer, I saw that she
+was attired exactly as Mother Anastasia had been dressed when I met her
+here. Nearer she came, but still she did not see me. I was not now
+concealed, but her eyes seemed fixed upon the path in which she was
+walking.
+
+When she was within a hundred feet of the thicket through which her path
+would lead, I advanced to meet her. I tried to appear cool and composed,
+but I am afraid my success was slight. As for Sylvia, she stopped
+abruptly, and dropped her leathern case. I think that at first she did
+not recognize me, and was on the point of screaming. Suddenly to come
+upon a man in the midst of these solitudes was indeed startling.
+
+Quickly, however, I made myself known, and her expression of fright
+changed to one of amazement. I am happy to say that she took the hand I
+offered her, though she seemed to have no words with which to return my
+formal greeting. In cases like this, the one who amazes should not
+impose upon the amazed one the necessity of asking questions, but should
+begin immediately to explain the situation.
+
+This I did. I told Sylvia how I had been accidentally brought to Captain
+Jabe's house, how I had strolled off in this direction, and how
+delighted I was to meet her here. In all this I was careful not to
+intimate that I had suspected her presence in this region. While
+speaking, I tried hard to think what I should say when she should
+remark, "Then you did not know I was here?" But she did not make this
+remark. She looked at me with a little puzzled wrinkle on her brow, and
+said, with a smile:--
+
+"It is absolutely wonderful that you should be here, and I should not
+know it; and that I should be here, and you should not know it."
+
+Ever since my meeting with Mother Anastasia it had been my purpose, as
+soon as I could find or make an opportunity, to declare to Sylvia my
+love for her. Apart from my passionate yearning in this direction, I
+felt that what I had done and attempted to say when I had parted from my
+secretary made it obligatory on me, as a man of honor, to say more, the
+moment I should be able to do so.
+
+Now the opportunity had come; now we were alone together, and I was able
+to pour out before her the burning words which so often, in my hours of
+reverie, had crowded themselves upon my mind. The fates had favored me
+as I had had no reason to expect to be favored, but I took no advantage
+of this situation. I spoke no word of love. I cannot say that Sylvia's
+demeanor cooled my affection, but I can say that it cooled my desire for
+instantaneous expression of it. After her first moments of astonishment,
+her mind seemed entirely occupied with the practical unraveling of the
+problem of our meeting. I endeavored to make this appear a very
+commonplace affair. It was quite natural that my companion and I should
+come together to a region which he had before visited.
+
+"Yes," said she, "I suppose all out-of-the-way things can be made
+commonplace, if one reasons long enough. As for me, of course it is
+quite natural that, needing a change from the House of Martha, I should
+come to my mother's island."
+
+"Your mother!" I stammered.
+
+"Yes," she answered. "Mrs. Raynor, who spends her summers in that house
+over there, is my mother. Her brother is here, too, and she has some
+friends with her. Mother Anastasia was away recently on a little jaunt,
+and when she came back she said that I looked tired and wan, and that I
+ought to go to my mother's for a fortnight. So I came. That was all
+simple enough, you see."
+
+Simple enough! Could anything be more extraordinary, more enigmatical? I
+did not know what to say, what course to pursue; but in the midst of my
+surprise I had sense enough to see that, until I knew more, the less I
+said the better. Sylvia did not know that I had visited her mother's
+island and her mother's house. It is possible that she did not know that
+Mother Anastasia had been here. I must decide whether or not I would
+enlighten her on these points. My disposition was to be perfectly open
+and frank with her, and to be thus I must enlighten her. But I waited,
+and in answer to her statement merely told her how glad I was that she
+had a vacation and such a delightful place to come to. She did not
+immediately reply, but stood looking past me over the little vale beyond
+us.
+
+"Well, here I am," she said presently, "and in a very different dress
+from that in which you used to see me; but for all that, I am still a
+sister of the House of Martha, and so"--
+
+"So what?" I interrupted.
+
+"I suppose I should go back to the house," she answered.
+
+Now I began to warm up furiously.
+
+"Don't think of it!" I exclaimed. "Now that I have met you, give me a
+few moments of your time. Let me see you as you are, free and
+undisguised, like other women, and not behind bars or in charge of old
+Sister Sarah."
+
+"Wasn't she horrid?" said Sylvia.
+
+"Indeed she was," I replied; "and now cannot you walk a little with me,
+or shall we sit down somewhere and have a talk?"
+
+She shook her head. "Even if mother and the rest had not gone away in
+the boat, I could not do that, you know."
+
+If she persisted in her determination to leave me, she should know my
+love in two minutes. But I tried further persuasion.
+
+"We have spent hours together," I said; "why not let me make you a
+little visit now?"
+
+Still she gently shook her head, and looked away. Suddenly she turned
+her face toward me. Her blue eyes sparkled, her lips parted, and there
+was a flush upon her temples.
+
+"There is one thing I would dearly like," she said, "and I think I could
+stay for that. Will you finish the story of Tomaso and Lucilla?"
+
+"I shall be overjoyed to do it!" I cried, in a state of exultation.
+"Come, let us sit over there in the shade, at the bottom of this hill,
+and I will tell you all the rest of that story."
+
+Together we went down the little slope.
+
+"You can't imagine," she said, "how I have longed to know how all that
+turned out. Over and over again I have finished the story for myself,
+but I never made a good ending to it. It was not a bit like hearing it
+from you."
+
+I found her a seat on a low stone near the trunk of a tree, and I sat
+upon the ground near by, while my soul bounded up like a loosened
+balloon.
+
+"Happy thought!" she exclaimed. "I came out here to write letters, not
+caring for fishing, especially in boats; how would you like me to write
+the rest of the story from your dictation?"
+
+Like it! I could scarcely find words to tell her how I should like it.
+
+"Very well, then," said she, opening her portfolio and taking out some
+sheets of paper. "My inkstand is in that case which you picked up;
+please give it to me, and let us begin. Now this is a very different
+affair. I am finishing the work which the House of Martha set me to do,
+and I assure you that I have been very much dissatisfied because I have
+been obliged to leave it unfinished. Please begin."
+
+"I cannot remember at this moment," I said, "where we left off."
+
+"I can tell you exactly," she answered, "just as well as if I had the
+manuscript before me. Tomaso held Lucilla by the hand; the cart was
+ready in which he was to travel to the sea-coast; they were calling him
+to hurry; and he was trying to look into her face, to see if he should
+tell her something that was in his heart. You had not yet said what it
+was that was in his heart. There was a chance, you know, that it might
+be that he felt it necessary for her good that the match should be
+broken off."
+
+"How did you arrange this in the endings you made?" I asked. "Did you
+break off the match?"
+
+"Don't let us bother about my endings," she said. "I want to know
+yours."
+
+
+
+
+XXXII.
+
+TOMASO AND LUCILLA.
+
+
+On this happy morning, sitting in the shade with Sylvia, I should have
+much preferred to talk to her of herself and of myself than to dictate
+the story of the Sicilian lovers; but if I would keep her with me I must
+humor her, at least for a time, and so, as well as I could, I began my
+story.
+
+The situation was, however, delightful: it was charming to sit and look
+at Sylvia, her portfolio in her lap, pen in hand, and her blue eyes
+turned toward me, anxiously waiting for me to speak; it was so
+enchanting that my mind could with difficulty be kept to the work in
+hand. But it would not do to keep Sylvia waiting. Her pen began to tap
+impatiently upon the paper, and I went on. We had written a page or two
+when she interrupted me.
+
+"It seems to me," she said, "that if Tomaso really starts for Naples it
+will be a good while before we get to the end of the story. So far as I
+am concerned, you know, I would like the story just as long as you
+choose to make it; but we haven't very much time, and it would be a
+dreadful disappointment to me if I should have to go away before the
+story is ended."
+
+"Why do you feel in a hurry?" I asked. "If we do not finish this
+morning, cannot I come to you to-morrow?"
+
+"Oh, no, indeed," she answered. "It's only by the merest chance, you
+know, that I am writing for you this morning, and I couldn't do it
+again. That would be impossible. In fact, I want to get through before
+the boat comes back. Not that I should mind mother, for she knows that I
+used to write for you, and I could easily explain how I came to be doing
+it now; and I should not care about Uncle or Mr. Heming; but as for Miss
+Laniston,--that is the lady who is visiting us,--I would not have her
+see me doing this for anything in the world. She hates the House of
+Martha, although she used to be one of its friends, and I know that she
+would like to see me leave the sisterhood. She ridicules us whenever she
+has a chance, and to see me here would be simply nuts to her."
+
+"Is she a bad-tempered lady?" I asked. "Do you know her very well? Could
+you trust her in regard to anything important?"
+
+"Oh, I know her well enough," said Sylvia. "She has always been a friend
+of the family. She is wonderfully well educated, and knows everything
+and has never married, and travels all about by herself, and is just as
+independent as she can be. She has very strong opinions about things,
+and doesn't hesitate to tell you them, no matter whether she thinks you
+like it or not. I have no doubt she is perfectly trustworthy and
+honorable, and all that; but if you knew her, I do not think you would
+like her, and you can easily see why I shouldn't want her to see me
+doing this. It would give her a chance for no end of sneers at the work
+of the sisters."
+
+"Has she never said anything about your acting as my amanuensis?" I
+asked.
+
+"No, indeed," replied Sylvia. "You may be sure she never heard of that,
+or she would have made fun enough of it."
+
+It was impossible for me to allow this dear girl to remain longer in
+ignorance of the true state of affairs.
+
+"Miss Raynor," I said,--how I longed to say "Sylvia"!--"I am ashamed
+that I have allowed you to remain as long as this under a
+misunderstanding, but in truth I did not understand the case myself. I
+did not know that the lady of this house was your mother, but I have met
+her, and have been kindly entertained by her. I did not know Miss
+Laniston's name, but I have also met her, and talked to her about you,
+and she knows you used to write for me, and I do not like her."
+
+Sylvia answered not a word, but, as she sat and looked at me with
+wide-open eyes, I told her what had happened since my companion and I
+had landed at Racket Island. I omitted only my confidences to Mother
+Anastasia and Miss Laniston.
+
+"Mother Anastasia has been here," repeated Sylvia, "and she never told
+me! That surpasses all. And mother never mentioned that you had been
+here, nor did any one." She gazed steadfastly upon the ground, a little
+pale, and presently she said, "I think I understand it, but it need not
+be discussed;" and, closing her portfolio, she rose to her feet.
+
+"Sylvia," I exclaimed, springing up and stepping nearer to her, "it must
+be discussed! Ever since I parted from you at the window of your
+writing-room I have been yearning to speak to you. I do not understand
+the actions of your family and friends, but I do know that those actions
+were on your account and on mine. They knew I loved you. I have not in
+the least concealed the fact that I loved you, and I hoped, Sylvia, that
+you knew it."
+
+She stood, her closed portfolio in one hand, her pen in the other, her
+eyes downcast, and her face grave and quiet. "I cannot say," she
+answered presently, "that I knew it, although sometimes I thought it was
+so, but other times I thought it was not so. I was almost sure of it
+when you took leave of me at the window, and tried to kiss my hand, and
+were just about to say something which I knew I ought not to stay and
+hear. It was when thinking about that morning, in fact,--and I thought
+about it a great deal,--that I became convinced I must act very promptly
+and earnestly in regard to my future life, and be true to the work I had
+undertaken to do; and for this reason it was that I solemnly vowed to
+devote the rest of my life to the House of Martha, to observe all its
+rules and do its work."
+
+"Sylvia," I gasped, "you cannot keep this vow. When you made it you did
+not know I loved you. It cannot hold. It must be set aside."
+
+She looked at me for a moment, and then her eyes again fell. "Do not
+speak in that way," she said; "it is not right. Of course I was not sure
+that you loved me, but I suspected it, and this was the very reason why
+I took my vow."
+
+"It is plain, then," I exclaimed bitterly, "that you did not love me;
+otherwise you would never have done that!"
+
+"Don't you think," said she, "that considering the sisterhood to which I
+belong, we have already talked too much about that?"
+
+If she had exhibited the least emotion, I think I should have burst out
+into supplications that she would take the advice of her Mother
+Superior; that she would listen to her friends; that she would do
+anything, in fact, which would cause her to reconsider this step, which
+condemned me to misery and her to a life for which she was totally
+unfitted,--a career in her case of such sad misuse of every attribute of
+mind and body that it wrung my heart to think of it. But she stood so
+quiet, so determined, and with an air of such gentle firmness that words
+seemed useless. In truth, they would not come to me. She opened her
+portfolio.
+
+"I will give you these sheets that I have written," she said; "by right
+they belong to you. I am sorry the story was interrupted, for I very
+much want to hear the end of it, and now I never shall."
+
+I caught at a straw. "Sylvia," I cried, "let us sit down and finish the
+story! We can surely do that. Come, it is all ready in my mind. I will
+dictate rapidly."
+
+She shook her head. "Hardly," she answered, "after what has been said.
+Here are your pages."
+
+I took the pages she handed me, because she had written them.
+
+"Sylvia," I exclaimed, "I shall finish that story, and you shall hear
+it! This I vow."
+
+"I am going now," she responded. "Good-by."
+
+"Sylvia," I cried, quickly stepping after her as she moved away, "will
+you not say more than that? Will you not even give me your hand?"
+
+"I will do that," she replied, stopping, "if you will promise not to
+kiss it."
+
+I took her hand, and held it a few moments without a word. Then she
+gently withdrew it.
+
+"Good-by again," she said, "I don't want you to forget me; but when you
+think of me, always think of me as a sister of the House of Martha."
+
+As I stood looking after her, she rapidly walked toward the house, and I
+groaned while thinking I had not told her that if she ever thought of me
+she must remember I loved her, and would love her to the end of my life.
+But in a moment I was glad that I had not said this; after her words to
+me it would have been unmanly, and, besides, I knew she knew it.
+
+When I lost sight of her in the grove by the house, I turned and picked
+up the pages of the story of Tomaso and Lucilla, which I had dropped. In
+doing so I saw her inkstand, with its open case near by it, on the
+ground by the stone on which she had been sitting. I put the inkstand in
+its case, closed it, and stood for some minutes holding it and thinking;
+but I did not carry it away with me as a memento. Drawing down a branch
+of the tree, I hung the little case securely by its handles to a twig,
+where it would be in full view of any one walking that way.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII.
+
+THE DISTANT TOPSAIL.
+
+
+I found Walkirk still fishing near the place where I had left him.
+
+"I was beginning to be surprised at your long absence," he said, "and
+was thinking of going to look for you. Have you had good luck?"
+
+This was a hard question to answer. I smiled grimly. "I have not been
+fishing," I answered. "I have been dictating my story to my nun."
+
+The rod dropped from the relaxed fingers of my under-study, and he stood
+blankly staring at me, and waiting for an explanation. I gave it.
+
+Depressed as I was, I could not help feeling interested in the variety
+of expressions which passed over Walkirk's face, as I related what had
+happened since I had seen him. When I told him how near we were to our
+old camp on the Sand Lady's island, he was simply amazed; his
+astonishment, when he heard of the appearance of Sylvia on the scene,
+was almost overpowered by his amusement, as I related how she and I had
+continued the story of Tomaso and Lucilla, in the shade of the tree. But
+when I informed him of Sylvia's determination to devote her life to the
+work of the House of Martha, without regard to what I told her of my
+love, he was greatly moved, and I am sure sincerely grieved.
+
+"This is too bad, too bad," he said. "I did not expect it."
+
+"Miss Raynor is young," I answered, "but the strength and integrity of
+her soul are greater, and her devotion to what she believes her duty is
+stronger, than I supposed. Her character is marked by a simple sincerity
+and a noble dignity which I have never seen surpassed. I think that she
+positively dislikes the life of the sisterhood, but, having devoted
+herself to it, she will stand firmly by her resolutions and her promise
+no matter what happens. As regards myself, I do not suppose that her
+knowledge of my existence has any influence on her, one way or the
+other. I may have interested and amused her, but that is all. If I had
+finished the Italian love-story I had been telling her, I think she
+would have been satisfied never to see me again."
+
+Walkirk shook his head. "I do not believe that," he said; "her
+determination to rivet the bonds which hold her to her sisterhood shows
+that she was afraid of her interest in you; and if it gave her reason to
+fear, it gives you reason to hope."
+
+"Put that in the past tense, please," I replied; "whatever it may have
+given, it gives nothing now. To hope would be absurd."
+
+"Mr. Vanderley," exclaimed Walkirk, "I would not give up in that way. I
+am certain, from what I know, that Miss Raynor's interest in you is
+plain not only to herself, but to her family and friends; and I tell
+you, sir, that sort of interest cannot be extinguished by promises and
+resolutions. If I were you, I would keep up the fight. She is not yet a
+vowed sister."
+
+"Walkirk," said I, offering him my hand; "you are a good fellow, and,
+although I cannot believe what you say, I thank you for saying it."
+
+It was now long past noon, and we were both ready for the luncheon which
+we had brought with us. Walkirk opened the basket, and as he arranged
+its contents on the broad napkin, which he spread upon the grass, he
+ruminated.
+
+"I think," he remarked, as we were eating, "that I begin to understand
+the situation. At first I could not reconcile the facts with the Sand
+Lady's statement that no one lived on her island but her family, but now
+I see that this creek must make an island of her domain; and so it is
+that, although Captain Jabe is her neighbor, her statement is entirely
+correct."
+
+Having finished our meal, I lighted my pipe and sat down under a tree,
+while Walkirk, with his rod, wandered away along the bank of the stream.
+After a while he returned, and proposed that we try fishing near the
+eastern outlet of the creek, where, as the tide was coming in, we might
+find better sport.
+
+"That will be a very good thing for you to do," said I, "but I shall not
+fish. I am going to Mrs. Raynor's house."
+
+"Where?" exclaimed Walkirk.
+
+"I am going to speak to Mrs. Raynor," I answered, "whom I have known
+only as the Sand Lady, but whom I must now know as Sylvia's mother. I
+have determined to act boldly and openly in this matter. I have made
+suit to Mrs. Raynor's daughter. I have told other people of the state of
+my affections, and I think I should lose no time, having now the
+opportunity, in conferring with Mrs. Raynor herself."
+
+Walkirk's face was troubled.
+
+"You do not approve of that?" I asked.
+
+"Since you ask me," he answered, "I must say that I do not think it a
+wise thing to do. If I properly understand Miss Raynor's character, her
+mother knows that you are here; and if she is willing to have you visit
+her, under the circumstances, she will make a sign. In fact, I now think
+that she will make some sort of sign, by which you can see how the land
+lies. Perhaps Mrs. Raynor is on your side; but I am afraid that if you
+should visit the house where Miss Raynor is, it would set her mother
+against you. I imagine she is a woman who would not like that sort of
+thing."
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "your reasoning is very good; but this is not a time
+to reason,--it is a time to act; and I am going to see Mrs. Raynor this
+day."
+
+"I hope it may all turn out well," he replied, and walked away gravely.
+
+I did not start immediately for the Sand Lady's house. For a long time I
+sat and thought upon the subject of the approaching interview, planning
+and considering how I should plead my case, and what I should answer,
+and how I should overcome the difficulties which would probably be
+pointed out to me.
+
+At last, like many another man when in a similar predicament, I
+concluded to let circumstances shape my plan of action, and set forth
+for Mrs. Raynor's house. The walk was a long one, but I turned in order
+to pass under the tree where I had begun to dictate to Sylvia; and glad
+I was that I did so, for to the twig on which I had hung the case
+containing her inkstand there was now attached a half sheet of note
+paper. I ran to the tree, eagerly seized the paper, and read these few
+words that were written on it:--
+
+"Thank you very much for taking such good care of my little case."
+
+"Now, then," said I to myself, proudly gazing at these lines, "this is
+only a small thing, but the girl who would write it, and who would
+expect me to read it, must be interested in me. She believes that I
+would not fail to come here again; therefore she believes in me. That is
+a great point."
+
+For a moment I felt tempted to write something in reply, and hang it on
+the tree twig. But I refrained; what I would write to Sylvia must be
+read by no one but herself. That tree was in a very conspicuous
+position, and my tamest words to her must not hang upon it. I carefully
+folded the paper and put it in my pocket, and then, greatly encouraged,
+walked rapidly to the house.
+
+On the front piazza I found an elderly woman, with a broom. She knew me,
+for she had frequently seen me during the time that I was encamped upon
+the island. She was now greatly surprised at my appearance on the scene.
+
+"Why, sir," she exclaimed, without waiting for me to speak, "have you
+come back to your camp? It is too bad."
+
+I did not like this salutation. But, making no answer to it, I asked
+quickly, "Can I see Mrs. Raynor?"
+
+"No, indeed," said she; "they've gone, every one of them, and not an
+hour ago. What a pity they did not know you were here!"
+
+"Gone!" I cried. "Where?"
+
+"They've gone off in their yacht for a cruise," returned the woman. "The
+vessel has been at Brimley for more than a week, being repaired, and she
+got back this morning; and as she was all ready to sail, they just made
+up their minds that they'd go off in her, for one of their little
+voyages they are so fond of; and off they went, in less than two hours."
+
+"How long do they expect to be gone?" I asked.
+
+"Mrs. Raynor told me they would be away probably for a week or two," the
+woman answered, "and she would stop somewhere and telegraph to me when
+she was coming back. Of course there isn't any telegraph to this island,
+but when messages come to Brimley they send them over in a boat."
+
+Having determined to speak to Mrs. Raynor, and having set out to do so,
+this undertaking appeared to me the most important thing in the world,
+and one in which I must press forward, without regard to obstacles of
+any kind.
+
+"Are they going to any particular place?" I said. "Are they going to
+stop anywhere?"
+
+"There is only one place that I know of," she answered, "and that's
+Sanpritchit, over on the mainland. They expect to stop there to get
+provisions for the cruise, for there was but little here that they could
+take with them. They wanted to get there before dark, and I don't doubt
+but that, with this wind, they'll do it. If you'll step to this end of
+the piazza, sir, perhaps you can see their topsail. I saw it just before
+you came, as they were beginning to make the long tack."
+
+"Yes, there it is," she continued, when we reached the place referred
+to, from which a vast stretch of the bay could be seen, "but not so much
+of it as I saw just now."
+
+"Their topsail!" I ejaculated.
+
+"Yes, sir," she said. "You can't see their mainsail, because they are so
+far away, and it's behind the water, in a manner."
+
+I stood silent for a few minutes, gazing at the little ship. Suddenly a
+thought struck me. "Do you think they will sail on Sunday?" I asked.
+
+"No, sir," she replied; "Mrs. Raynor never sails on Sunday. And that's
+why I wondered, after they'd gone, why they'd started off on a Saturday.
+They will have to lay up at Sanpritchit all day to-morrow; and it seems
+to me it would have been a great deal pleasanter for them to stay here
+Sunday, and to have started on Monday. There's no church at Sanpritchit,
+or anything for them to do, so far as I know, unless Miss Raynor reads
+sermons to them, which she never did here, though she's a religious
+sister, which perhaps you didn't know, sir."
+
+"Sanpritchit over Sunday," I repeated to myself.
+
+"It's the greatest pity," said the woman, "that they didn't know you and
+the other gentleman--that is, if he is with you--were coming back
+to-day, for I am sure they would have been glad to take you with them.
+There's room enough on that yacht, and will be more; for Mr. Heming, the
+gentleman that collects shells, is not coming back with them. They are
+to put him off somewhere, and he is going home. I have an idea, though I
+wasn't told so, that Miss Raynor is not coming back with the rest. She
+brought very little baggage with her, but she took a lot of things on
+board the yacht, and that looks as if she wasn't coming back. But, bless
+me, they went off in such a hurry I didn't have time to ask questions."
+
+I now turned to go, but the woman obliged me to inform her that I had
+not come to camp on the island, and that I was staying with Captain
+Jabe.
+
+"When they go off in this way," she said, "they take the maids, and
+leave me and my husband in charge; and if you should fancy to come here
+and camp again, I know that Mrs. Raynor would wish me to make things as
+comfortable for you as I can, which, too, I'll be very glad to do."
+
+I thanked her, and went away. "This good woman," said I to myself, "is
+the person who would have read my message to Sylvia, had I been foolish
+enough to hang one to the twig of the tree."
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV.
+
+THE CENTRAL HOTEL.
+
+
+Captain Jabez did not return until late that Saturday evening; but as
+soon as he set foot on shore I went to him and asked him if he could, in
+any way, get us to Sanpritchit that night, offering to pay him liberally
+for the service.
+
+"I've got a sailboat," said he, "and ye'd be right welcome to it if it
+was here; but it ain't here. I lent it to Captain Neal, of Brimley,
+having no present use for it, and he won't bring it back till next week
+some time. There's a dory here, to be sure; but Sanpritchit's
+twenty-five miles away, and that's too far to go in a dory, especially
+at night. What's your hurry?"
