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diff --git a/2459-h/2459-h.htm b/2459-h/2459-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..14961f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/2459-h/2459-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9969 @@ +<?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> + Trent's Trust and Other Stories, by Bret Harte + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; 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 Trent's Trust and Other Stories, by Bret Harte + +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: Trent's Trust and Other Stories + +Author: Bret Harte + +Release Date: May 16, 2006 [EBook #2459] +Last Updated: March 5, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRENT'S TRUST AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + TRENT'S TRUST AND OTHER STORIES + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Bret Harte + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> TRENT'S TRUST </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> MR. MACGLOWRIE'S WIDOW </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> A WARD OF COLONEL STARBOTTLE'S </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> PROSPER'S “OLD MOTHER” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE CONVALESCENCE OF JACK HAMLIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> A PUPIL OF CHESTNUT RIDGE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> DICK BOYLE'S BUSINESS CARD </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + TRENT'S TRUST + </h2> + <h3> + I + </h3> + <p> + Randolph Trent stepped from the Stockton boat on the San Francisco wharf, + penniless, friendless, and unknown. Hunger might have been added to his + trials, for, having paid his last coin in passage money, he had been a day + and a half without food. Yet he knew it only by an occasional lapse into + weakness as much mental as physical. Nevertheless, he was first on the + gangplank to land, and hurried feverishly ashore, in that vague desire for + action and change of scene common to such irritation; yet after mixing for + a few moments with the departing passengers, each selfishly hurrying to + some rendezvous of rest or business, he insensibly drew apart from them, + with the instinct of a vagabond and outcast. Although he was conscious + that he was neither, but merely an unsuccessful miner suddenly reduced to + the point of soliciting work or alms of any kind, he took advantage of the + first crossing to plunge into a side street, with a vague sense of hiding + his shame. + </p> + <p> + A rising wind, which had rocked the boat for the last few hours, had now + developed into a strong sou'wester, with torrents of rain which swept the + roadway. His well-worn working clothes, fitted to the warmer Southern + mines, gave him more concern from their visible, absurd contrast to the + climate than from any actual sense of discomfort, and his feverishness + defied the chill of his soaking garments, as he hurriedly faced the blast + through the dimly lighted street. At the next corner he paused; he had + reached another, and, from its dilapidated appearance, apparently an older + wharf than that where he had landed, but, like the first, it was still a + straggling avenue leading toward the higher and more animated part of the + city. He again mechanically—for a part of his trouble was a vague, + undefined purpose—turned toward it. + </p> + <p> + In his feverish exaltation his powers of perception seemed to be + quickened: he was vividly alive to the incongruous, half-marine, + half-backwoods character of the warehouses and commercial buildings; to + the hull of a stranded ship already built into a block of rude tenements; + to the dark stockaded wall of a house framed of corrugated iron, and its + weird contiguity to a Swiss chalet, whose galleries were used only to bear + the signs of the shops, and whose frame had been carried across seas in + sections to be set up at random here. + </p> + <p> + Moving past these, as in a nightmare dream, of which even the turbulency + of the weather seemed to be a part, he stumbled, blinded, panting, and + unexpectedly, with no consciousness of his rapid pace beyond his + breathlessness, upon the dazzling main thoroughfare of the city. In spite + of the weather, the slippery pavements were thronged by hurrying crowds of + well-dressed people, again all intent on their own purposes,—purposes + that seemed so trifling and unimportant beside his own. The shops were + brilliantly lighted, exposing their brightest wares through plate-glass + windows; a jeweler's glittered with precious stones; a fashionable + apothecary's next to it almost outrivaled it with its gorgeous globes, the + gold and green precision of its shelves, and the marble and silver soda + fountain like a shrine before it. All this specious show of opulence came + upon him with the shock of contrast, and with it a bitter revulsion of + feeling more hopeless than his feverish anxiety,—the bitterness of + disappointment. + </p> + <p> + For during his journey he had been buoyed up with the prospect of finding + work and sympathy in this youthful city,—a prospect founded solely + on his inexperienced hopes. For this he had exchanged the poverty of the + mining district,—a poverty that had nothing ignoble about it, that + was a part of the economy of nature, and shared with his fellow men and + the birds and beasts in their rude encampments. He had given up the + brotherhood of the miner, and that practical help and sympathy which + brought no degradation with it, for this rude shock of self-interested, + self-satisfied civilization. He, who would not have shrunk from asking + rest, food, or a night's lodging at the cabin of a brother miner or + woodsman, now recoiled suddenly from these well-dressed citizens. What + madness had sent him here, an intruder, or, even, as it seemed to him in + his dripping clothes, an impostor? And yet these were the people to whom + he had confidently expected to tell his story, and who would cheerfully + assist him with work! He could almost anticipate the hard laugh or brutal + hurried negative in their faces. In his foolish heart he thanked God he + had not tried it. Then the apathetic recoil which is apt to follow any + keen emotion overtook him. He was dazedly conscious of being rudely shoved + once or twice, and even heard the epithet “drunken lout” from one who had + run against him. + </p> + <p> + He found himself presently staring vacantly in the apothecary's window. + How long he stood there he could not tell, for he was aroused only by the + door opening in front of him, and a young girl emerging with some purchase + in her hand. He could see that she was handsomely dressed and quite + pretty, and as she passed out she lifted to his withdrawing figure a pair + of calm, inquiring eyes, which, however, changed to a look of + half-wondering, half-amused pity as she gazed. Yet that look of pity stung + his pride more deeply than all. With a deliberate effort he recovered his + energy. No, he would not beg, he would not ask assistance from these + people; he would go back—anywhere! To the steamboat first; they + might let him sleep there, give him a meal, and allow him to work his + passage back to Stockton. He might be refused. Well, what then? Well, + beyond, there was the bay! He laughed bitterly—his mind was sane + enough for that—but he kept on repeating it vaguely to himself, as + he crossed the street again, and once more made his way to the wharf. + </p> + <p> + The wind and rain had increased, but he no longer heeded them in his + feverish haste and his consciousness that motion could alone keep away + that dreadful apathy which threatened to overcloud his judgment. And he + wished while he was able to reason logically to make up his mind to end + this unsupportable situation that night. He was scarcely twenty, yet it + seemed to him that it had already been demonstrated that his life was a + failure; he was an orphan, and when he left college to seek his own + fortune in California, he believed he had staked his all upon that venture—and + lost. + </p> + <p> + That bitterness which is the sudden recoil of boyish enthusiasm, and is + none the less terrible for being without experience to justify it,—that + melancholy we are too apt to look back upon with cynical jeers and + laughter in middle age,—is more potent than we dare to think, and it + was in no mere pose of youthful pessimism that Randolph Trent now + contemplated suicide. Such scraps of philosophy as his education had given + him pointed to that one conclusion. And it was the only refuge that pride—real + or false—offered him from the one supreme terror of youth—shame. + </p> + <p> + The street was deserted, and the few lights he had previously noted in + warehouses and shops were extinguished. It had grown darker with the + storm; the incongruous buildings on either side had become misshapen + shadows; the long perspective of the wharf was a strange gloom from which + the spars of a ship stood out like the cross he remembered as a boy to + have once seen in a picture of the tempest-smitten Calvary. It was his + only fancy connected with the future—it might have been his last, + for suddenly one of the planks of the rotten wharf gave way beneath his + feet, and he felt himself violently precipitated toward the gurgling and + oozing tide below. He threw out his arms desperately, caught at a strong + girder, drew himself up with the energy of desperation, and staggered to + his feet again, safe—and sane. For with this terrible automatic + struggle to avoid that death he was courting came a flash of reason. If he + had resolutely thrown himself from the pier head as he intended, would he + have undergone a hopeless revulsion like this? Was he sure that this might + not be, after all, the terrible penalty of self-destruction—this + inevitable fierce protest of mind and body when TOO LATE? He was + momentarily touched with a sense of gratitude at his escape, but his + reason told him it was not from his ACCIDENT, but from his intention. + </p> + <p> + He was trying carefully to retrace his steps, but as he did so he saw the + figure of a man dimly lurching toward him out of the darkness of the wharf + and the crossed yards of the ship. A gleam of hope came over him, for the + emotion of the last few minutes had rudely displaced his pride and + self-love. He would appeal to this stranger, whoever he was; there was + more chance that in this rude locality he would be a belated sailor or + some humbler wayfarer, and the darkness and solitude made him feel less + ashamed. By the last flickering street lamp he could see that he was a man + about his own size, with something of the rolling gait of a sailor, which + was increased by the weight of a traveling portmanteau he was swinging in + his hand. As he approached he evidently detected Randolph's waiting + figure, slackened his speed slightly, and changed his portmanteau from his + right hand to his left as a precaution for defense. + </p> + <p> + Randolph felt the blood flush his cheek at this significant proof of his + disreputable appearance, but determined to accost him. He scarcely + recognized the sound of his own voice now first breaking the silence for + hours, but he made his appeal. The man listened, made a slight gesture + forward with his disengaged hand, and impelled Randolph slowly up to the + street lamp until it shone on both their faces. Randolph saw a man a few + years his senior, with a slightly trimmed beard on his dark, + weather-beaten cheeks, well-cut features, a quick, observant eye, and a + sailor's upward glance and bearing. The stranger saw a thin, youthful, + anxious, yet refined and handsome face beneath straggling damp curls, and + dark eyes preternaturally bright with suffering. Perhaps his experienced + ear, too, detected some harmony with all this in Randolph's voice. + </p> + <p> + “And you want something to eat, a night's lodging, and a chance of work + afterward,” the stranger repeated with good-humored deliberation. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “You look it.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph colored faintly. + </p> + <p> + “Do you ever drink?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Randolph wonderingly. + </p> + <p> + “I thought I'd ask,” said the stranger, “as it might play hell with you + just now if you were not accustomed to it. Take that. Just a swallow, you + know—that's as good as a jugful.” + </p> + <p> + He handed him a heavy flask. Randolph felt the burning liquor scald his + throat and fire his empty stomach. The stranger turned and looked down the + vacant wharf to the darkness from which he came. Then he turned to + Randolph again and said abruptly,— + </p> + <p> + “Strong enough to carry this bag?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Randolph. The whiskey—possibly the relief—had + given him new strength. Besides, he might earn his alms. + </p> + <p> + “Take it up to room 74, Niantic Hotel—top of next street to this, + one block that way—and wait till I come.” + </p> + <p> + “What name shall I say?” asked Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “Needn't say any. I ordered the room a week ago. Stop; there's the key. Go + in; change your togs; you'll find something in that bag that'll fit you. + Wait for me. Stop—no; you'd better get some grub there first.” He + fumbled in his pockets, but fruitlessly. “No matter. You'll find a + buckskin purse, with some scads in it, in the bag. So long.” And before + Randolph could thank him, he lurched away again into the semi-darkness of + the wharf. + </p> + <p> + Overflowing with gratitude at a hospitality so like that of his reckless + brethren of the mines, Randolph picked up the portmanteau and started for + the hotel. He walked warily now, with a new interest in life, and then, + suddenly thinking of his own miraculous escape, he paused, wondering if he + ought not to warn his benefactor of the perils of the rotten wharf; but he + had already disappeared. The bag was not heavy, but he found that in his + exhausted state this new exertion was telling, and he was glad when he + reached the hotel. Equally glad was he in his dripping clothes to slip by + the porter, and with the key in his pocket ascend unnoticed to 74. + </p> + <p> + Yet had his experience been larger he might have spared himself that + sensitiveness. For the hotel was one of those great caravansaries popular + with the returning miner. It received him and his gold dust in his + worn-out and bedraggled working clothes, and returned him the next day as + a well-dressed citizen on Montgomery Street. It was hard indeed to + recognize the unshaven, unwashed, and unkempt “arrival” one met on the + principal staircase at night in the scrupulously neat stranger one sat + opposite to at breakfast the next morning. In this daily whirl of mutation + all identity was swamped, as Randolph learned to know. + </p> + <p> + At present, finding himself in a comfortable bedroom, his first act was to + change his wet clothes, which in the warmer temperature and the decline of + his feverishness now began to chill him. He opened the portmanteau and + found a complete suit of clothing, evidently a foreign make, well + preserved, as if for “shore-going.” His pride would have preferred a + humbler suit as lessening his obligation, but there was no other. He + discovered the purse, a chamois leather bag such as miners and travelers + carried, which contained a dozen gold pieces and some paper notes. Taking + from it a single coin to defray the expenses of a meal, he restrapped the + bag, and leaving the key in the door lock for the benefit of his returning + host, made his way to the dining room. + </p> + <p> + For a moment he was embarrassed when the waiter approached him + inquisitively, but it was only to learn the number of his room to “charge” + the meal. He ate it quickly, but not voraciously, for his appetite had not + yet returned, and he was eager to get back to the room and see the + stranger again and return to him the coin which was no longer necessary. + </p> + <p> + But the stranger had not yet arrived when he reached the room. Over an + hour had elapsed since their strange meeting. A new fear came upon him: + was it possible he had mistaken the hotel, and his benefactor was awaiting + him elsewhere, perhaps even beginning to suspect not only his gratitude + but his honesty! The thought made him hot again, but he was helpless. Not + knowing the stranger's name, he could not inquire without exposing his + situation to the landlord. But again, there was the key, and it was + scarcely possible that it fitted another 74 in another hotel. He did not + dare to leave the room, but sat by the window, peering through the + streaming panes into the storm-swept street below. Gradually the fatigue + his excitement had hitherto kept away began to overcome him; his eyes once + or twice closed during his vigil, his head nodded against the pane. He + rose and walked up and down the room to shake off his drowsiness. Another + hour passed—nine o'clock, blown in fitful, far-off strokes from some + wind-rocked steeple. Still no stranger. How inviting the bed looked to his + weary eyes! The man had told him he wanted rest; he could lie down on the + bed in his clothes until he came. He would waken quickly and be ready for + his benefactor's directions. It was a great temptation. He yielded to it. + His head had scarcely sunk upon the pillow before he slipped into a + profound and dreamless sleep. + </p> + <p> + He awoke with a start, and for a few moments lay vaguely staring at the + sunbeams that stretched across his bed before he could recall himself. The + room was exactly as before, the portmanteau strapped and pushed under the + table as he had left it. There came a tap at the door—the + chambermaid to do up the room. She had been there once already, but seeing + him asleep, she had forborne to wake him. Apparently the spectacle of a + gentleman lying on the bed fully dressed, even to his boots, was not an + unusual one at that hotel, for she made no comment. It was twelve o'clock, + but she would come again later. + </p> + <p> + He was bewildered. He had slept the round of the clock—that was + natural after his fatigue—but where was his benefactor? The lateness + of the time forbade the conclusion that he had merely slept elsewhere; he + would assuredly have returned by this time to claim his portmanteau. The + portmanteau! He unstrapped it and examined the contents again. They were + undisturbed as he had left them the night before. There was a further + change of linen, the buckskin bag, which he could see now contained a + couple of Bank of England notes, with some foreign gold mixed with + American half-eagles, and a cheap, rough memorandum book clasped with + elastic, containing a letter in a boyish hand addressed “Dear Daddy” and + signed “Bobby,” and a photograph of a boy taken by a foreign photographer + at Callao, as the printed back denoted, but nothing giving any clue + whatever to the name of the owner. + </p> + <p> + A strange idea seized him: did the portmanteau really belong to the man + who had given it to him? Had he been the innocent receiver of stolen goods + from some one who wished to escape detection? He recalled now that he had + heard stories of robbery of luggage by thieves “Sydney ducks”—on the + deserted wharves, and remembered, too,—he could not tell why the + thought had escaped him before,—that the man had spoken with an + English accent. But the next moment he recalled his frank and open manner, + and his mind cleared of all unworthy suspicion. It was more than likely + that his benefactor had taken this delicate way of making a free, + permanent gift for that temporary service. Yet he smiled faintly at the + return of that youthful optimism which had caused him so much suffering. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, something must be done: he must try to find the man; still + more important, he must seek work before this dubious loan was further + encroached upon. He restrapped the portmanteau and replaced it under the + table, locked the door, gave the key to the office clerk, saying that any + one who called upon him was to await his return, and sallied forth. A + fresh wind and a blue sky of scudding clouds were all that remained of + last night's storm. As he made his way to the fateful wharf, still + deserted except by an occasional “wharf-rat,”—as the longshore + vagrant or petty thief was called,—he wondered at his own temerity + of last night, and the trustfulness of his friend in yielding up his + portmanteau to a stranger in such a place. A low drinking saloon, feebly + disguised as a junk shop, stood at the corner, with slimy green steps + leading to the water. + </p> + <p> + The wharf was slowly decaying, and here and there were occasional gaps in + the planking, as dangerous as the one from which he had escaped the night + before. He thought again of the warning he might have given to the + stranger; but he reflected that as a seafaring man he must have been + familiar with the locality where he had landed. But had he landed there? + To Randolph's astonishment, there was no sign or trace of any late + occupation of the wharf, and the ship whose crossyards he had seen dimly + through the darkness the night before was no longer there. She might have + “warped out” in the early morning, but there was no trace of her in the + stream or offing beyond. A bark and brig quite dismantled at an adjacent + wharf seemed to accent the loneliness. Beyond, the open channel between + him and Verba Buena Island was racing with white-maned seas and sparkling + in the shifting sunbeams. The scudding clouds above him drove down the + steel-blue sky. The lateen sails of the Italian fishing boats were like + shreds of cloud, too, blown over the blue and distant bay. His ears sang, + his eyes blinked, his pulses throbbed, with the untiring, fierce activity + of a San Francisco day. + </p> + <p> + With something of its restlessness he hurried back to the hotel. Still the + stranger was not there, and no one had called for him. The room had been + put in order; the portmanteau, that sole connecting link with his last + night's experience, was under the table. He drew it out again, and again + subjected it to a minute examination. A few toilet articles, not of the + best quality, which he had overlooked at first, the linen, the buckskin + purse, the memorandum book, and the suit of clothes he stood in, still + comprised all he knew of his benefactor. He counted the money in the + purse; it amounted, with the Bank of England notes, to about seventy + dollars, as he could roughly guess. There was a scrap of paper, the + torn-off margin of a newspaper, lying in the purse, with an address + hastily scribbled in pencil. It gave, however, no name, only a number: “85 + California Street.” It might be a clue. He put it, with the purse, + carefully in his pocket, and after hurriedly partaking of his forgotten + breakfast, again started out. + </p> + <p> + He presently found himself in the main thoroughfare of last night, which + he now knew to be Montgomery Street. It was more thronged than then, but + he failed to be impressed, as then, with the selfish activity of the + crowd. Yet he was half conscious that his own brighter fortune, more + decent attire, and satisfied hunger had something to do with this change, + and he glanced hurriedly at the druggist's broad plate-glass windows, with + a faint hope that the young girl whose amused pity he had awakened might + be there again. He found California Street quickly, and in a few moments + he stood before No. 85. He was a little disturbed to find it a rather + large building, and that it bore the inscription “Bank.” Then came the + usual shock to his mercurial temperament, and for the first time he began + to consider the absurd hopelessness of his clue. + </p> + <p> + He, however, entered desperately, and approaching the window of the + receiving teller, put the question he had formulated in his mind: Could + they give him any information concerning a customer or correspondent who + had just arrived in San Francisco and was putting up at the Niantic Hotel, + room 74? He felt his face flushing, but, to his astonishment, the clerk + manifested no surprise. “And you don't know his name?” said the clerk + quietly. “Wait a moment.” He moved away, and Randolph saw him speaking to + one of the other clerks, who consulted a large register. In a few minutes + he returned. “We don't have many customers,” he began politely, “who leave + only their hotel-room addresses,” when he was interrupted by a mumbling + protest from one of the other clerks. “That's very different,” he replied + to his fellow clerk, and then turned to Randolph. “I'm afraid we cannot + help you; but I'll make other inquiries if you'll come back in ten + minutes.” Satisfied to be relieved from the present perils of his + questioning, and doubtful of returning, Randolph turned away. But as he + left the building he saw a written notice on the swinging door, “Wanted: a + Night Porter;” and this one chance of employment determined his return. + </p> + <p> + When he again presented himself at the window the clerk motioned him to + step inside through a lifted rail. Here he found himself confronted by the + clerk and another man, distinguished by a certain air of authority, a keen + gray eye, and singularly compressed lips set in a closely clipped beard. + The clerk indicated him deferentially but briefly—everybody was + astonishingly brief and businesslike there—as the president. The + president absorbed and possessed Randolph with eyes that never seemed to + leave him. Then leaning back against the counter, which he lightly grasped + with both hands, he said: “We've sent to the Niantic Hotel to inquire + about your man. He ordered his room by letter, giving no name. He arrived + there on time last night, slept there, and has occupied the room No. 74 + ever since. WE don't know him from Adam, but”—his eyes never left + Randolph's—“from the description the landlord gave our clerk, you're + the man himself.” + </p> + <p> + For an instant Randolph flushed crimson. The natural mistake of the + landlord flashed upon him, his own stupidity in seeking this information, + the suspicious predicament in which he was now placed, and the necessity + of telling the whole truth. But the president's eye was at once a threat + and an invitation. He felt himself becoming suddenly cool, and, with a + business brevity equal to their own, said:— + </p> + <p> + “I was looking for work last night on the wharf. He employed me to carry + his bag to the hotel, saying I was to wait for him. I have waited since + nine o'clock last night in his room, and he has not come.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you in such a d——d hurry for? He's trusted you; + can't you trust him? You've got his bag?” returned the president. + </p> + <p> + Randolph was silent for a moment. “I want to know what to do with it,” he + said. + </p> + <p> + “Hang on to it. What's in it?” + </p> + <p> + “Some clothes and a purse containing about seventy dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “That ought to pay you for carrying it and storage afterward,” said the + president decisively. “What made you come here?” + </p> + <p> + “I found this address in the purse,” said Randolph, producing it. + </p> + <p> + “Is that all?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “And that's the only reason you came here, to find an owner for that bag?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + The president disengaged himself from the counter. + </p> + <p> + “I'm sorry to have given you so much trouble,” said Randolph concludingly. + “Thank you and good-morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-morning.” + </p> + <p> + As Randolph turned away he remembered the advertisement for the night + watchman. He hesitated and turned back. He was a little surprised to find + that the president had not gone away, but was looking after him. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon, but I see you want a night watchman. Could I do?” said + Randolph resolutely. + </p> + <p> + “No. You're a stranger here, and we want some one who knows the city,—Dewslake,” + he returned to the receiving teller, “who's taken Larkin's place?” + </p> + <p> + “No one yet,” returned the teller, “but,” he added parenthetically, “Judge + Boompointer, you know, was speaking to you about his son.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know that.” To Randolph: “Go round to my private room and wait for + me. I won't be as long as your friend last night.” Then he added to a + negro porter, “Show him round there.” + </p> + <p> + He moved away, stopping at one or two desks to give an order to the + clerks, and once before the railing to speak to a depositor. Randolph + followed the negro into the hall, through a “board room,” and into a + handsomely furnished office. He had not to wait long. In a few moments the + president appeared with an older man whose gray side whiskers, cut with a + certain precision, and whose black and white checked neckerchief, tied in + a formal bow, proclaimed the English respectability of the period. At the + president's dictation he took down Randolph's name, nativity, length of + residence, and occupation in California. This concluded, the president, + glancing at his companion, said briefly,— + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “He had better come to-morrow morning at nine,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “And ask for Mr. Dingwall, the deputy manager,” added the president, with + a gesture that was at once an introduction and a dismissal to both. + </p> + <p> + Randolph had heard before of this startling brevity of San Francisco + business detail, yet he lingered until the door closed on Mr. Dingwall. + His heart was honestly full. + </p> + <p> + “You have been very kind, sir,” he stammered. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't run half the risks of that chap last night,” said the president + grimly, the least tremor of a smile on his set mouth. + </p> + <p> + “If you would only let me know what I can do to thank you,” persisted + Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “Trust the man that trusts you, and hang on to your trust,” returned the + president curtly, with a parting nod. + </p> + <p> + Elated and filled with high hopes as Randolph was, he felt some + trepidation in returning to his hotel. He had to face his landlord with + some explanation of the bank's inquiry. The landlord might consider him an + impostor, and request him to leave, or, more dreadful still, insist upon + keeping the bag. He thought of the parting words of the president, and + resolved upon “hanging on to his trust,” whatever happened. But he was + agreeably surprised to find that he was received at the office with a + certain respect not usually shown to the casual visitor. “Your caller + turned up to-day”—Randolph started—“from the Eureka bank,” + continued the clerk. “Sorry we could not give your name, but you know you + only left a deposit in your letter and sent a messenger for your key + yesterday afternoon. When you came you went straight to your room. Perhaps + you would like to register now.” Randolph no longer hesitated, reflecting + that he could explain it all later to his unknown benefactor, and wrote + his name boldly. But he was still more astonished when the clerk + continued: “I reckon it was a case of identifying you for a draft—it + often happens here—and we'd have been glad to do it for you. But the + bank clerk seemed satisfied with out description of you—you're + easily described, you know” (this in a parenthesis, complimentarily + intended)—“so it's all right. We can give you a better room lower + down, if you're going to stay longer.” Not knowing whether to laugh or to + be embarrassed at this extraordinary conclusion of the blunder, Randolph + answered that he had just come from the bank, adding, with a pardonable + touch of youthful pride, that he was entering the bank's employment the + next day. + </p> + <p> + Another equally agreeable surprise met him on his arrival there the next + morning. Without any previous examination or trial he was installed at + once as a corresponding clerk in the place of one just promoted to a + sub-agency in the interior. His handwriting, his facility of composition, + had all been taken for granted, or perhaps predicated upon something the + president had discerned in that one quick, absorbing glance. He ventured + to express the thought to his neighbor. + </p> + <p> + “The boss,” said that gentleman, “can size a man in and out, and all + through, in about the time it would take you and me to tell the color of + his hair. HE don't make mistakes, you bet; but old Dingy—the dep—you + settled with your clothes.” + </p> + <p> + “My clothes!” echoed Randolph, with a faint flush. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, English cut—that fetched him.” + </p> + <p> + And so his work began. His liberal salary, which seemed to him munificent + in comparison with his previous earnings in the mines, enabled him to keep + the contents of the buckskin purse intact, and presently to return the + borrowed suit of clothes to the portmanteau. The mysterious owner should + find everything as when he first placed it in his hands. With the quick + mobility of youth and his own rather mercurial nature, he had begun to + forget, or perhaps to be a little ashamed of his keen emotions and + sufferings the night of his arrival, until that night was recalled to him + in a singular way. + </p> + <p> + One Sunday a vague sense of duty to his still missing benefactor impelled + him to spend part of his holiday upon the wharves. He had rambled away + among the shipping at the newer pier slips, and had gazed curiously upon + decks where a few seamen or officers in their Sunday apparel smoked, + paced, or idled, trying vainly to recognize the face and figure which had + once briefly flashed out under the flickering wharf lamp. Was the stranger + a shipmaster who had suddenly transferred himself to another vessel on + another voyage? A crowd which had gathered around some landing steps + nearer shore presently attracted his attention. He lounged toward it and + looked over the shoulders of the bystanders down upon the steps. A boat + was lying there, which had just towed in the body of a man found floating + on the water. Its features were already swollen and defaced like a hideous + mask; its body distended beyond all proportion, even to the bursting of + its sodden clothing. A tremulous fascination came over Randolph as he + gazed. The bystanders made their brief comments, a few authoritatively and + with the air of nautical experts. + </p> + <p> + “Been in the water about a week, I reckon.” + </p> + <p> + “'Bout that time; just rucked up and floated with the tide.” + </p> + <p> + “Not much chance o' spottin' him by his looks, eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Nor anything else, you bet. Reg'larly cleaned out. Look at his pockets.” + </p> + <p> + “Wharf-rats or shanghai men?” + </p> + <p> + “Betwixt and between, I reckon. Man who found him says he's got an ugly + cut just back of his head. Ye can't see it for his floating hair.” + </p> + <p> + “Wonder if he got it before or after he got in the water.” + </p> + <p> + “That's for the coroner to say.” + </p> + <p> + “Much he knows or cares,” said another cynically. “It'll just be a case of + 'Found drowned' and the regular twenty-five dollars to HIM, and five to + the man who found the body. That's enough for him to know.” + </p> + <p> + Thrilled with a vague anxiety, Randolph edged forward for a nearer view of + the wretched derelict still gently undulating on the towline. The closer + he looked the more he was impressed by the idea of some frightful mask + that hid a face that refused to be recognized. But his attention became + fixed on a man who was giving some advice or orders and examining the body + scrutinizingly. Without knowing why, Randolph felt a sudden aversion to + him, which was deepened when the man, lifting his head, met Randolph's + eyes with a pair of shifting yet aggressive ones. He bore, nevertheless, + an odd, weird likeness to the missing man Randolph was seeking, which + strangely troubled him. As the stranger's eyes followed him and lingered + with a singular curiosity on Randolph's dress, he remembered with a sudden + alarm that he was wearing the suit of the missing man. A quick impulse to + conceal himself came upon him, but he as quickly conquered it, and + returned the man's cold stare with an anger he could not account for, but + which made the stranger avert his eyes. Then the man got into the boat + beside the boatman, and the two again towed away the corpse. The head rose + and fell with the swell, as if nodding a farewell. But it was still + defiant, under its shapeless mask, that even wore a smile, as if + triumphant in its hideous secret. + </p> + <p> + II + </p> + <p> + The opinion of the cynical bystander on the wharf proved to be a correct + one. The coroner's jury brought in the usual verdict of “Found drowned,” + which was followed by the usual newspaper comment upon the insecurity of + the wharves and the inadequate protection of the police. + </p> + <p> + Randolph Trent read it with conflicting emotions. The possibility he had + conceived of the corpse being that of his benefactor was dismissed when he + had seen its face, although he was sometimes tortured with doubt, and a + wonder if he might not have learned more by attending the inquest. And + there was still the suggestion that the mysterious disappearance might + have been accomplished by violence like this. He was satisfied that if he + had attempted publicly to identify the corpse as his missing friend he + would have laid himself open to suspicion with a story he could hardly + corroborate. + </p> + <p> + He had once thought of confiding his doubts to Mr. Revelstoke, the bank + president, but he had a dread of that gentleman's curt conclusions and + remembered his injunction to “hang on to his trust.” Since his + installation, Mr. Revelstoke had merely acknowledged his presence by a + good-humored nod now and then, although Randolph had an instinctive + feeling that he was perfectly informed as to his progress. It was wiser + for Randolph to confine himself strictly to his duty and keep his own + counsel. + </p> + <p> + Yet he was young, and it was not strange that in his idle moments his + thoughts sometimes reverted to the pretty girl he had seen on the night of + his arrival, nor that he should wish to parade his better fortune before + her curious eyes. Neither was it strange that in this city, whose day-long + sunshine brought every one into the public streets, he should presently + have that opportunity. It chanced that one afternoon, being in the + residential quarter, he noticed a well-dressed young girl walking before + him in company with a delicate looking boy of seven or eight years. + Something in the carriage of her graceful figure, something in a certain + consciousness and ostentation of coquetry toward her youthful escort, + attracted his attention. Yet it struck him that she was neither related to + the child nor accustomed to children's ways, and that she somewhat unduly + emphasized this to the passers-by, particularly those of his own sex, who + seemed to be greatly attracted by her evident beauty. Presently she + ascended the steps of a handsome dwelling, evidently their home, and as + she turned he saw her face. It was the girl he remembered. As her eye + caught his, he blushed with the consciousness of their former meeting; + yet, in the very embarrassment of the moment, he lifted his hat in + recognition. But the salutation was met only by a cold, critical stare. + Randolph bit his lip and passed on. His reason told him she was right, his + instinct told him she was unfair; the contradiction fascinated him. + </p> + <p> + Yet he was destined to see her again. A month later, while seated at his + desk, which overlooked the teller's counter, he was startled to see her + enter the bank and approach the counter. She was already withdrawing a + glove from her little hand, ready to affix her signature to the receipted + form to be proffered by the teller. As she received the gold in exchange, + he could see, by the increased politeness of that official, his evident + desire to prolong the transaction, and the sidelong glances of his fellow + clerks, that she was apparently no stranger but a recognized object of + admiration. Although her face was slightly flushed at the moment, Randolph + observed that she wore a certain proud reserve, which he half hoped was + intended as a check to these attentions. Her eyes were fixed upon the + counter, and this gave him a brief opportunity to study her delicate + beauty. For in a few moments she was gone; whether she had in her turn + observed him he could not say. Presently he rose and sauntered, with what + he believed was a careless air, toward the paying teller's counter and the + receipt, which, being the last, was plainly exposed on the file of that + day's “taking.” He was startled by a titter of laughter from the clerks + and by the teller ironically lifting the file and placing it before him. + </p> + <p> + “That's her name, sonny, but I didn't think that you'd tumble to it quite + as quick as the others. Every new man manages to saunter round here to get + a sight of that receipt, and I've seen hoary old depositors outside edge + around inside, pretendin' they wanted to see the dep, jest to feast their + eyes on that girl's name. Take a good look at it and paste a copy in your + hat, for that's all you'll know of her, you bet. Perhaps you think she's + put her address and her 'at home' days on the receipt. Look hard and maybe + you'll see 'em.” + </p> + <p> + The instinct of youthful retaliation to say he knew her address already + stirred Randolph, but he shut his lips in time, and moved away. His desk + neighbor informed him that the young lady came there once a month and drew + a hundred dollars from some deposit to her credit, but that was all they + knew. Her name was Caroline Avondale, yet there was no one of that name in + the San Francisco Directory. + </p> + <p> + But Randolph's romantic curiosity would not allow the incident to rest + there. A favorable impression he had produced on Mr. Dingwall enabled him + to learn more, and precipitated what seemed to him a singular discovery. + “You will find,” said the deputy manager, “the statement of the first + deposit to Miss Avondale's credit in letters in your own department. The + account was opened two years ago through a South American banker. But I am + afraid it will not satisfy your curiosity.” Nevertheless, Randolph + remained after office hours and spent some time in examining the + correspondence of two years ago. He was rewarded at last by a banker's + letter from Callao advising the remittance of one thousand dollars to the + credit of Miss Avondale of San Francisco. The letter was written in + Spanish, of which Randolph had a fair knowledge, but it was made plainer + by a space having been left in the formal letter for the English name, + which was written in another hand, together with a copy of Miss Avondale's + signature for identification—the usual proceeding in those early + days, when personal identification was difficult to travelers, emigrants, + and visitors in a land of strangers. + </p> + <p> + But here he was struck by a singular resemblance which he at first put + down to mere coincidence of names. The child's photograph which he had + found in the portmanteau was taken at Callao. That was a mere coincidence, + but it suggested to his mind a more singular one—that the + handwriting of the address was, in some odd fashion, familiar to him. That + night when he went home he opened the portmanteau and took from the purse + the scrap of paper with the written address of the bank, and on comparing + it with the banker's letter the next day he was startled to find that the + handwriting of the bank's address and that in which the girl's name was + introduced in the banker's letter were apparently the same. The letters in + the words “Caroline” and “California” appeared as if formed by the same + hand. How this might have struck a chirographical expert he did not know. + He could not consult the paying teller, who was supposed to be familiar + with signatures, without exposing his secret and himself to ridicule. And, + after all, what did it prove? Nothing. Even if this girl were cognizant of + the man who supplied her address to the Callao banker two years ago, and + he was really the missing owner of the portmanteau, would she know where + he was now? It might make an opening for conversation if he ever met her + familiarly, but nothing more. Yet I am afraid another idea occasionally + took possession of Randolph's romantic fancy. It was pleasant to think + that the patron of his own fortunes might be in some mysterious way the + custodian of hers. The money was placed to her credit—a liberal sum + for a girl so young. The large house in which she lived was sufficient to + prove to the optimistic Randolph that this income was something personal + and distinct from her family. That his unknown benefactor was in the habit + of mysteriously rewarding deserving merit after the fashion of a marine + fairy godmother, I fear did not strike him as being ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + But an unfortunate query in that direction, addressed to a cynical fellow + clerk, who had the exhaustive experience with the immature mustaches of + twenty-three, elicited a reply which shocked him. To his indignant protest + the young man continued:— + </p> + <p> + “Look here; a girl like that who draws money regularly from some man who + doesn't show up by name, who comes for it herself, and hasn't any address, + and calls herself 'Avondale'—only an innocent from Dutch Flat, like + you, would swallow.” + </p> + <p> + “Impossible,” said Randolph indignantly. “Anybody could see she's a lady + by her dress and bearing.” + </p> + <p> + “Dress and bearing!” echoed the clerk, with the derision of blase youth. + “If that's your test, you ought to see Florry ——.” + </p> + <p> + But here one may safely leave the young gentleman as abruptly as Randolph + did. Yet a drop of this corrosive criticism irritated his sensitiveness, + and it was not until he recalled his last meeting with her and her + innocent escort that he was himself again. Fortunately, he did not relate + it to the critic, who would in all probability have added a precocious + motherhood to the young lady's possible qualities. + </p> + <p> + He could now only look forward to her reappearance at the bank, and here + he was destined to a more serious disappointment. For when she made her + customary appearance at the counter, he noticed a certain businesslike + gravity in the paying teller's reception of her, and that he was + consulting a small register before him instead of handing her the usual + receipt form. “Perhaps you are unaware, Miss Avondale, that your account + is overdrawn,” Randolph distinctly heard him say, although in a politely + lowered voice. + </p> + <p> + The young girl stopped in taking off her glove; her delicate face + expressed her wonder, and paled slightly; she cast a quick and apparently + involuntary glance in the direction of Randolph, but said quietly,— + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I understand.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought you did not—ladies so seldom do,” continued the paying + teller suavely. “But there are no funds to your credit. Has not your + banker or correspondent advised you?” + </p> + <p> + The girl evidently did not comprehend. “I have no correspondent or + banker,” she said. “I mean—I have heard nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “The original credit was opened from Callao,” continued the official, “but + since then it has been added to by drafts from Melbourne. There may be one + nearly due now.” + </p> + <p> + The young girl seemed scarcely to comprehend, yet her face remained pale + and thoughtful. It was not until the paying teller resumed with suggestive + politeness that she roused herself: “If you would like to see the + president, he might oblige you until you hear from your friends. Of + course, my duty is simply to”— + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I require you to exceed it,” returned the young girl + quietly, “or that I wish to see the president.” Her delicate little face + was quite set with resolution and a mature dignity, albeit it was still + pale, as she drew away from the counter. + </p> + <p> + “If you would leave your address,” continued the official with persistent + politeness, “we could advise you of any later deposit to your credit.” + </p> + <p> + “It is hardly necessary,” returned the young lady. “I should learn it + myself, and call again. Thank you. Good-morning.” And settling her veil + over her face, she quietly passed out. + </p> + <p> + The pain and indignation with which Randolph overheard this colloquy he + could with the greatest difficulty conceal. For one wild moment he had + thought of calling her back while he made a personal appeal to Revelstoke; + but the conviction borne in upon him by her resolute bearing that she + would refuse it, and he would only lay himself open to another rebuff, + held him to his seat. Yet he could not entirely repress his youthful + indignation. + </p> + <p> + “Where I come from,” he said in an audible voice to his neighbor, “a young + lady like that would have been spared this public disappointment. A dozen + men would have made up that sum and let her go without knowing anything + about her account being overdrawn.” And he really believed it. + </p> + <p> + “Nice, comf'able way of doing banking business in Dutch Flat,” returned + the cynic. “And I suppose you'd have kept it up every month? Rather a tall + price to pay for looking at a pretty girl once a month! But I suppose + they're scarcer up there than here. All the same, it ain't too late now. + Start up your subscription right here, sonny, and we'll all ante up.” + </p> + <p> + But Randolph, who seldom followed his heroics to their ultimate prosaic + conclusions, regretted he had spoken, although still unconvinced. Happily + for his temper, he did not hear the comment of the two tellers. + </p> + <p> + “Won't see HER again, old boy,” said one. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon not,” returned the other, “now that she's been chucked by her + fancy man—until she gets another. But cheer up; a girl like that + won't want friends long.” + </p> + <p> + It is not probable that either of these young gentlemen believed what they + said, or would have been personally disrespectful or uncivil to any woman; + they were fairly decent young fellows, but the rigors of business demanded + this appearance of worldly wisdom between themselves. Meantime, for a week + after, Randolph indulged in wild fancies of taking his benefactor's + capital of seventy dollars, adding thirty to it from his own hard-earned + savings, buying a draft with it from the bank for one hundred dollars, and + in some mysterious way getting it to Miss Avondale as the delayed + remittance. + </p> + <p> + The brief wet winter was nearly spent; the long dry season was due, + although there was still the rare beauty of cloud scenery in the + steel-blue sky, and the sudden return of quick but transient showers. It + was on a Sunday of weather like this that the nature-loving Randolph + extended his usual holiday excursion as far as Contra Costa by the steamer + after his dutiful round of the wharves and shipping. It was with a gayety + born equally of his youth and the weather that he overcame his + constitutional shyness, and not only mingled without restraint among the + pleasure-seekers that thronged the crowded boat, but, in the consciousness + of his good looks and a new suit of clothes, even penetrated into the + aristocratic seclusion of the “ladies' cabin”—sacred to the fair sex + and their attendant swains or chaperones. + </p> + <p> + But he found every seat occupied, and was turning away, when he suddenly + recognized Miss Avondale sitting beside her little escort. She appeared, + however, in a somewhat constrained attitude, sustaining with one hand the + boy, who had clambered on the seat. He was looking out of the cabin + window, which she was also trying to do, with greater difficulty on + account of her position. He could see her profile presented with such + marked persistency that he was satisfied she had seen him and was avoiding + him. He turned and left the cabin. + </p> + <p> + Yet, once on the deck again, he repented his haste. Perhaps she had not + actually recognized him; perhaps she wished to avoid him only because she + was in plainer clothes—a circumstance that, with his knowledge of + her changed fortunes, struck him to the heart. It seemed to him that even + as a humble employee of the bank he was in some way responsible for it, + and wondered if she associated him with her humiliation. He longed to + speak with her and assure her of his sympathy, and yet he was equally + conscious that she would reject it. + </p> + <p> + When the boat reached the Alameda wharf she slipped away with the other + passengers. He wandered about the hotel garden and the main street in the + hope of meeting her again, although he was instinctively conscious that + she would not follow the lines of the usual Sunday sight-seers, but had + her own destination. He penetrated the depths of the Alameda, and lost + himself among its low, trailing oaks, to no purpose. The hope of the + morning had died within him; the fire of adventure was quenched, and when + the clouds gathered with a rising wind he felt that the promise of that + day was gone. He turned to go back to the ferry, but on consulting his + watch he found that he had already lost so much time in his devious + wanderings that he must run to catch the last boat. The few drops that + spattered through the trees presently increased to a shower; he put up his + umbrella without lessening his speed, and finally dashed into the main + street as the last bell was ringing. But at the same moment a slight, + graceful figure slipped out of the woods just ahead of him, with no other + protection from the pelting storm than a handkerchief tied over her hat, + and ran as swiftly toward the wharf. It needed only one glance for + Randolph to recognize Miss Avondale. The moment had come, the opportunity + was here, and the next instant he was panting at her side, with the + umbrella over her head. + </p> + <p> + The girl lifted her head quickly, gave a swift look of recognition, a + brief smile of gratitude, and continued her pace. She had not taken his + arm, but had grasped the handle of the umbrella, which linked them + together. Not a word was spoken. Two people cannot be conversational or + sentimental flying at the top of their speed beneath a single umbrella, + with a crowd of impatient passengers watching and waiting for them. And I + grieve to say that, being a happy American crowd, there was some + irreverent humor. “Go it, sis! He's gainin' on you!” “Keep it up!” + “Steady, sonny! Don't prance!” “No fancy licks! You were nearly over the + traces that time!” “Keep up to the pole!” (i. e. the umbrella). “Don't + crowd her off the track! Just swing on together; you'll do it.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph had glanced quickly at his companion. She was laughing, yet + looking at him shyly as if wondering how HE was taking it. The paddle + wheels were beginning to revolve. Another rush, and they were on board as + the plank was drawn in. + </p> + <p> + But they were only on the edge of a packed and seething crowd. Randolph + managed, however, to force a way for her to an angle of the paddle box, + where they were comparatively alone although still exposed to the rain. + She recognized their enforced companionship by dropping her grasp of the + umbrella, which she had hitherto been holding over him with a singular + kind of mature superiority very like—as Randolph felt—her + manner to the boy. + </p> + <p> + “You have left your little friend?” he said, grasping at the idea for a + conversational opening. + </p> + <p> + “My little cousin? Yes,” she said. “I left him with friends. I could not + bear to make him run any risk in this weather. But,” she hesitated half + apologetically, half mischievously, “perhaps I hurried you.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no,” said Randolph quickly. “This is the last boat, and I must be at + the bank to-morrow morning at nine.” + </p> + <p> + “And I must be at the shop at eight,” she said. She did not speak bitterly + or pointedly, nor yet with the entire familiarity of custom. He noticed + that her dress was indeed plainer, and yet she seemed quite concerned over + the water-soaked state of that cheap thin silk pelerine and merino skirt. + A big lump was in his throat. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know,” he said desperately, yet trying to laugh, “that this is not + the first time you have seen me dripping?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she returned, looking at him interestedly; “it was outside of the + druggist's in Montgomery Street, about four months ago. You were wetter + then even than you are now.” + </p> + <p> + “I was hungry, friendless, and penniless, Miss Avondale.” He had spoken + thus abruptly in the faint hope that the revelation might equalize their + present condition; but somehow his confession, now that it was uttered, + seemed exceedingly weak and impotent. Then he blundered in a different + direction. “Your eyes were the only kind ones I had seen since I landed.” + He flushed a little, feeling himself on insecure ground, and ended + desperately: “Why, when I left you, I thought of committing suicide.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear, not so bad as that, I hope!” she said quickly, smiling kindly, + yet with a certain air of mature toleration, as if she were addressing her + little cousin. “You only fancied it. And it isn't very complimentary to my + eyes if their kindness drove you to such horrid thoughts. And then what + happened?” she pursued smilingly. + </p> + <p> + “I had a job to carry a man's bag, and it got me a night's lodging and a + meal,” said Randolph, almost brusquely, feeling the utter collapse of his + story. + </p> + <p> + “And then?” she said encouragingly. + </p> + <p> + “I got a situation at the bank.” + </p> + <p> + “When?” + </p> + <p> + “The next day,” faltered Randolph, expecting to hear her laugh. But Miss + Avondale heaved the faintest sigh. + </p> + <p> + “You are very lucky,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Not so very,” returned Randolph quickly, “for the next time you saw me + you cut me dead.” + </p> + <p> + “I believe I did,” she said smilingly. + </p> + <p> + “Would you mind telling me why?” + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure you won't be angry?” + </p> + <p> + “I may be pained,” said Randolph prudently. + </p> + <p> + “I apologize for that beforehand. Well, that first night I saw a young man + looking very anxious, very uncomfortable, and very weak. The second time—and + not very long after—I saw him well dressed, lounging like any other + young man on a Sunday afternoon, and I believed that he took the liberty + of bowing to me then because I had once looked at him under a + misapprehension.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Miss Avondale!” + </p> + <p> + “Then I took a more charitable view, and came to the conclusion that the + first night he had been drinking. But,” she added, with a faint smile at + Randolph's lugubrious face, “I apologize. And you have had your revenge; + for if I cut you on account of your smart clothes, you have tried to do me + a kindness on account of my plain ones.