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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Associate Hermits, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Associate Hermits
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Illustrator: A. B. Frost
+
+Release Date: October 12, 2008 [EBook #26895]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE SUPPER [Page 37]]
+
+
+
+
+THE
+ASSOCIATE HERMITS
+
+By
+Frank R. Stockton
+
+Author of
+"The Great Stone of Sardis"
+
+With Illustrations by A. B. Frost
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+1900
+
+
+
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
+
+THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS. A Novel.
+Illustrated by Peter Newell. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1 50.
+
+"The Great Stone of Sardis" is as queer and preposterous as
+can be imagined, yet as plausible and real-seeming as a legal
+document.... There is a treat in the book.--_Independent_, N. Y.
+
+A new and worthy example of Stockton's kindly, wholesome,
+original, and inexhaustible humor.--_Syracuse Post._
+
+Narrated with a seriousness that gives the adventures a semblance
+of matters of fact. Through the narrative runs a love interest which
+Mr. Stockton manages with great skill.--_Washington Post._
+
+NEW YORK AND LONDON:
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
+
+Copyright, 1898, by Harper & Brothers.
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                                                  PAGE
+     I.  The Dawn of a Wedding-journey                      1
+    II.  Enter Margery                                      7
+   III.  Sadler's                                          15
+    IV.  A Cataract of Information                         23
+     V.  Camp Rob                                          35
+    VI.  Camp Roy                                          42
+   VII.  A Stranger                                        52
+  VIII.  The Bishop's Tale                                 63
+    IX.  Matlack's Three Troubles                          74
+     X.  A Ladies' Day in Camp                             82
+    XI.  Margery Takes the Oars                            90
+   XII.  The Bishop Engages the Attention of the Guides   100
+  XIII.  The World Goes Wrong with Mr. Raybold            105
+   XIV.  The Assertion of Individuality                   113
+    XV.  A Net of Cobwebs to Cage a Lion                  123
+   XVI.  A Man who Feels Himself a Man                    135
+  XVII.  Mrs. Perkenpine Asserts Her Individuality        143
+ XVIII.  The Hermits Associate                            153
+   XIX.  Margery's Breakfast                              161
+    XX.  Martin Asserts His Individuality                 173
+   XXI.  The Individuality of Peter Sadler                185
+  XXII.  A Tranquillizing Breeze and a Hot Wind           194
+ XXIII.  Mrs. Perkenpine Finds out Things about Herself   205
+  XXIV.  A Dissolving Audience                            212
+   XXV.  A Moonlight Interview                            220
+  XXVI.  An Elopement                                     229
+ XXVII.  Mrs. Perkenpine Delights the Bishop              239
+XXVIII.  The Hermits Continue to Favor Association        248
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+                                                          PAGE
+THE SUPPER                                        Frontispiece
+"'CAN THIS BE SADLER'S?'"                                   16
+"'THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK'"                        54
+"A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING"                                   80
+"BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER"                                98
+"WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER"           102
+"'WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?'"                             150
+"'HAVEN'T TRIED IT'"                                       202
+"'IF THEY AIN'T THE CAMP ROBBERS!'"                        232
+
+
+
+
+THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DAWN OF A WEDDING-JOURNEY
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald were prosperous and happy dwellers in a
+suburb of one of our large towns. Fortune had favored them in many
+ways--in health and in a good average happiness. They had reached early
+middle age, and their daughter Kate, their only child, had grown up to be
+a beautiful and good young woman, and was on the point of marrying a young
+lawyer--Rodney Bringhurst by name--in every way worthy of her.
+
+Hector Archibald was a little man, with small bright eyes, and hair
+slightly touched with gray and very much inclined to curl. His disposition
+was lively. He had a strong liking for cheerful occurrences, and was
+always willing to do his part in the bringing about of such events.
+Novelty had a charm for him. He was not bound by precedence and tradition,
+and if he had found himself at a dinner which began with coffee and ended
+with oysters on the half-shell, he would have given the unusual meal a
+most animated consideration, although he might have utterly withheld any
+subsequent approbation. As a general thing, he revolved in an orbit where
+one might always be able to find him, were the proper calculations made.
+But if any one drew a tangent for him, and its direction seemed suitable
+and interesting, he was perfectly willing to fly off on it.
+
+The disposition of Mrs. Hector Archibald was different. She was born to be
+guided by customs, fashions, and forms. She believed it was the duty of a
+married woman to make her home happy, and she did it. But she also
+believed that in the best domestic circles there were rules and usages for
+domestic happiness which would apply to every domestic condition and
+contingency. It frequently troubled her, however, to find that certain
+customs, forms, or usages of domestic society had changed, and being of a
+conservative turn of mind, it was difficult for her to adapt herself to
+these changes. But, thoroughly loyal to the idea that what was done by
+people she loved and people she respected ought also to be done by her,
+she earnestly strove to fit herself to new conditions, especially when she
+saw that by not doing so she would be out of touch with her family and her
+friends.
+
+Now of course the wedding of their daughter was the only thing in the
+world that seemed of real importance to Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, and for
+this all preparations and plans had been agreed upon and made with great
+good-will and harmony, excepting one thing, and that was the wedding-trip.
+Strange to say, the young people did not wish to take a wedding-trip. They
+believed that this old-fashioned custom was unnecessary, troublesome,
+commonplace, and stupid. In the gardens and grounds of the Archibald
+mansion, and in the beautiful surrounding country, they had loved each
+other as lovers, and among these scenes they wished to begin to love each
+other as a married couple. Why should such distasteful and unpleasant
+ingredients as railroad-cars, steamboats, and hotels be dashed into the
+pleasing mixture of their new lives? It had been arranged that for a year
+or two, at least, they should live in Kate's dear old home, and why should
+they not immediately begin that life there?
+
+Mr. Archibald did not favor this plan, and his wife was strongly opposed
+to it. A wedding without a wedding-trip ought not to be thought of.
+
+"During the honey-moon a young couple should live for each other, with
+each other, apart from the rest of the world. It is a beautiful custom,
+which should not be rudely trampled upon," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+But although Mrs. Archibald cherished a belief that she ought to conform
+her ideas to the domestic customs of the day, her daughter Kate cherished
+the belief that the domestic customs of the day ought to conform
+themselves to her ideas.
+
+"Of course we should like to be alone in the honey-moon," she exclaimed.
+"We don't object to that; and if there must be a wedding-journey, you and
+father can take it and we will stay here. Here are servants, books, things
+to eat, and everything our hearts can desire, and here we would really
+feel as if we were beginning life as man and wife. As for you two, you
+both need a vacation, and nothing could be more perfectly appropriate and
+more delightful to everybody than that you should take our wedding-trip.
+We don't want it; we will make it a present to you. Take it and be happy,
+and leave us here to be happy. People have done this sort of thing before,
+so that it is not absolutely wild and unheard of."
+
+Mr. Archibald welcomed this plan with open arms, and hugged it and his
+daughter to his breast. It suited him admirably, and he declared that all
+business and engagements of every kind should be set aside, and that he
+would be ready to start on the wedding-journey with Mrs. Archibald the
+moment the ceremony should be completed.
+
+"You will wait until the reception is over, father?" said Kate, laughing.
+
+"Yes," said he, "I will wait for that."
+
+This novel proposition sent a chill through every fibre of Mrs.
+Archibald's physical organism. At first she did not exactly comprehend it,
+but when she did, the chills increased. When she had recovered herself a
+little she began to make objections. This was easy enough, for they
+crowded into her mind like sheep into a pen; but every objection, as she
+brought it forth, was ruthlessly set aside or crushed to earth by her
+daughter or her husband, assisted by her expectant son-in-law, of whom she
+declared she never would have believed such a thing had she been told it.
+
+The discussion ended, of course, by Mrs. Archibald agreeing to go on this
+absurd wedding-journey. But the good lady's mental troubles were not over
+when she had given her consent. As this scheme had been devised by those
+dearest to her on earth, and as it was certain, these dearest persons
+assured her, to meet with the approbation of all people of advanced
+thought--at least of those whose thought had advanced far enough to make
+it worthy of their consideration--she felt that in doing her part she
+ought to do it honestly and with her whole heart; and at her time of life,
+to act as a proxy for a young bride by taking a wedding-journey in that
+young bride's place was a very difficult thing for Mrs. Archibald to do
+honestly and with her whole heart. But she would try to do it. Whatever
+else happened, her family must be kept happy, and it should never be said
+of her that she hung like a millstone around the combined neck of that
+family when it was unitedly climbing towards altitudes of felicity, which,
+although she was not able to discern them, must exist, since that fact had
+been so earnestly insisted upon by Mr. Archibald, Kate, and Rodney
+Bringhurst.
+
+Thus was this exceptional hymeneal performance decided upon, and at eleven
+o'clock on Wednesday, the 6th of June, the marriage service was performed.
+At noon the guests sat down to breakfast, and at two o'clock that
+afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald departed on the wedding-trip,
+leaving behind Mr. and Mrs. Bringhurst at home with each other, and "not
+at home" to the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ENTER MARGERY
+
+
+At four o'clock on the afternoon of June 6th Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald
+arrived at a family hotel in the capital of their state. Where they should
+go from there had not been decided upon. Nothing in regard to their
+wedding-journey had been decided upon except that they were to return to
+their home on the 6th of July of that year, and not before. It would have
+been impossible, with their minds filled with bridal arrangements, for
+them to make plans for their journey. But at this first stopping-place,
+where they were free from all responsibility and interruptions, they
+could, at their leisure, decide where they should go, how they should go,
+and what they should do when they got there.
+
+After the unrest and turmoil of their own home during the past few weeks,
+the quiet and repose of this city hotel were delightful. That evening they
+went to the theatre, and after the performance they had a little supper at
+a restaurant.
+
+"People may not think we are a newly married pair," said Mr. Archibald, as
+he poured out a glass of wine for his wife, "but it is not impossible that
+they may see we know how to enjoy ourselves quite as much as if we were."
+
+The next morning Mr. Archibald procured a number of railroad maps,
+time-tables, circulars of steamboat excursions, advertisements of mountain
+retreats and sea-side resorts, and he and his wife sat down to study
+these, and to decide upon a destination and a route. After an hour or two
+of indeterminate examination Mr. Archibald declared himself a little
+tired, and proposed that they should take a recess from their labors and
+go and call upon their old friends, the Stanley Dearborns.
+
+"People on wedding-tours do not make calls," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"That may be true," said her husband, "in ordinary cases, and although I
+do not care to announce to everybody the peculiarities of the expedition
+which we have undertaken, I do not mind in the least telling the Stanley
+Dearborns all about it. Stanley himself would not appreciate it; he would
+consider it absurd; but then he is not at home at this time of day, and
+Mrs. Dearborn is just the woman to enjoy a reform movement of this sort.
+Besides, she is full of ideas about everything, and she may propose some
+good place for us to go to."
+
+Mrs. Dearborn was at home, and very glad to see the Archibalds. She was a
+woman whose soul was in touch with the higher education of women--with
+female suffrage, the emancipation of the enslaved mind wherever it might
+be found, and with progress generally. She was a member of many societies,
+belonged to committees without end, wrote reports and minutes by day and
+by night, and was one of that ever-increasing class of good people who
+continually walk forward in order that their weight may help the world to
+turn over.
+
+In spite of her principles and the advanced position of her thought, Mrs.
+Dearborn actually leaned back in her chair and laughed heartily when she
+learned what sort of a journey the Archibalds were taking. In this
+merriment Mr. Archibald joined with great glee.
+
+"Ever since I left home," he said, "I have wanted to have a chance for a
+good laugh at this trip we are taking. It is the most delightful joke I
+have ever known."
+
+Mrs. Archibald could not help smiling, but her brow was clouded. "If this
+expedition is merely a joke," she said, "I do not think we should have
+undertaken it; but if it is an earnest assertion of our belief that there
+should be a change in the customs of society, then I think we should take
+it seriously, and I see nothing to laugh at."
+
+"My dear Harriet," said Mrs. Dearborn, "we can be good and glad at the
+same time; and that is what I am, I am sure. What you are doing is the
+initiation of one of the most worthy reforms of the day, and if it should
+have an effect in breaking up that wretched custom of the bridal tramp,
+which is considered so necessary in this country, society should rise up
+and call you blessed. But it is funny, for all that. I am sure that the
+first woman who dared to go without crinoline was very funny, and when I
+heard of a hospital for cats I could not help laughing; but I believed in
+it, and worked for it. And now where are you going?"
+
+"That is what we want to talk to you about," said Mr. Archibald; and for
+half an hour they talked about it.
+
+At the end of that time it was decided that the mountains were better than
+the sea or than a quiet lowland nook; and Mrs. Dearborn strongly
+recommended Sadler's, where she and her husband had spent a part of a
+summer a few years before.
+
+"We camped out," said she, "and had a fine time. You can camp out at
+Sadler's more easily and satisfactorily than anywhere else in the world."
+
+Camping suited Mr. Archibald admirably, and, to his surprise, his wife
+said she might like it very well.
+
+"If people are going to laugh at us," she said, "when they find out we are
+on a wedding-journey--and they will be sure to find it out in some way or
+other--I think the fewer people we mingle with the better. I do not think
+I shall like camping altogether, but I know it is healthful, and I suppose
+I ought to get used to it. It would be dreadfully lonely for just Mr.
+Archibald and me, but I suppose we can take some one with us to guide and
+cook."
+
+"My dear Harriet," said Mrs. Dearborn, "if you are at Sadler's, you can go
+into any sort of camp you please. I will tell you all about Sadler's.
+Sadler is a man of progress. His hotel or inn is on the very edge of the
+forest country, and away from all the centres of resort. He calls his
+place the terminal link of public travel in that direction. When you leave
+him you travel privately in any way you like. He has established what he
+has named a bureau of camping, and he furnishes his patrons with any sort
+of a camp they may desire. If the party is few in number and of a timid
+disposition, they can have a camp within shouting distance of his house.
+If they are brave and adventurous, he will send them out into the depths
+of the forest. If they like water, he locates them by the shores of a
+lake. If climbing is their passion, he puts them at the foot of a
+mountain. Those who want to hunt can do so, and those who dislike
+fire-arms are placed in a camp where the popping of guns is never heard.
+He provides tents, guides, provisions, and even dangers and sensations."
+
+"Safety is what I want," interrupted Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"And that he furnishes," said the other, "for those who desire it."
+
+"Sadler is the man for me!" cried Mr. Archibald. "We will go to him, look
+over his list of camps, and select one to suit us."
+
+"By-the-way," said Mrs. Dearborn, "a thought has struck me. How would you
+like to take Margery with you?"
+
+"Margery!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald. "That delightful little girl whom I
+taught to ride a tricycle when you were visiting us? I would like it ever
+so much."
+
+It struck Mrs. Archibald that people on bridal trips did not generally
+take children or young girls with them, but it also struck her that if
+they were going into camp it might be pleasant and in many ways
+advantageous to have some one of her own sex with her; but she had no time
+to formulate these advantages in her mind before Mrs. Dearborn explained
+in full.
+
+"Since Mr. Dearborn and I came home from Sadler's," she said, "Margery has
+been perfectly wild to go there, and as soon as the leaves began to bud in
+the parks she began to talk about it. We saw no possible chance of her
+going there, for her father is too busy to leave home for any length of
+time this season, and I cannot go to the mountains this year, for I must
+visit my sister, who is not well, and there are three summer conventions
+that I am obliged to attend. But if you could take her with you, I do not
+believe she would trouble you in the least, and you would give her great
+pleasure. Moreover, to speak practically, which I think we always ought to
+do, it would not be a bad thing on the score of economy, for things are
+always proportionately cheaper for three people in a camp than for two."
+
+A great many advantages of female companionship now began to creep into
+Mrs. Archibald's mind: if her husband should take it into his head to go
+out and hunt at night by the light of a torch; if there should be
+thunder-storms, and he away with the guide; if he should want to go off
+and talk to Indians or trappers, and he always did want to go off and talk
+to people of every class--it would be very pleasant to have even Margery
+Dearborn with her. So she consented with great good-will to her friend's
+proposition, and Mrs. Dearborn was much pleased and thankful.
+
+"Margery is a true creature of impulse," she said; "that is really her
+predominating characteristic, and she will want to bound to the ceiling
+when she hears she is to go to Sadler's. She is not at home now, but she
+will be in very soon. You must take luncheon with us."
+
+About a quarter of an hour after that Margery Dearborn came home. She was
+very glad indeed to see the Archibalds, whom she remembered as the kindest
+of people; and when she heard they were going to take her to Sadler's, she
+gave a scream of delight and threw herself upon Mrs. Archibald's neck.
+
+"You are an angel," she cried, "an angel of blessedness, my dear Aunt
+Harriet! Don't you remember, I used to call you that? Won't you let me
+call you so still?" And without waiting for an answer, she rushed to Mr.
+Archibald, with outstretched hands. "Dear Uncle Archibald, you are just as
+good as ever, I see. You know, I wouldn't call you Uncle Hector, because
+hectoring meant scolding, which never had anything to do with you.
+Sadler's! Oh, when do we start?"
+
+"To-morrow is Saturday," replied Mr. Archibald; "we must get together some
+things we will need for camp-life, and we can start on Monday."
+
+When the visitors were left to themselves for a few moments, Mr. Archibald
+said to his wife, "Harriet, I am astounded. This girl, who used to ride
+bareback and jump over fences, is a young lady now, and a handsome one,
+too. She is quite a different person from the girl I agreed to take with
+us."
+
+"Mr. Archibald," said his wife, "you never can remember that in this world
+people of all ages grow older. She was fourteen when she was visiting us,
+and that was four years ago, so of course she is a young lady."
+
+"No," he answered, "I don't feel that I am growing any older, and I don't
+see that you are, and so I totally forget that proclivity in other people.
+But what do you think now? Can we take this young woman with us to camp?
+Will she not be a dreadful drag?"
+
+"My dear," said Mrs. Archibald, "I much prefer the young lady to the girl.
+I don't want to be the only woman in camp, and the nearer the other woman
+is to my age the better."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald; "if you are satisfied, I am; and, if she
+will agree to it, we will add our ages for the time being, and divide by
+three, and then we will all stand on a level."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SADLER'S
+
+
+It was in the afternoon of Monday, the 11th of June, when Mr. and Mrs.
+Archibald, accompanied by Miss Margery Dearborn, arrived at Sadler's, and
+with feelings of relief alighted from the cramped stage-coach which had
+brought them eight miles from the railroad station.
+
+"Can this be Sadler's?" said Mr. Archibald, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Of course it must be," said his wife, "since they brought us here."
+
+"It certainly is the place," said Margery, "for there is the name over
+that door."
+
+"How do you feel about it?" said Mr. Archibald to his wife.
+
+"I feel very well about it," said she. "Why shouldn't I?"
+
+"How do you feel about it?" he asked of the younger lady.
+
+"Well," she answered, "I don't exactly understand it. I had visions of
+forests and wilds and tumbling mountain streams and a general air of
+primevalism, and I am surprised to see this fine hotel with piazzas, and
+croquet-grounds, and tennis-courts, and gravelled walks, and babies in
+their carriages, and elderly ladies carrying sun-shades."
+
+"But it seems to me that there is a forest behind it," said Mr.
+Archibald.
+
+"Yes," replied Margery, a little dolefully, "it has that to back it up."
+
+"Don't let us stand here at the bottom of the steps talking," said Mrs.
+Archibald. "I must say I am very agreeably surprised."
+
+In the wide hall which ran through the middle of the hotel, and not far
+from the clerk's desk, there sat a large, handsome man, a little past
+middle age, who, in a hearty voice, greeted the visitors as they entered,
+but without rising from his chair. This was Peter Sadler, the owner of the
+hotel, the legal owner of a great deal of the neighboring country, and the
+actual ruler of more of said country than could be easily marked out upon
+a map or stated in surveyors' terms.
+
+In fact, Peter Sadler, was king of that portion of the vast district of
+mountain and forest which could be reached in a day's journey in any
+direction. If he had wished to extend his domain to points at a greater
+distance than this he would have done so, but so far he was satisfied with
+the rights he had asserted. He ruled supreme in that region because he had
+lived longer in the vicinity than any other white man, because he had a
+powerful will which did not brook opposition, and because there was no one
+to oppose him.
+
+[Illustration: "'CAN THIS BE SADLER'S?'"]
+
+On the arable land which lay outside of the forest, and which really
+belonged to him, there were the houses of the men who farmed his fields,
+and on the outskirts of the woods were scattered here and there the cabins
+of the hunters and guides he employed, and these men knew no law but his
+will. Of course the laws of the State covered the district, but such
+promulgation and enforcement of these as he might consider necessary were
+generally left to Peter Sadler, and as to his own laws, he was always
+there to see that these were observed.
+
+His guests submitted themselves to his will, or they left his hotel very
+soon. To people of discernment and judgment it was not difficult to submit
+to the will of this full-bearded, broad-chested man, who knew so much
+better than they did what they ought to do if they wanted to get all the
+good out of Sadler's which they were capable of assimilating.
+
+This man, who sat all day in a big rolling-chair, and who knew everything
+that was going on in the hotel, the farm, and the forest about him, had
+been a hunter and a guide in his youth, an Indian-fighter in later years,
+and when he had been wounded in both legs, so that it was impossible for
+him ever to walk again, he came back to the scenes of his youth and
+established an inn for sportsmen--a poor little house at first, which grew
+and grew and grew, until it was the large, well-kept hotel so widely known
+by his name.
+
+After dinner, at which meal they were waited upon by women, and not by men
+in evening-dress as Margery had begun to fear, Mr. Archibald sought Peter
+Sadler and made known to him the surprise of his party at finding
+themselves in this fine hotel.
+
+"What did you expect?" asked Peter, eying him from head to foot.
+
+"From what we had heard," replied the other, "we supposed we should find
+some sort of a preparatory camping-ground in the woods, from which we
+could go out and have a camp of our own."
+
+"That's just what you have found," said Sadler. "In this house you prepare
+to camp, if you need preparation. If any man, woman, or child comes here
+and wants to go out to camp, and I see that they are sickly or weak or in
+any way not fit to live in the woods, I don't let them go one step until
+they are fit for it. The air and the food and the water they get here will
+make them fit, if anything will do it, and if these three things don't set
+them up they simply have to go back where they came from. They can't go
+into camp from this house. But if they fancy this hotel--and there isn't
+any reason why anybody shouldn't fancy it--they can stay here as long as
+they like, and I'll take care of them. Now, sir, if you want to go into
+camp, the first thing for you to do is to bring your family here and let
+me take a look at them. I've seen them, of course, but I haven't made up
+my mind yet whether they are the right sort for camp life. As for you, I
+think you will do. There isn't much of you, but you look tough."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "That's good rough talk," he said, "and smacks more
+of camp life than anything I have noticed here. I will go and bring my
+wife and Miss Dearborn."
+
+"There is another reason why I want to see them," said the bluff Peter.
+"As you are bent on camping, you'll like to choose a camp, and when
+anything of that kind is on hand I want to talk to the whole party. I
+don't care to settle the business with one of them, and then have him come
+back and say that what has been agreed upon don't suit the others. I want
+a full meeting or no session."
+
+When Mr. Archibald returned with his wife and Margery, he found Peter
+Sadler had rolled his chair up to a large circular table at the back of
+the hall, on which was spread a map of the forest. He greeted the ladies
+in a loud voice and with a cheery smile.
+
+"And so you want to go camping, do you?" said he. "Sit down and let us
+talk it over. I think the young lady is all right. She looks spry enough,
+and I expect she could eat pine-cones like a squirrel if she was hungry
+and had nothing else. As for you, madam, you don't appear as if anything
+in particular was the matter with you, and I should think you could stand
+a Number Three camp well enough, and be all the better for a week or two
+of it."
+
+"What is a Number Three camp?" asked Margery, before the astonished Mrs.
+Archibald could speak.
+
+"Well," said Sadler, "it is a camp with a good deal of comfort in it. Our
+Number One camps are pretty rough. They are for hunters and scientific
+people. We give them game enough in season, and some bare places where
+they can make fires and stretch a bit of canvas. That is all they want, to
+have a truly good time. That is the best camp of all, I think. Number Two
+camps are generally for fishermen. They always want a chance for pretty
+good living when they are out in the woods. They stay in camp in the
+evenings, and like to sit around and have a good time. Number Threes are
+the best camps we put families into, so you see, madam, I'm rating you
+pretty high. There's always a log-cabin in these camps, with cots and
+straw mattresses and plenty of traps for cooking. And, more than that,
+there is a chance for people who don't tramp or fish to do things, such as
+walking or boating, according to circumstances. There's one of our camps
+has a croquet-ground."
+
+"Oh, we don't want that!" cried Margery, "it would simply ruin every
+illusion that is left to me."
+
+"Glad to hear that," said Peter. "If you want to play croquet, stay at the
+hotel; that's what I say. Now, then, here are the camps, and there's
+plenty of them to choose from. You've come in a good time, for the season
+isn't fairly begun yet. Next month every camp will be full, with the hotel
+crowded with people waiting for their turns."
+
+"What we want," said Margery, rising and looking over the map, "is the
+wildest Number Three you have."
+
+"Oh, ho!" said Peter. "Not so fast, miss; perhaps we'll wait and see what
+this lady has to say first. If I'm not mistaken, madam, I think you're
+inclined the other way, and I don't put people into camps that they will
+be wanting to leave after the first rainy day. Now let me show you what
+I've got. Here is one, four hours' walk, horses for women, with a rocky
+stream through the middle of it."
+
+"That is grand!" cried Margery. "Is it really in the woods?"
+
+"Now let me do the talking," said Peter. "They are all in the woods; we
+don't make camps in pasture-fields. Even the Number Sevens, where the
+meals are sent to the campers from the hotel, and they have bath-tubs, are
+in the woods. Now here is another one, about three miles west from the one
+I just showed you, but the same distance from here. This, you see, is on
+the shore of a lake, with fishing, boating, and bathing, if you can stand
+cold water."
+
+"Glorious!" cried Margery. "That is exactly what we want. A lake will be
+simply heavenly!"
+
+"Everything seems to suit you, miss," said Peter, "just as soon as you
+hear of it. But suppose we consider more of them before you choose. Some
+two miles north of here, in the thickest of the forest, in a clearing that
+I made, there is a small camp that strikes the fancy of some people. There
+is a little stream there and it has fish in it too, and it runs through
+one corner of the log-cabin, so there are seven or eight feet of the
+stream inside the house, and on rainy days you can sit there and fish; and
+some people like to go to sleep with the running water gurgling close to
+them where they can hear it when they are in bed. Then there's an owl to
+this camp. The men heard him there when they were making the clearing, and
+he's never left the spot. Some people who were out there said they never
+felt as much away from the world as they did listening to that little
+stream gurgling and that owl hooting."
+
+"I believe," exclaimed Margery, "that in a place like that I could write
+poetry!"
+
+"It would give me the rheumatism and the blues," said Mrs. Archibald, upon
+which Peter Sadler exclaimed,
+
+"That settles that. Now then, here is another."
+
+Several other camps were considered, but it was the general conclusion
+that the one by the lake was the most desirable. It had a good cabin with
+three rooms, with plenty of open space, near by, for the tents of the
+guides; there was a boat which belonged to the camp, and in every way it
+seemed so suitable that Mr. Archibald secured it. He thought the price was
+rather high, but as it included guides, provisions, fishing-tackle, and in
+fact everything needed, he considered that although it might cost as much
+as lodgings in a city hotel, they would get more good out of it.
+
+"Has this camp any name?" asked the enthusiastic Margery, in the course of
+the conference.
+
+"That's about your twenty-seventh question, miss," said Peter, "but it's
+one I can answer. Yes, it's got a name. It's called Camp Rob."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Margery, in a disappointed tone. "What a name!"
+
+"Yes," said Peter, "it isn't much of a name. The first people who went out
+there named it that, and it stuck to it, and it's all it's got. Camps are
+like horses--we've got to tell them apart, and so we give them names, and
+that's Camp Rob."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A CATARACT OF INFORMATION
+
+
+Peter Sadler would have been glad to have the Archibald party stay at his
+hotel for a few days, and Mrs. Archibald would have been perfectly
+satisfied to remain there until they were ready to return to their own
+house, but her husband and Margery were impatient to be in the woods, and
+it was therefore decided to start for the camp the next day. Peter Sadler
+was a man of system, and his arrangements were made promptly and rapidly.
+
+"You've got to have a guide," said he, "and another man to help him, and I
+think I'll give you Phil Matlack. Phil is an old hand at the business, and
+if you don't know what you want, he'll tell you. If you are in Phil's
+hands, you needn't be afraid anything will happen to you. Whatever you
+want, ask him for it, and ten to one he'll have it, whether it's
+information or fishhooks. I tell you again, you're lucky to be here early
+and get the best of everything. Camp Rob with Phil Matlack will stand at a
+premium in three or four weeks from now."
+
+That evening after supper Mr. Archibald lighted a cigar and went out into
+the grounds in front of the hotel, where he was presently joined by his
+wife.
+
+"Where is Margery?" asked he.
+
+"She is in her room," replied Mrs. Archibald, "but she called to me that
+she would be down directly."
+
+In about ten minutes down came Margery and floated out upon the lawn. She
+was dressed in white, with flowers in her hair, and she was more charming,
+Mr. Archibald said, as she approached, than even the sunset sky.
+
+"You should not speak in that way of works of nature," said his wife.
+
+"Isn't she a work of nature?" he asked.
+
+"Not altogether," was the wise reply. "Why did you dress yourself in that
+fashion?" she asked Margery. "I did not suppose you would bring such a
+fine gown, as we started out to go into camp. And even in this hotel a
+travelling-suit is good enough for any one."
+
+"Oh, I tucked this into one of my bags," replied Margery. "I always like
+to have something nice to fall back upon. Don't you want to take a little
+stroll, Aunt Harriet?"
+
+Mr. Archibald leaned back in his garden-chair and slowly puffed his cigar,
+and as he puffed he took his eyes from the sunset sky and watched his wife
+and Margery.
+
+A little beyond them, as they walked, sat two elderly ladies on a bench,
+wearing shawls, and near by stood a girl in a short dress, with no hat on,
+and a long plait down her back. A little farther on was a tennis-court,
+and four people, apparently young, were playing tennis. There were two
+men, and neither of them wore a tennis-suit. One was attired as a
+bicyclist, and the other wore ordinary summer clothes. The young women
+were dressed in dark-blue flannel and little round hats, which suggested
+to Mr. Archibald the deck of a yacht.
+
+Near the hotel was an elderly gentleman walking up and down by himself,
+and on the piazza were the rest of the guests he had seen at the table;
+not very many of them, for it was early in the season.
+
+Mr. Archibald now turned his eyes again to the sky. It was still
+beautiful, although its colors were fading, and after a time he looked
+back towards his wife. She was now talking to the two elderly ladies on
+the bench, and Margery was engaged in conversation with the girl with the
+plait down her back.
+
+"When I finish my cigar," thought Mr. Archibald, "I will go myself and
+take a stroll." And it struck him that he might talk to the old gentleman,
+who was still walking up and down in front of the hotel. After
+contemplating the tops of some forest trees against the greenish-yellow of
+the middle sky, he turned his eyes again towards his wife, and found that
+the two elderly ladies had made room for her on the bench, that the
+tennis-game had ceased, and that one of the girls in blue flannel had
+joined this group and was talking to Margery.
+
+In a few moments all the ladies on the bench rose, and Mrs. Archibald and
+one of them walked slowly towards an opening in the woods. The other lady
+followed with the little girl, and Margery and the young woman in blue
+walked in the same direction, but not in company with the rest of the
+party. The two young men, with the other tennis-player between them,
+walked over from the tennis-court and joined the first group, and they all
+stopped just as they reached the woods. There they stood and began talking
+to each other, after which one of the young men and the young woman
+approached a large tree, and he poked with a stick into what was probably
+a hole near its roots, and Mr. Archibald supposed that the discussion
+concerned a snake-hole or a hornets' nest. Then Margery and the other
+young woman came up, and they looked at the hole. Now the whole company
+walked into the woods and disappeared. In about ten minutes Mr. Archibald
+finished his cigar and was thinking of following his wife and Margery,
+when the two elderly ladies and Mrs. Archibald came out into the open and
+walked towards the hotel. Then came the little girl, running very fast as
+she passed the tree with the hole near its roots. In a few minutes Mrs.
+Archibald stopped and looked back towards the woods; then she walked a
+little way in that direction, leaving her companions to go to the hotel.
+Now the young man in the bicycle suit emerged from the woods, with a girl
+in dark-blue flannel on each side of him.
+
+"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald, and rising to his feet, advanced
+towards his wife; but before he reached her, Margery emerged from the wood
+road, escorted by the young man in the summer suit.
+
+"Upon my word," Mr. Archibald remarked, this time to his wife, "that ward
+of ours is not given to wasting time."
+
+"It seems so, truly," said she, "and I think her mother was right when she
+called her a creature of impulse. Let us wait here until they come up. We
+must all go in; it is getting chilly."
+
+In a few minutes Margery and the young man had reached them.
+
+"Thank you very much," said this creature of impulse to her escort. "My
+uncle and aunt will take care of me now. Aunt Harriet and Uncle Archibald,
+this is Mr. Clyde. He saw a great snake go into a hole over there just
+before supper-time, and I think we ought all to be very careful how we
+pass that way."
+
+"I don't think there is very much danger after nightfall," said Mr. Clyde,
+who was a pleasant youth with brown hair, "and to-morrow I'll see if I can
+kill him. It's a bad place for a snake to have a hole, just where ladies
+would be apt to take their walks."
+
+"I don't think the snake will trouble us much," said Mrs. Archibald, "for
+we leave to-morrow. Still, it would be a good thing to kill it."
+
+After this there were a few remarks made about snakes, and then Mr. Clyde
+bade them good-evening.
+
+"How in the world, Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, "did you get acquainted
+so quickly with that young man--and who is he?"
+
+"Oh, it all happened quite naturally," said she. "As we turned to go out
+of the woods he was the gentleman nearest to me, and so of course he came
+with me. Those two girls are sisters, and their name is Dodworth. They
+introduced Mr. Clyde and the other gentleman, Mr. Raybold, to me. But that
+was after you had been talking to Mrs. Dodworth, their mother, who is Mr.
+Raybold's aunt. The other lady, with the shawl on, is Mrs. Henderson,
+and--would you believe it?--she's grandmother to that girl in the short
+dress! She doesn't begin to look old enough. The Dodworths don't go into
+camp at all, but expect to stay here for two weeks longer, and then they
+go to the sea-shore. Mrs. Henderson leaves day after to-morrow.
+
+"Mr. Clyde and his friend live in Boston. They are both just beginning to
+practise law, though Mr. Clyde says that Mr. Raybold would rather be an
+actor, but his family objects. The old gentleman who is walking up and
+down in front of the hotel has heart-disease, some people say--but that is
+not certain. He stayed here all last summer, and perhaps he will this
+year. In two weeks hardly any of the people now in this hotel will be
+here. One family is going into camp when the father and two sons come on
+to join them, and the rest are going to the sea-shore, except one lady.
+You may have noticed her--the one with a dark-purple dress and a little
+purple cap. She's a school-teacher, and she will spend the rest of the
+summer with her sister in Pennsylvania.
+
+"That man Phil Matlack, who is going with us to-morrow, is quite a
+character, and I expect I shall like him awfully. They say that about five
+years ago he killed a man who made an attack on him in the woods, but he
+was never tried for it, nor was anything whatever done to him, because Mr.
+Sadler said he was right, and he would not have any nonsense about it.
+There are people about here who believe that Phil Matlack would fight a
+bear single-handed if it happened to be necessary. Mr. Sadler would do it
+himself if he could walk. Nobody knows how many men he killed when he was
+fighting Indians; and, would you believe it? his wife is a plain, little,
+quiet woman, who lives in some part of the hotel where nobody ever sees
+her, because she is rather bashful and dislikes company.
+
+"The other person who is going with us is not very much more than a boy,
+though they say he is very strong and a good hunter. His name is Martin
+Sanders, and I forgot to say that the old gentleman with the heart-disease
+is named Parker.
+
+"It's generally thought that Phil Matlack would rather have some one else
+than Martin Sanders to go with him, because he says Martin knows too much.
+The fact is that Martin is well educated, and could have gone into some
+good business, but he was so fond of the woods that he gave up everything
+to come out here and learn guiding. You know we were told that our camp in
+the woods has three rooms in it? Well, it really has four, for there was
+an artist there last year who built a little room for a studio for rainy
+days. I expect Mr. Sadler forgot that, or didn't think it worth counting.
+There are no snakes at all where we are going to camp, but two miles
+farther on there are lots of them."
+
+"Over the brink of Niagara," interjected Mr. Archibald, "they say eighteen
+million cubic feet of water pour every minute. Where on earth, Margery,
+did you fill your mind with all that information?"
+
+"I got it from those two Dodworth girls and Mr. Clyde," said she. "Mr.
+Raybold told me some things, too, but mostly about his bicycle. He feels
+badly about it, because he brought it here, and now he finds there is no
+place to use it. I should think he ought to have known that the primeval
+forest isn't any place for a bicycle."
+
+"Mr. Archibald," said Mrs. Archibald, when they had retired to their room,
+"I did not agree with you when you wished we could have started for camp
+to-day, but now I am quite of your mind."
+
+Tuesday was fine, and preparations were made for the Archibald party to
+start for their camp after an early luncheon.
+
+The bluff and hearty Peter took such an interest in everything that was
+being done for their comfort, giving special heed to all the possible
+requirements of Mrs. Archibald, that the heart of Mr. Archibald was
+touched.
+
+"I wish," said he to his good-natured host, "that you were going with us.
+I do not know any one I would rather camp with than you."
+
+"If I could do it," replied Peter, "I'd like it ever so well. So far as I
+have been able to make you out, you are the sort of a man I'd be willing
+to run a camp for. What I like about you is that you haven't any mind of
+your own. There is nothing I hate worse than to run against a man with a
+mind of his own. Of course there have to be such fellows, but let them
+keep away from me. There is no room here for more than one mind, and I
+have pre-empted the whole section."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "Your opinion of me does not sound very
+complimentary," he said.
+
+"It is complimentary!" roared Peter Sadler, striking the table with his
+fist. "Why, I tell you, sir, I couldn't say anything more commendable of
+you if I tried! It shows that you are a man of common-sense, and that's
+pretty high praise. Everything I've told you to do you've done. Everything
+I've proposed you've agreed to. You see for yourself that I know what is
+better for you and your party than you do, and you stand up like a man and
+say so. Yes, sir; if a rolling-chair wasn't as bad for the woods as the
+bicycle that Boston chap brought down here, I'd go along with you."
+
+Mr. Archibald had a very sharp sense of the humorous, and in his enjoyment
+of a comical situation he liked company. His heart was stirred to put his
+expedition in its true light before this man who was so honest and
+plain-spoken. "Mr. Sadler," said he, "if you will take it as a piece of
+confidential information, and not intended for the general ear, I will
+tell you what sort of a holiday my wife and I are taking. We are on a
+wedding-journey." And then he told the story of the proxy bridal tour.
+
+Peter Sadler threw himself back in his chair and laughed with such great
+roars that two hunting-dogs, who were asleep in the hall, sprang to their
+feet and dashed out of the back door, their tails between their legs.
+
+"By the Lord Harry!" cried Peter Sadler, "you and your wife are a pair of
+giants. I don't say anything about that young woman, for I don't believe
+it would have made any difference to her whether you were on a
+wedding-trip or travelling into the woods to bury a child. I tell you,
+sir, you mayn't have a mind that can give out much, but you've got a mind
+that can take in the biggest kind of thing, and that is what I call grand.
+It is the difference between a canyon and a mountain. There are lots of
+good mountains in this world, and mighty few good canyons. Tom, you Tom,
+come here!"
+
+In answer to the loud call a boy came running up.
+
+"Go into my room," said Peter Sadler, "and bring out a barrel bottle,
+large size, and one of the stone jars with a red seal on it. Now, sir,"
+said he to Mr. Archibald, "I am going to give you a bottle of the very
+best whiskey that ever a human being took into the woods, and a jar of
+smoking-tobacco a great deal too good for any king on any throne. They
+belong to my private stock, and I am proud to make them a present to a man
+who will take a wedding-trip to save his grown-up daughter the trouble. As
+for your wife, there'll be a basket that will go to her with my
+compliments, that will show her what I think of her. By-the-way, sir, have
+you met Phil Matlack?"
+
+"No, I have not!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald, with animation. "I have heard
+something about him, and before we start I should like to see the man who
+is going to take charge of us in camp."
+
+"Well, there he is, just passing the back door. Hello, Phil! come in
+here."
+
+When the eminent guide, Phil Matlack, entered the hall, Mr. Archibald
+looked at him with some surprise, for he was not the conventional tall,
+gaunt, wiry, keen-eyed backwoodsman who had naturally appeared to his
+mental vision. This man was of medium height, a little round-shouldered,
+dressed in a gray shirt, faded brown trousers very baggy at the knees, a
+pair of conspicuous blue woollen socks, and slippers made of carpet. His
+short beard and his hair were touched with gray, and he wore a small
+jockey cap. With the exception of his eyes, Mr. Matlack's facial features
+were large, and the expression upon them was that of a mild and generally
+good-natured tolerance of the world and all that is in it. It may be
+stated that this expression, combined with his manner, indicated also a
+desire on his part that the world and all that is in it should tolerate
+him. Mr. Archibald's first impressions of the man did not formulate
+themselves in these terms; he simply thought that the guide was a slipshod
+sort of a fellow.
+
+"Phil," said Mr. Sadler, "here is the gentleman you are going to take into
+camp."
+
+"Glad to see him," said Matlack; "hope he'll like it."
+
+"And I want to say to you, Phil," continued Sadler, "right before him,
+that he is a first-class man for you to have in charge. I don't believe
+you ever had a better one. He's a city man, and it's my opinion he don't
+know one thing about hunting, fishing, making a camp-fire, or even digging
+bait. I don't suppose he ever spent a night outside of a house, and
+doesn't know any more about the weather than he does about planting
+cabbages. He's just clean, bright, and empty, like a new peach-basket.
+What you tell him he'll know, and what you ask him to do he'll do, and if
+you want a better man than that to take into camp, you want too much.
+That's all I've got to say."
+
+Matlack looked at Peter Sadler and then at Mr. Archibald, who was leaning
+back in his chair, his bright eyes twinkling.
+
+"How did you find out all that about him?" he asked.
+
+"Humph!" exclaimed Peter Sadler. "Don't you suppose I can read a man's
+character when I've had a good chance at him? Now how about the
+stores--have they all gone on?"
+
+"They were sent out early this mornin'," said Matlack, "and we can start
+as soon as the folks are ready."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+CAMP ROB
+
+
+It was early in the afternoon when the Archibald party took up the line of
+march for Camp Rob. The two ladies, supplied by Mrs. Sadler with coarse
+riding-skirts, sat each upon a farm-horse, and Mr. Archibald held the
+bridle of the one that carried his wife. Matlack and Martin Sanders, the
+young man who was to assist him, led the way, while a led horse, loaded
+with the personal baggage of the travellers, brought up the rear.
+
+Their way wound through a forest over a wood road, very rough and barely
+wide enough for the passage of a cart. The road was solemn and still,
+except where, here and there, an open space allowed the sunlight to play
+upon a few scattered wild flowers and brighten the sombre tints of the
+undergrowth.
+
+After a ride which seemed a long one to the ladies, who wished they had
+attired themselves in walking-costume, the road and the forest suddenly
+came to an end, and before them stretched out the waters of a small lake.
+Camp Rob was not far from the head of the lake, and for some distance
+above and below the forest stood back from the water's edge. In the shade
+of a great oak tree there stood a small log-house, rude enough to look at,
+but moderately comfortable within, and from this house to the shore a wide
+space was cleared of bushes and undergrowth.
+
+The lake was narrow in proportion to its length, which was about two
+miles, and on the other side the forest looked like a solid wall of green
+reflected in the water beneath. Even Mrs. Archibald, whose aching back
+began to have an effect upon her disposition, was delighted with the
+beauty of the scene, which delight endured until she had descended from
+her horse and entered the log-cabin in which she was to dwell for a time.
+
+It is not necessary to describe the house, nor is it necessary to dive
+into the depths of Mrs. Archibald's mind as she gazed about her, passing
+silently from room to room of the little house. She was a good woman, and
+she had made up her mind that she would not be a millstone around the
+necks of her companions. Many people have been happy in camps, and,
+indeed, camp-life has become one of the features of our higher
+civilization, and this, from what she had heard, must be a camp above the
+common. So, think what she might, she determined to make no open
+complaint. If it were possible for her to be happy here, she would be
+happy.
+
+As for Margery, no determination was needed in her case. Everything was
+better than she had expected to find it. The cabin, with the bark on
+almost everything, even the furniture, was just what a house in the woods
+ought to be; and when she entered the little studio, which was nearer
+allied to the original forest than any other part of the house, she
+declared that that must be her room, and that living there she would feel
+almost like a dryad in an oak.
+
+"You've camped out before?" said Phil Matlack to Mr. Archibald, as he was
+taking a survey of the scene.
+
+"Oh yes," said the other, "I've been out a few days at a time with
+fishing-parties, but we never had such a fine camp as this--so well
+located and such good accommodations."
+
+"You are a fisherman, then?" said the guide.
+
+"Yes. I am very fond of it. I've fished ever since I was a boy, and know a
+good deal about bait, in spite of what Mr. Sadler said."
+
+"I had an idea of that sort," remarked Phil, "but it ain't no use to
+contradict Peter. It helps keep up his spirits for him to think he can
+read the characters of people just as quick as he can aim a rifle. And
+it's a mighty important thing to keep Peter's spirits up. If Peter's
+spirits was to go down, things round here would flatten out worse than a
+rotten punkin when it's dropped."
+
+It did not take long to establish the new-comers in their woodland
+quarters. The tent for the two men, which had arrived in the morning, was
+pitched not far from the cabin, and then Matlack and Martin went to work
+to prepare supper. The dining-room in pleasant weather was the small space
+in front of the house, where there was a table made of a wide board
+supported by stakes, with a low and narrow board on each side, also
+resting on stakes, and forming seats.
+
+The supper was a better one and better served than any of the party had
+expected. The camp outfit included table-cloths, and even napkins.
+
+"To-morrow," said Matlack, as he brought a dish of hot and savory broiled
+ham, "after Mr. Archibald gets to work, we'll have some fish."
+
+Mrs. Archibald had been a little fearful that under these primitive
+conditions the two men might expect to sit at the table with them, but she
+need have had no such fears. Matlack and Martin cooked and waited with a
+skill and deftness which would have surprised any one who did not reflect
+that this was as much their business as hunting or woodcraft.
+
+After supper a camp-fire was built at a safe distance from the house, for
+although the evening air was but slightly cool, a camp without a camp-fire
+would not be a camp. The party ranged themselves around it, Mrs. Archibald
+on a rug brought from the cabin, and her husband and Margery on the
+ground. Mr. Archibald lighted his pipe, the fire lighted the trees and the
+lake, and joy inexpressible lighted the heart of Margery.
+
+"If I could smoke a pipe," said she, "and get Mr. Matlack to come here and
+tell me how he killed a man, I should be perfectly happy."
+
+That night Mrs. Archibald lay awake on her straw mattress. Absolute
+darkness was about her, but through the open window she could see, over
+the tops of the trees on the other side of the lake, one little star.
+
+"If I could get any comfort out of that little star," thought the good
+lady, "I would do it; but I can't do it, and there is nothing else to
+comfort me."
+
+On the other side of the room, on another straw mattress, she could hear
+her husband breathing steadily. Then, upon the bare boards of the floor,
+which were but a few inches below her little cot-bed, she thought she
+heard the patter of small feet. A squirrel, perhaps, or, horrible to think
+of, it might be a rat. She was sure rats would eat straw beds, and her
+first impulse was to wake Mr. Archibald; but she hesitated, he was
+sleeping so soundly. Still she listened, and now she became almost certain
+that what she heard was not the patter of small feet; it sounded more like
+something soft which was dragging itself over the floor--possibly a snake.
+This idea was simply awful, and she sat up in bed. Still she did not call
+Mr. Archibald, for should he suddenly spring on the floor, he would be in
+more danger from the snake than she was.
+
+She listened and she listened, but she heard nothing more, and then her
+reason began to assure her that a snake's movements on a bare floor would
+be absolutely noiseless; but in a moment all thoughts of serpents were
+driven from her head. Outside of the cabin she heard a sound that could be
+nothing less than the footsteps of some living creature--a wild beast,
+perhaps a panther. The door was shut and fastened, but the window was
+open. To call Mr. Archibald and tell him a wild beast was walking outside
+the house would be positively wicked. Half-awakened, he would probably
+rush out of the door to see what it was. What could she do? For an instant
+she thought of lighting a candle and standing it in the window. She knew
+that wild beasts were afraid of fire, and she did not believe that even a
+panther would dare jump over a lighted candle. But if she struck a match
+and got up, she would waken her husband; and, besides, if the wind, of
+which she could feel a puff every now and then, did not blow out the
+candle, it might blow it over and set fire to the cabin.
+
+She heard the footsteps no more, and lay down again, but not to sleep. The
+wind seemed to be rising, and made a wild, unearthly sound as it surged
+through the trees which surrounded and imprisoned her, and shut her out
+from the world in which she was born and in which she ought to live. There
+was a far-away sound which came to her ears once, twice, thrice, and which
+might have been the call of some ghostly bird or the war-whoop of an
+Indian. At last she drew the covering over her head, determined that, so
+long as she could not see, she would not hear.
+
+"A wedding-journey!" she said to herself, and the idea, coupled with the
+sense of her present grewsome and doleful condition, was so truly absurd
+and ridiculous that she could not restrain a melancholy laugh.
+
+"What is the matter, my dear?" exclaimed Mr. Archibald, suddenly turning
+over in his bed. "Are you choking? Is the room too close? Shall I open the
+door?"
+
+"No, indeed," she said, "for that was a laugh you heard. I couldn't help
+laughing at the thought that there should be two such idiots in the world
+as you and myself."
+
+"It is idiotic, isn't it?" said Mr. Archibald. "It is gloriously idiotic,
+and it will do us both a world of good. It is such a complete and perfect
+change that I don't wonder you laugh." Then he laughed himself, clearly
+and loudly, and turned over on his side and went to sleep.
+
+Mrs. Archibald felt certain that she would not sleep another wink that
+night, but she did sleep seven hours and a half, and was awakened by
+Margery singing outside her window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+CAMP ROY
+
+
+No thoughts of idiocy crossed the minds of any of the camping party during
+their first breakfast under the great oak-tree. The air, the sunlight, the
+rippling waters of the lake, the white clouds in the blue sky, the great
+trunks of the trees, the rustling of the leaves, the songs of the birds,
+the hum of insects, the brightness of everything, their wonderful
+appetites--the sense of all these things more than filled their minds.
+
+For the greater part of that day Mr. Archibald fished, sometimes in a
+stream which ran into the head of the lake about a quarter of a mile above
+the camp, and sometimes on the shores of the lake itself. Margery
+sketched; her night in the studio had filled her with dreams of art, and
+she had discovered in a corner a portable easel made of hickory sticks
+with the bark on, and she had tucked some drawing materials into one of
+her bags.
+
+Mrs. Archibald was a little tired with her journey of the day before, and
+contented herself with sitting in the shade in pleasant places, occupied
+with some needle-work she had brought with her, and trying to discipline
+her mind to habits of happiness in camp. This was not very difficult
+during the first part of this beautiful day, but towards the end of the
+afternoon she began to think less of the joys of a free life in the heart
+of nature and more of the pleasure of putting on her bonnet and going out
+to make some calls upon her friends. In this state of mind it pleased her
+to see Phil Matlack coming towards her.
+
+"Would you like a cup of tea, ma'am?" said he.
+
+"No, thank you," she answered. "It would seem rather odd to have afternoon
+tea in the woods, and I really don't care for it."
+
+"We can have 'most anything in the woods, ma'am," said Matlack, "that we
+can have anywhere else, providin' you don't mind what sort of fashion you
+have it in. I thought it might be sort of comfortin' to you to have a cup
+of tea. I've noticed that in most campin' parties of the family order
+there's generally one or two of them that's lonesome the first day; and
+the fact is I don't count on anything particular bein' done on the first
+day in camp, except when the party is regular hunters or fishermen. It's
+just as well for some of them to sit round on the first day and let things
+soak into them, provided it isn't rain, and the next day they will have a
+more natural feelin' about what they really want to do. Now I expect you
+will be off on some sort of a tramp to-morrow, ma'am, or else be out in
+the boat; and as for that young lady, she's not goin' to sketch no more
+after to-day. She's got young Martin out in the boat, restin' on his oars,
+while she's puttin' him into her picture. She's rubbed him out so often
+that I expect he'll fall asleep and tumble overboard, or else drop one of
+his oars."
+
+"Mr. Matlack," said Mrs. Archibald, "will you please sit down a moment? I
+want to ask you something."
+
+"Certainly, ma'am," said he, and forthwith seated himself on a log near
+by, picking up a stick as he did so, and beginning to shave the bark from
+it with his pocket-knife.
+
+"Do you know," said she, "if there are panthers in these woods?"
+
+Matlack looked up at her quickly. "I expect you heard them walkin' about
+your cabin last night," said he; "and not only panthers, but most likely a
+bear or two, and snakes rustlin' in the leaves; and, for all I know, coons
+or 'possums climbin' in and out of the window."
+
+"Oh, nothing so bad as that," she replied. "I only thought--"
+
+"Excuse me, ma'am," he interrupted. "I didn't mean that you heard all
+those things, but most likely a part of them. Hardly any family parties
+goes into camp that some of them don't hear wild beasts the first night.
+But they never come no more. Them kind of wild beasts I call
+first-nighters, and they're about the worst kind we've got, because they
+really do hurt people by scratchin' and clawin' at their nerves, whereas
+the real wild beasts in these parts--and they're mighty scarce, and never
+come near camp--don't hurt nobody."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," said she. "But what on earth can be keeping Mr.
+Archibald? When he started out after dinner he said he would be back very
+soon."
+
+"Oh, he's got the fever, ma'am," said Matlack.
+
+"Fever!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, dropping her work in her lap.
+
+"Oh, don't be frightened," said he; "it is only the fishin' fever. It
+don't hurt anybody; it only keeps the meals waitin'. You see, we are
+pretty nigh the first people out this year, and the fish bite lively. Are
+you fond of fishin', ma'am?"
+
+"No, indeed," said she; "I dislike it. I think it is cruel and slimy and
+generally unpleasant."
+
+"I expect you'll spend most of your time in the boat," suggested Matlack.
+"Your husband rows, don't he?"
+
+"He doesn't row me," said Mrs. Archibald, with earnestness. "I never go
+out in a boat except with a regular boatman. I suppose you have a larger
+boat than the one that young man is in? I can see it from here, and it
+looks very small."
+
+"No, ma'am," said Matlack; "that's the only one we've got. And now I guess
+I'll go see about supper. This has been a lazy day for us, but we always
+do calc'late on a lazy day to begin with."
+
+"It strikes me," said Matlack to himself, as he walked away, "that this
+here camp will come to an end pretty soon. The man and the young woman
+could stand it for a couple of weeks, but there's nothing here for the old
+lady, and it can't be long before she'll have us all out of the woods
+again."
+
+"You can come in," called Margery, about ten minutes after this
+conversation; and young Martin, who had not the least idea of going to
+sleep in the boat, dipped his oars in the water and rowed ashore, pulled
+the boat up on the beach, and then advanced to the spot where Margery was
+preparing to put away her drawing materials.
+
+"Would you mind letting me see your sketch?" said he.
+
+"Oh no," said she; "but you'll see it isn't very much like the scene
+itself. When I make a drawing from nature I never copy everything I see
+just as if I were making a photograph. I suppose you think I ought to draw
+the boat just as it is, but I always put something of my own in my
+pictures. And that, you see, is a different kind of a boat from the one
+you were in. It is something like Venetian boats."
+
+"It isn't like anything in this part of the world, that is true," said the
+young man, as he held the drawing in his hand; "and if it had been more
+like a gondola it would not have suited the scene. I think you have caught
+the spirit of the landscape very well; but if you don't object to a little
+criticism, I should say that the shore over there is too near the
+foreground. It seems to me that the picture wants atmosphere; that would
+help the distance very much."
+
+"Do you draw?" asked Margery, in surprise.
+
+"I used to be very fond of sketching," said he. "I stayed at Sadler's a
+good part of the last winter, and when I wasn't out hunting I made a good
+many drawings of winter scenes. I would be glad to show them to you when
+we go back."
+
+"Well," said she, "if I had known you were an artist I would not have
+asked you to go out there and sit as a model."
+
+"Oh, I am not an artist," replied Martin; "I only draw, that's all. But if
+you make any more water sketches and would like me to put some ducks or
+any other kind of wild-fowl in the foreground I will be glad to do it for
+you. I have made a specialty of natural-history drawings. Don't bother
+yourself about that easel; I'll carry up your things for you."
+
+About half-way to the cabin Margery suddenly stopped and turned round
+towards the young man, who was following her. "How did you come to be a
+guide?" she asked.
+
+He smiled. "That's because I was born a naturalist and a sportsman. I went
+into business when I finished my education, but I couldn't stand that, and
+as I couldn't afford to become a gentleman sportsman, I came here as a
+guide. I'm getting a lot of experience in this sort of life, and when I've
+saved money enough I'm going on an exploring expedition, most likely to
+Central America. That's the kind of life that will suit me."
+
+"And write a book about it?" asked Margery.
+
+"Most likely," said he.
+
+That night, after supper, Margery remarked: "Our two guides are American
+citizens, and I don't see why they can't eat at the table with us instead
+of waiting until we have finished. We are all free and equal in the
+woods."
+
+"Margery Dearborn!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald. "What are you talking
+about?"
+
+She was going to say that if there were one straw more needed to break her
+back, that straw would be the sight of the two guides sitting at the table
+with them, but she restrained herself. She did not want Mr. Archibald to
+know anything about the condition of her back.
+
+"So long as they don't want to do it, and don't do it," said she, "pray
+don't let us say anything about it. Let's try to make things as pleasant
+as we can."
+
+Mr. Archibald was lighting his pipe, and when he was sure the tobacco was
+sufficiently ignited he took the pipe from his mouth and turned towards
+his wife.
+
+"Harriet," said he, "you have been too much alone to-day. I don't know
+what I shall do to-morrow; but whatever it is, I am going to take you with
+me."
+
+"Of course that depends on what it is you do," she answered. "But I will
+try to do everything I can."
+
+Mr. Archibald heaved a little sigh, which was not noticed by any one,
+because it sounded like a puff.
+
+"I am afraid," he thought, "that this camping business is not going to
+last very much longer, and we shall be obliged to make the rest of our
+wedding-journey in a different style."
+
+The next morning, when Mr. Archibald went out of his cabin door, he looked
+over the lake and saw a bird suddenly swoop down upon the water, breaking
+the smooth surface into sparkles of silver, and then rise again, a little
+silvery fish glittering in its claws.
+
+"Beautifully done!" said he. "A splendid stroke!" And then turning, he
+looked up the lake, and not far from the water's edge he saw Margery
+walking with Mr. Clyde, while Mr. Raybold followed a little in the rear.
+
+"Harriet," he cried, quickly stepping into the cabin again, "look out
+here! What is the meaning of this?"
+
+Mrs. Archibald was dressed, and came out. When she saw the trio
+approaching them, she was not so much surprised as was her husband.
+
+"I don't know the meaning of anything that happens in these woods," she
+said; "but if a lot of people have come from the hotel with those young
+men I cannot say I am sorry."
+
+"Come," said her husband, "we must look into this."
+
+In two minutes the Archibalds had met the new-comers, who advanced with
+outstretched hands, as if they had been old friends. Mr. Archibald, not
+without some mental disquietude at this intrusion upon the woodland
+privacy of his party, was about to begin a series of questions, when he
+was forestalled by Margery.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Archibald and Aunt Harriet!" she exclaimed, "Mr. Clyde and Mr.
+Raybold have come out here to camp. Their camp is right next to ours, and
+it is called Camp Roy. You see, some years ago there was a large camping
+party came here, and they called the place Camp Rob Roy, but it was
+afterwards divided, and one part called Camp Rob and the other Camp Roy."
+
+"Indeed!" interrupted Mr. Archibald. "Mr. Sadler did not tell us that ours
+was only half a camp with only half a name."
+
+"I don't suppose he thought of it," said Margery. "And the line between
+the two camps is just three hundred feet above our cabin. I don't suppose
+anybody ever measures it off, but there it is; and Mr. Clyde and Mr.
+Raybold have taken Camp Roy, which hasn't any house on it. They started
+before daybreak this morning, and brought a tent along with them, which
+they have pitched just back of that little peninsula; and they haven't any
+guide, because they want to attend to their own cooking and everything,
+and the man who brought the tent and other things has gone back. They are
+going to live there just like real backwoodsmen, and they have a boat of
+their own, which is to be brought up from the bottom of the lake
+somewhere--I mean from the lower end of the lake. And, Aunt Harriet, may I
+speak to you a moment?"
+
+With this the young woman drew Mrs. Archibald aside, and in a low voice
+asked if she thought it would be out of the way to invite the two young
+men to take breakfast with them, as it was not likely they had all their
+cooking things in order so early.
+
+Five people sat down to breakfast under the great oak-tree, and it was a
+lively meal. Mr. Archibald's mental disquiet, in which were now apparent
+some elements of resentment, had not subsided, but the state of his mind
+did not show itself in his demeanor, and he could not help feeling pleased
+to see that his wife was in better spirits. He had always known that she
+liked company.
+
+After breakfast he took Matlack aside. "I don't understand this business,"
+said he. "When I hired this camp I supposed we were to have it to
+ourselves; but if there are other camps jammed close against it we may be
+in the midst of a great public picnic before a week is out."
+
+"Oh, that camp over there isn't much of a camp," replied the guide. "The
+fact is, it is only the tail end of a camp, and I don't suppose Peter
+Sadler thought anybody would be likely to take it just now, and so didn't
+think it worth while to speak of it. Of course it's jammed up against this
+one, as you say; but then the people in one camp haven't the right to
+cross the line into another camp if the people in the other camp don't
+want them to."
+
+"Line!" said Mr. Archibald. "It is absurd to think of lines in a place
+like this. And I have no intention of making myself disagreeable by
+ordering people off my premises. But I would like to know if there is
+another camp three hundred feet on this side of our cabin, or three
+hundred feet back of it."
+
+"No, sir," said Matlack, speaking promptly; "there isn't another camp
+between this and the lower end of the lake. There's a big one there, and
+it's taken; but the people aren't coming until next month."
+
+"If a larger party had taken Camp Roy," said Mr. Archibald to his wife a
+little later, "I should not mind it so much. But two young men! I do not
+like it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A STRANGER
+
+
+It was at the close of a pleasant afternoon four days after the arrival of
+the young men at Camp Roy, and Mrs. Archibald was seated on a camp-stool
+near the edge of the lake intently fishing. By her side stood Phil
+Matlack, who had volunteered to interpose himself between her and all the
+disagreeable adjuncts of angling. He put the bait upon her hook, he told
+her when her cork was bobbing sufficiently to justify a jerk, and when she
+caught a little fish he took it off the hook. Fishing in this pleasant
+wise had become very agreeable to the good lady, and she found pleasures
+in camp life which she had not anticipated. Her husband was in a boat some
+distance out on the lake, and he was also fishing, but she did not care
+for that style of sport; the fish were too big and the boat too small.
+
+A little farther down the lake Martin Sanders sat busily engaged in
+putting some water-fowl into the foreground of Margery's sketch. A
+critical observer might have noticed that he had also made a number of
+changes in said sketch, all of which added greatly to its merits as a
+picture of woodland scenery. At a little distance Margery was sitting at
+her easel making a sketch of Martin as an artist at work in the woods. The
+two young men had gone off with their guns, not perhaps because they
+expected to find any legitimate game at that season, but hoping to secure
+some ornithological specimens, or to get a shot at some minor quadrupeds
+unprotected by law. Another reason for their expedition could probably
+have been found in some strong hints given by Mr. Archibald that it was
+unwise for them to be hanging around the camps and taking no advantage of
+the opportunities for sport offered by the beautiful weather and the
+forest.
+
+It was not long before Margery became convinced that the sketch on which
+she was working did not resemble her model, nor did it very much resemble
+an artist at work in the woods.
+
+"It looks a good deal more like a cobbler mending shoes," she said to
+herself, "and I'll keep it for that. Some day I will put a bench under him
+and a shoe in his hand instead of a sketch." With that she rose, and went
+to see how Martin was getting on. "I think," she said, "those dark ducks
+improve the picture very much. They throw the other things back." Then she
+stopped, went to one side, and gazed out over the lake. "I wonder," she
+said, "if there is really any fun in fishing. Uncle Archibald has been out
+in that boat for more than two hours, and he has fished almost every day
+since he's been here. I should think he would get tired of it."
+
+"Oh no," said Martin, looking up with animation. "If you know how to fish,
+and there is good sport, you never get tired of it."
+
+"I know how to fish," said Margery, "and I do not care about it at all."
+
+"You know how to fish?" said Martin. "Can you make a cast with a fly?"
+
+"I never tried that," said she. "But I have fished as Aunt Harriet does,
+and it is easy as can be."
+
+"Oh," said he, "you don't know anything about fishing unless you have
+fished with a fly. That is the only real sport. It is as exciting as a
+battle. If you would let me teach you how to throw a fly, I am sure you
+would never find fishing tiresome, and these woods would be like a new
+world to you."
+
+"Why don't you do it yourself, then?" she asked.
+
+"Because I am paid to do other things," he replied. "We are not sent here
+simply to enjoy ourselves, though I must say that I--" And then he
+suddenly stopped. "I wish you would let me teach you fly-fishing. I know
+you would like it."
+
+Margery looked at the eager face turned towards her, and then she gazed
+out over the water.
+
+"Perhaps I might like it," she said. "But it wouldn't be necessary for you
+to take that trouble. Uncle Archibald has two or three times asked me to
+go out with him, and of course he would teach me how to fish as he does.
+Isn't that somebody calling you?"
+
+"Yes," said Martin, rising; "it's Phil. I suppose it's nearly
+supper-time."
+
+As they walked towards the camp, Margery in front, and Martin behind her
+carrying the drawing-materials and the easel, Margery suddenly turned.
+
+[Illustration: "'THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK'"]
+
+"It was very good of you to offer to teach me to fish with flies," she
+said, "and perhaps, if Uncle Archibald doesn't want to be bothered, I may
+get you to show me how to do it."
+
+The young man's face brightened, and he was about to express his pleasure
+with considerable warmth; but he checked himself, and merely remarked that
+whenever she was ready he would provide a rod and flies and show her how
+to use them.
+
+Mrs. Archibald had gone into the cabin, and Margery went up to Matlack,
+who was on his way to the little tent in which the camp cooking was done.
+
+"Did Mrs. Archibald tell you," said she, "that we have invited Mr. Clyde
+and Mr. Raybold to supper to-night?"
+
+The guide stopped and smiled. "She told me," said he, "but I don't know
+that it was altogether necessary."
+
+"I suppose you mean," said Margery, "that they are here so much; but I
+don't wonder; they must do awfully poor cooking for themselves. I don't
+suppose they will bring anything back that is good to eat."
+
+"Not at this time of year," said he, "but I shall be satisfied if they
+bring themselves home."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Margery, quickly.
+
+"Well," said Matlack, "I don't doubt the bicycle fellow will always come
+back all right, but I'm afeard about the other one. That bicycle chap
+don't know no more about a gun than he does about makin' bread, and I
+wouldn't go out huntin' with him for a hundred dollars. He's just as
+likely to take a crack at his pardner's head as at anything else that's
+movin' in the woods."
+
+"That is dreadful!" exclaimed Margery.
+
+"Yes, it is," returned the guide; "and if I had charge of their camp he
+wouldn't go out with a gun again. But it will be all right in a day or
+two. Peter will settle that."
+
+"Mr. Sadler, do you mean?" asked Margery. "What's he got to do with it?"
+
+"He's got everything to do with it," said Matlack. "He's got everything to
+do with everything in this part of the country. He's got his laws, and he
+sees to it that people stand by them. One of his rules is that people who
+don't know how to use guns sha'n't shoot in his camps."
+
+"But how can he know about the people out here in the woods?" asked
+Margery.
+
+"I tell you, miss," said Matlack, speaking slowly and decisively, "Peter
+Sadler's ways of knowing things is like gas--the kind you burn, I mean. I
+was a-visitin' once in a city house, and slept in a room on the top floor,
+and there was a leak in the pipe in the cellar, and that gas just went
+over the whole house, into every room and closet, and even under the beds,
+and I've often thought that that was just like Peter's way of doin' things
+and knowin' things. You take my word for it, that bicycle-man won't go out
+huntin' many more days, even if he don't shoot his pardner fust."
+
+"He won't go to-morrow," thought Margery; and then she said to Matlack: "I
+think we ought to know Mr. Sadler's rules. Has he any more of them?"
+
+"Oh, they ain't very many," said Matlack. "But there's one I think of now,
+and that is that no woman shall go out in a boat by herself on this
+lake."
+
+"That is simply horrid!" exclaimed Margery. "Women can row as well as
+men."
+
+"I don't say they can't," said Matlack. "I'm only tellin' you what Peter's
+rules are, and that's one of them."
+
+Margery made no reply, but walked away, her head thrown back a little more
+than was usual with her.
+
+"I've got to keep my eye on her," said Matlack to himself, as he went to
+the cabin; "she's never been broke to no harness."
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. Raybold did not shoot Mr. Clyde, nor did he shoot anything else. Mr.
+Clyde did shoot a bird, but it fell into the water at a place where the
+shore was very marshy, and it was impossible for him to get it. He thought
+it was a heron, or a bittern, or perhaps a fish-hawk, but whatever it was,
+both ladies said that it was a great pity to kill it, as it was not good
+to eat, and must have been very happy in its life in the beautiful
+forest.
+
+"It is very cruel to shoot them when they are not strictly game," said Mr.
+Clyde, "and I don't believe I will do it. If I had the things to stuff
+them with, that would be different, but I haven't. I believe fishing is
+just as much fun, and more sensible."
+
+"I do not!" exclaimed Mr. Raybold. "I hold that hunting is a manly art,
+and that a forester's life is as bold and free to him as it is to the
+birds in the air. I believe I have the blood of a hunter in me. My voice
+is for the woods."
+
+"I expect you will change your voice," thought Margery, "when Mr. Sadler
+takes your gun away from you." But she did not say so.
+
+Mr. Archibald stood with his hands in his pockets reflecting. He had hoped
+that these two young men were inveterate hunters, and that they would
+spend their days in long tramps. He did not at all approve of their
+fishing. Fishing could be done anywhere--here, for instance, right at this
+very door.
+
+Supper was over, and the five inhabitants of Camps Rob and Roy had seated
+themselves around the fire which Martin had carefully built, keeping in
+view a cheery blaze without too much heat. Pipes had been filled and
+preparations made for the usual evening smoke and talk, when a man was
+seen emerging from the woods at the point where the road opened into the
+clearing about the camp. It was still light, for these hungry campers
+supped early, and the man could be distinctly seen as he approached, and
+it was plain that he was not a messenger from Sadler's.
+
+He was rather a large man, dressed in black, and wearing a felt hat with a
+wide, straight brim. Hanging by a strap from his shoulder was a small
+leather bag, and in his hand he carried a closed umbrella. Advancing
+towards the fire, he took off his hat, bowed, and smiled. He wore no
+beard, his face was round and plump, and his smile was pleasant.
+
+"Good-evening, ladies and gentlemen," said he, and his voice was as
+pleasant as his smile.
+
+"Good-evening," said Mr. Archibald, and then for a moment there was a
+pause.
+
+"I presume," said the new-comer, looking about him, "that this is a
+camp."
+
+"It is a camp," said Mr. Archibald.
+
+"The fact is so obvious," said the man in black, "that it was really
+unnecessary for me to allude to it. May I ask to be allowed to sit down
+for a few moments? I am fatigued."
+
+At this juncture Phil Matlack arrived on the scene. "Well, sir," said he,
+"have you any business with anybody here? Who do you wish to see?"
+
+"I have no business," said the other, "and--"
+
+"And you are a stranger to everybody here?" interrupted Matlack.
+
+"Yes, but I hope--"
+
+"Now then," said the guide, quickly, "I've got to ask you to move on. This
+is one of Peter Sadler's camps, and he has strict rules against strangers
+stoppin' in any of them. If you've lost your way, I'll tell you that this
+road, if you don't turn to the right or the left, will take you straight
+to Sadler's, and there's time enough for you to get there before dark."
+
+"Mr. Matlack," exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, who had risen to her feet, "I
+want to speak to you! It's a shame," she said, when the guide had
+approached her, "to send that man away without even giving him a chance to
+rest himself. He may be a very respectable person on a walking tour."
+
+"I guess he is on a walkin' tour," said Matlack, "and I guess he's a
+regular tramp, and there's no orders we've got that's stricter than them
+against tramps."
+
+"Well, I don't care who he is," said Mrs. Archibald, "or what your rules
+are, but when a perfectly good-mannered man comes to us and asks simply to
+be allowed to rest, I don't want him to be driven away as if he were a
+stray pig on a lawn. Mr. Archibald, shouldn't he be allowed to rest a
+while?"
+
+Her husband rose and approached the stranger. "Where are you going, sir?"
+said he.
+
+The man looked at Matlack, at Martin, who stood behind him, and then at
+the rest of the company, and after this comprehensive glance he smiled.
+
+"From present appearances," he said, "I think I am going to go."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "When do you expect to get there?" he asked.
+
+"It seems to me," said the other, reflectively, "that I am always going
+there, and I suppose I shall have to keep on doing it."
+
+"Look here," said Mr. Archibald, turning to Matlack, "give him some
+supper, and let him rest. There will be time enough for him to get to
+Sadler's after that. If Sadler has anything to say against it, refer him
+to me."
+
+"All right, sir," said Matlack, "if you say so. I'm no harder on my
+fellow-bein's than other people, but rules is rules, and it isn't for me
+to break them."
+
+"My dear sir," said the stranger to Mr. Archibald, "your words are more
+grateful to me than the promise of food. I see that you consider me a
+tramp, but it is a mistake. I am not a tramp. If you will allow me, after
+I have eaten a little supper--a meal which I must admit I greatly need--I
+will explain to you how I happen to be here." And with a bow he walked
+towards the table where Matlack and Martin had been eating their supper.
+
+"Do you know what I think he is?" said Mr. Clyde, when Mr. Archibald had
+resumed his seat and his pipe. "I believe he is a wandering actor. Actors
+always have smoothly shaven faces, and he looks like one."
+
+"Actor!" exclaimed Arthur Raybold. "That's nonsense. He's not in the least
+like an actor. Anybody could see by his tread and his air that he's never
+been on the stage. He's more like a travelling salesman. The next thing
+he'll do will be to pull out of that bag some samples of spool thread or
+patent thimbles."
+
+"You are both wrong," said Margery--"entirely wrong. I have been looking
+at him, and I believe he is a Methodist minister with a dead horse. They
+ride circuits, and of course when their horses die they walk. Just wait a
+little, and see if I am not right."
+
+They waited a little, and then they waited a little longer, and they had
+begun to be tired of waiting before the stranger finished his meal and
+approached the fire. His face was brighter, his smile was more pleasant,
+and his step had a certain jauntiness in it.
+
+"I thank you all," he said, "for the very good meal I have just enjoyed. I
+am now going to go, but before I start I would like very much--indeed, I
+crave it as a favor--to place myself before you in my proper light. May I
+have permission to do so, madam and sir?" he said, addressing Mrs. and Mr.
+Archibald, but with a respectful glance at the others, as if he would not
+ignore any one of them.
+
+"Certainly," said Mrs. Archibald. "Sit down and tell us about yourself."
+
+The stranger seated himself with alacrity a little back from the circle,
+and nearer to the young men than to the Archibald party.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE BISHOP'S TALE
+
+
+The stranger placed his broad-brimmed hat on the ground beside him,
+exposing a large round head somewhat bald in front, but not from age, and
+the rest of it covered with close-cut brown hair. His black clothes fitted
+him very closely, their extreme tightness suggesting that they had
+shrunken in the course of wearing, or that he had grown much plumper since
+he had come into possession of them; and their general worn and dull
+appearance gave considerable distance to the period of their first
+possession. But there was nothing worn or dull about the countenance of
+the man, upon which was an expression of mellow geniality which would have
+been suitably consequent upon a good dinner with plenty of wine. But his
+only beverage had been coffee, and in his clear bright eye there was no
+trace of any exhilaration, except that caused by the action of a hearty
+meal upon a good digestion and an optimistic disposition.
+
+"I am very glad," he said, looking about him at the company, and then
+glancing with a friendly air towards the two guides, who stood a little
+back of Mr. Archibald, "to have this opportunity to explain my appearance
+here. In the first place, I must tell you that I am a bishop whose diocese
+has been inundated, and who consequently has been obliged to leave it."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald; and Margery looked at Mr. Clyde, with the
+remark:
+
+"There! You see I was very near to it."
+
+"I presume this statement will require some explanation," continued the
+man in black, "and I will make it presently. I am going to be exceedingly
+frank and open in all that I say to you, and as frankness and openness are
+so extremely rare in this world, it may be that I shall obtain favor in
+your eyes from the fact of my possessing those unusual qualities.
+Originally I was a teacher, and for a year or two I had a very good
+country school; but my employment at last became so repugnant to me that I
+could no longer endure it, and this repugnance was due entirely to my
+intense dislike for children."
+
+"That is not at all to your credit," observed Mrs. Archibald; "and I do
+not see how you became a bishop, or why you should have been made one."
+
+"Was your diocese entirely meadow-land?" inquired Mr. Archibald.
+
+"I am coming to all that," said the stranger, with a smile of polite
+consideration towards Mrs. Archibald. "I know very well that it is not at
+all to my credit to dislike children, but I said I would be honest, and I
+am. I do dislike them--not their bodies, but their minds. Children,
+considered physically, are often pleasant to the view, and even
+interesting as companions, providing their innate juvenility is
+undisturbed; but when their personalities are rudely thrown open by a
+teacher, and the innate juvenility prematurely exposed to the air, it is
+something so clammy, so chilly to the mental marrow, that I shrink from it
+as I would shrink from the touch of any cold, clammy thing."
+
+"Horrible!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"I am not sure," observed Margery, "that there is not some truth in that.
+I had a Sunday-school class for a little while, and although I can't say
+there was a clamminess, there was--well, I don't know what there was, but
+I gave it up."
+
+"I am glad," said the man in black, "that my candor is not sinking me in
+the estimation of every one present; but even if it did, I am obliged to
+tell the truth. I do not know what would have become of me if I had not
+had the good-fortune to catch the measles from a family with whom I was
+spending Sunday in another town. As soon as the disease plainly showed
+itself upon me my school was broken up, and it was never gathered together
+again, at least under me.
+
+"I must make my story brief, and can only say that not long after this I
+found myself in another town, where it became necessary for me to do
+something to support myself. This was difficult, for I am an indefinite
+man, and definiteness seems necessary to success in any line. Happening
+one day to pass a house with open lower windows, I heard the sound of
+children's voices speaking in unison, and knowing that this must be a
+school, I looked in, compelled entirely by that curiosity which often
+urges us to gaze upon human suffering. I found, however, that this was a
+kindergarten conducted by a young woman. Unobserved by scholars or
+teacher, I watched the proceedings with great interest, and soon became
+convinced that kindergartening was a much less repellent system of tuition
+than any I had known; but I also perceived that the methods of the young
+woman could be greatly improved. I thought a good deal upon this subject
+after leaving the open window. Soon afterwards, becoming acquainted with
+the young person in charge of the children, I offered to teach her a much
+better system of kindergartening than she was using. My terms were very
+low, and she became my scholar. I soon learned that there were other
+kindergartens in the town, and some of the teachers of these joined my
+class. Moreover, there were young women in the place who were not
+kindergartners, but who would like to become such, and these I also
+taught, sometimes visiting them at their houses, and sometimes giving my
+lessons in a room loaned by one of my patrons. My system became very
+popular, because it was founded upon common-sense."
+
+"What was your system?" asked Mrs. Archibald. "I am interested in
+kindergartens myself."
+
+"My object," he answered, "was to make the operation of teaching
+interesting to the teacher. It struck me very forcibly that a continuance
+of a few years in the present inane performances called kindergartening
+would infallibly send to our lunatic asylums a number of women, more or
+less young, with more or less depleted intellects. The various games and
+exercises I devised were very interesting, and I am sure I had scholars
+who never intended to become kindergartners, and who studied with me
+solely for their own advantage. It was at this time that I adopted the
+clerical dress as being more suitable to my vocation than any other
+costume, and some one having called me the bishop, the name soon became
+popular, and I was generally known by it."
+
+"But what is your real name?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Madam," said the man, "you must excuse me if I ask you to recall your
+question. I have a good name, and I belong to a very good family, but
+there are reasons why I do not at present wish to avow that name. Some of
+these reasons are connected with the report that I purposely visited the
+family with the measles in order to get rid of my school; others are
+connected with the inundation of my diocese, of which I shall speak;
+others refer to my present indefinite method of life. There is reason to
+suppose that the time is not far distant when my resumption of my family
+name will throw no discredit upon it, but that period has not yet arrived.
+Do you press your question, madam?"
+
+"Oh no," said Mrs. Archibald; "it really makes no difference; and out here
+in the woods a man may call himself a bishop or a cardinal or anything he
+likes."
+
+"Thank you very much," said he, "and I will continue to speak in figures,
+and call myself a bishop."
+
+"Where I was brought up," interpolated Phil Matlack, still standing behind
+Mr. Archibald, "I was taught that figures don't lie."
+
+"My good sir," said the speaker, with a smile, "in mathematics they don't,
+in poetry and literature they often do. Well, as I was saying, my
+diocese extended itself, my revenues were satisfactory, and I had
+begun to believe that I had found my true work in life, when suddenly
+there was a misfortune. There arrived in our town three apostles of
+kindergartening--two of them were women, and one was a man. They had heard
+of my system, and had come to investigate it. They did so, with the
+result that in an astonishingly short time my diocese was inundated with a
+flood of Froebelism which absolutely swept me away. With this bag,
+this umbrella, and this costume, which has now become my wardrobe, I
+was cast out in all my indefiniteness upon a definite world."
+
+"And how did you get here?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"I had heard of Sadler and his camps," said he; "and in this beautiful
+month and in this beautiful weather I thought it would be well to
+investigate them. I accordingly went to Mr. Sadler's, where I arrived
+yesterday afternoon. I found Mr. Sadler a very definite man, and, I am
+sorry to say, that as he immediately defined me as a tramp, he would
+listen to no other definition. 'You have no money to pay for food and
+lodgings,' said he, 'and you come under my tramp laws. I don't harbor
+tramps, but I don't kick them out into the woods to starve. For labor on
+this place I pay one dollar and a half a day of ten hours. For meals to
+day-laborers I charge fifteen cents each. If you want your supper, you can
+go out to that wood-shed and split wood for one hour.' I was very hungry;
+I went out into the wood-shed; I split wood for one hour, and at the end
+of that time I had a sufficient meal. When I had finished, Mr. Sadler sent
+for me. 'Do you want to stay here all night?' he said. 'I do,' I answered.
+'Go, then, and split wood for another hour.' I did so, and it was almost
+dark when I had finished. In the morning I split wood for my breakfast,
+and when I had finished I went to Mr. Sadler and asked him how much he
+would charge for a luncheon wrapped in a piece of paper. 'Seven and a half
+cents,' he said. I split wood for half an hour, and left Sadler's
+ostensibly to return to the station by the way I had come; but while I had
+been at work, I found from the conversation of some of the people that one
+of the camps was occupied, and I also discovered in what direction it lay.
+Consequently, after I had passed out of the sight of the definite Peter
+Sadler, I changed my course, and took a path through the woods which I was
+told would lead to this road, and I came here because I might just as well
+pass this way as any other, and because, having set out to investigate
+camp life, I wished to do so, and I hope I may be allowed to say that
+although I have seen but little of it, I like it very much."
+
+"Now, then," said Phil Matlack, walking around the circle and approaching
+the stranger, "you said, when you first came here, that you were going to
+go, and the time has come when you've got to go."
+
+"Very well," said the other, looking up with a smile; "if I've got there
+I'd better stop."
+
+Mr. Archibald and the young men laughed, but Matlack and Martin, who had
+now joined him, did not laugh.
+
+"You've barely time enough," said the former, "to get to Sadler's before
+it is pitch-dark, and--"
+
+"Excuse me," said the other, "but I am not going back to Sadler's
+to-night. I would rather have no bed than split wood for an hour after
+dark in order to procure one. I would prefer a couch of dried leaves."
+
+"You come along into the road with this young man and me; I want to talk
+to you," said Matlack.
+
+"Now, Matlack," said Mr. Archibald, "don't be cruel."
+
+"I am not," said the guide. "I am the tenderest-hearted person in the
+world; but even if you say so, sir, I can't let a stranger stay all night
+in a camp that I've got charge of."
+
+"Look here, Matlack," exclaimed Mr. Clyde, "you haven't got charge of our
+camp!"
+
+"No, I haven't," said the other.
+
+"Well, then, this person can come over and stay with us. We have a little
+tent that we brought to put over the cooking-stove, and he can sleep in
+that."
+
+"Very well," said Matlack; "if you take him out of this camp I haven't
+anything to say--that is, to-night."
+
+"My dear sir," said the stranger, rising, and approaching Mr. Clyde, "I
+accept your offer with pleasure, and thank you most heartily for it. If
+you had proffered me the hospitality of a palace, I could not be more
+grateful."
+
+"All right," said Clyde; "and I suppose it is time for us to be off, so I
+will bid you all good-night. Come along, Arthur. Come along, bishop."
+
+The face of the last-named individual beamed with delight as he heard this
+appellation, and bidding everybody good-night, and thanking them for the
+kindness with which he had been treated, he followed the two young men.
+
+The three walked some little distance towards Camp Roy, and then Clyde
+came running back to speak to Margery, who was now standing by herself
+watching the young moon descend among the trees. Then Mr. Raybold also
+stopped and came back to Margery, upon which the bishop stopped and waited
+for them. In about ten minutes he was joined by the two young men, and the
+three proceeded to Camp Roy.
+
+"There is one thing, Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, "which I wish you would
+speak to Margery about. I don't want her to get up so early and go out for
+a morning walk. I find that those young men are also early risers."
+
+"I will speak to her," said Mrs. Archibald; "where is she?"
+
+"Over there, talking to young Martin," said her husband. "It isn't quite
+dark yet, but I think it is time we were all in bed."
+
+"Quite time," said she. "Margery tells me that that young guide, who is a
+handsome fellow, is going to teach her how to fish with flies. I wish you
+would sometimes take her out in the boat with you, Mr. Archibald; I am
+sure that you could teach her how to fish."
+
+He smiled. "I suppose I could," he said; "and I also suppose I could pull
+her out of the water the first time she hooked a big fish. It would be
+like resting a boat on a pivot to put her into it."
+
+"Then you don't take her," said Mrs. Archibald, decisively. "And you can't
+take her with you up the stream, because, of course, she can't wade. I
+don't want her to get tired of camp-life, but--"
+
+"Don't be afraid of the young men," interrupted her husband, with a laugh;
+"so long as there are three of them there is no danger."
+
+"Of course I will not, if you don't wish it, Aunt Harriet," said Margery,
+when Mrs. Archibald had spoken to her about the early morning walks; "and
+I will stay in my room until you call me."
+
+The next morning, when Mrs. Archibald was ready to leave the cabin, she
+did call Margery, but received no answer. Then she went to the little
+studio-room, and when she opened the door she found its occupant leaning
+out of the window talking to Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold, who stood
+outside.
+
+"Good-morning, Aunt Harriet!" exclaimed Margery, gayly. "Mr. Clyde has
+brought me nearly an armful of birch-bark, all thin and smooth. I am going
+to make a birch-bark bedspread out of it. I'll cover a sheet with these
+pieces, you see, and sew them on. Then I can have autographs on them, and
+mottoes, and when I cover myself up with it I shall really feel like a
+dryad."
+
+"And here is what I have brought," said Mr. Raybold, holding up an armful
+of bark.
+
+"Oh, thank you very much," said Margery, taking the mass, but not without
+dropping a good many of the pieces. "Of course it was kind of him to bring
+it," she said to Mrs. Archibald, as they left the room together, "but he
+needn't have bothered himself: I don't want to sleep under a wood-pile."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+MATLACK'S THREE TROUBLES
+
+
+"Have you asked those two young men to breakfast again?" inquired Mr.
+Archibald, after examining, with a moderate interest, the specimen of
+birch-bark which Margery had shown him.
+
+"Oh no, indeed," said she, "they have had their breakfast. They have been
+telling me about it. The bishop got up very early in the morning and
+cooked it for them. He's a splendid cook, and he found things in their
+hampers that they didn't know they had. They said his coffee was
+delicious, and they have left him there in their camp now, washing the
+dishes and putting everything in order. And do you think, Uncle Archibald,
+that it is going to rain?"
+
+"I do," said he, "for it is sprinkling already."
+
+This proved to be the first bad day since the Archibald party had gone
+into camp, and the rain soon began to come down in a steady, practised
+way, as if the clouds above were used to that sort of thing and could
+easily keep it up all day.
+
+As there was no place under roof to which company could be conveniently
+invited, Margery retired to her room and set herself diligently to work on
+her birch-bark quilt.
+
+Mrs. Archibald established herself in the division of the cabin which was
+intended to be used as a sitting and dining room in bad weather, and
+applied herself to some sewing and darning, which had been reserved for
+just such a day as this. Mr. Archibald, in a water-proof suit, tried
+fishing for half an hour or so, but finding it both unpleasant and
+unprofitable, he joined his wife, made himself as comfortable as possible
+on two chairs, and began to read aloud one of the novels they had brought
+with them.
+
+Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold had considerately gone to their own camp when it
+began to rain, hoping, however, that the shower would be over in a short
+time. But the rain was not a shower, and they spent the morning on their
+backs in their tent, talking and smoking. Of course they could not expect
+the bishop to depart in the rain, so they had told him to make himself as
+comfortable as he could in the little kitchen tent, and offered him a pipe
+and a book. The first he declined, as he never smoked, but the latter he
+accepted with delight.
+
+After the mid-day dinner Phil Matlack, in a pair of high hunting-boots and
+an oil-skin coat, came to Mr. Archibald and said that as there was nothing
+he could do that afternoon, he would walk over to Sadler's and attend to
+some business he had there.
+
+"About the bishop?" asked Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Partly," said Matlack. "I understand the fellow is still over there with
+those two young men. I don't suppose they'll send him off in the rain, and
+as he isn't in my camp, I can't interfere. But it may rain for two or
+three days."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald, "and if we want anything we'll ask
+Martin."
+
+"Just so," said Matlack. "If there's anything to do that you don't want to
+do yourself, you can get him to do it; but if you want to know anything
+you don't know yourself, you'd better wait until I come back."
+
+When Matlack presented himself before Peter Sadler he found that ponderous
+individual seated in his rolling-chair near the open door, enjoying the
+smell of the rain.
+
+"Hello, Phil!" he cried. "What's wrong at the camp?"
+
+The guide left his wet coat and cap on the little piazza outside, and
+after carefully wiping his feet, seated himself on a chair near the door.
+
+"There's three things wrong," said he. "In the first place, there's a
+tramp out there, and it looks to me as if he was a-goin' to stick, if he
+can get allowed to do it."
+
+"Is he too big for you to bounce?" roared Peter. "That's a pretty story to
+come tell me!"
+
+"No, he ain't," said the other; "but I haven't got the bouncin' of him.
+He's not in my camp. The young men have took him in; but I expect he'll
+come over with them as soon as it's done rainin', for when that happens
+they're bound to come themselves."
+
+"Look here, Phil," said Peter, "is he dressed in black?"
+
+"Yes, he is," said the guide.
+
+Mr. Sadler slapped his hand on the arm of his chair. "Phil Matlack," he
+shouted, "that's my favorite tramp. I never had a man here who paid his
+bill in work as he did. It was cash down, and good money. Not a minute of
+wood-splitting more or less than the market-price for meals and bed. I'd
+like to have a tramp like that come along about twice a week. But I tell
+you, Phil, he ain't no tramp. Couldn't you see that? None of them loafers
+ever worked as he did."
+
+"He may not be a tramp," said Matlack, "but he's trampin'. What are you
+goin' to do about him? Let him stay there?"
+
+"What's he doin' now?" asked Sadler.
+
+"He's cookin' for those two young men."
+
+"Well, they need some one to do it for them, and they didn't want to go to
+the expense of a guide. Let the parson alone for a day or two, and if he
+does anything out of the way just you take him by one ear and Martin take
+him by the other and bring him to me. I'll attend to him. What's the next
+trouble?"
+
+"That's out of my camp, too," said Matlack, "but I'm bound to report it.
+The bicycle fellow that you hired a gun to don't know the fust thing about
+usin' it, and the next thing you'll hear will be that he's shot his
+pardner, who's worth six of him."
+
+Mr. Sadler sat up very straight in his chair and stared at the guide.
+"Phil Matlack," he shouted, "what do you take me for? I hired that gun to
+that young man. Don't you suppose I know what I'm about?"
+
+"That's all right," said Matlack, "but the trouble is he don't know what
+he's about."
+
+"Get away man," said Peter, with a contemptuous sniff, "he'll never hurt
+anybody. What do you take me for? When he came to me and wanted a gun, I
+handed him two or three, so that he might choose one that suited him, and
+by the way he handled them I could see that most likely he'd never handled
+one before, and so I set him up all right. He's got a good gun, and all
+the cartridges he'll be likely to want; and the cartridges are all like
+this. They're a new kind I heard of last winter, and I got a case from
+Boston last week. I don't see how I ever managed to run my camps without
+them. Do you see that shot?" said he, opening one end of a cartridge.
+"Well, take one in your hand and pinch it."
+
+Phil did so, and it crumbled to dust in his hand.
+
+"When that load's fired," said Peter, "all the shot will crumble into
+dust. It wouldn't do to give raw hands blank-cartridges, because they'd
+find that out; but with this kind they might sit all day and fire at a
+baby asleep in its cradle and never disturb it, provided the baby was
+deaf. And he can't use his pardner's cartridges, for I gave that fellow a
+twelve-bore gun and his is a ten-bore."
+
+Phil grinned. "Well, then," said he, "I suppose I might as well make my
+mind easy, but if that bicycle man hunts much he'll get the conviction
+borne in on him that he's a dreadful bad shot."
+
+"Then he'll give up shooting, which is what is wanted," said Sadler.
+"What's your third bother?"
+
+"That young woman has made up her mind to go out in the boat by herself
+the very fust time she feels like it," said Matlack; "she didn't say so
+with her mouth, but she said it with the back of her head and her
+shoulders, and I want to know if that rule of yours is going to hold good
+this summer. Women is gettin' to do so many things they didn't use to that
+I didn't know but what you'd consider they'd got far enough to take
+themselves out on the lake, and if you do think so, I don't want to get
+myself in hot water with those people and then find you don't back me
+up."
+
+"If you don't want to get yourself into hot water with me, Phil Matlack,
+you'd better get it into your head just as soon as you can that when I
+make a rule it's a rule, and I don't want people comin' to me and talkin'
+about changes. Women in my camp don't go out in boats by themselves, and
+it's easy enough to have that rule kept if you've got backbone enough to
+do it. Keep the boat locked to the shore when it ain't in use, and put the
+key in your pocket, and if anybody gets it that 'ain't any right to it,
+that's your lookout. Now that's the end of your troubles, I hope. How's
+things goin' on generally in the camp?"
+
+"Oh, well enough," said Matlack. "I thought at fust the old lady'd give
+out in a day or two, but I've taught her parlor-fishin', which she's took
+to quite lively, and she's got used to the woods. The boss, he sticks to
+fishin', as if it was office-work, and as for the rest of them, I guess
+they're all gettin' more and more willin' to stay."
+
+"Why?" asked Peter.
+
+"Well, one of them is a gal and the others isn't," replied Matlack,
+"that's about the p'int of it."
+
+During Matlack's walk back the skies cleared, and when he reached the camp
+he found Mrs. Archibald seated in her chair near the edge of the lake, a
+dry board under her feet, and the bishop standing by her, putting bait on
+her hook, and taking the fish off of it when any happened to be there. Out
+in the boat sat Mr. Archibald, trusting that some fish might approach the
+surface in search of insects disabled by the rain. Farther on, at a place
+by the water's edge that was clear of bushes and undergrowth, Martin was
+giving Miss Dearborn a lesson in fly-fishing.