+
+"I have very important business in Sanpritchit," I answered, "and if it
+is possible I must go there to-night."
+
+"Sanpritchit's a queer place to have business in," said Captain Jabe;
+"and it's a pity ye didn't think of it this mornin', when ye might have
+gone with me and took the train to Barley, and there's a stage from
+there to Sanpritchit."
+
+"Captain Jabez," said I, "as there seems to be no other way for me to do
+this thing, I will pay you whatever you may think the service worth, if
+you will take me to Sanpritchit in your grocery boat, and start
+immediately. It will be slow work traveling, I know, but I think we can
+surely get there before morning."
+
+The grocer-captain looked at me for a moment, with his eyes half shut;
+then he set down on the pier a basket which had been hanging on his arm,
+and, putting both hands in his pockets, stared steadfastly at me.
+
+"Do you know," he remarked presently, "that that 'ere proposition of
+yours puts me in mind of a story I heard of a California man and a New
+York man. The California man had come East to spend the winter, and the
+New York man was a business acquaintance o' his. The California man
+called at the New York man's office before business hours; and when he
+found the New York man hadn't come down town yet, he went up town to see
+him at his house. It was a mighty fine house, and the New York man,
+being proud of it, took the California man all over it. 'Look here,'
+said the California man, 'what will you take for this house, furniture
+and all, just as it stands?' 'I'll take a hundred and twenty thousand
+dollars,' said the New York man. 'Does that include all the odds and
+ends,' asked the California man,--'old magazines, umbrellas, needles and
+pins, empty bottles, photographs, candlesticks, Japanese fans, coal
+ashes, and all that kind of thing, that make a house feel like a home?
+My family's comin' on from California with nothin' but their clothes,
+and I want a house they can go right into and feel at home, even to the
+cold victuals for a beggar, if one happens to come along.' 'If I throw
+in the odds and ends, it will be one hundred and twenty-five thousand,'
+said the New York man. 'That's all right,' said the California man, 'and
+my family will arrive, with their clothes, on the train that gets here
+at 6.20 this afternoon; so if your family can get out of the house
+before that time, I'm ready to pay the money, cash down.' 'All right,'
+said the New York man, 'I'll see that they do it.' And at ten minutes
+after six the New York family went out with their clothes to a hotel,
+and at twenty minutes of seven the California family came to the house
+with their clothes, and found everything all ready for 'em, the servants
+havin' agreed to stay at California wages.
+
+"Now, then," continued Captain Jabez, "I don't want to hurt nobody's
+feelin's, and I wouldn't say one word that would make the smallest
+infant think less of itself than it did afore I spoke, but it does
+strike me that that there proposition of yours is a good deal like the
+California man's offer to the New York man."
+
+"Well," said I, "that turned out very well. Each got what he wanted."
+
+"Yes," replied Captain Jabez, "but this ain't New York city. No, sir,
+not by a long shot. I am just as willin' to accommodate a fellow-man, or
+a fellow-woman, for that matter, as any reasonable person is; but if the
+President of the United States, and Queen Victoria, and the prophet
+Isaiah was to come to me of a Saturday night, after I'd just got home
+from a week's work, and ask me to start straight off and take them to
+Sanpritchit, I'd tell 'em that I'd be glad to oblige 'em, but it
+couldn't be done: and that's what I say to ye, sir,--neither more nor
+less." And with this he picked up his basket and went into the house.
+
+I was not discouraged, however, and when the captain came out I proposed
+to him that he should take me to Sanpritchit the next day.
+
+"No, sir," said he. "I never have sailed my grocery boat on Sunday, and
+I don't feel like beginnin'."
+
+I walked away, but shortly afterward joined him on board his vessel,
+which he was just about to leave for the night.
+
+"Captain," I asked, "when does Sunday end in this part of the country?"
+
+"Well, strictly speaking, it's supposed to end at sunset, or commonly at
+six o'clock."
+
+"Very well," said I; "if you will start with me for Sanpritchit at six
+o'clock to-morrow evening, I will pay you your price."
+
+I made this offer in the belief that, with ordinary good fortune, we
+could reach our destination before the Raynor yacht weighed anchor on
+Monday morning.
+
+Captain Jabez considered the matter. "I am going to Sanpritchit on
+Monday, any way," said he; "and if you're in such a hurry to be there
+the first thing in the morning, I'd just as lieve sail to-morrow evening
+at six o'clock as not."
+
+It was not much after the hour at which some people in that part of the
+country, when they have a reason for it, still believe that Sunday comes
+to an end, that the grocery boat left her pier with Captain Jabez,
+Abner, Walkirk, and me on board. There was nothing at all exhilarating
+in this expedition. I wanted to go rapidly, and I knew we should go
+slowly. I had passed a dull day, waiting for the time to start, and, to
+avoid thinking of the slow progress we should make, I soon turned in.
+
+I woke very early, and went on deck. I do not know that I can remember a
+more disagreeable morning. It was day, but the sun was not up; it was
+not cloudy, but there was a filmy uncertainty about the sky that was
+more unpleasant than the clouds. The air was cold, raw, and oppressive.
+There was no one on deck but Abner, and he was at the wheel, which, on
+account of the grocery store occupying so large a portion of the after
+part of the vessel, was placed well forward. Only a jib and mainsail
+were set, and as I came on deck these were fluttering and sagging, as
+Abner carefully brought the vessel round. Now I saw that we were
+floating slowly toward the end of a long pier, and that we were going to
+land.
+
+As I leaned over the side of the vessel, I did not wonder that Captain
+Jabez thought Sanpritchit was not much of a place to do business in.
+There were few houses, perhaps a dozen, scattered here and there along a
+low shore, which rose, at one end of the place, into a little bluff,
+behind which I saw a mast or two. On the pier was a solitary man, and he
+was the only living being in sight. It was that dreary time before
+breakfast, when everything that seems cheerless is more cheerless,
+everything that is sad more sad, everything that is discouraging more
+discouraging, and which right-minded persons who are able to do so spend
+in bed.
+
+Gradually the vessel approached the pier, and Abner, to whom I had not
+yet spoken, for I did not feel in the least like talking, left the
+wheel, and, as soon as he was near enough, threw a small line to the man
+on the pier, who caught it, pulling ashore a cable with a loop in the
+end, threw the latter over a post, and in a few minutes the grocery boat
+was moored. The man came on board, and he and Abner went below.
+
+It was too early to go on shore, for nothing could be done at that
+bleak, unearthly hour; but I was in that state of nervous disquietude
+when any change is a relief, and I stepped ashore. I was glad to put my
+feet upon the pier. Now I felt that I was my own master. It was too soon
+to go on board the yacht, but I could regulate my movements as I
+pleased, and was very willing to be alone during the hour or two in
+which I must remain inactive.
+
+I walked over the loose and warped planks of the pier, the dull water
+rippling and flopping about the timbers beneath me, inhaling that faint
+smell of the quiet water and soaked logs, which is always a little
+dispiriting to me even at less dispiriting hours. The crowing of one or
+two cocks made me understand how dreadfully still everything was. The
+stillness of the very early morning is quite different from that of the
+night. During the latter people are asleep, and may be presumed to be
+happy. In the former they are about to wake up and be miserable. That,
+at least, was my notion, as I walked into the little village.
+
+Not a creature did I see; not a sound did I hear except my own
+footsteps. Presently I saw a cat run around the corner of a house, and
+this was a relief. I walked on past a wide space, in which there were no
+houses, when I came to a small, irregularly built white house, in front
+of which hung a sign bearing the inscription "Central Hotel." If
+anything could have made me more disgusted with the world than I then
+was, it was this sign. If the name of this miserable little country
+tavern had been anything suitable to itself and the place, if it had
+been called The Plough and Harrow, The Gray Horse, or even The Blue
+Devil, I think I should have been glad to see it. A village inn might
+have been a point of interest to me, but Central Hotel in this mournful
+settlement of small farmers and fishermen,--it was ridiculous!
+
+However, the door of the house was open, and inside was a man sweeping
+the sanded floor. When he saw me, he stopped his work and stared at me.
+
+"Good-mornin'," he said. "Don't often see strangers here so airly. Did
+ye come on the grocery boat? I saw her puttin' in. Do ye want a room?
+Time for a good nap before breakfast."
+
+I answered that I did not want a room, but the remark about breakfast
+made me feel that I should like a cup of coffee, and perhaps I might get
+it here. It might have been a more natural thing to go back to the boat
+and ask Abner to make me the coffee, but I did not want to go back to
+the boat. I did not want to wake Walkirk. I did not want to have him
+with me on shore. I did not want to have him talk to me. My present
+intention was to go to the yacht as soon as it was reasonable to suppose
+that its passengers were awake, to see Mrs. Raynor, and say to her what
+I had to say. I did not feel in the proper spirit for this; but, in the
+spirit in which I found myself, the less I was trammeled by advice, by
+suggestions of prudence, and all that sort of thing, the better it would
+be for me. So I was very glad that my under-study was asleep on the
+grocery boat, and hoped that he would remain in that condition until I
+had had my talk with Sylvia's mother.
+
+I put my request to the man and he smiled. "Ye can't get no coffee," he
+said, "until breakfast time, and that's pretty nigh two hours off. There
+is people in the place that have breakfast earlier than we do, but we
+keep boarders, ye know. We've only got Captain Fluke now, but generally
+have more; and ye couldn't ask a man like Captain Fluke to git up to his
+breakfast before half past seven. Then ye don't want yer baggage sent
+fur? Perhaps ye've come ter see friends, an' it's a little airly ter
+drop in on 'em? Come in, any way, and take a seat."
+
+I accepted the invitation. Sitting indoors might possibly be less dreary
+than walking out-of-doors.
+
+"Now I tell ye what ye ought to do," continued the man. "Ye ought to
+take a nip of whiskey with some bitters in it. It's always kinder damp
+airly in the mornin', and ye must feel it more, bein' in a strange
+place. I've always thought a strange place was damper, airly in the
+mornin', than a place ye're used ter; and there's nothin' like whiskey
+with a little bitters to get out dampness."
+
+I declined to partake of any Central Hotel whiskey, adding that the one
+refreshment I now needed was a cup of coffee.
+
+"But there's no fire in the kitchen," said he, "and there won't be for
+ever so long. That's how whiskey comes in so handy; don't have to have
+no fire. Ye jes' pour it out and drink it, and there's the end of it."
+
+"Not always," I remarked.
+
+"Ye're right there," said he, with a smile. "A good deal depends on how
+much ye pour." He turned away, but stopped suddenly. "Look here," said
+he; "if ye say so, I'll make ye a cup of coffee. I've got an alcohol
+lamp up there that I can boil water with in no time. I'm out of alcohol,
+but, if you'll pay for it, I'll fill the lamp with whiskey; that'll burn
+just as well."
+
+I willingly agreed to his proposition, and the man immediately
+disappeared into the back part of the house.
+
+I sat and looked about the little bar-room, in which there was
+absolutely nothing of the quaint interest which one associates with a
+country inn. It was a bare, cold, hard, sandy, dirty room; its air
+tainted with the stale odors of whiskey, sugar, and wood still wet from
+its morning mopping. In less than fifteen minutes the man placed before
+me a cup of coffee and some soda biscuit. The coffee was not very good,
+but it was hot, and when I had finished it I felt like another man.
+
+"There now," cried the bar-keeper, looking at me with great
+satisfaction, "don't that take the dampness out of ye? I tell ye there's
+no such stiffener in the airly mornin' as whiskey; and if ye don't use
+it in one way, ye can in another."
+
+Truly the world seemed warmer and more cheerful; the sun was brighter.
+Perhaps now it was not too early to go on board the yacht. At any rate,
+I would go near where she lay, and judge for myself. I made inquiries of
+the innkeeper in regard to Mrs. Raynor's yacht.
+
+"Yacht!" he said. "There's no yacht here."
+
+"You must be mistaken!" I cried. "A yacht belonging to Mrs. Raynor
+sailed for Sanpritchit on Saturday, and it was not to leave here until
+this morning."
+
+"Sanpritchit!" he exclaimed. "This is not Sanpritchit."
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked in amazement. "That boat was bound direct
+for Sanpritchit."
+
+"Captain Jabe's boat?" said the man. "Yes, and so she is. She sails fur
+Sanpritchit every Monday mornin', and generally stops here when she's
+got any freight ter leave fur the store, though I never knowed her ter
+come so airly in the mornin'."
+
+"My conscience!" I exclaimed. "I must get on board of her."
+
+"Aboard of her!" said he. "She's been gone more 'n half an hour. She
+don't often stop here more 'n ten minutes, if she's got the tide with
+her, which she had this mornin', strong."
+
+
+
+
+XXXV.
+
+MONEY MAKES THE MARE GO.
+
+
+I rushed out of the Central Hotel, and looked over the water, but I
+could see nothing of the grocery boat: she had disappeared beyond the
+bluff, behind which I had stupidly taken it for granted Mrs. Raynor's
+yacht was lying.
+
+"Oh, she's clean gone," said the bar-keeper, who had joined me, "an'
+she's not likely to come back ag'in' wind an' tide. They must have
+thought you was asleep in your berth."
+
+This was undoubtedly the truth, for there was no reason to suppose that
+any one on the boat knew I had gone on shore.
+
+"Where can I get a boat to follow them?" I cried.
+
+"Can't say exactly," said the man. "We've got a big catboat, but she's
+on the stocks gettin' a new stern post put in. You can see her mast
+stickin' up over the bluff, there. I don't think there's any other
+sailboat in the place jes' now, and Captain Fluke's havin' his fresh
+painted. I told him it was a bad time o' the year to do it in; but he's
+Captain Fluke, and that's all there's to say about it. There's rowboats;
+but Sanpritchit's eight miles from here, and it's a putty long pull
+there and back, and I don't know anybody here who'd care to take it. If
+ye want to go to Sanpritchit, ye ought to go in a wagon. That's lots the
+easiest way."
+
+"Where can I get a horse and vehicle?" I asked quickly, so much enraged
+with myself that I was glad to have some one to direct my movements.
+
+"That's more 'n I know, jes' this minute," said the man; "but if ye'll
+step inside and sit down, I'll go and ask 'em at the store what they can
+do fur ye. If it ain't open yet, I'll know where ter find 'em. If
+anybody comes along for a mornin' drink, jes' tell 'em to wait a minute,
+and I'll be back."
+
+In about fifteen or twenty minutes the bar-keeper returned, and
+announced that I could not hire the horse at the store, for one of his
+hind shoes was off, and they wanted to use him any way. He had asked two
+or three other people, also, for the village was waking up by this time,
+but none of them could let me have a horse.
+
+"But I'll tell ye what ye can do," said the man, "if ye choose to wait
+here a little while. The boss of this house went over to Stipbitts last
+night to see his mother, and I expect him back putty soon, and I guess
+he'll let ye have his hoss. Ye see the people about here ain't used to
+hiring hosses, and we is. People as keeps hotels is expected to do it."
+
+There was nothing for me to do but to wait for the return of the
+landlord of Central Hotel; and for very nearly an hour I walked up and
+down the main street of that wretched little hamlet, the name of which I
+neither heard nor asked, cursing my own stupidity and the incapacity of
+the waterside rustic.
+
+When the "boss" arrived he was willing to let me have his mare and his
+buckboard, and a boy to drive me; but the animal must be fed first, and
+of course I would not start off without my breakfast. As I had to wait,
+and the morning meal was almost ready, I partook of it; but the mare
+gave a great deal more time to her breakfast than I gave to mine. I
+hurried the preparations as much as I could, and shortly after eight
+o'clock we started. My little expedition had the features of a useless
+piece of trouble, but I had carefully considered the affair, and
+concluded that I had a good chance of success. Almost any horse could
+take me eight miles in an hour and a half, even with poor roads, and,
+from what I knew of the industrial methods of this part of the country,
+I did not believe that the necessary supplies would be put on the yacht
+before half past nine: therefore, I did not allow myself to doubt that I
+should reach Sanpritchit in time to see Mrs. Raynor.
+
+The mare was a very deliberate traveler, and the boy who sat beside me
+was an easily satisfied driver.
+
+"We must go faster than this," said I, after we had reached what
+appeared to be a highroad, "or I shall not get to Sanpritchit in time to
+attend to my business there."
+
+"Ye can't drive a hoss too fast when ye first set out," answered the
+boy. "Ye'll hurt a hoss if ye do that. After a little while she'll warm
+up, and then she'll go better. Oh, she can go if she's a mind ter. She's
+a rattler when she really gets goin'."
+
+"I don't want her to rattle," said I; "but what is her ordinary rate of
+travel,--how many miles an hour, do you suppose?"
+
+"Don't know as I ever counted," the boy said. "Some miles she goes
+faster, and some miles she goes slower. A good deal depends on whether
+it's uphill or downhill."
+
+"Well," said I, taking out my watch, "we must keep her up to six miles
+an hour, at least, and then we shall do the eight miles by half past
+nine, with something to spare."
+
+"Eight miles!" repeated the boy. "Eight miles to where?"
+
+"Sanpritchit," replied I. "That's what they told me."
+
+"Oh, that's by water," said the driver; "but this road's got to go
+around the end of the bay, and after that 'way round the top of the big
+marsh, and that makes it a good seventeen miles to Sanpritchit. Half
+past nine! Why, the boss told me, if I didn't get there before twelve, I
+must stop somewhere and water the mare and give her some oats. I've got
+a bag of them back there."
+
+I sat dumb. Of course, with this conveyance, and seventeen miles between
+me and Sanpritchit, it was absurd to suppose that I could get there
+before the yacht sailed. It was ridiculous to go an inch farther on such
+a tedious and useless journey.
+
+"Boy," I asked, "where is the nearest railroad station?"
+
+"Stipbitts," said he.
+
+"How far?"
+
+"Five miles."
+
+"Take me there," I said.
+
+The boy looked at me in surprise. "I can't do that. I was told to take
+you to Sanpritchit: that's where I'm goin', and I'm goin' to bring back
+a box belongin' to Captain Fluke. That's what I 'in goin' to do."
+
+"I cannot get there in time," I said. "I didn't know it was so far. Take
+me to Stipbitts, and I will give you a dollar; then you can go along and
+attend to Captain Fluke's box. I have already paid for the drive to
+Sanpritchit."
+
+"Have you got as much as a dollar and a half about you?" asked the boy.
+
+I replied that I had.
+
+"All right," said he; "give me that, and I'll take you to Stipbitts."
+
+The bargain was struck, I was taken to Stipbitts, and an hour afterward
+I was on my way to my home at Arden.
+
+There was one very satisfactory feature about this course of action: it
+was plain and simple, and needed no planning. To attempt to follow the
+yacht would be useless. To wait anywhere for Walkirk would be equally
+so. He would be more apt to find me at my home than anywhere else. It
+was his business to find me, and there was no doubt that he would do it.
+I did not like to defer my intended interview with Mrs. Raynor, but it
+could not be helped. And as for Sylvia, if she had resolved to return to
+the House of Martha, the best place for me was the neighborhood of that
+institution.
+
+
+
+
+XXXVI.
+
+IN THE SHADE OF THE OAK.
+
+
+I found my home at Arden very empty and dreary. The servants did not
+expect me, my grandmother had not returned, and the absence of Walkirk
+added much to my dissatisfaction with the premises.
+
+I was never a man who could sit down and wait for things to happen, and
+I felt now that it was absolutely necessary that I should do something,
+that I should talk to somebody; and accordingly, on the morning after my
+arrival, I determined to walk over to the House of Martha and talk to
+Mother Anastasia. For a man to consult with the Mother Superior of a
+religious institution about his love affairs was certainly an uncommon
+proceeding, with very prominent features of inappropriateness; but this
+did not deter me, for, apart from the fact that there was no one else to
+talk to, I considered that Mother Anastasia owed me some advice and
+explanation, and without hesitation I went to ask for it.
+
+When I reached the House of Martha, and made known my desire to speak to
+the head of the institution, I was ushered into a room which was barer
+and harder than I had supposed, from Walkirk's description of it. It did
+not even contain the religious pictures or the crucifixes which would
+have relieved the blankness of the walls in a Roman Catholic
+establishment of the kind.
+
+As I stood gazing about me, with a feeling of indignation that such a
+place as this should ever have been the home of such a woman as Sylvia,
+a door opened, and Mother Anastasia entered.
+
+Her appearance shocked me. I had in my mind the figure of a woman with
+whom I had talked,--a woman glowing with the warmth of a rich beauty,
+draped in graceful folds of white, with a broad hat shadowing her face,
+and a bunch of wild flowers in her belt. Here was a tall woman clothed
+in solemn gray, her face pale, her eyes fixed upon the ground; but it
+was Mother Anastasia; it was the woman who had talked to me of Sylvia,
+who had promised to help me with Sylvia.
+
+Still gazing on the floor, with her hands folded before her, she asked
+me what I wished. At first I could not answer her. It seemed impossible
+to open my heart to a woman such as this one. But if I said anything, I
+must say it without hesitation, and so I began.
+
+"Of course," I said, "I have come to see you about Sylvia Raynor. I am
+in much trouble regarding her. You promised to aid me, and I have come
+to ask for the fulfillment of that promise. My love for that girl grows
+stronger day by day, hour by hour, and I have been thwarted, mystified,
+and I may say deceived. I have come"--
+
+"She of whom you speak," interrupted Mother Anastasia, "is not to be
+discussed in that way. She has declared her intention to unite herself
+permanently with our sisterhood, and to devote her life to our work. She
+can have nothing more to do with you, nor you with her."
+
+"That will not do at all," I said excitedly. "When I last saw you, you
+did not talk like that, and the opinions you expressed at that time are
+just as good now as they were then. I want to go over this matter with
+you. There are things that I have a right to know."
+
+A little frown appeared upon her brow. "This conversation must cease,"
+she said; "the subjects you wish to discuss are forbidden to our
+sisterhood. You must mention them no more."
+
+I tried hard to restrain myself and speak quietly. "Madam"--said I.
+
+"You must not call me 'madam,'" she broke in. "I am the Mother Superior
+of this house."
+
+"I understand that," I continued, "and I understand your feeling of
+duty. But you have other duties besides those you owe to your
+sisterhood. You made me a promise, which I accepted with an honest and
+confiding heart. If you cannot do what you promised, you owe it to me to
+explain why you cannot do it. I do not know what has happened to change
+your views and her views, and, so far as I am concerned, the whole
+world. You can set me right; you can explain everything to me."
+
+The frown disappeared, and her face seemed paler. "It is absolutely
+impossible to discuss anything of the sort in this house. I must
+insist"--
+
+I did not permit her to finish her sentence. "Very well, then," I
+exclaimed, "if you cannot talk to me here, talk to me somewhere else.
+When you desire it, you go outside of these walls, and you speak freely
+and fully. You have so spoken with me; and because you have done so, it
+is absolutely necessary that you do it again. Your own heart, your
+conscience, must tell you that after what you have said to me, and after
+what I have said to you, it is unjust, to say no more, to leave me in
+this state of cruel mystification; not to tell me why you have set aside
+your promise to me, or even to tell me, when we talked together of
+Sylvia, that we were then at the home of Sylvia's mother."
+
+For the first time she looked at me, straight in my eyes, as a true
+woman would naturally look at a man who was speaking strongly to her. I
+think I made her forget, for a few moments at least, that she was a
+Mother Superior. Then her eyes fell again, and she stood silent.
+
+"Perhaps," she said presently, and speaking slowly, "I ought to explain
+these things to you. It is a great mistake, as I now see, that I ever
+said anything to you on the subject; but things were different then, and
+I did not know that I was doing wrong. Still, if you rely on me to set
+you right, you shall be set right. I see that this is quite as necessary
+from other points of view as from your own. I cannot speak with you
+to-day, but to-morrow, about this time, I shall be on the road to Maple
+Ridge, where I am going to visit a sick woman."
+
+"I shall join you on the road," I answered, and took my leave.
+
+For the rest of the day I thought of little but the promised interview
+on the morrow. To this I looked forward with the greatest interest, but
+also with the greatest anxiety. I feared that Mother Anastasia would
+prove to me that I must give up all thoughts of Sylvia. In fact, if
+Sylvia had resolved to devote herself to the service of the House of
+Martha,--and she had told me herself that she had so resolved,--I was
+quite sure she would do so. Then what was there for Mother Anastasia to
+say, or me to do? The case was settled. Sylvia Raynor must be nothing to
+me.
+
+I greatly wished for Walkirk. I knew he would encourage me, in spite of
+the obvious blackness of the situation. It was impossible for me to
+encourage myself. But, however black my fate might be, I longed to know
+why it had been made black and all about it, and so waited with a savage
+impatience for the morning and Mother Anastasia.