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Miss Avondale,” burst out Randolph, “if you only knew how sorry and + indignant I was at the bank—when—you know—the other day”—he + stammered. “I wanted to go with you to Mr. Revelstoke, you know, who had + been so generous to me, and I know he would have been proud to befriend + you until you heard from your friends.” + </p> + <p> + “And I am very glad you did nothing so foolish,” said the young lady + seriously, “or”—with a smile—“I should have been still more + aggravating to you when we met. The bank was quite right. Nor have I any + pathetic story like yours. Some years ago my little half-cousin whom you + saw lost his mother and was put in my charge by his father, with a certain + sum to my credit, to be expended for myself and the child. I lived with an + uncle, with whom, for some family reasons, the child's father was not on + good terms, and this money and the charge of the child were therefore + intrusted entirely to me; perhaps, also, because Bobby and I were fond of + each other and I was a friend of his mother. The father was a shipmaster, + always away on long voyages, and has been home but once in the three years + I have had charge of his son. I have not heard from him since. He is a + good-hearted man, but of a restless, roving disposition, with no domestic + tastes. Why he should suddenly cease to provide for my little cousin—if + he has done so—or if his omission means only some temporary disaster + to himself or his fortunes, I do not know. My anxiety was more for the + poor boy's sake than for myself, for as long as I live I can provide for + him.” She said this without the least display of emotion, and with the + same mature air of also repressing any emotion on the part of Randolph. + But for her size and girlish figure, but for the dripping tangles of her + hair and her soft eyes, he would have believed he was talking to a hard, + middle-aged matron. + </p> + <p> + “Then you—he—has no friends here?” asked Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “No. We are all from Callao, where Bobby was born. My uncle was a merchant + there, who came here lately to establish an agency. We lived with him in + Sutter Street—where you remember I was so hateful to you,” she + interpolated, with a mischievous smile—“until his enterprise failed + and he was obliged to return; but I stayed here with Bobby, that he might + be educated in his father's own tongue. It was unfortunate, perhaps,” she + said, with a little knitting of her pretty brows, “that the remittances + ceased and uncle left about the same time; but, like you, I was lucky, and + I managed to get a place in the Emporium.” + </p> + <p> + “The Emporium!” repeated Randolph in surprise. It was a popular “magasin + of fashion” in Montgomery Street. To connect this refined girl with its + garish display and vulgar attendants seemed impossible. + </p> + <p> + “The Emporium,” reiterated Miss Avondale simply. “You see, we used to + dress a good deal in Callao and had the Paris fashions, and that + experience was of great service to me. I am now at the head of what they + call the 'mantle department,' if you please, and am looked up to as an + authority.” She made him a mischievous bow, which had the effect of + causing a trickle from the umbrella to fall across his budding mustache, + and another down her own straight little nose—a diversion that made + them laugh together, although Randolph secretly felt that the young girl's + quiet heroism was making his own trials appear ridiculous. But her + allusion to Callao and the boy's name had again excited his fancy and + revived his romantic dream of their common benefactor. As soon as they + could get a more perfect shelter and furl the umbrella, he plunged into + the full story of the mysterious portmanteau and its missing owner, with + the strange discovery that he had made of the similarity of the two + handwritings. The young lady listened intently, eagerly, checking herself + with what might have been a half smile at his enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + “I remember the banker's letter, certainly,” she said, “and Captain + Dornton—that was the name of Bobby's father—asked me to sign + my name in the body of it where HE had also written it with my address. + But the likeness of the handwriting to your slip of paper may be only a + fancied one. Have you shown it to any one,” she said quickly—“I + mean,” she corrected herself as quickly, “any one who is an expert?” + </p> + <p> + “Not the two together,” said Randolph, explaining how he had shown the + paper to Mr. Revelstoke. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Avondale had recovered herself, and laughed. “That that bit of + paper should have been the means of getting you a situation seems to me + the more wonderful occurrence. Of course it is quite a coincidence that + there should be a child's photograph and a letter signed 'Bobby' in the + portmanteau. But”—she stopped suddenly and fixed her dark eyes on + his—“you have seen Bobby. Surely you can say if it was his + likeness?” + </p> + <p> + Randolph was embarrassed. The fact was he had always been so absorbed in + HER that he had hardly glanced at the child. He ventured to say this, and + added a little awkwardly, and coloring, that he had seen Bobby only twice. + </p> + <p> + “And you still have this remarkable photograph and letter?” she said, + perhaps a little too carelessly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Would you like to see them?” + </p> + <p> + “Very much,” she returned quickly; and then added, with a laugh, “you are + making me quite curious.” + </p> + <p> + “If you would allow me to see you home,” said Randolph, “we have to pass + the street where my room is, and,” he added timidly, “I could show them to + you.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” she replied, with sublime unconsciousness of the cause of his + hesitation; “that will be very nice?” + </p> + <p> + Randolph was happy, albeit he could not help thinking that she was + treating him like the absent Bobby. + </p> + <p> + “It's only on Commercial Street, just above Montgomery,” he went on. “We + go straight up from the wharf”—he stopped short here, for the bulk + of a bystander, a roughly clad miner, was pressing him so closely that he + was obliged to resist indignantly—partly from discomfort, and partly + from a sense that the man was overhearing him. The stranger muttered a + kind of apology, and moved away. + </p> + <p> + “He seems to be perpetually in your way,” said Miss Avondale, smiling. “He + was right behind you, and you nearly trod on his toes, when you bolted out + of the cabin this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, then you DID see me!” said Randolph, forgetting all else in his + delight at the admission. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Avondale was not disconcerted. “Thanks to your collision, I saw + you both.” + </p> + <p> + It was still raining when they disembarked at the wharf, a little behind + the other Passengers, who had crowded on the bow of the steamboat. It was + only a block or two beyond the place where Randolph had landed that + eventful night. He had to pass it now; but with Miss Avondale clinging to + his arm, with what different feelings! The rain still fell, the day was + fading, but he walked in an enchanted dream, of which the prosaic umbrella + was the mystic tent and magic pavilion. He must needs even stop at the + corner of the wharf, and show her the exact spot where his unknown + benefactor appeared. + </p> + <p> + “Coming out of the shadow like that man there,” she added brightly, + pointing to a figure just emerging from the obscurity of an overhanging + warehouse. “Why, it's your friend the miner!” + </p> + <p> + Randolph looked. It was indeed the same man, who had probably reached the + wharf by a cross street. + </p> + <p> + “Let us go on, do!” said Miss Avondale, suddenly tightening her hold of + Randolph's arm in some instinctive feminine alarm. “I don't like this + place.” + </p> + <p> + But Randolph, with the young girl's arm clinging to his, felt supremely + daring. Indeed, I fear he was somewhat disappointed when the stranger + peacefully turned into the junk shop at the corner and left them to pursue + their way. + </p> + <p> + They at last stopped before some business offices on a central + thoroughfare, where Randolph had a room on the third story. When they had + climbed the flight of stairs he unlocked a door and disclosed a good-sized + apartment which had been intended for an office, but which was now neatly + furnished as a study and bedroom. Miss Avondale smiled at the singular + combination. + </p> + <p> + “I should fancy,” she said, “you would never feel as if you had quite left + the bank behind you.” Yet, with her air of protection and mature + experience, she at once began to move one or two articles of furniture + into a more tasteful position, while Randolph, nevertheless a little + embarrassed at his audacity in asking this goddess into his humble abode, + hurriedly unlocked a closet, brought out the portmanteau, and handed her + the letter and photograph. + </p> + <p> + Woman-like, Miss Avondale looked at the picture first. If she experienced + any surprise, she repressed it. “It is LIKE Bobby,” she said meditatively, + “but he was stouter then; and he's changed sadly since he has been in this + climate. I don't wonder you didn't recognize him. His father may have had + it taken some day when they were alone together. I didn't know of it, + though I know the photographer.” She then looked at the letter, knit her + pretty brows, and with an abstracted air sat down on the edge of + Randolph's bed, crossed her little feet, and looked puzzled. But he was + unable to detect the least emotion. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” she said, “the handwriting of most children who are learning to + write is very much alike, for this is the stage of development when they + 'print.' And their composition is the same: they talk only of things that + interest all children—pets, toys, and their games. This is only ANY + child's letter to ANY father. I couldn't really say it WAS Bobby's. As to + the photograph, they have an odd way in South America of selling + photographs of anybody, principally of pretty women, by the packet, to any + one who wants them. So that it does not follow that the owner of this + photograph had any personal interest in it. Now, as to your mysterious + patron himself, can you describe him?” She looked at Randolph with a + certain feline intensity. + </p> + <p> + He became embarrassed. “You know I only saw him once, under a street lamp”—he + began. + </p> + <p> + “And I have only seen Captain Dornton—if it were he—twice in + three years,” she said. “But go on.” + </p> + <p> + Again Randolph was unpleasantly impressed with her cold, dryly practical + manner. He had never seen his benefactor but once, but he could not speak + of him in that way. + </p> + <p> + “I think,” he went on hesitatingly, “that he had dark, pleasant eyes, a + thick beard, and the look of a sailor.” + </p> + <p> + “And there were no other papers in the portmanteau?” she said, with the + same intense look. + </p> + <p> + “None.” + </p> + <p> + “These are mere coincidences,” said Miss Avondale, after a pause, “and, + after all, they are not as strange as the alternative. For we would have + to believe that Captain Dornton arrived here—where he knew his son + and I were living—without a word of warning, came ashore for the + purpose of going to a hotel and the bank also, and then unaccountably + changed his mind and disappeared.” + </p> + <p> + The thought of the rotten wharf, his own escape, and the dead body were + all in Randolph's mind; but his reasoning was already staggered by the + girl's conclusions, and he felt that it might only pain, without + convincing her. And was he convinced himself? She smiled at his blank face + and rose. “Thank you all the same. And now I must go.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph rose also. “Would you like to take the photograph and letter to + show your cousin?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. But I should not place much reliance on his memory.” Nevertheless, + she took up the photograph and letter, and Randolph, putting the + portmanteau back in the closet, locked it, and stood ready to accompany + her. + </p> + <p> + On their way to her house they talked of other things. Randolph learned + something of her life in Callao: that she was an orphan like himself, and + had been brought from the Eastern States when a child to live with a rich + uncle in Callao who was childless; that her aunt had died and her uncle + had married again; that the second wife had been at variance with his + family, and that it was consequently some relief to Miss Avondale to be + independent as the guardian of Bobby, whose mother was a sister of the + first wife; that her uncle had objected as strongly as a brother-in-law + could to his wife's sister's marriage with Captain Dornton on account of + his roving life and unsettled habits, and that consequently there would be + little sympathy for her or for Bobby in his mysterious disappearance. The + wind blew and the rain fell upon these confidences, yet Randolph, walking + again under that umbrella of felicity, parted with her at her own doorstep + all too soon, although consoled with the permission to come and see her + when the child returned. + </p> + <p> + He went back to his room a very hopeful, foolish, but happy youth. As he + entered he seemed to feel the charm of her presence again in the humble + apartment she had sanctified. The furniture she had moved with her own + little hands, the bed on which she had sat for a half moment, was + glorified to his youthful fancy. And even that magic portmanteau which had + brought him all this happiness, that, too,—but he gave a sudden + start. The closet door, which he had shut as he went out, was unlocked and + open, the portmanteau—his “trust”—gone! + </p> + <p> + III + </p> + <p> + Randolph Trent's consternation at the loss of the portmanteau was partly + superstitious. For, although it was easy to make up the small sum taken, + and the papers were safe in Miss Avondale's possession, yet this + displacement of the only link between him and his missing benefactor, and + the mystery of its disappearance, raised all his old doubts and + suspicions. A vague uneasiness, a still more vague sense of some + remissness on his own part, possessed him. + </p> + <p> + That the portmanteau was taken from his room during his absence with Miss + Avondale that afternoon was evident. The door had been opened by a + skeleton key, and as the building was deserted on Sunday, there had been + no chance of interference with the thief. If mere booty had been his + object, the purse would have satisfied him without his burdening himself + with a portmanteau which might be identified. Nothing else in the room had + been disturbed. The thief must have had some cognizance of its location, + and have kept some espionage over Randolph's movements—a + circumstance which added to the mystery and his disquiet. He placed a + description of his loss with the police authorities, but their only idea + of recovering it was by leaving that description with pawnbrokers and + second-hand dealers, a proceeding that Randolph instinctively felt was in + vain. + </p> + <p> + A singular but instinctive reluctance to inform Miss Avondale of his loss + kept him from calling upon her for the first few days. When he did, she + seemed concerned at the news, although far from participating in his + superstition or his suspicions. + </p> + <p> + “You still have the letter and photograph—whatever they may be worth—for + identification,” she said dryly, “although Bobby cannot remember about the + letter. He thinks he went once with his father to a photographer and had a + picture taken, but he cannot remember seeing it afterward.” She was + holding them in her hand, and Randolph almost mechanically took them from + her and put them in his pocket. He would not, perhaps, have noticed his + own brusqueness had she not looked a little surprised, and, he thought, + annoyed. “Are you quite sure you won't lose them?” she said gently. + “Perhaps I had better keep them for you.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall seal them up and put them in the bank safe,” he said quickly. He + could not tell whether his sudden resolution was an instinct or the + obstinacy that often comes to an awkward man. “But,” he added, coloring, + “I shall always regret the loss of the portmanteau, for it was the means + of bringing us together.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought it was the umbrella,” said Miss Avondale dryly. + </p> + <p> + She had once before halted him on the perilous edge of sentiment by a + similar cynicism, but this time it cut him deeply. For he could not be + blind to the fact that she treated him like a mere boy, and in dispelling + the illusions of his instincts and beliefs seemed as if intent upon + dispelling his illusions of HER; and in her half-smiling abstraction he + read only the well-bred toleration of one who is beginning to be bored. He + made his excuses early and went home. Nevertheless, although regretting he + had not left her the letter and photograph, he deposited them in the bank + safe the next day, and tried to feel that he had vindicated his character + for grown-up wisdom. + </p> + <p> + Then, in his conflicting emotions, he punished himself, after the fashion + of youth, by avoiding the beloved one's presence for several days. He did + this in the belief that it would enable him to make up his mind whether to + reveal his real feelings to her, and perhaps there was the more alluring + hope that his absence might provoke some manifestations of sentiment on + her part. But she made no sign. And then came a reaction in his feelings, + with a heightened sense of loyalty to his benefactor. For, freed of any + illusion or youthful fancy now, a purely unselfish gratitude to the + unknown man filled his heart. In the lapse of his sentiment he clung the + more closely to this one honest romance of his life. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon, at the close of business, he was a little astonished to + receive a message from Mr. Dingwall, the deputy manager, that he wished to + see him in his private office. He was still more astonished when Mr. + Dingwall, after offering him a chair, stood up with his hands under his + coat tails before the fireplace, and, with a hesitancy half reserved, half + courteous, but wholly English, said,— + </p> + <p> + “I—er—would be glad, Mr. Trent, if you would—er—give + me the pleasure of your company at dinner to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph, still amazed, stammered his acceptance. + </p> + <p> + “There will be—er—a young lady in whom you were—er—interested + some time ago. Er—Miss Avondale.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph, feeling he was coloring, and uncertain whether he should speak + of having met her since, contented himself with expressing his delight. + </p> + <p> + “In fact,” continued Mr. Dingwall, clearing his throat as if he were also + clearing his conscience of a tremendous secret, “she—er—mentioned + your name. There is Sir William Dornton coming also. Sir William has + recently succeeded his elder brother, who—er—it seems, was the + gentleman you were inquiring about when you first came here, and who, it + is now ascertained, was drowned in the bay a few months ago. In fact—er—it + is probable that you were the last one who saw him alive. I thought I + would tell you,” continued Mr. Dingwall, settling his chin more + comfortably in his checked cravat, “in case Sir William should speak of + him to you.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph was staggered. The abrupt revelation of his benefactor's name and + fate, casually coupled with an invitation to dinner, shocked and + confounded him. Perhaps Mr. Dingwall noticed it and misunderstood the + cause, for he added in parenthetical explanation: “Yes, the man whose + portmanteau you took charge of is dead; but you did your duty, Mr. Trent, + in the matter, although the recovery of the portmanteau was unessential to + the case.” + </p> + <p> + “Dead,” repeated Randolph, scarcely heeding him. “But is it true? Are they + sure?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dingwall elevated his eyebrows. “The large property at stake of course + rendered the most satisfactory proofs of it necessary. His father had died + only a month previous, and of course they were seeking the presumptive + heir, the so-called 'Captain John Dornton'—your man—when they + made the discovery of his death.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph thought of the strange body at the wharf, of the coroner's vague + verdict, and was unconvinced. “But,” he said impulsively, “there was a + child.” He checked himself as he remembered this was one of Miss + Avondale's confidences to him. + </p> + <p> + “Ah—Miss Avondale has spoken of a child?” said Mr. Dingwall dryly. + </p> + <p> + “I saw her with one which she said was Captain Dornton's, which had been + left in her care after the death of his wife,” said Randolph in hurried + explanation. + </p> + <p> + “John Dornton had no WIFE,” said Mr. Dingwall severely. “The boy is a + natural son. Captain John lived a wild, rough, and—er—an + eccentric life.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought—I understood from Miss Avondale that he was married,” + stammered the young man. + </p> + <p> + “In your rather slight acquaintance with that young lady I should imagine + she would have had some delicacy in telling you otherwise,” returned Mr. + Dingwall primly. + </p> + <p> + Randolph felt the truth of this, and was momentarily embarrassed. Yet he + lingered. + </p> + <p> + “Has Miss Avondale known of this discovery long?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “About two weeks, I should say,” returned Mr. Dingwall. “She was of some + service to Sir William in getting up certain proofs he required.” + </p> + <p> + It was three weeks since she had seen Randolph, yet it would have been + easy for her to communicate the news to him. In these three weeks his + romance of their common interest in his benefactor—even his own + dream of ever seeing him again—had been utterly dispelled. + </p> + <p> + It was in no social humor that he reached Dingwall's house the next + evening. Yet he knew the difficulty of taking an aggressive attitude + toward his previous idol or of inviting a full explanation from her then. + </p> + <p> + The guests, with the exception of himself and Miss Avondale, were all + English. She, self-possessed and charming in evening dress, nodded to him + with her usual mature patronage, but did not evince the least desire to + seek him for any confidential aside. He noticed the undoubted resemblance + of Sir William Dornton to his missing benefactor, and yet it produced a + singular repulsion in him, rather than any sympathetic predilection. At + table he found that Miss Avondale was separated from him, being seated + beside the distinguished guest, while he was placed next to the young lady + he had taken down—a Miss Eversleigh, the cousin of Sir William. She + was tall, and Randolph's first impression of her was that she was stiff + and constrained—an impression he quickly corrected at the sound of + her voice, her frank ingenuousness, and her unmistakable youth. In the + habit of being crushed by Miss Avondale's unrelenting superiority, he + found himself apparently growing up beside this tall English girl, who had + the naivete of a child. After a few commonplaces she suddenly turned her + gray eyes on his, and said,— + </p> + <p> + “Didn't you like Jack? I hope you did. Oh, say you did—do!” + </p> + <p> + “You mean Captain John Dornton?” said Randolph, a little confused. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, of course; HIS brother”—glancing toward Sir William. “We + always called him Jack, though I was ever so little when he went away. No + one thought of calling him anything else but Jack. Say you liked him!” + </p> + <p> + “I certainly did,” returned Randolph impulsively. Then checking himself, + he added, “I only saw him once, but I liked his face and manner—and—he + was very kind to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course he was,” said the young girl quickly. “That was only like him, + and yet”—lowering her voice slightly—“would you believe that + they all say he was wild and wicked and dissipated? And why? Fancy! Just + because he didn't care to stay at home and shoot and hunt and race and + make debts, as heirs usually do. No, he wanted to see the world and do + something for himself. Why, when he was quite young, he could manage a + boat like any sailor. Dornton Hall, their place, is on the coast, you + know, and they say that, just for adventure's sake, after he went away, he + shipped as first mate somewhere over here on the Pacific, and made two or + three voyages. You know—don't you?—and how every one was + shocked at such conduct in the heir.” + </p> + <p> + Her face was so girlishly animated, with such sparkle of eye and + responsive color, that he could hardly reconcile it with her first + restraint or with his accepted traditions of her unemotional race, or, + indeed, with her relationship to the principal guest. His latent feeling + of gratitude to the dead man warmed under the young girl's voice. + </p> + <p> + “It's so dreadful to think of him as drowned, you know, though even that + they put against him,” she went on hurriedly, “for they say he was + probably drowned in some drunken fit—fell through the wharf or + something shocking and awful—worse than suicide. But”—she + turned her frank young eyes upon him again—“YOU saw him on the wharf + that night, and you could tell how he looked.” + </p> + <p> + “He was as sober as I was,” returned Randolph indignantly, as he recalled + the incident of the flask and the dead man's caution. From recalling it to + repeating it followed naturally, and he presently related the whole story + of his meeting with Captain Dornton to the brightly interested eyes beside + him. When he had finished, she leaned toward him in girlish confidence, + and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but EVEN THAT they tell to show how intoxicated be must have been to + have given up his portmanteau to an utter stranger like you.” She stopped, + colored, and yet, reflecting his own half smile, she added: “You know what + I mean. For they all agree how nice it was of you not to take any + advantage of his condition, and Dingwall said your honesty and + faithfulness struck Revelstoke so much that he made a place for you at the + bank. Now I think,” she continued, with delightful naivete, “it was a + proof of poor Jack's BEING PERFECTLY SOBER, that he knew whom he was + trusting, and saw just what you were, at once. There! But I suppose you + must not talk to me any longer, but must make yourself agreeable to some + one else. But it was very nice of you to tell me all this. I wish you knew + my guardian. You'd like him. Do you ever go to England? Do come and see + us.” + </p> + <p> + These confidences had not been observed by the others, and Miss Avondale + appeared to confine her attentions to Sir William, who seemed to be + equally absorbed, except that once he lifted his eyes toward Randolph, as + if in answer to some remark from her. It struck Randolph that he was the + subject of their conversation, and this did not tend to allay the + irritation of a mind already wounded by the contrast of HER lack of + sympathy for the dead man who had befriended and trusted her to the simple + faith of the girl beside him, who was still loyal to a mere childish + recollection. + </p> + <p> + After the ladies had rustled away, Sir William moved his seat beside + Randolph. His manner seemed to combine Mr. Dingwall's restraint with a + certain assumption of the man of the world, more notable for its frankness + than its tactfulness. + </p> + <p> + “Sad business this of my brother's, eh,” he said, lighting a cigar; “any + way you take it, eh? You saw him last, eh?” The interrogating word, + however, seemed to be only an exclamation of habit, for he seldom waited + for an answer. + </p> + <p> + “I really don't know,” said Randolph, “as I saw him only ONCE, and he left + me on the wharf. I know no more where he went to then than where he came + from before. Of course you must know all the rest, and how he came to be + drowned.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; it really did not matter much. The whole question was identification + and proof of death, you know. Beastly job, eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Was that his body YOU were helping to get ashore at the wharf one + Sunday?” asked Randolph bluntly, now fully recognizing the likeness that + had puzzled him in Sir William. “I didn't see any resemblance.” + </p> + <p> + “Precious few would. I didn't—though it's true I hadn't seen him for + eight years. Poor old chap been knocked about so he hadn't a feature left, + eh? But his shipmate knew him, and there were his traps on the ship.” + </p> + <p> + Then, for the first time, Randolph heard the grim and sordid details of + John Dornton's mysterious disappearance. He had arrived the morning before + that eventful day on an Australian bark as the principal passenger. The + vessel itself had an evil repute, and was believed to have slipped from + the hands of the police at Melbourne. John Dornton had evidently amassed a + considerable fortune in Australia, although an examination of his papers + and effects showed it to be in drafts and letters of credit and shares, + and that he had no ready money—a fact borne out by the testimony of + his shipmates. The night he arrived was spent in an orgy on board ship, + which he did not leave until the early evening of the next day, although, + after his erratic fashion, he had ordered a room at a hotel. That evening + he took ashore a portmanteau, evidently intending to pass the night at his + hotel. He was never seen again, although some of the sailors declared that + they had seen him on the wharf WITHOUT THE PORTMANTEAU, and they had drunk + together at a low grog shop on the street corner. He had evidently fallen + through some hole in the wharf. As he was seen only with the sailors, who + also knew he had no ready money on his person, there was no suspicion of + foul play. + </p> + <p> + “For all that, don't you know,” continued Sir William, with a forced + laugh, which struck Randolph as not only discordant, but as having an + insolent significance, “it might have been a deuced bad business for YOU, + eh? Last man who was with him, eh? In possession of his portmanteau, eh? + Wearing his clothes, eh? Awfully clever of you to go straight to the bank + with it. 'Pon my word, my legal man wanted to pounce down on you as + 'accessory' until I and Dingwall called him off. But it's all right now.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph's antagonism to the man increased. “The investigation seems to + have been peculiar,” he said dryly, “for, if I remember rightly, at the + coroner's inquest on the body I saw you with, the verdict returned was of + the death of an UNKNOWN man.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; we hadn't clear proof of identity then,” he returned coolly, “but we + had a reexamination of the body before witnesses afterward, and a verdict + according to the facts. That was kept out of the papers in deference to + the feelings of the family and friends. I fancy you wouldn't have liked to + be cross-examined before a stupid jury about what you were doing with + Jack's portmanteau, even if WE were satisfied with it.” + </p> + <p> + “I should have been glad to testify to the kindness of your brother, at + any risk,” returned Randolph stoutly. “You have heard that the portmanteau + was stolen from me, but the amount of money it contained has been placed + in Mr. Dingwall's hands for disposal.” + </p> + <p> + “Its contents were known, and all that's been settled,” returned Sir + William, rising. “But,” he continued, with his forced laugh, which to + Randolph's fancy masked a certain threatening significance, “I say, it + would have been a beastly business, don't you know, if you HAD been called + upon to produce it again—ha, ha!—eh?” + </p> + <p> + Returning to the dining room, Randolph found Miss Avondale alone on a + corner of the sofa. She swept her skirts aside as he approached, as an + invitation for him to sit beside her. Still sore from his experience, he + accepted only in the hope that she was about to confide to him her opinion + of this strange story. But, to his chagrin, she looked at him over her fan + with a mischievous tolerance. “You seemed more interested in the cousin + than the brother of your patron.” + </p> + <p> + Once Randolph might have been flattered at this. But her speech seemed to + him only an echo of the general heartlessness. “I found Miss Eversleigh + very sympathetic over the fate of the unfortunate man, whom nobody else + here seems to care for,” said Randolph coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” returned Miss Avondale composedly; “I believe she was a great + friend of Captain Dornton when she was quite a child, and I don't think + she can expect much from Sir William, who is very different from his + brother. In fact, she was one of the relatives who came over here in quest + of the captain, when it was believed he was living and the heir. He was + quite a patron of hers.” + </p> + <p> + “But was he not also one of yours?” said Randolph bluntly. + </p> + <p> + “I think I told you I was the friend of the boy and of poor Paquita, the + boy's mother,” said Miss Avondale quietly. “I never saw Captain Dornton + but twice.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph noticed that she had not said “wife,” although in her previous + confidences she had so described the mother. But, as Dingwall had said, + why should she have exposed the boy's illegitimacy to a comparative + stranger; and if she herself had been deceived about it, why should he + expect her to tell him? And yet—he was not satisfied. + </p> + <p> + He was startled by a little laugh. “Well, I declare, you look as if you + resented the fact that your benefactor had turned out to be a baronet—just + as in some novel—and that you have rendered a service to the English + aristocracy. If you are thinking of poor Bobby,” she continued, without + the slightest show of self-consciousness, “Sir William will provide for + him, and thinks of taking him to England to restore his health. Now”—with + her smiling, tolerant superiority—“you must go and talk to Miss + Eversleigh. I see her looking this way, and I don't think she half likes + me as it is.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph, who, however, also saw that Sir William was lounging toward + them, here rose formally, as if permitting the latter to take the vacated + seat. This partly imposed on him the necessity of seeking Miss Eversleigh, + who, having withdrawn to the other end of the room, was turning over the + leaves of an album. As Randolph joined her, she said, without looking up, + “Is Miss Avondale a friend of yours?” + </p> + <p> + The question was so pertinent to his reflections at the moment that he + answered impulsively, “I really don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that's the answer, I think, most of her acquaintances would give, if + they were asked the same question and replied honestly,” said the young + girl, as if musing. + </p> + <p> + “Even Sir William?” suggested Randolph, half smiling, yet wondering at her + unlooked-for serious shrewdness as he glanced toward the sofa. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but HE wouldn't care. You see, there would be a pair of them.” She + stopped with a slight blush, as if she had gone too far, but corrected + herself in her former youthful frankness: “You don't mind my saying what I + did of her? You're not such a PARTICULAR friend?” + </p> + <p> + “We both owe a debt of gratitude to your cousin Jack,” said Randolph, in + some embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but YOU feel it and she doesn't. So that doesn't make you friends.” + </p> + <p> + “But she has taken good care of Captain Dornton's child,” suggested + Randolph loyally. + </p> + <p> + He stopped, however, feeling that he was on dangerous ground. But Miss + Eversleigh put her own construction on his reticence, and said,— + </p> + <p> + “I don't think she cares for it much—or for ANY children.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph remembered his own impression the only time he had ever seen her + with the child, and was struck with the young girl's instinct again + coinciding with his own. But, possibly because he knew he could never + again feel toward Miss Avondale as he had, he was the more anxious to be + just, and he was about to utter a protest against this general assumption, + when the voice of Sir William broke in upon them. He was taking his leave—and + the opportunity of accompanying Miss Avondale to her lodgings on the way + to his hotel. He lingered a moment over his handshaking with Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “Awfully glad to have met you, and I fancy you're awfully glad to get rid + of what they call your 'trust.' Must have given you a beastly lot of + bother, eh—might have given you more?” + </p> + <p> + He nodded familiarly to Miss Eversleigh, and turned away with Miss + Avondale, who waved her usual smiling patronage to Randolph, even + including his companion in that half-amused, half-superior salutation. + Perhaps it was this that put a sudden hauteur into the young girl's + expression as she stared at Miss Avondale's departing figure. + </p> + <p> + “If you ever come to England, Mr. Trent,” she said, with a pretty dignity + in her youthful face, “I hope you will find some people not quite so rude + as my cousin and”— + </p> + <p> + “Miss Avondale, you would say,” returned Randolph quietly. “As to HER, I + am quite accustomed to her maturer superiority, which, I am afraid, is the + effect of my own youth and inexperience; and I believe that, in course of + time, your cousin's brusqueness might be as easily understood by me. I + dare say,” he added, with a laugh, “that I must seem to them a very + romantic visionary with my 'trust,' and the foolish importance I have put + upon a very trivial occurrence.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think so,” said the girl quickly, “and I consider Bill very rude, + and,” she added, with a return of her boyish frankness, “I shall tell him + so. As for Miss Avondale, she's AT LEAST thirty, I understand; perhaps she + can't help showing it in that way, too.” + </p> + <p> + But here Randolph, to evade further personal allusions, continued + laughingly: “And as I've LOST my 'trust,' I haven't even that to show in + defense. Indeed, when you all are gone I shall have nothing to remind me + of my kind benefactor. It will seem like a dream.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Eversleigh was silent for a moment, and then glanced quickly around + her. The rest of the company were their elders, and, engaged in + conversation at the other end of the apartment, had evidently left the + young people to themselves. + </p> + <p> + “Wait a moment,” she said, with a youthful air of mystery and earnestness. + Randolph saw that she had slipped an Indian bracelet, profusely hung with + small trinkets, from her arm to her wrist, and was evidently selecting + one. It proved to be a child's tiny ring with a small pearl setting. “This + was given to me by Cousin Jack,” said Miss Eversleigh in a low voice, + “when I was a child, at some frolic or festival, and I have kept it ever + since. I brought it with me when we came here as a kind of memento to show + him. You know that is impossible now. You say you have nothing of his to + keep. Will you accept this? I know he would be glad to know you had it. + You could wear it on your watch chain. Don't say no, but take it.” + </p> + <p> + Protesting, yet filled with a strange joy and pride, Randolph took it from + the young girl's hand. The little color which had deepened on her cheek + cleared away as he thanked her gratefully, and with a quiet dignity she + arose and moved toward the others. Randolph did not linger long after + this, and presently took his leave of his host and hostess. + </p> + <p> + It seemed to him that he walked home that night in the whirling clouds of + his dispelled dream. The airy structure he had built up for the last three + months had collapsed. The enchanted canopy under which he had stood with + Miss Avondale was folded forever. The romance he had evolved from his + strange fortune had come to an end, not prosaically, as such romances are + apt to do, but with a dramatic termination which, however, was equally + fatal to his hopes. At any other time he might have projected the wildest + hopes from the fancy that he and Miss Avondale were orphaned of a common + benefactor; but it was plain that her interests were apart from his. And + there was an indefinable something he did not understand, and did not want + to understand, in the story she had told him. How much of it she had + withheld, not so much from delicacy or contempt for his understanding as a + desire to mislead him, he did not know. His faith in her had gone with his + romance. It was not strange that the young English girl's unsophisticated + frankness and simple confidences lingered longest in his memory, and that + when, a few days later, Mr. Dingwall informed him that Miss Avondale had + sailed for England with the Dornton family, he was more conscious of a + loss in the stranger girl's departure. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose Miss Avondale takes charge of—of the boy, sir?” he said + quietly. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dingwall gave him a quick glance. “Possibly. Sir William has behaved + with great—er—consideration,” he replied briefly. + </p> + <p> + IV + </p> + <p> + Randolph's nature was too hopeful and recuperative to allow him to linger + idly in the past. He threw himself into his work at the bank with his old + earnestness and a certain simple conscientiousness which, while it often + provoked the raillery of his fellow clerks, did not escape the eyes of his + employers. He was advanced step by step, and by the end of the year was + put in charge of the correspondence with banks and agencies. He had saved + some money, and had made one or two profitable investments. He was enabled + to take better apartments in the same building he had occupied. He had few + of the temptations of youth. His fear of poverty and his natural taste + kept him from the speculative and material excesses of the period. A + distrust of his romantic weakness kept him from society and meaner + entanglements which might have beset his good looks and good nature. He + worked in his rooms at night and forbore his old evening rambles. + </p> + <p> + As the year wore on to the anniversary of his arrival, he thought much of + the dead man who had inspired his fortunes, and with it a sense of his old + doubts and suspicions revived. His reason had obliged him to accept the + loss of the fateful portmanteau as an ordinary theft; his instinct + remained unconvinced. There was no superstition connected with his loss. + His own prosperity had not been impaired by it. On the contrary, he + reflected bitterly that the dead man had apparently died only to benefit + others. At such times he recalled, with a pleasure that he knew might + become perilous, the tall English girl who had defended Dornton's memory + and echoed his own sympathy. But that was all over now. + </p> + <p> + One stormy night, not unlike that eventful one of his past experience, + Randolph sought his rooms in the teeth of a southwest gale. As he buffeted + his way along the rain-washed pavement of Montgomery Street, it was not + strange that his thoughts reverted to that night and the memory of his + dead protector. But reaching his apartment, he sternly banished them with + the vanished romance they revived, and lighting his lamp, laid out his + papers in the prospect of an evening of uninterrupted work. He was + surprised, however, after a little interval, by the sound of uncertain and + shuffling steps on the half-lighted passage outside, the noise of some + heavy article set down on the floor, and then a tentative knock at his + door. A little impatiently he called, “Come in.” + </p> + <p> + The door opened slowly, and out of the half obscurity of the passage a + thickset figure lurched toward him into the full light of the room. + Randolph half rose, and then sank back into his chair, awed, spellbound, + and motionless. He saw the figure standing plainly before him; he saw + distinctly the familiar furniture of his room, the storm-twinkling lights + in the windows opposite, the flash of passing carriage lamps in the street + below. But the figure before him was none other than the dead man of whom + he had just been thinking. + </p> + <p> + The figure looked at him intently, and then burst into a fit of + unmistakable laughter. It was neither loud nor unpleasant, and yet it + provoked a disagreeable recollection. Nevertheless, it dissipated + Randolph's superstitious tremor, for he had never before heard of a ghost + who laughed heartily. + </p> + <p> + “You don't remember me,” said the man. “Belay there, and I'll freshen your + memory.” He stepped back to the door, opened it, put his arm out into the + hall, and brought in a portmanteau, closed the door, and appeared before + Randolph again with the portmanteau in his hand. It was the one that had + been stolen. “There!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Dornton,” murmured Randolph. + </p> + <p> + The man laughed again and flung down the portmanteau. “You've got my name + pat enough, lad, I see; but I reckoned you'd have spotted ME without that + portmanteau.” + </p> + <p> + “I see you've got it back,” stammered Randolph in his embarrassment. “It + was—stolen from me.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Dornton laughed again, dropped into a chair, rubbed his hands on + his knees, and turned his face toward Randolph. “Yes; I stole it—or + had it stolen—the same thing, for I'm responsible.” + </p> + <p> + “But I would have given it up to YOU at once,” said Randolph + reproachfully, clinging to the only idea he could understand in his utter + bewilderment. “I have religiously and faithfully kept it for you, with all + its contents, ever since—you disappeared.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it, lad,” said Captain Dornton, rising, and extending a brown, + weather-beaten hand which closed heartily on the young man's; “no need to + say that. And you've kept it even better than you know. Look here!” + </p> + <p> + He lifted the portmanteau to his lap and disclosed BEHIND the usual small + pouch or pocket in the lid a slit in the lining. “Between the lining and + the outer leather,” he went on grimly, “I had two or three bank notes that + came to about a thousand dollars, and some papers, lad, that, reckoning by + and large, might be worth to me a million. When I got that portmanteau + back they were all there, gummed in, just as I had left them. I didn't + show up and come for them myself, for I was lying low at the time, and—no + offense, lad—I didn't know how you stood with a party who was no + particular friend of mine. An old shipmate whom I set to watch that party + quite accidentally run across your bows in the ferry boat, and heard + enough to make him follow in your wake here, where he got the portmanteau. + It's all right,” he said, with a laugh, waving aside with his brown hand + Randolph's protesting gesture. “The old bag's only got back to its + rightful owner. It mayn't have been got in shipshape 'Frisco style, but + when a man's life is at stake, at least, when it's a question of his being + considered dead or alive, he's got to take things as he finds 'em, and I + found 'em d—- bad.” + </p> + <p> + In a flash of recollection Randolph remembered the obtruding miner on the + ferry boat, the same figure on the wharf corner, and the advantage taken + of his absence with Miss Avondale. And Miss Avondale was the “party” this + man's shipmate was watching! He felt his face crimsoning, yet he dared not + question him further, nor yet defend her. Captain Dornton noticed it, and + with a friendly tact, which Randolph had not expected of him, rising + again, laid his hand gently on the young man's shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “Look here, lad,” he said, with his pleasant smile; “don't you worry your + head about the ways or doings of the Dornton family, or any of their + friends. They're a queer lot—including your humble servant. You've + done the square thing accordin' to your lights. You've ridden straight + from start to finish, with no jockeying, and I shan't forget it. There are + only two men who haven't failed me when I trusted them. One was you when I + gave you my portmanteau; the other was Jack Redhill when he stole it from + you.” + </p> + <p> + He dropped back in his chair again, and laughed silently. + </p> + <p> + “Then you did not fall overboard as they supposed,” stammered Randolph at + last. + </p> + <p> + “Not much! But the next thing to it. It wasn't the water that I took in + that knocked me out, my lad, but something stronger. I was shanghaied.” + </p> + <p> + “Shanghaied?” repeated Randolph vacantly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, shanghaied! Hocused! Drugged at that gin mill on the wharf by a lot + of crimps, who, mistaking me for a better man, shoved me, blind drunk and + helpless, down the steps into a boat, and out to a short-handed brig in + the stream. When I came to I was outside the Heads, pointed for Guayaquil. + When they found they'd captured, not a poor Jack, but a man who'd trod a + quarterdeck, who knew, and was known at every port on the trading line, + and who could make it hot for them, they were glad to compromise and set + me ashore at Acapulco, and six weeks later I landed in 'Frisco.” + </p> + <p> + “Safe and sound, thank Heaven!” said Randolph joyously. + </p> + <p> + “Not exactly, lad,” said Captain Dornton grimly, “but dead and sat upon by + the coroner, and my body comfortably boxed up and on its way to England.” + </p> + <p> + “But that was nine months ago. What have you been doing since? Why didn't + you declare yourself then?” said Randolph impatiently, a little irritated + by the man's extreme indifference. He really talked like an amused + spectator of his own misfortunes. + </p> + <p> + “Steady, lad. I know what you're going to say. I know all that happened. + But the first thing I found when I got back was that the shanghai business + had saved my life; that but for that I would have really been occupying + that box on its way to England, instead of the poor devil who was taken + for me.” + </p> + <p> + A cold tremor passed over Randolph. Captain Dornton, however, was + tolerantly smiling. + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand,” said Randolph breathlessly. + </p> + <p> + Captain Dornton rose and, walking to the door, looked out into the + passage; then he shut the door carefully and returned, glancing about the + room and at the storm-washed windows. “I thought I heard some one outside. + I'm lying low just now, and only go out at night, for I don't want this + thing blown before I'm ready. Got anything to drink here?” + </p> + <p> + Randolph replied by taking a decanter of whiskey and glasses from a + cupboard. The captain filled his glass, and continued with the same gentle + but exasperating nonchalance, “Mind my smoking?” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all,” said Randolph, pushing a cigar toward him. But the captain + put it aside, drew from his pocket a short black clay pipe, stuffed it + with black “Cavendish plug,” which he had first chipped off in the palm of + his hand with a large clasp knife, lighted it, and took a few meditative + whiffs. Then, glancing at Randolph's papers, he said, “I'm not keeping you + from your work, lad?” and receiving a reply in the negative, puffed at his + pipe and once more settled himself comfortably in his chair, with his + dark, bearded profile toward Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “You were saying just now you didn't understand,” he went on slowly, + without looking up; “so you must take your own bearings from what I'm + telling you. When I met you that night I had just arrived from Melbourne. + I had been lucky in some trading speculations I had out there, and I had + some bills with me, but no money except what I had tucked in the skin of + that portmanteau and a few papers connected with my family at home. When a + man lives the roving kind of life I have, he learns to keep all that he + cares for under his own hat, and isn't apt to blab to friends. But it got + out in some way on the voyage that I had money, and as there was a mixed + lot of 'Sydney ducks' and 'ticket of leave men' on board, it seems they + hatched a nice little plot to waylay me on the wharf on landing, rob me, + and drop me into deep water. To make it seem less suspicious, they + associated themselves with a lot of crimps who were on the lookout for our + sailors, who were going ashore that night too. I'd my suspicions that a + couple of those men might be waiting for me at the end of the wharf. I + left the ship just a minute or two before the sailors did. Then I met you. + That meeting, my lad, was my first step toward salvation. For the two men + let you pass with my portmanteau, which they didn't recognize, as I knew + they would ME, and supposed you were a stranger, and lay low, waiting for + me. I, who went into the gin-mill with the other sailors, was foolish + enough to drink, and was drugged and crimped as they were. I hadn't + thought of that. A poor devil of a ticket of leave man, about my size, was + knocked down for me, and,” he added, suppressing a laugh, “will be buried, + deeply lamented, in the chancel of Dornton Church. While the row was going + on, the skipper, fearing to lose other men, warped out into the stream, + and so knew nothing of what happened to me. When they found what they + thought was my body, he was willing to identify it in the hope that the + crime might be charged to the crimps, and so did the other sailor + witnesses. But my brother Bill, who had just arrived here from Callao, + where he had been hunting for me, hushed it up to prevent a scandal. All + the same, Bill might have known the body wasn't mine, even though he + hadn't seen me for years.” + </p> + <p> + “But it was frightfully disfigured, so that even I, who saw you only once, + could not have sworn it was NOT you,” said Randolph quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” said Captain Dornton musingly. “Bill may have acted on the square—though + he was in a d——d hurry.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Randolph eagerly, “you will put an end to all this now. You + will assert yourself. You have witnesses to prove your identity.” + </p> + <p> + “Steady, lad,” said the captain, waving his pipe gently. “Of course I + have. But”—he stopped, laid down his pipe, and put his hands + doggedly in his pockets—“IS IT WORTH IT?” Seeing the look of + amazement in Randolph's face, he laughed his low laugh, and settled + himself back in his chair again. “No,” he said quietly, “if it wasn't for + my son, and what's due him as my heir, I suppose—I reckon I'd just + chuck the whole d——d thing.” + </p> + <p> + “What!” said Randolph. “Give up the property, the title, the family honor, + the wrong done to your reputation, the punishment”—He hesitated, + fearing he had gone too far. + </p> + <p> + Captain Dornton withdrew his pipe from his mouth with a gesture of + caution, and holding it up, said: “Steady, lad. We'll come to THAT by and + by. As to the property and title, I cut and run from THEM ten years ago. + To me they meant only the old thing—the life of a country gentleman, + the hunting, the shooting, the whole beastly business that the land, over + there, hangs like a millstone round your neck. They meant all this to me, + who loved adventure and the sea from my cradle. I cut the property, for I + hated it, and I hate it still. If I went back I should hear the sea + calling me day and night; I should feel the breath of the southwest trades + in every wind that blew over that tight little island yonder; I should be + always scenting the old trail, lad, the trail that leads straight out of + the Gate to swoop down to the South Seas. Do you think a man who has felt + his ship's bows heave and plunge under him in the long Pacific swell—just + ahead of him a reef breaking white into the lagoon, and beyond a fence of + feathery palms—cares to follow hounds over gray hedges under a gray + November sky? And the society? A man who's got a speaking acquaintance in + every port from Acapulco to Melbourne, who knows every den and every + longshoreman in it from a South American tienda to a Samoan beach-comber's + hut,—what does he want with society?” He paused as Randolph's eyes + were fixed wonderingly on the first sign of emotion on his weather-beaten + face, which seemed for a moment to glow with the strength and freshness of + the sea, and then said, with a laugh: “You stare, lad. Well, for all the + Dorntons are rather proud of their family, like as not there was some + beastly old Danish pirate among them long ago, and I've got a taste of his + blood in me. But I'm not quite as bad as that yet.” + </p> + <p> + He laughed, and carelessly went on: “As to the family honor, I don't see + that it will be helped by my ripping up the whole thing and perhaps + showing that Bill was a little too previous in identifying me. As to my + reputation, that was gone after I left home, and if I hadn't been the + legal heir they wouldn't have bothered their heads about me. My father had + given me up long ago, and there isn't a man, woman, or child that wouldn't + now welcome Bill in my place.” + </p> + <p> + “There is one who wouldn't,” said Randolph impulsively. + </p> + <p> + “You mean Caroline Avondale?” said Captain Dornton dryly. + </p> + <p> + Randolph colored. “No; I mean Miss Eversleigh, who was with your brother.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Dornton reflected. “To be sure! Sibyl Eversleigh! I haven't seen + her since she was so high. I used to call her my little sweetheart. So + Sybby remembered Cousin Jack and came to find him? But when did you meet + her?” he asked suddenly, as if this was the only detail of the past which + had escaped him, fixing his frank eyes upon Randolph. + </p> + <p> + The young man recounted at some length the dinner party at Dingwall's, his + conversation with Miss Eversleigh, and his interview with Sir William, but + spoke little of Miss Avondale. To his surprise, the captain listened + smilingly, and only said: “That was like Billy to take a rise out of you + by pretending you were suspected. That's his way—a little rough when + you don't know him and he's got a little grog amidships. All the same, I'd + have given something to have heard him 'running' you, when all the while + you had the biggest bulge on him, only neither of you knew it.” He laughed + again, until Randolph, amazed at his levity and indifference, lost his + patience. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know,” he said bluntly, “that they don't believe you were legally + married?” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Dornton only continued to laugh, until, seeing his companion's + horrified face, he became demure. “I suppose Bill didn't, for Bill had + sense enough to know that otherwise he would have to take a back seat to + Bobby.” + </p> + <p> + “But did Miss Avondale know you were legally married, and that your son + was the heir?” asked Randolph bluntly. + </p> + <p> + “She had no reason to suspect otherwise, although we were married + secretly. She was an old friend of my wife, not particularly of mine.