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diff --git a/23807-h/23807-h.htm b/23807-h/23807-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f7d05b --- /dev/null +++ b/23807-h/23807-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2063 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Uncle of an Angel, by Thomas A. Janvier + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Uncle Of An Angel, by Thomas A. Janvier + +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 Uncle Of An Angel + 1891 + +Author: Thomas A. Janvier + +Illustrator: W. T. Smedley + +Release Date: December 10, 2007 [EBook #23807] +Last Updated: October 3, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNCLE OF AN ANGEL *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE UNCLE OF AN ANGEL + </h1> + <h2> + By Thomas A. Janvier <br /><br /> Copyright, 1891, by Harper & Brothers + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /><br /> <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/frontispiece-p60.jpg" alt="Frontispiece 007 P60 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> IV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> X. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>Illustrations</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Frontispiece </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Page 3 </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Mr. Port Was an Excellent Horseman </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0004"> Suppose I Kiss You Right on Your Dear Little + Bald Spot </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0005"> They Had Entered It and Had Driven Away </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0006"> What a Charming Girl Your Niece is </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0007"> The Yacht Rounded to off the Casino </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0008"> The Severe Mrs. Logan Rittenhouse </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkimage-0009"> Page 67 </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/020.jpg" alt="Page 3 020 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. + </h2> + <p> + When Mr. Hutchinson. Port, a single gentleman who admitted that he was + forty-seven years old and who actually was rising sixty, of strongly fixed + personal habits, and with the most positive opinions upon every + conceivable subject, came to know that by the death of his widowed sister + he had been placed in the position of guardian of that sister’s only + daughter, Dorothy, his promptly formed and tersely expressed conception of + the situation was that the agency by which it had been brought about was + distinctively diabolical. The fact may be added that during the subsequent + brief term of his guardianship Mr. Port found no more reason for reversing + this hastily formed opinion than did the late King David for reversing his + hastily expressed views in regard to the general tendency of mankind + towards untruthfulness. + </p> + <p> + The two redeeming features of Mr. Port’s trying situation were that his + duties as a guardian did not begin at all until his very unnecessary ward + was nearly nineteen years old; and did not begin actively—his ward + having elected to remain in France for a season, under the mild direction + of the elderly cousin who had been her mother’s travelling companion—until + she was almost twenty. When she was one-and-twenty, as Mr. Port reflected + with much satisfaction, he would be rid of her. + </p> + <p> + Neither by nature nor by education had Mr. Hutchinson Port been fitted to + discharge the duties which thus were thrust upon him. His disposition was + introspective—but less in a philosophical sense than a + physiological, for the central point of his introspection was his liver. + That he made something of a fetich of this organ will not appear + surprising when the fact is stated that Mr. Port was a Philadelphian. In + that city of eminent good cheer livers are developed to a degree that only + Strasburg can emulate. + </p> + <p> + Naturally, Mr. Port’s views of life were bounded, more or less, by what he + could eat with impunity; yet beyond this somewhat contracted region his + thoughts strayed pleasantly afield into the far wider region of the things + which he could not eat with impunity; but which, with a truly Spartan + epicureanism, he did eat—and bravely accepted the bilious + consequences! The slightly anxious, yet determined, expression that would + appear upon Mr. Port’s cleanshaven, ruddy countenance as he settled + himself to the discussion of an especially good and especially dangerous + dinner betrayed heroic possibilities in his nature which, being otherwise + directed, would have won for him glory upon the martial field. + </p> + <p> + In minor matters—that is to say, in all relations of life not + pertaining to eating—Mr. Port was very much what was to be expected + of him from his birth and from his environment. Every Sunday, with an + exemplary piety, he sat solitary in the great square pew in St. Peter’s + which had been occupied by successive generations of Ports ever since the + year 1761, when the existing church was completed. Every other day of the + week, from his late breakfast-time for some hours onward, he sat at his + own particular window of the Philadelphia Club and contemplated + disparagingly the outside world over the top of his magazine or newspaper. + At four, precisely, for his liver’s sake, he rode in the Park; and for so + stout a gentleman Mr. Port was an excellent horseman. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/024.jpg" alt="Mr. Port Was an Excellent Horseman 024 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + On rare occasions he dined at his club. Usually, he dined out; for while + generally regarded as a very disagreeable person at dinners—because + of his habit of finding fault with his food on the dual ground of hygiene + and quality—he was in social demand because his presence at a dinner + was a sure indication that the giver of it had a good culinary reputation; + and in Philadelphia such a reputation is most highly prized. An irrelevant + New York person, after meeting Mr. Port at several of the serious + dinnerparties peculiar to Philadelphia, had described him as the animated + skeleton; and had supplemented this discourteous remark with the still + more discourteous observation that as a feature of a feast the Egyptian + article was to be preferred—because it did not overeat itself, and + did keep its mouth shut. However, Mr. Port’s obvious rotundity destroyed + what little point was to be found in this meagre witticism; and, if it had + not, the fact is well-known in Philadelphia that New Yorkers, being + descended not from an honorable Quaker ancestry but from successful + operations in Wall Street, are not to be held accountable for their + unfortunate but unavoidable manifestations of a frivolity at once + inelegant and indecorous. + </p> + <p> + In regard to his summers, Mr. Port—after a month spent for the good + of his liver in taking the waters at the White Sulphur—of course + went to Narragan-sett Pier. It may be accepted as an incontrovertible + truth that a Philadelphian of a certain class who missed coming to the + Pier for August would refuse to believe, for that year at least, in the + alternation of the four seasons; while an enforced absence from that + damply delightful watering-place for two successive summers very probably + would lead to a rejection of the entire Copernican system. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. + </h2> + <p> + “Poor dear mamma and I did not have a harsh word for years, Uncle + Hutchinson,” Miss Lee explained, in the course of the somewhat animated + discussion that arose in consequence of Mr. Port’s declaration that a part + of their summer would be passed, in accordance with his usual custom, at + the White Sulphur, and of Dorothy’s declaration that she did not want to + go there. This, her first summer in America, was the third summer after + Mrs. Lee’s translation; and since Dorothy had come into colors again she + naturally wanted to make the most of them. “No, not a single harsh word + did we ever have. We always agreed perfectly, you know; or if mamma + thought differently at first she always ended by seeing that my view of + the matter was the right one. The only serious difference that I remember + since I was quite a little girl was that last autumn in Paris; when I had + everything so perfectly arranged for a delightful winter in St. + Petersburg, and when mamma was completely set in her own mind that we must + go to the south of France. Her cough was getting very bad then, you know, + and she said that a winter in Russia certainly would kill her. I don’t + think it would have killed her, at least not especially; but the doctor + backed mamma up—and said some horrid things to me in his polite + French way—and declared that St. Petersburg was not even to be + thought of. + </p> + <p> + “And so, when I found that they were both against me that way, of course I + sacrificed my own feelings and told mamma that I would do just what she + wanted. And mamma cried and kissed me, and said that I was an angel: + wasn’t it sweet of her? To be sure, though, she was having her own way, + and I wasn’t; and I think that I was an angel myself, for I did want to go + to Russia dreadfully. After all, as things turned out, we might almost as + well have gone; for poor dear mamma, you know, died that winter anyway. + But I’m glad I did what I could to please her, and that she called me an + angel for doing it. Don’t you think that I was one? And don’t you feel, + sir, that it is something of an honor to be an angel’s uncle? + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/030.jpg" + alt="Suppose I Kiss You Right on Your Dear Little Bald Spot 030 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + “Now suppose I kiss you right on your dear little bald spot, and that we + make up our minds not to go to that horrid sulphur place at all. Everybody + says that it is old-fashioned and stupid; and that is not the kind of an + American watering-place that I want to see, you know. It would have been + all very well if we’d gone there while I was in mourning, and had to be + proper and quiet and retired, and all that; but I’m not in mourning any + longer, Uncle Hutchinson—and you haven’t said yet how you like this + breakfast gown. Do you have to be told that white lace over pale-blue silk + is very becoming to your angel niece, Uncle Hutchinson? And now you shall + have your kiss, and then the matter will be settled.” With which words + Miss Lee—a somewhat bewildering but unquestionably delightful effect + in blond and blue—fluttered up to her elderly relative, embraced him + with a graceful energy, and bestowed upon his bald spot the promised kiss. + </p> + <p> + “But—but indeed, my dear,” responded Mr. Port, when he had emerged + from Miss Lee’s enfolding arms, “you know that going to the White Sulphur + is not a mere matter of pleasure with me; it is one of hygienic necessity. + You forget, Dorothy”—Mr. Port spoke with a most earnest seriousness—“you + forget my liver.