+
+Immediately after breakfast, the next day, I was on the Maple Ridge
+road, strolling from our village toward the top of a hill a mile or more
+away, whence I could see the rest of the road, as it wound through the
+lonely country, and at last lost itself in the woods. Back again to
+Arden I came, and had covered the distance between the village and the
+hilltop five times, when, turning and coming down the hill, I saw, far
+away, the figure of a woman walking.
+
+I knew it was Mother Anastasia, but I did not hasten to meet her. In
+fact, I thought the further she was from the village, when our interview
+took place, the more likely she would be to make it long enough to be
+satisfactory. I came slowly down the hill, and, reaching a place where a
+great oak-tree shaded the road, I waited.
+
+She came on quickly, her gray dress appearing heavier and more sombre
+against the sun-lighted grass and foliage than it had appeared in the
+dreary room of the House of Martha. As she approached the tree I
+advanced to meet her.
+
+"You made me come too far," she said reproachfully, as soon as we were
+near each other. "The lane which leads to the house I came to visit is a
+quarter of a mile behind me."
+
+"I am sorry," I replied, "that I have made you walk any farther than
+necessary on such a warm morning, but I did not know that you intended
+to turn from this road. Let us step into the shade of this tree; we can
+talk more comfortably there."
+
+She looked at the tree, but did not move. "What I have to say," she
+remarked, "can be said here; it will not take long."
+
+"You must not stand in the sun," I replied; "you are already heated.
+Come into the shade," and, without waiting her answer, I walked toward
+the tree; she followed me.
+
+"Now, then," said I, "here is a great stone conveniently placed, upon
+which we can sit and rest while we talk."
+
+She fixed her large eyes upon me with a certain surprise. "Truly, you
+have no regard for conventionalities. It is sufficiently out of the way
+for a sister of the House of Martha to meet a gentleman in this manner,
+but to sit with him under a tree would be ridiculously absurd, to say
+the least of it."
+
+"It does not strike me in that light," I said. "You are tired and warm,
+and must sit down. You came here on my account, and I regard you, in a
+manner, as a guest."
+
+She smiled, and looked at the rock which I had pointed out. It was a
+flat one, about three feet long, and it seemed as if it had been put
+there on purpose to serve for a seat.
+
+"I am tired," she said, and sat down upon it. As she did so, she gave a
+look about her, and at the same time made a movement with her right
+hand, which I often before had noticed in women. It was the involuntary
+expression of the female soul, longing for a fan. A fan, however, made
+up no part of the paraphernalia of a sister of the House of Martha.
+
+"Allow me," I said, and, taking off my straw hat, I gently fanned her.
+
+Mother Anastasia laughed. "This is really too much; please stop it. But
+you may lend me your hat. I did not know the morning would be so warm,
+and I am afraid I walked too fast. But we are losing time. Will you tell
+me precisely what it is you wish to know of me?"
+
+"I can soon do that," I answered; "but I must first say that I believe
+you will suffocate if you try to talk from under that cavernous bonnet.
+Why don't you take it off, and get the good of this cool shade? You had
+discarded all that sort of thing when I last talked with you, and you
+were then just as much a Mother Superior as you are now."
+
+She smiled. "The case was very different then. I was actually obliged,
+by the will of another, to discard the garb of our sisterhood."
+
+"I most earnestly wish," said I, "that you could be obliged to do
+partially the same thing now. With that bonnet on, you do not seem at
+all the same person with whom I talked on Tangent Island. You appear
+like some one to whom I must open the whole subject anew."
+
+"Oh, don't do that," she said, with a deprecating movement of her
+hand,--"I really haven't the time to listen; and if my bonnet hinders
+your speech, off it shall come. Now, then, I suppose you want to know
+the reason of my change of position in regard to Sylvia and you." As she
+said this she took off her bonnet; not with a jerk, as Sylvia had once
+removed hers, but carefully, without disturbing the dark hair which was
+disposed plainly about her head. I was greatly relieved; this was an
+entirely different woman to talk to.
+
+"Yes," I replied, "that is what I want to know."
+
+"I will briefly give you my reasons," she said, still fanning herself
+with my hat, while I stood before her, earnestly listening, "and you
+will find them very good and conclusive reasons. When I spoke to you
+before, the case was this: Sylvia Raynor had had a trouble, which made
+her think she was the most miserable girl in the whole world, and she
+threw herself into our sisterhood. Her mother did not object to this,
+because of course Sylvia entered as a probationer, and she thought a few
+months of the House of Martha life would do her good. That her daughter
+would permanently join the sisterhood never occurred to her. As I was a
+relative, it was a natural thing that the girl should enter a house of
+which I was the head. I did not approve of the step, but at first I had
+no fears about it. After a while, however, I began to have fears. She
+never liked our life and never sympathized with it, and her heart was
+never enlisted in the cause of the sisterhood; but after a time I found
+she was endeavoring to conquer herself, and when a woman with a
+will--and Sylvia is one of these--undertakes in earnest to conquer
+herself, she generally succeeds. Then it was I began to have my fears,
+and then it was I wished to divert her mind from the life of the
+sisterhood, and send her back to the world to which she belongs."
+
+"Then it was you gave me your promise?" I added.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "and I gave it honestly. I would have helped you
+all I could. I truly believed that in so doing I was acting for Sylvia's
+good."
+
+"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," I said; "and tell me, did
+Mrs. Raynor know, when I was on the island, of my affection for Sylvia?"
+
+"She knew as much as I knew," was the answer, "for I went to the island
+on purpose to consult with her on the subject; and when you confided in
+me, and I gave you my promise to help you, I also told her about that."
+
+"And did she approve?" I asked anxiously.
+
+"She did not disapprove. She knew all about you and your family,
+although she had never seen you until you were at her island."
+
+"It is strange," said I, "that I should have happened to go to that
+place at that time."
+
+"Yes," she continued, "it does seem rather odd. But, as I was going to
+say, a letter came not more than an hour after we had had our
+conversation, which totally altered the face of affairs. Sylvia wrote
+that she had resolved to devote her life to the sisterhood. This was a
+great blow to her mother and to me, but Mrs. Raynor had firmly resolved
+not to interfere with her daughter's resolutions in regard to her future
+life. She had done so once, and the results had been very unfortunate. I
+was of an entirely different mind, and I resolved, if the thing could be
+done, to change Sylvia's purpose; but I failed, and that is the end of
+it. She is not to be moved. I know her well, and her conviction and
+determination are not to be changed. She is now on a visit to her
+mother, and when she returns she will enter the House of Martha as an
+inmate for life."
+
+"Yes," said I, after a little pause, "I know that. I saw her a few days
+ago, and she told me of her purpose."
+
+"What!" cried Mother Anastasia, "you have seen her! A few days ago! She
+told you all this! Why did you not say so? Why did you come to me?"
+
+"Do not be displeased," I said, and as I spoke I seated myself beside
+her on the stone. She made no objections. I think she was too much
+agitated even to notice it. "I had no intention of keeping anything from
+you, but I first wanted to hear what you had to tell me. Sylvia did not
+tell me everything, nor have you."
+
+"Met her, and talked with her!" ejaculated Mother Anastasia. "Will you
+tell me how this happened?"
+
+She listened with the greatest attention to my story.
+
+"It is wonderful," she said, when I had finished. "It seems like a
+tantalizing fate. But it is well you did not overtake Mrs. Raynor. It
+would have been of no good to you, and the interview would have greatly
+troubled her."
+
+"Now tell me," I asked, "what I most want to know: what was the reason
+of Sylvia's sudden determination?"
+
+Mother Anastasia fixed her dark eyes on mine; they were full of a tender
+sadness. "I thought of you nearly all last night," she said, "and I
+determined that if you should ask me that question to-day I would answer
+it. It is a hard thing to do, but it is the best thing. Sylvia's resolve
+was caused by her conviction that she loved you. Feeling assured of
+that, she unhesitatingly took the path which her conscience pointed out
+to her."
+
+"Conscience!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," said Mother Anastasia, "it was her conscience. She was far more
+in earnest than we had thought her. It was conviction, not desire or
+sympathy, which had prompted her to enter the sisterhood. Now her
+convictions, her conscience, prompt her to crush everything which would
+interfere with the life she has chosen. All this she has told me. Her
+conscience stands between you and her, and you must understand that what
+you wish is absolutely impossible. You must be strong, and give up all
+thought of her. Will you promise me to do this?" and as she spoke she
+laid her hand upon my arm. "Promise it, and I shall feel that I have
+devoted myself this morning to as true a mission of charity as anything
+to which our sisters vow themselves."
+
+I did not respond, but sat silent, with bowed head.
+
+"I must go now," said Mother Anastasia. "Reflect on what I have said,
+and your heart and your practical sense will tell you that what I ask
+you to do is what you ought to do and must do. Good-by," and she held
+out her hand to me.
+
+I took her hand and held it. The thought flashed into my mind that when
+I released that hand the last tie between Sylvia and myself would be
+broken.
+
+Presently the hand was adroitly withdrawn, Mother Anastasia rose, and I
+was left alone, sitting in the shadow of the tree.
+
+
+
+
+XXXVII.
+
+THE PERFORMANCE OF MY UNDER-STUDY.
+
+
+On the next day, when Walkirk came back, I received him coolly. To be
+sure, the time of his return was now of slight importance, but my manner
+showed him that on general principles I blamed his delay.
+
+I did not care to hear his explanations, but proceeded at once to state
+the misfortunes which had befallen me. I told him in detail all that had
+happened since I left the floating grocery. I did not feel that it was
+at all necessary to do this, but there was a certain pleasure in talking
+of my mishaps and sorrows; I was so dreadfully tired of thinking of
+them.
+
+As I told Walkirk of my interview with Mother Anastasia on the Maple
+Ridge road, he laughed aloud. He instantly checked himself and begged my
+pardon, but assured me that never had he heard of a man doing anything
+so entirely out of the common as to make an appointment with a Mother
+Superior to meet him under a tree. At first I resented his laugh, but I
+could not help seeing for myself that the situation, as he presented it,
+was certainly an odd one, and that a man with his mind free to ordinary
+emotions might be excused for being amused at it.
+
+When I had finished, and had related how Mother Anastasia had proved to
+me that all possible connection between myself and Sylvia Raynor was now
+at an end, Walkirk was not nearly so much depressed as I thought he
+ought to be. In fact, he endeavored to cheer me, and did not agree with
+Mother Anastasia that there was no hope. At this I lost patience.
+
+"Confound it!" I cried, "what you say is not only preposterous, but
+unfeeling. I hate this eternal making the best of things, when there is
+no best. With me everything is at its worst, and it is cruel to try to
+make it appear otherwise."
+
+"I am sorry to annoy you," he said, "but I must insist that to me the
+situation does not appear to be without some encouraging features. Let
+me tell you what has happened to me since we parted."
+
+I resumed the seat from which I had risen to stride up and down the
+room, and Walkirk began his narrative.
+
+"I do not know, sir," he said, "that I ever have been so surprised as
+when I went on deck of the grocery boat, a short time before breakfast,
+and found that you were not on board. Captain Jabe and his man were
+equally astonished, and I should have feared that you had fallen
+overboard, if a man, who had come on the boat at a little pier where we
+had stopped very early in the morning, had not assured us that he had
+seen you go ashore at that place, but had not thought it worth while to
+mention so commonplace an occurrence. I wished to put back to the pier,
+but it was then far behind us, and Captain Jabe positively refused to do
+so. Both wind and tide would be against us, he said; and if you chose to
+go ashore without saying anything to anybody, that was your affair, and
+not his. I thought it possible you might have become tired with the slow
+progress of his vessel, and had left it, to hire a horse, to get to
+Sanpritchit before we did.
+
+"When we reached Sanpritchit and you were not there, I was utterly
+unable to understand the situation; but Mrs. Raynor's yacht was there,
+just on the point of sailing, and I considered it my duty, as your
+representative, to hasten on board, and to apprise the lady that you
+were on your way to see her. Of course she wanted to know why you were
+coming, and all that; and as you were not there to do it yourself, I
+told her the nature of your errand, and impressed upon her the
+importance of delaying her departure until she had seen you and had
+heard what you had to say. She did not agree with me that the interview
+would be of importance to any one concerned, but she consented to wait
+for a time and see you. If you arrived, she agreed to meet you on shore;
+for she would not consent to your coming on board the yacht, where her
+daughter was. I went ashore, and waited there with great impatience
+until early in the afternoon, when a boy arrived, who said he had
+started to bring you to Sanpritchit, but that you had changed your mind,
+and he had conveyed you to a railroad station, where you had taken a
+western-bound train.
+
+"I went to the yacht to report. I think Mrs. Raynor was relieved at your
+non-arrival; and as she knew I wished to join you as soon as possible,
+she invited me to sail with them to a little town on the coast,--I
+forget its name,--from which I could reach the railroad much quicker
+than from Sanpritchit."
+
+"She did not object, then," said I, "to your being on the yacht with her
+daughter?"
+
+"Oh, no," he answered, "for she found that Miss Raynor did not know me,
+or at least recognize me, and had no idea that I was in any way
+connected with you. Of course I accepted Mrs. Raynor's offer; but I did
+not save any time by it, for the wind fell off toward evening, and for
+hours there was no wind at all, and it was late the next afternoon when
+we reached the point where I went ashore."
+
+"Did you see anything of Miss Raynor in all that time?" I inquired.
+
+"Yes," he replied; "she was on deck a great deal, and I had several
+conversations with her."
+
+"With her alone?" I asked.
+
+"Yes," said he. "Mrs. Raynor is a great reader and fond of naps, and I
+think that the young lady was rather tired of the companionship of her
+uncle and the other gentleman, who were very much given to smoking, and
+was glad of the novelty of a new acquaintance. On my part, I felt it my
+duty to talk to her as much as possible, that I might faithfully report
+to you all that she said, and thus give you an idea of the state of her
+mind."
+
+"Humph!" I exclaimed; "but what did she say?"
+
+"Of course," continued Walkirk, "a great deal of our conversation was
+desultory and of no importance, but I endeavored, as circumspectly as I
+could, so to turn the conversation that she might say something which it
+would be worth while to report to you."
+
+"Now, Walkirk," said I, "if I had known you were doing a thing of that
+sort, I should not have approved of it. But did she say anything that in
+any way referred to me?"
+
+"Yes, she did," he answered, "and this is the way it came about.
+Something--I think it was the heat of the windless day--caused her to
+refer to the oppressive costume of the sisters of the House of Martha,
+and she then remarked that she supposed I knew she was one of that
+sisterhood. I replied that I had been so informed, and then betrayed as
+much natural interest in regard to the vocations and purposes of the
+organization as I thought would be prudent. I should have liked to bring
+up every possible argument against the folly of a young lady of her
+position and prospects extinguishing the very light of her existence in
+that hard, cold, soul-chilling house which I knew so well, but the
+circumstances did not warrant that. I was obliged to content myself with
+very simple questions.
+
+"'How do the sisters employ themselves?' I inquired.
+
+"'In all sorts of ways,' she said. 'Some nurse or teach, and others work
+for wages, like ordinary people, except that they do not have anything
+to do with the money they earn, which is paid directly to the house.'
+
+"'I think,' I then remarked, 'that there are a good many employments
+which would give the sisters very pleasant occupation, such as
+decorative art or clerical work.'
+
+"At this her face brightened. 'Clerical work is very nice. I tried that
+once, myself.'
+
+"'Was it book-keeping?' I asked.
+
+"'Oh, no,' she answered; 'I shouldn't have liked that. It was writing
+from dictation. I worked regularly so many hours every morning. It was a
+book which was dictated to me,--sketches of travel; that is, it was
+partly travel and partly fiction. It was very interesting.'
+
+"'I should think it would be so,' I answered. 'To ladies of education
+and literary taste, I should say such employment would be highly
+congenial. Do you intend to devote yourself principally to that sort of
+thing?'
+
+"'Oh, no,' said she, 'not at all. I like the work very much, but, for
+various reasons, I shall not do any more of it.'
+
+"I endeavored mildly to remonstrate against such a decision, but she
+shook her head. 'I was not a full sister at the time,' she said, 'and
+this was an experiment. I shall do no more of it.'
+
+"Her manner was very decided, but I did not drop the subject. 'If you do
+not fancy writing from dictation,' I said, 'why don't you try
+typewriting? I should think that would be very interesting, and it could
+be done in your own room. The work would not require you to go out at
+all, if you object to that.' Now this was a slip, because she had not
+told me that she had gone out, but she did not notice it.
+
+"'A sister does not have a room of her own,' she answered, 'and I do not
+understand typewriting;' and with that she left me, and went below,
+looking very meditative.
+
+"But my remark had had an effect. I think it was not half an hour
+afterward when she came to me.
+
+"'I have been thinking about your suggestion of typewriting,' she said.
+'Is it difficult to learn? Do you understand it? What use could I make
+of a machine in the House of Martha?'
+
+"I told her that I understood the art, and gave her all the information
+I could in regard to it, taking care to make the vocation as attractive
+as my conscience would allow. As to the use she could make of it, I said
+that at present there was a constant demand for typewritten copies of
+all sorts of writings,--legal, literary, scientific, everything.
+
+"'And people would send me things,' she asked, 'and I would copy them on
+the typewriter, and send them back, and that would be all?'
+
+"'You have put it exactly,' I said. 'If you do not choose, you need have
+no communication whatever with persons ordering the work.'
+
+"'And do you know of any one who would want such work done?'
+
+"'Yes,' I said; 'I know people who would be very glad to send papers to
+be copied. I could procure you some work which would be in no hurry, and
+that would be an advantage to you in the beginning.'
+
+"'Indeed it would,' she said; and then her mother joined us, and the
+subject of typewriting was dropped. The only time that it was referred
+to again was at the very end of my trip, when Miss Raynor came to me,
+just as I was preparing to leave the yacht, and told me that she had
+made up her mind to get a typewriter and to learn to use it; and she
+asked me, if I were still willing to assist her in securing work, to
+send my address to the Mother Superior of the House of Martha, which of
+course I assured her I would do."
+
+"Why in the name of common sense," I cried, turning suddenly around in
+my chair and facing Walkirk, "did you put into Miss Raynor's head all
+that stuff about typewriting? Did you do it simply because you liked to
+talk to her?"
+
+"By no means," he replied. "I did it solely on your account and for your
+benefit. If she learns to copy manuscripts on the typewriter, why should
+she not copy your manuscripts? Not immediately, perhaps, but in the
+natural course of business. If she should make me her agent, which I
+have no doubt she would be willing to do, I could easily manage all
+that. In this way you could establish regular communications with her.
+There would be no end to your opportunities, and I am sure you would
+know how to use them with such discretion and tact that they would be
+very effective."
+
+I folded my arms, and looked at him. "Walkirk," said I, "you are
+positively, completely, and hopelessly off the track. Mother Anastasia
+has shown me exactly how I stand with Sylvia Raynor. She has vowed
+herself to that sisterhood because she thinks it is wrong to love me.
+She has made her decision, and has taken all the wretched steps which
+have rendered that decision final, and now I do not intend to try to
+make her do what she religiously believes is wrong."
+
+"That is not my idea," answered Walkirk. "What I wish is that she shall
+get herself into such a state of mind that she shall think the
+sisterhood is wrong, and therefore leave it."
+
+I gave a snort of despair and disgust, and began to stride up and down
+the room. Presently, however, I recovered my temper. "Walkirk," said I,
+"I am quite sure that you mean well, and I don't intend to find fault
+with you; but this sort of thing does not suit me; let us have no more
+of it."
+
+
+
+
+XXXVIII.
+
+A BROKEN TRACE.
+
+
+As soon as my grandmother heard that I was at Arden, she terminated her
+visit abruptly, and returned home. When she saw me, she expressed the
+opinion that my holiday had not been of any service to me. She did not
+remember ever seeing me so greatly out of condition, and was of the
+opinion that I ought to see the doctor.
+
+"These watering places and islands," she said, "are just as likely to be
+loaded down with malaria as any other place. In fact, I don't know but
+it is just as well for our health for us to stay at home. That is, if we
+live in a place like Arden."
+
+I had no desire to conceal from this nearest and dearest friend and
+relative the real cause of my appearance, and I laid before her all the
+facts concerning Sylvia and myself.
+
+She was not affected as I supposed she would be. In fact, my narrative
+appeared to relieve her mind of some of her anxieties.
+
+"Any way," she remarked, after a moment or two of consideration, "this
+is better than malaria. If you get anything of that kind into your
+system, it is probable that you will never get it out, and it is at any
+time likely to affect your health, one way or another; but love affairs
+are different. They have a powerful influence upon a person, as I well
+know, but there is not about them that insidious poison, which, although
+you may think you have entirely expelled it from your system, is so
+likely to crop out again, especially in the spring and fall."
+
+To this I made no answer but a sigh. What was the good of saying that,
+in my present state of mind, health was a matter of indifference to me?
+
+"I am not altogether surprised," continued my grandmother, "that that
+secretary business turned out in this way. If it had been any other
+young woman, I should have advised against it, but Sylvia Raynor is a
+good match,--good in every way; and I thought that if her working with
+you had made you like her, and had made her like you, it might be very
+well; but I am sure it never entered my mind that if you did come to
+like each other she would choose the sisterhood instead of you. I knew
+that she was not then a full sister, and I hadn't the slightest doubt
+that if you two really did fall in love with each other she would leave
+the House of Martha as soon as her time was up. You must not think, my
+dear boy," she continued, "that I am anxious to get rid of you, but you
+know you must marry some day."
+
+I solemnly shook my head. "All that," I said, "is at an end. We need
+speak no more of it."
+
+My grandmother arose, and gently placed her hand upon my shoulder.
+"Come! come! Do not be so dreadfully cast down. You have yet one strong
+ground of hope."
+
+"What is that?" I inquired.
+
+My grandmother looked into my face and smiled. "The girl isn't dead
+yet," she answered.
+
+I now found myself in a very unsettled and unpleasant state of mind. My
+business affairs, which had been a good deal neglected of late, I put
+into the charge of Walkirk, who attended to them with much interest and
+ability. My individual concerns--that is to say, the guidance and
+direction of myself--I took into my own hands, and a sorry business I
+made of it.
+
+I spent a great deal of my time wondering whether or not Sylvia had
+returned to the House of Martha. I longed for her coming. The very
+thought of her living within a mile of me was a wild and uneasy
+pleasure. Then I would ask myself why I wished her to come. Her presence
+in the neighborhood would be of no good to me unless I saw her, and of
+course I could not see her. And if this could be so, what would be worse
+for me, or for her, than our seeing each other? From these abstract
+questions I came to a more practical one: What should I do? To go away
+seemed to be a sensible thing, but I was tired of going away. I liked my
+home, and, besides, Sylvia would be in the neighborhood. It also seemed
+wise to stay, and endeavor to forget her. But how could I forget her, if
+she were in the neighborhood? If she were to go away, I might be willing
+to go away also; but the chances were that I should not know where she
+had gone, and how could I endure to go to any place where I was certain
+she was not?
+
+During this mental tangle I confided in no one. There was no one who
+could sympathize with my varying view of the subject, and I knew there
+was no one with whose view of the subject I could agree. Sometimes it
+was almost impossible for me to sympathize with myself.
+
+It suited my mood to take long walks in the surrounding country. One
+morning, returning from one of these, when about half a mile out of the
+village, I saw in the road, not very far from me, a carriage, which
+seemed to be in distress. It was a four-wheeled, curtained vehicle, of
+the kind to be had for hire at the railroad stations; and beside the
+raw-boned horse which drew it stood a man and a woman, the latter in the
+gray garb of a sister of the House of Martha.
+
+When I recognized this costume, my heart gave a jump, and I hastened
+toward the group; but the woman had perceived my approach, and to my
+surprise came toward me. I quickly saw that it was Mother Anastasia. My
+heart sank; without any good reason, it must be admitted, but still it
+sank.
+
+The face of the Mother Superior was slightly flushed, as she walked
+rapidly in my direction. Saluting her, I inquired what had happened.
+
+"Nothing of importance," she answered; "a trace has broken."
+
+"I will go and look at it," I said. "Sometimes that sort of mishap can
+be easily remedied."
+
+"Oh, no," said she, "don't trouble yourself. It's broken in the middle,
+and so you cannot cut a fresh hole in it, or do any of those things
+which men do to broken traces. I have told the boy that he must take out
+the horse, and ride it back to the stable and get another set of
+harness. That is the only thing to be done. I shall wait here for his
+return, and I am very glad to have met you."
+
+Naturally I was pleased at this. "Then you have something to say to me?"
+I remarked.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "I have a good deal to say. Let us walk on to a
+more shaded place."
+
+"Now it strikes me," said I, "that the most pleasant place to wait will
+be in the carriage; there we can sit and talk quite comfortably."
+
+"Oh, no," she said, with a sort of half laugh, "it is stuffy and horrid.
+I greatly prefer the fresh air. I have reason to suppose you do not
+object to conversing under a tree. I see a promising bit of shade a
+little farther on."