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph sat back amazed and horrified. Those were HER own words. Or was + this man deceiving him as the others had? + </p> + <p> + But the captain, eying him curiously, but still amusedly, added: “I even + thought of bringing her as one of my witnesses, until”— + </p> + <p> + “Until what?” asked Randolph quickly, as he saw the captain had hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Until I found she wasn't to be trusted; until I found she was too thick + with Bill,” said the captain bluntly. “And now she's gone to England with + him and the boy, I suppose she'll make him come to terms.” + </p> + <p> + “Come to terms?” echoed Randolph. “I don't understand.” Yet he had an + instinctive fear that he did. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the captain slowly, “suppose she might prefer the chance of + being the wife of a grown-up baronet to being the governess of one who was + only a minor? She's a cute girl,” he added dryly. + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Randolph indignantly, “you have other witnesses, I hope.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I have. I've got the Spanish records now from the Callao + priest, and they're put in a safe place should anything happen to me—if + anything could happen to a dead man!” he added grimly. “These proofs were + all I was waiting for before I made up my mind whether I should blow the + whole thing, or let it slide.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph looked again with amazement at this strange man who seemed so + indifferent to the claims of wealth, position, and even to revenge. It + seemed inconceivable, and yet he could not help being impressed with his + perfect sincerity. He was relieved, however, when Captain Dornton rose + with apparent reluctance and put away his pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Now look here, my lad, I'm right glad to have overhauled you again, + whatever happened or is going to happen, and there's my hand upon it! Now, + to come to business. I'm going over to England on this job, and I want you + to come and help me.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph's heart leaped. The appeal revived all his old boyish enthusiasm, + with his secret loyalty to the man before him. But he suddenly remembered + his past illusions, and for an instant he hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “But the bank,” he stammered, scarce knowing what to say. + </p> + <p> + The captain smiled. “I will pay you better than the bank; and at the end + of four months, in whatever way this job turns out, if you still wish to + return here, I will see that you are secured from any loss. Perhaps you + may be able to get a leave of absence. But your real object must be kept a + secret from every one. Not a word of my existence or my purpose must be + blown before I am ready. You and Jack Redhill are all that know it now.” + </p> + <p> + “But you have a lawyer?” said the surprised Randolph. + </p> + <p> + “Not yet. I'm my own lawyer in this matter until I get fairly under way. + I've studied the law enough to know that as soon as I prove that I'm alive + the case must go on on account of my heir, whether I choose to cry quits + or not. And it's just THAT that holds my hand.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph stared at the extraordinary man before him. For a moment, as the + strange story of his miraculous escape and his still more wonderful + indifference to it all recurred to his mind, he felt a doubt of the + narrator's truthfulness or his sanity. But another glance at the sailor's + frank eyes dispelled that momentary suspicion. He held out his hand as + frankly, and grasping Captain Dornton's, said, “I will go.” + </p> + <p> + V + </p> + <p> + Randolph's request for a four months' leave of absence was granted with + little objection and no curiosity. He had acquired the confidence of his + employers, and beyond Mr. Revelstoke's curt surprise that a young fellow + on the road to fortune should sacrifice so much time to irrelevant travel, + and the remark, “But you know your own business best,” there was no + comment. It struck the young man, however, that Mr. Dingwall's slight + coolness on receiving the news might be attributed to a suspicion that he + was following Miss Avondale, whom he had fancied Dingwall disliked, and he + quickly made certain inquiries in regard to Miss Eversleigh and the + possibility of his meeting her. As, without intending it, and to his own + surprise, he achieved a blush in so doing, which Dingwall noted, he + received a gracious reply, and the suggestion that it was “quite proper” + for him, on arriving, to send the young lady his card. + </p> + <p> + Captain Dornton, under the alias of “Captain Johns,” was ready to catch + the next steamer to the Isthmus, and in two days they sailed. The voyage + was uneventful, and if Randolph had expected any enthusiasm on the part of + the captain in the mission on which he was now fairly launched, he would + have been disappointed. Although his frankness was unchanged, he + volunteered no confidences. It was evident he was fully acquainted with + the legal strength of his claim, yet he, as evidently, deferred making any + plan of redress until he reached England. Of Miss Eversleigh he was more + communicative. “You would have liked her better, my lad, it you hadn't + been bewitched by the Avondale woman, for she is the whitest of the + Dorntons.” In vain Randolph protested truthfully, yet with an even more + convincing color, that it had made no difference, and he HAD liked her. + The captain laughed. “Ay, lad! But she's a poor orphan, with scarcely a + hundred pounds a year, who lives with her guardian, an old clergyman. And + yet,” he added grimly, “there are only three lives between her and the + property—mine, Bobby's, and Bill's—unless HE should marry and + have an heir.” + </p> + <p> + “The more reason why you should assert yourself and do what you can for + her now,” said Randolph eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Ay,” returned the captain, with his usual laugh, “when she was a child I + used to call her my little sweetheart, and gave her a ring, and I reckon I + promised to marry her, too, when she grew up.” + </p> + <p> + The truthful Randolph would have told him of Miss Evereleigh's gift, but + unfortunately he felt himself again blushing, and fearful lest the captain + would misconstrue his confusion, he said nothing. + </p> + <p> + Except on this occasion, the captain talked with Randolph chiefly of his + later past,—of voyages he had made, of places they were passing, and + ports they visited. He spent much of the time with the officers, and even + the crew, over whom he seemed to exercise a singular power, and with whom + he exhibited an odd freemasonry. To Randolph's eyes he appeared to grow in + strength and stature in the salt breath of the sea, and although he was + uniformly kind, even affectionate, to him, he was brusque to the other + passengers, and at times even with his friends the sailors. Randolph + sometimes wondered how he would treat a crew of his own. He found some + answer to that question in the captain's manner to Jack Redhill, the + abstractor of the portmanteau, and his old shipmate, who was accompanying + the captain in some dependent capacity, but who received his master's + confidences and orders with respectful devotion. + </p> + <p> + It was a cold, foggy morning, nearly two months later, that they landed at + Plymouth. The English coast had been a vague blank all night, only + pierced, long hours apart, by dim star-points or weird yellow beacon + flashes against the horizon. And this vagueness and unreality increased on + landing, until it seemed to Randolph that they had slipped into a land of + dreams. The illusion was kept up as they walked in the weird shadows + through half-lit streets into a murky railway station throbbing with steam + and sudden angry flashes in the darkness, and then drew away into what + ought to have been the open country, but was only gray plains of mist + against a lost horizon. Sometimes even the vague outlook was obliterated + by passing trains coming from nowhere and slipping into nothingness. As + they crept along with the day, without, however, any lightening of the + opaque vault overhead to mark its meridian, there came at times a thinning + of the gray wall on either side of the track, showing the vague bulk of a + distant hill, the battlemented sky line of an old-time hall, or the spires + of a cathedral, but always melting back into the mist again as in a dream. + Then vague stretches of gloom again, foggy stations obscured by nebulous + light and blurred and moving figures, and the black relief of a tunnel. + Only once the captain, catching sight of Randolph's awed face under the + lamp of the smoking carriage, gave way to his long, low laugh. “Jolly + place, England—so very 'Merrie.'” And then they came to a + comparatively lighter, broader, and more brilliantly signaled tunnel + filled with people, and as they remained in it, Randolph was told it was + London. With the sensation of being only half awake, he was guided and put + into a cab by his companion, and seemed to be completely roused only at + the hotel. + </p> + <p> + It had been arranged that Randolph should first go down to Chillingworth + rectory and call on Miss Eversleigh, and, without disclosing his secret, + gather the latest news from Dornton Hall, only a few miles from + Chillingworth. For this purpose he had telegraphed to her that evening, + and had received a cordial response. The next morning he arose early, and, + in spite of the gloom, in the glow of his youthful optimism entered the + bedroom of the sleeping Captain Dornton, and shook him by the shoulder in + lieu of the accolade, saying: “Rise, Sir John Dornton!” + </p> + <p> + The captain, a light sleeper, awoke quickly. “Thank you, my lad, all the + same, though I don't know that I'm quite ready yet to tumble up to that + kind of piping. There's a rotten old saying in the family that only once + in a hundred years the eldest son succeeds. That's why Bill was so + cocksure, I reckon. Well?” + </p> + <p> + “In an hour I'm off to Chillingworth to begin the campaign,” said Randolph + cheerily. + </p> + <p> + “Luck to you, my boy, whatever happens. Clap a stopper on your jaws, + though, now and then. I'm glad you like Sybby, but I don't want you to + like her so much as to forget yourself and give me away.” + </p> + <p> + Half an hour out of London the fog grew thinner, breaking into lace-like + shreds in the woods as the train sped by, or expanding into lustrous + tenuity above him. Although the trees were leafless, there was some + recompense in the glimpses their bare boughs afforded of clustering + chimneys and gables nestling in ivy. An infinite repose had been laid upon + the landscape with the withdrawal of the fog, as of a veil lifted from the + face of a sleeper. All his boyish dreams of the mother country came back + to him in the books he had read, and re-peopled the vast silence. Even the + rotting leaves that lay thick in the crypt-like woods seemed to him the + dead laurels of its past heroes and sages. Quaint old-time villages, + thatched roofs, the ever-recurring square towers of church or hall, the + trim, ordered parks, tiny streams crossed by heavy stone bridges much too + large for them—all these were only pages of those books whose leaves + he seemed to be turning over. Two hours of this fancy, and then the train + stopped at a station within a mile or two of a bleak headland, a beacon, + and the gray wash of a pewter-colored sea, where a hilly village street + climbed to a Norman church tower and the ivied gables of a rectory. + </p> + <p> + Miss Eversleigh, dignifiedly tall, but youthfully frank, as he remembered + her, was waiting to drive him in a pony trap to the rectory. A little + pink, with suppressed consciousness and the responsibilities of presenting + a stranger guest to her guardian, she seemed to Randolph more charming + than ever. + </p> + <p> + But her first word of news shocked and held him breathless. Bobby, the + little orphan, a frail exotic, had succumbed to the Northern winter. A + cold caught in New York had developed into pneumonia, and he died on the + passage. Miss Avondale, although she had received marked attention from + Sir William, returned to America in the same ship. + </p> + <p> + “I really don't think she was quite as devoted to the poor child as all + that, you know,” she continued with innocent frankness, “and Cousin Bill + was certainly most kind to them both, yet there really seemed to be some + coolness between them after the child's death. But,” she added suddenly, + for the first time observing her companion's evident distress, and + coloring in confusion, “I beg your pardon—I've been horribly rude + and heartless. I dare say the poor boy was very dear to you, and of course + Miss Avondale was your friend. Please forgive me!” + </p> + <p> + Randolph, intent only on that catastrophe which seemed to wreck all + Captain Dornton's hopes and blunt his only purpose for declaring himself, + hurriedly reassured her, yet was not sorry his agitation had been + misunderstood. And what was to be done? There was no train back to London + for four hours. He dare not telegraph, and if he did, could he trust to + his strange patron's wise conduct under the first shock of this news to + his present vacillating purpose? He could only wait. + </p> + <p> + Luckily for his ungallant abstraction, they were speedily at the rectory, + where a warm welcome from Mr. Brunton, Sibyl's guardian, and his family + forced him to recover himself, and showed him that the story of his + devotion to John Dornton had suffered nothing from Miss Eversleigh's + recital. Distraught and anxious as he was, he could not resist the young + girl's offer after luncheon to show him the church with the vault of the + Dorntons and the tablet erected to John Dornton, and, later, the Hall, + only two miles distant. But here Randolph hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “I would rather not call on Sir William to-day,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “You need not. He is over at the horse show at Fern Dyke, and won't be + back till late. And if he has been forgathering with his boon companions + he won't be very pleasant company.” + </p> + <p> + “Sibyl!” said the rector in good-humored protest. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Mr. Trent has had a little of Cousin Bill's convivial manners before + now,” said the young girl vivaciously, “and isn't shocked. But we can see + the Hall from the park on our way to the station.” + </p> + <p> + Even in his anxious preoccupation he could see that the church itself was + a quaint and wonderful preservation of the past. For four centuries it had + been sacred to the tombs of the Dorntons and their effigies in brass and + marble, yet, as Randolph glanced at the stately sarcophagus of the unknown + ticket of leave man, its complacent absurdity, combined with his + nervousness, made him almost hysterical. Yet again, it seemed to him that + something of the mystery and inviolability of the past now invested that + degraded dust, and it would be an equal impiety to disturb it. Miss + Eversleigh, again believing his agitation caused by the memory of his old + patron, tactfully hurried him away. Yet it was a more bitter thought, I + fear, that not only were his lips sealed to his charming companion on the + subject in which they could sympathize, but his anxiety prevented him from + availing himself of that interview to exchange the lighter confidences he + had eagerly looked forward to. It seemed cruel that he was debarred this + chance of knitting their friendship closer by another of those accidents + that had brought them together. And he was aware that his gloomy + abstraction was noticed by her. At first she drew herself up in a certain + proud reserve, and then, perhaps, his own nervousness infecting her in + turn, he was at last terrified to observe that, as she stood before the + tomb, her clear gray eyes filled with tears. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, please don't do that—THERE, Miss Eversleigh,” he burst out + impulsively. + </p> + <p> + “I was thinking of Cousin Jack,” she said, a little startled at his + abruptness. “Sometimes it seems so strange that he is dead—I + scarcely can believe it.” + </p> + <p> + “I meant,” stammered Randolph, “that he is much happier—you know”—he + grew almost hysterical again as he thought of the captain lying cheerfully + in his bed at the hotel—“much happier than you or I,” he added + bitterly; “that is—I mean, it grieves me so to see YOU grieve, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Eversleigh did NOT know, but there was enough sincerity and real + feeling in the young fellow's voice and eyes to make her color slightly + and hurry him away to a locality less fraught with emotions. In a few + moments they entered the park, and the old Hall rose before them. It was a + great Tudor house of mullioned windows, traceries, and battlements; of + stately towers, moss-grown balustrades, and statues darkening with the fog + that was already hiding the angles and wings of its huge bulk. A peacock + spread its ostentatious tail on the broad stone steps before the portal; a + flight of rooks from the leafless elms rose above its stacked and twisted + chimneys. After all, how little had this stately incarnation of the vested + rights and sacred tenures of the past in common with the laughing rover he + had left in London that morning! And thinking of the destinies that the + captain held so lightly in his hand, and perhaps not a little of the + absurdity of his own position to the confiding young girl beside him, for + a moment he half hated him. + </p> + <p> + The fog deepened as they reached the station, and, as it seemed to + Randolph, made their parting still more vague and indefinite, and it was + with difficulty that he could respond to the young girl's frank hope that + he would soon return to them. Yet he half resolved that he would not until + he could tell her all. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, as the train crept more and more slowly, with halting + signals, toward London, he buoyed himself up with the hope that Captain + Dornton would still try conclusions for his patrimony, or at least come to + some compromise by which he might be restored to his rank and name. But + upon these hopes the vision of that great house settled firmly upon its + lands, held there in perpetuity by the dead and stretched-out hands of + those that lay beneath its soil, always obtruded itself. Then the fog + deepened, and the crawling train came to a dead stop at the next station. + The whole line was blocked. Four precious hours were hopelessly lost. + </p> + <p> + Yet despite his impatience, he reentered London with the same dazed + semi-consciousness of feeling as on the night he had first arrived. There + seemed to have been no interim; his visit to the rectory and Hall, and + even his fateful news, were only a dream. He drove through the same shadow + to the hotel, was received by the same halo-encircled lights that had + never been put out. After glancing through the halls and reading room he + hurriedly made his way to his companion's room. The captain was not there. + He quickly summoned the waiter. The gentleman? Yes; Captain Dornton had + left with his servant, Redhill, a few hours after Mr. Trent went away. He + had left no message. + </p> + <p> + Again condemned to wait in inactivity, Randolph tried to resist a certain + uneasiness that was creeping over him, by attributing the captain's + absence to some unexpected legal consultation or the gathering of + evidence, his prolonged detention being due to the same fog that had + delayed his own train. But he was somewhat surprised to find that the + captain had ordered his luggage into the porter's care in the hall below + before leaving, and that nothing remained in his room but a few toilet + articles and the fateful portmanteau. The hours passed slowly. Owing to + that perpetual twilight in which he had passed the day, there seemed no + perceptible flight of time, and at eleven o'clock, the captain not + arriving, he determined to wait in the latter's room so as to be sure not + to miss him. Twelve o'clock boomed from an adjacent invisible steeple, but + still he came not. Overcome by the fatigue and excitement of the day, + Randolph concluded to lie down in his clothes on the captain's bed, not + without a superstitious and uncomfortable recollection of that night, + about a year before, when he had awaited him vainly at the San Francisco + hotel. Even the fateful portmanteau was there to assist his gloomy fancy. + Nevertheless, with the boom of one o'clock in his drowsy ears as his last + coherent recollection, he sank into a dreamless sleep. + </p> + <p> + He was awakened by a tapping at his door, and jumped up to realize by his + watch and the still burning gaslight that it was nine o'clock. But the + intruder was only a waiter with a letter which he had brought to + Randolph's room in obedience to the instructions the latter had given + overnight. Not doubting it was from the captain, although the handwriting + of the address was unfamiliar, he eagerly broke the seal. But he was + surprised to read as follows:— + </p> + <p> + DEAR MR. TRENT,—We had such sad news from the Hall after you left. + Sir William was seized with a kind of fit. It appears that he had just + returned from the horse show, and had given his mare to the groom while he + walked to the garden entrance. The groom saw him turn at the yew hedge, + and was driving to the stables when he heard a queer kind of cry, and + turning back to the garden front, found poor Sir William lying on the + ground in convulsions. The doctor was sent for, and Mr. Brunton and I went + over to the Hall. The doctor thinks it was something like a stroke, but he + is not certain, and Sir William is quite delirious, and doesn't recognize + anybody. I gathered from the groom that he had been DRINKING HEAVILY. + Perhaps it was well that you did not see him, but I thought you ought to + know what had happened in case you came down again. It's all very + dreadful, and I wonder if that is why I was so nervous all the afternoon. + It may have been a kind of presentiment. Don't you think so? + </p> + <p> + Yours faithfully, + </p> + <p> + SIBYL EVERSLEIGH. + </p> + <p> + I am afraid Randolph thought more of the simple-minded girl who, in the + midst of her excitement, turned to him half unconsciously, than he did of + Sir William. Had it not been for the necessity of seeing the captain, he + would probably have taken the next train to the rectory. Perhaps he might + later. He thought little of Sir William's illness, and was inclined to + accept the young girl's naive suggestion of its cause. He read and reread + the letter, staring at the large, grave, childlike handwriting—so + like herself—and obeying a sudden impulse, raised the signature, as + gravely as if it had been her hand, to his lips. + </p> + <p> + Still the day advanced and the captain came not. Randolph found the + inactivity insupportable. He knew not where to seek him; he had no more + clue to his resorts or his friends—if, indeed, he had any in London—than + he had after their memorable first meeting in San Francisco. He might, + indeed, be the dupe of an impostor, who, at the eleventh hour, had turned + craven and fled. He might be, in the captain's indifference, a mere + instrument set aside at his pleasure. Yet he could take advantage of Miss + Eversleigh's letter and seek her, and confess everything, and ask her + advice. It was a great and at the moment it seemed to him an overwhelming + temptation. But only for the moment. He had given his word to the captain—more, + he had given his youthful FAITH. And, to his credit, he never swerved + again. It seemed to him, too, in his youthful superstition, as he looked + at the abandoned portmanteau, that he had again to take up his burden—his + “trust.” + </p> + <p> + It was nearly four o'clock when the spell was broken. A large packet, + bearing the printed address of a London and American bank, was brought to + him by a special messenger; but the written direction was in the captain's + hand. Randolph tore it open. It contained one or two inclosures, which he + hastily put aside for the letter, two pages of foolscap, which he read + breathlessly:— + </p> + <p> + DEAR TRENT,—Don't worry your head if I have slipped my cable without + telling you. I'm all right, only I got the news you are bringing me, JUST + AFTER YOU LEFT, by Jack Redhill, whom I had sent to Dornton Hall to see + how the land lay the night before. It was not that I didn't trust YOU, but + HE had ways of getting news that you wouldn't stoop to. You can guess, + from what I have told you already, that, now Bobby is gone, there's + nothing to keep me here, and I'm following my own idea of letting the + whole blasted thing slide. I only worked this racket for the sake of him. + I'm sorry for him, but I suppose the poor little beggar couldn't stand + these sunless, God-forsaken longitudes any more than I could. Besides + that, as I didn't want to trust any lawyer with my secret, I myself had + hunted up some books on the matter, and found that, by the law of entail, + I'd have to rip up the whole blessed thing, and Bill would have had to pay + back every blessed cent of what rents he had collected since he took hold—not + to ME, but the ESTATE—with interest, and that no arrangement I could + make with HIM would be legal on account of the boy. At least, that's the + way the thing seemed to pan out to me. So that when I heard of Bobby's + death I was glad to jump the rest, and that's what I made up my mind to + do. + </p> + <p> + But, like a blasted lubber, now that I COULD do it and cut right away, I + must needs think that I'd like first to see Bill on the sly, without + letting on to any one else, and tell him what I was going to do. I'd no + fear that he'd object, or that he'd hesitate a minute to fall in with my + plan of dropping my name and my game, and giving him full swing, while I + stood out to sea and the South Pacific, and dropped out of his mess for + the rest of my life. Perhaps I wanted to set his mind at rest, if he'd + ever had any doubts; perhaps I wanted to have a little fun out of him for + his d——d previousness; perhaps, lad, I had a hankering to see + the old place for the last time. At any rate, I allowed to go to Dornton + Hall. I timed myself to get there about the hour you left, to keep out of + sight until I knew he was returning from the horse show, and to waylay him + ALONE and have our little talk without witnesses. I daren't go to the + Hall, for some of the old servants might recognize me. + </p> + <p> + I went down there with Jack Redhill, and we separated at the station. I + hung around in the fog. I even saw you pass with Sibyl in the dogcart, but + you didn't see me. I knew the place, and just where to hide where I could + have the chance of seeing him alone. But it was a beastly job waiting + there. I felt like a d——d thief instead of a man who was + simply visiting his own. Yet, you mayn't believe me, lad, but I hated the + place and all it meant more than ever. Then, by and by, I heard him + coming. I had arranged it all with myself to get into the yew hedge, and + step out as he came to the garden entrance, and as soon as he recognized + me to get him round the terrace into the summer house, where we could + speak without danger. + </p> + <p> + I heard the groom drive away to the stable with the cart, and, sure + enough, in a minute he came lurching along toward the garden door. He was + mighty unsteady on his pins, and I reckon he was more than half full, + which was a bad lookout for our confab. But I calculated that the sight of + me, when I slipped out, would sober him. And, by —-, it did! For his + eyes bulged out of his head and got fixed there; his jaw dropped; he tried + to strike at me with a hunting crop he was carrying, and then he uttered + an ungodly yell you might have heard at the station, and dropped down in + his tracks. I had just time to slip back into the hedge again before the + groom came driving back, and then all hands were piped, and they took him + into the house. + </p> + <p> + And of course the game was up, and I lost my only chance. I was thankful + enough to get clean away without discovering myself, and I have to trust + now to the fact of Bill's being drunk, and thinking it was my ghost that + he saw, in a touch of the jimjams! And I'm not sorry to have given him + that start, for there was that in his eye, and that in the stroke he made, + my lad, that showed a guilty conscience I hadn't reckoned on. And it cured + me of my wish to set his mind at ease. He's welcome to all the rest. + </p> + <p> + And that's why I'm going away—never to return. I'm sorry I couldn't + take you with me, but it's better that I shouldn't see you again, and that + you didn't even know WHERE I was gone. When you get this I shall be on + blue water and heading for the sunshine. You'll find two letters inclosed. + One you need not open unless you hear that my secret was blown, and you + are ever called upon to explain your relations with me. The other is my + thanks, my lad, in a letter of credit on the bank, for the way you have + kept your trust, and I believe will continue to keep it, to + </p> + <p> + JOHN DORNTON. + </p> + <p> + P.S. I hope you dropped a tear over my swell tomb at Dornton Church. All + the same, I don't begrudge it to the poor devil who lost his life instead + of me. + </p> + <p> + J. D. + </p> + <p> + As Randolph read, he seemed to hear the captain's voice throughout the + letter, and even his low, characteristic laugh in the postscript. Then he + suddenly remembered the luggage which the porter had said the captain had + ordered to be taken below; but on asking that functionary he was told a + conveyance for the Victoria Docks had called with an order, and taken it + away at daybreak. It was evident that the captain had intended the letter + should be his only farewell. Depressed and a little hurt at his patron's + abruptness, Randolph returned to his room. Opening the letter of credit, + he found it was for a thousand pounds—a munificent beneficence, as + it seemed to Randolph, for his dubious services, and a proof of his + patron's frequent declarations that he had money enough without touching + the Dornton estates. + </p> + <p> + For a long time he sat with these sole evidences of the reality of his + experience in his hands, a prey to a thousand surmises and conflicting + thoughts. Was he the self-deceived disciple of a visionary, a generous, + unselfish, but weak man, whose eccentricity passed even the bounds of + reason? Who would believe the captain's story or the captain's motives? + Who comprehend his strange quest and its stranger and almost ridiculous + termination? Even if the seal of secrecy were removed in after years, what + had he, Randolph, to show in corroboration of his patron's claim? + </p> + <p> + Then it occurred to him that there was no reason why he should not go down + to the rectory and see Miss Eversleigh again under pretense of inquiring + after the luckless baronet, whose title and fortune had, nevertheless, + been so strangely preserved. He began at once his preparations for the + journey, and was nearly ready when a servant entered with a telegram. + Randolph's heart leaped. The captain had sent him news—perhaps had + changed his mind! He tore off the yellow cover, and read,— + </p> + <p> + Sir William died at twelve o'clock without recovering consciousness. + </p> + <p> + S. EVERSLEIGH. VI + </p> + <p> + For a moment Randolph gazed at the dispatch with a half-hysterical laugh, + and then became as suddenly sane and cool. One thought alone was uppermost + in his mind: the captain could not have heard this news yet, and if he was + still within reach, or accessible by any means whatever, however + determined his purpose, he must know it at once. The only clue to his + whereabouts was the Victoria Docks. But that was something. In another + moment Randolph was in the lower hall, had learned the quickest way of + reaching the docks, and plunged into the street. + </p> + <p> + The fog here swooped down, and to the embarrassment of his mind was added + the obscurity of light and distance, which halted him after a few hurried + steps, in utter perplexity. Indistinct figures were here and there + approaching him out of nothingness and melting away again into the + greenish gray chaos. He was in a busy thoroughfare; he could hear the slow + trample of hoofs, the dull crawling of vehicles, and the warning outcries + of a traffic he could not see. Trusting rather to his own speed than that + of a halting conveyance, he blundered on until he reached the railway + station. A short but exasperating journey of impulses and hesitations, of + detonating signals and warning whistles, and he at last stood on the + docks, beyond him a vague bulk or two, and a soft, opaque flowing wall—the + river! + </p> + <p> + But one steamer had left that day—the Dom Pedro, for the River Plate—two + hours before, but until the fog thickened, a quarter of an hour ago, she + could be seen, so his informant said, still lying, with steam up, in + midstream. Yes, it was still possible to board her. But even as the + boatman spoke, and was leading the way toward the landing steps, the fog + suddenly lightened; a soft salt breath stole in from the distant sea, and + a veil seemed to be lifted from the face of the gray waters. The outlines + of the two shores came back; the spars of nearer vessels showed + distinctly, but the space where the huge hulk had rested was empty and + void. There was a trail of something darker and more opaque than fog + itself lying near the surface of the water, but the Dom Pedro was a mere + speck in the broadening distance. + </p> + <p> + A bright sun and a keen easterly wind were revealing the curling ridges of + the sea beyond the headland when Randolph again passed the gates of + Dornton Hall on his way to the rectory. Now, for the first time, he was + able to see clearly the outlines of that spot which had seemed to him only + a misty dream, and even in his preoccupation he was struck by its grave + beauty. The leafless limes and elms in the park grouped themselves as part + of the picturesque details of the Hall they encompassed, and the evergreen + slope of firs and larches rose as a background to the gray battlements, + covered with dark green ivy, whose rich shadows were brought out by the + unwonted sunshine. With a half-repugnant curiosity he had tried to + identify the garden entrance and the fateful yew hedge the captain had + spoken of as he passed. But as quickly he fell back upon the resolution he + had taken in coming there—to dissociate his secret, his experience, + and his responsibility to his patron from his relations to Sibyl + Eversleigh; to enjoy her companionship without an obtruding thought of the + strange circumstances that had brought them together at first, or the + stranger fortune that had later renewed their acquaintance. He had + resolved to think of her as if she had merely passed into his life in the + casual ways of society, with only her personal charms to set her apart + from others. Why should his exclusive possession of a secret—which, + even if confided to her, would only give her needless and hopeless anxiety—debar + them from an exchange of those other confidences of youth and sympathy? + Why could he not love her and yet withhold from her the knowledge of her + cousin's existence? So he had determined to make the most of his + opportunity during his brief holiday; to avail himself of her naive + invitation, and even of what he dared sometimes to think was her + predilection for his companionship. And if, before he left, he had + acquired a right to look forward to a time when her future and his should + be one—but here his glowing fancy was abruptly checked by his + arrival at the rectory door. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Brunton received him cordially, yet with a slight business + preoccupation and a certain air of importance that struck him as peculiar. + Sibyl, he informed him, was engaged at that moment with some friends who + had come over from the Hall. Mr. Trent would understand that there was a + great deal for her to do—in her present position. Wondering why SHE + should be selected to do it instead of older and more experienced persons, + Randolph, however, contented himself with inquiries regarding the details + of Sir William's seizure and death. He learned, as he expected, that + nothing whatever was known of the captain's visit, nor was there the least + suspicion that the baronet's attack was the result of any predisposing + emotion. Indeed, it seemed more possible that his medical attendants, + knowing something of his late excesses and their effect upon his + constitution, preferred, for the sake of avoiding scandal, to attribute + the attack to long-standing organic disease. + </p> + <p> + Randolph, who had already determined, as a forlorn hope, to write a + cautious letter to the captain (informing him briefly of the news without + betraying his secret, and directed to the care of the consignees of the + Dom Pedro in Brazil, by the next post), was glad to be able to add this + medical opinion to relieve his patron's mind of any fear of having + hastened his brother's death by his innocent appearance. But here the + entrance of Sibyl Eversleigh with her friends drove all else from his + mind. + </p> + <p> + She looked so tall and graceful in her black dress, which set off her + dazzling skin, and, with her youthful gravity, gave to her figure the + charming maturity of a young widow, that he was for a moment awed and + embarrassed. But he experienced a relief when she came eagerly toward him + in all her old girlish frankness, and with even something of yearning + expectation in her gray eyes. + </p> + <p> + “It was so good of you to come,” she said. “I thought you would imagine + how I was feeling”—She stopped, as if she were conscious, as + Randolph was, of a certain chill of unresponsiveness in the company, and + said in an undertone, “Wait until we are alone.” Then, turning with a + slight color and a pretty dignity toward her friends, she continued: “Lady + Ashbrook, this is Mr. Trent, an old friend of both my cousins when they + were in America.” + </p> + <p> + In spite of the gracious response of the ladies, Randolph was aware of + their critical scrutiny of both himself and Miss Eversleigh, of the + exchange of significant glances, and a certain stiffness in her guardian's + manner. It was quite enough to affect Randolph's sensitiveness and bring + out his own reserve. + </p> + <p> + Fancying, however, that his reticence disturbed Miss Eversleigh, he forced + himself to converse with Lady Ashbrook—avoiding many of her pointed + queries as to himself, his acquaintance with Sibyl, and the length of time + he expected to stay in England—and even accompanied her to her + carriage. And here he was rewarded by Sibyl running out with a crape veil + twisted round her throat and head, and the usual femininely forgotten + final message to her visitor. As the carriage drove away, she turned to + Randolph, and said quickly,— + </p> + <p> + “Let us go in by way of the garden.” + </p> + <p> + It was a slight detour, but it gave them a few moments alone. + </p> + <p> + “It was so awful and sudden,” she said, looking gravely at Randolph, “and + to think that only an hour before I had been saying unkind things of him! + Of course,” she added naively, “they were true, and the groom admitted to + me that the mare was overdriven and Sir William could hardly stand. And + only to think of it! he never recovered complete consciousness, but + muttered incoherently all the time. I was with him to the last, and he + never said a word I could understand—only once.” + </p> + <p> + “What did he say?” asked Randolph uneasily. + </p> + <p> + “I don't like to say—it was TOO dreadful!” + </p> + <p> + Randolph did not press her. Yet, after a pause, she said in a low voice, + with a naivete impossible to describe, “It was, 'Jack, damn you!'” + </p> + <p> + He did not dare to look at her, even with this grim mingling of farce and + tragedy which seemed to invest every scene of that sordid drama. Miss + Eversleigh continued gravely: “The groom's name was Robert, but Jack might + have been the name of one of his boon companions.” + </p> + <p> + Convinced that she suspected nothing, yet in the hope of changing the + subject, Randolph said quietly: “I thought your guardian perhaps a little + less frank and communicative to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the young girl suddenly, with a certain impatience, and yet in + half apology to her companion, “of course. He—THEY—all and + everybody—are much more concerned and anxious about my new position + than I am. It's perfectly dreadful—this thinking of it all the time, + arranging everything, criticising everything in reference to it, and the + poor man who is the cause of it all not yet at rest in his grave! The + whole thing is inhuman and unchristian!” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand,” stammered Randolph vaguely. “What IS your new + position? What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + The girl looked up in his face with surprise. “Why, didn't you know? I'm + the next of kin—I'm the heiress—and will succeed to the + property in six months, when I am of age.” + </p> + <p> + In a flash of recollection Randolph suddenly recalled the captain's words, + “There are only three lives between her and the property.” Their meaning + had barely touched his comprehension before. She was the heiress. Yes, + save for the captain! + </p> + <p> + She saw the change, the wonder, even the dismay, in his face, and her own + brightened frankly. “It's so good to find one who never thought of it, who + hadn't it before him as the chief end for which I was born! Yes, I was the + next of kin after dear Jack died and Bill succeeded, but there was every + chance that he would marry and have an heir. And yet the moment he was + taken ill that idea was uppermost in my guardian's mind, good man as he + is, and even forced upon me. If this—this property had come from + poor Cousin Jack, whom I loved, there would have been something dear in it + as a memory or a gift, but from HIM, whom I couldn't bear—I know + it's wicked to talk that way, but it's simply dreadful!” + </p> + <p> + “And yet,” said Randolph, with a sudden seriousness he could not control, + “I honestly believe that Captain Dornton would be perfectly happy—yes, + rejoiced!—if he knew the property had come to YOU.” + </p> + <p> + There was such an air of conviction, and, it seemed to the simple girl, + even of spiritual insight, in his manner that her clear, handsome eyes + rested wonderingly on his. + </p> + <p> + “Do you really think so?” she said thoughtfully. “And yet HE knows that I + am like him. Yes,” she continued, answering Randolph's look of surprise, + “I am just like HIM in that. I loathe and despise the life that this thing + would condemn me to; I hate all that it means, and all that it binds me + to, as he used to; and if I could, I would cut and run from it as HE did.” + </p> + <p> + She spoke with a determined earnestness and warmth, so unlike her usual + grave naivete that he was astonished. There was a flush on her cheek and a + frank fire in her eye that reminded him strangely of the captain; and yet + she had emphasized her words with a little stamp of her narrow foot and a + gesture of her hand that was so untrained and girlish that he smiled, and + said, with perhaps the least touch of bitterness in his tone, “But you + will get over that when you come into the property.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I shall,” she returned, with an odd lapse to her former gravity + and submissiveness. “That's what they all tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “You will be independent and your own mistress,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “Independent,” she repeated impatiently, “with Dornton Hall and twenty + thousand a year! Independent, with every duty marked out for me! + Independent, with every one to criticise my smallest actions—every + one who would never have given a thought to the orphan who was contented + and made her own friends on a hundred a year! Of course you, who are a + stranger, don't understand; yet I thought that you”—she hesitated,—“would + have thought differently.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, with your belief that one should make one's own fortune,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “That would do for a man, and in that I respected Captain Dornton's + convictions, as you told them to me. But for a girl, how could she be + independent, except with money?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head as if unconvinced, but did not reply. They were nearing + the garden porch, when she looked up, and said: “And as YOU'RE a man, you + will be making your way in the world. Mr. Dingwall said you would.” + </p> + <p> + There was something so childishly trustful and confident in her assurance + that he smiled. “Mr. Dingwall is too sanguine, but it gives me hope to + hear YOU say so.” + </p> + <p> + She colored slightly, and said gravely: “We must go in now.” Yet she + lingered for a moment before the door. For a long time afterward he had a + very vivid recollection of her charming face, in its childlike gravity and + its quaint frame of black crape, standing out against the sunset-warmed + wall of the rectory. “Promise me you will not mind what these people say + or do,” she said suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “I promise,” he returned, with a smile, “to mind only what YOU say or do.” + </p> + <p> + “But I might not be always quite right, you know,” she said naively. + </p> + <p> + “I'll risk that.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, when we go in now, don't talk much to me, but make yourself + agreeable to all the others, and then go straight home to the inn, and + don't come here until after the funeral.” + </p> + <p> + The faintest evasive glint of mischievousness in her withdrawn eyes at + this moment mitigated the austerity of her command as they both passed in. + </p> + <p> + Randolph had intended not to return to London until after the funeral, two + days later, and spent the interesting day at the neighboring town, whence + he dispatched his exploring and perhaps hopeless letter to the captain. + The funeral was a large and imposing one, and impressed Randolph for the + first time with the local importance and solid standing of the Dorntons. + All the magnates and old county families were represented. The inn yard + and the streets of the little village were filled with their quaint + liveries, crested paneled carriages, and silver-cipher caparisoned horses, + with a sprinkling of fashion from London. He could not close his ears to + the gossip of the villagers regarding the suddenness of the late baronet's + death, the extinction of the title, the accession of the orphaned girl to + the property, and even, to his greater exasperation, speculations upon her + future and probable marriage. “Some o' they gay chaps from Lunnon will be + lordin' it over the Hall afore long,” was the comment of the hostler. + </p> + <p> + It was with some little bitterness that Randolph took his seat in the + crowded church. But this feeling, and even his attempts to discover Miss + Eversleigh's face in the stately family pew fenced off from the chancel, + presently passed away. And then his mind began to be filled with strange + and weird fancies. What grim and ghostly revelations might pass between + this dead scion of the Dorntons lying on the trestles before them and the + obscure, nameless ticket of leave man awaiting his entrance in the vault + below! The incongruity of this thought, with the smug complacency of the + worldly minded congregation sitting around him, and the probable smiling + carelessness of the reckless rover—the cause of all—even now + idly pacing the deck on the distant sea, touched him with horror. And when + added to this was the consciousness that Sibyl Eversleigh was forced to + become an innocent actor in this hideous comedy, it seemed as much as he + could bear. Again he questioned himself, Was he right to withhold his + secret from her? In vain he tried to satisfy his conscience that she was + happier in her ignorance. The resolve he had made to keep his relations + with her apart from his secret, he knew now, was impossible. But one thing + was left to him. Until he could disclose his whole story—until his + lips were unsealed by Captain Dornton—he must never see her again. + And the grim sanctity of the edifice seemed to make that resolution a vow. + </p> + <p> + He did not dare to raise his eyes again toward her pew, lest a sight of + her sweet, grave face might shake his resolution, and he slipped away + first among the departing congregation. He sent her a brief note from the + inn saying that he was recalled to London by an earlier train, and that he + would be obliged to return to California at once, but hoping that if he + could be of any further assistance to her she would write to him to the + care of the bank. It was a formal letter, and yet he had never written + otherwise than formally to her. That night he reached London. On the + following night he sailed from Liverpool for America. + </p> + <p> + Six months had passed. It was difficult, at first, for Randolph to pick up + his old life again; but his habitual earnestness and singleness of purpose + stood him in good stead, and a vague rumor that he had made some powerful + friends abroad, with the nearer fact that he had a letter of credit for a + thousand pounds, did not lessen his reputation. He was reinstalled and + advanced at the bank. Mr. Dingwall was exceptionally gracious, and minute + in his inquiries regarding Miss Eversleigh's succession to the Dornton + property, with an occasional shrewdness of eye in his interrogations which + recalled to Randolph the questioning of Miss Eversleigh's friends, and + which he responded to as cautiously. For the young fellow remained + faithful to his vow even in thinking of her, and seemed to be absorbed + entirely in his business. Yet there was a vague ambition of purpose in + this absorption that would probably have startled the more conservative + Englishman had he known it. + </p> + <p> + He had not heard from Miss Eversleigh since he left, nor had he received + any response from the captain. Indeed, he had indulged in little hopes of + either. But he kept stolidly at work, perhaps with a larger trust than he + knew. And then, one day, he received a letter addressed in a handwriting + that made his heart leap, though he had seen it but once, when it conveyed + the news of Sir William Dornton's sudden illness. It was from Miss + Eversleigh, but the postmark was Callao! He tore open the envelope, and + for the next few moments forgot everything—his business devotion, + his lofty purpose, even his solemn vow. + </p> + <p> + It read as follows:— + </p> + <p> + DEAR MR. TRENT,—I should not be writing to you now if I did not + believe that I NOW understand why you left us so abruptly on the day of + the funeral, and why you were at times so strange. You might have been a + little less hard and cold even if you knew all that you did know. But I + must write now, for I shall be in San Francisco a few days after this + reaches you, and I MUST see you and have YOUR help, for I can have no + other, as you know. You are wondering what this means, and why I am here. + I know ALL and EVERYTHING. I know HE is alive and never was dead. I know I + have no right to what I have, and never had, and I have come here to seek + him and make him take it back. I could do no other. I could not live and + do anything but that, and YOU might have known it. But I have not found + him here as I hoped I should, though perhaps it was a foolish hope of + mine, and I am coming to you to help me seek him, for he MUST BE FOUND. + You know I want to keep his and your secret, and therefore the only one I + can turn to for assistance and counsel is YOU. + </p> + <p> + You are wondering how I know what I do. Two months ago I GOT A LETTER FROM + HIM—the strangest, quaintest, and yet THE KINDEST LETTER—exactly + like himself and the way he used to talk! He had just heard of his + brother's death, and congratulated me on coming into the property, and + said he was now perfectly happy, and should KEEP DEAD, and never, never + come to life again; that he never thought things would turn out as + splendidly as they had—for Sir William MIGHT have had an heir—and + that now he should REALLY DIE HAPPY. He said something about everything + being legally right, and that I could do what I liked with the property. + As if THAT would satisfy me! Yet it was all so sweet and kind, and so like + dear old Jack, that I cried all night. And then I resolved to come here, + where his letter was dated from. Luckily I was of age now, and could do as + I liked, and I said I wanted to travel in South America and California; + and I suppose they didn't think it very strange that I should use my + liberty in that way. Some said it was quite like a Dornton! I knew + something of Callao from your friend Miss Avondale, and could talk about + it, which impressed them. So I started off with only a maid—my old + nurse. I was a little frightened at first, when I came to think what I was + doing, but everybody was very kind, and I really feel quite independent + now. So, you see, a girl may be INDEPENDENT, after all! Of course I shall + see Mr. Dingwall in San Francisco, but he need not know anything more than + that I am traveling for pleasure. And I may go to the Sandwich Islands or + Sydney, if I think HE is there. Of course I have had to use some money—some + of HIS rents—but it shall be paid back. I will tell you everything + about my plans when I see you. + </p> + <p> + Yours faithfully, + </p> + <p> + SIBYL EVERSLEIGH. + </p> + <p> + P. S. Why did you let me cry over that man's tomb in the church? + </p> + <p> + Randolph looked again at the date, and then hurriedly consulted the + shipping list. She was due in ten days. Yet, delighted as he was with that + prospect, and touched as he had been with her courage and naive + determination, after his first joy he laid the letter down with a sigh. + For whatever was his ultimate ambition, he was still a mere salaried + clerk; whatever was her self-sacrificing purpose, she was still the rich + heiress. The seal of secrecy had been broken, yet the situation remained + unchanged; their association must still be dominated by it. And he shrank + from the thought of making her girlish appeal to him for help an + opportunity for revealing his real feelings. + </p> + <p> + This instinct was strengthened by the somewhat formal manner in which Mr. + Dingwall announced her approaching visit. “Miss Eversleigh will stay with + Mrs. Dingwall while she is here, on account of her—er—position, + and the fact that she is without a chaperon. Mrs. Dingwall will, of + course, be glad to receive any friends Miss Eversleigh would like to see.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph frankly returned that Miss Eversleigh had written to him, and + that he would be glad to present himself. Nothing more was said, but as + the days passed he could not help noticing that, in proportion as Mr. + Dingwall's manner became more stiff and ceremonious, Mr. Revelstoke's + usually crisp, good-humored suggestions grew more deliberate, and Randolph + found himself once or twice the subject of the president's penetrating but + smiling scrutiny. And the day before Miss Eversleigh's arrival his natural + excitement was a little heightened by a summons to Mr. Revelstoke's + private office. + </p> + <p> + As he entered, the president laid aside his pen and closed the door. + </p> + <p> + “I have never made it my business, Trent,” he said, with good-humored + brusqueness, “to interfere in my employees' private affairs, unless they + affect their relations to the bank, and I haven't had the least occasion + to do so with you. Neither has Mr. Dingwall, although it is on HIS behalf + that I am now speaking.” As Randolph listened with a contracted brow, he + went on with a grim smile: “But he is an Englishman, you know, and has + certain ideas of the importance of 'position,' particularly among his own + people. He wishes me, therefore, to warn you of what HE calls the + 'disparity' of your position and that of a young English lady—Miss + Eversleigh—with whom you have some acquaintance, and in whom,” he + added with a still grimmer satisfaction, “he fears you are too deeply + interested.” + </p> + <p> + Randolph blazed. “If Mr. Dingwall had asked ME, sir,” he said hotly, “I + would have told him that I have never yet had to be reminded that Miss + Eversleigh is a rich heiress and I only a poor clerk, but as to his using + her name in such a connection, or dictating to me the manner of”— + </p> + <p> + “Hold hard,” said Revelstoke, lifting his hand deprecatingly, yet with his + unchanged smile. “I don't agree with Mr. Dingwall, and I have every reason + to know the value of YOUR services, yet I admit something is due to HIS + prejudices. And in this matter, Trent, the Bank of Eureka, while I am its + president, doesn't take a back seat. I have concluded to make you manager + of the branch bank at Marysville, an independent position with its salary + and commissions. And if that doesn't suit Dingwall, why,” he added, rising + from his desk with a short laugh, “he has a bigger idea of the value of + property than the bank has.” + </p> + <p> + “One moment, sir, I implore you,” burst out Randolph breathlessly, “if + your kind offer is based upon the mistaken belief that I have the least + claim upon Miss Eversleigh's consideration more than that of simple + friendship—if anybody has dared to give you the idea that I have + aspired by word or deed to more, or that the young lady has ever + countenanced or even suspected such aspirations, it is utterly false, and + grateful as I am for your kindness, I could not accept it.” + </p> + <p> + “Look here, Trent,” returned Revelstoke curtly, yet laying his hand on the + young man's shoulder not unkindly. “All that is YOUR private affair, + which, as I told you, I don't interfere with. The other is a question + between Mr. Dingwall and myself of your comparative value. It won't hurt + you with ANYBODY to know how high we've assessed it. Don't spoil a good + thing!” + </p> + <p> + Grateful even in his uncertainty, Randolph could only thank him and + withdraw. Yet this fateful forcing of his hand in a delicate question gave + him a new courage. It was with a certain confidence now in his capacity as + HER friend and qualified to advise HER that he called at Mr. Dingwall's + the evening she arrived. It struck him that in the Dingwalls' reception of + him there was mingled with their formality a certain respect. + </p> + <p> + Thanks to this, perhaps, he found her alone. She seemed to him more + beautiful than his recollection had painted her, in the development that + maturity, freedom from restraint, and time had given her. For a moment his + new, fresh courage was staggered. But she had retained her youthful + simplicity, and came toward him with the same naive and innocent yearning + in her clear eyes that he remembered at their last meeting. Their first + words were, naturally, of their great secret, and Randolph told her the + whole story of his unexpected and startling meeting with the captain, and + the captain's strange narrative, of his undertaking the journey with him + to recover his claim, establish his identity, and, as Randolph had hoped, + restore to her that member of the family whom she had most cared for. He + recounted the captain's hesitation on arriving; his own journey to the + rectory; the news she had given him; the reason of his singular behavior; + his return to London; and the second disappearance of the captain. He read + to her the letter he had received from him, and told her of his hopeless + chase to the docks only to find him gone. She listened to him + breathlessly, with varying color, with an occasional outburst of pity, or + a strange shining of the eyes, that sometimes became clouded and misty, + and at the conclusion with a calm and grave paleness. + </p> + <p> + “But,” she said, “you should have told me all.” + </p> + <p> + “It was not my secret,” he pleaded. + </p> + <p> + “You should have trusted me.” + </p> + <p> + “But the captain had trusted ME.