+
+"He's a mighty good fisherman," thought Matlack, looking at the young
+fellow as he brought his rod back from the water with a long graceful
+sweep, and then, with another sweep and an easy inclination of his body
+forward, sending the fly far out on the smooth surface of the lake,
+"although there ain't no need to tell him so; and I don't wonder she'd
+rather stand and watch him than try to do it herself."
+
+Walking up and down near the edge of the wood were Messrs. Clyde and
+Raybold.
+
+Phil smiled. "They don't seem to be happy," he said to himself. "I guess
+they're hankerin' to take a share in her edication; but if you don't know
+nothin' yourself, you can't edicate other people."
+
+Matlack directed his steps towards Mrs. Archibald; but before he reached
+her he was met by the bishop, who hurried towards him.
+
+"I shall be obliged to surrender my post to you," he said, "which will be
+greatly to the lady's satisfaction, I imagine, for I must appear a poor
+attendant after you."
+
+[Illustration: "A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING"]
+
+"Goin' to leave us?" said Matlack. "You look quite spruced up."
+
+The bishop smiled. "You allude, I suppose," said he, "to the fact that my
+hat and clothes are brushed, and that I am freshly shaved and have on a
+clean collar. I like to be as neat as I can. This is a gutta-percha
+collar, and I can wash it whenever I please with a bit of damp rag, and it
+is my custom to shave every day, if I possibly can. But as to leaving you,
+I shall not do so this evening. I have promised those young gentlemen who
+so kindly invited me to their camp that I would prepare their supper for
+them, and I must now go to make the fire and get things in readiness."
+
+"Have they engaged you as cook and general help?" asked Matlack.
+
+"Oh no," said the bishop, with a smile, "they are kind and I am grateful,
+that is all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A LADIES' DAY IN CAMP
+
+
+Two days after the rainy day in camp Mr. Archibald determined to take the
+direction of affairs into his own hands, so far as he should be able.
+Having no authority over the two young men at Camp Roy, he had hitherto
+contented himself with a disapproval of their methods of employing their
+time, which he communicated only to his wife. But now he considered that,
+as they were spending so much of their time in his camp and so little in
+their own, he would take charge of them exactly as if they belonged to his
+party. He would put an end, if possible, to the aimless strolls up and
+down the beach with Margery, and the long conversations of which that
+young woman had grown to be so fond, held sometimes with both young men,
+though more frequently with one. If Clyde and Raybold came into the woods
+to lounge in the shade and talk to a girl, they must go to some other camp
+to do it. But if they really cared to range the forest, either as
+sportsmen or lovers of nature, he would do his best to help them; so this
+day he organized an expedition to a low mountain about two miles away,
+taking Matlack with him as guide, and inviting the two young men to join
+him. They had assented because no good reason for declining had presented
+itself, and because Phil Matlack earnestly urged them to come along and
+let him show them what a real forest tramp was like. Before his recent
+talk with Peter Sadler, Phil would not have dared to go out into the woods
+in company with the bicycle man.
+
+The two ladies were perfectly willing to remain in camp under the charge
+of Martin, who was capable of defending them against any possible danger;
+and as the bishop had agreed to take charge of Camp Roy during the absence
+of its occupants, Mr. Archibald planned for a whole day's tramp, the first
+he had taken since they went into camp.
+
+When Martin's morning work was done he approached the shady spot where the
+two ladies had established themselves, and offered to continue his lessons
+in fish-flying if Miss Dearborn so desired. But Miss Dearborn did not wish
+to take any lessons to-day. She would rest and stay with Mrs. Archibald.
+Even the elder lady did not care to fish that morning. The day was hot and
+the shade was grateful.
+
+Martin walked away dissatisfied. In his opinion, there had never been a
+day more suitable for angling; this was a day which would be free from
+interruptions, either from two young fellows who knew nothing about real
+game-fishing, or from Matlack, who always called him away to do something
+when he was most interested in his piscatorial pedagogics. This was a day
+when he could stand by that lovely girl, give her the rod, show her how to
+raise it, wave it, and throw it, and sometimes even touch her hand as he
+took it from her or gave it back, watching her all the time with an
+admiration and delight which no speckled trout or gamy black bass had ever
+yet aroused in him, and all this without fear that a gentleman out on the
+lake might possibly be observing them with the idea that he was more
+interested in his work than the ordinary guide might be supposed to be.
+But luck was against him, and Martin, who did not in the least consider
+himself an ordinary guide, walked up and down in moody reflection, or
+grimly threw himself upon the ground, gazing upward at the sky--not half
+so blue as he was--but never walking or resting so far away that he could
+not hear the first cry from her should snake, bear, dragon-fly, or danger
+of any kind approach her.
+
+To the ladies, about half an hour later, came the bishop, who, newly
+shaved and brushed, wished them good-morning, and offered his services in
+any manner which might be desired. If Mrs. Archibald wished to fish by the
+side of the lake, he was at her service; but Mrs. Archibald did not care
+to fish.
+
+"This is a most charming day," said the bishop, removing his hat, "but I
+suppose it is more charming to me because it is my last day here."
+
+"And so you are really going to go?" said Mrs. Archibald, smiling.
+
+"I suppose you think I am not likely to get there," said he, "but really I
+have stayed here long enough, and for several reasons."
+
+"Sit down," said Margery, "and tell us what they are. There is a nice
+little rock with some moss on it."
+
+The bishop promptly accepted the invitation and seated himself. As he did
+so, Martin, at a little distance, scowled, folded his arms, and slightly
+increased the length of his sentinel-like walk.
+
+"Yes," said the bishop, brushing some pine leaves from his threadbare
+trousers, "during the time that I have accepted the hospitality of those
+young gentlemen I feel that I have in a great measure repaid them for
+their kindness, but now I see that I shall become a burden and an expense
+to them. In the first place, I eat a great deal more than both of them put
+together, so that the provisions they brought with them will be exhausted
+much sooner than they expected. I am also of the opinion that they are
+getting tired of eating in their own camp, but as I make a point of
+preparing the meals at stated hours, of course they feel obliged to
+partake of them."
+
+"By which you mean, I suppose," said Mrs. Archibald, "that if they had not
+you to cook for them they would be apt to take a good many meals with us,
+as they did when they first came, and which would be cheaper and
+pleasanter."
+
+"I beg, madam," said the bishop, quickly, "that you will not think that
+they have said anything of the sort. I simply inferred, from remarks I
+have heard, that one of them, at least, is very much of the opinion you
+have just stated; therefore I feel that I cannot be welcome much longer in
+Camp Roy. There is also another reason why I should go now. I have a
+business prospect before me."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," said Mrs. Archibald. "Is it a good one?"
+
+"I think it is," said the bishop. "I have been considering it earnestly,
+and the more I fix my mind upon it the greater appear its advantages. I
+don't mind in the least telling you what it is. A gentleman who is
+acquainted with my family and whom I have met two or three times, but not
+recently, possesses a very fine estate some thirty miles south of this
+place. He has been in Europe for some time, but is expected to return to
+his country mansion about the end of this week. It is my purpose to offer
+myself to him in the capacity of private librarian. I do not think it will
+be difficult to convince him that I have many qualifications for the
+situation."
+
+"Has he so many books that he needs a librarian?" asked Margery.
+
+"No," said the bishop, "I have no reason to suppose that he has any more
+books than the ordinary country gentleman possesses, but he ought to have.
+He has a very large income, and is now engaged in establishing for his
+family what is intended to become, in time, an ancestral mansion. It is
+obvious to any one of intelligence that such a grand mansion would not be
+complete without a well-selected library, and that such a library could
+not be selected or arranged by an ordinary man of affairs. Consequently,
+unless he has a competent person to perform this duty for him, his
+library, for a long time, will be insignificant. When I shall put the
+question before him, I have no doubt that he will see and appreciate the
+force and value of my statements. Such a position will suit me admirably.
+I shall ask but little salary, but it will give me something far better
+than money--an opportunity to select from the book marts of the whole
+world the literature in which I delight. Consequently, you will see that
+it is highly desirable that I should be on hand when this gentleman
+arrives upon his estate."
+
+With a look of gentle pity Mrs. Archibald gazed at the smooth round face
+of the bishop, flushed with the delights of anticipation and brightened by
+the cheery smile which nearly always accompanied his remarks. "And is that
+your only prospect?" she said. "I don't want to discourage you, but it
+seems to me that if you had some regular business--and you are not too old
+to learn something of the sort--it would be far better for you than trying
+to obtain the mythical position you speak of. I see that you are a man of
+intelligence and education, and I believe that you would succeed in almost
+any calling to which you would apply yourself with earnestness and
+industry. You must excuse me for speaking so plainly, but I am much older
+than you are and I do it for your good."
+
+"Madam," exclaimed the bishop, radiant with grateful emotion, "I thank you
+from the bottom of my heart for what you have said. I thank you for your
+appreciation of me and for the generous motive of your words, but, to be
+frank with you, I am not suited to a calling such as you have mentioned. I
+have many qualities which I well know would promote my fortunes were they
+properly applied, but that application is difficult, for the reason that
+my principal mental characteristic is indefiniteness. When but a little
+child I was indefinite. Nobody knew what I was going to do, or how I would
+turn out; no one has since known, and no one knows now. In whatever way I
+have turned my attention in my endeavors to support myself, I have been
+obstructed and even appalled by the definiteness of the ordinary pursuits
+of life. Now the making of a private library is in itself an indefinite
+occupation. It has not its lines, its rules, its limitations. But do not
+think, kind lady, that I shall always depend upon such employment. Should
+I obtain it, I should hold it only so long as it would be necessary, and
+it may be necessary for but a little while. Do you care to hear of my
+permanent prospects?" said he, looking from one lady to the other.
+
+"Certainly," said Margery, "we would like to hear all you have to tell."
+
+"Well then," said the bishop, folding his arms and smiling effusively, but
+with a gentle curbing of his ordinary cheerfulness, "I will inform you
+that I have an uncle who is a man of wealth and well on in years.
+Unfortunately, or fortunately it may be, this uncle greatly dislikes me.
+He objects so strongly to my methods of thought and action, and even to my
+physical presence, that he cannot bear to hear me speak or even to look at
+me, and the last time I was in his company, about four years ago, he told
+me that he would leave me a legacy on condition that he should never hear
+from me or see me again. He promised to make the proper provision in his
+will immediately, but declared, and I know he will keep his word, that if
+he ever received a letter from me or even saw me or heard my voice he
+would instantly strike out that clause. I appreciated and respected his
+feelings, and accepted the condition. From that moment I have not written
+to him, nor shall I ever write to him, and I shall never go near him so
+long as he is alive. As I said, he is of advanced age, and it is
+impossible that he can long survive. When his demise takes place my
+circumstances will, I believe, be satisfactory."
+
+"Did your uncle say how much he would leave you?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"No, madam," returned the other, "he did not, but I feel sure that the sum
+will be measured by his satisfaction in knowing that his existence is
+entirely freed from me."
+
+"Really," said Mrs. Archibald, "there is nothing about you so indefinite
+as your prospects."
+
+"And it seems horrible to me," said Margery, "to be hoping that some one
+may die in order that you may be better off, for, as you want money so
+much, you must hope that your uncle will die."
+
+The bishop smiled and rose. "And now," said he, "I suppose I must go to
+prepare the dinner at Camp Roy. There is nobody but myself to eat it, but
+I have assumed the duty, and it must be performed. Good-morning. By your
+leave, I shall look in upon you again."
+
+Mrs. Archibald had a mind to ask him to stay and dine with them, but
+having noticed an unfriendly expression on the face of Martin when his
+gloomy walk brought him in her direction, she thought it would not be wise
+to do so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+MARGERY TAKES THE OARS
+
+
+After dinner Mrs. Archibald prepared herself for a nap, the most
+delightful thing she could think of during the warm hours of such a day.
+Margery, after seeing the elder lady comfortably disposed in the shady
+sitting-room of the cabin, went out-of-doors with no doubt in her mind as
+to what would be for her the most delightful thing to do. She would take a
+row on the lake all by herself.
+
+She went down to the boat, which was partly drawn up on the beach and
+fastened to a heavy stake. But when she reached it she was disgusted to
+find that the chain was secured to the stake by a padlock. The oars were
+in the boat, and she could easily have pushed it into the water, but she
+could not set it free without the key to the padlock.
+
+"I do believe," she exclaimed, "that the will of that horrid Mr. Sadler is
+like gas. It goes everywhere, even to the tops of the houses and under the
+beds." But she did not give up her intention. She tried to detach the
+chain from the boat, but finding this impossible, she thought of going for
+Martin. Perhaps he might have a key. This idea, however, she quickly put
+aside. If he had a key, and gave it to her, she might get him into
+trouble, and, besides, she did not believe that he would let her go alone,
+and in any other way she did not wish to go. Standing with her pretty
+brows knit, and one heel deep in the soft ground into which she had
+stamped it, she heard approaching footsteps, and turning, saw the bishop.
+He came forward with a buoyant step.
+
+"Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Dearborn?" he said. "Do you wish
+to go out on the lake? Do you want some one to row you?"
+
+"Yes and no," said Margery. "I want to go out in the boat, and I don't
+want anybody to row me. But that chain is fastened with an abominable
+padlock, and I cannot launch the boat."
+
+"One of your guides is here," said he. "Perhaps I can get a key from
+him."
+
+"No, no," said Margery, quickly; "he must not know about it. There is a
+Sadler law against it, and he is employed by Sadler."
+
+"It is very securely fastened," said the bishop, examining the lock and
+chain. "It is the work of the guide Matlack, I have no doubt. But, Miss
+Dearborn," said he, with a bright smile, "there is a boat at Camp Roy.
+That is not locked, and I can bring it here in twenty minutes."
+
+"No," said Margery; "I don't want that boat. I've seen it. It is a clumsy
+old thing, and, besides, it leaks. I want this one. This is just the kind
+of boat I want to row. It is too bad! If I could get off now there would
+be nobody to hinder me, for Martin is washing the dinner dishes, or doing
+something of that kind, and whenever he does house-work he always keeps
+himself out of sight."
+
+The bishop examined the stake. It was a stout little tree trunk driven
+deep into the ground and projecting about five feet above the surface,
+with the chain so wrapped around it that it was impossible to force it up
+or down. Seizing the stake near the top, the bishop began to push it
+backward and forward, and being a man of great strength, he soon loosened
+it so much that, stooping, he was able to pull it from the ground.
+
+"Hurrah!" exclaimed Margery. "It came up just like pulling a tooth."
+
+"Yes," said the radiant bishop, "the good Matlack may be very careful
+about fastening a boat, but I think I have got the better of him this
+time; and now I will put the stake, chain and all, in the bow. That is the
+best way of disposing of them. Are you sure that you prefer going alone? I
+shall be delighted to row you if you wish me to."
+
+"Oh no," said Margery; "I am just wild to row myself, and I want to hurry
+and get off for fear Martin will be coming down here."
+
+"Are you sure you understand rowing and the management of a boat?" he
+asked.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "I can row; of course I can. I will get in, and
+then you can push off the boat."
+
+"Allow me," said the bishop. But before he could reach her to help her,
+Margery stepped quickly into the boat and was about to seat herself.
+
+"If you will take the seat next to the stern," said the bishop, holding
+the boat so that it would be steady, "I think that will be better. Then
+the weight of the stake in the bow will put the boat on an even keel."
+
+"All right," said Margery, accepting his suggestion and seating herself.
+"Now just wait until I get the oars into the rowlocks, and then you can
+push me off."
+
+"Which way do you intend to row?" asked the bishop.
+
+"Oh, I shall go down towards the lower end of the lake, because that way
+there are more bushes along the banks and Martin will be less apt to see
+me. If I go the other way I will be in plain sight of the camp, and he may
+think he ought to do something--fire a gun across my bows to bring me to,
+maybe, as they do at sea."
+
+"Hardly," said the bishop, "but let me advise you not to go very far from
+the shore, so that if you feel tired you can come in easily, and if you
+will allow me I will walk down the shore in the direction in which you
+intend to row."
+
+"Oh, I am not going to get tired," said she. "I could row all day. It is
+splendid to be in a boat all by myself and have the whole management of
+it. Now please push me off."
+
+With some reluctance, but with a sincere desire to make the young girl
+happy, which could not be overcome by prudence--at least by such prudence
+as he possessed--the bishop, with a strong, steady push, sent the boat
+well out on the surface of the water.
+
+"That was beautifully done," Margery called back to him. "Now I have room
+enough to turn around without any trouble at all."
+
+She turned the boat about with its bow towards the lower end of the lake,
+but it was not done without trouble. "I have not rowed for a good while,"
+she said, "but I am getting used to the oars already. Now then, I'm off,"
+and she began to pull with a strength which, had it been suitably paired
+with skill, would have made her an excellent amateur oarswoman. But the
+place of skill was supplied by enthusiasm and determination. Once or twice
+an oar slipped from the rowlock and she nearly went over backward, and
+several times one of the blades got under the water with the flat side up,
+so that she had difficulty in getting it out. She raised her oars much too
+high in the air, but she counterbalanced this by sinking them very deep
+into the water. But she got on, and although her course was somewhat
+irregular, its general trend was in the direction desired.
+
+The bishop walked along the bank, keeping as near to the water as he
+could. Sometimes masses of shrubbery shut off all view of the lake, and
+then there would be an open space where he would stop and watch the boat.
+
+"Please keep near the shore, Miss Dearborn," he called, "that will be
+better, I think, and it is certainly more shady and pleasant than farther
+out."
+
+"I know what you mean," cried Margery, pulling away in high good-humor,
+"you think it is safer near the shore; but I am not going to row very far
+this time, and after a little while I may pull the boat in and rest for a
+time before starting back," and then she rowed on with renewed energy.
+
+The next time the bishop was able to hail the boat, it was at a point
+where he was obliged to push his way through the bushes in order to see
+out upon the lake.
+
+"Miss Dearborn," he called, "I think you are a great deal too far from
+shore, and you must be getting very tired and hot. Your face is greatly
+flushed. I will hurry along and see if I can find a good place for you to
+stop and cool yourself."
+
+"I am all right," cried Margery, resting on her oars. "I get along very
+well, only the boat doesn't steer properly. I think it is because of the
+weight of that stick in the bow. I suppose I cannot get rid of it?"
+
+"Oh no!" cried the bishop, in alarm; "please don't think of it! But if you
+touch shore at the first open space, I think I can arrange it better for
+you."
+
+"Very good," said she; "you go ahead and find such a place, and I will
+come in."
+
+"If you touch shore," said the bishop to himself, "you don't go out again
+in that boat alone! You don't know how to row at all."
+
+The bishop ran a hundred yards or more before he found a place at which a
+boat could be beached. It was not a very good place, but if he could reach
+out and seize the bow, that would be enough for him. He was strong enough
+to pull that boat over a paved street.
+
+As he looked out over the water he saw that Margery had progressed
+considerably since he had seen her last, but she was still farther from
+shore than before.
+
+"Row straight towards me!" he shouted. "Here is a fine landing-place, cool
+and shady."
+
+She looked around and managed to turn the boat's head in his direction.
+Then she rowed hard, pulling and splashing, and evidently a little tired.
+She was strong, but this unusual exercise was a trial to her muscles.
+Perhaps, too, she felt that the bishop was watching her, and that made her
+a little nervous, for she could not help being aware that she was not
+handling the oars as well as when she started out. With a strong pull at
+her right oar to turn the boat inland, she got her left oar tangled
+between the water and the boat, so it seemed to her, and lost her hold of
+it. In a moment it was overboard and floating on the lake.
+
+Leaning over the side of the boat, she made a grasp at the oar, but it was
+too far for her to reach it; and then, by a spasmodic movement of the
+other oar, the distance was increased.
+
+The bishop's face grew pale. As he looked at her he saw that she was
+moving away from the floating oar, and now he understood why she had
+progressed so well. There was a considerable current in the lake which had
+carried her along, and was now moving the heavy boat much faster than it
+moved the oar. What should he tell her to do? If she could put her single
+oar out at the stern, she might scull the boat; but he was sure she did
+not understand sculling, and to try it she would have to stand up, and
+this would be madness.
+
+She now took the other oar from the rowlock, and was about to rise, when
+the bishop shouted to her.
+
+"What are you going to do?" he cried.
+
+"I am going to the stern," she said, "to see if I cannot reach that oar
+with this one. Perhaps I can pull it in."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, don't do that!" he cried. "Don't stand up, or the boat
+will tip, and you will fall overboard."
+
+"But what can I do?" she called back. "I can't row with one oar."
+
+"Try rowing a little on one side, and then on the other," said he.
+"Perhaps you can bring in the boat in that way."
+
+She followed his suggestion, but very awkwardly, and he saw plainly that
+she was tired. Instead of approaching the shore, the boat continued to
+float down the lake.
+
+Margery turned again. "Bishop," she cried, "what shall I do? I must do
+something, or I can't get ashore at all."
+
+She did not look frightened; there was more of annoyance in her
+expression, as if she thought it impertinent in fate to treat her in this
+way, and she would not stand it.
+
+"If I had thought of the current," said the bishop to himself, "I would
+never have let her go out alone, and she can't be trusted in that boat
+another minute longer. She will do something desperate." So saying, the
+bishop took off his hat and threw it on the ground. Then he unbuttoned his
+coat and began to take it off, but he suddenly changed his mind. Even in
+that wilderness and under these circumstances he must appear respectable,
+so he buttoned his coat again, hastily took off his shoes, and, without
+hesitating, walked into the water until it was above his waist, and then
+calling to Margery that he was coming to her, he began to swim out into
+the lake. He did not strike out immediately for the boat, but directed his
+course towards the floating oar. Turning his head frequently towards
+Margery, he could see that she was sitting perfectly still, watching him,
+and so he kept on with a good heart.
+
+The bishop was a powerful swimmer, but he found great difficulty in making
+his way through the water, on account of the extreme tightness of his
+clothes. It seemed to him that his arms and legs were bandaged in splints,
+as if he had been under a surgeon's care; but still he struck out as well
+as he could, and in time reached the oar. Pushing this before him to the
+boat, Margery took hold of it.
+
+"You swim splendidly," said she. "You can climb in right here."
+
+But the bishop knew better than that, and worked his way round to the
+stern, and after holding on a little while to get his breath, he managed
+to clamber into the boat.
+
+"Was the water very cold?" said she.
+
+On his replying that it was, she said she thought so because he seemed
+stiff.
+
+"Now, Miss Dearborn," said he, "I have made the stern seat very wet, but I
+don't believe you will mind that, and if you will sit here I will take the
+oars and row you in."
+
+[Illustration: "BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER"]
+
+"Oh, I think I can do that myself," said Margery. "I am rested now, and I
+am ever so much obliged to you for getting my oar for me."
+
+Under almost any circumstances the bishop could smile, and now he smiled
+at the ridiculousness of the idea of Margery's rowing that boat back
+against the current, and with him in it.
+
+"Indeed," said he, "I must insist. I shall freeze to death if I don't warm
+myself by exercise." So, reaching out his hand, he assisted Margery to the
+stern, and seating himself in her place, he took the oars, which she had
+drawn in.
+
+"I don't see why I could not make the boat go along that way," said she,
+as they began to move steadily towards the camp. "I believe I could do it
+if people would only let me practise by myself; but they always want to
+show me how, and I hate to have anybody show me how. It is funny," she
+continued, "that you seem so very wet all but your collar. That looks as
+smooth and nice as if it had just come from the laundry."
+
+The bishop laughed. "That is because it is gutta-percha," he said,
+"intended for rough use in camp; but the rest of my habiliments were not
+intended for wet weather."
+
+"And you have no hat," said she. "Doesn't the sun hurt your head?"
+
+"My head does feel a little warm," said he, "but I didn't want to row back
+to the place where I left my hat. It was not a good landing-place, after
+all. Besides," he said to himself, "I never thought of my hat or my
+shoes."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BISHOP ENGAGES THE ATTENTION OF THE GUIDES
+
+
+When the boat touched the shore Margery ran to the cabin to assure Mrs.
+Archibald of her safety, if she had been missed.
+
+The bishop was sticking the stake in the hole from which he had pulled it,
+when Martin came running to him.
+
+"That's a pretty piece of business!" cried the young man. "If you wanted
+to go out in the boat, why didn't you come to me for the key? You've got
+no right to pull up the stakes we've driven down. That's the same thing as
+stealing the boat. What's the matter? Did you tumble overboard? You must
+be a pretty sort of an oarsman! If the ladies want to go out in the boat,
+I am here to take them. I'd like you to understand that."
+
+As has been said before, the bishop could smile under almost any
+circumstances, and he smiled now, but at the same time his brow wrinkled,
+which was not common when he smiled.
+
+"I am going down to the shore to get my hat and shoes," he said, "and I
+would like you to come along with me. I can't stand here and talk to
+you."
+
+"What do you want?" said Martin.
+
+"Come along and see," said the bishop; "that is, if you are not afraid."
+
+That was enough, and the young man walked behind him until they reached
+the spot where the bishop had taken to the water. Then he stopped, and
+explained to Martin all that had happened.
+
+"Now," said he, "what have you got to say?"
+
+Martin, now that he knew that the bishop had plunged into the water for
+the sake of the beautiful Margery, was more jealously angry than when he
+had supposed he had merely taken her out to row.
+
+"I haven't anything to say," he answered, shortly, "except that parsons
+had better attend to their own business, if they have any, and let young
+ladies and boats alone."
+
+"Oh, that's all, is it?" said the bishop, and with a quick step forward he
+clutched the young man's arm with his right hand, while he seized his belt
+with the other, and then with a great heave sent him out into the water
+fully ten feet from the shore. With a splash like a dropped anchor Martin
+disappeared from view, but soon arose, his head and shoulders above the
+surface, where he stood for a moment, spluttering and winking and almost
+dazed.
+
+The bishop stood on the bank and smiled. "Did you fall overboard?" said
+he. "You must be a pretty sort of a boatman!"
+
+Without replying, Martin began to wade ashore.
+
+"Come on," said the bishop; "if you can't get up the bank, I'll help
+you."
+
+But Martin needed no help; he scrambled to the bank, shook himself, and
+then advanced upon the bishop, fire in his eye and his fist clinched.
+
+"Stop, young man," said the other. "It would not be fair to you if I did
+not tell you that I am a boxer and a heavy-weight, and that I threw you
+into the water because I didn't want to damage your face and eyes. You
+were impertinent, but I am satisfied, and the best thing you can do is to
+go and change your clothes before any one sees you in that plight. You are
+better off than I am, because I have no clothes with which to make a
+change." So saying, he sat down and began to put on his shoes.
+
+Martin stood for a moment and looked at the bishop, he thought of Margery
+and a possible black eye, and then he walked as fast as he could to his
+tent to get some dry clothes. He was very wet, he was very hot, he was
+very angry, and what made him more angry than anything else was a respect
+for the bishop which was rising in him in spite of all his efforts to keep
+it down.
+
+When Mr. Archibald and his party came back to camp late in the afternoon,
+Margery, who had already told her story to Mrs. Archibald, told it to each
+of the others. Mr. Archibald was greatly moved by the account of the
+bishop's bravery. He thoroughly appreciated the danger to which Margery
+had been exposed. There were doubtless persons who could be trusted so sit
+quietly in a little boat with only one oar, and to float upon a lake out
+of sight and sound of human beings until another boat could be secured and
+brought to the rescue, but Margery was not one of these persons. Her
+greatest danger had been that she was a child of impulse. He went
+immediately to Camp Roy to see the bishop and express his gratitude, for
+no matter how great the foolish good-nature of the man had been, his brave
+rescue of the girl was all that could be thought of now.
+
+[Illustration: "WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER"]
+
+He found the bishop in bed, Mr. Clyde preparing the supper, and Mr.
+Raybold in a very bad humor.
+
+"It's the best place for me," said the bishop, gayly, from under a heavy
+army blanket. "My bed is something like the carpets in Queen Elizabeth's
+time, and this shelter-tent is not one which can be called commodious, but
+I shall stay here until morning, and then I am sure I shall be none the
+worse for my dip into the cold lake."
+
+As Mr. Archibald had seen the black garments of the bishop hanging on a
+bush as he approached the tent, he was not surprised to find their owner
+in bed.
+
+"No," said the bishop, when Mr. Archibald had finished what he had to say,
+"there is nothing to thank me for. It was a stupid thing to launch a young
+girl out upon what, by some very natural bit of carelessness, might have
+become to her the waters of eternity, and it was my very commonplace duty
+to get her out of the danger into which I had placed her; so this, my dear
+sir, is really all there is to say about the matter."
+
+Mr. Archibald differed with him for about ten minutes, and then returned
+to his camp.
+
+Phil Matlack was also affected by the account of the rescue, and he
+expressed his feelings to Martin.
+
+"He pulled up the stake, did he?" said Phil. "Well, I'll make him pull up
+his stakes, and before he goes I've a mind to teach him not to meddle with
+other people's affairs."
+
+"If I were you," said Martin, "I wouldn't try to teach him anything."
+
+"You think he is too stupid to learn?" said Matlack, getting more and more
+angry at the bishop's impertinent and inexcusable conduct. "Well, I've
+taught stupid people before this."
+
+"He's a bigger man than you are," said Martin.
+
+Matlack withdrew the knife from the loaf of bread he was cutting, and
+looked at the young man.
+
+"Bigger?" said he, scornfully. "What's that got to do with it? A load of
+hay is bigger than a crow-bar, but I guess the crow-bar would get through
+the hay without much trouble."
+
+"You'd better talk about a load of rocks," said Martin. "I don't think
+you'd find it easy to get a crow-bar through them."
+
+Matlack looked up inquiringly. "Has he been thrashing you?" he asked.
+
+"No, he hasn't," said Martin, sharply.
+
+"You didn't fight him, then?"
+
+"No, I didn't," was the answer.
+
+"Why didn't you? You were here to take charge of this camp and keep things
+in order. Why didn't you fight him?"
+
+"I don't fight that sort of a man," said Martin, with an air which, if it
+were not disdainful, was intended to be.
+
+Matlack gazed at him a moment in silence, and then went on cutting the
+bread. "I don't understand this thing," he said to himself. "I must look
+into it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE WORLD GOES WRONG WITH MR. RAYBOLD
+
+
+The next morning Mr. Archibald started out, very early, on a fishing
+expedition by himself. He was an enthusiastic angler, and had not greatly
+enjoyed the experience of the day before. He did not object to shooting if
+there were any legitimate game to shoot, and he liked to tramp through the
+mountain wilds under the guidance of such a man as Matlack; but to keep
+company all day with Raybold, who, in the very heart of nature, talked
+only of the gossip of the town, and who punctuated his small talk by
+intermittent firing at everything which looked like a bird or suggested
+the movements of an animal, was not agreeable to him. Clyde was a better
+fellow, and Mr. Archibald liked him, but he was young and abstracted, and
+the interest which clings around an abstracted person who is young is
+often inconsiderable, so he determined for one day at least to leave Sir
+Cupid to his own devices, for he could not spend all his time defending
+Margery from amatory dawdle. For this one day he would leave the task to
+his wife.
+
+That day Mr. Raybold was in a moody mood. Early in the morning he had
+walked to Sadler's, his object being to secure from the trunk which he had
+left there a suit of ordinary summer clothes. He had come to think that
+perhaps his bicycle attire, although very suitable for this sort of life,
+failed to make him as attractive in the eyes of youth and beauty as he
+might be if clothed in more becoming garments. It was the middle of the
+afternoon before he returned, and as he carried a large package, he went
+directly to his own camp, and in about half an hour afterwards he came
+over to Camp Rob dressed in a light suit, which improved his general
+appearance very much.
+
+In his countenance, however, there was no improvement whatever, for he
+looked more out of humor than when he had set out, and when he saw that
+Mrs. Archibald was sitting alone in the shade, reading, and that at a
+considerable distance Harrison Clyde was seated by Margery, giving her a
+lesson in drawing upon birch bark, or else taking a lesson from her, his
+ill-humor increased.
+
+"It is too bad," said he, taking a seat by Mrs. Archibald without being
+asked; "everything seems to go wrong out here in these woods. It is an
+unnatural way to live, anyhow, and I suppose it serves us right. When I
+went to Sadler's I found a letter from my sister Corona, who says she
+would like me to make arrangements for her to come here and camp with us
+for a time. Now that suits me very well indeed. My sister Corona is a very
+fine young woman, and I think it would be an excellent thing to have two
+young ladies here instead of one."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "that might be very pleasant. I should be glad
+for Margery to have a companion of her own sex."
+
+"I understand precisely," said Raybold, nodding his head sagaciously; "of
+her own sex. Yes, I see your drift, and I agree with you absolutely. There
+is a little too much of that thing over there, and I don't wonder you are
+annoyed."
+
+"I did not say I was annoyed," said Mrs. Archibald, rather surprised.
+
+"No," he answered, "you did not say so, but I can read between the lines,
+even spoken lines. Now when I heard that my sister wanted to come out
+here," he continued, "at first I did not like it, for I thought she might
+be some sort of a restraint upon me; but when I considered the matter
+further, I became very much in favor of it, and I sent a telegram by the
+stage telling her to come immediately, and that everything would be ready
+for her. My sister has a sufficient income of her own, and she likes to
+have everything suited to her needs. I am different. I am a man of the
+world, and although I do not always care to conform to circumstances, I
+can generally make circumstances conform to me. As Shakespeare says, 'The
+world is my pottle, and I stir my spoon.' You must excuse my quoting, but
+I cannot help it. My life work is to be upon the stage, and where one's
+mind is, there will his words be also."
+
+Mr. Raybold was now in a much more pleasant mood than when he came to sit
+in the shade with Mrs. Archibald. He was talking; he had found some one
+who listened and who had very little to say for herself.
+
+"Consequently," he remarked, "I ordered from Mr. Sadler the very best tent
+that he had. It has two compartments in it, and it is really as
+comfortable as a house, and as my sister wrote that she wished a female
+attendant, not caring to have her meals cooked by boys--a very flippant
+expression, by-the-way--I have engaged for her a she-guide."
+
+"A what?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"A person," said he, "who is a guide of the female gender. She was the
+wife of a hunter who was accidentally shot, Sadler told me, by a young man
+who was with him on a gunning expedition. I told Sadler that it was
+reprehensible to allow such fellows to have guns, but he said that they
+are not as dangerous now as they used to be. This is because the guides
+have learned to beware of them, I suppose. This woman has lived in the
+woods and knows all about camp life, and Sadler says there could not be a
+better person found to attend a young lady in camp. So I engaged her, and
+I must say she charged just as much as if she were a man."
+
+"Why shouldn't she," said Mrs. Archibald, "if she is just as good?"
+
+To this remark Raybold paid no attention. "I will tell you," he said,
+"confidentially, of course, and I think you have as much reason to be
+interested in it as I have, why I came to view with so much favor my
+sister's coming here. She is a very attractive young woman, and I think
+she cannot fail to interest Clyde, and that, of course, will be of
+advantage to your niece."
+
+"She is not my niece, you know," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Well," said he, "it is all the same. 'Let it be a bird wing or a flower,
+so it pleases'--a quotation which is also Avonian--and if Clyde likes
+Corona he will let Miss Dearborn alone. That's the sort of man he is."
+
+"And in that case," said Mrs. Archibald, "I suppose you would not be
+unwilling to provide Margery with company."
+
+"Madam," said the young man, leaning forward and fixing his eyes upon the
+ground, and then turning them upon her without moving his face towards
+her, "with me all that is a different matter. I may have occasion later to
+speak to you and your husband upon the subject of Miss Dearborn."
+
+"In which case," said Mrs. Archibald, quickly, "I am sure that my husband
+will be very glad to speak to you. But why, may I ask, were you so
+disturbed when you came here, just now? You said the world was going
+wrong."
+
+"I declare," said he, knitting his brows and clapping one hand on his
+knee, "I actually forgot! The world wrong? I should say it was wrong! My
+sister can't come, and I don't know what to do about it."
+
+"Can't come?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Of course not," said he, all his ill-humor having returned. "That fellow,
+the bishop, is in our camp and in Clyde's bed. Clyde foolishly gave him
+his bed because he said the cook-tent was too cramped for a man to stay in
+it all day."
+
+"Why need he stay?" asked Mrs. Archibald. "Has he taken cold? Is he
+sick?"
+
+"No indeed," said Raybold. "If he were sick we might send for a cart and
+have him taken to Sadler's, but the trouble is worse than that. His
+clothes, in which he foolishly jumped into the water, have shrunken so
+much that he cannot get them on, and as he has no others, he is obliged to
+stay in bed."
+
+"But surely something can be done," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"No," he interrupted, "nothing can be done. The clothes have dried, and if
+you could see them as they hang up on the bushes, you would understand why
+that man can never get into them again. The material is entirely
+unsuitable for out-door life. Clyde proposes that we shall lend him
+something, but there are no clothes in this party into which such a
+sausage of a man could get himself. So there he is, and there, I suppose,
+he will remain indefinitely; and I don't want to bring my sister to a camp
+with a permanently occupied hospital bed in it. As soon as I agreed to
+Corona's coming I determined to bounce that man, but now--" So saying, Mr.
+Raybold rose, folded his arms, and knit his brows, and as he did so he
+glanced towards the spot where Margery and Clyde had been sitting, and
+perceived that the latter had departed, probably to get some more birch
+bark; and so, with a nod to Mrs. Archibald, he sauntered away, bending his
+steps, as it were accidentally, in the direction of the young lady left
+alone.
+
+When Mr. Archibald heard, that evening, of the bishop's plight and
+Raybold's discomfiture, he was amused, but also glad to know there was an
+opportunity for doing something practical for the bishop. He was beginning
+to like the man, in spite of his indefiniteness, so he went to see the
+bedridden prelate who was neither sick nor clerical, and with very little
+trouble induced him to take a few general measurements of his figure.
+
+"It is so good of you," said the delighted recumbent, "that I shall not
+say a word, but step aside in deference to your conscience, whose
+encomiums will far transcend anything I can say. You will pardon me, I am
+sure, if I make my measurements liberal. The cost will not be increased,
+and to live, move, and breathe in a suit of clothes which is large enough
+for me is a joy which I have not known for a long time. Shoes, did you
+say, sir? Truly this is generosity supereminent."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Archibald, laughing, "and you also shall have a new hat. I
+will fit you out completely, and if this helps you to make a new and a
+good start in life, I shall be greatly gratified."
+
+"Sir," said the bishop, the moisture of genuine gratitude in his eyes,
+"you are doing, I think, far more good than you can imagine, and pardon me
+if I suggest, since you are going to get me a hat, that it be not of
+clerical fashion. If everything is to be new, I should like everything
+different, and I am certain the cost will be less."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald. "I will now make a list of what you need,
+and I will write to one of my clerks, who will procure everything."
+
+When Mr. Archibald went back to his camp he met Raybold, stalking moodily.
+Having been told what had been done for the bishop's relief, the young man
+was astonished.
+
+"A complete outfit, and for him? I would not have dreamed of it; and
+besides, it is of no use; it must be days before the clothes arrive, and
+my sister wishes to come immediately."
+
+"Do you suppose," exclaimed Mr. Archibald, "that I am doing this for the
+sake of your sister? I am doing it for the man himself."
+
+When Mr. Archibald told his wife of this little interview they both
+laughed heartily.
+
+"If Mr. Raybold's sister," said she, "is like him, I do not think we shall
+care to have her here; but sisters are often very different from their
+brothers. However, the bishop need not prevent her coming. If his clothes
+do not arrive before she does, I am sure there could be no objection to
+her tent being set up for a time in some of the open space in our camp,
+and then we shall become sooner acquainted with her; if she is a suitable
+person, I shall be very glad indeed for Margery to have a companion."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald; "let her pitch her tent where she
+pleases. I am satisfied."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE ASSERTION OF INDIVIDUALITY
+
+
+It was a week after her brother had sent her his telegram before Miss
+Corona Raybold arrived at Camp Rob, with her tent, her outfit, and her
+female guide. Mrs. Archibald had been surprised that she did not appear
+sooner, for, considering Mr. Raybold's state of mind, she had supposed
+that his sister had wished to come at the earliest possible moment.
+
+"But," said Raybold, in explaining the delay, "Corona is very different
+from me. In my actions 'the thunder's roar doth crowd upon the lightning's
+heels,' as William has told us."
+
+"Where in Shakespeare is that?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+Mr. Raybold bent his brow. "For the nonce," said he, "I do not recall the
+exact position of the lines." And after that he made no more Avonian
+quotations to Mrs. Archibald.
+
+The arrival of the young lady was, of course, a very important event, and
+even Mr. Archibald rowed in from the lake when he saw her caravan
+approaching, herself walking in the lead. She proved to be a young person
+of medium height, slight, and dressed in a becoming suit of dark blue. Her
+hair and eyes were dark, her features regular and of a classic cut, and
+she wore eye-glasses. Her manner was quiet, and at first she appeared
+reserved, but she soon showed that if she wished to speak she could talk
+very freely. She wore an air of dignified composure, but was affable, and
+very attentive to what was said to her.
+
+Altogether she made in a short time an extremely favorable impression upon
+Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, and in a very much less time an extremely
+unfavorable impression upon Margery.
+
+Miss Raybold greeted everybody pleasantly, even informing Matlack that she
+had heard of him as a famous guide, and after thanking Mr. and Mrs.
+Archibald for their permission to set up her tent on the outskirts of
+their camp, she proceeded to said tent, which was speedily made ready for
+her.
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine, her guide, was an energetic woman, and under her orders
+the men who brought the baggage bestirred themselves wonderfully.
+
+Just before supper, to which meal the Raybolds and Mr. Clyde had been
+invited, the latter came to Mr. Archibald, evidently much troubled and
+annoyed.
+
+"I am positively ashamed to mention it to you, sir," he said, "but I must
+tell you that Raybold has ordered the men who brought his sister's tent to
+bring our tent over here and put it up near her's. I was away when this
+was done, and I wish to assure you most earnestly that I had nothing to do
+with it. The men have gone, and I don't suppose we can get it back
+to-night."
+
+Mr. Archibald opened his eyes very wide. "Your friend is certainly a
+remarkable young man," said he, "but we must not have any bad feeling in
+camp, so let everything remain as it is for to-night. I suppose he wished
+to be near his sister, but at least he might have asked permission."
+
+"I think," said Clyde, "that he did not so much care to be near his sister
+as he did to be away from the bishop, who is now left alone in our little
+shelter-tent."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "Well," said he, "he will come to no harm, and we
+must see that he has some supper."
+
+"Oh, I shall attend to that," said Clyde, "and to his breakfast also. And,
+now I come to think of it, I believe that one reason Raybold moved our
+tent over here was to get the benefit of his sister's cook. The bishop did
+our cooking, you know, before he took to his bed."
+
+That evening Miss Raybold joined the party around the camp-fire. She
+declared that in the open air she did not in the least object to the use
+of tobacco, and then she asked Mr. Archibald if his two guides came to the
+camp-fire after their work was done.
+
+"They do just as they please," was the answer. "Sometimes they come over
+here and smoke their pipes a little in the background, and sometimes they
+go off by themselves. We are very democratic here in camp, you know."
+
+"I like that," said Miss Raybold, "and I will have Mrs. Perkenpine come
+over when she has arranged the tent for the night. Arthur, will you go and
+tell her?"
+
+Her brother did not immediately rise to execute this commission. He hoped
+that Mr. Clyde would offer to do the service, but the latter did not
+improve the opportunity to make himself agreeable to the new-comer, and
+Raybold did the errand.
+
+Harrison Clyde was sitting by Margery, and Margery was giving a little
+attention to what he said to her and a great deal of attention to Corona
+Raybold.
+
+"More self-conceit and a better-fitting dress I never saw," thought
+Margery; "it's loose and easy, and yet it seems to fit perfectly, and I do
+believe she thinks she is some sort of an upper angel who has condescended
+to come down here just to see what common people are like."
+
+Corona talked to Mr. Archibald. It was her custom always to talk to the
+principal personage of a party.
+
+"It gives me pleasure, sir," said she, "to meet with you and your wife. It
+is so seldom that we find any one--" She was interrupted by Mrs.
+Perkenpine, who stood behind her.
+
+The she-guide was a large woman, apparently taller than Matlack. Her
+sunburnt face was partly shaded by a man's straw hat, secured on her head
+by strings tied under her chin. She wore a very plain gown, coarse in
+texture, and of a light-blue color, which showed that it had been washed
+very often. Her voice and her shoes, the latter well displayed by her
+short skirt, creaked, but her gray eyes were bright, and moved about after
+the manner of searchlights.
+
+"Well," said she to Miss Raybold, "what do you want?"
+
+Corona turned her head and placidly gazed up at her. "I simply wished to
+let you know that you might join this company here if you liked. The two
+men guides are coming, you see."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine glanced around the group. "Is there any hunting stories to
+be told?" she asked.
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "I don't know," he said, "but perhaps we may have
+some. I am sure that Matlack here has hunting stories to tell."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine shook her head. "No, sir," said she; "I don't want none of
+his stories. I've heard them all mostly two or three times over."
+
+"I dare say you have," said Phil, seating himself on a fallen trunk, a
+little back from the fire; "but you see, Mrs. Perkenpine, you are so
+obstinate about keepin' on livin'. If you'd died when you was younger, you
+wouldn't have heard so many of those stories."
+
+"There's been times," said she, "when you was tellin' the story of the
+bear cubs and the condensed milk, when I wished I had died when I was
+younger, or else you had."
+
+"Perhaps," said Miss Raybold, in a clear, decisive voice, "Mr. Matlack may
+know hunting stories that will be new to all of us, but before he begins
+them I have something which I would like to say."
+
+"All right," said Mrs. Perkenpine, seating herself promptly upon the
+ground; "if you're goin' to talk, I'll stay. I'd like to know what kind of
+things you do talk about when you talk."
+
+"I was just now remarking," said Miss Corona, "that I am very glad indeed
+to meet with those who, like Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, are willing to set
+their feet upon the modern usages of society (which would crowd us
+together in a common herd) and assert their individuality."
+
+Mr. Archibald looked at the speaker inquiringly.
+
+"Of course," said she, "I refer to the fact that you and Mrs. Archibald
+are on a wedding-journey."
+
+At this remark Phil Matlack rose suddenly from the tree-trunk and Martin
+dropped his pipe. Mr. Clyde turned his gaze upon Margery, who thereupon
+burst out laughing, and then he looked in amazement from Mr. Archibald to
+Mrs. Archibald and back again. Mrs. Perkenpine sat up very straight and
+leaned forward, her hands upon her knees.
+
+"Is it them two sittin' over there?" she said, pointing to Margery and
+Clyde. "Are they on a honey-moon?"
+
+"No!" exclaimed Arthur Raybold, in a loud, sharp voice. "What an
+absurdity! Corona, what are you talking about?"
+
+To this his sister paid no attention whatever. "I think," she said, "it
+was a noble thing to do. An assertion of one's inner self is always noble,
+and when I heard of this assertion I wished very much to know the man and
+the woman who had so asserted themselves, and this was my principal reason
+for determining to come to this camp."
+
+"But where on earth," asked Mr. Archibald, "did you hear that we were on a
+wedding-journey?"
+
+"I read it in a newspaper," said Corona.
+
+"I do declare," exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, "everything is in the
+newspapers! I did think that we might settle down here and enjoy ourselves
+without people talking about our reason for coming!"
+
+"You don't mean to say," cried Mrs. Perkenpine, now on her feet, "that you
+two elderly ones is the honey-mooners?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Archibald, looking with amusement on the astonished faces
+about him, "we truly are."
+
+"Well," said the she-guide, seating herself, "if I'd stayed an old maid as
+long as that, I think I'd stuck it out. But perhaps you was a widow,
+mum?"
+
+"No, indeed," cried Mr. Archibald; "she was a charming girl when I married
+her. But just let me tell you how the matter stands," and he proceeded to
+relate the facts of the case. "I thought," he said, in conclusion, turning
+to Matlack, "that perhaps you knew about it, for I told Mr. Sadler, and I
+supposed he might have mentioned it to you."
+
+"No, sir," said Matlack, relighting his pipe, "he knows me better than
+that. If he'd called me and said, 'Phil, I want you to take charge of a
+couple that's goin' honey-moonin' about twenty-five years after they
+married, and a-doin' it for somebody else and not for themselves,' I'd
+said to him, 'They're lunatics, and I won't take charge of them.' And
+Peter he knows I would have thought that and would have said it, and so he
+did not mention the particulars to me. He knows that the only things that
+I'm afraid of in this world is lunatics. 'Tisn't only what they might do
+to me, but what they might do to themselves, and I won't touch 'em."
+
+"I hope," said Mrs. Archibald, "that you don't consider us lunatics now
+that you have heard why we are here."
+
+"Oh no," said the guide; "I've found that you're regular common-sense
+people, and I don't change my opinions even when I've heard particulars;
+but if I'd heard particulars first, it would have been all up with my
+takin' charge of you."
+
+"And you knew it all the time?" said Clyde to Margery, speaking so that
+she only could hear.
+
+"I knew it," she said, "but I didn't think it worth talking about. Do you
+know Mr. Raybold's sister? Do you like her?"
+
+"I have met her," said Clyde; "but she is too lofty for me."
+
+"What is there lofty about her?" said Margery.
+
+"Well," said he, "she is lofty because she has elevated ideas. She goes in
+for reform; and for pretty much all kinds, from what I have heard."
+
+"I think she is lofty," remarked Margery, "because she is stuck-up. I
+don't like her."
+
+"It is so seldom," Corona now continued, "that we find people who are
+willing to assert their individuality, and when they are found I always
+want to talk to them. I suppose, Mr. Matlack, that your life is one long
+assertion of individuality?"
+
+"What, ma'am?" asked the guide.
+
+"I mean," said she, "that when you are out alone in the wild forest,
+holding in your hand the weapon which decides the question of life or
+death for any living creature over whom you may choose to exercise your
+jurisdiction, absolutely independent of every social trammel, every bond
+of conventionalism, you must feel that you are a predominant whole and not
+a mere integral part."
+
+"Well," said Matlack, speaking slowly, "I may have had them feelin's, but
+if I did they must have struck in, and not come out on the skin, like
+measles, where I could see 'em."
+
+"Corona," said her brother, in a peevish undertone, "what is the good of
+all that? You're wasting your words on such a man."
+
+His sister turned a mild steady gaze upon him. "I don't know any man but
+you," she said, "on whom I waste my words."
+
+"Is assertin' like persistin'?" inquired Mrs. Perkenpine at this point.
+
+"The two actions are somewhat alike," said Corona.
+
+"Well, then," said the she-guide, "I'm in for assertin'. When my husband
+was alive there was a good many things I wanted to do, and when I wanted
+to do a thing or get a thing I kept on sayin' so; and one day, after I'd
+been keepin' on sayin' so a good while, he says to me, 'Jane,' says he,
+'it seems to me that you're persistin'.' 'Yes,' says I, 'I am, and I
+intend to be.' 'Then you are goin' to keep on insistin' on persistin'?'
+says he. 'Yes,' says I; and then says he, 'If you keep on insistin' on
+persistin' I'll be thinkin' of 'listin'.' By which he meant goin' into the
+army as a regular, and gettin' rid of me; and as I didn't want to be rid
+of him, I stopped persistin'; but now I wish I had persisted, for then
+he'd 'listed, and most likely would be alive now, through not bein' shot
+in the back by a city fool with a gun."
+
+"I do not believe," said Mrs. Archibald to her husband, when they had
+retired to their cabin, "that that young woman is going to be much of a
+companion for Margery. I think she will prefer your society to that of any
+of the rest of us. It is very plain that she thinks it is your
+individuality which has been asserted."
+
+"Well," said he, rubbing his spectacles with his handkerchief before
+putting them away for the night, "don't let her project her individuality
+into my sport. That's all I have to say."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A NET OF COBWEBS TO CAGE A LION
+
+
+"I think there's something besides a lunatic that you are afraid of," said
+Martin to Matlack the next morning, as they were preparing breakfast.
+
+"What's that?" inquired the guide, sharply.
+
+"It's that fellow they call the bishop," said Martin. "He put a pretty
+heavy slur on you. You drove down a stake, and you locked your boat to it,
+and you walked away as big as if you were the sheriff of the county, and
+here he comes along, and snaps his fingers at you and your locks, and, as
+cool as a cucumber, he pulls up the stake and shoves out on the lake, all
+alone by herself, a young lady that you are paid to take care of and
+protect from danger."
+
+"I want you to know, Martin Sanders," said Matlack, "that I don't pitch
+into a man when he's in his bed, no matter what it is that made him take
+to his bed or stay there. But I'll just say to you now, that when he gets
+up and shows himself, there'll be the biggest case of bounce in these
+parts that you ever saw."
+
+"Bounce!" said Martin to himself, as he turned away. "I have heard so much
+of it lately that I'd like to see a little."
+
+Matlack also communed with himself. "He's awful anxious to get up a
+quarrel between me and the parson," he thought. "I wonder if he was too
+free with his tongue and did get thrashed. He don't show no signs of it,
+except he's so concerned in his mind to see somebody do for the parson
+what he ain't able to do himself. But I'll find out about it! I'll thrash
+that fellow in black, and before I let him up I'll make him tell me what
+he did to Martin. I'd do a good deal to get hold of something that would
+take the conceit out of that fellow."
+
+Mr. Arthur Raybold was a deep-minded person, and sometimes it was
+difficult for him, with the fathoming apparatus he had on hand, to
+discover the very bottom of his mind. Now, far below the surface, his
+thoughts revolved. He had come to the conclusion that he would marry
+Margery. In the first place, he was greatly attracted by her, and again he
+considered it would be a most advantageous union. She was charming to look
+upon, and her mind was so uncramped by conventionalities that it could
+adapt itself to almost any sphere to which she might direct it. He
+expected his life-work to be upon the stage, and what an actress Miss
+Dearborn would make if properly educated--as he could educate her! With
+this most important purpose in view, why should he waste his time? The
+Archibalds could not much longer remain in camp. They had limited their
+holiday to a month, and that was more than half gone. He must strike now.
+
+The first thing to do was to get Clyde out of the way; then he would speak
+to Mr. Archibald and ask for authority to press his suit, and he would
+press that suit as few men on earth, he said to himself, would be able to
+press it. What girl could deny herself to him when he came to her clad not
+only with his own personal attributes, but with the fervor of a Romeo, the
+intellectuality of a Hamlet, and the force of an Othello?
+
+The Clyde part of the affair seemed very simple; as his party would of
+course have their own table Clyde would see his sister at every meal, and
+as Corona did not care to talk to him, and must talk to somebody, she
+would be compelled to talk to Clyde, and if she talked to Clyde and looked
+at him as she always did when she talked to people, he did not see how he
+could help being attracted by her, and when once that sort of thing began
+the Margery-field would be open to him.
+
+He excused himself that morning for hurriedly leaving the breakfast-table
+by saying that he wished to see Mr. Archibald before he started out
+fishing.
+
+He found that gentleman talking to Matlack. "Can I see you alone, sir?"
+said Raybold. "I have something of importance I wish to say to you."
+
+"Very good," said the other, "for I have something I wish to say to you,"
+and they retired towards the lake.
+
+"What is it?" inquired Mr. Archibald.
+
+"It is this," said Raybold, folding his arms as he spoke. "I am a man of
+but few words. When I have formed a purpose I call upon my actions to
+express it rather than my speech. I will not delay, therefore, to say to
+you that I love your ward, and my sole object in seeking this interview is
+to ask your permission to pay my addresses to her. That permission given,
+I will attend to the rest."
+
+"After you have dropped your penny in the slot," remarked Mr. Archibald.
+"I must say," he continued, "that I am rather surprised at the nature of
+your communication. I supposed you were going to explain your somewhat
+remarkable conduct in bringing your tent into my camp without asking my
+permission or even speaking to me about it; but as what you have said is
+of so much more importance than that breach of good manners I will let the
+latter drop. But why did you ask my permission to address Miss Dearborn?
+Why didn't you go and do it just as you brought your tent here? Did you
+think that if you had a permit from me for that sort of sport you could
+warn off trespassers?"
+
+"It was something of that kind," said Raybold, "although I should not have
+put it in that trifling way."
+
+"Then I will remark," said Mr. Archibald, "that I know nothing of your
+matrimonial availability, and I do not want to know anything about it. My
+wife and I brought Miss Dearborn here to enjoy herself in the woods, not
+to be sought in marriage by strangers. For the present I am her guardian,
+and as such I say to you that I forbid you to make her a proposal of
+marriage, or, indeed, to pay her any attentions which she may consider
+serious. If I see that you do not respect my wishes in this regard, I
+shall ask you to consider our acquaintance at an end, and shall dispense
+with your visits to this camp. Have I spoken plainly?"
+
+The knitted brows of Raybold were directed towards the ground. "You have
+spoken plainly," he said, "and I have heard," and with a bow he walked
+away.
+
+As he approached his tent a smile, intended to be bitter, played about his
+features.
+
+"A net of cobwebs," he muttered, "to cage a lion!"
+
+The weather had now grown sultry, the afternoon was very hot, and there
+was a general desire to lie in the shade and doze. Margery's plans for a
+siesta were a little more complicated than those of the others. She longed
+to lie in a hammock under great trees, surrounded by the leafy screens of
+the woodlands; to gaze at the blue sky through the loop-holes in the
+towering branches above her, and to dream of the mysteries of the forest.
+
+"Martin," said she, to the young guide, "is there a hammock among the
+things we brought with us?"
+
+His face brightened. "Of course there are hammocks," he said. "I wonder
+none of you asked about them before."
+
+"I never thought of it," said Margery. "I haven't had time for lounging,
+and as for Aunt Harriet, she would not get into one for five dollars."
+
+"Where shall I hang it?" he asked.
+
+"Not anywhere about here. Couldn't you find some nice place in the woods,
+not far away, but where I would not be seen, and might have a little time
+to myself? If you can, come and tell me quietly where it is."
+
+"I know what she means," said Martin to himself. "It's a shame that she
+should be annoyed. I can find you just such a place," he said to Margery.
+"I will hang the hammock there, and I will take care that nobody else
+shall know where it is." And away he went, bounding heart and foot.
+
+In less than a quarter of an hour he returned. "It's all ready, Miss
+Dearborn," he said. "I think I have found a place you will like. It's
+generally very close in the woods on a day like this, but there is a
+little bluff back of us, and at the end of it the woods are open, so that
+there is a good deal of air there."
+
+"That is charming," said Margery, and with a book in her hand she
+accompanied Martin.
+
+They were each so interested in the hammock business that they walked side
+by side, instead of one following the other, as had been their custom
+heretofore.
+
+"Oh, this is a delightful place!" cried Margery. "I can lie here and look
+down into the very heart of the woods; it is a solitude like Robinson
+Crusoe's island."
+
+"I am glad you like it," said Martin. "I thought you would. I have put up
+the hammock strongly, so that you need not be afraid of it; but if there
+is any other way you want it I can change it. There is not a thing here
+that can hurt you, and if a little snake should happen along it would be
+glad to get away from you if you give it a chance. But if you should be
+frightened or should want anything you have only to call for me. I shall
+hear you, for I shall be out in the open just at the edge of the woods."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Margery; "nothing could be nicer than this,
+and you did it so quickly."
+
+He smiled with pleasure as he answered that he could have done it more
+quickly if it had been necessary; and then he retired slowly, that she
+might call him back if she thought of anything she wanted.
+
+Margery lay in the hammock, gazing out over the edge of the bluff into the
+heart of the woods; her closed book was in her hand, and the gentle breeze
+that shook the leaves around her and disturbed the loose curls about her
+face was laden with a moist spiciness which made her believe it had been
+wandering through some fragrant foliage of a kind unknown to her, far away
+in the depths of the forest, where she could not walk on account of the
+rocks, the great bushes, and the tall ferns. It was lovely to lie and
+watch the leafy boughs, which seemed as if they were waving their
+handkerchiefs to the breeze as it passed.
+
+"I don't believe," she said to herself, as she cast her eyes upward
+towards an open space above her, "that if I were that little white cloud
+and could float over the whole world and drop down on any spot I chose
+that I could drop into a lovelier place than this." Then she brought her
+gaze again to earth, and her mind went out between the shadowy trunks
+which stretched away and away and away towards the mysteries of the
+forest, which must always be mysteries to her because it was impossible
+for her to get to them and solve them--that is, if she remained awake. But
+if Master Morpheus should happen by, she might yet know everything--for
+there are no mysteries which cannot be solved in dreams.
+
+Master Morpheus came, but with him came also Arthur Raybold; not by the
+little pathway that approached from the direction of the lake, but parting
+the bushes as if he had been exploring. When she heard footsteps behind
+her, Margery looked up quickly.
+
+"Mr. Raybold!" she exclaimed. "How on earth did you happen here?"
+
+"I did not happen," said he, wiping his brow with his handkerchief. "I
+have been looking for you, and I have had tough work of it. I saw you go
+into the woods, and I went in also, although some distance below here, and
+I have had a hard and tiresome job working my way up to you; but I have
+found you. I knew I should, for I had bent my mind to the undertaking."
+
+"Well, I wish you hadn't," said Margery, in a vexed tone. "I came here to
+be alone and take a nap, and I wish you would find some other nice place
+and go and take a nap yourself."
+
+He smiled deeply. "That would not answer my purpose at all," said he.
+"Napping is far from my desires."
+
+"But I don't care anything about your desires," said Margery, in a tone
+which showed she was truly vexed, "I have pre-empted this place, and I
+want it to myself. I was just falling into a most delightful doze when you
+came, and I don't think you have any right to come here and disturb me."
+
+"The sense of right, Miss Dearborn," said he, "comes from the heart, and
+we do not have to ask other people what it is. My heart has given me the
+right to come here, and here I am."
+
+"And what in the name of common-sense are you here for?" said Margery.
+"Speaking about your heart makes me think you came here to make love to
+me. Is that it?"
+
+"It is," said he, "and I wish you to hear me."
+
+"Mr. Raybold," said she, her eyes as bright, he thought, as if they had
+belonged to his sister when she was urging some of her favorite views upon
+a company, "I won't listen to one word of such stuff. This is no place for
+love-making, and I won't have it. If you want to make love to me you can
+wait until I go home, and then you can come and speak to my mother about
+it, and when you have spoken to her you can speak to me, but I won't
+listen to it here. Not one word!"
+
+Thus did the indignant craftiness of Margery express itself. "It's a good
+deal better," she thought, "than telling him no, and having him keep on
+begging and begging."
+
+"Miss Dearborn," said Raybold, "what I have to say cannot be postponed.
+The words within me must be spoken, and I came here to speak them."
+
+With a sudden supple twist Margery turned herself, hammock and all, and
+stood on her feet on the ground. "Martin!" she cried, at the top of her
+voice.
+
+Raybold stepped back astonished. "What is this?" he exclaimed. "Am I to
+understand--"
+
+Before he had time to complete his sentence Martin Sanders sprang into the
+scene.
+
+"What is it?" he exclaimed, with a glare at Raybold, as if he suspected
+why he had been called.
+
+"Martin," said Margery, with a good deal of sharpness in her voice, "I
+want you to take down this hammock and carry it away. I can't stay here
+any longer. I thought that at least one quiet place out-of-doors could be
+found where I would not be disturbed, but it seems there is no such place.
+Perhaps you can hang the hammock somewhere near our cabin."
+
+Martin's face grew very red. "I think," said he, "that you ought not to be
+obliged to go away because you have been disturbed. Whoever disturbed you
+should go away, and not you."
+
+Now Mr. Raybold's face also grew red. "There has been enough of this!" he
+exclaimed. "Guide, you can go where you came from. You are not wanted
+here. If Miss Dearborn wishes her hammock taken down, I will do it." Then
+turning to Margery, he continued: "You do not know what it is I have to
+say to you. If you do not hear me now, you will regret it all your life.
+Send this man away."
+
+"I would very much like to send a man away if I knew how to do it," said
+Margery.
+
+"Do it?" cried Martin. "Oh, Miss Dearborn, if you want it done, ask me to
+do it for you!"
+
+"You!" shouted Raybold, making two steps towards the young guide; then he
+stopped, for Margery stood in front of him.
+
+"I have never seen two men fight," said she, "and I don't say I wouldn't
+like it, just once; but you would have to have on boxing-gloves; I
+couldn't stand a fight with plain hands, so you needn't think of it.
+Martin, take down the hammock just as quickly as you can. And if you want
+to stay here, Mr. Raybold, you can stay, but if you want to talk, you can
+talk to the trees."
+
+Martin heaved a sigh of disappointment, and proceeded to unfasten the
+hammock from the trees to which it had been tied. For a moment Raybold
+looked as if he were about to interfere, but there was something in the
+feverish agility of the young guide which made his close proximity as
+undesirable as that of a package of dynamite.
+
+Margery turned to leave the place, but suddenly stopped. She would wait
+until Martin was ready to go with her. She would not leave those two young
+men alone.
+
+Raybold was very angry. He knew well that such a chance for a private
+interview was not likely to occur again, and he would not give up. He
+approached the young girl.
+
+"Margery," he said, "if you--"
+
+"Martin," she cried to the guide, who was now ready to go, "put down that
+hammock and come here. Now, sir," she said, turning to Raybold, "let me
+hear you call me Margery again!"
+
+She waited for about a half a minute, but she was not called by name. Then
+she and Martin went away. She had nearly reached the cabin before she
+spoke, and then she turned to the young man and said: "Martin, you needn't
+trouble yourself about putting up that hammock now; I don't want to lie in
+it. I'm going into the house. I am very much obliged to you for the way
+you stood by me."
+
+"Stood by you!" he exclaimed, in a low voice, which seemed struggling in
+the grasp of something which might or might not be stronger than itself.
+"You don't know how glad I am to stand by you, and how I would always--"
+
+"Thank you," said Margery; "thank you very much," and she walked away
+towards the cabin.
+
+"Oh, dear!" she sighed, as she opened the door and went in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A MAN WHO FEELS HIMSELF A MAN
+
+
+Towards the end of the afternoon, when the air had grown cooler, Mr.
+Archibald proposed a boating expedition to the lower end of the lake. His
+boat was large enough for Matlack, the three ladies, and himself, and if
+the two young men wished to follow, they had a boat of their own.
+
+When first asked to join the boating party Miss Corona Raybold hesitated;
+she did not care very much about boating; but when she found that if she
+stayed in camp she would have no one to talk to, she accepted the
+invitation.
+
+Mr. Archibald took the oars nearest the stern, while Matlack seated
+himself forward, and this arrangement suited Miss Corona exactly.
+
+The boat kept down the middle of the lake, greatly aided by the current,
+and Corona talked steadily to Mr. Archibald. Mrs. Archibald, who always
+wanted to do what was right, and who did not like to be left out of any
+conversation on important subjects, made now and then a remark, and
+whenever she spoke Corona turned to her and listened with the kindest
+attention, but the moment the elder lady had finished, the other resumed
+her own thread of observation without the slightest allusion to what she
+had just heard.
+
+As for Mr. Archibald, he seldom said a word. He listened, sometimes his
+eyes twinkled, and he pulled easily and steadily. Doubtless he had a good
+many ideas, but none of them was expressed. As for Margery, she leaned
+back in the stern, and thought that, after all, she liked Miss Raybold
+better than she did her brother, for the young lady did not speak one word
+to her, nor did she appear to regard her in any way.
+
+"But how on earth," thought Margery, "she can float over this beautiful
+water and under this lovely sky, with the grandeur of the forest all about
+her, and yet pay not the slightest attention to anything she sees, but
+keep steadily talking about her own affairs and the society she belongs
+to, I cannot imagine. She might as well live in a cellar and have
+pamphlets and reformers shoved down to her through the coal-hole."
+
+Messrs. Clyde and Raybold accompanied the larger boat in their own skiff.
+It was an unwieldy craft, with but one pair of oars, and as the two young
+men were not accustomed to rowing together, and as Mr. Raybold was not
+accustomed to rowing at all and did not like it, Mr. Clyde pulled the
+boat. But, do what he could, it was impossible for him to get near the
+other boat. Matlack, who was not obliged to listen to Miss Corona, kept
+his eye upon the following skiff, and seemed to fear a collision if the
+two boats came close together, for if Clyde pulled hard he pulled harder.
+Arthur Raybold was not satisfied.
+
+"I thought you were a better oarsman," he said to the other; "but now I
+suppose we shall not come near them until we land."
+
+But the Archibald party did not land. Under the guidance of Matlack they
+swept slowly around the lower end of the lake; they looked over the big
+untenanted camp-ground there; they stopped for a moment to gaze into the
+rift in the forest through which ran the stream which connected this lake
+with another beyond it, and then they rowed homeward, keeping close to the
+farther shore, so as to avoid the strength of the current.
+
+Clyde, who had not reached the end of the lake, now turned and determined
+to follow the tactics of the other boat and keep close to the shore, but
+on the side nearest to the camp. This exasperated Raybold.
+
+"What are you trying to do?" he said. "If you keep in the middle we may
+get near them, and why should we be on one side of the lake and they on
+the other?"
+
+"I want to get back as soon as they do," said Clyde, "and I don't want to
+pull against the current."
+
+"Stop!" said Raybold. "If you are tired, let me have the oars."
+
+Harrison Clyde looked for a minute at his companion, and then deliberately
+changed the course of the boat and rowed straight towards the shore,
+paying no attention whatever to the excited remonstrances of Raybold. He
+beached the boat at a rather poor landing-place among some bushes, and
+then, jumping out, he made her fast.
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Raybold, as he scrambled on shore. "Is she
+leaking more than she did? What is the matter?"
+
+"She is not leaking more than usual," said the other, "but I am not going
+to pull against that current with you growling in the stern. I am going to
+walk back to camp."
+
+In consequence of this resolution the two young men reached Camp Rob about
+the same time that the Archibald boat touched shore, and at least an hour
+before they would have arrived had they remained in their boat.
+
+The party was met by Mrs. Perkenpine, bearing letters and newspapers. A
+man had arrived from Sadler's in their absence, and he had brought the
+mail. Nearly every one had letters; there was even something for Martin.
+Standing where they had landed, seated on bits of rock, on the grass, or
+on camp-chairs, all read their letters.
+
+While thus engaged a gentleman approached the party from the direction of
+Camp Roy. He was tall, well built, handsomely dressed in a suit of
+light-brown tweed, and carried himself with a buoyant uprightness. A neat
+straw hat with a broad ribbon shaded his smooth-shaven face, which
+sparkled with cordial good-humor. A blue cravat was tied tastefully under
+a broad white collar, and in his hand he carried a hickory walking-stick,
+cut in the woods, but good enough for a city sidewalk. Margery was the
+first to raise her eyes at the sound of the quickly approaching
+footsteps.
+
+"Goodness gracious!" she exclaimed, and then everybody looked up.
+
+For a moment the new-comer was gazed upon in silence. From what gigantic
+bandbox could this well-dressed stranger have dropped? Then, with a loud
+laugh, Mr. Archibald cried, "The bishop!"
+
+No wonder there had not been instant recognition. The loose, easy-fitting
+clothes gave no hint of redundant plumpness; no soiled shovel-hat cast a
+shadow over the smiling face, and a glittering shirt front banished all
+thought of gutta-percha.
+
+"Madam," exclaimed the bishop, raising his hat and stepping quickly
+towards Mrs. Archibald, "I cannot express the pleasure I feel in meeting
+you again. And as for you, sir," holding out his hand to Mr. Archibald, "I
+have no words in which to convey my feelings. Look upon a man, sir, who
+feels himself a man, and then remember from what you raised him. I can say
+no more now, but I can never forget what you have done," and as he spoke
+he pressed Mr. Archibald's hand with an honest fervor, which distorted for
+a moment the features of that gentleman.
+
+From one to the other of the party the bishop glanced, as he said, "How
+glad, how unutterably glad, I am to be again among you!" Turning his eyes
+towards Miss Raybold, he stopped. That young lady had put down the letter
+she was reading, and was gazing at him through her spectacles with calm
+intensity. "This lady," said the bishop, turning towards Raybold, "is your
+sister, I presume? May I have the honor?"
+
+Raybold looked at him without speaking. Here was an example of the silly
+absurdity of throwing pearls before swine. He had never wanted to have
+anything to do with the fellow when he was in the gutter, and he wanted
+nothing to do with him now.
+
+With a little flush on her face Mrs. Archibald rose.
+
+"Miss Raybold," she said, "let me present to you"--and she hesitated for a
+moment--"the gentleman we call the bishop. I think you have heard us speak
+of him."
+
+"Yes," said Miss Raybold, rising, with a charming smile on her handsome
+face, and extending her hand, "I have heard of him, and I am very glad to
+meet him."
+
+"I have also heard of you," said the bishop, as he stood smiling beside
+Corona's camp-chair, "and I have regretted that I have been the innocent
+means of preventing you for a time from occupying your brother's camp."
+
+"Oh, do not mention that," said Corona, sweetly. "I walked over there
+yesterday, and I think it is a great deal pleasanter here, so you have
+really done me a favor. I am particularly glad to see you, because, from
+the little I have heard said about you, I think you must agree with some
+of my cherished opinions. For one thing, I am quite certain you favor the
+assertion of individuality; your actions prove that."
+
+"Really," said the bishop, seating himself near her, "I have not given
+much thought to the subject; but I suppose I have asserted my
+individuality. If I have, however, I have done it indefinitely. Everybody
+about me having some definite purpose in life, and I having none, I am, in
+a negative way, a distinctive individual. It is a pity I am so different
+from other people, but--"
+
+"No, it is not a pity," interrupted Corona, the color coming into her
+cheeks and a brighter light into her eyes. "Our individuality is a sacred
+responsibility. It is given to us for us to protect and encourage--I may
+say, to revere. It is a trust for which we should be called to account by
+ourselves, and we shall be false and disloyal to ourselves if we cannot
+show that we have done everything in our power for the establishment and
+recognition of our individuality."
+
+"It delights me to hear you speak in that way," exclaimed the bishop. "It
+encourages and cheers me. We are what we are; and if we can be more fully
+what we are than we have been, then we are more truly ourselves than
+before."
+
+"And what can be nobler," cried Corona, "than to be, in the most
+distinctive sense of the term, ourselves?"
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Archibald walked together towards their cabin.
+
+"I want to be neighborly and hospitable," said he, "but it seems to me
+that, now that the way is clear for Miss Raybold to move her tent to her
+own camp and set up house-keeping there, we should not be called upon to
+entertain her, and, if we want to enjoy ourselves in our own way, we can
+do it without thinking of her."
+
+"We shall certainly not do it," said his wife, "if we do think of her. I
+am very much disappointed in her. She is not a companion at all for
+Margery; she never speaks to her; and, on the other hand, I should think
+you would wish she would never speak to you."
+
+"Well," said her husband, "that feeling did grow upon me somewhat this
+afternoon. Up to a certain point she is amusing."
+
+Here he was interrupted by Mrs. Perkenpine, who planted herself before
+him.
+
+"I s'pose you think I didn't do right," she said, "'cause, when that big
+bundle came it had your name on it; but I knew it was clothes, and that
+they was for that man in our camp, and so I took them to him myself. I
+heard Phil say that the sooner that man was up and dressed, the better it
+would be for all parties; and as Martin had gone off, and there wasn't
+nobody to take his clothes to him, I took them to him, and that's the long
+and short of it."
+
+"I wondered how he got them," said Mr. Archibald, "but I am glad you
+carried them to him." Then, speaking to his wife, he added, "It may be a
+good thing that I gave him a chance to assert his individuality."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MRS. PERKENPINE ASSERTS HER INDIVIDUALITY
+
+
+About half an hour after the beginning of the conversation between the
+bishop and Miss Corona, Mrs. Perkenpine came to the latter and informed
+her that supper was ready, and three times after that first announcement
+did she repeat the information. At last the bishop rose and said he would
+not keep Miss Raybold from her meal.
+
+"Will you not join us?" she asked. "I shall be glad to have you do so."
+
+The bishop hesitated for a moment, and then he accompanied Corona.
+
+As Mrs. Perkenpine turned from the camp cooking-stove, a long-handled pan,
+well filled with slices of hot meat, in her hand, she stood for a moment
+amazed. Slowly approaching the little table outside of the tent were the
+bishop and Miss Raybold, and glancing beyond them towards the lake, she
+saw Clyde and Raybold, to whom she had yelled that supper was ready, the
+one with his arms folded, gazing out over the water, and the other
+strolling backward and forward, as if he had thought of going to his
+supper, but had not quite made up his mind to it.
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine's face grew red. "They are waitin' for a chance to speak
+to that Archibald gal," she thought. "Well, let them wait. And she's
+bringing him! She needn't s'pose I don't know him. I've seen him splittin'
+wood at Sadler's, and I don't cook for sech." So saying, she strode to
+some bushes a little back of the stove, and dashed the panful of meat
+behind them. Then she returned, and seizing the steaming coffee-pot, she
+poured its contents on the ground. Then she took up a smaller pan,
+containing some fried potatoes, hot and savory, and these she threw after
+the meat.
+
+The bishop and Corona now reached the table and seated themselves. Mrs.
+Perkenpine, her face as hard and immovable as the trunk of an oak,
+approached, and placed before them some slices of cold bread, some butter,
+and two glasses of water.
+
+Still earnestly talking, her eyes sometimes dimmed with tears of
+excitement as she descanted upon her favorite theories, Corona began to
+eat what was before her. She buttered a slice of bread, and if the bishop
+chanced to say anything she ate some of it. She drank some water, and she
+talked and talked and talked. She did not know what she was eating. It
+might have been a Lord Mayor's dinner or a beggar's crust; her mind took
+no cognizance of such an unimportant matter. As for her companion, he knew
+very well what he was eating, and as he gazed about him, and saw that
+there were no signs of anything more, his heart sank lower and lower; but
+he ate slice after slice of bread, for he was hungry, and he hoped that
+when the two young men came to the table they would call for more
+substantial food.
+
+But long before they arrived Corona finished her meal and rose.
+
+"Now that we have had our supper," she said, "let us go where we shall not
+be annoyed by the smell of food, and continue our conversation."
+
+"Is it possible," thought the bishop, "that she can be annoyed by the
+smell of hot meat, potatoes, and coffee? I suppose the delicious odor
+comes from the other supper-table. Heavens! Why wasn't I asked there?"
+
+There was a dreadful storm when Raybold and Clyde came to the table; but
+Mrs. Perkenpine remained hard and immovable through it all.
+
+"Your sister and that tramp has been here," said she, "and this is all
+there is left. If you keep your hogs in your house, you can't expect to
+count on your victuals."
+
+Some more coffee was made, and that, with bread, composed the young men's
+supper.
+
+When Arthur Raybold had finished his meal, he walked to the spot where
+Corona and the bishop were conversing, and stood there silently. He was
+afraid to interrupt his sister by speaking to her, but he thought that his
+presence might have an effect upon her companion. It did have an effect,
+for the bishop seized the opportunity created by the arrival of a third
+party, excused himself, and departed at the first break in Corona's flow
+of words.
+
+"I wish, Arthur," she said, "that when you see I am engaged in a
+conversation, you would wait at least a reasonable time before
+interrupting it."
+
+"A reasonable time!" said Raybold, with a laugh. "I like that! But I came
+here to interrupt your conversation. Do you know who that fellow is you
+were talking to? He's a common, good-for-nothing tramp. He goes round
+splitting wood for his meals. Clyde and I kept him here to cook our meals
+because we had no servant, and he's been in bed for days because he had no
+clothes to wear. Now you are treating him as if he were a gentleman, and
+you actually brought him to our table, where, like the half-starved cur
+that he is, he has eaten up everything fit to eat that we were to have for
+our supper."
+
+"He did not eat all of it," said Corona, "for I ate some myself; and if he
+is the good-for-nothing tramp and the other things you call him, I wish I
+could meet with more such tramps. I tell you, Arthur, that if you were to
+spend the next five years in reading and studying, you could not get into
+your mind one-tenth of the serious information, the power to reason
+intelligently upon your perceptions, the ability to collate, compare, and
+refer to their individual causes the impressions--"
+
+"Oh, bosh!" said her brother. "What I want to know is, are you going to
+make friends with that man and invite him to our table?"
+
+"I shall invite him if I see fit," said she. "He is an extremely
+intelligent person."
+
+"Well," answered he, "if you do I shall have a separate table," and he
+walked away.
+
+As soon as he had left Corona, the bishop repaired to the Archibalds'
+cooking-tent, where he saw Matlack at work.
+
+"I have come," he said, with a pleasant smile, "to ask a very great favor.
+Would it be convenient for you to give me something to eat? Anything in
+the way of meat, hot or cold, and some tea or coffee, as I see there is a
+pot still steaming on your stove. I have had an unlucky experience. You
+know I have been preparing my own meals at the other camp, but to-day,
+when Mrs. Perkenpine brought me my clothes, she carried away with her all
+the provisions that had been left there. I supped, it is true, with Miss
+Raybold, but her appetite is so delicate and her fare so extremely simple
+that I confidentially acknowledge that I am half starved."
+
+During these remarks Matlack had stood quietly gazing at the bishop. "Do
+you see that pile of logs and branches there?" said he; "that's the
+firewood that's got to be cut for to-morrow, which is Sunday, when we
+don't want to be cuttin' wood; and if you'll go to work and cut it into
+pieces to fit this stove, I'll give you your supper. You can go to the
+other camp and sleep where you have been sleepin', if you want to, and in
+the mornin' I'll give you your breakfast. I 'ain't got no right to give
+you Mr. Archibald's victuals, but what you eat I'll pay for out of my own
+pocket, considerin' that you'll do my work. Then to-morrow I'll give you
+just one hour after you've finished your breakfast to get out of this camp
+altogether, entirely out of my sight. I tried to have you sent away
+before, but other people took you up, and so I said no more; but now
+things are different. When a man pulls up what I've drove down, and sets
+loose what I've locked up, and the same as snaps his fingers in my face
+when I'm attendin' to my business, then I don't let that man stay in my
+camp."
+
+"Excuse me," said the bishop, "but in case I should not go away within the
+time specified, what would be your course?"
+
+In a few brief remarks, inelegant but expressive, the guide outlined his
+intentions of taking measures which would utterly eliminate the physical
+energy of the other.
+
+"I haven't taken no advantage of you," he said, "I haven't come down on
+you when you hadn't no clothes to go away in; and now that you've got good
+clothes, I don't want to spile them if I can help it; but they're not
+goin' to save you--mind my words. What I've said I'll stick to."
+
+"Mr. Matlack," said the bishop, "I consider that you are entirely correct
+in all your positions. As to that unfortunate affair of the boat, I had
+intended coming to you and apologizing most sincerely for my share in it.
+It was an act of great foolishness, but that does not in the least excuse
+me. I apologize now, and beg that you will believe that I truly regret
+having interfered with your arrangements."
+
+"That won't do!" exclaimed the guide. "When a man as much as snaps his
+fingers in my face, it's no use for him to come and apologize. That's not
+what I want."
+
+"Nevertheless," said the bishop, "you will pardon me if I insist upon
+expressing my regrets. I do that for my own sake as well as yours; but we
+will drop that subject. When you ask me to cut wood to pay for my meals,
+you are entirely right, and I honor your sound opinion upon this subject.
+I will cut the wood and earn my meals, but there is one amendment to your
+plan which I would like to propose. To-morrow is Sunday; for that reason
+we should endeavor to make the day as quiet and peaceable as possible, and
+we should avoid everything which may be difficult of explanation or
+calculated to bring about an unpleasant difference of opinion among other
+members of the party. Therefore, will you postpone the time at which you
+will definitely urge my departure until Monday morning?"
+
+"Well," said Matlack, "now I come to think of it, it might be well not to
+kick up a row on Sunday, and I will put it off until Monday morning; but
+mind, there's no nonsense about me. What I say I mean, and on Monday
+morning you march of your own accord, or I'll attend to the matter
+myself."
+
+"Very good," said the bishop; "thank you very much. To-morrow I will
+consider your invitation to leave this place, and if you will come to Camp
+Roy about half-past six on Monday morning I will then give you my
+decision. Will that hour suit you?"
+
+"All right," said Matlack, "you might as well make it a business matter.
+It's going to be business on my side, I'd have you know."
+
+"Good--very good," said the bishop, "and now let me get at that wood."
+
+So saying, he put down his cane, took off his hat, his coat, his
+waistcoat, his collar, and his cravat and his cuffs; he rolled up his
+sleeves, he turned up the bottoms of his trousers, and then taking an axe,
+he set to work.
+
+In a few minutes Martin arrived on the scene. "What's up now?" said he.
+
+"He's cuttin' wood for his meals," replied Matlack.
+
+"I thought you were going to bounce him as soon as he got up?"
+
+"That's put off until Monday morning," said Matlack. "Then he marches.
+I've settled that."
+
+"Did he agree?" asked Martin.
+
+"'Tain't necessary for him to agree; he'll find that out Monday morning."
+
+Martin stood and looked at the bishop as he worked.
+
+"I wish you would get him to cut wood every day," said he. "By George, how
+he makes that axe fly!"
+
+When the bishop finished his work he drove his axe-head deep into a stump,
+washed his hands and his face, resumed the clothing he had laid aside, and
+then sat down to supper. There was nothing stingy about Matlack, and the
+wood-chopper made a meal which amply compensated him for the deficiencies
+of the Perkenpine repast.
+
+When he had finished he hurried to the spot where the party was in the
+habit of assembling around the camp-fire. He found there some feebly
+burning logs, and Mr. Clyde, who sat alone, smoking his pipe.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked the bishop. "Where are all our friends?"
+
+[Illustration: "'WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?'"]
+
+"I suppose they are all in bed," said Clyde, "with the bedclothes pulled
+over their heads--that is, except one, and I suspect she is talking in her
+sleep. They were all here as usual, and Mr. Archibald thought he would
+break the spell by telling a fishing story. He told me he was going to try
+to speak against time; but it wasn't of any use. She just slid into the
+middle of his remarks as a duck slides into the water, and then she began
+an oration. I really believe she did not know that any one else was
+talking."
+
+"That may have been the case," said the bishop; "she has a wonderful power
+of self-concentration."
+
+"Very true," said Clyde, "and this time she concentrated herself so much
+upon herself that the rest of us got away, one by one, and when all the
+others had gone she went. Then, when I found she really had gone, I came
+back. By-the-way, bishop," he continued, "there is something I would like
+to do, and I want you to help me."
+
+"Name it," said the other.
+
+"I am getting tired of the way the Raybolds are trespassing on the
+good-nature of the Archibalds, and, whatever they do, I don't intend to
+let them make me trespass any longer. I haven't anything to do with Miss
+Raybold, but the other tent belongs as much to me as it does to her
+brother, and I am going to take it back to our own camp. And what is more,
+I am going to have my meals there. I don't want that wooden-headed Mrs.
+Perkenpine to cook for me."
+
+"How would you like me to do it?" asked the bishop, quickly.
+
+"That would be fine," said Clyde. "I will help, and we will set up
+house-keeping there again, and if Raybold doesn't choose to come and live
+in his own camp he can go wherever he pleases. I am not going to have him
+manage things for me. Don't you think that you and I can carry that tent
+over?"
+
+"With ease!" exclaimed the bishop. "When do you want to move--Monday
+morning?"
+
+"Yes," said Clyde, "after breakfast."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE HERMITS ASSOCIATE
+
+
+During the next day no one in camp had reason to complain of Corona
+Raybold. She did not seem inclined to talk to anybody, but spent the most
+of her time alone. She wrote a little and reflected a great deal,
+sometimes walking, sometimes seated in the shade, gazing far beyond the
+sky.
+
+When the evening fire was lighted, her mood changed so that one might have
+supposed that another fire had been lighted somewhere in the interior of
+her mental organism. Her fine eyes glistened, her cheeks gently reddened,
+and her whole body became animated with an energy created by warm
+emotions.
+
+"I have something I wish to say to you all," she exclaimed, as she reached
+the fire. "Where is Arthur? Will somebody please call him? And I would
+like to see both the guides. It is something very important that I have to
+say. Mrs. Perkenpine will be here in a moment; I asked her to come. If Mr.
+Matlack is not quite ready, can he not postpone what he is doing? I am
+sure you will all be interested in what I have to say, and I do not want
+to begin until every one is here."
+
+Mr. Archibald saw that she was very much in earnest, and so he sent for
+the guides, and Clyde went to call Raybold.
+
+In a few minutes Clyde returned and told Corona that her brother had said
+he did not care to attend services that evening.
+
+"Where is he?" asked Miss Raybold.
+
+"He is sitting over there looking out upon the lake," replied Clyde.
+
+"I will be back almost immediately," said she to Mr. Archibald, "and in
+the mean time please let everybody assemble."
+
+Arthur Raybold was in no mood to attend services of any sort. He had spent
+nearly the whole day trying to get a chance to speak to Margery, but never
+could he find her alone.
+
+"If I can once put the matter plainly to her," he said to himself, "she
+will quickly perceive what it is that I offer her; and when she clearly
+sees that, I will undertake to make her accept it. She is only a woman,
+and can no more withstand me than a mound of sand built by a baby's hand
+could withstand the rolling wave."
+
+At this moment Corona arrived and told him that she wanted him at the
+camp-fire. He was only a man, and could no more withstand her than a mound
+of sand built by a baby's hand could withstand the rolling wave.
+
+When everybody in the camp had gathered around the fire, Corona, her
+eye-glasses illumined by the light of her soul, gazed around the circle
+and began to speak.
+
+"My dear friends," she said, "I have been thinking a great deal to-day
+upon a very important subject, and I have come to the conclusion that we
+who form this little company have before us one of the grandest
+opportunities ever afforded a group of human beings. We are here, apart
+from our ordinary circumstances and avocations, free from all the trammels
+and demands of society, alone with nature and ourselves. In our ordinary
+lives, surrounded by our ordinary circumstances, we cannot be truly
+ourselves; each of us is but part of a whole, and very often an entirely
+unharmonious part. It is very seldom that we are able to do the things we
+wish to do in the manner and at times and places when it would best suit
+our natures. Try as we may to be true to ourselves, it is seldom possible;
+we are swept away in a current of conventionality. It may be one kind of
+conventionality for some of us and another kind for others, but we are
+borne on by it all the same. Sometimes a person like myself or Mr.
+Archibald clings to some rock or point upon the bank, and for a little
+while is free from the coercion of circumstances, but this cannot be for
+long, and we are soon swept with the rest into the ocean of conglomerate
+commonplace."
+
+"That's when we die!" remarked Mrs. Perkenpine, who sat reverently
+listening.
+
+"No," said the speaker, "it happens while we are alive. But now," she
+continued, "we have a chance, as I said before, to shake ourselves free
+from our enthralment. For a little while each one of us may assert his or
+her individuality. We are a varied and representative party; we come from
+different walks of life; we are men, women, and--" looking at Margery, she
+was about to say children, but she changed her expression to "young
+people." "I think you will all understand what I mean. When we are at our
+homes we do things because other people want us to do them, and not
+because we want to do them. A family sits down to a meal, and some of them
+like what is on the table, some do not; some of them would have preferred
+to eat an hour before, some of them would prefer to eat an hour later; but
+they all take their meals at the same time and eat the same things because
+it is the custom to do so.
+
+"I mention a meal simply as an instance, but the slavery of custom extends
+into every branch of our lives. We get up, we go to bed, we read, we work,
+we play, just as other people do these things, and not as we ourselves
+would do them if we planned our own lives. Now we have a chance, all of
+us, to be ourselves! Each of us may say, 'I am myself, one!' Think of
+that, my friends, each one! Each of us a unit, responsible only to his or
+her unity, if I may so express it."
+
+"Do you mean that I am that?" inquired Mrs. Perkenpine.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Corona.
+
+"Is Phil Matlack one?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"All right," said the female guide; "if he is one, I don't mind."
+
+"Now what I propose is this," said Corona: "I understand that the stay in
+this camp will continue for about a week longer, and I earnestly urge upon
+you that for this time we shall each one of us assert our individuality.
+Let us be what we are, show ourselves what we are, and let each other see
+what we are."
+
+"It would not be safe nor pleasant to allow everybody to do that," said
+Mr. Archibald. He was more interested in Miss Raybold's present discourse
+than he had been in any other he had heard her deliver.
+
+"Of course," said she, "it would not do to propose such a thing to the
+criminal classes or to people of evil inclinations, but I have carefully
+considered the whole subject as it relates to us, and I think we are a
+party singularly well calculated to become the exponent of the
+distinctiveness of our several existences."
+
+"That gits me," said Matlack.
+
+"I am afraid," said the speaker, gazing kindly at him, "that I do not
+always express myself plainly to the general comprehension, but what I
+mean is this: that during the time we stay here, let each one of us do
+exactly what he or she wants to do, without considering other people at
+all, except, of course, that we must not do anything which would interfere
+with any of the others doing what they please. For instance--and I assure
+you I have thought over this matter in all its details--if any of us were
+inclined to swear or behave disorderly, which I am sure could not be the
+case, he or she would not do so because he or she would feel that, being
+responsible to himself or herself, that responsibility would prevent him
+or her from doing that which would interfere with the pleasure or comfort
+of his or her associates."
+
+"I think," said Mrs. Archibald, somewhat severely, "that our duty to our
+fellow-beings is far more important than our selfish consideration of
+ourselves."
+
+"But reflect," cried Corona, "how much consideration we give to our
+fellow-beings, and how little to ourselves as ourselves, each one. Can we
+not, for the sake of knowing ourselves and honoring ourselves, give
+ourselves to ourselves for a little while? The rest of our lives may then
+be given to others and the world."
+
+"I hardly believe," said Mr. Archibald, "that all of us clearly understand
+your meaning, but it seems to me that you would like each one of us to
+become, for a time, a hermit. I do not know of any other class of persons
+who so thoroughly assert their individuality."
+
+"You are right!" exclaimed Corona. "A hermit does it. A hermit is more
+truly himself than any other man. He may dwell in a cave and eat
+water-cresses, he may live on top of a tall pillar, or he may make his
+habitation in a barrel! If a hermit should so choose, he might furnish a
+cave with Eastern rugs and bric-à-brac. If he liked that sort of thing, he
+would be himself. Yes, I would have all of us, in the truest sense of the
+word, hermits, each a hermit; but we need not dwell apart. Some of us
+would certainly wish to assert our individuality by not dwelling apart
+from others."
+
+"We might, then," said Mr. Archibald, "become a company of associate
+hermits."
+
+"Exactly!" cried Corona, stretching out her hands. "That is the very
+word--associate hermits. My dear friends, from to-morrow morning, until we
+leave here, let us be associate hermits. Let us live for ourselves, be
+true to ourselves. After all, if we think of it seriously, ourselves are
+all that we have in this world. Everything else may be taken from us, but
+no one can take from me, myself, or from any one of you, yourself."
+
+The bishop now rose. He as well as the others had listened attentively to
+everything that had been said; even Arthur Raybold had shown a great deal
+of interest in his sister's remarks.
+
+"You mean," said the bishop, "that while we stay here each one of us shall
+act exactly as we think we ought to act if we were not influenced by the
+opinions and examples of others around us, and thus we shall have an
+opportunity to find out for ourselves and show others exactly what we
+are."
+
+"That is it," said Corona, "you have stated it very well."
+
+"Well, then," said the bishop, "I move that for the time stated we
+individually assert our individuality."
+
+"Second the motion," said Mr. Archibald.
+
+"All in favor of this motion please say 'Aye,'" said Corona. "Now let
+everybody vote, and I hope you will all say 'Aye,' and if any one does not
+understand, I will be happy to explain."
+
+"I want to know," said Phil Matlack, rising, "if one man asserts what you
+call his individ'ality in such a way that it runs up agin another man's,
+and that second man ain't inclined to stand it, if that--"
+
+"Oh, I assure you," interrupted the bishop, "that that will be all right.
+I understand you perfectly, and the individualities will all run along
+together without interfering with each other, and if one happens to get in
+the way of another it will be gently moved aside."
+
+"Gently!" said Matlack, somewhat satirically. "Well, all right, it will be
+moved aside. I am satisfied, if the rest are."
+
+"Now all in favor say 'Aye,'" said Corona.
+
+They all said "Aye," except Mrs. Perkenpine, who said "Me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+MARGERY'S BREAKFAST
+
+
+Very early the next morning Margery pushed wide open the window of her
+studio chamber. The sash was a large one, and opened outward on hinges.