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Uncle Hutchinson, what is the use of talking about your liver that + way? Haven’t you told me a great many times already that it is an + hereditary liver, and that nothing you can do to it ever will make it go + right? And if it is bound to go wrong anyway, why can’t you just try to + forget all about it and have as pleasant a time as possible? That’s the + doctrine that I always preached to poor dear mamma—she had an + hereditary liver too, you know—and it’s a very good one. + </p> + <p> + “Anyhow, I’ve heard mamma say countless times that Saratoga was a + wonderfully good place for livers; now why can’t we go there? Mamma always + said that Saratoga was simply delightful—horse-racing going on all + the time, and lovely drives, and rowing on the lake, and dancing all night + long, and all sorts of lovely things. Let’s go to Saratoga, Uncle + Hutchinson! Mamma said that the food there was delicious—and you + know you always are grumbling about the food those sulphur people give + you. + </p> + <p> + “But what really would be best of all for you, Uncle Hutchinson,” Miss Lee + continued, with increasing animation, “is Carlsbad. Yes, that’s what you + really want—and while you are drinking the horrid waters I can be + having a nice time, you know. Then, when you have finished your course, we + can take a run into Switzerland; and after that, in the autumn, we might + go over to Vienna—you will be delighted with the Vienna restaurants, + and they do have such good white wines there. And then, from Vienna, we + really can go on and have a winter in Russia. Just think how perfectly + delightful it will be to drive about in sledges, all wrapped up in furs”—Mr. + Port shuddered; he detested cold weather—“and to go to the court + balls, and even, perhaps, to be present the next time they assassinate the + Czar! Oh, what a good time we are going to have! Do write at once, this + very day, Uncle Hutchinson, to Carlsbad and engage our rooms.” + </p> + <p> + To a person of Mr. Port’s staid, deliberate temperament this rapid + outlining of a year of foreign travel, and this prompt assumption that the + outline was to be immediately filled in and made a reality, was upsetting. + His mental processes were of the Philadelphia sort, and when Miss Lee had + completed the sketch of her European project he still was engaged in + consideration of her argument in favor of throwing over the White Sulphur + for Saratoga. However, he had comprehended enough of her larger plan to + perceive that by accepting Saratoga promptly he might be spared the + necessity of combating a far more serious assault upon his peace of mind + and digestion. Travel of any sort was loathsome to Mr. Port, for it + involved much hasty and inconsiderate eating. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” he said, but not cheerfully, for this was the first time in a + great many years that he had not made and acted upon plans shaped wholly + in his own interest, “we will try Saratoga, since you so especially desire + it; but if the waters affect my liver unfavorably we shall go to the White + Sulphur at once.” + </p> + <p> + “What! We are not to go to Carlsbad, then? Oh, Uncle Hutchinson, I had set + my heart upon it! Don’t, now don’t be in a hurry to say positively that we + won’t go. Think how much good the waters will do you, and think of what a + lovely time you can have when your course is over, and you can eat just as + much as you want of anything!” + </p> + <p> + But even by this blissful prospect Mr. Port was not to be lured; and + Dorothy, who combined a good deal of the wisdom of the serpent with her + presumable innocence of the dove, perceived that it was the part of + prudence not further to press for larger victory. + </p> + <p> + “And from Saratoga, of course, we shall go to the Pier,” said Mr. Port, + but with a certain aggressiveness of tone that gave to his assertion the + air of a proposition in support of which argument might be required. + </p> + <p> + “To Narragansett, you mean? Oh, certainly. From what several people have + told me about Narragansett I think that it must be quite entertaining, and + I want to see it. And of course, Uncle Hutchinson, even if I didn’t care + about it at all, I should go all the same; for I want to fall in exactly + with your plans and put you to as little trouble as possible, you know. + For if your angel wasn’t willing to be self-sacrificing, she really + wouldn’t be an angel at all.” + </p> + <p> + Pleasing though this statement of Early Christian sentiment was, it struck + Mr. Port—as he subsequently revolved it slowly in his slowly-moving + mind—as lacking a little on the side of practicality; for Miss Lee, + so far, unquestionably had contrived to upset with a fine equanimity every + one of his plans that was not absolutely identical with her own. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. + </h2> + <p> + On the whole, the Saratoga expedition was not a success. Even on the + journey, coming up by the limited train, Miss Lee was not favorably + impressed by the appearance of her fellow-passengers. Nearly all of the + men in the car (most of whom immediately betook themselves to the + bar-room, euphoniously styled a buffet, at the head of the train) were of + a type that would have suggested to one accustomed to American life that + variety of it which is found seated in the high places of the government + of the city of New York; and the aggressively dressed and too abundantly + jewelled female companions of these men, heavily built, heavy browed, with + faces marked in hard lines, and with aggressive eyes schooled to look out + upon the world with a necessarily emphatic self-assertion, were of a type + that, without special knowledge of American ways, was entirely + recognizable. Albeit Miss Lee, having spent much time in the mixed society + of various European watering-places, was not by any means an + unsophisticated young person, and was not at all a squeamish one, she was + sensibly relieved by finding that the chair next to hers was occupied by a + silvery-haired old lady of the most unquestionable respectability; and her + composure was further restored, presently, by the return to his chair, on + the other side of her of Mr. Port: who had betaken himself to what the + conductor had told him was the smoking-room, and who, finding himself in a + bar-room, surrounded by a throng of hard-drinking, foul-mouthed men, had + sacrificed his much-loved cigar in order to free himself from such + distinctly offensive surroundings. + </p> + <p> + At their hotel, and elsewhere, Miss Lee and her uncle encountered many of + their fellow-passengers by the limited train, together with others of a + like sort which previous trains had brought thither; and while, on the + whole, these were about balanced by a more desirable class of visitors, + they were in such force as to give to the life of the place a very + positive tone. + </p> + <p> + At the end of a week Dorothy avowed herself disappointed. “I never did + think much of poor dear mamma’s taste, you know, Uncle Hutchinson,” she + said, with her customary frankness, “and what she found to like in this + place I’m sure I can’t imagine. It’s tawdry and it’s vulgar; and as for + its morals, I think that it’s worse than Monte Carlo. I suppose that there + is a nice side to it, for I do see a few nice people; but, somehow, they + all seem to stand off from each other as though they were afraid here to + take any chances at all with strangers. And I don’t blame them, Uncle + Hutchinson, for I feel just that way myself. What you ought to have done + was to have hired a cottage, and then people would have taken the trouble + to find out about us; and when they’d found that we were not all sorts of + horrid things we should have got into the right set, and no doubt, at + least if we’d stayed here through August, we should have had a very nice + time. + </p> + <p> + “But we’re not having a nice time, here at this noisy hotel, Uncle + Hutchinson, where the band can’t keep quiet for half an hour at a time, + and where the only notion that people seem to have of amusement is to + overdress themselves and wear diamonds to dinner and sit in crowds on the + verandas and dance at night with any stranger who can get another stranger + to introduce him and to drive over on fine afternoons to that place by the + lake and drink mixed drinks until some of them actually get tipsy. I + really think that it all is positively horrid. And so I’m quite willing + now to go to the White Sulphur. It is stupid, I know, but I’ve always + heard that it is intensely respectable. I will get my packing all done + this afternoon, and we will start to-morrow morning; and I think that + you’d better go and telegraph for rooms right away.” + </p> + <p> + But to Dorothy’s surprise, and also to her chagrin, Mr. Port refused to + entertain her proposition. He fully agreed with her in her derogatory + estimate of Saratoga life as found at Saratoga hotels; and he cherished + also a private grief incident to his (mistaken) belief that the cooking + was not so good as he remembered it, bright in the glamour of his sound + digestion in his youthful past. On the other hand, however, the waters + certainly were having a most salutary effect upon his liver; and the move + to Virginia