+
+"Would it be wise to go so far from the carriage?" I asked. "Have you
+left in it anything of value?"
+
+Mother Anastasia was more animated than I had ever seen her before when
+in the uniform of the house.
+
+"Oh, pshaw!" she answered. "You know the people around here do not steal
+things out of carriages. Let us step on."
+
+"But first," I said, "I will run down and pull the carriage out of the
+way of passing vehicles. It now stands almost across the road."
+
+With a movement of impatience, she put her hand upon my arm. "Don't
+trouble yourself about that hack; let it stand where it is. I wish to
+speak with you, and do not let us waste our time."
+
+I had no objection to speaking with Mother Anastasia, and, giving no
+further thought to the abandoned vehicle, I walked with her to a spot
+where a clump of straggling locust-trees threw a scanty shade upon the
+sidewalk. I could not but feel that my companion had something important
+to say to me, for she was evidently a good deal agitated. She stepped a
+little in front of me, and then turned and faced me.
+
+"There is no place to sit down here," she said, "but I'm not tired, are
+you?"
+
+I assured her that I was not, and would as soon talk standing as
+sitting.
+
+"Now, then," she began, "tell me about yourself. What have you been
+doing? What are your plans?"
+
+"My plans!" I cried. "Of what importance are my plans and actions? I
+thought you wished to speak to me of Sylvia."
+
+She smiled. "There is really nothing to say about that young person, of
+whom, by the way, you should not speak as 'Sylvia.' She is now a full
+member of the sisterhood, and has accepted the name of 'Sister Hagar.'
+We found that the other sisters would not like it if an exception were
+made in her favor, in regard to her name."
+
+"'Hagar!'" I groaned. "Horrible!"
+
+"Oh, no," replied Mother Anastasia, "there is nothing horrible about it.
+'Hagar' is a little harsh, perhaps, but one soon gets used to that sort
+of thing."
+
+"I can never get used to it," I said.
+
+"My dear Mr. Vanderley," said the Mother Superior, speaking very
+earnestly, but with a gentleness that was almost affectionate, "I wish I
+could impress upon your mind that there is no need of your getting used
+to the name of our young sister, or of your liking it or disliking it.
+You ought thoroughly to understand, from what she has told you, and from
+what I have told you, that she never can be anything to you, and that,
+out of regard to yourself, if to no one else, you should cease to think
+of her as I see you do think."
+
+"As long as I live in this world," I replied, "I shall continue to think
+of her as I do think."
+
+Mother Anastasia gave a sigh. "The unreasonableness of men is something
+inexplicable. Perhaps you think I am not old enough to give you advice,
+but I will say that, for your own sake, you ought to crush and
+obliterate the feelings you have toward our sister; and if you do not
+choose to do it for your own sake, you ought to do it for her sake and
+that of our sisterhood. It makes it extremely awkward for us, to say the
+least of it, to know that there is a gentleman in the village who is in
+love with one of the sisters of the House of Martha."
+
+"I suppose you would have me exile myself," I replied, "leave forever my
+home, my grandmother, everything that is dear to me, and all for the
+sake of the peace and quiet of your sisterhood. Let me assure you I do
+not care enough for your sisterhood to do that."
+
+The Mother Superior smiled ironically, but not ill-naturedly. "I am very
+much afraid," she remarked, "that in this matter you care for no one but
+yourself. There is nothing so selfish as a man in love."
+
+"He needs to be," I answered. "But tell me, is Sylvia here?"
+
+"Sylvia again," said she, half laughing. "Yes, she has returned to the
+House of Martha, and you can see for yourself that, if you continue in
+your present state of mind, it will be impossible for her ever to go
+outside of the house."
+
+"I shall not hurt her," I answered.
+
+"Yes, you will hurt her," quickly replied Mother Anastasia. "You will
+hurt her very much, if you meet her, and show by your words, looks, or
+actions that your former attitude toward her is not changed." She came
+nearer to me, looking into my face with her eyes full of an earnest
+tenderness, and as she spoke she laid the tips of her fingers gently
+upon my shoulder. She had a very pleasant way of doing this. "I do
+wish," she said, "that you would let me prevail upon you to do what your
+conscience must tell you is right. If you have ever loved the girl who
+was once Sylvia Raynor, that is the best of reasons why you should cease
+to love her now. You owe it to her to cease to love her."
+
+I looked steadily into the face of the Mother Superior.
+
+"You promise me that you will do that?" she said, with a smile upon her
+lips and a light in her eyes which might have won over almost any man to
+do almost anything. "You promise me that you will allow our young
+sister, who has hardships enough to bear without any more being thrust
+upon her, to try to be happy in the way she has chosen, and that you
+will try to be happy in the way you should have chosen; that you will go
+out into the world and act your part in life; that you will look upon
+this affair as something which has vanished into the past; and that you
+will say to your heart, 'You are free, if not by my will, by the
+irresistible force of circumstances'?"
+
+I looked at her a few moments in silence, and then answered, very
+quietly, "I shall do nothing of the kind."
+
+She gave her head a little toss and stepped backward, and then, with a
+half laugh which seemed to indicate an amused hopelessness, she said:
+"You are utterly impracticable, and I am certain I do not know what is
+to be done about it. But I see that the boy has returned with the horse,
+and I must continue my journey. I am going to the Iron Furnace to see a
+sick woman. I wish you would think of what I have said, and remember
+that it was spoken from the depth of my soul. And do not think," she
+continued, as I turned and accompanied her toward the carriage, "that I
+do not appreciate the state of your feelings. I understand them
+thoroughly, and I sympathize with you as perhaps only a woman can
+sympathize; but still I say to you that there are some things in this
+world which we must give up, and which we ought to give up promptly and
+willingly."
+
+"Do you think," said I, "that if Sylvia were to learn typewriting there
+would be any objection to her copying manuscript for me?"
+
+Mother Anastasia burst into a laugh. "You ought to be ashamed of
+yourself for making a person of my position behave so giddily in the
+presence of a hack-driver."
+
+We now reached the carriage, and I assisted her to enter it.
+
+"Good-morning," she said, her face still perturbed by her suddenly
+checked merriment, "and do not forget the counsels I have given you."
+
+I bowed and stepped back, but the driver did not start. He sat for a
+moment irresolute, and then, turning toward Mother Anastasia, asked,
+"Shall I wait for the other sister?"
+
+"Oh, go on!" cried the Mother Superior. "There is no other sister."
+
+The boy, startled by her tone, gave his horse a cut, and the equipage
+rattled away. I walked slowly homeward, meditating earnestly upon Mother
+Anastasia's words and upon Mother Anastasia.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIX.
+
+A SOUL WHISPER?
+
+
+My meditations upon the Mother Superior of the House of Martha were not
+concluded during my homeward walk; the subject occupied my mind for the
+greater part of the rest of the day. I do not call myself a philosopher,
+but I am in the habit of looking into the nature and import of what
+happens about me. My reflections on Mother Anastasia gradually produced
+in me the conviction that there was something more in her words, her
+manner, and her actions than would appear to the ordinary observer.
+
+In considering this matter, I went back to the very first of my
+intercourse with this beautiful woman, who, divested of the dismal
+disguise of her sisterhood, had produced upon my memory an impression
+which was so strong that, whenever I now thought of Mother Anastasia,
+she appeared before my mental vision in a white dress, with a broad hat
+and a bunch of flowers in her belt. In the character of a beautiful and
+sensible woman, and not at all in that of a Mother Superior, she had
+warmly commended my suit of Sylvia Raynor. With our regard for Sylvia as
+a basis, we had consulted, we had confided, we had shown ourselves to
+each other in a most frank and friendly manner.
+
+Suddenly she had changed, she had deserted me without a word of
+explanation, and the next time I saw her she was totally opposed to my
+maintaining any connection whatever with Sylvia.
+
+But there had been more than this. This woman, beautiful even in her
+gray garb, had shown an increasing interest in the subject, which could
+not be altogether explained by her interest in Sylvia. If she truly
+believed that that young sister would devote her life to the service of
+the House of Martha, that matter might be considered as settled; and
+what was her object in so earnestly endeavoring to impress upon my mind
+the fact that I could not marry Sylvia? It might be supposed that, in
+the ordinary course of events, I should be compelled to admit this
+point. But not only did she continually bring up this view of the
+subject, but she showed such a growing interest in me and my welfare
+that it made me uneasy.
+
+It is almost impossible truly to understand a woman; most men will admit
+this. I could not say that I understood Mother Anastasia. At times I
+hoped I did not understand her. From what I knew of the constitution of
+the sisterhood, some of its members were vowed to it for life, and
+others for a stated period. Putting together this and that which Mother
+Anastasia had said to me about the organization, it did not appear to me
+that she felt that devotion to it which a sister for life would
+naturally feel. She had used all the art of a logician to impress upon
+me the conviction that Sylvia was a life sister, and could be nothing
+else. Was it possible--I scarcely dared to ask myself the question--that
+she had used the arts of a woman to intimate to me that she might be
+something else? It did not cross my mind for an instant that anything
+that Mother Anastasia had said to me, or anything that could be deduced
+from her manner, was in the slightest degree out of the way. A woman has
+a right to indicate her position in regard to a fellow-being, and in
+this age she generally does indicate it. If the true nature of Mother
+Anastasia had so far exerted itself as to impel her, perhaps
+involuntarily, to let me know that she was as much a woman as she was a
+Mother Superior, and that in time she would be all of the first and not
+any of the latter, she had truly done this with a delicate ingenuousness
+beyond compare. It had not been the exhalation by the flower of inviting
+perfume or its show of color; it had been the simple opening of the
+blossom to the free sun and air before my eyes.
+
+My last interview with Mother Anastasia had crystallized in my mind a
+mist of suppositions and fancies which had vaguely floated there for
+some time. It is not surprising that I was greatly moved at the form the
+crystal took.
+
+When Walkirk came, the next day, to make his usual reports, I talked to
+him of Mother Anastasia. Of course I did not intimate to him how I had
+been thinking of her, but I gave him as many facts as possible, in order
+that I might discover what he would think of her. When I had finished my
+account of the interview of the morning before, I could see that a very
+decided impression had been made upon him. His countenance twitched, he
+smiled, he looked upon the floor. For a moment I thought he was going to
+laugh.
+
+"This amuses you," I remarked.
+
+"Yes," he replied, his face having recovered its ordinary composure, "it
+is a little funny. Mother Anastasia seems to be a good deal of a
+manager."
+
+"Yes," I said reflectively, "that is true. It is quite plain that,
+perceiving an opportunity of a private conference with me, she took
+advantage of the circumstances. We could have had an ordinary chat just
+as well in one place as another, but it was easy to see that she did not
+wish the boy who was unhitching the horse to hear even the first words
+of our conversation. As you say, she is a good manager, and I had my
+suspicions of that before you mentioned it." As I said this I could not
+help smiling, as I thought how surprised he would be if he knew in what
+direction my suspicions pointed. "Do you know," I continued, "if it is
+necessary that the head of a sisterhood should be a life member of it?"
+
+"I have never heard," he answered, "but I have been informed that the
+organization of the House of Martha is a very independent one, and does
+not attempt to conform itself to that of any other sisterhood. The women
+who founded it had ideas of their own, and what rules and laws they made
+I do not know."
+
+For a few moments I walked up and down the room; then I asked, "How did
+Mother Anastasia come to be the Mother Superior?"
+
+"I have been told," said Walkirk, "that she gave most of the money for
+the founding of the institution, and it was natural enough that she
+should be placed at the head. I have an idea that she would not have
+been willing to enter the House except as its head."
+
+"It is about four years since it was established, is it not?" I asked;
+and Walkirk assured me that I was correct.
+
+All this information ranged itself on the side of conviction. She was
+just the woman to try a thing of this kind for a stated time; she was
+just the woman not to like it; and she was just the woman whose soul
+could not be prevented from whispering that the gates of the bright
+world were opening before her. But why should her soul whisper this to
+me? The whole matter troubled me very much.
+
+I determined not to base any action upon what had thus forced itself
+upon my mind. I would wait. I would see what would happen next. I would
+persist in my determination never to give up Sylvia. And I will mention
+that there was a little point in connection with her which at this time
+greatly annoyed me: whenever I thought of her, she appeared before me in
+the gray dress of a sister, and not as I had seen her on the island. I
+wished very much that this were not the case.
+
+
+
+
+XL.
+
+AN INSPIRATION.
+
+
+I now found myself in an embarrassing situation. All my plans and hopes
+of tidings from Sylvia, or of any possible connection with her, were
+based upon Mother Anastasia. But would it be wise for me to continue my
+very friendly relations with the Mother Superior? On my side these
+relations were extremely pleasant, though that did not matter, one way
+or another. But would it be kind and just to her to meet with her on the
+footing I had enjoyed? In every point of this affair I wished to be
+honorable and considerate. Acting on these principles, I went away for
+two weeks. It was very hard for me to absent myself for so long a period
+from Arden, but it was my duty. To take the chances of another meeting
+with Mother Anastasia, following close upon the recent one, which had
+made so forcible an impression upon me, would be imprudent. A moderate
+absence might be of great advantage.
+
+On my return I took to strolling about the village, especially in the
+neighborhood of the House of Martha; and if, in these strolls, I had met
+the Mother Superior, I should not have hesitated to accost her and ask
+news of Sylvia. For more reasons than one, I felt it was highly
+desirable that I should impress it on the mind of Mother Anastasia that
+my interest in Sylvia had not in the least abated.
+
+But several days passed, and I met no one clad in gray bonnet and gown.
+I was disappointed; there were a good many questions about Sylvia which
+I wished to ask, and a good many things in regard to her that I wished
+to say. I might go to the House of Martha and boldly ask to see the
+Mother Superior; but a step like that might produce an undesirable
+impression, and naturally the position in which I had placed myself
+regarding Sylvia would prevent my going to visit her.
+
+As I could do nothing for myself in this matter, I must ask some one to
+help me, and there was no one so willing and able to do this as my
+grandmother. She could go to the House of Martha and ask what questions
+she pleased. I went to the dear old lady and made known my desires. She
+laid down her knitting and gave me her whole attention.
+
+"Now tell me exactly what it is you want," she said. "You cannot expect
+to be asked to take tea with the sisters, you know, though I see no
+reason why you should not. Say what they will, they are not nuns."
+
+"What I want," I replied, "is to know how Sylvia is, what she is doing,
+all about her. I do not even know that she is still there."
+
+"My dear boy," said my grandmother, very tenderly, "I suppose that even
+if you are obliged to give up all hope of ever having Sylvia for your
+own, you will want to know every day for the rest of your life just how
+she is getting on."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "that is true."
+
+"Poor fellow," said the old lady, her eyes a little dimmed as she spoke,
+"the fates have not been using you well. Is there anything else you want
+me to inquire about?"
+
+"Oh, yes," I answered. "I take a great interest in the institution."
+
+"Which is natural enough, since Sylvia is there," interpolated my
+grandmother.
+
+"And I should be glad," I continued, "to know anything of interest
+regarding the sisterhood, from the Mother Superior down."
+
+"Mother Anastasia is a very fine woman," said my grandmother, "and I
+should think you would be likely to be greatly interested in her. I am
+going to make some inquiries about the rules of the House of Martha. I
+see no reason why the sisters should not occasionally accept invitations
+to tea."
+
+This remark startled me, and I was prompted to make a cautionary
+observation. But I restrained myself; in cases like this interference
+would be likely to provoke comment, and by my grandmother's desire I
+went to order the carriage.
+
+In less than an hour she returned. I was promptly at hand to receive her
+report.
+
+"Well," said she, "I have visited the sisters, but I am sorry I did not
+see Mother Anastasia. She was away."
+
+"Away!" I exclaimed. "Where has she gone?"
+
+"She went to Washington more than a week ago," was the answer.
+
+"For a long stay?" I asked quickly.
+
+"The sisters did not know," continued my grandmother, "but their
+impression is that she will return in a few days."
+
+I knitted my brows.
+
+"You are disappointed, and so am I. I intended to ask her here to tea
+next Friday, and to urge her, if she did not too greatly object, to
+bring Sylvia with her. There is nothing like quiet intercourse of that
+kind to break down obstacles."
+
+"Alas," I said, "I am afraid there are obstacles"--
+
+"But do not let us talk about them," she interrupted. "Nobody knows what
+will happen, and let us be as happy as we can."
+
+"Did you see Sylvia?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, yes," she answered, "and I had some talk with her, but it did not
+amount to much. She is trying to make a regular nun of herself,--that
+is, if a Protestant can be a nun,--but I do not think she will ever
+succeed. She admitted that she greatly disliked the ordinary work of the
+sisters, and wished to employ herself in some way which would be just as
+lucrative to the institution, and yet not so repugnant to her. Now you
+can see for yourself that that will not do. If she intends to be a
+sister of the House of Martha, she must do as the other sisters do. She
+cannot always expect to be an exception. At present she is learning
+typewriting."
+
+I gave a great start. "Typewriting!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," said my grandmother. "Is it not odd that she should have taken up
+that? She has a machine, and practices steadily on it. She showed me
+some of her printed sheets, and I must say, so far as I am concerned,
+that I should prefer plain handwriting, where the letters are not so
+likely to get on top of one another. She wanted to know if I could give
+her any advice about getting work, when she thought she could do it well
+enough; but of course I know nothing about such things. My hope is that
+she will get to dislike that as much as she does nursing and apothecary
+work, and to find out that her real duty is to live like an ordinary
+human being, and so make herself and other people truly happy."
+
+I do not know that there is any inherent connection between a
+typewriting machine and the emotions and sentiments of love, but in this
+case such a connection instantly established itself in my mind. It
+seemed plain to me that Walkirk's suggestion to Sylvia had taken root;
+and why did she wish to typewrite, if she did not wish to typewrite for
+me? Was this an endeavor of her tender heart to keep up a thread of
+connection with me which should not be inconsistent with the duties, the
+vows, and the purposes of her life? Dear girl! If the thing could be
+managed, she should typewrite for me as much as she wished, even if she
+piled the letters on one another as high as the Great Pyramid.
+
+With much enthusiasm, I communicated to Walkirk my intention to employ
+Sylvia in typewriting, and requested his assistance in regard to the
+details of the business. I could easily furnish her material enough. I
+had lots of things I should like to have copied, and I was ready to
+prepare a great deal more. My under-study made no allusion to my
+previous reception of his suggestion about typewriting, but brought his
+practical mind to bear upon the matter, and advised that preliminary
+arrangements should be made immediately. In a case like this it was well
+to be in time, and to secure the services of Miss Raynor at once. I
+agreed with Walkirk that it was very wise to take time by the forelock,
+but Mother Anastasia was the only person who could properly regulate
+this affair, which should be instantly laid before her; and as it was
+impossible to find out when she would return to Arden, I felt that it
+was my duty to go to her. When I mentioned this plan to Walkirk, he
+offered to go in my place, but I declined. This was a very delicate
+affair, to which no one could attend as well as I could myself.
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "do you suppose that the Mother Superior will appear
+in Washington under her real name, or as Mother Anastasia? And, by the
+way, what is her real name?"
+
+"Is it possible," exclaimed Walkirk, "that you do not know it? It is
+Raynor,--Miss Marcia Raynor. She is a cousin of the younger lady."
+
+"Oh, yes, I know that," I replied; "but it never occurred to me to
+inquire what name Mother Anastasia bore before she entered the House of
+Martha. The first thing for me to do is to get her Washington address."
+
+"And may I ask," continued Walkirk, "how you are going to do that?"
+
+I was not prepared to give an immediate answer to this question.
+
+"I suppose," I remarked presently, "that it would not do to ask for the
+address at the House of Martha, but I could go to Sylvia's mother. I
+should like to call there, any way, and I have no doubt she would know
+where Mother Anastasia would be likely to stop."
+
+My under-study shook his head. "Pardon me," he said, "but I do not think
+it would be wise to go to Mrs. Raynor. She would be sure to connect her
+daughter with your urgent desire to see Mother Anastasia, and she would
+not hesitate to question you on the matter. I think I understand her
+disposition in regard to you and Miss Raynor, and I am very certain that
+when she heard of the typewriting scheme she would instantly put her
+foot on it; and if I am not mistaken," he continued, with a noticeable
+deference in his tone, "that is the only reason you can give for your
+wish to confer with Mother Anastasia."
+
+I strode impatiently up and down the room. "Certainly it is," said I,
+"and although it is reason enough, I suppose you are right, and it would
+not do to offer it to Mrs. Raynor; and, for the matter of that, Mother
+Anastasia may think it a very little thing to take me down to
+Washington."
+
+"I had thought of that," said Walkirk, "and that was one reason why I
+proposed to go in your stead."
+
+I made no answer to this remark. My mind was filled with annoying
+reflections about the unreasonableness of people who insist upon knowing
+people's reasons for doing things, and my annoyance was increased by the
+conviction, now that I looked more closely into the matter, that the
+only reason I could give for hastening after Mother Anastasia in this
+way was indeed a very little one.
+
+"Walkirk," I exclaimed, "can't you think of some other reason for my
+seeing the Mother Superior without delay?"
+
+"Truly," he replied, smiling, "it is rather difficult. You might offer
+to build an annex to the House of Martha, but such a matter could surely
+wait until the return of the Mother Superior."
+
+I sniffed, and continued to stride. I must see Mother Anastasia in
+Washington, because there I might have a chance of speaking to her
+freely, which I could not expect to have anywhere else; and yet how was
+I going to explain to her, or to any one else, my desire to speak with
+her at all? It might have been difficult to explain this to myself; at
+all events, I did not try to do it. Suddenly an idea struck me.
+
+"Annex!" I cried,--"capital!"
+
+"My dear sir," said Walkirk, rising in much agitation, "I hope you do
+not think that I seriously proposed your building an annex to"--
+
+"Building!" I interrupted. "Nonsense! The annex I am thinking of is
+quite different; and yet not altogether so, either. Walkirk, don't you
+think that a man in my position could do a great deal to help those
+sisters in their good work? Don't you think that he could act as an
+outside collaborator? I am sure there are many things he could do which
+might not be suitable for them to do, or which they might not want to
+do. For instance, this business that has taken Mother Anastasia to
+Washington. Perhaps it is something that she hates to do, and I might
+have done as well as not. I have a mind to propose to her to go in and
+take all this sort of thing off the hands of the sisters. I think that
+is a good practical idea, and it is very natural that I should wish to
+propose it to her at the very time she is engaged in this outside
+business."
+
+"In a word," remarked Walkirk, "you would make yourself a brother of the
+House of Martha."
+
+I laughed. "That is not a bad notion," I said; "in fact, it is a very
+good one. I do not know that I shall put the matter exactly in that
+light, but a brother of the House of Martha is what I should like to be.
+Then I should be free to discuss all sorts of things, and to do all
+sorts of things. And I could be of a lot of service, I am sure. But I
+shall approach the matter cautiously. I shall begin with a simple offer
+of service, and, perhaps, for the present I may drop the typewriting
+plan. Now for Mother Anastasia's address. I must get that without
+delay."
+
+Walkirk did not seem to have paid attention to this last remark. His
+mind appeared occupied with amusing reflections.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, in apologizing for his abstraction, "but I
+was thinking what a funny thing it would be to be a brother of the House
+of Martha. As to the address--let me see. Do you remember that lady who
+was staying with Mrs. Raynor, at her island, who called herself a
+Person,--Miss Laniston?"
+
+"Of course I remember her," I answered, "and with the greatest disgust."
+
+"I happen to know her address," said Walkirk, "and I think she is more
+likely to give you the information you want than Mrs. Raynor. If you do
+not care to confer with her, I can go to the city"--
+
+"No, no, no!" I exclaimed. "She might object to giving you the address;
+I shall insist that she give it to me. I think I can manage the matter.
+She owes me something, and she knows it."
+
+In fact, I did not care to trust Walkirk with this affair. It was plain
+that he did not thoroughly sympathize with me in the project. I was
+afraid he might make a blunder, or in some way fail me. Any way, this
+was a matter which I wished to attend to myself.
+
+
+
+
+XLI.
+
+MISS LANISTON.
+
+
+At eight o'clock that evening I was at the house of Miss Laniston. The
+lady was at home, and received me. She advanced with both hands
+extended.
+
+"Truly," she cried, "this is the most charming instance of masculine
+forgiveness I have ever witnessed."
+
+I took one of her hands; this much for the sake of policy. "Madam," I
+said, "I am not thinking of forgiveness, or unforgiveness. I am here to
+ask a favor; and if you grant it, I am willing that it shall
+counterbalance everything between us which suggests forgiveness."
+
+"Dear me!" she exclaimed, leading the way to a sofa. "Sit down, and let
+me know my opportunities."
+
+I did not want to sit down, but, as I said before, I felt that I must be
+politic, and so took a seat on the other end of the sofa.