+She looked out upon the dewy foliage, she inhaled the fragrance of the
+moist morning air, she listened to the song of some early birds, and then,
+being dressed for the day, she got on a chair, stepped on the window-sill,
+and jumped out. She walked quietly round the cabin and went out towards
+the lake. She had never seen the woods so early in the day. All the space
+between the earth and the sky seemed filled with an intoxicating coolness.
+She took off her hat and carried it in her hand; the sun was not yet high
+enough to make it necessary to put anything between him and her.
+
+"This is what I am," said Margery to herself as she stepped blithely on.
+"I never knew before what I am. I am really a dryad under difficulties."
+
+Presently, to her amazement and his amazement, she saw Martin. She went
+towards him.
+
+"Oh, Martin," she said, "are you up so early?"
+
+He smiled. "This is not early for me," he answered.
+
+"And Mr. Matlack, is he up?"
+
+"Oh yes, he is up, and gone off to attend to some business."
+
+"Well, really!" exclaimed Margery. "I thought I was the first one out in
+the world to-day. And now, Martin, don't you want to do something for me?
+I did not think it would happen, but I am really dreadfully hungry, and
+couldn't you give me my breakfast now, by myself, before anybody else? I
+am not particular what I have--anything that is easy to get ready will
+do--and I would like it down at the very edge of the lake."
+
+"You shall have it!" exclaimed Martin, eagerly. "I will get it ready for
+you very soon, and will bring it to you. I know you like bread and butter
+and jam, and there is some cold meat, and I will boil you an egg and make
+some coffee."
+
+"That will be lovely," said Margery, "and I will go down by the lake and
+wait. I do believe," she said to herself as she hurried away, "that this
+hermit business is the only sensible thing that ever came into the head of
+that classic statue with the glass fronts."
+
+Very soon Martin appeared with a rug, which he said she would want if she
+were going to sit on the ground; and then he ran away, but soon came back
+with the breakfast. Margery was surprised to see how tastefully it was
+served.
+
+"You could not have done it better," she said, "if you had been a"--she
+was about to say waiter, but as she gazed at the bright, handsome face of
+the young man she felt that it would hurt his feelings to use such a word,
+so she suddenly changed it to woman.
+
+"If it is done well," he said, "it is not because I am like a woman, but
+because you are one."
+
+"What does that mean?" thought Margery; but she did not stop to consider.
+"Thank you very much," she said. "Here is where I am going to eat, and
+nobody will disturb me."
+
+"Do you wish anything else?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she. "I have everything I want; you know I take only one cup of
+coffee."
+
+He did know it; he knew everything she took, and as he felt that there was
+no excuse for him to stay there any longer, he slowly walked away.
+
+The place Margery had chosen was a nice little nook for a nice little
+hermit. It was a bit of low beach, very narrow, and flanked on the shore
+side by a row of bushes, which soon turned and grew down to the water's
+edge, thus completely cutting off one end of the beach. At the other end
+the distance between the shrubbery and the water was but a few feet, so
+that Margery could eat her breakfast without being disturbed by the rest
+of the world.
+
+Reclining on the rug with the little tray on the ground before her, and
+some green leaves and a few pale wild flowers peeping over the edge of it
+to see what she had for breakfast, Margery gave herself up to the
+enjoyment of life.
+
+"Each, one," she said aloud; "I am one, and beautiful nature is another.
+Just two of us, and each, one. Go away, sir," she said to a big buzzing
+creature with transparent wings, "you are another, but you don't count."
+
+Arthur Raybold was perhaps the member of the party who was the best
+satisfied to be himself. He had vowed, as he left the camp-fire the night
+before, that his sister had at last evolved an idea which had some value.
+Be himself? He should think so! He firmly believed that he was the only
+person in the camp capable of truly acting his own part in life.
+
+Clyde had told him that on this morning he was going to move the tent over
+to their own camp, and though he had objected very forcibly, he found that
+Clyde was not to be moved, and that the tent would be. In an angry mood he
+had been the first one of the Associated Hermits to assert his
+individuality. He made up his mind that he would not leave the immediate
+atmosphere of Margery. He would revolve about her in his waking hours and
+in his dreams, and in the latter case he would revolve in a hammock hung
+between two trees not far from his sister's tent; and as he was not one
+who delayed the execution of his plans, he had put up the hammock that
+night, although his tent was still in Camp Rob. He had not slept very
+well, because he was not used to repose in a hammock; and he had risen
+early, for, though wrapped in a blanket, he had found himself a little
+chilly.
+
+Starting out for a brisk walk to warm himself, he had not gone far before
+he thought he heard something which sounded like the clicking of knife and
+fork and dish. He stopped, listened, and then approached the source of the
+sounds, and soon stood at the open end of Margery's little beach. For a
+few moments she did not know he was there, so engrossed was her mind with
+the far-away shadows on the lake, and with the piece of bread and jam she
+held in her hand.
+
+"Oh, happy Fates!" he exclaimed. "How have ye befriended me! Could I have
+believed such rare fortune was in store for me?"
+
+At the sound of his voice Margery turned her head and started, and in the
+same instant she was on her feet.
+
+"Margery," he said, without approaching her, but extending his arms so
+that one hand touched the bushes and the other reached over the water, "I
+have you a gentle prisoner. I consider this the most fortunate hour of my
+whole existence. All I ask of you is to listen to me for ten minutes, and
+then I will cease to stand guard at the entrance to your little haven, and
+although you will be free to go where you please, I know you will not go
+away from me."
+
+Margery's face was on fire. She was so angry she could scarcely speak, but
+she managed to bring some words to her lips to express her condition of
+mind.
+
+"Mr. Raybold," she cried, "if I ever hear any more of that horrid trash
+from you I will speak to Mr. Archibald, and have him drive you out of this
+camp. I haven't spoken to him before because I thought it would make
+trouble and interfere with people who have not done anything but what is
+perfectly right, but this is the last time I am going to let you off, and
+I would like you to remember that. Now go away this instant, or else step
+aside and let me pass."
+
+Raybold did not change his position, but with a smile of indulgent
+condescension he remarked:
+
+"Now, then, you are angry; but I don't mind that, and I am quite sure you
+do not mean it. You see, you have never heard all that I have to say to
+you. When I have fully spoken to you, then I have no fear--"
+
+He had not finished his sentence, when Margery dashed into the water,
+utterly regardless of her clothes, and before the astonished intruder
+could advance towards her she had rushed past him, and had run up on dry
+land a yard or two behind him. The water on the shelving beach was not
+more than a foot deep, but her mad bounds made a splashing and a
+spattering of spray as if a live shark bad been dropped into the shallow
+water. In a moment she had left the beach and was face to face with
+Martin, pale with fright.
+
+"I thought you had tumbled in!" he cried. "What on earth is the matter?"
+
+She had no breath to answer, but she turned her head towards the lake, and
+as Martin looked that way he saw Raybold advancing from behind the bushes.
+It required no appreciable time for the young guide to understand the
+situation. His whole form quivered, his hands involuntarily clinched, his
+brows knitted, and he made one quick step forward; but only one, for
+Margery seized him by the wrist. Without knowing what he was doing, he
+struggled to free himself from her, but she was strong and held him fast.
+
+"I must go to my tent," she gasped. "I am all wet. Now promise me that you
+will not say a thing or do a thing until I see you again. Promise!"
+
+For a moment he seemed undecided, and then he ceased his efforts to get
+away, and said, "I promise."
+
+Margery dropped his arm and hurried towards the cabin, hoping earnestly
+that the Archibalds were not yet up.
+
+"This is a gay and lively beginning for a hermit," she thought, as she
+made her way around the house, "and I don't see how on earth I am ever
+going to get through that window again. There is nothing to stand on. I
+did not expect to go back until they were all up."
+
+But when she reached the window there was a stout wooden stool placed
+below it.
+
+"Martin did that," she thought, "while I was at my breakfast. He knew I
+must have come through the window, and might want to go back that way. Oh
+dear!" she sighed. "But I am sure I can't help it." And so, mounting from
+the stool to the window-sill, she entered her room.
+
+Having given his promise, Martin turned his back upon the sombre young
+man, who, with folded arms and clouded brow, was stalking towards the
+tents at the other end of the camp.
+
+"If I look at him," said Martin, "it may be that I could not keep my
+promise."
+
+It was about half an hour afterwards, when Martin, still excited and still
+pale, was getting ready for the general breakfast, forgetting entirely
+that he was a hermit, and that some of the other hermits might have
+peculiar ideas about their morning meal, that Phil Matlack arrived on the
+scene. Martin was very much engrossed in his own thoughts, but he could
+not repress an inquiring interest in his companion.
+
+"Well," said he, "did you bounce him?"
+
+Matlack made no answer, but began to cut out the top of a tin can.
+
+"I say," repeated Martin, "did you bounce him, or did he go without it?"
+
+Without turning towards the younger man, Matlack remarked: "I was
+mistaken. That ain't fat; it's muscle."
+
+"You don't mean to say," exclaimed Martin, in astonishment, "that he
+bounced you out of that camp!"
+
+"I don't mean to say nothin'," was the reply, "except what I do say; and
+what I say is that that ain't fat; it's muscle. When I make a mistake I
+don't mind standin' up and sayin' so."
+
+Martin could not understand the situation. He knew Matlack to be a man of
+great courage and strength, and one who, if he should engage in a personal
+conflict, would not give up until he had done his very best. But the
+guide's appearance gave no signs of any struggle. His clothes were in
+their usual order, and his countenance was quiet and composed.
+
+"Look here," cried Martin, "how did you find out all that about the
+bishop?"
+
+Matlack turned on him with a grim smile. "Didn't you tell me that day you
+was talkin' to me about the boat that he was a tough sort of a fellow?"
+
+"Yes, I did," said the other.
+
+"Well," said Matlack, "how did you find that out?"
+
+Martin laughed. "I shouldn't wonder," he said, "if we were about square.
+Well, if you will tell me how you found it out, I will tell you how I
+did."
+
+"Go ahead," said the other.
+
+"The long and short of my business with him," said Martin, "was this: I
+went with him down to the lake, and there I gave him a piece of my mind;
+and when I had finished, he turned on me and grabbed me with his two hands
+and chucked me out into the water, just as if I had been a bag of bad meal
+that he wanted to get rid of. When I got out I was going to fight him, but
+he advised me not to, and when I took a look at him and remembered the
+feel of the swing he gave me, I took his advice. Now what did he do to
+you?"
+
+"He didn't do nothin'," said Matlack. "When I got to the little tent he
+sleeps in, there he was sittin' in front of it, as smilin' as a basket of
+chips, and he bade me good-mornin' as if I had been a tenant comin' to pay
+him his rent; and then he said that before we went on with the business
+between us, there was some things he would like to show me, and he had 'em
+all ready. So he steps off to a place a little behind the tent, and there
+was three great bowlders, whopping big stones, which he said he had
+brought out of the woods. I could hardly believe him, but there they was.
+'You don't mean,' says I, 'that you are goin' to fight with stones;
+because, if you are, you ought to give me a chance to get some,' and I
+thought to myself that I would pick up rocks that could be heaved. 'Oh
+no,' says he, with one of them smiles of his--'oh no; I just want to open
+our conference with a little gymnastic exhibition.' And so sayin', he
+rolled up his shirt-sleeves--he hadn't no coat on--and he picked up one of
+them rocks with both hands, and then he gave it a swing with one hand,
+like you swing a ten-pin ball, and he sent that rock about thirty feet.
+
+"It nearly took my breath away, for if I had to move such a stone I'd want
+a wheelbarrow. Then he took another of the rocks and hurled it right on
+top of the first one, and it came down so hard that it split itself in
+half. And then he took up the third one, which was the biggest, and threw
+it nearly as far, but it didn't hit the others. 'Now, Mr. Matlack,' says
+he, 'this is the first part of my little programme. I have only one or two
+more things, and I don't want to keep you long.' Then he went and got a
+hickory sapling that he'd cut down. It was just the trunk part of it, and
+must have been at least three inches thick. He put the middle of it at the
+back of his neck, and then he took hold of the two ends with his hands and
+pulled forward, and, by George! he broke that stick right in half!
+
+"Then says he, 'Would you mind steppin' down to the lake?' I didn't mind,
+and went with him, and when we got down to the water there was their boat
+drawed up on the shore and pretty nigh full of water. 'Mr. Clyde brought
+this boat back the other day,' says he, 'from a place where he left it
+some distance down the lake, and I wonder he didn't sink before he got
+here. We must try and calk up some of the open seams; but first we've got
+to get the water out of her.' So sayin', he squatted down on the ground in
+front of the boat and took hold of it, one hand on one side of the bow and
+one on the other, and then he gave a big twist, and just turned the boat
+clean over, water and all, so that it lay with its bottom up, and the
+water running down into the lake like a little deluge.
+
+"'That ought to have been done long ago,' says he, 'and I'll come down
+after a while and calk it before the sun gets on it.' Then he walked back
+to camp as spry as a robin, and then says he, 'Mr. Matlack, my little
+exhibition is over, and so we'll go ahead with the business you proposed.'
+I looked around, and says I: 'Do you find that little tent you sleep in
+comfortable? It seems to me as if your feet must stick out of it.' 'They
+do,' says he, 'and I sometimes throw a blanket over them to keep them dry.
+But we are goin' to make different arrangements here. Mr. Clyde and I will
+bring down his tent after breakfast, and if Mr. Raybold doesn't choose to
+occupy it, Mr. Clyde says I may share it with him. At any rate, I've
+engaged to attend to the cookin' and to things in general in this camp
+durin' the rest of the time we stay here.'
+
+"'And so Mr. Clyde is tired of trespassin', is he?' says I. 'Yes, he is,'
+says he; 'he's a high-minded young fellow, and doesn't fancy that sort of
+thing. Mr. Raybold slept last night in a hammock, and if that suits him,
+he may keep it up.' 'If I was you,' says I, 'if he does come back to the
+camp, I'd make him sleep in that little tent. It would fit him better than
+it does you.' 'Oh no,' says he, 'I don't want to make no trouble. I'm
+willin' to sleep anywhere. I'm used to roughin' it, and I could make
+myself comfortable in any tent I ever saw.' 'Well,' says I, 'that was a
+very pretty exhibition you gave me, and I am much obliged to you, but I
+must be goin' over to my camp to help get breakfast.' 'If you see Mr.
+Clyde,' says he, 'will you kindly tell him that I will come over and help
+him with his tent in about an hour?' To which I said I would, and I left.
+Now then, hurry up. Them hermits will want their breakfasts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+MARTIN ASSERTS HIS INDIVIDUALITY
+
+
+"Good-morning," said Mr. Clyde, as he approached Mr. and Mrs. Archibald,
+seated opposite each other at their breakfast-table. "So you still eat
+together? Don't ask me to join you; I have had my breakfast."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Archibald, "we did think that, as we were hermits, we
+ought to eat in some separate, out-of-the-way fashion; but we could not
+think of any, and as we were both hungry and liked the same things, we
+concluded to postpone the assertion of our individualities."
+
+"And Miss Dearborn?" asked Clyde.
+
+"Oh, she had her breakfast long ago, so she told us," said Mrs. Archibald.
+"I suppose she took some bread and jam, for I do not know what else she
+could have had."
+
+"As for me," said Clyde, "I thought I would do something of the sort. I
+like an early breakfast, and so I turned out, more than an hour ago and
+went to look up Mrs. Perkenpine; and I might as well say, sir, that I am
+now looking for the bishop to come and help me carry our tent back to our
+own camp, where he is going to cook for us. I never wanted to be a
+trespasser on your premises, and I don't intend to be such any longer."
+
+"That's the right feeling," said Mr. Archibald; "although, in fact, it
+doesn't make any difference to us whether your party camps here or not. At
+first I thought it would, but I find it does not."
+
+"By which he means," said Mrs. Archibald, "that if you want to go away he
+is perfectly willing to have you stay, but if you don't want to go away he
+doesn't like it, and would have you move."
+
+Clyde laughed. "I haven't anything to say for the others," he answered,
+"but as long as I have a camp of my own I think I ought to live there."
+
+"But how about Mrs. Perkenpine?" asked Mrs. Archibald. "Did you find her
+willing to wait on you, one at a time?"
+
+"Not exactly," said Clyde. "I discovered her, by her kitchen tent, hard at
+work eating her own breakfast. I must have looked surprised, for she lost
+no time in telling me that she was a hermit, and was living for one person
+at a time--herself first--and that she was mighty glad to get a chance to
+have her breakfast before anybody else, for she was always hungry and
+hated waiting. I looked at the table, and saw that she had the breakfast
+ready for the whole party; so I said, 'I am a hermit too, and I am living
+for myself, and so I am going to sit down and eat.' 'Squat,' said she, and
+down I sat; and I had the best meal of her cooking that I have yet tasted.
+I told her so, and she said she shouldn't wonder. 'Because,' said she, 'I
+cooked this breakfast for myself--me, one--and as I wasn't thinkin' what
+other people 'd like, I got things a little more tasty than common, I
+guess.'"
+
+"And what does she expect Miss Raybold and her brother to do?" asked Mrs.
+Archibald.
+
+"When she had finished she got up," Clyde answered, "and went away, merely
+remarking that the victuals were there, and when the others were ready for
+them they might come and get them."
+
+"I hope," said Mr. Archibald, "that Matlack will not fancy that sort of a
+hermit life. But as for me, I am greatly taken with the scheme. I think I
+shall like it. Is Miss Raybold about yet?"
+
+"I see nothing of her," said Clyde, looking over towards her tent.
+
+"Good," said Mr. Archibald, rising. "Harriet, if you want me, I shall be
+in my cave."
+
+"And where is that?" she asked.
+
+"Oh, I can't say exactly where it will be," he answered, "but if you will
+go down to the shore of the lake and blow four times on the dinner-horn
+I'll come to you, cave and all. I can easily pull it over the water."
+
+"You forget," said Mrs. Archibald, with a smile, "that we are associate
+hermits."
+
+"No, I do not," said her husband, "I remember it, and that is the reason I
+am off before Miss Raybold emerges upon the scene."
+
+"I do not know," said Mrs. Archibald to Clyde, "exactly how I am going to
+assert myself to-day, but I shall do it one way or the other; I am not
+going to be left out in the cold."
+
+Clyde smiled, but he had no suggestion to offer; his mind was filled with
+the conjecture as to what sort of a hermit life Margery was going to lead,
+and if she had already begun it. But just then the bishop came up, and
+together they went to carry the tent back to Camp Roy.
+
+It was at least an hour afterwards, and Mrs. Archibald was comfortably
+seated in the shade darning stockings, with an open book in her lap.
+Sometimes she would read a little in the book and then she would make some
+long and careful stitches in the stocking, and then she would look about
+her as if she greatly enjoyed combining her work and her recreation in
+such a lovely place on such a lovely summer morning. During one of these
+periods of observation she perceived Corona Raybold approaching.
+
+"Good-morning," said the elder lady. "Is this your first appearance?"
+
+"Yes," said Corona, with a gentle smile. "When I woke this morning I found
+myself to be an individual who liked to lie in bed and gaze out through an
+open fold in my tent upon the world beyond, and so I lay and dozed and
+gazed, until I felt like getting up, and then I got up, and you cannot
+imagine how bright and happy I felt as I thought of what I had been doing.
+For one morning at least I had been true to myself, without regard to
+other people or what they might think about it. To-morrow, if I feel like
+it, I shall rise at dawn, and go out and look at the stars struggling with
+Aurora. Whatever my personal instincts happen to be, I shall be loyal to
+them. Now how do you propose to assert your individuality?"
+
+"Unfortunately," said Mrs. Archibald, "I cannot do that exactly as I would
+like to. If we had not promised my daughter and her husband that we would
+stay away for a month, I should go directly home and superintend my
+jelly-making and fruit-preserving; but as I cannot do that, I have
+determined to act out my own self here. I shall darn stockings and sew or
+read, and try to make myself comfortable and happy, just as I would if I
+were sitting on my broad piazza, at home."
+
+"Good!" said Corona. "I think it likely that you will be more true to
+yourself than any of us. Doubtless you were born to be the head of a
+domestic household, and if you followed your own inclination you would be
+that if you were adrift with your family on a raft in the middle of the
+ocean. Now I am going away to see what further suggestions my nature has
+to offer me. What is Mr. Archibald doing?"
+
+Mrs. Archibald smiled. She knew what Corona's nature would suggest if she
+met a man who could talk, or rather, listen. "Oh, his nature has prompted
+him to hie away to the haunts of game, and to stay there until he is half
+starved."
+
+Miss Raybold heaved a little sigh. "I see very few persons about here,"
+she said--"only the two guides, in fact."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "the bishop has gone to help Mr. Clyde with
+his tent."
+
+Corona moved slowly away, and as she walked her nature suggested that she
+would better eat something, so she repaired to the scene of Mrs.
+Perkenpine's ordinary operations. There she found that good woman
+stretched flat on her back on the ground, fast asleep. Her face and body
+were shaded by some overhanging branches, but her great feet were
+illumined and gilded by the blazing sun. On a camp table near by were the
+remains of the breakfast. It had been there for two or three hours. Arthur
+Raybold had taken what he wanted and had gone, and before composing
+herself for her nap Mrs. Perkenpine had thrown over it a piece of
+mosquito-netting.
+
+Corona smiled. "Their natures are coming out beautifully," she said. "It
+really does me good to see how admirably the scheme is unfolding itself."
+She sat down and ate what she could find to her taste, but it was not
+much. "I shall send for some fruit and some biscuit and some other little
+things," she thought, "that I can keep in my tent and eat when I please.
+That will suit me much better than the ordinary meals." Then, without
+awakening Mrs. Perkenpine, she strolled away, directing her steps towards
+Camp Roy.
+
+When Margery had gone to her room, and had changed her wet clothes, she
+was thoroughly miserable. For some time she sat on the side of her little
+cot, unwilling to go out, on account of a nervous fear that she might meet
+Mr. Raybold. Of course, if he should again speak to her as he had done,
+she would immediately appeal to Mr. Archibald, but she did not want to do
+this, for she had a very strong desire not to make any trouble or
+divisions in the camp; so she lay down to think over the matter, and in
+less than two minutes she was asleep. Mrs. Archibald had come to call her
+to breakfast, but upon being told that she had been up ever so long, and
+had had her breakfast, she left the girl to her nap.
+
+"I shall sleep here," thought Margery, "until they have all gone to do
+whatever it is they want to do, and then perhaps I may have a little
+peace."
+
+When she awoke it was nearly eleven o'clock, and she went immediately to
+her little side window, from which she could see the lake and a good deal
+of the camp-ground. The first thing which met her reconnoitering gaze was
+a small boat some distance out on the lake. Its oars were revolving
+slowly, something like a pair of wheels with one paddle each, and it was
+occupied by one person. This person was Arthur Raybold, who had found the
+bishop calking the boat, and as soon as this work was finished, had
+moodily declared that he would take a row in her. He had not yet had a
+chance to row a boat which was in a decent condition. He wanted to be
+alone with his aspirations. He thought it would be scarcely wise to
+attempt to speak to Margery again that morning; he would give her time for
+her anger to cool. She was only a woman, and he knew women!
+
+"It's that Raybold," said Margery. "He knows no more about rowing than a
+cat, and he's floating sideways down the lake. Good! Now I can go out and
+hope to be let alone. I don't know when he will ever get that boat back
+again. Perhaps never."
+
+She was not a wicked girl, and she did not desire that the awkward rower
+might never get back; but still she did not have that dread of an accident
+which might have come over her had the occupant of the boat been a brother
+or any one she cared very much about. She took a novel, of which, during
+her whole stay in camp, she had read perhaps ten pages, and left the
+cabin, this time by the door.
+
+"How does your individuality treat you?" asked Mrs. Archibald, as Margery
+approached her.
+
+"Oh, horribly, so far," was the answer; "but I think it is going to do
+better. I shall find some nice place where I can read and be undisturbed.
+I can think of nothing pleasanter such a morning as this."
+
+"I am very much mistaken in your nature," thought Mrs. Archibald, "if that
+is the sort of thing that suits you."
+
+"Martin," said Margery, not in the least surprised that she should meet
+the young guide within the next three minutes, "do you know of some really
+nice secluded spot where I can sit and read, and not be bothered? I don't
+mean that place where you hung the hammock. I don't want to go there
+again."
+
+Martin was pale, and his voice trembled as he spoke. "Miss Dearborn," said
+he, "I think it is a wicked and a burning shame that you should be forced
+to look for a hiding-place where you may hope to rest undisturbed if that
+scoundrel in the boat out there should happen to fancy to come ashore. But
+you needn't do it. There is no necessity for it. Go where you please, sit
+where you please, and do what you please, and I will see to it that you
+are not disturbed."
+
+"Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Margery. "That would never do. I know very well
+that you could keep him away from me, and I am quite sure that you would
+be glad to do it, but there mustn't be anything of that kind. He is Miss
+Raybold's brother and--and in a way one of our camping party, and I don't
+want any disturbances or quarrels."
+
+Martin's breast heaved, and he breathed heavily. "I have no doubt you are
+right," he said--"of course you are. But I can tell you this: if I see
+that fellow troubling you again I'll kill him, or--"
+
+"Martin! Martin!" exclaimed Margery. "What do you mean? What makes you
+talk in this way?"
+
+"What makes me?" he exclaimed, as if it were impossible to restrain his
+words. "My heart makes me, my soul makes me. I--"
+
+"Your heart? Your soul?" interrupted Margery. "I don't understand."
+
+For a moment he looked at the astonished girl in silence, and then he
+said: "Miss Dearborn, it's of no use for me to try to hide what I feel. If
+I hadn't got so angry I might have been able to keep quiet, but I can't do
+it now. If that man thinks he loves you, his love is like a grain of sand
+compared to mine."
+
+"Yours?" cried Margery.
+
+"Yes," said Martin, his face pallid and his eyes sparkling, "mine. You may
+think it is an insult for me to talk this way, but love is love, and it
+will spring up where it pleases; and besides, I am not the common sort of
+a fellow you may think I am. After saying what I have said, I am bound to
+say more. I belong to a good family, and am college bred. I am poor, and I
+love nature. I am working to make money to travel and become a naturalist.
+I prefer this sort of work because it takes me into the heart of nature. I
+am not ashamed of what I am, I am not ashamed of my work, and my object in
+life is a nobler one, I think, than the practice of the law, or a great
+many other things like it."
+
+Margery stood and looked at him with wide-open eyes. "Do you mean to say,"
+she said, "that you want to marry me? It would take years and years for
+you to become naturalist enough to support a wife."
+
+"I have made no plans," he said, quickly, "I have no purpose. I did not
+intend to tell you now that I love you, but since I have said that, I will
+say also that with you to fight for there could be no doubt about my
+success. I should be bound to succeed. It would be impossible for me to
+fail. As for the years, I would wait, no matter how many they should be."
+
+He spoke with such hot earnestness that Margery involuntarily drew herself
+a little away from him. At this the flush went out of his face.
+
+"Oh, Miss Dearborn," he exclaimed, "don't think that I am like that man
+out there! Don't think that I will persecute you if you don't wish to hear
+me; that I will follow you about and make your life miserable. If you say
+to me that you do not wish to see me again, you will never see me again.
+Say what you please, and you will find that I am a gentleman."
+
+She could see that now. She felt sure that if she told him she did not
+wish ever to see him again he would never appear before her. But what
+would he do? She was not in the least afraid of him, but his fierce
+earnestness frightened her, not for herself, but for him. Suddenly a
+thought struck her.
+
+"Martin," said she, "I don't doubt in the least that what you have said to
+me about yourself is true. You are as good as other people, although you
+do happen now to be a guide, and perhaps after a while you may be very
+well off; but for all that you are a guide, and you are in Mr. Sadler's
+employment, and Mr. Sadler's rights and powers are just like gas escaping
+from a pipe: they are everywhere from cellar to garret, so to speak, and
+you couldn't escape them. It would be a bad, bad thing for you, Martin, if
+he were to hear that you make propositions of the kind you have made to
+the ladies that he pays you to take out into the woods to guide and to
+protect."
+
+Martin was on the point of a violent expostulation, but she stopped him.
+
+"Now I know what you are going to say," she exclaimed, "but it isn't of
+any use. You are in his employment, and you are bound to honor and to
+respect him; that is the way a guide can show himself to be a gentleman."
+
+"But suppose," said Martin, quickly, "that he, knowing my family as he
+does, should think I had done wisely in speaking to you."
+
+A cloud came over her brow. It annoyed her that he should thus parry her
+thrust.
+
+"Well, you can ask him," she said, abruptly; "and if he doesn't object,
+you can go to see my mother, when she gets home, and ask her. And here
+comes Mr. Matlack. I think he has been calling you. Now don't say another
+word, unless it is about fish."
+
+But Matlack did not come; he stopped and called, and Martin went to him.
+
+Margery walked languidly towards the woods and sat down on the projecting
+root of a large tree. Then leaning back against the trunk, she sighed.
+
+"It is a perfectly dreadful thing to be a girl," she said; "but I am glad
+I did not speak to him as I did to Mr. Raybold. I believe he would have
+jumped into the lake."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE INDIVIDUALITY OF PETER SADLER
+
+
+"Martin," said Matlack, sharply, before the young man had reached him, "it
+seems to me that you think that you have been engaged here as lady's-maid,
+but there's other things to do besides teaching young women about trees
+and fishes. If you think," continued Matlack, when the two had reached the
+woodland kitchen, "that your bein' a hermit is goin' to let you throw all
+the work on me, you're mistaken. There's a lot of potatoes that's got to
+be peeled for dinner."
+
+Without a word Martin sat down on the ground with a pan of potatoes in
+front of him and began to work. Had he been a proud crusader setting forth
+to fight the Saracens his blood could not have coursed with greater warmth
+and force, his soul could not have more truly spurned the earth and all
+the common things upon it. What he had said to Margery had made him feel
+ennobled. If Raybold had that instant appeared before him with some
+jeering insult, Martin would have pardoned him with lofty scorn; and yet
+he peeled potatoes, and did it well. But his thoughts were not upon his
+work; they were upon the future which, if he proved himself to be the man
+he thought himself to be, might open before him. When he had finished the
+potatoes he put the pan upon a table and stood near by, deep in thought.
+
+"Yes," said he to himself, "I should go now. After what I have said to her
+I cannot stay here and live this life before her. I would wait on her with
+bended knee at every step, but with love for her in my soul I cannot wash
+dishes for other people. I have spoken, and now I must act; and the
+quicker the better. If all goes well I may be here again, but I shall not
+come back as a guide." Then a thought of Raybold crossed his mind, but he
+put it aside. Even if he stayed here he could not protect her, for she had
+shown that she did not wish him to do it in the only way he could do it,
+and he felt sure, too, that any further annoyance would result in an
+appeal to Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Well," said Matlack, sharply, "what's the matter with you? Don't you
+intend to move?"
+
+"Yes," said Martin, turning quickly, "I do intend to move. I am going to
+leave this camp just as soon as I can pack my things."
+
+"And where in the name of thunder are you goin' to?"
+
+"I'm going to Sadler's," said Martin.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"On my own business," was the reply.
+
+Matlack looked at him for a moment suspiciously. "Have you got any
+complaints to make of me?" he said.
+
+"No," said Martin, promptly, "not one; but I have affairs on hand which
+will take me off immediately."
+
+"Before dinner?" asked Matlack.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "before dinner; now."
+
+"Go ahead then," said Matlack, putting some sticks of wood into the stove;
+"and tell Sadler that if he don't send me somebody before supper-time to
+help about this camp, he'll see me. I'll be hanged," he said to himself,
+as he closed the door of the stove, "if this isn't hermitism with a
+vengeance. I wonder who'll be the next one to cut and run; most likely it
+will be Mrs. Perkenpine."
+
+Early in the afternoon, warm and dusty, Martin presented himself before
+Peter Sadler, who was smoking his pipe on the little shaded piazza at the
+back of the house.
+
+"Oh, ho!" said Peter. "How in the name of common-sense did you happen to
+turn up at this minute? This is about as queer a thing as I've known of
+lately. What did you come for? Sit down."
+
+"Mr. Sadler," said Martin, "I have come here on most important business."
+
+"Lake dry?" asked Peter.
+
+"It is a matter," said Martin, "which concerns myself; and if all the
+lakes in the world were dry, I would not be able to think about them, so
+full is my soul of one thing."
+
+"By the Lord Harry," said Peter, "let's have it, quick!"
+
+In a straightforward manner, but with an ardent vehemence which he could
+not repress, Martin stated his business with Peter Sadler. He told him how
+he loved Margery, what he had said to her, and what she had said to him.
+
+"And now," said the young man, "I have come to ask your permission to
+address her; but whether you give it or not I shall go to her mother and
+speak to her. I know her address, and I intend to do everything in an
+honorable way."
+
+Peter Sadler put down his pipe and looked steadfastly at the young man. "I
+wish to Heaven," said he, "that there was a war goin' on! I'd write a
+letter to the commander-in-chief and let you take it to him, and I'd tell
+him you was the bravest man between Hudson Bay and Patagonia. By George! I
+can't understand it! I can't understand how you could have the cheek, the
+unutterable brass, to come here and ask me--me, Peter Sadler--to let you
+court one of the ladies in a campin'-party of mine. And, what's more, I
+can't understand how I can sit here and hear you tell me that tale without
+picking up a chair and knocking you down with it."
+
+"Mr. Sadler," said Martin, rising, "I have spoken to you fairly and
+squarely, and if that's all you've got to say, I will go."
+
+"Sit down!" roared Peter, bringing his hand upon the table as if he would
+drive it's legs through the floor. "Sit down, and listen to what I have to
+say to you. It's the strangest thing that ever happened to me that I am
+not more angry with you than I am; but I can't understand it, and I pass
+it by. Now that you are seated again, I will make some remarks on my side.
+Do you see that?" said he, picking up a letter on the table. "Do you see
+who it is addressed to?"
+
+"To me!" exclaimed Martin, in surprise.
+
+"Yes, it's to you," said Peter, "and I wrote it, and I intended to send it
+by Bill Hammond this afternoon. That's the reason I was surprised when I
+saw you here. But I'm not goin' to give it to you; I'd rather tell you
+what's in it, now you are here. Before I knew you were the abject
+ninnyhammer that you have just told me you are I had a good opinion of
+you, and thought that you were cut out to make a first-class traveller and
+explorer--the sort of a fellow who could lead a surveying expedition
+through the wilderness, or work up new countries and find out what they
+are made of and what's in them. Only yesterday I heard of a chance that
+ought to make you jump, and this morning I wrote to you about it. A friend
+of mine, who's roughed it with me for many a day, is goin' to take an
+expedition down into New Mexico in the interests of a railroad and minin'
+company. They want to know everything about the country--the game, fish,
+trees, and plants, as well as the minerals--and it struck me that if you
+are not just the kind of man they want you could make yourself so in a
+very short time. They'd pay you well enough, and you'd have a chance to
+dip into natural history, and all that sort of thing, that you had no
+reason to expect for a dozen years to come, if it ever came. If such a
+chance had been offered to me at your age I wouldn't have changed lots
+with a king. All you've got to do is to pack up and be off. The party
+starts from New York in just three days; I'll give you a letter to Joe
+Hendricks, and that'll be all you want. He knows me well enough to take
+you without a word. If you haven't got money enough saved to fit yourself
+out for the trip I'll lend you some, and you can pay me back when they pay
+you. You can take the train this afternoon and maybe you can see Hendricks
+to-night. So pack up what you want and leave what you don't want, and I'll
+take care of it. I'll write to Hendricks now."
+
+Many times did the face of Martin flush and pale as he listened. A vision
+of Paradise had been opened before him, but he felt that he must shut his
+eyes.
+
+"Mr. Sadler," he said, "you are very kind. You offer me a great thing--a
+thing which two weeks ago I should have accepted in the twinkling of an
+eye, and would have thanked you for all the rest of my life; but I cannot
+take it now. With all my heart I love a woman; I have told her so, and I
+am now going on the path she told me to take. I cannot turn aside from
+that for any prospects in the world."
+
+Peter Sadler's face grew red, and then it grew black, and then it turned
+red again, and finally resumed its ordinary brown.
+
+"Martin Sanders," said he, speaking quietly, but with one hand fastened
+upon the arm of his chair with a grasp which a horse could not have
+loosened, "if you are cowardly enough and small enough and paltry enough
+to go to a girl who is living in peace and comfort and ask her to marry
+you, when you know perfectly well that for years to come you could not
+give her a decent roof over her head, and that if her family wanted her to
+live like a Christian they would have to give her the money to do it with;
+and if you are fool enough not to know that when she sent you first to me
+and then to her mother she was tryin' to get rid of you without hurtin'
+your feelin's, why, then, I want you to get out of my sight, and the
+quicker the better. But if you are not so low down as that, go to your
+room and pack up your bag. The coach will start for the train at three
+o'clock, and it is now nearly half-past two; that will just give me time
+to write to Hendricks. Go!"
+
+Martin rose. Whatever happened afterwards, he must go now. It seemed to
+him as if the whole world had suddenly grown colder; as if he had been
+floating in a fog and had neared an iceberg. Could it be possible that she
+had spoken, as she had spoken, simply to get rid of him? He could not
+believe it. No one with such honest eyes could speak in that way; and yet
+he did not know what to believe.
+
+In any case, he would go away in the coach. He had spoken to Sadler, and
+now, whether he spoke to any one else or not, the sooner he left the
+better.
+
+When he came to take the coach, Peter Sadler, who had rolled himself to
+the front of the house, handed him the letter he had written.
+
+"I believe you are made of the right kind of stuff," he said, "although
+you've got a little mouldy by bein' lazy out there in the woods, but
+you're all right now; and what you've got to do is to go ahead with a
+will, and, take my word for it, you'll come out on top. Do you want any
+money? No? Very well, then, goodbye. You needn't trouble yourself to write
+to me, I'll hear about you from Hendricks; and I'd rather know what he
+thinks about you than what you think about yourself."
+
+"How little you know," thought Martin, as he entered the coach, "what I am
+or what I think about myself. As if my purpose could be changed by words
+of yours!" And he smiled a smile which would have done justice to Arthur
+Raybold. The chill had gone out of him; he was warm again.
+
+On the train he read the letter to Hendricks which Peter Sadler had given
+to him unsealed. It was a long letter, and he read it twice. Then he sat
+and gazed out of the window at the flying scenery for nearly half an hour,
+after which he read the letter again. Then he folded it up and put it into
+his pocket.
+
+"If she had given me the slightest reason to hope," he said to himself,
+"how easy it would be to tear this letter into scraps."
+
+Now an idea came into his mind. If he could see her mother quickly, and if
+she should ignore his honorable intentions and refuse to give him the
+opportunity to prove that he was worthy of a thought from her and her
+daughter, then it might not be too late to fall back on Peter Sadler's
+letter. But he shook his head; that would be dishonorable and unworthy of
+him.
+
+He shut his eyes; he could not bear to look at the brightness of the world
+outside the window of the car. Under his closed lids there came to him
+visions, sometimes of Margery and sometimes of the forests of New Mexico.
+Sometimes the visions were wavering, uncertain, and transitory, and again
+they were strong and vivid--so plain to him that he could almost hear the
+leaves rustle as some wild creature turned a startled look upon him.
+
+That night he delivered his letter to Mr. Hendricks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A TRANQUILLIZING BREEZE AND A HOT WIND
+
+
+After Martin had left her, Margery sat on the root of the tree until Mr.
+Clyde came up and said he had been wondering what had become of her.
+
+"I have been wondering that, myself," she said. "At least, I have been
+wondering what is going to become of me."
+
+"Don't you intend to be a hermit?" said he.
+
+She shook her head. "I don't think it is possible," she answered. "There
+is no one who is better satisfied to be alone, and who can make herself
+happier all by herself, and who, in all sorts of ways, can get along
+better without other people than I can, and yet other people are
+continually interfering with me, and I cannot get away from them."
+
+Clyde smiled. "That is a pretty plain hint," he said. "I suppose I might
+as well take it, and go off to some hermitage of my own."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" said Margery. "Don't be so awfully quick in coming to
+conclusions. I do feel worried and troubled and bothered, and I want some
+one to talk to; not about things which worry me, of course, but about
+common, ordinary things, that will make me forget."
+
+A slight shade came over the face of Mr. Clyde, and he seated himself on
+the ground near Margery. "It is a shame," said he, "that you should be
+worried. What is it in this peaceable, beautiful forest troubles you?"
+
+"Did you ever hear of a paradise without snakes?" she asked. "The very
+beauty of it makes them come here."
+
+"I have never yet known any paradise at all," he replied. "But can't you
+tell me what it is that troubles you?"
+
+Margery looked at him with her clear, large eyes. "I'll tell you," she
+said, "if you will promise not to do a single thing without my
+permission."
+
+"I promise that," said Clyde, eagerly.
+
+"I am troubled by people making love to me."
+
+"People!" exclaimed Clyde, with a puzzled air.
+
+"Yes," said she. "Your cousin is one of them."
+
+"I might have supposed that; but who on earth can be the other one?"
+
+"That is Martin," said Margery.
+
+For a moment Mr. Clyde did not seem to understand, and then he exclaimed:
+"You don't mean the young man who cuts wood and helps Matlack?"
+
+"Yes, I do," she answered. "And you need not shut your jaw hard and grit
+your teeth that way. That is exactly what he did when he found out about
+Mr. Raybold. It is of no use to get angry, for you can't do anything
+without my permission; and, besides, I tell you that if I were condemned
+by a court to be made love to, I would much rather have Martin make it
+than Mr. Raybold. Martin is a good deal more than a guide; he has a good
+education, and would not be here if it were not for his love of nature. He
+is going to make nature his object in life, and there is something noble
+in that; a great deal better than trying to strut about on the stage."
+
+"And those two have really been making love to you?" asked Clyde.
+
+"Yes, really," she answered. "You never saw people more in earnest in all
+your life. As for Mr. Raybold, he was as earnest as a cat after a bird. He
+made me furiously angry. Martin was different. He is just as earnest, but
+he is more of a gentleman; and when I told him what I wanted him to do, he
+said he would do it. But there is no use in telling your cousin what I
+want him to do. He is determined to persecute me and make me miserable,
+and there is no way of stopping it, except by making a quarrel between him
+and Uncle Archibald. It is a shame!" she went on, "Who could have thought
+that two people would have turned up to disturb me in this way."
+
+"Margery," said Mr. Clyde, and although he called her by her Christian
+name she took no notice of it, "you think you have too many lovers: but
+you are mistaken. You have not enough; you ought to have three."
+
+She looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"Yes," he said, quickly, "and I want to be the third."
+
+"And so make matters three times as bad as they were at first?" she
+asked.
+
+"Not at all," said he. "When you have chosen one of them, he could easily
+keep away the two others."
+
+"Do you mean," said Margery, "that if I were to agree to have three, and
+then, if I were to ask you to do it, you would go away quietly with one of
+the others and leave me in peace with the third one?"
+
+Mr. Clyde half smiled, but instantly grew serious again, and a flush came
+on his face. "Margery," said he, "I cannot bear trifling any more about
+this. No matter what anybody has said to you, whether it is any one in
+this camp or any one out of it, there is not a man in this world who--"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Clyde," interrupted Margery, "you must not sit there and speak to
+me in such an excited way. If any one should see us they would think we
+were quarrelling. Let us go down to the lake; the air from the water is
+cool and soothing."
+
+Together they walked from under the shade of the tree, and so wended their
+way that it brought them to a mass of shrubbery which edged the water a
+little distance down the lake. On the other side of this shrubbery was a
+pretty bank, which they had seen before.
+
+"It always tranquillizes me," said Margery, as they stood side by side on
+the bank, "to look out over the water. Doesn't it have that effect on
+you?"
+
+"No!" exclaimed Clyde. "It does not tranquillize me a bit. Nothing could
+tranquillize me at a moment like this. Margery, I want you to know that I
+love you. I did not intend to tell you so soon, but what you have said
+makes it necessary. I have loved you ever since I met you at Peter
+Sadler's, and, no matter what you say about it, I shall love you to the
+end of my life."
+
+"Even if I should send you away with one of the others?"
+
+"Yes; no matter what you did."
+
+"That would be wrong," she said.
+
+"It doesn't matter. Right or wrong, I'd do it."
+
+Margery gave him a glance from which it would have been impossible to
+eliminate all signs of admiration. "And if I were to arrange it
+otherwise," she said, "would you undertake to keep the others away?"
+
+There was no answer to this question, but in a minute afterwards Clyde
+exclaimed: "Do you think any one would dare to come near you if they saw
+you now?"
+
+"Hardly," said Margery, raising her head from his shoulder and looking up
+into his sparkling eyes. "Really, Harrison, you ought not to speak in such
+a loud voice. If Aunt Harriet were to hear you she might dare to come."
+
+Margery was late to dinner, although the horn was blown three times.
+
+Much to the surprise of his wife, Mr. Archibald returned to camp about an
+hour before dinner.
+
+"How is this?" she exclaimed. "Wasn't the fishing good?"
+
+"I have had a disagreeable experience," he said, "and I will tell you
+about it. I was fishing in a little cove some distance down the lake and
+having good sport, when I heard a thumping, and looking around I saw
+Raybold in a boat rowing towards me. I suppose he thought he was rowing,
+but he was really floating with the current; but as he neared me he
+suddenly pulled his boat towards me with such recklessness that I was
+afraid he would run into me. I considered his rowing into the cove to be a
+piece of bad manners, for of course it would spoil my fishing, but I had
+no idea he actually intended to lay alongside of me. This he did, however,
+and so awkwardly that his boat struck mine with such force that it half
+tipped it over. Then he lay hold of my gunwale, and said he had something
+to say to me.
+
+"I was as angry as if a man in the street had knocked my hat down over my
+eyes and said that he did so in order to call my attention to a
+subscription paper. But this indignation was nothing to what I felt when
+the fellow began to speak. I cannot repeat his words, but he stated his
+object at once, and said that as this was a good opportunity to speak to
+me alone, he wished to ask me to remove what he called the utterly useless
+embargo which I had placed upon him in regard to Margery. He said it was
+useless because he could not be expected to give up his hopes and his
+plans simply because I objected to them; and he went on to say that if I
+understood him fully, and if Margery understood him, he did not believe
+that either of us would object. And then he actually asked me to use my
+influence with her to make her listen to him. From what he said, I am sure
+he has been speaking to her. I did not let him finish, but turned and
+blazed at him in words as strong as would come to me. I ordered him never
+to speak to me again or show himself in my camp, and told him that if he
+did either of these things he would do them at his peril; and then, for
+fear he might say something which would make me lose control of myself, I
+jerked up my anchor and rowed away from him. I didn't feel like fishing
+any more, and so I came back."
+
+"His behavior is shameful," said Mrs. Archibald. "And what is more, it is
+ridiculous, for Margery would not look at him. What sort of a man does he
+think you are, to suppose that you would give your permission to any one,
+no matter who he might be, to offer marriage to a young lady in your
+charge? But what are you going to do about it? I think it very likely he
+will come to this camp, and he may speak to you."
+
+"In that case I shall have him driven out," said Mr. Archibald, "as if he
+were a drunken vagabond. Personally I shall have nothing to do with him,
+but I shall order my guides to eject him."
+
+"I hope that may not be necessary," said his wife. "It would make bad
+feeling, and deeply wound his sister, for it would be the same thing as
+putting her out. She talks too much, to be sure, but she is a lady, and
+has treated us all very courteously. I wish we could get through the rest
+of our stay here without any disturbance or bad feeling."
+
+"I wish so too, with all my heart," said her husband. "And the only thing
+necessary to that end is that that ass Raybold shall keep out of my
+sight."
+
+It was about two o'clock that afternoon, and Mrs. Archibald, under her
+tree, her basket of stockings all darned and her novel at its culminating
+point of interest, was the only visible occupant of Camp Rob, when Corona
+Raybold came walking towards her, an obvious purpose in her handsome face,
+which was somewhat flushed by exercise.
+
+"I do not think," she said, as soon as she was near enough for Mrs.
+Archibald to hear her, "that the true purpose and intention of our plan is
+properly understood by all of the party. I think, after some explanation,
+everything will go well, but I have been endeavoring for the last
+half-hour to find Mrs. Perkenpine, and have utterly failed. I am very
+hungry, but I can discover nothing to eat. All our stores appear to be
+absolutely raw, or in some intermediate state of crudity. I intend to
+order some provisions in cans or boxes which will be at all times
+available, but I have not done so yet, and so I have come over to speak to
+you about the matter. Did your guides prepare your dinner as usual?"
+
+"Oh yes," said Mrs. Archibald. "A hermit life seems to make no difference
+with Mr. Matlack. We become associates at meal-times, but, as you see, we
+have separated again."
+
+"I must instil into Mrs. Perkenpine's mind," said Corona, "that, in order
+thoroughly to act out her own nature, she must cook and do other things of
+a domestic character. Of course she will do those things in her own way;
+that is to be expected; but she must do them. It is impossible to imagine
+a woman of her class whose soul is not set more or less upon domestic
+affairs. I will instance Mr. Matlack. His nature belongs to the woods and
+the out-of-door world, and that nature prompts him to cook what he
+shoots."
+
+Mrs. Archibald laughed. "I think his nature is a very good one," she said,
+"and I will go with you to find him and see if he cannot give you a
+luncheon, if not a dinner."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Corona; "but indeed I do not wish to trouble
+you. I will go to him myself. You are very kind, but it is not in the
+least degree necessary for you to accompany me. A cup of tea and some
+little trifle is all I shall ask him for."
+
+For a moment Mrs. Archibald hesitated, and then she said, "As we are
+hermits, I suppose we must not keep together any more than we can help,
+and so I will let you go alone."
+
+Corona found Phil Matlack by his kitchen tent, busily engaged in rubbing
+the inside of a large kettle. He was not in a good humor. The departure of
+Martin had thrown all the work of his camp upon him, and now the
+appearance of a person from another camp requesting to be fed aroused him
+to absolute anger. He did not scold, for it would have been impossible to
+look at that beautiful and imperturbable face and say hard words to it. He
+did not refuse the cup of tea or the bread-and-butter for which he was
+asked, and he even added some cold meat; but he indignantly made up his
+mind that he would stand no more of this nonsense, and that if necessary
+he would go to Sadler and throw up the job. He had not engaged to cook for
+three camps.
+
+[Illustration: "'HAVEN'T TRIED IT'"]
+
+Miss Raybold did not appear to notice his state of mind, and ate heartily.
+She thought it was fortunate that he happened to have the kettle on the
+stove, and she asked him how he liked the hermit life--the living for
+himself alone.
+
+"Haven't tried it," he answered, curtly.
+
+"I understand," said Corona, "you have had to live too much for other
+people; but it is too soon to expect our plan to run smoothly. In a short
+time, however, we shall be better able to know our own natures and show
+them to others."
+
+"Oh, I can do that," said he; "and I am goin' to, precious soon."
+
+"I have no doubt of it," she answered. "And now can you tell me where Mr.
+Archibald has gone? I did not see him this morning, and there are some
+matters I wish to speak to him about."
+
+"No, miss," said Matlack, promptly, "I don't know where he is. He's a real
+hermit. He's off by himself, most likely miles away."
+
+Corona reflected. "Mr.--the bishop? Have you seen him? He may be able
+to--"
+
+The guide grinned grimly. He had seen the man of muscle--not
+fat--conversing that morning with Corona, and an hour afterwards he had
+seen him, not in the same place, but in the same companionship, and it
+gave him a certain pleasure to know that the man who could heave rocks and
+break young trees could not relieve himself from the thralls of the lady
+of the flowing speech.
+
+"The bishop?" said he. "Don't you know where he went to?"
+
+"He left me," she answered, "because he was obliged to go to prepare
+dinner for my brother and Mr. Clyde; but he is not in Camp Roy now, for I
+went there to look for Mrs. Perkenpine."
+
+"Well," said the wicked Matlack, pointing to the spot where, not long
+before, Margery had found a tranquillizing breeze, "I saw him going along
+with a book a little while ago, and I think he went down to the shore,
+just beyond that clump of bushes over there. He seems to be a man who
+likes readin', which isn't a bad thing for a hermit."
+
+"Thank you," said Miss Raybold, rising. "I do not care for anything more.
+You are very kind, and I am quite sure I shall not have to trouble you
+again. To-morrow everything will be running smoothly."
+
+Matlack looked at her as she quietly walked away. "She's a pretty sort of
+a hermit," he said to himself. "If she really had to live by herself she'd
+cut out a wooden man and talk to it all day. It won't be long before she
+accidentally stumbles over that big fellow with his book."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+MRS. PERKENPINE FINDS OUT THINGS ABOUT HERSELF
+
+
+The mind of the guide was comforted and relieved that he had got the
+better of the bishop in one way, although he could not do it in another.
+But he did not relinquish his purpose of putting an end to the nonsense
+which made him do the work of other people, and as soon as he had set his
+kitchen in order he started out to find Mrs. Perkenpine. A certain amount
+of nonsense from the people in camp might have to be endured, but nonsense
+from Mrs. Perkenpine was something about which Peter Sadler would have a
+word to say.
+
+Matlack was a good hunter. He could follow all sorts of tracks--rabbit
+tracks, bird tracks, deer tracks, and the tracks of big ungainly
+shoes--and in less than half an hour he had reached a cluster of
+moss-covered rocks lying some distance back in the woods, and approached
+by the bed of a now dry stream. Sitting on one of these rocks, her back
+against a tree, her straw hat lying beside her, and her dishevelled hair
+hanging about her shoulders, was Mrs. Perkenpine, reading a newspaper. At
+the sound of his footsteps she looked up.
+
+"Well, I'll be bound!" she said. "If I'd crawl into a fox-hole I expect
+you'd come and sniff in after me."
+
+Matlack stood and looked at her for a moment. He could not help smiling at
+the uncomfortable manner in which she was trying to make herself
+comfortable on those rough rocks.
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, Mrs. Perkenpine," he said, "you'll get yourself
+into the worst kind of a hole if you go off this way, leavin' everything
+at sixes and sevens behind you."
+
+"It's my nater," said she. "I'm findin' it out and gittin' it ready to
+show to other people. You're the fust one that's seed it. How do you like
+it?"
+
+"I don't like it at all," said the guide, "and I have just come to tell
+you that if you don't go back to your tent and cook supper to-night and
+attend to your business, I'll walk over to Sadler's, and tell Peter to
+send some one in your place. I'm goin' over there anyway, if he don't send
+a man to take Martin's place."
+
+"Peter Sadler!" ejaculated Mrs. Perkenpine, letting her tumbled newspaper
+fall into her lap. "He's a man that knows his own nater, and lets other
+people see it. He lives his own life, if anybody does. He's individdle
+down to the heels, and just look at him! He's the same as a king. I tell
+you, Phil Matlack, that the more I knows myself, just me, the more I'm
+tickled. It seems like scootin' round in the woods, findin' all sorts of
+funny hoppin' things and flowers that you never seed before. Why, it
+'ain't been a whole day since I begun knowin' myself, and I've found out
+lots. I used to think that I liked to cook and clean up, but I don't; I
+hate it."
+
+Matlack smiled, and taking out his pipe, he lighted it and sat down on a
+rock.
+
+"I do believe," he said, "that you are the most out and out hermit of the
+whole lot; but it won't do, and if you don't get over your objections to
+cookin' you'll have to walk out of these woods to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine sat and looked at her companion a few moments without
+giving any apparent heed to his remarks.
+
+"Of course," said she, "it isn't only findin' out what you be yourself,
+but it's lettin' other people see what you be. If you didn't do that it
+would be like a pot a-b'ilin' out in the middle of a prairie, with nobody
+nearer nor a hundred miles."
+
+"It would be the same as if it hadn't b'iled," remarked Matlack.
+
+"That's jest it," said she, "and so I ain't sorry you come along, Phil,
+so's I can tell you some things I've found out about myself. One of them
+is that I like to lie flat on my back and look up at the leaves of the
+trees and think about them."
+
+"What do you think?" asked Matlack.
+
+"I don't think nothin'," said she. "Just as soon as I begin to look at
+them wrigglin' in the wind, and I am beginnin' to wonder what it is I
+think about them, I go slam bang to sleep, and when I wake up and try to
+think again what it is I think, off I go again. But I like it. If I don't
+know what it is I think, I ought to know that I don't know it. That's what
+I call bein' really and truly a hermick."
+
+"What else did you find out?" inquired Matlack.
+
+"I found out," she answered, with animation, "that I admire to read
+anecdotes. I didn't know I cared a pin for anecdotes until I took to
+hermickin'. Now here's this paper; it came 'round the cheese, and it's got
+a good many anecdotes scattered about in it. Let me read one of them to
+you. It's about a man who made his will and afterwards was a-drivin' a
+horse along a road, and the horse got skeered and ran over his executor,
+who was takin' a walk. Then he sung out, 'Oh, bless my soul!' says he. But
+I'll read you the rest if I can find it."
+
+"Never mind about the anecdote," said Matlack, who knew very well that it
+would take Mrs. Perkenpine half an hour to spell out twenty lines in a
+newspaper. "What I want to know is if you found out anything about
+yourself that's likely to give you a boost in the direction of that
+cookin'-stove of yourn."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine was a woman whose remarks did not depend upon the remarks
+of others. "Phil Matlack," said she, gazing fixedly at his pipe, "if I had
+a man I'd let him smoke just as much as he pleased and just where he
+pleased. He could smoke afore he got up, and he could smoke at his meals,
+and he could smoke after he went to bed, and, if he fancied that sort of
+thing, he could smoke at family prayers; it wouldn't make no difference to
+me, and I wouldn't say a word to him agin' it. If that was his
+individdlety, I'd say viddle."
+
+"And how about everything else?" asked Matlack. "Would you tell him to
+cook his own victuals and mend his clothes accordin' to his own nater?"
+
+"No, sir," said she, striking with her expansive hand the newspaper in her
+lap--"no, sir. I'd get up early in the mornin', and cook and wash and bake
+and scour. I'd skin the things he shot, and clean his fish, and dig bait
+if he wanted it. I'd tramp into the woods after him, and carry the gun and
+the victuals and fishin'-poles, and I'd set traps and row a boat and build
+fires, and let him go along and work out his own nater smokin' or in any
+other way he was born to. That's the biggest thing I've found out about
+myself. I never knowed, until I began, this mornin', explorin' of my own
+nater, what a powerful hard thing it is, when I'm thinkin' of my own
+individdlety, to keep somebody else's individdlety from poppin' up in
+front of it, and so says I to myself, 'If I can think of both them
+individdleties at the same time it will suit me fust-rate.' And when you
+come along I thought I'd let you know what sort of a nater I've got, for
+it ain't likely you'd ever find it out for yourself. And now that we're in
+that business--"
+
+"Hello!" cried Matlack, springing to his feet. "There is somebody callin'
+me. Who's there?" he shouted, stepping out into the bed of the stream.
+
+A call was now heard, and in a few moments the bishop appeared some
+distance below.
+
+"Mr. Matlack," he said, "there's a man at your camp inquiring for you. He
+came from Sadler's, and I've been looking high and low for you."
+
+"A man from Sadler's," said Matlack, turning to Mrs. Perkenpine, "and I
+must be off to see him. Remember what I told you about the supper." And so
+saying, he walked rapidly away.
+
+Out in the open Matlack found the bishop. "Obliged to you for lookin' me
+up," he said, "it's a pity to give you so much trouble."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it!" exclaimed the bishop. "You cannot understand,
+perhaps, not knowing the circumstances, but I assure you I never was more
+obliged to any one than to that man who wants to see you and couldn't find
+you. There was no one else to look for you, and I simply had to go."
+
+"You are not goin' to walk back to camp?" inquired Matlack.
+
+"No," replied the bishop, "now that I am here, I think I will go up the
+lake and try to find a very secluded spot in the shade and take a nap."
+
+The guide smiled as he walked away. "Don't understand!" said he. "You've
+got the boot on the wrong leg."
+
+Arrived at his tent, Matlack found Bill Hammond, a young man in Sadler's
+service, who informed him that that burly individual had sent Martin away
+in the stage-coach, and had ordered him to come and take his place.
+
+"All right," said Matlack. "I guess you're as good as he was, and so you
+can settle down to work. By-the-way, do you know that we are all hermits
+here?"
+
+"Hermits?" said the other. "What's that?"
+
+"Why, hermits," said Matlack, "is individ'als who get up early in the
+mornin' and attend to their own business just as hard as they can, without
+lookin' to the right or left, until it's time to go to bed."
+
+The young man looked at him in some surprise. "There's nothing so very
+uncommon in that," said he.
+
+"No," replied the guide, "perhaps there ain't. But as you might hear them
+talkin' about hermits here, I thought I'd tell you just what sort of
+things they are."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A DISSOLVING AUDIENCE
+
+
+When a strange young man assisted Matlack at the supper-table that
+evening, Mr. Archibald asked what had become of Martin.
+
+"Peter Sadler has sent him away," answered the guide. "I don't know where
+he sent him or what he sent him for. But he's a young man who's above this
+sort of business, and so I suppose he's gone off to take up something
+that's more elevated."
+
+"I am sorry," said Mrs. Archibald, "for I liked him."
+
+Mr. Archibald smiled. "This business of insisting upon our own
+individualities," he said, "seems to have worked very promptly in his
+case. I suppose he found out he was fitted for something better than a
+guide, and immediately went off to get that better thing."
+
+"That's about the size of it," said Matlack.
+
+Margery said nothing. Her heart sank. She could not help feeling that what
+she had said to the young man had been the cause of his sudden departure.
+Could he have done such a thing, she thought, as really to go and ask Mr.
+Sadler, and, having found he did not mind, could he have gone to see her
+mother? Her appetite for her supper departed, and she soon rose and
+strolled away, and as she strolled the thought came again to her that it
+was a truly dreadful thing to be a girl.
+
+Having received no orders to the contrary, Matlack, with his new
+assistant, built and lighted the camp-fire. Some of the hermits took this
+as a matter of course, and some were a little surprised, but one by one
+they approached; the evening air was beginning to be cool, and the
+vicinity of the fire was undoubtedly the pleasantest place in camp. Soon
+they were all assembled but one, and Mrs. Archibald breathed freer when
+she found that Arthur Raybold was not there.
+
+"I am delighted," said Corona, as soon as she took her usual seat, which
+was a camp-chair, "to see you all gather about the fire. I was afraid that
+some of you might think that because we are hermits we must keep away from
+each other all the time. But we must remember that we are associate
+hermits, and so should come together occasionally. I was going to say
+something to the effect that some of us may have misunderstood the true
+manner and intent of the assertions of our individualities, but I do not
+now believe that this is necessary."
+
+"Do you mean by all that," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "that I cooked the
+supper?"
+
+"Yes," said Miss Raybold, turning upon her guide with a pleasant smile,
+"that is what I referred to."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "I was told that if I didn't cook I'd be
+bounced. It isn't my individdlety to cook for outsiders, but it isn't my
+individdlety to be bounced, nuther, so I cooked. Is that bein' a
+hermick?"
+
+"You have it," cried Mr. Archibald, "you've not only found out what you
+are, but what you have to be. Your knowledge of yourself is perfect. And
+now," he continued, "isn't there somebody who can tell us a story? When we
+are sitting around a camp-fire, there is nothing better than stories.
+Bishop, I dare say you have heard a good many in the course of your life.
+Don't you feel like giving us one?"
+
+"I think," said Corona, "that by the aid of stories it is possible to
+get a very good idea of ourselves. For instance, if some one were to
+tell a good historical story, and any one of us should find himself or
+herself greatly interested in it, then that person might discover, on
+subsequent reflection, some phase of his or her intellect which he or she
+might not have before noticed. On the other hand, if it should be a
+love story, and some of us could not bear to hear it, then we might
+also find out something about ourselves of which we had been ignorant.
+But I really think that, before making any tests of this sort, we
+should continue the discussion of what is at present the main object
+of our lives--self-knowledge and self-assertion. In other words, the
+emancipation of the individual. As I have said before, and as we all
+know, there never was a better opportunity offered a group of people
+of mature minds to subject themselves, free of outside influences, to a
+thorough mental inquisition, and then to exhibit the results of their
+self-examinations to appreciative companions. This last is very important.
+If we do not announce to others what we are, it is of scarcely any use to
+be anything. I mean this, of course, in a limited sense."
+
+"Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, abruptly, "do you remember where I left my
+pipe? I do not like this cigar."
+
+"On the shelf by the door of the cabin," she replied. "I saw it as I came
+out."
+
+Her husband immediately rose and left the fire. Corona paused in her
+discourse to wait until Mr. Archibald came back; but then, as if she did
+not wish to lose the floor, she turned towards the bishop, who sat at a
+little distance from her, and addressed herself to him, with the idea of
+making some collateral remarks on what she had already said, in order to
+fill up the time until Mr. Archibald should return.
+
+Mrs. Archibald thought that her husband had been a little uncivil; but
+almost immediately after he had gone, she, too, jumped up, and, without
+making any excuse whatever, hurried after him.
+
+The reason for this sudden movement was that Mrs. Archibald had seen some
+one approaching from the direction of Camp Roy. She instantly recognized
+this person as Arthur Raybold, and felt sure that, unwilling to stay
+longer by himself, he was coming to the camp-fire, and if her husband
+should see him, she knew there would be trouble. What sort of trouble or
+how far it might extend she did not try to imagine.
+
+"Hector," she said, as soon as she was near enough for him to hear her,
+"don't go after the pipe; let us take a moonlight walk along the shore. I
+believe it is full moon to-night, and we have not had a walk of that sort
+for ever so long."
+
+"Very good," said her husband, turning to her. "I shall be delighted. I
+don't care for the pipe, and the cigar would have been good enough if it
+had not been for the sermon. That would spoil any pleasure. I can't stand
+that young woman, Harriet; I positively cannot."
+
+"Well, then, let us walk away and forget her," said his wife. "I don't
+wonder she annoys you."
+
+"If it were only the young woman," thought Mrs. Archibald, as the two
+strolled away beneath the light of the moon, "we might manage it. But her
+brother!"
+
+At the next indication of a pause in Corona's discourse the bishop
+suddenly stood on his feet. "I wonder," he said, "if there is anything the
+matter with Mrs. Archibald? I will step over to her cabin to see."
+
+"Indeed!" said Corona, rising with great promptness, "I hope it is nothing
+serious. I will go with you."
+
+Margery was not a rude girl, but she could not help a little laugh, which
+she subdued as much as possible; Mr. Clyde, who was sitting near her,
+laughed also.
+
+"There is nothing on earth the matter with Aunt Harriet," said Margery.
+"They didn't go into the cabin; I saw them walking away down the shore."
+
+"How would you like to walk that way?" he asked. "I think their example is
+a very good one."
+
+"It is capital," said Margery, jumping up, "and let's get away quickly
+before she comes back."
+
+They hurried away, but they did not extend their walk down the lake shore
+even as far as Mr. and Mrs. Archibald had already gone. When they came to
+the bit of beach behind the clump of trees where the bishop had retired
+that afternoon to read, they stopped and sat down to watch the moonlight
+on the water.
+
+Matlack and Mrs. Perkenpine were now the only persons at the camp-fire,
+for Bill Hammond, as was his custom, had promptly gone to bed as soon as
+his work was done. If Arthur Raybold had intended to come to the
+camp-fire, he had changed his mind, for he now stood near his sister's
+tent, apparently awaiting the approach of Corona and the bishop, who had
+not found the Archibalds, and who were now walking together in what might
+have been supposed, by people who did not know the lady, to be an earnest
+dialogue.
+
+Mr. Matlack was seated on his log, and he smoked, while Mrs. Perkenpine
+sat on the ground, her head thrown back and her arms hugging her knees.
+
+"Phil," said she, "that there moon looks to me like an oyster with a
+candle behind it, and as smooth and slippery as if I could jest swallow it
+down. You may think it is queer for me to think such things as that, Phil,
+but since I've come to know myself jest as I am, me, I've found out
+feelin's--"
+
+"Mrs. Perkenpine," said Matlack, knocking the ashes out of his pipe,
+"there's a good many things besides moons that I can't swallow, and if
+it's all the same to you, I'll go to bed."
+
+"Well," she exclaimed, looking after him, "his individdlety is the
+snapshortest I ever did see! I don't believe he wants to know hisself. If
+he did, I'm dead sure I could help him. He never goes out to run a camp
+without somebody to help him, and yet he's so everlastin' blind he can't
+see the very best person there is to help him, and she a-plumpin' herself
+square in front of him every time she gits a chance." With that reflection
+she rose and walked away.
+
+"I tell you, Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, when he and his wife had
+returned from their walk and were about to enter the cabin, "something
+must be done to enable us to spend the rest of our time here in peace.
+This is our camp, and we want it for ourselves. If a good companionable
+fellow like the bishop or that young Clyde happens along, it is all very
+well, but we do not want all sorts of people forcing themselves upon us,
+and I will not submit to it."
+
+"Of course we ought not to do that," said she, "but I hope that whatever
+you do, it will be something as pleasant as possible."
+
+"I will try to avoid any unpleasantness," said he, "and I hope I may do
+so, but---- By-the-way, where is Margery?"
+
+"I think she must be in bed," said Mrs. Archibald; then stepping inside,
+she called, "Margery, are you there?"
+
+"Yes, Aunt Harriet," replied Margery, "I am here."
+
+"She must have found it dreadfully stupid, poor girl!" said Mr.
+Archibald.
+
+The lights were all out in the Archibalds' cabin, and still Miss Raybold
+and the bishop walked up and down the open space at the farther end of the
+camp.
+
+"Corona!" exclaimed her brother, suddenly appearing before them, "I have
+told you over and over again that I wish to speak to you. Are you never
+going to stop that everlasting preaching and give me a chance to talk to
+you?"
+
+"Arthur!" she exclaimed, sharply, "I wish you would not interrupt me in
+this way. I had just begun to say--"
+
+"Oh, my dear Miss Raybold," cried the bishop, "do not let me prevent you
+from speaking to your brother. Indeed, it is growing late, and I will not
+trespass longer on your time. Good-night," and with a bow he was gone.
+
+"Now just see what you have done!" said Corona, her eye-glasses brighter
+than the moon.
+
+"Well, it is time he was going," said her brother. "I have something very
+important to say to you. I want your good offices in an affair more worthy
+of your thoughts than anything else at this moment."
+
+"Whatever it is," she said, turning away from him, "I do not want to hear
+it now--not a word of it. You have displeased me, Arthur, and I am going
+to my tent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A MOONLIGHT INTERVIEW
+
+
+Mrs. Archibald retired to her cabin, but she did not feel in the least
+like going to bed. Her husband had long been asleep in his cot, and she
+still sat by the side of the little window looking out upon the
+moon-lighted scene; but the beauty of the night, if she noticed it at all,
+gave her no pleasure. Her mind was harassed and troubled by many things,
+chief among which was her husband's unfinished sentence in which he had
+said that he would try to avoid any unpleasantness, but at the same time
+had intimated that if the unpleasant thing were forced upon him he was
+ready to meet it.
+
+Now, reason as she would, Mrs. Archibald could not banish from her mind
+the belief that Arthur Raybold would come to their camp some time during
+the next day. In fact, not having heard otherwise, she supposed he had
+come to the camp-fire that night. She was filled with anger and contempt
+for the young man who was determined to force himself on their party in
+this outrageous manner, and considered it shameful that their peaceful
+life in these woods had been so wickedly disturbed. No wonder she did not
+want to sleep; no wonder she sat at the window thinking and thinking.
+
+Presently she saw some one walking over the open space towards the cabin,
+and she could not fail to recognize the figure with the long stride, the
+folded arms, and the bowed head. He passed the window and then he turned
+and repassed it, then he turned and walked by again, this time a little
+nearer than before.
+
+"This is too much!" said Mrs. Archibald. "The next thing he will be
+tapping at her window. I will go out and speak my mind to him."
+
+Opening the door very softly, and without even stopping to throw a shawl
+over her head and shoulders, Mrs. Archibald stepped outside into the
+night. Raybold was now at a little distance from the cabin, in the
+direction of Camp Roy, and was just about to turn when she hurried up to
+him.
+
+"Mr. Raybold," she said, speaking low and rapidly, "if you possessed a
+spark of gentlemanly feeling you would be ashamed to come into this camp
+when you have been ordered out of it. My husband has told you he does not
+want you here, and now I tell you that I do not want you here. It pains me
+to be obliged to speak to any one in this manner, but it is plain that no
+other sort of speech will affect you. Now, sir, I know your object, and I
+will not have you wandering up and down here in front of our cabin. I wish
+you to go to your own camp, and that immediately."
+
+Raybold stood and listened to her without a word until she had finished,
+and then he said:
+
+"Madam, there has been a good deal of talk about knowing ourselves and
+showing ourselves to others. Now I know myself very well indeed, and I
+will show myself to you by saying that when my heart is interested I obey
+no orders, I pay no attention to mandates of any sort. Until I can say
+what I have to say I will watch and I will wait, but I shall not draw
+back."
+
+For the first time in fifteen years Mrs. Archibald lost her temper. She
+turned pale with anger. "You contemptible scoundrel! Go! Leave this camp
+instantly!"
+
+He stood with arms folded and smiled at her, saying nothing. She trembled,
+she was so angry. But what could she do? If she called Mr. Archibald, or
+if he should be awakened by any outcry, she feared there would be
+bloodshed, and if she went to call Matlack, Mr. Archibald would be sure to
+be awakened. But at this moment some one stepped up quickly behind
+Raybold, and with a hand upon his shoulder, partly turned him around.
+
+"I think," said the bishop, "that I heard this lady tell you to go. If so,
+go."
+
+"I did say it," said Mrs. Archibald, hurriedly. "Please be as quiet as you
+can, but make him go."
+
+"Do you hear what Mrs. Archibald says?" asked the bishop, sternly.
+"Depart, or--"
+
+"Do you mean to threaten me?" asked Raybold.
+
+The bishop stepped close to him. "Will you go of your own accord," he
+asked, "or do you wish me to take you away?"
+
+He spoke quietly, but with an earnestness that impressed itself upon
+Raybold, who made a quick step backward. He felt a natural repugnance,
+especially in the presence of a lady, to be taken away by this big man,
+who, in the moonlight, seemed to be bigger than ever.
+
+"I will speak to you," said he, "when there are no ladies present." And
+with this he retired.
+
+"I am so much obliged to you," said Mrs. Archibald. "It was a wonderful
+piece of good fortune that you should have come at this minute."
+
+The bishop smiled. "I am delighted that I happened here," he said. "I
+heard so much talking this evening that I thought I would tranquillize my
+mind by a quiet walk by myself before I went to bed, and so I happened to
+see you and Raybold. Of course I had no idea of intruding upon you, but
+when I saw you stretch out your arm and say 'Go!' I thought it was time
+for me to come."
+
+"I feel bound to say to you," said Mrs. Archibald, "that that impertinent
+fellow is persisting in his attentions to Miss Dearborn, and that Mr.
+Archibald and I will not have it."
+
+"I imagined that the discussion was on that subject," said the bishop,
+"for Mr. Clyde has intimated to me that Raybold has been making himself
+disagreeable to the young lady."
+
+"I do not know what we are going to do," said Mrs. Archibald,
+reflectively; "there seems to be no way of making an impression upon him.
+He is like his sister--he will have his own way."
+
+"Yes," said the bishop, with a sigh, "he is like his sister. But then, one
+might thrash him, but what can be done with her? I tell you, Mrs.
+Archibald," he said, turning to her, earnestly, "it is getting to be
+unbearable. The whole evening, ever since you left the camp-fire, she has
+been talking to me on the subject of mental assimilation--that is, the
+treatment of our ideas and thoughts as if they were articles of
+food--intellectual soda biscuit, or plum pudding, for instance--in order
+to find out whether our minds can digest these things and produce from
+them the mental chyme and chyle necessary to our intellectual development.
+The discourse was fortunately broken off for to-night, but there is more
+of it for to-morrow. I really cannot stand it."
+
+"I wouldn't stand it," said Mrs. Archibald. "Can't you simply go away and
+leave her when she begins in that way?"
+
+The bishop shook his head. "No," he said, "that is impossible. When those
+beautiful eyes are fixed upon me I cannot go away. They charm me and they
+hold me. Unless there is an interruption, I must stay and listen. The only
+safety for me is to fly from this camp. At last," he said, smiling a
+little sadly, "I am going to go. I did not want to do this until your camp
+broke up, but I must."
+
+"And you are really going to-morrow?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," he said. "I have positively decided upon that."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it," she said. "Good-night."
+
+When Mrs. Archibald entered her cabin she found her husband sleeping
+soundly, and she again sat down by the window. There was no such thing as
+sleep for her; her mind was more tossed and troubled than it had been
+before she went out. The fact that the bishop was going away made the
+matter worse, for just as she had found out that he was willing to help
+her, and that he might be able to keep Raybold away from them without
+actual violence--for she saw that the young boaster was afraid of him--he
+had told her he must leave, and in her heart she did not blame him. With
+great fear and anxiety she looked forward to the morrow.
+
+It was about two o'clock when Mrs. Archibald suddenly arose from her seat
+by the window and lighted a candle. Then she pulled down the shades of the
+windows, front and back, after which she went to her husband's cot and put
+her hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Hector," said she, "wake up."
+
+In a moment Mr. Archibald was staring at her. "What is the matter?" he
+exclaimed. "Are you sick?"
+
+"No," said she, "but I have something very important to say to you. I want
+you to get up and go away with me, and take Margery."
+
+Mr. Archibald sat up in bed. He was now in full possession of his senses.
+"What!" said he, "elope? And where to?"
+
+"Yes," said she, "that is exactly what I mean, and we will go to Sadler's
+first, and then home."
+
+"Do you mean now?" said he.
+
+"Yes--that is, as soon as it is light," she replied.
+
+"Are you positively sure you are awake, Harriet?" asked Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Awake!" she said. "I have not been asleep to-night. Don't you see I am
+dressed?" And she drew a chair to the bedside and sat down. "I know more
+about what is going on than you do, Hector," she said, "and I tell you if
+we stay any longer in this camp, there is going to be great trouble. That
+young Raybold pays no attention to what you said about keeping away from
+us. He comes here, when he pleases, and he says he intends to come. I
+asked you to take a walk with me this evening because I saw him coming to
+the camp-fire and I knew that you would resent it. To-night I saw him
+walking up and down in front of our cabin, and I believe he intended to
+try to speak to Margery. I went out to him myself, and he was positively
+insulting. If the bishop had not happened to come up, I believe he would
+have stayed here and defied me. But he made him go.
+
+"Now that you know this, Hector, it is very certain that there will be
+trouble between you and that young man, and I do not want that. And,
+besides that, there is his sister; she is as determined to preach as he is
+to speak to Margery. The bishop says he can't stand her any longer, and he
+is going away to-morrow, and that will make it all the worse for
+us--especially for you, Hector. I cannot endure this state of things; it
+has made me so nervous I cannot get to sleep, and, besides, it is not
+right for us to keep Margery where she must be continually guarded from
+such a man. Now it may seem foolish to run away, but I have thought over
+the matter for hours and hours, and it is the only thing to do; and what
+is more, it is very easy to do. If we announce that we are going, we will
+all go, and the chief cause of quarrels and danger will go with us. I know
+you, Hector; you will not stand his impertinence.
+
+"It will be daylight between three and four o'clock, and we three can
+start out quietly and have a pleasant walk to Sadler's. It is only four
+miles, and we can take our time. We need not carry anything with us but
+what we choose to put in our pockets. We can pack our bags and leave them
+here, and Mr. Sadler will send for them. When we get there we can go to
+bed if we like, and have time enough for a good sleep before breakfast,
+and then we can take the morning stage and leave this place and everybody
+in it. Now please don't be hasty and tell me all this is foolish.
+Remember, if you stay here you have a quarrel on your hands, and I shall
+have hours of misery until that quarrel is settled; and no matter how it
+is settled, things will be disagreeable afterwards."
+
+"Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, suddenly twisting himself so that he sat on
+the side of the bed, "your idea is a most admirable one. It suits me
+exactly. Let us run away. It is impossible for us to do anything better
+than that. Have you told Margery?"
+
+"No," she answered, "but I will go to her at once."
+
+"Be quick and quiet, then," said her husband, who had now entered fully
+into the spirit of the adventure; "nobody must hear us. I will dress, and
+then we will pack."
+
+"Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, after three times shaking the sleeping
+girl, "you must get up. Your uncle and I are going away, and you must go
+with us."
+
+Margery turned her great eyes on Mrs. Archibald, but asked no questions.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "we cannot stay in this camp any longer, on
+account of Mr. Raybold and various other things. Matters have come to a
+crisis, and we must go, and more than that, we must slip away so that the
+others may not go with us."
+
+"When?" asked Margery, now speaking for the first time.
+
+"As soon as it is daylight."
+
+"So soon as that?" said the girl, a shadow on her brow which was very
+plain in the light of the candle which Mrs. Archibald had brought with
+her. "Surely not before breakfast?"
+
+"Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, a little sharply, "you do not seem to
+understand--you are not awake; we must start as soon as it is light. But
+we cannot discuss it now. We are going, and you must go with us. You must
+get up and pack your things in your bag, which we shall send for."
+
+Suddenly a light came into Margery's eyes and she sat up. "All right,"
+said she, "I will be ready as soon as you are. It will be jolly to run
+away, especially so early in the morning," and with that she jumped out of
+bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+AN ELOPEMENT
+
+
+A little more than an hour after Mrs. Archibald had made known her project
+to her husband the three inhabitants of the cabin stole softly out into
+the delicate light of the early dawn.
+
+Mr. Archibald had thought of leaving a note for Matlack, but his wife had
+dissuaded him. She was afraid that the wrong person might get hold of it.
+
+"When we are safely at Sadler's," she said, "we can send for our bags,
+with a note to Matlack. It will not matter then who knows." She had a firm
+belief in the power of the burly keeper of the inn to prevent trouble on
+his premises.
+
+With careful but rapid steps the little party passed along the open
+portion of the camp, keeping as far as possible from the tent wherein
+reposed Corona and Mrs. Perkenpine, and soon reached the entrance of the
+wood road. Here it was not quite so light as in the open, but still they
+could make their way without much trouble, and after a few minutes'
+walking they felt perfectly safe from observation, and slackening their
+pace, they sauntered along at their ease.
+
+The experience was a novel one to all of them; even Mr. Archibald had
+never been in the woods so early in the morning. In fact, under these
+great trees it could scarcely be said to be morning. The young light which
+made its uncertain way through the foliage was barely strong enough to
+cast a shadow, and although these woodland wanderers knew that it was a
+roadway in which they were walking, that great trees stood on each side of
+them, with branches reaching out over their heads, and that there were
+bushes and vines and here and there a moss-covered rock or a fallen tree,
+they saw these things not clearly and distinctly, but as through a veil.
+But there was nothing uncertain about the air they breathed; full of the
+moist aroma of the woods, it was altogether different from the noonday
+odors of the forest.
+
+Stronger and stronger grew the morning light, and more and more clearly
+perceptible became the greens, the browns, and the grays about them. Now
+the birds began to chatter and chirp, and squirrels ran along the branches
+of the trees, while a young rabbit bounced out from some bushes and went
+bounding along the road. This early morning life was something they had
+not seen in their camp, for it was all over before they began their day.
+There was a spring by the roadside, which they had noticed when they had
+come that way before, and when they reached it they sat down and ate some
+biscuit which Mrs. Archibald had brought with her, and drank cool water
+from Mr. Archibald's folding pocket-cup.
+
+The loveliness of the scene, the novelty of the experience, the feeling
+that they were getting away from unpleasant circumstances, and in a
+perfectly original and independent fashion, gave them all high spirits.
+Even Mrs. Archibald, whose sleepless night might have been supposed to
+interfere with this morning walk, declared herself as fresh as a lark, and
+stated that she knew now why a lark or any other thing that got up early
+in the morning should be fresh.
+
+They had not left the spring far behind them when they heard a rustling in
+the woods to the right of the road, and the next moment there sprang out
+into the open, not fifty feet in front of them, a full-grown red deer.
+They were so startled by this apparition that they all stopped as if the
+beautiful creature had been a lion in their path. For an instant it turned
+its great brown eyes upon them, and then with two bounds it plunged into
+the underbrush on the other side of the road. Mrs. Archibald and Margery
+had never before seen a deer in the woods.
+
+The young girl clapped her hands. "It all reminds me of my first night at
+the opera!" she cried.
+
+Two or three times they rested, and they never walked rapidly, so it was
+after five o'clock when the little party emerged into the open country and
+approached the inn. Not a soul was visible about the premises, but as they
+knew that some one soon would be stirring, they seated themselves in three
+arm-chairs on the wide piazza to rest and wait.
+
+Peter Sadler was an early riser, and when the front hall door was open he
+appeared thereat, rolling his wheeled chair out upon the piazza with a
+bump--though not with very much of a bump, for the house was built to suit
+him and his chair. But he did not take his usual morning roll upon the
+piazza, for, turning his head, he beheld a gentleman and two ladies fast
+asleep in three great wicker chairs.
+
+"Upon my soul!" he exclaimed. "If they ain't the Camp Robbers!" At this
+exclamation they all awoke.
+
+Ten minutes after that the tale had been told, and if the right arm of Mr.
+Sadler's chair had not been strong and heavy it would have been shivered
+into splinters.
+
+"As usual," cried the stalwart Peter, "the wrong people ran away. If I had
+seen that bicycle man and his party come running out of the woods, I
+should have been much better satisfied, and I should have thought you had
+more spirit in you, sir, than I gave you credit for."
+
+"Oh, you mistake my husband altogether!" cried Mrs. Archibald. "The
+trouble with him is that he has too much spirit, and that is the reason I
+brought him away."
+
+"And there is another thing," exclaimed Margery. "You should not say Mr.
+Raybold and his party. He was the only one of them who behaved badly."
+
+"That is true," said Mrs. Archibald. "His sister is somewhat obtrusive,
+but she is a lady, gentle and polite, and it would have been very painful
+to her and as painful to us had it been necessary forcibly to eject her
+brother from our camp. It was to avoid all this that we--"
+
+"Eloped," interjected Mr. Archibald.
+
+[Illustration: "'IF THEY AIN'T THE CAMP ROBBERS!'"]
+
+The good Peter laughed. "Perhaps you are right," said he. "But I shall
+have a word with that bicycle fellow when he comes this way. You are an
+original party, if there ever was one. First you go on somebody else's
+wedding-journey, and then you elope in the middle of the night, and now
+the best thing you can do is to go to bed. You can have a good sleep and a
+nine-o'clock breakfast, and I do not see why you should leave here for two
+or three days."
+
+"Oh, we must go this morning," said Mrs. Archibald, quickly. "We must go.
+We really cannot wait until any of those people come here. It makes me
+nervous to think about it."
+
+"Very good, then," said Peter. "The coach starts for the train at
+eleven."
+
+Mrs. Archibald was a systematic woman, and was in the habit of rising at
+half-past seven, and when that hour arrived she awoke as if she had been
+asleep all night. Going to the window to see what sort of a day it was,
+which was also her custom, she looked out upon the lawn in front of the
+house, and her jaw dropped and her eyes opened. There she beheld Margery
+and Mr. Clyde strolling along in close converse. For a moment she was
+utterly stupefied.
+
+"What can this mean?" she thought. "How could they have missed us so soon?
+We are seldom out of our cabin before eight o'clock. I cannot comprehend
+it!" And then a thought came to her which made her face grow pale. "Is it
+possible," she said to herself, "that any of the others have come? I must
+go immediately and find out."
+
+In ten minutes she had dressed and quietly left the room.
+
+When Margery saw Mrs. Archibald descending the piazza, steps, she left Mr.
+Clyde and came running to meet her.
+
+"I expect you are surprised to see me here," she said, "but I intended to
+tell you and Uncle Archibald as soon as you came down. You see, I did not
+at all want to go away and not let Mr. Clyde know what had become of me,
+and so, after I had packed my bag, I wrote a little note to him and put it
+in a biscuit-box under a stone not far from my window, which we had
+arranged for a post-office, just the day before."
+
+"A post-office!" cried Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Yes," said Margery. "Of course there wasn't any need for one--at least we
+did not suppose there would be--but we thought it would be nice; for, you
+must know, we are engaged."
+
+"What!" cried Mrs. Archibald. "Engaged? Impossible! What are you talking
+about?"
+
+"Yes," said Margery, "we are really engaged, and it was absolutely
+necessary. Under ordinary circumstances this would not have happened so
+soon, but as things were it could not be delayed. Mr. Clyde thought the
+matter over very carefully, and he decided that the only way to keep me
+from being annoyed and frightened by Mr. Raybold was for him to have the
+right to defend me. If he told Mr. Raybold I was engaged to him, that of
+course would put an end to the young man's attentions. We were engaged
+only yesterday, so we haven't had any time to tell anybody, but we
+intended to do it to-day, beginning with you and Uncle Archibald. Harrison
+came over early to the post-office, hoping to find some sort of a note,
+and he was wonderfully astonished when he read what was in the one I put
+there. I told him not to say anything to anybody, and he didn't, but he
+started off for Sadler's immediately, and came almost on a run, he says,
+he was so afraid I might go away before he saw me."
+
+"Margery," exclaimed the elder lady, tears coming into her eyes as she
+spoke, "I am grieved and shocked beyond expression. What can I say to my
+husband? What can I say to your mother? From the bottom of my heart I wish
+we had not brought you with us; but how could I dream that all this
+trouble would come of it?"
+
+"It is indeed a very great pity," said Margery, "that Mr. Clyde and I
+could not have been engaged before we went into camp; then Mr. Raybold
+would have had no reason to bother me, and I should have had no trouble
+with Martin."
+
+"Martin!" cried Mrs. Archibald. "What of him?"
+
+"Oh, he was in love with me too," replied the young girl, "and we had
+talks about it, and I sent him away. He was really a young man far above
+his station, and was doing the things he did simply because he wanted to
+study nature; but of course I could not consider him at all."
+
+"And that was the reason he left us!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald. "Upon my
+word, it is amazing!"
+
+"Yes," said Margery; "and don't you see, Aunt Harriet, how many reasons
+there were why Mr. Clyde and I should settle things definitely and become
+engaged? Now there need be no further trouble with anybody."
+
+Distressed as she was, Mrs. Archibald could not refrain from smiling. "No
+further trouble!" she said. "I think you would better wait until Mr.
+Archibald and your mother have heard this story before you say that."
+
+Mr. Archibald was dressing for breakfast when his wife told him of
+Margery's engagement, and the announcement caused him to twirl around so
+suddenly that he came very near breaking a looking-glass with his
+hair-brush. He made a dash for his coat. "I will see him," he said, and
+his eyes sparkled in a way which indicated that they could discover a
+malefactor without the aid of spectacles.
+
+"Stop!" said his wife, standing in his way. "Don't go to them when you are
+angry. We have just got out of trouble, and don't let us jump into it
+again. If they are really and truly engaged--and I am sure they are--we
+have no authority to break it off, and the less you say the better. What
+we must do is to take her immediately to her mother, and let her settle
+the matter as best she can. If she knows her daughter as well as I do, I
+am sure she will acquit us of all blame."
+
+Mr. Archibald was very indignant and said a great deal, but his wife was
+firm in her counsel to avoid any hard words or bad feeling in a matter
+over which they had now no control.
+
+"Well," said he, at last, "I will pass over the whole affair to Mrs.
+Dearborn, but I hope I may eat my breakfast without seeing them. Whatever
+happens, I need a good meal."
+
+When Mr. Archibald came out of the breakfast-room, his mind considerably
+composed by hot rolls and coffee, he met Margery in the hall.
+
+"Dear Uncle Archibald," she exclaimed, "I have been waiting and waiting
+for you. I hope you are not angry. Please be as kind to us as you can, and
+remember, it was just the same with us as it was with you and Aunt
+Harriet. You would not have run away from the camp in the middle of the
+night if you could have helped it, and we should not have been engaged so
+suddenly if we could have helped it. But we all had to do what we did on
+account of the conduct of others, and as it is settled now, I think we
+ought all to try to be as happy as we can, and forget our troubles. Here
+is Harrison, and he and I both pray from the bottom of our hearts that you
+will shake hands with him. I know you always liked him, for you have said
+so. And now we are both going to mother to tell her all about it."
+
+"Both?" said Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Yes," said Margery; "we must go together, otherwise mother would know
+nothing about him, and I should be talking to no purpose. But we are going
+to do everything frankly and openly and go straight to her, and put our
+happiness in her hands."
+
+Mr. Archibald looked at her steadfastly. "Such ingenuousness," he said,
+presently, "is overpowering. Mr. Clyde, how do you do? Do you think it is
+going to be a fine day?"
+
+The young man smiled. "I think it is going to be a fine lifetime," said
+he.
+
+The party was gathered together on the piazza, ready to take the coach.
+The baggage had arrived from the camp in a cart; but Phil Matlack had not
+come with it, as he remained to take down his tent and settle affairs
+generally. They were all sorry not to see him again, for he had proved
+himself a good man and a good guide; but when grown-up married people
+elope before daybreak something must be expected to go wrong. Hearty and
+substantial remembrances were left for him, and kind words of farewell for
+the bishop, and even for Miss Corona when she should appear.
+
+Peter Sadler was loath to part with his guests. "You are more interesting
+now than ever you were," he said, "and I want to hear all about that
+hermit business; you've just barely mentioned it."
+
+"My dear sir," said Mr. Archibald, with a solemn visage, "sooner or later
+Miss Corona Raybold will present herself at this inn on her way home. If
+you want to know anything about her plan to assist human beings to assert
+their individualities, it will only be necessary to mention the fact to
+her."
+
+"Good-bye, then," said Peter, shaking hands with Mr. and Mrs. Archibald.
+"I don't know what out-of-the-way thing you two will do next, but,
+whatever it is, I hope it will bring you here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+MRS. PERKENPINE DELIGHTS THE BISHOP
+
+
+It was the bishop who first appreciated the fact that a certain air of
+loneliness had descended upon the shore of the lake. He had prepared
+breakfast at his camp, but as Mr. Clyde did not make his appearance he
+went to Camp Rob to look for him. There he saw Matlack and his assistant
+busy in their kitchen tent, and Mrs. Perkenpine was also engaged in
+culinary matters. He had left Arthur Raybold asleep at Camp Roy, but of
+the ladies and gentleman who were usually visible at the breakfast-hour at
+Camp Rob he saw no signs, and he approached Mrs. Perkenpine to inquire for
+Clyde. At his question the sturdy woman turned and smiled. It was a queer
+smile, reminding the bishop of the opening and shutting of a farm gate.
+
+"He's a one-er," said she. "Do you suppose he could ketch a rabbit, no
+matter how fast he ran?"
+
+"Come, now," said the bishop, "he wasn't trying to do that?"
+
+"He was either doin' that, or else he was runnin' away. I seed him early
+this mornin'--I wasn't up, but I was lookin' round--and I thought from the
+way he was actin' that he'd set a rabbit-trap and was goin' to see if he'd
+caught anything, and pretty soon I seed him runnin' like Sam Hill, as if
+his rabbit had got away from him. But perhaps it wasn't that, and maybe
+somebody skeered him. Anyway, he's clean gone."
+
+The bishop stood and reflected; the affair looked serious. Clyde was a
+practical, sensible fellow--and he was gone. Why did he go?
+
+"Have you seen any of the Archibalds yet?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she; "I guess they're not up yet, though it's late for them. My
+young woman ain't up nuther, but it ain't late for her."
+
+The bishop walked slowly towards the cabin and regarded it earnestly.
+After a few minutes inspection he stepped up to the door and knocked. Then
+he knocked again and again, and hearing nothing from within he became
+alarmed, and ran to Matlack.
+
+"Hello!" he cried. "Something has happened to your people, or they have
+gone away. Come to the cabin, quick!"
+
+In less than a minute Matlack, the bishop, and Bill Hammond were at the
+cabin, and the unfastened door was opened wide. No one was in the house,
+that was plain enough, but on the floor were four bags packed for
+transportation.
+
+Matlack looked about him, and then he laughed. "All right," said he;
+"there ain't no need of worryin' ourselves. They haven't left a thing of
+theirs about, everything's packed up and ready to be sent for. When people
+do that, you may be sure nothing's happened to them. They've gone off, and
+I bet it's to get rid of that young woman's preachin'. But I don't blame
+them; I don't wonder they couldn't stand it."
+
+The bishop made no reply. Remembering his recent conversation with Mrs.
+Archibald, he believed that, if they had quietly gone away, there was a
+better reason for it than Miss Raybold's fluency of expression. It was
+possible that something might have happened after he had retired from the
+scene the night before, for when he went to sleep Raybold was still
+walking up and down in the moonlight.
+
+His mind was greatly disturbed. They were gone, and he was left. "What are
+you going to do?" he asked Matlack.