would involve spending two days of hot weather in toilsome + travel, sustained only by such food as railway restaurants afford. + Therefore Mr. Port declared decidedly that until the end of July they + would remain where they were—and so gave his niece the doubtful + pleasure of an entirely new experience by compelling her to do something + that she did not want to do at all. It was a comfort to Mr. Port, in later + years, to remember that he had got ahead of Dorothy once, anyhow. + </p> + <p> + Being a very charming young person, Miss Lee could not, of course, be + grumpy; yet grumpiness certainly would have been the proper word with + which to describe her mood during her last fortnight at Saratoga had she + not possessed such extraordinarily fine gray eyes and such an admirably + dimpled chin. The fact must be admitted that she contrived to make her + uncle’s life so much of a burden to him that his staying powers were + strained to the utmost Indeed, he admitted to himself that he could not + have held out against such tactics for another week; and he perceived that + he had done injustice to his departed sister in thinking—as he + certainly had thought, and even had expressed on more than one occasion in + writing—that in permitting her European movements to be shaped in + accordance with her daughter’s fancies she had exhibited an inexcusable + weakness. + </p> + <p> + It was a relief to Mr. Port’s mind, and also to his digestion—for + Dorothy’s grumpiness produced an effect distinctly bilious—when the + end of July arrived and his own and his charming ward’s views once more + were brought into harmony by the move to Narragansett Pier. Fortunately, + while somewhat disposed to stand upon her own rights, Miss Lee was not a + person who bore malice; a pleasing fact that became manifest on the moment + that she began to pack her trunks. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid, Uncle Hutchinson,” she observed, on the morning that this + important step towards departure was taken—“I am afraid that during + the past week or so your angel may not have been quite as much of an angel + as usual.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Mr. Port, with a colloquial disregard of grammatical + construction, and with perhaps unnecessary emphasis, “I don’t think she + has.” + </p> + <p> + “But from this moment onward,” Dorothy continued, courteously ignoring her + uncle’s not too courteous interpolation, and airily relegating into + oblivion the recent past, “she expects to manifest her angelic qualities + to an extent that will make her appear unfit for earth. Very possibly she + may even grow a pair of wings and fly quite away from you, sir—right + up among the clouds, where the other angels are! And how would you like + that, Uncle Hutchinson?” + </p> + <p> + In the sincere seclusion of his inner consciousness Mr. Port admitted the + thought that if Dorothy had resolved herself into an angelic <i>vol-au-vent</i> + (a simile that came naturally to his mind) at any time during the + preceding fortnight he probably would have accepted the situation with a + commendable equanimity. But what he actually said was that her departure + in this aerated fashion would make him profoundly miserable. Mr. Port was + a little astonished at himself when he was delivered of this gallant + speech; for gallant speeches, as he very well knew, were not at all in his + line. + </p> + <p> + On the amicable basis thus established, Miss Lee and her guardian resumed + their travels; and, excepting only Mr. Port’s personal misery incident to + the alimentary exigencies of railway transportation, their journey from + the central region of New York to the seaboard of Rhode Island was + accomplished without misadventure. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. + </h2> + <p> + In regard to Narragansett Pier, Miss Lee’s opinions, the which she was + neither slow in forming nor unduly cautious in expressing, at first were + unfavorable. + </p> + <p> + “And so <i>this</i> is ‘the Pier,’ is it?” she observed in a tone by no + means expressive of approval as she stood on the hotel veranda on the day + of her arrival, and contemplated the rather limited prospect that was + bounded at one end by the Casino and at the other by the coal-elevator. + “If those smelly little stones out there are ‘the Rocks’ that people talk + about at such a rate I must confess that I am disappointed in them”—Mr. + Port hastened to assure her that the Rocks were in quite a different + direction—“and if that is the Casino, while it seems a nice sort of + a place, I really think that they might have managed the arch so as not to + have that horrid green house showing under it. And what little poor + affairs the hotels are! Really, Uncle Hutchinson, I don’t see what there + is in this little place to make such a fuss about.” + </p> + <p> + “Dorothy,” replied Mr. Port, with much solemnity, “you evidently forget—though + I certainly have mentioned the fact to you repeatedly—that the + climate of this portion of Rhode Island is the most distinctively + antibilious climate to be found upon the whole coast of North America. For + persons possessing delicate livers—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, bother delicate livers—at least, I beg your pardon, Uncle + Hutchinson,” for an expression of such positive pain had come into Mr. + Port’s face at this irreverent reference to an organ that he regarded as + sacred that even Dorothy was forced to make some sort of an apology. “Of + course I don’t want to bother your poor liver more than it is bothered + anyway; but, you know, I haven’t got a liver, and I don’t care for + climates a bit. What I mean is: what do people do here to have a good + time?” + </p> + <p> + “In the morning,” replied Mr. Port, “they bathe, and in the afternoon they + drive to the Point. This morning we shall bathe, Dorothy—bathing is + an admirable liver tonic—and this afternoon we shall drive to the + Point.” + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens! Is that all?” exclaimed Miss Lee. “Why, it’s worse than + Saratoga. Do you mean to say, Uncle Hutchinson, that people don’t dance + here, and don’t go yachting, and don’t have lunch-parties, and don’t play + tennis, and don’t even have afternoon teas?” + </p> + <p> + “I believe that some of these things are done here,” replied Mr. Port, in + a tone that implied that such frivolities were quite beyond the lines of + his own personal interests. “Yes,” he continued, “I am sure that all of + them are done here now—for the Pier is not what it used to be, + Dorothy. The quiet air of intense respectability that characterized + Narragansett when it was the resort only of a few of the best families of + Philadelphia has departed from it—I fear forever! But, thank Heaven, + its climatic characteristics remain intact. When you are older, Dorothy, + and your liver asserts itself, you will appreciate this incomparable + climate at its proper value.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it hasn’t asserted itself yet, you know; and I must say I’m + devoutly thankful that something has happened to wake up the quiet and + intensely respectable Philadelphians before I had to come here. But I’m + very glad, dear Uncle Hutchinson,” Miss Lee continued, winningly, “that + this climate is so good for you, and I’m sure I hope that you won’t have a + single bilious attack all the time that you are here. And you’ll take your + angel to the dances, and to see the tennis, and you’ll give her + lunch-parties, and you’ll take her yachting, won’t you, you dear? But I + know you will; and if this were not such a very conspicuous place, and + might make a scandal, I’d give you a very sweet kiss to pay you in advance + for all the trouble that you are going to take to make your angel enjoy + herself. You needn’t bother about the teas, Uncle Hutchinson—for the + most part they’re only women, and stupid.” + </p> + <p> + Being still somewhat cast down by painful memories of that trying final + fortnight in Saratoga, during which he and his niece had pulled so + strongly in opposite directions, Mr. Port heard with a lively alarm this + declaration of a plan of campaign which, if carried out, would wreck + hopelessly his own comfort of body and peace of mind. Obviously, this was + no time for faltering. If the catastrophe was to be averted, he must speak + out at once and with a decisive energy. + </p> + <p> + “I need not tell you, Dorothy,” he began, speaking in a most grave and + earnest tone, “that it is my desire to discharge in the amplest and + kindest manner my duties towards you as a guardian—” + </p> + <p> + “I’m sure of it, and of course you needn’t tell me, you dearest dear—and + we might begin with just a little lunch to-day. The breakfast was horrid, + and I didn’t get half enough even of what there was.” + </p> + <p> + “But I must say now,” Mr. Port went on—keenly regretting the + unfortunate beginning that he had given to his declaration of + independence, but judiciously ignoring Dorothy’s shrewd perversion of it—“that + your several suggestions literally are impossibilities. I admit that + dancing for a short period, at about an hour after each meal, is an + admirable exercise that produces a most salutary effect upon the digestive + apparatus; but persistent dancing until an unduly late period of the night + is a practice as unhygienic as, in the mixed company of a watering-place, + it is socially objectionable. + </p> + <p> + “Tennis is an absurdity worthy of the vacuous minds of those who engage in + it.. To suggest that I shall sit in a cramped position in a draughty + gallery for several hours at a stretch in order to watch empty-headed + young men playing a perverted form of battledoor and shuttlecock across a + net, is to imply that they and I are upon the same intellectual level; and + this, I trust, is not the case. + </p> + <p> + “As you certainly should remember, Dorothy, all persons of a bilious habit + suffer severely from seasickness; a fact that, of course, disposes + effectually of your yachting plans. For you are not desirous, I am sure, + of purchasing your own selfish enjoyment—if you possibly can have + enjoyment on board a yacht—at the cost of my intense personal + misery. + </p> + <p> + “But in regard to the lunches, my dear”—Mr. Port’s tone softened + perceptibly—“there certainly is something to be said. The food here + at the hotel, I admit, is atrocious, and at the Casino it is possible + occasionally to procure something eatable. Yes, I shall have much pleasure + in giving a lunch this very morning to my angel” (Mr. Port, warming in + advance under the genial influence of the croquette and salad that he + intended to order, became playful), “for what you said in regard to the + breakfast, Dorothy, was quite true—it was abominable. If you will + excuse me, I will just step down to the Casino now and give my order; then + things will be all ready for us when we get back from the bath.” + </p> + <p> + And such was Miss Lee’s generalship that she rested content with her + success in one direction, and deferred until a more convenient season her + further demands. She was a reasonable young woman, and was quite satisfied + with accomplishing one thing at a time. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. + </h2> + <p> + Two or three days later Dorothy advanced her second parallel. In the + interval they had bathed every morning and had driven to the Point every + afternoon, and they had held converse upon the veranda of the hotel every + evening until ten o’clock with certain eminently respectable people from + Philadelphia, by whom Dorothy was bored, as she did not hesitate to + confess, almost to desperation. Further, Mr. Port had given a lunch-party + to which these same Philadelphians were invited; and his niece had + informed him, when the festivity was at an end, that if he did anything + like that again she certainly would either run away or drown herself. Any + trials in this world or any dangers in the next, she declared, were + preferable to sitting opposite to such a person as Mrs. Logan Rittenhouse, + who talked nothing but uninteresting scandal and crochet, and next to Mr. + Pennington Brown, who talked only about peoples’ great-grandfathers and + great-aunts. + </p> + <p> + It was with a lively alarm that Mr. Port noted these signs of discontent, + together with returning symptoms of the grumpiness which had disturbed his + comfort and digestion at Saratoga; and it was most selfishly in his own + self-interest that he tried to think of something that would afford his + niece amusement. Miss Lee, when she perceived that her intelligently laid + plans were working successfully, was graciously pleased to assist him. + </p> + <p> + “It is a great pity, Uncle Hutchinson,” she vouchsafed to remark on the + fourth day of suppressed domestic sunshine, “that you don’t like tennis. + Don’t you think, for your angel’s sake, that you could go for just a + little while this afternoon? There’s going to be a capital match this + afternoon, and your angel does so want to see it. You haven’t been very—very + agreeable the past two or three days, you dear, and I fear that your liver + must be a little out of order. Really, you haven’t given your angel a + single chance to be affectionate—and unless she can be affectionate + and sweet and clinging, and things like that, you know, your poor angel is + not happy at all. Suppose we try the tennis for just half an hour or so? + It won’t be much of a sacrifice for you, and it will make your angel so + happy that she will make herself dearer to you than ever, you precious + thing.” + </p> + <p> + This form of address was disconcerting to Mr. Port, for during the period + to which Miss Lee referred he certainly had been trying—not very + cleverly, perhaps, for such efforts were not at all in his line, but still + to the best of his ability—to make himself as agreeable as possible; + and the effort on the part of his niece to be angelic, of which she spoke + so confidently, he could not but think had fallen rather more than a + little short of absolute success. The one ray of comfort that he extracted + from Dorothy’s utterance was her reference to herself as his angel; he had + come to understand that the use of this term was a sign of fair weather, + and he valued it accordingly. But even for the sake of fair weather Mr. + Port was not yet prepared to expose his elderly joints to the draughty + discomforts of the galleries overhanging the tennis-court; and he said so, + pretty decidedly. Almost anything else he was willing to do, he added, but + that particular thing he would not do at all. + </p> + <p> + “As you please, Uncle Hutchinson,” Dorothy answered, in a tone of gloomy + resignation. “I am used to hearing that. It is just what poor dear mamma + used to say. She always was willing, you know, to do everything but the + thing that I wanted her to do. I remember, just to mention a single + instance, how mamma broke up a delightful water party on Windermere that + Sir Gordon Graham had arranged expressly for us. The weather was rather + misty, as it is apt to be up there, you know, but nothing worth minding + when you are well wrapped up. But mamma said that if she went out in such + a drizzle she knew her cough would be ever so much worse—and of + course she couldn’t really know that it would be worse, for nobody truly + knows what the weather is going to do to them—and so she wouldn’t + go. And Sir Gordon was very much hurt about it, and never came near us + again. And unless I’m very much mistaken, Uncle Hutchinson, mamma’s + selfishness that day lost me the chance of being Lady Graham. So I’m used + to being treated in this way, and you needn’t at all mind refusing me + everything that I ask.” And, being delivered of this discourse, Miss Lee + lapsed into a condition of funereal gloom. + </p> + <p> + At the end of another twenty-four hours Mr. Port knuckled under. “I have + been thinking, Dorothy,” he said, “about what you were saying about + tennis. It’s a beastly game, but since you insist upon seeing it I’ll take + you for a little while this afternoon.” This was not the most gracious + form of words in which an invitation could be couched; but Dorothy, who + was not a stickler for forms provided she was successful in results, + accepted it with alacrity. Later in the day, as they returned from the + Casino, she declared: + </p> + <p> + “Your angel has had a lovely afternoon, Uncle Hutchinson, and she is sure + that you have had a lovely afternoon too. And now that you’ve found what + fun there is in looking at tennis, we’ll go every day, won’t we, dear? + Sometimes, you know, you are just a little, just a very little prejudiced + about things; but you are so good and sweet-tempered that your prejudices + never last long, and so your angel cannot help loving you a great deal.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port, who was not at all sweet-tempered at that moment, was prepared + to reply to the first half of this speech in terms of some emphasis; for + he was limping a little, and a shocking twinge took him in his left + shoulder when he attempted to raise his arm. But Dorothy’s sudden shifting + to polite personalities was of a nature to choke off his projected + indignant utterance. Yet not feeling by any means prepared to meet in kind + her pleasing manifestation of affection, Mr. Port was a little put to it + to find any suitable form of response. After a moment’s reflection he + abandoned the attempt to reply coherently, and contented himself with + grunting. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. + </h2> + <p> + Encouraged by the success that was attending her unselfish efforts to + harmonize her own and her uncle’s conceptions of the temporal fitness of + things, Miss Lee began to find life at the Pier quite supportable. + “There’s not much to do here,” she declared, with her customary candor, + “and the hotels—all ugly and all in a row—make it look like an + overgrown charitable institution; and most of the people, I must say, are + such a dismal lot that they might very well be the patients out for an + airing. But, on the whole, I’ve been in several worse places, Uncle + Hutchinson; and if only you’d take me to a hop now and then, instead of + sitting every evening on the pokey hotel veranda talking Philadelphia + twaddle with that stuffy old Mr. Pennington Brown, I might have rather a + good time here.” + </p> + <p> + “You will oblige me, Dorothy,” replied Mr. Port, “by refraining from using + such a word as ‘stuffy’ in connection with a gentleman who belongs to one + of the oldest and best families in Philadelphia, and who, moreover, is one + of my most esteemed friends.” + </p> + <p> + “But he <i>is</i> stuffy, Uncle Hutchinson. He never talks about anything + but who peoples’ grandfathers and grandmothers were; and <i>Watson’s + Annals</i> seems to be the only book that he ever has heard of. Indeed, I + do truly think that he is the very stuffiest and stupidest old gentleman + that I ever have known.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port made no reply to this sally, for his feelings were such that he + deemed it best not to give expression to them in words; but he was not + unnaturally surprised, after such a declaration of sentiments on the part + of his niece, when she begged to be excused on the ensuing afternoon from + her regular drive to the Point, on the ground that she had promised to + make an expedition to the Rocks in Mr. Brown’s company. Had an opportunity + been given him Mr. Port would have asked for an explanation of this + phenomenon; but the carriage was in waiting that was to convey his ward + and her extraordinary companion to the end of the road at Indian Rock—a + slight rheumatic tendency, that he declared was hereditary, rendering it + advisable for Mr. Brown to reduce the use of his legs to a minimum—and + before Mr. Port could rally his forces they had entered it and had driven + away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/050.jpg" + alt="They Had Entered It and Had Driven Away 050 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + In the evening Mr. Port found another surprise awaiting him. Miss Lee + presently retired from the veranda for the avowed purpose of searching for + a missing fan, thus leaving the two gentlemen together. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/054.jpg" alt="What a Charming Girl Your Niece is 054 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + “What a charming girl your niece is, Port!” said Mr. Brown, as the + fluttering train of Dorothy’s dress disappeared through the door-way. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port evidently considered that this possibly debatable statement was + sufficiently answered by a grunt, for that was all the answer he gave it. + </p> + <p> + Not permitting his enthusiasm to be checked by this chillingly dubious + response, Mr. Brown continued: + </p> + <p> + “She certainly is one of the most charming girls I have met in a long + time, Port. She is not a bit like the average of young girls nowadays. I + rarely have known a young person of either sex to be so genuinely + interested in genealogy, especially in Philadelphia genealogy; and I must + say that her liking for antiquarian matters generally is very remarkable. + I envy you, I really envy you, old boy, the blessing of that sweet young + creature’s constant companionship.” + </p> + <p> + “Umph—do you?” was Mr. Port’s concise and rather discouraging reply. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed I do”—Mr. Brown was too warm to notice the cynical tone of + his friend’s rejoinder—“and I have been thinking, Port, that we are + a pair of selfish old wretches to monopolize every evening in the way that + we have been doing this bright young flower. It is a shame for us to keep + her in our stupid company—though she tells me that she finds our + talk about old people and old times exceedingly interesting—instead + of letting her have a little of the young society and a little of the + excitement and pleasure of watering-place life. Now, how would it do for + us to take her down to the Casino to-night? There is to be a hop to-night, + she says; at least, that is to say”—Mr. Brown became somewhat + confused—“I heard somewhere that there is to be a hop tonight, and + while that sort of thing is pretty stupid for you and me, it isn’t a bit + stupid for a young and pretty girl like her. So suppose we take her, old + man?” + </p> + <p> + As this amazing proposition was advanced by his elderly friend, Mr. Port’s + anger and astonishment were aroused together; and his rude rejoinder to it + was: “Have you gone crazy, Brown, or has Dorothy been making a fool of + you? Has she asked you to ask me to take her to the Casino hop? She knows + there is no use in talking to me about it any longer.” + </p> + <p> + “No, certainly not—at least—that is to say—well, no, not + exactly,” replied Mr. Brown, beginning his sentence with an asperity and + positiveness that somehow did not hold out to its end. “She did say to me, + I confess, how fond she was of dancing, and how she had refrained from + saying much about it to you”—Mr. Port here interpolated a sceptical + snort—“because she knew that taking her to the Casino would only + bore you. And I do think, Port, that keeping her here with us all the time + is grossly selfish; and if you don’t want to take her to the hop I hope + you’ll let her go with me. But what we’d better do, old man, is to take + her together—then we can talk to each other just as well, at least + nearly as well, as we can here, and we can have the comfort of knowing + that she is enjoying herself too. Come, Hutch; we’re getting old and + rusty, you and I, but let us try at least to keep from degenerating into a + pair of selfish old brutes with no care for anybody’s comfort but our + own.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hutchinson Port might have replied with a fair amount of truth that so + far as he himself was concerned the degeneration that his friend referred + to as desirable to avoid already had taken place. But all of us like most + to be credited with the virtues of which we have least, and he therefore + accepted as his due Mr. Brown’s tribute of implied praise. And the upshot + of the matter was that Dorothy, when she returned to the veranda again, + was unaffectedly surprised (and considering how carefully she had planned + her small campaign she did it very creditably) by discovering that her + uncle’s edict against the Casino hops had been withdrawn. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. + </h2> + <p> + Even Dorothy was disposed to believe that unless some peculiarly favorable + combination of circumstances presented itself as a basis for her + intelligent manipulation her strong desire for a yacht voyage must remain + ungratified; for, now that his liver was decidedly the larger part of him, + Mr. Port had a fairly catlike dread of the sea. To be sure, Dorothy’s + character was a resolute one, and her staying powers were quite + remarkable; but in the matter of venturing his bilious body upon the ocean + she discovered that her uncle—although now reduced to a fairly + satisfactory state of submission in other respects—had a large and + powerful will of his own. + </p> + <p> + Fortune, however, favors the resolute even more decidedly than she favors + the brave. This fact Dorothy comprehended thoroughly, and uniformly acted + upon. Each time that even a remote possibility of a yacht cruise presented + itself she instantly brought her batteries to bear; and, with a nice + understanding of her uncle’s intellectual peculiarities, she each time + treated the matter as though it never before had been discussed. + </p> + <p> + Therefore it was that when Miss Lee’s eyes were gladdened one day—just + as she and her uncle were about to begin their lunch on the shady veranda + of the Casino—by the sight of a trim schooner yacht sliding down the + wind from the direction of Newport, the subject of the cruise was revived + with a suddenness and point that Mr. Port found highly disconcerting. The + yacht rounded to off the Casino, and the sound of a plunge and a clanking + chain floated across the water as her anchor went overboard. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/060.jpg" alt="The Yacht Rounded to off the Casino 060 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + “Oh, isn’t she a beauty!” exclaimed Dorothy, with enthusiasm. “Now, Uncle + Hutchinson, her owner is coming ashore—they have just brought the + gig round to the gangway—and if you don’t know him you must get + somebody to introduce you to him; and then you must introduce him to me; + and then he will ask us to go on a cruise; and of course we will go, and + have just the loveliest time in the world. I haven’t been on board a yacht + for nearly five years (just look at the gig: don’t the men pull + splendidly?)—not since that nice little Lord Alderhone took poor + dear mamma and me up to Norway. We did have such a good time! Poor dear + mamma, of course, was desperately sick—she always was horribly + sea-sick, you know; but I’m never sea-sick the least bit, and it was + perfectly delightful. Look, Uncle Hutchinson, they’ve made the dock, and + now he’s coming right up here. What a handsome man he is, and how well he + looks in his club uniform! It seems to me I’ve seen him somewhere. Do you + know him, Uncle Hutchinson?” + </p> + <p> + A serious difficulty under which Mr. Port labored in his dealings with his + niece was his inability—due to his Philadelphia habit of mind—to + keep up with the exceptionally rapid flow of her ideas. On the present + occasion, while he still was engaged in consideration of the irrational + proposition that he should court the desperate misery that attends a + bilious man at sea by as good as asking to be taken on a yacht voyage, he + suddenly found his ideas twisted off into another direction by the + reference to his sister’s sufferings on a similar occasion in the past; + and before he could frame in words the reproof that he was disposed to + administer to Dorothy for what he probably would have styled her + heartlessness, he found his thoughts shunted to yet another track by a + direct question. It is within the bounds of possibility that Miss Lee had + arrived at a just estimate of her relative’s intellectual peculiarities, + and that she even sometimes framed her discourses with a view to taking + advantage of them. + </p> + <p> + The direct question being the simplest section of Dorothy’s complex + utterance, Mr. Port abandoned his intended remonstrance and reproof and + proceeded to answer it. “Yes,” he said, “I know him. It’s Van Rensselaer + Livingstone. His cousin, Van Ruy-ter Livingstone, married your cousin + Grace—Grace Winthrop, you know. He’s a great scamp—this one, I + mean; gambles, and that sort of thing, I’m told, and drinks, and—and + various things. I shall have to speak to him if he sees me, I suppose; but + of course I shall not introduce him to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Van Rensselaer Livingstone! Why so it is! How perfectly delightful! I + know him very well, Uncle Hutchinson. He was in Nice the last winter we + were there; and he broke the bank at Monaco; and he played that perfectly + absurd trick on little Prince Sporetti: cut off his little black mustache + when Prince Sporetti was—was not exactly sober, you know, and gummed + on a great red mustache instead of it; and then, before the prince was + quite himself again, took him to Lady Orrasby’s ball. All Nice was in a + perfect roar over it. And they had a duel afterwards, and Mr. Livingstone—he + is a wonderful shot—instead of hurting the little prince, just shot + away the tip of his left ear as nicely as possible. Oh, he is a delightful + man—and here he comes.” And Dorothy, half rising from her chair, and + paying no more attention to Mr. Port’s kicks under the table than she did + to his smothered verbal remonstrances, extended her well-shaped white hand + in the most cordial manner, and in the most cordial tone exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Won’t you speak to me in English, Mr. Livingstone? We talked French, I + think it was, the last time we met. And how is your friend Prince + Sporetti? Has his ear grown out again? You know my uncle, I think? Mr. + Hutchinson Port.” + </p> + <p> + Livingstone took the proffered hand with even more cordiality than it was + given, and then extended his own to Mr. Port—who seemed much less + inclined to shake it than to bite it. + </p> + <p> + “I think that we are justified in regarding ourselves as relations now, + Miss Lee, since our cousins have married each other, you know. Quite a + romance, wasn’t it? And how very jolly it is to meet you here—when I + thought that you certainly were in Switzerland or Norway, or even over in + that new place that people are going to in Roumania! I flatter myself that + I always have rather a knack of falling on my feet, but, by Jove, I’m + doing it more than usual this morning!