+
+"My errand is a very simple one," I said. "I merely want to know the
+address of Mother Anastasia, in Washington."
+
+The lady folded her hands in her lap, and looked at me steadily.
+
+"Very simple, indeed," she said. "Why do you come to me for this
+address? Would not the sisters give it to you?"
+
+"For various reasons I did not care to ask them," I replied.
+
+"One of them being, I suppose, that you knew you would not get it."
+
+I did not reply to this remark.
+
+"If you know the address," I inquired, "will you kindly give it to me?
+It is necessary that I should have it at once."
+
+"To telegraph?" she asked.
+
+"No, I am going to her."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated the lady, and there was a pause in the conversation.
+"It does not strike me," she said presently, "that I have any authority
+to tell gentlemen where to find Mother Anastasia, but I can telegraph
+and ask her if she is willing that I shall send you to her."
+
+This proposition did not suit me at all. I was quite sure that the
+Mother Superior would not consider it advisable that I should come to
+her, and would ask me to postpone my communication until she should
+return to Arden. But Arden, as I had found, would be a very poor place
+for the long and earnest interview which I desired.
+
+"That would not do," I answered; "she would not understand. I wish to
+see her on an important matter, which can be explained only in a
+personal interview."
+
+"You excite my curiosity," said Miss Laniston. "Why don't you make me
+your confidante? In that case, I might decide whether or not it would be
+proper to give you the address."
+
+"Impossible," I said,--"that would be impossible."
+
+Miss Laniston's eyes were of a blue gray, and very fine ones, and she
+fixed them upon me with a lively intentness.
+
+"Do you still hope," she asked, "to marry Sylvia Raynor? Surely you must
+know that is impossible. She is now a member for life of the
+sisterhood."
+
+"I know all that," I replied impatiently. "It is not about that matter
+that I wish to see the Mother Superior."
+
+"Is it then about Mother Anastasia herself? Do you wish to marry her?"
+
+I sprang to my feet in my excitement. "Why do you speak to me in that
+way," I exclaimed, "and about a woman who is at the head of a religious
+institution, and whose earthly existence is devoted to it?"
+
+"Not at all," quietly answered the lady. "Mother Anastasia is not a life
+member of the sisterhood of the House of Martha."
+
+At these words my blood began to boil within me in a manner which I
+could not comprehend. My eyeballs seemed to burn, as I stood and gazed
+speechlessly at my companion.
+
+"You take such an interest in these sisters," she said, "that I supposed
+you knew that Mother Anastasia joined the sisterhood only for a term of
+years, now nearly expired. She was made Mother Superior because those
+who helped form the institution knew that no one else could so well fill
+the place, especially during its first years. I was one of those
+persons."
+
+I do not remember a time when my mind was in such a state of
+ungovernable emotion. Not only was I unable to control my feelings, but
+I did not know what they were. One thing only could I comprehend: I must
+remove this impression from the mind of Miss Laniston, and I could think
+of no other way of doing it than to confide to her the business on which
+I wished to see Mother Anastasia. I reseated myself on the sofa, and
+without delay or preface I laid before her my plan of collaboration with
+the sisters of the House of Martha; explaining how much better a man
+could attend to certain outside business than the sisters could do it,
+and showing how, in a manner, I proposed to become a brother of the
+House of Martha. Thus only could I defend myself against her irrational
+and agitating suppositions.
+
+She heard me to the end, and then she leaned back on the sofa and
+laughed,--laughed until I thought the people in the street must hear
+her. I was hurt, but said nothing.
+
+"You must excuse me," she said, when she was able to speak, "but this is
+so sudden my mind is not prepared for it. And so you wish to become a
+brother of the House of Martha? I would be solemn about it if I could,
+but really I cannot," and again she laughed.
+
+I was about to retire, but she checked me.
+
+"Do not go," she said; "do not be angry. Forget that I laughed. Now
+perhaps I can help you. I will make you a promise. If you will agree
+faithfully to tell me how Mother Anastasia receives your proposition, I
+will give you her address."
+
+"Promise," I said severely. "You may remember that this is not the first
+time you have made me a promise."
+
+"Don't bring up that old affair!" she exclaimed. "What I did then could
+not be helped. When we had our talk about the sister with whom you had
+fallen in love, I had no idea she was Sylvia Raynor, the daughter of my
+hostess. When I discovered the truth, I had to drop the whole affair.
+Any person of honor would have done that. I could not help its being
+funny, you know."
+
+I had become calmer, and was able to be politic again.
+
+"If Mother Anastasia will allow me," I said, "I am willing to promise to
+tell you what she thinks of my plan."
+
+"Very good," she replied, "it is a bargain. She is stopping with a
+friend, Mrs. Gardley, at 906 Alaska Avenue. I address her as 'Miss
+Raynor,' because I always do that when I have a chance, but I think it
+will be well for you to ask for Mother Anastasia."
+
+I arose, and she followed my example.
+
+"Now, then," said she, "we are friends," and her sparkling eyes seemed
+to have communicated their merriment to the gems upon the white hand
+which she held out to me.
+
+I took the hand, and as I did so a politic idea flashed up within me. If
+I must be friends with this woman, why not make use of her? This was a
+moment when she was well disposed to serve me.
+
+"If you are willing to consider me a friend," I replied, still holding
+her hand, "you will not refuse to tell me something which I have long
+wanted to know, and which I ought to know."
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+"What was the trouble, which caused Sylvia Raynor to enter the House of
+Martha?"
+
+She withdrew her hand and reflected for a moment.
+
+"Man is an inquisitive animal," she answered, "but we cannot alter his
+nature, and there is some excuse for your wanting to know all about
+Sylvia. She is out of your reach, of course, but you have certainly
+taken as much interest in her as a man can take in a woman. The matter
+is not a close secret, and I suppose I may as well tell you that the
+cause of her entering the sisterhood was nothing at all out of the
+common. It was simply a thwarted love affair. You don't like that, I can
+see by your face."
+
+"No, I do not like it, and I am very sorry to hear it."
+
+"My dear sir," said she, "you must be early on hand and prompt in action
+to be Number One with a girl like Sylvia; but then, you know, a Number
+One seldom counts. In this case, however, he did count, for he made a
+Number Two impossible."
+
+"Not so," I cried hotly. "I am Number Two, and shall always continue
+so."
+
+She laughed. "I am afraid," she said, "that it will be necessary for a
+brother of the House of Martha to get rid of that sort of feeling."
+
+"How was she thwarted?" I asked quickly.
+
+"The story is briefly this," replied Miss Laniston: "A certain gentleman
+courted Sylvia's cousin, and everybody supposed they would be married;
+but in some way or other he treated her badly, and the match was broken
+off; then, a few years later, this same person fell in love with Sylvia,
+who knew nothing of the previous affair. The young girl found him a most
+attractive lover, and he surely would have won her had not her mother
+stepped in and put an extinguisher upon the whole affair. She knew what
+had happened before, and would not have the man in her family. Then it
+was that Sylvia found the world a blank, and concluded to enter the
+sisterhood."
+
+"Do you mean," I asked, "that the cousin with whom the man was first in
+love was Marcia Raynor, Mother Anastasia?"
+
+"Yes," answered Miss Laniston, "it was she. You do not like that?"
+
+Like it! A cold and tingling pain ran through my body, and there sprang
+up in me an emotion of the intensest hatred for a person whom I had
+never seen.
+
+My feelings were such as I could not express; the situation was one
+which I could not discuss. I took leave of Miss Laniston without giving
+sufficient consideration to her expression of countenance and to her
+final words now to be able to say whether they indicated amusement or
+sympathy.
+
+
+
+
+XLII.
+
+THE MOTHER SUPERIOR.
+
+
+Seldom, I think, has a berth in a sleeping-car held a more
+turbulent-minded man than I was during my journey from New York to
+Washington. The revelation that the same man had loved and been loved by
+Mother Anastasia and by Sylvia had disquieted me in a manner not easy to
+explain; but I knew that I was being torn by jealousy, and jealousy is a
+passion which it is sometimes impossible to explain.
+
+An idea which came into my mind in the night increased the storm within
+me. I imagined that the wretch who had made suit to both Marcia and
+Sylvia was Walkirk. He knew a good deal about these women; sometimes I
+was surprised to discover how much he knew. Perhaps now, acting in a
+base disguise, he was endeavoring to make of me a stepping-stone to his
+ultimate success with one or the other. Hound! I would crush him!
+
+My thoughts ran rapidly backward. I remembered how zealous he had been
+in following Miss Raynor's yacht. He had told me of his conversations
+with Sylvia, but what reason had I to believe he spoke the truth? That
+any man should have loved these two women filled me with rage. That that
+man should be Walkirk was an insupportable thought. I was not only
+jealous but I felt myself the victim of a treacherous insult.
+
+It was seven o'clock when I reached Washington, but, although I had
+arrived at my destination, I could give no thought to the object of my
+journey until I had discovered the truth about Walkirk. That was
+all-important.
+
+But of whom should I inquire? I could think of no one but Miss Laniston.
+I had been a fool not to ask her the name of the man when I was with
+her. But I would telegraph to her now, and ask for it. She might be
+asleep at that hour, but I believed she was a woman who would awake and
+answer my question and then go to sleep again.
+
+I immediately went to the telegraph office, and sent this message: "What
+is the name of the man of whom we spoke last evening? It is necessary
+that I know it. Please answer at once." She would understand this. We
+had spoken of but one man.
+
+For nearly an hour I walked the floor and tossed over the morning
+papers, and then came the answer to my message. It was this: "Brownson.
+He is dead."
+
+There is a quality in the air of Washington which is always delightful
+to me, but I think it has never affected me as it did that morning. As I
+breathed it, it exhilarated me; it cheered and elated me; it rose-tinted
+my emotions; it gave me an appetite for my breakfast; it made me feel
+ready for any enterprise.
+
+As soon as I thought it proper to make a morning call I went to number
+906 Alaska Avenue. There I found a large and handsome house, of that
+independent and highly commendable style of architecture which
+characterizes many of the houses of Washington. I had not yet made up my
+mind whether I should inquire for Mother Anastasia or "Miss Raynor." I
+did not know the custom of Mother Superiors when traveling or visiting,
+and I determined, as I ascended the steps, to be guided in this matter
+by the aspect of the person who opened the door.
+
+It has always been interesting to me to study the character, as well as
+I can do so in the brief opportunity generally afforded, of the servants
+who open to me the doors of houses. To a certain degree, although of
+course it does not do to apply this rule too rigidly, these persons
+indicate the characters of the dwellers in the house. My friends have
+disputed this point with me, and have asserted that they do not wish to
+be so represented, but nevertheless I have frequently found my position
+correct.
+
+I prefer to visit those houses whose door service is performed by a
+neat, good-looking, intelligent, bright-witted, kindly-tempered,
+conscientious, and sympathetic maidservant. A man is generally very
+unsatisfactory. He performs his duty in a perfunctory manner. His heart
+is not in it. He fears to say a word more than he thinks absolutely
+necessary, lest you should imagine him new in service, and had not lost
+his interest in answering questions.
+
+But even if the person you ask for be not at home, it is sometimes a
+pleasure to be told so by an intelligent maid, such as I have mentioned
+above. One's subsequent action is frequently influenced by her counsel
+and information. Frequently she is able to indicate to you your true
+relation with the household; sometimes she assists in establishing it.
+
+When the door before me opened, I saw a colored woman. I was utterly
+discomfited. None of my rules applied to a middle-aged colored woman,
+who gazed upon me as if she recognized me as one whom she carried in her
+arms when an infant. Actuated by impulse only, I inquired for "Miss
+Raynor."
+
+"I reckon," said she, "you's got to de wrong house. Dat lady doan' live
+hyar."
+
+"Well, then," I asked quickly, "is there a lady here named Mother
+Anastasia?"
+
+The woman showed thirty-two perfectly developed teeth.
+
+"Oh, dat's she? You means de sister. She's hyar, yes, sah. Want to see
+her?"
+
+I stated that I certainly desired to see her.
+
+"She's gone out now, sah, an' dere's no tellin' when dey'll git back.
+Dey ginerally all gits back 'bout dark. Commonly jist a little arter
+dark."
+
+"Not return before dark!" I exclaimed. "That is bad. Can you give me any
+idea where I might find Mother Anastasia?"
+
+"I 'spects you kin fin' her mighty easy. Mos' likely, she's at de Patent
+Office, or at de Army and Navy Buildin', or de White House, or de
+Treasury, or de Smifsonian, or de Navy Yard, or de new 'Servatory, or on
+de avenue shoppin', or gone to de Capitol to de Senate or de House, one;
+or perhaps she druv out to Arlin'ton, or else she's gone to de
+'Gressional Libr'y. Mos' likely she's at one or de odder of dem places;
+an' about one o'clock, she an' Mis' Gardley is mighty sure to eat der
+luncheon somewhar, an' arter that I reckon they'll go to 'bout four
+arternoon teas. I doan' know 'xactly whare de teas 'll be dis arternoon,
+but ye kin tell de houses whar dar is a tea inside by de carriages
+a-waitin',--an' ef it aint a tea, it's a fun'ral,--and all yer's got to
+do is to go inside an' see if she's dar."
+
+I could not refrain from smiling, but I was greatly discouraged. How
+could I wait until evening for the desired interview?
+
+"If you is kin to de sister," said the woman,--"an' I reckon you is, for
+I see de likeness powerful strong,--she'll be mighty glad to see ye,
+sah. Want me ter tell her ye'll come back this evening, if you doan'
+fin' her before dat?"
+
+I desired her to give such a message, and went away well pleased that
+the woman had not asked my name. It was desirable that Mother Anastasia
+should not know who was coming to call on her.
+
+I am, as I have said before, much given to the consideration of motives
+and all that sort of thing, and, in the course of the day, I found
+myself wondering why I should have taken the trouble to walk through the
+Patent Office and half a dozen other public buildings, continually
+looking about me, not at the objects of interest therein, but at the
+visitors; that is, if they were ladies. Why this uneasy desire to find
+the Mother Superior, when, by quietly waiting until evening, I was
+almost certain to see her? But in the midst of my self-questionings I
+went on looking for Mother Anastasia.
+
+I finished my long ramble by a visit to the gallery of the House of
+Representatives. A member was making a speech on a bill to establish a
+national medical college for women. The speech and the subject may have
+interested some people, but I did not care for either, and I am afraid I
+was a little drowsy. After a time I took a cab and went to my hotel. At
+all events, the long day of waiting was nearly over.
+
+Early in the evening I called again at Mrs. Gardley's house, and to my
+delight I was informed that the lady I desired to see was at home.
+
+When Mother Anastasia came into the drawing-room, where I awaited her,
+she wore the gray gown of her sisterhood, but no head covering. I had
+before discovered that a woman could be beautiful in a Martha gown, but
+at this moment the fact asserted itself with peculiar force. She greeted
+me with a smile and an extended hand.
+
+"You do not seem surprised to see me," I said.
+
+"Why should I be?" she answered. "I saw you in the House of
+Representatives, and wondered why you should doze when such an
+interesting matter was being discussed; and when I came home, and heard
+that a gentleman answering your description intended to call on me this
+evening, I declined to go out to the theatre, wishing to be here to
+receive you."
+
+I was disgusted to think that she had caught me napping, and that she
+had been near me in the House and I had not known it, but I said nothing
+of this.
+
+"You are very good," I remarked, "to give up the theatre"--
+
+"Oh, don't thank me," she interrupted; "perhaps you will not think I am
+good. Before we say anything more, I want you to tell me whether or not
+you came here to talk about Sylvia Raynor."
+
+Here was a blunt question, but from the bottom of my heart I believed
+that I answered truly when I said I had not come for that purpose.
+
+"Very good," said Mother Anastasia, leaning back in her chair. "Now I
+can freely say that I am glad to see you. I was dreadfully afraid you
+had come to talk to me on that forbidden subject, and I must admit that
+this fear had a very powerful influence in keeping me at home this
+evening. If you had come to talk to me of her, I would have had
+something very important to say to you, but I am delighted that my fears
+were groundless. And now tell me how you could help being interested in
+that grand scheme for a woman's college."
+
+"I have never given it any thought. Do you care for it?"
+
+"Care for it!" she exclaimed. "I am enlisted in the cause, hand and
+heart. I came down here because the bill was to be brought before the
+House. If the college is established,--and I believe it will be,--I
+expect to be one of the faculty."
+
+"You are not a physician?" said I.
+
+"Oh, I have studied and practiced medicine," she answered, "and expect
+to do a great deal more of it before we begin operations. The
+physician's art is my true vocation."
+
+"And you will leave the House of Martha?" I asked.
+
+"Yes," she replied. "The period for which I entered it has nearly
+expired. I do not regret the time I have spent there, but I must admit I
+shall be glad to leave the sisterhood. That life is too narrow for me,
+and perhaps too shallow. I say nothing against it in a general way; I
+only speak of it as it relates to myself. The very manner in which I
+rejoice in the prospect of freedom proves to me that I ought to be free,
+and that I did a wise thing in limiting the term of my sisterhood."
+
+As Mother Anastasia spoke there was a glow of earnest pleasure upon her
+face. She was truly very happy to be able to talk of her approaching
+freedom.
+
+I am a prudent man and a cautious one. This frank enthusiasm alarmed me.
+How deftly she had put Sylvia out of sight! How skillfully she had
+brought herself into full view, free and untrammeled by vows and
+rules,--a woman as other women!
+
+The more I saw of Mother Anastasia the better I liked her, but I
+perceived that she was a woman with whom it was very necessary to be
+cautious. She was apt, I thought, to make convictions of her
+presumptions. If she presumed that my love for Sylvia was an utterly
+hopeless affection, to be given up and forgotten, I did not like it. It
+might be that it was hopeless, but I did not care to have any one else
+settle the matter for me in that way,--not even Mother Anastasia.
+
+"Of course," I remarked, "I am glad that you have concluded to withdraw
+from a vocation which I am sure is not suited to you, and yet I feel a
+little disappointed to hear that you will not continue at the head of
+the House of Martha, for I came to Washington on purpose to make you a
+proposition in regard to that institution."
+
+"Came to Washington on purpose to see me, and to make a proposition!
+What can it possibly be?"
+
+I now laid before her, with considerable attention to detail, my plan
+for working in cooeperation with the House of Martha. I showed her the
+advantages of the scheme as they had suggested themselves to me, and as
+an example of what could be done I mentioned Sylvia's fancy for
+typewriting, and demonstrated how easily I could undertake the outside
+management of this very lucrative and pleasant occupation. I warmed up
+as I talked, and spoke quite strongly about what I--and perhaps in time
+other men--might do for the benefit of the sisterhood, if my proposition
+were accepted.
+
+She listened to me attentively, her face growing paler and harder as I
+proceeded. When I had finished she said:--
+
+"It is not at all necessary for me to discuss this utterly preposterous
+scheme, nor even to refer to it, except to say that I plainly see its
+object. Whatever you have persuaded yourself to think of your plan, I
+know that its real object is to reestablish a connection with Sylvia.
+You would know, if you would allow yourself to think about it, that your
+absurd and even wicked scheme of typewriting, companionship in work, and
+all that stuff, could only result in making the girl miserable and
+perhaps breaking her heart. You know that she loves you, and that it has
+been a terrible trial to her to yield to her conscience and do what she
+has done; and you know, furthermore,--and this more than anything else
+darkens your intention,--that Sylvia's artless, ingenuous, and impulsive
+nature would give you advantages which would not be afforded to you by
+one who did not love you, and who better understood the world and you."
+
+"Madam," I exclaimed, "you do me an injustice!"
+
+She paid no attention to this remark, and proceeded: "And now let me
+tell you that what you have said to me to-night has changed my plans, my
+life. I shall not leave Sylvia exposed to your cruel attacks,--attacks
+which I believe will come in every practical form that your ingenuity
+can devise. It was my example that brought that girl into the House of
+Martha, and now that she has vowed to devote her life and her work to
+its service I shall not desert her. I will not have her pure purpose
+shaken and weakened, little by little, day by day, until it falls
+listless and deadened, with nothing to take its place. Therefore, until
+I know that you are no longer a source of danger to her, I shall remain
+Mother Superior of the House of Martha, and rest assured that while I am
+in that position Sylvia shall be safe from you." And with that she rose
+and walked out of the room.
+
+
+
+
+XLIII.
+
+WAS HIS HEART TRUE TO POLL?
+
+
+Never before had any one spoken to me as Mother Anastasia had just
+spoken. Never before had I felt as I felt in leaving the house where she
+had spoken to me. I did not admit all that she had said; and yet not
+even to myself could I gainsay her statements. I was not convinced that
+I had been wrong, but I could not help feeling that she was right. I was
+angry, I was mortified, I was grieved. The world seemed cold and dark,
+and the coldest and darkest thing in it was the figure of Mother
+Anastasia, as she rose to leave me.
+
+When I reached New York, I bethought myself of my promise to Miss
+Laniston. It tortured my soul to think of what had happened; I knew it
+would torture it still more to talk of these things. But I am a man who
+keeps his promises; besides, I wanted to see Miss Laniston. I did not
+like her very much, but the people whom I did like seemed to be falling
+away from me, and she was a woman of vigorous spirit, to whom one in my
+plight would naturally turn. That she could give me any encouragement
+was not likely, but she might offer me an enheartening sympathy; and,
+moreover, she was well acquainted with Mother Anastasia, and there were
+a good many questions I wanted to ask about that lady.
+
+I found Miss Laniston at home, but I was obliged to wait a good while
+before she made her appearance.
+
+"If you were any other man in this world," she said, "I should have felt
+obliged to excuse myself from seeing you, for I am engaged on most
+important business with a modiste who is designing a gown for me; but I
+am perfectly wild to hear about your interview with Mother Anastasia,
+and I was afraid, if I sent you away, that you would not come back
+again; so tell me about it, I pray you. I know you have seen her, for
+you look so uncommonly glum. I am afraid that you have not yet become a
+brother of the House of Martha."
+
+There was nothing inspiring about this badinage, but I braced myself to
+the work, and told her what had happened in Washington.
+
+"This is truly dreadful," she declared. "Of course I had no idea that
+Mother Anastasia would consider your plan as anything more than the wild
+outreachings of a baffled lover, but I did not imagine that she would
+take it in this way. This is very bad."
+
+"It is," I answered. "Everything is knocked from under me."
+
+"Oh, bless you," said the lady, "I wasn't thinking of you, but of Mother
+Anastasia. It was the happiest news I can remember when I heard that she
+was soon to drop that name and all that belonged to it, and to begin a
+life in which she would be a woman among her peers, no matter with what
+sex they happen to be classed. But if she stops short and remains in
+that miserable House of Martha, the result is bound to be disastrous. If
+she believes it is necessary to spend her life in protecting Sylvia from
+your assaults, she is the woman to spend her life in that way."
+
+"What her friends should do," said I, "is to convince her that it is not
+necessary."
+
+Miss Laniston gazed upon me fixedly. "You think it would be a great pity
+for a beautiful woman--a remarkably fine woman like Mother Anastasia--to
+hide herself away in that make-believe convent?"
+
+"Indeed I do," I answered, with animation.
+
+"And since one fine woman is shut up for life in that prison, you think
+it a shame that another one should remain within its walls?"
+
+I assented warmly.
+
+"Now, then," remarked Miss Laniston, rising, "it is absolutely necessary
+for me to go to the Frenchwoman, who, I know, is fuming for me, and
+whose time is very precious. I shall be with you again in about twenty
+minutes, and during that time I wish you would make up your mind with
+whom you are in love,--Mother Anastasia or Sylvia Raynor. When that
+point is settled, we will see what can be done."
+
+It was a man of a bewildered mind who was left alone in that
+drawing-room. I did not understand what had been said to me, but now
+that ideas of this kind had been put into words, there seemed to be a
+certain familiarity about them. How dared she speak to me in that way?
+What ground had she for such words?
+
+And yet--Sylvia was shut up for life in the House of Martha. I could not
+gainsay that.
+
+I could not put my thoughts into form, and with my mind in chaos I
+strode up and down the room until Miss Laniston returned.
+
+"What an uneasy person you are!" she said. "Have you settled that little
+point?"
+
+"Settled it! There is nothing to settle."
+
+She laughed. "I am not so sure about that. I thought I saw a change in
+the wind when you were here last, and it is natural enough that it
+should change. What is the good of its blowing steadfastly from the
+north, when the north is nothing but ice?"
+
+"You have no right to talk in that way!" I exclaimed angrily. "I utterly
+repudiate your supposition."
+
+"Come, come," she said, "let us be practical. I really take an interest
+in you, you know, and besides that, I take an interest in my friends;
+and it is quite plain to me that you must not be allowed to wander about
+in a detached way, making all sorts of trouble. You have made a good
+deal already. So if we must consider Sylvia Raynor as really out of the
+race, on account of being tied up by her sisterhood obligations, we must
+turn our attention to Mother Anastasia, who probably has not yet done
+anything definite in regard to retaining her position in the House of
+Martha. If anything can be done in this direction, it will be entirely
+satisfactory, because, if you get the ex-Mother Superior, of course you
+will be content to leave the young sister alone."