+
+"Nothin' just now," said the guide. "If they don't send for their things
+pretty soon, I'll go over to Sadler's and find out what's the matter. But
+they're all right. Look how careful them bags is strapped up!"
+
+The bishop left the cabin and walked thoughtfully away in the direction of
+Camp Roy. In two minutes he had made up his mind: he would eat his
+breakfast--he could not travel upon an empty stomach--and then he would
+depart. That was imperative.
+
+When he reached the camp he found that Raybold had risen and was pouring
+out for himself a bowl of coffee. Seeing the bishop approach, the young
+man's face grew dark, as might have been expected from the events of the
+night before, and he hurriedly placed some articles of food upon a plate,
+and was about leaving the stove when the bishop reached him. Raybold
+turned with a frown, and what was meant to be a glare.
+
+"I shall bide my time," said he, and with his coffee and his plate he
+retired to a distance.
+
+The bishop smiled but made no answer, and sat down and ate his meal in
+peace; then he prepared to depart. He had nothing but a little bag, and it
+did not take long to put in order the simple culinary department of the
+camp. When all was done he stood for some minutes thinking. There was a
+path through the woods which led to the road, so that he might go on to
+Sadler's without the knowledge of any one at Camp Rob, but he felt that he
+ought to see Matlack and tell him that he was going. If anything went
+wrong at Camp Roy he did not wish to be held responsible for it. Mr.
+Archibald could afford to go away without saying anything about it, but he
+could not, and, besides, if he should happen to see Miss Raybold it would
+be far more gentlemanly to tell her that he was going and to bid her
+goodbye, than to slip off through the woods like a tramp. He would go,
+that he was determined upon; but he would go like a man.
+
+When he reached Camp Rob the first person he saw was Miss Raybold,
+standing near her tent with a roll of paper in her hand. The moment she
+perceived him she walked rapidly towards him.
+
+"Good-morning," she said. "Did you know that the Archibalds had gone? I
+never was so amazed in all my life. I was eating my breakfast when a man
+and a cart drove up to their cabin, and Mrs. Perkenpine, running to see
+what this meant, soon came back and told me that the family of three had
+departed in the night, and had sent this cart for their baggage. I think
+this was a very uncivil proceeding, and I do not in the least understand
+it. Can you imagine any reason for this extremely uncourteous action?"
+
+The bishop could imagine reasons, but he did not care to state them.
+
+"It may be," he said, with a smile, "that they discovered that their
+natures demanded hotel beds instead of camp cots, and that they
+immediately departed in obedience to the mandates of their
+individualities."
+
+"But in so doing," said Miss Raybold, "they violated the principles of
+association. Our scheme included mutual confidence as well as
+self-investigation and assertion. I must admit that Mr. Archibald
+disappointed me. I think he misunderstood my project. By holding one's
+self entirely aloof from humanity one encourages self-ignorance. But
+perhaps our party was somewhat too large--the elements too many and
+inharmonious--and I see no reason why we who remain should relinquish our
+purpose. I believe it will be easier for us to become truly ourselves than
+when our number was greater, and so I propose that we make no change
+whatever in our plans; that we live on, for the time agreed upon, exactly
+as if the Archibalds were here. And now, if you have a few minutes to
+spare, I would like to read you something I wrote this morning before I
+left my tent. I was awake during the night, and thought for a long time
+upon the subject of mental assimilation, the discussion of which we did
+not finish last evening, and this morning, while my thoughts were fresh, I
+put them upon paper, and now I would like to read them to you. Isn't there
+some shady place where we might sit down? There are two camp-chairs; will
+you kindly place them under this tree?"
+
+The bishop sighed, but he went for the chairs. It would be too hard for
+him to tell her he was going to leave the camp, and he would not try to do
+it. He would slip off as soon as he had a chance, and leave a note for
+her. She would not perhaps like that, but it was the best he could do.
+
+The reading of the paper occupied at least half an hour, and when it was
+finished, and Corona had begun to make some remarks on a portion of it
+which she had not fully elaborated, Mrs. Perkenpine approached, and stood
+before her.
+
+"Well, miss," said she, "I'm off."
+
+Miss Raybold fixed her eye-glasses upon her. "What do you mean?" she
+asked.
+
+"I'm goin' back to Sadler's," she replied. "Phil's goin', and I'm goin'.
+He's jest told me that the cart's comin' back for the kitchen fixin's and
+his things, and him and Bill Hammond is goin' to Sadler's with it; and if
+he goes, I goes."
+
+This speech had a very different effect upon its two hearers. Corona was
+as nearly angry as her self-contained nature would permit; but, although
+he did not allow his feelings to betray him, the bishop was delighted. Now
+they must all go, and that suited him exactly.
+
+"It is a positive and absolute breach of contract!" exclaimed Miss
+Raybold. "You agreed to remain in my service during my stay in camp, and
+you have no right to go away now, no matter who else may depart."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine grinned. "That sort of thing was all very well a week
+ago," said she, "but it won't work now. I've been goin' to school to
+myself pretty steady, and I've kept myself in a good deal, too, for not
+knowin' my lessons, and I've drummed into me a pretty good idea of what I
+be, and I can tell you I'm not a woman as stays here when Phil Matlack's
+gone. I'm not a bit scary, but I never stayed in camp yet with all
+greenhorns but me. When I find myself in that sort of a mess, it's my
+nater to get out of it. Phil says he's goin' to start the fust thing this
+afternoon, and that's the time I'm goin', and so, if you would like to go,
+you can send word by that man in the cart to have you and your things sent
+for, and we can all clear out together."
+
+"Positively," exclaimed Corona, turning to the bishop, "this is the most
+high-handed proceeding I ever heard of!"
+
+"That's 'xactly what I think," said Mrs. Perkenpine; "it most takes my
+breath away to think how high-handed I am. Before I knowed myself I
+couldn't have been that way to save my skin. There didn't use to be any
+individdlety about me. You might take a quart of huckleberries and ask
+yourself what it was particular 'bout any one of them
+huckleberries--'xceptin' it might be green, and it's a long time since I
+was that way--and you'd know jest as much about that huckleberry as I
+knowed about myself. Now it's different. It's just the same as if there
+was only one huckleberry in a quart box, and it ain't no trouble to see
+all around that."
+
+"I think, Miss Raybold," said the bishop, "that this good woman has
+prosecuted her psychical researches with more effect than any of us."
+
+"Bosh!" exclaimed Miss Raybold. "Do you really think I must leave this
+camp at the dictation of that person?"
+
+"'Scuse me," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "but I'm goin' to scratch things
+together for movin'. We'll have dinner here, and then we'll pack up and be
+off as soon as the carts come. That's what Phil says he's goin' to do."
+
+With a satisfied mind and internal gratitude to Mrs. Perkenpine, who had
+made everything easy for him, the bishop endeavored to make Corona feel
+that, as her departure from the camp was inevitable, it would be well not
+to disturb her mind too much about it. But it was of no use trying to
+console the lady.
+
+"It is too bad," she said; "it is humiliating. Here I believed that I was
+truly myself; that I was an independent entity; that I was free to assert
+my individual nature and to obey its impulses, and now I find that I am
+nothing but the slave of a female guide. Actually I must obey her, and I
+must conform to her!"
+
+"It is true," said the bishop, musingly, "that although we may discover
+ourselves, and be greatly pleased with the prospect of what we see, we may
+not be permitted to enter into its enjoyment, and must content ourselves
+with looking over the fence and longing for what we see."
+
+Corona faintly smiled. "When we have climbed high enough to see over that
+fence," she said, "it becomes our duty to break it down."
+
+"When I was in England," said the bishop, "I saw a fence--an oak
+fence--which they told me had stood for four hundred years. It looked
+awfully tough, and it now reminds me of some of the manners and customs of
+civilization."
+
+"When you were in England," said Corona, "did you visit Newnham College?"
+
+He never had. But she told him that she had been there for two years. "And
+now," she continued, "there may be time enough before I must pack up my
+effects to finish what I was going to say to you about approximate
+assimilations."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE HERMITS CONTINUE TO FAVOR ASSOCIATION
+
+
+When the Archibald party reached the capital city of their State, the four
+of them took a carriage and drove immediately to the Dearborn residence.
+Margery had insisted that Mr. Clyde should go with them, so that he and
+she should present themselves together before her parents. In no other way
+did she believe that the subject could be properly presented. The
+Archibalds did not object to this plan; in fact, under the circumstances,
+they were in favor of it. During the journey young Clyde had produced a
+very favorable impression upon them. They had always liked him well
+enough, and now that they examined his character more critically, they
+could not fail to see that he was a kind-hearted, gentlemanly young man,
+intelligent and well educated, and, according to private information from
+Margery, his family was of the best.
+
+Arrived at the Dearborn door, they found the house in the possession of
+one female servant, who informed them that Mr. Dearborn was in Canada, on
+a fishing expedition; that Mrs. Dearborn had gone to attend some sort of a
+congress at Saratoga, and that she did not expect to be at home until the
+following Friday, three days after, which was the day on which she had
+expected her daughter to be brought back to her. This was disheartening,
+and the four stood upon the steps irresolute. Margery ought to go to her
+mother, but neither of the Archibalds wished to go to Saratoga, nor could
+they despatch thither the prematurely betrothed couple.
+
+"I know what we must do," said Mrs. Archibald, "we must go home."
+
+"But, my dear," said her husband, "we agreed to stay away for a month, and
+the month is not yet up."
+
+"It doesn't matter," said she. "Kate and her husband will take us in for
+the few days left. When we explain all that we have gone through, she will
+not be hard-hearted enough to make us go to a hotel until Friday; Margery
+can come with us."
+
+Margery turned upon Mrs. Archibald a pair of eyes filled with earnest
+inquiry.
+
+"I know what you want," said Mrs. Archibald. "No, he can go to a hotel in
+the town; and I shall write to your mother to come to us as soon as she
+returns; then you two can present yourselves together according to your
+plans. There is no use talking about it, Hector; it is the only thing we
+can do."
+
+"We shall break our word to the newly married," said her husband. "Isn't
+there a State law against that?"
+
+"When we made that arrangement," said his wife, going down the steps, "we
+did not know our individual selves; now we do, and the case is different.
+Kate will understand all that when I explain it to her."
+
+They drove back to the station, and took a train for home.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Bringhurst were sitting in the cool library about nine
+o'clock that evening; he was reading while she was listening, and they
+were greatly astonished when they heard a carriage drive up to the front
+door. During their domestic honey-moon they had received no visitors, and
+they looked at each other and wondered.
+
+"It is a mistake," said he; "but don't trouble yourself. Mary has not gone
+to bed, and she will hear the bell."
+
+But there was no bell; the door was opened, and in came father and mother,
+followed by a strange young couple.
+
+"It is wonderful!" exclaimed Kate, when at last everybody had been
+embraced or introduced. "A dozen times during the last week have we talked
+about the delight it would give us if our father and mother could be here
+to be entertained a little while as our guests in our own house--for you
+gave it to us for a month, you know. But we refrained from sending you an
+invitation because we did not want to cut off your holiday. And now you
+are here! The good fairies could not have arranged the matter better."
+
+When all the tales had been told; when the assertion of individuality and
+the plans of hermit association had been described and discussed, and the
+young Bringhursts had told how they, too, without knowing it, had been
+associate hermits, devoting their time not to the discovery of their own
+natures, but of the nature of each other, and how perfectly satisfied they
+had been with the results, it was very late, and young Clyde was not
+allowed to go out into the darkness to find a hotel.
+
+It was on Thursday afternoon that Mrs. Dearborn arrived at the Archibalds'
+house. The letter she had received had made her feel that she could not
+wait until the end of the congress.
+
+"Now, mother," said Margery, when the two were alone together, "you have
+seen him and you have talked to him, and Uncle Hector has told you how he
+went to the office of Glassborough & Clyde and found he was really their
+nephew, and all about him and his family; and you have been told precisely
+why it was necessary that we should engage ourselves so abruptly on
+account of the violent nature of Mr. Raybold and the trouble he might
+cause, not only to us, but to dear Aunt Harriet and Uncle Archibald. And
+now we come just like two of your own children and put the whole matter
+entirely into your hands and leave you to decide, out of your own heart,
+exactly when and where we shall be married, and all about it. Then, when
+father comes home, you can tell him just what you have decided to do. You
+are our parents, and we leave it to you."
+
+"What in the world," said Mrs. Dearborn, an hour later, when she was
+talking to the two married ladies of the household, "can one do with a
+girl like that? I do not believe dynamite would blow them apart; and if I
+thought it would I should not know how to manage it."
+
+"No," said Mrs. Archibald, "I am afraid the explosion would be as bad for
+you as it would be for them."
+
+"Don't try it," said Mrs. Kate. "I take a great interest in that budding
+bit of felicity; I consider it an outgrowth of our own marriage and
+honey-moon. When we sent out that wild couple, my father and mother, on a
+wedding-tour, we did not dream that they would bring back to us a pair of
+lovers, who never would have been lovers if it had not been for us, and
+who are now ready for a wedding-tour on their own account, as soon as
+circumstances may permit. And so, feeling a little right and privilege in
+the matter, I am going to ask you, Mrs. Dearborn, to let them be married
+here whenever the wedding-day shall come, and let them start out from this
+house on their marriage career. Now don't you think that would be a fine
+plan? I am sure your daughter will like it, when she remembers what she
+owes us; and if Mr. Clyde objects I will undertake to make him change his
+mind."
+
+When the plan was proposed in full counsel, it was found that there would
+be no need for the exercise of Mrs. Kate's powers of persuasion.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+About ten days after Mrs. Dearborn and Margery had returned to their home,
+and Clyde had followed, to move like a satellite in an orbit determined by
+Mrs. Dearborn, Mr. Archibald was surprised, but also very much pleased, to
+receive a visit from the bishop.
+
+"I could not refrain," said that expansive individual, "from coming to you
+as soon as circumstances would allow, and, while expressing to you the
+great obligations under which you have placed me, to confide to you my
+plans and my prospects. You have been so good to me that I believe you
+will be pleased to know of the life work to which I have determined to
+devote myself."
+
+"I am glad to hear," said the other, "that you have made plans, but you
+owe nothing to me."
+
+"Excuse me," said the bishop, "but I do. This suit of clothes, sir, is the
+foundation of my fortunes."
+
+"And well earned," said Mr. Archibald. "But we will say no more about
+that. Have you secured a position? Tell me about yourself."
+
+"I have a position," said the bishop. "But would you prefer that I tell
+you of that first, or begin at the beginning and briefly relate to you
+what has happened since I saw you last?"
+
+"Oh, begin at the beginning, by all means," said Mr. Archibald. "I was
+sorry to be obliged to leave you all so unceremoniously, and I greatly
+desire to know what happened after we left."
+
+"Very good, then," said the bishop, "I will give you our history in as few
+words as I can. On the afternoon after your departure we all went to
+Sadler's--that is, Miss Raybold and myself and the three guides; for
+Raybold, when he heard that Miss Dearborn and Mr. Clyde had gone,
+immediately left for Sadler's, hoping, I think, to find you all there.
+From what I heard, I think he and Peter Sadler must have had words. At any
+rate, he discovered that his case was hopeless, and he had himself driven
+to the station in a carriage, not choosing to wait until our arrival. I
+have since heard that he has determined to relinquish the law and devote
+himself to the dramatic arts.
+
+"For some reason or other, Peter Sadler was very glad to see me, and
+congratulated me heartily on the favorable change in my appearance. He
+called me his favorite tramp, and invited me to stop at his hotel for a
+time, but I consented to stay a few days only, for I felt I must go to see
+the gentleman to whom I wished to engage myself as librarian before my new
+clothes had lost their freshness. Miss Raybold arranged to stay at
+Sadler's for a week. She liked the place, and as she had planned to remain
+away from home for a fortnight, she did not wish to return before the time
+fixed upon. There were a good many people at Sadler's, but none of them
+seemed to interest her. She decidedly preferred to talk to Sadler or to
+me; but although Peter is a jolly fellow, and had some lively
+conversations with her, he does not seem to care for protracted mental
+intercourse, and it became so plain to me that she depended upon me, in so
+large a degree, for companionship and intellectual stimulus, that I did
+not leave as soon as I intended. It was on Wednesday, in fact, that I
+steeled my heart and told her that I must positively depart early the
+following morning, or I could not expect to reach my destination before
+the end of the week. It was that evening, however, that we became engaged
+to be married."
+
+"What?" cried Mr. Archibald. "Did you dare to propose yourself to that
+classic being?"
+
+"No," replied the other, "I cannot, with exactness, say that I did. It
+would be difficult, indeed, for me to describe the manner in which we
+arrived at this most satisfactory conclusion. Miss Raybold is a mistress
+of expression, and, without moving a hair's-breadth beyond the lines of
+maidenly reserve which always environ her, she made me aware, not only
+that I desired to propose marriage to her, but that it would be well for
+me to do so. There were objections to this course, which, as an honest
+man, I could not refrain from laying before her, and with my proposition I
+stated these objections, but they were overruled to my entire
+satisfaction, and she consented to become Mrs. Bishop."
+
+"Mrs. Bishop?" said the other, inquiringly.
+
+"Oh yes; Bishop is my name--Henry C. Bishop. It was this name which
+suggested the title which was playfully given to me. Before our compact
+was made I had told Miss Raybold all about my family. She did not ask me
+to do so, but I knew she desired the information, for I had learned to
+read those beautiful eyes."
+
+"But," said Mr. Archibald, "how about your position? Did you get the place
+as librarian?"
+
+"No," said the other, "I did not ask for it. The question of my vocation
+has been settled most admirably. There never was a human being more frank,
+more straightforward and pertinent than Miss Raybold. She knows what she
+wants, and she makes her plans to get it. With regard to means she is
+sufficiently endowed, but the life work to which she has devoted herself
+is far more than she can ever accomplish alone. She needs the constant
+assistance of a sympathetic and appreciative nature, and that, I am happy
+to say, I am able to give to her; and were I to devote myself to any other
+calling which would interfere with that assistance, I should be doing her
+a positive wrong. Therefore, should I state it in definite words, I should
+say that I am to become my wife's private secretary. That is my position,
+and it suits me admirably; and I may add that Corona assures me that she
+is thoroughly well pleased. We are to be married in the fall, and I hope
+it will not be long before we shall have the pleasure of meeting again our
+former companions of the hermit camp."
+
+"By-the-way," said Mr. Archibald, as his visitor was about to leave, "tell
+me something of Matlack. I had a great liking for our guide."
+
+"All that I can tell you is this," said Mr. Bishop, smiling: "Not long
+after we arrived at Sadler's, he went to Peter and asked him if he
+intended to send out a camping party to any considerable distance. It so
+happened that a couple of gentlemen were going to a point on the very
+limits of Sadler's jurisdiction, and with them Matlack petitioned to go,
+although another guide had been appointed. I made inquiries, and found
+that, for some reason, probably connected with the persistencies of the
+female sex, Matlack had become a sort of Daniel Boone and wanted to go
+away as far as possible from his kind."
+
+"I hope," said Mr. Archibald, "that our example has not made a real hermit
+of him. Good-bye. I am very sorry that Mrs. Archibald is not at home; but
+in both our names I wish you and your future wife the best of good
+fortunes."
+
+"Father," exclaimed Mrs. Kate, when she heard of this interview, "now you
+must grant me one more favor! Here is another pair of lovers who owe
+everything to our honey-moon and your wedding-tour. We ought to know them,
+for we made them what they are. So let us invite them here, and let them
+be married from this house. I do not believe Miss Raybold has a proper
+home of her own; and, in any case, the only way they can pay us what they
+owe us is to give us the pleasure of seeing them wedded here."
+
+Mr. Archibald rose to his feet. "No, madam!" said he. "I am willing, to a
+certain extent, to make this house a source of hymeneal felicity, but I
+draw the line at the bishop. I do not intend that my home shall become a
+matrimonial factory!"
+
+THE END
+
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+"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Associate Hermits, by Frank R. Stockton.
+</title>
+
+<style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
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+    .pagenum          {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;}
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+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Associate Hermits, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Associate Hermits
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Illustrator: A. B. Frost
+
+Release Date: October 12, 2008 [EBook #26895]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 417px; height: 304px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 417px;'>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;THE SUPPER&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[Page 37]<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:2em; margin-top:2em; font-style:italic;'>The</p>
+<p style=' font-size:2.2em; margin-bottom:0.5em; font-style:italic;'>Associate Hermits</p>
+<p style=' margin-bottom:1em; font-style:italic;'>By</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:0.5em;'>Frank R. Stockton</p>
+<p>Author of</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-bottom:2em;'>&#8220;The Great Stone of Sardis&#8221;</p>
+<p style=' margin-bottom:.3em;'>With Illustrations by</p>
+<p style=' font-size:1.6em; margin-bottom:2em;'>A. B. Frost</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/illus-emb.png' alt='' title=''  /><br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-top:2em;'>NEW YORK AND LONDON</p>
+<p>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p>
+<p style=' margin-bottom:2em;'>1900</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div style='font-size:smaller; margin-top:3em;'>
+<table width='300' summary='' style='border:1px solid black; padding:1em;'>
+<tr><td align='center'><span style='font-size:larger'>BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS. A Novel. Illustrated by <span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Peter Newell</span>.
+Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 50.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>``The Great Stone of Sardis'' is as queer and preposterous as can be
+imagined, yet as plausible and real-seeming as a legal document.... There is a treat
+in the book.&mdash;<i>Independent</i>, N. Y.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>A new and worthy example of Stockton's kindly, wholesome, original, and
+inexhaustible humor.&mdash;<i>Syracuse Post.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td>Narrated with a seriousness that gives the adventures a semblance of matters
+of fact. Through the narrative runs a love interest which Mr. Stockton manages with
+great skill.&mdash;<i>Washington Post.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center'>NEW YORK AND LONDON:<br />
+<span style='font-size:larger'>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.</span></td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' margin-top:2em;'>Copyright, 1898, by <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Harper &amp; Brothers</span>.</p>
+<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-bottom:3em;'><i>All rights reserved.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>CONTENTS</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='500' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-size:small;'>CHAPTER</span></td>
+  <td></td>
+  <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small;'>PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>I.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Dawn of a Wedding-journey</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#I_THE_DAWN_OF_A_WEDDINGJOURNEY'>1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>II.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Enter Margery</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#II_ENTER_MARGERY'>7</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>III.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Sadler&#8217;s</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#III_SADLER_S'>15</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Cataract of Information</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IV_A_CATARACT_OF_INFORMATION'>23</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>V.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Camp Rob</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#V_CAMP_ROB'>35</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Camp Roy</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VI_CAMP_ROY'>42</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Stranger</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VII_A_STRANGER'>52</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>VIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Bishop&#8217;s Tale</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#VIII_THE_BISHOP_S_TALE'>63</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>IX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Matlack&#8217;s Three Troubles</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#IX_MATLACK_S_THREE_TROUBLES'>74</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>X.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Ladies&#8217; Day in Camp</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#X_A_LADIES__DAY_IN_CAMP'>82</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Margery Takes the Oars</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XI_MARGERY_TAKES_THE_OARS'>90</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Bishop Engages the Attention of the Guides</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XII_THE_BISHOP_ENGAGES_THE_ATTENTION_OF_THE_GUIDES'>100</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The World Goes Wrong with Mr. Raybold</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIII_THE_WORLD_GOES_WRONG_WITH_MR_RAYBOLD'>105</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Assertion of Individuality</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIV_THE_ASSERTION_OF_INDIVIDUALITY'>113</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Net of Cobwebs to Cage a Lion</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XV_A_NET_OF_COBWEBS_TO_CAGE_A_LION'>123</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Man who Feels Himself a Man</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVI_A_MAN_WHO_FEELS_HIMSELF_A_MAN'>135</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Mrs. Perkenpine Asserts Her Individuality</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVII_MRS_PERKENPINE_ASSERTS_HER_INDIVIDUALITY'>143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Hermits Associate</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XVIII_THE_HERMITS_ASSOCIATE'>153</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XIX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Margery&#8217;s Breakfast</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XIX_MARGERY_S_BREAKFAST'>161</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XX.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Martin Asserts His Individuality</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XX_MARTIN_ASSERTS_HIS_INDIVIDUALITY'>173</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Individuality of Peter Sadler</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXI_THE_INDIVIDUALITY_OF_PETER_SADLER'>185</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Tranquillizing Breeze and a Hot Wind</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXII_A_TRANQUILLIZING_BREEZE_AND_A_HOT_WIND'>194</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Mrs. Perkenpine Finds out Things about Herself</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIII_MRS_PERKENPINE_FINDS_OUT_THINGS_ABOUT_HERSELF'>205</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXIV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Dissolving Audience</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXIV_A_DISSOLVING_AUDIENCE'>212</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXV.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Moonlight Interview</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXV_A_MOONLIGHT_INTERVIEW'>220</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVI.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>An Elopement</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVI_AN_ELOPEMENT'>229</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Mrs. Perkenpine Delights the Bishop</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVII_MRS_PERKENPINE_DELIGHTS_THE_BISHOP'>239</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='right' style='padding-right:1em;'>XXVIII.</td>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Hermits Continue to Favor Association</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#XXVIII_THE_HERMITS_CONTINUE_TO_FAVOR_ASSOCIATION'>248</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>ILLUSTRATIONS</p>
+</div>
+
+<table border='0' width='500' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Illustrations' style='margin:1em auto'>
+<col style='width:80%;' />
+<col style='width:20%;' />
+<tr>
+  <td></td>
+  <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small'>PAGE</span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>THE SUPPER</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_1'><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;&#8216;CAN THIS BE SADLER&#8217;S?&#8217;&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_2'>16</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;&#8216;THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK&#8217;&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_3'>54</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_4'>80</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_5'>98</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_6'>102</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;&#8216;WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?&#8217;&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_7'>150</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;&#8216;HAVEN&#8217;T TRIED IT&#8217;&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_8'>202</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'>&#8220;&#8216;IF THEY AIN&#8217;T THE CAMP ROBBERS!&#8217;&#8221;</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_9'>232</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='silver' />
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' font-size:1.8em;'>THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS</p>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='I_THE_DAWN_OF_A_WEDDINGJOURNEY' id='I_THE_DAWN_OF_A_WEDDINGJOURNEY'></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>THE DAWN OF A WEDDING-JOURNEY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald were prosperous
+and happy dwellers in a suburb of one of
+our large towns. Fortune had favored them in
+many ways&mdash;in health and in a good average
+happiness. They had reached early middle age,
+and their daughter Kate, their only child, had
+grown up to be a beautiful and good young
+woman, and was on the point of marrying a
+young lawyer&mdash;Rodney Bringhurst by name&mdash;in
+every way worthy of her.</p>
+<p>Hector Archibald was a little man, with small
+bright eyes, and hair slightly touched with gray
+and very much inclined to curl. His disposition
+was lively. He had a strong liking for cheerful
+occurrences, and was always willing to do his
+part in the bringing about of such events. Novelty
+had a charm for him. He was not bound by
+precedence and tradition, and if he had found
+himself at a dinner which began with coffee and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+ended with oysters on the half-shell, he would
+have given the unusual meal a most animated
+consideration, although he might have utterly
+withheld any subsequent approbation. As a general
+thing, he revolved in an orbit where one
+might always be able to find him, were the proper
+calculations made. But if any one drew a tangent
+for him, and its direction seemed suitable
+and interesting, he was perfectly willing to fly
+off on it.</p>
+<p>The disposition of Mrs. Hector Archibald was
+different. She was born to be guided by customs,
+fashions, and forms. She believed it was the
+duty of a married woman to make her home
+happy, and she did it. But she also believed that
+in the best domestic circles there were rules and
+usages for domestic happiness which would apply
+to every domestic condition and contingency.
+It frequently troubled her, however, to find that
+certain customs, forms, or usages of domestic society
+had changed, and being of a conservative
+turn of mind, it was difficult for her to adapt herself
+to these changes. But, thoroughly loyal to
+the idea that what was done by people she loved
+and people she respected ought also to be done
+by her, she earnestly strove to fit herself to new
+conditions, especially when she saw that by not
+doing so she would be out of touch with her family
+and her friends.</p>
+<p>Now of course the wedding of their daughter
+was the only thing in the world that seemed of
+real importance to Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, and
+for this all preparations and plans had been
+agreed upon and made with great good-will and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+harmony, excepting one thing, and that was the
+wedding-trip. Strange to say, the young people
+did not wish to take a wedding-trip. They believed
+that this old-fashioned custom was unnecessary,
+troublesome, commonplace, and stupid.
+In the gardens and grounds of the Archibald
+mansion, and in the beautiful surrounding country,
+they had loved each other as lovers, and
+among these scenes they wished to begin to love
+each other as a married couple. Why should
+such distasteful and unpleasant ingredients as
+railroad-cars, steamboats, and hotels be dashed
+into the pleasing mixture of their new lives? It
+had been arranged that for a year or two, at
+least, they should live in Kate&#8217;s dear old home,
+and why should they not immediately begin that
+life there?</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald did not favor this plan, and his
+wife was strongly opposed to it. A wedding
+without a wedding-trip ought not to be thought
+of.</p>
+<p>&#8220;During the honey-moon a young couple
+should live for each other, with each other, apart
+from the rest of the world. It is a beautiful custom,
+which should not be rudely trampled upon,&#8221;
+said Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>But although Mrs. Archibald cherished a belief
+that she ought to conform her ideas to the domestic
+customs of the day, her daughter Kate
+cherished the belief that the domestic customs of
+the day ought to conform themselves to her
+ideas.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we should like to be alone in the
+honey-moon,&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;We don&#8217;t object
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
+to that; and if there must be a wedding-journey,
+you and father can take it and we will stay here.
+Here are servants, books, things to eat, and everything
+our hearts can desire, and here we
+would really feel as if we were beginning life as
+man and wife. As for you two, you both need a
+vacation, and nothing could be more perfectly
+appropriate and more delightful to everybody
+than that you should take our wedding-trip. We
+don&#8217;t want it; we will make it a present to you.
+Take it and be happy, and leave us here to be
+happy. People have done this sort of thing before,
+so that it is not absolutely wild and unheard
+of.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald welcomed this plan with open
+arms, and hugged it and his daughter to his
+breast. It suited him admirably, and he declared
+that all business and engagements of every kind
+should be set aside, and that he would be ready
+to start on the wedding-journey with Mrs. Archibald
+the moment the ceremony should be completed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You will wait until the reception is over, father?&#8221;
+said Kate, laughing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I will wait for that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This novel proposition sent a chill through
+every fibre of Mrs. Archibald&#8217;s physical organism.
+At first she did not exactly comprehend it,
+but when she did, the chills increased. When
+she had recovered herself a little she began to
+make objections. This was easy enough, for they
+crowded into her mind like sheep into a pen; but
+every objection, as she brought it forth, was
+ruthlessly set aside or crushed to earth by her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
+daughter or her husband, assisted by her expectant
+son-in-law, of whom she declared she never
+would have believed such a thing had she been
+told it.</p>
+<p>The discussion ended, of course, by Mrs. Archibald
+agreeing to go on this absurd wedding-journey.
+But the good lady&#8217;s mental troubles
+were not over when she had given her consent.
+As this scheme had been devised by those dearest
+to her on earth, and as it was certain, these dearest
+persons assured her, to meet with the approbation
+of all people of advanced thought&mdash;at least
+of those whose thought had advanced far enough
+to make it worthy of their consideration&mdash;she
+felt that in doing her part she ought to do it
+honestly and with her whole heart; and at her
+time of life, to act as a proxy for a young bride
+by taking a wedding-journey in that young bride&#8217;s
+place was a very difficult thing for Mrs. Archibald
+to do honestly and with her whole heart.
+But she would try to do it. Whatever else happened,
+her family must be kept happy, and it
+should never be said of her that she hung like a
+millstone around the combined neck of that
+family when it was unitedly climbing towards
+altitudes of felicity, which, although she
+was not able to discern them, must exist, since
+that fact had been so earnestly insisted upon
+by Mr. Archibald, Kate, and Rodney Bringhurst.</p>
+<p>Thus was this exceptional hymeneal performance
+decided upon, and at eleven o&#8217;clock on
+Wednesday, the 6th of June, the marriage service
+was performed. At noon the guests sat down
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
+to breakfast, and at two o&#8217;clock that afternoon
+Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald departed on the
+wedding-trip, leaving behind Mr. and Mrs. Bringhurst
+at home with each other, and &#8220;not at home&#8221;
+to the world.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='II_ENTER_MARGERY' id='II_ENTER_MARGERY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>ENTER MARGERY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>At four o&#8217;clock on the afternoon of June 6th Mr.
+and Mrs. Hector Archibald arrived at a family
+hotel in the capital of their state. Where they
+should go from there had not been decided upon.
+Nothing in regard to their wedding-journey had
+been decided upon except that they were to return
+to their home on the 6th of July of that
+year, and not before. It would have been impossible,
+with their minds filled with bridal arrangements,
+for them to make plans for their journey.
+But at this first stopping-place, where they were
+free from all responsibility and interruptions,
+they could, at their leisure, decide where they
+should go, how they should go, and what they
+should do when they got there.</p>
+<p>After the unrest and turmoil of their own home
+during the past few weeks, the quiet and repose
+of this city hotel were delightful. That evening
+they went to the theatre, and after the performance
+they had a little supper at a restaurant.</p>
+<p>&#8220;People may not think we are a newly married
+pair,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, as he poured out a
+glass of wine for his wife, &#8220;but it is not impossible
+that they may see we know how to enjoy ourselves
+quite as much as if we were.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span></p>
+<p>The next morning Mr. Archibald procured a
+number of railroad maps, time-tables, circulars of
+steamboat excursions, advertisements of mountain
+retreats and sea-side resorts, and he and his
+wife sat down to study these, and to decide upon
+a destination and a route. After an hour or two
+of indeterminate examination Mr. Archibald declared
+himself a little tired, and proposed that
+they should take a recess from their labors and
+go and call upon their old friends, the Stanley
+Dearborns.</p>
+<p>&#8220;People on wedding-tours do not make calls,&#8221;
+said Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That may be true,&#8221; said her husband, &#8220;in
+ordinary cases, and although I do not care to
+announce to everybody the peculiarities of the
+expedition which we have undertaken, I do not
+mind in the least telling the Stanley Dearborns
+all about it. Stanley himself would not appreciate
+it; he would consider it absurd; but then
+he is not at home at this time of day, and Mrs.
+Dearborn is just the woman to enjoy a reform
+movement of this sort. Besides, she is full of
+ideas about everything, and she may propose
+some good place for us to go to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Dearborn was at home, and very glad to
+see the Archibalds. She was a woman whose
+soul was in touch with the higher education of
+women&mdash;with female suffrage, the emancipation
+of the enslaved mind wherever it might be found,
+and with progress generally. She was a member
+of many societies, belonged to committees without
+end, wrote reports and minutes by day and by
+night, and was one of that ever-increasing class
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span>
+of good people who continually walk forward in
+order that their weight may help the world to
+turn over.</p>
+<p>In spite of her principles and the advanced
+position of her thought, Mrs. Dearborn actually
+leaned back in her chair and laughed heartily
+when she learned what sort of a journey the
+Archibalds were taking. In this merriment Mr.
+Archibald joined with great glee.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Ever since I left home,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I have
+wanted to have a chance for a good laugh at this
+trip we are taking. It is the most delightful
+joke I have ever known.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald could not help smiling, but her
+brow was clouded. &#8220;If this expedition is merely
+a joke,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I do not think we should have
+undertaken it; but if it is an earnest assertion of
+our belief that there should be a change in the
+customs of society, then I think we should take
+it seriously, and I see nothing to laugh at.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear Harriet,&#8221; said Mrs. Dearborn, &#8220;we
+can be good and glad at the same time; and that
+is what I am, I am sure. What you are doing is
+the initiation of one of the most worthy reforms
+of the day, and if it should have an effect in
+breaking up that wretched custom of the bridal
+tramp, which is considered so necessary in this
+country, society should rise up and call you
+blessed. But it is funny, for all that. I am sure
+that the first woman who dared to go without
+crinoline was very funny, and when I heard of a
+hospital for cats I could not help laughing; but I
+believed in it, and worked for it. And now where
+are you going?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That is what we want to talk to you about,&#8221;
+said Mr. Archibald; and for half an hour they
+talked about it.</p>
+<p>At the end of that time it was decided that the
+mountains were better than the sea or than a
+quiet lowland nook; and Mrs. Dearborn strongly
+recommended Sadler&#8217;s, where she and her husband
+had spent a part of a summer a few years
+before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;We camped out,&#8221; said she, &#8220;and had a fine
+time. You can camp out at Sadler&#8217;s more easily
+and satisfactorily than anywhere else in the
+world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Camping suited Mr. Archibald admirably, and,
+to his surprise, his wife said she might like it very
+well.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If people are going to laugh at us,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;when they find out we are on a wedding-journey&mdash;and
+they will be sure to find it out in some way
+or other&mdash;I think the fewer people we mingle with
+the better. I do not think I shall like camping
+altogether, but I know it is healthful, and I suppose
+I ought to get used to it. It would be dreadfully
+lonely for just Mr. Archibald and me, but I
+suppose we can take some one with us to guide
+and cook.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear Harriet,&#8221; said Mrs. Dearborn, &#8220;if you
+are at Sadler&#8217;s, you can go into any sort of camp
+you please. I will tell you all about Sadler&#8217;s.
+Sadler is a man of progress. His hotel or inn is
+on the very edge of the forest country, and away
+from all the centres of resort. He calls his place
+the terminal link of public travel in that direction.
+When you leave him you travel privately in any
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+way you like. He has established what he has
+named a bureau of camping, and he furnishes his
+patrons with any sort of a camp they may desire.
+If the party is few in number and of a timid disposition,
+they can have a camp within shouting
+distance of his house. If they are brave and adventurous,
+he will send them out into the depths
+of the forest. If they like water, he locates them
+by the shores of a lake. If climbing is their
+passion, he puts them at the foot of a mountain.
+Those who want to hunt can do so, and those who
+dislike fire-arms are placed in a camp where the
+popping of guns is never heard. He provides
+tents, guides, provisions, and even dangers and
+sensations.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Safety is what I want,&#8221; interrupted Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that he furnishes,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;for
+those who desire it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sadler is the man for me!&#8221; cried Mr. Archibald.
+&#8220;We will go to him, look over his list of
+camps, and select one to suit us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;By-the-way,&#8221; said Mrs. Dearborn, &#8220;a thought
+has struck me. How would you like to take Margery
+with you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Archibald. &#8220;That
+delightful little girl whom I taught to ride a tricycle
+when you were visiting us? I would like it
+ever so much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It struck Mrs. Archibald that people on bridal
+trips did not generally take children or young
+girls with them, but it also struck her that if they
+were going into camp it might be pleasant and in
+many ways advantageous to have some one of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+her own sex with her; but she had no time to
+formulate these advantages in her mind before
+Mrs. Dearborn explained in full.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Since Mr. Dearborn and I came home from Sadler&#8217;s,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;Margery has been perfectly wild
+to go there, and as soon as the leaves began to
+bud in the parks she began to talk about it.
+We saw no possible chance of her going there, for
+her father is too busy to leave home for any
+length of time this season, and I cannot go to
+the mountains this year, for I must visit my
+sister, who is not well, and there are three summer
+conventions that I am obliged to attend.
+But if you could take her with you, I do not believe
+she would trouble you in the least, and you
+would give her great pleasure. Moreover, to
+speak practically, which I think we always ought
+to do, it would not be a bad thing on the score of
+economy, for things are always proportionately
+cheaper for three people in a camp than for two.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A great many advantages of female companionship
+now began to creep into Mrs. Archibald&#8217;s
+mind: if her husband should take it into his head
+to go out and hunt at night by the light of a
+torch; if there should be thunder-storms, and he
+away with the guide; if he should want to go off
+and talk to Indians or trappers, and he always did
+want to go off and talk to people of every class&mdash;it
+would be very pleasant to have even Margery
+Dearborn with her. So she consented with great
+good-will to her friend&#8217;s proposition, and Mrs.
+Dearborn was much pleased and thankful.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery is a true creature of impulse,&#8221; she
+said; &#8220;that is really her predominating characteristic,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span>
+and she will want to bound to the ceiling
+when she hears she is to go to Sadler&#8217;s. She is
+not at home now, but she will be in very soon.
+You must take luncheon with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>About a quarter of an hour after that Margery
+Dearborn came home. She was very glad indeed
+to see the Archibalds, whom she remembered as
+the kindest of people; and when she heard they
+were going to take her to Sadler&#8217;s, she gave a
+scream of delight and threw herself upon Mrs.
+Archibald&#8217;s neck.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are an angel,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;an angel of
+blessedness, my dear Aunt Harriet! Don&#8217;t you
+remember, I used to call you that? Won&#8217;t you
+let me call you so still?&#8221; And without waiting
+for an answer, she rushed to Mr. Archibald, with
+outstretched hands. &#8220;Dear Uncle Archibald, you
+are just as good as ever, I see. You know, I
+wouldn&#8217;t call you Uncle Hector, because hectoring
+meant scolding, which never had anything
+to do with you. Sadler&#8217;s! Oh, when do we
+start?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-morrow is Saturday,&#8221; replied Mr. Archibald;
+&#8220;we must get together some things we
+will need for camp-life, and we can start on Monday.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When the visitors were left to themselves for
+a few moments, Mr. Archibald said to his wife,
+&#8220;Harriet, I am astounded. This girl, who used
+to ride bareback and jump over fences, is a young
+lady now, and a handsome one, too. She is quite
+a different person from the girl I agreed to take
+with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Archibald,&#8221; said his wife, &#8220;you never can
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+remember that in this world people of all ages
+grow older. She was fourteen when she was visiting
+us, and that was four years ago, so of course
+she is a young lady.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;I don&#8217;t feel that I am
+growing any older, and I don&#8217;t see that you are,
+and so I totally forget that proclivity in other
+people. But what do you think now? Can we
+take this young woman with us to camp? Will
+she not be a dreadful drag?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;I much prefer
+the young lady to the girl. I don&#8217;t want to be
+the only woman in camp, and the nearer the other
+woman is to my age the better.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald; &#8220;if you are
+satisfied, I am; and, if she will agree to it, we will
+add our ages for the time being, and divide by
+three, and then we will all stand on a level.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='III_SADLER_S' id='III_SADLER_S'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>SADLER&#8217;S</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was in the afternoon of Monday, the 11th of
+June, when Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, accompanied
+by Miss Margery Dearborn, arrived at Sadler&#8217;s,
+and with feelings of relief alighted from the
+cramped stage-coach which had brought them
+eight miles from the railroad station.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can this be Sadler&#8217;s?&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, in
+a tone of surprise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course it must be,&#8221; said his wife, &#8220;since
+they brought us here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It certainly is the place,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;for
+there is the name over that door.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel about it?&#8221; said Mr. Archibald
+to his wife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I feel very well about it,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Why
+shouldn&#8217;t I?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How do you feel about it?&#8221; he asked of the
+younger lady.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;I don&#8217;t exactly understand
+it. I had visions of forests and wilds and
+tumbling mountain streams and a general air of
+primevalism, and I am surprised to see this fine
+hotel with piazzas, and croquet-grounds, and tennis-courts,
+and gravelled walks, and babies in their
+carriages, and elderly ladies carrying sun-shades.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;But it seems to me that there is a forest behind
+it,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; replied Margery, a little dolefully, &#8220;it
+has that to back it up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t let us stand here at the bottom of the
+steps talking,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;I must
+say I am very agreeably surprised.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In the wide hall which ran through the middle
+of the hotel, and not far from the clerk&#8217;s desk,
+there sat a large, handsome man, a little past
+middle age, who, in a hearty voice, greeted the
+visitors as they entered, but without rising from
+his chair. This was Peter Sadler, the owner of
+the hotel, the legal owner of a great deal of the
+neighboring country, and the actual ruler of
+more of said country than could be easily marked
+out upon a map or stated in surveyors&#8217; terms.</p>
+<p>In fact, Peter Sadler, was king of that portion
+of the vast district of mountain and forest which
+could be reached in a day&#8217;s journey in any direction.
+If he had wished to extend his domain to
+points at a greater distance than this he would
+have done so, but so far he was satisfied with the
+rights he had asserted. He ruled supreme in
+that region because he had lived longer in the
+vicinity than any other white man, because he
+had a powerful will which did not brook opposition,
+and because there was no one to oppose
+him.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-016.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 400px; height: 303px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 400px;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;CAN THIS BE SADLER&#8217;S?&#8217;&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></div>
+<p>On the arable land which lay outside of the
+forest, and which really belonged to him, there
+were the houses of the men who farmed his
+fields, and on the outskirts of the woods were
+scattered here and there the cabins of the hunters
+and guides he employed, and these men knew
+no law but his will. Of course the laws of the
+State covered the district, but such promulgation
+and enforcement of these as he might consider
+necessary were generally left to Peter Sadler,
+and as to his own laws, he was always there
+to see that these were observed.</p>
+<p>His guests submitted themselves to his will, or
+they left his hotel very soon. To people of discernment
+and judgment it was not difficult to
+submit to the will of this full-bearded, broad-chested
+man, who knew so much better than they
+did what they ought to do if they wanted to get
+all the good out of Sadler&#8217;s which they were capable
+of assimilating.</p>
+<p>This man, who sat all day in a big rolling-chair,
+and who knew everything that was going on in
+the hotel, the farm, and the forest about him,
+had been a hunter and a guide in his youth, an
+Indian-fighter in later years, and when he had
+been wounded in both legs, so that it was impossible
+for him ever to walk again, he came back to
+the scenes of his youth and established an inn for
+sportsmen&mdash;a poor little house at first, which
+grew and grew and grew, until it was the large,
+well-kept hotel so widely known by his name.</p>
+<p>After dinner, at which meal they were waited
+upon by women, and not by men in evening-dress
+as Margery had begun to fear, Mr. Archibald
+sought Peter Sadler and made known to him the
+surprise of his party at finding themselves in this
+fine hotel.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What did you expect?&#8221; asked Peter, eying
+him from head to foot.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;From what we had heard,&#8221; replied the other,
+&#8220;we supposed we should find some sort of a preparatory
+camping-ground in the woods, from
+which we could go out and have a camp of our
+own.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s just what you have found,&#8221; said Sadler.
+&#8220;In this house you prepare to camp, if you need
+preparation. If any man, woman, or child comes
+here and wants to go out to camp, and I see that
+they are sickly or weak or in any way not fit to
+live in the woods, I don&#8217;t let them go one step
+until they are fit for it. The air and the food
+and the water they get here will make them fit,
+if anything will do it, and if these three things
+don&#8217;t set them up they simply have to go back
+where they came from. They can&#8217;t go into camp
+from this house. But if they fancy this hotel&mdash;and
+there isn&#8217;t any reason why anybody shouldn&#8217;t
+fancy it&mdash;they can stay here as long as they like,
+and I&#8217;ll take care of them. Now, sir, if you want
+to go into camp, the first thing for you to do is to
+bring your family here and let me take a look at
+them. I&#8217;ve seen them, of course, but I haven&#8217;t
+made up my mind yet whether they are the right
+sort for camp life. As for you, I think you will
+do. There isn&#8217;t much of you, but you look
+tough.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald laughed. &#8220;That&#8217;s good rough
+talk,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and smacks more of camp life than
+anything I have noticed here. I will go and bring
+my wife and Miss Dearborn.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is another reason why I want to see
+them,&#8221; said the bluff Peter. &#8220;As you are bent on
+camping, you&#8217;ll like to choose a camp, and when
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
+anything of that kind is on hand I want to talk
+to the whole party. I don&#8217;t care to settle the
+business with one of them, and then have him
+come back and say that what has been agreed
+upon don&#8217;t suit the others. I want a full meeting
+or no session.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Mr. Archibald returned with his wife and
+Margery, he found Peter Sadler had rolled his
+chair up to a large circular table at the back of
+the hall, on which was spread a map of the forest.
+He greeted the ladies in a loud voice and with a
+cheery smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so you want to go camping, do you?&#8221; said
+he. &#8220;Sit down and let us talk it over. I think
+the young lady is all right. She looks spry
+enough, and I expect she could eat pine-cones
+like a squirrel if she was hungry and had nothing
+else. As for you, madam, you don&#8217;t appear
+as if anything in particular was the matter with
+you, and I should think you could stand a Number
+Three camp well enough, and be all the better
+for a week or two of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is a Number Three camp?&#8221; asked Margery,
+before the astonished Mrs. Archibald could
+speak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Sadler, &#8220;it is a camp with a good
+deal of comfort in it. Our Number One camps
+are pretty rough. They are for hunters and
+scientific people. We give them game enough
+in season, and some bare places where they can
+make fires and stretch a bit of canvas. That is
+all they want, to have a truly good time. That
+is the best camp of all, I think. Number Two
+camps are generally for fishermen. They always
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+want a chance for pretty good living when they
+are out in the woods. They stay in camp in the
+evenings, and like to sit around and have a good
+time. Number Threes are the best camps we put
+families into, so you see, madam, I&#8217;m rating you
+pretty high. There&#8217;s always a log-cabin in these
+camps, with cots and straw mattresses and plenty
+of traps for cooking. And, more than that, there
+is a chance for people who don&#8217;t tramp or fish
+to do things, such as walking or boating, according
+to circumstances. There&#8217;s one of our camps
+has a croquet-ground.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, we don&#8217;t want that!&#8221; cried Margery, &#8220;it
+would simply ruin every illusion that is left to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glad to hear that,&#8221; said Peter. &#8220;If you want
+to play croquet, stay at the hotel; that&#8217;s what I
+say. Now, then, here are the camps, and there&#8217;s
+plenty of them to choose from. You&#8217;ve come in
+a good time, for the season isn&#8217;t fairly begun
+yet. Next month every camp will be full, with
+the hotel crowded with people waiting for their
+turns.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What we want,&#8221; said Margery, rising and
+looking over the map, &#8220;is the wildest Number
+Three you have.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, ho!&#8221; said Peter. &#8220;Not so fast, miss;
+perhaps we&#8217;ll wait and see what this lady has to
+say first. If I&#8217;m not mistaken, madam, I think
+you&#8217;re inclined the other way, and I don&#8217;t put
+people into camps that they will be wanting to
+leave after the first rainy day. Now let me show
+you what I&#8217;ve got. Here is one, four hours&#8217; walk,
+horses for women, with a rocky stream through
+the middle of it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That is grand!&#8221; cried Margery. &#8220;Is it really
+in the woods?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now let me do the talking,&#8221; said Peter. &#8220;They
+are all in the woods; we don&#8217;t make camps in
+pasture-fields. Even the Number Sevens, where
+the meals are sent to the campers from the hotel,
+and they have bath-tubs, are in the woods. Now
+here is another one, about three miles west from
+the one I just showed you, but the same distance
+from here. This, you see, is on the shore of a
+lake, with fishing, boating, and bathing, if you
+can stand cold water.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glorious!&#8221; cried Margery. &#8220;That is exactly
+what we want. A lake will be simply heavenly!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Everything seems to suit you, miss,&#8221; said
+Peter, &#8220;just as soon as you hear of it. But suppose
+we consider more of them before you choose.
+Some two miles north of here, in the thickest of
+the forest, in a clearing that I made, there is
+a small camp that strikes the fancy of some people.
+There is a little stream there and it has
+fish in it too, and it runs through one corner of
+the log-cabin, so there are seven or eight feet of
+the stream inside the house, and on rainy days
+you can sit there and fish; and some people like
+to go to sleep with the running water gurgling
+close to them where they can hear it when they
+are in bed. Then there&#8217;s an owl to this camp.
+The men heard him there when they were making
+the clearing, and he&#8217;s never left the spot.
+Some people who were out there said they never
+felt as much away from the world as they did
+listening to that little stream gurgling and that
+owl hooting.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe,&#8221; exclaimed Margery, &#8220;that in a
+place like that I could write poetry!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would give me the rheumatism and the
+blues,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, upon which Peter
+Sadler exclaimed,</p>
+<p>&#8220;That settles that. Now then, here is another.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Several other camps were considered, but it
+was the general conclusion that the one by the
+lake was the most desirable. It had a good cabin
+with three rooms, with plenty of open space, near
+by, for the tents of the guides; there was a boat
+which belonged to the camp, and in every way it
+seemed so suitable that Mr. Archibald secured it.
+He thought the price was rather high, but as it
+included guides, provisions, fishing-tackle, and in
+fact everything needed, he considered that although
+it might cost as much as lodgings in a
+city hotel, they would get more good out of it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has this camp any name?&#8221; asked the enthusiastic
+Margery, in the course of the conference.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s about your twenty-seventh question,
+miss,&#8221; said Peter, &#8220;but it&#8217;s one I can answer.
+Yes, it&#8217;s got a name. It&#8217;s called Camp Rob.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; ejaculated Margery, in a disappointed
+tone. &#8220;What a name!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Peter, &#8220;it isn&#8217;t much of a name.
+The first people who went out there named it
+that, and it stuck to it, and it&#8217;s all it&#8217;s got.
+Camps are like horses&mdash;we&#8217;ve got to tell them
+apart, and so we give them names, and that&#8217;s
+Camp Rob.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IV_A_CATARACT_OF_INFORMATION' id='IV_A_CATARACT_OF_INFORMATION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<h3>A CATARACT OF INFORMATION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Peter Sadler would have been glad to have
+the Archibald party stay at his hotel for a few
+days, and Mrs. Archibald would have been perfectly
+satisfied to remain there until they were
+ready to return to their own house, but her husband
+and Margery were impatient to be in the
+woods, and it was therefore decided to start for
+the camp the next day. Peter Sadler was a man
+of system, and his arrangements were made
+promptly and rapidly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got to have a guide,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and
+another man to help him, and I think I&#8217;ll give
+you Phil Matlack. Phil is an old hand at the
+business, and if you don&#8217;t know what you want,
+he&#8217;ll tell you. If you are in Phil&#8217;s hands, you
+needn&#8217;t be afraid anything will happen to you.
+Whatever you want, ask him for it, and ten to
+one he&#8217;ll have it, whether it&#8217;s information or fishhooks.
+I tell you again, you&#8217;re lucky to be here
+early and get the best of everything. Camp Rob
+with Phil Matlack will stand at a premium in
+three or four weeks from now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>That evening after supper Mr. Archibald lighted
+a cigar and went out into the grounds in front of
+the hotel, where he was presently joined by his wife.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is Margery?&#8221; asked he.</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is in her room,&#8221; replied Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;but she called to me that she would be down directly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In about ten minutes down came Margery and
+floated out upon the lawn. She was dressed in
+white, with flowers in her hair, and she was more
+charming, Mr. Archibald said, as she approached,
+than even the sunset sky.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You should not speak in that way of works of
+nature,&#8221; said his wife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t she a work of nature?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not altogether,&#8221; was the wise reply. &#8220;Why
+did you dress yourself in that fashion?&#8221; she asked
+Margery. &#8220;I did not suppose you would bring
+such a fine gown, as we started out to go into
+camp. And even in this hotel a travelling-suit
+is good enough for any one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I tucked this into one of my bags,&#8221; replied
+Margery. &#8220;I always like to have something nice
+to fall back upon. Don&#8217;t you want to take a little
+stroll, Aunt Harriet?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald leaned back in his garden-chair
+and slowly puffed his cigar, and as he puffed he
+took his eyes from the sunset sky and watched
+his wife and Margery.</p>
+<p>A little beyond them, as they walked, sat two
+elderly ladies on a bench, wearing shawls, and
+near by stood a girl in a short dress, with no hat
+on, and a long plait down her back. A little
+farther on was a tennis-court, and four people,
+apparently young, were playing tennis. There
+were two men, and neither of them wore a tennis-suit.
+One was attired as a bicyclist, and the other
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+wore ordinary summer clothes. The young women
+were dressed in dark-blue flannel and little
+round hats, which suggested to Mr. Archibald
+the deck of a yacht.</p>
+<p>Near the hotel was an elderly gentleman walking
+up and down by himself, and on the piazza
+were the rest of the guests he had seen at the
+table; not very many of them, for it was early in
+the season.</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald now turned his eyes again to the
+sky. It was still beautiful, although its colors
+were fading, and after a time he looked back
+towards his wife. She was now talking to the
+two elderly ladies on the bench, and Margery was
+engaged in conversation with the girl with the
+plait down her back.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When I finish my cigar,&#8221; thought Mr. Archibald,
+&#8220;I will go myself and take a stroll.&#8221; And
+it struck him that he might talk to the old gentleman,
+who was still walking up and down in
+front of the hotel. After contemplating the tops
+of some forest trees against the greenish-yellow
+of the middle sky, he turned his eyes again towards
+his wife, and found that the two elderly
+ladies had made room for her on the bench, that
+the tennis-game had ceased, and that one of the
+girls in blue flannel had joined this group and
+was talking to Margery.</p>
+<p>In a few moments all the ladies on the bench
+rose, and Mrs. Archibald and one of them walked
+slowly towards an opening in the woods. The
+other lady followed with the little girl, and Margery
+and the young woman in blue walked in the
+same direction, but not in company with the rest
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+of the party. The two young men, with the
+other tennis-player between them, walked over
+from the tennis-court and joined the first group,
+and they all stopped just as they reached the
+woods. There they stood and began talking to
+each other, after which one of the young men
+and the young woman approached a large tree,
+and he poked with a stick into what was probably
+a hole near its roots, and Mr. Archibald supposed
+that the discussion concerned a snake-hole or a
+hornets&#8217; nest. Then Margery and the other
+young woman came up, and they looked at the
+hole. Now the whole company walked into the
+woods and disappeared. In about ten minutes
+Mr. Archibald finished his cigar and was thinking
+of following his wife and Margery, when the
+two elderly ladies and Mrs. Archibald came out
+into the open and walked towards the hotel.
+Then came the little girl, running very fast as
+she passed the tree with the hole near its roots.
+In a few minutes Mrs. Archibald stopped and
+looked back towards the woods; then she walked
+a little way in that direction, leaving her companions
+to go to the hotel. Now the young man
+in the bicycle suit emerged from the woods, with
+a girl in dark-blue flannel on each side of him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Upon my word!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Archibald,
+and rising to his feet, advanced towards his wife;
+but before he reached her, Margery emerged
+from the wood road, escorted by the young man
+in the summer suit.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Upon my word,&#8221; Mr. Archibald remarked,
+this time to his wife, &#8220;that ward of ours is not
+given to wasting time.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems so, truly,&#8221; said she, &#8220;and I think her
+mother was right when she called her a creature
+of impulse. Let us wait here until they come
+up. We must all go in; it is getting chilly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In a few minutes Margery and the young man
+had reached them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you very much,&#8221; said this creature of
+impulse to her escort. &#8220;My uncle and aunt will
+take care of me now. Aunt Harriet and Uncle
+Archibald, this is Mr. Clyde. He saw a great
+snake go into a hole over there just before supper-time,
+and I think we ought all to be very
+careful how we pass that way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think there is very much danger after
+nightfall,&#8221; said Mr. Clyde, who was a pleasant
+youth with brown hair, &#8220;and to-morrow I&#8217;ll see
+if I can kill him. It&#8217;s a bad place for a snake
+to have a hole, just where ladies would be apt to
+take their walks.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think the snake will trouble us much,&#8221;
+said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;for we leave to-morrow.
+Still, it would be a good thing to kill it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>After this there were a few remarks made
+about snakes, and then Mr. Clyde bade them
+good-evening.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How in the world, Margery,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;did you get acquainted so quickly with
+that young man&mdash;and who is he?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, it all happened quite naturally,&#8221; said she.
+&#8220;As we turned to go out of the woods he was the
+gentleman nearest to me, and so of course he
+came with me. Those two girls are sisters, and
+their name is Dodworth. They introduced Mr.
+Clyde and the other gentleman, Mr. Raybold, to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span>
+me. But that was after you had been talking to
+Mrs. Dodworth, their mother, who is Mr. Raybold&#8217;s
+aunt. The other lady, with the shawl on,
+is Mrs. Henderson, and&mdash;would you believe it?&mdash;she&#8217;s
+grandmother to that girl in the short dress!
+She doesn&#8217;t begin to look old enough. The Dodworths
+don&#8217;t go into camp at all, but expect to
+stay here for two weeks longer, and then they go
+to the sea-shore. Mrs. Henderson leaves day
+after to-morrow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Clyde and his friend live in Boston.
+They are both just beginning to practise law,
+though Mr. Clyde says that Mr. Raybold would
+rather be an actor, but his family objects. The
+old gentleman who is walking up and down in
+front of the hotel has heart-disease, some people
+say&mdash;but that is not certain. He stayed here all
+last summer, and perhaps he will this year. In
+two weeks hardly any of the people now in this
+hotel will be here. One family is going into
+camp when the father and two sons come on to
+join them, and the rest are going to the sea-shore,
+except one lady. You may have noticed her&mdash;the
+one with a dark-purple dress and a little purple
+cap. She&#8217;s a school-teacher, and she will
+spend the rest of the summer with her sister in
+Pennsylvania.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That man Phil Matlack, who is going with us
+to-morrow, is quite a character, and I expect I shall
+like him awfully. They say that about five years
+ago he killed a man who made an attack on him
+in the woods, but he was never tried for it, nor
+was anything whatever done to him, because Mr.
+Sadler said he was right, and he would not have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+any nonsense about it. There are people about
+here who believe that Phil Matlack would fight a
+bear single-handed if it happened to be necessary.
+Mr. Sadler would do it himself if he could walk.
+Nobody knows how many men he killed when
+he was fighting Indians; and, would you believe
+it? his wife is a plain, little, quiet woman, who
+lives in some part of the hotel where nobody ever
+sees her, because she is rather bashful and dislikes
+company.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The other person who is going with us is not
+very much more than a boy, though they say he
+is very strong and a good hunter. His name is
+Martin Sanders, and I forgot to say that the old
+gentleman with the heart-disease is named Parker.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s generally thought that Phil Matlack would
+rather have some one else than Martin Sanders
+to go with him, because he says Martin knows
+too much. The fact is that Martin is well educated,
+and could have gone into some good business,
+but he was so fond of the woods that he
+gave up everything to come out here and learn
+guiding. You know we were told that our camp
+in the woods has three rooms in it? Well, it
+really has four, for there was an artist there last
+year who built a little room for a studio for rainy
+days. I expect Mr. Sadler forgot that, or didn&#8217;t
+think it worth counting. There are no snakes at
+all where we are going to camp, but two miles
+farther on there are lots of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Over the brink of Niagara,&#8221; interjected Mr.
+Archibald, &#8220;they say eighteen million cubic feet
+of water pour every minute. Where on earth,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+Margery, did you fill your mind with all that information?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I got it from those two Dodworth girls and
+Mr. Clyde,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Mr. Raybold told me
+some things, too, but mostly about his bicycle.
+He feels badly about it, because he brought it
+here, and now he finds there is no place to use it.
+I should think he ought to have known that the
+primeval forest isn&#8217;t any place for a bicycle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Archibald,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, when
+they had retired to their room, &#8220;I did not agree
+with you when you wished we could have started
+for camp to-day, but now I am quite of your mind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Tuesday was fine, and preparations were made
+for the Archibald party to start for their camp
+after an early luncheon.</p>
+<p>The bluff and hearty Peter took such an interest
+in everything that was being done for their
+comfort, giving special heed to all the possible requirements
+of Mrs. Archibald, that the heart of
+Mr. Archibald was touched.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish,&#8221; said he to his good-natured host,
+&#8220;that you were going with us. I do not know
+any one I would rather camp with than you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I could do it,&#8221; replied Peter, &#8220;I&#8217;d like it
+ever so well. So far as I have been able to make
+you out, you are the sort of a man I&#8217;d be willing
+to run a camp for. What I like about you is that
+you haven&#8217;t any mind of your own. There is
+nothing I hate worse than to run against a man
+with a mind of his own. Of course there have to
+be such fellows, but let them keep away from me.
+There is no room here for more than one mind,
+and I have pre-empted the whole section.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span></p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald laughed. &#8220;Your opinion of me
+does not sound very complimentary,&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is complimentary!&#8221; roared Peter Sadler,
+striking the table with his fist. &#8220;Why, I tell you,
+sir, I couldn&#8217;t say anything more commendable
+of you if I tried! It shows that you are a man
+of common-sense, and that&#8217;s pretty high praise.
+Everything I&#8217;ve told you to do you&#8217;ve done.
+Everything I&#8217;ve proposed you&#8217;ve agreed to. You
+see for yourself that I know what is better for
+you and your party than you do, and you stand
+up like a man and say so. Yes, sir; if a rolling-chair
+wasn&#8217;t as bad for the woods as the bicycle
+that Boston chap brought down here, I&#8217;d go along
+with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald had a very sharp sense of the
+humorous, and in his enjoyment of a comical situation
+he liked company. His heart was stirred
+to put his expedition in its true light before this
+man who was so honest and plain-spoken. &#8220;Mr.
+Sadler,&#8221; said he, &#8220;if you will take it as a piece of
+confidential information, and not intended for
+the general ear, I will tell you what sort of a
+holiday my wife and I are taking. We are on a
+wedding-journey.&#8221; And then he told the story
+of the proxy bridal tour.</p>
+<p>Peter Sadler threw himself back in his chair
+and laughed with such great roars that two hunting-dogs,
+who were asleep in the hall, sprang to
+their feet and dashed out of the back door, their
+tails between their legs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;By the Lord Harry!&#8221; cried Peter Sadler,
+&#8220;you and your wife are a pair of giants. I don&#8217;t
+say anything about that young woman, for I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+don&#8217;t believe it would have made any difference
+to her whether you were on a wedding-trip or
+travelling into the woods to bury a child. I tell
+you, sir, you mayn&#8217;t have a mind that can give
+out much, but you&#8217;ve got a mind that can take in
+the biggest kind of thing, and that is what I call
+grand. It is the difference between a canyon and
+a mountain. There are lots of good mountains
+in this world, and mighty few good canyons.
+Tom, you Tom, come here!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In answer to the loud call a boy came running
+up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go into my room,&#8221; said Peter Sadler, &#8220;and
+bring out a barrel bottle, large size, and one of
+the stone jars with a red seal on it. Now, sir,&#8221;
+said he to Mr. Archibald, &#8220;I am going to give you
+a bottle of the very best whiskey that ever a
+human being took into the woods, and a jar of
+smoking-tobacco a great deal too good for any
+king on any throne. They belong to my private
+stock, and I am proud to make them a present to
+a man who will take a wedding-trip to save his
+grown-up daughter the trouble. As for your wife,
+there&#8217;ll be a basket that will go to her with my
+compliments, that will show her what I think of
+her. By-the-way, sir, have you met Phil Matlack?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I have not!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Archibald,
+with animation. &#8220;I have heard something about
+him, and before we start I should like to see the
+man who is going to take charge of us in camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, there he is, just passing the back door.
+Hello, Phil! come in here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When the eminent guide, Phil Matlack, entered
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+the hall, Mr. Archibald looked at him with some
+surprise, for he was not the conventional tall,
+gaunt, wiry, keen-eyed backwoodsman who had
+naturally appeared to his mental vision. This
+man was of medium height, a little round-shouldered,
+dressed in a gray shirt, faded brown trousers
+very baggy at the knees, a pair of conspicuous
+blue woollen socks, and slippers made of carpet.
+His short beard and his hair were touched with
+gray, and he wore a small jockey cap. With the
+exception of his eyes, Mr. Matlack&#8217;s facial features
+were large, and the expression upon them
+was that of a mild and generally good-natured
+tolerance of the world and all that is in it. It
+may be stated that this expression, combined with
+his manner, indicated also a desire on his part
+that the world and all that is in it should tolerate
+him. Mr. Archibald&#8217;s first impressions of the
+man did not formulate themselves in these terms;
+he simply thought that the guide was a slipshod
+sort of a fellow.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Phil,&#8221; said Mr. Sadler, &#8220;here is the gentleman
+you are going to take into camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Glad to see him,&#8221; said Matlack; &#8220;hope he&#8217;ll
+like it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And I want to say to you, Phil,&#8221; continued Sadler,
+&#8220;right before him, that he is a first-class man
+for you to have in charge. I don&#8217;t believe you
+ever had a better one. He&#8217;s a city man, and it&#8217;s
+my opinion he don&#8217;t know one thing about hunting,
+fishing, making a camp-fire, or even digging
+bait. I don&#8217;t suppose he ever spent a night outside
+of a house, and doesn&#8217;t know any more about
+the weather than he does about planting cabbages.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+He&#8217;s just clean, bright, and empty, like a
+new peach-basket. What you tell him he&#8217;ll know,
+and what you ask him to do he&#8217;ll do, and if you
+want a better man than that to take into camp,
+you want too much. That&#8217;s all I&#8217;ve got to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack looked at Peter Sadler and then at
+Mr. Archibald, who was leaning back in his chair,
+his bright eyes twinkling.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How did you find out all that about him?&#8221; he
+asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Humph!&#8221; exclaimed Peter Sadler. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+you suppose I can read a man&#8217;s character when
+I&#8217;ve had a good chance at him? Now how about
+the stores&mdash;have they all gone on?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;They were sent out early this mornin&#8217;,&#8221; said
+Matlack, &#8220;and we can start as soon as the folks
+are ready.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='V_CAMP_ROB' id='V_CAMP_ROB'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+<h3>CAMP ROB</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was early in the afternoon when the Archibald
+party took up the line of march for Camp
+Rob. The two ladies, supplied by Mrs. Sadler
+with coarse riding-skirts, sat each upon a farm-horse,
+and Mr. Archibald held the bridle of the
+one that carried his wife. Matlack and Martin
+Sanders, the young man who was to assist him,
+led the way, while a led horse, loaded with the
+personal baggage of the travellers, brought up
+the rear.</p>
+<p>Their way wound through a forest over a wood
+road, very rough and barely wide enough for the
+passage of a cart. The road was solemn and
+still, except where, here and there, an open space
+allowed the sunlight to play upon a few scattered
+wild flowers and brighten the sombre tints of the
+undergrowth.</p>
+<p>After a ride which seemed a long one to the
+ladies, who wished they had attired themselves in
+walking-costume, the road and the forest suddenly
+came to an end, and before them stretched out
+the waters of a small lake. Camp Rob was not
+far from the head of the lake, and for some distance
+above and below the forest stood back from
+the water&#8217;s edge. In the shade of a great oak tree
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+there stood a small log-house, rude enough
+to look at, but moderately comfortable within,
+and from this house to the shore a wide space
+was cleared of bushes and undergrowth.</p>
+<p>The lake was narrow in proportion to its length,
+which was about two miles, and on the other side
+the forest looked like a solid wall of green reflected
+in the water beneath. Even Mrs. Archibald,
+whose aching back began to have an effect
+upon her disposition, was delighted with the
+beauty of the scene, which delight endured until
+she had descended from her horse and entered
+the log-cabin in which she was to dwell for a
+time.</p>
+<p>It is not necessary to describe the house, nor
+is it necessary to dive into the depths of Mrs.
+Archibald&#8217;s mind as she gazed about her, passing
+silently from room to room of the little house.
+She was a good woman, and she had made up her
+mind that she would not be a millstone around
+the necks of her companions. Many people have
+been happy in camps, and, indeed, camp-life has
+become one of the features of our higher civilization,
+and this, from what she had heard, must
+be a camp above the common. So, think what
+she might, she determined to make no open complaint.
+If it were possible for her to be happy
+here, she would be happy.</p>
+<p>As for Margery, no determination was needed
+in her case. Everything was better than she had
+expected to find it. The cabin, with the bark
+on almost everything, even the furniture, was just
+what a house in the woods ought to be; and
+when she entered the little studio, which was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
+nearer allied to the original forest than any other
+part of the house, she declared that that must be
+her room, and that living there she would feel
+almost like a dryad in an oak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve camped out before?&#8221; said Phil Matlack
+to Mr. Archibald, as he was taking a survey of
+the scene.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been out a few
+days at a time with fishing-parties, but we never
+had such a fine camp as this&mdash;so well located and
+such good accommodations.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are a fisherman, then?&#8221; said the guide.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes. I am very fond of it. I&#8217;ve fished ever
+since I was a boy, and know a good deal about
+bait, in spite of what Mr. Sadler said.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I had an idea of that sort,&#8221; remarked Phil,
+&#8220;but it ain&#8217;t no use to contradict Peter. It helps
+keep up his spirits for him to think he can read
+the characters of people just as quick as he can
+aim a rifle. And it&#8217;s a mighty important thing
+to keep Peter&#8217;s spirits up. If Peter&#8217;s spirits was
+to go down, things round here would flatten out
+worse than a rotten punkin when it&#8217;s dropped.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It did not take long to establish the new-comers
+in their woodland quarters. The tent for the
+two men, which had arrived in the morning, was
+pitched not far from the cabin, and then Matlack
+and Martin went to work to prepare supper. The
+dining-room in pleasant weather was the small
+space in front of the house, where there was a
+table made of a wide board supported by stakes,
+with a low and narrow board on each side, also
+resting on stakes, and forming seats.</p>
+<p>The supper was a better one and better served
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+than any of the party had expected. The camp
+outfit included table-cloths, and even napkins.</p>
+<p>&#8220;To-morrow,&#8221; said Matlack, as he brought a
+dish of hot and savory broiled ham, &#8220;after Mr.
+Archibald gets to work, we&#8217;ll have some fish.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald had been a little fearful that
+under these primitive conditions the two men
+might expect to sit at the table with them, but
+she need have had no such fears. Matlack and
+Martin cooked and waited with a skill and deftness
+which would have surprised any one who did
+not reflect that this was as much their business
+as hunting or woodcraft.</p>
+<p>After supper a camp-fire was built at a safe distance
+from the house, for although the evening
+air was but slightly cool, a camp without a camp-fire
+would not be a camp. The party ranged
+themselves around it, Mrs. Archibald on a rug
+brought from the cabin, and her husband and
+Margery on the ground. Mr. Archibald lighted
+his pipe, the fire lighted the trees and the lake,
+and joy inexpressible lighted the heart of Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I could smoke a pipe,&#8221; said she, &#8220;and get
+Mr. Matlack to come here and tell me how he
+killed a man, I should be perfectly happy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>That night Mrs. Archibald lay awake on her
+straw mattress. Absolute darkness was about
+her, but through the open window she could see,
+over the tops of the trees on the other side of the
+lake, one little star.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I could get any comfort out of that little
+star,&#8221; thought the good lady, &#8220;I would do it; but
+I can&#8217;t do it, and there is nothing else to comfort
+me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span></p>
+<p>On the other side of the room, on another straw
+mattress, she could hear her husband breathing
+steadily. Then, upon the bare boards of the floor,
+which were but a few inches below her little cot-bed,
+she thought she heard the patter of small
+feet. A squirrel, perhaps, or, horrible to think
+of, it might be a rat. She was sure rats would
+eat straw beds, and her first impulse was to wake
+Mr. Archibald; but she hesitated, he was sleeping
+so soundly. Still she listened, and now she
+became almost certain that what she heard was
+not the patter of small feet; it sounded more like
+something soft which was dragging itself over the
+floor&mdash;possibly a snake. This idea was simply
+awful, and she sat up in bed. Still she did not
+call Mr. Archibald, for should he suddenly spring
+on the floor, he would be in more danger from the
+snake than she was.</p>
+<p>She listened and she listened, but she heard
+nothing more, and then her reason began to assure
+her that a snake&#8217;s movements on a bare floor
+would be absolutely noiseless; but in a moment
+all thoughts of serpents were driven from her
+head. Outside of the cabin she heard a sound
+that could be nothing less than the footsteps of
+some living creature&mdash;a wild beast, perhaps a
+panther. The door was shut and fastened, but
+the window was open. To call Mr. Archibald and
+tell him a wild beast was walking outside the
+house would be positively wicked. Half-awakened,
+he would probably rush out of the door to
+see what it was. What could she do? For an
+instant she thought of lighting a candle and
+standing it in the window. She knew that wild
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+beasts were afraid of fire, and she did not believe
+that even a panther would dare jump over a
+lighted candle. But if she struck a match and
+got up, she would waken her husband; and, besides,
+if the wind, of which she could feel a puff
+every now and then, did not blow out the candle,
+it might blow it over and set fire to the cabin.</p>
+<p>She heard the footsteps no more, and lay down
+again, but not to sleep. The wind seemed to be
+rising, and made a wild, unearthly sound as it
+surged through the trees which surrounded and
+imprisoned her, and shut her out from the world
+in which she was born and in which she ought to
+live. There was a far-away sound which came
+to her ears once, twice, thrice, and which might
+have been the call of some ghostly bird or the
+war-whoop of an Indian. At last she drew the
+covering over her head, determined that, so long
+as she could not see, she would not hear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A wedding-journey!&#8221; she said to herself, and
+the idea, coupled with the sense of her present
+grewsome and doleful condition, was so truly absurd
+and ridiculous that she could not restrain a
+melancholy laugh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter, my dear?&#8221; exclaimed
+Mr. Archibald, suddenly turning over in his bed.
+&#8220;Are you choking? Is the room too close? Shall
+I open the door?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; she said, &#8220;for that was a laugh
+you heard. I couldn&#8217;t help laughing at the
+thought that there should be two such idiots in
+the world as you and myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is idiotic, isn&#8217;t it?&#8221; said Mr. Archibald. &#8220;It
+is gloriously idiotic, and it will do us both a world
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+of good. It is such a complete and perfect change
+that I don&#8217;t wonder you laugh.&#8221; Then he laughed
+himself, clearly and loudly, and turned over on
+his side and went to sleep.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald felt certain that she would not
+sleep another wink that night, but she did sleep
+seven hours and a half, and was awakened by
+Margery singing outside her window.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VI_CAMP_ROY' id='VI_CAMP_ROY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+<h3>CAMP ROY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>No thoughts of idiocy crossed the minds of any
+of the camping party during their first breakfast
+under the great oak-tree. The air, the sunlight,
+the rippling waters of the lake, the white clouds
+in the blue sky, the great trunks of the trees, the
+rustling of the leaves, the songs of the birds, the
+hum of insects, the brightness of everything, their
+wonderful appetites&mdash;the sense of all these things
+more than filled their minds.</p>
+<p>For the greater part of that day Mr. Archibald
+fished, sometimes in a stream which ran into the
+head of the lake about a quarter of a mile above
+the camp, and sometimes on the shores of the lake
+itself. Margery sketched; her night in the studio
+had filled her with dreams of art, and she had discovered
+in a corner a portable easel made of hickory
+sticks with the bark on, and she had tucked
+some drawing materials into one of her bags.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald was a little tired with her
+journey of the day before, and contented herself
+with sitting in the shade in pleasant places,
+occupied with some needle-work she had brought
+with her, and trying to discipline her mind to
+habits of happiness in camp. This was not very
+difficult during the first part of this beautiful day,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
+but towards the end of the afternoon she began
+to think less of the joys of a free life in the heart
+of nature and more of the pleasure of putting on
+her bonnet and going out to make some calls
+upon her friends. In this state of mind it pleased
+her to see Phil Matlack coming towards her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would you like a cup of tea, ma&#8217;am?&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, thank you,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;It would
+seem rather odd to have afternoon tea in the
+woods, and I really don&#8217;t care for it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We can have &#8217;most anything in the woods,
+ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;that we can have anywhere
+else, providin&#8217; you don&#8217;t mind what sort
+of fashion you have it in. I thought it might be
+sort of comfortin&#8217; to you to have a cup of tea.
+I&#8217;ve noticed that in most campin&#8217; parties of the
+family order there&#8217;s generally one or two of them
+that&#8217;s lonesome the first day; and the fact is I
+don&#8217;t count on anything particular bein&#8217; done on
+the first day in camp, except when the party is
+regular hunters or fishermen. It&#8217;s just as well
+for some of them to sit round on the first day and
+let things soak into them, provided it isn&#8217;t rain,
+and the next day they will have a more natural
+feelin&#8217; about what they really want to do. Now
+I expect you will be off on some sort of a tramp
+to-morrow, ma&#8217;am, or else be out in the boat; and
+as for that young lady, she&#8217;s not goin&#8217; to sketch
+no more after to-day. She&#8217;s got young Martin
+out in the boat, restin&#8217; on his oars, while she&#8217;s puttin&#8217;
+him into her picture. She&#8217;s rubbed him out
+so often that I expect he&#8217;ll fall asleep and tumble
+overboard, or else drop one of his oars.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Matlack,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;will you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span>
+please sit down a moment? I want to ask you
+something.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said he, and forthwith seated
+himself on a log near by, picking up a stick as
+he did so, and beginning to shave the bark from
+it with his pocket-knife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know,&#8221; said she, &#8220;if there are panthers
+in these woods?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack looked up at her quickly. &#8220;I expect
+you heard them walkin&#8217; about your cabin last
+night,&#8221; said he; &#8220;and not only panthers, but
+most likely a bear or two, and snakes rustlin&#8217; in
+the leaves; and, for all I know, coons or &#8217;possums
+climbin&#8217; in and out of the window.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, nothing so bad as that,&#8221; she replied. &#8220;I
+only thought&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; he interrupted. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t
+mean that you heard all those things, but most
+likely a part of them. Hardly any family parties
+goes into camp that some of them don&#8217;t hear wild
+beasts the first night. But they never come no
+more. Them kind of wild beasts I call first-nighters,
+and they&#8217;re about the worst kind we&#8217;ve got,
+because they really do hurt people by scratchin&#8217;
+and clawin&#8217; at their nerves, whereas the real wild
+beasts in these parts&mdash;and they&#8217;re mighty scarce,
+and never come near camp&mdash;don&#8217;t hurt nobody.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad to hear it,&#8221; said she. &#8220;But what
+on earth can be keeping Mr. Archibald? When
+he started out after dinner he said he would be
+back very soon.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, he&#8217;s got the fever, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Fever!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, dropping
+her work in her lap.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t be frightened,&#8221; said he; &#8220;it is only
+the fishin&#8217; fever. It don&#8217;t hurt anybody; it only
+keeps the meals waitin&#8217;. You see, we are pretty
+nigh the first people out this year, and the fish
+bite lively. Are you fond of fishin&#8217;, ma&#8217;am?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; said she; &#8220;I dislike it. I think
+it is cruel and slimy and generally unpleasant.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I expect you&#8217;ll spend most of your time in the
+boat,&#8221; suggested Matlack. &#8220;Your husband rows,
+don&#8217;t he?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He doesn&#8217;t row me,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+with earnestness. &#8220;I never go out in a boat except
+with a regular boatman. I suppose you
+have a larger boat than the one that young man
+is in? I can see it from here, and it looks very
+small.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, ma&#8217;am,&#8221; said Matlack; &#8220;that&#8217;s the only
+one we&#8217;ve got. And now I guess I&#8217;ll go see about
+supper. This has been a lazy day for us, but
+we always do calc&#8217;late on a lazy day to begin
+with.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It strikes me,&#8221; said Matlack to himself, as he
+walked away, &#8220;that this here camp will come to
+an end pretty soon. The man and the young
+woman could stand it for a couple of weeks, but
+there&#8217;s nothing here for the old lady, and it can&#8217;t
+be long before she&#8217;ll have us all out of the woods
+again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You can come in,&#8221; called Margery, about ten
+minutes after this conversation; and young
+Martin, who had not the least idea of going to
+sleep in the boat, dipped his oars in the water
+and rowed ashore, pulled the boat up on the
+beach, and then advanced to the spot where
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+Margery was preparing to put away her drawing
+materials.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Would you mind letting me see your sketch?&#8221;
+said he.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said she; &#8220;but you&#8217;ll see it isn&#8217;t very
+much like the scene itself. When I make a drawing
+from nature I never copy everything I see
+just as if I were making a photograph. I suppose
+you think I ought to draw the boat just as
+it is, but I always put something of my own
+in my pictures. And that, you see, is a different
+kind of a boat from the one you were in. It is
+something like Venetian boats.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t like anything in this part of the world,
+that is true,&#8221; said the young man, as he held the
+drawing in his hand; &#8220;and if it had been more
+like a gondola it would not have suited the scene.
+I think you have caught the spirit of the landscape
+very well; but if you don&#8217;t object to a little
+criticism, I should say that the shore over there
+is too near the foreground. It seems to me that
+the picture wants atmosphere; that would help
+the distance very much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you draw?&#8221; asked Margery, in surprise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I used to be very fond of sketching,&#8221; said he.
+&#8220;I stayed at Sadler&#8217;s a good part of the last
+winter, and when I wasn&#8217;t out hunting I made a
+good many drawings of winter scenes. I would
+be glad to show them to you when we go back.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said she, &#8220;if I had known you were an
+artist I would not have asked you to go out there
+and sit as a model.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am not an artist,&#8221; replied Martin; &#8220;I
+only draw, that&#8217;s all. But if you make any more
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+water sketches and would like me to put some
+ducks or any other kind of wild-fowl in the foreground
+I will be glad to do it for you. I have
+made a specialty of natural-history drawings.
+Don&#8217;t bother yourself about that easel; I&#8217;ll carry
+up your things for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>About half-way to the cabin Margery suddenly
+stopped and turned round towards the young
+man, who was following her. &#8220;How did you come
+to be a guide?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>He smiled. &#8220;That&#8217;s because I was born a naturalist
+and a sportsman. I went into business when
+I finished my education, but I couldn&#8217;t stand
+that, and as I couldn&#8217;t afford to become a gentleman
+sportsman, I came here as a guide. I&#8217;m
+getting a lot of experience in this sort of life, and
+when I&#8217;ve saved money enough I&#8217;m going on an
+exploring expedition, most likely to Central
+America. That&#8217;s the kind of life that will suit me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And write a book about it?&#8221; asked Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Most likely,&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>That night, after supper, Margery remarked:
+&#8220;Our two guides are American citizens, and I
+don&#8217;t see why they can&#8217;t eat at the table with us
+instead of waiting until we have finished. We
+are all free and equal in the woods.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery Dearborn!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;What are you talking about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was going to say that if there were one
+straw more needed to break her back, that straw
+would be the sight of the two guides sitting at
+the table with them, but she restrained herself.
+She did not want Mr. Archibald to know anything
+about the condition of her back.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;So long as they don&#8217;t want to do it, and don&#8217;t
+do it,&#8221; said she, &#8220;pray don&#8217;t let us say anything
+about it. Let&#8217;s try to make things as pleasant
+as we can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald was lighting his pipe, and when
+he was sure the tobacco was sufficiently ignited
+he took the pipe from his mouth and turned
+towards his wife.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Harriet,&#8221; said he, &#8220;you have been too much
+alone to-day. I don&#8217;t know what I shall do to-morrow;
+but whatever it is, I am going to take
+you with me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course that depends on what it is you do,&#8221;
+she answered. &#8220;But I will try to do everything
+I can.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald heaved a little sigh, which was
+not noticed by any one, because it sounded like
+a puff.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; he thought, &#8220;that this camping
+business is not going to last very much longer,
+and we shall be obliged to make the rest of our
+wedding-journey in a different style.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The next morning, when Mr. Archibald went
+out of his cabin door, he looked over the lake and
+saw a bird suddenly swoop down upon the water,
+breaking the smooth surface into sparkles of silver,
+and then rise again, a little silvery fish glittering
+in its claws.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Beautifully done!&#8221; said he. &#8220;A splendid
+stroke!&#8221; And then turning, he looked up the
+lake, and not far from the water&#8217;s edge he saw
+Margery walking with Mr. Clyde, while Mr. Raybold
+followed a little in the rear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Harriet,&#8221; he cried, quickly stepping into the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+cabin again, &#8220;look out here! What is the meaning
+of this?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald was dressed, and came out.
+When she saw the trio approaching them, she
+was not so much surprised as was her husband.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know the meaning of anything that
+happens in these woods,&#8221; she said; &#8220;but if a lot
+of people have come from the hotel with those
+young men I cannot say I am sorry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come,&#8221; said her husband, &#8220;we must look into
+this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In two minutes the Archibalds had met the
+new-comers, who advanced with outstretched
+hands, as if they had been old friends. Mr. Archibald,
+not without some mental disquietude at
+this intrusion upon the woodland privacy of his
+party, was about to begin a series of questions,
+when he was forestalled by Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Uncle Archibald and Aunt Harriet!&#8221; she
+exclaimed, &#8220;Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold have
+come out here to camp. Their camp is right
+next to ours, and it is called Camp Roy. You
+see, some years ago there was a large camping
+party came here, and they called the place Camp
+Rob Roy, but it was afterwards divided, and one
+part called Camp Rob and the other Camp Roy.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed!&#8221; interrupted Mr. Archibald. &#8220;Mr.
+Sadler did not tell us that ours was only half a
+camp with only half a name.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t suppose he thought of it,&#8221; said Margery.
+&#8220;And the line between the two camps
+is just three hundred feet above our cabin. I
+don&#8217;t suppose anybody ever measures it off, but
+there it is; and Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+taken Camp Roy, which hasn&#8217;t any house on it.
+They started before daybreak this morning, and
+brought a tent along with them, which they have
+pitched just back of that little peninsula; and
+they haven&#8217;t any guide, because they want to attend
+to their own cooking and everything, and
+the man who brought the tent and other things
+has gone back. They are going to live there just
+like real backwoodsmen, and they have a boat of
+their own, which is to be brought up from the
+bottom of the lake somewhere&mdash;I mean from the
+lower end of the lake. And, Aunt Harriet, may
+I speak to you a moment?&#8221;</p>
+<p>With this the young woman drew Mrs. Archibald
+aside, and in a low voice asked if she thought
+it would be out of the way to invite the two young
+men to take breakfast with them, as it was not
+likely they had all their cooking things in order
+so early.</p>
+<p>Five people sat down to breakfast under the
+great oak-tree, and it was a lively meal. Mr.
+Archibald&#8217;s mental disquiet, in which were now
+apparent some elements of resentment, had not
+subsided, but the state of his mind did not show
+itself in his demeanor, and he could not help
+feeling pleased to see that his wife was in better
+spirits. He had always known that she liked
+company.</p>
+<p>After breakfast he took Matlack aside. &#8220;I
+don&#8217;t understand this business,&#8221; said he. &#8220;When
+I hired this camp I supposed we were to have it to
+ourselves; but if there are other camps jammed
+close against it we may be in the midst of a great
+public picnic before a week is out.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that camp over there isn&#8217;t much of a
+camp,&#8221; replied the guide. &#8220;The fact is, it is only
+the tail end of a camp, and I don&#8217;t suppose Peter
+Sadler thought anybody would be likely to take
+it just now, and so didn&#8217;t think it worth while to
+speak of it. Of course it&#8217;s jammed up against
+this one, as you say; but then the people in one
+camp haven&#8217;t the right to cross the line into
+another camp if the people in the other camp
+don&#8217;t want them to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Line!&#8221; said Mr. Archibald. &#8220;It is absurd to
+think of lines in a place like this. And I have no
+intention of making myself disagreeable by ordering
+people off my premises. But I would like
+to know if there is another camp three hundred
+feet on this side of our cabin, or three hundred
+feet back of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; said Matlack, speaking promptly;
+&#8220;there isn&#8217;t another camp between this and the
+lower end of the lake. There&#8217;s a big one there,
+and it&#8217;s taken; but the people aren&#8217;t coming until
+next month.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If a larger party had taken Camp Roy,&#8221; said
+Mr. Archibald to his wife a little later, &#8220;I should
+not mind it so much. But two young men! I
+do not like it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VII_A_STRANGER' id='VII_A_STRANGER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+<h3>A STRANGER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was at the close of a pleasant afternoon four
+days after the arrival of the young men at Camp
+Roy, and Mrs. Archibald was seated on a camp-stool
+near the edge of the lake intently fishing.
+By her side stood Phil Matlack, who had volunteered
+to interpose himself between her and all
+the disagreeable adjuncts of angling. He put
+the bait upon her hook, he told her when her cork
+was bobbing sufficiently to justify a jerk, and
+when she caught a little fish he took it off the
+hook. Fishing in this pleasant wise had become
+very agreeable to the good lady, and she found
+pleasures in camp life which she had not anticipated.
+Her husband was in a boat some distance
+out on the lake, and he was also fishing, but she
+did not care for that style of sport; the fish were
+too big and the boat too small.</p>
+<p>A little farther down the lake Martin Sanders
+sat busily engaged in putting some water-fowl
+into the foreground of Margery&#8217;s sketch. A
+critical observer might have noticed that he had
+also made a number of changes in said sketch, all
+of which added greatly to its merits as a picture
+of woodland scenery. At a little distance Margery
+was sitting at her easel making a sketch of
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+Martin as an artist at work in the woods. The
+two young men had gone off with their guns,
+not perhaps because they expected to find any
+legitimate game at that season, but hoping to
+secure some ornithological specimens, or to get a
+shot at some minor quadrupeds unprotected by
+law. Another reason for their expedition could
+probably have been found in some strong hints
+given by Mr. Archibald that it was unwise for
+them to be hanging around the camps and
+taking no advantage of the opportunities for
+sport offered by the beautiful weather and the
+forest.</p>
+<p>It was not long before Margery became convinced
+that the sketch on which she was working
+did not resemble her model, nor did it very much
+resemble an artist at work in the woods.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It looks a good deal more like a cobbler mending
+shoes,&#8221; she said to herself, &#8220;and I&#8217;ll keep it
+for that. Some day I will put a bench under
+him and a shoe in his hand instead of a sketch.&#8221;
+With that she rose, and went to see how Martin
+was getting on. &#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;those dark
+ducks improve the picture very much. They
+throw the other things back.&#8221; Then she stopped,
+went to one side, and gazed out over the lake.
+&#8220;I wonder,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if there is really any fun
+in fishing. Uncle Archibald has been out in that
+boat for more than two hours, and he has fished
+almost every day since he&#8217;s been here. I should
+think he would get tired of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said Martin, looking up with animation.
+&#8220;If you know how to fish, and there is good
+sport, you never get tired of it.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I know how to fish,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;and I do
+not care about it at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You know how to fish?&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;Can
+you make a cast with a fly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never tried that,&#8221; said she. &#8220;But I have
+fished as Aunt Harriet does, and it is easy as can
+be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh,&#8221; said he, &#8220;you don&#8217;t know anything about
+fishing unless you have fished with a fly. That
+is the only real sport. It is as exciting as a battle.
+If you would let me teach you how to throw
+a fly, I am sure you would never find fishing tiresome,
+and these woods would be like a new world
+to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t you do it yourself, then?&#8221; she
+asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Because I am paid to do other things,&#8221; he replied.
+&#8220;We are not sent here simply to enjoy
+ourselves, though I must say that I&mdash;&#8221; And
+then he suddenly stopped. &#8220;I wish you would
+let me teach you fly-fishing. I know you would
+like it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery looked at the eager face turned towards
+her, and then she gazed out over the water.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps I might like it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But
+it wouldn&#8217;t be necessary for you to take that
+trouble. Uncle Archibald has two or three times
+asked me to go out with him, and of course he
+would teach me how to fish as he does. Isn&#8217;t
+that somebody calling you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Martin, rising; &#8220;it&#8217;s Phil. I suppose
+it&#8217;s nearly supper-time.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As they walked towards the camp, Margery in
+front, and Martin behind her carrying the drawing-materials and the easel, Margery suddenly
+turned.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-054.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 397px; height: 301px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 397px;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK&#8217;&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;It was very good of you to offer to teach me
+to fish with flies,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and perhaps, if Uncle
+Archibald doesn&#8217;t want to be bothered, I may get
+you to show me how to do it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The young man&#8217;s face brightened, and he was
+about to express his pleasure with considerable
+warmth; but he checked himself, and merely remarked
+that whenever she was ready he would
+provide a rod and flies and show her how to use
+them.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald had gone into the cabin, and
+Margery went up to Matlack, who was on his
+way to the little tent in which the camp cooking
+was done.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did Mrs. Archibald tell you,&#8221; said she, &#8220;that
+we have invited Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold to
+supper to-night?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The guide stopped and smiled. &#8220;She told me,&#8221;
+said he, &#8220;but I don&#8217;t know that it was altogether
+necessary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you mean,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;that
+they are here so much; but I don&#8217;t wonder;
+they must do awfully poor cooking for themselves.
+I don&#8217;t suppose they will bring anything
+back that is good to eat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not at this time of year,&#8221; said he, &#8220;but I
+shall be satisfied if they bring themselves home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean by that?&#8221; asked Margery,
+quickly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;I don&#8217;t doubt the bicycle
+fellow will always come back all right, but
+I&#8217;m afeard about the other one. That bicycle
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+chap don&#8217;t know no more about a gun than he
+does about makin&#8217; bread, and I wouldn&#8217;t go out
+huntin&#8217; with him for a hundred dollars. He&#8217;s
+just as likely to take a crack at his pardner&#8217;s
+head as at anything else that&#8217;s movin&#8217; in the
+woods.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is dreadful!&#8221; exclaimed Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it is,&#8221; returned the guide; &#8220;and if I had
+charge of their camp he wouldn&#8217;t go out with a
+gun again. But it will be all right in a day or
+two. Peter will settle that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Sadler, do you mean?&#8221; asked Margery.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s he got to do with it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got everything to do with it,&#8221; said Matlack.