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Lee seemed to be entirely unaware of the fact that her uncle was + looking like an animated thunder-cloud. “It is just like a bit out of a + delightful novel,” was her encouraging response. “A long, low, black + schooner suddenly coming in from the seaward and anchoring close off + shore, and the hero landing in a little boat just in time to slay the + villain and rescue the beautiful bride. Of course I’m the beautiful bride, + but my uncle is not a villain, but the very best of guardians—by-the-way, + I don’t think that you know that poor dear mamma is dead, Mr. Livingstone? + Yes, she died only a week or two after you left us. So you see you must be + very nice to the villain—and you can begin your kind treatment of + him by having lunch with him and with me too. Uncle Hutchinson was <i>so</i> + pleased when he saw you come ashore. He said that we certainly must + capture you, and he sent a man to bring some hot soup for you at once—here + it is now.” And so it was, for Dorothy herself very thoughtfully had given + the order that she now modestly attributed to her uncle. + </p> + <p> + And so in less than ten minutes from the moment when Mr. Port had informed + Dorothy that Van Rensselaer Livingstone was a very objectionable person + whom he desired to avoid, and whose introduction to her was not even to be + thought of, they all three were lunching together in what to the casual + observer seemed to be the most amicable manner possible. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. + </h2> + <p> + “I’ve run over to look up Mrs. Rattleton,” said Livingstone, as he + discussed with evident relish the <i>filet</i> that Mr. Port charitably + hoped would choke him. “Very likely you haven’t met her, for she’s only + just got here. But you’ll like her, I know, for she’s ever so jolly. She’s + promised to play propriety for me in a party that we want to make up + aboard the yacht. The squadron won’t get down from New York for a week + yet, and I’ve come up ahead of it so that we can have a cruise to the + Shoals and back before the races. Of course, Miss Lee, you won’t fly in + the face of Fate, after this providential meeting, by refusing to join our + party; at least if you do you will make me wretched to the end of my days. + And we will try to make you comfortable on board, sir,” he added, + politely, turning to Mr. Port. “I have a tolerably fair cook, and ice + isn’t the only thing in the ice-chest, I assure you.” + </p> + <p> + “How very kind you are, Mr. Livingstone,” Dorothy hastened to say, in + order to head off her uncle’s inevitable refusal. “Of course we will go, + with the greatest possible pleasure. It is very odd how things fall out + sometimes. Now only this morning I was begging Uncle Hutchinson to take me + off yachting, and he was saying how much he enjoyed being at sea, and how + he really thought that if it wasn’t for his age—wasn’t it absurd of + him to talk about his age? He is not old at all, the dear!—he would + have a yacht of his own. And almost before the words are fairly out of our + mouths here you drop from the clouds, or are cast up by the sea, it’s all + the same thing, and give us both just what we have been longing for. At + least, Uncle Hutchinson pretended to be longing for it only in case he + could be young enough to enjoy it; but if he doesn’t think he’s young now, + I’d like to know what he’ll call himself when he’s fifty!” And then, + facing around sharply upon her uncle, Dorothy concluded: “The idea of + pretending that <i>you</i> are too old to go yachting! Really, Uncle + Hutchinson, I am ashamed of you!” + </p> + <p> + As has been intimated, if there was any one subject upon which Mr. Port + was especially sensitive, it was the subject of his age. As the parish + register of St. Peter’s all too plainly proved, he never would see sixty + again; but this awkward record was in an out-of-the-way place, and the + agreeable fiction that he advanced in various indirect ways to the effect + that he was a trifle turned of forty-seven was not likely to be officially + contradicted. And it is not impossible, so tenacious was he upon this + point, that had the official proof been produced, he would have denied its + authenticity. For it was Mr. Port’s firm determination still to figure + before the world as a youngish, middle-aged man. + </p> + <p> + To say that Miss Lee deliberately set herself to playing upon this + weakness of her guardian’s, possibly, remotely possibly, would be doing + her injustice. But the fact is obvious that she succeeded by her cleverly + turned discourse in landing her esteemed relative fairly between the horns + of an exceedingly awkward dilemma: either Mr. Port must accept the + invitation and be horribly ill, or he must reject it, and so throw over + his pretensions to elderly youth. + </p> + <p> + For a moment the unhappy gentleman hung in the wind, and Dorothy regretted + that she had not made her statement of the case still stronger. Indeed, + she was about to supplement it by a remark to the effect that people never + thought of giving up yachting until they were turned of sixty, when, to + her relief, her uncle slowly filled away on the right tack. His acceptance + was expressed in highly ungracious terms; but, as has been said, Dorothy + never troubled herself about forms, provided she compassed results. The + moment that he had uttered the fatal words, Mr. Port fell to cursing + himself in his own mind for being such a fool; but the same reason that + had impelled him to give his consent withheld him from retracting it. He + knew that he was going to be desperately miserable; but, at least, nobody + could say that he was old. + </p> + <p> + “I’m ever so much obliged to you, Miss Lee, and to you too, Mr. Port,” + said Livingstone. “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and hunt up Mrs. + Rattle-ton, and tell her what a splendid raise I’ve made, and help her + organize the rest of the party. We shall have only two more. It’s a bore + to have more than six people on board a yacht. I don’t know why it is, I’m + sure, but if you have more than six they always get to fighting. Queer, + isn’t it?” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said Mr. Port. “Mrs. Rattleton? May I ask if this is + the Mrs. Rattleton from New York who was here last season, the one whose + bathing costume was so—so very eccentric, and about whom there was + so much very disagreeable talk?” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Rattleton <i>is</i> from New York, and she <i>was</i> here last + season,” Livingstone answered. “But I can’t say that I remember anything + eccentric in her bathing costume, except that it was exceedingly becoming; + and I certainly never heard any disagreeable talk about her. There may + have been such talk about her, but perhaps it was thought just as well not + to have it in my presence. Mrs. Rattleton is my cousin, Mr. Port—she + was a Van Twiller, you know. Do you happen to remember any of the things + that were said about her, and who said them?” Livingstone spoke with + extreme courtesy; but there was something in his tone that caused Mr. Port + suddenly to think of the tip of Prince Sporetti’s left ear, and that led + him to reply hurriedly, and by no means lucidly: + </p> + <p> + “Certainly—no—yes—that is to say, I can’t exactly + remember anything in particular. I’m sure I was led to believe from what + was said that she was a very charming woman. No, I don’t remember at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, perhaps it is just as well,” Livingstone replied, gravely. “But how + lucky!” he added; “there she is now. Everybody is at the Casino about this + time of day, I fancy. May I bring her over and present her to you, Miss + Lee?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course you may, Mr. Livingstone. I shall be delighted to meet her. And + if she is to matronize me, the sooner that I begin to get accustomed to + her severities the better.” + </p> + <p> + And then Mr. Hutchinson Port suffered a fresh pang of misery when the + presentation was accomplished and he was forced to say approximately + pleasant things to a lady whose decidedly ballet-like attire in the surf—or, + to be precise, on the beach above high-water-mark, where, for some occult + reason, she usually saw fit to do the most of her bathing—joined to + the exceeding celerity of her conduct generally, had marked her during the + preceding season as the conspicuous centre of one phase of life at the + Pier. Nor was Mr. Port’s lot made happier as he listened to the brisk + discussion that ensued in regard to the organization of the yachting + party, and found that its two remaining members were to be drawn, as was + only natural, from the eminently meteoric set to which Mrs. Rattleton + belonged. + </p> + <p> + Had time been given Mr. Port for consideration it is probable that he + would have collected his mental forces sufficiently to have enabled him to + lodge a remonstrance; he might even—though this is doubtful, for + Dorothy’s voting power was vigorous—have accomplished a veto. But + projects in which Mrs. Rattleton was concerned never went slowly; and in + the present case the necessity for getting back in time for the races + really compelled haste. And so it came to pass that not until the <i>Fleetwings</i> + was off the Brenton’s Reef light-ship, with her nose pointed well up into + the north-east, was there framed in Mr. Port’s slow-moving mind a suitable + line of argument upon which to base a peremptory refusal to go upon the + expedition—and by that time he was so excruciatingly ill in his own + cabin that coherent utterance and converse with his kind were alike + impossible. + </p> + <p> + So far as Mr. Port was concerned the ensuing six days made up an epoch in + his life that can only be described as an agonized blank. And when—as + it seemed to him many ages later—the <i>Fleetwings</i> once more + cast anchor off Narragansett Pier, and he stepped shakily from the + schooner’s gig to the Casino dock, the usual plumpness and ruddiness of + his face had given place to a yellow leanness, and his weight had been + reduced by very nearly twenty pounds. The cruise had been a flying one, or + he never would have finished it. After the first six hours he would have + landed on a desert island cheerfully—and it is not impossible that a + hint from Dorothy as to her uncle’s probable movements should a harbor be + made had induced Livingstone to give the land a wide berth. + </p> + <p> + Dorothy came ashore blooming. “You don’t know, Uncle Hutchinson,” she + said, “what a perfectly lovely time I’ve had”—and this cheerful + assertion was the literal truth, for Mr. Port had entered his cabin before + the yacht had crossed the line between Beaver Tail and Point Judith, and + had not emerged from it until the anchor went overboard. “And you don’t + know,” Miss Lee went on with effusion, “how grateful your angel is to you + for helping her to have such a delightful cruise. I’m sorry that you + haven’t been very well, Uncle Hutchinson; but I know that you will be all + the better for it. Poor dear mamma, you know, was bilious too, and going + to sea always made her wretched; but she used to be wonderfully well + always when she got on shore again. And you’ll be wonderfully well too, + you dear; and that will be your reward for helping your angel to have such + a perfectly delightful time.