+
+"Madam, you insult me!" I cried, springing to my feet.
+
+"By which, I suppose," she answered, "you wish me to understand that
+your heart is true to Poll,--by Poll meaning Sylvia Raynor."
+
+"You know that as well as I do," I replied. "I have taken you into my
+confidence; I have told you that I loved her, that I should always love
+her; and it is unwomanly in you"--
+
+"That will do," she interrupted,--"that will do; don't say hard words to
+one of your best friends. If you will continue to be true to Poll, not
+as the sailor was in the song, but constant and steadfast in all sorts
+of weather, and without any regard to that mere material point of
+eventually getting her for your own, why then I am your fast friend to
+the end, and will do everything that I can to soften your woes and
+lighten your pathway; and all the reward I desire for my labors is the
+pleasure of knowing that there is at least one man in the world who can
+love truly and unchangeably without seeing any chance ahead of him of
+winning the woman he loves. Do you think you can fill that position?"
+
+I looked at her sternly, and answered: "I have said all upon that point
+that is necessary to say. When I love a woman, I love her forever."
+
+"Very good," said Miss Laniston,--"very good; and I dare say your little
+side flights didn't mean anything at all. And now I shall talk with
+Mother Anastasia as soon as possible, and make her understand that she
+has no right to sacrifice herself to Sylvia or any one else. If I can
+get her started off on the right road, I will see what I can do with the
+new Mother Superior, whoever she may be. Perhaps you may yet be able to
+establish that delightful brotherhood of the House of Martha. Any way, I
+promise you you shall have something. It may not be much and it may not
+be often, but it shall be enough to keep your love alive, and that, you
+see, is my great object. I want to make of you a monument of masculine
+constancy."
+
+As I took leave of her, Miss Laniston gave my hand a vigorous pressure,
+which seemed to me to indicate that her intentions were better than her
+words. As I went away my mind was quieter, though not cheered. There was
+in it a certain void and emptiness, but this was compensated for by a
+sense of self-approbation which was strengthening and comforting. I was
+even able to smile at the notion of the interview between Miss Laniston
+and Sister Sarah, when the former should propose my plan of the
+brotherhood.
+
+
+
+
+XLIV.
+
+PRELIMINARY BROTHERHOOD.
+
+
+When I returned to Arden, I gave Walkirk an outline of what had
+occurred, but I did not go into details, having no desire that the
+preposterous idea which had gotten into the head of Miss Laniston should
+enter that of my under-study. Walkirk was not in good spirits.
+
+"I had hoped something," he said, "from your interview with Mother
+Anastasia, though perhaps not exactly in the line of a brotherhood. I
+thought if she came to thoroughly understand your earnestness in the
+matter, she might use her influence with Miss Raynor, which at some time
+or other, or in some way or other, might result to your advantage, and
+that of the young lady. I had and still have great belief in the
+capabilities of Mother Anastasia, but now I am forced to believe, very
+much against my will, that there is no hope ahead. With Mother Anastasia
+decidedly against us, the fight is lost."
+
+"Us," I repeated.
+
+"My dear sir," said he, "I am with you, soul and body."
+
+Without a word I took him by the hand, and pressed it warmly.
+
+"What do you think of continuing your recitals of travel?" Walkirk said
+to me later in the day. "I should think they would interest you, and I
+know they were vastly interesting to me. You must have a great deal more
+to tell."
+
+"I have," I answered, "but I shall not tell it now. Instead of talking
+about travels, I have determined to travel. At present it is awkward for
+me to remain here. It is impossible for me to feel independent, and able
+to do what I please, and know that there are persons in the village who
+do not wish to meet me, and with whom it would be embarrassing and
+perhaps unpleasant to meet. I know I must meet them some time or other,
+unless they shut themselves up, or I shut myself up. That sort of thing
+I cannot endure, and I shall go to Turkey and Egypt. Those countries I
+have not visited. If it suits you, I shall take you with me, and I shall
+also take a stenographer, to whom I shall dictate, on the spot, the
+materials for my book."
+
+"Do you mean," asked Walkirk, "that you will dispense altogether with
+that preparatory narration to me of what you intend afterwards to put
+into your book? I consider that a capital plan, and I think you found it
+of advantage."
+
+"That is true," I answered; "the plan worked admirably. I did not
+propose to work in that way again, but I will do it. Every night I will
+tell you what I have done, and what I think about things, and the next
+morning I'll dictate that material, revised and shapen, to the
+stenographer, who can then have the rest of the day to write it out
+properly."
+
+"A capital plan," said Walkirk, "and I shall be charmed to go with you."
+
+I was indeed very anxious to leave Arden. I could not believe that
+Mother Anastasia had ever imagined any of the stuff that Miss Laniston
+had talked about, but she certainly had shown me that she was greatly
+offended with me, and nothing offends me so much as to have people
+offended with me. Such persons I do not wish to meet.
+
+I did not immediately fix a date for my departure, for it was necessary
+for me to consider my grandmother's feelings and welfare, and arrange to
+make her as happy as possible while I should be gone. In the mean time,
+it was of course necessary that I should take air and exercise; and
+while doing this one morning in a pretty lane, just out of the village,
+a figure in the House of Martha gray came into sight a little distance
+ahead of me. Her back was toward me, and she was walking slower than I
+was. "Now, then," thought I, "here is a proof of the awkwardness of my
+position here. Even in a little walk like this, I must run up against
+one of those sisters. I must pass her, or turn around and go back, for I
+shall not slow up, and appear to be dogging her footsteps. But I shall
+not turn back,--that does not suit me." Consequently I walked on, and
+soon overtook the woman in gray. She did not turn her head as I
+approached, for the sisters are taught not to turn their heads to look
+at people. After all, it would be easy enough for me to adopt the same
+rule, and to pass her without turning my head, or paying the slightest
+attention to her. This was the manner indeed in which the general public
+was expected to act toward the inmates of the House of Martha when met
+outside their institution.
+
+When I came up with her, I turned and looked into the bonnet. It was
+Sylvia. As my eyes fell upon the face of that startled angel, my impulse
+was to throw my arms around her, and rush away with her, gray bonnet,
+shawl and all, to some distant clime where there were no Houses of
+Martha, Mother Anastasias, or anything which could separate my dear love
+and me; but I crushed down this mad fancy, smothered, as well as I
+could, my wild emotions, and said, as calmly as possible,--
+
+"Good morning, sister."
+
+Over the quick flushes of her face there spread a smile of pleasure.
+
+"I like that," she said; "I am glad to have you call me sister. I
+thought you would be prejudiced against it, and would not do it."
+
+"Prejudiced!" I said; "not a bit of it. I am delighted to do so."
+
+"That is really good of you," she said; "and how have you been? You look
+a little wan and tired. Have you been doing your own writing?"
+
+"Oh, no," I said; "I have given up writing, at least for the present. I
+wish I could make you understand how glad I am to call you sister, and
+how it would joy my heart if you would call me brother."
+
+"Oh, that would not do at all," she said, in a tone which indicated
+surprise at my ignorance; "that would be quite a different thing. I am a
+sister to everybody, but you are not a brother to anybody."
+
+"When you hear what I have to say about this," I answered, "you will
+understand what I mean by wishing to be called brother. May I ask where
+you are going?"
+
+"I am going to visit a sick person in that little house at the bottom of
+the hill. Sister Agatha came with me, but she had the toothache, and had
+to go back. I expect Sister Sarah will send some one of the others to
+join me, for she always wants us to go about in couples."
+
+"She is entirely right," said I; "I did not know she had so much sense,
+and I shall make one of the couple this time. You ought not to be
+walking about here by yourself."
+
+"I suppose I ought to have gone back with Sister Agatha," said she, "but
+I didn't want to. I'm dreadfully tired of staying in the House of
+Martha, trying to learn typewriting. I can do it pretty well now, but
+nothing has come of it. Sister Sarah got me one piece of work, which was
+to copy a lot of bad manuscript about local option. I am sure, if I am
+to do that sort of thing I shall not like typewriting."
+
+"You shall not do that sort of thing," said I; "and now let us walk on
+slowly, while I tell you what I meant by the term brother." I was in a
+whirl of delight. Now I would talk to one who I believed would
+sympathize with my every thought, who would be in harmony with my
+outreachings, if she could do no more, and from whom I need expect
+neither ridicule nor revilings. We walked on slowly, and I laid before
+her my scheme for the brotherhood of the House of Martha.
+
+I was not mistaken in my anticipation of Sylvia's sympathy. She listened
+with sparkling eyes, and when I finished, clapped her hands with
+delight.
+
+"That is one of the best plans that was ever heard of in this world,"
+she said. "How different it would make our life at the institution! Of
+course the brothers wouldn't live there, but we should see each other,
+like ordinary people in society, and everything would not be so
+dreadfully blank, and there is no end to the things which you could do,
+which we cannot do, unless with a great deal of trouble. The usefulness
+of your plan seems to have no limits at all. How many brothers do you
+think we ought to have?"
+
+"I have not considered that point," I said; "at present I know of but
+one person, besides myself, who would have the necessary qualifications
+for the position."
+
+"I expect," she said, looking at me with a twinkle of fun in her eye,
+"that if you had the selection of the other brothers they would be a
+tame lot."
+
+"Perhaps you are right," I said, and we both broke into a laugh.
+
+"I wish I could tell you," said Sylvia, "how much I am charmed with your
+idea of the brotherhood. I haven't enjoyed myself so much for ever so
+long."
+
+We were now nearing the little house at the bottom of the hill. An idea
+struck me.
+
+"Who is it that you are going to visit?" I asked.
+
+"It is an old man," she said, "who has the rheumatism so badly that he
+cannot move. He has to take his medicine every hour, and his wife is
+worn out sitting up and giving it to him, and Sister Agatha and I were
+sent to take care of him during the morning, and let the poor old woman
+get some sleep."
+
+"Very good," said I, "here is a chance for me to make a beginning in my
+scheme of brotherhood, and that without asking leave or license of
+anybody. I will go in with you, and help you nurse the old man."
+
+"I expect you can do it splendidly," said Sylvia, "and now we can see
+how a brotherhood would work."
+
+We entered a little house, which apparently had once been a good enough
+home for humble dwellers, but which now showed signs of extreme poverty.
+A man with gray hair, and placid, pale face, was lying on a bed in one
+corner of the room into which the door opened, and in a chair near by
+sat an old woman, her head bobbing in an uneasy nap. She roused when we
+entered, and seemed glad to see us.
+
+"He's about the same as he was," she said, "an' as he's loike to be
+width thim little draps of midicine; but if you're a docther, sir, it
+ain't for me to be meddlin', an' sayin' that one of thim Pepper Pod
+Plasters width howles in it would do more good to his poor back than
+thim draps inside of him."
+
+"Rheumatism is not treated externally so much as it used to be," I said.
+"You will find that internal medication will be of much more service in
+the long run."
+
+"That may be, sir," said she; "but it won't do to make the run too long,
+considtherin' he hasn't been able to do a sthroke of work for four
+weeks, an' if ye'd ever tried one of thim plasters, sir, ye'd know
+they's as warmin' as sandpaper an' salt; but if I kin git a little
+slape, it will be better for me than any midicine, inside or out."
+
+"That's what we came to give you," said Sylvia; "go into the other room,
+and lie down, and you shall not be called until it is time for your
+dinner."
+
+The woman gave a little shrug, which I imagine was intended to indicate
+that dinner and dinner-time had not much relation to each other in this
+house, and going into an adjoining room, was probably soon fast asleep.
+
+"It would be better to begin by giving him his medicine. I know all
+about it, for I was here yesterday. I forgot to ask his wife when she
+gave it to him last," said Sylvia, "but we might as well begin fresh at
+the half-pasts."
+
+She poured out a teaspoonful of the stuff, and administered it to the
+old man, who opened his mouth, and took it placidly.
+
+"He is very quiet and very patient," said Sylvia to me in an
+undertone,--and it is impossible for me to describe how delightful it
+was to have her speak to me in such a confidential undertone,--"he
+doesn't talk any," she continued, "and doesn't seem to care to have
+anybody read to him, for when Sister Agatha tried that yesterday, he
+went to sleep; but he likes his brow bathed, and I can sit on this side
+of his bed and do that, and you can find a chair and sit on the other
+side, and tell me more about your plan of brotherhood."
+
+There was no other chair, but I found a box, on which I seated myself on
+the other side of the old man's cot, while Sylvia, taking a bottle from
+her pocket, proceeded to dampen the forehead of the patient with its
+pleasantly scented contents.
+
+I did not much like to see her doing this, nor did I care to discuss our
+projects over the body of this rheumatic laborer.
+
+"It strikes me," I said, "that it would be a good idea to put on that
+bay rum, or cologne, or whatever it is, with a clean paint-brush, or
+something of the kind. Don't you dislike using your fingers?"
+
+Sylvia laughed. "You have lots to learn yet," she said, "before you can
+be a brother; and now tell me what particular kind of work you think the
+brothers would do. I hardly think nursing would suit them very well."
+
+I did not immediately answer, and Sylvia's quick mind divined the reason
+of my reluctance.
+
+"Let us talk _en francais_," she said; "that will not disturb this good
+man, and he can go to sleep if he likes."
+
+"_Tres bien_," I said, "_parlons nous en francais_."
+
+"_Il serait charmant_," said she; "_j'aime la belle langue_."
+
+The old man turned his head from one to the other of us; all his
+placidity vanished, and he exclaimed,--
+
+"_Ciel! Voila les anges l'un et l'autre qui vient parler ma chere
+langue._"
+
+"Good gracious!" exclaimed Sylvia, "I thought he was Irish."
+
+The patient now took the talking business into his own hands, and in his
+dear language told us his tale of woe. It was a very ordinary tale, and
+its dolefulness was relieved by the old man's delight at finding people
+who could talk to him like Christians. One of his woes was that he had
+not been long enough married to his wife to teach her much French.
+
+"I wish," interpolated Sylvia to me, "that we had kept on in English. It
+would have been much more satisfactory. I expect one of the other
+sisters will be here before very long, and before she comes I wish you
+would tell me how you are getting on with your book. I have been
+thinking about it, ever and ever so much."
+
+"I am not getting on at all," said I; "without you there will be no
+book."
+
+At this Sylvia knit her brows a little, and looked disturbed.
+
+"That is not a good way to talk about it," she said, "unless, indeed,
+the book could be made a part of the brotherhood work, in some way. The
+publisher might want a typewritten copy, and if I should make it, I
+should know the end of the story of Tomaso and Lucilla. You know I had
+almost given up ever knowing what finally happened to those two."
+
+"You shall know it," said I; "we shall work together yet. I can think of
+a dozen ways in which we can do it, and I intend to prove that my
+brotherhood idea is thoroughly practicable."
+
+"Of course it is," said Sylvia; "isn't this practical?" and she bedewed
+the patient's brow so liberally, that some of the perfume ran into his
+eyes, and made him wink vigorously.
+
+"_Merci, mademoiselle_," said he, "_mais pas beaucoup, mais pas
+beaucoup_!"
+
+"A capital practical idea has just occurred to me," I said; "do you
+think you shall be here to-morrow?"
+
+"I expect to come here," she answered, "for I take a great deal of
+interest in this old man. Mother Anastasia is still away, and I expect
+that Sister Sarah will send me again, for this is the kind of work she
+believes in. She has a very poor opinion of typewriting; but, of course,
+a sister will come with me."
+
+"There is one coming to join you now," I said; "I see her gray figure on
+the top of the hill. As she will not understand matters, and as I do not
+wish to talk any more about my plans, until I am better able to show how
+they will work, I think it will be well for me to retire; but I shall be
+here to-morrow morning, and it would suit my plans very well if another
+sister comes with you."
+
+Sylvia looked around at the approaching gray figure.
+
+"I think that is Sister Lydia," she said, "at least, I think I recognize
+her walk, and so it might be well for you to go. If it were Sister
+Agatha it wouldn't matter so much. Of course, when your plan is all
+explained and agreed to, it will not make any difference who comes or
+goes."
+
+"Very true," said I, "and now I think I will bid you good-morning. Be
+sure and be here to-morrow."
+
+She shook hands with me, across the prostrate form of the rheumatic
+Frenchman, who smiled, and murmured, "_Bien, bien, mes anges_," and she
+assured me that I might expect her on the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+XLV.
+
+I MAKE COFFEE AND GET INTO HOT WATER.
+
+
+I do not like to do anything which looks in the least underhanded, but I
+must admit that I left that wretched cottage by the back door, and
+taking a path through some woods, made a wide circuit before returning
+to the village.
+
+As soon as I reached my house, I called Walkirk from his writing, and
+rapidly gave him instructions in regard to the execution of an idea
+which had come into my mind during my brotherhood labors of the morning.
+
+I told him to hasten to the scene of my building operations, and to take
+away all the carpenters, painters, and plasterers he could crowd into a
+two-horse wagon, and to go with them to the house of the rheumatic
+Frenchman, from which I knew the sisters would have departed before he
+reached it. I promised to join him there, and at the same time that he
+set out on his errand, I hurried to a shop in the village, the owner of
+which combined the occupations of cabinet maker and undertaker, and who
+generally kept on hand a small stock of cheap furniture. From this I
+selected such articles as I thought would be suitable or useful in a
+small house, which at present contained nothing too good for a bonfire,
+and ordered them sent immediately to the Frenchman's cottage.
+
+I reached this wretched little house a few minutes before the arrival of
+Walkirk and the wagon-load of mechanics. My under-study had entered
+heartily into my scheme, and by his directions the men had brought with
+them everything needed to carry out my plans, and in a very short time
+he and I had set every man to work.
+
+There were carpenters, plasterers, painters, paper-hangers, and a tinner
+and glazier, and when they learned that I wanted that little house
+completely renovated in the course of the afternoon, they looked upon
+the business as a lark, and entered into it with great spirit. The
+astonished woman of the house did not understand what was about to
+happen, and even when I had explained it to her, her mind seemed to take
+in nothing except the fact that the house ought to be cleaned before the
+painting and paper-hanging began, but there was no time for delays of
+this sort, and the work went on merrily.
+
+When the furniture arrived, the woman gave a gasp, for the last time the
+vehicle which brought them to her house had been there, it had taken
+away her previous husband. But a bureau and table and a roll of carpet
+assured her of its different purpose, and she turned in with a will to
+assist in arranging these articles.
+
+Before dark the work was all done. The rheumatic Frenchman was lying on
+a shining new bedstead, a box of Pepper Pod Plasters had been placed in
+the hands of his delighted wife, a grocery wagon had deposited a load of
+goods in the kitchen, the mechanics in gay spirits had driven away, and
+Walkirk and I, tired, but triumphant, walked home, leaving behind us a
+magical transformation, a pervading smell of paint and damp wall-paper,
+and an aged couple as much dazed as delighted with what had happened.
+
+Soon after breakfast the next day, I repaired to the bright and tidy
+little cottage, and there I had my reward. Standing near the house a
+little in the shadow of a good sized evergreen-tree, which I had ordered
+transplanted bodily from the woods into the little yard, I beheld Sylvia
+approaching, and with her a sister with a bandaged face whom I rightly
+supposed to be the amiable Sister Agatha.
+
+When the two came within a moderate distance of the cottage they
+stopped, they looked about them from side to side, and it was plain to
+see that they imagined they were on the wrong road. Then they walked
+forward a bit, stopped again, and finally came towards the house on a
+run.
+
+I advanced to meet them.
+
+"Good morning, sisters," said I. The two were so much astonished that
+they did not return my greeting, and for a few moments scarcely noticed
+me. Then Sylvia turned.
+
+"How in the world," she exclaimed, "did all this happen? It must be the
+same house."
+
+I smiled. "It is very simple," said I; "this"--and as I spoke I waved my
+hand towards the cottage--"is an instance of the way in which the
+brothers of the House of Martha intend to work."
+
+"And you did this?" exclaimed Sylvia, with radiant eyes.
+
+I explained to the eagerly listening sisters how the transformation had
+been accomplished, and with a sort of reverent curiosity they approached
+the house. Sister Agatha's astonishment was even greater than that of
+Sylvia, for she had long known the wretched place.
+
+"It is a veritable miracle," she said, "see this beautiful white fence,
+and the gate; it opens on hinges!"
+
+"Be careful," said I, as they entered the little yard, "some of the
+paint may yet be wet, although I told them to put as much drying stuff
+in as was possible."
+
+"Actually," cried Sylvia, "a gravel walk up to the house!"
+
+"And the outside a daffodil yellow, with fern green blinds!" said Sister
+Agatha.
+
+"And the eaves tipped with geranium red!" cried Sylvia.
+
+"And a real tree on each side of the front door, and new steps!"
+exclaimed Sister Agatha.
+
+When they entered the house the amazement and delight of the two sisters
+was a joy to my soul. They cried out at the carpet on the floor, the
+paper on the walls, the tables, the chairs, the bureau, the
+looking-glass, the three framed lithographs on the wall, the clock, and
+the shining new bedstead on which their patient lay.
+
+"If Mother Anastasia could but see this," cried Sylvia, "she would
+believe in the brotherhood."
+
+"He sez yer angels," said the woman of the house, coming forward,
+"that's what he sez; an' he's roight too, for with thim Pepper Pod
+Plasters, an' the smell of paint in the house which he hates, he'll be
+out o' doors in two days, or I'm much mishtaken."
+
+Sylvia and I now approached the old man to see what he thought about it.
+He was very grateful, and said nothing about the smell of paint, but we
+found him with a burning desire in his heart which had been fanned into
+flames by the arrival of the groceries on the day before. He eagerly
+asked us if we could make coffee; when he was well he could make it
+himself, but since he had been lying on that bed, he had not tasted a
+drop of the beloved liquid. His wife did not drink it, and could not
+make it, but as we could speak French, and had sent coffee, he felt sure
+that we could compound the beverage, so dear to the French heart.
+
+"The angels make coffee," he said, in his best patois, "otherwise what
+would Heaven be?"
+
+Both of the angels declared that the good man should have some coffee
+without delay, but Sylvia said to me, that although she had not the
+least idea how to make it, she was quite sure Sister Agatha could do it.
+But that sister, when asked, declared that she knew nothing about
+coffee, and did not approve of it for sick people, but if the man did
+not like the tea his wife made, she would try what she could do.
+
+But this offer was declined. The old man must have his coffee, and as
+there was no one else to make it, I undertook to do it myself. I thought
+I remembered how coffee had been made, when I had been camping out, and
+I went promptly to work. Everybody helped. The old woman ground the
+berries, Sister Agatha stirred up the fire, and Sylvia broke two eggs,
+in order to get shells enough to clear the liquid.
+
+It was a good while before the coffee was ready, but at last it was
+made, and Sylvia carried it to our patient in a great bowl. She sat down
+on one side of the bed to administer the smoking beverage with a spoon,
+while I sat on the other side and raised the old man's head that he
+might drink the better. After swallowing the first tablespoonful, the
+patient winked.
+
+"I hope it did not scald his throat," said Sylvia, "Do you know what
+'scald' is in French?"
+
+"I cannot remember," said I, "you had better let the next spoonful cool
+a little,"--but the patient opened his mouth for more.
+
+"_C'est potage_," he said, "_mais il est bon_."
+
+"I am sorry I made soup of it," I said to Sylvia, "but I am sure it
+tastes like coffee."
+
+We continued to feed the old man, who absorbed the new-fangled broth as
+fast as it was given to him, until a voice behind me made us both jump.
+
+"Sister Hagar," said the voice, "what does this mean?"
+
+"Goodness, Mother Anastasia," cried Sylvia, "you made me scald the
+outside of his throat."
+
+At the foot of the bed stood Mother Anastasia clad in her severest gray,
+her brows knit and her lips close pressed.
+
+"Sister Hagar," she repeated, "what is all this?"
+
+I let down the old man's head, and Sylvia, placing the almost empty bowl
+upon the table, replied serenely:--
+
+"Mr. Vanderley is making a beginning in brotherhood work--the
+brotherhood of the House of Martha, you know. I think it would work
+splendidly. Just look around and see what he has done. He has made this
+charming cottage out of an old rattle-trap house. Everything you see in
+one afternoon, and lots of provisions in the kitchen besides. Sisters
+alone could never have done this."
+
+Mother Anastasia turned to me.