+&#8220;He&#8217;s got everything to do with everything
+in this part of the country. He&#8217;s got his
+laws, and he sees to it that people stand by them.
+One of his rules is that people who don&#8217;t know
+how to use guns sha&#8217;n&#8217;t shoot in his camps.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how can he know about the people out
+here in the woods?&#8221; asked Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you, miss,&#8221; said Matlack, speaking slowly
+and decisively, &#8220;Peter Sadler&#8217;s ways of knowing
+things is like gas&mdash;the kind you burn, I mean.
+I was a-visitin&#8217; once in a city house, and slept in
+a room on the top floor, and there was a leak in
+the pipe in the cellar, and that gas just went over
+the whole house, into every room and closet, and
+even under the beds, and I&#8217;ve often thought that
+that was just like Peter&#8217;s way of doin&#8217; things and
+knowin&#8217; things. You take my word for it, that
+bicycle-man won&#8217;t go out huntin&#8217; many more
+days, even if he don&#8217;t shoot his pardner fust.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He won&#8217;t go to-morrow,&#8221; thought Margery;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+and then she said to Matlack: &#8220;I think we ought
+to know Mr. Sadler&#8217;s rules. Has he any more of
+them?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, they ain&#8217;t very many,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;But
+there&#8217;s one I think of now, and that is that no woman
+shall go out in a boat by herself on this lake.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is simply horrid!&#8221; exclaimed Margery.
+&#8220;Women can row as well as men.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t say they can&#8217;t,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;I&#8217;m
+only tellin&#8217; you what Peter&#8217;s rules are, and that&#8217;s
+one of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery made no reply, but walked away, her
+head thrown back a little more than was usual
+with her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got to keep my eye on her,&#8221; said Matlack
+to himself, as he went to the cabin; &#8220;she&#8217;s never
+been broke to no harness.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>Mr. Raybold did not shoot Mr. Clyde, nor did
+he shoot anything else. Mr. Clyde did shoot a
+bird, but it fell into the water at a place where
+the shore was very marshy, and it was impossible
+for him to get it. He thought it was a heron,
+or a bittern, or perhaps a fish-hawk, but whatever
+it was, both ladies said that it was a great
+pity to kill it, as it was not good to eat, and must
+have been very happy in its life in the beautiful
+forest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is very cruel to shoot them when they are
+not strictly game,&#8221; said Mr. Clyde, &#8220;and I don&#8217;t
+believe I will do it. If I had the things to stuff
+them with, that would be different, but I haven&#8217;t.
+I believe fishing is just as much fun, and more
+sensible.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Raybold. &#8220;I hold
+that hunting is a manly art, and that a forester&#8217;s
+life is as bold and free to him as it is to the birds
+in the air. I believe I have the blood of a hunter
+in me. My voice is for the woods.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I expect you will change your voice,&#8221; thought
+Margery, &#8220;when Mr. Sadler takes your gun away
+from you.&#8221; But she did not say so.</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald stood with his hands in his pockets
+reflecting. He had hoped that these two
+young men were inveterate hunters, and that
+they would spend their days in long tramps. He
+did not at all approve of their fishing. Fishing
+could be done anywhere&mdash;here, for instance,
+right at this very door.</p>
+<p>Supper was over, and the five inhabitants of
+Camps Rob and Roy had seated themselves
+around the fire which Martin had carefully built,
+keeping in view a cheery blaze without too much
+heat. Pipes had been filled and preparations
+made for the usual evening smoke and talk, when
+a man was seen emerging from the woods at the
+point where the road opened into the clearing
+about the camp. It was still light, for these hungry
+campers supped early, and the man could
+be distinctly seen as he approached, and it was
+plain that he was not a messenger from Sadler&#8217;s.</p>
+<p>He was rather a large man, dressed in black,
+and wearing a felt hat with a wide, straight brim.
+Hanging by a strap from his shoulder was a small
+leather bag, and in his hand he carried a closed
+umbrella. Advancing towards the fire, he took
+off his hat, bowed, and smiled. He wore no beard,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+his face was round and plump, and his smile was
+pleasant.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-evening, ladies and gentlemen,&#8221; said he,
+and his voice was as pleasant as his smile.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-evening,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, and then
+for a moment there was a pause.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I presume,&#8221; said the new-comer, looking about
+him, &#8220;that this is a camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a camp,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The fact is so obvious,&#8221; said the man in black,
+&#8220;that it was really unnecessary for me to allude
+to it. May I ask to be allowed to sit down for a
+few moments? I am fatigued.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this juncture Phil Matlack arrived on the
+scene. &#8220;Well, sir,&#8221; said he, &#8220;have you any business
+with anybody here? Who do you wish to
+see?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have no business,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;and&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you are a stranger to everybody here?&#8221;
+interrupted Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, but I hope&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now then,&#8221; said the guide, quickly, &#8220;I&#8217;ve got
+to ask you to move on. This is one of Peter
+Sadler&#8217;s camps, and he has strict rules against
+strangers stoppin&#8217; in any of them. If you&#8217;ve lost
+your way, I&#8217;ll tell you that this road, if you don&#8217;t
+turn to the right or the left, will take you straight
+to Sadler&#8217;s, and there&#8217;s time enough for you to
+get there before dark.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Matlack,&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, who
+had risen to her feet, &#8220;I want to speak to you!
+It&#8217;s a shame,&#8221; she said, when the guide had approached
+her, &#8220;to send that man away without
+even giving him a chance to rest himself. He
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+may be a very respectable person on a walking
+tour.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I guess he is on a walkin&#8217; tour,&#8221; said Matlack,
+&#8220;and I guess he&#8217;s a regular tramp, and there&#8217;s no
+orders we&#8217;ve got that&#8217;s stricter than them against
+tramps.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t care who he is,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;or what your rules are, but when a perfectly
+good-mannered man comes to us and asks
+simply to be allowed to rest, I don&#8217;t want him to
+be driven away as if he were a stray pig on a
+lawn. Mr. Archibald, shouldn&#8217;t he be allowed to
+rest a while?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Her husband rose and approached the stranger.
+&#8220;Where are you going, sir?&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>The man looked at Matlack, at Martin, who stood
+behind him, and then at the rest of the company,
+and after this comprehensive glance he smiled.</p>
+<p>&#8220;From present appearances,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I think
+I am going to go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald laughed. &#8220;When do you expect
+to get there?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It seems to me,&#8221; said the other, reflectively,
+&#8220;that I am always going there, and I suppose I
+shall have to keep on doing it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, turning to
+Matlack, &#8220;give him some supper, and let him
+rest. There will be time enough for him to get
+to Sadler&#8217;s after that. If Sadler has anything to
+say against it, refer him to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right, sir,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;if you say so.
+I&#8217;m no harder on my fellow-bein&#8217;s than other
+people, but rules is rules, and it isn&#8217;t for me to
+break them.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear sir,&#8221; said the stranger to Mr. Archibald,
+&#8220;your words are more grateful to me than
+the promise of food. I see that you consider me
+a tramp, but it is a mistake. I am not a tramp.
+If you will allow me, after I have eaten a little
+supper&mdash;a meal which I must admit I greatly
+need&mdash;I will explain to you how I happen to be
+here.&#8221; And with a bow he walked towards the
+table where Matlack and Martin had been eating
+their supper.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you know what I think he is?&#8221; said Mr.
+Clyde, when Mr. Archibald had resumed his seat
+and his pipe. &#8220;I believe he is a wandering actor.
+Actors always have smoothly shaven faces, and
+he looks like one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Actor!&#8221; exclaimed Arthur Raybold. &#8220;That&#8217;s
+nonsense. He&#8217;s not in the least like an actor.
+Anybody could see by his tread and his air that
+he&#8217;s never been on the stage. He&#8217;s more like a
+travelling salesman. The next thing he&#8217;ll do
+will be to pull out of that bag some samples of
+spool thread or patent thimbles.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are both wrong,&#8221; said Margery&mdash;&#8220;entirely
+wrong. I have been looking at him, and I believe
+he is a Methodist minister with a dead horse.
+They ride circuits, and of course when their
+horses die they walk. Just wait a little, and see
+if I am not right.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They waited a little, and then they waited a little
+longer, and they had begun to be tired of waiting
+before the stranger finished his meal and approached
+the fire. His face was brighter, his
+smile was more pleasant, and his step had a certain
+jauntiness in it.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I thank you all,&#8221; he said, &#8220;for the very good
+meal I have just enjoyed. I am now going to
+go, but before I start I would like very much&mdash;indeed,
+I crave it as a favor&mdash;to place myself
+before you in my proper light. May I have
+permission to do so, madam and sir?&#8221; he said,
+addressing Mrs. and Mr. Archibald, but with a
+respectful glance at the others, as if he would
+not ignore any one of them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;Sit down
+and tell us about yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The stranger seated himself with alacrity a little
+back from the circle, and nearer to the young
+men than to the Archibald party.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='VIII_THE_BISHOP_S_TALE' id='VIII_THE_BISHOP_S_TALE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+<h3>THE BISHOP&#8217;S TALE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The stranger placed his broad-brimmed hat on
+the ground beside him, exposing a large round
+head somewhat bald in front, but not from age,
+and the rest of it covered with close-cut brown
+hair. His black clothes fitted him very closely,
+their extreme tightness suggesting that they had
+shrunken in the course of wearing, or that he
+had grown much plumper since he had come into
+possession of them; and their general worn and
+dull appearance gave considerable distance to the
+period of their first possession. But there was
+nothing worn or dull about the countenance of
+the man, upon which was an expression of mellow
+geniality which would have been suitably
+consequent upon a good dinner with plenty of
+wine. But his only beverage had been coffee,
+and in his clear bright eye there was no trace of
+any exhilaration, except that caused by the action
+of a hearty meal upon a good digestion and
+an optimistic disposition.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am very glad,&#8221; he said, looking about him
+at the company, and then glancing with a friendly
+air towards the two guides, who stood a little
+back of Mr. Archibald, &#8220;to have this opportunity
+to explain my appearance here. In the first place,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
+I must tell you that I am a bishop whose diocese
+has been inundated, and who consequently has
+been obliged to leave it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh!&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Archibald; and Margery
+looked at Mr. Clyde, with the remark:</p>
+<p>&#8220;There! You see I was very near to it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I presume this statement will require some
+explanation,&#8221; continued the man in black, &#8220;and
+I will make it presently. I am going to be exceedingly
+frank and open in all that I say to you,
+and as frankness and openness are so extremely
+rare in this world, it may be that I shall obtain
+favor in your eyes from the fact of my possessing
+those unusual qualities. Originally I was a teacher,
+and for a year or two I had a very good country
+school; but my employment at last became
+so repugnant to me that I could no longer endure
+it, and this repugnance was due entirely to
+my intense dislike for children.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is not at all to your credit,&#8221; observed
+Mrs. Archibald; &#8220;and I do not see how you became
+a bishop, or why you should have been
+made one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was your diocese entirely meadow-land?&#8221; inquired
+Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am coming to all that,&#8221; said the stranger,
+with a smile of polite consideration towards Mrs.
+Archibald. &#8220;I know very well that it is not at
+all to my credit to dislike children, but I said I
+would be honest, and I am. I do dislike them&mdash;not
+their bodies, but their minds. Children, considered
+physically, are often pleasant to the view,
+and even interesting as companions, providing
+their innate juvenility is undisturbed; but when
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+their personalities are rudely thrown open by a
+teacher, and the innate juvenility prematurely
+exposed to the air, it is something so clammy,
+so chilly to the mental marrow, that I shrink from
+it as I would shrink from the touch of any cold,
+clammy thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Horrible!&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not sure,&#8221; observed Margery, &#8220;that there
+is not some truth in that. I had a Sunday-school
+class for a little while, and although I can&#8217;t say
+there was a clamminess, there was&mdash;well, I don&#8217;t
+know what there was, but I gave it up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad,&#8221; said the man in black, &#8220;that my
+candor is not sinking me in the estimation of
+every one present; but even if it did, I am obliged
+to tell the truth. I do not know what would have
+become of me if I had not had the good-fortune to
+catch the measles from a family with whom I was
+spending Sunday in another town. As soon as
+the disease plainly showed itself upon me my
+school was broken up, and it was never gathered
+together again, at least under me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must make my story brief, and can only say
+that not long after this I found myself in another
+town, where it became necessary for me to do
+something to support myself. This was difficult,
+for I am an indefinite man, and definiteness seems
+necessary to success in any line. Happening one
+day to pass a house with open lower windows, I
+heard the sound of children&#8217;s voices speaking in
+unison, and knowing that this must be a school,
+I looked in, compelled entirely by that curiosity
+which often urges us to gaze upon human suffering.
+I found, however, that this was a kindergarten
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+conducted by a young woman. Unobserved
+by scholars or teacher, I watched the
+proceedings with great interest, and soon became
+convinced that kindergartening was a much less
+repellent system of tuition than any I had known;
+but I also perceived that the methods of the
+young woman could be greatly improved. I
+thought a good deal upon this subject after
+leaving the open window. Soon afterwards, becoming
+acquainted with the young person in
+charge of the children, I offered to teach her a
+much better system of kindergartening than she
+was using. My terms were very low, and she
+became my scholar. I soon learned that there
+were other kindergartens in the town, and some
+of the teachers of these joined my class. Moreover,
+there were young women in the place who
+were not kindergartners, but who would like to
+become such, and these I also taught, sometimes
+visiting them at their houses, and sometimes giving
+my lessons in a room loaned by one of my
+patrons. My system became very popular, because
+it was founded upon common-sense.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What was your system?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;I am interested in kindergartens myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My object,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;was to make the
+operation of teaching interesting to the teacher.
+It struck me very forcibly that a continuance of
+a few years in the present inane performances
+called kindergartening would infallibly send to
+our lunatic asylums a number of women, more or
+less young, with more or less depleted intellects.
+The various games and exercises I devised were
+very interesting, and I am sure I had scholars
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+who never intended to become kindergartners,
+and who studied with me solely for their own advantage.
+It was at this time that I adopted the
+clerical dress as being more suitable to my vocation
+than any other costume, and some one having
+called me the bishop, the name soon became
+popular, and I was generally known by it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what is your real name?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madam,&#8221; said the man, &#8220;you must excuse me
+if I ask you to recall your question. I have a
+good name, and I belong to a very good family,
+but there are reasons why I do not at present
+wish to avow that name. Some of these reasons
+are connected with the report that I purposely
+visited the family with the measles in order to
+get rid of my school; others are connected with
+the inundation of my diocese, of which I shall
+speak; others refer to my present indefinite
+method of life. There is reason to suppose that
+the time is not far distant when my resumption
+of my family name will throw no discredit upon
+it, but that period has not yet arrived. Do you
+press your question, madam?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald; &#8220;it really makes
+no difference; and out here in the woods a man
+may call himself a bishop or a cardinal or anything
+he likes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you very much,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and I will
+continue to speak in figures, and call myself a
+bishop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where I was brought up,&#8221; interpolated Phil
+Matlack, still standing behind Mr. Archibald, &#8220;I
+was taught that figures don&#8217;t lie.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;My good sir,&#8221; said the speaker, with a smile,
+&#8220;in mathematics they don&#8217;t, in poetry and literature
+they often do. Well, as I was saying, my
+diocese extended itself, my revenues were satisfactory,
+and I had begun to believe that I had
+found my true work in life, when suddenly there
+was a misfortune. There arrived in our town
+three apostles of kindergartening&mdash;two of them
+were women, and one was a man. They had
+heard of my system, and had come to investigate
+it. They did so, with the result that in an astonishingly
+short time my diocese was inundated
+with a flood of Froebelism which absolutely swept
+me away. With this bag, this umbrella, and this
+costume, which has now become my wardrobe, I
+was cast out in all my indefiniteness upon a definite
+world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And how did you get here?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I had heard of Sadler and his camps,&#8221; said he;
+&#8220;and in this beautiful month and in this beautiful
+weather I thought it would be well to investigate
+them. I accordingly went to Mr. Sadler&#8217;s,
+where I arrived yesterday afternoon. I found
+Mr. Sadler a very definite man, and, I am sorry
+to say, that as he immediately defined me as a
+tramp, he would listen to no other definition.
+&#8216;You have no money to pay for food and lodgings,&#8217;
+said he, &#8216;and you come under my tramp
+laws. I don&#8217;t harbor tramps, but I don&#8217;t kick
+them out into the woods to starve. For labor on
+this place I pay one dollar and a half a day of
+ten hours. For meals to day-laborers I charge
+fifteen cents each. If you want your supper, you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+can go out to that wood-shed and split wood for
+one hour.&#8217; I was very hungry; I went out into the
+wood-shed; I split wood for one hour, and at the
+end of that time I had a sufficient meal. When I
+had finished, Mr. Sadler sent for me. &#8216;Do you want
+to stay here all night?&#8217; he said. &#8216;I do,&#8217; I answered.
+&#8216;Go, then, and split wood for another hour.&#8217; I
+did so, and it was almost dark when I had finished.
+In the morning I split wood for my breakfast,
+and when I had finished I went to Mr. Sadler
+and asked him how much he would charge for
+a luncheon wrapped in a piece of paper. &#8216;Seven
+and a half cents,&#8217; he said. I split wood for half
+an hour, and left Sadler&#8217;s ostensibly to return to
+the station by the way I had come; but while I
+had been at work, I found from the conversation
+of some of the people that one of the camps was
+occupied, and I also discovered in what direction
+it lay. Consequently, after I had passed out of
+the sight of the definite Peter Sadler, I changed
+my course, and took a path through the woods
+which I was told would lead to this road, and I
+came here because I might just as well pass this
+way as any other, and because, having set out to
+investigate camp life, I wished to do so, and I
+hope I may be allowed to say that although I
+have seen but little of it, I like it very much.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, then,&#8221; said Phil Matlack, walking around
+the circle and approaching the stranger, &#8220;you
+said, when you first came here, that you were
+going to go, and the time has come when you&#8217;ve
+got to go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; said the other, looking up with a
+smile; &#8220;if I&#8217;ve got there I&#8217;d better stop.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span></p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald and the young men laughed, but
+Matlack and Martin, who had now joined him, did
+not laugh.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve barely time enough,&#8221; said the former,
+&#8220;to get to Sadler&#8217;s before it is pitch-dark, and&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;but I am not
+going back to Sadler&#8217;s to-night. I would rather
+have no bed than split wood for an hour after
+dark in order to procure one. I would prefer a
+couch of dried leaves.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You come along into the road with this young
+man and me; I want to talk to you,&#8221; said Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Matlack,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+be cruel.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am not,&#8221; said the guide. &#8220;I am the tenderest-hearted
+person in the world; but even if you
+say so, sir, I can&#8217;t let a stranger stay all night in
+a camp that I&#8217;ve got charge of.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here, Matlack,&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Clyde,
+&#8220;you haven&#8217;t got charge of our camp!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I haven&#8217;t,&#8221; said the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, this person can come over and
+stay with us. We have a little tent that we
+brought to put over the cooking-stove, and he
+can sleep in that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very well,&#8221; said Matlack; &#8220;if you take him
+out of this camp I haven&#8217;t anything to say&mdash;that
+is, to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear sir,&#8221; said the stranger, rising, and
+approaching Mr. Clyde, &#8220;I accept your offer with
+pleasure, and thank you most heartily for it. If
+you had proffered me the hospitality of a palace,
+I could not be more grateful.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Clyde; &#8220;and I suppose it is
+time for us to be off, so I will bid you all good-night.
+Come along, Arthur. Come along, bishop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The face of the last-named individual beamed
+with delight as he heard this appellation, and bidding
+everybody good-night, and thanking them
+for the kindness with which he had been treated,
+he followed the two young men.</p>
+<p>The three walked some little distance towards
+Camp Roy, and then Clyde came running back
+to speak to Margery, who was now standing by
+herself watching the young moon descend among
+the trees. Then Mr. Raybold also stopped and
+came back to Margery, upon which the bishop
+stopped and waited for them. In about ten minutes
+he was joined by the two young men, and
+the three proceeded to Camp Roy.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is one thing, Harriet,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald,
+&#8220;which I wish you would speak to Margery
+about. I don&#8217;t want her to get up so early and
+go out for a morning walk. I find that those
+young men are also early risers.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will speak to her,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald;
+&#8220;where is she?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Over there, talking to young Martin,&#8221; said
+her husband. &#8220;It isn&#8217;t quite dark yet, but I
+think it is time we were all in bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Quite time,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Margery tells me
+that that young guide, who is a handsome fellow,
+is going to teach her how to fish with flies.
+I wish you would sometimes take her out in the
+boat with you, Mr. Archibald; I am sure that
+you could teach her how to fish.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He smiled. &#8220;I suppose I could,&#8221; he said; &#8220;and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
+I also suppose I could pull her out of the water
+the first time she hooked a big fish. It would be
+like resting a boat on a pivot to put her into it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then you don&#8217;t take her,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+decisively. &#8220;And you can&#8217;t take her with you
+up the stream, because, of course, she can&#8217;t wade.
+I don&#8217;t want her to get tired of camp-life, but&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid of the young men,&#8221; interrupted
+her husband, with a laugh; &#8220;so long as there
+are three of them there is no danger.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course I will not, if you don&#8217;t wish it, Aunt
+Harriet,&#8221; said Margery, when Mrs. Archibald had
+spoken to her about the early morning walks;
+&#8220;and I will stay in my room until you call me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The next morning, when Mrs. Archibald was
+ready to leave the cabin, she did call Margery,
+but received no answer. Then she went to the
+little studio-room, and when she opened the door
+she found its occupant leaning out of the window
+talking to Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold, who
+stood outside.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-morning, Aunt Harriet!&#8221; exclaimed
+Margery, gayly. &#8220;Mr. Clyde has brought me
+nearly an armful of birch-bark, all thin and
+smooth. I am going to make a birch-bark bedspread
+out of it. I&#8217;ll cover a sheet with these
+pieces, you see, and sew them on. Then I can
+have autographs on them, and mottoes, and when
+I cover myself up with it I shall really feel like
+a dryad.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And here is what I have brought,&#8221; said Mr.
+Raybold, holding up an armful of bark.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, thank you very much,&#8221; said Margery, taking
+the mass, but not without dropping a good
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
+many of the pieces. &#8220;Of course it was kind of him
+to bring it,&#8221; she said to Mrs. Archibald, as they
+left the room together, &#8220;but he needn&#8217;t have
+bothered himself: I don&#8217;t want to sleep under a
+wood-pile.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='IX_MATLACK_S_THREE_TROUBLES' id='IX_MATLACK_S_THREE_TROUBLES'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+<h3>MATLACK&#8217;S THREE TROUBLES</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Have you asked those two young men to
+breakfast again?&#8221; inquired Mr. Archibald, after
+examining, with a moderate interest, the specimen
+of birch-bark which Margery had shown him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no, indeed,&#8221; said she, &#8220;they have had their
+breakfast. They have been telling me about it.
+The bishop got up very early in the morning and
+cooked it for them. He&#8217;s a splendid cook, and
+he found things in their hampers that they didn&#8217;t
+know they had. They said his coffee was delicious,
+and they have left him there in their
+camp now, washing the dishes and putting everything
+in order. And do you think, Uncle Archibald,
+that it is going to rain?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do,&#8221; said he, &#8220;for it is sprinkling already.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This proved to be the first bad day since the
+Archibald party had gone into camp, and the rain
+soon began to come down in a steady, practised
+way, as if the clouds above were used to that
+sort of thing and could easily keep it up all day.</p>
+<p>As there was no place under roof to which
+company could be conveniently invited, Margery
+retired to her room and set herself diligently to
+work on her birch-bark quilt.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald established herself in the division
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+of the cabin which was intended to be used
+as a sitting and dining room in bad weather, and
+applied herself to some sewing and darning,
+which had been reserved for just such a day as
+this. Mr. Archibald, in a water-proof suit, tried
+fishing for half an hour or so, but finding it both
+unpleasant and unprofitable, he joined his wife,
+made himself as comfortable as possible on two
+chairs, and began to read aloud one of the novels
+they had brought with them.</p>
+<p>Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold had considerately
+gone to their own camp when it began to rain,
+hoping, however, that the shower would be over
+in a short time. But the rain was not a shower,
+and they spent the morning on their backs in
+their tent, talking and smoking. Of course they
+could not expect the bishop to depart in the rain,
+so they had told him to make himself as comfortable
+as he could in the little kitchen tent, and
+offered him a pipe and a book. The first he declined,
+as he never smoked, but the latter he accepted
+with delight.</p>
+<p>After the mid-day dinner Phil Matlack, in a
+pair of high hunting-boots and an oil-skin coat,
+came to Mr. Archibald and said that as there
+was nothing he could do that afternoon, he would
+walk over to Sadler&#8217;s and attend to some business
+he had there.</p>
+<p>&#8220;About the bishop?&#8221; asked Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Partly,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;I understand the fellow
+is still over there with those two young men.
+I don&#8217;t suppose they&#8217;ll send him off in the rain,
+and as he isn&#8217;t in my camp, I can&#8217;t interfere. But
+it may rain for two or three days.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;and if we
+want anything we&#8217;ll ask Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Just so,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;If there&#8217;s anything
+to do that you don&#8217;t want to do yourself, you can
+get him to do it; but if you want to know anything
+you don&#8217;t know yourself, you&#8217;d better wait
+until I come back.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Matlack presented himself before Peter
+Sadler he found that ponderous individual seated
+in his rolling-chair near the open door, enjoying
+the smell of the rain.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello, Phil!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;What&#8217;s wrong at the
+camp?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The guide left his wet coat and cap on the little
+piazza outside, and after carefully wiping his
+feet, seated himself on a chair near the door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s three things wrong,&#8221; said he. &#8220;In the
+first place, there&#8217;s a tramp out there, and it looks
+to me as if he was a-goin&#8217; to stick, if he can get
+allowed to do it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is he too big for you to bounce?&#8221; roared
+Peter. &#8220;That&#8217;s a pretty story to come tell me!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, he ain&#8217;t,&#8221; said the other; &#8220;but I haven&#8217;t
+got the bouncin&#8217; of him. He&#8217;s not in my camp.
+The young men have took him in; but I expect
+he&#8217;ll come over with them as soon as it&#8217;s done
+rainin&#8217;, for when that happens they&#8217;re bound to
+come themselves.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here, Phil,&#8221; said Peter, &#8220;is he dressed
+in black?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, he is,&#8221; said the guide.</p>
+<p>Mr. Sadler slapped his hand on the arm of his
+chair. &#8220;Phil Matlack,&#8221; he shouted, &#8220;that&#8217;s my
+favorite tramp. I never had a man here who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+paid his bill in work as he did. It was cash down,
+and good money. Not a minute of wood-splitting
+more or less than the market-price for meals
+and bed. I&#8217;d like to have a tramp like that come
+along about twice a week. But I tell you, Phil,
+he ain&#8217;t no tramp. Couldn&#8217;t you see that? None
+of them loafers ever worked as he did.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He may not be a tramp,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;but
+he&#8217;s trampin&#8217;. What are you goin&#8217; to do about
+him? Let him stay there?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s he doin&#8217; now?&#8221; asked Sadler.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s cookin&#8217; for those two young men.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, they need some one to do it for them,
+and they didn&#8217;t want to go to the expense of a
+guide. Let the parson alone for a day or two,
+and if he does anything out of the way just you
+take him by one ear and Martin take him by the
+other and bring him to me. I&#8217;ll attend to him.
+What&#8217;s the next trouble?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s out of my camp, too,&#8221; said Matlack,
+&#8220;but I&#8217;m bound to report it. The bicycle fellow
+that you hired a gun to don&#8217;t know the fust thing
+about usin&#8217; it, and the next thing you&#8217;ll hear will
+be that he&#8217;s shot his pardner, who&#8217;s worth six of
+him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Sadler sat up very straight in his chair
+and stared at the guide. &#8220;Phil Matlack,&#8221; he
+shouted, &#8220;what do you take me for? I hired that
+gun to that young man. Don&#8217;t you suppose I
+know what I&#8217;m about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all right,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;but the
+trouble is he don&#8217;t know what he&#8217;s about.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Get away man,&#8221; said Peter, with a contemptuous
+sniff, &#8220;he&#8217;ll never hurt anybody. What
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+do you take me for? When he came to me and
+wanted a gun, I handed him two or three, so that
+he might choose one that suited him, and by the
+way he handled them I could see that most likely
+he&#8217;d never handled one before, and so I set
+him up all right. He&#8217;s got a good gun, and all
+the cartridges he&#8217;ll be likely to want; and the
+cartridges are all like this. They&#8217;re a new kind
+I heard of last winter, and I got a case from Boston
+last week. I don&#8217;t see how I ever managed
+to run my camps without them. Do you see that
+shot?&#8221; said he, opening one end of a cartridge.
+&#8220;Well, take one in your hand and pinch it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil did so, and it crumbled to dust in his
+hand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When that load&#8217;s fired,&#8221; said Peter, &#8220;all the
+shot will crumble into dust. It wouldn&#8217;t do to
+give raw hands blank-cartridges, because they&#8217;d
+find that out; but with this kind they might sit
+all day and fire at a baby asleep in its cradle and
+never disturb it, provided the baby was deaf.
+And he can&#8217;t use his pardner&#8217;s cartridges, for I
+gave that fellow a twelve-bore gun and his is a
+ten-bore.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Phil grinned. &#8220;Well, then,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I suppose
+I might as well make my mind easy, but if
+that bicycle man hunts much he&#8217;ll get the conviction
+borne in on him that he&#8217;s a dreadful bad
+shot.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then he&#8217;ll give up shooting, which is what
+is wanted,&#8221; said Sadler. &#8220;What&#8217;s your third
+bother?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That young woman has made up her mind to
+go out in the boat by herself the very fust time
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+she feels like it,&#8221; said Matlack; &#8220;she didn&#8217;t say so
+with her mouth, but she said it with the back of
+her head and her shoulders, and I want to know
+if that rule of yours is going to hold good this
+summer. Women is gettin&#8217; to do so many things
+they didn&#8217;t use to that I didn&#8217;t know but what
+you&#8217;d consider they&#8217;d got far enough to take
+themselves out on the lake, and if you do think
+so, I don&#8217;t want to get myself in hot water with
+those people and then find you don&#8217;t back me up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t want to get yourself into hot
+water with me, Phil Matlack, you&#8217;d better get it
+into your head just as soon as you can that when
+I make a rule it&#8217;s a rule, and I don&#8217;t want people
+comin&#8217; to me and talkin&#8217; about changes. Women
+in my camp don&#8217;t go out in boats by themselves,
+and it&#8217;s easy enough to have that rule kept if
+you&#8217;ve got backbone enough to do it. Keep the
+boat locked to the shore when it ain&#8217;t in use, and
+put the key in your pocket, and if anybody gets
+it that &#8217;ain&#8217;t any right to it, that&#8217;s your lookout.
+Now that&#8217;s the end of your troubles, I hope.
+How&#8217;s things goin&#8217; on generally in the camp?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, well enough,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;I thought
+at fust the old lady&#8217;d give out in a day or two,
+but I&#8217;ve taught her parlor-fishin&#8217;, which she&#8217;s
+took to quite lively, and she&#8217;s got used to the
+woods. The boss, he sticks to fishin&#8217;, as if it was
+office-work, and as for the rest of them, I guess
+they&#8217;re all gettin&#8217; more and more willin&#8217; to stay.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why?&#8221; asked Peter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, one of them is a gal and the others isn&#8217;t,&#8221;
+replied Matlack, &#8220;that&#8217;s about the p&#8217;int of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During Matlack&#8217;s walk back the skies cleared,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+and when he reached the camp he found Mrs.
+Archibald seated in her chair near the edge of
+the lake, a dry board under her feet, and the
+bishop standing by her, putting bait on her hook,
+and taking the fish off of it when any happened
+to be there. Out in the boat sat Mr. Archibald,
+trusting that some fish might approach the surface
+in search of insects disabled by the rain.
+Farther on, at a place by the water&#8217;s edge that
+was clear of bushes and undergrowth, Martin was
+giving Miss Dearborn a lesson in fly-fishing.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a mighty good fisherman,&#8221; thought Matlack,
+looking at the young fellow as he brought
+his rod back from the water with a long graceful
+sweep, and then, with another sweep and an easy
+inclination of his body forward, sending the fly far
+out on the smooth surface of the lake, &#8220;although
+there ain&#8217;t no need to tell him so; and I don&#8217;t
+wonder she&#8217;d rather stand and watch him than
+try to do it herself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Walking up and down near the edge of the
+wood were Messrs. Clyde and Raybold.</p>
+<p>Phil smiled. &#8220;They don&#8217;t seem to be happy,&#8221;
+he said to himself. &#8220;I guess they&#8217;re hankerin&#8217; to
+take a share in her edication; but if you don&#8217;t
+know nothin&#8217; yourself, you can&#8217;t edicate other
+people.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack directed his steps towards Mrs. Archibald;
+but before he reached her he was met by
+the bishop, who hurried towards him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall be obliged to surrender my post to
+you,&#8221; he said, &#8220;which will be greatly to the lady&#8217;s
+satisfaction, I imagine, for I must appear a poor
+attendant after you.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-080.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 429px; height: 302px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 429px;'>
+&#8220;A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Goin&#8217; to leave us?&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;You look
+quite spruced up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop smiled. &#8220;You allude, I suppose,&#8221;
+said he, &#8220;to the fact that my hat and clothes are
+brushed, and that I am freshly shaved and have
+on a clean collar. I like to be as neat as I can.
+This is a gutta-percha collar, and I can wash it
+whenever I please with a bit of damp rag, and
+it is my custom to shave every day, if I possibly
+can. But as to leaving you, I shall not do so this
+evening. I have promised those young gentlemen
+who so kindly invited me to their camp that
+I would prepare their supper for them, and I
+must now go to make the fire and get things in
+readiness.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have they engaged you as cook and general
+help?&#8221; asked Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said the bishop, with a smile, &#8220;they
+are kind and I am grateful, that is all.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='X_A_LADIES__DAY_IN_CAMP' id='X_A_LADIES__DAY_IN_CAMP'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+<h3>A LADIES&#8217; DAY IN CAMP</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Two days after the rainy day in camp Mr.
+Archibald determined to take the direction of
+affairs into his own hands, so far as he should be
+able. Having no authority over the two young
+men at Camp Roy, he had hitherto contented
+himself with a disapproval of their methods of
+employing their time, which he communicated
+only to his wife. But now he considered that, as
+they were spending so much of their time in his
+camp and so little in their own, he would take
+charge of them exactly as if they belonged to
+his party. He would put an end, if possible, to
+the aimless strolls up and down the beach with
+Margery, and the long conversations of which
+that young woman had grown to be so fond, held
+sometimes with both young men, though more
+frequently with one. If Clyde and Raybold came
+into the woods to lounge in the shade and talk to
+a girl, they must go to some other camp to do it.
+But if they really cared to range the forest, either
+as sportsmen or lovers of nature, he would do his
+best to help them; so this day he organized an
+expedition to a low mountain about two miles
+away, taking Matlack with him as guide, and inviting
+the two young men to join him. They
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span>
+had assented because no good reason for declining
+had presented itself, and because Phil Matlack
+earnestly urged them to come along and let
+him show them what a real forest tramp was
+like. Before his recent talk with Peter Sadler,
+Phil would not have dared to go out into the
+woods in company with the bicycle man.</p>
+<p>The two ladies were perfectly willing to remain
+in camp under the charge of Martin, who was
+capable of defending them against any possible
+danger; and as the bishop had agreed to take
+charge of Camp Roy during the absence of its
+occupants, Mr. Archibald planned for a whole
+day&#8217;s tramp, the first he had taken since they
+went into camp.</p>
+<p>When Martin&#8217;s morning work was done he approached
+the shady spot where the two ladies had
+established themselves, and offered to continue
+his lessons in fish-flying if Miss Dearborn so desired.
+But Miss Dearborn did not wish to take
+any lessons to-day. She would rest and stay
+with Mrs. Archibald. Even the elder lady did
+not care to fish that morning. The day was hot
+and the shade was grateful.</p>
+<p>Martin walked away dissatisfied. In his opinion,
+there had never been a day more suitable
+for angling; this was a day which would be free
+from interruptions, either from two young fellows
+who knew nothing about real game-fishing,
+or from Matlack, who always called him away to
+do something when he was most interested in his
+piscatorial pedagogics. This was a day when he
+could stand by that lovely girl, give her the rod,
+show her how to raise it, wave it, and throw it,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+and sometimes even touch her hand as he took it
+from her or gave it back, watching her all the
+time with an admiration and delight which no
+speckled trout or gamy black bass had ever yet
+aroused in him, and all this without fear that a
+gentleman out on the lake might possibly be observing
+them with the idea that he was more interested
+in his work than the ordinary guide
+might be supposed to be. But luck was against
+him, and Martin, who did not in the least consider
+himself an ordinary guide, walked up and
+down in moody reflection, or grimly threw himself
+upon the ground, gazing upward at the sky&mdash;not
+half so blue as he was&mdash;but never walking or
+resting so far away that he could not hear the
+first cry from her should snake, bear, dragon-fly,
+or danger of any kind approach her.</p>
+<p>To the ladies, about half an hour later, came
+the bishop, who, newly shaved and brushed, wished
+them good-morning, and offered his services in
+any manner which might be desired. If Mrs.
+Archibald wished to fish by the side of the lake,
+he was at her service; but Mrs. Archibald did not
+care to fish.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is a most charming day,&#8221; said the
+bishop, removing his hat, &#8220;but I suppose it is
+more charming to me because it is my last day
+here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so you are really going to go?&#8221; said Mrs.
+Archibald, smiling.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose you think I am not likely to get
+there,&#8221; said he, &#8220;but really I have stayed here
+long enough, and for several reasons.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sit down,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;and tell us what
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+they are. There is a nice little rock with some
+moss on it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop promptly accepted the invitation
+and seated himself. As he did so, Martin, at a little
+distance, scowled, folded his arms, and slightly
+increased the length of his sentinel-like walk.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said the bishop, brushing some pine
+leaves from his threadbare trousers, &#8220;during the
+time that I have accepted the hospitality of those
+young gentlemen I feel that I have in a great
+measure repaid them for their kindness, but now
+I see that I shall become a burden and an expense
+to them. In the first place, I eat a great
+deal more than both of them put together, so that
+the provisions they brought with them will be
+exhausted much sooner than they expected. I
+am also of the opinion that they are getting tired
+of eating in their own camp, but as I make a point
+of preparing the meals at stated hours, of course
+they feel obliged to partake of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;By which you mean, I suppose,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Archibald, &#8220;that if they had not you to cook for
+them they would be apt to take a good many
+meals with us, as they did when they first came,
+and which would be cheaper and pleasanter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I beg, madam,&#8221; said the bishop, quickly, &#8220;that
+you will not think that they have said anything
+of the sort. I simply inferred, from remarks I
+have heard, that one of them, at least, is very
+much of the opinion you have just stated; therefore
+I feel that I cannot be welcome much longer
+in Camp Roy. There is also another reason why
+I should go now. I have a business prospect before
+me.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad to hear that,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;Is it a good one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think it is,&#8221; said the bishop. &#8220;I have been
+considering it earnestly, and the more I fix my
+mind upon it the greater appear its advantages.
+I don&#8217;t mind in the least telling you what it is.
+A gentleman who is acquainted with my family
+and whom I have met two or three times, but not
+recently, possesses a very fine estate some thirty
+miles south of this place. He has been in Europe
+for some time, but is expected to return to his
+country mansion about the end of this week. It
+is my purpose to offer myself to him in the capacity
+of private librarian. I do not think it will
+be difficult to convince him that I have many
+qualifications for the situation.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Has he so many books that he needs a librarian?&#8221;
+asked Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;I have no reason to
+suppose that he has any more books than the ordinary
+country gentleman possesses, but he ought
+to have. He has a very large income, and is now
+engaged in establishing for his family what is intended
+to become, in time, an ancestral mansion.
+It is obvious to any one of intelligence that such
+a grand mansion would not be complete without
+a well-selected library, and that such a library
+could not be selected or arranged by an ordinary
+man of affairs. Consequently, unless he has a
+competent person to perform this duty for him,
+his library, for a long time, will be insignificant.
+When I shall put the question before him, I have
+no doubt that he will see and appreciate the force
+and value of my statements. Such a position
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+will suit me admirably. I shall ask but little salary,
+but it will give me something far better than
+money&mdash;an opportunity to select from the book
+marts of the whole world the literature in which
+I delight. Consequently, you will see that it is
+highly desirable that I should be on hand when
+this gentleman arrives upon his estate.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a look of gentle pity Mrs. Archibald gazed
+at the smooth round face of the bishop, flushed
+with the delights of anticipation and brightened
+by the cheery smile which nearly always accompanied
+his remarks. &#8220;And is that your only prospect?&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to discourage
+you, but it seems to me that if you had some regular
+business&mdash;and you are not too old to learn
+something of the sort&mdash;it would be far better for
+you than trying to obtain the mythical position
+you speak of. I see that you are a man of intelligence
+and education, and I believe that you
+would succeed in almost any calling to which you
+would apply yourself with earnestness and industry.
+You must excuse me for speaking so
+plainly, but I am much older than you are and I
+do it for your good.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madam,&#8221; exclaimed the bishop, radiant with
+grateful emotion, &#8220;I thank you from the bottom
+of my heart for what you have said. I thank you
+for your appreciation of me and for the generous
+motive of your words, but, to be frank with you,
+I am not suited to a calling such as you have
+mentioned. I have many qualities which I well
+know would promote my fortunes were they
+properly applied, but that application is difficult,
+for the reason that my principal mental characteristic
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span>
+is indefiniteness. When but a little child I
+was indefinite. Nobody knew what I was going
+to do, or how I would turn out; no one has since
+known, and no one knows now. In whatever
+way I have turned my attention in my endeavors
+to support myself, I have been obstructed and
+even appalled by the definiteness of the ordinary
+pursuits of life. Now the making of a private library
+is in itself an indefinite occupation. It has
+not its lines, its rules, its limitations. But do not
+think, kind lady, that I shall always depend upon
+such employment. Should I obtain it, I should
+hold it only so long as it would be necessary, and
+it may be necessary for but a little while. Do
+you care to hear of my permanent prospects?&#8221;
+said he, looking from one lady to the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Certainly,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;we would like to
+hear all you have to tell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well then,&#8221; said the bishop, folding his arms
+and smiling effusively, but with a gentle curbing
+of his ordinary cheerfulness, &#8220;I will inform you
+that I have an uncle who is a man of wealth and
+well on in years. Unfortunately, or fortunately
+it may be, this uncle greatly dislikes me. He
+objects so strongly to my methods of thought
+and action, and even to my physical presence,
+that he cannot bear to hear me speak or even to
+look at me, and the last time I was in his company,
+about four years ago, he told me that he
+would leave me a legacy on condition that he
+should never hear from me or see me again. He
+promised to make the proper provision in his will
+immediately, but declared, and I know he will
+keep his word, that if he ever received a letter
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+from me or even saw me or heard my voice he
+would instantly strike out that clause. I appreciated
+and respected his feelings, and accepted the
+condition. From that moment I have not written
+to him, nor shall I ever write to him, and I shall
+never go near him so long as he is alive. As I
+said, he is of advanced age, and it is impossible
+that he can long survive. When his demise takes
+place my circumstances will, I believe, be satisfactory.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did your uncle say how much he would leave
+you?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, madam,&#8221; returned the other, &#8220;he did not,
+but I feel sure that the sum will be measured
+by his satisfaction in knowing that his existence
+is entirely freed from me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;there is nothing
+about you so indefinite as your prospects.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And it seems horrible to me,&#8221; said Margery,
+&#8220;to be hoping that some one may die in order
+that you may be better off, for, as you want
+money so much, you must hope that your uncle
+will die.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop smiled and rose. &#8220;And now,&#8221; said
+he, &#8220;I suppose I must go to prepare the dinner
+at Camp Roy. There is nobody but myself to
+eat it, but I have assumed the duty, and it must
+be performed. Good-morning. By your leave, I
+shall look in upon you again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald had a mind to ask him to stay
+and dine with them, but having noticed an unfriendly
+expression on the face of Martin when
+his gloomy walk brought him in her direction,
+she thought it would not be wise to do so.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XI_MARGERY_TAKES_THE_OARS' id='XI_MARGERY_TAKES_THE_OARS'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+<h3>MARGERY TAKES THE OARS</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>After dinner Mrs. Archibald prepared herself
+for a nap, the most delightful thing she could
+think of during the warm hours of such a day.
+Margery, after seeing the elder lady comfortably
+disposed in the shady sitting-room of the cabin,
+went out-of-doors with no doubt in her mind as
+to what would be for her the most delightful
+thing to do. She would take a row on the lake
+all by herself.</p>
+<p>She went down to the boat, which was partly
+drawn up on the beach and fastened to a heavy
+stake. But when she reached it she was disgusted
+to find that the chain was secured to the stake by
+a padlock. The oars were in the boat, and she
+could easily have pushed it into the water, but
+she could not set it free without the key to the
+padlock.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do believe,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;that the will of
+that horrid Mr. Sadler is like gas. It goes everywhere,
+even to the tops of the houses and under
+the beds.&#8221; But she did not give up her intention.
+She tried to detach the chain from the
+boat, but finding this impossible, she thought of
+going for Martin. Perhaps he might have a key.
+This idea, however, she quickly put aside. If he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+had a key, and gave it to her, she might get him
+into trouble, and, besides, she did not believe that
+he would let her go alone, and in any other way
+she did not wish to go. Standing with her pretty
+brows knit, and one heel deep in the soft ground
+into which she had stamped it, she heard approaching
+footsteps, and turning, saw the bishop.
+He came forward with a buoyant step.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Dearborn?&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;Do you wish to go out on the
+lake? Do you want some one to row you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes and no,&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;I want to go
+out in the boat, and I don&#8217;t want anybody to row
+me. But that chain is fastened with an abominable
+padlock, and I cannot launch the boat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;One of your guides is here,&#8221; said he. &#8220;Perhaps
+I can get a key from him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, no,&#8221; said Margery, quickly; &#8220;he must not
+know about it. There is a Sadler law against it,
+and he is employed by Sadler.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is very securely fastened,&#8221; said the bishop,
+examining the lock and chain. &#8220;It is the work
+of the guide Matlack, I have no doubt. But,
+Miss Dearborn,&#8221; said he, with a bright smile,
+&#8220;there is a boat at Camp Roy. That is not
+locked, and I can bring it here in twenty minutes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Margery; &#8220;I don&#8217;t want that boat.
+I&#8217;ve seen it. It is a clumsy old thing, and, besides,
+it leaks. I want this one. This is just the
+kind of boat I want to row. It is too bad! If I
+could get off now there would be nobody to hinder
+me, for Martin is washing the dinner dishes,
+or doing something of that kind, and whenever
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+he does house-work he always keeps himself out
+of sight.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop examined the stake. It was a stout
+little tree trunk driven deep into the ground and
+projecting about five feet above the surface, with
+the chain so wrapped around it that it was impossible
+to force it up or down. Seizing the stake
+near the top, the bishop began to push it backward
+and forward, and being a man of great
+strength, he soon loosened it so much that, stooping,
+he was able to pull it from the ground.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hurrah!&#8221; exclaimed Margery. &#8220;It came up
+just like pulling a tooth.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said the radiant bishop, &#8220;the good Matlack
+may be very careful about fastening a boat,
+but I think I have got the better of him this
+time; and now I will put the stake, chain and all,
+in the bow. That is the best way of disposing of
+them. Are you sure that you prefer going alone?
+I shall be delighted to row you if you wish me
+to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said Margery; &#8220;I am just wild to row
+myself, and I want to hurry and get off for fear
+Martin will be coming down here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you sure you understand rowing and the
+management of a boat?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;I can row; of course I
+can. I will get in, and then you can push off the
+boat.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Allow me,&#8221; said the bishop. But before he
+could reach her to help her, Margery stepped
+quickly into the boat and was about to seat herself.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you will take the seat next to the stern,&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+said the bishop, holding the boat so that it would
+be steady, &#8220;I think that will be better. Then the
+weight of the stake in the bow will put the boat
+on an even keel.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Margery, accepting his suggestion
+and seating herself. &#8220;Now just wait
+until I get the oars into the rowlocks, and then
+you can push me off.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Which way do you intend to row?&#8221; asked the
+bishop.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I shall go down towards the lower end of
+the lake, because that way there are more bushes
+along the banks and Martin will be less apt to see
+me. If I go the other way I will be in plain sight
+of the camp, and he may think he ought to do
+something&mdash;fire a gun across my bows to bring
+me to, maybe, as they do at sea.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hardly,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;but let me advise
+you not to go very far from the shore, so
+that if you feel tired you can come in easily,
+and if you will allow me I will walk down the
+shore in the direction in which you intend to
+row.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I am not going to get tired,&#8221; said she.
+&#8220;I could row all day. It is splendid to be in a
+boat all by myself and have the whole management
+of it. Now please push me off.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With some reluctance, but with a sincere desire
+to make the young girl happy, which could not
+be overcome by prudence&mdash;at least by such prudence
+as he possessed&mdash;the bishop, with a strong,
+steady push, sent the boat well out on the surface
+of the water.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That was beautifully done,&#8221; Margery called
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+back to him. &#8220;Now I have room enough to turn
+around without any trouble at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She turned the boat about with its bow towards
+the lower end of the lake, but it was not done
+without trouble. &#8220;I have not rowed for a good
+while,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I am getting used to the
+oars already. Now then, I&#8217;m off,&#8221; and she began
+to pull with a strength which, had it been suitably
+paired with skill, would have made her an
+excellent amateur oarswoman. But the place of
+skill was supplied by enthusiasm and determination.
+Once or twice an oar slipped from the rowlock
+and she nearly went over backward, and
+several times one of the blades got under the
+water with the flat side up, so that she had difficulty
+in getting it out. She raised her oars much
+too high in the air, but she counterbalanced this
+by sinking them very deep into the water. But
+she got on, and although her course was somewhat
+irregular, its general trend was in the direction
+desired.</p>
+<p>The bishop walked along the bank, keeping as
+near to the water as he could. Sometimes masses
+of shrubbery shut off all view of the lake, and
+then there would be an open space where he
+would stop and watch the boat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Please keep near the shore, Miss Dearborn,&#8221;
+he called, &#8220;that will be better, I think, and it is
+certainly more shady and pleasant than farther
+out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know what you mean,&#8221; cried Margery, pulling
+away in high good-humor, &#8220;you think it is
+safer near the shore; but I am not going to row
+very far this time, and after a little while I may
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+pull the boat in and rest for a time before starting
+back,&#8221; and then she rowed on with renewed
+energy.</p>
+<p>The next time the bishop was able to hail the
+boat, it was at a point where he was obliged to
+push his way through the bushes in order to see
+out upon the lake.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Dearborn,&#8221; he called, &#8220;I think you are a
+great deal too far from shore, and you must be
+getting very tired and hot. Your face is greatly
+flushed. I will hurry along and see if I can find
+a good place for you to stop and cool yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am all right,&#8221; cried Margery, resting on her
+oars. &#8220;I get along very well, only the boat
+doesn&#8217;t steer properly. I think it is because of
+the weight of that stick in the bow. I suppose I
+cannot get rid of it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no!&#8221; cried the bishop, in alarm; &#8220;please
+don&#8217;t think of it! But if you touch shore at the
+first open space, I think I can arrange it better
+for you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good,&#8221; said she; &#8220;you go ahead and find
+such a place, and I will come in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If you touch shore,&#8221; said the bishop to himself,
+&#8220;you don&#8217;t go out again in that boat alone!
+You don&#8217;t know how to row at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop ran a hundred yards or more before
+he found a place at which a boat could be beached.
+It was not a very good place, but if he could reach
+out and seize the bow, that would be enough
+for him. He was strong enough to pull that boat
+over a paved street.</p>
+<p>As he looked out over the water he saw that
+Margery had progressed considerably since he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span>
+had seen her last, but she was still farther from
+shore than before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Row straight towards me!&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;Here
+is a fine landing-place, cool and shady.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She looked around and managed to turn the
+boat&#8217;s head in his direction. Then she rowed
+hard, pulling and splashing, and evidently a little
+tired. She was strong, but this unusual exercise
+was a trial to her muscles. Perhaps, too, she felt
+that the bishop was watching her, and that made
+her a little nervous, for she could not help being
+aware that she was not handling the oars as well
+as when she started out. With a strong pull at
+her right oar to turn the boat inland, she got
+her left oar tangled between the water and the
+boat, so it seemed to her, and lost her hold of it.
+In a moment it was overboard and floating on
+the lake.</p>
+<p>Leaning over the side of the boat, she made a
+grasp at the oar, but it was too far for her to
+reach it; and then, by a spasmodic movement
+of the other oar, the distance was increased.</p>
+<p>The bishop&#8217;s face grew pale. As he looked at
+her he saw that she was moving away from the
+floating oar, and now he understood why she
+had progressed so well. There was a considerable
+current in the lake which had carried
+her along, and was now moving the heavy boat
+much faster than it moved the oar. What should
+he tell her to do? If she could put her single
+oar out at the stern, she might scull the boat;
+but he was sure she did not understand sculling,
+and to try it she would have to stand up, and this
+would be madness.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span></p>
+<p>She now took the other oar from the rowlock,
+and was about to rise, when the bishop shouted
+to her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you going to do?&#8221; he cried.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going to the stern,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to see if
+I cannot reach that oar with this one. Perhaps
+I can pull it in.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;For Heaven&#8217;s sake, don&#8217;t do that!&#8221; he cried.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t stand up, or the boat will tip, and you
+will fall overboard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But what can I do?&#8221; she called back. &#8220;I can&#8217;t
+row with one oar.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Try rowing a little on one side, and then on
+the other,&#8221; said he. &#8220;Perhaps you can bring in
+the boat in that way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She followed his suggestion, but very awkwardly,
+and he saw plainly that she was tired.
+Instead of approaching the shore, the boat continued
+to float down the lake.</p>
+<p>Margery turned again. &#8220;Bishop,&#8221; she cried,
+&#8220;what shall I do? I must do something, or I can&#8217;t
+get ashore at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She did not look frightened; there was more of
+annoyance in her expression, as if she thought it
+impertinent in fate to treat her in this way, and
+she would not stand it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I had thought of the current,&#8221; said the
+bishop to himself, &#8220;I would never have let her go
+out alone, and she can&#8217;t be trusted in that boat
+another minute longer. She will do something
+desperate.&#8221; So saying, the bishop took off his
+hat and threw it on the ground. Then he unbuttoned
+his coat and began to take it off, but
+he suddenly changed his mind. Even in that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+wilderness and under these circumstances he
+must appear respectable, so he buttoned his
+coat again, hastily took off his shoes, and, without
+hesitating, walked into the water until it
+was above his waist, and then calling to Margery
+that he was coming to her, he began to swim out
+into the lake. He did not strike out immediately
+for the boat, but directed his course towards the
+floating oar. Turning his head frequently towards
+Margery, he could see that she was sitting perfectly
+still, watching him, and so he kept on with
+a good heart.</p>
+<p>The bishop was a powerful swimmer, but he
+found great difficulty in making his way through
+the water, on account of the extreme tightness
+of his clothes. It seemed to him that his arms
+and legs were bandaged in splints, as if he had
+been under a surgeon&#8217;s care; but still he struck
+out as well as he could, and in time reached the
+oar. Pushing this before him to the boat, Margery
+took hold of it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You swim splendidly,&#8221; said she. &#8220;You can
+climb in right here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the bishop knew better than that, and
+worked his way round to the stern, and after
+holding on a little while to get his breath, he
+managed to clamber into the boat.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Was the water very cold?&#8221; said she.</p>
+<p>On his replying that it was, she said she
+thought so because he seemed stiff.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, Miss Dearborn,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I have made
+the stern seat very wet, but I don&#8217;t believe you
+will mind that, and if you will sit here I will take
+the oars and row you in.&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-098.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 389px; height: 302px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 389px;'>
+&#8220;BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I think I can do that myself,&#8221; said Margery.
+&#8220;I am rested now, and I am ever so much
+obliged to you for getting my oar for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Under almost any circumstances the bishop
+could smile, and now he smiled at the ridiculousness
+of the idea of Margery&#8217;s rowing that boat
+back against the current, and with him in it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I must insist. I shall freeze
+to death if I don&#8217;t warm myself by exercise.&#8221; So,
+reaching out his hand, he assisted Margery to the
+stern, and seating himself in her place, he took
+the oars, which she had drawn in.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why I could not make the boat
+go along that way,&#8221; said she, as they began to
+move steadily towards the camp. &#8220;I believe I
+could do it if people would only let me practise
+by myself; but they always want to show me
+how, and I hate to have anybody show me how.
+It is funny,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;that you seem so
+very wet all but your collar. That looks as
+smooth and nice as if it had just come from the
+laundry.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop laughed. &#8220;That is because it is
+gutta-percha,&#8221; he said, &#8220;intended for rough
+use in camp; but the rest of my habiliments
+were not intended for wet weather.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you have no hat,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Doesn&#8217;t
+the sun hurt your head?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My head does feel a little warm,&#8221; said he,
+&#8220;but I didn&#8217;t want to row back to the place
+where I left my hat. It was not a good landing-place,
+after all. Besides,&#8221; he said to himself, &#8220;I
+never thought of my hat or my shoes.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XII_THE_BISHOP_ENGAGES_THE_ATTENTION_OF_THE_GUIDES' id='XII_THE_BISHOP_ENGAGES_THE_ATTENTION_OF_THE_GUIDES'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+<h3>THE BISHOP ENGAGES THE ATTENTION OF THE GUIDES</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the boat touched the shore Margery ran
+to the cabin to assure Mrs. Archibald of her
+safety, if she had been missed.</p>
+<p>The bishop was sticking the stake in the hole
+from which he had pulled it, when Martin came
+running to him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a pretty piece of business!&#8221; cried the
+young man. &#8220;If you wanted to go out in the
+boat, why didn&#8217;t you come to me for the key?
+You&#8217;ve got no right to pull up the stakes we&#8217;ve
+driven down. That&#8217;s the same thing as stealing
+the boat. What&#8217;s the matter? Did you tumble
+overboard? You must be a pretty sort of an
+oarsman! If the ladies want to go out in the
+boat, I am here to take them. I&#8217;d like you to
+understand that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As has been said before, the bishop could smile
+under almost any circumstances, and he smiled
+now, but at the same time his brow wrinkled,
+which was not common when he smiled.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am going down to the shore to get my hat
+and shoes,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and I would like you to
+come along with me. I can&#8217;t stand here and talk
+to you.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you want?&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come along and see,&#8221; said the bishop; &#8220;that
+is, if you are not afraid.&#8221;</p>
+<p>That was enough, and the young man walked
+behind him until they reached the spot where the
+bishop had taken to the water. Then he stopped,
+and explained to Martin all that had happened.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now,&#8221; said he, &#8220;what have you got to say?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin, now that he knew that the bishop had
+plunged into the water for the sake of the beautiful
+Margery, was more jealously angry than when
+he had supposed he had merely taken her out to
+row.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t anything to say,&#8221; he answered,
+shortly, &#8220;except that parsons had better attend
+to their own business, if they have any, and let
+young ladies and boats alone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s all, is it?&#8221; said the bishop, and with
+a quick step forward he clutched the young man&#8217;s
+arm with his right hand, while he seized his belt
+with the other, and then with a great heave sent
+him out into the water fully ten feet from the
+shore. With a splash like a dropped anchor
+Martin disappeared from view, but soon arose,
+his head and shoulders above the surface, where
+he stood for a moment, spluttering and winking
+and almost dazed.</p>
+<p>The bishop stood on the bank and smiled.
+&#8220;Did you fall overboard?&#8221; said he. &#8220;You must
+be a pretty sort of a boatman!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without replying, Martin began to wade ashore.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come on,&#8221; said the bishop; &#8220;if you can&#8217;t get
+up the bank, I&#8217;ll help you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Martin needed no help; he scrambled to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
+the bank, shook himself, and then advanced upon
+the bishop, fire in his eye and his fist clinched.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop, young man,&#8221; said the other. &#8220;It would
+not be fair to you if I did not tell you that I am
+a boxer and a heavy-weight, and that I threw you
+into the water because I didn&#8217;t want to damage
+your face and eyes. You were impertinent, but
+I am satisfied, and the best thing you can do is
+to go and change your clothes before any one
+sees you in that plight. You are better off than
+I am, because I have no clothes with which to
+make a change.&#8221; So saying, he sat down and began
+to put on his shoes.</p>
+<p>Martin stood for a moment and looked at the
+bishop, he thought of Margery and a possible
+black eye, and then he walked as fast as he could
+to his tent to get some dry clothes. He was very
+wet, he was very hot, he was very angry, and
+what made him more angry than anything else
+was a respect for the bishop which was rising in
+him in spite of all his efforts to keep it down.</p>
+<p>When Mr. Archibald and his party came back
+to camp late in the afternoon, Margery, who had
+already told her story to Mrs. Archibald, told it
+to each of the others. Mr. Archibald was greatly
+moved by the account of the bishop&#8217;s bravery.
+He thoroughly appreciated the danger to which
+Margery had been exposed. There were doubtless
+persons who could be trusted so sit quietly
+in a little boat with only one oar, and to float
+upon a lake out of sight and sound of human
+beings until another boat could be secured and
+brought to the rescue, but Margery was not one
+of these persons. Her greatest danger had been
+that she was a child of impulse. He went immediately
+to Camp Roy to see the bishop and express
+his gratitude, for no matter how great the
+foolish good-nature of the man had been, his
+brave rescue of the girl was all that could be
+thought of now.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-102.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 413px; height: 300px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 413px;'>
+&#8220;WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span></div>
+<p>He found the bishop in bed, Mr. Clyde preparing
+the supper, and Mr. Raybold in a very bad humor.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the best place for me,&#8221; said the bishop,
+gayly, from under a heavy army blanket. &#8220;My
+bed is something like the carpets in Queen Elizabeth&#8217;s
+time, and this shelter-tent is not one which
+can be called commodious, but I shall stay here
+until morning, and then I am sure I shall be none
+the worse for my dip into the cold lake.&#8221;</p>
+<p>As Mr. Archibald had seen the black garments
+of the bishop hanging on a bush as he approached
+the tent, he was not surprised to find their owner
+in bed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said the bishop, when Mr. Archibald
+had finished what he had to say, &#8220;there is nothing
+to thank me for. It was a stupid thing to
+launch a young girl out upon what, by some very
+natural bit of carelessness, might have become to
+her the waters of eternity, and it was my very
+commonplace duty to get her out of the danger
+into which I had placed her; so this, my dear
+sir, is really all there is to say about the matter.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald differed with him for about ten
+minutes, and then returned to his camp.</p>
+<p>Phil Matlack was also affected by the account
+of the rescue, and he expressed his feelings to
+Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He pulled up the stake, did he?&#8221; said Phil.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll make him pull up his stakes, and before
+he goes I&#8217;ve a mind to teach him not to
+meddle with other people&#8217;s affairs.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I were you,&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t try
+to teach him anything.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You think he is too stupid to learn?&#8221; said
+Matlack, getting more and more angry at the
+bishop&#8217;s impertinent and inexcusable conduct.
+&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ve taught stupid people before this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a bigger man than you are,&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>Matlack withdrew the knife from the loaf of
+bread he was cutting, and looked at the young man.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bigger?&#8221; said he, scornfully. &#8220;What&#8217;s that
+got to do with it? A load of hay is bigger than
+a crow-bar, but I guess the crow-bar would get
+through the hay without much trouble.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;d better talk about a load of rocks,&#8221; said
+Martin. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think you&#8217;d find it easy to get
+a crow-bar through them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack looked up inquiringly. &#8220;Has he been
+thrashing you?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, he hasn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Martin, sharply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You didn&#8217;t fight him, then?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; was the answer.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you? You were here to take
+charge of this camp and keep things in order.
+Why didn&#8217;t you fight him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t fight that sort of a man,&#8221; said Martin,
+with an air which, if it were not disdainful, was
+intended to be.</p>
+<p>Matlack gazed at him a moment in silence, and
+then went on cutting the bread. &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand
+this thing,&#8221; he said to himself. &#8220;I must
+look into it.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIII_THE_WORLD_GOES_WRONG_WITH_MR_RAYBOLD' id='XIII_THE_WORLD_GOES_WRONG_WITH_MR_RAYBOLD'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+<h3>THE WORLD GOES WRONG WITH MR. RAYBOLD</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The next morning Mr. Archibald started out,
+very early, on a fishing expedition by himself.
+He was an enthusiastic angler, and had not greatly
+enjoyed the experience of the day before. He
+did not object to shooting if there were any legitimate
+game to shoot, and he liked to tramp
+through the mountain wilds under the guidance
+of such a man as Matlack; but to keep company
+all day with Raybold, who, in the very heart of
+nature, talked only of the gossip of the town, and
+who punctuated his small talk by intermittent
+firing at everything which looked like a bird or
+suggested the movements of an animal, was not
+agreeable to him. Clyde was a better fellow, and
+Mr. Archibald liked him, but he was young and
+abstracted, and the interest which clings around
+an abstracted person who is young is often inconsiderable,
+so he determined for one day at least
+to leave Sir Cupid to his own devices, for he
+could not spend all his time defending Margery
+from amatory dawdle. For this one day he would
+leave the task to his wife.</p>
+<p>That day Mr. Raybold was in a moody mood.
+Early in the morning he had walked to Sadler&#8217;s,
+his object being to secure from the trunk which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span>
+he had left there a suit of ordinary summer
+clothes. He had come to think that perhaps his
+bicycle attire, although very suitable for this sort
+of life, failed to make him as attractive in the
+eyes of youth and beauty as he might be if
+clothed in more becoming garments. It was the
+middle of the afternoon before he returned,
+and as he carried a large package, he went directly
+to his own camp, and in about half an hour
+afterwards he came over to Camp Rob dressed in
+a light suit, which improved his general appearance
+very much.</p>
+<p>In his countenance, however, there was no improvement
+whatever, for he looked more out of
+humor than when he had set out, and when he
+saw that Mrs. Archibald was sitting alone in the
+shade, reading, and that at a considerable distance
+Harrison Clyde was seated by Margery,
+giving her a lesson in drawing upon birch bark,
+or else taking a lesson from her, his ill-humor
+increased.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is too bad,&#8221; said he, taking a seat by Mrs.
+Archibald without being asked; &#8220;everything
+seems to go wrong out here in these woods. It
+is an unnatural way to live, anyhow, and I suppose
+it serves us right. When I went to Sadler&#8217;s
+I found a letter from my sister Corona, who says
+she would like me to make arrangements for her
+to come here and camp with us for a time. Now
+that suits me very well indeed. My sister Corona
+is a very fine young woman, and I think it would
+be an excellent thing to have two young ladies
+here instead of one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;that might be
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+very pleasant. I should be glad for Margery to
+have a companion of her own sex.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I understand precisely,&#8221; said Raybold, nodding
+his head sagaciously; &#8220;of her own sex. Yes,
+I see your drift, and I agree with you absolutely.
+There is a little too much of that thing over there,
+and I don&#8217;t wonder you are annoyed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not say I was annoyed,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+rather surprised.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;you did not say so, but I
+can read between the lines, even spoken lines.
+Now when I heard that my sister wanted to come
+out here,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;at first I did not like it,
+for I thought she might be some sort of a restraint
+upon me; but when I considered the matter
+further, I became very much in favor of it,
+and I sent a telegram by the stage telling her to
+come immediately, and that everything would be
+ready for her. My sister has a sufficient income
+of her own, and she likes to have everything
+suited to her needs. I am different. I am a man
+of the world, and although I do not always care
+to conform to circumstances, I can generally
+make circumstances conform to me. As Shakespeare
+says, &#8216;The world is my pottle, and I stir
+my spoon.&#8217; You must excuse my quoting, but I
+cannot help it. My life work is to be upon the
+stage, and where one&#8217;s mind is, there will his
+words be also.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Raybold was now in a much more pleasant
+mood than when he came to sit in the shade with
+Mrs. Archibald. He was talking; he had found
+some one who listened and who had very little to
+say for herself.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Consequently,&#8221; he remarked, &#8220;I ordered from
+Mr. Sadler the very best tent that he had. It has
+two compartments in it, and it is really as comfortable
+as a house, and as my sister wrote that she
+wished a female attendant, not caring to have her
+meals cooked by boys&mdash;a very flippant expression,
+by-the-way&mdash;I have engaged for her a she-guide.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A what?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A person,&#8221; said he, &#8220;who is a guide of the female
+gender. She was the wife of a hunter who
+was accidentally shot, Sadler told me, by a young
+man who was with him on a gunning expedition.
+I told Sadler that it was reprehensible to allow
+such fellows to have guns, but he said that they
+are not as dangerous now as they used to be.
+This is because the guides have learned to beware
+of them, I suppose. This woman has lived in the
+woods and knows all about camp life, and Sadler
+says there could not be a better person found to
+attend a young lady in camp. So I engaged her,
+and I must say she charged just as much as if she
+were a man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why shouldn&#8217;t she,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;if
+she is just as good?&#8221;</p>
+<p>To this remark Raybold paid no attention. &#8220;I
+will tell you,&#8221; he said, &#8220;confidentially, of course,
+and I think you have as much reason to be interested
+in it as I have, why I came to view with
+so much favor my sister&#8217;s coming here. She is a
+very attractive young woman, and I think she
+cannot fail to interest Clyde, and that, of course,
+will be of advantage to your niece.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is not my niece, you know,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Archibald.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said he, &#8220;it is all the same. &#8216;Let it be
+a bird wing or a flower, so it pleases&#8217;&mdash;a quotation
+which is also Avonian&mdash;and if Clyde likes Corona
+he will let Miss Dearborn alone. That&#8217;s the sort
+of man he is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And in that case,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;I
+suppose you would not be unwilling to provide
+Margery with company.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madam,&#8221; said the young man, leaning forward
+and fixing his eyes upon the ground, and
+then turning them upon her without moving his
+face towards her, &#8220;with me all that is a different
+matter. I may have occasion later to speak to
+you and your husband upon the subject of Miss
+Dearborn.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In which case,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, quickly,
+&#8220;I am sure that my husband will be very glad to
+speak to you. But why, may I ask, were you so
+disturbed when you came here, just now? You
+said the world was going wrong.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I declare,&#8221; said he, knitting his brows and
+clapping one hand on his knee, &#8220;I actually forgot!
+The world wrong? I should say it was
+wrong! My sister can&#8217;t come, and I don&#8217;t know
+what to do about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Can&#8217;t come?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course not,&#8221; said he, all his ill-humor having
+returned. &#8220;That fellow, the bishop, is in our
+camp and in Clyde&#8217;s bed. Clyde foolishly gave
+him his bed because he said the cook-tent was too
+cramped for a man to stay in it all day.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why need he stay?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;Has he taken cold? Is he sick?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No indeed,&#8221; said Raybold. &#8220;If he were sick
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+we might send for a cart and have him taken to
+Sadler&#8217;s, but the trouble is worse than that. His
+clothes, in which he foolishly jumped into the
+water, have shrunken so much that he cannot get
+them on, and as he has no others, he is obliged to
+stay in bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But surely something can be done,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he interrupted, &#8220;nothing can be done.
+The clothes have dried, and if you could see them
+as they hang up on the bushes, you would understand
+why that man can never get into them
+again. The material is entirely unsuitable for
+out-door life. Clyde proposes that we shall lend
+him something, but there are no clothes in this
+party into which such a sausage of a man could
+get himself. So there he is, and there, I suppose,
+he will remain indefinitely; and I don&#8217;t want to
+bring my sister to a camp with a permanently
+occupied hospital bed in it. As soon as I agreed
+to Corona&#8217;s coming I determined to bounce that
+man, but now&mdash;&#8221; So saying, Mr. Raybold rose,
+folded his arms, and knit his brows, and as he did
+so he glanced towards the spot where Margery
+and Clyde had been sitting, and perceived that
+the latter had departed, probably to get some
+more birch bark; and so, with a nod to Mrs.
+Archibald, he sauntered away, bending his steps,
+as it were accidentally, in the direction of the
+young lady left alone.</p>
+<p>When Mr. Archibald heard, that evening, of
+the bishop&#8217;s plight and Raybold&#8217;s discomfiture, he
+was amused, but also glad to know there was an
+opportunity for doing something practical for the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+bishop. He was beginning to like the man, in
+spite of his indefiniteness, so he went to see the
+bedridden prelate who was neither sick nor clerical,
+and with very little trouble induced him to
+take a few general measurements of his figure.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is so good of you,&#8221; said the delighted recumbent,
+&#8220;that I shall not say a word, but step
+aside in deference to your conscience, whose encomiums
+will far transcend anything I can say.
+You will pardon me, I am sure, if I make my
+measurements liberal. The cost will not be increased,
+and to live, move, and breathe in a suit
+of clothes which is large enough for me is a joy
+which I have not known for a long time. Shoes,
+did you say, sir? Truly this is generosity supereminent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, laughing, &#8220;and you
+also shall have a new hat. I will fit you out completely,
+and if this helps you to make a new and
+a good start in life, I shall be greatly gratified.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sir,&#8221; said the bishop, the moisture of genuine
+gratitude in his eyes, &#8220;you are doing, I think, far
+more good than you can imagine, and pardon me
+if I suggest, since you are going to get me a hat,
+that it be not of clerical fashion. If everything
+is to be new, I should like everything different,
+and I am certain the cost will be less.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald. &#8220;I will now
+make a list of what you need, and I will write to
+one of my clerks, who will procure everything.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Mr. Archibald went back to his camp he
+met Raybold, stalking moodily. Having been
+told what had been done for the bishop&#8217;s relief,
+the young man was astonished.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;A complete outfit, and for him? I would not
+have dreamed of it; and besides, it is of no use;
+it must be days before the clothes arrive, and my
+sister wishes to come immediately.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you suppose,&#8221; exclaimed Mr. Archibald,
+&#8220;that I am doing this for the sake of your sister?
+I am doing it for the man himself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Mr. Archibald told his wife of this little
+interview they both laughed heartily.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If Mr. Raybold&#8217;s sister,&#8221; said she, &#8220;is like
+him, I do not think we shall care to have her
+here; but sisters are often very different from
+their brothers. However, the bishop need not
+prevent her coming. If his clothes do not arrive
+before she does, I am sure there could be no objection
+to her tent being set up for a time in some
+of the open space in our camp, and then we shall
+become sooner acquainted with her; if she is
+a suitable person, I shall be very glad indeed for
+Margery to have a companion.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald; &#8220;let her pitch
+her tent where she pleases. I am satisfied.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIV_THE_ASSERTION_OF_INDIVIDUALITY' id='XIV_THE_ASSERTION_OF_INDIVIDUALITY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+<h3>THE ASSERTION OF INDIVIDUALITY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was a week after her brother had sent her
+his telegram before Miss Corona Raybold arrived
+at Camp Rob, with her tent, her outfit, and her
+female guide. Mrs. Archibald had been surprised
+that she did not appear sooner, for, considering
+Mr. Raybold&#8217;s state of mind, she had supposed
+that his sister had wished to come at the earliest
+possible moment.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; said Raybold, in explaining the delay,
+&#8220;Corona is very different from me. In my actions
+&#8216;the thunder&#8217;s roar doth crowd upon the
+lightning&#8217;s heels,&#8217; as William has told us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where in Shakespeare is that?&#8221; asked Mrs.
+Archibald.</p>
+<p>Mr. Raybold bent his brow. &#8220;For the nonce,&#8221;
+said he, &#8220;I do not recall the exact position of the
+lines.&#8221; And after that he made no more Avonian
+quotations to Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>The arrival of the young lady was, of course, a
+very important event, and even Mr. Archibald
+rowed in from the lake when he saw her caravan
+approaching, herself walking in the lead. She
+proved to be a young person of medium height,
+slight, and dressed in a becoming suit of dark
+blue. Her hair and eyes were dark, her features
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
+regular and of a classic cut, and she wore eye-glasses.
+Her manner was quiet, and at first she
+appeared reserved, but she soon showed that if
+she wished to speak she could talk very freely.
+She wore an air of dignified composure, but was
+affable, and very attentive to what was said to
+her.</p>
+<p>Altogether she made in a short time an extremely
+favorable impression upon Mr. and Mrs. Archibald,
+and in a very much less time an extremely
+unfavorable impression upon Margery.</p>
+<p>Miss Raybold greeted everybody pleasantly,
+even informing Matlack that she had heard of
+him as a famous guide, and after thanking Mr.
+and Mrs. Archibald for their permission to set up
+her tent on the outskirts of their camp, she proceeded
+to said tent, which was speedily made
+ready for her.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine, her guide, was an energetic
+woman, and under her orders the men who brought
+the baggage bestirred themselves wonderfully.</p>
+<p>Just before supper, to which meal the Raybolds
+and Mr. Clyde had been invited, the latter came
+to Mr. Archibald, evidently much troubled and
+annoyed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am positively ashamed to mention it to you,
+sir,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I must tell you that Raybold
+has ordered the men who brought his sister&#8217;s tent
+to bring our tent over here and put it up near
+her&#8217;s. I was away when this was done, and I wish
+to assure you most earnestly that I had nothing
+to do with it. The men have gone, and I don&#8217;t
+suppose we can get it back to-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald opened his eyes very wide.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+&#8220;Your friend is certainly a remarkable young
+man,&#8221; said he, &#8220;but we must not have any bad
+feeling in camp, so let everything remain as it is
+for to-night. I suppose he wished to be near his
+sister, but at least he might have asked permission.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; said Clyde, &#8220;that he did not so much
+care to be near his sister as he did to be away
+from the bishop, who is now left alone in our
+little shelter-tent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald laughed. &#8220;Well,&#8221; said he, &#8220;he
+will come to no harm, and we must see that he
+has some supper.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I shall attend to that,&#8221; said Clyde, &#8220;and
+to his breakfast also. And, now I come to think
+of it, I believe that one reason Raybold moved
+our tent over here was to get the benefit of his
+sister&#8217;s cook. The bishop did our cooking, you
+know, before he took to his bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>That evening Miss Raybold joined the party
+around the camp-fire. She declared that in the
+open air she did not in the least object to the use
+of tobacco, and then she asked Mr. Archibald if
+his two guides came to the camp-fire after their
+work was done.</p>
+<p>&#8220;They do just as they please,&#8221; was the answer.
+&#8220;Sometimes they come over here and smoke their
+pipes a little in the background, and sometimes
+they go off by themselves. We are very democratic
+here in camp, you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I like that,&#8221; said Miss Raybold, &#8220;and I will
+have Mrs. Perkenpine come over when she has
+arranged the tent for the night. Arthur, will
+you go and tell her?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span></p>
+<p>Her brother did not immediately rise to execute
+this commission. He hoped that Mr. Clyde
+would offer to do the service, but the latter did
+not improve the opportunity to make himself
+agreeable to the new-comer, and Raybold did the
+errand.</p>
+<p>Harrison Clyde was sitting by Margery, and
+Margery was giving a little attention to what he
+said to her and a great deal of attention to Corona
+Raybold.</p>
+<p>&#8220;More self-conceit and a better-fitting dress I
+never saw,&#8221; thought Margery; &#8220;it&#8217;s loose and
+easy, and yet it seems to fit perfectly, and I do
+believe she thinks she is some sort of an upper
+angel who has condescended to come down here
+just to see what common people are like.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Corona talked to Mr. Archibald. It was her
+custom always to talk to the principal personage
+of a party.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It gives me pleasure, sir,&#8221; said she, &#8220;to meet
+with you and your wife. It is so seldom that we
+find any one&mdash;&#8221; She was interrupted by Mrs.
+Perkenpine, who stood behind her.</p>
+<p>The she-guide was a large woman, apparently
+taller than Matlack. Her sunburnt face was
+partly shaded by a man&#8217;s straw hat, secured on
+her head by strings tied under her chin. She
+wore a very plain gown, coarse in texture, and
+of a light-blue color, which showed that it had
+been washed very often. Her voice and her
+shoes, the latter well displayed by her short
+skirt, creaked, but her gray eyes were bright,
+and moved about after the manner of searchlights.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said she to Miss Raybold, &#8220;what do
+you want?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Corona turned her head and placidly gazed up
+at her. &#8220;I simply wished to let you know that
+you might join this company here if you liked.
+The two men guides are coming, you see.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine glanced around the group.
+&#8220;Is there any hunting stories to be told?&#8221; she
+asked.</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald laughed. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;but perhaps we may have some. I am sure
+that Matlack here has hunting stories to tell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine shook her head. &#8220;No, sir,&#8221;
+said she; &#8220;I don&#8217;t want none of his stories. I&#8217;ve
+heard them all mostly two or three times over.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I dare say you have,&#8221; said Phil, seating himself
+on a fallen trunk, a little back from the fire;
+&#8220;but you see, Mrs. Perkenpine, you are so obstinate
+about keepin&#8217; on livin&#8217;. If you&#8217;d died when
+you was younger, you wouldn&#8217;t have heard so
+many of those stories.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s been times,&#8221; said she, &#8220;when you was
+tellin&#8217; the story of the bear cubs and the condensed
+milk, when I wished I had died when I was
+younger, or else you had.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps,&#8221; said Miss Raybold, in a clear, decisive
+voice, &#8220;Mr. Matlack may know hunting
+stories that will be new to all of us, but before
+he begins them I have something which I would
+like to say.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Mrs. Perkenpine, seating herself
+promptly upon the ground; &#8220;if you&#8217;re goin&#8217;
+to talk, I&#8217;ll stay. I&#8217;d like to know what kind of
+things you do talk about when you talk.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I was just now remarking,&#8221; said Miss Corona,
+&#8220;that I am very glad indeed to meet with those
+who, like Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, are willing to
+set their feet upon the modern usages of society
+(which would crowd us together in a common
+herd) and assert their individuality.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald looked at the speaker inquiringly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said she, &#8220;I refer to the fact that
+you and Mrs. Archibald are on a wedding-journey.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this remark Phil Matlack rose suddenly
+from the tree-trunk and Martin dropped his pipe.
+Mr. Clyde turned his gaze upon Margery, who
+thereupon burst out laughing, and then he looked
+in amazement from Mr. Archibald to Mrs. Archibald
+and back again. Mrs. Perkenpine sat up
+very straight and leaned forward, her hands upon
+her knees.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it them two sittin&#8217; over there?&#8221; she said,
+pointing to Margery and Clyde. &#8220;Are they on a
+honey-moon?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221; exclaimed Arthur Raybold, in a loud,
+sharp voice. &#8220;What an absurdity! Corona, what
+are you talking about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>To this his sister paid no attention whatever.
+&#8220;I think,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it was a noble thing to do.
+An assertion of one&#8217;s inner self is always noble,
+and when I heard of this assertion I wished very
+much to know the man and the woman who had
+so asserted themselves, and this was my principal
+reason for determining to come to this camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But where on earth,&#8221; asked Mr. Archibald,
+&#8220;did you hear that we were on a wedding-journey?&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I read it in a newspaper,&#8221; said Corona.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do declare,&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;everything is in the newspapers! I did think
+that we might settle down here and enjoy ourselves
+without people talking about our reason
+for coming!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean to say,&#8221; cried Mrs. Perkenpine,
+now on her feet, &#8220;that you two elderly
+ones is the honey-mooners?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, looking with amusement
+on the astonished faces about him, &#8220;we
+truly are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said the she-guide, seating herself, &#8220;if
+I&#8217;d stayed an old maid as long as that, I think I&#8217;d
+stuck it out. But perhaps you was a widow,
+mum?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, indeed,&#8221; cried Mr. Archibald; &#8220;she was
+a charming girl when I married her. But just
+let me tell you how the matter stands,&#8221; and he
+proceeded to relate the facts of the case. &#8220;I
+thought,&#8221; he said, in conclusion, turning to Matlack,
+&#8220;that perhaps you knew about it, for I told
+Mr. Sadler, and I supposed he might have mentioned
+it to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; said Matlack, relighting his pipe,
+&#8220;he knows me better than that. If he&#8217;d called
+me and said, &#8216;Phil, I want you to take charge of
+a couple that&#8217;s goin&#8217; honey-moonin&#8217; about twenty-five
+years after they married, and a-doin&#8217; it for
+somebody else and not for themselves,&#8217; I&#8217;d said to
+him, &#8216;They&#8217;re lunatics, and I won&#8217;t take charge
+of them.&#8217; And Peter he knows I would have
+thought that and would have said it, and so he
+did not mention the particulars to me. He knows
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span>
+that the only things that I&#8217;m afraid of in this
+world is lunatics. &#8216;Tisn&#8217;t only what they might
+do to me, but what they might do to themselves,
+and I won&#8217;t touch &#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;that you don&#8217;t
+consider us lunatics now that you have heard
+why we are here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh no,&#8221; said the guide; &#8220;I&#8217;ve found that
+you&#8217;re regular common-sense people, and I don&#8217;t
+change my opinions even when I&#8217;ve heard particulars;
+but if I&#8217;d heard particulars first, it would
+have been all up with my takin&#8217; charge of you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you knew it all the time?&#8221; said Clyde to
+Margery, speaking so that she only could hear.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I knew it,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but I didn&#8217;t think it
+worth talking about. Do you know Mr. Raybold&#8217;s
+sister? Do you like her?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have met her,&#8221; said Clyde; &#8220;but she is too
+lofty for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is there lofty about her?&#8221; said Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said he, &#8220;she is lofty because she has
+elevated ideas. She goes in for reform; and for
+pretty much all kinds, from what I have heard.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think she is lofty,&#8221; remarked Margery,
+&#8220;because she is stuck-up. I don&#8217;t like her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is so seldom,&#8221; Corona now continued, &#8220;that
+we find people who are willing to assert their individuality,
+and when they are found I always
+want to talk to them. I suppose, Mr. Matlack,
+that your life is one long assertion of individuality?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What, ma&#8217;am?&#8221; asked the guide.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mean,&#8221; said she, &#8220;that when you are out
+alone in the wild forest, holding in your hand
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span>
+the weapon which decides the question of life or
+death for any living creature over whom you may
+choose to exercise your jurisdiction, absolutely
+independent of every social trammel, every bond
+of conventionalism, you must feel that you are
+a predominant whole and not a mere integral
+part.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Matlack, speaking slowly, &#8220;I may
+have had them feelin&#8217;s, but if I did they must
+have struck in, and not come out on the skin, like
+measles, where I could see &#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Corona,&#8221; said her brother, in a peevish undertone,
+&#8220;what is the good of all that? You&#8217;re wasting
+your words on such a man.&#8221;</p>
+<p>His sister turned a mild steady gaze upon him.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t know any man but you,&#8221; she said, &#8220;on
+whom I waste my words.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is assertin&#8217; like persistin&#8217;?&#8221; inquired Mrs.
+Perkenpine at this point.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The two actions are somewhat alike,&#8221; said
+Corona.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then,&#8221; said the she-guide, &#8220;I&#8217;m in for
+assertin&#8217;. When my husband was alive there was
+a good many things I wanted to do, and when I
+wanted to do a thing or get a thing I kept on
+sayin&#8217; so; and one day, after I&#8217;d been keepin&#8217; on
+sayin&#8217; so a good while, he says to me, &#8216;Jane,&#8217; says
+he, &#8216;it seems to me that you&#8217;re persistin&#8217;.&#8217; &#8216;Yes,&#8217;
+says I, &#8216;I am, and I intend to be.&#8217; &#8216;Then you
+are goin&#8217; to keep on insistin&#8217; on persistin&#8217;?&#8217; says
+he. &#8216;Yes,&#8217; says I; and then says he, &#8216;If you keep
+on insistin&#8217; on persistin&#8217; I&#8217;ll be thinkin&#8217; of &#8217;listin&#8217;.&#8217;
+By which he meant goin&#8217; into the army as a regular,
+and gettin&#8217; rid of me; and as I didn&#8217;t want
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span>
+to be rid of him, I stopped persistin&#8217;; but now I
+wish I had persisted, for then he&#8217;d &#8217;listed, and
+most likely would be alive now, through not
+bein&#8217; shot in the back by a city fool with a gun.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not believe,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald to her
+husband, when they had retired to their cabin,
+&#8220;that that young woman is going to be much of
+a companion for Margery. I think she will prefer
+your society to that of any of the rest of us.
+It is very plain that she thinks it is your individuality
+which has been asserted.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said he, rubbing his spectacles with his
+handkerchief before putting them away for the
+night, &#8220;don&#8217;t let her project her individuality into
+my sport. That&#8217;s all I have to say.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XV_A_NET_OF_COBWEBS_TO_CAGE_A_LION' id='XV_A_NET_OF_COBWEBS_TO_CAGE_A_LION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+<h3>A NET OF COBWEBS TO CAGE A LION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;I think there&#8217;s something besides a lunatic
+that you are afraid of,&#8221; said Martin to Matlack
+the next morning, as they were preparing breakfast.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221; inquired the guide, sharply.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s that fellow they call the bishop,&#8221; said
+Martin. &#8220;He put a pretty heavy slur on you.
+You drove down a stake, and you locked your
+boat to it, and you walked away as big as if you
+were the sheriff of the county, and here he comes
+along, and snaps his fingers at you and your
+locks, and, as cool as a cucumber, he pulls up the
+stake and shoves out on the lake, all alone by
+herself, a young lady that you are paid to take
+care of and protect from danger.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want you to know, Martin Sanders,&#8221; said
+Matlack, &#8220;that I don&#8217;t pitch into a man when he&#8217;s
+in his bed, no matter what it is that made him
+take to his bed or stay there. But I&#8217;ll just say to
+you now, that when he gets up and shows himself,
+there&#8217;ll be the biggest case of bounce in
+these parts that you ever saw.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bounce!&#8221; said Martin to himself, as he turned
+away. &#8220;I have heard so much of it lately that
+I&#8217;d like to see a little.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span></p>
+<p>Matlack also communed with himself. &#8220;He&#8217;s
+awful anxious to get up a quarrel between me
+and the parson,&#8221; he thought. &#8220;I wonder if he
+was too free with his tongue and did get thrashed.
+He don&#8217;t show no signs of it, except he&#8217;s so concerned
+in his mind to see somebody do for the
+parson what he ain&#8217;t able to do himself. But I&#8217;ll
+find out about it! I&#8217;ll thrash that fellow in
+black, and before I let him up I&#8217;ll make him tell
+me what he did to Martin. I&#8217;d do a good deal
+to get hold of something that would take the
+conceit out of that fellow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Arthur Raybold was a deep-minded person,
+and sometimes it was difficult for him, with the
+fathoming apparatus he had on hand, to discover
+the very bottom of his mind. Now, far below
+the surface, his thoughts revolved. He had come
+to the conclusion that he would marry Margery.
+In the first place, he was greatly attracted by
+her, and again he considered it would be a most
+advantageous union. She was charming to look
+upon, and her mind was so uncramped by conventionalities
+that it could adapt itself to almost
+any sphere to which she might direct it. He expected
+his life-work to be upon the stage, and
+what an actress Miss Dearborn would make if
+properly educated&mdash;as he could educate her!
+With this most important purpose in view, why
+should he waste his time? The Archibalds could
+not much longer remain in camp. They had
+limited their holiday to a month, and that was
+more than half gone. He must strike now.</p>
+<p>The first thing to do was to get Clyde out of
+the way; then he would speak to Mr. Archibald
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
+and ask for authority to press his suit, and he
+would press that suit as few men on earth, he
+said to himself, would be able to press it. What
+girl could deny herself to him when he came
+to her clad not only with his own personal attributes,
+but with the fervor of a Romeo, the intellectuality
+of a Hamlet, and the force of an
+Othello?</p>
+<p>The Clyde part of the affair seemed very simple;
+as his party would of course have their own
+table Clyde would see his sister at every meal,
+and as Corona did not care to talk to him, and
+must talk to somebody, she would be compelled
+to talk to Clyde, and if she talked to Clyde and
+looked at him as she always did when she talked
+to people, he did not see how he could help being
+attracted by her, and when once that sort of
+thing began the Margery-field would be open to
+him.</p>
+<p>He excused himself that morning for hurriedly
+leaving the breakfast-table by saying that he
+wished to see Mr. Archibald before he started
+out fishing.</p>
+<p>He found that gentleman talking to Matlack.
+&#8220;Can I see you alone, sir?&#8221; said Raybold. &#8220;I
+have something of importance I wish to say to
+you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;for I have something
+I wish to say to you,&#8221; and they retired towards
+the lake.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; inquired Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is this,&#8221; said Raybold, folding his arms as
+he spoke. &#8220;I am a man of but few words. When
+I have formed a purpose I call upon my actions
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+to express it rather than my speech. I will not
+delay, therefore, to say to you that I love your
+ward, and my sole object in seeking this interview
+is to ask your permission to pay my addresses
+to her. That permission given, I will attend
+to the rest.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;After you have dropped your penny in the
+slot,&#8221; remarked Mr. Archibald. &#8220;I must say,&#8221; he
+continued, &#8220;that I am rather surprised at the
+nature of your communication. I supposed you
+were going to explain your somewhat remarkable
+conduct in bringing your tent into my camp without
+asking my permission or even speaking to me
+about it; but as what you have said is of so much
+more importance than that breach of good manners
+I will let the latter drop. But why did
+you ask my permission to address Miss Dearborn?
+Why didn&#8217;t you go and do it just as you brought
+your tent here? Did you think that if you had
+a permit from me for that sort of sport you could
+warn off trespassers?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It was something of that kind,&#8221; said Raybold,
+&#8220;although I should not have put it in that trifling
+way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then I will remark,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;that
+I know nothing of your matrimonial availability,
+and I do not want to know anything about it.
+My wife and I brought Miss Dearborn here to
+enjoy herself in the woods, not to be sought in
+marriage by strangers. For the present I am
+her guardian, and as such I say to you that I forbid
+you to make her a proposal of marriage, or,
+indeed, to pay her any attentions which she may
+consider serious. If I see that you do not respect
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+my wishes in this regard, I shall ask you to consider
+our acquaintance at an end, and shall dispense
+with your visits to this camp. Have I
+spoken plainly?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The knitted brows of Raybold were directed
+towards the ground. &#8220;You have spoken plainly,&#8221;
+he said, &#8220;and I have heard,&#8221; and with a bow he
+walked away.</p>
+<p>As he approached his tent a smile, intended to
+be bitter, played about his features.</p>
+<p>&#8220;A net of cobwebs,&#8221; he muttered, &#8220;to cage a
+lion!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The weather had now grown sultry, the afternoon
+was very hot, and there was a general desire
+to lie in the shade and doze. Margery&#8217;s
+plans for a siesta were a little more complicated
+than those of the others. She longed to lie in a
+hammock under great trees, surrounded by the
+leafy screens of the woodlands; to gaze at the
+blue sky through the loop-holes in the towering
+branches above her, and to dream of the mysteries
+of the forest.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; said she, to the young guide, &#8220;is
+there a hammock among the things we brought
+with us?&#8221;</p>
+<p>His face brightened. &#8220;Of course there are
+hammocks,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I wonder none of you
+asked about them before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I never thought of it,&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t
+had time for lounging, and as for Aunt Harriet,
+she would not get into one for five dollars.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where shall I hang it?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not anywhere about here. Couldn&#8217;t you find
+some nice place in the woods, not far away, but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span>
+where I would not be seen, and might have a little
+time to myself? If you can, come and tell me
+quietly where it is.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know what she means,&#8221; said Martin to himself.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s a shame that she should be annoyed.
+I can find you just such a place,&#8221; he said to Margery.
+&#8220;I will hang the hammock there, and I
+will take care that nobody else shall know where
+it is.&#8221; And away he went, bounding heart and
+foot.</p>
+<p>In less than a quarter of an hour he returned.
+&#8220;It&#8217;s all ready, Miss Dearborn,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think
+I have found a place you will like. It&#8217;s generally
+very close in the woods on a day like this, but
+there is a little bluff back of us, and at the end
+of it the woods are open, so that there is a good
+deal of air there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is charming,&#8221; said Margery, and with a
+book in her hand she accompanied Martin.</p>
+<p>They were each so interested in the hammock
+business that they walked side by side, instead of
+one following the other, as had been their custom
+heretofore.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, this is a delightful place!&#8221; cried Margery.