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him with grave wonder, and then said with her old + directness: “But if I had been told such a secret affecting you, I should + have told you.” She stopped suddenly, seeing his eyes fixed on her, and + dropped her own lids with a slight color. “I mean,” she said hesitatingly, + “of course you have acted nobly, generously, kindly, wisely—but I + hate secrets! Oh, why cannot one be always frank?” + </p> + <p> + A wild idea seized Randolph. “But I have another secret—you have not + guessed—and I have not dared to tell you. Do you wish me to be frank + now?” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” she said simply, but she did not look up. + </p> + <p> + Then he told her! But, strangest of all, in spite of his fears and + convictions, it flowed easily and naturally as a part of his other secret, + with an eloquence he had not dreamed of before. But when he told her of + his late position and his prospects, she raised her eyes to his for the + first time, yet without withdrawing her hand from his, and said + reproachfully,— + </p> + <p> + “Yet but for THAT you would never have told me.” + </p> + <p> + “How could I?” he returned eagerly. “For but for THAT how could I help you + to carry out YOUR trust? How could I devote myself to your plans, and + enable you to carry them out without touching a dollar of that inheritance + which you believe to be wrongfully yours?” + </p> + <p> + Then, with his old boyish enthusiasm, he sketched a glowing picture of + their future: how they would keep the Dornton property intact until the + captain was found and communicated with; and how they would cautiously + collect all the information accessible to find him until such time as + Randolph's fortunes would enable them both to go on a voyage of discovery + after him. And in the midst of this prophetic forecast, which brought them + so closely together that she was enabled to examine his watch chain, she + said,— + </p> + <p> + “I see you have kept Cousin Jack's ring. Did he ever see it?” + </p> + <p> + “He told me he had given it to you as his little sweetheart, and that he”— + </p> + <p> + There was a singular pause here. + </p> + <p> + “He never did THAT—at least, not in that way!” said Sybil + Eversleigh. + </p> + <p> + And, strangely enough, the optimistic Randolph's prophecies came true. He + was married a month later to Sibyl Eversleigh, Mr. Dingwall giving away + the bride. He and his wife were able to keep their trust in regard to the + property, for, without investing a dollar of it in the bank, the mere + reputation of his wife's wealth brought him a flood of other investors and + a confidence which at once secured his success. In two years he was able + to take his wife on a six months' holiday to Europe via Australia, but of + the details of that holiday no one knew. It is, however, on record that + ten or twelve years ago Dornton Hall, which had been leased or unoccupied + for a long time, was refitted for the heiress, her husband, and their + children during a brief occupancy, and that in that period extensive + repairs were made to the interior of the old Norman church, and much + attention given to the redecoration and restoration of its ancient tombs. + </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> + MR. MACGLOWRIE'S WIDOW + </h2> + <p> + Very little was known of her late husband, yet that little was of a + sufficiently awe-inspiring character to satisfy the curiosity of Laurel + Spring. A man of unswerving animosity and candid belligerency, untempered + by any human weakness, he had been actively engaged as survivor in two or + three blood feuds in Kentucky, and some desultory dueling, only to + succumb, through the irony of fate, to an attack of fever and ague in San + Francisco. Gifted with a fine sense of humor, he is said, in his last + moments, to have called the simple-minded clergyman to his bedside to + assist him in putting on his boots. The kindly divine, although pointing + out to him that he was too weak to rise, much less walk, could not resist + the request of a dying man. When it was fulfilled, Mr. MacGlowrie crawled + back into bed with the remark that his race had always “died with their + boots on,” and so passed smilingly and tranquilly away. + </p> + <p> + It is probable that this story was invented to soften the ignominy of + MacGlowrie's peaceful end. The widow herself was also reported to be + endowed with relations of equally homicidal eccentricities. Her two + brothers, Stephen and Hector Boompointer, had Western reputations that + were quite as lurid and remote. Her own experiences of a frontier life had + been rude and startling, and her scalp—a singularly beautiful one of + blond hair—had been in peril from Indians on several occasions. A + pair of scissors, with which she had once pinned the intruding hand of a + marauder to her cabin doorpost, was to be seen in her sitting room at + Laurel Spring. A fair-faced woman with eyes the color of pale sherry, a + complexion sallowed by innutritious food, slight and tall figure, she gave + little suggestion of this Amazonian feat. But that it exercised a + wholesome restraint over the many who would like to have induced her to + reenter the married state, there is little reason to doubt. Laurel Spring + was a peaceful agricultural settlement. Few of its citizens dared to + aspire to the dangerous eminence of succeeding the defunct MacGlowrie; few + could hope that the sister of living Boompointers would accept an obvious + mesalliance with them. However sincere their affection, life was still + sweet to the rude inhabitants of Laurel Spring, and the preservation of + the usual quantity of limbs necessary to them in their avocations. With + their devotion thus chastened by caution, it would seem as if the charming + mistress of Laurel Spring House was secure from disturbing attentions. + </p> + <p> + It was a pleasant summer afternoon, and the sun was beginning to strike + under the laurels around the hotel into the little office where the widow + sat with the housekeeper—a stout spinster of a coarser Western type. + Mrs. MacGlowrie was looking wearily over some accounts on the desk before + her, and absently putting back some tumbled sheaves from the stack of her + heavy hair. For the widow had a certain indolent Southern negligence, + which in a less pretty woman would have been untidiness, and a + characteristic hook and eyeless freedom of attire which on less graceful + limbs would have been slovenly. One sleeve cuff was unbuttoned, but it + showed the blue veins of her delicate wrist; the neck of her dress had + lost a hook, but the glimpse of a bit of edging round the white throat + made amends. Of all which, however, it should be said that the widow, in + her limp abstraction, was really unconscious. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon we kin put the new preacher in Kernel Starbottle's room,” said + Miss Morvin, the housekeeper. “The kernel's going to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” said the widow in a tone of relief, but whether at the early + departure of the gallant colonel or at the successful solution of the + problem of lodging the preacher, Miss Morvin could not determine. But she + went on tentatively:— + </p> + <p> + “The kernel was talkin' in the bar room, and kind o' wonderin' why you + hadn't got married agin. Said you'd make a stir in Sacramento—but + you was jest berried HERE.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose he's heard of my husband?” said the widow indifferently. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—but he said he couldn't PLACE YOU,” returned Miss Morvin. + </p> + <p> + The widow looked up. “Couldn't place ME?” she repeated. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—hadn't heard o' MacGlowrie's wife and disremembered your + brothers.” + </p> + <p> + “The colonel doesn't know everybody, even if he is a fighting man,” said + Mrs. MacGlowrie with languid scorn. + </p> + <p> + “That's just what Dick Blair said,” returned Miss Morvin. “And though he's + only a doctor, he jest stuck up agin' the kernel, and told that story + about your jabbin' that man with your scissors—beautiful; and how + you once fought off a bear with a red-hot iron, so that you'd have admired + to hear him. He's awfully gone on you!” + </p> + <p> + The widow took that opportunity to button her cuff. + </p> + <p> + “And how long does the preacher calculate to stay?” she added, returning + to business details. + </p> + <p> + “Only a day. They'll have his house fixed up and ready for him to-morrow. + They're spendin' a heap o' money on it. He ought to be the pow'ful + preacher they say he is—to be worth it.” + </p> + <p> + But here Mrs. MacGlowrie's interest in the conversation ceased, and it + dropped. + </p> + <p> + In her anxiety to further the suit of Dick Blair, Miss Morvin had scarcely + reported the colonel with fairness. + </p> + <p> + That gentleman, leaning against the bar in the hotel saloon with a + cocktail in his hand, had expatiated with his usual gallantry upon Mrs. + MacGlowrie's charms, and on his own “personal” responsibility had + expressed the opinion that they were thrown away on Laurel Spring. That—blank + it all—she reminded him of the blankest beautiful woman he had seen + even in Washington—old Major Beveridge's daughter from Kentucky. + Were they sure she wasn't from Kentucky? Wasn't her name Beveridge—and + not Boompointer? Becoming more reminiscent over his second drink, the + colonel could vaguely recall only one Boompointer—a blank skulking + hound, sir—a mean white shyster—but, of course, he couldn't + have been of the same breed as such a blank fine woman as the widow! It + was here that Dick Blair interrupted with a heightened color and a glowing + eulogy of the widow's relations and herself, which, however, only + increased the chivalry of the colonel—who would be the last man, + sir, to detract from—or suffer any detraction of—a lady's + reputation. It was needless to say that all this was intensely diverting + to the bystanders, and proportionally discomposing to Blair, who already + experienced some slight jealousy of the colonel as a man whose fighting + reputation might possibly attract the affections of the widow of the + belligerent MacGlowrie. He had cursed his folly and relapsed into gloomy + silence until the colonel left. + </p> + <p> + For Dick Blair loved the widow with the unselfishness of a generous nature + and a first passion. He had admired her from the first day his lot was + cast in Laurel Spring, where coming from a rude frontier practice he had + succeeded the district doctor in a more peaceful and domestic + ministration. A skillful and gentle surgeon rather than a general + household practitioner, he was at first coldly welcomed by the gloomy + dyspeptics and ague-haunted settlers from riparian lowlands. The few + bucolic idlers who had relieved the monotony of their lives by the + stimulus of patent medicines and the exaltation of stomach bitters, also + looked askance at him. A common-sense way of dealing with their ailments + did not naturally commend itself to the shopkeepers who vended these + nostrums, and he was made to feel the opposition of trade. But he was + gentle to women and children and animals, and, oddly enough, it was to + this latter dilection that he owed the widow's interest in him—an + interest that eventually made him popular elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + The widow had a pet dog—a beautiful spaniel, who, however, had + assimilated her graceful languor to his own native love of ease to such an + extent that he failed in a short leap between a balcony and a window, and + fell to the ground with a fractured thigh. The dog was supposed to be + crippled for life even if that life were worth preserving—when Dr. + Blair came to the rescue, set the fractured limb, put it in splints and + plaster after an ingenious design of his own, visited him daily, and + eventually restored him to his mistress's lap sound in wind and limb. How + far this daily ministration and the necessary exchange of sympathy between + the widow and himself heightened his zeal was not known. There were those + who believed that the whole thing was an unmanly trick to get the better + of his rivals in the widow's good graces; there were others who averred + that his treatment of a brute beast like a human being was sinful and + unchristian. “He couldn't have done more for a regularly baptized child,” + said the postmistress. “And what mo' would a regularly baptized child have + wanted?” returned Mrs. MacGlowrie, with the drawling Southern intonation + she fell back upon when most contemptuous. + </p> + <p> + But Dr. Blair's increasing practice and the widow's preoccupation + presently ended their brief intimacy. It was well known that she + encouraged no suitors at the hotel, and his shyness and sensitiveness + shrank from ostentatious advances. There seemed to be no chance of her + becoming, herself, his patient; her sane mind, indolent nerves, and calm + circulation kept her from feminine “vapors” of feminine excesses. She + retained the teeth and digestion of a child in her thirty odd years, and + abused neither. Riding and the cultivation of her little garden gave her + sufficient exercise. And yet the unexpected occurred! The day after + Starbottle left, Dr. Blair was summoned hastily to the hotel. Mrs. + MacGlowrie had been found lying senseless in a dead faint in the passage + outside the dining room. In his hurried flight thither with the messenger + he could learn only that she had seemed to be in her usual health that + morning, and that no one could assign any cause for her fainting. + </p> + <p> + He could find out little more when he arrived and examined her as she lay + pale and unconscious on the sofa of her sitting room. It had not been + thought necessary to loosen her already loose dress, and indeed he could + find no organic disturbance. The case was one of sudden nervous shock—but + this, with his knowledge of her indolent temperament, seemed almost + absurd. They could tell him nothing but that she was evidently on the + point of entering the dining room when she fell unconscious. Had she been + frightened by anything? A snake or a rat? Miss Morvin was indignant! The + widow of MacGlowrie—the repeller of grizzlies—frightened at + “sich”! Had she been upset by any previous excitement, passion, or the + receipt of bad news? No!—she “wasn't that kind,” as the doctor knew. + And even as they were speaking he felt the widow's healthy life returning + to the pulse he was holding, and giving a faint tinge to her lips. Her + blue-veined eyelids quivered slightly and then opened with languid wonder + on the doctor and her surroundings. Suddenly a quick, startled look + contracted the yellow brown pupils of her eyes, she lifted herself to a + sitting posture with a hurried glance around the room and at the door + beyond. Catching the quick, observant eyes of Dr. Blair, she collected + herself with an effort, which Dr. Blair felt in her pulse, and drew away + her wrist. + </p> + <p> + “What is it? What happened?” she said weakly. + </p> + <p> + “You had a slight attack of faintness,” said the doctor cheerily, “and + they called me in as I was passing, but you're all right now.” + </p> + <p> + “How pow'ful foolish,” she said, with returning color, but her eyes still + glancing at the door, “slumping off like a green gyrl at nothin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you were startled?” said the doctor. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. MacGlowrie glanced up quickly and looked away. “No!—Let me see! + I was just passing through the hall, going into the dining room, when—everything + seemed to waltz round me—and I was off! Where did they find me?” she + said, turning to Miss Morvin. + </p> + <p> + “I picked you up just outside the door,” replied the housekeeper. + </p> + <p> + “Then they did not see me?” said Mrs. MacGlowrie. + </p> + <p> + “Who's they?” responded the housekeeper with more directness than + grammatical accuracy. + </p> + <p> + “The people in the dining room. I was just opening the door—and I + felt this coming on—and—I reckon I had just sense enough to + shut the door again before I went off.” + </p> + <p> + “Then that accounts for what Jim Slocum said,” uttered Miss Morvin + triumphantly. “He was in the dining room talkin' with the new preacher, + when he allowed he heard the door open and shut behind him. Then he heard + a kind of slump outside and opened the door again just to find you lyin' + there, and to rush off and get me. And that's why he was so mad at the + preacher!—for he says he just skurried away without offerin' to + help. He allows the preacher may be a pow'ful exhorter—but he ain't + worth much at 'works.'” + </p> + <p> + “Some men can't bear to be around when a woman's up to that sort of + foolishness,” said the widow, with a faint attempt at a smile, but a + return of her paleness. + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't you better lie down again?” said the doctor solicitously. + </p> + <p> + “I'm all right now,” returned Mrs. MacGlowrie, struggling to her feet; + “Morvin will look after me till the shakiness goes. But it was mighty + touching and neighborly to come in, Doctor,” she continued, succeeding at + last in bringing up a faint but adorable smile, which stirred Blair's + pulses. “If I were my own dog—you couldn't have treated me better!” + </p> + <p> + With no further excuse for staying longer, Blair was obliged to depart—yet + reluctantly, both as lover and physician. He was by no means satisfied + with her condition. He called to inquire the next day—but she was + engaged and sent word to say she was “better.” + </p> + <p> + In the excitement attending the advent of the new preacher the slight + illness of the charming widow was forgotten. He had taken the settlement + by storm. His first sermon at Laurel Spring exceeded even the extravagant + reputation that had preceded him. Known as the “Inspired Cowboy,” a common + unlettered frontiersman, he was said to have developed wonderful powers of + exhortatory eloquence among the Indians, and scarcely less savage border + communities where he had lived, half outcast, half missionary. He had just + come up from the Southern agricultural districts, where he had been, + despite his rude antecedents, singularly effective with women and young + people. The moody dyspeptics and lazy rustics of Laurel Spring were + stirred as with a new patent medicine. Dr. Blair went to the first + “revival” meeting. Without undervaluing the man's influence, he was + instinctively repelled by his appearance and methods. The young + physician's trained powers of observation not only saw an overwrought + emotionalism in the speaker's eloquence, but detected the ring of + insincerity in his more lucid speech and acts. Nevertheless, the hysteria + of the preacher was communicated to the congregation, who wept and shouted + with him. Tired and discontented housewives found their vague sorrows and + vaguer longings were only the result of their “unregenerate” state; the + lazy country youths felt that the frustration of their small ambitions lay + in their not being “convicted of sin.” The mourners' bench was crowded + with wildly emulating sinners. Dr. Blair turned away with mingled feelings + of amusement and contempt. At the door Jim Slocum tapped him on the + shoulder: “Fetches the wimmin folk every time, don't he, Doctor?” said + Jim. + </p> + <p> + “So it seems,” said Blair dryly. + </p> + <p> + “You're one o' them scientific fellers that look inter things—what + do YOU allow it is?” + </p> + <p> + The young doctor restrained the crushing answer that rose to his lips. He + had learned caution in that neighborhood. “I couldn't say,” he said + indifferently. + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't no religion,” said Slocum emphatically; “it's jest pure + fas'nation. Did ye look at his eye? It's like a rattlesnake's, and them + wimmin are like birds. They're frightened of him—but they hev to do + jest what he 'wills' 'em. That's how he skeert the widder the other day.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor was alert and on fire at once. “Scared the widow?” he repeated + indignantly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You know how she swooned away. Well, sir, me and that preacher, + Brown, was the only one in that dinin' room at the time. The widder opened + the door behind me and sorter peeked in, and that thar preacher give a + start and looked up; and then, that sort of queer light come in his eyes, + and she shut the door, and kinder fluttered and flopped down in the + passage outside, like a bird! And he crawled away like a snake, and never + said a word! My belief is that either he hadn't time to turn on the hull + influence, or else she, bein' smart, got the door shut betwixt her and it + in time! Otherwise, sure as you're born, she'd hev been floppin' and + crawlin' and sobbin' arter him—jist like them critters we've left.” + </p> + <p> + “Better not let the brethren hear you talk like that, or they'll lynch + you,” said the doctor, with a laugh. “Mrs. MacGlowrie simply had an attack + of faintness from some overexertion, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he was uneasy as he walked away. Mrs. MacGlowrie had + evidently received a shock which was still unexplained, and, in spite of + Slocum's exaggerated fancy, there might be some foundation in his story. + He did not share the man's superstition, although he was not a skeptic + regarding magnetism. Yet even then, the widow's action was one of + repulsion, and as long as she was strong enough not to come to these + meetings, she was not in danger. A day or two later, as he was passing the + garden of the hotel on horseback, he saw her lithe, graceful, languid + figure bending over one of her favorite flower beds. The high fence + partially concealed him from view, and she evidently believed herself + alone. Perhaps that was why she suddenly raised herself from her task, put + back her straying hair with a weary, abstracted look, remained for a + moment quite still staring at the vacant sky, and then, with a little + catching of her breath, resumed her occupation in a dull, mechanical way. + In that brief glimpse of her charming face, Blair was shocked at the + change; she was pale, the corners of her pretty mouth were drawn, there + were deeper shades in the orbits of her eyes, and in spite of her broad + garden hat with its blue ribbon, her light flowered frock and frilled + apron, she looked as he fancied she might have looked in the first + crushing grief of her widowhood. Yet he would have passed on, respecting + her privacy of sorrow, had not her little spaniel detected him with her + keener senses. And Fluffy being truthful—as dogs are—and + recognizing a dear friend in the intruder, barked joyously. + </p> + <p> + The widow looked up, her eyes met Blair's, and she reddened. But he was + too acute a lover to misinterpret what he knew, alas! was only confusion + at her abstraction being discovered. Nevertheless, there was something + else in her brown eyes he had never seen before. A momentary lighting up + of RELIEF—of even hopefulness—in his presence. It was enough + for Blair; he shook off his old shyness like the dust of his ride, and + galloped around to the front door. + </p> + <p> + But she met him in the hall with only her usual languid good humor. + Nevertheless, Blair was not abashed. + </p> + <p> + “I can't put you in splints and plaster like Fluffy, Mrs. MacGlowrie,” he + said, “but I can forbid you to go into the garden unless you're looking + better. It's a positive reflection on my professional skill, and Laurel + Spring will be shocked, and hold me responsible.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. MacGlowrie had recovered enough of her old spirit to reply that she + thought Laurel Spring could be in better business than looking at her over + her garden fence. + </p> + <p> + “But your dog, who knows you're not well, and doesn't think me quite a + fool, had the good sense to call me. You heard him.” + </p> + <p> + But the widow protested that she was as strong as a horse, and that Fluffy + was like all puppies, conceited to the last degree. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Blair cheerfully, “suppose I admit you are all right, + physically, you'll confess you have some trouble on your mind, won't you? + If I can't make you SHOW me your tongue, you'll let me hear you USE it to + tell me what worries you. If,” he added more earnestly, “you won't confide + in your physician—you will perhaps—to—to—a—FRIEND.” + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. MacGlowrie, evading his earnest eyes as well as his appeal, was + wondering what good it would do either a doctor, or—a—a—she + herself seemed to hesitate over the word—“a FRIEND, to hear the + worriments of a silly, nervous old thing—who had only stuck a little + too closely to her business.” + </p> + <p> + “You are neither nervous nor old, Mrs. MacGlowrie,” said the doctor + promptly, “though I begin to think you HAVE been too closely confined + here. You want more diversion, or—excitement. You might even go to + hear this preacher”—he stopped, for the word had slipped from his + mouth unawares. + </p> + <p> + But a swift look of scorn swept her pale face. “And you'd like me to + follow those skinny old frumps and leggy, limp chits, that slobber and cry + over that man!” she said contemptuously. “No! I reckon I only want a + change—and I'll go away, or get out of this for a while.” + </p> + <p> + The poor doctor had not thought of this possible alternative. His heart + sank, but he was brave. “Yes, perhaps you are right,” he said sadly, + “though it would be a dreadful loss—to Laurel Spring—to us all—if + you went.” + </p> + <p> + “Do I look so VERY bad, doctor?” she said, with a half-mischievous, + half-pathetic smile. + </p> + <p> + The doctor thought her upturned face very adorable, but restrained his + feelings heroically, and contented himself with replying to the pathetic + half of her smile. “You look as if you had been suffering,” he said + gravely, “and I never saw you look so before. You seem as if you had + experienced some great shock. Do you know,” he went on, in a lower tone + and with a half-embarrassed smile, “that when I saw you just now in the + garden, you looked as I imagined you might have looked in the first days + of your widowhood—when your husband's death was fresh in your + heart.” + </p> + <p> + A strange expression crossed her face. Her eyelids dropped instantly, and + with both hands she caught up her frilled apron as if to meet them and + covered her face. A little shudder seemed to pass over her shoulders, and + then a cry that ended in an uncontrollable and half-hysterical laugh + followed from the depths of that apron, until shaking her sides, and with + her head still enveloped in its covering, she fairly ran into the inner + room and closed the door behind her. + </p> + <p> + Amazed, shocked, and at first indignant, Dr. Blair remained fixed to the + spot. Then his indignation gave way to a burning mortification as he + recalled his speech. He had made a frightful faux pas! He had been fool + enough to try to recall the most sacred memories of that dead husband he + was trying to succeed—and her quick woman's wit had detected his + ridiculous stupidity. Her laugh was hysterical—but that was only + natural in her mixed emotions. He mounted his horse in confusion and rode + away. + </p> + <p> + For a few days he avoided the house. But when he next saw her she had a + charming smile of greeting and an air of entire obliviousness of his past + blunder. She said she was better. She had taken his advice and was giving + herself some relaxation from business. She had been riding again—oh, + so far! Alone?—of course; she was always alone—else what would + Laurel Spring say? + </p> + <p> + “True,” said Blair smilingly; “besides, I forgot that you are quite able + to take care of yourself in an emergency. And yet,” he added, admiringly + looking at her lithe figure and indolent grace, “do you know I never can + associate you with the dreadful scenes they say you have gone through.” + </p> + <p> + “Then please don't!” she said quickly; “really, I'd rather you wouldn't. + I'm sick and tired of hearing of it!” She was half laughing and yet half + in earnest, with a slight color on her cheek. + </p> + <p> + Blair was a little embarrassed. “Of course, I don't mean your heroism—like + that story of the intruder and the scissors,” he stammered. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, THAT'S the worst of all! It's too foolish—it's sickening!” she + went on almost angrily. “I don't know who started that stuff.” She paused, + and then added shyly, “I really am an awful coward and horribly nervous—as + you know.” + </p> + <p> + He would have combated this—but she looked really disturbed, and he + had no desire to commit another imprudence. And he thought, too, that he + again had seen in her eyes the same hopeful, wistful light he had once + seen before, and was happy. + </p> + <p> + This led him, I fear, to indulge in wilder dreams. His practice, although + increasing, barely supported him, and the widow was rich. Her business had + been profitable, and she had repaid the advances made her when she first + took the hotel. But this disparity in their fortunes which had frightened + him before now had no fears for him. He felt that if he succeeded in + winning her affections she could afford to wait for him, despite other + suitors, until his talents had won an equal position. His rivals had + always felt as secure in his poverty as they had in his peaceful + profession. How could a poor, simple doctor aspire to the hand of the rich + widow of the redoubtable MacGlowrie? + </p> + <p> + It was late one afternoon, and the low sun was beginning to strike athwart + the stark columns and down the long aisles of the redwoods on the High + Ridge. The doctor, returning from a patient at the loggers' camp in its + depths, had just sighted the smaller groves of Laurel Springs, two miles + away. He was riding fast, with his thoughts filled with the widow, when he + heard a joyous bark in the underbrush, and Fluffy came bounding towards + him. Blair dismounted to caress him, as was his wont, and then, wisely + conceiving that his mistress was not far away, sauntered forward + exploringly, leading his horse, the dog hounding before him and barking, + as if bent upon both leading and announcing him. But the latter he + effected first, for as Blair turned from the trail into the deeper woods, + he saw the figures of a man and woman walking together suddenly separate + at the dog's warning. The woman was Mrs. MacGlowrie—the man was the + revival preacher! + </p> + <p> + Amazed, mystified, and indignant, Blair nevertheless obeyed his first + instinct, which was that of a gentleman. He turned leisurely aside as if + not recognizing them, led his horse a few paces further, mounted him, and + galloped away without turning his head. But his heart was filled with + bitterness and disgust. This woman—who but a few days before had + voluntarily declared her scorn and contempt for that man and his admirers—had + just been giving him a clandestine meeting like one of the most infatuated + of his devotees! The story of the widow's fainting, the coarse surmises + and comments of Slocum, came back to him with overwhelming significance. + But even then his reason forbade him to believe that she had fallen under + the preacher's influence—she, with her sane mind and indolent + temperament. Yet, whatever her excuse or purpose was, she had deceived him + wantonly and cruelly! His abrupt avoidance of her had prevented him from + knowing if she, on her part, had recognized him as he rode away. If she + HAD, she would understand why he had avoided her, and any explanation must + come from her. + </p> + <p> + Then followed a few days of uncertainty, when his thoughts again reverted + to the preacher with returning jealousy. Was she, after all, like other + women, and had her gratuitous outburst of scorn of THEIR infatuation been + prompted by unsuccessful rivalry? He was too proud to question Slocum + again or breathe a word of his fears. Yet he was not strong enough to keep + from again seeking the High Ridge, to discover any repetition of that + rendezvous. But he saw her neither there, nor elsewhere, during his daily + rounds. And one night his feverish anxiety getting the better of him, he + entered the great “Gospel Tent” of the revival preacher. + </p> + <p> + It chanced to be an extraordinary meeting, and the usual enthusiastic + audience was reinforced by some sight-seers from the neighboring county + town—the district judge and officials from the court in session, + among them Colonel Starbottle. The impassioned revivalist—his eyes + ablaze with fever, his lank hair wet with perspiration, hanging beside his + heavy but weak jaws—was concluding a fervent exhortation to his + auditors to confess their sins, “accept conviction,” and regenerate then + and there, without delay. They must put off “the old Adam,” and put on the + flesh of righteousness at once! They were to let no false shame or worldly + pride keep them from avowing their guilty past before their brethren. Sobs + and groans followed the preacher's appeals; his own agitation and + convulsive efforts seemed to spread in surging waves through the + congregation, until a dozen men and women arose, staggering like drunkards + blindly, or led or dragged forward by sobbing sympathizers towards the + mourners' bench. And prominent among them, but stepping jauntily and + airily forward, was the redoubtable and worldly Colonel Starbottle! + </p> + <p> + At this proof of the orator's power the crowd shouted—but stopped + suddenly, as the colonel halted before the preacher, and ascended the + rostrum beside him. Then taking a slight pose with his gold-headed cane in + one hand and the other thrust in the breast of his buttoned coat, he said + in his blandest, forensic voice:— + </p> + <p> + “If I mistake not, sir, you are advising these ladies and gentlemen to a + free and public confession of their sins and a—er—denunciation + of their past life—previous to their conversion. If I am mistaken I—er—ask + your pardon, and theirs and—er—hold myself responsible—er—personally + responsible!” + </p> + <p> + The preacher glanced uneasily at the colonel, but replied, still in the + hysterical intonation of his exordium:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes! a complete searching of hearts—a casting out of the seven + Devils of Pride, Vain Glory”— + </p> + <p> + “Thank you—that is sufficient,” said the colonel blandly. “But might + I—er—be permitted to suggest that you—er—er—SET + THEM THE EXAMPLE! The statement of the circumstances attending your own + past life and conversion would be singularly interesting and exemplary.” + </p> + <p> + The preacher turned suddenly and glanced at the colonel with furious eyes + set in an ashy face. + </p> + <p> + “If this is the flouting and jeering of the Ungodly and Dissolute,” he + screamed, “woe to you! I say—woe to you! What have such as YOU to do + with my previous state of unregeneracy?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” said the colonel blandly, “unless that state were also the + STATE OF ARKANSAS! Then, sir, as a former member of the Arkansas BAR—I + might be able to assist your memory—and—er—even + corroborate your confession.” + </p> + <p> + But here the enthusiastic adherents of the preacher, vaguely conscious of + some danger to their idol, gathered threateningly round the platform from + which he had promptly leaped into their midst, leaving the colonel alone, + to face the sea of angry upturned faces. But that gallant warrior never + altered his characteristic pose. Behind him loomed the reputation of the + dozen duels he had fought, the gold-headed stick on which he leaned was + believed to contain eighteen inches of shining steel—and the people + of Laurel Spring had discretion. + </p> + <p> + He smiled suavely, stepped jauntily down, and made his way to the entrance + without molestation. + </p> + <p> + But here he was met by Blair and Slocum, and a dozen eager questions:— + </p> + <p> + “What was it?” “What had he done?” “WHO was he?” + </p> + <p> + “A blank shyster, who had swindled the widows and orphans in Arkansas and + escaped from jail.” + </p> + <p> + “And his name isn't Brown?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the colonel curtly. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” + </p> + <p> + “That is a matter which concerns only myself and him, sir,” said the + colonel loftily; “but for which I am—er—personally + responsible.” + </p> + <p> + A wild idea took possession of Blair. + </p> + <p> + “And you say he was a noted desperado?” he said with nervous hesitation. + </p> + <p> + The colonel glared. + </p> + <p> + “Desperado, sir! Never! Blank it all!—a mean, psalm-singing, + crawling, sneak thief!” + </p> + <p> + And Blair felt relieved without knowing exactly why. + </p> + <p> + The next day it was known that the preacher, Gabriel Brown, had left + Laurel Spring on an urgent “Gospel call” elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Starbottle returned that night with his friends to the county + town. Strange to say, a majority of the audience had not grasped the full + significance of the colonel's unseemly interruption, and those who had, as + partisans, kept it quiet. Blair, tortured by doubt, had a new delicacy + added to his hesitation, which left him helpless until the widow should + take the initiative in explanation. + </p> + <p> + A sudden summons from his patient at the loggers' camp the next day + brought him again to the fateful redwoods. But he was vexed and mystified + to find, on arriving at the camp, that he had been made the victim of some + stupid blunder, and that no message had been sent from there. He was + returning abstractedly through the woods when he was amazed at seeing at a + little distance before him the flutter of Mrs. MacGlowrie's well-known + dark green riding habit and the figure of the lady herself. Her dog was + not with her, neither was the revival preacher—or he might have + thought the whole vision a trick of his memory. But she slackened her + pace, and he was obliged to rein up abreast of her in some confusion. + </p> + <p> + “I hope I won't shock you again by riding alone through the woods with a + man,” she said with a light laugh. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, she was quite pale as he answered, somewhat coldly, that he + had no right to be shocked at anything she might choose to do. + </p> + <p> + “But you WERE shocked, for you rode away the last time without speaking,” + she said; “and yet”—she looked up suddenly into his eyes with a + smileless face—“that man you saw me with once had a better right to + ride alone with me than any other man. He was”— + </p> + <p> + “Your lover?” said Blair with brutal brevity. + </p> + <p> + “My husband!” returned Mrs. MacGlowrie slowly. + </p> + <p> + “Then you are NOT a widow,” gasped Blair. + </p> + <p> + “No. I am only a divorced woman. That is why I have had to live a lie + here. That man—that hypocrite—whose secret was only half + exposed the other night, was my husband—divorced from me by the law, + when, an escaped convict, he fled with another woman from the State three + years ago.” Her face flushed and whitened again; she put up her hand + blindly to her straying hair, and for an instant seemed to sway in the + saddle. + </p> + <p> + But Blair as quickly leaped from his horse, and was beside her. “Let me + help you down,” he said quickly, “and rest yourself until you are better.” + Before she could reply, he lifted her tenderly to the ground and placed + her on a mossy stump a little distance from the trail. Her color and a + faint smile returned to her troubled face. + </p> + <p> + “Had we not better go on?” she said, looking around. “I never went so far + as to sit down in the woods with HIM that day.” + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me,” he said pleadingly, “but, of course, I knew nothing. I + disliked the man from instinct—I thought he had some power over + you.” + </p> + <p> + “He has none—except the secret that would also have exposed + himself.” + </p> + <p> + “But others knew it. Colonel Starbottle must have known his name? And yet”—as + he remembered he stammered—“he refused to tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but not because he knew he was my husband, but because he knew he + bore the same name. He thinks, as every one does, that my husband died in + San Francisco. The man who died there was my husband's cousin—a + desperate man and a noted duelist.” + </p> + <p> + “And YOU assumed to be HIS widow?” said the astounded Blair. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but don't blame me too much,” she said pathetically. “It was a wild, + a silly deceit, but it was partly forced upon me. For when I first arrived + across the plains, at the frontier, I was still bearing my husband's name, + and although I was alone and helpless, I found myself strangely welcomed + and respected by those rude frontiersmen. It was not long before I saw it + was because I was presumed to be the widow of ALLEN MacGlowrie—who + had just died in San Francisco. I let them think so, for I knew—what + they did not—that Allen's wife had separated from him and married + again, and that my taking his name could do no harm. I accepted their + kindness; they gave me my first start in business, which brought me here. + It was not much of a deceit,” she continued, with a slight tremble of her + pretty lip, “to prefer to pass as the widow of a dead desperado than to be + known as the divorced wife of a living convict. It has hurt no one, and it + has saved me just now.” + </p> + <p> + “You were right! No one could blame you,” said Blair eagerly, seizing her + hand. + </p> + <p> + But she disengaged it gently, and went on:— + </p> + <p> + “And now you wonder why I gave him a meeting here?” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder at nothing but your courage and patience in all this suffering!” + said Blair fervently; “and at your forgiving me for so cruelly + misunderstanding you.” + </p> + <p> + “But you must learn all. When I first saw MacGlowrie under his assumed + name, I fainted, for I was terrified and believed he knew I was here and + had come to expose me even at his own risk. That was why I hesitated + between going away or openly defying him. But it appears he was more + frightened than I at finding me here—he had supposed I had changed + my name after the divorce, and that Mrs. MacGlowrie, Laurel Spring, was + his cousin's widow. When he found out who I was he was eager to see me and + agree upon a mutual silence while he was here. He thought only of + himself,” she added scornfully, “and Colonel Starbottle's recognition of + him that night as the convicted swindler was enough to put him to flight.” + </p> + <p> + “And the colonel never suspected that you were his wife?” said Blair. + </p> + <p> + “Never! He supposed from the name that he was some relation of my husband, + and that was why he refused to tell it—for my sake. The colonel is + an old fogy—and pompous—but a gentleman—as good as they + make them!” + </p> + <p> + A slightly jealous uneasiness and a greater sense of shame came over + Blair. + </p> + <p> + “I seem to have been the only one who suspected and did not aid you,” he + said sadly, “and yet God knows”— + </p> + <p> + The widow had put up her slim hand in half-smiling, half-pathetic + interruption. + </p> + <p> + “Wait! I have not told you everything. When I took over the responsibility + of being Allen MacGlowrie's widow, I had to take over HER relations and + HER history as I gathered it from the frontiersmen. I never frightened any + grizzly—I never jabbed anybody with the scissors; it was SHE who did + it. I never was among the Injins—I never had any fighting relations; + my paw was a plain farmer. I was only a peaceful Blue Grass girl—there! + I never thought there was any harm in it; it seemed to keep the men off, + and leave me free—until I knew you! And you know I didn't want you + to believe it—don't you?” + </p> + <p> + She hid her flushed face and dimples in her handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + “But did you never think there might be another way to keep the men off, + and sink the name of MacGlowrie forever?” said Blair in a lower voice. + </p> + <p> + “I think we must be going back now,” said the widow timidly, withdrawing + her hand, which Blair had again mysteriously got possession of in her + confusion. + </p> + <p> + “But wait just a few minutes longer to keep me company,” said Blair + pleadingly. “I came here to see a patient, and as there must have been + some mistake in the message—I must try to discover it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! Is that all?” said the widow quickly. “Why?”—she flushed again + and laughed faintly—“Well! I am that patient! I wanted to see you + alone to explain everything, and I could think of no other way. I'm afraid + I've got into the habit of thinking nothing of being somebody else.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish you would let me select who you should be,” said the doctor + boldly. + </p> + <p> + “We really must go back—to the horses,” said the widow. + </p> + <p> + “Agreed—if we will ride home together.” + </p> + <p> + They did. And before the year was over, although they both remained, the + name of MacGlowrie had passed out of Laurel Spring. + </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> + A WARD OF COLONEL STARBOTTLE'S + </h2> + <p> + “The kernel seems a little off color to-day,” said the barkeeper as he + replaced the whiskey decanter, and gazed reflectively after the departing + figure of Colonel Starbottle. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't notice anything,” said a bystander; “he passed the time o' day + civil enough to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, he's allus polite enough to strangers and wimmin folk even when he is + that way; it's only his old chums, or them ez like to be thought so, that + he's peppery with. Why, ez to that, after he'd had that quo'll with his + old partner, Judge Pratt, in one o' them spells, I saw him the next minit + go half a block out of his way to direct an entire stranger; and ez for + wimmin!—well, I reckon if he'd just got a head drawn on a man, and a + woman spoke to him, he'd drop his battery and take off his hat to her. No—ye + can't judge by that!” + </p> + <p> + And perhaps in his larger experience the barkeeper was right. He might + have added, too, that the colonel, in his general outward bearing and + jauntiness, gave no indication of his internal irritation. Yet he was + undoubtedly in one of his “spells,” suffering from a moody cynicism which + made him as susceptible of affront as he was dangerous in resentment. + </p> + <p> + Luckily, on this particular morning he reached his office and entered his + private room without any serious rencontre. Here he opened his desk, and + arranging his papers, he at once set to work with grim persistency. He had + not been occupied for many minutes before the door opened to Mr. Pyecroft—one + of a firm of attorneys who undertook the colonel's office work. + </p> + <p> + “I see you are early to work, Colonel,” said Mr. Pyecroft cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + “You see, sir,” said the colonel, correcting him with a slow deliberation + that boded no good—“you see a Southern gentleman—blank it!—who + has stood at the head of his profession for thirty-five years, obliged to + work like a blank nigger, sir, in the dirty squabbles of psalm-singing + Yankee traders, instead of—er—attending to the affairs of—er—legislation!” + </p> + <p> + “But you manage to get pretty good fees out of it—Colonel?” + continued Pyecroft, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Fees, sir! Filthy shekels! and barely enough to satisfy a debt of honor + with one hand, and wipe out a tavern score for the entertainment of—er—a + few lady friends with the other!” + </p> + <p> + This allusion to his losses at poker, as well as an oyster supper given to + the two principal actresses of the “North Star Troupe,” then performing in + the town, convinced Mr. Pyecroft that the colonel was in one of his + “moods,” and he changed the subject. + </p> + <p> + “That reminds me of a little joke that happened in Sacramento last week. + You remember Dick Stannard, who died a year ago—one of your + friends?” + </p> + <p> + “I have yet to learn,” interrupted the colonel, with the same deadly + deliberation, “what right HE—or ANYBODY—had to intimate that + he held such a relationship with me. Am I to understand, sir, that he—er—publicly + boasted of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know!” resumed Pyecroft hastily; “but it don't matter, for if he + wasn't a friend it only makes the joke bigger. Well, his widow didn't + survive him long, but died in the States t'other day, leavin' the property + in Sacramento—worth about three thousand dollars—to her little + girl, who is at school at Santa Clara. The question of guardianship came + up, and it appears that the widow—who only knew you through her + husband—had, some time before her death, mentioned YOUR name in that + connection! He! he!” + </p> + <p> + “What!” said Colonel Starbottle, starting up. + </p> + <p> + “Hold on!” said Pyecroft hilariously. “That isn't all! Neither the + executors nor the probate judge knew you from Adam, and the Sacramento + bar, scenting a good joke, lay low and said nothing. Then the old fool + judge said that 'as you appeared to be a lawyer, a man of mature years, + and a friend of the family, you were an eminently fit person, and ought to + be communicated with'—you know his hifalutin' style. Nobody says + anything. So that the next thing you'll know you'll get a letter from that + executor asking you to look after that kid. Ha! ha! The boys said they + could fancy they saw you trotting around with a ten year old girl holding + on to your hand, and the Senorita Dolores or Miss Bellamont looking on! Or + your being called away from a poker deal some night by the infant, + singing, 'Gardy, dear gardy, come home with me now, the clock in the + steeple strikes one!' And think of that old fool judge not knowing you! + Ha! ha!” + </p> + <p> + A study of Colonel Starbottle's face during this speech would have puzzled + a better physiognomist than Mr. Pyecroft. His first look of astonishment + gave way to an empurpled confusion, from which a single short Silenus-like + chuckle escaped, but this quickly changed again into a dull coppery + indignation, and, as Pyecroft's laugh continued, faded out into a sallow + rigidity in which his murky eyes alone seemed to keep what was left of his + previous high color. But what was more singular, in spite of his enforced + calm, something of his habitual old-fashioned loftiness and oratorical + exaltation appeared to be returning to him as he placed his hand on his + inflated breast and faced Pyceroft. + </p> + <p> + “The ignorance of the executor of Mrs. Stannard and the—er—probate + judge,” he began slowly, “may be pardonable, Mr. Pyecroft, since his Honor + would imply that, although unknown to HIM personally, I am at least amicus + curiae in this question of—er—guardianship. But I am grieved—indeed + I may say shocked—Mr. Pyecroft, that the—er—last sacred + trust of a dying widow—perhaps the holiest trust that can be + conceived by man—the care and welfare of her helpless orphaned girl—should + be made the subject of mirth, sir, by yourself and the members of the + Sacramento bar! I shall not allude, sir, to my own feelings in regard to + Dick Stannard, one of my most cherished friends,” continued the colonel, + in a voice charged with emotion, “but I can conceive of no nobler trust + laid upon the altar of friendship than the care and guidance of his + orphaned girl! And if, as you tell me, the utterly inadequate sum of three + thousand dollars is all that is left for her maintenance through life, the + selection of a guardian sufficiently devoted to the family to be willing + to augment that pittance out of his own means from time to time would seem + to be most important.” + </p> + <p> + Before the astounded Pyecroft could recover himself, Colonel Starbottle + leaned back in his chair, half closing his eyes, and abandoned himself, + quite after his old manner, to one of his dreamy reminiscences. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Dick Stannard! I have a vivid recollection, sir, of driving out with + him on the Shell Road at New Orleans in '54, and of his saying, 'Star'—the + only man, sir, who ever abbreviated my name—'Star, if anything + happens to me or her, look after our child! It was during that very drive, + sir, that, through his incautious neglect to fortify himself against the + swampy malaria by a glass of straight Bourbon with a pinch of bark in it, + he caught that fever which undermined his constitution. Thank you, Mr. + Pyecroft, for—er—recalling the circumstance. I shall,” + continued the colonel, suddenly abandoning reminiscence, sitting up, and + arranging his papers, “look forward with great interest to—er—letter + from the executor.” + </p> + <p> + The next day it was universally understood that Colonel Starbottle had + been appointed guardian of Pansy Stannard by the probate judge of + Sacramento. + </p> + <p> + There are of record two distinct accounts of Colonel Starbottle's first + meeting with his ward after his appointment as her guardian. One, given by + himself, varying slightly at times, but always bearing unvarying + compliment to the grace, beauty, and singular accomplishments of this + apparently gifted child, was nevertheless characterized more by vague, + dreamy reminiscences of the departed parents than by any personal + experience of the daughter. + </p> + <p> + “I found the young lady, sir,” he remarked to Mr. Pyecroft, “recalling my + cherished friend Stannard in—er—form and features, and—although—er—personally + unacquainted with her deceased mother—who belonged, sir, to one of + the first families of Virginia—I am told that she is—er—remarkably + like her. Miss Stannard is at present a pupil in one of the best + educational establishments in Santa Clara, where she is receiving tuition + in—er—the English classics, foreign belles lettres, + embroidery, the harp, and—er—the use of the—er—globes, + and—er—blackboard—under the most fastidious care, and my + own personal supervision. The principal of the school, Miss Eudoxia Tish—associated + with—er—er—Miss Prinkwell—is—er—remarkably + gifted woman; and as I was present at one of the school exercises, I had + the opportunity of testifying to her excellence in—er—short + address I made to the young ladies.” From such glittering but unsatisfying + generalities as these I prefer to turn to the real interview, gathered + from contemporary witnesses. + </p> + <p> + It was the usual cloudless, dazzling, Californian summer day, tempered + with the asperity of the northwest trades that Miss Tish, looking through + her window towards the rose-embowered gateway of the seminary, saw an + extraordinary figure advancing up the avenue. It was that of a man + slightly past middle age, yet erect and jaunty, whose costume recalled the + early water-color portraits of her own youthful days. His tightly buttoned + blue frock coat with gilt buttons was opened far enough across the chest + to allow the expanding of a frilled shirt, black stock, and nankeen + waistcoat, and his immaculate white trousers were smartly strapped over + his smart varnished boots. A white bell-crowned hat, carried in his hand + to permit the wiping of his forehead with a silk handkerchief, and a + gold-headed walking stick hooked over his arm, completed this singular + equipment. He was followed, a few paces in the rear, by a negro carrying + an enormous bouquet, and a number of small boxes and parcels tied up with + ribbons. As the figure paused before the door, Miss Tish gasped, and cast + a quick restraining glance around the classroom. But it was too late; a + dozen pairs of blue, black, round, inquiring, or mischievous eyes were + already dancing and gloating over the bizarre stranger through the window. + </p> + <p> + “A cirkiss—or nigger minstrels—sure as you're born!” said Mary + Frost, aged nine, in a fierce whisper. + </p> + <p> + “No!—a agent from 'The Emporium,' with samples,” returned Miss + Briggs, aged fourteen. + </p> + <p> + “Young ladies, attend to your studies,” said Miss Tish, as the servant + brought in a card. Miss Tish glanced at it with some nervousness, and read + to herself, “Colonel Culpeper Starbottle,” engraved in script, and below + it in pencil, “To see Miss Pansy Stannard, under favor of Miss Tish.” + Rising with some perturbation, Miss Tish hurriedly intrusted the class to + an assistant, and descended to the reception room. She had never seen + Pansy's guardian before (the executor had brought the child); and this + extraordinary creature, whose visit she could not deny, might be ruinous + to school discipline. It was therefore with an extra degree of frigidity + of demeanor that she threw open the door of the reception room, and + entered majestically. But to her utter astonishment, the colonel met her + with a bow so stately, so ceremonious, and so commanding that she stopped, + disarmed and speechless. + </p> + <p> + “I need not ask if I am addressing Miss Tish,” said the colonel loftily, + “for without having the pleasure of—er—previous acquaintance, + I can at once recognize the—er—Lady Superior and—er—chatelaine + of this—er—establishment.” Miss Tish here gave way to a slight + cough and an embarrassed curtsy, as the colonel, with a wave of his white + hand towards the burden carried by his follower, resumed more lightly: “I + have brought—er—few trifles and gewgaws for my ward—subject, + of course, to your rules and discretion. They include some—er—dainties, + free from any deleterious substance, as I am informed—a sash—a + ribbon or two for the hair, gloves, mittens, and a nosegay—from + which, I trust, it will be HER pleasure, as it is my own, to invite you to + cull such blossoms as may suit your taste. Boy, you may set them down and + retire!” + </p> + <p> + “At the present moment,” stammered Miss Tish, “Miss Stannard is engaged on + her lessons. But”—She stopped again, hopelessly. + </p> + <p> + “I see,” said the colonel, with an air of playful, poetical reminiscence—“her + lessons! Certainly! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'We will—er—go to our places, + With smiles on our faces, + And say all our lessons distinctly and slow.' +</pre> + <p> + Certainly! Not for worlds would I interrupt them; until they are done, we + will—er—walk through the classrooms and inspect”— + </p> + <p> + “No! no!” interrupted the horrified, principal, with a dreadful + presentiment of the appalling effect of the colonel's entry upon the + class. “No!