+
+"I will speak with you, outside," she said, and I followed her into the
+little yard. As soon as we were far enough from the house to speak
+without being overheard, she stopped, and turning to me, said:--
+
+"You are not content with driving me from the life on which I had set my
+heart, back into this mistaken vocation, but you are determined to make
+my lot miserable and unhappy. And not mine only, but that of that
+simple-hearted and unsuspecting girl. I do not see how you can be so
+selfishly cruel. You are resolved to break her heart, and to do it in
+the most torturing way. But you shall work her no more harm. I do not
+now appeal to your honor, to your sense of justice; I simply say that I
+shall henceforth stand between you and her. What misery may come to her
+and to me from what you have already done I do not know, but you do no
+more."
+
+I stood and listened with the blood boiling within me.
+
+"Marcia Raynor," I said--"for I shall not call you by that title which
+you put on and take off as you please--I here declare to you that I
+shall never give up Sylvia. If I never speak to her again or see her I
+shall not give her up. I make no answer to what you have charged me
+with, but I say to you that as Sylvia's life and my life cannot be one
+as I would have it, I shall live the life that she lives, even though
+our lives be ever apart. For the love I bear her, I shall always do the
+work that she does. But I believe that the time will come when people,
+wiser than you are, will see that what I proposed to do is a good thing
+to do, and the time will come when a man and a woman can labor side by
+side in good works, and both do better work because they work together.
+And to Sylvia and to my plan of brotherhood, I shall ever be constant.
+Remember that."
+
+Without a word or change in her expression she left me, went into the
+house, and closed the door behind her. I did not wish to make a scene,
+which would give rise to injurious gossip, and therefore walked away,
+though as I did so I turned to look in at the open window, but I did not
+see Sylvia; I only saw the bandaged face of Sister Agatha looking out at
+me, more mournful than before.
+
+As I rapidly walked homeward, I said to myself, "Now I declare myself a
+full brother of the House of Martha. I shall take up their cause, and
+steadfastly work for it whether they like it or not."
+
+
+
+
+XLVI.
+
+GOING BACK FOR A FRIEND.
+
+
+When I reached home, I looked up my grandmother and told her everything
+that had happened. My excitement was so great that it was necessary I
+should talk to some one, and I felt a pang of regret when I remembered
+that latterly I had given no confidences to her.
+
+My grandmother listened eagerly and without interrupting me, but as I
+spoke she shook her head again and again, and when I had finished, she
+said:--
+
+"My dear boy, if you understood the world and the people in it as well
+as I do, you would know that that sort of thing could never, never work.
+Before long you and Sylvia would be madly in love with each other, and
+then what would happen nobody knows. It may be that Mother Anastasia has
+not fully done her duty in this case, or it may be that she has done too
+much, and other people may have acted improperly and without due thought
+and caution; but be this as it may, it is plain enough to see that your
+poor heart has been dreadfully wrung. I wish I had known before of this
+brotherhood notion, and of what you intended to do, and I would have
+told you, as I tell you now, that in this world we must accept
+situations. That is the only way in which we can get along at all.
+Sylvia Raynor has gone, soul and body, into this Martha House, which is
+the same as a convent, and to all intents and purposes she is the same
+as a nun. Now there is no use fighting against that sort of thing. Even
+if she should consent to climb over the wall, and run away with you, I
+do not believe you would like a wife who would do that, after all she
+had vowed and given her solemn word to."
+
+"My dear grandmother," I said, "all that you say may be true, but it
+makes no difference to me; I shall always be faithful to Sylvia."
+
+"Perhaps so, perhaps so," said my grandmother, "but you must remember
+this: it may be all very well to be faithful, but you should be careful
+how you do it. In some respects Mother Anastasia is entirely right, and
+your faithfulness, if injudiciously shown, may make miserable the life
+of this young woman." I sighed but said nothing. My grandmother looked
+pityingly upon me.
+
+"I think you can do nothing better than to go and travel as you have
+proposed. Stay away for a year. Dear knows, I do not want to keep you
+from me for all that time, but the absence will be for your good. It
+will influence your life. When you come back, then you will know
+yourself better than you can possibly know yourself now. Then you will
+be able to see what you truly ought to do, and I promise you that if I
+am alive I will help you do it."
+
+I took the dear old lady in my arms, and her advice to my heart. I
+acknowledged to myself that at this conjuncture the wisest thing, the
+kindest thing was to go away. I might not stay away for a year, but I
+would go.
+
+"Grandmother," I said, "I will do what you advise. But I have something
+to ask of you: I have vowed that I will be a brother of the House of
+Martha, and that I will do its work, with or without the consent of the
+sisters, and with or without their companionship. Now if I go, will you
+be my substitute? Will you, as far as you can, assist the sisters in
+their undertakings, and do what you think I would have done, had I been
+here?"
+
+"I cannot change a dilapidated hut into a charming cottage in one
+afternoon," she said, placing both hands on my shoulders as she spoke,
+"but I will do all that I can, and all that you ought to do, if you were
+here. That much I promise."
+
+"Then I will go," I said, "with a heavy heart, but with an easier
+conscience."
+
+Walkirk entirely approved of an immediate start upon the journey which I
+had before proposed. I think he feared that if it was postponed any
+longer, I might get some other idea into my head which would work better
+than the brotherhood scheme, and that our travels might be postponed
+indefinitely.
+
+But there was a great deal to be done before I could leave home for a
+lengthy absence, and a week was occupied in arranging my business
+affairs, and planning for the comfort and pleasure of my grandmother
+while I should be away. Walkirk engaged the stenographer, and was the
+greatest possible help to me in every way, but notwithstanding his
+efforts to relieve me of work that was a busier week for me than any
+week in my whole life. This was an advantage to me, for it kept me from
+thinking too much of the reason for my hurried journey.
+
+At last the day arrived on which the steamer was to sail, and the
+generally cool Walkirk actually grew nervous in his efforts to get me
+ready to start by the early morning train for the city. In these efforts
+I did not assist him in the least. In fact had he not been with me I
+think that I should not have tried to leave home in time to catch the
+steamer. The more I thought of catching the steamer, the less I cared to
+do so; the more I thought of leaving home, the less I cared to do so. It
+was not that I was going away from Sylvia that made me thus reluctant to
+start. It was because I was going away without taking leave of
+her,--without a word or even a sign from her. I ground my teeth as I
+thought of how I had lost the only chance I had had of bidding her
+farewell, and of assuring her that, no matter what happened, I would be
+constant to her and to the principles in which we had both come to
+believe. I had been too much excited on the morning I had left her in
+the Frenchman's cottage to think that that would be my last chance of
+seeing her; that thereafter Mother Anastasia would never cease to guard
+her from my speech or sight. I should have rushed in, caring for
+nothing. People might have talked, but Sylvia would have known that
+prohibitions and separations would make no difference in my feeling for
+her.
+
+And now I was going away without a word or a sign, or even the slightest
+trifle which I could cherish as a memento of her. There was a blankness
+about it all which deadened my soul.
+
+But Walkirk was inexorable. He made every arrangement, and even
+superintended my farewell to my grandmother, and gently but firmly
+interrupted me, as I repeated my entreaties that she would speedily find
+out something about Sylvia, and write to me. At last we were in the
+carriage, with time enough to reach the station, and Walkirk wiped his
+brow, as would a man who had had a heavy load lifted from his mind.
+
+We had not gone a quarter of the distance when the thought suddenly
+struck me, Why should I go away without a memento of Sylvia? Why had I
+not remembered my friend Vespa, the wasp, whose flight around my
+secretary's room had made the first break in the restrictions which
+surrounded her; had first shown me a Sylvia in place of a gray-bonneted
+nun? That dead wasp, pinned to a card on the wall of my study, was the
+only thing I possessed in which Sylvia had a share. I must go back and
+get it; I must take it with me.
+
+When I shouted to the coachman to turn, that I must go back to get
+something I had forgotten, Walkirk was thrown into a fever of anxiety.
+If we did not catch this train we would lose the steamer; the next train
+would be three hours later. But his protestations had no effect upon me.
+I must have Sylvia's wasp, no matter what happened.
+
+Back to the house we dashed, and up-stairs I ran. I took down the card
+to which the wasp was affixed, I found a little box in which to put it,
+and while I was looking for a rubber band by which to secure the lid, a
+servant came hurriedly into the room with a telegram for me. I tore it
+open. It was from Miss Laniston and read thus:--
+
+     "Come to me as soon as you can. Important business."
+
+"Important business!" I ejaculated. "She can have no business with me
+that does not concern Sylvia. I will go to her instantly." In a few
+seconds I was in the carriage, shouting to the man to drive as fast as
+he could.
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Walkirk, "you cannot go too fast."
+
+I handed my companion the telegram. He read it blankly.
+
+"It is a pity," he said, "if the business is important. All that can be
+done now is to telegraph to her that she must write to you in London by
+the next steamer."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the kind," said I, "I am going to her the instant
+we reach New York."
+
+Walkirk clenched his hands together, and looked away. He had no words
+for this situation.
+
+My temper was very different.
+
+"What a wonderful piece of luck!" I exclaimed. "If we had kept on to the
+station, by this short cut, the telegraph boy, who of course came by the
+main road, would have missed me, and there would not have been time for
+him to get back to the station before the train started. How fortunate
+it was that I went back for that wasp."
+
+"Wasp!" almost screamed Walkirk, and by the way he looked at me, I know
+he imagined that I was temporarily insane.
+
+We caught the train, and on the way I explained my allusion to the wasp
+so far as to assure Walkirk that I was no more crazy than men badly
+crossed in love are apt to be.
+
+"But are you really going to Miss Laniston?" he said.
+
+"I shall be able to drive up there, give her fifteen minutes with five
+as a margin, and reach the steamer in time. You can go directly to the
+dock, and attend to the baggage and everything."
+
+My under-study sighed, but he knew it was of no use to make any
+objections. He did not fail, however, to endeavor to impress upon me the
+importance of consulting my watch while listening to Miss Laniston's
+communication.
+
+My plan was carried out; we separated as soon as we reached the city,
+and in a cab I rattled to Miss Laniston's house.
+
+
+
+
+XLVII.
+
+I INTEREST MISS LANISTON.
+
+
+When I reached Miss Laniston's house that lady was at breakfast, but she
+did not keep me waiting long.
+
+"Truly," she said, as she entered the drawing-room, "you are the most
+expeditious person I ever knew. I knew that you would come to me, but I
+did not suppose you would even start as soon as this."
+
+"I had already started when I received your telegram," I said.
+
+"To come here?"
+
+"No, to sail for Europe."
+
+"Well, well!" she exclaimed, "from this moment I shall respect my
+instincts, a thing I never did before. When I woke this morning my first
+thought was of the message I intended to send to you, and I intended to
+attend to it immediately after breakfast; but my hitherto unappreciated
+instincts hinted to me that no time should be lost, and I called my
+maid, and dispatched the telegram immediately. Moral: Do all the good
+you can before you get up in the morning. Why are you starting for
+Europe?"
+
+"I haven't time to tell you," I said, "in fact, I can only remain a few
+minutes longer, or I shall lose the steamer. Please tell me your
+business."
+
+"Is Sylvia the cause of your going away?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," I said; "is she the reason of your wishing to see me?"
+
+"Most certainly," she answered; "when does your steamer start?"
+
+"By ten o'clock," I said.
+
+"Oh, bless me," she remarked, glancing at the clock, "you have quite
+time enough to hear all I have to say, and then if you do not catch the
+steamer it is your own fault. Sit down, I pray you."
+
+Very reluctantly I took a seat, for at last the spirit of Walkirk had
+infected me.
+
+"Now," said she, "I will cut my story as short as possible, but you
+really ought to hear it before you start. I made a visit to Arden, on
+the day after you performed the grand transformation scene in your
+brotherhood extravaganza. I should have been greatly amused by what was
+told me of this prank, if I had not seen that it had caused so much
+trouble. Sylvia was in a wretched way, and in an extremely bad temper.
+Marcia was almost as miserable, for she was acting the part of an
+extinguisher not only to Sylvia's hopes and aspirations, but to her own.
+So far as I could see there was no way out of the doleful dumps in which
+you seemed to have plunged yourself and all parties concerned, but I set
+to work to try what I could do to straighten out matters; my principal
+object being, I candidly admit, to enable Marcia Raynor to feel free to
+give up her position of watch-dog, and go to her National College, on
+which her soul is set. But to accomplish this, I must first do something
+with Sylvia; but that girl has a conscience like a fence post, and a
+disposition like a squirrel that skips along the rails. I could do
+nothing with her. She had sworn to be a Sister of Martha for life, and
+yet she would not consent to act like an out and out sister, and give up
+all that stuff about typewriting for you, and the other nonsensical
+notions of co-Marthaism, with which you infected her. She stoutly stuck
+to it, in spite of all the arguments I could use, that there was no good
+reason why you and she, as well as the other sisters and some other
+gentlemen, could not work together in the noble cause of I don't
+remember what fol-de-rol. Pretty co-Marthas you and she would make!
+
+"Then I tried to induce Marcia to give up her fancies of
+responsibilities and all that, and to leave the girl in the charge of
+the present Mother Inferior, an elderly woman called Sister Sarah, who
+in my opinion could be quite as much of a griffin as the case demanded.
+But she would not listen to me. She had been the cause of her cousin's
+joining the sisterhood, and now she would not desert her, and she said a
+lot about the case requiring not only vigilance, but kindness and
+counsel, and that sort of thing. Then I went back to the city, and tried
+my hand on Sylvia's mother, but with no success at all. She is like a
+stone gate-post, and always was, and declared that as Sylvia had entered
+the institution because Marcia was there, it was the latter's duty to
+give up everything else, and to throw herself between Sylvia and your
+mischievous machinations and to stay there until you were married to
+somebody, and the danger was past."
+
+"Machinations!" I ejaculated,--"a most unreasonable person."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Miss Laniston, "but not a bit more than the rest of
+you. You are the most unreasonable lot I ever met with. Having failed
+utterly with the three women, I had some idea of sending for you, and of
+trying to persuade you to marry some one who is not under the
+sisterhood's restrictions, and so smooth out this wretched tangle, but I
+knew that you were more obstinate and stiff-necked than any of them, and
+so concluded to save myself the trouble of reasoning with you."
+
+"A wise decision," I remarked.
+
+"But I could not give up," she continued; "I could not bear the thought
+that my friend Marcia Raynor should sacrifice herself in this way. I
+went back to Arden in the hope that something might suggest itself; that
+a gleam of sense might be shown by the one or the other of the lunatics
+in gray for whose good I was racking my brains. But I found things worse
+than I had left them. Sylvia had stirred herself into a spirit of
+combativeness of which no one would have supposed her capable, and had
+actually endeavored to brow-beat her Mother Superior into the belief
+that a Brotherhood Annex was not only necessary to the prosperity and
+success of the House of Martha, but that it was absolutely wicked not to
+have it. She had gone on in this strain until Marcia had become angry,
+and then there had been a scene and tears, and much subsequent misery.
+
+"I talked first with one doleful sister, and then with the other, with
+the only result that I became nearly as doleful as they. In my despair I
+went to Marcia, and urged her to acknowledge herself vanquished, to give
+up this contest, which would be her ruin, to show herself a true woman,
+and to take up the true work of her life. 'Oh, I couldn't do it,' she
+said, and she looked as if she were going to cry, a most unusual thing
+with her; 'if I went away, to-morrow they would be together, making
+mud-pies for the children of the poor.' I sprang to my feet. 'Marcia
+Raynor,' I cried, 'you made this House of Martha. You are the head and
+the front, the top and the bottom of it. You are its founder and its
+autocrat, it lives on your money,--for everybody knows that what these
+sisters make wouldn't buy their pillboxes,--and now, having run it all
+these years, and having brought yourself and Sylvia to the greatest
+grief by it, it is your duty to put an end to it, to abolish it.'
+
+"'Abolish the House of Martha?' she cried, with her great eyes blazing
+at me.
+
+"'Yes,' I said, 'abolish it, destroy it, annihilate it, declare it null,
+void, dead and gone, utterly extinguished, and out of existence. You can
+do this, and you ought to do this. It is your only way out of the
+dreadful situation in which you have got yourself and Sylvia. Let the
+other sisters go to some other institutions, or wherever they like. You
+and Sylvia will be free, that is the great point. Now do not hesitate.
+Stop supplies, dissolve the organization, break up the House of Martha,
+and do it instantly.'
+
+"She made one step towards me and seized me by the wrist. 'Janet,' she
+said, 'I will do it.' And she did it that day. At present there is no
+House of Martha."
+
+I sat and gazed at Miss Laniston without comprehending what I had heard.
+
+"No House of Martha!" I ejaculated.
+
+"That is precisely the state of the case," she answered; "the
+establishment was dissolved at noon yesterday. As I had had all the
+trouble of bringing this thing about, I considered that I had a right to
+tell you of it myself. I thought it would interest me to see how you
+took it."
+
+I rose to my feet; I stepped towards her.
+
+"No House of Martha," I gasped,--"and Sylvia?"
+
+"Sylvia will go home to her mother, so she told me yesterday. I was
+present at the dissolution. I think she will probably come to the city
+this afternoon."
+
+I snatched up my hat. "I must go to her instantly," I said. "I must see
+her before she reaches her mother. I have lost time already."
+
+"Upon my word!" exclaimed Miss Laniston, "your way of taking it is
+indeed interesting. Not a word of thanks, not a sign of recognition"--
+
+I had nearly reached the door, but now rushed back and seized her by the
+hand. "Excuse me," I said, "but you can see for yourself"--and with one
+violent shake I dropped her hand, and hurried away.
+
+"Oh, yes," she cried, "I can easily see for myself," and as I left the
+house I heard her hearty laugh.
+
+I sprang into my cab, ordering the man to drive fast for the railroad
+station. It mattered not to me whether Walkirk went to Europe or not.
+All I cared for was to catch the next train which would take me to
+Arden.
+
+
+
+
+XLVIII.
+
+IN A COLD, BARE ROOM.
+
+
+When I reached Arden I took one of the melancholy vehicles which stand
+at our station, and very much astonished the driver by ordering him to
+take me, not to my own home, but to the House of Martha.
+
+"You know they're busted up, sir," said the man, turning to me, as his
+old horse hurried us along at the best of his speed.
+
+"But the sisters have not left?" I eagerly asked.
+
+"Not all," he said, "but two or three of them went down this morning."
+
+"Drive on quicker," I replied, "I am in a hurry."
+
+The man gave the horse a crack with his whip, which made no difference
+whatever in our rate of speed, and said:--
+
+"If you've got a bill agin any of them, sir, you needn't worry. The
+Mother is still there, and she's all right, you know."
+
+"Bill? Nonsense!" said I.
+
+"I'm sorry they're busted," said the man; "they didn't do much hackin',
+but they give us a lot of haulin' from the station."
+
+As I hurried up the broad path which led to the front of the House of
+Martha, I found the door of the main entrance open, something I had
+never noticed before, although I had often passed the house. I entered
+unceremoniously, and saw before me, in the hallway, a woman in gray,
+stooping over a trunk. She turned, at the sound of my footsteps on the
+bare floor, and I beheld Sister Sarah. Her eyes flashed as she saw me,
+and I know that her first impulse was to order me out of the house. This
+of course she now had no right to do, but there were private rights
+which she still maintained.
+
+"I should think," she said, "that a man who has done all the mischief
+that you have done, who has worked and planned and plotted and
+contrived, until he has undermined and utterly ruined the sisterhood of
+pious women who ask nothing of this world but to be let alone to do
+their own work in their own way, would be ashamed to put his nose into
+this house; but I suppose a man who would do what you have done does not
+know what shame is. Have you come here to sneer and jibe and scorn and
+mock, and gloat over the misfortunes of the women whose home you have
+broken up, ruined, and devastated?"
+
+"Madam," said I, "can you tell me where I can find Miss Sylvia Raynor?"
+
+She looked as if she were about to spring and bite.
+
+"Atrocious!" she exclaimed. "I will not stay under the same roof,"--and
+she marched out of the door.
+
+I made my way into the reception room. I met no one, and the room was
+empty, although I heard on the floor above the sound of many footsteps,
+apparently those of the sisters preparing for departure.
+
+I looked around for a bell, or some means of making my presence known.
+The room appeared harder, barer, emptier than when I had seen it before.
+In a moment it was filled with all the light and beauty of the world. A
+door opened, and Sylvia entered.
+
+"I saw you come," she said, advancing with outstretched hands, "and
+hurried down as soon as I could."
+
+She was in her gray dress, but without shawl or head covering. Her face
+was filled with the most charming welcome. I hastened towards her. I did
+not take her hands, but opening my arms I folded her in them, and kissed
+her over and over again. With flushed face she pushed herself a little
+from me.
+
+"Isn't this taking a great deal for granted?" she said.
+
+"Granted!" I exclaimed, "think of what has been denied. Think of the
+weeks, the months"--
+
+"We would a great deal better think somebody may come in here and see
+us," said Sylvia, pushing herself still farther from me.
+
+"But didn't you expect me to rush to you the instant I heard you were a
+free woman? Did you suppose there was anything to be taken for granted
+between us?"
+
+"Oh no," she said, "I think we understood each other pretty well, but
+then, don't you see, I didn't suppose it would be like this. I am
+expecting a trunk from New York every minute, and I thought when it came
+I should be dressed like other people. Now that I am not a sister, I did
+not want you to see me in these dreary clothes. Then I would go to my
+mother's house, and I thought you would call on me there, and things
+would go on more regularly; but you are so impetuous."
+
+"My dearest love," said I, "it fills me with rapture to take you in my
+arms in the same dress you wore when I fell in love with you. Often and
+often as I looked at you through that grating have I thought that it
+would be to me the greatest joy on earth if I could take you in my arms
+and tell you that I loved you."
+
+"You thought that!" exclaimed Sylvia; "it was very wrong of you."
+
+"Right or wrong, I did it," said I, "and now I have her, my dear little
+nun, here in my arms."
+
+She ceased to push and looked up at me with a merry smile.
+
+"Do you remember," she said, "the morning the wasp came near stinging
+me?"
+
+"Indeed I do," I said vehemently.
+
+"Well, before that wasp came," she continued, "I used to be a good deal
+afraid of you. I thought you were very learned and dignified, but after
+I was so frightened, and you saw me without my bonnet, and all that, I
+felt we were very much more like friends, and that was the very
+beginning of my liking you."
+
+"My darling," I exclaimed, "that wasp was the best friend we ever had.
+Do you want to see it?" and releasing her, I took from my pocket the
+pasteboard box in which I had placed our friend Vespa. As she looked at
+the insect, her face was lighted with joyous surprise.
+
+"And that is the same wasp?" she said, "and you kept it?"
+
+"Yes, and shall always keep it," I said, "even now it has not ceased to
+be our friend." And then I told her how my desire to take with me this
+memento of her had held me back from the rolling Atlantic, and brought
+me to her. She raised her face to me with her beautiful eyes in a mist
+of tenderness, and this time her arms were extended.
+
+"You are the dearest man," she said.
+
+In less than a minute after she had spoken these words, Mother Anastasia
+entered the room. She stood for a moment amazed, and then she hastily
+shut the door.
+
+"Really," she exclaimed, "you two are incomprehensible beings. Don't you
+know that people might come in here at any moment? It is fortunate that
+I was the person who came in at this moment."
+
+"But you knew he was here?" said Sylvia.
+
+"Yes. I knew that," the other replied, "but I expected you would both
+remember that at present this house might almost be considered a public
+place."
+
+"My dear Marcia," said Sylvia, "if you knew him as well as I do, you
+would know that he would never remember anything about a place."
+
+I turned to the ex-Mother Superior, who had already discarded the garb
+of the sisterhood, and was dressed in a dark walking suit.
+
+"If you knew me as well as I know myself," I said, reaching to her both
+my hands, "you would know that my gratitude towards you is deeper than
+the deepest depths of the earth." She took one of my hands.
+
+"If you have anything to be grateful for," she said, "it is for the
+lectures I have given you, and which, I am afraid, I ought to continue
+to give you. As to what was done here yesterday I consider myself as
+much benefited as anybody, and I suppose Sylvia is of the same opinion
+regarding herself. But there is one person to whom you truly ought to be
+grateful--Miss Laniston."
+
+"I know that," I said. "I have seen her; she told me what she did, and I
+treated her as I would treat a boy who had brushed my coat, but I shall
+make amends."
+
+"Indeed you shall," said Sylvia, "and I will go with you when you do
+it."
+
+"But you must not set yourself aside in this way," said I, addressing
+the older lady, "it was you who fanned my hopes of winning Sylvia when
+there seemed no reason why they should not fade away. It was you who
+promised to help me, and who did help me."
+
+"Did you do that, Marcia?" asked Sylvia.
+
+The beautiful woman who had been Mother Anastasia flushed a little, as
+she answered:--
+
+"Yes, dear, but then you were only a sister on probation."
+
+"And you wanted me to marry him?"
+
+The other smiled and nodded, and in the next moment Sylvia's arms were
+about her neck, and Sylvia's lips were on her cheek.