+&#8220;I can lie here and look down into the very heart
+of the woods; it is a solitude like Robinson Crusoe&#8217;s
+island.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad you like it,&#8221; said Martin. &#8220;I thought
+you would. I have put up the hammock strongly,
+so that you need not be afraid of it; but if there
+is any other way you want it I can change it.
+There is not a thing here that can hurt you, and
+if a little snake should happen along it would be
+glad to get away from you if you give it a chance.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+But if you should be frightened or should want
+anything you have only to call for me. I shall
+hear you, for I shall be out in the open just at
+the edge of the woods.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you very much,&#8221; said Margery; &#8220;nothing
+could be nicer than this, and you did it so
+quickly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He smiled with pleasure as he answered that he
+could have done it more quickly if it had been
+necessary; and then he retired slowly, that she
+might call him back if she thought of anything
+she wanted.</p>
+<p>Margery lay in the hammock, gazing out over
+the edge of the bluff into the heart of the woods;
+her closed book was in her hand, and the gentle
+breeze that shook the leaves around her and disturbed
+the loose curls about her face was laden
+with a moist spiciness which made her believe it
+had been wandering through some fragrant foliage
+of a kind unknown to her, far away in the
+depths of the forest, where she could not walk
+on account of the rocks, the great bushes, and
+the tall ferns. It was lovely to lie and watch
+the leafy boughs, which seemed as if they were
+waving their handkerchiefs to the breeze as it
+passed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe,&#8221; she said to herself, as she cast
+her eyes upward towards an open space above
+her, &#8220;that if I were that little white cloud and
+could float over the whole world and drop down
+on any spot I chose that I could drop into a
+lovelier place than this.&#8221; Then she brought
+her gaze again to earth, and her mind went
+out between the shadowy trunks which stretched
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span>
+away and away and away towards the mysteries
+of the forest, which must always be mysteries
+to her because it was impossible for her to get
+to them and solve them&mdash;that is, if she remained
+awake. But if Master Morpheus should happen
+by, she might yet know everything&mdash;for there
+are no mysteries which cannot be solved in
+dreams.</p>
+<p>Master Morpheus came, but with him came
+also Arthur Raybold; not by the little pathway
+that approached from the direction of the
+lake, but parting the bushes as if he had been
+exploring. When she heard footsteps behind
+her, Margery looked up quickly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Raybold!&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;How on earth
+did you happen here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did not happen,&#8221; said he, wiping his brow
+with his handkerchief. &#8220;I have been looking for
+you, and I have had tough work of it. I saw you
+go into the woods, and I went in also, although
+some distance below here, and I have had a hard
+and tiresome job working my way up to you;
+but I have found you. I knew I should, for I
+had bent my mind to the undertaking.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I wish you hadn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Margery, in a
+vexed tone. &#8220;I came here to be alone and take
+a nap, and I wish you would find some other nice
+place and go and take a nap yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He smiled deeply. &#8220;That would not answer
+my purpose at all,&#8221; said he. &#8220;Napping is far
+from my desires.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But I don&#8217;t care anything about your desires,&#8221;
+said Margery, in a tone which showed she was
+truly vexed, &#8220;I have pre-empted this place, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+I want it to myself. I was just falling into a
+most delightful doze when you came, and I don&#8217;t
+think you have any right to come here and disturb
+me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;The sense of right, Miss Dearborn,&#8221; said he,
+&#8220;comes from the heart, and we do not have to
+ask other people what it is. My heart has given
+me the right to come here, and here I am.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what in the name of common-sense are
+you here for?&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;Speaking about
+your heart makes me think you came here to
+make love to me. Is that it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and I wish you to hear me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Raybold,&#8221; said she, her eyes as bright, he
+thought, as if they had belonged to his sister
+when she was urging some of her favorite views
+upon a company, &#8220;I won&#8217;t listen to one word of
+such stuff. This is no place for love-making, and
+I won&#8217;t have it. If you want to make love to
+me you can wait until I go home, and then you
+can come and speak to my mother about it, and
+when you have spoken to her you can speak to
+me, but I won&#8217;t listen to it here. Not one
+word!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Thus did the indignant craftiness of Margery
+express itself. &#8220;It&#8217;s a good deal better,&#8221; she
+thought, &#8220;than telling him no, and having him
+keep on begging and begging.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Dearborn,&#8221; said Raybold, &#8220;what I have
+to say cannot be postponed. The words within
+me must be spoken, and I came here to speak
+them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a sudden supple twist Margery turned
+herself, hammock and all, and stood on her feet
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+on the ground. &#8220;Martin!&#8221; she cried, at the top
+of her voice.</p>
+<p>Raybold stepped back astonished. &#8220;What is
+this?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Am I to understand&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>Before he had time to complete his sentence
+Martin Sanders sprang into the scene.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is it?&#8221; he exclaimed, with a glare at
+Raybold, as if he suspected why he had been
+called.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; said Margery, with a good deal of
+sharpness in her voice, &#8220;I want you to take down
+this hammock and carry it away. I can&#8217;t stay
+here any longer. I thought that at least one
+quiet place out-of-doors could be found where I
+would not be disturbed, but it seems there is no
+such place. Perhaps you can hang the hammock
+somewhere near our cabin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin&#8217;s face grew very red. &#8220;I think,&#8221; said he,
+&#8220;that you ought not to be obliged to go away
+because you have been disturbed. Whoever disturbed
+you should go away, and not you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now Mr. Raybold&#8217;s face also grew red. &#8220;There
+has been enough of this!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Guide,
+you can go where you came from. You are not
+wanted here. If Miss Dearborn wishes her hammock
+taken down, I will do it.&#8221; Then turning
+to Margery, he continued: &#8220;You do not know
+what it is I have to say to you. If you do not
+hear me now, you will regret it all your life.
+Send this man away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I would very much like to send a man away
+if I knew how to do it,&#8221; said Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do it?&#8221; cried Martin. &#8220;Oh, Miss Dearborn,
+if you want it done, ask me to do it for you!&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;You!&#8221; shouted Raybold, making two steps
+towards the young guide; then he stopped, for
+Margery stood in front of him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have never seen two men fight,&#8221; said she,
+&#8220;and I don&#8217;t say I wouldn&#8217;t like it, just once;
+but you would have to have on boxing-gloves; I
+couldn&#8217;t stand a fight with plain hands, so you
+needn&#8217;t think of it. Martin, take down the hammock
+just as quickly as you can. And if you
+want to stay here, Mr. Raybold, you can stay,
+but if you want to talk, you can talk to the
+trees.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin heaved a sigh of disappointment, and
+proceeded to unfasten the hammock from the
+trees to which it had been tied. For a moment
+Raybold looked as if he were about to interfere,
+but there was something in the feverish agility
+of the young guide which made his close proximity
+as undesirable as that of a package of dynamite.</p>
+<p>Margery turned to leave the place, but suddenly
+stopped. She would wait until Martin was ready
+to go with her. She would not leave those two
+young men alone.</p>
+<p>Raybold was very angry. He knew well that
+such a chance for a private interview was not
+likely to occur again, and he would not give up.
+He approached the young girl.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery,&#8221; he said, &#8220;if you&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; she cried to the guide, who was now
+ready to go, &#8220;put down that hammock and come
+here. Now, sir,&#8221; she said, turning to Raybold,
+&#8220;let me hear you call me Margery again!&#8221;</p>
+<p>She waited for about a half a minute, but she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+was not called by name. Then she and Martin
+went away. She had nearly reached the cabin
+before she spoke, and then she turned to the
+young man and said: &#8220;Martin, you needn&#8217;t
+trouble yourself about putting up that hammock
+now; I don&#8217;t want to lie in it. I&#8217;m going into
+the house. I am very much obliged to you for
+the way you stood by me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stood by you!&#8221; he exclaimed, in a low voice,
+which seemed struggling in the grasp of something
+which might or might not be stronger than
+itself. &#8220;You don&#8217;t know how glad I am to stand
+by you, and how I would always&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Margery; &#8220;thank you very
+much,&#8221; and she walked away towards the cabin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, dear!&#8221; she sighed, as she opened the door
+and went in.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVI_A_MAN_WHO_FEELS_HIMSELF_A_MAN' id='XVI_A_MAN_WHO_FEELS_HIMSELF_A_MAN'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+<h3>A MAN WHO FEELS HIMSELF A MAN</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the afternoon, when the
+air had grown cooler, Mr. Archibald proposed a
+boating expedition to the lower end of the lake.
+His boat was large enough for Matlack, the
+three ladies, and himself, and if the two young
+men wished to follow, they had a boat of their
+own.</p>
+<p>When first asked to join the boating party Miss
+Corona Raybold hesitated; she did not care very
+much about boating; but when she found that if
+she stayed in camp she would have no one to
+talk to, she accepted the invitation.</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald took the oars nearest the stern,
+while Matlack seated himself forward, and this
+arrangement suited Miss Corona exactly.</p>
+<p>The boat kept down the middle of the lake,
+greatly aided by the current, and Corona talked
+steadily to Mr. Archibald. Mrs. Archibald, who
+always wanted to do what was right, and who
+did not like to be left out of any conversation
+on important subjects, made now and then a remark,
+and whenever she spoke Corona turned
+to her and listened with the kindest attention,
+but the moment the elder lady had finished, the
+other resumed her own thread of observation
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span>
+without the slightest allusion to what she had
+just heard.</p>
+<p>As for Mr. Archibald, he seldom said a word.
+He listened, sometimes his eyes twinkled, and he
+pulled easily and steadily. Doubtless he had a
+good many ideas, but none of them was expressed.
+As for Margery, she leaned back in the stern, and
+thought that, after all, she liked Miss Raybold
+better than she did her brother, for the young
+lady did not speak one word to her, nor did she
+appear to regard her in any way.</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how on earth,&#8221; thought Margery, &#8220;she
+can float over this beautiful water and under this
+lovely sky, with the grandeur of the forest all
+about her, and yet pay not the slightest attention
+to anything she sees, but keep steadily talking
+about her own affairs and the society she belongs
+to, I cannot imagine. She might as well
+live in a cellar and have pamphlets and reformers
+shoved down to her through the coal-hole.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Messrs. Clyde and Raybold accompanied the
+larger boat in their own skiff. It was an unwieldy
+craft, with but one pair of oars, and as
+the two young men were not accustomed to rowing
+together, and as Mr. Raybold was not accustomed
+to rowing at all and did not like it, Mr.
+Clyde pulled the boat. But, do what he could, it
+was impossible for him to get near the other boat.
+Matlack, who was not obliged to listen to Miss
+Corona, kept his eye upon the following skiff, and
+seemed to fear a collision if the two boats came
+close together, for if Clyde pulled hard he pulled
+harder. Arthur Raybold was not satisfied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought you were a better oarsman,&#8221; he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+said to the other; &#8220;but now I suppose we shall
+not come near them until we land.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But the Archibald party did not land. Under
+the guidance of Matlack they swept slowly
+around the lower end of the lake; they looked
+over the big untenanted camp-ground there;
+they stopped for a moment to gaze into the rift
+in the forest through which ran the stream which
+connected this lake with another beyond it, and
+then they rowed homeward, keeping close to the
+farther shore, so as to avoid the strength of the
+current.</p>
+<p>Clyde, who had not reached the end of the lake,
+now turned and determined to follow the tactics
+of the other boat and keep close to the shore, but
+on the side nearest to the camp. This exasperated
+Raybold.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What are you trying to do?&#8221; he said. &#8220;If
+you keep in the middle we may get near them,
+and why should we be on one side of the lake and
+they on the other?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to get back as soon as they do,&#8221; said
+Clyde, &#8220;and I don&#8217;t want to pull against the
+current.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; said Raybold. &#8220;If you are tired, let
+me have the oars.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Harrison Clyde looked for a minute at his companion,
+and then deliberately changed the course
+of the boat and rowed straight towards the shore,
+paying no attention whatever to the excited remonstrances
+of Raybold. He beached the boat at
+a rather poor landing-place among some bushes,
+and then, jumping out, he made her fast.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; cried Raybold, as he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+scrambled on shore. &#8220;Is she leaking more than
+she did? What is the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;She is not leaking more than usual,&#8221; said the
+other, &#8220;but I am not going to pull against that
+current with you growling in the stern. I am
+going to walk back to camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In consequence of this resolution the two young
+men reached Camp Rob about the same time
+that the Archibald boat touched shore, and at
+least an hour before they would have arrived had
+they remained in their boat.</p>
+<p>The party was met by Mrs. Perkenpine, bearing
+letters and newspapers. A man had arrived from
+Sadler&#8217;s in their absence, and he had brought the
+mail. Nearly every one had letters; there was
+even something for Martin. Standing where they
+had landed, seated on bits of rock, on the grass,
+or on camp-chairs, all read their letters.</p>
+<p>While thus engaged a gentleman approached
+the party from the direction of Camp Roy. He
+was tall, well built, handsomely dressed in a suit
+of light-brown tweed, and carried himself with a
+buoyant uprightness. A neat straw hat with a
+broad ribbon shaded his smooth-shaven face,
+which sparkled with cordial good-humor. A blue
+cravat was tied tastefully under a broad white
+collar, and in his hand he carried a hickory
+walking-stick, cut in the woods, but good enough
+for a city sidewalk. Margery was the first to raise
+her eyes at the sound of the quickly approaching
+footsteps.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Goodness gracious!&#8221; she exclaimed, and then
+everybody looked up.</p>
+<p>For a moment the new-comer was gazed upon
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+in silence. From what gigantic bandbox could
+this well-dressed stranger have dropped? Then,
+with a loud laugh, Mr. Archibald cried, &#8220;The
+bishop!&#8221;</p>
+<p>No wonder there had not been instant recognition.
+The loose, easy-fitting clothes gave no
+hint of redundant plumpness; no soiled shovel-hat
+cast a shadow over the smiling face, and a
+glittering shirt front banished all thought of
+gutta-percha.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madam,&#8221; exclaimed the bishop, raising his
+hat and stepping quickly towards Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;I cannot express the pleasure I feel in meeting
+you again. And as for you, sir,&#8221; holding out his
+hand to Mr. Archibald, &#8220;I have no words in which
+to convey my feelings. Look upon a man, sir, who
+feels himself a man, and then remember from
+what you raised him. I can say no more now,
+but I can never forget what you have done,&#8221; and
+as he spoke he pressed Mr. Archibald&#8217;s hand
+with an honest fervor, which distorted for a moment
+the features of that gentleman.</p>
+<p>From one to the other of the party the bishop
+glanced, as he said, &#8220;How glad, how unutterably
+glad, I am to be again among you!&#8221; Turning
+his eyes towards Miss Raybold, he stopped. That
+young lady had put down the letter she was reading,
+and was gazing at him through her spectacles
+with calm intensity. &#8220;This lady,&#8221; said the bishop,
+turning towards Raybold, &#8220;is your sister, I presume?
+May I have the honor?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Raybold looked at him without speaking. Here
+was an example of the silly absurdity of throwing
+pearls before swine. He had never wanted to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+have anything to do with the fellow when he was
+in the gutter, and he wanted nothing to do with
+him now.</p>
+<p>With a little flush on her face Mrs. Archibald
+rose.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Miss Raybold,&#8221; she said, &#8220;let me present to
+you&#8221;&mdash;and she hesitated for a moment&mdash;&#8220;the
+gentleman we call the bishop. I think you have
+heard us speak of him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Miss Raybold, rising, with a
+charming smile on her handsome face, and extending
+her hand, &#8220;I have heard of him, and I
+am very glad to meet him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have also heard of you,&#8221; said the bishop, as
+he stood smiling beside Corona&#8217;s camp-chair,
+&#8220;and I have regretted that I have been the innocent
+means of preventing you for a time from
+occupying your brother&#8217;s camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, do not mention that,&#8221; said Corona, sweetly.
+&#8220;I walked over there yesterday, and I think
+it is a great deal pleasanter here, so you have
+really done me a favor. I am particularly glad
+to see you, because, from the little I have heard
+said about you, I think you must agree with some
+of my cherished opinions. For one thing, I am
+quite certain you favor the assertion of individuality;
+your actions prove that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; said the bishop, seating himself near
+her, &#8220;I have not given much thought to the
+subject; but I suppose I have asserted my individuality.
+If I have, however, I have done it
+indefinitely. Everybody about me having some
+definite purpose in life, and I having none, I am,
+in a negative way, a distinctive individual. It
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+is a pity I am so different from other people,
+but&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, it is not a pity,&#8221; interrupted Corona, the
+color coming into her cheeks and a brighter light
+into her eyes. &#8220;Our individuality is a sacred responsibility.
+It is given to us for us to protect
+and encourage&mdash;I may say, to revere. It is a
+trust for which we should be called to account by
+ourselves, and we shall be false and disloyal to
+ourselves if we cannot show that we have done
+everything in our power for the establishment
+and recognition of our individuality.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It delights me to hear you speak in that way,&#8221;
+exclaimed the bishop. &#8220;It encourages and cheers
+me. We are what we are; and if we can be
+more fully what we are than we have been, then
+we are more truly ourselves than before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And what can be nobler,&#8221; cried Corona, &#8220;than
+to be, in the most distinctive sense of the term,
+ourselves?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Archibald walked together towards
+their cabin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to be neighborly and hospitable,&#8221; said
+he, &#8220;but it seems to me that, now that the way
+is clear for Miss Raybold to move her tent
+to her own camp and set up house-keeping
+there, we should not be called upon to entertain
+her, and, if we want to enjoy ourselves in
+our own way, we can do it without thinking of
+her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We shall certainly not do it,&#8221; said his wife,
+&#8220;if we do think of her. I am very much disappointed
+in her. She is not a companion at all for
+Margery; she never speaks to her; and, on the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span>
+other hand, I should think you would wish she
+would never speak to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said her husband, &#8220;that feeling did
+grow upon me somewhat this afternoon. Up to
+a certain point she is amusing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Here he was interrupted by Mrs. Perkenpine,
+who planted herself before him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I s&#8217;pose you think I didn&#8217;t do right,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;&#8217;cause, when that big bundle came it had your
+name on it; but I knew it was clothes, and that
+they was for that man in our camp, and so I
+took them to him myself. I heard Phil say that
+the sooner that man was up and dressed, the
+better it would be for all parties; and as Martin
+had gone off, and there wasn&#8217;t nobody to take
+his clothes to him, I took them to him, and that&#8217;s
+the long and short of it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wondered how he got them,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald,
+&#8220;but I am glad you carried them to him.&#8221;
+Then, speaking to his wife, he added, &#8220;It may be
+a good thing that I gave him a chance to assert
+his individuality.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVII_MRS_PERKENPINE_ASSERTS_HER_INDIVIDUALITY' id='XVII_MRS_PERKENPINE_ASSERTS_HER_INDIVIDUALITY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+<h3>MRS. PERKENPINE ASSERTS HER INDIVIDUALITY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>About half an hour after the beginning of the
+conversation between the bishop and Miss Corona,
+Mrs. Perkenpine came to the latter and informed
+her that supper was ready, and three times after
+that first announcement did she repeat the information.
+At last the bishop rose and said he
+would not keep Miss Raybold from her meal.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Will you not join us?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;I shall be
+glad to have you do so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop hesitated for a moment, and then
+he accompanied Corona.</p>
+<p>As Mrs. Perkenpine turned from the camp
+cooking-stove, a long-handled pan, well filled with
+slices of hot meat, in her hand, she stood for a
+moment amazed. Slowly approaching the little
+table outside of the tent were the bishop and
+Miss Raybold, and glancing beyond them towards
+the lake, she saw Clyde and Raybold, to
+whom she had yelled that supper was ready, the
+one with his arms folded, gazing out over the
+water, and the other strolling backward and forward,
+as if he had thought of going to his supper,
+but had not quite made up his mind to it.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine&#8217;s face grew red. &#8220;They are
+waitin&#8217; for a chance to speak to that Archibald
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span>
+gal,&#8221; she thought. &#8220;Well, let them wait. And
+she&#8217;s bringing him! She needn&#8217;t s&#8217;pose I don&#8217;t
+know him. I&#8217;ve seen him splittin&#8217; wood at Sadler&#8217;s,
+and I don&#8217;t cook for sech.&#8221; So saying, she
+strode to some bushes a little back of the stove,
+and dashed the panful of meat behind them.
+Then she returned, and seizing the steaming coffee-pot,
+she poured its contents on the ground.
+Then she took up a smaller pan, containing some
+fried potatoes, hot and savory, and these she
+threw after the meat.</p>
+<p>The bishop and Corona now reached the table
+and seated themselves. Mrs. Perkenpine, her face
+as hard and immovable as the trunk of an oak, approached,
+and placed before them some slices of
+cold bread, some butter, and two glasses of water.</p>
+<p>Still earnestly talking, her eyes sometimes
+dimmed with tears of excitement as she descanted
+upon her favorite theories, Corona began to eat
+what was before her. She buttered a slice of
+bread, and if the bishop chanced to say anything
+she ate some of it. She drank some water, and she
+talked and talked and talked. She did not know
+what she was eating. It might have been a Lord
+Mayor&#8217;s dinner or a beggar&#8217;s crust; her mind
+took no cognizance of such an unimportant matter.
+As for her companion, he knew very well
+what he was eating, and as he gazed about him,
+and saw that there were no signs of anything
+more, his heart sank lower and lower; but he
+ate slice after slice of bread, for he was hungry,
+and he hoped that when the two young men came
+to the table they would call for more substantial
+food.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></p>
+<p>But long before they arrived Corona finished
+her meal and rose.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now that we have had our supper,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;let us go where we shall not be annoyed by the
+smell of food, and continue our conversation.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is it possible,&#8221; thought the bishop, &#8220;that she
+can be annoyed by the smell of hot meat, potatoes,
+and coffee? I suppose the delicious odor
+comes from the other supper-table. Heavens!
+Why wasn&#8217;t I asked there?&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was a dreadful storm when Raybold and
+Clyde came to the table; but Mrs. Perkenpine
+remained hard and immovable through it all.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your sister and that tramp has been here,&#8221;
+said she, &#8220;and this is all there is left. If you keep
+your hogs in your house, you can&#8217;t expect to
+count on your victuals.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Some more coffee was made, and that, with
+bread, composed the young men&#8217;s supper.</p>
+<p>When Arthur Raybold had finished his meal, he
+walked to the spot where Corona and the bishop
+were conversing, and stood there silently. He
+was afraid to interrupt his sister by speaking to
+her, but he thought that his presence might have
+an effect upon her companion. It did have an
+effect, for the bishop seized the opportunity
+created by the arrival of a third party, excused
+himself, and departed at the first break in Corona&#8217;s
+flow of words.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish, Arthur,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that when you see
+I am engaged in a conversation, you would wait
+at least a reasonable time before interrupting it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A reasonable time!&#8221; said Raybold, with a
+laugh. &#8220;I like that! But I came here to interrupt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span>
+your conversation. Do you know who that
+fellow is you were talking to? He&#8217;s a common,
+good-for-nothing tramp. He goes round splitting
+wood for his meals. Clyde and I kept him
+here to cook our meals because we had no servant,
+and he&#8217;s been in bed for days because he
+had no clothes to wear. Now you are treating
+him as if he were a gentleman, and you actually
+brought him to our table, where, like the half-starved
+cur that he is, he has eaten up everything
+fit to eat that we were to have for our
+supper.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He did not eat all of it,&#8221; said Corona, &#8220;for
+I ate some myself; and if he is the good-for-nothing
+tramp and the other things you call him,
+I wish I could meet with more such tramps. I
+tell you, Arthur, that if you were to spend the
+next five years in reading and studying, you
+could not get into your mind one-tenth of the
+serious information, the power to reason intelligently
+upon your perceptions, the ability to collate,
+compare, and refer to their individual causes
+the impressions&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, bosh!&#8221; said her brother. &#8220;What I want
+to know is, are you going to make friends with
+that man and invite him to our table?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall invite him if I see fit,&#8221; said she. &#8220;He
+is an extremely intelligent person.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; answered he, &#8220;if you do I shall have a
+separate table,&#8221; and he walked away.</p>
+<p>As soon as he had left Corona, the bishop repaired
+to the Archibalds&#8217; cooking-tent, where he
+saw Matlack at work.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have come,&#8221; he said, with a pleasant smile,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span>
+&#8220;to ask a very great favor. Would it be convenient
+for you to give me something to eat? Anything
+in the way of meat, hot or cold, and some
+tea or coffee, as I see there is a pot still steaming
+on your stove. I have had an unlucky experience.
+You know I have been preparing my own
+meals at the other camp, but to-day, when Mrs.
+Perkenpine brought me my clothes, she carried
+away with her all the provisions that had been
+left there. I supped, it is true, with Miss Raybold,
+but her appetite is so delicate and her fare
+so extremely simple that I confidentially acknowledge
+that I am half starved.&#8221;</p>
+<p>During these remarks Matlack had stood quietly
+gazing at the bishop. &#8220;Do you see that pile
+of logs and branches there?&#8221; said he; &#8220;that&#8217;s
+the firewood that&#8217;s got to be cut for to-morrow,
+which is Sunday, when we don&#8217;t want to be cuttin&#8217;
+wood; and if you&#8217;ll go to work and cut it into
+pieces to fit this stove, I&#8217;ll give you your supper.
+You can go to the other camp and sleep where
+you have been sleepin&#8217;, if you want to, and in the
+mornin&#8217; I&#8217;ll give you your breakfast. I &#8217;ain&#8217;t got
+no right to give you Mr. Archibald&#8217;s victuals, but
+what you eat I&#8217;ll pay for out of my own pocket,
+considerin&#8217; that you&#8217;ll do my work. Then to-morrow
+I&#8217;ll give you just one hour after you&#8217;ve
+finished your breakfast to get out of this camp
+altogether, entirely out of my sight. I tried to
+have you sent away before, but other people took
+you up, and so I said no more; but now things
+are different. When a man pulls up what I&#8217;ve
+drove down, and sets loose what I&#8217;ve locked up,
+and the same as snaps his fingers in my face when
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
+I&#8217;m attendin&#8217; to my business, then I don&#8217;t let
+that man stay in my camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;but in case I
+should not go away within the time specified,
+what would be your course?&#8221;</p>
+<p>In a few brief remarks, inelegant but expressive,
+the guide outlined his intentions of taking
+measures which would utterly eliminate the physical
+energy of the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t taken no advantage of you,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;I haven&#8217;t come down on you when you
+hadn&#8217;t no clothes to go away in; and now that
+you&#8217;ve got good clothes, I don&#8217;t want to spile
+them if I can help it; but they&#8217;re not goin&#8217; to
+save you&mdash;mind my words. What I&#8217;ve said I&#8217;ll
+stick to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Matlack,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;I consider
+that you are entirely correct in all your positions.
+As to that unfortunate affair of the boat, I had
+intended coming to you and apologizing most
+sincerely for my share in it. It was an act of
+great foolishness, but that does not in the least
+excuse me. I apologize now, and beg that you
+will believe that I truly regret having interfered
+with your arrangements.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That won&#8217;t do!&#8221; exclaimed the guide. &#8220;When
+a man as much as snaps his fingers in my face,
+it&#8217;s no use for him to come and apologize. That&#8217;s
+not what I want.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nevertheless,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;you will pardon
+me if I insist upon expressing my regrets. I
+do that for my own sake as well as yours; but
+we will drop that subject. When you ask me to
+cut wood to pay for my meals, you are entirely
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+right, and I honor your sound opinion upon this
+subject. I will cut the wood and earn my meals,
+but there is one amendment to your plan which
+I would like to propose. To-morrow is Sunday;
+for that reason we should endeavor to make the
+day as quiet and peaceable as possible, and we
+should avoid everything which may be difficult
+of explanation or calculated to bring about an
+unpleasant difference of opinion among other
+members of the party. Therefore, will you postpone
+the time at which you will definitely urge
+my departure until Monday morning?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;now I come to think of it,
+it might be well not to kick up a row on Sunday,
+and I will put it off until Monday morning; but
+mind, there&#8217;s no nonsense about me. What I say I
+mean, and on Monday morning you march of your
+own accord, or I&#8217;ll attend to the matter myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good,&#8221; said the bishop; &#8220;thank you
+very much. To-morrow I will consider your invitation
+to leave this place, and if you will come
+to Camp Roy about half-past six on Monday
+morning I will then give you my decision. Will
+that hour suit you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;you might as well
+make it a business matter. It&#8217;s going to be business
+on my side, I&#8217;d have you know.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good&mdash;very good,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;and
+now let me get at that wood.&#8221;</p>
+<p>So saying, he put down his cane, took off his
+hat, his coat, his waistcoat, his collar, and his
+cravat and his cuffs; he rolled up his sleeves, he
+turned up the bottoms of his trousers, and then
+taking an axe, he set to work.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></p>
+<p>In a few minutes Martin arrived on the scene.
+&#8220;What&#8217;s up now?&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s cuttin&#8217; wood for his meals,&#8221; replied Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought you were going to bounce him as
+soon as he got up?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s put off until Monday morning,&#8221; said
+Matlack. &#8220;Then he marches. I&#8217;ve settled
+that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did he agree?&#8221; asked Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Tain&#8217;t necessary for him to agree; he&#8217;ll find
+that out Monday morning.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin stood and looked at the bishop as he
+worked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish you would get him to cut wood every
+day,&#8221; said he. &#8220;By George, how he makes that
+axe fly!&#8221;</p>
+<p>When the bishop finished his work he drove
+his axe-head deep into a stump, washed his hands
+and his face, resumed the clothing he had laid
+aside, and then sat down to supper. There was
+nothing stingy about Matlack, and the wood-chopper
+made a meal which amply compensated
+him for the deficiencies of the Perkenpine repast.</p>
+<p>When he had finished he hurried to the spot
+where the party was in the habit of assembling
+around the camp-fire. He found there some
+feebly burning logs, and Mr. Clyde, who sat alone,
+smoking his pipe.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What is the matter?&#8221; asked the bishop.
+&#8220;Where are all our friends?&#8221;</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-150.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 366px; height: 304px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 366px;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?&#8217;&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></div>
+<p>&#8220;I suppose they are all in bed,&#8221; said Clyde,
+&#8220;with the bedclothes pulled over their heads&mdash;that is, except one, and I suspect she is talking in
+her sleep. They were all here as usual, and Mr.
+Archibald thought he would break the spell by
+telling a fishing story. He told me he was going
+to try to speak against time; but it wasn&#8217;t of
+any use. She just slid into the middle of his remarks
+as a duck slides into the water, and then
+she began an oration. I really believe she did
+not know that any one else was talking.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That may have been the case,&#8221; said the bishop;
+&#8220;she has a wonderful power of self-concentration.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very true,&#8221; said Clyde, &#8220;and this time she concentrated
+herself so much upon herself that the
+rest of us got away, one by one, and when all the
+others had gone she went. Then, when I found
+she really had gone, I came back. By-the-way,
+bishop,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;there is something I
+would like to do, and I want you to help me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Name it,&#8221; said the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am getting tired of the way the Raybolds
+are trespassing on the good-nature of the Archibalds,
+and, whatever they do, I don&#8217;t intend to
+let them make me trespass any longer. I haven&#8217;t
+anything to do with Miss Raybold, but the other
+tent belongs as much to me as it does to her
+brother, and I am going to take it back to our
+own camp. And what is more, I am going to
+have my meals there. I don&#8217;t want that wooden-headed
+Mrs. Perkenpine to cook for me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How would you like me to do it?&#8221; asked the
+bishop, quickly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That would be fine,&#8221; said Clyde. &#8220;I will help,
+and we will set up house-keeping there again, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
+if Raybold doesn&#8217;t choose to come and live in his
+own camp he can go wherever he pleases. I am
+not going to have him manage things for me.
+Don&#8217;t you think that you and I can carry that
+tent over?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;With ease!&#8221; exclaimed the bishop. &#8220;When
+do you want to move&mdash;Monday morning?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Clyde, &#8220;after breakfast.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XVIII_THE_HERMITS_ASSOCIATE' id='XVIII_THE_HERMITS_ASSOCIATE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+<h3>THE HERMITS ASSOCIATE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>During the next day no one in camp had reason
+to complain of Corona Raybold. She did not
+seem inclined to talk to anybody, but spent the
+most of her time alone. She wrote a little and
+reflected a great deal, sometimes walking, sometimes
+seated in the shade, gazing far beyond the
+sky.</p>
+<p>When the evening fire was lighted, her mood
+changed so that one might have supposed that
+another fire had been lighted somewhere in the
+interior of her mental organism. Her fine eyes
+glistened, her cheeks gently reddened, and her
+whole body became animated with an energy
+created by warm emotions.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have something I wish to say to you all,&#8221;
+she exclaimed, as she reached the fire. &#8220;Where
+is Arthur? Will somebody please call him? And
+I would like to see both the guides. It is something
+very important that I have to say. Mrs.
+Perkenpine will be here in a moment; I asked
+her to come. If Mr. Matlack is not quite ready,
+can he not postpone what he is doing? I am
+sure you will all be interested in what I have to
+say, and I do not want to begin until every one
+is here.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span></p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald saw that she was very much in
+earnest, and so he sent for the guides, and Clyde
+went to call Raybold.</p>
+<p>In a few minutes Clyde returned and told Corona
+that her brother had said he did not care
+to attend services that evening.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Where is he?&#8221; asked Miss Raybold.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He is sitting over there looking out upon the
+lake,&#8221; replied Clyde.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will be back almost immediately,&#8221; said she
+to Mr. Archibald, &#8220;and in the mean time please
+let everybody assemble.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Arthur Raybold was in no mood to attend services
+of any sort. He had spent nearly the whole
+day trying to get a chance to speak to Margery,
+but never could he find her alone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I can once put the matter plainly to her,&#8221;
+he said to himself, &#8220;she will quickly perceive
+what it is that I offer her; and when she clearly
+sees that, I will undertake to make her accept it.
+She is only a woman, and can no more withstand
+me than a mound of sand built by a baby&#8217;s hand
+could withstand the rolling wave.&#8221;</p>
+<p>At this moment Corona arrived and told him
+that she wanted him at the camp-fire. He was
+only a man, and could no more withstand her
+than a mound of sand built by a baby&#8217;s hand
+could withstand the rolling wave.</p>
+<p>When everybody in the camp had gathered
+around the fire, Corona, her eye-glasses illumined
+by the light of her soul, gazed around the circle
+and began to speak.</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear friends,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I have been
+thinking a great deal to-day upon a very important
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
+subject, and I have come to the conclusion
+that we who form this little company have before
+us one of the grandest opportunities ever
+afforded a group of human beings. We are here,
+apart from our ordinary circumstances and avocations,
+free from all the trammels and demands
+of society, alone with nature and ourselves. In
+our ordinary lives, surrounded by our ordinary
+circumstances, we cannot be truly ourselves;
+each of us is but part of a whole, and very often
+an entirely unharmonious part. It is very seldom
+that we are able to do the things we wish to
+do in the manner and at times and places when
+it would best suit our natures. Try as we may
+to be true to ourselves, it is seldom possible; we
+are swept away in a current of conventionality.
+It may be one kind of conventionality for some
+of us and another kind for others, but we are
+borne on by it all the same. Sometimes a person
+like myself or Mr. Archibald clings to some rock
+or point upon the bank, and for a little while is
+free from the coercion of circumstances, but this
+cannot be for long, and we are soon swept with
+the rest into the ocean of conglomerate commonplace.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s when we die!&#8221; remarked Mrs. Perkenpine,
+who sat reverently listening.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said the speaker, &#8220;it happens while we
+are alive. But now,&#8221; she continued, &#8220;we have a
+chance, as I said before, to shake ourselves free
+from our enthralment. For a little while each
+one of us may assert his or her individuality. We
+are a varied and representative party; we come
+from different walks of life; we are men, women,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+and&mdash;&#8221; looking at Margery, she was about to say
+children, but she changed her expression to
+&#8220;young people.&#8221; &#8220;I think you will all understand
+what I mean. When we are at our homes
+we do things because other people want us to do
+them, and not because we want to do them. A
+family sits down to a meal, and some of them like
+what is on the table, some do not; some of them
+would have preferred to eat an hour before, some
+of them would prefer to eat an hour later; but
+they all take their meals at the same time and
+eat the same things because it is the custom to
+do so.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I mention a meal simply as an instance, but
+the slavery of custom extends into every branch
+of our lives. We get up, we go to bed, we read,
+we work, we play, just as other people do these
+things, and not as we ourselves would do them if
+we planned our own lives. Now we have a chance,
+all of us, to be ourselves! Each of us may say, &#8216;I
+am myself, one!&#8217; Think of that, my friends, each
+one! Each of us a unit, responsible only to his
+or her unity, if I may so express it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean that I am that?&#8221; inquired Mrs.
+Perkenpine.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; replied Corona.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Is Phil Matlack one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said the female guide; &#8220;if he is
+one, I don&#8217;t mind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now what I propose is this,&#8221; said Corona: &#8220;I
+understand that the stay in this camp will continue
+for about a week longer, and I earnestly
+urge upon you that for this time we shall each
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+one of us assert our individuality. Let us be what
+we are, show ourselves what we are, and let each
+other see what we are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would not be safe nor pleasant to allow everybody
+to do that,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald. He was
+more interested in Miss Raybold&#8217;s present discourse
+than he had been in any other he had
+heard her deliver.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said she, &#8220;it would not do to propose
+such a thing to the criminal classes or to
+people of evil inclinations, but I have carefully
+considered the whole subject as it relates to us,
+and I think we are a party singularly well calculated
+to become the exponent of the distinctiveness
+of our several existences.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That gits me,&#8221; said Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am afraid,&#8221; said the speaker, gazing kindly
+at him, &#8220;that I do not always express myself
+plainly to the general comprehension, but what I
+mean is this: that during the time we stay here,
+let each one of us do exactly what he or she wants
+to do, without considering other people at all, except,
+of course, that we must not do anything
+which would interfere with any of the others doing
+what they please. For instance&mdash;and I assure
+you I have thought over this matter in all its details&mdash;if
+any of us were inclined to swear or behave
+disorderly, which I am sure could not be the
+case, he or she would not do so because he or she
+would feel that, being responsible to himself or
+herself, that responsibility would prevent him or
+her from doing that which would interfere with
+the pleasure or comfort of his or her associates.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, somewhat severely,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span>
+&#8220;that our duty to our fellow-beings is far
+more important than our selfish consideration of
+ourselves.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But reflect,&#8221; cried Corona, &#8220;how much consideration
+we give to our fellow-beings, and how
+little to ourselves as ourselves, each one. Can we
+not, for the sake of knowing ourselves and honoring
+ourselves, give ourselves to ourselves for a
+little while? The rest of our lives may then be
+given to others and the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hardly believe,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;that
+all of us clearly understand your meaning, but it
+seems to me that you would like each one of us
+to become, for a time, a hermit. I do not know
+of any other class of persons who so thoroughly
+assert their individuality.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are right!&#8221; exclaimed Corona. &#8220;A hermit
+does it. A hermit is more truly himself than
+any other man. He may dwell in a cave and eat
+water-cresses, he may live on top of a tall pillar,
+or he may make his habitation in a barrel! If a
+hermit should so choose, he might furnish a cave
+with Eastern rugs and bric-&agrave;-brac. If he liked
+that sort of thing, he would be himself. Yes, I
+would have all of us, in the truest sense of the
+word, hermits, each a hermit; but we need not
+dwell apart. Some of us would certainly wish to
+assert our individuality by not dwelling apart
+from others.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We might, then,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;become
+a company of associate hermits.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Exactly!&#8221; cried Corona, stretching out her
+hands. &#8220;That is the very word&mdash;associate hermits.
+My dear friends, from to-morrow morning,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
+until we leave here, let us be associate
+hermits. Let us live for ourselves, be true to
+ourselves. After all, if we think of it seriously,
+ourselves are all that we have in this world.
+Everything else may be taken from us, but no
+one can take from me, myself, or from any one
+of you, yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop now rose. He as well as the others
+had listened attentively to everything that had
+been said; even Arthur Raybold had shown a
+great deal of interest in his sister&#8217;s remarks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You mean,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;that while we
+stay here each one of us shall act exactly as we
+think we ought to act if we were not influenced
+by the opinions and examples of others around
+us, and thus we shall have an opportunity to find
+out for ourselves and show others exactly what
+we are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is it,&#8221; said Corona, &#8220;you have stated it
+very well.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;I move that for
+the time stated we individually assert our individuality.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Second the motion,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All in favor of this motion please say &#8216;Aye,&#8217;&#8221;
+said Corona. &#8220;Now let everybody vote, and I
+hope you will all say &#8216;Aye,&#8217; and if any one does
+not understand, I will be happy to explain.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I want to know,&#8221; said Phil Matlack, rising, &#8220;if
+one man asserts what you call his individ&#8217;ality in
+such a way that it runs up agin another man&#8217;s,
+and that second man ain&#8217;t inclined to stand it, if
+that&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I assure you,&#8221; interrupted the bishop,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+&#8220;that that will be all right. I understand you
+perfectly, and the individualities will all run
+along together without interfering with each
+other, and if one happens to get in the way of
+another it will be gently moved aside.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Gently!&#8221; said Matlack, somewhat satirically.
+&#8220;Well, all right, it will be moved aside. I am
+satisfied, if the rest are.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now all in favor say &#8216;Aye,&#8217;&#8221; said Corona.</p>
+<p>They all said &#8220;Aye,&#8221; except Mrs. Perkenpine,
+who said &#8220;Me.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XIX_MARGERY_S_BREAKFAST' id='XIX_MARGERY_S_BREAKFAST'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+<h3>MARGERY&#8217;S BREAKFAST</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Very early the next morning Margery pushed
+wide open the window of her studio chamber.
+The sash was a large one, and opened outward on
+hinges. She looked out upon the dewy foliage,
+she inhaled the fragrance of the moist morning
+air, she listened to the song of some early birds,
+and then, being dressed for the day, she got on a
+chair, stepped on the window-sill, and jumped
+out. She walked quietly round the cabin and
+went out towards the lake. She had never seen
+the woods so early in the day. All the space between
+the earth and the sky seemed filled with
+an intoxicating coolness. She took off her hat
+and carried it in her hand; the sun was not yet
+high enough to make it necessary to put anything
+between him and her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is what I am,&#8221; said Margery to herself
+as she stepped blithely on. &#8220;I never knew before
+what I am. I am really a dryad under difficulties.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Presently, to her amazement and his amazement,
+she saw Martin. She went towards him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Martin,&#8221; she said, &#8220;are you up so early?&#8221;</p>
+<p>He smiled. &#8220;This is not early for me,&#8221; he answered.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;And Mr. Matlack, is he up?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes, he is up, and gone off to attend to
+some business.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, really!&#8221; exclaimed Margery. &#8220;I thought
+I was the first one out in the world to-day. And
+now, Martin, don&#8217;t you want to do something for
+me? I did not think it would happen, but I am
+really dreadfully hungry, and couldn&#8217;t you give
+me my breakfast now, by myself, before anybody
+else? I am not particular what I have&mdash;anything
+that is easy to get ready will do&mdash;and I would like
+it down at the very edge of the lake.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You shall have it!&#8221; exclaimed Martin, eagerly.
+&#8220;I will get it ready for you very soon, and will
+bring it to you. I know you like bread and butter
+and jam, and there is some cold meat, and I
+will boil you an egg and make some coffee.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That will be lovely,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;and I
+will go down by the lake and wait. I do believe,&#8221;
+she said to herself as she hurried away, &#8220;that this
+hermit business is the only sensible thing that
+ever came into the head of that classic statue
+with the glass fronts.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Very soon Martin appeared with a rug, which
+he said she would want if she were going to sit
+on the ground; and then he ran away, but soon
+came back with the breakfast. Margery was surprised
+to see how tastefully it was served.</p>
+<p>&#8220;You could not have done it better,&#8221; she said,
+&#8220;if you had been a&#8221;&mdash;she was about to say waiter,
+but as she gazed at the bright, handsome face of
+the young man she felt that it would hurt his feelings
+to use such a word, so she suddenly changed
+it to woman.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;If it is done well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;it is not because
+I am like a woman, but because you are one.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What does that mean?&#8221; thought Margery;
+but she did not stop to consider. &#8220;Thank you
+very much,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Here is where I am going
+to eat, and nobody will disturb me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you wish anything else?&#8221; he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said she. &#8220;I have everything I want;
+you know I take only one cup of coffee.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He did know it; he knew everything she took,
+and as he felt that there was no excuse for him
+to stay there any longer, he slowly walked away.</p>
+<p>The place Margery had chosen was a nice little
+nook for a nice little hermit. It was a bit of low
+beach, very narrow, and flanked on the shore side
+by a row of bushes, which soon turned and grew
+down to the water&#8217;s edge, thus completely cutting
+off one end of the beach. At the other end the
+distance between the shrubbery and the water
+was but a few feet, so that Margery could eat her
+breakfast without being disturbed by the rest of
+the world.</p>
+<p>Reclining on the rug with the little tray on the
+ground before her, and some green leaves and a
+few pale wild flowers peeping over the edge of it
+to see what she had for breakfast, Margery gave
+herself up to the enjoyment of life.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Each, one,&#8221; she said aloud; &#8220;I am one, and
+beautiful nature is another. Just two of us, and
+each, one. Go away, sir,&#8221; she said to a big buzzing
+creature with transparent wings, &#8220;you are
+another, but you don&#8217;t count.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Arthur Raybold was perhaps the member of
+the party who was the best satisfied to be himself.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
+He had vowed, as he left the camp-fire the night
+before, that his sister had at last evolved an idea
+which had some value. Be himself? He should
+think so! He firmly believed that he was the
+only person in the camp capable of truly acting
+his own part in life.</p>
+<p>Clyde had told him that on this morning he
+was going to move the tent over to their own
+camp, and though he had objected very forcibly,
+he found that Clyde was not to be moved, and
+that the tent would be. In an angry mood he
+had been the first one of the Associated Hermits
+to assert his individuality. He made up his mind
+that he would not leave the immediate atmosphere
+of Margery. He would revolve about her
+in his waking hours and in his dreams, and in the
+latter case he would revolve in a hammock hung
+between two trees not far from his sister&#8217;s tent;
+and as he was not one who delayed the execution
+of his plans, he had put up the hammock that
+night, although his tent was still in Camp Rob.
+He had not slept very well, because he was not
+used to repose in a hammock; and he had risen
+early, for, though wrapped in a blanket, he
+had found himself a little chilly.</p>
+<p>Starting out for a brisk walk to warm himself,
+he had not gone far before he thought he heard
+something which sounded like the clicking of
+knife and fork and dish. He stopped, listened, and
+then approached the source of the sounds, and
+soon stood at the open end of Margery&#8217;s little
+beach. For a few moments she did not know
+he was there, so engrossed was her mind with
+the far-away shadows on the lake, and with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+the piece of bread and jam she held in her
+hand.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, happy Fates!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;How have
+ye befriended me! Could I have believed such
+rare fortune was in store for me?&#8221;</p>
+<p>At the sound of his voice Margery turned her
+head and started, and in the same instant she was
+on her feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery,&#8221; he said, without approaching her,
+but extending his arms so that one hand touched
+the bushes and the other reached over the water,
+&#8220;I have you a gentle prisoner. I consider this
+the most fortunate hour of my whole existence.
+All I ask of you is to listen to me for ten minutes,
+and then I will cease to stand guard at the entrance
+to your little haven, and although you will
+be free to go where you please, I know you will
+not go away from me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery&#8217;s face was on fire. She was so angry
+she could scarcely speak, but she managed to
+bring some words to her lips to express her condition
+of mind.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Raybold,&#8221; she cried, &#8220;if I ever hear any
+more of that horrid trash from you I will speak
+to Mr. Archibald, and have him drive you out of
+this camp. I haven&#8217;t spoken to him before because
+I thought it would make trouble and interfere
+with people who have not done anything but
+what is perfectly right, but this is the last time I
+am going to let you off, and I would like you to
+remember that. Now go away this instant, or
+else step aside and let me pass.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Raybold did not change his position, but with
+a smile of indulgent condescension he remarked:
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, then, you are angry; but I don&#8217;t mind
+that, and I am quite sure you do not mean it.
+You see, you have never heard all that I have to
+say to you. When I have fully spoken to you,
+then I have no fear&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>He had not finished his sentence, when Margery
+dashed into the water, utterly regardless of
+her clothes, and before the astonished intruder
+could advance towards her she had rushed past
+him, and had run up on dry land a yard or two
+behind him. The water on the shelving beach
+was not more than a foot deep, but her mad
+bounds made a splashing and a spattering of
+spray as if a live shark bad been dropped into the
+shallow water. In a moment she had left the
+beach and was face to face with Martin, pale with
+fright.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I thought you had tumbled in!&#8221; he cried.
+&#8220;What on earth is the matter?&#8221;</p>
+<p>She had no breath to answer, but she turned
+her head towards the lake, and as Martin looked
+that way he saw Raybold advancing from behind
+the bushes. It required no appreciable time for
+the young guide to understand the situation.
+His whole form quivered, his hands involuntarily
+clinched, his brows knitted, and he made one
+quick step forward; but only one, for Margery
+seized him by the wrist. Without knowing what
+he was doing, he struggled to free himself from
+her, but she was strong and held him fast.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must go to my tent,&#8221; she gasped. &#8220;I am all
+wet. Now promise me that you will not say a thing
+or do a thing until I see you again. Promise!&#8221;</p>
+<p>For a moment he seemed undecided, and then
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+he ceased his efforts to get away, and said, &#8220;I
+promise.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery dropped his arm and hurried towards
+the cabin, hoping earnestly that the Archibalds
+were not yet up.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is a gay and lively beginning for a hermit,&#8221;
+she thought, as she made her way around
+the house, &#8220;and I don&#8217;t see how on earth I am
+ever going to get through that window again.
+There is nothing to stand on. I did not expect
+to go back until they were all up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But when she reached the window there was a
+stout wooden stool placed below it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin did that,&#8221; she thought, &#8220;while I was
+at my breakfast. He knew I must have come
+through the window, and might want to go back
+that way. Oh dear!&#8221; she sighed. &#8220;But I am sure
+I can&#8217;t help it.&#8221; And so, mounting from the stool
+to the window-sill, she entered her room.</p>
+<p>Having given his promise, Martin turned his
+back upon the sombre young man, who, with
+folded arms and clouded brow, was stalking towards
+the tents at the other end of the camp.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If I look at him,&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;it may be
+that I could not keep my promise.&#8221;</p>
+<p>It was about half an hour afterwards, when
+Martin, still excited and still pale, was getting
+ready for the general breakfast, forgetting entirely
+that he was a hermit, and that some of the
+other hermits might have peculiar ideas about
+their morning meal, that Phil Matlack arrived on
+the scene. Martin was very much engrossed in
+his own thoughts, but he could not repress an inquiring
+interest in his companion.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said he, &#8220;did you bounce him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack made no answer, but began to cut out
+the top of a tin can.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I say,&#8221; repeated Martin, &#8220;did you bounce him,
+or did he go without it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without turning towards the younger man,
+Matlack remarked: &#8220;I was mistaken. That ain&#8217;t
+fat; it&#8217;s muscle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mean to say,&#8221; exclaimed Martin,
+in astonishment, &#8220;that he bounced you out of
+that camp!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t mean to say nothin&#8217;,&#8221; was the reply,
+&#8220;except what I do say; and what I say is that
+that ain&#8217;t fat; it&#8217;s muscle. When I make a mistake
+I don&#8217;t mind standin&#8217; up and sayin&#8217; so.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin could not understand the situation.
+He knew Matlack to be a man of great courage
+and strength, and one who, if he should engage
+in a personal conflict, would not give up until he
+had done his very best. But the guide&#8217;s appearance
+gave no signs of any struggle. His clothes
+were in their usual order, and his countenance
+was quiet and composed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Look here,&#8221; cried Martin, &#8220;how did you find
+out all that about the bishop?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack turned on him with a grim smile.
+&#8220;Didn&#8217;t you tell me that day you was talkin&#8217; to
+me about the boat that he was a tough sort of a
+fellow?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I did,&#8221; said the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;how did you find that
+out?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin laughed. &#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t wonder,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;if we were about square. Well, if you will tell
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
+me how you found it out, I will tell you how I
+did.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go ahead,&#8221; said the other.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The long and short of my business with him,&#8221;
+said Martin, &#8220;was this: I went with him down to
+the lake, and there I gave him a piece of my
+mind; and when I had finished, he turned on me
+and grabbed me with his two hands and chucked
+me out into the water, just as if I had been a bag
+of bad meal that he wanted to get rid of. When
+I got out I was going to fight him, but he advised
+me not to, and when I took a look at him and remembered
+the feel of the swing he gave me, I took
+his advice. Now what did he do to you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t do nothin&#8217;,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;When
+I got to the little tent he sleeps in, there he was
+sittin&#8217; in front of it, as smilin&#8217; as a basket of chips,
+and he bade me good-mornin&#8217; as if I had been a
+tenant comin&#8217; to pay him his rent; and then he
+said that before we went on with the business between
+us, there was some things he would like to
+show me, and he had &#8217;em all ready. So he steps
+off to a place a little behind the tent, and there
+was three great bowlders, whopping big stones,
+which he said he had brought out of the woods.
+I could hardly believe him, but there they was.
+&#8216;You don&#8217;t mean,&#8217; says I, &#8216;that you are goin&#8217; to
+fight with stones; because, if you are, you ought
+to give me a chance to get some,&#8217; and I thought
+to myself that I would pick up rocks that could
+be heaved. &#8216;Oh no,&#8217; says he, with one of them
+smiles of his&mdash;&#8216;oh no; I just want to open our
+conference with a little gymnastic exhibition.&#8217;
+And so sayin&#8217;, he rolled up his shirt-sleeves&mdash;he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span>
+hadn&#8217;t no coat on&mdash;and he picked up one of them
+rocks with both hands, and then he gave it a
+swing with one hand, like you swing a ten-pin
+ball, and he sent that rock about thirty feet.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It nearly took my breath away, for if I had to
+move such a stone I&#8217;d want a wheelbarrow. Then
+he took another of the rocks and hurled it right
+on top of the first one, and it came down so hard
+that it split itself in half. And then he took up
+the third one, which was the biggest, and threw
+it nearly as far, but it didn&#8217;t hit the others.
+&#8216;Now, Mr. Matlack,&#8217; says he, &#8216;this is the first part
+of my little programme. I have only one or two
+more things, and I don&#8217;t want to keep you long.&#8217;
+Then he went and got a hickory sapling that he&#8217;d
+cut down. It was just the trunk part of it, and
+must have been at least three inches thick. He
+put the middle of it at the back of his neck, and
+then he took hold of the two ends with his hands
+and pulled forward, and, by George! he broke
+that stick right in half!</p>
+<p>&#8220;Then says he, &#8216;Would you mind steppin&#8217;
+down to the lake?&#8217; I didn&#8217;t mind, and went
+with him, and when we got down to the water
+there was their boat drawed up on the shore and
+pretty nigh full of water. &#8216;Mr. Clyde brought
+this boat back the other day,&#8217; says he, &#8216;from a
+place where he left it some distance down the
+lake, and I wonder he didn&#8217;t sink before he got
+here. We must try and calk up some of the
+open seams; but first we&#8217;ve got to get the water
+out of her.&#8217; So sayin&#8217;, he squatted down on the
+ground in front of the boat and took hold of it,
+one hand on one side of the bow and one on the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+other, and then he gave a big twist, and just
+turned the boat clean over, water and all, so that
+it lay with its bottom up, and the water running
+down into the lake like a little deluge.</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;That ought to have been done long ago,&#8217; says
+he, &#8216;and I&#8217;ll come down after a while and calk it
+before the sun gets on it.&#8217; Then he walked back
+to camp as spry as a robin, and then says he, &#8216;Mr.
+Matlack, my little exhibition is over, and so we&#8217;ll
+go ahead with the business you proposed.&#8217; I
+looked around, and says I: &#8216;Do you find that
+little tent you sleep in comfortable? It seems to
+me as if your feet must stick out of it.&#8217; &#8216;They
+do,&#8217; says he, &#8216;and I sometimes throw a blanket
+over them to keep them dry. But we are goin&#8217;
+to make different arrangements here. Mr. Clyde
+and I will bring down his tent after breakfast,
+and if Mr. Raybold doesn&#8217;t choose to occupy it,
+Mr. Clyde says I may share it with him. At any
+rate, I&#8217;ve engaged to attend to the cookin&#8217; and to
+things in general in this camp durin&#8217; the rest of
+the time we stay here.&#8217;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8216;And so Mr. Clyde is tired of trespassin&#8217;, is
+he?&#8217; says I. &#8216;Yes, he is,&#8217; says he; &#8216;he&#8217;s a high-minded
+young fellow, and doesn&#8217;t fancy that sort
+of thing. Mr. Raybold slept last night in a hammock,
+and if that suits him, he may keep it up.&#8217;
+&#8216;If I was you,&#8217; says I, &#8216;if he does come back to
+the camp, I&#8217;d make him sleep in that little tent.
+It would fit him better than it does you.&#8217; &#8216;Oh
+no,&#8217; says he, &#8216;I don&#8217;t want to make no trouble.
+I&#8217;m willin&#8217; to sleep anywhere. I&#8217;m used to roughin&#8217;
+it, and I could make myself comfortable in any
+tent I ever saw.&#8217; &#8216;Well,&#8217; says I, &#8216;that was a very
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+pretty exhibition you gave me, and I am much
+obliged to you, but I must be goin&#8217; over to my
+camp to help get breakfast.&#8217; &#8216;If you see Mr.
+Clyde,&#8217; says he, &#8216;will you kindly tell him that I
+will come over and help him with his tent in
+about an hour?&#8217; To which I said I would, and I
+left. Now then, hurry up. Them hermits will
+want their breakfasts.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XX_MARTIN_ASSERTS_HIS_INDIVIDUALITY' id='XX_MARTIN_ASSERTS_HIS_INDIVIDUALITY'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+<h3>MARTIN ASSERTS HIS INDIVIDUALITY</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Good-morning,&#8221; said Mr. Clyde, as he approached
+Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, seated opposite
+each other at their breakfast-table. &#8220;So you
+still eat together? Don&#8217;t ask me to join you; I
+have had my breakfast.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;we did think that,
+as we were hermits, we ought to eat in some separate,
+out-of-the-way fashion; but we could not
+think of any, and as we were both hungry and
+liked the same things, we concluded to postpone
+the assertion of our individualities.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And Miss Dearborn?&#8221; asked Clyde.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, she had her breakfast long ago, so she told
+us,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;I suppose she took
+some bread and jam, for I do not know what else
+she could have had.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;As for me,&#8221; said Clyde, &#8220;I thought I would do
+something of the sort. I like an early breakfast,
+and so I turned out, more than an hour ago and
+went to look up Mrs. Perkenpine; and I might as
+well say, sir, that I am now looking for the bishop
+to come and help me carry our tent back to our
+own camp, where he is going to cook for us. I
+never wanted to be a trespasser on your premises,
+and I don&#8217;t intend to be such any longer.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the right feeling,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald;
+&#8220;although, in fact, it doesn&#8217;t make any difference
+to us whether your party camps here or not. At
+first I thought it would, but I find it does not.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;By which he means,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;that if you want to go away he is perfectly willing
+to have you stay, but if you don&#8217;t want to
+go away he doesn&#8217;t like it, and would have you
+move.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Clyde laughed. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t anything to say for
+the others,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;but as long as I have
+a camp of my own I think I ought to live there.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But how about Mrs. Perkenpine?&#8221; asked Mrs.
+Archibald. &#8220;Did you find her willing to wait on
+you, one at a time?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not exactly,&#8221; said Clyde. &#8220;I discovered her,
+by her kitchen tent, hard at work eating her own
+breakfast. I must have looked surprised, for she
+lost no time in telling me that she was a hermit,
+and was living for one person at a time&mdash;herself
+first&mdash;and that she was mighty glad to get a
+chance to have her breakfast before anybody
+else, for she was always hungry and hated waiting.
+I looked at the table, and saw that she had
+the breakfast ready for the whole party; so I
+said, &#8216;I am a hermit too, and I am living for myself,
+and so I am going to sit down and eat.&#8217;
+&#8216;Squat,&#8217; said she, and down I sat; and I had the
+best meal of her cooking that I have yet tasted.
+I told her so, and she said she shouldn&#8217;t wonder.
+&#8216;Because,&#8217; said she, &#8216;I cooked this breakfast for
+myself&mdash;me, one&mdash;and as I wasn&#8217;t thinkin&#8217; what
+other people &#8217;d like, I got things a little more
+tasty than common, I guess.&#8217;&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;And what does she expect Miss Raybold and
+her brother to do?&#8221; asked Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When she had finished she got up,&#8221; Clyde answered,
+&#8220;and went away, merely remarking that
+the victuals were there, and when the others were
+ready for them they might come and get them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;that Matlack
+will not fancy that sort of a hermit life. But as
+for me, I am greatly taken with the scheme. I
+think I shall like it. Is Miss Raybold about
+yet?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I see nothing of her,&#8221; said Clyde, looking
+over towards her tent.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, rising. &#8220;Harriet,
+if you want me, I shall be in my cave.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And where is that?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I can&#8217;t say exactly where it will be,&#8221; he
+answered, &#8220;but if you will go down to the shore
+of the lake and blow four times on the dinner-horn
+I&#8217;ll come to you, cave and all. I can easily
+pull it over the water.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You forget,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, with a
+smile, &#8220;that we are associate hermits.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, I do not,&#8221; said her husband, &#8220;I remember
+it, and that is the reason I am off before Miss
+Raybold emerges upon the scene.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not know,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald to Clyde,
+&#8220;exactly how I am going to assert myself to-day,
+but I shall do it one way or the other; I am not
+going to be left out in the cold.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Clyde smiled, but he had no suggestion to offer;
+his mind was filled with the conjecture as to what
+sort of a hermit life Margery was going to lead,
+and if she had already begun it. But just then
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span>
+the bishop came up, and together they went to
+carry the tent back to Camp Roy.</p>
+<p>It was at least an hour afterwards, and Mrs.
+Archibald was comfortably seated in the shade
+darning stockings, with an open book in her lap.
+Sometimes she would read a little in the book
+and then she would make some long and careful
+stitches in the stocking, and then she would look
+about her as if she greatly enjoyed combining her
+work and her recreation in such a lovely place on
+such a lovely summer morning. During one of
+these periods of observation she perceived Corona
+Raybold approaching.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-morning,&#8221; said the elder lady. &#8220;Is this
+your first appearance?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Corona, with a gentle smile. &#8220;When
+I woke this morning I found myself to be an individual
+who liked to lie in bed and gaze out
+through an open fold in my tent upon the world
+beyond, and so I lay and dozed and gazed, until
+I felt like getting up, and then I got up, and you
+cannot imagine how bright and happy I felt as I
+thought of what I had been doing. For one
+morning at least I had been true to myself, without
+regard to other people or what they might
+think about it. To-morrow, if I feel like it, I shall
+rise at dawn, and go out and look at the stars
+struggling with Aurora. Whatever my personal
+instincts happen to be, I shall be loyal to them.
+Now how do you propose to assert your individuality?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Unfortunately,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;I cannot
+do that exactly as I would like to. If we had
+not promised my daughter and her husband that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+we would stay away for a month, I should go directly
+home and superintend my jelly-making
+and fruit-preserving; but as I cannot do that, I
+have determined to act out my own self here. I
+shall darn stockings and sew or read, and try to
+make myself comfortable and happy, just as I
+would if I were sitting on my broad piazza, at
+home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good!&#8221; said Corona. &#8220;I think it likely that
+you will be more true to yourself than any of us.
+Doubtless you were born to be the head of a domestic
+household, and if you followed your own
+inclination you would be that if you were adrift
+with your family on a raft in the middle of the
+ocean. Now I am going away to see what further
+suggestions my nature has to offer me.
+What is Mr. Archibald doing?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald smiled. She knew what Corona&#8217;s
+nature would suggest if she met a man
+who could talk, or rather, listen. &#8220;Oh, his nature
+has prompted him to hie away to the haunts
+of game, and to stay there until he is half
+starved.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Raybold heaved a little sigh. &#8220;I see very
+few persons about here,&#8221; she said&mdash;&#8220;only the two
+guides, in fact.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;the bishop has
+gone to help Mr. Clyde with his tent.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Corona moved slowly away, and as she walked
+her nature suggested that she would better eat
+something, so she repaired to the scene of Mrs.
+Perkenpine&#8217;s ordinary operations. There she
+found that good woman stretched flat on her
+back on the ground, fast asleep. Her face and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+body were shaded by some overhanging branches,
+but her great feet were illumined and gilded
+by the blazing sun. On a camp table near by
+were the remains of the breakfast. It had been
+there for two or three hours. Arthur Raybold
+had taken what he wanted and had gone, and before
+composing herself for her nap Mrs. Perkenpine
+had thrown over it a piece of mosquito-netting.</p>
+<p>Corona smiled. &#8220;Their natures are coming
+out beautifully,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It really does me
+good to see how admirably the scheme is unfolding
+itself.&#8221; She sat down and ate what she
+could find to her taste, but it was not much. &#8220;I
+shall send for some fruit and some biscuit and
+some other little things,&#8221; she thought, &#8220;that I
+can keep in my tent and eat when I please.
+That will suit me much better than the ordinary
+meals.&#8221; Then, without awakening Mrs. Perkenpine,
+she strolled away, directing her steps towards
+Camp Roy.</p>
+<p>When Margery had gone to her room, and had
+changed her wet clothes, she was thoroughly
+miserable. For some time she sat on the side of
+her little cot, unwilling to go out, on account of a
+nervous fear that she might meet Mr. Raybold.
+Of course, if he should again speak to her as he
+had done, she would immediately appeal to Mr.
+Archibald, but she did not want to do this, for she
+had a very strong desire not to make any trouble
+or divisions in the camp; so she lay down to think
+over the matter, and in less than two minutes she
+was asleep. Mrs. Archibald had come to call her
+to breakfast, but upon being told that she had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+been up ever so long, and had had her breakfast,
+she left the girl to her nap.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall sleep here,&#8221; thought Margery, &#8220;until
+they have all gone to do whatever it is they want
+to do, and then perhaps I may have a little
+peace.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When she awoke it was nearly eleven o&#8217;clock,
+and she went immediately to her little side window,
+from which she could see the lake and a
+good deal of the camp-ground. The first thing
+which met her reconnoitering gaze was a small boat
+some distance out on the lake. Its oars were revolving
+slowly, something like a pair of wheels
+with one paddle each, and it was occupied by one
+person. This person was Arthur Raybold, who
+had found the bishop calking the boat, and as
+soon as this work was finished, had moodily declared
+that he would take a row in her. He had
+not yet had a chance to row a boat which was in
+a decent condition. He wanted to be alone with
+his aspirations. He thought it would be scarcely
+wise to attempt to speak to Margery again that
+morning; he would give her time for her anger
+to cool. She was only a woman, and he knew
+women!</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s that Raybold,&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;He knows
+no more about rowing than a cat, and he&#8217;s floating
+sideways down the lake. Good! Now I can
+go out and hope to be let alone. I don&#8217;t know
+when he will ever get that boat back again.
+Perhaps never.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She was not a wicked girl, and she did not desire
+that the awkward rower might never get
+back; but still she did not have that dread of an
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+accident which might have come over her had
+the occupant of the boat been a brother or any
+one she cared very much about. She took a
+novel, of which, during her whole stay in camp,
+she had read perhaps ten pages, and left the
+cabin, this time by the door.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How does your individuality treat you?&#8221;
+asked Mrs. Archibald, as Margery approached
+her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, horribly, so far,&#8221; was the answer; &#8220;but I
+think it is going to do better. I shall find some
+nice place where I can read and be undisturbed.
+I can think of nothing pleasanter such a morning
+as this.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am very much mistaken in your nature,&#8221;
+thought Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;if that is the sort of
+thing that suits you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; said Margery, not in the least surprised
+that she should meet the young guide
+within the next three minutes, &#8220;do you know of
+some really nice secluded spot where I can sit and
+read, and not be bothered? I don&#8217;t mean that
+place where you hung the hammock. I don&#8217;t
+want to go there again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin was pale, and his voice trembled as he
+spoke. &#8220;Miss Dearborn,&#8221; said he, &#8220;I think it is a
+wicked and a burning shame that you should be
+forced to look for a hiding-place where you may
+hope to rest undisturbed if that scoundrel in the
+boat out there should happen to fancy to come
+ashore. But you needn&#8217;t do it. There is no
+necessity for it. Go where you please, sit where
+you please, and do what you please, and I will see
+to it that you are not disturbed.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, no, no!&#8221; exclaimed Margery. &#8220;That
+would never do. I know very well that you
+could keep him away from me, and I am quite
+sure that you would be glad to do it, but there
+mustn&#8217;t be anything of that kind. He is Miss
+Raybold&#8217;s brother and&mdash;and in a way one of our
+camping party, and I don&#8217;t want any disturbances
+or quarrels.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin&#8217;s breast heaved, and he breathed heavily.
+&#8220;I have no doubt you are right,&#8221; he said&mdash;&#8220;of
+course you are. But I can tell you this: if I
+see that fellow troubling you again I&#8217;ll kill him,
+or&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin! Martin!&#8221; exclaimed Margery. &#8220;What
+do you mean? What makes you talk in this
+way?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What makes me?&#8221; he exclaimed, as if it were
+impossible to restrain his words. &#8220;My heart
+makes me, my soul makes me. I&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Your heart? Your soul?&#8221; interrupted Margery.
+&#8220;I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For a moment he looked at the astonished girl
+in silence, and then he said: &#8220;Miss Dearborn, it&#8217;s
+of no use for me to try to hide what I feel. If I
+hadn&#8217;t got so angry I might have been able to
+keep quiet, but I can&#8217;t do it now. If that man
+thinks he loves you, his love is like a grain of
+sand compared to mine.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yours?&#8221; cried Margery.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Martin, his face pallid and his eyes
+sparkling, &#8220;mine. You may think it is an insult
+for me to talk this way, but love is love, and it
+will spring up where it pleases; and besides, I am
+not the common sort of a fellow you may think I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span>
+am. After saying what I have said, I am bound
+to say more. I belong to a good family, and am
+college bred. I am poor, and I love nature. I
+am working to make money to travel and become
+a naturalist. I prefer this sort of work because
+it takes me into the heart of nature. I am not
+ashamed of what I am, I am not ashamed of my
+work, and my object in life is a nobler one, I
+think, than the practice of the law, or a great
+many other things like it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery stood and looked at him with wide-open
+eyes. &#8220;Do you mean to say,&#8221; she said, &#8220;that
+you want to marry me? It would take years and
+years for you to become naturalist enough to
+support a wife.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have made no plans,&#8221; he said, quickly, &#8220;I
+have no purpose. I did not intend to tell you
+now that I love you, but since I have said that, I
+will say also that with you to fight for there
+could be no doubt about my success. I should
+be bound to succeed. It would be impossible for
+me to fail. As for the years, I would wait, no
+matter how many they should be.&#8221;</p>
+<p>He spoke with such hot earnestness that Margery
+involuntarily drew herself a little away from
+him. At this the flush went out of his face.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Miss Dearborn,&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;don&#8217;t
+think that I am like that man out there! Don&#8217;t
+think that I will persecute you if you don&#8217;t wish
+to hear me; that I will follow you about and make
+your life miserable. If you say to me that you
+do not wish to see me again, you will never see
+me again. Say what you please, and you will
+find that I am a gentleman.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span></p>
+<p>She could see that now. She felt sure that if
+she told him she did not wish ever to see him
+again he would never appear before her. But
+what would he do? She was not in the least
+afraid of him, but his fierce earnestness frightened
+her, not for herself, but for him. Suddenly
+a thought struck her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; said she, &#8220;I don&#8217;t doubt in the least
+that what you have said to me about yourself is
+true. You are as good as other people, although
+you do happen now to be a guide, and perhaps
+after a while you may be very well off; but for all
+that you are a guide, and you are in Mr. Sadler&#8217;s
+employment, and Mr. Sadler&#8217;s rights and powers
+are just like gas escaping from a pipe: they are
+everywhere from cellar to garret, so to speak, and
+you couldn&#8217;t escape them. It would be a bad,
+bad thing for you, Martin, if he were to hear that
+you make propositions of the kind you have made
+to the ladies that he pays you to take out into the
+woods to guide and to protect.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin was on the point of a violent expostulation,
+but she stopped him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now I know what you are going to say,&#8221; she
+exclaimed, &#8220;but it isn&#8217;t of any use. You are in
+his employment, and you are bound to honor and
+to respect him; that is the way a guide can show
+himself to be a gentleman.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But suppose,&#8221; said Martin, quickly, &#8220;that he,
+knowing my family as he does, should think I
+had done wisely in speaking to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A cloud came over her brow. It annoyed her
+that he should thus parry her thrust.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, you can ask him,&#8221; she said, abruptly;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span>
+&#8220;and if he doesn&#8217;t object, you can go to see my
+mother, when she gets home, and ask her. And
+here comes Mr. Matlack. I think he has been
+calling you. Now don&#8217;t say another word, unless
+it is about fish.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But Matlack did not come; he stopped and
+called, and Martin went to him.</p>
+<p>Margery walked languidly towards the woods
+and sat down on the projecting root of a large
+tree. Then leaning back against the trunk, she
+sighed.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a perfectly dreadful thing to be a girl,&#8221;
+she said; &#8220;but I am glad I did not speak to him
+as I did to Mr. Raybold. I believe he would have
+jumped into the lake.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXI_THE_INDIVIDUALITY_OF_PETER_SADLER' id='XXI_THE_INDIVIDUALITY_OF_PETER_SADLER'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+<h3>THE INDIVIDUALITY OF PETER SADLER</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>&#8220;Martin,&#8221; said Matlack, sharply, before the
+young man had reached him, &#8220;it seems to me
+that you think that you have been engaged here
+as lady&#8217;s-maid, but there&#8217;s other things to do besides
+teaching young women about trees and
+fishes. If you think,&#8221; continued Matlack, when
+the two had reached the woodland kitchen, &#8220;that
+your bein&#8217; a hermit is goin&#8217; to let you throw all
+the work on me, you&#8217;re mistaken. There&#8217;s a lot
+of potatoes that&#8217;s got to be peeled for dinner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Without a word Martin sat down on the ground
+with a pan of potatoes in front of him and began
+to work. Had he been a proud crusader setting
+forth to fight the Saracens his blood could not
+have coursed with greater warmth and force, his
+soul could not have more truly spurned the earth
+and all the common things upon it. What he
+had said to Margery had made him feel ennobled.
+If Raybold had that instant appeared before him
+with some jeering insult, Martin would have pardoned
+him with lofty scorn; and yet he peeled
+potatoes, and did it well. But his thoughts were
+not upon his work; they were upon the future
+which, if he proved himself to be the man he
+thought himself to be, might open before him.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
+When he had finished the potatoes he put the
+pan upon a table and stood near by, deep in
+thought.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said he to himself, &#8220;I should go now.
+After what I have said to her I cannot stay here
+and live this life before her. I would wait on her
+with bended knee at every step, but with love
+for her in my soul I cannot wash dishes for other
+people. I have spoken, and now I must act; and
+the quicker the better. If all goes well I may be
+here again, but I shall not come back as a guide.&#8221;
+Then a thought of Raybold crossed his mind, but
+he put it aside. Even if he stayed here he could
+not protect her, for she had shown that she did
+not wish him to do it in the only way he could do
+it, and he felt sure, too, that any further annoyance
+would result in an appeal to Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Matlack, sharply, &#8220;what&#8217;s the
+matter with you? Don&#8217;t you intend to move?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Martin, turning quickly, &#8220;I do
+intend to move. I am going to leave this camp
+just as soon as I can pack my things.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And where in the name of thunder are you
+goin&#8217; to?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to Sadler&#8217;s,&#8221; said Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What for?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;On my own business,&#8221; was the reply.</p>
+<p>Matlack looked at him for a moment suspiciously.
+&#8220;Have you got any complaints to make
+of me?&#8221; he said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Martin, promptly, &#8220;not one; but I
+have affairs on hand which will take me off immediately.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Before dinner?&#8221; asked Matlack.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;before dinner; now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Go ahead then,&#8221; said Matlack, putting some
+sticks of wood into the stove; &#8220;and tell Sadler
+that if he don&#8217;t send me somebody before supper-time
+to help about this camp, he&#8217;ll see me. I&#8217;ll
+be hanged,&#8221; he said to himself, as he closed the
+door of the stove, &#8220;if this isn&#8217;t hermitism with a
+vengeance. I wonder who&#8217;ll be the next one to
+cut and run; most likely it will be Mrs. Perkenpine.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Early in the afternoon, warm and dusty, Martin
+presented himself before Peter Sadler, who was
+smoking his pipe on the little shaded piazza at
+the back of the house.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, ho!&#8221; said Peter. &#8220;How in the name of
+common-sense did you happen to turn up at this
+minute? This is about as queer a thing as I&#8217;ve
+known of lately. What did you come for? Sit
+down.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Sadler,&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;I have come here
+on most important business.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Lake dry?&#8221; asked Peter.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a matter,&#8221; said Martin, &#8220;which concerns
+myself; and if all the lakes in the world were
+dry, I would not be able to think about them, so
+full is my soul of one thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;By the Lord Harry,&#8221; said Peter, &#8220;let&#8217;s have
+it, quick!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In a straightforward manner, but with an
+ardent vehemence which he could not repress,
+Martin stated his business with Peter Sadler. He
+told him how he loved Margery, what he had said
+to her, and what she had said to him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;And now,&#8221; said the young man, &#8220;I have
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+come to ask your permission to address her; but
+whether you give it or not I shall go to her
+mother and speak to her. I know her address,
+and I intend to do everything in an honorable
+way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Peter Sadler put down his pipe and looked steadfastly
+at the young man. &#8220;I wish to Heaven,&#8221;
+said he, &#8220;that there was a war goin&#8217; on! I&#8217;d
+write a letter to the commander-in-chief and let
+you take it to him, and I&#8217;d tell him you was the
+bravest man between Hudson Bay and Patagonia.
+By George! I can&#8217;t understand it! I
+can&#8217;t understand how you could have the cheek,
+the unutterable brass, to come here and ask me&mdash;me,
+Peter Sadler&mdash;to let you court one of the
+ladies in a campin&#8217;-party of mine. And, what&#8217;s
+more, I can&#8217;t understand how I can sit here and
+hear you tell me that tale without picking up a
+chair and knocking you down with it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Sadler,&#8221; said Martin, rising, &#8220;I have
+spoken to you fairly and squarely, and if that&#8217;s
+all you&#8217;ve got to say, I will go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Sit down!&#8221; roared Peter, bringing his hand
+upon the table as if he would drive it&#8217;s legs
+through the floor. &#8220;Sit down, and listen to what
+I have to say to you. It&#8217;s the strangest thing
+that ever happened to me that I am not more
+angry with you than I am; but I can&#8217;t understand
+it, and I pass it by. Now that you are
+seated again, I will make some remarks on my
+side. Do you see that?&#8221; said he, picking up a
+letter on the table. &#8220;Do you see who it is addressed
+to?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;To me!&#8221; exclaimed Martin, in surprise.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it&#8217;s to you,&#8221; said Peter, &#8220;and I wrote it,
+and I intended to send it by Bill Hammond this
+afternoon. That&#8217;s the reason I was surprised
+when I saw you here. But I&#8217;m not goin&#8217; to give
+it to you; I&#8217;d rather tell you what&#8217;s in it, now
+you are here. Before I knew you were the abject
+ninnyhammer that you have just told me you
+are I had a good opinion of you, and thought that
+you were cut out to make a first-class traveller
+and explorer&mdash;the sort of a fellow who could
+lead a surveying expedition through the wilderness,
+or work up new countries and find out what
+they are made of and what&#8217;s in them. Only yesterday
+I heard of a chance that ought to make
+you jump, and this morning I wrote to you about
+it. A friend of mine, who&#8217;s roughed it with me
+for many a day, is goin&#8217; to take an expedition
+down into New Mexico in the interests of a railroad
+and minin&#8217; company. They want to know
+everything about the country&mdash;the game, fish,
+trees, and plants, as well as the minerals&mdash;and it
+struck me that if you are not just the kind of
+man they want you could make yourself so in
+a very short time. They&#8217;d pay you well enough,
+and you&#8217;d have a chance to dip into natural history,
+and all that sort of thing, that you had no
+reason to expect for a dozen years to come, if it
+ever came. If such a chance had been offered
+to me at your age I wouldn&#8217;t have changed lots
+with a king. All you&#8217;ve got to do is to pack
+up and be off. The party starts from New York
+in just three days; I&#8217;ll give you a letter to
+Joe Hendricks, and that&#8217;ll be all you want. He
+knows me well enough to take you without a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+word. If you haven&#8217;t got money enough saved
+to fit yourself out for the trip I&#8217;ll lend you some,
+and you can pay me back when they pay you.
+You can take the train this afternoon and maybe
+you can see Hendricks to-night. So pack up
+what you want and leave what you don&#8217;t want,
+and I&#8217;ll take care of it. I&#8217;ll write to Hendricks
+now.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Many times did the face of Martin flush and
+pale as he listened. A vision of Paradise had
+been opened before him, but he felt that he must
+shut his eyes.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Sadler,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you are very kind. You
+offer me a great thing&mdash;a thing which two weeks
+ago I should have accepted in the twinkling of an
+eye, and would have thanked you for all the rest
+of my life; but I cannot take it now. With all
+my heart I love a woman; I have told her so,
+and I am now going on the path she told me to
+take. I cannot turn aside from that for any prospects
+in the world.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Peter Sadler&#8217;s face grew red, and then it grew
+black, and then it turned red again, and finally
+resumed its ordinary brown.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin Sanders,&#8221; said he, speaking quietly,
+but with one hand fastened upon the arm of his
+chair with a grasp which a horse could not have
+loosened, &#8220;if you are cowardly enough and small
+enough and paltry enough to go to a girl who is
+living in peace and comfort and ask her to marry
+you, when you know perfectly well that for years
+to come you could not give her a decent roof over
+her head, and that if her family wanted her to
+live like a Christian they would have to give her
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+the money to do it with; and if you are fool
+enough not to know that when she sent you first
+to me and then to her mother she was tryin&#8217; to
+get rid of you without hurtin&#8217; your feelin&#8217;s, why,
+then, I want you to get out of my sight, and the
+quicker the better. But if you are not so low
+down as that, go to your room and pack up your
+bag. The coach will start for the train at three
+o&#8217;clock, and it is now nearly half-past two; that
+will just give me time to write to Hendricks.
+Go!&#8221;</p>
+<p>Martin rose. Whatever happened afterwards,
+he must go now. It seemed to him as if the
+whole world had suddenly grown colder; as if
+he had been floating in a fog and had neared an
+iceberg. Could it be possible that she had spoken,
+as she had spoken, simply to get rid of him? He
+could not believe it. No one with such honest
+eyes could speak in that way; and yet he did not
+know what to believe.</p>
+<p>In any case, he would go away in the coach.
+He had spoken to Sadler, and now, whether he
+spoke to any one else or not, the sooner he left
+the better.</p>
+<p>When he came to take the coach, Peter Sadler,
+who had rolled himself to the front of the house,
+handed him the letter he had written.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I believe you are made of the right kind of
+stuff,&#8221; he said, &#8220;although you&#8217;ve got a little
+mouldy by bein&#8217; lazy out there in the woods,
+but you&#8217;re all right now; and what you&#8217;ve got
+to do is to go ahead with a will, and, take my
+word for it, you&#8217;ll come out on top. Do you
+want any money? No? Very well, then, goodbye.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+You needn&#8217;t trouble yourself to write to me,
+I&#8217;ll hear about you from Hendricks; and I&#8217;d
+rather know what he thinks about you than
+what you think about yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How little you know,&#8221; thought Martin, as he
+entered the coach, &#8220;what I am or what I think
+about myself. As if my purpose could be changed
+by words of yours!&#8221; And he smiled a smile
+which would have done justice to Arthur Raybold.
+The chill had gone out of him; he was
+warm again.</p>
+<p>On the train he read the letter to Hendricks
+which Peter Sadler had given to him unsealed.
+It was a long letter, and he read it twice. Then
+he sat and gazed out of the window at the flying
+scenery for nearly half an hour, after which he
+read the letter again. Then he folded it up and
+put it into his pocket.</p>
+<p>&#8220;If she had given me the slightest reason to
+hope,&#8221; he said to himself, &#8220;how easy it would be
+to tear this letter into scraps.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Now an idea came into his mind. If he could
+see her mother quickly, and if she should ignore
+his honorable intentions and refuse to give him
+the opportunity to prove that he was worthy of a
+thought from her and her daughter, then it might
+not be too late to fall back on Peter Sadler&#8217;s letter.
+But he shook his head; that would be dishonorable
+and unworthy of him.</p>
+<p>He shut his eyes; he could not bear to look at
+the brightness of the world outside the window
+of the car. Under his closed lids there came to
+him visions, sometimes of Margery and sometimes
+of the forests of New Mexico. Sometimes
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+the visions were wavering, uncertain, and transitory,
+and again they were strong and vivid&mdash;so
+plain to him that he could almost hear the
+leaves rustle as some wild creature turned a
+startled look upon him.</p>
+<p>That night he delivered his letter to Mr. Hendricks.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXII_A_TRANQUILLIZING_BREEZE_AND_A_HOT_WIND' id='XXII_A_TRANQUILLIZING_BREEZE_AND_A_HOT_WIND'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+<h3>A TRANQUILLIZING BREEZE AND A HOT WIND</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>After Martin had left her, Margery sat on the
+root of the tree until Mr. Clyde came up and said
+he had been wondering what had become of her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have been wondering that, myself,&#8221; she
+said. &#8220;At least, I have been wondering what
+is going to become of me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t you intend to be a hermit?&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>She shook her head. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think it is possible,&#8221;
+she answered. &#8220;There is no one who is
+better satisfied to be alone, and who can make
+herself happier all by herself, and who, in all sorts
+of ways, can get along better without other people
+than I can, and yet other people are continually
+interfering with me, and I cannot get away
+from them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Clyde smiled. &#8220;That is a pretty plain hint,&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;I suppose I might as well take it, and
+go off to some hermitage of my own.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, nonsense!&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;Don&#8217;t be so
+awfully quick in coming to conclusions. I do feel
+worried and troubled and bothered, and I want
+some one to talk to; not about things which
+worry me, of course, but about common, ordinary
+things, that will make me forget.&#8221;</p>
+<p>A slight shade came over the face of Mr. Clyde,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span>
+and he seated himself on the ground near Margery.
+&#8220;It is a shame,&#8221; said he, &#8220;that you should
+be worried. What is it in this peaceable, beautiful
+forest troubles you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Did you ever hear of a paradise without
+snakes?&#8221; she asked. &#8220;The very beauty of it
+makes them come here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have never yet known any paradise at all,&#8221;
+he replied. &#8220;But can&#8217;t you tell me what it is
+that troubles you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery looked at him with her clear, large
+eyes. &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you,&#8221; she said, &#8220;if you will promise
+not to do a single thing without my permission.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I promise that,&#8221; said Clyde, eagerly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am troubled by people making love to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;People!&#8221; exclaimed Clyde, with a puzzled air.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Your cousin is one of them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I might have supposed that; but who on
+earth can be the other one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is Martin,&#8221; said Margery.</p>
+<p>For a moment Mr. Clyde did not seem to understand,
+and then he exclaimed: &#8220;You don&#8217;t
+mean the young man who cuts wood and helps
+Matlack?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I do,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;And you need
+not shut your jaw hard and grit your teeth that
+way. That is exactly what he did when he found
+out about Mr. Raybold. It is of no use to get
+angry, for you can&#8217;t do anything without my permission;
+and, besides, I tell you that if I were
+condemned by a court to be made love to, I would
+much rather have Martin make it than Mr. Raybold.
+Martin is a good deal more than a guide;
+he has a good education, and would not be here
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+if it were not for his love of nature. He is going
+to make nature his object in life, and there is
+something noble in that; a great deal better than
+trying to strut about on the stage.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And those two have really been making love
+to you?&#8221; asked Clyde.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, really,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;You never saw
+people more in earnest in all your life. As for
+Mr. Raybold, he was as earnest as a cat after a
+bird. He made me furiously angry. Martin was
+different. He is just as earnest, but he is more
+of a gentleman; and when I told him what I
+wanted him to do, he said he would do it. But
+there is no use in telling your cousin what I want
+him to do. He is determined to persecute me
+and make me miserable, and there is no way
+of stopping it, except by making a quarrel between
+him and Uncle Archibald. It is a shame!&#8221;
+she went on, &#8220;Who could have thought that two
+people would have turned up to disturb me in
+this way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery,&#8221; said Mr. Clyde, and although he
+called her by her Christian name she took no
+notice of it, &#8220;you think you have too many
+lovers: but you are mistaken. You have not
+enough; you ought to have three.&#8221;</p>
+<p>She looked at him inquiringly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said, quickly, &#8220;and I want to be the
+third.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And so make matters three times as bad as
+they were at first?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Not at all,&#8221; said he. &#8220;When you have chosen
+one of them, he could easily keep away the two
+others.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;that if I were
+to agree to have three, and then, if I were to ask
+you to do it, you would go away quietly with one
+of the others and leave me in peace with the
+third one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Clyde half smiled, but instantly grew serious
+again, and a flush came on his face. &#8220;Margery,&#8221;
+said he, &#8220;I cannot bear trifling any more
+about this. No matter what anybody has said to
+you, whether it is any one in this camp or any
+one out of it, there is not a man in this world
+who&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Mr. Clyde,&#8221; interrupted Margery, &#8220;you
+must not sit there and speak to me in such an
+excited way. If any one should see us they would
+think we were quarrelling. Let us go down to
+the lake; the air from the water is cool and
+soothing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Together they walked from under the shade of
+the tree, and so wended their way that it brought
+them to a mass of shrubbery which edged the
+water a little distance down the lake. On the
+other side of this shrubbery was a pretty bank,
+which they had seen before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It always tranquillizes me,&#8221; said Margery, as
+they stood side by side on the bank, &#8220;to look out
+over the water. Doesn&#8217;t it have that effect on
+you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No!&#8221; exclaimed Clyde. &#8220;It does not tranquillize
+me a bit. Nothing could tranquillize me
+at a moment like this. Margery, I want you to
+know that I love you. I did not intend to tell
+you so soon, but what you have said makes it
+necessary. I have loved you ever since I met
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span>
+you at Peter Sadler&#8217;s, and, no matter what you
+say about it, I shall love you to the end of my
+life.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Even if I should send you away with one of
+the others?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes; no matter what you did.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That would be wrong,&#8221; she said.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter. Right or wrong, I&#8217;d do
+it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery gave him a glance from which it
+would have been impossible to eliminate all signs
+of admiration. &#8220;And if I were to arrange it
+otherwise,&#8221; she said, &#8220;would you undertake to
+keep the others away?&#8221;</p>
+<p>There was no answer to this question, but in a
+minute afterwards Clyde exclaimed: &#8220;Do you
+think any one would dare to come near you if
+they saw you now?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hardly,&#8221; said Margery, raising her head from
+his shoulder and looking up into his sparkling
+eyes. &#8220;Really, Harrison, you ought not to speak
+in such a loud voice. If Aunt Harriet were to
+hear you she might dare to come.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery was late to dinner, although the horn
+was blown three times.</p>
+<p>Much to the surprise of his wife, Mr. Archibald
+returned to camp about an hour before dinner.</p>
+<p>&#8220;How is this?&#8221; she exclaimed. &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t the
+fishing good?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have had a disagreeable experience,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;and I will tell you about it. I was fishing in a
+little cove some distance down the lake and having
+good sport, when I heard a thumping, and
+looking around I saw Raybold in a boat rowing
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span>
+towards me. I suppose he thought he was rowing,
+but he was really floating with the current;
+but as he neared me he suddenly pulled his boat
+towards me with such recklessness that I was
+afraid he would run into me. I considered his
+rowing into the cove to be a piece of bad manners,
+for of course it would spoil my fishing, but
+I had no idea he actually intended to lay alongside
+of me. This he did, however, and so awkwardly
+that his boat struck mine with such force
+that it half tipped it over. Then he lay hold of
+my gunwale, and said he had something to say
+to me.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I was as angry as if a man in the street had
+knocked my hat down over my eyes and said that
+he did so in order to call my attention to a subscription
+paper. But this indignation was nothing
+to what I felt when the fellow began to
+speak. I cannot repeat his words, but he stated
+his object at once, and said that as this was a
+good opportunity to speak to me alone, he wished
+to ask me to remove what he called the utterly
+useless embargo which I had placed upon him in
+regard to Margery. He said it was useless because
+he could not be expected to give up his
+hopes and his plans simply because I objected to
+them; and he went on to say that if I understood
+him fully, and if Margery understood him,
+he did not believe that either of us would object.
+And then he actually asked me to use my influence
+with her to make her listen to him. From
+what he said, I am sure he has been speaking to
+her. I did not let him finish, but turned and
+blazed at him in words as strong as would come
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+to me. I ordered him never to speak to me again
+or show himself in my camp, and told him that if
+he did either of these things he would do them at
+his peril; and then, for fear he might say something
+which would make me lose control of myself,
+I jerked up my anchor and rowed away from
+him. I didn&#8217;t feel like fishing any more, and so
+I came back.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;His behavior is shameful,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;And what is more, it is ridiculous, for
+Margery would not look at him. What sort of a
+man does he think you are, to suppose that you
+would give your permission to any one, no matter
+who he might be, to offer marriage to a young
+lady in your charge? But what are you going to
+do about it? I think it very likely he will come
+to this camp, and he may speak to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;In that case I shall have him driven out,&#8221;
+said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;as if he were a drunken
+vagabond. Personally I shall have nothing to do
+with him, but I shall order my guides to eject
+him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope that may not be necessary,&#8221; said his
+wife. &#8220;It would make bad feeling, and deeply
+wound his sister, for it would be the same thing
+as putting her out. She talks too much, to be
+sure, but she is a lady, and has treated us all
+very courteously. I wish we could get through
+the rest of our stay here without any disturbance
+or bad feeling.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wish so too, with all my heart,&#8221; said her
+husband. &#8220;And the only thing necessary to that
+end is that that ass Raybold shall keep out of
+my sight.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span></p>
+<p>It was about two o&#8217;clock that afternoon, and
+Mrs. Archibald, under her tree, her basket of
+stockings all darned and her novel at its culminating
+point of interest, was the only visible occupant
+of Camp Rob, when Corona Raybold
+came walking towards her, an obvious purpose in
+her handsome face, which was somewhat flushed
+by exercise.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not think,&#8221; she said, as soon as she was
+near enough for Mrs. Archibald to hear her,
+&#8220;that the true purpose and intention of our plan
+is properly understood by all of the party. I
+think, after some explanation, everything will go
+well, but I have been endeavoring for the last half-hour
+to find Mrs. Perkenpine, and have utterly
+failed. I am very hungry, but I can discover
+nothing to eat. All our stores appear to be absolutely
+raw, or in some intermediate state of crudity.
+I intend to order some provisions in cans
+or boxes which will be at all times available, but
+I have not done so yet, and so I have come over
+to speak to you about the matter. Did your
+guides prepare your dinner as usual?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;A hermit life
+seems to make no difference with Mr. Matlack.
+We become associates at meal-times, but, as you
+see, we have separated again.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I must instil into Mrs. Perkenpine&#8217;s mind,&#8221;
+said Corona, &#8220;that, in order thoroughly to act
+out her own nature, she must cook and do other
+things of a domestic character. Of course she
+will do those things in her own way; that is to
+be expected; but she must do them. It is impossible
+to imagine a woman of her class whose
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span>
+soul is not set more or less upon domestic affairs.