—that is—I mean—our rules exclude—except + on days of public examination”— + </p> + <p> + “Say no more, my dear madam,” said the colonel politely. “Until she is + free I will stroll outside, through—er—the groves of the + Academus”— + </p> + <p> + But Miss Tish, equally alarmed at the diversion this would create at the + classroom windows, recalled herself with an effort. “Please wait here a + moment,” she said hurriedly; “I will bring her down;” and before the + colonel could politely open the door for her, she had fled. + </p> + <p> + Happily unconscious of the sensation he had caused, Colonel Starbottle + seated himself on the sofa, his white hands resting easily on the + gold-headed cane. Once or twice the door behind him opened and closed + quietly, scarcely disturbing him; or again opened more ostentatiously to + the words, “Oh, excuse, please,” and the brief glimpse of a flaxen braid, + or a black curly head—to all of which the colonel nodded politely—even + rising later to the apparition of a taller, demure young lady—and + her more affected “Really, I beg your pardon!” The only result of this + evident curiosity was slightly to change the colonel's attitude, so as to + enable him to put his other hand in his breast in his favorite pose. But + presently he was conscious of a more active movement in the hall, of the + sounds of scuffling, of a high youthful voice saying “I won't” and “I + shan't!” of the door opening to a momentary apparition of Miss Tish + dragging a small hand and half of a small black-ribboned arm into the + room, and her rapid disappearance again, apparently pulled back by the + little hand and arm; of another and longer pause, of a whispered + conference outside, and then the reappearance of Miss Tish majestically, + reinforced and supported by the grim presence of her partner, Miss + Prinkwell. + </p> + <p> + “This—er—unexpected visit,” began Miss Tish—“not + previously arranged by letter”— + </p> + <p> + “Which is an invariable rule of our establishment,” supplemented Miss + Prinkwell— + </p> + <p> + “And the fact that you are personally unknown to us,” continued Miss Tish— + </p> + <p> + “An ignorance shared by the child, who exhibits a distaste for an + interview,” interpolated Miss Prinkwell, in a kind of antiphonal response— + </p> + <p> + “For which we have had no time to prepare her,” continued Miss Tish— + </p> + <p> + “Compels us most reluctantly”—But here she stopped short. Colonel + Starbottle, who had risen with a deep bow at their entrance and remained + standing, here walked quietly towards them. His usually high color had + faded except from his eyes, but his exalted manner was still more + pronounced, with a dreadful deliberation superadded. + </p> + <p> + “I believe—er—I had—the honah—to send up my + kyard!” (In his supreme moments the colonel's Southern accent was always + in evidence.) “I may—er—be mistaken—but—er—that + is my impression.” The colonel paused, and placed his right hand + statuesquely on his heart. + </p> + <p> + The two women trembled—Miss Tish fancied the very shirt frill of the + colonel was majestically erecting itself—as they stammered in one + voice,— + </p> + <p> + “Ye-e-es!” + </p> + <p> + “That kyard contained my full name—with a request to see my ward—Miss + Stannard,” continued the colonel slowly. “I believe that is the fact.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly! certainly!” gasped the women feebly. + </p> + <p> + “Then may I—er—point out to you that I AM—er—WAITING?” + </p> + <p> + Although nothing could exceed the laborious simplicity and husky sweetness + of the colonel's utterance, it appeared to demoralize utterly his two + hearers—Miss Prinkwell seemed to fade into the pattern of the wall + paper, Miss Tish to droop submissively forward like a pink wax candle in + the rays of the burning sun. + </p> + <p> + “We will bring her instantly. A thousand pardons, sir,” they uttered in + the same breath, backing towards the door. + </p> + <p> + But here the unexpected intervened. Unnoticed by the three during the + colloquy, a little figure in a black dress had peeped through the door, + and then glided into the room. It was a girl of about ten, who, in all + candor, could scarcely be called pretty, although the awkward change of + adolescence had not destroyed the delicate proportions of her hands and + feet nor the beauty of her brown eyes. These were, just then, round and + wondering, and fixed alternately on the colonel and the two women. But + like many other round and wondering eyes, they had taken in the full + meaning of the situation, with a quickness the adult mind is not apt to + give them credit for. They saw the complete and utter subjugation of the + two supreme autocrats of the school, and, I grieve to say, they were + filled with a secret and “fearful joy.” But the casual spectator saw none + of this; the round and wondering eyes, still rimmed with recent and + recalcitrant tears, only looked big and innocently shining. + </p> + <p> + The relief of the two women was sudden and unaffected. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, here you are, dearest, at last!” said Miss Tish eagerly. “This is + your guardian, Colonel Starbottle. Come to him, dear!” + </p> + <p> + She took the hand of the child, who hung back with an odd mingling of + shamefacedness and resentment of the interference, when the voice of + Colonel Starbottle, in the same deadly calm deliberation, said,— + </p> + <p> + “I—er—will speak with her—alone.” + </p> + <p> + The round eyes again saw the complete collapse of authority, as the two + women shrank back from the voice, and said hurriedly,— + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, Colonel Starbottle; perhaps it would be better,” and + ingloriously quitted the room. + </p> + <p> + But the colonel's triumph left him helpless. He was alone with a simple + child, an unprecedented, unheard-of situation, which left him embarrassed + and—speechless. Even his vanity was conscious that his oratorical + periods, his methods, his very attitude, were powerless here. The + perspiration stood out on his forehead; he looked at her vaguely, and + essayed a feeble smile. The child saw his embarrassment, even as she had + seen and understood his triumph, and the small woman within her exulted. + She put her little hands on her waist, and with the fingers turned + downwards and outwards pressed them down her hips to her bended knees + until they had forced her skirts into an egregious fullness before and + behind, as if she were making a curtsy, and then jumped up and laughed. + </p> + <p> + “You did it! Hooray!” + </p> + <p> + “Did what?” said the colonel, pleased yet mystified. + </p> + <p> + “Frightened 'em!—the two old cats! Frightened 'em outen their + slippers! Oh, jiminy! Never, never, NEVER before was they so skeert! Never + since school kept did they have to crawl like that! They was skeert enough + FIRST when you come, but just now!—Lordy! They wasn't a-goin' to let + you see me—but they had to! had to! HAD TO!” and she emphasized each + repetition with a skip. + </p> + <p> + “I believe—er,” said the colonel blandly, “that I—er—intimated + with some firmness”— + </p> + <p> + “That's it—just it!” interrupted the child delightedly. “You—you—overdid + 'em” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “OVERDID 'EM! Don't you know? They're always so high and mighty! Kinder + 'Don't tech me. My mother's an angel; my father's a king'—all that + sort of thing. They did THIS”—she drew herself up in a presumable + imitation of the two women's majestic entrance—“and then,” she + continued, “you—YOU jest did this”—here she lifted her chin, + and puffing out her small chest, strode towards the colonel in evident + simulation of his grandest manner. + </p> + <p> + A short, deep chuckle escaped him—although the next moment his face + became serious again. But Pansy in the mean time had taken possession of + his coat sleeve and was rubbing her cheek against it like a young colt. At + which the colonel succumbed feebly and sat down on the sofa, the child + standing beside him, leaning over and transferring her little hands to the + lapels of his frock coat, which she essayed to button over his chest as + she looked into his murky eyes. + </p> + <p> + “The other girls said,” she began, tugging at the button, “that you was a + 'cirkiss'”—another tug—“'a nigger minstrel'”—and a third + tug—“'a agent with samples'—but that showed all they knew!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said the colonel with exaggerated blandness, “and—er—what + did YOU—er—say?” + </p> + <p> + The child smiled. “I said you was a Stuffed Donkey—but that was + BEFORE I knew you. I was a little skeert too; but NOW”—she succeeded + in buttoning the coat and making the colonel quite apoplectic,—“NOW + I ain't frightened one bit—no, not one TINY bit! But,” she added, + after a pause, unbuttoning the coat again and smoothing down the lapels + between her fingers, “you're to keep on frightening the old cats—mind! + Never mind about the GIRLS. I'll tell them.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel would have given worlds to be able to struggle up into an + upright position with suitable oral expression. Not that his vanity was at + all wounded by these irresponsible epithets, which only excited an amused + wonder, but he was conscious of an embarrassed pleasure in the child's + caressing familiarity, and her perfect trustfulness in him touched his + extravagant chivalry. He ought to protect her, and yet correct her. In the + consciousness of these duties he laid his white hand upon her head. Alas! + she lifted her arm and instantly transferred his hand and part of his arm + around her neck and shoulders, and comfortably snuggled against him. The + colonel gasped. Nevertheless, something must be said, and he began, albeit + somewhat crippled in delivery:— + </p> + <p> + “The—er—use of elegant and precise language by—er—young + ladies cannot be too sedulously cultivated”— + </p> + <p> + But here the child laughed, and snuggling still closer, gurgled: “That's + right! Give it to her when she comes down! That's the style!” and the + colonel stopped, discomfited. Nevertheless, there was a certain wholesome + glow in the contact of this nestling little figure. + </p> + <p> + Presently he resumed tentativery: “I have—er—brought you a few + dainties.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Pansy, “I see; but they're from the wrong shop, you dear old + silly! They're from Tomkins's, and we girls just abominate his things. You + oughter have gone to Emmons's. Never mind. I'll show you when we go out. + We're going out, aren't we?” she said suddenly, lifting her head + anxiously. “You know it's allowed, and it's RIGHTS 'to parents and + guardians'!” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, certainly,” said the colonel. He knew he would feel a little + less constrained in the open air. + </p> + <p> + “Then we'll go now,” said Pansy, jumping up. “I'll just run upstairs and + put on my things. I'll say it's 'orders' from you. And I'll wear my new + frock—it's longer.” (The colonel was slightly relieved at this; it + had seemed to him, as a guardian, that there was perhaps an abnormal + display of Pansy's black stockings.) “You wait; I won't be long.” + </p> + <p> + She darted to the door, but reaching it, suddenly stopped, returned to the + sofa, where the colonel still sat, imprinted a swift kiss on his mottled + cheek, and fled, leaving him invested with a mingled flavor of freshly + ironed muslin, wintergreen lozenges, and recent bread and butter. He sat + still for some time, staring out of the window. It was very quiet in the + room; a bumblebee blundered from the jasmine outside into the open window, + and snored loudly at the panes. But the colonel heeded it not, and + remained abstracted and silent until the door opened to Miss Tish and + Pansy—in her best frock and sash, at which the colonel started and + became erect again and courtly. + </p> + <p> + “I am about to take my ward out,” he said deliberately, “to—er—taste + the air in the Alameda, and—er—view the shops. We may—er—also—indulge + in—er—slight suitable refreshment;—er—seed cake—or—bread + and butter—and—a dish of tea.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Tish, now thoroughly subdued, was delighted to grant Miss Stannard + the half holiday permitted on such occasions. She begged the colonel to + suit his own pleasure, and intrusted “the dear child” to her guardian + “with the greatest confidence.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel made a low bow, and Pansy, demurely slipping her hand into + his, passed with him into the hall; there was a slight rustle of vanishing + skirts, and Pansy pressed his hand significantly. When they were well + outside, she said, in a lower voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Don't look up until we're under the gymnasium windows.” The colonel, + mystified but obedient, strutted on. “Now!” said Pansy. He looked up, + beheld the windows aglow with bright young faces, and bewildering with + many handkerchiefs and clapping hands, stopped, and then taking off his + hat, acknowledged the salute with a sweeping bow. Pansy was delighted. “I + knew they'd be there; I'd already fixed 'em. They're just dyin' to know + you.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel felt a certain glow of pleasure, “I—er—had already + intimated a—er—willingness to—er—inspect the + classes; but—I—er—understood that the rules”— + </p> + <p> + “They're sick old rules,” interrupted the child. “Tish and Prinkwell are + the rules! You say just right out that you WILL! Just overdo her!” + </p> + <p> + The colonel had a vague sense that he ought to correct both the spirit and + language of this insurrectionary speech, but Pansy pulled him along, and + then swept him quite away with a torrent of prattle of the school, of her + friends, of the teachers, of her life and its infinitely small miseries + and pleasures. Pansy was voluble; never before had the colonel found + himself relegated to the place of a passive listener. Nevertheless, he + liked it, and as they passed on, under the shade of the Alameda, with + Pansy alternately swinging from his hand and skipping beside him, there + was a vague smile of satisfaction on his face. Passers-by turned to look + after the strangely assorted pair, or smiled, accepting them, as the + colonel fancied, as father and daughter. An odd feeling, half of pain and + half of pleasure, gripped at the heart of the empty and childless man. + </p> + <p> + And now, as they approached the more crowded thoroughfares, the instinct + of chivalrous protection was keen in his breast. He piloted her + skillfully; he jauntily suited his own to her skipping step; he lifted her + with scrupulous politeness over obstacles; strutting beside her on crowded + pavements, he made way for her with his swinging stick. All the while, + too, he had taken note of the easy carriage of her head and shoulders, and + most of all of her small, slim feet and hands, that, to his fastidious + taste, betokened her race. “Ged, sir,” he muttered to himself, “she's + 'Blue Grass' stock, all through.” To admiration succeeded pride, with a + slight touch of ownership. When they went into a shop, which, thanks to + the ingenuous Pansy, they did pretty often, he would introduce her with a + wave of the hand and the remark, “I am—er—seeking nothing + to-day, but if you will kindly—er—serve my WARD—Miss + Stannard!” Later, when they went into the confectioner's for refreshment, + and Pansy frankly declared for “ice cream and cream cakes,” instead of the + “dish of tea and bread and butter” he had ordered in pursuance of his + promise, he heroically took it himself—to satisfy his honor. Indeed, + I know of no more sublime figure than Colonel Starbottle—rising + superior to a long-withstood craving for a “cocktail,” morbidly conscious + also of the ridiculousness of his appearance to any of his old associates + who might see him—drinking luke-warm tea and pecking feebly at his + bread and butter at a small table, beside his little tyrant. + </p> + <p> + And this domination of the helpless continued on their way home. Although + Miss Pansy no longer talked of herself, she was equally voluble in inquiry + as to the colonel's habits, ways of life, friends and acquaintances, + happily restricting her interrogations, in regard to those of her own sex, + to “any LITTLE girls that he knew.” Saved by this exonerating adjective, + the colonel saw here a chance to indulge his postponed monitorial duty, as + well as his vivid imagination. He accordingly drew elaborate pictures of + impossible children he had known—creatures precise in language and + dress, abstinent of play and confectionery, devoted to lessons and duties, + and otherwise, in Pansy's own words, “loathsome to the last degree!” As + “daughters of oldest and most cherished friends,” they might perhaps have + excited Pansy's childish jealousy but for the singular fact that they had + all long ago been rewarded by marriage with senators, judges, and generals—also + associates of the colonel. This remoteness of presence somewhat marred + their effect as an example, and the colonel was mortified, though not + entirely displeased, to observe that their surprising virtues did not + destroy Pansy's voracity for sweets, the recklessness of her skipping, nor + the freedom of her language. The colonel was remorseful—but happy. + </p> + <p> + When they reached the seminary again, Pansy retired with her various + purchases, but reappeared after an interval with Miss Tish. + </p> + <p> + “I remember,” hesitated that lady, trembling under the fascination of the + colonel's profound bow, “that you were anxious to look over the school, + and although it was not possible then, I shall be glad to show you now + through one of the classrooms.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel, glancing at Pansy, was momentarily shocked by a distortion of + one side of her face, which seemed, however, to end in a wink of her + innocent brown eyes, but recovering himself, gallantly expressed his + gratitude. The next moment he was ascending the stairs, side by side with + Miss Tish, and had a distinct impression that he had been pinched in the + calf by Pansy, who was following close behind. + </p> + <p> + It was recess, but the large classroom was quite filled with pupils, many + of them older and prettier girls, inveigled there, as it afterwards + appeared, by Pansy, in some precocious presentiment of her guardian's + taste. The colonel's apologetic yet gallant bow on entering, and his + erect, old-fashioned elegance, instantly took their delighted attention. + Indeed, all would have gone well had not Miss Prinkwell, with the view of + impressing the colonel as well as her pupils, majestically introduced him + as “a distinguished jurist deeply interested in the cause of education, as + well as guardian of their fellow pupil.” That opportunity was not thrown + away on Colonel Starbottle. + </p> + <p> + Stepping up to the desk of the astounded principal, he laid the points of + his fingers delicately upon it, and, with a preparatory inclination of his + head towards her, placed his other hand in his breast, and with an + invocatory glance at the ceiling, began. + </p> + <p> + It was the colonel's habit at such moments to state at first, with great + care and precision, the things that he “would not say,” that he “NEED not + say,” and apparently that it was absolutely unnecessary even to allude to. + It was therefore, not strange that the colonel informed them that he need + not say that he counted his present privilege among the highest that had + been granted him; for besides the privilege of beholding the galaxy of + youthful talent and excellence before him, besides the privilege of being + surrounded by a garland of the blossoms of the school in all their + freshness and beauty, it was well understood that he had the greater + privilege of—er—standing in loco parentis to one of these + blossoms. It was not for him to allude to the high trust imposed upon him + by—er—deceased and cherished friend, and daughter of one of + the first families of Virginia, by the side of one who must feel that she + was the recipient of trusts equally supreme (here the colonel paused, and + statuesquely regarded the alarmed Miss Prinkwell as if he were in doubt of + it), but he would say that it should be HIS devoted mission to champion + the rights of the orphaned and innocent whenever and wherever the occasion + arose, against all odds, and even in the face of misguided authority. + (Having left the impression that Miss Prinkwell contemplated an invasion + of those rights, the colonel became more lenient and genial.) He fully + recognized her high and noble office; he saw in her the worthy successor + of those two famous instructresses of Athens—those Greek ladies—er—whose + names had escaped his memory, but which—er—no doubt Miss + Prinkwell would be glad to recall to her pupils, with some account of + their lives. (Miss Prinkwell colored; she had never heard of them before, + and even the delight of the class in the colonel's triumph was a little + dampened by this prospect of hearing more about them.) But the colonel was + only too content with seeing before him these bright and beautiful faces, + destined, as he firmly believed, in after years to lend their charm and + effulgence to the highest places as the happy helpmeets of the greatest in + the land. He was—er—leaving a—er—slight + testimonial of his regard in the form of some—er—innocent + refreshments in the hands of his ward, who would—er—act as—er—his + proxy in their distribution; and the colonel sat down to the flutter of + handkerchiefs, an applause only half restrained, and the utter + demoralization of Miss Prinkwell. + </p> + <p> + But the time of his departure had come by this time, and he was too + experienced a public man to risk the possibility of an anticlimax by + protracting his leave-taking. And in an ominous shining of Pansy's big + eyes as the time approached he felt an embarrassment as perplexing as the + odd presentiment of loneliness that was creeping over him. But with an + elaborate caution as to the dangers of self-indulgence, and the private + bestowal of a large gold piece slipped into her hand, a promise to come + again soon, and an exaction that she would write to him often, the colonel + received in return a wet kiss, a great deal of wet cheek pressed against + his own, and a momentary tender clinging, like that which attends the + pulling up of some small flower, as he passed out into the porch. In the + hall, on the landing above him, there was a close packing of brief skirts + against the railing, and a voice, apparently proceeding from a pair of + very small mottled legs protruding through the balusters, said distinctly, + “Free cheers for Ternel Tarbottle!” And to this benediction the colonel, + hat in hand, passed out of this Eden into the world again. + </p> + <p> + The colonel's next visit to the seminary did not produce the same + sensation as the first, although it was accompanied with equal disturbance + to the fair principals. Had he been a less conceited man he might have + noticed that their antagonism, although held in restraint by their + wholesome fear of him, was in danger of becoming more a conviction than a + mere suspicion. He was made aware of it through Pansy's resentment towards + them, and her revelation of a certain inquisition that she had been + subjected to in regard to his occupation, habits, and acquaintances. + Naturally of these things Pansy knew very little, but this had not + prevented her from saying a great deal. There had been enough in her + questioners' manner to make her suspect that her guardian was being + attacked, and to his defense she brought the mendacity and imagination of + a clever child. What she had really said did not transpire except through + her own comments to the colonel: “And of course you've killed people—for + you're a kernel, you know?” (Here the colonel admitted, as a point of + fact, that he had served in the Mexican war.) “And you kin PREACH, for + they heard you do it when you was here before,” she added confidently; + “and of course you own niggers—for there's 'Jim.'” (The colonel here + attempted to explain that Jim, being in a free State, was now a free man, + but Pansy swept away such fine distinctions.) “And you're rich, you know, + for you gave me that ten-dollar gold piece all for myself. So I jest gave + 'em as good as they sent—the old spies and curiosity shops!” The + colonel, more pleased at Pansy's devotion than concerned over the incident + itself, accepted this interpretation of his character as a munificent, + militant priest with a smiling protest. But a later incident caused him to + remember it more seriously. + </p> + <p> + They had taken their usual stroll through the Alameda, and had made the + round of the shops, where the colonel had exhibited his usual liberality + of purchase and his exalted parental protection, and so had passed on to + their usual refreshment at the confectioner's, the usual ices and cakes + for Pansy, but this time—a concession also to the tyrant Pansy—a + glass of lemon soda and a biscuit for the colonel. He was coughing over + his unaccustomed beverage, and Pansy, her equanimity and volubility + restored by sweets, was chirruping at his side; the large saloon was + filling up with customers—mainly ladies and children, embarrassing + to him as the only man present, when suddenly Pansy's attention was + diverted by another arrival. It was a good-looking young woman, + overdressed, striking, and self-conscious, who, with an air of one who was + in the habit of challenging attention, affectedly seated herself with a + male companion at an empty table, and began to pull off an overtight + glove. + </p> + <p> + “My!” said Pansy in admiring wonder, “ain't she fine?” + </p> + <p> + Colonel Starbottle looked up abstractedly, but at the first glance his + face flushed redly, deepened to a purple, and then became gray and stern. + He had recognized in the garish fair one Miss Flora Montague, the “Western + Star of Terpsichore and Song,” with whom he had supped a few days before + at Sacramento. The lady was “on tour” with her “Combination troupe.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel leaned over and fixed his murky eyes on Pansy. “The room is + filling up; the place is stifling; I must—er—request you to—er—hurry.” + </p> + <p> + There was a change in the colonel's manner, which the quick-witted child + heeded. But she had not associated it with the entrance of the strangers, + and as she obediently gulped down her ice, she went on innocently,— + </p> + <p> + “That fine lady's smilin' and lookin' over here. Seems to know you; so + does the man with her.” + </p> + <p> + “I—er—must request you,” said the colonel, with husky + precision, “NOT to look that way, but finish your—er—repast.” + </p> + <p> + His tone was so decided that the child's lips pouted, but before she could + speak a shadow leaned over their table. It was the companion of the “fine + lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't seem to see us, Colonel,” he said with coarse familiarity, laying + his hand on the colonel's shoulder. “Florry wants to know what's up.” + </p> + <p> + The colonel rose at the touch. “Tell her, sir,” he said huskily, but with + slow deliberation, “that I 'am up' and leaving this place with my ward, + Miss Stannard. Good-morning.” He lifted Pansy with infinite courtesy from + her chair, took her hand, strolled to the counter, threw down a gold + piece, and passing the table of the astonished fair one with an inflated + breast, swept with Pansy out of the shop. In the street he paused, bidding + the child go on; and then, finding he was not followed by the woman's + escort, rejoined his little companion. + </p> + <p> + For a few moments they walked silently side by side. Then Pansy's + curiosity, getting the better of her pout, demanded information. She had + applied a child's swift logic to the scene. The colonel was angry, and had + punished the woman for something. She drew closer to his side, and looking + up with her big eyes, said confidentially. + </p> + <p> + “What had she been a-doing?” + </p> + <p> + The colonel was amazed, embarrassed, and speechless. He was totally + unprepared for the question, and as unable to answer it. His abrupt + departure from the shop had been to evade the very truth now demanded of + him. Only a supreme effort of mendacity was left him. He wiped his brow + with his handkerchief, coughed, and began deliberately:— + </p> + <p> + “The—er—lady in question is in the habit of using a scent + called—er—patchouli, a—er—perfume exceedingly + distressing to me. I detected it instantly on her entrance. I wished to + avoid it—without further contact. It is—er—singular but + accepted fact that some people are—er—peculiarly affected by + odors. I had—er—old cherished friend who always—er—fainted + at the odor of jasmine; and I was intimately acquainted with General + Bludyer, who—er—dropped like a shot on the presentation of a + simple violet. The—er—habit of using such perfumes excessively + in public,” continued the colonel, looking down upon the innocent Pansy, + and speaking in tones of deadly deliberation, “cannot be too greatly + condemned, as well as the habit of—er—frequenting places of + public resort in extravagant costumes, with—er—individuals who—er—intrude + upon domestic privacy. I trust you will eschew such perfumes, places, + costumes, and—er—companions FOREVER and—ON ALL + OCCASIONS!” The colonel had raised his voice to his forensic emphasis, and + Pansy, somewhat alarmed, assented. Whether she entirely accepted the + colonel's explanation was another matter. + </p> + <p> + The incident, although not again alluded to, seemed to shadow the rest of + their brief afternoon holiday, and the colonel's manner was unmistakably + graver. But it seemed to the child more affectionate and thoughtful. He + had previously at parting submitted to be kissed by Pansy with stately + tolerance and an immediate resumption of his loftiest manner. On this + present leave-taking he laid his straight closely shaven lips on the crown + of her dark head, and as her small arms clipped his neck, drew her closely + to his side. The child uttered a slight cry; the colonel hurriedly put his + hand to his breast. Her round cheek had come in contact with his derringer—a + small weapon of beauty and precision—which invariably nestled also + at his side, in his waistcoat pocket. The child laughed; so did the + colonel, but his cheek flushed mightily. + </p> + <p> + It was four months later, and a turbulent night. The early rains, driven + by a strong southwester against the upper windows of the Magnolia + Restaurant, sometimes blurred the radiance of the bright lights within, + and the roar of the encompassing pines at times drowned the sounds of song + and laughter that rose from a private supper room. Even the clattering + arrival and departure of the Sacramento stage coach, which disturbed the + depths below, did not affect these upper revelers. For Colonel Starbottle, + Jack Hamlin, Judge Beeswinger, and Jo Wynyard, assisted by Mesdames + Montague, Montmorency, Bellefield, and “Tinky” Clifford, of the “Western + Star Combination Troupe,” then performing “on tour,” were holding “high + jinks” in the supper room. The colonel had been of late moody, irritable, + and easily upset. In the words of a friend and admirer, “he was kam only + at twelve paces.” + </p> + <p> + In a lull in the general tumult a Chinese waiter was seen at the door + vainly endeavoring to attract the attention of the colonel by signs and + interjections. Mr. Hamlin's quick eye first caught sight of the intruder. + “Come in, Confucius,” said Jack pleasantly; “you're a trifle late for a + regular turn, but any little thing in the way of knife swallowing”— + </p> + <p> + “Lill missee to see connle! Waitee waitee, bottom side housee,” + interrupted the Chinaman, dividing his speech between Jack and the + colonel. + </p> + <p> + “What! ANOTHER lady? This is no place for me!” said Jack, rising with + finely simulated decorum. + </p> + <p> + “Ask her up,” chirped “Tinky” Clifford. + </p> + <p> + But at this moment the door opened against the Chinaman, and a small + figure in a cloak and hat, dripping with raindrops, glided swiftly in. + After a moment's half-frightened, half-admiring glance at the party, she + darted forward with a little cry and threw her wet arms round the colonel. + The rest of the company, arrested in their festivity, gasped with vague + and smiling wonder; the colonel became purple and gasped. But only for a + moment. The next instant he was on his legs, holding the child with one + hand, while with the other he described a stately sweep of the table. + </p> + <p> + “My ward—Miss Pansy Stannard,” he said with husky brevity. But + drawing the child aside, he whispered quickly, “What has happened? Why are + you here?” + </p> + <p> + But Pansy, child-like, already diverted by the lights, the table piled + with delicacies, the gayly dressed women, and the air of festivity, + answered half abstractedly, and as much, perhaps, to the curious eyes + about her as to the colonel's voice,— + </p> + <p> + “I runned away!” + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” whispered the colonel, aghast. + </p> + <p> + But Pansy, responding again to the company rather than her guardian's + counsel, and as if appealing to them, went on half poutingly: “Yes! I + runned away because they teased me! Because they didn't like you and said + horrid things. Because they told awful, dreadful lies! Because they said I + wasn't no orphan!—that my name wasn't Stannard, and that you'd made + it all up. Because they said I was a liar—and YOU WAS MY FATHER!” + </p> + <p> + A sudden outbreak of laughter here shook the room, and even drowned the + storm outside; again and again it rose, as the colonel staggered gaspingly + to his feet. For an instant it seemed as if his struggles to restrain + himself would end in an apoplectic fit. Perhaps it was for this reason + that Jack Hamlin checked his own light laugh and became alert and grave. + Yet the next moment Colonel Starbottle went as suddenly dead white, as + leaning over the table he said huskily, but deliberately, “I must request + the ladies present to withdraw.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't mind US, Colonel,” said Judge Beeswinger, “it's all in the family + here, you know! And now I look at the girl—hang it all! she DOES + favor you, old man. Ha! ha!” + </p> + <p> + “And as for the ladies,” said Wynyard with a weak, vinous laugh, “unless + any of 'em is inclined to take the matter as PERSONAL—eh?” + </p> + <p> + “Stop!” roared the colonel. + </p> + <p> + There was no mistaking his voice nor his intent now. The two men, insulted + and instantly sobered, were silent. Mr. Hamlin rose, playfully but + determinedly tapped his fair companions on the shoulders, saying, “Run + away and play, girls,” actually bundled them, giggling and protesting, + from the room, closed the door, and stood with his back against it. Then + it was seen that the colonel, still very white, was holding the child by + the hand, as she shrank back wonderingly and a little frightened against + him. + </p> + <p> + “I thank YOU, Mr. Hamlin,” said the colonel in a lower voice—yet + with a slight touch of his habitual stateliness in it, “for being here to + bear witness, in the presence of this child, to my unqualified statement + that a more foul, vile, and iniquitous falsehood never was uttered than + that which has been poured into her innocent ears!” He paused, walked to + the door, still holding her hand, and, as Mr. Hamlin stepped aside, opened + it, told her to await him in the public parlor, closed the door again, and + once more faced the two men. “And,” he continued more deliberately, “for + the infamous jests that you, Judge Beeswinger, and you, Mr. Wynyard, have + dared to pass in her presence and mine, I shall expect from each of you + the fullest satisfaction—personal satisfaction. My seconds will wait + on you in the morning!” + </p> + <p> + The two men stood up sobered—yet belligerent. + </p> + <p> + “As you like, sir,” said Beeswinger, flashing. + </p> + <p> + “The sooner the better for me,” added Wynyard curtly. + </p> + <p> + They passed the unruffled Jack Hamlin with a smile and a vaguely + significant air, as if calling him as a witness to the colonel's madness, + and strode out of the room. + </p> + <p> + As the door closed behind them, Mr. Hamlin lightly settled his white + waistcoat, and, with his hands on his hips, lounged towards the colonel. + “And THEN?” he said quietly. + </p> + <p> + “Eh?” said the colonel. + </p> + <p> + “After you've shot one or both of these men, or one of 'em has knocked you + out, what's to become of that child?” + </p> + <p> + “If—I am—er—spared, sir,” said the colonel huskily, “I + shall continue to defend her—against calumny and sneers”— + </p> + <p> + “In this style, eh? After her life has been made a hell by her association + with a man of your reputation, you propose to whitewash it by a quarrel + with a couple of drunken scallawags like Beeswinger and Wynyard, in the + presence of three painted trollops and a d——d scamp like + myself! Do you suppose this won't be blown all over California before she + can be sent back to school? Do you suppose those cackling hussies in the + next room won't give the whole story away to the next man who stands + treat?” (A fine contempt for the sex in general was one of Mr. Hamlin's + most subtle attractions for them.) + </p> + <p> + “Nevertheless, sir,” stammered the colonel, “the prompt punishment of the + man who has dared”— + </p> + <p> + “Punishment!” interrupted Hamlin, “who's to punish the man who has dared + most? The one man who is responsible for the whole thing? Who's to punish + YOU?” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hamlin—sir!” gasped the colonel, falling back, as his hand + involuntarily rose to the level of his waistcoat pocket and his derringer. + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Hamlin only put down the wine glass he had lifted from the table + and was delicately twirling between his fingers, and looked fixedly at the + colonel. + </p> + <p> + “Look here,” he said slowly. “When the boys said that you accepted the + guardianship of that child NOT on account of Dick Stannard, but only as a + bluff against the joke they'd set up at you, I didn't believe them! When + these men and women to-night tumbled to that story of the child being + YOURS, I didn't believe that! When it was said by others that you were + serious about making her your ward, and giving her your property, because + you doted on her like a father, I didn't believe that.” + </p> + <p> + “And—why not THAT?” said the colonel quickly, yet with an odd tremor + in his voice. + </p> + <p> + “Because,” said Hamlin, becoming suddenly as grave as the colonel, “I + could not believe that any one who cared a picayune for the child could + undertake a trust that might bring her into contact with a life and + company as rotten as ours. I could not believe that even the most + God-forsaken, conceited fool would, for the sake of a little sentimental + parade and splurge among people outside his regular walk, allow the + prospects of that child to be blasted. I couldn't believe it, even if he + thought he was acting like a father. I didn't believe it—but I'm + beginning to believe it now!” + </p> + <p> + There was little to choose between the attitudes and expressions of the + two set stern faces now regarding each other, silently, a foot apart. But + the colonel was the first to speak:— + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hamlin—sir! You said a moment ago that I was—er—ahem—responsible + for this evening's affair—but you expressed a doubt as to who could—er—punish + me for it. I accept the responsibility you have indicated, sir, and offer + you that chance. But as this matter between us must have precedence over—my + engagements with that canaille, I shall expect you with your seconds at + sunrise on Burnt Ridge. Good-evening, sir.” + </p> + <p> + With head erect the colonel left the room. Mr. Hamlin slightly shrugged + his shoulders, turned to the door of the room whither he had just banished + the ladies, and in a few minutes his voice was heard melodiously among the + gayest. + </p> + <p> + For all that he managed to get them away early. When he had bundled them + into a large carryall, and watched them drive away through the storm, he + returned for a minute to the waiting room for his overcoat. He was + surprised to hear the sound of the child's voice in the supper room, and + the door being ajar, he could see quite distinctly that she was seated at + the table, with a plate full of sweets before her, while Colonel + Starbottle, with his back to the door, was sitting opposite to her, his + shoulders slightly bowed as he eagerly watched her. It seemed to Mr. + Hamlin that it was the close of an emotional interview, for Pansy's voice + was broken, partly by sobs, and partly, I grieve to say, by the hurried + swallowing of the delicacies before her. Yet, above the beating of the + storm outside, he could hear her saying,— + </p> + <p> + “Yes! I promise to be good—(sob)—and to go with Mrs. Pyecroft—(sob)—and + to try to like another guardian—(sob)—and not to cry any more—(sob)—and—oh, + please, DON'T YOU DO IT EITHER!” + </p> + <p> + But here Mr. Hamlin slipped out of the room and out of the house, with a + rather grave face. An hour later, when the colonel drove up to the + Pyecrofts' door with Pansy, he found that Mr. Pyecroft was slightly + embarrassed, and a figure, which, in the darkness, seemed to resemble Mr. + Hamlin's, had just emerged from the door as he entered. + </p> + <p> + Yet the sun was not up on Burnt Ridge earlier than Mr. Hamlin. The storm + of the night before had blown itself out; a few shreds of mist hung in the + valleys from the Ridge, that lay above coldly reddening. Then a breeze + swept over it, and out of the dissipating mist fringe Mr. Hamlin saw two + black figures, closely buttoned up like himself, emerge, which he + recognized as Beeswinger and Wynyard, followed by their seconds. But the + colonel came not, Hamlin joined the others in an animated confidential + conversation, attended by a watchful outlook for the missing adversary. + Five, ten minutes elapsed, and yet the usually prompt colonel was not + there. Mr. Hamlin looked grave; Wynyard and Beeswinger exchanged + interrogatory glances. Then a buggy was seen driving furiously up the + grade, and from it leaped Colonel Starbottle, accompanied by Dick + MacKinstry, his second, carrying his pistol case. And then—strangely + enough for men who were waiting the coming of an antagonist who was a dead + shot—they drew a breath of relief! + </p> + <p> + MacKinstry slightly preceded his principal, and the others could see that + Starbottle, though erect, was walking slowly. They were surprised also to + observe that he was haggard and hollow eyed, and seemed, in the few hours + that had elapsed since they last saw him, to have aged ten years. + MacKinstry, a tall Kentuckian, saluted, and was the first one to speak. + </p> + <p> + “Colonel Starbottle,” he said formally, “desires to express his regrets at + this delay, which was unavoidable, as he was obliged to attend his ward, + who was leaving by the down coach for Sacramento with Mrs. Pyecroft, this + morning.” Hamlin, Wynyard, and Beeswinger exchanged glances. “Colonel + Starbottle,” continued MacKinstry, turning to his principal, “desires to + say a word to Mr. Hamlin.” + </p> + <p> + As Mr. Hamlin would have advanced from the group, Colonel Starbottle + lifted his hand deprecatingly. “What I have to say must be said before + these gentlemen,” he began slowly. “Mr. Hamlin—sir! when I solicited + the honor of this meeting I was under a grievous misapprehension of the + intent and purpose of your comments on my action last evening. I think,” + he added, slightly inflating his buttoned-up figure, “that the reputation + I have always borne in—er—meetings of this kind will prevent + any—er—misunderstanding of my present action—which is to—er—ask + permission to withdraw my challenge—and to humbly beg your pardon.” + </p> + <p> + The astonishment produced by this unexpected apology, and Mr. Hamlin's + prompt grasp of the colonel's hand, had scarcely passed before the colonel + drew himself up again, and turning to his second said, “And now I am at + the service of Judge Beeswinger and Mr. Wynyard—whichever may elect + to honor me first.” + </p> + <p> + But the two men thus addressed looked for a moment strangely foolish and + embarrassed. Yet the awkwardness was at last broken by Judge Beeswinger + frankly advancing towards the colonel with an outstretched hand. “We came + here only to apologize, Colonel Starbottle. Without possessing your + reputation and experience in these matters, we still think we can claim, + as you have, an equal exemption from any misunderstanding when we say that + we deeply regret our foolish and discourteous conduct last evening.” + </p> + <p> + A quick flush mounted to the colonel's haggard cheek as he drew back with + a suspicious glance at Hamlin. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hamlin!—gentlemen!—if this is—er—!” + </p> + <p> + But before he could finish his sentence Hamlin had clapped his hand on the + colonel's shoulder. “You'll take my word, colonel, that these gentlemen + honestly intended to apologize, and came here for that purpose;—and—SO + DID I—only you anticipated me!” + </p> + <p> + In the laughter that followed Mr. Hamlin's frankness the colonel's + features relaxed grimly, and he shook the hands of his late possible + antagonists. + </p> + <p> + “And now,” said Mr. Hamlin gayly, “you'll all adjourn to breakfast with me—and + try to make up for the supper we left unfinished last night.” + </p> + <p> + It was the only allusion to that interruption and its consequences, for + during the breakfast the colonel said nothing in regard to his ward, and + the other guests were discreetly reticent. But Mr. Hamlin was not + satisfied. He managed to get the colonel's servant, Jim, aside, and + extracted from the negro that Colonel Starbottle had taken the child that + night to Pyecroft's; that he had had a long interview with Pyecroft; had + written letters and “walked de flo'” all night; that he (Jim) was glad the + child was gone! + </p> + <p> + “Why?” asked Hamlin, with affected carelessness. + </p> + <p> + “She was just makin' de kernel like any o' de low-down No'th'n folks—keerful, + and stingy, and mighty 'fraid o' de opinions o' de biggety people. And fo' + what? Jess to strut round wid dat child like he was her 'spectable go to + meeting fader!” + </p> + <p> + “And was the child sorry to leave him?” asked Hamlin. + </p> + <p> + “Wull—no, sah. De mighty curos thing, Marse Jack, about the gals—big + and little—is dey just USE de kernel—dat's all! Dey just use + de ole man like a pole to bring down deir persimmons—see?” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Hamlin did not smile. + </p> + <p> + Later it was known that Colonel Starbottle had resigned his guardianship + with the consent of the court. Whether he ever again saw his late ward was + not known, nor if he remained loyal to his memories of her. + </p> + <p> + Readers of these chronicles may, however, remember that years after, when + the colonel married the widow of a certain Mr. Tretherick, both in his + courtship and his short married life he was singularly indifferent to the + childish graces of Carrie Tretherick, her beloved little daughter, and + that his obtuseness in that respect provoked the widow's ire. + </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> + PROSPER'S “OLD MOTHER” + </h2> + <p> + “It's all very well,” said Joe Wynbrook, “for us to be sittin' here, + slingin' lies easy and comfortable, with the wind whistlin' in the pines + outside, and the rain just liftin' the ditches to fill our sluice boxes + with gold ez we're smokin' and waitin', but I tell you what, boys—it + ain't home! No, sir, it ain't HOME!” + </p> + <p> + The speaker paused, glanced around the bright, comfortable barroom, the + shining array of glasses beyond, and the circle of complacent faces + fronting the stove, on which his own boots were cheerfully steaming, + lifted a glass of whiskey from the floor under his chair, and in spite of + his deprecating remark, took a long draught of the spirits with every + symptom of satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + “If ye mean,” returned Cyrus Brewster, “that it ain't the old farmhouse of + our boyhood, 'way back in the woods, I'll agree with you; but ye'll just + remember that there wasn't any gold placers lying round on the medder on + that farm. Not much! Ef thar had been, we wouldn't have left it.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't mean that,” said Joe Wynbrook, settling himself comfortably back + in his chair; “it's the family hearth I'm talkin' of. The soothin' + influence, ye know—the tidiness of the women folks.” + </p> + <p> + “Ez to the soothin' influence,” remarked the barkeeper, leaning his elbows + meditatively on his counter, “afore I struck these diggin's I had a + grocery and bar, 'way back in Mizzoori, where there was five old-fashioned + farms jined. Blame my skin ef the men folks weren't a darned sight oftener + over in my grocery, sittin' on barrils and histin' in their reg'lar + corn-juice, than ever any of you be here—with all these modern + improvements.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye don't catch on, any of you,” returned Wynbrook impatiently. “Ef it was + a mere matter o' buildin' houses and becomin' family men, I reckon that + this yer camp is about prosperous enough to do it, and able to get gals + enough to marry us, but that would be only borryin' trouble and lettin' + loose a lot of jabberin' women to gossip agin' each other and spile all + our friendships. No, gentlemen! What we want here—each of us—is + a good old mother! Nothin' new-fangled or fancy, but the reg'lar + old-fashioned mother we was used to when we was boys!” + </p> + <p> + The speaker struck a well-worn chord—rather the worse for wear, and + one that had jangled falsely ere now, but which still produced its effect. + The men were silent. Thus encouraged, Wynbrook proceeded:— + </p> + <p> + “Think o' comin' home from the gulch a night like this and findin' yer old + mother a-waitin' ye! No fumblin' around for the matches ye'd left in the + gulch; no high old cussin' because the wood was wet or you forgot to bring + it in; no bustlin' around for your dry things and findin' you forgot to + dry 'em that mornin'—but everything waitin' for ye and ready. And + then, mebbe, she brings ye in some doughnuts she's just cooked for ye—cooked + ez only SHE kin cook 'em! Take Prossy Riggs—alongside of me here—for + instance! HE'S made the biggest strike yet, and is puttin' up a high-toned + house on the hill. Well! he'll hev it finished off and furnished slap-up + style, you bet! with a Chinese cook, and a Biddy, and a Mexican vaquero to + look after his horse—but he won't have no mother to housekeep! That + is,” he corrected himself perfunctorily, turning to his companion, “you've + never spoke o' your mother, so I reckon you're about fixed up like us.” + </p> + <p> + The young man thus addressed flushed slightly, and then nodded his head + with a sheepish smile. He had, however, listened to the conversation with + an interest almost childish, and a reverent admiration of his comrades—qualities + which, combined with an intellect not particularly brilliant, made him + alternately the butt and the favorite of the camp. Indeed, he was supposed + to possess that proportion of stupidity and inexperience which, in mining + superstition, gives “luck” to its possessor. And this had been singularly + proven in the fact that he had made the biggest “strike” of the season. + </p> + <p> + Joe Wynbrook's sentimentalism, albeit only argumentative and half serious, + had unwittingly touched a chord of simple history, and the flush which had + risen to his cheek was not entirely bashfulness. The home and relationship + of which they spoke so glibly, HE had never known; he was a foundling! As + he lay awake that night he remembered the charitable institution which had + protected his infancy, the master to whom he had later been apprenticed; + that was all he knew of his childhood. In his simple way he had been + greatly impressed by the strange value placed by his companions upon the + family influence, and he had received their extravagance with perfect + credulity. In his absolute ignorance and his lack of humor he had detected + no false quality in their sentiment. And a vague sense of his + responsibility, as one who had been the luckiest, and who was building the + first “house” in the camp, troubled him. He lay staringly wide awake, + hearing the mountain wind, and feeling warm puffs of it on his face + through the crevices of the log cabin, as he thought of the new house on + the hill that was to be lathed and plastered and clapboarded, and yet void + and vacant of that mysterious “mother”! And then, out of the solitude and + darkness, a tremendous idea struck him that made him sit up in his bunk! + </p> + <p> + A day or two later “Prossy” Riggs stood on a sand-blown, wind-swept suburb + of San Francisco, before a large building whom forbidding exterior + proclaimed that it was an institution of formal charity. It was, in fact, + a refuge for the various waifs and strays of ill-advised or hopeless + immigration. As Prosper paused before the door, certain told recollections + of a similar refuge were creeping over him, and, oddly enough, he felt as + embarrassed as if he had been seeking relief for himself. The perspiration + stood out on his forehead as he entered the room of the manager. + </p> + <p> + It chanced, however, that this official, besides being a man of shrewd + experience of human weakness, was also kindly hearted, and having, after + his first official scrutiny of his visitor and his resplendent watch + chain, assured himself that he was not seeking personal relief, + courteously assisted him in his stammering request. + </p> + <p> + “If I understand you, you want some one to act as your housekeeper?” + </p> + <p> + “That's it! Somebody to kinder look arter things—and me—ginrally,” + returned Prosper, greatly relieved. + </p> + <p> + “Of what age?” continued the manager, with a cautious glance at the robust + youth and good-looking, simple face of Prosper. + </p> + <p> + “I ain't nowise partickler—ez long ez she's old—ye know. Ye + follow me? Old—ez of—betwixt you an' me, she might be my own + mother.” + </p> + <p> + The manager smiled inwardly. A certain degree of discretion was noticeable + in this rustic youth! “You are quite right,” he answered gravely, “as + yours is a mining camp where there are no other women, Still, you don't + want any one TOO old or decrepit. There is an elderly maiden lady”—But + a change was transparently visible on Prosper's simple face, and the + manager paused. + </p> + <p> + “She oughter be kinder married, you know—ter be like a mother,” + stammered Prosper. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, ay. I see,” returned the manager, again illuminated by Prosper's + unexpected wisdom. + </p> + <p> + He mused for a moment. “There is,” he began tentatively, “a lady in + reduced circumstances—not an inmate of this house, but who has + received some relief from us. She was the wife of a whaling captain who + died some years ago, and broke up her home. She was not brought up to + work, and this, with her delicate health, has prevented her from seeking + active employment. As you don't seem to require that of her, but rather + want an overseer, and as your purpose, I gather, is somewhat + philanthropical, you might induce her to accept a 'home' with you. Having + seen better days, she is rather particular,” he added, with a shrewd + smile. + </p> + <p> + Simple Prosper's face was radiant. “She'll have a Chinaman and a Biddy to + help her,” he said quickly. Then recollecting the tastes of his comrades, + he added, half apologetically, half cautiously, “Ef she could, now and + then, throw herself into a lemming pie or a pot of doughnuts, jest in a + motherly kind o' way, it would please the boys.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you can arrange that, too,” returned the manager, “but I shall + have to broach the whole subject to her, and you had better call again + to-morrow, when I will give you her answer.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye kin say,” said Prosper, lightly fingering his massive gold chain and + somewhat vaguely recalling the language of advertisement, “that she kin + have the comforts of a home and no questions asked, and fifty dollars a + month.” + </p> + <p> + Rejoiced at the easy progress of his plan, and half inclined to believe + himself a miracle of cautious diplomacy, Prosper, two days later, + accompanied the manager to the cottage on Telegraph Hill where the relict + of the late Captain Pottinger lamented the loss of her spouse, in full + view of the sea he had so often tempted. On their way thither the manager + imparted to Prosper how, according to hearsay, that lamented seaman had + carried into the domestic circle those severe habits of discipline which + had earned for him the prefix of “Bully” and “Belaying-pin” Pottinger + during his strenuous life. “They say that though she is very quiet and + resigned, she once or twice stood up to the captain; but that's not a bad + quality to have, in a rough community, as I presume yours is, and would + insure her respect.” + </p> + <p> + Ushered at last into a small tank-like sitting room, whose chief + decorations consisted of large abelone shells, dried marine algae, coral, + and a swordfish's broken weapon, Prosper's disturbed fancy discovered the + widow, sitting, apparently, as if among her husband's remains at the + bottom of the sea. She had a dejected yet somewhat ruddy face; her hair + was streaked with white, but primly disposed over her ears like lappets, + and her garb was cleanly but sombre. There was no doubt but that she was a + lugubrious figure, even to Prosper's optimistic and inexperienced mind. He + could not imagine her as beaming on his hearth! It was with some alarm + that, after the introduction had been completed, he beheld the manager + take his leave. As the door closed, the bashful Prosper felt the murky + eyes of the widow fixed upon him. A gentle cough, accompanied with the + resigned laying of a black mittened hand upon her chest, suggested a + genteel prelude to conversation, with possible pulmonary complications. + </p> + <p> + “I am induced to accept your proposal temporarily,” she said, in a voice + of querulous precision, “on account of pressing pecuniary circumstances + which would not have happened had my claim against the shipowners for my + dear husband's loss been properly raised. I hope you fully understand that + I am unfitted both by ill health and early education from doing any menial + or manual work in your household. I shall simply oversee and direct. I + shall expect that the stipend you offer shall be paid monthly in advance. + And as my medical man prescribes a certain amount of stimulation for my + system, I shall expect to be furnished with such viands—or even”—she + coughed slightly—“such beverages as may be necessary. I am far from + strong—yet my wants are few.” + </p> + <p> + “Ez far ez I am ketchin' on and followin' ye, ma'am,” returned Prosper + timidly, “ye'll hev everything ye want—jest like it was yer own + home. In fact,” he went on, suddenly growing desperate as the difficulties + of adjusting this unexpectedly fastidious and superior woman to his plan + seemed to increase, “ye'll jest consider me ez yer”—But here her + murky eyes were fixed on his and he faltered. Yet he had gone too far to + retreat. “Ye see,” he stammered, with a hysterical grimness that was + intended to be playful—“ye see, this is jest a little secret betwixt + and between you and me; there'll be only you and me in the house, and it + would kinder seem to the boys more homelike—ef—ef—you + and me had—you bein' a widder, you know—a kind of—of”—here + his smile became ghastly—“close relationship.” + </p> + <p> + The widow of Captain Pottinger here sat up so suddenly that she seemed to + slip through her sombre and precise enwrappings with an exposure of the + real Mrs. Pottinger that was almost improper. Her high color deepened; the + pupils of her black eyes contracted in the light the innocent Prosper had + poured into them. Leaning forward, with her fingers clasped on her bosom, + she said: “Did you tell this to the manager?