+
+I was very much affected, and there is no knowing how my feelings and
+gratitude might have been evinced, had not the clumping of a trunk upon
+the stairs and the voices of sisters at the door called me to order.
+
+
+
+
+XLIX.
+
+MY OWN WAY.
+
+
+When I went home to my grandmother, she was greatly surprised to see me,
+and I lost no time in explaining my unexpected appearance.
+
+"Really, really," she exclaimed, "I was just writing you a letter, which
+I intended to send after you, so that you would get it when you arrived
+in London; and in it I was going to tell you all about the breaking up
+of the House of Martha, of which I first heard half an hour after you
+left me. I was glad you had not known of it before you started, for I
+thought it would be so much better for all the changes to be made while
+you were away, and for Sylvia to be in her mother's house, where she
+could get rid of her nunnish habits, and have some proper clothes made
+up. Of course I knew you would come back soon, but I thought your own
+mind would be in much better order for a little absence."
+
+"My dear grandmother," I cried, "in mind and body I am in perfect order,
+and it is presence, not absence, which made me so."
+
+"Somehow or other," said she, smiling, "the fates seem to help you to
+have your own way, and I am sure I am delighted that you will stay at
+home. And what has become of Mr. Walkirk?"
+
+"Upon my word!" I exclaimed--"I do not know."
+
+Towards evening Walkirk returned, looking tired and out of spirits. I
+truly regretted the carelessness and neglect with which I had treated
+him, and explained and apologized to the best of my ability. He was a
+good-natured fellow, and behaved magnanimously.
+
+"Things have turned out wonderfully well," he said, as he took a seat,
+"but I shall be more delighted with the state of affairs when I am a
+little less fatigued. Minor annoyances ought not to be considered, but I
+assure you I have had a pretty rough time of it. As the hour for sailing
+drew near, and you did not make your appearance, I became more and more
+nervous and anxious. I would not allow our baggage to be put on board,
+for I knew a conference with a lady was likely to be of indefinite
+duration, and when at last the steamer sailed, I went immediately to
+Miss Laniston's house to inform you of the fact, and to find out what
+you proposed to do; but Miss Laniston was not at home, and the servant
+told me that a gentleman--undoubtedly you--had left the house nearly an
+hour before, and his great haste made her think that he was trying to
+catch a steamer.
+
+"'People would not hurry like that,' she said, 'to catch a train, for
+there's always another one in an hour or two.'
+
+"Then I began to fear that in your haste you had gone on board the wrong
+steamer--two others sailed to-day, a little later than ours, and I went
+to their piers and made all sorts of inquiries, but I could find out
+nothing. Then I went to your club, to your lawyer's office, and several
+other places where I supposed you might go, but no one had seen or heard
+of you. Then a fear began to creep over me that you had had some greatly
+depressing news from Miss Laniston, and that you had made away with
+yourself."
+
+"Walkirk!" I exclaimed, "how dared you think that?"
+
+"Men in the nervous condition I was," he answered, "think all sorts of
+things, and that is one of the things I thought. Finally I went to Miss
+Laniston's house again, and this time I found her, and learned what had
+happened. Then I went to the pier, ordered the trunk sent back here, for
+I knew there was no question now of the trip to Europe, and here I am."
+
+It was easy to see that whatever pleasure the turn in my affairs may
+have given Walkirk, he was disappointed at losing his trip to Europe;
+but I thought it well not to reopen his wounds by any allusion to this
+fact, and contented myself by saying the most earnest and cordial things
+about what he had done and suffered for me that day, and inwardly
+determining that I would make full amends to him for his lost journey.
+
+In about ten days I received a message by cable from Liverpool, which
+was sent by my stenographer, informing me that he had gone aboard the
+steamer, as per agreement, and being busy writing letters to send back
+by the pilot, had not discovered that Walkirk and I were not on board
+until it was too late. The message was a long one, and its cost, as well
+as that of the one by which I informed the stenographer that he might
+come home, and the price of the man's passage to Liverpool and back,
+besides the sum I was obliged to pay him for his lost time, might all
+have been saved to me, had the fellow been thoughtful enough to make
+himself sure that we were on board before he allowed himself to be
+carried off. But little rubs of this kind were of slight moment to me at
+that time.
+
+On the day after things had been taken for granted between Sylvia and
+myself, I saw her at her mother's house, and I must admit that although
+it had given me such exquisite pleasure to feel that she was mine in the
+coarse gray gown of a "sister," it delighted me more to feel she was
+mine in the ordinary costume of society. She was as gay as a butterfly
+ought to be which had just cast off its gray wrappings and spread its
+wings to the coloring light.
+
+I found Mrs. Raynor in a somewhat perturbed state of mind.
+
+"I cannot accommodate myself," she said, "to these sudden and violent
+mutations. I like to sit on the sands and stay there as long as I
+please, and to feel that I know how high each breaker will be, and how
+far the tide will come in, but these tidal waves which make beach of sea
+and sea of beach sweep me away utterly; I cannot comprehend where I am.
+A week ago I considered you as an enemy with active designs on the peace
+of my daughter. I was about to write you a letter to demand that you
+should cease from troubling her. But I heard you were going to Europe,
+and then I felt that henceforth our paths would be smoother, for I
+believed that absence would cure you of your absurd and objectless
+infatuation; but suddenly, down goes the House of Martha, and up comes
+the enemy, transformed into a suitor, who is loved by Sylvia, and
+against whom I can have no possible objection. Now can not you see for
+yourself how this sort of thing must affect a mind accustomed to a
+certain uniformity of emotion?"
+
+"Madam," said I, "it will be the object of my life to make you so happy
+in our happiness that you shall remember this recent tumult of events as
+something more gratifying to look back upon than your most cherished
+memories of tranquil delight."
+
+"You seem to have a high opinion of your abilities," she said, smiling,
+"and of the value of what you offer me. I am perfectly willing that you
+try what you can do; nevertheless I wish you had gone to Europe.
+Everything would have turned out just the same, and the affair would
+have been more seemly."
+
+"Oh, we can easily make that all right," said I. "Sylvia and I will go
+to Europe on our bridal trip."
+
+As I finished these words Sylvia came into the room, accompanied by Miss
+Laniston.
+
+"Here is a gentleman," said my dear girl to her companion, "who has
+declared his desire to thank you for something you have done for him,
+and he has spoken so strongly about the way in which he intended to pour
+out his gratitude, that I want to see how he does it."
+
+"Mr. Vanderley," said Miss Laniston, "I forbid you to utter one word of
+that outpouring, which you would have poured out yesterday morning, had
+it not been so urgently necessary to catch a train. When I am ready for
+the effusion referred to, I will fix a time for it and let you know the
+day before, and I will take care that no one shall be present at it but
+ourselves."
+
+"Any way," said Sylvia, "he will tell me all about it."
+
+"If he does," said Miss Laniston, "you will re-enter a convent."
+
+
+
+
+L.
+
+MY BOOK OF TRAVEL.
+
+
+When the House of Martha had been formally abolished, the members of the
+sisterhood made various dispositions of themselves. Some determined to
+enter institutions of a similar character, while others who had homes
+planned to retire to them, with the intention of endeavoring to do what
+good they could without separating themselves from the world in which
+they were to do it. Sister Sarah was greatly incensed at the dissolution
+of the House, and much more so because, had it continued, she expected
+to be at the head of it. She declared her intention of throwing herself
+into the arms of the Mother Church, where a sisterhood meant something,
+and where such nonsense and treachery as this would be impossible.
+
+I did not enjoy the autumn of that year to the extent that I should have
+enjoyed it had I been able to arrange matters according to my own ideas
+of what was appropriate to the case.
+
+Sylvia lived in the city, and I lived in the country, and although I
+went to her whenever I could, and she and her mother dined several times
+with my grandmother, there were often long stretches, sometimes
+extending over the greater part of the day, when I did not see her at
+all.
+
+Thus it was that I had sometimes to think of other things, and one
+morning I said to my under-study, "Walkirk, there is something I regret
+very much, and that is the non-completion of my book. I shall never
+finish it, I am sure, because every thing that has ever happened to me
+is going to be made uninteresting and tedious by what is to happen.
+Travel and life itself will be quite another thing to me, and I am sure
+that I will be satisfied with enjoying it, and shall not want to write
+about it. And so, good-by to the book."
+
+"In regard to your book," said Walkirk, "I feel it my duty to say to you
+that there is no occasion for you to bid good-by to it."
+
+"You are wrong there!" I exclaimed. "I shall never write it. I do not
+want to write it."
+
+"Nevertheless," said Walkirk, "the book will be written. I shall write
+it. In fact I have written a great part of it already."
+
+"What in the name of common sense do you mean?" I cried, staring at him
+in astonishment.
+
+"What I am going to say to you," replied Walkirk, "may displease you,
+but I earnestly hope that you may eventually agree with me, that what I
+have done is for the general good. You may remember that when you first
+talked to me of your travels, you also handed me some of the manuscript
+you had prepared for the opening chapters of your book and gave me an
+outline of the projected plan of the work. Now as I have often told you,
+I considered the material for a book of travels contained in your
+experiences, as recited to me, as extremely fresh, novel and
+entertaining, and would be bound to make what publishers call a 'hit' if
+properly presented, but at the same time I am compelled to say that I
+soon became convinced that there was no probability that you would
+properly present your admirable subject matter to the reading world."
+
+"Upon my word," said I, "this is cool."
+
+"It is hard to speak to you in this way," he answered, "and the only way
+in which I can do it is to be perfectly straightforward and honest about
+it. I am at heart a literary man, and have, so far as I have the power,
+cultivated the art of putting things effectively; and I assure you, sir,
+that it gave me actual pain when I found how you were going to present
+some of the incidents of your journey, such as, for instance, your
+diving experiences in the maelstrom, or at least in the place where it
+was supposed to be, and where, judging from your discoveries, it may
+under certain conditions and to a certain extent really exist.
+
+"There were a good many other points which I believe could be made of
+startling interest and value, not only to ordinary readers, but to
+scientific people, if they were properly brought out. I saw no reason
+that you would so bring them out, and I felt not only that I could do
+it, but that it would delight me to do it.
+
+"My feeling on the subject was so strong that, as you may remember, I
+declined to act as your secretary. I am perhaps over-sensitive, but I
+could not have written your book as you would have dictated it to me,
+and as you did indeed dictate it to your various secretaries."
+
+"Go on," I said, "I am perfectly charmed with my power of repressing
+resentment."
+
+"Therefore it was," he continued, "that I set to work to write the book
+myself, founding it entirely upon your daily recitals. My plan was to
+write as long as I found you were in the humor to talk, and, in fact, if
+you lost interest in me as a listener I determined that I would then
+declare what I had done, show you my work, and implore you, if you felt
+like it, to give me enough subject matter to finish it.
+
+"I have now stated my case, and I place it entirely in your hands. I
+will give you what I have written, and if you choose to read it and do
+not like it, you can throw it into the fire. The subject matter is
+yours, and I have no rights over it. But if you think that the work
+which you have decided to discontinue can be successfully carried on by
+me, I shall be delighted to go ahead and finish it."
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "you have the effrontery of a stone sphinx; but let
+me see your manuscript."
+
+He handed it to me, and during the rest of the morning, and for a great
+part of the night, after I had returned in a late train from the city, I
+read it. The next day I handed it to him.
+
+"Walkirk," said I, "as my under-study go ahead and finish this book. You
+never came nearer the truth than when you said that that material is
+vastly interesting."
+
+Walkirk was delighted and took up the work with enthusiasm. Whenever I
+had a chance I talked to him, and whenever he had a chance he wrote.
+However, at that time, I gave so much of my business to my under-study
+that he was not able to devote himself to his literary work as
+assiduously as he and I would have desired. In fact, the book is not yet
+finished, but when it appears I think it will be a success.
+
+
+
+
+LI.
+
+A LOOSE END.
+
+
+I was now a very happy man, but I was not an entirely satisfied one.
+Looking back upon what had happened, I could see that there were certain
+loose ends, which ought to be gathered up before they were broken off
+and lost, or tangled up with something to which they did not belong.
+
+It has always been my disposition to gather up the loose ends, to draw
+together the floating strands of circumstance, tendency, intention, and
+all that sort of thing, so that I may see what they are and where they
+come from. I like to know how I stand in relation to them, and how they
+may affect me.
+
+One of the present loose ends was brought to my mind by a conversation
+with Sylvia. I had been speaking of her cousin Marcia Raynor, and
+expressing my pleasure that she was about to enter a new life, to which
+she seemed so well adapted.
+
+"Marcia is a fine woman," she said, "and I love her ever so much, but
+you know she has caused me a great deal of pain; that she has actually
+made me cry when I was in bed at night."
+
+I assured her that I had never imagined such a thing possible.
+
+"Of course," Sylvia continued, "I do not refer to the way she acted just
+before the House of Martha was broken up. Then she opposed everything I
+wanted to do, and would listen to no reason, but I wouldn't listen to
+her reasons either, and I was entirely too angry with her to think of
+crying on her account. It was before that, that she made my very heart
+sick, and all on your account."
+
+"She was severe upon me, I suppose."
+
+"Not a bit of it," said Sylvia, "if she had been severe, I should not
+have minded it so much, but it was quite the other way. Now just put
+yourself in my place and try to think how you would have felt about it.
+Here was I, fixed and settled for life in the House of Martha, and here
+were you, perfectly convinced--at least I was afraid you were
+convinced--that there was nothing for you to do but to give me up, and
+here was Marcia, just about to step out into the world a free woman, and
+at the same time taking a most wonderful interest in you, and trying to
+make you understand that you ought to let me alone, and all that sort of
+thing."
+
+"In which she did not succeed at all," I said.
+
+"So it appears," said Sylvia, "but I couldn't be sure about that at the
+time, you know, and if she had succeeded there was no earthly reason why
+you should not have become as much interested in her as she was in you,
+and then--but it's too dreadful to talk about; it used to make me fairly
+boil."
+
+"You mean to say," said I, "that you were jealous of your Cousin
+Marcia."
+
+"Yes," she answered, "there is no use in calling it by any other name; I
+was jealous, savagely so, sometimes."
+
+Now this was a very high compliment, and I did not fail to express my
+satisfaction at having been the subject of such emotions. But one of the
+results of Sylvia's communication was to remind me of the existence of a
+loose end. I had never understood Mother Anastasia's feelings towards
+me. It had been very interesting to me to make conjectures about those
+feelings, and now that I could safely do more than conjecture I wished
+to do more, and to find out, if possible, if there had been any reasons
+for the construction I had placed upon the actions of the beautiful
+Mother Superior. Of course this was of no real importance now, but one
+cannot be brought into relations with such a woman as Marcia Raynor
+without wanting to know exactly what those relations were.
+
+I had far too much prudence, however, to talk on this subject with
+Sylvia; if I talked with any one I must do it very cautiously. One
+morning I called upon Miss Laniston. That lady was informed on a great
+many points, and, moreover, was exceedingly free-spoken. I did not
+expect any direct information from her, but she might say something from
+which I might make inferences.
+
+She thought I had come to thank her for what she had done for me, but I
+assured her that this ceremony must be postponed for the present, for
+Sylvia had instructed me to write my gratitude in a letter, which she
+thought would be a much preferable method than for me to pour it out in
+a private interview.
+
+"Your Sylvia seems to be a jealous little body," she remarked.
+
+"Oh, no," said I, "although, of course, it is natural enough for persons
+in our state of mind to have tendencies that way. By the way, one of
+these tendencies on her part was rather odd. Do you know that at one
+time she was almost jealous of her cousin Marcia, at that time a
+gray-bonneted sister? As you know so much of our affairs I do not think
+I am going too far in telling that."
+
+Miss Laniston seemed to be considering the subject.
+
+"It is the commonest thing," she said presently, "to make mistakes about
+matters of this sort. Now, for instance, I once put some questions to
+you which seemed to indicate that there might be some reason for
+Sylvia's uneasiness. Didn't you think they pointed that way?"
+
+"Yes, I did," I replied.
+
+"And have you ever thought of it since?" she asked.
+
+"Occasionally. Of course the matter is of no vital interest now. But at
+the time you spoke of it, I could not help wondering if I had said or
+done anything during my rather intimate acquaintance with Mother
+Anastasia which would give you good cause to put the questions to which
+you just now alluded."
+
+"Well," said Miss Laniston, "you seemed to me, at the time, to be in a
+decidedly unbalanced state of mind, but I think I acted most
+unwarrantably in speaking of Marcia as I did. In fact, I often act
+unwarrantably. It is one of my habits. And to prove it to you, I am
+going to act unwarrantably again. Having brought the elder Miss Raynor
+before you in a way that might have led you to have undefined ideas
+about her, I am going to bring her before you again in order that those
+ideas may be exactly defined. It is all wrong, I know, but I like to set
+things straight, whether I do it in the right way or wrong way."
+
+"That is exactly my disposition," I replied; "I always want to set
+things straight."
+
+She left the room, and soon returned with a letter.
+
+"When I decide positively to do a thing," she said, sitting down and
+opening the letter, "I think it just as well to drop apologies and
+excuses. You and I have decided that matters ought to be set straight,
+and so, here goes. Marcia has just written me a long letter in which she
+says a good deal about you and Sylvia, and I am going to read you a part
+of it which I think will straighten out some things which I may have
+made crooked, in my efforts to do good to all parties concerned--a
+dangerous business, I may say.
+
+"'It is delightful to think,' thus Marcia writes,--'that Sylvia's life
+is at last settled for her, and that, too, in the right way. Of course,
+neither you nor I would be satisfied with a match like that; but Sylvia
+is not only satisfied with Mr. Vanderley, but I have no doubt that she
+will be perfectly happy with him. More than that, I believe she will
+supply his shortcomings, and strengthen his weaknesses, and as he has a
+naturally good disposition, and an ample fortune, I think Sylvia is to
+be sincerely congratulated. When we first spoke of this matter a good
+while ago I thought that if the Sylvia-Vanderley affair could ever be
+arranged, it would be a good thing, and I have not changed my opinion.'
+The rest of the letter," said Miss Laniston, folding it as she spoke,
+"chiefly concerns the new college, and I do not suppose it would
+interest you."
+
+I agreed with her, and took my leave. The loose end had been gathered
+up.
+
+
+
+
+LII.
+
+I FINISH THE SICILIAN LOVE-STORY.
+
+
+It might have been supposed that my little experience in gathering up
+loose ends would have deterred me from further efforts in this
+direction, but it did not.
+
+I had left Miss Laniston without asking some questions I had intended to
+put to her. I wished very much to know--I thought it was my right to
+know--something definite about the Mr. Brownson who had formerly been
+connected, so to speak, with the Misses Raynor. I hated this subject as
+I hated the vilest medicine, but I felt that I must get the matter
+straightened in my mind, yet I could not say anything to Sylvia about
+it. And after what Miss Laniston had read to me I could not ask her
+anything, even if my mind had been sufficiently composed to formulate
+questions. She was a very plain-spoken person. Too much so, perhaps.
+
+Walkirk was very different; in fact, I think he erred on the other side.
+I am sure that he would have liked to conceal from me anything that
+would give me pain. In the course of his life he had met a great many
+people; he might know something about Brownson. Any way, I would throw
+out some feelers in that direction.
+
+"Yes," I remarked to him, in the course of a conversation about the late
+Mother Superior, "what she is going to do is a very fine thing,--a noble
+enterprise, and she is just the sort of person to go into it, but after
+all I would rather see her married to the right sort of man. A woman
+like that owes it to society to be married."
+
+"I fancy," said Walkirk, "that she has permanently left the marrying
+class. When she broke with Brownson, I think she broke with marriage."
+
+"What were the points of that?" I asked. "Did you ever happen to hear
+anything about him?"
+
+"I knew him very well," answered Walkirk. "Those were his prints I was
+cataloguing just before I entered your service. He had then been dead a
+year or more, and I was working for the estate."
+
+I arose and went to the window. I wiped my forehead, which had become
+moist. If this man had known Brownson, why should he not know all? Was
+he familiar with both engagements? It made me sick to think of it. There
+was no sense or reason in such emotion, for it was not likely that
+Sylvia's engagement had been a secret one; but I had a proud soul and
+could not bear to think that people about me, especially Walkirk, should
+be aware of Sylvia's attachment, slight as it may have been, to another
+than myself. I heartily wished that I had not spoken of the subject.
+
+Still, as I had spoken of it, I might as well learn all that I could.
+
+"What sort of a man was this Brownson?" I asked. "What reason was there
+that Miss Marcia Raynor should have cared for him?"
+
+"He was a fine man," said Walkirk. "He was educated, good-looking, rich.
+He was young enough, but had been a bachelor too long, perhaps, and had
+very independent ways. It was on account of his independence of thought,
+especially on religious matters, that he and Miss Marcia Raynor had
+their difficulties, which ended in the breaking of the engagement. I am
+quite sure that she was a good deal cut up. As I said before, I do not
+think that she will consider marriage again."
+
+I took in a full breath of relief. Here Walkirk had told the little
+story of Brownson, and had said nothing of any subsequent engagement.
+Perhaps he knew of none. This thought was truly encouraging.
+
+"Perhaps you are right," I said, "she may know better than any of us
+what will suit her. Any way I ought to be satisfied; and that reminds
+me, Walkirk, that I have never expressed to you, as strongly as I wished
+to do it, my appreciation of the interest you have taken in my varied
+relations with Miss Sylvia Raynor, and for the valuable advice and
+assistance you have given me from time to time. For instance, I believe
+that your reluctance to have me go away from Tangent Island was due to
+your discovery that the island belonged to Sylvia's mother, and,
+therefore, there was some probability that she might come there."
+
+Walkirk smiled. "You have hit the truth," he said.
+
+"I have sometimes wondered," I continued, "why a man should take so much
+interest in the love affairs of another. When one engages an
+under-study, he does not generally expect that sort of thing."
+
+"Well," said Walkirk, "when a man engages as an under-study, or in a
+similar capacity, he often performs services, without regard to his duty
+and salary, simply because they interest and please him. Now it struck
+me that it would be a curious bit of romantic realism if two beautiful
+women, who on account of one man had become nuns in a convent, or what
+was practically the same thing, should both be taken out of that convent
+and brought back to their true life in the world by another man."
+
+"Two women"--I gasped.
+
+Walkirk smiled, and his voice assumed a comforting tone.
+
+"Of course that sort of thing has its rough points for the second man,
+but in this case I do not think they amount to much. Brownson's affair
+with the younger lady would have come to an end as soon as she had
+discovered the rocks in his character, but her mother broke it off
+before it came to that. But I do not think she would have gone into the
+sisterhood, if it had not been for the man's death very soon after the
+breaking of the engagement. This affected her very much, but there was
+no reason why it should, for he was killed in a railway accident, and I
+am positively certain that he would have married some one else if he had
+lived long enough."
+
+I had nothing to say to all this. I walked slowly into my study and shut
+the door. Surely I had had enough of picking up loose ends. If there
+were any more of them I would let them flap, dangle, float in the air,
+do what they please; I would not touch them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening I spent with Sylvia. In the course of our conversation she
+suddenly remarked:--
+
+"Do you know we have had so much to do and so much to talk about, and so
+much to think about and plan, that I have had no chance to ask you some
+questions that I have been thinking about. In the first place I want you
+to tell me all about Mr. Walkirk. How long has he been with you? Are you
+always going to keep him? What does he do? What was his business before
+he came to you? Was he always an under-study for people? It has struck
+me that that would be such an odd occupation for a man to have. And then
+there is another thing,--a mere supposition of mine, but still something
+that I have had a sort of curiosity about: supposing that the House of
+Martha had not been broken up, and it were all fixed and settled that I
+should stay there always, and supposing cousin Marcia had left us, and
+had gone into her college work, just as she is doing now--do you think
+that you would have had any desire to study medicine?
+
+"And then there is another thing that is not a question, but something
+which I think I ought to tell you,--something which you have a right to
+know before we are married."
+
+"Sylvia," said I, interrupting her, "let me give you a little piece of
+wisdom from my own experience: The gnawings of ungratified curiosity are
+often very irritating, but we should remember that the gnawings of
+gratified curiosity are frequently mangling."
+
+"Indeed!" she exclaimed, "is that the way you look at it? Well, I can
+assure you that what I have to tell is of no importance at all, but if
+you have anything to say that is mangling, I want to hear it this very
+minute."
+
+"My dear Sylvia," said I, "we have had so much to do and so much to talk
+about, and so much to think about and plan, that I have had no chance to
+finish the story of Tomaso and Lucilla."
+
+"That is true," she cried, with sparkling eyes; "and above all things I
+want to hear the end of that story."
+
+I sat by her on the sofa and finished the story of the Sicilian lovers.
+
+"In some ways," she said, "it is very much like our story, isn't it?"
+
+"Except," I answered, "that the best part of ours is just beginning."
+
+
+
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