+I will instance Mr. Matlack. His nature belongs
+to the woods and the out-of-door world, and that
+nature prompts him to cook what he shoots.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald laughed. &#8220;I think his nature
+is a very good one,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I will go with
+you to find him and see if he cannot give you a
+luncheon, if not a dinner.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you very much,&#8221; said Corona; &#8220;but
+indeed I do not wish to trouble you. I will go to
+him myself. You are very kind, but it is not in
+the least degree necessary for you to accompany
+me. A cup of tea and some little trifle is all I
+shall ask him for.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For a moment Mrs. Archibald hesitated, and
+then she said, &#8220;As we are hermits, I suppose we
+must not keep together any more than we can
+help, and so I will let you go alone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Corona found Phil Matlack by his kitchen tent,
+busily engaged in rubbing the inside of a large
+kettle. He was not in a good humor. The departure
+of Martin had thrown all the work of his
+camp upon him, and now the appearance of a
+person from another camp requesting to be fed
+aroused him to absolute anger. He did not scold,
+for it would have been impossible to look at that
+beautiful and imperturbable face and say hard
+words to it. He did not refuse the cup of tea
+or the bread-and-butter for which he was asked,
+and he even added some cold meat; but he indignantly
+made up his mind that he would stand no
+more of this nonsense, and that if necessary he
+would go to Sadler and throw up the job. He
+had not engaged to cook for three camps.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-202.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 364px; height: 304px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 364px;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;HAVEN&#8217;T TRIED IT&#8217;&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span></div>
+<p>Miss Raybold did not appear to notice his state
+of mind, and ate heartily. She thought it was
+fortunate that he happened to have the kettle on
+the stove, and she asked him how he liked the
+hermit life&mdash;the living for himself alone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Haven&#8217;t tried it,&#8221; he answered, curtly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I understand,&#8221; said Corona, &#8220;you have had to
+live too much for other people; but it is too soon
+to expect our plan to run smoothly. In a short
+time, however, we shall be better able to know
+our own natures and show them to others.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, I can do that,&#8221; said he; &#8220;and I am goin&#8217;
+to, precious soon.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have no doubt of it,&#8221; she answered. &#8220;And
+now can you tell me where Mr. Archibald has
+gone? I did not see him this morning, and there
+are some matters I wish to speak to him about.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, miss,&#8221; said Matlack, promptly, &#8220;I don&#8217;t
+know where he is. He&#8217;s a real hermit. He&#8217;s off
+by himself, most likely miles away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Corona reflected. &#8220;Mr.&mdash;the bishop? Have
+you seen him? He may be able to&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>The guide grinned grimly. He had seen the
+man of muscle&mdash;not fat&mdash;conversing that morning
+with Corona, and an hour afterwards he had
+seen him, not in the same place, but in the same
+companionship, and it gave him a certain pleasure
+to know that the man who could heave rocks
+and break young trees could not relieve himself
+from the thralls of the lady of the flowing
+speech.</p>
+<p>&#8220;The bishop?&#8221; said he. &#8220;Don&#8217;t you know
+where he went to?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He left me,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;because he was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+obliged to go to prepare dinner for my brother
+and Mr. Clyde; but he is not in Camp Roy now,
+for I went there to look for Mrs. Perkenpine.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said the wicked Matlack, pointing to
+the spot where, not long before, Margery had
+found a tranquillizing breeze, &#8220;I saw him going
+along with a book a little while ago, and I think
+he went down to the shore, just beyond that
+clump of bushes over there. He seems to be a
+man who likes readin&#8217;, which isn&#8217;t a bad thing for
+a hermit.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; said Miss Raybold, rising. &#8220;I
+do not care for anything more. You are very
+kind, and I am quite sure I shall not have to
+trouble you again. To-morrow everything will
+be running smoothly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack looked at her as she quietly walked
+away. &#8220;She&#8217;s a pretty sort of a hermit,&#8221; he said
+to himself. &#8220;If she really had to live by herself
+she&#8217;d cut out a wooden man and talk to it all day.
+It won&#8217;t be long before she accidentally stumbles
+over that big fellow with his book.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIII_MRS_PERKENPINE_FINDS_OUT_THINGS_ABOUT_HERSELF' id='XXIII_MRS_PERKENPINE_FINDS_OUT_THINGS_ABOUT_HERSELF'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+<h3>MRS. PERKENPINE FINDS OUT THINGS ABOUT HERSELF</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>The mind of the guide was comforted and relieved
+that he had got the better of the bishop in
+one way, although he could not do it in another.
+But he did not relinquish his purpose of putting
+an end to the nonsense which made him do the
+work of other people, and as soon as he had set
+his kitchen in order he started out to find Mrs.
+Perkenpine. A certain amount of nonsense from
+the people in camp might have to be endured,
+but nonsense from Mrs. Perkenpine was something
+about which Peter Sadler would have a
+word to say.</p>
+<p>Matlack was a good hunter. He could follow
+all sorts of tracks&mdash;rabbit tracks, bird tracks,
+deer tracks, and the tracks of big ungainly shoes&mdash;and
+in less than half an hour he had reached a
+cluster of moss-covered rocks lying some distance
+back in the woods, and approached by the bed of
+a now dry stream. Sitting on one of these rocks,
+her back against a tree, her straw hat lying beside
+her, and her dishevelled hair hanging about
+her shoulders, was Mrs. Perkenpine, reading a
+newspaper. At the sound of his footsteps she
+looked up.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, I&#8217;ll be bound!&#8221; she said. &#8220;If I&#8217;d crawl
+into a fox-hole I expect you&#8217;d come and sniff in
+after me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack stood and looked at her for a moment.
+He could not help smiling at the uncomfortable
+manner in which she was trying to make herself
+comfortable on those rough rocks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll tell you what it is, Mrs. Perkenpine,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;you&#8217;ll get yourself into the worst kind of a
+hole if you go off this way, leavin&#8217; everything at
+sixes and sevens behind you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s my nater,&#8221; said she. &#8220;I&#8217;m findin&#8217; it out
+and gittin&#8217; it ready to show to other people.
+You&#8217;re the fust one that&#8217;s seed it. How do you
+like it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t like it at all,&#8221; said the guide, &#8220;and I
+have just come to tell you that if you don&#8217;t go
+back to your tent and cook supper to-night and
+attend to your business, I&#8217;ll walk over to Sadler&#8217;s,
+and tell Peter to send some one in your place.
+I&#8217;m goin&#8217; over there anyway, if he don&#8217;t send a
+man to take Martin&#8217;s place.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Peter Sadler!&#8221; ejaculated Mrs. Perkenpine,
+letting her tumbled newspaper fall into her lap.
+&#8220;He&#8217;s a man that knows his own nater, and lets
+other people see it. He lives his own life, if anybody
+does. He&#8217;s individdle down to the heels,
+and just look at him! He&#8217;s the same as a king.
+I tell you, Phil Matlack, that the more I knows
+myself, just me, the more I&#8217;m tickled. It seems
+like scootin&#8217; round in the woods, findin&#8217; all sorts
+of funny hoppin&#8217; things and flowers that you
+never seed before. Why, it &#8217;ain&#8217;t been a whole
+day since I begun knowin&#8217; myself, and I&#8217;ve found
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
+out lots. I used to think that I liked to cook and
+clean up, but I don&#8217;t; I hate it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Matlack smiled, and taking out his pipe, he
+lighted it and sat down on a rock.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do believe,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that you are the most
+out and out hermit of the whole lot; but it won&#8217;t
+do, and if you don&#8217;t get over your objections to
+cookin&#8217; you&#8217;ll have to walk out of these woods to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine sat and looked at her companion
+a few moments without giving any apparent
+heed to his remarks.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said she, &#8220;it isn&#8217;t only findin&#8217; out
+what you be yourself, but it&#8217;s lettin&#8217; other people
+see what you be. If you didn&#8217;t do that it would
+be like a pot a-b&#8217;ilin&#8217; out in the middle of a prairie,
+with nobody nearer nor a hundred miles.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It would be the same as if it hadn&#8217;t b&#8217;iled,&#8221;
+remarked Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s jest it,&#8221; said she, &#8220;and so I ain&#8217;t sorry
+you come along, Phil, so&#8217;s I can tell you some
+things I&#8217;ve found out about myself. One of them
+is that I like to lie flat on my back and look up
+at the leaves of the trees and think about them.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What do you think?&#8221; asked Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think nothin&#8217;,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Just as soon
+as I begin to look at them wrigglin&#8217; in the wind,
+and I am beginnin&#8217; to wonder what it is I think
+about them, I go slam bang to sleep, and when I
+wake up and try to think again what it is I think,
+off I go again. But I like it. If I don&#8217;t know
+what it is I think, I ought to know that I don&#8217;t
+know it. That&#8217;s what I call bein&#8217; really and truly
+a hermick.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;What else did you find out?&#8221; inquired Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I found out,&#8221; she answered, with animation,
+&#8220;that I admire to read anecdotes. I didn&#8217;t know
+I cared a pin for anecdotes until I took to hermickin&#8217;.
+Now here&#8217;s this paper; it came &#8217;round
+the cheese, and it&#8217;s got a good many anecdotes
+scattered about in it. Let me read one of them
+to you. It&#8217;s about a man who made his will and
+afterwards was a-drivin&#8217; a horse along a road, and
+the horse got skeered and ran over his executor,
+who was takin&#8217; a walk. Then he sung out, &#8216;Oh,
+bless my soul!&#8217; says he. But I&#8217;ll read you the
+rest if I can find it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Never mind about the anecdote,&#8221; said Matlack,
+who knew very well that it would take Mrs.
+Perkenpine half an hour to spell out twenty lines
+in a newspaper. &#8220;What I want to know is if you
+found out anything about yourself that&#8217;s likely to
+give you a boost in the direction of that cookin&#8217;-stove
+of yourn.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine was a woman whose remarks
+did not depend upon the remarks of others.
+&#8220;Phil Matlack,&#8221; said she, gazing fixedly at his
+pipe, &#8220;if I had a man I&#8217;d let him smoke just as
+much as he pleased and just where he pleased.
+He could smoke afore he got up, and he could
+smoke at his meals, and he could smoke after he
+went to bed, and, if he fancied that sort of thing,
+he could smoke at family prayers; it wouldn&#8217;t
+make no difference to me, and I wouldn&#8217;t say a
+word to him agin&#8217; it. If that was his individdlety,
+I&#8217;d say viddle.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And how about everything else?&#8221; asked Matlack.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
+&#8220;Would you tell him to cook his own victuals
+and mend his clothes accordin&#8217; to his own
+nater?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No, sir,&#8221; said she, striking with her expansive
+hand the newspaper in her lap&mdash;&#8220;no, sir. I&#8217;d get
+up early in the mornin&#8217;, and cook and wash and
+bake and scour. I&#8217;d skin the things he shot, and
+clean his fish, and dig bait if he wanted it. I&#8217;d
+tramp into the woods after him, and carry the
+gun and the victuals and fishin&#8217;-poles, and I&#8217;d set
+traps and row a boat and build fires, and let him
+go along and work out his own nater smokin&#8217; or
+in any other way he was born to. That&#8217;s the biggest
+thing I&#8217;ve found out about myself. I never
+knowed, until I began, this mornin&#8217;, explorin&#8217; of
+my own nater, what a powerful hard thing it is,
+when I&#8217;m thinkin&#8217; of my own individdlety, to keep
+somebody else&#8217;s individdlety from poppin&#8217; up in
+front of it, and so says I to myself, &#8216;If I can think
+of both them individdleties at the same time it
+will suit me fust-rate.&#8217; And when you come
+along I thought I&#8217;d let you know what sort of a
+nater I&#8217;ve got, for it ain&#8217;t likely you&#8217;d ever find it
+out for yourself. And now that we&#8217;re in that
+business&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello!&#8221; cried Matlack, springing to his feet.
+&#8220;There is somebody callin&#8217; me. Who&#8217;s there?&#8221;
+he shouted, stepping out into the bed of the
+stream.</p>
+<p>A call was now heard, and in a few moments
+the bishop appeared some distance below.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Matlack,&#8221; he said, &#8220;there&#8217;s a man at your
+camp inquiring for you. He came from Sadler&#8217;s,
+and I&#8217;ve been looking high and low for you.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;A man from Sadler&#8217;s,&#8221; said Matlack, turning
+to Mrs. Perkenpine, &#8220;and I must be off to see
+him. Remember what I told you about the supper.&#8221;
+And so saying, he walked rapidly away.</p>
+<p>Out in the open Matlack found the bishop.
+&#8220;Obliged to you for lookin&#8217; me up,&#8221; he said, &#8220;it&#8217;s
+a pity to give you so much trouble.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t mention it!&#8221; exclaimed the bishop.
+&#8220;You cannot understand, perhaps, not knowing
+the circumstances, but I assure you I never was
+more obliged to any one than to that man who
+wants to see you and couldn&#8217;t find you. There
+was no one else to look for you, and I simply had
+to go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You are not goin&#8217; to walk back to camp?&#8221; inquired
+Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied the bishop, &#8220;now that I am here,
+I think I will go up the lake and try to find a very
+secluded spot in the shade and take a nap.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The guide smiled as he walked away. &#8220;Don&#8217;t
+understand!&#8221; said he. &#8220;You&#8217;ve got the boot on
+the wrong leg.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Arrived at his tent, Matlack found Bill Hammond,
+a young man in Sadler&#8217;s service, who informed
+him that that burly individual had sent
+Martin away in the stage-coach, and had ordered
+him to come and take his place.</p>
+<p>&#8220;All right,&#8221; said Matlack. &#8220;I guess you&#8217;re as
+good as he was, and so you can settle down to
+work. By-the-way, do you know that we are all
+hermits here?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hermits?&#8221; said the other. &#8220;What&#8217;s that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Why, hermits,&#8221; said Matlack, &#8220;is individ&#8217;als
+who get up early in the mornin&#8217; and attend to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span>
+their own business just as hard as they can, without
+lookin&#8217; to the right or left, until it&#8217;s time to
+go to bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The young man looked at him in some surprise.
+&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing so very uncommon in
+that,&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied the guide, &#8220;perhaps there ain&#8217;t.
+But as you might hear them talkin&#8217; about hermits
+here, I thought I&#8217;d tell you just what sort of
+things they are.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXIV_A_DISSOLVING_AUDIENCE' id='XXIV_A_DISSOLVING_AUDIENCE'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+<h3>A DISSOLVING AUDIENCE</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When a strange young man assisted Matlack
+at the supper-table that evening, Mr. Archibald
+asked what had become of Martin.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Peter Sadler has sent him away,&#8221; answered
+the guide. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know where he sent him or
+what he sent him for. But he&#8217;s a young man
+who&#8217;s above this sort of business, and so I suppose
+he&#8217;s gone off to take up something that&#8217;s
+more elevated.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;for I liked
+him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald smiled. &#8220;This business of insisting
+upon our own individualities,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;seems to have worked very promptly in his
+case. I suppose he found out he was fitted for
+something better than a guide, and immediately
+went off to get that better thing.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s about the size of it,&#8221; said Matlack.</p>
+<p>Margery said nothing. Her heart sank. She
+could not help feeling that what she had said to
+the young man had been the cause of his sudden
+departure. Could he have done such a thing, she
+thought, as really to go and ask Mr. Sadler, and,
+having found he did not mind, could he have gone
+to see her mother? Her appetite for her supper
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
+departed, and she soon rose and strolled away,
+and as she strolled the thought came again to
+her that it was a truly dreadful thing to be a
+girl.</p>
+<p>Having received no orders to the contrary,
+Matlack, with his new assistant, built and lighted
+the camp-fire. Some of the hermits took this as
+a matter of course, and some were a little surprised,
+but one by one they approached; the
+evening air was beginning to be cool, and the
+vicinity of the fire was undoubtedly the pleasantest
+place in camp. Soon they were all assembled
+but one, and Mrs. Archibald breathed freer when
+she found that Arthur Raybold was not there.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am delighted,&#8221; said Corona, as soon as she
+took her usual seat, which was a camp-chair, &#8220;to
+see you all gather about the fire. I was afraid
+that some of you might think that because we
+are hermits we must keep away from each other
+all the time. But we must remember that we are
+associate hermits, and so should come together
+occasionally. I was going to say something to
+the effect that some of us may have misunderstood
+the true manner and intent of the assertions
+of our individualities, but I do not now believe
+that this is necessary.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean by all that,&#8221; said Mrs. Perkenpine,
+&#8220;that I cooked the supper?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Miss Raybold, turning upon her
+guide with a pleasant smile, &#8220;that is what I referred
+to.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Mrs. Perkenpine, &#8220;I was told that
+if I didn&#8217;t cook I&#8217;d be bounced. It isn&#8217;t my individdlety
+to cook for outsiders, but it isn&#8217;t my
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span>
+individdlety to be bounced, nuther, so I cooked.
+Is that bein&#8217; a hermick?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;You have it,&#8221; cried Mr. Archibald, &#8220;you&#8217;ve
+not only found out what you are, but what you
+have to be. Your knowledge of yourself is perfect.
+And now,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;isn&#8217;t there somebody
+who can tell us a story? When we are sitting
+around a camp-fire, there is nothing better
+than stories. Bishop, I dare say you have heard
+a good many in the course of your life. Don&#8217;t
+you feel like giving us one?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; said Corona, &#8220;that by the aid of
+stories it is possible to get a very good idea of
+ourselves. For instance, if some one were to tell
+a good historical story, and any one of us should
+find himself or herself greatly interested in it,
+then that person might discover, on subsequent
+reflection, some phase of his or her intellect
+which he or she might not have before noticed.
+On the other hand, if it should be a love story,
+and some of us could not bear to hear it, then
+we might also find out something about ourselves
+of which we had been ignorant. But I
+really think that, before making any tests of this
+sort, we should continue the discussion of what
+is at present the main object of our lives&mdash;self-knowledge
+and self-assertion. In other words,
+the emancipation of the individual. As I have
+said before, and as we all know, there never was
+a better opportunity offered a group of people of
+mature minds to subject themselves, free of outside
+influences, to a thorough mental inquisition,
+and then to exhibit the results of their self-examinations
+to appreciative companions. This last
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span>
+is very important. If we do not announce to
+others what we are, it is of scarcely any use to be
+anything. I mean this, of course, in a limited
+sense.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Harriet,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, abruptly, &#8220;do
+you remember where I left my pipe? I do not
+like this cigar.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;On the shelf by the door of the cabin,&#8221; she
+replied. &#8220;I saw it as I came out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Her husband immediately rose and left the fire.
+Corona paused in her discourse to wait until Mr.
+Archibald came back; but then, as if she did not
+wish to lose the floor, she turned towards the
+bishop, who sat at a little distance from her, and
+addressed herself to him, with the idea of making
+some collateral remarks on what she had already
+said, in order to fill up the time until Mr. Archibald
+should return.</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald thought that her husband had
+been a little uncivil; but almost immediately
+after he had gone, she, too, jumped up, and, without
+making any excuse whatever, hurried after
+him.</p>
+<p>The reason for this sudden movement was that
+Mrs. Archibald had seen some one approaching
+from the direction of Camp Roy. She instantly
+recognized this person as Arthur Raybold, and
+felt sure that, unwilling to stay longer by himself,
+he was coming to the camp-fire, and if her
+husband should see him, she knew there would be
+trouble. What sort of trouble or how far it might
+extend she did not try to imagine.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hector,&#8221; she said, as soon as she was near
+enough for him to hear her, &#8220;don&#8217;t go after the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
+pipe; let us take a moonlight walk along the
+shore. I believe it is full moon to-night, and we
+have not had a walk of that sort for ever so long.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good,&#8221; said her husband, turning to her.
+&#8220;I shall be delighted. I don&#8217;t care for the pipe,
+and the cigar would have been good enough if it
+had not been for the sermon. That would spoil
+any pleasure. I can&#8217;t stand that young woman,
+Harriet; I positively cannot.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, then, let us walk away and forget her,&#8221;
+said his wife. &#8220;I don&#8217;t wonder she annoys you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;If it were only the young woman,&#8221; thought
+Mrs. Archibald, as the two strolled away beneath
+the light of the moon, &#8220;we might manage it.
+But her brother!&#8221;</p>
+<p>At the next indication of a pause in Corona&#8217;s
+discourse the bishop suddenly stood on his feet. &#8220;I
+wonder,&#8221; he said, &#8220;if there is anything the matter
+with Mrs. Archibald? I will step over to her
+cabin to see.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Indeed!&#8221; said Corona, rising with great
+promptness, &#8220;I hope it is nothing serious. I
+will go with you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery was not a rude girl, but she could not
+help a little laugh, which she subdued as much
+as possible; Mr. Clyde, who was sitting near her,
+laughed also.</p>
+<p>&#8220;There is nothing on earth the matter with
+Aunt Harriet,&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;They didn&#8217;t go
+into the cabin; I saw them walking away down
+the shore.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;How would you like to walk that way?&#8221; he
+asked. &#8220;I think their example is a very good
+one.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;It is capital,&#8221; said Margery, jumping up,
+&#8220;and let&#8217;s get away quickly before she comes
+back.&#8221;</p>
+<p>They hurried away, but they did not extend
+their walk down the lake shore even as far as
+Mr. and Mrs. Archibald had already gone. When
+they came to the bit of beach behind the clump
+of trees where the bishop had retired that afternoon
+to read, they stopped and sat down to watch
+the moonlight on the water.</p>
+<p>Matlack and Mrs. Perkenpine were now the
+only persons at the camp-fire, for Bill Hammond,
+as was his custom, had promptly gone to bed as
+soon as his work was done. If Arthur Raybold
+had intended to come to the camp-fire, he had
+changed his mind, for he now stood near his
+sister&#8217;s tent, apparently awaiting the approach
+of Corona and the bishop, who had not found
+the Archibalds, and who were now walking together
+in what might have been supposed, by
+people who did not know the lady, to be an
+earnest dialogue.</p>
+<p>Mr. Matlack was seated on his log, and he
+smoked, while Mrs. Perkenpine sat on the ground,
+her head thrown back and her arms hugging her
+knees.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Phil,&#8221; said she, &#8220;that there moon looks to me
+like an oyster with a candle behind it, and as
+smooth and slippery as if I could jest swallow it
+down. You may think it is queer for me to think
+such things as that, Phil, but since I&#8217;ve come to
+know myself jest as I am, me, I&#8217;ve found out
+feelin&#8217;s&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Perkenpine,&#8221; said Matlack, knocking the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
+ashes out of his pipe, &#8220;there&#8217;s a good many things
+besides moons that I can&#8217;t swallow, and if it&#8217;s all
+the same to you, I&#8217;ll go to bed.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; she exclaimed, looking after him, &#8220;his
+individdlety is the snapshortest I ever did see!
+I don&#8217;t believe he wants to know hisself. If he
+did, I&#8217;m dead sure I could help him. He never
+goes out to run a camp without somebody to help
+him, and yet he&#8217;s so everlastin&#8217; blind he can&#8217;t see
+the very best person there is to help him, and she
+a-plumpin&#8217; herself square in front of him every
+time she gits a chance.&#8221; With that reflection
+she rose and walked away.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I tell you, Harriet,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, when
+he and his wife had returned from their walk and
+were about to enter the cabin, &#8220;something must
+be done to enable us to spend the rest of our
+time here in peace. This is our camp, and we
+want it for ourselves. If a good companionable
+fellow like the bishop or that young Clyde happens
+along, it is all very well, but we do not want
+all sorts of people forcing themselves upon us,
+and I will not submit to it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Of course we ought not to do that,&#8221; said she,
+&#8220;but I hope that whatever you do, it will be
+something as pleasant as possible.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will try to avoid any unpleasantness,&#8221; said
+he, &#8220;and I hope I may do so, but&mdash;&mdash; By-the-way,
+where is Margery?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think she must be in bed,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald;
+then stepping inside, she called, &#8220;Margery,
+are you there?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes, Aunt Harriet,&#8221; replied Margery, &#8220;I am
+here.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;She must have found it dreadfully stupid,
+poor girl!&#8221; said Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>The lights were all out in the Archibalds&#8217;
+cabin, and still Miss Raybold and the bishop
+walked up and down the open space at the
+farther end of the camp.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Corona!&#8221; exclaimed her brother, suddenly appearing
+before them, &#8220;I have told you over and
+over again that I wish to speak to you. Are you
+never going to stop that everlasting preaching
+and give me a chance to talk to you?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Arthur!&#8221; she exclaimed, sharply, &#8220;I wish you
+would not interrupt me in this way. I had just
+begun to say&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my dear Miss Raybold,&#8221; cried the bishop,
+&#8220;do not let me prevent you from speaking to
+your brother. Indeed, it is growing late, and I
+will not trespass longer on your time. Good-night,&#8221;
+and with a bow he was gone.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now just see what you have done!&#8221; said Corona,
+her eye-glasses brighter than the moon.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, it is time he was going,&#8221; said her brother.
+&#8220;I have something very important to say to
+you. I want your good offices in an affair more
+worthy of your thoughts than anything else at
+this moment.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Whatever it is,&#8221; she said, turning away from
+him, &#8220;I do not want to hear it now&mdash;not a word
+of it. You have displeased me, Arthur, and I am
+going to my tent.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXV_A_MOONLIGHT_INTERVIEW' id='XXV_A_MOONLIGHT_INTERVIEW'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+<h3>A MOONLIGHT INTERVIEW</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Archibald retired to her cabin, but she
+did not feel in the least like going to bed. Her
+husband had long been asleep in his cot, and she
+still sat by the side of the little window looking
+out upon the moon-lighted scene; but the beauty
+of the night, if she noticed it at all, gave her no
+pleasure. Her mind was harassed and troubled
+by many things, chief among which was her husband&#8217;s
+unfinished sentence in which he had said
+that he would try to avoid any unpleasantness,
+but at the same time had intimated that if the
+unpleasant thing were forced upon him he was
+ready to meet it.</p>
+<p>Now, reason as she would, Mrs. Archibald could
+not banish from her mind the belief that Arthur
+Raybold would come to their camp some time
+during the next day. In fact, not having heard
+otherwise, she supposed he had come to the camp-fire
+that night. She was filled with anger and
+contempt for the young man who was determined
+to force himself on their party in this outrageous
+manner, and considered it shameful that their
+peaceful life in these woods had been so wickedly
+disturbed. No wonder she did not want to sleep;
+no wonder she sat at the window thinking and
+thinking.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span></p>
+<p>Presently she saw some one walking over the
+open space towards the cabin, and she could not
+fail to recognize the figure with the long stride,
+the folded arms, and the bowed head. He passed
+the window and then he turned and repassed it,
+then he turned and walked by again, this time a
+little nearer than before.</p>
+<p>&#8220;This is too much!&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;The next thing he will be tapping at her window.
+I will go out and speak my mind to him.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Opening the door very softly, and without even
+stopping to throw a shawl over her head and
+shoulders, Mrs. Archibald stepped outside into
+the night. Raybold was now at a little distance
+from the cabin, in the direction of Camp Roy,
+and was just about to turn when she hurried up
+to him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mr. Raybold,&#8221; she said, speaking low and
+rapidly, &#8220;if you possessed a spark of gentlemanly
+feeling you would be ashamed to come into this
+camp when you have been ordered out of it. My
+husband has told you he does not want you here,
+and now I tell you that I do not want you here.
+It pains me to be obliged to speak to any one in
+this manner, but it is plain that no other sort of
+speech will affect you. Now, sir, I know your
+object, and I will not have you wandering up and
+down here in front of our cabin. I wish you to
+go to your own camp, and that immediately.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Raybold stood and listened to her without a
+word until she had finished, and then he said:</p>
+<p>&#8220;Madam, there has been a good deal of talk
+about knowing ourselves and showing ourselves
+to others. Now I know myself very well indeed,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span>
+and I will show myself to you by saying that
+when my heart is interested I obey no orders, I
+pay no attention to mandates of any sort. Until
+I can say what I have to say I will watch and I
+will wait, but I shall not draw back.&#8221;</p>
+<p>For the first time in fifteen years Mrs. Archibald
+lost her temper. She turned pale with anger.
+&#8220;You contemptible scoundrel! Go! Leave
+this camp instantly!&#8221;</p>
+<p>He stood with arms folded and smiled at her,
+saying nothing. She trembled, she was so angry.
+But what could she do? If she called Mr. Archibald,
+or if he should be awakened by any outcry,
+she feared there would be bloodshed, and if she
+went to call Matlack, Mr. Archibald would be
+sure to be awakened. But at this moment some
+one stepped up quickly behind Raybold, and with
+a hand upon his shoulder, partly turned him
+around.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;that I heard this
+lady tell you to go. If so, go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I did say it,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, hurriedly.
+&#8220;Please be as quiet as you can, but make him
+go.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you hear what Mrs. Archibald says?&#8221;
+asked the bishop, sternly. &#8220;Depart, or&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean to threaten me?&#8221; asked Raybold.</p>
+<p>The bishop stepped close to him. &#8220;Will you
+go of your own accord,&#8221; he asked, &#8220;or do you
+wish me to take you away?&#8221;</p>
+<p>He spoke quietly, but with an earnestness that
+impressed itself upon Raybold, who made a quick
+step backward. He felt a natural repugnance,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
+especially in the presence of a lady, to be taken
+away by this big man, who, in the moonlight,
+seemed to be bigger than ever.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I will speak to you,&#8221; said he, &#8220;when there are
+no ladies present.&#8221; And with this he retired.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am so much obliged to you,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;It was a wonderful piece of good fortune
+that you should have come at this minute.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop smiled. &#8220;I am delighted that I
+happened here,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I heard so much talking
+this evening that I thought I would tranquillize
+my mind by a quiet walk by myself before I
+went to bed, and so I happened to see you and
+Raybold. Of course I had no idea of intruding
+upon you, but when I saw you stretch out your
+arm and say &#8216;Go!&#8217; I thought it was time for me
+to come.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I feel bound to say to you,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;that that impertinent fellow is persisting
+in his attentions to Miss Dearborn, and that Mr.
+Archibald and I will not have it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I imagined that the discussion was on that
+subject,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;for Mr. Clyde has intimated
+to me that Raybold has been making
+himself disagreeable to the young lady.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I do not know what we are going to do,&#8221; said
+Mrs. Archibald, reflectively; &#8220;there seems to be
+no way of making an impression upon him. He
+is like his sister&mdash;he will have his own way.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said the bishop, with a sigh, &#8220;he is like
+his sister. But then, one might thrash him, but
+what can be done with her? I tell you, Mrs.
+Archibald,&#8221; he said, turning to her, earnestly, &#8220;it
+is getting to be unbearable. The whole evening,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span>
+ever since you left the camp-fire, she has been
+talking to me on the subject of mental assimilation&mdash;that
+is, the treatment of our ideas and
+thoughts as if they were articles of food&mdash;intellectual
+soda biscuit, or plum pudding, for instance&mdash;in
+order to find out whether our minds
+can digest these things and produce from them
+the mental chyme and chyle necessary to our intellectual
+development. The discourse was fortunately
+broken off for to-night, but there is more
+of it for to-morrow. I really cannot stand it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t stand it,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;Can&#8217;t you simply go away and leave her when
+she begins in that way?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop shook his head. &#8220;No,&#8221; he said,
+&#8220;that is impossible. When those beautiful eyes
+are fixed upon me I cannot go away. They
+charm me and they hold me. Unless there is an
+interruption, I must stay and listen. The only
+safety for me is to fly from this camp. At last,&#8221;
+he said, smiling a little sadly, &#8220;I am going to go.
+I did not want to do this until your camp broke
+up, but I must.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And you are really going to-morrow?&#8221; she
+asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have positively decided
+upon that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am sorry to hear it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Good-night.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Mrs. Archibald entered her cabin she
+found her husband sleeping soundly, and she
+again sat down by the window. There was no
+such thing as sleep for her; her mind was more
+tossed and troubled than it had been before she
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
+went out. The fact that the bishop was going
+away made the matter worse, for just as she had
+found out that he was willing to help her, and
+that he might be able to keep Raybold away
+from them without actual violence&mdash;for she saw
+that the young boaster was afraid of him&mdash;he
+had told her he must leave, and in her heart she
+did not blame him. With great fear and anxiety
+she looked forward to the morrow.</p>
+<p>It was about two o&#8217;clock when Mrs. Archibald
+suddenly arose from her seat by the window and
+lighted a candle. Then she pulled down the
+shades of the windows, front and back, after
+which she went to her husband&#8217;s cot and put
+her hand upon his shoulder.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hector,&#8221; said she, &#8220;wake up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In a moment Mr. Archibald was staring at her.
+&#8220;What is the matter?&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;Are you
+sick?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said she, &#8220;but I have something very
+important to say to you. I want you to get up
+and go away with me, and take Margery.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald sat up in bed. He was now in
+full possession of his senses. &#8220;What!&#8221; said he,
+&#8220;elope? And where to?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said she, &#8220;that is exactly what I mean,
+and we will go to Sadler&#8217;s first, and then home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Do you mean now?&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes&mdash;that is, as soon as it is light,&#8221; she replied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Are you positively sure you are awake, Harriet?&#8221;
+asked Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Awake!&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have not been asleep
+to-night. Don&#8217;t you see I am dressed?&#8221; And
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span>
+she drew a chair to the bedside and sat down.
+&#8220;I know more about what is going on than you
+do, Hector,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and I tell you if we stay
+any longer in this camp, there is going to be
+great trouble. That young Raybold pays no attention
+to what you said about keeping away
+from us. He comes here, when he pleases, and he
+says he intends to come. I asked you to take a
+walk with me this evening because I saw him
+coming to the camp-fire and I knew that you
+would resent it. To-night I saw him walking up
+and down in front of our cabin, and I believe he
+intended to try to speak to Margery. I went out
+to him myself, and he was positively insulting. If
+the bishop had not happened to come up, I believe
+he would have stayed here and defied me.
+But he made him go.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now that you know this, Hector, it is very
+certain that there will be trouble between you
+and that young man, and I do not want that.
+And, besides that, there is his sister; she is as
+determined to preach as he is to speak to Margery.
+The bishop says he can&#8217;t stand her any
+longer, and he is going away to-morrow, and
+that will make it all the worse for us&mdash;especially
+for you, Hector. I cannot endure this state of
+things; it has made me so nervous I cannot get
+to sleep, and, besides, it is not right for us to
+keep Margery where she must be continually
+guarded from such a man. Now it may seem
+foolish to run away, but I have thought over the
+matter for hours and hours, and it is the only
+thing to do; and what is more, it is very easy to
+do. If we announce that we are going, we will
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span>
+all go, and the chief cause of quarrels and danger
+will go with us. I know you, Hector; you will
+not stand his impertinence.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It will be daylight between three and four
+o&#8217;clock, and we three can start out quietly and
+have a pleasant walk to Sadler&#8217;s. It is only four
+miles, and we can take our time. We need not
+carry anything with us but what we choose to
+put in our pockets. We can pack our bags and
+leave them here, and Mr. Sadler will send for
+them. When we get there we can go to bed if
+we like, and have time enough for a good sleep
+before breakfast, and then we can take the morning
+stage and leave this place and everybody in
+it. Now please don&#8217;t be hasty and tell me all
+this is foolish. Remember, if you stay here you
+have a quarrel on your hands, and I shall have
+hours of misery until that quarrel is settled; and
+no matter how it is settled, things will be disagreeable
+afterwards.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Harriet,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, suddenly twisting
+himself so that he sat on the side of the bed,
+&#8220;your idea is a most admirable one. It suits me
+exactly. Let us run away. It is impossible for
+us to do anything better than that. Have you
+told Margery?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; she answered, &#8220;but I will go to her
+at once.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Be quick and quiet, then,&#8221; said her husband,
+who had now entered fully into the spirit of the
+adventure; &#8220;nobody must hear us. I will dress,
+and then we will pack.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, after three
+times shaking the sleeping girl, &#8220;you must get up.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
+Your uncle and I are going away, and you must
+go with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery turned her great eyes on Mrs. Archibald,
+but asked no questions.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;we cannot stay
+in this camp any longer, on account of Mr. Raybold
+and various other things. Matters have
+come to a crisis, and we must go, and more than
+that, we must slip away so that the others may
+not go with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When?&#8221; asked Margery, now speaking for the
+first time.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As soon as it is daylight.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;So soon as that?&#8221; said the girl, a shadow on
+her brow which was very plain in the light of the
+candle which Mrs. Archibald had brought with
+her. &#8220;Surely not before breakfast?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, a little sharply,
+&#8220;you do not seem to understand&mdash;you are not
+awake; we must start as soon as it is light. But
+we cannot discuss it now. We are going, and
+you must go with us. You must get up and pack
+your things in your bag, which we shall send
+for.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Suddenly a light came into Margery&#8217;s eyes and
+she sat up. &#8220;All right,&#8221; said she, &#8220;I will be
+ready as soon as you are. It will be jolly to run
+away, especially so early in the morning,&#8221; and with
+that she jumped out of bed.</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVI_AN_ELOPEMENT' id='XXVI_AN_ELOPEMENT'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+<h3>AN ELOPEMENT</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A little more than an hour after Mrs. Archibald
+had made known her project to her husband
+the three inhabitants of the cabin stole softly
+out into the delicate light of the early dawn.</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald had thought of leaving a note
+for Matlack, but his wife had dissuaded him. She
+was afraid that the wrong person might get hold
+of it.</p>
+<p>&#8220;When we are safely at Sadler&#8217;s,&#8221; she said, &#8220;we
+can send for our bags, with a note to Matlack. It
+will not matter then who knows.&#8221; She had a firm
+belief in the power of the burly keeper of the inn
+to prevent trouble on his premises.</p>
+<p>With careful but rapid steps the little party
+passed along the open portion of the camp, keeping
+as far as possible from the tent wherein reposed
+Corona and Mrs. Perkenpine, and soon
+reached the entrance of the wood road. Here it
+was not quite so light as in the open, but still
+they could make their way without much trouble,
+and after a few minutes&#8217; walking they felt perfectly
+safe from observation, and slackening their
+pace, they sauntered along at their ease.</p>
+<p>The experience was a novel one to all of them;
+even Mr. Archibald had never been in the woods
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span>
+so early in the morning. In fact, under these
+great trees it could scarcely be said to be morning.
+The young light which made its uncertain
+way through the foliage was barely strong enough
+to cast a shadow, and although these woodland
+wanderers knew that it was a roadway in which
+they were walking, that great trees stood on
+each side of them, with branches reaching out
+over their heads, and that there were bushes and
+vines and here and there a moss-covered rock or
+a fallen tree, they saw these things not clearly
+and distinctly, but as through a veil. But there
+was nothing uncertain about the air they breathed;
+full of the moist aroma of the woods, it was
+altogether different from the noonday odors of
+the forest.</p>
+<p>Stronger and stronger grew the morning light,
+and more and more clearly perceptible became
+the greens, the browns, and the grays about them.
+Now the birds began to chatter and chirp, and
+squirrels ran along the branches of the trees, while
+a young rabbit bounced out from some bushes and
+went bounding along the road. This early morning
+life was something they had not seen in their
+camp, for it was all over before they began their
+day. There was a spring by the roadside, which
+they had noticed when they had come that way
+before, and when they reached it they sat down
+and ate some biscuit which Mrs. Archibald had
+brought with her, and drank cool water from Mr.
+Archibald&#8217;s folding pocket-cup.</p>
+<p>The loveliness of the scene, the novelty of the
+experience, the feeling that they were getting
+away from unpleasant circumstances, and in a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
+perfectly original and independent fashion, gave
+them all high spirits. Even Mrs. Archibald, whose
+sleepless night might have been supposed to interfere
+with this morning walk, declared herself
+as fresh as a lark, and stated that she knew now
+why a lark or any other thing that got up early
+in the morning should be fresh.</p>
+<p>They had not left the spring far behind them
+when they heard a rustling in the woods to the
+right of the road, and the next moment there
+sprang out into the open, not fifty feet in front of
+them, a full-grown red deer. They were so startled
+by this apparition that they all stopped as if
+the beautiful creature had been a lion in their
+path. For an instant it turned its great brown
+eyes upon them, and then with two bounds it
+plunged into the underbrush on the other side of
+the road. Mrs. Archibald and Margery had never
+before seen a deer in the woods.</p>
+<p>The young girl clapped her hands. &#8220;It all reminds
+me of my first night at the opera!&#8221; she
+cried.</p>
+<p>Two or three times they rested, and they never
+walked rapidly, so it was after five o&#8217;clock when
+the little party emerged into the open country
+and approached the inn. Not a soul was visible
+about the premises, but as they knew that some
+one soon would be stirring, they seated themselves
+in three arm-chairs on the wide piazza to
+rest and wait.</p>
+<p>Peter Sadler was an early riser, and when the
+front hall door was open he appeared thereat, rolling
+his wheeled chair out upon the piazza with a
+bump&mdash;though not with very much of a bump,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span>
+for the house was built to suit him and his chair.
+But he did not take his usual morning roll upon
+the piazza, for, turning his head, he beheld a gentleman
+and two ladies fast asleep in three great
+wicker chairs.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Upon my soul!&#8221; he exclaimed. &#8220;If they ain&#8217;t
+the Camp Robbers!&#8221; At this exclamation they
+all awoke.</p>
+<p>Ten minutes after that the tale had been told,
+and if the right arm of Mr. Sadler&#8217;s chair had not
+been strong and heavy it would have been shivered
+into splinters.</p>
+<p>&#8220;As usual,&#8221; cried the stalwart Peter, &#8220;the
+wrong people ran away. If I had seen that bicycle
+man and his party come running out of the
+woods, I should have been much better satisfied,
+and I should have thought you had more spirit in
+you, sir, than I gave you credit for.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, you mistake my husband altogether!&#8221;
+cried Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;The trouble with him is
+that he has too much spirit, and that is the reason
+I brought him away.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And there is another thing,&#8221; exclaimed Margery.
+&#8220;You should not say Mr. Raybold and his
+party. He was the only one of them who behaved
+badly.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That is true,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;His sister
+is somewhat obtrusive, but she is a lady, gentle
+and polite, and it would have been very painful
+to her and as painful to us had it been necessary
+forcibly to eject her brother from our camp. It
+was to avoid all this that we&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Eloped,&#8221; interjected Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a>
+<img src='images/illus-232.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 373px; height: 300px;' /><br />
+<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 373px;'>
+&#8220;&#8216;IF THEY AIN&#8217;T THE CAMP ROBBERS!&#8217;&#8221;<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span></div>
+<p>The good Peter laughed. &#8220;Perhaps you are
+right,&#8221; said he. &#8220;But I shall have a word with
+that bicycle fellow when he comes this way. You
+are an original party, if there ever was one. First
+you go on somebody else&#8217;s wedding-journey, and
+then you elope in the middle of the night, and
+now the best thing you can do is to go to bed.
+You can have a good sleep and a nine-o&#8217;clock
+breakfast, and I do not see why you should leave
+here for two or three days.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, we must go this morning,&#8221; said Mrs.
+Archibald, quickly. &#8220;We must go. We really
+cannot wait until any of those people come here.
+It makes me nervous to think about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good, then,&#8221; said Peter. &#8220;The coach
+starts for the train at eleven.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mrs. Archibald was a systematic woman, and
+was in the habit of rising at half-past seven, and
+when that hour arrived she awoke as if she had
+been asleep all night. Going to the window to
+see what sort of a day it was, which was also her
+custom, she looked out upon the lawn in front of
+the house, and her jaw dropped and her eyes
+opened. There she beheld Margery and Mr.
+Clyde strolling along in close converse. For a
+moment she was utterly stupefied.</p>
+<p>&#8220;What can this mean?&#8221; she thought. &#8220;How
+could they have missed us so soon? We are seldom
+out of our cabin before eight o&#8217;clock. I cannot
+comprehend it!&#8221; And then a thought came
+to her which made her face grow pale. &#8220;Is it possible,&#8221;
+she said to herself, &#8220;that any of the others
+have come? I must go immediately and find out.&#8221;</p>
+<p>In ten minutes she had dressed and quietly left
+the room.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span></p>
+<p>When Margery saw Mrs. Archibald descending
+the piazza, steps, she left Mr. Clyde and came
+running to meet her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I expect you are surprised to see me here,&#8221;
+she said, &#8220;but I intended to tell you and Uncle
+Archibald as soon as you came down. You see, I
+did not at all want to go away and not let Mr.
+Clyde know what had become of me, and so, after
+I had packed my bag, I wrote a little note to him
+and put it in a biscuit-box under a stone not far
+from my window, which we had arranged for a
+post-office, just the day before.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;A post-office!&#8221; cried Mrs. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Margery. &#8220;Of course there wasn&#8217;t
+any need for one&mdash;at least we did not suppose
+there would be&mdash;but we thought it would be nice;
+for, you must know, we are engaged.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What!&#8221; cried Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;Engaged?
+Impossible! What are you talking about?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Margery, &#8220;we are really engaged,
+and it was absolutely necessary. Under ordinary
+circumstances this would not have happened so
+soon, but as things were it could not be delayed.
+Mr. Clyde thought the matter over very carefully,
+and he decided that the only way to keep me
+from being annoyed and frightened by Mr. Raybold
+was for him to have the right to defend me.
+If he told Mr. Raybold I was engaged to him, that
+of course would put an end to the young man&#8217;s
+attentions. We were engaged only yesterday, so
+we haven&#8217;t had any time to tell anybody, but we
+intended to do it to-day, beginning with you and
+Uncle Archibald. Harrison came over early to
+the post-office, hoping to find some sort of a note,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span>
+and he was wonderfully astonished when he read
+what was in the one I put there. I told him not
+to say anything to anybody, and he didn&#8217;t, but
+he started off for Sadler&#8217;s immediately, and came
+almost on a run, he says, he was so afraid I might
+go away before he saw me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Margery,&#8221; exclaimed the elder lady, tears
+coming into her eyes as she spoke, &#8220;I am grieved
+and shocked beyond expression. What can I say
+to my husband? What can I say to your mother?
+From the bottom of my heart I wish we had not
+brought you with us; but how could I dream
+that all this trouble would come of it?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is indeed a very great pity,&#8221; said Margery,
+&#8220;that Mr. Clyde and I could not have been engaged
+before we went into camp; then Mr. Raybold
+would have had no reason to bother me, and
+I should have had no trouble with Martin.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Martin!&#8221; cried Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;What of
+him?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, he was in love with me too,&#8221; replied the
+young girl, &#8220;and we had talks about it, and I sent
+him away. He was really a young man far above
+his station, and was doing the things he did simply
+because he wanted to study nature; but of
+course I could not consider him at all.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And that was the reason he left us!&#8221; exclaimed
+Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;Upon my word, it is
+amazing!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Margery; &#8220;and don&#8217;t you see,
+Aunt Harriet, how many reasons there were why
+Mr. Clyde and I should settle things definitely and
+become engaged? Now there need be no further
+trouble with anybody.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span></p>
+<p>Distressed as she was, Mrs. Archibald could
+not refrain from smiling. &#8220;No further trouble!&#8221;
+she said. &#8220;I think you would better wait until
+Mr. Archibald and your mother have heard this
+story before you say that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald was dressing for breakfast when
+his wife told him of Margery&#8217;s engagement, and
+the announcement caused him to twirl around so
+suddenly that he came very near breaking a looking-glass
+with his hair-brush. He made a dash
+for his coat. &#8220;I will see him,&#8221; he said, and his
+eyes sparkled in a way which indicated that they
+could discover a malefactor without the aid of
+spectacles.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Stop!&#8221; said his wife, standing in his way.
+&#8220;Don&#8217;t go to them when you are angry. We
+have just got out of trouble, and don&#8217;t let us
+jump into it again. If they are really and truly
+engaged&mdash;and I am sure they are&mdash;we have no
+authority to break it off, and the less you say the
+better. What we must do is to take her immediately
+to her mother, and let her settle the matter
+as best she can. If she knows her daughter as
+well as I do, I am sure she will acquit us of all
+blame.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald was very indignant and said a
+great deal, but his wife was firm in her counsel
+to avoid any hard words or bad feeling in a matter
+over which they had now no control.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said he, at last, &#8220;I will pass over the
+whole affair to Mrs. Dearborn, but I hope I may
+eat my breakfast without seeing them. Whatever
+happens, I need a good meal.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When Mr. Archibald came out of the breakfast-room,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span>
+his mind considerably composed by hot
+rolls and coffee, he met Margery in the hall.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Dear Uncle Archibald,&#8221; she exclaimed, &#8220;I have
+been waiting and waiting for you. I hope you
+are not angry. Please be as kind to us as you can,
+and remember, it was just the same with us as it
+was with you and Aunt Harriet. You would not
+have run away from the camp in the middle of
+the night if you could have helped it, and we
+should not have been engaged so suddenly if we
+could have helped it. But we all had to do what
+we did on account of the conduct of others, and
+as it is settled now, I think we ought all to try to
+be as happy as we can, and forget our troubles.
+Here is Harrison, and he and I both pray from
+the bottom of our hearts that you will shake
+hands with him. I know you always liked him,
+for you have said so. And now we are both
+going to mother to tell her all about it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Both?&#8221; said Mr. Archibald.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Margery; &#8220;we must go together,
+otherwise mother would know nothing about him,
+and I should be talking to no purpose. But we
+are going to do everything frankly and openly
+and go straight to her, and put our happiness in
+her hands.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald looked at her steadfastly. &#8220;Such
+ingenuousness,&#8221; he said, presently, &#8220;is overpowering.
+Mr. Clyde, how do you do? Do you think
+it is going to be a fine day?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The young man smiled. &#8220;I think it is going to
+be a fine lifetime,&#8221; said he.</p>
+<p>The party was gathered together on the piazza,
+ready to take the coach. The baggage had arrived
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span>
+from the camp in a cart; but Phil Matlack
+had not come with it, as he remained to take
+down his tent and settle affairs generally. They
+were all sorry not to see him again, for he had
+proved himself a good man and a good guide; but
+when grown-up married people elope before daybreak
+something must be expected to go wrong.
+Hearty and substantial remembrances were left
+for him, and kind words of farewell for the
+bishop, and even for Miss Corona when she
+should appear.</p>
+<p>Peter Sadler was loath to part with his guests.
+&#8220;You are more interesting now than ever you
+were,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and I want to hear all about
+that hermit business; you&#8217;ve just barely mentioned
+it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;My dear sir,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, with a
+solemn visage, &#8220;sooner or later Miss Corona
+Raybold will present herself at this inn on her
+way home. If you want to know anything about
+her plan to assist human beings to assert their
+individualities, it will only be necessary to mention
+the fact to her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-bye, then,&#8221; said Peter, shaking hands
+with Mr. and Mrs. Archibald. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know
+what out-of-the-way thing you two will do next,
+but, whatever it is, I hope it will bring you here.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVII_MRS_PERKENPINE_DELIGHTS_THE_BISHOP' id='XXVII_MRS_PERKENPINE_DELIGHTS_THE_BISHOP'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2>
+<h3>MRS. PERKENPINE DELIGHTS THE BISHOP</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was the bishop who first appreciated the fact
+that a certain air of loneliness had descended
+upon the shore of the lake. He had prepared
+breakfast at his camp, but as Mr. Clyde did not
+make his appearance he went to Camp Rob to
+look for him. There he saw Matlack and his assistant
+busy in their kitchen tent, and Mrs. Perkenpine
+was also engaged in culinary matters.
+He had left Arthur Raybold asleep at Camp Roy,
+but of the ladies and gentleman who were usually
+visible at the breakfast-hour at Camp Rob he
+saw no signs, and he approached Mrs. Perkenpine
+to inquire for Clyde. At his question the sturdy
+woman turned and smiled. It was a queer smile,
+reminding the bishop of the opening and shutting
+of a farm gate.</p>
+<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a one-er,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Do you suppose
+he could ketch a rabbit, no matter how fast he
+ran?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Come, now,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;he wasn&#8217;t trying
+to do that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;He was either doin&#8217; that, or else he was runnin&#8217;
+away. I seed him early this mornin&#8217;&mdash;I
+wasn&#8217;t up, but I was lookin&#8217; round&mdash;and I thought
+from the way he was actin&#8217; that he&#8217;d set a rabbit-trap
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span>
+and was goin&#8217; to see if he&#8217;d caught anything,
+and pretty soon I seed him runnin&#8217; like Sam Hill,
+as if his rabbit had got away from him. But
+perhaps it wasn&#8217;t that, and maybe somebody
+skeered him. Anyway, he&#8217;s clean gone.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop stood and reflected; the affair
+looked serious. Clyde was a practical, sensible
+fellow&mdash;and he was gone. Why did he go?</p>
+<p>&#8220;Have you seen any of the Archibalds yet?&#8221;
+he asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said she; &#8220;I guess they&#8217;re not up yet,
+though it&#8217;s late for them. My young woman
+ain&#8217;t up nuther, but it ain&#8217;t late for her.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop walked slowly towards the cabin and
+regarded it earnestly. After a few minutes inspection
+he stepped up to the door and knocked.
+Then he knocked again and again, and hearing
+nothing from within he became alarmed, and ran
+to Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Hello!&#8221; he cried. &#8220;Something has happened
+to your people, or they have gone away. Come
+to the cabin, quick!&#8221;</p>
+<p>In less than a minute Matlack, the bishop, and
+Bill Hammond were at the cabin, and the unfastened
+door was opened wide. No one was in
+the house, that was plain enough, but on the
+floor were four bags packed for transportation.</p>
+<p>Matlack looked about him, and then he laughed.
+&#8220;All right,&#8221; said he; &#8220;there ain&#8217;t no need of worryin&#8217;
+ourselves. They haven&#8217;t left a thing of
+theirs about, everything&#8217;s packed up and ready
+to be sent for. When people do that, you may be
+sure nothing&#8217;s happened to them. They&#8217;ve gone
+off, and I bet it&#8217;s to get rid of that young woman&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span>
+preachin&#8217;. But I don&#8217;t blame them; I don&#8217;t
+wonder they couldn&#8217;t stand it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop made no reply. Remembering his
+recent conversation with Mrs. Archibald, he believed
+that, if they had quietly gone away, there
+was a better reason for it than Miss Raybold&#8217;s
+fluency of expression. It was possible that something
+might have happened after he had retired
+from the scene the night before, for when he
+went to sleep Raybold was still walking up and
+down in the moonlight.</p>
+<p>His mind was greatly disturbed. They were
+gone, and he was left. &#8220;What are you going to
+do?&#8221; he asked Matlack.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Nothin&#8217; just now,&#8221; said the guide. &#8220;If they
+don&#8217;t send for their things pretty soon, I&#8217;ll go
+over to Sadler&#8217;s and find out what&#8217;s the matter.
+But they&#8217;re all right. Look how careful them
+bags is strapped up!&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop left the cabin and walked thoughtfully
+away in the direction of Camp Roy. In two
+minutes he had made up his mind: he would eat
+his breakfast&mdash;he could not travel upon an empty
+stomach&mdash;and then he would depart. That was
+imperative.</p>
+<p>When he reached the camp he found that Raybold
+had risen and was pouring out for himself a
+bowl of coffee. Seeing the bishop approach, the
+young man&#8217;s face grew dark, as might have been
+expected from the events of the night before, and
+he hurriedly placed some articles of food upon
+a plate, and was about leaving the stove when
+the bishop reached him. Raybold turned with a
+frown, and what was meant to be a glare.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;I shall bide my time,&#8221; said he, and with his
+coffee and his plate he retired to a distance.</p>
+<p>The bishop smiled but made no answer, and sat
+down and ate his meal in peace; then he prepared
+to depart. He had nothing but a little
+bag, and it did not take long to put in order the
+simple culinary department of the camp. When
+all was done he stood for some minutes thinking.
+There was a path through the woods which led
+to the road, so that he might go on to Sadler&#8217;s
+without the knowledge of any one at Camp Rob,
+but he felt that he ought to see Matlack and tell
+him that he was going. If anything went wrong
+at Camp Roy he did not wish to be held responsible
+for it. Mr. Archibald could afford to go
+away without saying anything about it, but he
+could not, and, besides, if he should happen to see
+Miss Raybold it would be far more gentlemanly
+to tell her that he was going and to bid her goodbye,
+than to slip off through the woods like a
+tramp. He would go, that he was determined
+upon; but he would go like a man.</p>
+<p>When he reached Camp Rob the first person
+he saw was Miss Raybold, standing near her tent
+with a roll of paper in her hand. The moment
+she perceived him she walked rapidly towards
+him.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Good-morning,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Did you know that
+the Archibalds had gone? I never was so amazed
+in all my life. I was eating my breakfast when a
+man and a cart drove up to their cabin, and Mrs.
+Perkenpine, running to see what this meant, soon
+came back and told me that the family of three
+had departed in the night, and had sent this cart
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
+for their baggage. I think this was a very uncivil
+proceeding, and I do not in the least understand
+it. Can you imagine any reason for this
+extremely uncourteous action?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop could imagine reasons, but he did
+not care to state them.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It may be,&#8221; he said, with a smile, &#8220;that they
+discovered that their natures demanded hotel
+beds instead of camp cots, and that they immediately
+departed in obedience to the mandates of
+their individualities.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But in so doing,&#8221; said Miss Raybold, &#8220;they
+violated the principles of association. Our scheme
+included mutual confidence as well as self-investigation
+and assertion. I must admit that Mr.
+Archibald disappointed me. I think he misunderstood
+my project. By holding one&#8217;s self entirely
+aloof from humanity one encourages self-ignorance.
+But perhaps our party was somewhat too
+large&mdash;the elements too many and inharmonious&mdash;and
+I see no reason why we who remain
+should relinquish our purpose. I believe it will
+be easier for us to become truly ourselves than
+when our number was greater, and so I propose
+that we make no change whatever in our plans;
+that we live on, for the time agreed upon, exactly
+as if the Archibalds were here. And now,
+if you have a few minutes to spare, I would like
+to read you something I wrote this morning before
+I left my tent. I was awake during the
+night, and thought for a long time upon the subject
+of mental assimilation, the discussion of
+which we did not finish last evening, and this
+morning, while my thoughts were fresh, I put
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span>
+them upon paper, and now I would like to read
+them to you. Isn&#8217;t there some shady place where
+we might sit down? There are two camp-chairs;
+will you kindly place them under this tree?&#8221;</p>
+<p>The bishop sighed, but he went for the chairs.
+It would be too hard for him to tell her he was
+going to leave the camp, and he would not try
+to do it. He would slip off as soon as he had a
+chance, and leave a note for her. She would not
+perhaps like that, but it was the best he could do.</p>
+<p>The reading of the paper occupied at least half
+an hour, and when it was finished, and Corona
+had begun to make some remarks on a portion of
+it which she had not fully elaborated, Mrs. Perkenpine
+approached, and stood before her.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Well, miss,&#8221; said she, &#8220;I&#8217;m off.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Miss Raybold fixed her eye-glasses upon her.
+&#8220;What do you mean?&#8221; she asked.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m goin&#8217; back to Sadler&#8217;s,&#8221; she replied. &#8220;Phil&#8217;s
+goin&#8217;, and I&#8217;m goin&#8217;. He&#8217;s jest told me that the
+cart&#8217;s comin&#8217; back for the kitchen fixin&#8217;s and his
+things, and him and Bill Hammond is goin&#8217; to
+Sadler&#8217;s with it; and if he goes, I goes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>This speech had a very different effect upon its
+two hearers. Corona was as nearly angry as her
+self-contained nature would permit; but, although
+he did not allow his feelings to betray
+him, the bishop was delighted. Now they must
+all go, and that suited him exactly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a positive and absolute breach of contract!&#8221;
+exclaimed Miss Raybold. &#8220;You agreed
+to remain in my service during my stay in camp,
+and you have no right to go away now, no matter
+who else may depart.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></p>
+<p>Mrs. Perkenpine grinned. &#8220;That sort of thing
+was all very well a week ago,&#8221; said she, &#8220;but it
+won&#8217;t work now. I&#8217;ve been goin&#8217; to school to
+myself pretty steady, and I&#8217;ve kept myself in a
+good deal, too, for not knowin&#8217; my lessons, and
+I&#8217;ve drummed into me a pretty good idea of what
+I be, and I can tell you I&#8217;m not a woman as stays
+here when Phil Matlack&#8217;s gone. I&#8217;m not a bit
+scary, but I never stayed in camp yet with all
+greenhorns but me. When I find myself in that
+sort of a mess, it&#8217;s my nater to get out of it. Phil
+says he&#8217;s goin&#8217; to start the fust thing this afternoon,
+and that&#8217;s the time I&#8217;m goin&#8217;, and so, if you
+would like to go, you can send word by that man
+in the cart to have you and your things sent for,
+and we can all clear out together.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Positively,&#8221; exclaimed Corona, turning to the
+bishop, &#8220;this is the most high-handed proceeding
+I ever heard of!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s &#8217;xactly what I think,&#8221; said Mrs. Perkenpine;
+&#8220;it most takes my breath away to think
+how high-handed I am. Before I knowed myself
+I couldn&#8217;t have been that way to save my skin.
+There didn&#8217;t use to be any individdlety about
+me. You might take a quart of huckleberries
+and ask yourself what it was particular &#8217;bout any
+one of them huckleberries&mdash;&#8217;xceptin&#8217; it might be
+green, and it&#8217;s a long time since I was that way&mdash;and
+you&#8217;d know jest as much about that huckleberry
+as I knowed about myself. Now it&#8217;s different.
+It&#8217;s just the same as if there was only one
+huckleberry in a quart box, and it ain&#8217;t no trouble
+to see all around that.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I think, Miss Raybold,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span>
+this good woman has prosecuted her psychical
+researches with more effect than any of us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Bosh!&#8221; exclaimed Miss Raybold. &#8220;Do you
+really think I must leave this camp at the dictation
+of that person?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;&#8217;Scuse me,&#8221; said Mrs. Perkenpine, &#8220;but I&#8217;m
+goin&#8217; to scratch things together for movin&#8217;. We&#8217;ll
+have dinner here, and then we&#8217;ll pack up and be
+off as soon as the carts come. That&#8217;s what Phil
+says he&#8217;s goin&#8217; to do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>With a satisfied mind and internal gratitude to
+Mrs. Perkenpine, who had made everything easy
+for him, the bishop endeavored to make Corona
+feel that, as her departure from the camp was inevitable,
+it would be well not to disturb her mind
+too much about it. But it was of no use trying
+to console the lady.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is too bad,&#8221; she said; &#8220;it is humiliating.
+Here I believed that I was truly myself; that I
+was an independent entity; that I was free to
+assert my individual nature and to obey its impulses,
+and now I find that I am nothing but the
+slave of a female guide. Actually I must obey
+her, and I must conform to her!&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is true,&#8221; said the bishop, musingly, &#8220;that
+although we may discover ourselves, and be
+greatly pleased with the prospect of what we see,
+we may not be permitted to enter into its enjoyment,
+and must content ourselves with looking
+over the fence and longing for what we see.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Corona faintly smiled. &#8220;When we have climbed
+high enough to see over that fence,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it
+becomes our duty to break it down.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When I was in England,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;I
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
+saw a fence&mdash;an oak fence&mdash;which they told me
+had stood for four hundred years. It looked
+awfully tough, and it now reminds me of some of
+the manners and customs of civilization.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When you were in England,&#8221; said Corona,
+&#8220;did you visit Newnham College?&#8221;</p>
+<p>He never had. But she told him that she had
+been there for two years. &#8220;And now,&#8221; she continued,
+&#8220;there may be time enough before I must
+pack up my effects to finish what I was going to
+say to you about approximate assimilations.&#8221;</p>
+<hr class='major' />
+<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'>
+<a name='XXVIII_THE_HERMITS_CONTINUE_TO_FAVOR_ASSOCIATION' id='XXVIII_THE_HERMITS_CONTINUE_TO_FAVOR_ASSOCIATION'></a>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+<h3>THE HERMITS CONTINUE TO FAVOR ASSOCIATION</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>When the Archibald party reached the capital
+city of their State, the four of them took a carriage
+and drove immediately to the Dearborn
+residence. Margery had insisted that Mr. Clyde
+should go with them, so that he and she should
+present themselves together before her parents.
+In no other way did she believe that the subject
+could be properly presented. The Archibalds did
+not object to this plan; in fact, under the circumstances,
+they were in favor of it. During the
+journey young Clyde had produced a very favorable
+impression upon them. They had always
+liked him well enough, and now that they examined
+his character more critically, they could not
+fail to see that he was a kind-hearted, gentlemanly
+young man, intelligent and well educated,
+and, according to private information from Margery,
+his family was of the best.</p>
+<p>Arrived at the Dearborn door, they found the
+house in the possession of one female servant, who
+informed them that Mr. Dearborn was in Canada,
+on a fishing expedition; that Mrs. Dearborn had
+gone to attend some sort of a congress at Saratoga,
+and that she did not expect to be at home
+until the following Friday, three days after, which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span>
+was the day on which she had expected her
+daughter to be brought back to her. This was
+disheartening, and the four stood upon the steps
+irresolute. Margery ought to go to her mother,
+but neither of the Archibalds wished to go to
+Saratoga, nor could they despatch thither the
+prematurely betrothed couple.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know what we must do,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald,
+&#8220;we must go home.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But, my dear,&#8221; said her husband, &#8220;we agreed
+to stay away for a month, and the month is not
+yet up.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter,&#8221; said she. &#8220;Kate and her
+husband will take us in for the few days left.
+When we explain all that we have gone through,
+she will not be hard-hearted enough to make us go
+to a hotel until Friday; Margery can come with us.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Margery turned upon Mrs. Archibald a pair of
+eyes filled with earnest inquiry.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I know what you want,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald.
+&#8220;No, he can go to a hotel in the town; and I shall
+write to your mother to come to us as soon as she
+returns; then you two can present yourselves together
+according to your plans. There is no use
+talking about it, Hector; it is the only thing we
+can do.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;We shall break our word to the newly married,&#8221;
+said her husband. &#8220;Isn&#8217;t there a State law
+against that?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;When we made that arrangement,&#8221; said his
+wife, going down the steps, &#8220;we did not know
+our individual selves; now we do, and the case is
+different. Kate will understand all that when I
+explain it to her.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span></p>
+<p>They drove back to the station, and took a train
+for home.</p>
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Bringhurst were sitting in the cool
+library about nine o&#8217;clock that evening; he was
+reading while she was listening, and they were
+greatly astonished when they heard a carriage
+drive up to the front door. During their domestic
+honey-moon they had received no visitors, and
+they looked at each other and wondered.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is a mistake,&#8221; said he; &#8220;but don&#8217;t trouble
+yourself. Mary has not gone to bed, and she will
+hear the bell.&#8221;</p>
+<p>But there was no bell; the door was opened,
+and in came father and mother, followed by a
+strange young couple.</p>
+<p>&#8220;It is wonderful!&#8221; exclaimed Kate, when at
+last everybody had been embraced or introduced.
+&#8220;A dozen times during the last week have we
+talked about the delight it would give us if our
+father and mother could be here to be entertained
+a little while as our guests in our own
+house&mdash;for you gave it to us for a month, you
+know. But we refrained from sending you an invitation
+because we did not want to cut off your
+holiday. And now you are here! The good fairies
+could not have arranged the matter better.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When all the tales had been told; when the assertion
+of individuality and the plans of hermit
+association had been described and discussed, and
+the young Bringhursts had told how they, too,
+without knowing it, had been associate hermits,
+devoting their time not to the discovery of their
+own natures, but of the nature of each other, and
+how perfectly satisfied they had been with the results,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span>
+it was very late, and young Clyde was not
+allowed to go out into the darkness to find a
+hotel.</p>
+<p>It was on Thursday afternoon that Mrs. Dearborn
+arrived at the Archibalds&#8217; house. The letter
+she had received had made her feel that she could
+not wait until the end of the congress.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Now, mother,&#8221; said Margery, when the two
+were alone together, &#8220;you have seen him and you
+have talked to him, and Uncle Hector has told
+you how he went to the office of Glassborough &amp;
+Clyde and found he was really their nephew, and
+all about him and his family; and you have been
+told precisely why it was necessary that we should
+engage ourselves so abruptly on account of the
+violent nature of Mr. Raybold and the trouble he
+might cause, not only to us, but to dear Aunt
+Harriet and Uncle Archibald. And now we come
+just like two of your own children and put the
+whole matter entirely into your hands and leave
+you to decide, out of your own heart, exactly
+when and where we shall be married, and all
+about it. Then, when father comes home, you
+can tell him just what you have decided to do.
+You are our parents, and we leave it to you.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What in the world,&#8221; said Mrs. Dearborn, an
+hour later, when she was talking to the two married
+ladies of the household, &#8220;can one do with a
+girl like that? I do not believe dynamite would
+blow them apart; and if I thought it would I
+should not know how to manage it.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said Mrs. Archibald, &#8220;I am afraid the
+explosion would be as bad for you as it would be
+for them.&#8221;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t try it,&#8221; said Mrs. Kate. &#8220;I take a great
+interest in that budding bit of felicity; I consider
+it an outgrowth of our own marriage and honey-moon.
+When we sent out that wild couple, my
+father and mother, on a wedding-tour, we did not
+dream that they would bring back to us a pair of
+lovers, who never would have been lovers if it had
+not been for us, and who are now ready for a
+wedding-tour on their own account, as soon as
+circumstances may permit. And so, feeling a
+little right and privilege in the matter, I am going
+to ask you, Mrs. Dearborn, to let them be
+married here whenever the wedding-day shall
+come, and let them start out from this house on
+their marriage career. Now don&#8217;t you think that
+would be a fine plan? I am sure your daughter
+will like it, when she remembers what she owes
+us; and if Mr. Clyde objects I will undertake to
+make him change his mind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>When the plan was proposed in full counsel, it
+was found that there would be no need for the
+exercise of Mrs. Kate&#8217;s powers of persuasion.</p>
+<hr class='tb' />
+
+<p>About ten days after Mrs. Dearborn and Margery
+had returned to their home, and Clyde had
+followed, to move like a satellite in an orbit determined
+by Mrs. Dearborn, Mr. Archibald was
+surprised, but also very much pleased, to receive
+a visit from the bishop.</p>
+<p>&#8220;I could not refrain,&#8221; said that expansive individual,
+&#8220;from coming to you as soon as circumstances
+would allow, and, while expressing to you
+the great obligations under which you have placed
+me, to confide to you my plans and my prospects.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span>
+You have been so good to me that I believe you
+will be pleased to know of the life work to which
+I have determined to devote myself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I am glad to hear,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;that you
+have made plans, but you owe nothing to me.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Excuse me,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;but I do. This
+suit of clothes, sir, is the foundation of my fortunes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;And well earned,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald. &#8220;But
+we will say no more about that. Have you
+secured a position? Tell me about yourself.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I have a position,&#8221; said the bishop. &#8220;But
+would you prefer that I tell you of that first, or
+begin at the beginning and briefly relate to you
+what has happened since I saw you last?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh, begin at the beginning, by all means,&#8221;
+said Mr. Archibald. &#8220;I was sorry to be obliged
+to leave you all so unceremoniously, and I greatly
+desire to know what happened after we left.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Very good, then,&#8221; said the bishop, &#8220;I will
+give you our history in as few words as I can.
+On the afternoon after your departure we all
+went to Sadler&#8217;s&mdash;that is, Miss Raybold and myself
+and the three guides; for Raybold, when he
+heard that Miss Dearborn and Mr. Clyde had
+gone, immediately left for Sadler&#8217;s, hoping, I
+think, to find you all there. From what I heard,
+I think he and Peter Sadler must have had
+words. At any rate, he discovered that his case
+was hopeless, and he had himself driven to the
+station in a carriage, not choosing to wait until
+our arrival. I have since heard that he has determined
+to relinquish the law and devote himself
+to the dramatic arts.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span></p>
+<p>&#8220;For some reason or other, Peter Sadler was
+very glad to see me, and congratulated me heartily
+on the favorable change in my appearance.
+He called me his favorite tramp, and invited me
+to stop at his hotel for a time, but I consented to
+stay a few days only, for I felt I must go to see
+the gentleman to whom I wished to engage myself
+as librarian before my new clothes had lost
+their freshness. Miss Raybold arranged to stay
+at Sadler&#8217;s for a week. She liked the place, and
+as she had planned to remain away from home for
+a fortnight, she did not wish to return before the
+time fixed upon. There were a good many people
+at Sadler&#8217;s, but none of them seemed to interest
+her. She decidedly preferred to talk to
+Sadler or to me; but although Peter is a jolly
+fellow, and had some lively conversations with
+her, he does not seem to care for protracted mental
+intercourse, and it became so plain to me that
+she depended upon me, in so large a degree, for
+companionship and intellectual stimulus, that I
+did not leave as soon as I intended. It was on
+Wednesday, in fact, that I steeled my heart and
+told her that I must positively depart early the
+following morning, or I could not expect to reach
+my destination before the end of the week. It
+was that evening, however, that we became engaged
+to be married.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;What?&#8221; cried Mr. Archibald. &#8220;Did you dare
+to propose yourself to that classic being?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; replied the other, &#8220;I cannot, with exactness,
+say that I did. It would be difficult, indeed,
+for me to describe the manner in which we
+arrived at this most satisfactory conclusion. Miss
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span>
+Raybold is a mistress of expression, and, without
+moving a hair&#8217;s-breadth beyond the lines of maidenly
+reserve which always environ her, she made
+me aware, not only that I desired to propose marriage
+to her, but that it would be well for me to
+do so. There were objections to this course,
+which, as an honest man, I could not refrain from
+laying before her, and with my proposition I
+stated these objections, but they were overruled
+to my entire satisfaction, and she consented to
+become Mrs. Bishop.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Bishop?&#8221; said the other, inquiringly.</p>
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes; Bishop is my name&mdash;Henry C. Bishop.
+It was this name which suggested the title
+which was playfully given to me. Before our
+compact was made I had told Miss Raybold all
+about my family. She did not ask me to do so,
+but I knew she desired the information, for I had
+learned to read those beautiful eyes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;But,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;how about your
+position? Did you get the place as librarian?&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; said the other, &#8220;I did not ask for it.
+The question of my vocation has been settled
+most admirably. There never was a human being
+more frank, more straightforward and pertinent
+than Miss Raybold. She knows what she
+wants, and she makes her plans to get it. With
+regard to means she is sufficiently endowed, but
+the life work to which she has devoted herself is
+far more than she can ever accomplish alone.
+She needs the constant assistance of a sympathetic
+and appreciative nature, and that, I am
+happy to say, I am able to give to her; and were
+I to devote myself to any other calling which
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span>
+would interfere with that assistance, I should be
+doing her a positive wrong. Therefore, should I
+state it in definite words, I should say that I am
+to become my wife&#8217;s private secretary. That is
+my position, and it suits me admirably; and I
+may add that Corona assures me that she is thoroughly
+well pleased. We are to be married in
+the fall, and I hope it will not be long before we
+shall have the pleasure of meeting again our former
+companions of the hermit camp.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;By-the-way,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, as his visitor
+was about to leave, &#8220;tell me something of Matlack.
+I had a great liking for our guide.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;All that I can tell you is this,&#8221; said Mr. Bishop,
+smiling: &#8220;Not long after we arrived at
+Sadler&#8217;s, he went to Peter and asked him if he
+intended to send out a camping party to any
+considerable distance. It so happened that a
+couple of gentlemen were going to a point on the
+very limits of Sadler&#8217;s jurisdiction, and with them
+Matlack petitioned to go, although another guide
+had been appointed. I made inquiries, and found
+that, for some reason, probably connected with
+the persistencies of the female sex, Matlack had
+become a sort of Daniel Boone and wanted to go
+away as far as possible from his kind.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;I hope,&#8221; said Mr. Archibald, &#8220;that our example
+has not made a real hermit of him. Good-bye.
+I am very sorry that Mrs. Archibald is not at
+home; but in both our names I wish you and
+your future wife the best of good fortunes.&#8221;</p>
+<p>&#8220;Father,&#8221; exclaimed Mrs. Kate, when she heard
+of this interview, &#8220;now you must grant me one
+more favor! Here is another pair of lovers who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span>
+owe everything to our honey-moon and your wedding-tour.
+We ought to know them, for we made
+them what they are. So let us invite them here,
+and let them be married from this house. I do
+not believe Miss Raybold has a proper home of
+her own; and, in any case, the only way they can
+pay us what they owe us is to give us the pleasure
+of seeing them wedded here.&#8221;</p>
+<p>Mr. Archibald rose to his feet. &#8220;No, madam!&#8221;
+said he. &#8220;I am willing, to a certain extent, to
+make this house a source of hymeneal felicity,
+but I draw the line at the bishop. I do not intend
+that my home shall become a matrimonial
+factory!&#8221;</p>
+<div class='ce'>
+<p style=' margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em;'>THE END</p>
+</div>
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+$1 25.</p>
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+Y. Times.</i></p>
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+
+<p>THE INSTINCT OF STEP-FATHERHOOD. Stories.</p>
+<p>The spirit of fun is found to a greater or less degree in all of the
+sketches, but at times the fun borders on the tragic so closely that
+the dividing line between laughter and tears almost fades out of
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+<p>FROM A GIRL&#8217;S POINT OF VIEW.</p>
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+<p>A LITTLE SISTER TO THE WILDERNESS. A
+Novel. New Edition.</p>
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+<p>THE UNDER SIDE OF THINGS. A Novel. With
+a Portrait of the Author.</p>
+<p>This is a tenderly beautiful story.... This book is Miss Bell&#8217;s
+best effort, and most in the line of what we hope to see her proceed
+in, dainty and keen and bright, and always full of the fine warmth
+and tenderness of splendid womanhood.&mdash;<i>Interior</i>, Chicago.</p>
+<p>THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF AN OLD MAID.</p>
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+the price.</i></p>
+<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.27 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Sun Oct 12 04:29:48 -0600 2008 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Associate Hermits, by Frank R. Stockton
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,7779 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Associate Hermits, by Frank R. Stockton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Associate Hermits
+
+Author: Frank R. Stockton
+
+Illustrator: A. B. Frost
+
+Release Date: October 12, 2008 [EBook #26895]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE SUPPER [Page 37]]
+
+
+
+
+THE
+ASSOCIATE HERMITS
+
+By
+Frank R. Stockton
+
+Author of
+"The Great Stone of Sardis"
+
+With Illustrations by A. B. Frost
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+1900
+
+
+
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
+
+THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS. A Novel.
+Illustrated by Peter Newell. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1 50.
+
+"The Great Stone of Sardis" is as queer and preposterous as
+can be imagined, yet as plausible and real-seeming as a legal
+document.... There is a treat in the book.--_Independent_, N. Y.
+
+A new and worthy example of Stockton's kindly, wholesome,
+original, and inexhaustible humor.--_Syracuse Post._
+
+Narrated with a seriousness that gives the adventures a semblance
+of matters of fact. Through the narrative runs a love interest which
+Mr. Stockton manages with great skill.--_Washington Post._
+
+NEW YORK AND LONDON:
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
+
+Copyright, 1898, by Harper & Brothers.
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                                                  PAGE
+     I.  The Dawn of a Wedding-journey                      1
+    II.  Enter Margery                                      7
+   III.  Sadler's                                          15
+    IV.  A Cataract of Information                         23
+     V.  Camp Rob                                          35
+    VI.  Camp Roy                                          42
+   VII.  A Stranger                                        52
+  VIII.  The Bishop's Tale                                 63
+    IX.  Matlack's Three Troubles                          74
+     X.  A Ladies' Day in Camp                             82
+    XI.  Margery Takes the Oars                            90
+   XII.  The Bishop Engages the Attention of the Guides   100
+  XIII.  The World Goes Wrong with Mr. Raybold            105
+   XIV.  The Assertion of Individuality                   113
+    XV.  A Net of Cobwebs to Cage a Lion                  123
+   XVI.  A Man who Feels Himself a Man                    135
+  XVII.  Mrs. Perkenpine Asserts Her Individuality        143
+ XVIII.  The Hermits Associate                            153
+   XIX.  Margery's Breakfast                              161
+    XX.  Martin Asserts His Individuality                 173
+   XXI.  The Individuality of Peter Sadler                185
+  XXII.  A Tranquillizing Breeze and a Hot Wind           194
+ XXIII.  Mrs. Perkenpine Finds out Things about Herself   205
+  XXIV.  A Dissolving Audience                            212
+   XXV.  A Moonlight Interview                            220
+  XXVI.  An Elopement                                     229
+ XXVII.  Mrs. Perkenpine Delights the Bishop              239
+XXVIII.  The Hermits Continue to Favor Association        248
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+                                                          PAGE
+THE SUPPER                                        Frontispiece
+"'CAN THIS BE SADLER'S?'"                                   16
+"'THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK'"                        54
+"A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING"                                   80
+"BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER"                                98
+"WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER"           102
+"'WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?'"                             150
+"'HAVEN'T TRIED IT'"                                       202
+"'IF THEY AIN'T THE CAMP ROBBERS!'"                        232
+
+
+
+
+THE ASSOCIATE HERMITS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE DAWN OF A WEDDING-JOURNEY
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald were prosperous and happy dwellers in a
+suburb of one of our large towns. Fortune had favored them in many
+ways--in health and in a good average happiness. They had reached early
+middle age, and their daughter Kate, their only child, had grown up to be
+a beautiful and good young woman, and was on the point of marrying a young
+lawyer--Rodney Bringhurst by name--in every way worthy of her.
+
+Hector Archibald was a little man, with small bright eyes, and hair
+slightly touched with gray and very much inclined to curl. His disposition
+was lively. He had a strong liking for cheerful occurrences, and was
+always willing to do his part in the bringing about of such events.
+Novelty had a charm for him. He was not bound by precedence and tradition,
+and if he had found himself at a dinner which began with coffee and ended
+with oysters on the half-shell, he would have given the unusual meal a
+most animated consideration, although he might have utterly withheld any
+subsequent approbation. As a general thing, he revolved in an orbit where
+one might always be able to find him, were the proper calculations made.
+But if any one drew a tangent for him, and its direction seemed suitable
+and interesting, he was perfectly willing to fly off on it.
+
+The disposition of Mrs. Hector Archibald was different. She was born to be
+guided by customs, fashions, and forms. She believed it was the duty of a
+married woman to make her home happy, and she did it. But she also
+believed that in the best domestic circles there were rules and usages for
+domestic happiness which would apply to every domestic condition and
+contingency. It frequently troubled her, however, to find that certain
+customs, forms, or usages of domestic society had changed, and being of a
+conservative turn of mind, it was difficult for her to adapt herself to
+these changes. But, thoroughly loyal to the idea that what was done by
+people she loved and people she respected ought also to be done by her,
+she earnestly strove to fit herself to new conditions, especially when she
+saw that by not doing so she would be out of touch with her family and her
+friends.
+
+Now of course the wedding of their daughter was the only thing in the
+world that seemed of real importance to Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, and for
+this all preparations and plans had been agreed upon and made with great
+good-will and harmony, excepting one thing, and that was the wedding-trip.
+Strange to say, the young people did not wish to take a wedding-trip. They
+believed that this old-fashioned custom was unnecessary, troublesome,
+commonplace, and stupid. In the gardens and grounds of the Archibald
+mansion, and in the beautiful surrounding country, they had loved each
+other as lovers, and among these scenes they wished to begin to love each
+other as a married couple. Why should such distasteful and unpleasant
+ingredients as railroad-cars, steamboats, and hotels be dashed into the
+pleasing mixture of their new lives? It had been arranged that for a year
+or two, at least, they should live in Kate's dear old home, and why should
+they not immediately begin that life there?
+
+Mr. Archibald did not favor this plan, and his wife was strongly opposed
+to it. A wedding without a wedding-trip ought not to be thought of.
+
+"During the honey-moon a young couple should live for each other, with
+each other, apart from the rest of the world. It is a beautiful custom,
+which should not be rudely trampled upon," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+But although Mrs. Archibald cherished a belief that she ought to conform
+her ideas to the domestic customs of the day, her daughter Kate cherished
+the belief that the domestic customs of the day ought to conform
+themselves to her ideas.
+
+"Of course we should like to be alone in the honey-moon," she exclaimed.
+"We don't object to that; and if there must be a wedding-journey, you and
+father can take it and we will stay here. Here are servants, books, things
+to eat, and everything our hearts can desire, and here we would really
+feel as if we were beginning life as man and wife. As for you two, you
+both need a vacation, and nothing could be more perfectly appropriate and
+more delightful to everybody than that you should take our wedding-trip.
+We don't want it; we will make it a present to you. Take it and be happy,
+and leave us here to be happy. People have done this sort of thing before,
+so that it is not absolutely wild and unheard of."
+
+Mr. Archibald welcomed this plan with open arms, and hugged it and his
+daughter to his breast. It suited him admirably, and he declared that all
+business and engagements of every kind should be set aside, and that he
+would be ready to start on the wedding-journey with Mrs. Archibald the
+moment the ceremony should be completed.
+
+"You will wait until the reception is over, father?" said Kate, laughing.
+
+"Yes," said he, "I will wait for that."
+
+This novel proposition sent a chill through every fibre of Mrs.
+Archibald's physical organism. At first she did not exactly comprehend it,
+but when she did, the chills increased. When she had recovered herself a
+little she began to make objections. This was easy enough, for they
+crowded into her mind like sheep into a pen; but every objection, as she
+brought it forth, was ruthlessly set aside or crushed to earth by her
+daughter or her husband, assisted by her expectant son-in-law, of whom she
+declared she never would have believed such a thing had she been told it.
+
+The discussion ended, of course, by Mrs. Archibald agreeing to go on this
+absurd wedding-journey. But the good lady's mental troubles were not over
+when she had given her consent. As this scheme had been devised by those
+dearest to her on earth, and as it was certain, these dearest persons
+assured her, to meet with the approbation of all people of advanced
+thought--at least of those whose thought had advanced far enough to make
+it worthy of their consideration--she felt that in doing her part she
+ought to do it honestly and with her whole heart; and at her time of life,
+to act as a proxy for a young bride by taking a wedding-journey in that
+young bride's place was a very difficult thing for Mrs. Archibald to do
+honestly and with her whole heart. But she would try to do it. Whatever
+else happened, her family must be kept happy, and it should never be said
+of her that she hung like a millstone around the combined neck of that
+family when it was unitedly climbing towards altitudes of felicity, which,
+although she was not able to discern them, must exist, since that fact had
+been so earnestly insisted upon by Mr. Archibald, Kate, and Rodney
+Bringhurst.
+
+Thus was this exceptional hymeneal performance decided upon, and at eleven
+o'clock on Wednesday, the 6th of June, the marriage service was performed.
+At noon the guests sat down to breakfast, and at two o'clock that
+afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald departed on the wedding-trip,
+leaving behind Mr. and Mrs. Bringhurst at home with each other, and "not
+at home" to the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ENTER MARGERY
+
+
+At four o'clock on the afternoon of June 6th Mr. and Mrs. Hector Archibald
+arrived at a family hotel in the capital of their state. Where they should
+go from there had not been decided upon. Nothing in regard to their
+wedding-journey had been decided upon except that they were to return to
+their home on the 6th of July of that year, and not before. It would have
+been impossible, with their minds filled with bridal arrangements, for
+them to make plans for their journey. But at this first stopping-place,
+where they were free from all responsibility and interruptions, they
+could, at their leisure, decide where they should go, how they should go,
+and what they should do when they got there.
+
+After the unrest and turmoil of their own home during the past few weeks,
+the quiet and repose of this city hotel were delightful. That evening they
+went to the theatre, and after the performance they had a little supper at
+a restaurant.
+
+"People may not think we are a newly married pair," said Mr. Archibald, as
+he poured out a glass of wine for his wife, "but it is not impossible that
+they may see we know how to enjoy ourselves quite as much as if we were."
+
+The next morning Mr. Archibald procured a number of railroad maps,
+time-tables, circulars of steamboat excursions, advertisements of mountain
+retreats and sea-side resorts, and he and his wife sat down to study
+these, and to decide upon a destination and a route. After an hour or two
+of indeterminate examination Mr. Archibald declared himself a little
+tired, and proposed that they should take a recess from their labors and
+go and call upon their old friends, the Stanley Dearborns.
+
+"People on wedding-tours do not make calls," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"That may be true," said her husband, "in ordinary cases, and although I
+do not care to announce to everybody the peculiarities of the expedition
+which we have undertaken, I do not mind in the least telling the Stanley
+Dearborns all about it. Stanley himself would not appreciate it; he would
+consider it absurd; but then he is not at home at this time of day, and
+Mrs. Dearborn is just the woman to enjoy a reform movement of this sort.
+Besides, she is full of ideas about everything, and she may propose some
+good place for us to go to."
+
+Mrs. Dearborn was at home, and very glad to see the Archibalds. She was a
+woman whose soul was in touch with the higher education of women--with
+female suffrage, the emancipation of the enslaved mind wherever it might
+be found, and with progress generally. She was a member of many societies,
+belonged to committees without end, wrote reports and minutes by day and
+by night, and was one of that ever-increasing class of good people who
+continually walk forward in order that their weight may help the world to
+turn over.
+
+In spite of her principles and the advanced position of her thought, Mrs.
+Dearborn actually leaned back in her chair and laughed heartily when she
+learned what sort of a journey the Archibalds were taking. In this
+merriment Mr. Archibald joined with great glee.
+
+"Ever since I left home," he said, "I have wanted to have a chance for a
+good laugh at this trip we are taking. It is the most delightful joke I
+have ever known."
+
+Mrs. Archibald could not help smiling, but her brow was clouded. "If this
+expedition is merely a joke," she said, "I do not think we should have
+undertaken it; but if it is an earnest assertion of our belief that there
+should be a change in the customs of society, then I think we should take
+it seriously, and I see nothing to laugh at."
+
+"My dear Harriet," said Mrs. Dearborn, "we can be good and glad at the
+same time; and that is what I am, I am sure. What you are doing is the
+initiation of one of the most worthy reforms of the day, and if it should
+have an effect in breaking up that wretched custom of the bridal tramp,
+which is considered so necessary in this country, society should rise up
+and call you blessed. But it is funny, for all that. I am sure that the
+first woman who dared to go without crinoline was very funny, and when I
+heard of a hospital for cats I could not help laughing; but I believed in
+it, and worked for it. And now where are you going?"
+
+"That is what we want to talk to you about," said Mr. Archibald; and for
+half an hour they talked about it.
+
+At the end of that time it was decided that the mountains were better than
+the sea or than a quiet lowland nook; and Mrs. Dearborn strongly
+recommended Sadler's, where she and her husband had spent a part of a
+summer a few years before.
+
+"We camped out," said she, "and had a fine time. You can camp out at
+Sadler's more easily and satisfactorily than anywhere else in the world."
+
+Camping suited Mr. Archibald admirably, and, to his surprise, his wife
+said she might like it very well.
+
+"If people are going to laugh at us," she said, "when they find out we are
+on a wedding-journey--and they will be sure to find it out in some way or
+other--I think the fewer people we mingle with the better. I do not think
+I shall like camping altogether, but I know it is healthful, and I suppose
+I ought to get used to it. It would be dreadfully lonely for just Mr.
+Archibald and me, but I suppose we can take some one with us to guide and
+cook."
+
+"My dear Harriet," said Mrs. Dearborn, "if you are at Sadler's, you can go
+into any sort of camp you please. I will tell you all about Sadler's.
+Sadler is a man of progress. His hotel or inn is on the very edge of the
+forest country, and away from all the centres of resort. He calls his
+place the terminal link of public travel in that direction. When you leave
+him you travel privately in any way you like. He has established what he
+has named a bureau of camping, and he furnishes his patrons with any sort
+of a camp they may desire. If the party is few in number and of a timid
+disposition, they can have a camp within shouting distance of his house.
+If they are brave and adventurous, he will send them out into the depths
+of the forest. If they like water, he locates them by the shores of a
+lake. If climbing is their passion, he puts them at the foot of a
+mountain. Those who want to hunt can do so, and those who dislike
+fire-arms are placed in a camp where the popping of guns is never heard.
+He provides tents, guides, provisions, and even dangers and sensations."
+
+"Safety is what I want," interrupted Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"And that he furnishes," said the other, "for those who desire it."
+
+"Sadler is the man for me!" cried Mr. Archibald. "We will go to him, look
+over his list of camps, and select one to suit us."
+
+"By-the-way," said Mrs. Dearborn, "a thought has struck me. How would you
+like to take Margery with you?"
+
+"Margery!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald. "That delightful little girl whom I
+taught to ride a tricycle when you were visiting us? I would like it ever
+so much."
+
+It struck Mrs. Archibald that people on bridal trips did not generally
+take children or young girls with them, but it also struck her that if
+they were going into camp it might be pleasant and in many ways
+advantageous to have some one of her own sex with her; but she had no time
+to formulate these advantages in her mind before Mrs. Dearborn explained
+in full.
+
+"Since Mr. Dearborn and I came home from Sadler's," she said, "Margery has
+been perfectly wild to go there, and as soon as the leaves began to bud in
+the parks she began to talk about it. We saw no possible chance of her
+going there, for her father is too busy to leave home for any length of
+time this season, and I cannot go to the mountains this year, for I must
+visit my sister, who is not well, and there are three summer conventions
+that I am obliged to attend. But if you could take her with you, I do not
+believe she would trouble you in the least, and you would give her great
+pleasure. Moreover, to speak practically, which I think we always ought to
+do, it would not be a bad thing on the score of economy, for things are
+always proportionately cheaper for three people in a camp than for two."
+
+A great many advantages of female companionship now began to creep into
+Mrs. Archibald's mind: if her husband should take it into his head to go
+out and hunt at night by the light of a torch; if there should be
+thunder-storms, and he away with the guide; if he should want to go off
+and talk to Indians or trappers, and he always did want to go off and talk
+to people of every class--it would be very pleasant to have even Margery
+Dearborn with her. So she consented with great good-will to her friend's
+proposition, and Mrs. Dearborn was much pleased and thankful.
+
+"Margery is a true creature of impulse," she said; "that is really her
+predominating characteristic, and she will want to bound to the ceiling
+when she hears she is to go to Sadler's. She is not at home now, but she
+will be in very soon. You must take luncheon with us."
+
+About a quarter of an hour after that Margery Dearborn came home. She was
+very glad indeed to see the Archibalds, whom she remembered as the kindest
+of people; and when she heard they were going to take her to Sadler's, she
+gave a scream of delight and threw herself upon Mrs. Archibald's neck.
+
+"You are an angel," she cried, "an angel of blessedness, my dear Aunt
+Harriet! Don't you remember, I used to call you that? Won't you let me
+call you so still?" And without waiting for an answer, she rushed to Mr.
+Archibald, with outstretched hands. "Dear Uncle Archibald, you are just as
+good as ever, I see. You know, I wouldn't call you Uncle Hector, because
+hectoring meant scolding, which never had anything to do with you.
+Sadler's! Oh, when do we start?"
+
+"To-morrow is Saturday," replied Mr. Archibald; "we must get together some
+things we will need for camp-life, and we can start on Monday."
+
+When the visitors were left to themselves for a few moments, Mr. Archibald
+said to his wife, "Harriet, I am astounded. This girl, who used to ride
+bareback and jump over fences, is a young lady now, and a handsome one,
+too. She is quite a different person from the girl I agreed to take with
+us."
+
+"Mr. Archibald," said his wife, "you never can remember that in this world
+people of all ages grow older. She was fourteen when she was visiting us,
+and that was four years ago, so of course she is a young lady."
+
+"No," he answered, "I don't feel that I am growing any older, and I don't
+see that you are, and so I totally forget that proclivity in other people.
+But what do you think now? Can we take this young woman with us to camp?
+Will she not be a dreadful drag?"
+
+"My dear," said Mrs. Archibald, "I much prefer the young lady to the girl.
+I don't want to be the only woman in camp, and the nearer the other woman
+is to my age the better."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald; "if you are satisfied, I am; and, if she
+will agree to it, we will add our ages for the time being, and divide by
+three, and then we will all stand on a level."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SADLER'S
+
+
+It was in the afternoon of Monday, the 11th of June, when Mr. and Mrs.
+Archibald, accompanied by Miss Margery Dearborn, arrived at Sadler's, and
+with feelings of relief alighted from the cramped stage-coach which had
+brought them eight miles from the railroad station.
+
+"Can this be Sadler's?" said Mr. Archibald, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Of course it must be," said his wife, "since they brought us here."
+
+"It certainly is the place," said Margery, "for there is the name over
+that door."
+
+"How do you feel about it?" said Mr. Archibald to his wife.
+
+"I feel very well about it," said she. "Why shouldn't I?"
+
+"How do you feel about it?" he asked of the younger lady.
+
+"Well," she answered, "I don't exactly understand it. I had visions of
+forests and wilds and tumbling mountain streams and a general air of
+primevalism, and I am surprised to see this fine hotel with piazzas, and
+croquet-grounds, and tennis-courts, and gravelled walks, and babies in
+their carriages, and elderly ladies carrying sun-shades."
+
+"But it seems to me that there is a forest behind it," said Mr.
+Archibald.
+
+"Yes," replied Margery, a little dolefully, "it has that to back it up."
+
+"Don't let us stand here at the bottom of the steps talking," said Mrs.
+Archibald. "I must say I am very agreeably surprised."
+
+In the wide hall which ran through the middle of the hotel, and not far
+from the clerk's desk, there sat a large, handsome man, a little past
+middle age, who, in a hearty voice, greeted the visitors as they entered,
+but without rising from his chair. This was Peter Sadler, the owner of the
+hotel, the legal owner of a great deal of the neighboring country, and the
+actual ruler of more of said country than could be easily marked out upon
+a map or stated in surveyors' terms.