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port made no reply to this address, for his condition of collapse was + too complete to permit him to give form in words to the thoughts of rage + and resentment which were burning in the depths of his injured soul. + Without a word to one single member of the party, he climbed heavily into + a carriage and was driven directly to his hotel—while Dorothy, still + under the chaperonage of Mrs. Rattleton, gayly joined the pleasant little + lunch-party at the Casino with which the yacht voyage came to an end. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. + </h2> + <p> + During the ensuing week, a considerable portion of which Mr. Port passed + in the privacy of his own room, the relations between Miss Lee and her + guardian were characterized by a chill formality that was ominous of a + coming storm. In point of fact, Mr. Port was waiting only until he should + fully regain his strength in order to try conclusions with Dorothy once + and for all—and he was most highly resolved that in the impending + battle royal he should not suffer defeat. So far, he had gone down in each + encounter with his spirited antagonist because the tactics employed + against him were of an unfamiliar sort. But he was beginning to get the + hang of these tactics now; and he also had got what in fighting parlance + would have been styled his second wind. As he thought of the wrongs which + had been heaped upon him, rage filled his breast; and the strong + determination slowly shaped itself within him that to the finesse of the + enemy he would oppose a solid front of brute force. + </p> + <p> + Astuteness was not the least marked of Miss Lee’s many charming + characteristics, and although her guardian gave no outward sign of his + belligerent intentions, she felt an inward conviction that a decisive + trial of strength between them was at hand. Five or six years earlier she + had engaged in a trial of this nature with her mother, and had emerged + from it victorious. In that case, feminine weakness had yielded to + feminine strength. But now the gloomy thought assailed her that her uncle, + while closely resembling her mother in the matter of his liver, had in the + depths of his torpid nature a substratum of brutal masculine resolution + against which, should it fairly be set in array, she might battle in vain. + And the upshot of her meditations was the conviction that her only chance + of success lay in avoiding a battle by a radical change of base. + </p> + <p> + An easy way, as she perceived, to effect such a change of base was to + marry Van Rensselaer Livingstone. Indeed, his proposal, a couple of days + after the yacht voyage ended, came so opportunely that she almost was + surprised into accepting it out of hand. But Dorothy was too well balanced + a young person to do anything hastily, even to get herself out of a tight + place; and while she held Livingstone’s proposal under advisement—as + a line of retreat kept open for use in case of urgent necessity—she + welcomed it less for the possibilities of a safer position that it offered + than for those which it suggested to her fertile mind. + </p> + <p> + Marriage, she decided, was the only way by which she could score a final + victory over her uncle, and at the same time spike his guns; but it did + not necessarily follow that her marriage must be with Livingstone. Indeed, + as her coolly intelligent mind perceived, marrying an unmanageable young + man in order to be free of an unmanageable old one would be simply walking + out of the frying-pan into the fire—and that was not at all the + resolution of her difficulties that Dorothy sought. The plan that now + began to shape itself in her mind was one by which both fire and + frying-pan would be successfully avoided; and as the more that she + examined into it the more desirable it appeared to her, she lost no time + in carrying it into effect—whereby, in less than three days’ time, + she sent Mr. Van Rensselaer Livingstone away in such a rage that he put to + sea in the very face of a threatening north-easter, and in a much shorter + period she caused her uncle seriously to doubt the evidence of his own + senses. + </p> + <p> + At the end of his week of retirement, Mr. Port found himself in the hale + condition of a bilious giant refreshed with blue-pills. He looked a little + thinner than when he had started upon his ill-starred cruise, and his + usual ruddiness was not as yet fully restored; but he was in capital + condition, and a good deal more than ready for Miss Lee to come on. He + could not very well, in the nature of the case, start an offensive + campaign; but at the very first suggestion on Dorothy’s part of the + slightest desire to engage again in any of the various forms of frivolous + amusement by which she had made his life a burden to him, he was all + loaded and primed to go off with a bang that he believed would settle her. + </p> + <p> + And, such is the perversity of human nature, Mr. Port presently became not + a little annoyed by Dorothy’s failure to supply the spark that was to + touch him off. In fact, her conduct was bewilderingly strange. She drew + away from the lively circle of which Mrs. Rattleton was the animated + centre and voluntarily associated herself with the elderly and very + respectable Philadelphians whoso acquaintance she previously had so + emphatically declined. Still further to Mr. Port’s astonishment, the lady + and gentleman especially singled out by Miss Lee as most in accord with + her newly-acquired tastes were the severe Mrs. Logan Rittenhouse and that + lady’s staid brother, Mr. Pennington Brown. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/074.jpg" alt="The Severe Mrs. Logan Rittenhouse 074 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + At the feet of the former, quite literally, she sat as a disciple in + crochet; and listened the while with every outward sign of interest to the + dull record of South Fourth Street scandals of the past and West Walnut + Street scandals of the present which this estimable matron poured into her + ears by the hour at a time. And in a quiet corner of the veranda (Mr. + Brown’s eyesight having failed a little, so that he found reading rather + difficult) she read aloud to the latter from <i>Watson’s Annals</i>; and + listened with a pleased satisfaction to his comments upon her selections + from this, the Philadelphia Bible, and to the numerous anecdotes of a + genealogical and antiquarian cast which thus were recalled to his mind. + Possibly the readings from <i>Watson</i> were continued in the afternoons—when + Miss Lee and Mr. Brown regularly went down to the Rocks. So extraordinary + was all this that Mr. Port admitted frankly to himself that he could make + neither head nor tail of it; but he had an inborn conviction that such an + unnatural state of affairs was not likely to last There was good + Scriptural authority, he called to mind grimly, for the assertion that the + leopard did not change his spots nor the Ethiopian his skin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X. + </h2> + <p> + In accordance with the substantial customs of his fellow-citizens, Mr. + Port always returned to Philadelphia sharp on the 1st of September—calmly + ignoring the heat and the mosquitoes, which are the dominant + characteristics of Philadelphia during that month, and resting secure in + the knowledge that the course which he pursued was that which his father + and his grandfather had pursued before him. It was on the eve of his + departure from Narragansett that his doubts and perplexities occasioned by + Dorothy’s surprising conduct were resolved. + </p> + <p> + Being seated in a snug corner of the veranda in company with Mr. + Pennington Brown, Mr. Port was smoking a comforting cigar. Mr. Brown, who + also was smoking, did not seem to find his cigar comforting. He smoked it + in so fitful a fashion that it repeatedly went out; and his nervousness + seemed to be increased each time that he lighted it. Further, his comment + upon Mr. Port’s discourse—which was a more than ordinarily + thoughtful and accurate weighing of the relative merits of thin and thick + soups—obviously were delivered quite at random. At first Mr. Port + was disposed to resent this inattention to his soulful utterances; but as + the subject was one in which, as he well knew, his friend was profoundly + interested, he presently became uneasy. + </p> + <p> + “What’s the matter, Brown?” he asked, in a tone of kindly concern. “Is + your rheumatism bothering you? I’ve been afraid that your absurd sitting + around on rocks with my niece would bring it on again. You’re not as young + as you once were, Pen, and you’ve got to take care of yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not aware, Port,” Mr. Brown answered rather stiffly, “that I am as + yet conspicuously superannuated. Indeed, I never felt younger in my life + than I have felt during the past fortnight. I <i>have</i> a little touch + of rheumatism to-night,” he added, frankly, and at the same time gave + unintentional emphasis to his admission by catching his breath and almost + groaning as he slightly moved his legs, “but it has nothing to do with + sitting on the rocks with Dor—with your charming niece. You forget + that my rheumatism is hereditary, Port. Why, I had an attack of it when I + was only five-and-twenty.” + </p> + <p> + “All the same, you wouldn’t have it now if you had spent your afternoons + sensibly with me here on a dry veranda, or properly wrapped up in a dry + carriage, instead of on damp rocks, with that baggage. What on earth has + got into you I can’t imagine. If you were twenty years younger, Brown, I + should think, yes, positively, I should think that you were in love with + her.” + </p> + <p> + “Port,” said Mr. Brown, with a tone of resentment in his voice, “I shall + be very much obliged if you will not use such language when you are + speaking of Miss Lee. She is the best and kindest and noblest woman I ever + have met. You have most cruelly misunderstood her. Had you given her half + a chance she would have been to you only a source of constant joy.