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not,” said Prosper; “ye see, it's only a matter 'twixt you and + me.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Pottinger looked at Prosper, drew a deep breath, and then gazed at + the abelone shells for moral support. A smile, half querulous, half + superior, crossed her face as she said: “This is very abrupt and unusual. + There is, of course, a disparity in our ages! You have never seen me + before—at least to my knowledge—although you may have heard of + me. The Spraggs of Marblehead are well known—perhaps better than the + Pottingers. And yet, Mr. Griggs”— + </p> + <p> + “Riggs,” suggested Prosper hurriedly. + </p> + <p> + “Riggs. Excuse me! I was thinking of young Lieutenant Griggs of the Navy, + whom I knew in the days now past. Mr. Riggs, I should say. Then you want + me to”— + </p> + <p> + “To be my old mother, ma'am,” said Prosper tremblingly. “That is, to + pretend and look ez ef you was! You see, I haven't any, but I thought it + would be nice for the boys, and make it more like home in my new house, ef + I allowed that my old mother would be comin' to live with me. They don't + know I never had a mother to speak of. They'll never find it out! Say ye + will, Mrs. Pottinger! Do!” + </p> + <p> + And here the unexpected occurred. Against all conventional rules and all + accepted traditions of fiction, I am obliged to state that Mrs. Pottinger + did NOT rise up and order the trembling Prosper to leave the house! She + only gripped the arm of her chair a little tighter, leaned forward, and + disdaining her usual precision and refinement of speech, said quietly: + “It's a bargain. If THAT'S what you're wanting, my son, you can count upon + me as becoming your old mother, Cecilia Jane Pottinger Riggs, every time!” + </p> + <p> + A few days later the sentimentalist Joe Wynbrook walked into the Wild Cat + saloon, where his comrades were drinking, and laid a letter down on the + bar with every expression of astonishment and disgust. “Look,” he said, + “if that don't beat all! Ye wouldn't believe it, but here's Prossy Riggs + writin' that he came across his mother—his MOTHER, gentlemen—in + 'Frisco; she hevin', unbeknownst to him, joined a party visiting the + coast! And what does this blamed fool do? Why, he's goin' to bring her—that + old woman—HERE! Here—gentlemen—to take charge of that + new house—and spoil our fun. And the God-forsaken idiot thinks that + we'll LIKE it!” + </p> + <p> + It was one of those rare mornings in the rainy season when there was a + suspicion of spring in the air, and after a night of rainfall the sun + broke through fleecy clouds with little islets of blue sky—when + Prosper Riggs and his mother drove into Wild Cat camp. An expression of + cheerfulness was on the faces of his old comrades. For it had been + recognized that, after all, “Prossy” had a perfect right to bring his old + mother there—his well-known youth and inexperience preventing this + baleful performance from being established as a precedent. For these + reasons hats were cheerfully doffed, and some jackets put on, as the buggy + swept up the hill to the pretty new cottage, with its green blinds and + white veranda, on the crest. + </p> + <p> + Yet I am afraid that Prosper was not perfectly happy, even in the + triumphant consummation of his plans. Mrs. Pottinger's sudden and + business-like acquiescence in it, and her singular lapse from her genteel + precision, were gratifying but startling to his ingenuousness. And + although from the moment she accepted the situation she was fertile in + resources and full of precaution against any possibility of detection, he + saw, with some uneasiness, that its control had passed out of his hands. + </p> + <p> + “You say your comrades know nothing of your family history?” she had said + to him on the journey thither. “What are you going to tell them?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin', 'cept your bein' my old mother,” said Prosper hopelessly. + </p> + <p> + “That's not enough, my son.” (Another embarrassment to Prosper was her + easy grasp of the maternal epithets.) “Now listen! You were born just six + months after your father, Captain Riggs (formerly Pottinger) sailed on his + first voyage. You remember very little of him, of course, as he was away + so much.” + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't I better know suthin about his looks?” said Prosper submissively. + </p> + <p> + “A tall dark man, that's enough,” responded Mrs. Pottinger sharply. + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't he better favor me?” said Prosper, with his small cunning + recognizing the fact that he himself was a decided blond. + </p> + <p> + “Ain't at all necessary,” said the widow firmly. “You were always wild and + ungovernable,” she continued, “and ran away from school to join some + Western emigration. That accounts for the difference of our styles.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” continued Prosper, “I oughter remember suthin about our old times—runnin' + arrants for you, and bringin' in the wood o' frosty mornin's, and you + givin' me hot doughnuts,” suggested Prosper dubiously. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing of the sort,” said Mrs. Pottinger promptly. “We lived in the + city, with plenty of servants. Just remember, Prosper dear, your mother + wasn't THAT low-down country style.” + </p> + <p> + Glad to be relieved from further invention, Prosper was, nevertheless, + somewhat concerned at this shattering of the ideal mother in the very camp + that had sung her praises. But he could only trust to her recognizing the + situation with her usual sagacity, of which he stood in respectful awe. + </p> + <p> + Joe Wynbrook and Cyrus Brewster had, as older members of the camp, + purposely lingered near the new house to offer any assistance to “Prossy + and his mother,” and had received a brief and passing introduction to the + latter. So deep and unexpected was the impression she made upon them that + these two oracles of the camp retired down the hill in awkward silence for + some time, neither daring to risk his reputation by comment or + oversurprise. + </p> + <p> + But when they approached the curious crowd below awaiting them, Cyrus + Brewster ventured to say, “Struck me ez ef that old gal was rather + high-toned for Prossy's mother.” + </p> + <p> + Joe Wynbrook instantly seized the fatal admission to show the advantage of + superior insight:— + </p> + <p> + “Struck YOU! Why, it was no more than I expected all along! What did we + know of Prossy? Nothin'! What did he ever tell us'? Nothin'! And why'? + 'Cos it was his secret. Lord! a blind mule could see that. All this + foolishness and simplicity o' his come o' his bein' cuddled and pampered + as a baby. Then, like ez not, he was either kidnapped or led away by some + feller—and nearly broke his mother's heart. I'll bet my bottom + dollar he has been advertised for afore this—only we didn't see the + paper. Like as not they had agents out seekin' him, and he jest ran into + their hands in 'Frisco! I had a kind o' presentiment o' this when he left, + though I never let on anything.” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon, too, that she's kinder afraid he'll bolt agin. Did ye notice + how she kept watchin' him all the time, and how she did the bossin' o' + everything? And there's ONE thing sure! He's changed—yes! He don't + look as keerless and free and foolish ez he uster.” + </p> + <p> + Here there was an unmistakable chorus of assent from the crowd that had + joined them. Every one—even those who had not been introduced to the + mother—had noticed his strange restraint and reticence. In the + impulsive logic of the camp, conduct such as this, in the face of that + superior woman—his mother—could only imply that her presence + was distasteful to him; that he was either ashamed of their noticing his + inferiority to her, or ashamed of THEM! Wild and hasty as was their + deduction, it was, nevertheless, voiced by Joe Wynbrook in a tone of + impartial and even reluctant conviction. “Well, gentlemen, some of ye may + remember that when I heard that Prossy was bringin' his mother here I + kicked—kicked because it only stood to reason that, being HIS + mother, she'd be that foolish she'd upset the camp. There wasn't room + enough for two such chuckle-heads—and one of 'em being a woman, she + couldn't be shut up or sat upon ez we did to HIM. But now, gentlemen, ez + we see she ain't that kind, but high-toned and level-headed, and that + she's got the grip on Prossy—whether he likes it or not—we + ain't goin' to let him go back on her! No, sir! we ain't goin' to let him + break her heart the second time! He may think we ain't good enough for + her, but ez long ez she's civil to us, we'll stand by her.” + </p> + <p> + In this conscientious way were the shackles of that unhallowed + relationship slowly riveted on the unfortunate Prossy. In his intercourse + with his comrades during the next two or three days their attitude was + shown in frequent and ostentatious praise of his mother, and suggestive + advice, such as: “I wouldn't stop at the saloon, Prossy; your old mother + is wantin' ye;” or, “Chuck that 'ere tarpolin over your shoulders, Pross, + and don't take your wet duds into the house that yer old mother's bin + makin' tidy.” Oddly enough, much of this advice was quite sincere, and + represented—for at least twenty minutes—the honest sentiments + of the speaker. Prosper was touched at what seemed a revival of the + sentiment under which he had acted, forgot his uneasiness, and became + quite himself again—a fact also noticed by his critics. “Ye've only + to keep him up to his work and he'll be the widder's joy agin,” said Cyrus + Brewster. Certainly he was so far encouraged that he had a long + conversation with Mrs. Pottinger that night, with the result that the next + morning Joe Wynbrook, Cyrus Brewster, Hank Mann, and Kentucky Ike were + invited to spend the evening at the new house. As the men, clean shirted + and decently jacketed, filed into the neat sitting room with its bright + carpet, its cheerful fire, its side table with a snowy cloth on which + shining tea and coffee pots were standing, their hearts thrilled with + satisfaction. In a large stuffed rocking chair, Prossy's old mother, + wrapped up in a shawl and some mysterious ill health which seemed to + forbid any exertion, received them with genteel languor and an extended + black mitten. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot,” said Mrs. Pottinger, with sad pensiveness, “offer you the + hospitality of my own home, gentlemen—you remember, Prosper, dear, + the large salon and our staff of servants at Lexington Avenue!—but + since my son has persuaded me to take charge of his humble cot, I hope you + will make all allowances for its deficiencies—even,” she added, + casting a look of mild reproach on the astonished Prosper—“even if + HE cannot.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure he oughter to be thankful to ye, ma'am,” said Joe Wynbrook + quickly, “for makin' a break to come here to live, jest ez we're thankful—speakin' + for the rest of this camp—for yer lightin' us up ez you're doin'! I + reckon I'm speakin' for the crowd,” he added, looking round him. + </p> + <p> + Murmurs of “That's so” and “You bet” passed through the company, and one + or two cast a half-indignant glance at Prosper. + </p> + <p> + “It's only natural,” continued Mrs. Pottinger resignedly, “that having + lived so long alone, my dear Prosper may at first be a little impatient of + his old mother's control, and perhaps regret his invitation.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, ma'am,” said the embarrassed Prosper. + </p> + <p> + But here the mercurial Wynbrook interposed on behalf of amity and the + camp's esprit de corps. “Why, Lord! ma'am, he's jest bin longin' for ye! + Times and times agin he's talked about ye; sayin' how ef he could only get + ye out of yer Fifth Avenue saloon to share his humble lot with him here, + he'd die happy! YOU'VE heard him talk, Brewster?” + </p> + <p> + “Frequent,” replied the accommodating Brewster. + </p> + <p> + “Part of the simple refreshment I have to offer you,” continued Mrs. + Pottinger, ignoring further comment, “is a viand the exact quality of + which I am not familiar with, but which my son informs me is a great + favorite with you. It has been prepared by Li Sing, under my direction. + Prosper, dear, see that the—er—doughnuts—are brought in + with the coffee.” + </p> + <p> + Satisfaction beamed on the faces of the company, with perhaps the sole + exception of Prosper. As a dish containing a number of brown glistening + spheres of baked dough was brought in, the men's eyes shone in sympathetic + appreciation. Yet that epicurean light was for a moment dulled as each man + grasped a sphere, and then sat motionless with it in his hand, as if it + was a ball and they were waiting the signal for playing. + </p> + <p> + “I am told,” said Mrs. Pottinger, with a glance of Christian tolerance at + Prosper, “that lightness is considered desirable by some—perhaps you + gentlemen may find them heavy.” + </p> + <p> + “Thar is two kinds,” said the diplomatic Joe cheerfully, as he began to + nibble his, sideways, like a squirrel, “light and heavy; some likes 'em + one way, and some another.” + </p> + <p> + They were hard and heavy, but the men, assisted by the steaming coffee, + finished them with heroic politeness. “And now, gentlemen,” said Mrs. + Pottinger, leaning back in her chair and calmly surveying the party, “you + have my permission to light your pipes while you partake of some whiskey + and water.” + </p> + <p> + The guests looked up—gratified but astonished. “Are ye sure, ma'am, + you don't mind it?” said Joe politely. + </p> + <p> + “Not at all,” responded Mrs. Pottinger briefly. “In fact, as my physician + advises the inhalation of tobacco smoke for my asthmatic difficulties, I + will join you.” After a moment's fumbling in a beaded bag that hung from + her waist, she produced a small black clay pipe, filled it from the same + receptacle, and lit it. + </p> + <p> + A thrill of surprise went round the company, and it was noticed that + Prosper seemed equally confounded. Nevertheless, this awkwardness was + quickly overcome by the privilege and example given them, and with, a + glass of whiskey and water before them, the men were speedily at their + ease. Nor did Mrs. Pottinger disdain to mingle in their desultory talk. + Sitting there with her black pipe in her mouth, but still precise and + superior, she told a thrilling whaling adventure of Prosper's father + (drawn evidently from the experience of the lamented Pottinger), which not + only deeply interested her hearers, but momentarily exalted Prosper in + their minds as the son of that hero. “Now you speak o' that, ma'am,” said + the ingenuous Wynbrook, “there's a good deal o' Prossy in that yarn o' his + father's; same kind o' keerless grit! You remember, boys, that day the dam + broke and he stood thar, the water up to his neck, heavin' logs in the + break till he stopped it.” Briefly, the evening, in spite of its initial + culinary failure and its surprises, was a decided social success, and even + the bewildered and doubting Prosper went to bed relieved. It was followed + by many and more informal gatherings at the house, and Mrs Pottinger so + far unbent—if that term could be used of one who never altered her + primness of manner—as to join in a game of poker—and even + permitted herself to win. + </p> + <p> + But by the end of six weeks another change in their feelings towards + Prosper seemed to creep insidiously over the camp. He had been received + into his former fellowship, and even the presence of his mother had become + familiar, but he began to be an object of secret commiseration. They still + frequented the house, but among themselves afterwards they talked in + whispers. There was no doubt to them that Prosper's old mother drank not + only what her son had provided, but what she surreptitiously obtained from + the saloon. There was the testimony of the barkeeper, himself concerned + equally with the camp in the integrity of the Riggs household. And there + was an even darker suspicion. But this must be given in Joe Wynbrook's own + words:— + </p> + <p> + “I didn't mind the old woman winnin' and winnin' reg'lar—for poker's + an unsartin game;—it ain't the money that we're losin'—for + it's all in the camp. But when she's developing a habit o' holdin' FOUR + aces when somebody else hez TWO, who don't like to let on because it's + Prosper's old mother—it's gettin' rough! And dangerous too, + gentlemen, if there happened to be an outsider in, or one of the boys + should kick. Why, I saw Bilson grind his teeth—he holdin' a sequence + flush—ace high—when the dear old critter laid down her reg'lar + four aces and raked in the pile. We had to nearly kick his legs off under + the table afore he'd understand—not havin' an old mother himself.” + </p> + <p> + “Some un will hev to tackle her without Prossy knowin' it. For it would + jest break his heart, arter all he's gone through to get her here!” said + Brewster significantly. + </p> + <p> + “Onless he DID know it and it was that what made him so sorrowful when + they first came. B'gosh! I never thought o' that,” said Wynbrook, with one + of his characteristic sudden illuminations. + </p> + <p> + “Well, gentlemen, whether he did or not,” said the barkeeper stoutly, “he + must never know that WE know it. No, not if the old gal cleans out my bar + and takes the last scad in the camp.” + </p> + <p> + And to this noble sentiment they responded as one man. + </p> + <p> + How far they would have been able to carry out that heroic resolve was + never known, for an event occurred which eclipsed its importance. One + morning at breakfast Mrs. Pottinger fixed a clouded eye upon Prosper. + </p> + <p> + “Prosper,” she said, with fell deliberation “you ought to know you have a + sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, ma'am,” returned Prosper, with that meekness with which he usually + received these family disclosures. + </p> + <p> + “A sister,” continued the lady, “whom you haven't seen since you were a + child; a sister who for family reasons has been living with other + relatives; a girl of nineteen.” + </p> + <p> + “Yea, ma'am,” said Prosper humbly. “But ef you wouldn't mind writin' all + that down on a bit o' paper—ye know my short memory! I would get it + by heart to-day in the gulch. I'd have it all pat enough by night, ef,” he + added, with a short sigh, “ye was kalkilatin' to make any illusions to it + when the boys are here.” + </p> + <p> + “Your sister Augusta,” continued Mrs. Pottinger, calmly ignoring these + details, “will be here to-morrow to make me a visit.” + </p> + <p> + But here the worm Prosper not only turned, but stood up, nearly upsetting + the table. “It can't be did, ma'am it MUSTN'T be did!” he said wildly. + “It's enough for me to have played this camp with YOU—but now to run + in”— + </p> + <p> + “Can't be did!” repeated Mrs. Pottinger, rising in her turn and fixing + upon the unfortunate Prosper a pair of murky piratical eyes that had once + quelled the sea-roving Pottinger. “Do you, my adopted son, dare to tell me + that I can't have my own flesh and blood beneath my roof?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes! I'd rather tell the whole story—I'd rather tell the boys I + fooled them—than go on again!” burst out the excited Prosper. + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Pottinger only set her lips implacably together. “Very well, tell + them then,” she said rigidly; “tell them how you lured me from my humble + dependence in San Francisco with the prospect of a home with you; tell + them how you compelled me to deceive their trusting hearts with your + wicked falsehoods; tell them how you—a foundling—borrowed me + for your mother, my poor dead husband for your father, and made me invent + falsehood upon falsehood to tell them while you sat still and listened!” + </p> + <p> + Prosper gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Tell them,” she went on deliberately, “that when I wanted to bring my + helpless child to her only home—THEN, only then—you determined + to break your word to me, either because you meanly begrudged her that + share of your house, or to keep your misdeeds from her knowledge! Tell + them that, Prossy, dear, and see what they'll say!” + </p> + <p> + Prosper sank back in his chair aghast. In his sudden instinct of revolt he + had forgotten the camp! He knew, alas, too well what they would say! He + knew that, added to their indignation at having been duped, their chivalry + and absurd sentiment would rise in arms against the abandonment of two + helpless women! + </p> + <p> + “P'r'aps ye're right, ma'am,” he stammered. “I was only thinkin',” he + added feebly, “how SHE'D take it.” + </p> + <p> + “She'll take it as I wish her to take it,” said Mrs. Pottinger firmly. + </p> + <p> + “Supposin', ez the camp don't know her, and I ain't bin talkin' o' havin' + any SISTER, you ran her in here as my COUSIN? See? You bein' her aunt?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Pottinger regarded him with compressed lips for some time. Then she + said, slowly and half meditatively: “Yes, it might be done! She will + probably be willing to sacrifice her nearer relationship to save herself + from passing as your sister. It would be less galling to her pride, and + she wouldn't have to treat you so familiarly.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, ma'am,” said Prosper, too relieved to notice the uncomplimentary + nature of the suggestion. “And ye see I could call her 'Miss Pottinger,' + which would come easier to me.” + </p> + <p> + In its high resolve to bear with the weaknesses of Prosper's mother, the + camp received the news of the advent of Prosper's cousin solely with + reference to its possible effect upon the aunt's habits, and very little + other curiosity. Prosper's own reticence, they felt, was probably due to + the tender age at which he had separated from his relations. But when it + was known that Prosper's mother had driven to the house with a very pretty + girl of eighteen, there was a flutter of excitement in that impressionable + community. Prosper, with his usual shyness, had evaded an early meeting + with her, and was even loitering irresolutely on his way home from work, + when, as he approached the house, to his discomfiture the door suddenly + opened, the young lady appeared and advanced directly towards him. + </p> + <p> + She was slim, graceful, and prettily dressed, and at any other moment + Prosper might have been impressed by her good looks. But her brows were + knit, her dark eyes—in which there was an unmistakable reminiscence + of Mrs. Pottinger—were glittering, and although she was apparently + anticipating their meeting, it was evidently with no cousinly interest. + When within a few feet of him she stopped. Prosper with a feeble smile + offered his hand. She sprang back. + </p> + <p> + “Don't touch me! Don't come a step nearer or I'll scream!” + </p> + <p> + Prosper, still with smiling inanity, stammered that he was only “goin' to + shake hands,” and moved sideways towards the house. + </p> + <p> + “Stop!” she said, with a stamp of her slim foot. “Stay where you are! We + must have our talk out HERE. I'm not going to waste words with you in + there, before HER.” + </p> + <p> + Prosper stopped. + </p> + <p> + “What did you do this for?” she said angrily. “How dared you? How could + you? Are you a man, or the fool she takes you for?” + </p> + <p> + “Wot did I do WOT for?” said Prosper sullenly. + </p> + <p> + “This! Making my mother pretend you were her son! Bringing her here among + these men to live a lie!” + </p> + <p> + “She was willin',” said Prosper gloomily. “I told her what she had to do, + and she seemed to like it.” + </p> + <p> + “But couldn't you see she was old and weak, and wasn't responsible for her + actions? Or were you only thinking of yourself?” + </p> + <p> + This last taunt stung him. He looked up. He was not facing a helpless, + dependent old woman as he had been the day before, but a handsome, clever + girl, in every way his superior—and in the right! In his vague sense + of honor it seemed more creditable for him to fight it out with HER. He + burst out: “I never thought of myself! I never had an old mother; I never + knew what it was to want one—but the men did! And as I couldn't get + one for them, I got one for myself—to share and share alike—I + thought they'd be happier ef there was one in the camp!” + </p> + <p> + There was the unmistakable accent of truth in his voice. There came a + faint twitching of the young girl's lips and the dawning of a smile. But + it only acted as a goad to the unfortunate Prosper. “Ye kin laugh, Miss + Pottinger, but it's God's truth! But one thing I didn't do. No! When your + mother wanted to bring you in here as my sister, I kicked! I did! And you + kin thank me, for all your laughin', that you're standing in this camp in + your own name—and ain't nothin' but my cousin.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you thought your precious friends didn't want a SISTER too?” + said the girl ironically. + </p> + <p> + “It don't make no matter wot they want now,” he said gloomily. “For,” he + added, with sudden desperation, “it's come to an end! Yes! You and your + mother will stay here a spell so that the boys don't suspicion nothin' of + either of ye. Then I'll give it out that you're takin' your aunt away on a + visit. Then I'll make over to her a thousand dollars for all the trouble + I've given her, and you'll take her away. I've bin a fool, Miss Pottinger, + mebbe I am one now, but what I'm doin' is on the square, and it's got to + be done!” + </p> + <p> + He looked so simple and so good—so like an honest schoolboy + confessing a fault and abiding by his punishment, for all his six feet of + altitude and silky mustache—that Miss Pottinger lowered her eyes. + But she recovered herself and said sharply:— + </p> + <p> + “It's all very well to talk of her going away! But she WON'T. You have + made her like you—yes! like you better than me—than any of us! + She says you're the only one who ever treated her like a mother—as a + mother should be treated. She says she never knew what peace and comfort + were until she came to you. There! Don't stare like that! Don't you + understand? Don't you see? Must I tell you again that she is strange—that—that + she was ALWAYS queer and strange—and queerer on account of her + unfortunate habits—surely you knew THEM, Mr. Riggs! She quarreled + with us all. I went to live with my aunt, and she took herself off to San + Francisco with a silly claim against my father's shipowners. Heaven only + knows how she managed to live there; but she always impressed people with + her manners, and some one always helped her! At last I begged my aunt to + let me seek her, and I tracked her here. There! If you've confessed + everything to me, you have made me confess everything to you, and about my + own mother, too! Now, what is to be done?” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever is agreeable to you is the same to me, Miss Pottinger,” he said + formally. + </p> + <p> + “But you mustn't call me 'Miss Pottinger' so loud. Somebody might hear + you,” she returned mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “All right—'cousin,' then,” he said, with a prodigious blush. + “Supposin' we go in.” + </p> + <p> + In spite of the camp's curiosity, for the next few days they delicately + withheld their usual evening visits to Prossy's mother. “They'll be + wantin' to talk o' old times, and we don't wanter be too previous,” + suggested Wynbrook. But their verdict, when they at last met the new + cousin, was unanimous, and their praises extravagant. To their + inexperienced eyes she seemed to possess all her aunt's gentility and + precision of language, with a vivacity and playfulness all her own. In a + few days the whole camp was in love with her. Yet she dispensed her favors + with such tactful impartiality and with such innocent enjoyment—free + from any suspicion of coquetry—that there were no heartburnings, and + the unlucky man who nourished a fancied slight would have been laughed at + by his fellows. She had a town-bred girl's curiosity and interest in camp + life, which she declared was like a “perpetual picnic,” and her slim, + graceful figure halting beside a ditch where the men were working seemed + to them as grateful as the new spring sunshine. The whole camp became + tidier; a coat was considered de rigueur at “Prossy's mother” evenings; + there was less horseplay in the trails, and less shouting. “It's all very + well to talk about 'old mothers,'” said the cynical barkeeper, “but that + gal, single handed, has done more in a week to make the camp decent than + old Ma'am Riggs has in a month o' Sundays.” + </p> + <p> + Since Prosper's brief conversation with Miss Pottinger before the house, + the question “What is to be done?” had singularly lapsed, nor had it been + referred to again by either. The young lady had apparently thrown herself + into the diversions of the camp with the thoughtless gayety of a brief + holiday maker, and it was not for him to remind her—even had he + wished to—that her important question had never been answered. He + had enjoyed her happiness with the relief of a secret shared by her. Three + weeks had passed; the last of the winter's rains had gone. Spring was + stirring in underbrush and wildwood, in the pulse of the waters, in the + sap of the great pines, in the uplifting of flowers. Small wonder if + Prosper's boyish heart had stirred a little too. + </p> + <p> + In fact, he had been possessed by another luminous idea—a wild idea + that to him seemed almost as absurd as the one which had brought him all + this trouble. It had come to him like that one—out of a starlit + night—and he had risen one morning with a feverish intent to put it + into action! It brought him later to take an unprecedented walk alone with + Miss Pottinger, to linger under green leaves in unfrequented woods, and at + last seemed about to desert him as he stood in a little hollow with her + hand in his—their only listener an inquisitive squirrel. Yet this + was all the disappointed animal heard him stammer,— + </p> + <p> + “So you see, dear, it would THEN be no lie—for—don't you see?—she'd + be really MY mother as well as YOURS.” + </p> + <p> + The marriage of Prosper Riggs and Miss Pottinger was quietly celebrated at + Sacramento, but Prossy's “old mother” did not return with the happy pair. + </p> + <p> + Of Mrs. Pottinger's later career some idea may be gathered from a letter + which Prosper received a year after his marriage. “Circumstances,” wrote + Mrs. Pottinger, “which had induced me to accept the offer of a widower to + take care of his motherless household, have since developed into a more + enduring matrimonial position, so that I can always offer my dear Prosper + a home with his mother, should he choose to visit this locality, and a + second father in Hiram W. Watergates, Esq., her husband.” + </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> + THE CONVALESCENCE OF JACK HAMLIN + </h2> + <p> + The habitually quiet, ascetic face of Seth Rivers was somewhat disturbed + and his brows were knitted as he climbed the long ascent of Windy Hill to + its summit and his own rancho. Perhaps it was the effect of the + characteristic wind, which that afternoon seemed to assault him from all + points at once and did not cease its battery even at his front door, but + hustled him into the passage, blew him into the sitting room, and then + celebrated its own exit from the long, rambling house by the banging of + doors throughout the halls and the slamming of windows in the remote + distance. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers looked up from her work at this abrupt onset of her husband, + but without changing her own expression of slightly fatigued + self-righteousness. Accustomed to these elemental eruptions, she laid her + hands from force of habit upon the lifting tablecloth, and then rose + submissively to brush together the scattered embers and ashes from the + large hearthstone, as she had often done before. + </p> + <p> + “You're in early, Seth,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I stopped at the Cross Roads Post Office. Lucky I did, or you'd hev + had kempany on your hands afore you knowed it—this very night! I + found this letter from Dr. Duchesne,” and he produced a letter from his + pocket. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers looked up with an expression of worldly interest. Dr. Duchesne + had brought her two children into the world with some difficulty, and had + skillfully attended her through a long illness consequent upon the + inefficient maternity of soulful but fragile American women of her type. + The doctor had more than a mere local reputation as a surgeon, and Mrs. + Rivers looked up to him as her sole connecting link with a world of + thought beyond Windy Hill. + </p> + <p> + “He's comin' up yer to-night, bringin' a friend of his—a patient + that he wants us to board and keep for three weeks until he's well agin,” + continued Mr. Rivers. “Ye know how the doctor used to rave about the pure + air on our hill.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers shivered slightly, and drew her shawl over her shoulders, but + nodded a patient assent. + </p> + <p> + “Well, he says it's just what that patient oughter have to cure him. He's + had lung fever and other things, and this yer air and gin'ral quiet is + bound to set him up. We're to board and keep him without any fuss or + feathers, and the doctor sez he'll pay liberal for it. This yer's what he + sez,” concluded Mr. Rivers, reading from the letter: “'He is now fully + convalescent, though weak, and really requires no other medicine than the—ozone'—yes, + that's what the doctor calls it—'of Windy Hill, and in fact as + little attendance as possible. I will not let him keep even his negro + servant with him. He'll give you no trouble, if he can be prevailed upon + to stay the whole time of his cure.'” + </p> + <p> + “There's our spare room—it hasn't been used since Parson Greenwood + was here,” said Mrs. Rivers reflectively. “Melinda could put it to rights + in an hour. At what time will he come?” + </p> + <p> + “He'd come about nine. They drive over from Hightown depot. But,” he added + grimly, “here ye are orderin' rooms to be done up and ye don't know who + for.” + </p> + <p> + “You said a friend of Dr. Duchesne,” returned Mrs. Rivers simply. + </p> + <p> + “Dr. Duchesne has many friends that you and me mightn't cotton to,” said + her husband. “This man is Jack Hamlin.” As his wife's remote and + introspective black eyes returned only vacancy, he added quickly. “The + noted gambler!” + </p> + <p> + “Gambler?” echoed his wife, still vaguely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—reg'lar; it's his business.” + </p> + <p> + “Goodness, Seth! He can't expect to do it here.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Seth quickly, with that sense of fairness to his fellow man + which most women find it so difficult to understand. “No—and he + probably won't mention the word 'card' while he's here.” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” said Mrs. Rivers interrogatively. + </p> + <p> + “And,” continued Seth, seeing that the objection was not pressed, “he's + one of them desprit men! A reg'lar fighter! Killed two or three men in + dools!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers stared. “What could Dr. Duchesne have been thinking of? Why, + we wouldn't be safe in the house with him!” + </p> + <p> + Again Seth's sense of equity triumphed. “I never heard of his fightin' + anybody but his own kind, and when he was bullyragged. And ez to women + he's quite t'other way in fact, and that's why I think ye oughter know it + afore you let him come. He don't go round with decent women. In fact”—But + here Mr. Rivers, in the sanctity of conjugal confidences and the fullness + of Bible reading, used a few strong scriptural substantives happily + unnecessary to repeat here. + </p> + <p> + “Seth!” said Mrs. Rivers suddenly, “you seem to know this man.” + </p> + <p> + The unexpectedness and irrelevancy of this for a moment startled Seth. But + that chaste and God-fearing man had no secrets. “Only by hearsay, Jane,” + he returned quietly; “but if ye say the word I'll stop his comin' now.” + </p> + <p> + “It's too late,” said Mrs. Rivers decidedly. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon not,” returned her husband, “and that's why I came straight + here. I've only got to meet them at the depot and say this thing can't be + done—and that's the end of it. They'll go off quiet to the hotel.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't like to disappoint the doctor, Seth,” said Mrs. Rivers. “We + might,” she added, with a troubled look of inquiry at her husband, “we + might take that Mr. Hamlin on trial. Like as not he won't stay, anyway, + when he sees what we're like, Seth. What do you think? It would be only + our Christian duty, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I was thinkin' o' that as a professin' Christian, Jane,” said her + husband. “But supposin' that other Christians don't look at it in that + light. Thar's Deacon Stubbs and his wife and the parson. Ye remember what + he said about 'no covenant with sin'?” + </p> + <p> + “The Stubbses have no right to dictate who I'll have in my house,” said + Mrs. Rivers quickly, with a faint flush in her rather sallow cheeks. + </p> + <p> + “It's your say and nobody else's,” assented her husband with grim + submissiveness. “You do what you like.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers mused. “There's only myself and Melinda here,” she said with + sublime naivete; “and the children ain't old enough to be corrupted. I am + satisfied if you are, Seth,” and she again looked at him inquiringly. + </p> + <p> + “Go ahead, then, and get ready for 'em,” said Seth, hurrying away with + unaffected relief. “If you have everything fixed by nine o'clock, that'll + do.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers had everything “fixed” by that hour, including herself + presumably, for she had put on a gray dress which she usually wore when + shopping in the county town, adding a prim collar and cuffs. A + pearl-encircled brooch, the wedding gift of Seth, and a solitaire ring + next to her wedding ring, with a locket containing her children's hair, + accented her position as a proper wife and mother. At a quarter to nine + she had finished tidying the parlor, opening the harmonium so that the + light might play upon its polished keyboard, and bringing from the + forgotten seclusion of her closet two beautifully bound volumes of + Tupper's “Poems” and Pollok's “Course of Time,” to impart a literary grace + to the centre table. She then drew a chair to the table and sat down + before it with a religious magazine in her lap. The wind roared over the + deep-throated chimney, the clock ticked monotonously, and then there came + the sound of wheels and voices. + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Rivers was not destined to see her guest that night. Dr. + Duchesne, under the safe lee of the door, explained that Mr. Hamlin had + been exhausted by the journey, and, assisted by a mild opiate, was asleep + in the carriage; that if Mrs. Rivers did not object, they would carry him + at once to his room. In the flaring and guttering of candles, the flashing + of lanterns, the flapping of coats and shawls, and the bewildering rush of + wind, Mrs. Rivers was only vaguely conscious of a slight figure muffled + tightly in a cloak carried past her in the arms of a grizzled negro up the + staircase, followed by Dr. Duchesne. With the closing of the front door on + the tumultuous world without, a silence fell again on the little parlor. + </p> + <p> + When the doctor made his reappearance it was to say that his patient was + being undressed and put to bed by his negro servant, who, however, would + return with the doctor to-night, but that the patient would be left with + everything that was necessary, and that he would require no attention from + the family until the next day. Indeed, it was better that he should remain + undisturbed. As the doctor confined his confidences and instructions + entirely to the physical condition of their guest, Mrs. Rivers found it + awkward to press other inquiries. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” she said at last hesitatingly, but with a certain primness of + expression, “Mr. Hamlin must expect to find everything here very different + from what he is accustomed to—at least from what my husband says are + his habits.” + </p> + <p> + “Nobody knows that better than he, Mrs. Rivers,” returned the doctor with + an equally marked precision of manner, “and you could not have a guest who + would be less likely to make you remind him of it.” + </p> + <p> + A little annoyed, yet not exactly knowing why, Mrs. Rivers abandoned the + subject, and as the doctor shortly afterwards busied himself in the care + of his patient, with whom he remained until the hour of his departure, she + had no chance of renewing it. But as he finally shook hands with his host + and hostess, it seemed to her that he slightly recurred to it. “I have the + greatest hope of the curative effect of this wonderful locality on my + patient, but even still more of the beneficial effect of the complete + change of his habits, his surroundings, and their influences.” Then the + door closed on the man of science and the grizzled negro servant, the + noise of the carriage wheels was shut out with the song of the wind in the + pine tops, and the rancho of Windy Hill possessed Mr. Jack Hamlin in + peace. Indeed, the wind was now falling, as was its custom at that hour, + and the moon presently arose over a hushed and sleeping landscape. + </p> + <p> + For the rest of the evening the silent presence in the room above affected + the household; the half-curious servants and ranch hands spoke in whispers + in the passages, and at evening prayers, in the dining room, Seth Rivers, + kneeling before and bowed over a rush-bottomed chair whose legs were + clutched by his strong hands, included “the stranger within our gates” in + his regular supplications. When the hour for retiring came, Seth, with a + candle in his hand, preceded his wife up the staircase, but stopped before + the door of their guest's room. “I reckon,” he said interrogatively to + Mrs. Rivers, “I oughter see ef he's wantin' anythin'?” + </p> + <p> + “You heard what the doctor said,” returned Mrs. Rivers cautiously. At the + same time she did not speak decidedly, and the frontiersman's instinct of + hospitality prevailed. He knocked lightly; there was no response. He + turned the door handle softly. The door opened. A faint clean perfume—an + odor of some general personality rather than any particular thing—stole + out upon them. The light of Seth's candle struck a few glints from some + cut-glass and silver, the contents of the guest's dressing case, which had + been carefully laid out upon a small table by his negro servant. There was + also a refined neatness in the disposition of his clothes and effects + which struck the feminine eye of even the tidy Mrs. Rivers as something + new to her experience. Seth drew nearer the bed with his shaded candle, + and then, turning, beckoned his wife to approach. Mrs. Rivers hesitated—but + for the necessity of silence she would have openly protested—but + that protest was shut up in her compressed lips as she came forward. + </p> + <p> + For an instant that awe with which absolute helplessness invests the + sleeping and dead was felt by both husband and wife. Only the upper part + of the sleeper's face was visible above the bedclothes, held in position + by a thin white nervous hand that was encircled at the wrist by a ruffle. + Seth stared. Short brown curls were tumbled over a forehead damp with the + dews of sleep and exhaustion. But what appeared more singular, the closed + eyes of this vessel of wrath and recklessness were fringed with lashes as + long and silky as a woman's. Then Mrs. Rivers gently pulled her husband's + sleeve, and they both crept back with a greater sense of intrusion and + even more cautiously than they had entered. Nor did they speak until the + door was closed softly and they were alone on the landing. Seth looked + grimly at his wife. + </p> + <p> + “Don't look much ez ef he could hurt anybody.” + </p> + <p> + “He looks like a sick man,” returned Mrs. Rivers calmly. + </p> + <p> + The unconscious object of this criticism and attention slept until late; + slept through the stir of awakened life within and without, through the + challenge of early cocks in the lean-to shed, through the creaking of + departing ox teams and the lazy, long-drawn commands of teamsters, through + the regular strokes of the morning pump and the splash of water on stones, + through the far-off barking of dogs and the half-intelligible shouts of + ranchmen; slept through the sunlight on his ceiling, through its slow + descent of his wall, and awoke with it in his eyes! He woke, too, with a + delicious sense of freedom from pain, and of even drawing a long breath + without difficulty—two facts so marvelous and dreamlike that he + naturally closed his eyes again lest he should waken to a world of + suffering and dyspnoea. Satisfied at last that this relief was real, he + again opened his eyes, but upon surroundings so strange, so wildly absurd + and improbable, that he again doubted their reality. He was lying in a + moderately large room, primly and severely furnished, but his attention + was for the moment riveted to a gilt frame upon the wall beside him + bearing the text, “God Bless Our Home,” and then on another frame on the + opposite wall which admonished him to “Watch and Pray.” Beside them hung + an engraving of the “Raising of Lazarus,” and a Hogarthian lithograph of + “The Drunkard's Progress.” Mr. Hamlin closed his eyes; he was dreaming + certainly—not one of those wild, fantastic visions that had so + miserably filled the past long nights of pain and suffering, but still a + dream! At last, opening one eye stealthily, he caught the flash of the + sunlight upon the crystal and silver articles of his dressing case, and + that flash at once illuminated his memory. He remembered his long weeks of + illness and the devotion of Dr. Duchesne. He remembered how, when the + crisis was past, the doctor had urged a complete change and absolute rest, + and had told him of a secluded rancho in some remote locality kept by an + honest Western pioneer whose family he had attended. He remembered his own + reluctant assent, impelled by gratitude to the doctor and the helplessness + of a sick man. He now recalled the weary journey thither, his exhaustion + and the semi-consciousness of his arrival in a bewildering wind on a + shadowy hilltop. And this was the place! + </p> + <p> + He shivered slightly, and ducked his head under the cover again. But the + brightness of the sun and some exhilarating quality in the air tempted him + to have another outlook, avoiding as far as possible the grimly decorated + walls. If they had only left him his faithful servant he could have + relieved himself of that mischievous badinage which always alternately + horrified and delighted that devoted negro. But he was alone—absolutely + alone—in this conventicle! + </p> + <p> + Presently he saw the door open slowly. It gave admission to the small + round face and yellow ringlets of a little girl, and finally to her whole + figure, clasping a doll nearly as large as herself. For a moment she stood + there, arrested by the display of Mr. Hamlin's dressing case on the table. + Then her glances moved around the room and rested upon the bed. Her blue + eyes and Mr. Hamlin's brown ones met and mingled. Without a moment's + hesitation she moved to the bedside. Taking her doll's hands in her own, + she displayed it before him. + </p> + <p> + “Isn't it pitty?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hamlin was instantly his old self again. Thrusting his hand + comfortably under the pillow, he lay on his side and gazed at it long and + affectionately. “I never,” he said in a faint voice, but with immovable + features, “saw anything so perfectly beautiful. Is it alive?” + </p> + <p> + “It's a dolly,” she returned gravely, smoothing down its frock and + straightening its helpless feet. Then seized with a spontaneous idea, like + a young animal she suddenly presented it to him with both hands and said,— + </p> + <p> + “Kiss it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hamlin implanted a chaste salute on its vermilion cheek. “Would you + mind letting me hold it for a little?” he said with extreme diffidence. + </p> + <p> + The child was delighted, as he expected. Mr. Hamlin placed it in a sitting + posture on the edge of his bed, and put an ostentatious paternal arm + around it. + </p> + <p> + “But you're alive, ain't you?” he said to the child. + </p> + <p> + This subtle witticism convulsed her. “I'm a little girl,” she gurgled. + </p> + <p> + “I see; her mother?” + </p> + <p> + “Ess.” + </p> + <p> + “And who's your mother?” + </p> + <p> + “Mammy.” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Rivers?” + </p> + <p> + The child nodded until her ringlets were shaken on her cheek. After a + moment she began to laugh bashfully and with repression, yet as Mr. Hamlin + thought a little mischievously. Then as he looked at her interrogatively + she suddenly caught hold of the ruffle of his sleeve. + </p> + <p> + “Oo's got on mammy's nighty.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hamlin started. He saw the child's obvious mistake and actually felt + himself blushing. It was unprecedented—it was the sheerest weakness—it + must have something to do with the confounded air. + </p> + <p> + “I grieve to say you are deeply mistaken—it is my very own,” he + returned with great gravity. Nevertheless, he drew the coverlet close over + his shoulder. But here he was again attracted by another face at the + half-opened door—a freckled one, belonging to a boy apparently a + year or two older than the girl. He was violently telegraphing to her to + come away, although it was evident that he was at the same time deeply + interested in the guest's toilet articles. Yet as his bright gray eyes and + Mr. Hamlin's brown ones met, he succumbed, as the girl had, and walked + directly to the bedside. But he did it bashfully—as the girl had + not. He even attempted a defensive explanation. + </p> + <p> + “She hadn't oughter come in here, and mar wouldn't let her, and she knows + it,” he said with superior virtue. + </p> + <p> + “But I asked her to come as I'm asking you,” said Mr. Hamlin promptly, + “and don't you go back on your sister or you'll never be president of the + United States.” With this he laid his hand on the boy's tow head, and + then, lifting himself on his pillow to a half-sitting posture, put an arm + around each of the children, drawing them together, with the doll + occupying the central post of honor. “Now,” continued Mr. Hamlin, albeit + in a voice a little faint from the exertion, “now that we're comfortable + together I'll tell you the story of the good little boy who became a + pirate in order to save his grandmother and little sister from being eaten + by a wolf at the door.” + </p> + <p> + But, alas! that interesting record of self-sacrifice never was told. For + it chanced that Melinda Bird, Mrs. Rivers's help, following the trail of + the missing children, came upon the open door and glanced in. There, to + her astonishment, she saw the domestic group already described, and to her + eyes dominated by the “most beautiful and perfectly elegant” young man she + had ever seen. But let not the incautious reader suppose that she + succumbed as weakly as her artless charges to these fascinations. The + character and antecedents of that young man had been already delivered to + her in the kitchen by the other help. With that single glance she halted; + her eyes sought the ceiling in chaste exaltation. Falling back a step, she + called in ladylike hauteur and precision, “Mary Emmeline and John Wesley.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hamlin glanced at the children. “It's Melindy looking for us,” said + John Wesley. But they did not move. At which Mr. Hamlin called out faintly + but cheerfully, “They're here, all right.” + </p> + <p> + Again the voice arose with still more marked and lofty distinctness, “John + Wesley and Mary Em-me-line.” It seemed to Mr. Hamlin that human accents + could not convey a more significant and elevated ignoring of some implied + impropriety in his invitation. He was for a moment crushed. + </p> + <p> + But he only said to his little friends with a smile, “You'd better go now + and we'll have that story later.” + </p> + <p> + “Affer beckus?” suggested Mary Emmeline. + </p> + <p> + “In the woods,” added John Wesley. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hamlin nodded blandly. The children trotted to the door. It closed + upon them and Miss Bird's parting admonition, loud enough for Mr. Hamlin + to hear, “No more freedoms, no more intrudings, you hear.” + </p> + <p> + The older culprit, Hamlin, retreated luxuriously under his blankets, but + presently another new sensation came over him—absolutely, hunger. + Perhaps it was the child's allusion to “beckus,” but he found himself + wondering when it would be ready. This anxiety was soon relieved by the + appearance of his host himself bearing a tray, possibly in deference to + Miss Bird's sense of propriety. It appeared also that Dr. Duchesne had + previously given suitable directions for his diet, and Mr. Hamlin found + his repast simple but enjoyable. Always playfully or ironically polite to + strangers, he thanked his host and said he had slept splendidly. + </p> + <p> + “It's this yer 'ozone' in the air that Dr. Duchesne talks about,” said + Seth complacently. + </p> + <p> + “I am inclined to think it is also those texts,” said Mr. Hamlin gravely, + as he indicated them on the wall. “You see they reminded me of church and + my boyhood's slumbers there. I have never slept so peacefully since.” + Seth's face brightened so interestedly at what he believed to be a + suggestion of his guest's conversion that Mr. Hamlin was fain to change + the subject. When his host had withdrawn he proceeded to dress himself, + but here became conscious of his weakness and was obliged to sit down. In + one of those enforced rests he chanced to be near the window, and for the + first time looked on the environs of his place of exile. For a moment he + was staggered. Everything seemed to pitch downward from the rocky outcrop + on which the rambling house and farm sheds stood. Even the great pines + around it swept downward like a green wave, to rise again in enormous + billows as far as the eye could reach. He could count a dozen of their + tumbled crests following each other on their way to the distant plain. In + some vague point of that shimmering horizon of heat and dust was the spot + he came from the preceding night. Yet the recollection of it and his + feverish past seemed to confuse him, and he turned his eyes gladly away. + </p> + <p> + Pale, a little tremulous, but immaculate and jaunty in his white flannels + and straw hat, he at last made his way downstairs. To his great relief he + found the sitting room empty, as he would have willingly deferred his + formal acknowledgments to his hostess later. A single glance at the + interior determined him not to linger, and he slipped quietly into the + open air and sunshine. The day was warm and still, as the wind only came + up with the going down of the sun, and the atmosphere was still redolent + with the morning spicing of pine and hay and a stronger balm that seemed + to fill his breast with sunshine. He walked toward the nearest shade—a + cluster of young buckeyes—and having with a certain civic + fastidiousness flicked the dust from a stump with his handkerchief he sat + down. It was very quiet and calm. The life and animation of early morning + had already vanished from the hill, or seemed to be suspended with the sun + in the sky. He could see the ranchmen and oxen toiling on the green + terraced slopes below, but no sound reached his ears. Even the house he + had just quitted seemed empty of life throughout its rambling length. His + seclusion was complete. Could he stand it for three weeks? Perhaps it need + not be for so long; he was already stronger! He foresaw that the ascetic + Seth might become wearisome. He had an intuition that Mrs. Rivers would be + equally so; he should certainly quarrel with Melinda, and this would + probably debar him from the company of the children—his only hope. + </p> + <p> + But his seclusion was by no means so complete as he expected. He presently + was aware of a camp-meeting hymn hummed somewhat ostentatiously by a deep + contralto voice, which he at once recognized as Melinda's, and saw that + severe virgin proceeding from the kitchen along the ridge until within a + few paces of the buckeyes, when she stopped and, with her hand shading her + eyes, apparently began to examine the distant fields. She was a tall, + robust girl, not without certain rustic attractions, of which she seemed + fully conscious. This latter weakness gave Mr. Hamlin a new idea. He put + up the penknife with which he had been paring his nails while wondering + why his hands had become so thin, and awaited events. She presently + turned, approached the buckeyes, plucked a spike of the blossoms with + great girlish lightness, and then apparently discovering Mr. Hamlin, + started in deep concern and said with somewhat stentorian politeness: “I + BEG your pardon—didn't know I was intruding!” + </p> + <p> + “Don't mention it,” returned Jack promptly, but without moving. “I saw you + coming and was prepared; but generally—as I have something the + matter with my heart—a sudden joy like this is dangerous.” + </p> + <p> + Somewhat mystified, but struggling between an expression of rigorous + decorum and gratified vanity, Miss Melinda stammered, “I was only”— + </p> + <p> + “I knew it—I saw what you were doing,” interrupted Jack gravely, + “only I wouldn't do it if I were you. You were looking at one of those + young men down the hill. You forgot that if you could see him he could see + you looking too, and that would only make him conceited. And a girl with + YOUR attractions don't require that.” + </p> + <p> + “Ez if,” said Melinda, with lofty but somewhat reddening scorn, “there was + a man on this hull rancho that I'd take a second look at.” + </p> + <p> + “It's the first look that does the business,” returned Jack simply. “But + maybe I was wrong. Would you mind—as you're going straight back to + the house” (Miss Melinda had certainly expressed no such intention)—“turning + those two little kids loose out here? I've a sort of engagement with + them.” + </p> + <p> + “I will speak to their mar,” said Melinda primly, yet with a certain sign + of relenting, as she turned away. + </p> + <p> + “You can say to her that I regretted not finding her in the sitting room + when I came down,” continued Jack tactfully. + </p> + <p> + Apparently the tact was successful, for he was delighted a few moments + later by the joyous onset of John Wesley and Mary Emmeline upon the + buckeyes, which he at once converted into a game of hide and seek, + permitting himself at last to be shamelessly caught in the open. But here + he wisely resolved upon guarding against further grown-up interruption, + and consulting with his companions found that on one of the lower terraces + there was a large reservoir fed by a mountain rivulet, but they were not + allowed to play there. Thither, however, the reckless Jack hied with his + playmates and was presently ensconced under a willow tree, where he + dexterously fashioned tiny willow canoes with his penknife and sent them + sailing over a submerged expanse of nearly an acre. But half an hour of + this ingenious amusement was brought to an abrupt termination. While + cutting bark, with his back momentarily turned on his companions, he heard + a scream, and turned quickly to see John Wesley struggling in the water, + grasping a tree root, and Mary Emmeline—nowhere! In another minute + he saw the strings of her pinafore appear on the surface a few yards + beyond, and in yet another minute, with a swift rueful glance at his white + flannels, he had plunged after her. A disagreeable shock of finding + himself out of his depths was, however, followed by contact with the + child's clothing, and clutching her firmly, a stroke or two brought him + panting to the bank. Here a gasp, a gurgle, and then a roar from Mary + Emmeline, followed by a sympathetic howl from John Wesley, satisfied him + that the danger was over. Rescuing the boy from the tree root, he laid + them both on the grass and contemplated them exercising their lungs with + miserable satisfaction. But here he found his own breathing impeded in + addition to a slight faintness, and was suddenly obliged to sit down + beside them, at which, by some sympathetic intuition, they both stopped + crying. + </p> + <p> + Encouraged by this, Mr. Hamlin got them to laughing again, and then + proposed a race home in their wet clothes, which they accepted, Mr. + Hamlin, for respiratory reasons, lagging in their rear until he had the + satisfaction of seeing them captured by the horrified Melinda in front of + the kitchen, while he slipped past her and regained his own room. Here he + changed his saturated clothes, tried to rub away a certain chilliness that + was creeping over him, and lay down in his dressing gown to miserable + reflections. He had nearly drowned the children and overexcited himself, + in spite of his promise to the doctor! He would never again be intrusted + with the care of the former nor be believed by the latter! + </p> + <p> + But events are not always logical in sequence. Mr. Hamlin went comfortably + to sleep and into a profuse perspiration. He was awakened by a rapping at + his door, and opening it, was surprised to find Mrs. Rivers with anxious + inquiries as to his condition. “Indeed,” she said, with an emotion which + even her prim reserve could not conceal, “I did not know until now how + serious the accident was, and how but for you and Divine Providence my + little girl might have been drowned. It seems Melinda saw it all.” + </p> + <p> + Inwardly objurgating the spying Melinda, but relieved that his playmates + hadn't broken their promise of secrecy, Mr. Hamlin laughed. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid that your little girl wouldn't have got into the water at all + but for me—and you must give all the credit of getting her out to + the other fellow.” He stopped at the severe change in Mrs. Rivers's + expression, and added quite boyishly and with a sudden drop from his usual + levity, “But please don't keep the children away from me for all that, + Mrs. Rivers.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers did not, and the next day Jack and his companions sought fresh + playing fields and some new story-telling pastures. Indeed, it was a fine + sight to see this pale, handsome, elegantly dressed young fellow lounging + along between a blue-checkered pinafored girl on one side and a barefooted + boy on the other. The ranchmen turned and looked after him curiously. One, + a rustic prodigal, reduced by dissipation to the swine-husks of ranching, + saw fit to accost him familiarly. + </p> + <p> + “The last time I saw you dealing poker in Sacramento, Mr. Hamlin, I did + not reckon to find you up here playing with a couple of kids.” + </p> + <p> + “No!” responded Mr. Hamlin suavely, “and yet I remember I was playing with + some country idiots down there, and you were one of them. Well! understand + that up here I prefer the kids. Don't let me have to remind you of it.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, Mr. Hamlin could not help noticing that for the next two or + three days there were many callers at the ranch and that he was obliged in + his walks to avoid the highroad on account of the impertinent curiosity of + wayfarers. Some of them were of that sex which he would not have contented + himself with simply calling “curious.” + </p> + <p> + “To think,” said Melinda confidently to her mistress, “that that thar Mrs. + Stubbs, who wouldn't go to the Hightown Hotel because there was a play + actress thar, has been snoopin' round here twice since that young feller + came.” + </p> + <p> + Of this fact, however, Mr. Hamlin was blissfully unconscious. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, his temper was growing uncertain; the angle of his smart + straw hat was becoming aggressive to strangers; his politeness sardonic. + And now Sunday morning had come with an atmosphere of starched piety and + well-soaped respectability at the rancho, and the children were to be + taken with the rest of the family to the day-long service at Hightown. As + these Sabbath pilgrimages filled the main road, he was fain to take + himself and his loneliness to the trails and byways, and even to invade + the haunts of some other elegant outcasts like himself—to wit, a + crested hawk, a graceful wild cat beautifully marked, and an eloquently + reticent rattlesnake. Mr. Hamlin eyed them without fear, and certainly + without reproach. They were not out of their element. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he heard his name called in a stentorian contralto. An impatient + ejaculation rose to his lips, but died upon them as he turned. It was + certainly Melinda, but in his present sensitive loneliness it struck him + for the first time that he had never actually seen her before as she + really was. Like most men in his profession he was a quick reader of + thoughts and faces when he was interested, and although this was the same + robust, long-limbed, sunburnt girl he had met, he now seemed to see + through her triple incrustation of human vanity, conventional piety, and + outrageous Sabbath finery an honest, sympathetic simplicity that commanded + his respect. + </p> + <p> + “You are back early from church,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. One service is good enough for me when thar ain't no special + preacher,” she returned, “so I jest sez to Silas, 'as I ain't here to + listen to the sisters cackle ye kin put to the buckboard and drive me home + ez soon ez you please.'” + </p> + <p> + “And so his name is Silas,” suggested Mr. Hamlin cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + “Go 'long with you, Mr. Hamlin, and don't pester,” she returned, with + heifer-like playfulness. “Well, Silas put to, and when we rose the hill + here I saw your straw hat passin' in the gulch, and sez to Silas, sez I, + 'Ye kin pull up here, for over yar is our new boarder, Jack Hamlin, and + I'm goin' to talk with him.' 'All right,' sez he, 'I'd sooner trust ye + with that gay young gambolier every day of the week than with them saints + down thar on Sunday. He deals ez straight ez he shoots, and is about as + nigh onto a gentleman as they make 'em.'” + </p> + <p> + For one moment or two Miss Bird only saw Jack's long lashes. When his eyes + once more lifted they were shining. “And what did you say?” he said, with + a short laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I told him he needn't be Christopher Columbus to have discovered that.” + She turned with a laugh toward Jack, to be met by the word “shake,” and an + outstretched thin white hand which grasped her large red one with a frank, + fraternal pressure. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't come to tell ye that,” remarked Miss Bird as she sat down on a + boulder, took off her yellow hat, and restacked her tawny mane under it, + “but this: I reckoned I went to Sunday meetin' as I ought ter. I + kalkilated to hear considerable about 'Faith' and 'Works,' and sich, but I + didn't reckon to hear all about you from the Lord's Prayer to the + Doxology. You were in the special prayers ez a warnin', in the sermon ez a + text; they picked out hymns to fit ye! And always a drefful example and a + visitation. And the rest o' the tune it was all gabble, gabble by the + brothers and sisters about you. I reckon, Mr. Hamlin, that they know + everything you ever did since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, and a + good deal more than you ever thought of doin'. The women is all dead set + on convertin' ye and savin' ye by their own precious selves, and the men + is ekally dead set on gettin' rid o' ye on that account.” + </p> + <p> + “And what did Seth and Mrs. Rivers say?” asked Hamlin composedly, but with + kindling eyes. + </p> + <p> + “They stuck up for ye ez far ez they could. But ye see the parson hez got + a holt upon Seth, havin' caught him kissin' a convert at camp meeting; and + Deacon Turner knows suthin about Mrs. Rivers's sister, who kicked over the + pail and jumped the fence years ago, and she's afeard a' him. But what I + wanted to tell ye was that they're all comin' up here to take a look at ye—some + on 'em to-night. You ain't afeard, are ye?” she added, with a loud laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it looks rather desperate, doesn't it?” returned Jack, with dancing + eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I'll trust ye for all that,” said Melinda. “And now I reckon I'll trot + along to the rancho. Ye needn't offer ter see me home,” she added, as Jack + made a movement to accompany her. “Everybody up here ain't as fair-minded + ez Silas and you, and Melinda Bird hez a character to lose! So long!” With + this she cantered away, a little heavily, perhaps, adjusting her yellow + hat with both hands as she clattered down the steep hill. + </p> + <p> + That afternoon Mr. Hamlin drew largely on his convalescence to mount a + half-broken mustang, and in spite of the rising afternoon wind to gallop + along the highroad in quite as mischievous and breezy a fashion. He was + wont to allow his mustang's nose to hang over the hind rails of wagons and + buggies containing young couples, and to dash ahead of sober carryalls + that held elderly “members in good standing.” + </p> + <p> + An accomplished rider, he picked up and brought back the flying parasol of + Mrs. Deacon Stubbs without dismounting. He finally came home a little + blown, but dangerously composed. + </p> + <p> + There was the usual Sunday evening gathering at Windy Hill Rancho—neighbors + and their wives, deacons and the pastor—but their curiosity was not + satisfied by the sight of Mr. Hamlin, who kept his own room and his own + counsel. There was some desultory conversation, chiefly on church topics, + for it was vaguely felt that a discussion of the advisability or getting + rid of the guest of their host was somewhat difficult under this host's + roof, with the guest impending at any moment. Then a diversion was created + by some of the church choir practicing the harmonium with the singing of + certain more or less lugubrious anthems. Mrs. Rivers presently joined in, + and in a somewhat faded soprano, which, however, still retained + considerable musical taste and expression, sang, “Come, ye disconsolate.” + The wind moaned over the deep-throated chimney in a weird harmony with the + melancholy of that human appeal as Mrs. Rivers sang the first verse:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish, + Come to the Mercy Seat, fervently kneel; + Here bring your wounded hearts—here tell your anguish, + Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal!” + </pre> + <p> + A pause followed, and the long-drawn, half-human sigh of the mountain wind + over the chimney seemed to mingle with the wail of the harmonium. And + then, to their thrilled astonishment, a tenor voice, high, clear, but + tenderly passionate, broke like a skylark over their heads in the lines of + the second verse:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Joy of the desolate, Light of the straying, + Hope of the penitent—fadeless and pure; + Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying, + Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure!” + </pre> + <p> + The hymn was old and familiar enough, Heaven knows. It had been quite + popular at funerals, and some who sat there had had its strange melancholy + borne upon them in time of loss and tribulations, but never had they felt + its full power before. Accustomed as they were to emotional appeal and to + respond to it, as the singer's voice died away above them, their very + tears flowed and fell with that voice. A few sobbed aloud, and then a + voice asked tremulously,— + </p> + <p> + “Who is it?” + </p> + <p> + “It's Mr. Hamlin,” said Seth quietly. “I've heard him often hummin' things + before.” + </p> + <p> + There was another silence, and the voice of Deacon Stubbs broke in + harshly,— + </p> + <p> + “It's rank blasphemy.” + </p> + <p> + “If it's rank blasphemy to sing the praise o' God, not only better than + some folks in the choir, but like an angel o' light, I wish you'd do a + little o' that blaspheming on Sundays, Mr. Stubbs.” + </p> + <p> + The speaker was Mrs. Stubbs, and as Deacon Stubbs was a notoriously bad + singer the shot told. + </p> + <p> + “If he's sincere, why does he stand aloof? Why does he not join us?” asked + the parson. + </p> + <p> + “He hasn't been asked,” said Seth quietly. “If I ain't mistaken this yer + gathering this evening was specially to see how to get rid of him.” + </p> + <p> + There was a quick murmur of protest at this. The parson exchanged glances + with the deacon and saw that they were hopelessly in the minority. + </p> + <p> + “I will ask him myself,” said Mrs. Rivers suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “So do, Sister Rivers; so do,” was the unmistakable response. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Rivers left the room and returned in a few moments with a handsome + young man, pale, elegant, composed, even to a grave indifference. What his + eyes might have said was another thing; the long lashes were scarcely + raised. + </p> + <p> + “I don't mind playing a little,” he said quietly to Mrs. Rivers, as if + continuing a conversation, “but you'll have to let me trust my memory.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you—er—play the harmonium?” said the parson, with an + attempt at formal courtesy. + </p> + <p> + “I was for a year or two the organist in the choir of Dr. Todd's church at + Sacramento,” returned Mr. Hamlin quietly. + </p> + <p> + The blank amazement on the faces of Deacons Stubbs and Turner and the + parson was followed by wreathed smiles from the other auditors and + especially from the ladies. Mr. Hamlin sat down to the instrument, and in + another moment took possession of it as it had never been held before. He + played from memory as he had implied, but it was the memory of a musician. + He began with one or two familiar anthems, in which they all joined. A + fragment of a mass and a Latin chant followed. An “Ave Maria” from an + opera was his first secular departure, but his delighted audience did not + detect it. Then he hurried them along in unfamiliar language to “O mio + Fernando” and “Spiritu gentil,” which they fondly imagined were hymns, + until, with crowning audacity, after a few preliminary chords of the + “Miserere,” he landed them broken-hearted in the Trovatore's donjon tower + with “Non te scordar de mi.” + </p> + <p> + Amidst the applause he heard the preacher suavely explain that those + Popish masses were always in the Latin language, and rose from the + instrument satisfied with his experiment. Excusing himself as an invalid + from joining them in a light collation in the dining room, and begging his + hostess's permission to retire, he nevertheless lingered a few moments by + the door as the ladies filed out of the room, followed by the gentlemen, + until Deacon Turner, who was bringing up the rear, was abreast of him. + Here Mr. Hamlin became suddenly deeply interested in a framed pencil + drawing which hung on the wall. It was evidently a schoolgirl's amateur + portrait, done by Mrs. Rivers. Deacon Turner halted quickly by his side as + the others passed out—which was exactly what Mr. Hamlin expected. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know the face?” said the deacon eagerly. + </p> + <p> + Thanks to the faithful Melinda, Mr. Hamlin did know it perfectly. It was a + pencil sketch of Mrs. Rivers's youthfully erring sister. But he only said + he thought he recognized a likeness to some one he had seen in Sacramento. + </p> + <p> + The deacon's eye brightened. “Perhaps the same one—perhaps,” he + added in a submissive and significant tone “a—er—painful + story.” + </p> + <p> + “Rather—to him,” observed Hamlin quietly. + </p> + <p> + “How?—I—er—don't understand,” said Deacon Turner. + </p> + <p> + “Well, the portrait looks like a lady I knew in Sacramento who had been in + some trouble when she was a silly girl, but had got over it quietly. She + was, however, troubled a good deal by some mean hound who was every now + and then raking up the story wherever she went. Well, one of her friends—I + might have been among them, I don't exactly remember just now—challenged + him, but although he had no conscientious convictions about slandering a + woman, he had some about being shot for it, and declined. The consequence + was he was cowhided once in the street, and the second time tarred and + feathered and ridden on a rail out of town. That, I suppose, was what you + meant by your 'painful story.' But is this the woman?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” said the deacon hurriedly, with a white face, “you have quite + misunderstood.” + </p> + <p> + “But whose is this portrait?” persisted Jack. + </p> + <p> + “I believe that—I don't know exactly—but I think it is a + sister of Mrs. Rivers's,” stammered the deacon. + </p> + <p> + “Then, of course, it isn't the same woman,” said Jack in simulated + indignation. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly—of course not,” returned the deacon. + </p> + <p> + “Phew!” said Jack. “That was a mighty close call. Lucky we were alone, + wasn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the deacon, with a feeble smile. + </p> + <p> + “Seth,” continued Jack, with a thoughtful air, “looks like a quiet man, + but I shouldn't like to have made that mistake about his sister-in-law + before him. These quiet men are apt to shoot straight. Better keep this to + ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + Deacon Turner not only kept the revelation to himself but apparently his + own sacred person also, as he did not call again at Windy Hill Rancho + during Mr. Hamlin's stay. But he was exceedingly polite in his references + to Jack, and alluded patronizingly to a “little chat” they had had + together. And when the usual reaction took place in Mr. Hamlin's favor and + Jack was actually induced to perform on the organ at Hightown Church next + Sunday, the deacon's voice was loudest in his praise. Even Parson + Greenwood allowed himself to be non-committal as to the truth of the + rumor, largely circulated, that one of the most desperate gamblers in the + State had been converted through his exhortations. + </p> + <p> + So, with breezy walks and games with the children, occasional confidences + with Melinda and Silas, and the Sabbath “singing of anthems,” Mr. Hamlin's + three weeks of convalescence drew to a close. He had lately relaxed his + habit of seclusion so far as to mingle with the company gathered for more + social purposes at the rancho, and once or twice unbent so far as to + satisfy their curiosity in regard to certain details of his profession. + </p> + <p> + “I have no personal knowledge of games of cards,” said Parson Greenwood + patronizingly, “and think I am right in saying that our brothers and + sisters are equally inexperienced. I am—ahem—far from + believing, however, that entire ignorance of evil is the best preparation + for combating it, and I should be glad if you'd explain to the company the + intricacies of various games. There is one that you mentioned, with a—er—scriptural + name.” + </p> + <p> + “Faro,” said Hamlin, with an unmoved face. + </p> + <p> + “Pharaoh,” repeated the parson gravely; “and one which you call 'poker,' + which seems to require great self-control.” + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't make you understand poker without your playing it,” said Jack + decidedly. + </p> + <p> + “As long as we don't gamble—that is, play for money—I see no + objection,” returned the parson. + </p> + <p> + “And,” said Jack musingly, “you could use beans.” + </p> + <p> + It was agreed finally that there would be no falling from grace in their + playing among themselves, in an inquiring Christian spirit, under Jack's + guidance, he having decided to abstain from card playing during his + convalescence, and Jack permitted himself to be persuaded to show them the + following evening. + </p> + <p> + It so chanced, however, that Dr. Duchesne, finding the end of Jack's + “cure” approaching, and not hearing from that interesting invalid, + resolved to visit him at about this time. Having no chance to apprise Jack + of his intention, on coming to Hightown at night he procured a conveyance + at the depot to carry him to Windy Hill Rancho. The wind blew with its + usual nocturnal rollicking persistency, and at the end of his turbulent + drive it seemed almost impossible to make himself heard amongst the + roaring of the pines and some astounding preoccupation of the inmates. + After vainly knocking, the doctor pushed open the front door and entered. + He rapped at the closed sitting room door, but receiving no reply, pushed + it open upon the most unexpected and astounding scene he had ever + witnessed. Around the centre table several respectable members of the + Hightown Church, including the parson, were gathered with intense and + eager faces playing poker, and behind the parson, with his hands in his + pockets, carelessly lounged the doctor's patient, the picture of health + and vigor. A disused pack of cards was scattered on the floor, and before + the gentle and precise Mrs. Rivers was heaped a pile of beans that would + have filled a quart measure. + </p> + <p> + When Dr. Duchesne had tactfully retreated before the hurried and + stammering apologies of his host and hostess, and was alone with Jack in + his rooms, he turned to him with a gravity that was more than half + affected and said, “How long, sir, did it take you to effect this + corruption?” + </p> + <p> + “Upon my honor,” said Jack simply, “they played last night for the first + time. And they forced me to show them. But,” added Jack after a + significant pause, “I thought it would make the game livelier and be more + of a moral lesson if I gave them nearly all good pat hands. So I ran in a + cold deck on them—the first time I ever did such a thing in my life. + I fixed up a pack of cards so that one had three tens, another three + jacks, and another three queens, and so on up to three aces. In a minute + they had all tumbled to the game, and you never saw such betting. Every + man and woman there believed he or she had struck a sure thing, and staked + accordingly. A new panful of beans was brought on, and Seth, your friend, + banked for them. And at last the parson raked in the whole pile.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you gave him the three aces,” said Dr. Duchesne gloomily. + </p> + <p> + “The parson,” said Jack slowly, “HADN'T A SINGLE PAIR IN HIS HAND. It was + the stoniest, deadest, neatest BLUFF I ever saw. And when he'd frightened + off the last man who held out and laid that measly hand of his face down + on that pile of kings, queens, and aces, and looked around the table as he + raked in the pile, there was a smile of humble self-righteousness on his + face that was worth double the money.” + </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> + A PUPIL OF CHESTNUT RIDGE + </h2> + <p> + The schoolmaster of Chestnut Ridge was interrupted in his after-school + solitude by the click of hoof and sound of voices on the little bridle + path that led to the scant clearing in which his schoolhouse stood. He + laid down his pen as the figures of a man and woman on horseback passed + the windows and dismounted before the porch. He recognized the complacent, + good-humored faces of Mr. and Mrs. Hoover, who owned a neighboring ranch + of some importance and who were accounted well to do people by the + community. Being a childless couple, however, while they generously + contributed to the support of the little school, they had not added to its + flock, and it was with some curiosity that the young schoolmaster greeted + them and awaited the purport of their visit. This was protracted in + delivery through a certain polite dalliance with the real subject + characteristic of the Southwestern pioneer. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Almiry,” said Mr. Hoover, turning to his wife after the first + greeting with the schoolmaster was over, “this makes me feel like old + times, you bet! Why, I ain't bin inside a schoolhouse since I was + knee-high to a grasshopper. Thar's the benches, and the desks, and the + books and all them 'a b, abs,' jest like the old days. Dear! Dear! But the + teacher in those days was ez old and grizzled ez I be—and some o' + the scholars—no offense to you, Mr. Brooks—was older and + bigger nor you. But times is changed: yet look, Almiry, if thar ain't a + hunk o' stale gingerbread in that desk jest as it uster be! Lord! how it + all comes back! Ez I was sayin' only t'other day, we can't be too grateful + to our parents for givin' us an eddication in our youth;” and Mr. Hoover, + with the air of recalling an alma mater of sequestered gloom and + cloistered erudition, gazed reverently around the new pine walls. + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Hoover here intervened with a gracious appreciation of the + schoolmaster's youth after her usual kindly fashion. “And don't you forget + it, Hiram Hoover, that these young folks of to-day kin teach the old + schoolmasters of 'way back more'n you and I dream of. We've heard of your + book larnin', Mr. Brooks, afore this, and we're proud to hev you here, + even if the Lord has not pleased to give us the children to send to ye. + But we've always paid our share in keeping up the school for others that + was more favored, and now it looks as if He had not forgotten us, and ez + if”—with a significant, half-shy glance at her husband and a + corroborating nod from that gentleman—“ez if, reelly, we might be + reckonin' to send you a scholar ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + The young schoolmaster, sympathetic and sensitive, felt somewhat + embarrassed. The allusion to his extreme youth, mollified though it was by + the salve of praise from the tactful Mrs. Hoover, had annoyed him, and + perhaps added to his slight confusion over the information she vouchsafed. + He had not heard of any late addition to the Hoover family, he would not + have been likely to, in his secluded habits; and although he was + accustomed to the naive and direct simplicity of the pioneer, he could + scarcely believe that this good lady was announcing a maternal + expectation. He smiled vaguely and begged them to be seated. + </p> + <p> + “Ye see,” said Mr. Hoover, dropping upon a low bench, “the way the thing + pans out is this. Almiry's brother is a pow'ful preacher down the coast at + San Antonio and hez settled down thar with a big Free Will Baptist Church + congregation and a heap o' land got from them Mexicans. Thar's a lot o' + poor Spanish and Injin trash that belong to the land, and Almiry's brother + hez set about convertin' 'em, givin' 'em convickshion and religion, though + the most of 'em is Papists and followers of the Scarlet Woman. Thar was an + orphan, a little girl that he got outer the hands o' them priests, kinder + snatched as a brand from the burnin', and he sent her to us to be brought + up in the ways o' the Lord, knowin' that we had no children of our own. + But we thought she oughter get the benefit o' schoolin' too, besides our + own care, and we reckoned to bring her here reg'lar to school.” + </p> + <p> + Relieved and pleased to help the good-natured couple in the care of the + homeless waif, albeit somewhat doubtful of their religious methods, the + schoolmaster said he would be delighted to number her among his little + flock. Had she already received any tuition? + </p> + <p> + “Only from them padres, ye know, things about saints, Virgin Marys, + visions, and miracles,” put in Mrs. Hoover; “and we kinder thought ez you + know Spanish you might be able to get rid o' them in exchange for + 'conviction o' sins' and 'justification by faith,' ye know.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid,” said Mr. Brooks, smiling at the thought of displacing the + Church's “mysteries” for certain corybantic displays and thaumaturgical + exhibitions he had witnessed at the Dissenters' camp meeting, “that I must + leave all that to you, and I must caution you to be careful what you do + lest you also shake her faith in the alphabet and the multiplication + table.” + </p> + <p> + “Mebbee you're right,” said Mrs. Hoover, mystified but good-natured; “but + thar's one thing more we oughter tell ye. She's—she's a trifle dark + complected.” + </p> + <p> + The schoolmaster smiled. “Well?” he said patiently. + </p> + <p> + “She isn't a nigger nor an Injin, ye know, but she's kinder a + half-Spanish, half-Mexican Injin, what they call 'mes—mes'”— + </p> + <p> + “Mestiza,” suggested Mr. Brooks; “a half-breed or mongrel.” + </p> + <p> + “I reckon. Now thar wouldn't be any objection to that, eh?” said Mr. + Hoover a little uneasily. + </p> + <p> + “Not by me,” returned the schoolmaster cheerfully. “And although this + school is state-aided it's not a 'public school' in the eye of the law, so + you have only the foolish prejudices of your neighbors to deal with.” He + had recognized the reason of their hesitation and knew the strong racial + antagonism held towards the negro and Indian by Mr. Hoover's Southwestern + compatriots, and he could not refrain from “rubbing it in.” + </p> + <p> + “They kin see,” interposed Mrs. Hoover, “that she's not a nigger, for her + hair don't 'kink,' and a furrin Injin, of course, is different from one o' + our own.” + </p> + <p> + “If they hear her speak Spanish, and you simply say she is a foreigner, as + she is, it will be all right,” said the schoolmaster smilingly. “Let her + come, I'll look after her.” + </p> + <p> + Much relieved, after a few more words the couple took their departure, the + schoolmaster promising to call the next afternoon at the Hoovers' ranch + and meet his new scholar. “Ye might give us a hint or two how she oughter + be fixed up afore she joins the school.” + </p> + <p> + The ranch was about four miles from the schoolhouse, and as Mr. Brooks + drew rein before the Hoovers' gate he appreciated the devotion of the + couple who were willing to send the child that distance twice a day. The + house, with its outbuildings, was on a more liberal scale than its + neighbors, and showed few of the makeshifts and half-hearted advances + towards permanent occupation common to the Southwestern pioneers, who were + more or less nomads in instinct and circumstance. He was ushered into a + well-furnished sitting room, whose glaring freshness was subdued and + repressed by black-framed engravings of scriptural subjects. As Mr. Brooks + glanced at them and recalled the schoolrooms of the old missions, with + their monastic shadows which half hid the gaudy, tinseled saints and + flaming or ensanguined hearts upon the walls, he feared that the little + waif of Mother Church had not gained any cheerfulness in the exchange. + </p> + <p> + As she entered the room with Mrs. Hoover, her large dark eyes—the + most notable feature in her small face—seemed to sustain the + schoolmaster's fanciful fear in their half-frightened wonder. She was + clinging closely to Mrs. Hoover's side, as if recognizing the good woman's + maternal kindness even while doubtful of her purpose; but on the + schoolmaster addressing her in Spanish, a singular change took place in + their relative positions. A quick look of intelligence came into her + melancholy eyes, and with it a slight consciousness of superiority to her + protectors that was embarrassing to him. For the rest he observed merely + that she was small and slightly built, although her figure was hidden in a + long “check apron” or calico pinafore with sleeves—a local garment—which + was utterly incongruous with her originality. Her skin was olive, + inclining to yellow, or rather to that exquisite shade of buff to be seen + in the new bark of the madrono. Her face was oval, and her mouth small and + childlike, with little to suggest the aboriginal type in her other + features. + </p> + <p> + The master's questions elicited from the child the fact that she could + read and write, that she knew her “Hail Mary” and creed (happily the + Protestant Mrs. Hoover was unable to follow this questioning), but he also + elicited the more disturbing fact that her replies and confidences + suggested a certain familiarity and equality of condition which he could + only set down to his own youthfulness of appearance. He was apprehensive + that she might even make some remark regarding Mrs. Hoover, and was not + sorry that the latter did not understand Spanish. But before he left he + managed to speak with Mrs. Hoover alone and suggested a change in the + costume of the pupil when she came to school. “The better she is dressed,” + suggested the wily young diplomat, “the less likely is she to awaken any + suspicion of her race.” + </p> + <p> + “Now that's jest what's botherin' me, Mr. Brooks,” returned Mrs. Hoover, + with a troubled face, “for you see she is a growin' girl,” and she + concluded, with some embarrassment, “I can't quite make up my mind how to + dress her.” + </p> + <p> + “How old is she?” asked the master abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “Goin' on twelve, but,”—and Mrs. Hoover again hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Why, two of my scholars, the Bromly girls, are over fourteen,” said the + master, “and you know how they are dressed;” but here he hesitated in his + turn. It had just occurred to him that the little waif was from the + extreme South, and the precocious maturity of the mixed races there was + well known. He even remembered, to his alarm, to have seen brides of + twelve and mothers of fourteen among the native villagers. This might also + account for the suggestion of equality in her manner, and even for a + slight coquettishness which he thought he had noticed in her when he had + addressed her playfully as a muchacha. “I should dress her in something + Spanish,” he said hurriedly, “something white, you know, with plenty of + flounces and a little black lace, or a black silk skirt and a lace scarf, + you know. She'll be all right if you don't make her look like a servant or + a dependent,” he added, with a show of confidence he was far from feeling. + “But you haven't told me her name,” he concluded. + </p> + <p> + “As we're reckonin' to adopt her,” said Mrs. Hoover gravely, “you'll give + her ours.” + </p> + <p> + “But I can't call her 'Miss Hoover,'” suggested the master; “what's her + first name?” + </p> + <p> + “We was thinkin' o' 'Serafina Ann,'” said Mrs. Hoover with more gravity. + </p> + <p> + “But what is her name?” persisted the master. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” returned Mrs. Hoover, with a troubled look, “me and Hiram consider + it's a heathenish sort of name for a young gal, but you'll find it in my + brother's letter.” She took a letter from under the lid of a large Bible + on the table and pointed to a passage in it. + </p> + <p> + “The child was christened 'Concepcion,'” read the master. “Why, that's one + of the Marys!” + </p> + <p> + “The which?” asked Mrs. Hoover severely. + </p> + <p> + “One of the titles of the Virgin Mary; 'Maria de la Concepcion,'” said Mr. + Brooks glibly. + </p> + <p> + “It don't sound much like anythin' so Christian and decent as 'Maria' or + 'Mary,'” returned Mrs. Hoover suspiciously. + </p> + <p> + “But the abbreviation, 'Concha,' is very pretty. In fact it's just the + thing, it's so very Spanish,” returned the master decisively. “And you + know that the squaw who hangs about the mining camp is called 'Reservation + Ann,' and old Mrs. Parkins's negro cook is called 'Aunt Serafina,' so + 'Serafina Ann' is too suggestive. 'Concha Hoover' 's the name.” + </p> + <p> + “P'r'aps you're right,” said Mrs. Hoover meditatively. + </p> + <p> + “And dress her so she'll look like her name and you'll be all right,” said + the master gayly as he took his departure. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it was with some anxiety the next morning he heard the sound + of hoofs on the rocky bridle path leading to the schoolhouse. He had + already informed his little flock of the probable addition to their + numbers and their breathless curiosity now accented the appearance of Mr. + Hoover riding past the window, followed by a little figure on horseback, + half hidden in the graceful folds of a serape. The next moment they + dismounted at the porch, the serape was cast aside, and the new scholar + entered. + </p> + <p> + A little alarmed even in his admiration, the master nevertheless thought + he had never seen a more dainty figure. Her heavily flounced white skirt + stopped short just above her white-stockinged ankles and little feet, + hidden in white satin, low-quartered slippers. Her black silk, shell-like + jacket half clasped her stayless bust clad in an under-bodice of soft + muslin that faintly outlined a contour which struck him as already + womanly. A black lace veil which had protected her head, she had on + entering slipped down to her shoulders with a graceful gesture, leaving + one end of it pinned to her hair by a rose above her little yellow ear. + The whole figure was so inconsistent with its present setting that the + master inwardly resolved to suggest a modification of it to Mrs. Hoover as + he, with great gravity, however, led the girl to the seat he had prepared + for her. Mr. Hoover, who had been assisting discipline as he + conscientiously believed by gazing with hushed, reverent reminiscence on + the walls, here whispered behind his large hand that he would call for her + at “four o'clock” and tiptoed out of the schoolroom. The master, who felt + that everything would depend upon his repressing the children's exuberant + curiosity and maintaining the discipline of the school for the next few + minutes, with supernatural gravity addressed the young girl in Spanish and + placed before her a few slight elementary tasks. Perhaps the strangeness + of the language, perhaps the unwonted seriousness of the master, perhaps + also the impassibility of the young stranger herself, all contributed to + arrest the expanding smiles on little faces, to check their wandering + eyes, and hush their eager whispers. By degrees heads were again lowered + over their tasks, the scratching of pencils on slates, and the far-off + rapping of Woodpeckers again indicated the normal quiet of the schoolroom, + and the master knew he had triumphed, and the ordeal was past. + </p> + <p> + But not as regarded himself, for although the new pupil had accepted his + instructions with childlike submissiveness, and even as it seemed to him + with childlike comprehension, he could not help noticing that she + occasionally glanced at him with a demure suggestion of some understanding + between them, or as if they were playing at master and pupil. This + naturally annoyed him and perhaps added a severer dignity to his manner, + which did not appear to be effective, however, and which he fancied + secretly amused her. Was she covertly laughing at him? Yet against this, + once or twice, as her big eyes wandered from her task over the room, they + encountered the curious gaze of the other children, and he fancied he saw + an exchange of that freemasonry of intelligence common to children in the + presence of their elders even when strangers to each other. He looked + forward to recess to see how she would get on with her companions; he knew + that this would settle her status in the school, and perhaps elsewhere. + Even her limited English vocabulary would not in any way affect that + instinctive, childlike test of superiority, but he was surprised when the + hour of recess came and he had explained to her in Spanish and English its + purpose, to see her quietly put her arm around the waist of Matilda + Bromly, the tallest girl in the school, as the two whisked themselves off + to the playground. She was a mere child after all! + </p> + <p> + Other things seemed to confirm this opinion. Later, when the children + returned from recess, the young stranger had instantly become a popular + idol, and had evidently dispensed her favors and patronage generously. The + elder Bromly girl was wearing her lace veil, another had possession of her + handkerchief, and a third displayed the rose which had adorned her left + ear, things of which the master was obliged to take note with a view of + returning them to the prodigal little barbarian at the close of school. + Later he was, however, much perplexed by the mysterious passage under the + desks of some unknown object which apparently was making the circuit of + the school. With the annoyed consciousness that he was perhaps unwittingly + participating in some game, he finally “nailed it” in the possession of + Demosthenes Walker, aged six, to the spontaneous outcry of “Cotched!” from + the whole school. When produced from Master Walker's desk in company with + a horned toad and a piece of gingerbread, it was found to be Concha's + white satin slipper, the young girl herself, meanwhile, bending demurely + over her task with the bereft foot tucked up like a bird's under her + skirt. The master, reserving reproof of this and other enormities until + later, contented himself with commanding the slipper to be brought to him, + when he took it to her with the satirical remark in Spanish that the + schoolroom was not a dressing room—Camara para vestirse. To his + surprise, however, she smilingly held out the tiny stockinged foot with a + singular combination of the spoiled child and the coquettish senorita, and + remained with it extended as if waiting for him to kneel and replace the + slipper. But he laid it carefully on her desk. + </p> + <p> + “Put it on at once,” he said in English. + </p> + <p> + There was no mistaking the tone of his voice, whatever his language. + Concha darted a quick look at him like the momentary resentment of an + animal, but almost as quickly her eyes became suffused, and with a hurried + movement she put on the slipper. + </p> + <p> + “Please, sir, it dropped off and Jimmy Snyder passed it on,” said a small + explanatory voice among the benches. + </p> + <p> + “Silence!” said the master. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he was glad to see that the school had not noticed the + girl's familiarity even though they thought him “hard.” He was not sure + upon reflection but that he had magnified her offense and had been + unnecessarily severe, and this feeling was augmented by his occasionally + finding her looking at him with the melancholy, wondering eyes of a + chidden animal. Later, as he was moving among the desks' overlooking the + tasks of the individual pupils, he observed from a distance that her head + was bent over her desk while her lips were moving as if repeating to + herself her lesson, and that afterwards, with a swift look around the room + to assure herself that she was unobserved, she made a hurried sign of the + cross. It occurred to him that this might have followed some penitential + prayer of the child, and remembering her tuition by the padres it gave him + an idea. He dismissed school a few moments earlier in order that he might + speak to her alone before Mr. Hoover arrived. + </p> + <p> + Referring to the slipper incident and receiving her assurances that “she” + (the slipper) was much too large and fell often “so,” a fact really + established by demonstration, he seized his opportunity. “But tell me, + when you were with the padre and your slipper fell off, you did not expect + him to put it on for you?” + </p> + <p> + Concha looked at him coyly and then said triumphantly, “Ah, no! but he was + a priest, and you are a young caballero.” + </p> + <p> + Yet even after this audacity Mr. Brooks found he could only recommend to + Mr. Hoover a change in the young girl's slippers, the absence of the + rose-pinned veil, and the substitution of a sunbonnet. For the rest he + must trust to circumstances. As Mr. Hoover—who with large paternal + optimism had professed to see already an improvement in her—helped + her into the saddle, the schoolmaster could not help noticing that she had + evidently expected him to perform that act of courtesy, and that she + looked correspondingly reproachful. + </p> + <p> + “The holy fathers used sometimes to let me ride with them on their mules,” + said Concha, leaning over her saddle towards the schoolmaster. + </p> + <p> + “Eh, what, missy?” said the Protestant Mr. Hoover, pricking up his ears. + “Now you just listen to Mr. Brooks's doctrines, and never mind them + Papists,” he added as he rode away, with the firm conviction that the + master had already commenced the task of her spiritual conversion. + </p> + <p> + The next day the master awoke to find his little school famous. Whatever + were the exaggerations or whatever the fancies carried home to their + parents by the children, the result was an overwhelming interest in the + proceedings and personnel of the school by the whole district. People had + already called at the Hoover ranch to see Mrs. Hoover's pretty adopted + daughter. The master, on his way to the schoolroom that morning, had found + a few woodmen and charcoal burners lounging on the bridle path that led + from the main road. Two or three parents accompanied their children to + school, asserting they had just dropped in to see how “Aramanta” or + “Tommy” were “gettin' on.” As the school began to assemble several + unfamiliar faces passed the windows or were boldly flattened against the + glass. The little schoolhouse had not seen such a gathering since it had + been borrowed for a political meeting in the previous autumn. And the + master noticed with some concern that many of the faces were the same + which he had seen uplifted to the glittering periods of Colonel + Starbottle, “the war horse of the Democracy.” + </p> + <p> + For he could not shut his eyes to the fact that they came from no mere + curiosity to see the novel and bizarre; no appreciation of mere + picturesqueness or beauty; and alas! from no enthusiasm for the + progression of education. He knew the people among whom he had lived, and + he realized the fatal question of “color” had been raised in some + mysterious way by those Southwestern emigrants who had carried into this + “free state” their inherited prejudices. A few words convinced him that + the unhappy children had variously described the complexion of their new + fellow pupil, and it was believed that the “No'th'n” schoolmaster, aided + and abetted by “capital” in the person of Hiram Hoover, had introduced + either a “nigger wench,” a “Chinese girl,” or an “Injin baby” to the same + educational privileges as the “pure whites,” and so contaminated the sons + of freemen in their very nests. He was able to reassure many that the + child was of Spanish origin, but a majority preferred the evidence of + their own senses, and lingered for that purpose. As the hour for her + appearance drew near and passed, he was seized with a sudden fear that she + might not come, that Mr. Hoover had been prevailed upon by his + compatriots, in view of the excitement, to withdraw her from the school. + But a faint cheer from the bridle path satisfied him, and the next moment + a little retinue swept by the window, and he understood. The Hoovers had + evidently determined to accent the Spanish character of their little + charge. Concha, with a black riding skirt over her flounces, was now + mounted on a handsome pinto mustang glittering with silver trappings, + accompanied by a vaquero in a velvet jacket, Mr. Hoover bringing up the + rear. He, as he informed the master, had merely come to show the way to + the vaquero, who hereafter would always accompany the child to and from + school. Whether or not he had been induced to this display by the + excitement did not transpire. Enough that the effect was a success. The + riding skirt and her mustang's fripperies had added to Concha's piquancy, + and if her origin was still doubted by some, the child herself was + accepted with enthusiasm. The parents who were spectators were proud of + this distinguished accession to their children's playmates, and when she + dismounted amid the acclaim of her little companions, it was with the + aplomb of a queen. + </p> + <p> + The master alone foresaw trouble in this encouragement of her precocious + manner. He received her quietly, and when she had removed her riding + skirt, glancing at her feet, said approvingly, “I am glad to see you have + changed your slippers; I hope they fit you more firmly than the others.” + </p> + <p> + The child shrugged her shoulders. “Quien sabe. But Pedro (the vaquero) + will help me now on my horse when he comes for me.” + </p> + <p> + The master understood the characteristic non sequitur as an allusion to + his want of gallantry on the previous day, but took no notice of it. + Nevertheless, he was pleased to see during the day that she was paying + more attention to her studies, although they were generally rehearsed with + the languid indifference to all mental accomplishment which belonged to + her race. Once he thought to stimulate her activity through her personal + vanity. + </p> + <p> + “Why can you not learn as quickly as Matilda Bromly? She is only two years + older than you,” he suggested. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Mother of God!—why does she then try to wear roses like me? And + with that hair. It becomes her not.” + </p> + <p> + The master became thus aware for the first time that the elder Bromly + girl, in “the sincerest form of flattery” to her idol, was wearing a + yellow rose in her tawny locks, and, further, that Master Bromly with + exquisite humor had burlesqued his sister's imitation with a very small + carrot stuck above his left ear. This the master promptly removed, adding + an additional sum to the humorist's already overflowing slate by way of + penance, and returned to Concha. “But wouldn't you like to be as clever as + she?—you can if you will only learn.” + </p> + <p> + “What for should I? Look you; she has a devotion for the tall one—the + boy Brown! Ah! I want him not.” + </p> + <p> + Yet, notwithstanding this lack of noble ambition, Concha seemed to have + absorbed the “devotion” of the boys, big and little, and as the master + presently discovered even that of many of the adult population. There were + always loungers on the bridle path at the opening and closing of school, + and the vaquero, who now always accompanied her, became an object of envy. + Possibly this caused the master to observe him closely. He was tall and + thin, with a smooth complexionless face, but to the master's astonishment + he had the blue gray eye of the higher or Castilian type of native + Californian. Further inquiry proved that he was a son of one of the old + impoverished Spanish grant holders whose leagues and cattle had been + mortgaged to the Hoovers, who now retained the son to control the live + stock “on shares.” “It looks kinder ez ef he might hev an eye on that + poorty little gal when she's an age to marry,” suggested a jealous swain. + For several days the girl submitted to her school tasks with her usual + languid indifference and did not again transgress the ordinary rules. Nor + did Mr. Brooks again refer to their hopeless conversation. But one + afternoon he noticed that in the silence and preoccupation of the class + she had substituted another volume for her text-book and was perusing it + with the articulating lips of the unpracticed reader. He demanded it from + her. With blazing eyes and both hands thrust into her desk she refused and + defied him. Mr. Brooks slipped his arms around her waist, quietly lifted + her from the bench—feeling her little teeth pierce the back of his + hand as he did so, but secured the book. Two of the elder boys and girls + had risen with excited faces. + </p> + <p> + “Sit down!” said the master sternly. + </p> + <p> + They resumed their places with awed looks. The master examined the book. + It was a little Spanish prayer book. “You were reading this?” he said in + her own tongue. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You shall not prevent me!” she burst out. “Mother of God! THEY will + not let me read it at the ranch. They would take it from me. And now YOU!” + </p> + <p> + “You may read it when and where you like, except when you should be + studying your lessons,” returned the master quietly. “You may keep it here + in your desk and peruse it at recess. Come to me for it then. You are not + fit to read it now.” + </p> + <p> + The girl looked up with astounded eyes, which in the capriciousness of her + passionate nature the next moment filled with tears. Then dropping on her + knees she caught the master's bitten hand and covered it with tears and + kisses. But he quietly disengaged it and lifted her to her seat. There was + a sniffling sound among the benches, which, however, quickly subsided as + he glanced around the room, and the incident ended. + </p> + <p> + Regularly thereafter she took her prayer book back at recess and + disappeared with the children, finding, as he afterwards learned, a seat + under a secluded buckeye tree, where she was not disturbed by them until + her orisons were concluded. The children must have remained loyal to some + command of hers, for the incident and this custom were never told out of + school, and the master did not consider it his duty to inform Mr. or Mrs. + Hoover. If the child could recognize some check—even if it were + deemed by some a superstitious one—over her capricious and + precocious nature, why should he interfere? + </p> + <p> + One day at recess he presently became conscious of the ceasing of those + small voices in the woods around the schoolhouse, which were always as + familiar and pleasant to him in his seclusion as the song of their + playfellows—the birds themselves. The continued silence at last + awakened his concern and curiosity. He had seldom intruded upon or + participated in their games or amusements, remembering when a boy himself + the heavy incompatibility of the best intentioned adult intruder to even + the most hypocritically polite child at such a moment. A sense of duty, + however, impelled him to step beyond the schoolhouse, where to his + astonishment he found the adjacent woods empty and soundless. He was + relieved, however, after penetrating its recesses, to hear the distant + sound of small applause and the unmistakable choking gasps of Johnny + Stidger's pocket accordion. Following the sound he came at last upon a + little hollow among the sycamores, where the children were disposed in a + ring, in the centre of which, with a handkerchief in each hand, Concha the + melancholy!—Concha the devout!—was dancing that most + extravagant feat of the fandango—the audacious sembicuaca! + </p> + <p> + Yet, in spite of her rude and uncertain accompaniment, she was dancing it + with a grace, precision, and lightness that was wonderful; in spite of its + doubtful poses and seductive languors she was dancing it with the artless + gayety and innocence—perhaps from the suggestion of her tiny figure—of + a mere child among an audience of children. Dancing it alone she assumed + the parts of the man and woman; advancing, retreating, coquetting, + rejecting, coyly bewitching, and at last yielding as lightly and as + immaterially as the flickering shadows that fell upon them from the waving + trees overhead. The master was fascinated yet troubled. What if there had + been older spectators? Would the parents take the performance as + innocently as the performer and her little audience? He thought it + necessary later to suggest this delicately to the child. Her temper rose, + her eyes flashed. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, the slipper, she is forbidden. The prayer book—she must not. + The dance, it is not good. Truly, there is nothing.” + </p> + <p> + For several days she sulked. One morning she did not come to school, nor + the next. At the close of the third day the master called at the Hoovers' + ranch. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Hoover met him embarrassedly in the hall. “I was sayin' to Hiram he + ought to tell ye, but he didn't like to till it was certain. Concha's + gone.” + </p> + <p> + “Gone?” echoed the master. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Run off with Pedro. Married to him yesterday by the Popish priest at + the mission.” + </p> + <p> + “Married! That child?” + </p> + <p> + “She wasn't no child, Mr. Brooks. We were deceived. My brother was a fool, + and men don't understand these things. She was a grown woman—accordin' + to these folks' ways and ages—when she kem here. And that's what + bothered me.” + </p> + <p> + There was a week's excitement at Chestnut Ridge, but it pleased the master + to know that while the children grieved for the loss of Concha they never + seemed to understand why she had gone. + </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> + DICK BOYLE'S BUSINESS CARD + </h2> + <p> + The Sage Wood and Dead Flat stage coach was waiting before the station. + The Pine Barrens mail wagon that connected with it was long overdue, with + its transfer passengers, and the station had relapsed into listless + expectation. Even the humors of Dick Boyle, the Chicago “drummer,”—and, + so far, the solitary passenger—which had diverted the waiting + loungers, began to fail in effect, though the cheerfulness of the humorist + was unabated. The ostlers had slunk back into the stables, the station + keeper and stage driver had reduced their conversation to impatient + monosyllables, as if each thought the other responsible for the delay. A + solitary Indian, wrapped in a commissary blanket and covered by a cast-off + tall hat, crouched against the wall of the station looking stolidly at + nothing. The station itself, a long, rambling building containing its + entire accommodation for man and beast under one monotonous, shed-like + roof, offered nothing to attract the eye. Still less the prospect, on the + one side two miles of arid waste to the stunted, far-spaced pines in the + distance, known as the “Barrens;” on the other an apparently limitless + level with darker patches of sage brush, like the scars of burnt-out + fires. + </p> + <p> + Dick Boyle approached the motionless Indian as a possible relief. “YOU + don't seem to care much if school keeps or not, do you, Lo?” + </p> + <p> + The Indian, who had been half crouching on his upturned soles, here + straightened himself with a lithe, animal-like movement, and stood up. + Boyle took hold of a corner of his blanket and examined it critically. + </p> + <p> + “Gov'ment ain't pampering you with A1 goods, Lo! I reckon the agent + charged 'em four dollars for that. Our firm could have delivered them to + you for 2 dols. 37 cents, and thrown in a box of beads in the bargain. + Suthin like this!” He took from his pocket a small box containing a gaudy + bead necklace and held it up before the Indian. + </p> + <p> + The savage, who had regarded him—or rather looked beyond him—with + the tolerating indifference of one interrupted by a frisking inferior + animal, here suddenly changed his expression. A look of childish eagerness + came into his gloomy face; he reached out his hand for the trinket. + </p> + <p> + “Hol' on!” said Boyle, hesitating for a moment; then he suddenly + ejaculated, “Well! take it, and one o' these,” and drew a business card + from his pocket, which he stuck in the band of the battered tall hat of + the aborigine. “There! show that to your friends, and when you're wantin' + anything in our line”— + </p> + <p> + The interrupting roar of laughter, coming from the box seat of the coach, + was probably what Boyle was expecting, for he turned away demurely and + walked towards the coach. “All right, boys! I've squared the noble red + man, and the star of empire is taking its westward way. And I reckon our + firm will do the 'Great Father' business for him at about half the price + that it is done in Washington.” + </p> + <p> + But at this point the ostlers came hurrying out of the stables. “She's + comin',” said one. “That's her dust just behind the Lone Pine—and by + the way she's racin' I reckon she's comin' in mighty light.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” said the mail agent, standing up on the box seat for a better + view, “but darned ef I kin see any outside passengers. I reckon we haven't + waited for much.” + </p> + <p> + Indeed, as the galloping horses of the incoming vehicle pulled out of the + hanging dust in the distance, the solitary driver could be seen urging on + his team. In a few moments more they had halted at the lower end of the + station. + </p> + <p> + “Wonder what's up!” said the mail agent. + </p> + <p> + “Nothin'! Only a big Injin scare at Pine Barrens,” said one of the + ostlers. “Injins doin' ghost dancin'—or suthin like that—and + the passengers just skunked out and went on by the other line. Thar's only + one ez dar come—and she's a lady.” + </p> + <p> + “A lady?” echoed Boyle. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered the driver, taking a deliberate survey of a tall, graceful + girl who, waiving the gallant assistance of the station keeper, had leaped + unaided from the vehicle. “A lady—and the fort commandant's darter + at that! She's clar grit, you bet—a chip o' the old block. And all + this means, sonny, that you're to give up that box seat to HER. Miss Julia + Cantire don't take anythin' less when I'm around.” + </p> + <p> + The young lady was already walking, directly and composedly, towards the + waiting coach—erect, self-contained, well gloved and booted, and + clothed, even in her dust cloak and cape of plain ashen merino, with the + unmistakable panoply of taste and superiority. A good-sized aquiline nose, + which made her handsome mouth look smaller; gray eyes, with an occasional + humid yellow sparkle in their depths; brown penciled eyebrows, and brown + tendrils of hair, all seemed to Boyle to be charmingly framed in by the + silver gray veil twisted around her neck and under her oval chin. In her + sober tints she appeared to him to have evoked a harmony even out of the + dreadful dust around them. What HE appeared to her was not so plain; she + looked him over—he was rather short; through him—he was easily + penetrable; and then her eyes rested with a frank recognition on the + driver. + </p> + <p> + “Good-morning, Mr. Foster,” she said, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Mornin', miss. I hear they're havin' an Injin scare over at the Barrens. + I reckon them men must feel mighty mean at bein' stumped by a lady!” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think they believed I would go, and some of them had their wives + with them,” returned the young lady indifferently; “besides, they are + Eastern people, who don't know Indians as well as WE do, Mr. Foster.” + </p> + <p> + The driver blushed with pleasure at the association. “Yes, ma'am,” he + laughed, “I reckon the sight of even old 'Fleas in the Blanket' over + there,” pointing to the Indian, who was walking stolidly away from the + station, “would frighten 'em out o' their boots. And yet he's got inside + his hat the business card o' this gentleman—Mr. Dick Boyle, + traveling for the big firm o' Fletcher & Co. of Chicago”—he + interpolated, rising suddenly to the formal heights of polite + introduction; “so it sorter looks ez ef any SKELPIN' was to be done it + might be the other way round, ha! ha!” + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire accepted the introduction and the joke with polite but cool + abstraction, and climbed lightly into the box seat as the mail bags and a + quantity of luggage—evidently belonging to the evading passengers—were + quickly transferred to the coach. But for his fair companion, the driver + would probably have given profane voice to his conviction that his vehicle + was used as a “d——d baggage truck,” but he only smiled grimly, + gathered up his reins, and flicked his whip. The coach plunged forward + into the dust, which instantly rose around it, and made it thereafter a + mere cloud in the distance. Some of that dust for a moment overtook and + hid the Indian, walking stolidly in its track, but he emerged from it at + an angle, with a quickened pace and a peculiar halting trot. Yet that trot + was so well sustained that in an hour he had reached a fringe of rocks and + low bushes hitherto invisible through the irregularities of the apparently + level plain, into which he plunged and disappeared. The dust cloud which + indicated the coach—probably owing to these same irregularities—had + long since been lost on the visible horizon. + </p> + <p> + The fringe which received him was really the rim of a depression quite + concealed from the surface of the plain,—which it followed for some + miles through a tangled trough-like bottom of low trees and underbrush,—and + was a natural cover for wolves, coyotes, and occasionally bears, whose + half-human footprint might have deceived a stranger. This did not, + however, divert the Indian, who, trotting still doggedly on, paused only + to examine another footprint—much more frequent—the smooth, + inward-toed track of moccasins. The thicket grew more dense and difficult + as he went on, yet he seemed to glide through its density and darkness—an + obscurity that now seemed to be stirred by other moving objects, dimly + seen, and as uncertain and intangible as sunlit leaves thrilled by the + wind, yet bearing a strange resemblance to human figures! Pressing a few + yards further, he himself presently became a part of this shadowy + procession, which on closer scrutiny revealed itself as a single file of + Indians, following each other in the same tireless trot. The woods and + underbrush were full of them; all moving on, as he had moved, in a line + parallel with the vanishing coach. Sometimes through the openings a bared + painted limb, a crest of feathers, or a strip of gaudy blanket was + visible, but nothing more. And yet only a few hundred yards away stretched + the dusky, silent plain—vacant of sound or motion! + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the Sage Wood and Pine Barren stage coach, profoundly oblivious—after + the manner of all human invention—of everything but its regular + function, toiled dustily out of the higher plain and began the grateful + descent of a wooded canyon, which was, in fact, the culminating point of + the depression, just described, along which the shadowy procession was + slowly advancing, hardly a mile in the rear and flank of the vehicle. Miss + Julia Cantire, who had faced the dust volleys of the plain unflinchingly, + as became a soldier's daughter, here stood upright and shook herself—her + pretty head and figure emerging like a goddess from the enveloping silver + cloud. At least Mr. Boyle, relegated to the back seat, thought so—although + her conversation and attentions had been chiefly directed to the driver + and mail agent. Once, when he had light-heartedly addressed a remark to + her, it had been received with a distinct but unpromising politeness that + had made him desist from further attempts, yet without abatement of his + cheerfulness, or resentment of the evident amusement his two male + companions got out of his “snub.” Indeed, it is to be feared that Miss + Julia had certain prejudices of position, and may have thought that a + “drummer”—or commercial traveler—was no more fitting company + for the daughter of a major than an ordinary peddler. But it was more + probable that Mr. Boyle's reputation as a humorist—a teller of funny + stories and a boon companion of men—was inconsistent with the + feminine ideal of high and exalted manhood. The man who “sets the table in + a roar” is apt to be secretly detested by the sex, to say nothing of the + other obvious reasons why Juliets do not like Mercutios! + </p> + <p> + For some such cause as this Dick Boyle was obliged to amuse himself + silently, alone on the back seat, with those liberal powers of observation + which nature had given him. On entering the canyon he had noticed the + devious route the coach had taken to reach it, and had already invented an + improved route which should enter the depression at the point where the + Indians had already (unknown to him) plunged into it, and had conceived a + road through the tangled brush that would shorten the distance by some + miles. He had figured it out, and believed that it “would pay.” But by + this time they were beginning the somewhat steep and difficult ascent of + the canyon on the other side. The vehicle had not crawled many yards + before it stopped. Dick Boyle glanced around. Miss Cantire was getting + down. She had expressed a wish to walk the rest of the ascent, and the + coach was to wait for her at the top. Foster had effusively begged her to + take her own time—“there was no hurry!” Boyle glanced a little + longingly after her graceful figure, released from her cramped position on + the box, as it flitted youthfully in and out of the wayside trees; he + would like to have joined her in the woodland ramble, but even his good + nature was not proof against her indifference. At a turn in the road they + lost sight of her, and, as the driver and mail agent were deep in a + discussion about the indistinct track, Boyle lapsed into his silent study + of the country. Suddenly he uttered a slight exclamation, and quietly + slipped from the back of the toiling coach to the ground. The action was, + however, quickly noted by the driver, who promptly put his foot on the + brake and pulled up. “Wot's up now?” he growled. + </p> + <p> + Boyle did not reply, but ran back a few steps and began searching eagerly + on the ground. + </p> + <p> + “Lost suthin?” asked Foster. + </p> + <p> + “Found something,” said Boyle, picking up a small object. “Look at that! D——d + if it isn't the card I gave that Indian four hours ago at the station!” He + held up the card. + </p> + <p> + “Look yer, sonny,” retorted Foster gravely, “ef yer wantin' to get out and + hang round Miss Cantire, why don't yer say so at oncet? That story won't + wash!” + </p> + <p> + “Fact!” continued Boyle eagerly. “It's the same card I stuck in his hat—there's + the greasy mark in the corner. How the devil did it—how did HE get + here?” + </p> + <p> + “Better ax him,” said Foster grimly, “ef he's anywhere round.” + </p> + <p> + “But I say, Foster, I don't like the look of this at all! Miss Cantire is + alone, and”— + </p> + <p> + But a burst of laughter from Foster and the mail agent interrupted him. + “That's so,” said Foster. “That's your best holt! Keep it up! You jest + tell her that! Say thar's another Injin skeer on; that that thar + bloodthirsty ole 'Fleas in His Blanket' is on the warpath, and you're + goin' to shed the last drop o' your blood defendin' her! That'll fetch + her, and she ain't bin treatin' you well! G'lang!” + </p> + <p> + The horses started forward under Foster's whip, leaving Boyle standing + there, half inclined to join in the laugh against himself, and yet + impelled by some strange instinct to take a more serious view of his + discovery. There was no doubt it was the same card he had given to the + Indian. True, that Indian might have given it to another—yet by what + agency had it been brought there faster than the coach traveled on the + same road, and yet invisibly to them? For an instant the humorous idea of + literally accepting Foster's challenge, and communicating his discovery to + Miss Cantire, occurred to him; he could have made a funny story out of it, + and could have amused any other girl with it, but he would not force + himself upon her, and again doubted if the discovery were a matter of + amusement. If it were really serious, why should he alarm her? He + resolved, however, to remain on the road, and within convenient distance + of her, until she returned to the coach; she could not be far away. With + this purpose he walked slowly on, halting occasionally to look behind. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the coach continued its difficult ascent, a difficulty made + greater by the singular nervousness of the horses, that only with great + trouble and some objurgation from the driver could be prevented from + shying from the regular track. + </p> + <p> + “Now, wot's gone o' them critters?” said the irate Foster, straining at + the reins until he seemed to lift the leader back into the track again. + </p> + <p> + “Looks as ef they smelt suthin—b'ar or Injin ponies,” suggested the + mail agent. + </p> + <p> + “Injin ponies?” repeated Foster scornfully. + </p> + <p> + “Fac'! Injin ponies set a hoss crazy—jest as wild hosses would!” + </p> + <p> + “Whar's yer Injin ponies?” demanded Foster incredulously. + </p> + <p> + “Dunno,” said the mail agent simply. + </p> + <p> + But here the horses again swerved so madly from some point of the thicket + beside them that the coach completely left the track on the right. Luckily + it was a disused trail and the ground fairly good, and Foster gave them + their heads, satisfied of his ability to regain the regular road when + necessary. It took some moments for him to recover complete control of the + frightened animals, and then their nervousness having abated with their + distance from the thicket, and the trail being less steep though more + winding than the regular road, he concluded to keep it until he got to the + summit, when he would regain the highway once more and await his + passengers. Having done this, the two men stood up on the box, and with an + anxiety they tried to conceal from each other looked down the canyon for + the lagging pedestrians. + </p> + <p> + “I hope Miss Cantire hasn't been stampeded from the track by any skeer + like that,” said the mail agent dubiously. + </p> + <p> + “Not she! She's got too much grit and sabe for that, unless that drummer + hez caught up with her and unloaded his yarn about that kyard.” + </p> + <p> + They were the last words the men spoke. For two rifle shots cracked from + the thicket beside the road; two shots aimed with such deliberateness and + precision that the two men, mortally stricken, collapsed where they stood, + hanging for a brief moment over the dashboard before they rolled over on + the horses' backs. Nor did they remain there long, for the next moment + they were seized by half a dozen shadowy figures and with the horses and + their cut traces dragged into the thicket. A half dozen and then a dozen + other shadows flitted and swarmed over, in, and through the coach, + reinforced by still more, until the whole vehicle seemed to be possessed, + covered, and hidden by them, swaying and moving with their weight, like + helpless carrion beneath a pack of ravenous wolves. Yet even while this + seething congregation was at its greatest, at some unknown signal it as + suddenly dispersed, vanished, and disappeared, leaving the coach empty—vacant + and void of all that had given it life, weight, animation, and purpose—a + mere skeleton on the roadside. The afternoon wind blew through its open + doors and ravaged rack and box as if it had been the wreck of weeks + instead of minutes, and the level rays of the setting sun flashed and + blazed into its windows as though fire had been added to the ruin. But + even this presently faded, leaving the abandoned coach a rigid, lifeless + spectre on the twilight plain. + </p> + <p> + An hour later there was the sound of hurrying hoofs and jingling + accoutrements, and out of the plain swept a squad of cavalrymen bearing + down upon the deserted vehicle. For a few moments they, too, seemed to + surround and possess it, even as the other shadows had done, penetrating + the woods and thicket beside it. And then as suddenly at some signal they + swept forward furiously in the track of the destroying shadows. + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire took full advantage of the suggestion “not to hurry” in her + walk, with certain feminine ideas of its latitude. She gathered a few wild + flowers and some berries in the underwood, inspected some birds' nests + with a healthy youthful curiosity, and even took the opportunity of + arranging some moist tendrils of her silky hair with something she took + from the small reticule that hung coquettishly from her girdle. It was, + indeed, some twenty minutes before she emerged into the road again; the + vehicle had evidently disappeared in a turn of the long, winding ascent, + but just ahead of her was that dreadful man, the “Chicago drummer.” She + was not vain, but she made no doubt that he was waiting there for her. + There was no avoiding him, but his companionship could be made a brief + one. She began to walk with ostentatious swiftness. + </p> + <p> + Boyle, whose concern for her safety was secretly relieved at this, began + to walk forward briskly too without looking around. Miss Cantire was not + prepared for this; it looked so ridiculously as if she were chasing him! + She hesitated slightly, but now as she was nearly abreast of him she was + obliged to keep on. + </p> + <p> + “I think you do well to hurry, Miss Cantire,” he said as she passed. “I've + lost sight of the coach for some time, and I dare say they're already + waiting for us at the summit.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire did not like this any better. To go on beside this dreadful + man, scrambling breathlessly after the stage—for all the world like + an absorbed and sentimentally belated pair of picnickers—was really + TOO much. “Perhaps if YOU ran on and told them I was coming as fast as I + could,” she suggested tentatively. + </p> + <p> + “It would be as much as my life is worth to appear before Foster without + you,” he said laughingly. “You've only got to hurry on a little faster.” + </p> + <p> + But the young lady resented this being driven by a “drummer.” She began to + lag, depressing her pretty brows ominously. + </p> + <p> + “Let me carry your flowers,” said Boyle. He had noticed that she was + finding some difficulty in holding up her skirt and the nosegay at the + same time. + </p> + <p> + “No! No!” she said in hurried horror at this new suggestion of their + companionship. “Thank you very much—but they're really not worth + keeping—I am going to throw them away. There!” she added, tossing + them impatiently in the dust. + </p> + <p> + But she had not reckoned on Boyle's perfect good-humor. That gentle idiot + stooped down, actually gathered them up again, and was following! She + hurried on; if she could only get to the coach first, ignoring him! But a + vulgar man like that would be sure to hand them to her with some joke! + Then she lagged again—she was getting tired, and she could see no + sign of the coach. The drummer, too, was also lagging behind—at a + respectful distance, like a groom or one of her father's troopers. + Nevertheless this did not put her in a much better humor, and halting + until he came abreast of her, she said impatiently: “I don't see why Mr. + Foster should think it necessary to send any one to look after me.” + </p> + <p> + “He didn't,” returned Boyle simply. “I got down to pick up something.” + </p> + <p> + “To pick up something?” she returned incredulously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. THAT.” He held out the card. “It's the card of our firm.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire smiled ironically. “You are certainly devoted to your + business.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes,” returned Boyle good-humoredly. “You see I reckon it don't pay + to do anything halfway. And whatever I do, I mean to keep my eyes about + me.” In spite of her prejudice, Miss Cantire could see that these + necessary organs, if rather flippant, were honest. “Yes, I suppose there + isn't much on that I don't take in. Why now, Miss Cantire, there's that + fancy dust cloak you're wearing—it isn't in our line of goods—nor + in anybody's line west of Chicago; it came from Boston or New York, and + was made for home consumption! But your hat—and mighty pretty it is + too, as YOU'VE fixed it up—is only regular Dunstable stock, which we + could put down at Pine Barrens for four and a half cents a piece, net. Yet + I suppose you paid nearly twenty-five cents for it at the Agency!” + </p> + <p> + Oddly enough this cool appraisement of her costume did not incense the + young lady as it ought to have done. On the contrary, for some occult + feminine reason, it amused and interested her. It would be such a good + story to tell her friends of a “drummer's" idea of gallantry; and to tease + the flirtatious young West Pointer who had just joined. And the + appraisement was truthful—Major Cantire had only his pay—and + Miss Cantire had been obliged to select that hat from the government + stores. + </p> + <p> + “Are you in the habit of giving this information to ladies you meet in + traveling?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Well, no!” answered Boyle—“for that's just where you have to keep + your eyes open. Most of 'em wouldn't like it, and it's no use aggravating + a possible customer. But you are not that kind.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire was silent. She knew she was not of that kind, but she did + not require his vulgar indorsement. She pushed on for some moments alone, + when suddenly he hailed her. She turned impatiently. He was carefully + examining the road on both sides. + </p> + <p> + “We have either lost our way,” he said, rejoining her, “or the coach has + turned off somewhere. These tracks are not fresh, and as they are all + going the same way, they were made by the up coach last night. They're not + OUR tracks; I thought it strange we hadn't sighted the coach by this + time.” + </p> + <p> + “And then”—said Miss Cantire impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “We must turn back until we find them again.” + </p> + <p> + The young lady frowned. “Why not keep on until we get to the top?” she + said pettishly. “I'm sure I shall.” She stopped suddenly as she caught + sight of his grave face and keen, observant eyes. “Why can't we go on as + we are?” + </p> + <p> + “Because we are expected to come back to the COACH—and not to the + summit merely. These are the 'orders,' and you know you are a soldier's + daughter!” He laughed as he spoke, but there was a certain quiet + deliberation in his manner that impressed her. When he added, after a + pause, “We must go back and find where the tracks turned off,” she obeyed + without a word. + </p> + <p> + They walked for some time, eagerly searching for signs of the missing + vehicle. A curious interest and a new reliance in Boyle's judgment + obliterated her previous annoyance, and made her more natural. She ran + ahead of him with youthful eagerness, examining the ground, following a + false clue with great animation, and confessing her defeat with a charming + laugh. And it was she who, after retracing their steps for ten minutes, + found the diverging track with a girlish cry of triumph. Boyle, who had + followed her movements quite as interestedly as her discovery, looked a + little grave as he noticed the deep indentations made by the struggling + horses. Miss Cantire detected the change in his face; ten minutes before + she would never have observed it. “I suppose we had better follow the new + track,” she said inquiringly, as he seemed to hesitate. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” he said quickly, as if coming to a prompt decision. “That is + safest.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think has happened? The ground looks very much cut up,” she + said in a confidential tone, as new to her as her previous observation of + him. + </p> + <p> + “A horse has probably stumbled and they've taken the old trail as less + difficult,” said Boyle promptly. In his heart he did not believe it, yet + he knew that if anything serious had threatened them the coach would have + waited in the road. “It's an easier trail for us, though I suppose it's a + little longer,” he added presently. + </p> + <p> + “You take everything so good-humoredly, Mr. Boyle,” she said after a + pause. + </p> + <p> + “It's the way to do business, Miss Cantire,” he said. “A man in my line + has to cultivate it.” + </p> + <p> + She wished he hadn't said that, but, nevertheless, she returned a little + archly: “But you haven't any business with the stage company nor with ME, + although I admit I intend to get my Dunstable hereafter from your firm at + the wholesale prices.” + </p> + <p> + Before he could reply, the detonation of two gunshots, softened by + distance, floated down from the ridge above them. “There!” said Miss + Cantire eagerly. “Do you hear that?” + </p> + <p> + His face was turned towards the distant ridge, but really that she might + not question his eyes. She continued with animation: “That's from the + coach—to guide us—don't you see?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he returned, with a quick laugh, “and it says hurry up—mighty + quick—we're tired waiting—so we'd better push on.” + </p> + <p> + “Why don't you answer back with your revolver?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Haven't got one,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Haven't got one?” she repeated in genuine surprise. “I thought you + gentlemen who are traveling always carried one. Perhaps it's inconsistent + with your gospel of good-humor.” + </p> + <p> + “That's just it, Miss Cantire,” he said with a laugh. “You've hit it.” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” she said hesitatingly, “even I have a derringer—a very little + one, you know, which I carry in my reticule. Captain Richards gave it to + me.” She opened her reticule and showed a pretty ivory-handled pistol. The + look of joyful surprise which came into his face changed quickly as she + cocked it and lifted it into the air. He seized her arm quickly. + </p> + <p> + “No, please don't, you might want it—I mean the report won't carry + far enough. It's a very useful little thing, for all that, but it's only + effective at close quarters.” He kept the pistol in his hand as they + walked on. But Miss Cantire noticed this, also his evident satisfaction + when she had at first produced it, and his concern when she was about to + discharge it uselessly. She was a clever girl, and a frank one to those + she was inclined to trust. And she began to trust this stranger. A smile + stole along her oval cheek. + </p> + <p> + “I really believe you're afraid of something, Mr. Boyle,” she said, + without looking up. “What is it? You haven't got that Indian scare too?” + </p> + <p> + Boyle had no false shame. “I think I have,” he returned, with equal + frankness. “You see, I don't understand Indians as well as you—and + Foster.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you take my word and Foster's that there is not the least danger + from them. About here they are merely grown-up children, cruel and + destructive as most children are; but they know their masters by this + time, and the old days of promiscuous scalping are over. The only other + childish propensity they keep is thieving. Even then they only steal what + they actually want,—horses, guns, and powder. A coach can go where + an ammunition or an emigrant wagon can't. So your trunk of samples is + quite safe with Foster.” + </p> + <p> + Boyle did not think it necessary to protest. Perhaps he was thinking of + something else. + </p> + <p> + “I've a mind,” she went on slyly, “to tell you something more. Confidence + for confidence: as you've told me YOUR trade secrets, I'll tell you one of + OURS. Before we left Pine Barrens, my father ordered a small escort of + cavalrymen to be in readiness to join that coach if the scouts, who were + watching, thought it necessary. So, you see, I'm something of a fraud as + regards my reputation for courage.” + </p> + <p> + “That doesn't follow,” said Boyle admiringly, “for your father must have + thought there was some danger, or he wouldn't have taken that precaution.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it wasn't for me,” said the young girl quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Not for you?” repeated Boyle. + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire stopped short, with a pretty flush of color and an adorable + laugh. “There! I've done it, so I might as well tell the whole story. But + I can trust you, Mr. Boyle.” (She faced him with clear, penetrating eyes.) + “Well,” she laughed again, “you might have noticed that we had a quantity + of baggage of passengers who didn't go? Well, those passengers never + intended to go, and hadn't any baggage! Do you understand? Those + innocent-looking heavy trunks contained carbines and cartridges from our + post for Fort Taylor”—she made him a mischievous curtsy—“under + MY charge! And,” she added, enjoying his astonishment, “as you saw, I + brought them through safe to the station, and had them transferred to this + coach with less fuss and trouble than a commissary transport and escort + would have made.” + </p> + <p> + “And they were in THIS coach?” repeated Boyle abstractedly. + </p> + <p> + “Were? They ARE!” said Miss Cantire. + </p> + <p> + “Then the sooner I get you back to your treasure again the better,” said + Boyle with a laugh. “Does Foster know it?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not! Do you suppose I'd tell it to anybody but a stranger to + the place? Perhaps, like you, I know when and to whom to impart + information,” she said mischievously. + </p> + <p> + Whatever was in Boyle's mind he had space for profound and admiring + astonishment of the young lady before him. The girlish simplicity and + trustfulness of her revelation seemed as inconsistent with his previous + impression of her reserve and independence as her girlish reasoning and + manner was now delightfully at variance with her tallness, her aquiline + nose, and her erect figure. Mr. Boyle, like most short men, was apt to + overestimate the qualities of size. + </p> + <p> + They walked on for some moments in silence. The ascent was comparatively + easy but devious, and Boyle could see that this new detour would take them + still some time to reach the summit. Miss Cantire at last voiced the + thought in his own mind. “I wonder what induced them to turn off here? and + if you hadn't been so clever as to discover their tracks, how could we + have found them? But,” she added, with feminine logic, “that, of course, + is why they fired those shots.” + </p> + <p> + Boyle remembered, however, that the shots came from another direction, but + did not correct her conclusion. Nevertheless he said lightly: “Perhaps + even Foster might have had an Indian scare.” + </p> + <p> + “He ought to know 'friendlies' or 'government reservation men' better by + this time,” said Miss Cantire; “however, there is something in that. Do + you know,” she added with a laugh, “though I haven't your keen eyes I'm + gifted with a keen scent, and once or twice I've thought I SMELT Indians—that + peculiar odor of their camps, which is unlike anything else, and which one + detects even in their ponies. I used to notice it when I rode one; no + amount of grooming could take it away.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't suppose that the intensity or degree of this odor would give you + any idea of the hostile or friendly feelings of the Indians towards you?” + asked Boyle grimly. + </p> + <p> + Although the remark was consistent with Boyle's objectionable reputation + as a humorist, Miss Cantire deigned to receive it with a smile, at which + Boyle, who was a little relieved by their security so far, and their + nearness to their journey's end, developed further ingenious trifling + until, at the end of an hour, they stood upon the plain again. + </p> + <p> + There was no sign of the coach, but its fresh track was visible leading + along the bank of the ravine towards the intersection of the road they + should have come by, and to which the coach had indubitably returned. Mr. + Boyle drew a long breath. They were comparatively safe from any invisible + attack now. At the end of ten minutes Miss Cantire, from her superior + height, detected the top of the missing vehicle appearing above the + stunted bushes at the junction of the highway. + </p> + <p> + “Would you mind throwing those old flowers away now?” she said, glancing + at the spoils which Boyle still carried. + </p> + <p> + “Why?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, they're too ridiculous. Please do.” + </p> + <p> + “May I keep one?” he asked, with the first intonation of masculine + weakness in his voice. + </p> + <p> + “If you like,” she said, a little coldly. + </p> + <p> + Boyle selected a small spray of myrtle and cast the other flowers + obediently aside. + </p> + <p> + “Dear me, how ridiculous!” she said. + </p> + <p> + “What is ridiculous?” he asked, lifting his eyes to hers with a slight + color. But he saw that she was straining her eyes in the distance. + </p> + <p> + “Why, there don't seem to be any horses to the coach!” + </p> + <p> + He looked. Through a gap in the furze he could see the vehicle now quite + distinctly, standing empty, horseless and alone. He glanced hurriedly + around them; on the one side a few rocks protected them from the tangled + rim of the ridge; on the other stretched the plain. “Sit down, don't move + until I return,” he said quickly. “Take that.” He handed back her pistol, + and ran quickly to the coach. It was no illusion; there it stood vacant, + abandoned, its dropped pole and cut traces showing too plainly the fearful + haste of its desertion! A light step behind him made him turn. It was Miss + Cantire, pink and breathless, carrying the cocked derringer in her hand. + “How foolish of you—without a weapon,” she gasped in explanation. + </p> + <p> + Then they both stared at the coach, the empty plain, and at each other! + After their tedious ascent, their long detour, their protracted expectancy + and their eager curiosity, there was such a suggestion of hideous mockery + in this vacant, useless vehicle—apparently left to them in what + seemed their utter abandonment—that it instinctively affected them + alike. And as I am writing of human nature I am compelled to say that they + both burst into a fit of laughter that for the moment stopped all other + expression! + </p> + <p> + “It was so kind of them to leave the coach,” said Miss Cantire faintly, as + she took her handkerchief from her wet and mirthful eyes. “But what made + them run away?” + </p> + <p> + Boyle did not reply; he was eagerly examining the coach. In that brief + hour and a half the dust of the plain had blown thick upon it, and covered + any foul stain or blot that might have suggested the awful truth. Even the + soft imprint of the Indians' moccasined feet had been trampled out by the + later horse hoofs of the cavalrymen. It was these that first attracted + Boyle's attention, but he thought them the marks made by the plunging of + the released coach horses. + </p> + <p> + Not so his companion! She was examining them more closely, and suddenly + lifted her bright, animated face. “Look!” she said; “our men have been + here, and have had a hand in this—whatever it is.” + </p> + <p> + “Our men?” repeated Boyle blankly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes!—troopers from the post—the escort I told you of. These + are the prints of the regulation cavalry horseshoe—not of Foster's + team, nor of Indian ponies, who never have any! Don't you see?” she went + on eagerly; “our men have got wind of something and have galloped down + here—along the ridge—see!” she went on, pointing to the hoof + prints coming from the plain. “They've anticipated some Indian attack and + secured everything.” + </p> + <p> + “But if they were the same escort you spoke of, they must have known you + were here, and have”—he was about to say “abandoned you,” but + checked himself, remembering they were her father's soldiers. + </p> + <p> + “They knew I could take care of myself, and wouldn't stand in the way of + their duty,” said the young girl, anticipating him with quick professional + pride that seemed to fit her aquiline nose and tall figure. “And if they + knew that,” she added, softening with a mischievous smile, “they also + knew, of course, that I was protected by a gallant stranger vouched for by + Mr. Foster! No!” she added, with a certain blind, devoted confidence, + which Boyle noticed with a slight wince that she had never shown before, + “it's all right! and 'by orders,' Mr. Boyle, and when they've done their + work they'll be back.” + </p> + <p> + But Boyle's masculine common sense was, perhaps, safer than Miss Cantire's + feminine faith and inherited discipline, for in an instant he suddenly + comprehended the actual truth! The Indians had been there FIRST; THEY had + despoiled the coach and got off safely with their booty and prisoners on + the approach of the escort, who were now naturally pursuing them with a + fury aroused by the belief that their commander's daughter was one of + their prisoners. This conviction was a dreadful one, yet a relief as far + as the young girl was concerned. But should he tell her? No! Better that + she should keep her calm faith in the triumphant promptness of the + soldiers—and their speedy return. + </p> + <p> + “I dare say you are right,” he said cheerfully, “and let us be thankful + that in the empty coach you'll have at least a half-civilized shelter + until they return. Meantime I'll go and reconnoitre a little.” + </p> + <p> + “I will go with you,” she said. + </p> + <p> + But Boyle pointed out to her so strongly the necessity of her remaining to + wait for the return of the soldiers that, being also fagged out by her + long climb, she obediently consented, while he, even with his inspiration + of the truth, did not believe in the return of the despoilers, and knew + she would be safe. + </p> + <p> + He made his way to the nearest thicket, where he rightly believed the + ambush had been prepared, and to which undoubtedly they first retreated + with their booty. He expected to find some signs or traces of their spoil + which in their haste they had to abandon. He was more successful than he + anticipated. A few steps into the thicket brought him full upon a + realization of more than his worst convictions—the dead body of + Foster! Near it lay the body of the mail agent. Both had been evidently + dragged into the thicket from where they fell, scalped and half stripped. + There was no evidence of any later struggle; they must have been dead when + they were brought there. + </p> + <p> + Boyle was neither a hard-hearted nor an unduly sensitive man. His vocation + had brought him peril enough by land and water; he had often rendered + valuable assistance to others, his sympathy never confusing his directness + and common sense. He was sorry for these two men, and would have fought to + save them. But he had no imaginative ideas of death. And his keen + perception of the truth was consequently sensitively alive only to that + grotesqueness of aspect which too often the hapless victims of violence + are apt to assume. He saw no agony in the vacant eyes of the two men lying + on their backs in apparently the complacent abandonment of drunkenness, + which was further simulated by their tumbled and disordered hair matted by + coagulated blood, which, however, had lost its sanguine color. He thought + only of the unsuspecting girl sitting in the lonely coach, and hurriedly + dragged them further into the bushes. In doing this he discovered a loaded + revolver and a flask of spirits which had been lying under them, and + promptly secured them. A few paces away lay the coveted trunks of arms and + ammunition, their lids wrenched off and their contents gone. He noticed + with a grim smile that his own trunks of samples had shared a like fate, + but was delighted to find that while the brighter trifles had attracted + the Indians' childish cupidity they had overlooked a heavy black merino + shawl of a cheap but serviceable quality. It would help to protect Miss + Cantire from the evening wind, which was already rising over the chill and + stark plain. It also occurred to him that she would need water after her + parched journey, and he resolved to look for a spring, being rewarded at + last by a trickling rill near the ambush camp. But he had no utensil + except the spirit flask, which he finally emptied of its contents and + replaced with the pure water—a heroic sacrifice to a traveler who + knew the comfort of a stimulant. He retraced his steps, and was just + emerging from the thicket when his quick eye caught sight of a moving + shadow before him close to the ground, which set the hot blood coursing + through his veins. + </p> + <p> + It was the figure of an Indian crawling on his hands and knees towards the + coach, scarcely forty yards away. For the first time that afternoon + Boyle's calm good-humor was overswept by a blind and furious rage. Yet + even then he was sane enough to remember that a pistol shot would alarm + the girl, and to keep that weapon as a last resource. For an instant he + crept forward as silently and stealthily as the savage, and then, with a + sudden bound, leaped upon him, driving his head and shoulders down against + the rocks before he could utter a cry, and sending the scalping knife he + was carrying between his teeth flying with the shock from his battered + jaw. Boyle seized it—his knee still in the man's back—but the + prostrate body never moved beyond a slight contraction of the lower limbs. + The shock had broken the Indian's neck. He turned the inert man on his + back—the head hung loosely on the side. But in that brief instant + Boyle had recognized the “friendly” Indian of the station to whom he had + given the card. + </p> + <p> + He rose dizzily to his feet. The whole action had passed in a few seconds + of time, and had not even been noticed by the sole occupant of the coach. + He mechanically cocked his revolver, but the man beneath him never moved + again. Neither was there any sign of flight or reinforcement from the + thicket around him. Again the whole truth flashed upon him. This spy and + traitor had been left behind by the marauders to return to the station and + avert suspicion; he had been lurking around, but being without firearms, + had not dared to attack the pair together. + </p> + <p> + It was a moment or two before Boyle regained his usual elastic good-humor. + Then he coolly returned to the spring, “washed himself of the Indian,” as + he grimly expressed it to himself, brushed his clothes, picked up the + shawl and flask, and returned to the coach. It was getting dark now, but + the glow of the western sky shone unimpeded through the windows, and the + silence gave him a great fear. He was relieved, however, on opening the + door, to find Miss Cantire sitting stiffly in a corner. “I am sorry I was + so long,” he said, apologetically to her attitude, “but”— + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you took your own time,” she interrupted in a voice of injured + tolerance. “I don't blame you; anything's better than being cooped up in + this tiresome stage for goodness knows how long!” + </p> + <p> + “I was hunting for water,” he said humbly, “and have brought you some.” He + handed her the flask. + </p> + <p> + “And I see you have had a wash,” she said a little enviously. “How spick + and span you look! But what's the matter with your necktie?” + </p> + <p> + He put his hand to his neck hurriedly. His necktie was loose, and had + twisted to one side in the struggle. He colored quite as much from the + sensitiveness of a studiously neat man as from the fear of discovery. “And + what's that?” she added, pointing to the shawl. + </p> + <p> + “One of my samples that I suppose was turned out of the coach and + forgotten in the transfer,” he said glibly. “I thought it might keep you + warm.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at it dubiously and laid it gingerly aside. “You don't mean to + say you go about with such things OPENLY?” she said querulously. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; one mustn't lose a chance of trade, you know,” he resumed with a + smile. + </p> + <p> + “And you haven't found this journey very profitable,” she said dryly. “You + certainly are devoted to your business!” After a pause, discontentedly: + “It's quite night already—we can't sit here in the dark.” + </p> + <p> + “We can take one of the coach lamps inside; they're still there. I've been + thinking the matter over, and I reckon if we leave one lighted outside the + coach it may guide your friends back.” He HAD considered it, and believed + that the audacity of the act, coupled with the knowledge the Indians must + have of the presence of the soldiers in the vicinity, would deter rather + than invite their approach. + </p> + <p> + She brightened considerably with the coach lamp which he lit and brought + inside. By its light she watched him curiously. His face was slightly + flushed and his eyes very bright and keen looking. Man killing, except + with old professional hands, has the disadvantage of affecting the + circulation. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Cantire had noticed that the flask smelt of whiskey. The poor man + had probably fortified himself from the fatigues of the day. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you are getting bored by this delay,” she said tentatively. + </p> + <p> + “Not at all,” he replied. “Would you like to play cards? I've got a pack + in my pocket. We can use the middle seat as a table, and hang the lantern + by the window strap.” + </p> + <p> + She assented languidly from the back seat; he was on the front seat, with + the middle seat for a table between them. First Mr. Boyle showed her some + tricks with the cards and kindled her momentary and flashing interest in a + mysteriously evoked but evanescent knave. Then they played euchre, at + which Miss Cantire cheated adorably, and Mr. Boyle lost game after game + shamelessly. Then once or twice Miss Cantire was fain to put her cards to + her mouth to conceal an apologetic yawn, and her blue-veined eyelids grew + heavy. Whereupon Mr. Boyle suggested that she should make herself + comfortable in the corner of the coach with as many cushions as she liked + and the despised shawl, while he took the night air in a prowl around the + coach and a lookout for the returning party. Doing so, he was delighted, + after a turn or two, to find her asleep, and so returned contentedly to + his sentry round. + </p> + <p> + He was some distance from the coach when a low moaning sound in the + thicket presently increased until it rose and fell in a prolonged howl + that was repeated from the darkened plains beyond. He recognized the voice + of wolves; he instinctively felt the sickening cause of it. They had + scented the dead bodies, and he now regretted that he had left his own + victim so near the coach. He was hastening thither when a cry, this time + human and more terrifying, came from the coach. He turned towards it as + its door flew open and Miss Cantire came rushing toward him. Her face was + colorless, her eyes wild with fear, and her tall, slim figure trembled + convulsively as she frantically caught at the lapels of his coat, as if to + hide herself within its folds, and gasped breathlessly,— + </p> + <p> + “What is it? Oh! Mr. Boyle, save me!” + </p> + <p> + “They are wolves,” he said hurriedly. “But there is no danger; they would + never attack you; you were safe where you were; let me lead you back.” + </p> + <p> + But she remained rooted to the spot, still clinging desperately to his + coat. “No, no!” she said, “I dare not! I heard that awful cry in my sleep. + I looked out and saw it—a dreadful creature with yellow eyes and + tongue, and a sickening breath as it passed between the wheels just below + me. Ah! What's that?” and she again lapsed in nervous terror against him. + </p> + <p> + Boyle passed his arm around her promptly, firmly, masterfully. She seemed + to feel the implied protection, and yielded to it gratefully, with the + further breakdown of a sob. “There is no danger,” he repeated cheerfully. + “Wolves are not good to look at, I know, but they wouldn't have attacked + you. The beast only scents some carrion on the plain, and you probably + frightened him more than he did you. Lean on me,” he continued as her step + tottered; “you will be better in the coach.” + </p> + <p> + “And you won't leave me alone again?” she said in hesitating terror. + </p> + <p> + “No!” + </p> + <p> + He supported her to the coach gravely, gently—her master and still + more his own for all that her beautiful loosened hair was against his + cheek and shoulder, its perfume in his nostrils, and the contour of her + lithe and perfect figure against his own. He helped her back into the + coach, with the aid of the cushions and shawl arranged a reclining couch + for her on the back seat, and then resumed his old place patiently. By + degrees the color came back to her face—as much of it as was not + hidden by her handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + Then a tremulous voice behind it began a half-smothered apology. “I am SO + ashamed, Mr. Boyle—I really could not help it! But it was so sudden—and + so horrible—I shouldn't have been afraid of it had it been really an + Indian with a scalping knife—instead of that beast! I don't know why + I did it—but I was alone—and seemed to be dead—and you + were dead too and they were coming to eat me! They do, you know—you + said so just now! Perhaps I was dreaming. I don't know what you must think + of me—I had no idea I was such a coward!” + </p> + <p> + But Boyle protested indignantly. He was sure if HE had been asleep and had + not known what wolves were before, he would have been equally frightened. + She must try to go to sleep again—he was sure she could—and he + would not stir from the coach until she waked, or her friends came. + </p> + <p> + She grew quieter presently, and took away the handkerchief from a mouth + that smiled though it still quivered; then reaction began, and her tired + nerves brought her languor and finally repose. Boyle watched the shadows + thicken around her long lashes until they lay softly on the faint flush + that sleep was bringing to her cheek; her delicate lips parted, and her + quick breath at last came with the regularity of slumber. + </p> + <p> + So she slept, and he, sitting silently opposite her, dreamed—the old + dream that comes to most good men and true once in their lives. He + scarcely moved until the dawn lightened with opal the dreary plain, + bringing back the horizon and day, when he woke from his dream with a + sigh, and then a laugh. Then he listened for the sound of distant hoofs, + and hearing them, crept noiselessly from the coach. A compact body of + horsemen were bearing down upon it. He rose quickly to meet them, and + throwing up his hand, brought them to a halt at some distance from the + coach. They spread out, resolving themselves into a dozen troopers and a + smart young cadet-like officer. + </p> + <p> + “If you are seeking Miss Cantire,” he said in a quiet, businesslike tone, + “she is quite safe in the coach and asleep. She knows nothing yet of what + has happened, and believes it is you who have taken everything away for + security against an Indian attack. She has had a pretty rough night—what + with her fatigue and her alarm at the wolves—and I thought it best + to keep the truth from her as long as possible, and I would advise you to + break it to her gently.” He then briefly told the story of their + experiences, omitting only his own personal encounter with the Indian. A + new pride, which was perhaps the result of his vigil, prevented him. + </p> + <p> + The young officer glanced at him with as much courtesy as might be + afforded to a civilian intruding upon active military operations. “I am + sure Major Cantire will be greatly obliged to you when he knows it,” he + said politely, “and as we intend to harness up and take the coach back to + Sage Wood Station immediately, you will have an opportunity of telling + him.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not going back by the coach to Sage Wood,” said Boyle quietly. “I + have already lost twelve hours of my time—as well as my trunk—on + this picnic, and I reckon the least Major Cantire can do is to let me take + one of your horses to the next station in time to catch the down coach. I + can do it, if I set out at once.” + </p> + <p> + Boyle heard his name, with the familiar prefix of “Dicky,” given to the + officer by a commissary sergeant, whom he recognized as having met at the + Agency, and the words “Chicago drummer” added, while a perceptible smile + went throughout the group. “Very well, sir,” said the officer, with a + familiarity a shade less respectful than his previous formal manner. “You + can take the horse, as I believe the Indians have already made free with + your samples. Give him a mount, sergeant.” + </p> + <p> + The two men walked towards the coach. Boyle lingered a moment at the + window to show him the figure of Miss Cantire still peacefully slumbering + among her pile of cushions, and then turned quietly away. A moment later + he was galloping on one of the troopers' horses across the empty plain. + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire awoke presently to the sound of a familiar voice and the + sight of figures that she knew. But the young officer's first words of + explanation—a guarded account of the pursuit of the Indians and the + recapture of the arms, suppressing the killing of Foster and the mail + agent—brought a change to her brightened face and a wrinkle to her + pretty brow. + </p> + <p> + “But Mr. Boyle said nothing of this to me,” she said, sitting up. “Where + is he?” + </p> + <p> + “Already on his way to the next station on one of our horses! Wanted to + catch the down stage and get a new box of samples, I fancy, as the braves + had rigged themselves out with his laces and ribbons. Said he'd lost time + enough on this picnic,” returned the young officer, with a laugh. “Smart + business chap; but I hope he didn't bore you?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire felt her cheek flush, and bit her lip. “I found him most kind + and considerate, Mr. Ashford,” she said coldly. “He may have thought the + escort could have joined the coach a little earlier, and saved all this; + but he was too much of a gentleman to say anything about it to ME,” she + added dryly, with a slight elevation of her aquiline nose. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless Boyle's last words stung her deeply. To hurry off, too, + without saying “good-by,” or even asking how she slept! No doubt he HAD + lost time, and was tired of her company, and thought more of his precious + samples than of her! After all, it was like him to rush off for an order! + </p> + <p> + She was half inclined to call the young officer back and tell him how + Boyle had criticised her costume on the road. But Mr. Ashford was at that + time entirely preoccupied with his men around a ledge of rock and bushes + some yards from the coach, yet not so far away but that she could hear + what they said. “I'll swear there was no dead Injin here when we came + yesterday! We searched the whole place—by daylight, too—for + any sign. The Injin was killed in his tracks by some one last night. It's + like Dick Boyle, lieutenant, to have done it, and like him to have said + nothin' to frighten the young lady. He knows when to keep his mouth shut—and + when to open it.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Cantire sank back in her corner as the officer turned and approached + the coach. The incident of the past night flashed back upon her—Mr. + Boyle's long absence, his flushed face, twisted necktie, and enforced + cheerfulness. She was shocked, amazed, discomfited—and admiring! And + this hero had been sitting opposite to her, silent all the rest of the + night! + </p> + <p> + “Did Mr. Boyle say anything of an Indian attack last night?” asked + Ashford. “Did you hear anything?” + </p> + <p> + “Only the wolves howling,” said Miss Cantire. “Mr. Boyle was away twice.” + She was strangely reticent—in complimentary imitation of her missing + hero. + </p> + <p> + “There's a dead Indian here who has been killed,” began Ashford. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, please don't say anything more, Mr. Ashford,” interrupted the young + lady, “but let us get away from this horrid place at once. Do get the + horses in. I can't stand it.” + </p> + <p> + But the horses were already harnessed and mounted, postilion-wise, by the + troopers. The vehicle was ready to start when Miss Cantire called “Stop!” + </p> + <p> + When Ashford presented himself at the door, the young lady was upon her + hands and knees, searching the bottom of the coach. “Oh, dear! I've lost + something. I must have dropped it on the road,” she said breathlessly, + with pink cheeks. “You must positively wait and let me go back and find + it. I won't be long. You know there's 'no hurry.'” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ashford stared as Miss Cantire skipped like a schoolgirl from the + coach and ran down the trail by which she and Boyle had approached the + coach the night before. She had not gone far before she came upon the + withered flowers he had thrown away at her command. “It must be about + here,” she murmured. Suddenly she uttered a cry of delight, and picked up + the business card that Boyle had shown her. Then she looked furtively + around her, and, selecting a sprig of myrtle among the cast-off flowers, + concealed it in her mantle and ran back, glowing, to the coach. “Thank + you! All right, I've found it,” she called to Ashford, with a dazzling + smile, and leaped inside. + </p> + <p> + The coach drove on, and Miss Cantire, alone in its recesses, drew the + myrtle from her mantle and folding it carefully in her handkerchief, + placed it in her reticule. Then she drew out the card, read its dryly + practical information over and over again, examined the soiled edges, + brushed them daintily, and held it for a moment, with eyes that saw not, + motionless in her hand. Then she raised it slowly to her lips, rolled it + into a spiral, and, loosening a hook and eye, thrust it gently into her + bosom. + </p> + <p> + And Dick Boyle, galloping away to the distant station, did not know that + the first step towards a realization of his foolish dream had been taken! + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Trent's Trust and Other Stories, by Bret Harte + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRENT'S TRUST AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 2459-h.htm or 2459-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/5/2459/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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