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port replied to this emphatic assertion by a low, but most pointedly + incredulous, whistle. + </p> + <p> + “You have not the slightest conception, as such a comment shows,” Mr. + Brown continued, with increasing asperity, “of the depths of sweetness and + tenderness which are in her nature; of her perfect unselfishness; of the + gentleness and trustfulness of her heart. She is all that a woman can be, + and more. She is—she is an angel!” Mr. Brown’s elderly voice + trembled as he made this avowal. + </p> + <p> + As for Mr. Port, his astonishment was almost too deep for words. But he + managed to say: “Yes, I suppose she is—at least she has said so + often enough herself.” + </p> + <p> + For some seconds there was silence; and then, with a deprecating manner + and in a voice from which all trace of resentment had disappeared, Mr. + Brown resumed: “Hutch, old man, you and I have been friends these many + years together, and you won’t fail me in your friendship now, will you? + You are right, I <i>am</i> in love with this sweet young creature, and she—think + of it, Hutch!—she has admitted that she is in love with me; not + romantically in love, for that would be, not absurd, of course, but a + little unreasonable—for while I’m not at all old, yet I know, of + course, that I am not exactly what can be called young—but in love + sensibly and rationally. She wants to take care of me, she says, the dear + child!” (Mr. Port grunted.) “And she has such clever notions in regard to + my health. When we are married—how strange and how delightful it + sounds, Hutch!—she says that we will go immediately to Carlsbad, + where the waters will do my rheumatism a world of good; and from there, + when I am better, we will go on to Vienna, where the dry climate and the + white wines, she thinks, still further will benefit me; and from Vienna, + in order to set me on my feet completely, we are to go on to the North and + spend a winter in Russia—for there is nothing that cures rheumatism + so quickly and so thoroughly, she says (though I never should have + imagined it) as steady and long-continued cold. Just think of her planning + it all out for me so well! + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Hutch, I love her with all my heart; and what has made me so nervous + to-night is the great happiness that has come to me—it only came + positively this afternoon—and the dread that perhaps, as her + guardian, you know, you might not approve of what we have decided to do. + But you do approve, don’t you, Hutch? Of course, in a few months she will + be her own mistress, and your consent to our marriage, as she very truly + says, then will be unnecessary. But even a month seems a desperately long + while to wait; and that is the very shortest time, she thinks, in which + she could get ready—though the dear child has consented to wait for + most of the little things which she wants until we get on the other side.” + Mr. Port smiled cynically at the announcement of this concession. It + struck him that when Dorothy was turned loose among the Paris shops, + backed by the capacious purse of a doting elderly husband, she would mow a + rather startlingly broad swath. “So you won’t oppose our marriage, will + you, old man? You will consent to my having this dear young creature for + my wife?” + </p> + <p> + Various emotions found place in Mr. Port’s breast as he listened to this + extraordinary declaration and appeal. At first he felt a lively anger at + Dorothy for having, as he coarsely phrased it in his own mind, so + successfully gammoned Mr. Pennington Brown; to this succeeded an + involuntary admiration of the clever way in which she had managed it; and + then a feeling of profound satisfaction possessed him as there came into + his slow-moving mind a realizing sense of his own deliverance. But Mr. + Port was not so utterly selfish but that, in the midst of the sunrise of + happiness which dawned upon him with the opening of a way by which he + decently could get rid of Dorothy, he was assailed by certain qualms of + conscience as to the unfairness of thus casting upon his old friend the + burden that he had found so hard to bear. For the heaviness of Mr. Port’s + mental processes prevented him from perceiving, as a shrewder person would + have perceived, that Dorothy was not the sort of young woman to engage in + an enterprise of this nature without first fully counting the cost. Had he + been keener of penetration he would have known that she could be trusted, + when safely landed in the high estate of matrimony, to play on skilfully + the game that she had so skilfully begun; that in her own interest she + would manage matters in such a way as never to arouse in the mind of her + elderly husband the awkward suspicion that the scheme of life arranged by + his angel apparently with a view solely to his own comfort really was + arranged only for the comfort of her angelic self. + </p> + <p> + It was while Mr. Port wavered among his qualms of conscience, hesitating + between his great longing to chuck Dorothy overboard, and so have done + with her, and his sense of duty to Mr. Pennington Brown, that the subject + of his perplexities herself appeared upon the scene; and her arrival at so + critical a juncture seemed to suggest as a remote possibility that she had + been all the while snuffing this particular battle from not very far off. + </p> + <p> + “Dear Uncle Hutchinson,” said Miss Lee, with affectionate fervor, “do you + think that your angel is most cruel and horrid because she is willing to + go off in this way after her own selfish happiness and leave you all + alone? But she won’t do it, dear, if you would rather have her stay. Her + only wish, you know, has been to make you comfortable and happy; and you + have been so good and so kind to her that she is ready to sacrifice even + her love for your sake. Yes, if you would rather keep her to yourself she + will stay. Only if she does stay,” and there was a warning tone of deep + meaning in Miss Lee’s well-modulated voice, “her heart, of course, will be + broken, and she will have to ask you to travel” with her for two or three + years into out-of-the-way parts of the world (Mr. Port shuddered) “until + her poor broken heart gets well. Not that it ever will get quite well + again, you know; but she will be brave, and try to pretend for your sake + that it has. So it shall be just as you say, dear; only for Pennington’s + sake, who loves me so much, Uncle Hutchinson, I hope that perhaps you may + be willing to let me go.” + </p> + <p> + And having concluded this moving address, Miss Lee extended one of her + well-shaped hands to Mr. Pennington Brown—who grasped it warmly, for + he was deeply moved by so edifying an exhibition of affectionate and + dutiful unselfishness—and with the other applied her handkerchief + delicately to her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port was not in the least moved by Dorothy’s professions of + self-sacrifice; but he was most seriously alarmed by her threat—that + opened before him a dismal vista of bilious misery—to cart him for + several years about the world on the pretext of a broken heart that + required travel for its mending. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linkimage-0009" id="linkimage-0009"> + <!-- IMG --></a> + </p> + <div class="fig" style="width:60%"> + <img src="images/084.jpg" alt="Page 67 084 " width="100%" /><br /> + </div> + <p> + He believed, to be sure, that in a stand-up fight he could conquer + Dorothy; but he had his doubts as to how long she would stay conquered—and + between constant fighting and constant travel there is not much choice; + for Mr. Port knew from experience how acute is that form of biliousness + which results from rage. After all, self-preservation is the first law of + nature; and under the stress thus put upon him, therefore, it is not + surprising that Mr. Port’s qualms of conscience incident to his failure to + do his duty to his neighbor vanished to the winds. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Pennington Brown still held Dorothy’s hand in his own. “Will you make + this great sacrifice, Hutch, for your old friend?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Port hesitated a little, for he felt a good deal like a criminal who + is shifting his crime upon an innocent man; and then he answered, rather + weakly both in tones and terms: “Why, of course.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear Uncle Hutchinson, how good you are!” exclaimed Miss Lee. “And you + really think that you can spare your angel, then?” + </p> + <p> + And both promptly and firmly Mr. Port answered: “Yes, I really think that + I can.” + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s The Uncle Of An Angel, by Thomas A. 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