+
+In fact, Peter Sadler, was king of that portion of the vast district of
+mountain and forest which could be reached in a day's journey in any
+direction. If he had wished to extend his domain to points at a greater
+distance than this he would have done so, but so far he was satisfied with
+the rights he had asserted. He ruled supreme in that region because he had
+lived longer in the vicinity than any other white man, because he had a
+powerful will which did not brook opposition, and because there was no one
+to oppose him.
+
+[Illustration: "'CAN THIS BE SADLER'S?'"]
+
+On the arable land which lay outside of the forest, and which really
+belonged to him, there were the houses of the men who farmed his fields,
+and on the outskirts of the woods were scattered here and there the cabins
+of the hunters and guides he employed, and these men knew no law but his
+will. Of course the laws of the State covered the district, but such
+promulgation and enforcement of these as he might consider necessary were
+generally left to Peter Sadler, and as to his own laws, he was always
+there to see that these were observed.
+
+His guests submitted themselves to his will, or they left his hotel very
+soon. To people of discernment and judgment it was not difficult to submit
+to the will of this full-bearded, broad-chested man, who knew so much
+better than they did what they ought to do if they wanted to get all the
+good out of Sadler's which they were capable of assimilating.
+
+This man, who sat all day in a big rolling-chair, and who knew everything
+that was going on in the hotel, the farm, and the forest about him, had
+been a hunter and a guide in his youth, an Indian-fighter in later years,
+and when he had been wounded in both legs, so that it was impossible for
+him ever to walk again, he came back to the scenes of his youth and
+established an inn for sportsmen--a poor little house at first, which grew
+and grew and grew, until it was the large, well-kept hotel so widely known
+by his name.
+
+After dinner, at which meal they were waited upon by women, and not by men
+in evening-dress as Margery had begun to fear, Mr. Archibald sought Peter
+Sadler and made known to him the surprise of his party at finding
+themselves in this fine hotel.
+
+"What did you expect?" asked Peter, eying him from head to foot.
+
+"From what we had heard," replied the other, "we supposed we should find
+some sort of a preparatory camping-ground in the woods, from which we
+could go out and have a camp of our own."
+
+"That's just what you have found," said Sadler. "In this house you prepare
+to camp, if you need preparation. If any man, woman, or child comes here
+and wants to go out to camp, and I see that they are sickly or weak or in
+any way not fit to live in the woods, I don't let them go one step until
+they are fit for it. The air and the food and the water they get here will
+make them fit, if anything will do it, and if these three things don't set
+them up they simply have to go back where they came from. They can't go
+into camp from this house. But if they fancy this hotel--and there isn't
+any reason why anybody shouldn't fancy it--they can stay here as long as
+they like, and I'll take care of them. Now, sir, if you want to go into
+camp, the first thing for you to do is to bring your family here and let
+me take a look at them. I've seen them, of course, but I haven't made up
+my mind yet whether they are the right sort for camp life. As for you, I
+think you will do. There isn't much of you, but you look tough."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "That's good rough talk," he said, "and smacks more
+of camp life than anything I have noticed here. I will go and bring my
+wife and Miss Dearborn."
+
+"There is another reason why I want to see them," said the bluff Peter.
+"As you are bent on camping, you'll like to choose a camp, and when
+anything of that kind is on hand I want to talk to the whole party. I
+don't care to settle the business with one of them, and then have him come
+back and say that what has been agreed upon don't suit the others. I want
+a full meeting or no session."
+
+When Mr. Archibald returned with his wife and Margery, he found Peter
+Sadler had rolled his chair up to a large circular table at the back of
+the hall, on which was spread a map of the forest. He greeted the ladies
+in a loud voice and with a cheery smile.
+
+"And so you want to go camping, do you?" said he. "Sit down and let us
+talk it over. I think the young lady is all right. She looks spry enough,
+and I expect she could eat pine-cones like a squirrel if she was hungry
+and had nothing else. As for you, madam, you don't appear as if anything
+in particular was the matter with you, and I should think you could stand
+a Number Three camp well enough, and be all the better for a week or two
+of it."
+
+"What is a Number Three camp?" asked Margery, before the astonished Mrs.
+Archibald could speak.
+
+"Well," said Sadler, "it is a camp with a good deal of comfort in it. Our
+Number One camps are pretty rough. They are for hunters and scientific
+people. We give them game enough in season, and some bare places where
+they can make fires and stretch a bit of canvas. That is all they want, to
+have a truly good time. That is the best camp of all, I think. Number Two
+camps are generally for fishermen. They always want a chance for pretty
+good living when they are out in the woods. They stay in camp in the
+evenings, and like to sit around and have a good time. Number Threes are
+the best camps we put families into, so you see, madam, I'm rating you
+pretty high. There's always a log-cabin in these camps, with cots and
+straw mattresses and plenty of traps for cooking. And, more than that,
+there is a chance for people who don't tramp or fish to do things, such as
+walking or boating, according to circumstances. There's one of our camps
+has a croquet-ground."
+
+"Oh, we don't want that!" cried Margery, "it would simply ruin every
+illusion that is left to me."
+
+"Glad to hear that," said Peter. "If you want to play croquet, stay at the
+hotel; that's what I say. Now, then, here are the camps, and there's
+plenty of them to choose from. You've come in a good time, for the season
+isn't fairly begun yet. Next month every camp will be full, with the hotel
+crowded with people waiting for their turns."
+
+"What we want," said Margery, rising and looking over the map, "is the
+wildest Number Three you have."
+
+"Oh, ho!" said Peter. "Not so fast, miss; perhaps we'll wait and see what
+this lady has to say first. If I'm not mistaken, madam, I think you're
+inclined the other way, and I don't put people into camps that they will
+be wanting to leave after the first rainy day. Now let me show you what
+I've got. Here is one, four hours' walk, horses for women, with a rocky
+stream through the middle of it."
+
+"That is grand!" cried Margery. "Is it really in the woods?"
+
+"Now let me do the talking," said Peter. "They are all in the woods; we
+don't make camps in pasture-fields. Even the Number Sevens, where the
+meals are sent to the campers from the hotel, and they have bath-tubs, are
+in the woods. Now here is another one, about three miles west from the one
+I just showed you, but the same distance from here. This, you see, is on
+the shore of a lake, with fishing, boating, and bathing, if you can stand
+cold water."
+
+"Glorious!" cried Margery. "That is exactly what we want. A lake will be
+simply heavenly!"
+
+"Everything seems to suit you, miss," said Peter, "just as soon as you
+hear of it. But suppose we consider more of them before you choose. Some
+two miles north of here, in the thickest of the forest, in a clearing that
+I made, there is a small camp that strikes the fancy of some people. There
+is a little stream there and it has fish in it too, and it runs through
+one corner of the log-cabin, so there are seven or eight feet of the
+stream inside the house, and on rainy days you can sit there and fish; and
+some people like to go to sleep with the running water gurgling close to
+them where they can hear it when they are in bed. Then there's an owl to
+this camp. The men heard him there when they were making the clearing, and
+he's never left the spot. Some people who were out there said they never
+felt as much away from the world as they did listening to that little
+stream gurgling and that owl hooting."
+
+"I believe," exclaimed Margery, "that in a place like that I could write
+poetry!"
+
+"It would give me the rheumatism and the blues," said Mrs. Archibald, upon
+which Peter Sadler exclaimed,
+
+"That settles that. Now then, here is another."
+
+Several other camps were considered, but it was the general conclusion
+that the one by the lake was the most desirable. It had a good cabin with
+three rooms, with plenty of open space, near by, for the tents of the
+guides; there was a boat which belonged to the camp, and in every way it
+seemed so suitable that Mr. Archibald secured it. He thought the price was
+rather high, but as it included guides, provisions, fishing-tackle, and in
+fact everything needed, he considered that although it might cost as much
+as lodgings in a city hotel, they would get more good out of it.
+
+"Has this camp any name?" asked the enthusiastic Margery, in the course of
+the conference.
+
+"That's about your twenty-seventh question, miss," said Peter, "but it's
+one I can answer. Yes, it's got a name. It's called Camp Rob."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Margery, in a disappointed tone. "What a name!"
+
+"Yes," said Peter, "it isn't much of a name. The first people who went out
+there named it that, and it stuck to it, and it's all it's got. Camps are
+like horses--we've got to tell them apart, and so we give them names, and
+that's Camp Rob."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A CATARACT OF INFORMATION
+
+
+Peter Sadler would have been glad to have the Archibald party stay at his
+hotel for a few days, and Mrs. Archibald would have been perfectly
+satisfied to remain there until they were ready to return to their own
+house, but her husband and Margery were impatient to be in the woods, and
+it was therefore decided to start for the camp the next day. Peter Sadler
+was a man of system, and his arrangements were made promptly and rapidly.
+
+"You've got to have a guide," said he, "and another man to help him, and I
+think I'll give you Phil Matlack. Phil is an old hand at the business, and
+if you don't know what you want, he'll tell you. If you are in Phil's
+hands, you needn't be afraid anything will happen to you. Whatever you
+want, ask him for it, and ten to one he'll have it, whether it's
+information or fishhooks. I tell you again, you're lucky to be here early
+and get the best of everything. Camp Rob with Phil Matlack will stand at a
+premium in three or four weeks from now."
+
+That evening after supper Mr. Archibald lighted a cigar and went out into
+the grounds in front of the hotel, where he was presently joined by his
+wife.
+
+"Where is Margery?" asked he.
+
+"She is in her room," replied Mrs. Archibald, "but she called to me that
+she would be down directly."
+
+In about ten minutes down came Margery and floated out upon the lawn. She
+was dressed in white, with flowers in her hair, and she was more charming,
+Mr. Archibald said, as she approached, than even the sunset sky.
+
+"You should not speak in that way of works of nature," said his wife.
+
+"Isn't she a work of nature?" he asked.
+
+"Not altogether," was the wise reply. "Why did you dress yourself in that
+fashion?" she asked Margery. "I did not suppose you would bring such a
+fine gown, as we started out to go into camp. And even in this hotel a
+travelling-suit is good enough for any one."
+
+"Oh, I tucked this into one of my bags," replied Margery. "I always like
+to have something nice to fall back upon. Don't you want to take a little
+stroll, Aunt Harriet?"
+
+Mr. Archibald leaned back in his garden-chair and slowly puffed his cigar,
+and as he puffed he took his eyes from the sunset sky and watched his wife
+and Margery.
+
+A little beyond them, as they walked, sat two elderly ladies on a bench,
+wearing shawls, and near by stood a girl in a short dress, with no hat on,
+and a long plait down her back. A little farther on was a tennis-court,
+and four people, apparently young, were playing tennis. There were two
+men, and neither of them wore a tennis-suit. One was attired as a
+bicyclist, and the other wore ordinary summer clothes. The young women
+were dressed in dark-blue flannel and little round hats, which suggested
+to Mr. Archibald the deck of a yacht.
+
+Near the hotel was an elderly gentleman walking up and down by himself,
+and on the piazza were the rest of the guests he had seen at the table;
+not very many of them, for it was early in the season.
+
+Mr. Archibald now turned his eyes again to the sky. It was still
+beautiful, although its colors were fading, and after a time he looked
+back towards his wife. She was now talking to the two elderly ladies on
+the bench, and Margery was engaged in conversation with the girl with the
+plait down her back.
+
+"When I finish my cigar," thought Mr. Archibald, "I will go myself and
+take a stroll." And it struck him that he might talk to the old gentleman,
+who was still walking up and down in front of the hotel. After
+contemplating the tops of some forest trees against the greenish-yellow of
+the middle sky, he turned his eyes again towards his wife, and found that
+the two elderly ladies had made room for her on the bench, that the
+tennis-game had ceased, and that one of the girls in blue flannel had
+joined this group and was talking to Margery.
+
+In a few moments all the ladies on the bench rose, and Mrs. Archibald and
+one of them walked slowly towards an opening in the woods. The other lady
+followed with the little girl, and Margery and the young woman in blue
+walked in the same direction, but not in company with the rest of the
+party. The two young men, with the other tennis-player between them,
+walked over from the tennis-court and joined the first group, and they all
+stopped just as they reached the woods. There they stood and began talking
+to each other, after which one of the young men and the young woman
+approached a large tree, and he poked with a stick into what was probably
+a hole near its roots, and Mr. Archibald supposed that the discussion
+concerned a snake-hole or a hornets' nest. Then Margery and the other
+young woman came up, and they looked at the hole. Now the whole company
+walked into the woods and disappeared. In about ten minutes Mr. Archibald
+finished his cigar and was thinking of following his wife and Margery,
+when the two elderly ladies and Mrs. Archibald came out into the open and
+walked towards the hotel. Then came the little girl, running very fast as
+she passed the tree with the hole near its roots. In a few minutes Mrs.
+Archibald stopped and looked back towards the woods; then she walked a
+little way in that direction, leaving her companions to go to the hotel.
+Now the young man in the bicycle suit emerged from the woods, with a girl
+in dark-blue flannel on each side of him.
+
+"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald, and rising to his feet, advanced
+towards his wife; but before he reached her, Margery emerged from the wood
+road, escorted by the young man in the summer suit.
+
+"Upon my word," Mr. Archibald remarked, this time to his wife, "that ward
+of ours is not given to wasting time."
+
+"It seems so, truly," said she, "and I think her mother was right when she
+called her a creature of impulse. Let us wait here until they come up. We
+must all go in; it is getting chilly."
+
+In a few minutes Margery and the young man had reached them.
+
+"Thank you very much," said this creature of impulse to her escort. "My
+uncle and aunt will take care of me now. Aunt Harriet and Uncle Archibald,
+this is Mr. Clyde. He saw a great snake go into a hole over there just
+before supper-time, and I think we ought all to be very careful how we
+pass that way."
+
+"I don't think there is very much danger after nightfall," said Mr. Clyde,
+who was a pleasant youth with brown hair, "and to-morrow I'll see if I can
+kill him. It's a bad place for a snake to have a hole, just where ladies
+would be apt to take their walks."
+
+"I don't think the snake will trouble us much," said Mrs. Archibald, "for
+we leave to-morrow. Still, it would be a good thing to kill it."
+
+After this there were a few remarks made about snakes, and then Mr. Clyde
+bade them good-evening.
+
+"How in the world, Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, "did you get acquainted
+so quickly with that young man--and who is he?"
+
+"Oh, it all happened quite naturally," said she. "As we turned to go out
+of the woods he was the gentleman nearest to me, and so of course he came
+with me. Those two girls are sisters, and their name is Dodworth. They
+introduced Mr. Clyde and the other gentleman, Mr. Raybold, to me. But that
+was after you had been talking to Mrs. Dodworth, their mother, who is Mr.
+Raybold's aunt. The other lady, with the shawl on, is Mrs. Henderson,
+and--would you believe it?--she's grandmother to that girl in the short
+dress! She doesn't begin to look old enough. The Dodworths don't go into
+camp at all, but expect to stay here for two weeks longer, and then they
+go to the sea-shore. Mrs. Henderson leaves day after to-morrow.
+
+"Mr. Clyde and his friend live in Boston. They are both just beginning to
+practise law, though Mr. Clyde says that Mr. Raybold would rather be an
+actor, but his family objects. The old gentleman who is walking up and
+down in front of the hotel has heart-disease, some people say--but that is
+not certain. He stayed here all last summer, and perhaps he will this
+year. In two weeks hardly any of the people now in this hotel will be
+here. One family is going into camp when the father and two sons come on
+to join them, and the rest are going to the sea-shore, except one lady.
+You may have noticed her--the one with a dark-purple dress and a little
+purple cap. She's a school-teacher, and she will spend the rest of the
+summer with her sister in Pennsylvania.
+
+"That man Phil Matlack, who is going with us to-morrow, is quite a
+character, and I expect I shall like him awfully. They say that about five
+years ago he killed a man who made an attack on him in the woods, but he
+was never tried for it, nor was anything whatever done to him, because Mr.
+Sadler said he was right, and he would not have any nonsense about it.
+There are people about here who believe that Phil Matlack would fight a
+bear single-handed if it happened to be necessary. Mr. Sadler would do it
+himself if he could walk. Nobody knows how many men he killed when he was
+fighting Indians; and, would you believe it? his wife is a plain, little,
+quiet woman, who lives in some part of the hotel where nobody ever sees
+her, because she is rather bashful and dislikes company.
+
+"The other person who is going with us is not very much more than a boy,
+though they say he is very strong and a good hunter. His name is Martin
+Sanders, and I forgot to say that the old gentleman with the heart-disease
+is named Parker.
+
+"It's generally thought that Phil Matlack would rather have some one else
+than Martin Sanders to go with him, because he says Martin knows too much.
+The fact is that Martin is well educated, and could have gone into some
+good business, but he was so fond of the woods that he gave up everything
+to come out here and learn guiding. You know we were told that our camp in
+the woods has three rooms in it? Well, it really has four, for there was
+an artist there last year who built a little room for a studio for rainy
+days. I expect Mr. Sadler forgot that, or didn't think it worth counting.
+There are no snakes at all where we are going to camp, but two miles
+farther on there are lots of them."
+
+"Over the brink of Niagara," interjected Mr. Archibald, "they say eighteen
+million cubic feet of water pour every minute. Where on earth, Margery,
+did you fill your mind with all that information?"
+
+"I got it from those two Dodworth girls and Mr. Clyde," said she. "Mr.
+Raybold told me some things, too, but mostly about his bicycle. He feels
+badly about it, because he brought it here, and now he finds there is no
+place to use it. I should think he ought to have known that the primeval
+forest isn't any place for a bicycle."
+
+"Mr. Archibald," said Mrs. Archibald, when they had retired to their room,
+"I did not agree with you when you wished we could have started for camp
+to-day, but now I am quite of your mind."
+
+Tuesday was fine, and preparations were made for the Archibald party to
+start for their camp after an early luncheon.
+
+The bluff and hearty Peter took such an interest in everything that was
+being done for their comfort, giving special heed to all the possible
+requirements of Mrs. Archibald, that the heart of Mr. Archibald was
+touched.
+
+"I wish," said he to his good-natured host, "that you were going with us.
+I do not know any one I would rather camp with than you."
+
+"If I could do it," replied Peter, "I'd like it ever so well. So far as I
+have been able to make you out, you are the sort of a man I'd be willing
+to run a camp for. What I like about you is that you haven't any mind of
+your own. There is nothing I hate worse than to run against a man with a
+mind of his own. Of course there have to be such fellows, but let them
+keep away from me. There is no room here for more than one mind, and I
+have pre-empted the whole section."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "Your opinion of me does not sound very
+complimentary," he said.
+
+"It is complimentary!" roared Peter Sadler, striking the table with his
+fist. "Why, I tell you, sir, I couldn't say anything more commendable of
+you if I tried! It shows that you are a man of common-sense, and that's
+pretty high praise. Everything I've told you to do you've done. Everything
+I've proposed you've agreed to. You see for yourself that I know what is
+better for you and your party than you do, and you stand up like a man and
+say so. Yes, sir; if a rolling-chair wasn't as bad for the woods as the
+bicycle that Boston chap brought down here, I'd go along with you."
+
+Mr. Archibald had a very sharp sense of the humorous, and in his enjoyment
+of a comical situation he liked company. His heart was stirred to put his
+expedition in its true light before this man who was so honest and
+plain-spoken. "Mr. Sadler," said he, "if you will take it as a piece of
+confidential information, and not intended for the general ear, I will
+tell you what sort of a holiday my wife and I are taking. We are on a
+wedding-journey." And then he told the story of the proxy bridal tour.
+
+Peter Sadler threw himself back in his chair and laughed with such great
+roars that two hunting-dogs, who were asleep in the hall, sprang to their
+feet and dashed out of the back door, their tails between their legs.
+
+"By the Lord Harry!" cried Peter Sadler, "you and your wife are a pair of
+giants. I don't say anything about that young woman, for I don't believe
+it would have made any difference to her whether you were on a
+wedding-trip or travelling into the woods to bury a child. I tell you,
+sir, you mayn't have a mind that can give out much, but you've got a mind
+that can take in the biggest kind of thing, and that is what I call grand.
+It is the difference between a canyon and a mountain. There are lots of
+good mountains in this world, and mighty few good canyons. Tom, you Tom,
+come here!"
+
+In answer to the loud call a boy came running up.
+
+"Go into my room," said Peter Sadler, "and bring out a barrel bottle,
+large size, and one of the stone jars with a red seal on it. Now, sir,"
+said he to Mr. Archibald, "I am going to give you a bottle of the very
+best whiskey that ever a human being took into the woods, and a jar of
+smoking-tobacco a great deal too good for any king on any throne. They
+belong to my private stock, and I am proud to make them a present to a man
+who will take a wedding-trip to save his grown-up daughter the trouble. As
+for your wife, there'll be a basket that will go to her with my
+compliments, that will show her what I think of her. By-the-way, sir, have
+you met Phil Matlack?"
+
+"No, I have not!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald, with animation. "I have heard
+something about him, and before we start I should like to see the man who
+is going to take charge of us in camp."
+
+"Well, there he is, just passing the back door. Hello, Phil! come in
+here."
+
+When the eminent guide, Phil Matlack, entered the hall, Mr. Archibald
+looked at him with some surprise, for he was not the conventional tall,
+gaunt, wiry, keen-eyed backwoodsman who had naturally appeared to his
+mental vision. This man was of medium height, a little round-shouldered,
+dressed in a gray shirt, faded brown trousers very baggy at the knees, a
+pair of conspicuous blue woollen socks, and slippers made of carpet. His
+short beard and his hair were touched with gray, and he wore a small
+jockey cap. With the exception of his eyes, Mr. Matlack's facial features
+were large, and the expression upon them was that of a mild and generally
+good-natured tolerance of the world and all that is in it. It may be
+stated that this expression, combined with his manner, indicated also a
+desire on his part that the world and all that is in it should tolerate
+him. Mr. Archibald's first impressions of the man did not formulate
+themselves in these terms; he simply thought that the guide was a slipshod
+sort of a fellow.
+
+"Phil," said Mr. Sadler, "here is the gentleman you are going to take into
+camp."
+
+"Glad to see him," said Matlack; "hope he'll like it."
+
+"And I want to say to you, Phil," continued Sadler, "right before him,
+that he is a first-class man for you to have in charge. I don't believe
+you ever had a better one. He's a city man, and it's my opinion he don't
+know one thing about hunting, fishing, making a camp-fire, or even digging
+bait. I don't suppose he ever spent a night outside of a house, and
+doesn't know any more about the weather than he does about planting
+cabbages. He's just clean, bright, and empty, like a new peach-basket.
+What you tell him he'll know, and what you ask him to do he'll do, and if
+you want a better man than that to take into camp, you want too much.
+That's all I've got to say."
+
+Matlack looked at Peter Sadler and then at Mr. Archibald, who was leaning
+back in his chair, his bright eyes twinkling.
+
+"How did you find out all that about him?" he asked.
+
+"Humph!" exclaimed Peter Sadler. "Don't you suppose I can read a man's
+character when I've had a good chance at him? Now how about the
+stores--have they all gone on?"
+
+"They were sent out early this mornin'," said Matlack, "and we can start
+as soon as the folks are ready."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+CAMP ROB
+
+
+It was early in the afternoon when the Archibald party took up the line of
+march for Camp Rob. The two ladies, supplied by Mrs. Sadler with coarse
+riding-skirts, sat each upon a farm-horse, and Mr. Archibald held the
+bridle of the one that carried his wife. Matlack and Martin Sanders, the
+young man who was to assist him, led the way, while a led horse, loaded
+with the personal baggage of the travellers, brought up the rear.
+
+Their way wound through a forest over a wood road, very rough and barely
+wide enough for the passage of a cart. The road was solemn and still,
+except where, here and there, an open space allowed the sunlight to play
+upon a few scattered wild flowers and brighten the sombre tints of the
+undergrowth.
+
+After a ride which seemed a long one to the ladies, who wished they had
+attired themselves in walking-costume, the road and the forest suddenly
+came to an end, and before them stretched out the waters of a small lake.
+Camp Rob was not far from the head of the lake, and for some distance
+above and below the forest stood back from the water's edge. In the shade
+of a great oak tree there stood a small log-house, rude enough to look at,
+but moderately comfortable within, and from this house to the shore a wide
+space was cleared of bushes and undergrowth.
+
+The lake was narrow in proportion to its length, which was about two
+miles, and on the other side the forest looked like a solid wall of green
+reflected in the water beneath. Even Mrs. Archibald, whose aching back
+began to have an effect upon her disposition, was delighted with the
+beauty of the scene, which delight endured until she had descended from
+her horse and entered the log-cabin in which she was to dwell for a time.
+
+It is not necessary to describe the house, nor is it necessary to dive
+into the depths of Mrs. Archibald's mind as she gazed about her, passing
+silently from room to room of the little house. She was a good woman, and
+she had made up her mind that she would not be a millstone around the
+necks of her companions. Many people have been happy in camps, and,
+indeed, camp-life has become one of the features of our higher
+civilization, and this, from what she had heard, must be a camp above the
+common. So, think what she might, she determined to make no open
+complaint. If it were possible for her to be happy here, she would be
+happy.
+
+As for Margery, no determination was needed in her case. Everything was
+better than she had expected to find it. The cabin, with the bark on
+almost everything, even the furniture, was just what a house in the woods
+ought to be; and when she entered the little studio, which was nearer
+allied to the original forest than any other part of the house, she
+declared that that must be her room, and that living there she would feel
+almost like a dryad in an oak.
+
+"You've camped out before?" said Phil Matlack to Mr. Archibald, as he was
+taking a survey of the scene.
+
+"Oh yes," said the other, "I've been out a few days at a time with
+fishing-parties, but we never had such a fine camp as this--so well
+located and such good accommodations."
+
+"You are a fisherman, then?" said the guide.
+
+"Yes. I am very fond of it. I've fished ever since I was a boy, and know a
+good deal about bait, in spite of what Mr. Sadler said."
+
+"I had an idea of that sort," remarked Phil, "but it ain't no use to
+contradict Peter. It helps keep up his spirits for him to think he can
+read the characters of people just as quick as he can aim a rifle. And
+it's a mighty important thing to keep Peter's spirits up. If Peter's
+spirits was to go down, things round here would flatten out worse than a
+rotten punkin when it's dropped."
+
+It did not take long to establish the new-comers in their woodland
+quarters. The tent for the two men, which had arrived in the morning, was
+pitched not far from the cabin, and then Matlack and Martin went to work
+to prepare supper. The dining-room in pleasant weather was the small space
+in front of the house, where there was a table made of a wide board
+supported by stakes, with a low and narrow board on each side, also
+resting on stakes, and forming seats.
+
+The supper was a better one and better served than any of the party had
+expected. The camp outfit included table-cloths, and even napkins.
+
+"To-morrow," said Matlack, as he brought a dish of hot and savory broiled
+ham, "after Mr. Archibald gets to work, we'll have some fish."
+
+Mrs. Archibald had been a little fearful that under these primitive
+conditions the two men might expect to sit at the table with them, but she
+need have had no such fears. Matlack and Martin cooked and waited with a
+skill and deftness which would have surprised any one who did not reflect
+that this was as much their business as hunting or woodcraft.
+
+After supper a camp-fire was built at a safe distance from the house, for
+although the evening air was but slightly cool, a camp without a camp-fire
+would not be a camp. The party ranged themselves around it, Mrs. Archibald
+on a rug brought from the cabin, and her husband and Margery on the
+ground. Mr. Archibald lighted his pipe, the fire lighted the trees and the
+lake, and joy inexpressible lighted the heart of Margery.
+
+"If I could smoke a pipe," said she, "and get Mr. Matlack to come here and
+tell me how he killed a man, I should be perfectly happy."
+
+That night Mrs. Archibald lay awake on her straw mattress. Absolute
+darkness was about her, but through the open window she could see, over
+the tops of the trees on the other side of the lake, one little star.
+
+"If I could get any comfort out of that little star," thought the good
+lady, "I would do it; but I can't do it, and there is nothing else to
+comfort me."
+
+On the other side of the room, on another straw mattress, she could hear
+her husband breathing steadily. Then, upon the bare boards of the floor,
+which were but a few inches below her little cot-bed, she thought she
+heard the patter of small feet. A squirrel, perhaps, or, horrible to think
+of, it might be a rat. She was sure rats would eat straw beds, and her
+first impulse was to wake Mr. Archibald; but she hesitated, he was
+sleeping so soundly. Still she listened, and now she became almost certain
+that what she heard was not the patter of small feet; it sounded more like
+something soft which was dragging itself over the floor--possibly a snake.
+This idea was simply awful, and she sat up in bed. Still she did not call
+Mr. Archibald, for should he suddenly spring on the floor, he would be in
+more danger from the snake than she was.
+
+She listened and she listened, but she heard nothing more, and then her
+reason began to assure her that a snake's movements on a bare floor would
+be absolutely noiseless; but in a moment all thoughts of serpents were
+driven from her head. Outside of the cabin she heard a sound that could be
+nothing less than the footsteps of some living creature--a wild beast,
+perhaps a panther. The door was shut and fastened, but the window was
+open. To call Mr. Archibald and tell him a wild beast was walking outside
+the house would be positively wicked. Half-awakened, he would probably
+rush out of the door to see what it was. What could she do? For an instant
+she thought of lighting a candle and standing it in the window. She knew
+that wild beasts were afraid of fire, and she did not believe that even a
+panther would dare jump over a lighted candle. But if she struck a match
+and got up, she would waken her husband; and, besides, if the wind, of
+which she could feel a puff every now and then, did not blow out the
+candle, it might blow it over and set fire to the cabin.
+
+She heard the footsteps no more, and lay down again, but not to sleep. The
+wind seemed to be rising, and made a wild, unearthly sound as it surged
+through the trees which surrounded and imprisoned her, and shut her out
+from the world in which she was born and in which she ought to live. There
+was a far-away sound which came to her ears once, twice, thrice, and which
+might have been the call of some ghostly bird or the war-whoop of an
+Indian. At last she drew the covering over her head, determined that, so
+long as she could not see, she would not hear.
+
+"A wedding-journey!" she said to herself, and the idea, coupled with the
+sense of her present grewsome and doleful condition, was so truly absurd
+and ridiculous that she could not restrain a melancholy laugh.
+
+"What is the matter, my dear?" exclaimed Mr. Archibald, suddenly turning
+over in his bed. "Are you choking? Is the room too close? Shall I open the
+door?"
+
+"No, indeed," she said, "for that was a laugh you heard. I couldn't help
+laughing at the thought that there should be two such idiots in the world
+as you and myself."
+
+"It is idiotic, isn't it?" said Mr. Archibald. "It is gloriously idiotic,
+and it will do us both a world of good. It is such a complete and perfect
+change that I don't wonder you laugh." Then he laughed himself, clearly
+and loudly, and turned over on his side and went to sleep.
+
+Mrs. Archibald felt certain that she would not sleep another wink that
+night, but she did sleep seven hours and a half, and was awakened by
+Margery singing outside her window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+CAMP ROY
+
+
+No thoughts of idiocy crossed the minds of any of the camping party during
+their first breakfast under the great oak-tree. The air, the sunlight, the
+rippling waters of the lake, the white clouds in the blue sky, the great
+trunks of the trees, the rustling of the leaves, the songs of the birds,
+the hum of insects, the brightness of everything, their wonderful
+appetites--the sense of all these things more than filled their minds.
+
+For the greater part of that day Mr. Archibald fished, sometimes in a
+stream which ran into the head of the lake about a quarter of a mile above
+the camp, and sometimes on the shores of the lake itself. Margery
+sketched; her night in the studio had filled her with dreams of art, and
+she had discovered in a corner a portable easel made of hickory sticks
+with the bark on, and she had tucked some drawing materials into one of
+her bags.
+
+Mrs. Archibald was a little tired with her journey of the day before, and
+contented herself with sitting in the shade in pleasant places, occupied
+with some needle-work she had brought with her, and trying to discipline
+her mind to habits of happiness in camp. This was not very difficult
+during the first part of this beautiful day, but towards the end of the
+afternoon she began to think less of the joys of a free life in the heart
+of nature and more of the pleasure of putting on her bonnet and going out
+to make some calls upon her friends. In this state of mind it pleased her
+to see Phil Matlack coming towards her.
+
+"Would you like a cup of tea, ma'am?" said he.
+
+"No, thank you," she answered. "It would seem rather odd to have afternoon
+tea in the woods, and I really don't care for it."
+
+"We can have 'most anything in the woods, ma'am," said Matlack, "that we
+can have anywhere else, providin' you don't mind what sort of fashion you
+have it in. I thought it might be sort of comfortin' to you to have a cup
+of tea. I've noticed that in most campin' parties of the family order
+there's generally one or two of them that's lonesome the first day; and
+the fact is I don't count on anything particular bein' done on the first
+day in camp, except when the party is regular hunters or fishermen. It's
+just as well for some of them to sit round on the first day and let things
+soak into them, provided it isn't rain, and the next day they will have a
+more natural feelin' about what they really want to do. Now I expect you
+will be off on some sort of a tramp to-morrow, ma'am, or else be out in
+the boat; and as for that young lady, she's not goin' to sketch no more
+after to-day. She's got young Martin out in the boat, restin' on his oars,
+while she's puttin' him into her picture. She's rubbed him out so often
+that I expect he'll fall asleep and tumble overboard, or else drop one of
+his oars."
+
+"Mr. Matlack," said Mrs. Archibald, "will you please sit down a moment? I
+want to ask you something."
+
+"Certainly, ma'am," said he, and forthwith seated himself on a log near
+by, picking up a stick as he did so, and beginning to shave the bark from
+it with his pocket-knife.
+
+"Do you know," said she, "if there are panthers in these woods?"
+
+Matlack looked up at her quickly. "I expect you heard them walkin' about
+your cabin last night," said he; "and not only panthers, but most likely a
+bear or two, and snakes rustlin' in the leaves; and, for all I know, coons
+or 'possums climbin' in and out of the window."
+
+"Oh, nothing so bad as that," she replied. "I only thought--"
+
+"Excuse me, ma'am," he interrupted. "I didn't mean that you heard all
+those things, but most likely a part of them. Hardly any family parties
+goes into camp that some of them don't hear wild beasts the first night.
+But they never come no more. Them kind of wild beasts I call
+first-nighters, and they're about the worst kind we've got, because they
+really do hurt people by scratchin' and clawin' at their nerves, whereas
+the real wild beasts in these parts--and they're mighty scarce, and never
+come near camp--don't hurt nobody."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," said she. "But what on earth can be keeping Mr.
+Archibald? When he started out after dinner he said he would be back very
+soon."
+
+"Oh, he's got the fever, ma'am," said Matlack.
+
+"Fever!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, dropping her work in her lap.
+
+"Oh, don't be frightened," said he; "it is only the fishin' fever. It
+don't hurt anybody; it only keeps the meals waitin'. You see, we are
+pretty nigh the first people out this year, and the fish bite lively. Are
+you fond of fishin', ma'am?"
+
+"No, indeed," said she; "I dislike it. I think it is cruel and slimy and
+generally unpleasant."
+
+"I expect you'll spend most of your time in the boat," suggested Matlack.
+"Your husband rows, don't he?"
+
+"He doesn't row me," said Mrs. Archibald, with earnestness. "I never go
+out in a boat except with a regular boatman. I suppose you have a larger
+boat than the one that young man is in? I can see it from here, and it
+looks very small."
+
+"No, ma'am," said Matlack; "that's the only one we've got. And now I guess
+I'll go see about supper. This has been a lazy day for us, but we always
+do calc'late on a lazy day to begin with."
+
+"It strikes me," said Matlack to himself, as he walked away, "that this
+here camp will come to an end pretty soon. The man and the young woman
+could stand it for a couple of weeks, but there's nothing here for the old
+lady, and it can't be long before she'll have us all out of the woods
+again."
+
+"You can come in," called Margery, about ten minutes after this
+conversation; and young Martin, who had not the least idea of going to
+sleep in the boat, dipped his oars in the water and rowed ashore, pulled
+the boat up on the beach, and then advanced to the spot where Margery was
+preparing to put away her drawing materials.
+
+"Would you mind letting me see your sketch?" said he.
+
+"Oh no," said she; "but you'll see it isn't very much like the scene
+itself. When I make a drawing from nature I never copy everything I see
+just as if I were making a photograph. I suppose you think I ought to draw
+the boat just as it is, but I always put something of my own in my
+pictures. And that, you see, is a different kind of a boat from the one
+you were in. It is something like Venetian boats."
+
+"It isn't like anything in this part of the world, that is true," said the
+young man, as he held the drawing in his hand; "and if it had been more
+like a gondola it would not have suited the scene. I think you have caught
+the spirit of the landscape very well; but if you don't object to a little
+criticism, I should say that the shore over there is too near the
+foreground. It seems to me that the picture wants atmosphere; that would
+help the distance very much."
+
+"Do you draw?" asked Margery, in surprise.
+
+"I used to be very fond of sketching," said he. "I stayed at Sadler's a
+good part of the last winter, and when I wasn't out hunting I made a good
+many drawings of winter scenes. I would be glad to show them to you when
+we go back."
+
+"Well," said she, "if I had known you were an artist I would not have
+asked you to go out there and sit as a model."
+
+"Oh, I am not an artist," replied Martin; "I only draw, that's all. But if
+you make any more water sketches and would like me to put some ducks or
+any other kind of wild-fowl in the foreground I will be glad to do it for
+you. I have made a specialty of natural-history drawings. Don't bother
+yourself about that easel; I'll carry up your things for you."
+
+About half-way to the cabin Margery suddenly stopped and turned round
+towards the young man, who was following her. "How did you come to be a
+guide?" she asked.
+
+He smiled. "That's because I was born a naturalist and a sportsman. I went
+into business when I finished my education, but I couldn't stand that, and
+as I couldn't afford to become a gentleman sportsman, I came here as a
+guide. I'm getting a lot of experience in this sort of life, and when I've
+saved money enough I'm going on an exploring expedition, most likely to
+Central America. That's the kind of life that will suit me."
+
+"And write a book about it?" asked Margery.
+
+"Most likely," said he.
+
+That night, after supper, Margery remarked: "Our two guides are American
+citizens, and I don't see why they can't eat at the table with us instead
+of waiting until we have finished. We are all free and equal in the
+woods."
+
+"Margery Dearborn!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald. "What are you talking
+about?"
+
+She was going to say that if there were one straw more needed to break her
+back, that straw would be the sight of the two guides sitting at the table
+with them, but she restrained herself. She did not want Mr. Archibald to
+know anything about the condition of her back.
+
+"So long as they don't want to do it, and don't do it," said she, "pray
+don't let us say anything about it. Let's try to make things as pleasant
+as we can."
+
+Mr. Archibald was lighting his pipe, and when he was sure the tobacco was
+sufficiently ignited he took the pipe from his mouth and turned towards
+his wife.
+
+"Harriet," said he, "you have been too much alone to-day. I don't know
+what I shall do to-morrow; but whatever it is, I am going to take you with
+me."
+
+"Of course that depends on what it is you do," she answered. "But I will
+try to do everything I can."
+
+Mr. Archibald heaved a little sigh, which was not noticed by any one,
+because it sounded like a puff.
+
+"I am afraid," he thought, "that this camping business is not going to
+last very much longer, and we shall be obliged to make the rest of our
+wedding-journey in a different style."
+
+The next morning, when Mr. Archibald went out of his cabin door, he looked
+over the lake and saw a bird suddenly swoop down upon the water, breaking
+the smooth surface into sparkles of silver, and then rise again, a little
+silvery fish glittering in its claws.
+
+"Beautifully done!" said he. "A splendid stroke!" And then turning, he
+looked up the lake, and not far from the water's edge he saw Margery
+walking with Mr. Clyde, while Mr. Raybold followed a little in the rear.
+
+"Harriet," he cried, quickly stepping into the cabin again, "look out
+here! What is the meaning of this?"
+
+Mrs. Archibald was dressed, and came out. When she saw the trio
+approaching them, she was not so much surprised as was her husband.
+
+"I don't know the meaning of anything that happens in these woods," she
+said; "but if a lot of people have come from the hotel with those young
+men I cannot say I am sorry."
+
+"Come," said her husband, "we must look into this."
+
+In two minutes the Archibalds had met the new-comers, who advanced with
+outstretched hands, as if they had been old friends. Mr. Archibald, not
+without some mental disquietude at this intrusion upon the woodland
+privacy of his party, was about to begin a series of questions, when he
+was forestalled by Margery.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Archibald and Aunt Harriet!" she exclaimed, "Mr. Clyde and Mr.
+Raybold have come out here to camp. Their camp is right next to ours, and
+it is called Camp Roy. You see, some years ago there was a large camping
+party came here, and they called the place Camp Rob Roy, but it was
+afterwards divided, and one part called Camp Rob and the other Camp Roy."
+
+"Indeed!" interrupted Mr. Archibald. "Mr. Sadler did not tell us that ours
+was only half a camp with only half a name."
+
+"I don't suppose he thought of it," said Margery. "And the line between
+the two camps is just three hundred feet above our cabin. I don't suppose
+anybody ever measures it off, but there it is; and Mr. Clyde and Mr.
+Raybold have taken Camp Roy, which hasn't any house on it. They started
+before daybreak this morning, and brought a tent along with them, which
+they have pitched just back of that little peninsula; and they haven't any
+guide, because they want to attend to their own cooking and everything,
+and the man who brought the tent and other things has gone back. They are
+going to live there just like real backwoodsmen, and they have a boat of
+their own, which is to be brought up from the bottom of the lake
+somewhere--I mean from the lower end of the lake. And, Aunt Harriet, may I
+speak to you a moment?"
+
+With this the young woman drew Mrs. Archibald aside, and in a low voice
+asked if she thought it would be out of the way to invite the two young
+men to take breakfast with them, as it was not likely they had all their
+cooking things in order so early.
+
+Five people sat down to breakfast under the great oak-tree, and it was a
+lively meal. Mr. Archibald's mental disquiet, in which were now apparent
+some elements of resentment, had not subsided, but the state of his mind
+did not show itself in his demeanor, and he could not help feeling pleased
+to see that his wife was in better spirits. He had always known that she
+liked company.
+
+After breakfast he took Matlack aside. "I don't understand this business,"
+said he. "When I hired this camp I supposed we were to have it to
+ourselves; but if there are other camps jammed close against it we may be
+in the midst of a great public picnic before a week is out."
+
+"Oh, that camp over there isn't much of a camp," replied the guide. "The
+fact is, it is only the tail end of a camp, and I don't suppose Peter
+Sadler thought anybody would be likely to take it just now, and so didn't
+think it worth while to speak of it. Of course it's jammed up against this
+one, as you say; but then the people in one camp haven't the right to
+cross the line into another camp if the people in the other camp don't
+want them to."
+
+"Line!" said Mr. Archibald. "It is absurd to think of lines in a place
+like this. And I have no intention of making myself disagreeable by
+ordering people off my premises. But I would like to know if there is
+another camp three hundred feet on this side of our cabin, or three
+hundred feet back of it."
+
+"No, sir," said Matlack, speaking promptly; "there isn't another camp
+between this and the lower end of the lake. There's a big one there, and
+it's taken; but the people aren't coming until next month."
+
+"If a larger party had taken Camp Roy," said Mr. Archibald to his wife a
+little later, "I should not mind it so much. But two young men! I do not
+like it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A STRANGER
+
+
+It was at the close of a pleasant afternoon four days after the arrival of
+the young men at Camp Roy, and Mrs. Archibald was seated on a camp-stool
+near the edge of the lake intently fishing. By her side stood Phil
+Matlack, who had volunteered to interpose himself between her and all the
+disagreeable adjuncts of angling. He put the bait upon her hook, he told
+her when her cork was bobbing sufficiently to justify a jerk, and when she
+caught a little fish he took it off the hook. Fishing in this pleasant
+wise had become very agreeable to the good lady, and she found pleasures
+in camp life which she had not anticipated. Her husband was in a boat some
+distance out on the lake, and he was also fishing, but she did not care
+for that style of sport; the fish were too big and the boat too small.
+
+A little farther down the lake Martin Sanders sat busily engaged in
+putting some water-fowl into the foreground of Margery's sketch. A
+critical observer might have noticed that he had also made a number of
+changes in said sketch, all of which added greatly to its merits as a
+picture of woodland scenery. At a little distance Margery was sitting at
+her easel making a sketch of Martin as an artist at work in the woods. The
+two young men had gone off with their guns, not perhaps because they
+expected to find any legitimate game at that season, but hoping to secure
+some ornithological specimens, or to get a shot at some minor quadrupeds
+unprotected by law. Another reason for their expedition could probably
+have been found in some strong hints given by Mr. Archibald that it was
+unwise for them to be hanging around the camps and taking no advantage of
+the opportunities for sport offered by the beautiful weather and the
+forest.
+
+It was not long before Margery became convinced that the sketch on which
+she was working did not resemble her model, nor did it very much resemble
+an artist at work in the woods.
+
+"It looks a good deal more like a cobbler mending shoes," she said to
+herself, "and I'll keep it for that. Some day I will put a bench under him
+and a shoe in his hand instead of a sketch." With that she rose, and went
+to see how Martin was getting on. "I think," she said, "those dark ducks
+improve the picture very much. They throw the other things back." Then she
+stopped, went to one side, and gazed out over the lake. "I wonder," she
+said, "if there is really any fun in fishing. Uncle Archibald has been out
+in that boat for more than two hours, and he has fished almost every day
+since he's been here. I should think he would get tired of it."
+
+"Oh no," said Martin, looking up with animation. "If you know how to fish,
+and there is good sport, you never get tired of it."
+
+"I know how to fish," said Margery, "and I do not care about it at all."
+
+"You know how to fish?" said Martin. "Can you make a cast with a fly?"
+
+"I never tried that," said she. "But I have fished as Aunt Harriet does,
+and it is easy as can be."
+
+"Oh," said he, "you don't know anything about fishing unless you have
+fished with a fly. That is the only real sport. It is as exciting as a
+battle. If you would let me teach you how to throw a fly, I am sure you
+would never find fishing tiresome, and these woods would be like a new
+world to you."
+
+"Why don't you do it yourself, then?" she asked.
+
+"Because I am paid to do other things," he replied. "We are not sent here
+simply to enjoy ourselves, though I must say that I--" And then he
+suddenly stopped. "I wish you would let me teach you fly-fishing. I know
+you would like it."
+
+Margery looked at the eager face turned towards her, and then she gazed
+out over the water.
+
+"Perhaps I might like it," she said. "But it wouldn't be necessary for you
+to take that trouble. Uncle Archibald has two or three times asked me to
+go out with him, and of course he would teach me how to fish as he does.
+Isn't that somebody calling you?"
+
+"Yes," said Martin, rising; "it's Phil. I suppose it's nearly
+supper-time."
+
+As they walked towards the camp, Margery in front, and Martin behind her
+carrying the drawing-materials and the easel, Margery suddenly turned.
+
+[Illustration: "'THEY THROW THE OTHER THINGS BACK'"]
+
+"It was very good of you to offer to teach me to fish with flies," she
+said, "and perhaps, if Uncle Archibald doesn't want to be bothered, I may
+get you to show me how to do it."
+
+The young man's face brightened, and he was about to express his pleasure
+with considerable warmth; but he checked himself, and merely remarked that
+whenever she was ready he would provide a rod and flies and show her how
+to use them.
+
+Mrs. Archibald had gone into the cabin, and Margery went up to Matlack,
+who was on his way to the little tent in which the camp cooking was done.
+
+"Did Mrs. Archibald tell you," said she, "that we have invited Mr. Clyde
+and Mr. Raybold to supper to-night?"
+
+The guide stopped and smiled. "She told me," said he, "but I don't know
+that it was altogether necessary."
+
+"I suppose you mean," said Margery, "that they are here so much; but I
+don't wonder; they must do awfully poor cooking for themselves. I don't
+suppose they will bring anything back that is good to eat."
+
+"Not at this time of year," said he, "but I shall be satisfied if they
+bring themselves home."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Margery, quickly.
+
+"Well," said Matlack, "I don't doubt the bicycle fellow will always come
+back all right, but I'm afeard about the other one. That bicycle chap
+don't know no more about a gun than he does about makin' bread, and I
+wouldn't go out huntin' with him for a hundred dollars. He's just as
+likely to take a crack at his pardner's head as at anything else that's
+movin' in the woods."
+
+"That is dreadful!" exclaimed Margery.
+
+"Yes, it is," returned the guide; "and if I had charge of their camp he
+wouldn't go out with a gun again. But it will be all right in a day or
+two. Peter will settle that."
+
+"Mr. Sadler, do you mean?" asked Margery. "What's he got to do with it?"
+
+"He's got everything to do with it," said Matlack. "He's got everything to
+do with everything in this part of the country. He's got his laws, and he
+sees to it that people stand by them. One of his rules is that people who
+don't know how to use guns sha'n't shoot in his camps."
+
+"But how can he know about the people out here in the woods?" asked
+Margery.
+
+"I tell you, miss," said Matlack, speaking slowly and decisively, "Peter
+Sadler's ways of knowing things is like gas--the kind you burn, I mean. I
+was a-visitin' once in a city house, and slept in a room on the top floor,
+and there was a leak in the pipe in the cellar, and that gas just went
+over the whole house, into every room and closet, and even under the beds,
+and I've often thought that that was just like Peter's way of doin' things
+and knowin' things. You take my word for it, that bicycle-man won't go out
+huntin' many more days, even if he don't shoot his pardner fust."
+
+"He won't go to-morrow," thought Margery; and then she said to Matlack: "I
+think we ought to know Mr. Sadler's rules. Has he any more of them?"
+
+"Oh, they ain't very many," said Matlack. "But there's one I think of now,
+and that is that no woman shall go out in a boat by herself on this
+lake."
+
+"That is simply horrid!" exclaimed Margery. "Women can row as well as
+men."
+
+"I don't say they can't," said Matlack. "I'm only tellin' you what Peter's
+rules are, and that's one of them."
+
+Margery made no reply, but walked away, her head thrown back a little more
+than was usual with her.
+
+"I've got to keep my eye on her," said Matlack to himself, as he went to
+the cabin; "she's never been broke to no harness."
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. Raybold did not shoot Mr. Clyde, nor did he shoot anything else. Mr.
+Clyde did shoot a bird, but it fell into the water at a place where the
+shore was very marshy, and it was impossible for him to get it. He thought
+it was a heron, or a bittern, or perhaps a fish-hawk, but whatever it was,
+both ladies said that it was a great pity to kill it, as it was not good
+to eat, and must have been very happy in its life in the beautiful
+forest.
+
+"It is very cruel to shoot them when they are not strictly game," said Mr.
+Clyde, "and I don't believe I will do it. If I had the things to stuff
+them with, that would be different, but I haven't. I believe fishing is
+just as much fun, and more sensible."
+
+"I do not!" exclaimed Mr. Raybold. "I hold that hunting is a manly art,
+and that a forester's life is as bold and free to him as it is to the
+birds in the air. I believe I have the blood of a hunter in me. My voice
+is for the woods."
+
+"I expect you will change your voice," thought Margery, "when Mr. Sadler
+takes your gun away from you." But she did not say so.
+
+Mr. Archibald stood with his hands in his pockets reflecting. He had hoped
+that these two young men were inveterate hunters, and that they would
+spend their days in long tramps. He did not at all approve of their
+fishing. Fishing could be done anywhere--here, for instance, right at this
+very door.
+
+Supper was over, and the five inhabitants of Camps Rob and Roy had seated
+themselves around the fire which Martin had carefully built, keeping in
+view a cheery blaze without too much heat. Pipes had been filled and
+preparations made for the usual evening smoke and talk, when a man was
+seen emerging from the woods at the point where the road opened into the
+clearing about the camp. It was still light, for these hungry campers
+supped early, and the man could be distinctly seen as he approached, and
+it was plain that he was not a messenger from Sadler's.
+
+He was rather a large man, dressed in black, and wearing a felt hat with a
+wide, straight brim. Hanging by a strap from his shoulder was a small
+leather bag, and in his hand he carried a closed umbrella. Advancing
+towards the fire, he took off his hat, bowed, and smiled. He wore no
+beard, his face was round and plump, and his smile was pleasant.
+
+"Good-evening, ladies and gentlemen," said he, and his voice was as
+pleasant as his smile.
+
+"Good-evening," said Mr. Archibald, and then for a moment there was a
+pause.
+
+"I presume," said the new-comer, looking about him, "that this is a
+camp."
+
+"It is a camp," said Mr. Archibald.
+
+"The fact is so obvious," said the man in black, "that it was really
+unnecessary for me to allude to it. May I ask to be allowed to sit down
+for a few moments? I am fatigued."
+
+At this juncture Phil Matlack arrived on the scene. "Well, sir," said he,
+"have you any business with anybody here? Who do you wish to see?"
+
+"I have no business," said the other, "and--"
+
+"And you are a stranger to everybody here?" interrupted Matlack.
+
+"Yes, but I hope--"
+
+"Now then," said the guide, quickly, "I've got to ask you to move on. This
+is one of Peter Sadler's camps, and he has strict rules against strangers
+stoppin' in any of them. If you've lost your way, I'll tell you that this
+road, if you don't turn to the right or the left, will take you straight
+to Sadler's, and there's time enough for you to get there before dark."
+
+"Mr. Matlack," exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, who had risen to her feet, "I
+want to speak to you! It's a shame," she said, when the guide had
+approached her, "to send that man away without even giving him a chance to
+rest himself. He may be a very respectable person on a walking tour."
+
+"I guess he is on a walkin' tour," said Matlack, "and I guess he's a
+regular tramp, and there's no orders we've got that's stricter than them
+against tramps."
+
+"Well, I don't care who he is," said Mrs. Archibald, "or what your rules
+are, but when a perfectly good-mannered man comes to us and asks simply to
+be allowed to rest, I don't want him to be driven away as if he were a
+stray pig on a lawn. Mr. Archibald, shouldn't he be allowed to rest a
+while?"
+
+Her husband rose and approached the stranger. "Where are you going, sir?"
+said he.
+
+The man looked at Matlack, at Martin, who stood behind him, and then at
+the rest of the company, and after this comprehensive glance he smiled.
+
+"From present appearances," he said, "I think I am going to go."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "When do you expect to get there?" he asked.
+
+"It seems to me," said the other, reflectively, "that I am always going
+there, and I suppose I shall have to keep on doing it."
+
+"Look here," said Mr. Archibald, turning to Matlack, "give him some
+supper, and let him rest. There will be time enough for him to get to
+Sadler's after that. If Sadler has anything to say against it, refer him
+to me."
+
+"All right, sir," said Matlack, "if you say so. I'm no harder on my
+fellow-bein's than other people, but rules is rules, and it isn't for me
+to break them."
+
+"My dear sir," said the stranger to Mr. Archibald, "your words are more
+grateful to me than the promise of food. I see that you consider me a
+tramp, but it is a mistake. I am not a tramp. If you will allow me, after
+I have eaten a little supper--a meal which I must admit I greatly need--I
+will explain to you how I happen to be here." And with a bow he walked
+towards the table where Matlack and Martin had been eating their supper.
+
+"Do you know what I think he is?" said Mr. Clyde, when Mr. Archibald had
+resumed his seat and his pipe. "I believe he is a wandering actor. Actors
+always have smoothly shaven faces, and he looks like one."
+
+"Actor!" exclaimed Arthur Raybold. "That's nonsense. He's not in the least
+like an actor. Anybody could see by his tread and his air that he's never
+been on the stage. He's more like a travelling salesman. The next thing
+he'll do will be to pull out of that bag some samples of spool thread or
+patent thimbles."
+
+"You are both wrong," said Margery--"entirely wrong. I have been looking
+at him, and I believe he is a Methodist minister with a dead horse. They
+ride circuits, and of course when their horses die they walk. Just wait a
+little, and see if I am not right."
+
+They waited a little, and then they waited a little longer, and they had
+begun to be tired of waiting before the stranger finished his meal and
+approached the fire. His face was brighter, his smile was more pleasant,
+and his step had a certain jauntiness in it.
+
+"I thank you all," he said, "for the very good meal I have just enjoyed. I
+am now going to go, but before I start I would like very much--indeed, I
+crave it as a favor--to place myself before you in my proper light. May I
+have permission to do so, madam and sir?" he said, addressing Mrs. and Mr.
+Archibald, but with a respectful glance at the others, as if he would not
+ignore any one of them.
+
+"Certainly," said Mrs. Archibald. "Sit down and tell us about yourself."
+
+The stranger seated himself with alacrity a little back from the circle,
+and nearer to the young men than to the Archibald party.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE BISHOP'S TALE
+
+
+The stranger placed his broad-brimmed hat on the ground beside him,
+exposing a large round head somewhat bald in front, but not from age, and
+the rest of it covered with close-cut brown hair. His black clothes fitted
+him very closely, their extreme tightness suggesting that they had
+shrunken in the course of wearing, or that he had grown much plumper since
+he had come into possession of them; and their general worn and dull
+appearance gave considerable distance to the period of their first
+possession. But there was nothing worn or dull about the countenance of
+the man, upon which was an expression of mellow geniality which would have
+been suitably consequent upon a good dinner with plenty of wine. But his
+only beverage had been coffee, and in his clear bright eye there was no
+trace of any exhilaration, except that caused by the action of a hearty
+meal upon a good digestion and an optimistic disposition.
+
+"I am very glad," he said, looking about him at the company, and then
+glancing with a friendly air towards the two guides, who stood a little
+back of Mr. Archibald, "to have this opportunity to explain my appearance
+here. In the first place, I must tell you that I am a bishop whose diocese
+has been inundated, and who consequently has been obliged to leave it."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Archibald; and Margery looked at Mr. Clyde, with the
+remark:
+
+"There! You see I was very near to it."
+
+"I presume this statement will require some explanation," continued the
+man in black, "and I will make it presently. I am going to be exceedingly
+frank and open in all that I say to you, and as frankness and openness are
+so extremely rare in this world, it may be that I shall obtain favor in
+your eyes from the fact of my possessing those unusual qualities.
+Originally I was a teacher, and for a year or two I had a very good
+country school; but my employment at last became so repugnant to me that I
+could no longer endure it, and this repugnance was due entirely to my
+intense dislike for children."
+
+"That is not at all to your credit," observed Mrs. Archibald; "and I do
+not see how you became a bishop, or why you should have been made one."
+
+"Was your diocese entirely meadow-land?" inquired Mr. Archibald.
+
+"I am coming to all that," said the stranger, with a smile of polite
+consideration towards Mrs. Archibald. "I know very well that it is not at
+all to my credit to dislike children, but I said I would be honest, and I
+am. I do dislike them--not their bodies, but their minds. Children,
+considered physically, are often pleasant to the view, and even
+interesting as companions, providing their innate juvenility is
+undisturbed; but when their personalities are rudely thrown open by a
+teacher, and the innate juvenility prematurely exposed to the air, it is
+something so clammy, so chilly to the mental marrow, that I shrink from it
+as I would shrink from the touch of any cold, clammy thing."
+
+"Horrible!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"I am not sure," observed Margery, "that there is not some truth in that.
+I had a Sunday-school class for a little while, and although I can't say
+there was a clamminess, there was--well, I don't know what there was, but
+I gave it up."
+
+"I am glad," said the man in black, "that my candor is not sinking me in
+the estimation of every one present; but even if it did, I am obliged to
+tell the truth. I do not know what would have become of me if I had not
+had the good-fortune to catch the measles from a family with whom I was
+spending Sunday in another town. As soon as the disease plainly showed
+itself upon me my school was broken up, and it was never gathered together
+again, at least under me.
+
+"I must make my story brief, and can only say that not long after this I
+found myself in another town, where it became necessary for me to do
+something to support myself. This was difficult, for I am an indefinite
+man, and definiteness seems necessary to success in any line. Happening
+one day to pass a house with open lower windows, I heard the sound of
+children's voices speaking in unison, and knowing that this must be a
+school, I looked in, compelled entirely by that curiosity which often
+urges us to gaze upon human suffering. I found, however, that this was a
+kindergarten conducted by a young woman. Unobserved by scholars or
+teacher, I watched the proceedings with great interest, and soon became
+convinced that kindergartening was a much less repellent system of tuition
+than any I had known; but I also perceived that the methods of the young
+woman could be greatly improved. I thought a good deal upon this subject
+after leaving the open window. Soon afterwards, becoming acquainted with
+the young person in charge of the children, I offered to teach her a much
+better system of kindergartening than she was using. My terms were very
+low, and she became my scholar. I soon learned that there were other
+kindergartens in the town, and some of the teachers of these joined my
+class. Moreover, there were young women in the place who were not
+kindergartners, but who would like to become such, and these I also
+taught, sometimes visiting them at their houses, and sometimes giving my
+lessons in a room loaned by one of my patrons. My system became very
+popular, because it was founded upon common-sense."
+
+"What was your system?" asked Mrs. Archibald. "I am interested in
+kindergartens myself."
+
+"My object," he answered, "was to make the operation of teaching
+interesting to the teacher. It struck me very forcibly that a continuance
+of a few years in the present inane performances called kindergartening
+would infallibly send to our lunatic asylums a number of women, more or
+less young, with more or less depleted intellects. The various games and
+exercises I devised were very interesting, and I am sure I had scholars
+who never intended to become kindergartners, and who studied with me
+solely for their own advantage. It was at this time that I adopted the
+clerical dress as being more suitable to my vocation than any other
+costume, and some one having called me the bishop, the name soon became
+popular, and I was generally known by it."
+
+"But what is your real name?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Madam," said the man, "you must excuse me if I ask you to recall your
+question. I have a good name, and I belong to a very good family, but
+there are reasons why I do not at present wish to avow that name. Some of
+these reasons are connected with the report that I purposely visited the
+family with the measles in order to get rid of my school; others are
+connected with the inundation of my diocese, of which I shall speak;
+others refer to my present indefinite method of life. There is reason to
+suppose that the time is not far distant when my resumption of my family
+name will throw no discredit upon it, but that period has not yet arrived.
+Do you press your question, madam?"
+
+"Oh no," said Mrs. Archibald; "it really makes no difference; and out here
+in the woods a man may call himself a bishop or a cardinal or anything he
+likes."
+
+"Thank you very much," said he, "and I will continue to speak in figures,
+and call myself a bishop."
+
+"Where I was brought up," interpolated Phil Matlack, still standing behind
+Mr. Archibald, "I was taught that figures don't lie."
+
+"My good sir," said the speaker, with a smile, "in mathematics they don't,
+in poetry and literature they often do. Well, as I was saying, my
+diocese extended itself, my revenues were satisfactory, and I had
+begun to believe that I had found my true work in life, when suddenly
+there was a misfortune. There arrived in our town three apostles of
+kindergartening--two of them were women, and one was a man. They had heard
+of my system, and had come to investigate it. They did so, with the
+result that in an astonishingly short time my diocese was inundated with a
+flood of Froebelism which absolutely swept me away. With this bag,
+this umbrella, and this costume, which has now become my wardrobe, I
+was cast out in all my indefiniteness upon a definite world."
+
+"And how did you get here?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"I had heard of Sadler and his camps," said he; "and in this beautiful
+month and in this beautiful weather I thought it would be well to
+investigate them. I accordingly went to Mr. Sadler's, where I arrived
+yesterday afternoon. I found Mr. Sadler a very definite man, and, I am
+sorry to say, that as he immediately defined me as a tramp, he would
+listen to no other definition. 'You have no money to pay for food and
+lodgings,' said he, 'and you come under my tramp laws. I don't harbor
+tramps, but I don't kick them out into the woods to starve. For labor on
+this place I pay one dollar and a half a day of ten hours. For meals to
+day-laborers I charge fifteen cents each. If you want your supper, you can
+go out to that wood-shed and split wood for one hour.' I was very hungry;
+I went out into the wood-shed; I split wood for one hour, and at the end
+of that time I had a sufficient meal. When I had finished, Mr. Sadler sent
+for me. 'Do you want to stay here all night?' he said. 'I do,' I answered.
+'Go, then, and split wood for another hour.' I did so, and it was almost
+dark when I had finished. In the morning I split wood for my breakfast,
+and when I had finished I went to Mr. Sadler and asked him how much he
+would charge for a luncheon wrapped in a piece of paper. 'Seven and a half
+cents,' he said. I split wood for half an hour, and left Sadler's
+ostensibly to return to the station by the way I had come; but while I had
+been at work, I found from the conversation of some of the people that one
+of the camps was occupied, and I also discovered in what direction it lay.
+Consequently, after I had passed out of the sight of the definite Peter
+Sadler, I changed my course, and took a path through the woods which I was
+told would lead to this road, and I came here because I might just as well
+pass this way as any other, and because, having set out to investigate
+camp life, I wished to do so, and I hope I may be allowed to say that
+although I have seen but little of it, I like it very much."
+
+"Now, then," said Phil Matlack, walking around the circle and approaching
+the stranger, "you said, when you first came here, that you were going to
+go, and the time has come when you've got to go."
+
+"Very well," said the other, looking up with a smile; "if I've got there
+I'd better stop."
+
+Mr. Archibald and the young men laughed, but Matlack and Martin, who had
+now joined him, did not laugh.
+
+"You've barely time enough," said the former, "to get to Sadler's before
+it is pitch-dark, and--"
+
+"Excuse me," said the other, "but I am not going back to Sadler's
+to-night. I would rather have no bed than split wood for an hour after
+dark in order to procure one. I would prefer a couch of dried leaves."
+
+"You come along into the road with this young man and me; I want to talk
+to you," said Matlack.
+
+"Now, Matlack," said Mr. Archibald, "don't be cruel."
+
+"I am not," said the guide. "I am the tenderest-hearted person in the
+world; but even if you say so, sir, I can't let a stranger stay all night
+in a camp that I've got charge of."
+
+"Look here, Matlack," exclaimed Mr. Clyde, "you haven't got charge of our
+camp!"
+
+"No, I haven't," said the other.
+
+"Well, then, this person can come over and stay with us. We have a little
+tent that we brought to put over the cooking-stove, and he can sleep in
+that."
+
+"Very well," said Matlack; "if you take him out of this camp I haven't
+anything to say--that is, to-night."
+
+"My dear sir," said the stranger, rising, and approaching Mr. Clyde, "I
+accept your offer with pleasure, and thank you most heartily for it. If
+you had proffered me the hospitality of a palace, I could not be more
+grateful."
+
+"All right," said Clyde; "and I suppose it is time for us to be off, so I
+will bid you all good-night. Come along, Arthur. Come along, bishop."
+
+The face of the last-named individual beamed with delight as he heard this
+appellation, and bidding everybody good-night, and thanking them for the
+kindness with which he had been treated, he followed the two young men.
+
+The three walked some little distance towards Camp Roy, and then Clyde
+came running back to speak to Margery, who was now standing by herself
+watching the young moon descend among the trees. Then Mr. Raybold also
+stopped and came back to Margery, upon which the bishop stopped and waited
+for them. In about ten minutes he was joined by the two young men, and the
+three proceeded to Camp Roy.
+
+"There is one thing, Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, "which I wish you would
+speak to Margery about. I don't want her to get up so early and go out for
+a morning walk. I find that those young men are also early risers."
+
+"I will speak to her," said Mrs. Archibald; "where is she?"
+
+"Over there, talking to young Martin," said her husband. "It isn't quite
+dark yet, but I think it is time we were all in bed."
+
+"Quite time," said she. "Margery tells me that that young guide, who is a
+handsome fellow, is going to teach her how to fish with flies. I wish you
+would sometimes take her out in the boat with you, Mr. Archibald; I am
+sure that you could teach her how to fish."
+
+He smiled. "I suppose I could," he said; "and I also suppose I could pull
+her out of the water the first time she hooked a big fish. It would be
+like resting a boat on a pivot to put her into it."
+
+"Then you don't take her," said Mrs. Archibald, decisively. "And you can't
+take her with you up the stream, because, of course, she can't wade. I
+don't want her to get tired of camp-life, but--"
+
+"Don't be afraid of the young men," interrupted her husband, with a laugh;
+"so long as there are three of them there is no danger."
+
+"Of course I will not, if you don't wish it, Aunt Harriet," said Margery,
+when Mrs. Archibald had spoken to her about the early morning walks; "and
+I will stay in my room until you call me."
+
+The next morning, when Mrs. Archibald was ready to leave the cabin, she
+did call Margery, but received no answer. Then she went to the little
+studio-room, and when she opened the door she found its occupant leaning
+out of the window talking to Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold, who stood
+outside.
+
+"Good-morning, Aunt Harriet!" exclaimed Margery, gayly. "Mr. Clyde has
+brought me nearly an armful of birch-bark, all thin and smooth. I am going
+to make a birch-bark bedspread out of it. I'll cover a sheet with these
+pieces, you see, and sew them on. Then I can have autographs on them, and
+mottoes, and when I cover myself up with it I shall really feel like a
+dryad."
+
+"And here is what I have brought," said Mr. Raybold, holding up an armful
+of bark.
+
+"Oh, thank you very much," said Margery, taking the mass, but not without
+dropping a good many of the pieces. "Of course it was kind of him to bring
+it," she said to Mrs. Archibald, as they left the room together, "but he
+needn't have bothered himself: I don't want to sleep under a wood-pile."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+MATLACK'S THREE TROUBLES
+
+
+"Have you asked those two young men to breakfast again?" inquired Mr.
+Archibald, after examining, with a moderate interest, the specimen of
+birch-bark which Margery had shown him.
+
+"Oh no, indeed," said she, "they have had their breakfast. They have been
+telling me about it. The bishop got up very early in the morning and
+cooked it for them. He's a splendid cook, and he found things in their
+hampers that they didn't know they had. They said his coffee was
+delicious, and they have left him there in their camp now, washing the
+dishes and putting everything in order. And do you think, Uncle Archibald,
+that it is going to rain?"
+
+"I do," said he, "for it is sprinkling already."
+
+This proved to be the first bad day since the Archibald party had gone
+into camp, and the rain soon began to come down in a steady, practised
+way, as if the clouds above were used to that sort of thing and could
+easily keep it up all day.
+
+As there was no place under roof to which company could be conveniently
+invited, Margery retired to her room and set herself diligently to work on
+her birch-bark quilt.
+
+Mrs. Archibald established herself in the division of the cabin which was
+intended to be used as a sitting and dining room in bad weather, and
+applied herself to some sewing and darning, which had been reserved for
+just such a day as this. Mr. Archibald, in a water-proof suit, tried
+fishing for half an hour or so, but finding it both unpleasant and
+unprofitable, he joined his wife, made himself as comfortable as possible
+on two chairs, and began to read aloud one of the novels they had brought
+with them.
+
+Mr. Clyde and Mr. Raybold had considerately gone to their own camp when it
+began to rain, hoping, however, that the shower would be over in a short
+time. But the rain was not a shower, and they spent the morning on their
+backs in their tent, talking and smoking. Of course they could not expect
+the bishop to depart in the rain, so they had told him to make himself as
+comfortable as he could in the little kitchen tent, and offered him a pipe
+and a book. The first he declined, as he never smoked, but the latter he
+accepted with delight.
+
+After the mid-day dinner Phil Matlack, in a pair of high hunting-boots and
+an oil-skin coat, came to Mr. Archibald and said that as there was nothing
+he could do that afternoon, he would walk over to Sadler's and attend to
+some business he had there.
+
+"About the bishop?" asked Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Partly," said Matlack. "I understand the fellow is still over there with
+those two young men. I don't suppose they'll send him off in the rain, and
+as he isn't in my camp, I can't interfere. But it may rain for two or
+three days."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald, "and if we want anything we'll ask
+Martin."
+
+"Just so," said Matlack. "If there's anything to do that you don't want to
+do yourself, you can get him to do it; but if you want to know anything
+you don't know yourself, you'd better wait until I come back."
+
+When Matlack presented himself before Peter Sadler he found that ponderous
+individual seated in his rolling-chair near the open door, enjoying the
+smell of the rain.
+
+"Hello, Phil!" he cried. "What's wrong at the camp?"
+
+The guide left his wet coat and cap on the little piazza outside, and
+after carefully wiping his feet, seated himself on a chair near the door.
+
+"There's three things wrong," said he. "In the first place, there's a
+tramp out there, and it looks to me as if he was a-goin' to stick, if he
+can get allowed to do it."
+
+"Is he too big for you to bounce?" roared Peter. "That's a pretty story to
+come tell me!"
+
+"No, he ain't," said the other; "but I haven't got the bouncin' of him.
+He's not in my camp. The young men have took him in; but I expect he'll
+come over with them as soon as it's done rainin', for when that happens
+they're bound to come themselves."
+
+"Look here, Phil," said Peter, "is he dressed in black?"
+
+"Yes, he is," said the guide.
+
+Mr. Sadler slapped his hand on the arm of his chair. "Phil Matlack," he
+shouted, "that's my favorite tramp. I never had a man here who paid his
+bill in work as he did. It was cash down, and good money. Not a minute of
+wood-splitting more or less than the market-price for meals and bed. I'd
+like to have a tramp like that come along about twice a week. But I tell
+you, Phil, he ain't no tramp. Couldn't you see that? None of them loafers
+ever worked as he did."
+
+"He may not be a tramp," said Matlack, "but he's trampin'. What are you
+goin' to do about him? Let him stay there?"
+
+"What's he doin' now?" asked Sadler.
+
+"He's cookin' for those two young men."
+
+"Well, they need some one to do it for them, and they didn't want to go to
+the expense of a guide. Let the parson alone for a day or two, and if he
+does anything out of the way just you take him by one ear and Martin take
+him by the other and bring him to me. I'll attend to him. What's the next
+trouble?"
+
+"That's out of my camp, too," said Matlack, "but I'm bound to report it.
+The bicycle fellow that you hired a gun to don't know the fust thing about
+usin' it, and the next thing you'll hear will be that he's shot his
+pardner, who's worth six of him."
+
+Mr. Sadler sat up very straight in his chair and stared at the guide.
+"Phil Matlack," he shouted, "what do you take me for? I hired that gun to
+that young man. Don't you suppose I know what I'm about?"
+
+"That's all right," said Matlack, "but the trouble is he don't know what
+he's about."
+
+"Get away man," said Peter, with a contemptuous sniff, "he'll never hurt
+anybody. What do you take me for? When he came to me and wanted a gun, I
+handed him two or three, so that he might choose one that suited him, and
+by the way he handled them I could see that most likely he'd never handled
+one before, and so I set him up all right. He's got a good gun, and all
+the cartridges he'll be likely to want; and the cartridges are all like
+this. They're a new kind I heard of last winter, and I got a case from
+Boston last week. I don't see how I ever managed to run my camps without
+them. Do you see that shot?" said he, opening one end of a cartridge.
+"Well, take one in your hand and pinch it."
+
+Phil did so, and it crumbled to dust in his hand.
+
+"When that load's fired," said Peter, "all the shot will crumble into
+dust. It wouldn't do to give raw hands blank-cartridges, because they'd
+find that out; but with this kind they might sit all day and fire at a
+baby asleep in its cradle and never disturb it, provided the baby was
+deaf. And he can't use his pardner's cartridges, for I gave that fellow a
+twelve-bore gun and his is a ten-bore."
+
+Phil grinned. "Well, then," said he, "I suppose I might as well make my
+mind easy, but if that bicycle man hunts much he'll get the conviction
+borne in on him that he's a dreadful bad shot."
+
+"Then he'll give up shooting, which is what is wanted," said Sadler.
+"What's your third bother?"
+
+"That young woman has made up her mind to go out in the boat by herself
+the very fust time she feels like it," said Matlack; "she didn't say so
+with her mouth, but she said it with the back of her head and her
+shoulders, and I want to know if that rule of yours is going to hold good
+this summer. Women is gettin' to do so many things they didn't use to that
+I didn't know but what you'd consider they'd got far enough to take
+themselves out on the lake, and if you do think so, I don't want to get
+myself in hot water with those people and then find you don't back me
+up."
+
+"If you don't want to get yourself into hot water with me, Phil Matlack,
+you'd better get it into your head just as soon as you can that when I
+make a rule it's a rule, and I don't want people comin' to me and talkin'
+about changes. Women in my camp don't go out in boats by themselves, and
+it's easy enough to have that rule kept if you've got backbone enough to
+do it. Keep the boat locked to the shore when it ain't in use, and put the
+key in your pocket, and if anybody gets it that 'ain't any right to it,
+that's your lookout. Now that's the end of your troubles, I hope. How's
+things goin' on generally in the camp?"
+
+"Oh, well enough," said Matlack. "I thought at fust the old lady'd give
+out in a day or two, but I've taught her parlor-fishin', which she's took
+to quite lively, and she's got used to the woods. The boss, he sticks to
+fishin', as if it was office-work, and as for the rest of them, I guess
+they're all gettin' more and more willin' to stay."
+
+"Why?" asked Peter.
+
+"Well, one of them is a gal and the others isn't," replied Matlack,
+"that's about the p'int of it."
+
+During Matlack's walk back the skies cleared, and when he reached the camp
+he found Mrs. Archibald seated in her chair near the edge of the lake, a
+dry board under her feet, and the bishop standing by her, putting bait on
+her hook, and taking the fish off of it when any happened to be there. Out
+in the boat sat Mr. Archibald, trusting that some fish might approach the
+surface in search of insects disabled by the rain. Farther on, at a place
+by the water's edge that was clear of bushes and undergrowth, Martin was
+giving Miss Dearborn a lesson in fly-fishing.
+
+"He's a mighty good fisherman," thought Matlack, looking at the young
+fellow as he brought his rod back from the water with a long graceful
+sweep, and then, with another sweep and an easy inclination of his body
+forward, sending the fly far out on the smooth surface of the lake,
+"although there ain't no need to tell him so; and I don't wonder she'd
+rather stand and watch him than try to do it herself."
+
+Walking up and down near the edge of the wood were Messrs. Clyde and
+Raybold.
+
+Phil smiled. "They don't seem to be happy," he said to himself. "I guess
+they're hankerin' to take a share in her edication; but if you don't know
+nothin' yourself, you can't edicate other people."
+
+Matlack directed his steps towards Mrs. Archibald; but before he reached
+her he was met by the bishop, who hurried towards him.
+
+"I shall be obliged to surrender my post to you," he said, "which will be
+greatly to the lady's satisfaction, I imagine, for I must appear a poor
+attendant after you."
+
+[Illustration: "A LESSON IN FLY-FISHING"]
+
+"Goin' to leave us?" said Matlack. "You look quite spruced up."
+
+The bishop smiled. "You allude, I suppose," said he, "to the fact that my
+hat and clothes are brushed, and that I am freshly shaved and have on a
+clean collar. I like to be as neat as I can. This is a gutta-percha
+collar, and I can wash it whenever I please with a bit of damp rag, and it
+is my custom to shave every day, if I possibly can. But as to leaving you,
+I shall not do so this evening. I have promised those young gentlemen who
+so kindly invited me to their camp that I would prepare their supper for
+them, and I must now go to make the fire and get things in readiness."
+
+"Have they engaged you as cook and general help?" asked Matlack.
+
+"Oh no," said the bishop, with a smile, "they are kind and I am grateful,
+that is all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A LADIES' DAY IN CAMP
+
+
+Two days after the rainy day in camp Mr. Archibald determined to take the
+direction of affairs into his own hands, so far as he should be able.
+Having no authority over the two young men at Camp Roy, he had hitherto
+contented himself with a disapproval of their methods of employing their
+time, which he communicated only to his wife. But now he considered that,
+as they were spending so much of their time in his camp and so little in
+their own, he would take charge of them exactly as if they belonged to his
+party. He would put an end, if possible, to the aimless strolls up and
+down the beach with Margery, and the long conversations of which that
+young woman had grown to be so fond, held sometimes with both young men,
+though more frequently with one. If Clyde and Raybold came into the woods
+to lounge in the shade and talk to a girl, they must go to some other camp
+to do it. But if they really cared to range the forest, either as
+sportsmen or lovers of nature, he would do his best to help them; so this
+day he organized an expedition to a low mountain about two miles away,
+taking Matlack with him as guide, and inviting the two young men to join
+him. They had assented because no good reason for declining had presented
+itself, and because Phil Matlack earnestly urged them to come along and
+let him show them what a real forest tramp was like. Before his recent
+talk with Peter Sadler, Phil would not have dared to go out into the woods
+in company with the bicycle man.
+
+The two ladies were perfectly willing to remain in camp under the charge
+of Martin, who was capable of defending them against any possible danger;
+and as the bishop had agreed to take charge of Camp Roy during the absence
+of its occupants, Mr. Archibald planned for a whole day's tramp, the first
+he had taken since they went into camp.
+
+When Martin's morning work was done he approached the shady spot where the
+two ladies had established themselves, and offered to continue his lessons
+in fish-flying if Miss Dearborn so desired. But Miss Dearborn did not wish
+to take any lessons to-day. She would rest and stay with Mrs. Archibald.
+Even the elder lady did not care to fish that morning. The day was hot and
+the shade was grateful.
+
+Martin walked away dissatisfied. In his opinion, there had never been a
+day more suitable for angling; this was a day which would be free from
+interruptions, either from two young fellows who knew nothing about real
+game-fishing, or from Matlack, who always called him away to do something
+when he was most interested in his piscatorial pedagogics. This was a day
+when he could stand by that lovely girl, give her the rod, show her how to
+raise it, wave it, and throw it, and sometimes even touch her hand as he
+took it from her or gave it back, watching her all the time with an
+admiration and delight which no speckled trout or gamy black bass had ever
+yet aroused in him, and all this without fear that a gentleman out on the
+lake might possibly be observing them with the idea that he was more
+interested in his work than the ordinary guide might be supposed to be.
+But luck was against him, and Martin, who did not in the least consider
+himself an ordinary guide, walked up and down in moody reflection, or
+grimly threw himself upon the ground, gazing upward at the sky--not half
+so blue as he was--but never walking or resting so far away that he could
+not hear the first cry from her should snake, bear, dragon-fly, or danger
+of any kind approach her.
+
+To the ladies, about half an hour later, came the bishop, who, newly
+shaved and brushed, wished them good-morning, and offered his services in
+any manner which might be desired. If Mrs. Archibald wished to fish by the
+side of the lake, he was at her service; but Mrs. Archibald did not care
+to fish.
+
+"This is a most charming day," said the bishop, removing his hat, "but I
+suppose it is more charming to me because it is my last day here."
+
+"And so you are really going to go?" said Mrs. Archibald, smiling.
+
+"I suppose you think I am not likely to get there," said he, "but really I
+have stayed here long enough, and for several reasons."
+
+"Sit down," said Margery, "and tell us what they are. There is a nice
+little rock with some moss on it."
+
+The bishop promptly accepted the invitation and seated himself. As he did
+so, Martin, at a little distance, scowled, folded his arms, and slightly
+increased the length of his sentinel-like walk.
+
+"Yes," said the bishop, brushing some pine leaves from his threadbare
+trousers, "during the time that I have accepted the hospitality of those
+young gentlemen I feel that I have in a great measure repaid them for
+their kindness, but now I see that I shall become a burden and an expense
+to them. In the first place, I eat a great deal more than both of them put
+together, so that the provisions they brought with them will be exhausted
+much sooner than they expected. I am also of the opinion that they are
+getting tired of eating in their own camp, but as I make a point of
+preparing the meals at stated hours, of course they feel obliged to
+partake of them."
+
+"By which you mean, I suppose," said Mrs. Archibald, "that if they had not
+you to cook for them they would be apt to take a good many meals with us,
+as they did when they first came, and which would be cheaper and
+pleasanter."
+
+"I beg, madam," said the bishop, quickly, "that you will not think that
+they have said anything of the sort. I simply inferred, from remarks I
+have heard, that one of them, at least, is very much of the opinion you
+have just stated; therefore I feel that I cannot be welcome much longer in
+Camp Roy. There is also another reason why I should go now. I have a
+business prospect before me."
+
+"I am glad to hear that," said Mrs. Archibald. "Is it a good one?"
+
+"I think it is," said the bishop. "I have been considering it earnestly,
+and the more I fix my mind upon it the greater appear its advantages. I
+don't mind in the least telling you what it is. A gentleman who is
+acquainted with my family and whom I have met two or three times, but not
+recently, possesses a very fine estate some thirty miles south of this
+place. He has been in Europe for some time, but is expected to return to
+his country mansion about the end of this week. It is my purpose to offer
+myself to him in the capacity of private librarian. I do not think it will
+be difficult to convince him that I have many qualifications for the
+situation."
+
+"Has he so many books that he needs a librarian?" asked Margery.
+
+"No," said the bishop, "I have no reason to suppose that he has any more
+books than the ordinary country gentleman possesses, but he ought to have.
+He has a very large income, and is now engaged in establishing for his
+family what is intended to become, in time, an ancestral mansion. It is
+obvious to any one of intelligence that such a grand mansion would not be
+complete without a well-selected library, and that such a library could
+not be selected or arranged by an ordinary man of affairs. Consequently,
+unless he has a competent person to perform this duty for him, his
+library, for a long time, will be insignificant. When I shall put the
+question before him, I have no doubt that he will see and appreciate the
+force and value of my statements. Such a position will suit me admirably.
+I shall ask but little salary, but it will give me something far better
+than money--an opportunity to select from the book marts of the whole
+world the literature in which I delight. Consequently, you will see that
+it is highly desirable that I should be on hand when this gentleman
+arrives upon his estate."
+
+With a look of gentle pity Mrs. Archibald gazed at the smooth round face
+of the bishop, flushed with the delights of anticipation and brightened by
+the cheery smile which nearly always accompanied his remarks. "And is that
+your only prospect?" she said. "I don't want to discourage you, but it
+seems to me that if you had some regular business--and you are not too old
+to learn something of the sort--it would be far better for you than trying
+to obtain the mythical position you speak of. I see that you are a man of
+intelligence and education, and I believe that you would succeed in almost
+any calling to which you would apply yourself with earnestness and
+industry. You must excuse me for speaking so plainly, but I am much older
+than you are and I do it for your good."
+
+"Madam," exclaimed the bishop, radiant with grateful emotion, "I thank you
+from the bottom of my heart for what you have said. I thank you for your
+appreciation of me and for the generous motive of your words, but, to be
+frank with you, I am not suited to a calling such as you have mentioned. I
+have many qualities which I well know would promote my fortunes were they
+properly applied, but that application is difficult, for the reason that
+my principal mental characteristic is indefiniteness. When but a little
+child I was indefinite. Nobody knew what I was going to do, or how I would
+turn out; no one has since known, and no one knows now. In whatever way I
+have turned my attention in my endeavors to support myself, I have been
+obstructed and even appalled by the definiteness of the ordinary pursuits
+of life. Now the making of a private library is in itself an indefinite
+occupation. It has not its lines, its rules, its limitations. But do not
+think, kind lady, that I shall always depend upon such employment. Should
+I obtain it, I should hold it only so long as it would be necessary, and
+it may be necessary for but a little while. Do you care to hear of my
+permanent prospects?" said he, looking from one lady to the other.
+
+"Certainly," said Margery, "we would like to hear all you have to tell."
+
+"Well then," said the bishop, folding his arms and smiling effusively, but
+with a gentle curbing of his ordinary cheerfulness, "I will inform you
+that I have an uncle who is a man of wealth and well on in years.
+Unfortunately, or fortunately it may be, this uncle greatly dislikes me.
+He objects so strongly to my methods of thought and action, and even to my
+physical presence, that he cannot bear to hear me speak or even to look at
+me, and the last time I was in his company, about four years ago, he told
+me that he would leave me a legacy on condition that he should never hear
+from me or see me again. He promised to make the proper provision in his
+will immediately, but declared, and I know he will keep his word, that if
+he ever received a letter from me or even saw me or heard my voice he
+would instantly strike out that clause. I appreciated and respected his
+feelings, and accepted the condition. From that moment I have not written
+to him, nor shall I ever write to him, and I shall never go near him so
+long as he is alive. As I said, he is of advanced age, and it is
+impossible that he can long survive. When his demise takes place my
+circumstances will, I believe, be satisfactory."
+
+"Did your uncle say how much he would leave you?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"No, madam," returned the other, "he did not, but I feel sure that the sum
+will be measured by his satisfaction in knowing that his existence is
+entirely freed from me."
+
+"Really," said Mrs. Archibald, "there is nothing about you so indefinite
+as your prospects."
+
+"And it seems horrible to me," said Margery, "to be hoping that some one
+may die in order that you may be better off, for, as you want money so
+much, you must hope that your uncle will die."
+
+The bishop smiled and rose. "And now," said he, "I suppose I must go to
+prepare the dinner at Camp Roy. There is nobody but myself to eat it, but
+I have assumed the duty, and it must be performed. Good-morning. By your
+leave, I shall look in upon you again."
+
+Mrs. Archibald had a mind to ask him to stay and dine with them, but
+having noticed an unfriendly expression on the face of Martin when his
+gloomy walk brought him in her direction, she thought it would not be wise
+to do so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+MARGERY TAKES THE OARS
+
+
+After dinner Mrs. Archibald prepared herself for a nap, the most
+delightful thing she could think of during the warm hours of such a day.
+Margery, after seeing the elder lady comfortably disposed in the shady
+sitting-room of the cabin, went out-of-doors with no doubt in her mind as
+to what would be for her the most delightful thing to do. She would take a
+row on the lake all by herself.
+
+She went down to the boat, which was partly drawn up on the beach and
+fastened to a heavy stake. But when she reached it she was disgusted to
+find that the chain was secured to the stake by a padlock. The oars were
+in the boat, and she could easily have pushed it into the water, but she
+could not set it free without the key to the padlock.
+
+"I do believe," she exclaimed, "that the will of that horrid Mr. Sadler is
+like gas. It goes everywhere, even to the tops of the houses and under the
+beds." But she did not give up her intention. She tried to detach the
+chain from the boat, but finding this impossible, she thought of going for
+Martin. Perhaps he might have a key. This idea, however, she quickly put
+aside. If he had a key, and gave it to her, she might get him into
+trouble, and, besides, she did not believe that he would let her go alone,
+and in any other way she did not wish to go. Standing with her pretty
+brows knit, and one heel deep in the soft ground into which she had
+stamped it, she heard approaching footsteps, and turning, saw the bishop.
+He came forward with a buoyant step.
+
+"Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Dearborn?" he said. "Do you wish
+to go out on the lake? Do you want some one to row you?"
+
+"Yes and no," said Margery. "I want to go out in the boat, and I don't
+want anybody to row me. But that chain is fastened with an abominable
+padlock, and I cannot launch the boat."
+
+"One of your guides is here," said he. "Perhaps I can get a key from
+him."
+
+"No, no," said Margery, quickly; "he must not know about it. There is a
+Sadler law against it, and he is employed by Sadler."
+
+"It is very securely fastened," said the bishop, examining the lock and
+chain. "It is the work of the guide Matlack, I have no doubt. But, Miss
+Dearborn," said he, with a bright smile, "there is a boat at Camp Roy.
+That is not locked, and I can bring it here in twenty minutes."
+
+"No," said Margery; "I don't want that boat. I've seen it. It is a clumsy
+old thing, and, besides, it leaks. I want this one. This is just the kind
+of boat I want to row. It is too bad! If I could get off now there would
+be nobody to hinder me, for Martin is washing the dinner dishes, or doing
+something of that kind, and whenever he does house-work he always keeps
+himself out of sight."
+
+The bishop examined the stake. It was a stout little tree trunk driven
+deep into the ground and projecting about five feet above the surface,
+with the chain so wrapped around it that it was impossible to force it up
+or down. Seizing the stake near the top, the bishop began to push it
+backward and forward, and being a man of great strength, he soon loosened
+it so much that, stooping, he was able to pull it from the ground.
+
+"Hurrah!" exclaimed Margery. "It came up just like pulling a tooth."
+
+"Yes," said the radiant bishop, "the good Matlack may be very careful
+about fastening a boat, but I think I have got the better of him this
+time; and now I will put the stake, chain and all, in the bow. That is the
+best way of disposing of them. Are you sure that you prefer going alone? I
+shall be delighted to row you if you wish me to."
+
+"Oh no," said Margery; "I am just wild to row myself, and I want to hurry
+and get off for fear Martin will be coming down here."
+
+"Are you sure you understand rowing and the management of a boat?" he
+asked.
+
+"Oh yes," she replied, "I can row; of course I can. I will get in, and
+then you can push off the boat."
+
+"Allow me," said the bishop. But before he could reach her to help her,
+Margery stepped quickly into the boat and was about to seat herself.
+
+"If you will take the seat next to the stern," said the bishop, holding
+the boat so that it would be steady, "I think that will be better. Then
+the weight of the stake in the bow will put the boat on an even keel."
+
+"All right," said Margery, accepting his suggestion and seating herself.
+"Now just wait until I get the oars into the rowlocks, and then you can
+push me off."
+
+"Which way do you intend to row?" asked the bishop.
+
+"Oh, I shall go down towards the lower end of the lake, because that way
+there are more bushes along the banks and Martin will be less apt to see
+me. If I go the other way I will be in plain sight of the camp, and he may
+think he ought to do something--fire a gun across my bows to bring me to,
+maybe, as they do at sea."
+
+"Hardly," said the bishop, "but let me advise you not to go very far from
+the shore, so that if you feel tired you can come in easily, and if you
+will allow me I will walk down the shore in the direction in which you
+intend to row."
+
+"Oh, I am not going to get tired," said she. "I could row all day. It is
+splendid to be in a boat all by myself and have the whole management of
+it. Now please push me off."
+
+With some reluctance, but with a sincere desire to make the young girl
+happy, which could not be overcome by prudence--at least by such prudence
+as he possessed--the bishop, with a strong, steady push, sent the boat
+well out on the surface of the water.
+
+"That was beautifully done," Margery called back to him. "Now I have room
+enough to turn around without any trouble at all."
+
+She turned the boat about with its bow towards the lower end of the lake,
+but it was not done without trouble. "I have not rowed for a good while,"
+she said, "but I am getting used to the oars already. Now then, I'm off,"
+and she began to pull with a strength which, had it been suitably paired
+with skill, would have made her an excellent amateur oarswoman. But the
+place of skill was supplied by enthusiasm and determination. Once or twice
+an oar slipped from the rowlock and she nearly went over backward, and
+several times one of the blades got under the water with the flat side up,
+so that she had difficulty in getting it out. She raised her oars much too
+high in the air, but she counterbalanced this by sinking them very deep
+into the water. But she got on, and although her course was somewhat
+irregular, its general trend was in the direction desired.
+
+The bishop walked along the bank, keeping as near to the water as he
+could. Sometimes masses of shrubbery shut off all view of the lake, and
+then there would be an open space where he would stop and watch the boat.
+
+"Please keep near the shore, Miss Dearborn," he called, "that will be
+better, I think, and it is certainly more shady and pleasant than farther
+out."
+
+"I know what you mean," cried Margery, pulling away in high good-humor,
+"you think it is safer near the shore; but I am not going to row very far
+this time, and after a little while I may pull the boat in and rest for a
+time before starting back," and then she rowed on with renewed energy.
+
+The next time the bishop was able to hail the boat, it was at a point
+where he was obliged to push his way through the bushes in order to see
+out upon the lake.
+
+"Miss Dearborn," he called, "I think you are a great deal too far from
+shore, and you must be getting very tired and hot. Your face is greatly
+flushed. I will hurry along and see if I can find a good place for you to
+stop and cool yourself."
+
+"I am all right," cried Margery, resting on her oars. "I get along very
+well, only the boat doesn't steer properly. I think it is because of the
+weight of that stick in the bow. I suppose I cannot get rid of it?"
+
+"Oh no!" cried the bishop, in alarm; "please don't think of it! But if you
+touch shore at the first open space, I think I can arrange it better for
+you."
+
+"Very good," said she; "you go ahead and find such a place, and I will
+come in."
+
+"If you touch shore," said the bishop to himself, "you don't go out again
+in that boat alone! You don't know how to row at all."
+
+The bishop ran a hundred yards or more before he found a place at which a
+boat could be beached. It was not a very good place, but if he could reach
+out and seize the bow, that would be enough for him. He was strong enough
+to pull that boat over a paved street.
+
+As he looked out over the water he saw that Margery had progressed
+considerably since he had seen her last, but she was still farther from
+shore than before.
+
+"Row straight towards me!" he shouted. "Here is a fine landing-place, cool
+and shady."
+
+She looked around and managed to turn the boat's head in his direction.
+Then she rowed hard, pulling and splashing, and evidently a little tired.
+She was strong, but this unusual exercise was a trial to her muscles.
+Perhaps, too, she felt that the bishop was watching her, and that made her
+a little nervous, for she could not help being aware that she was not
+handling the oars as well as when she started out. With a strong pull at
+her right oar to turn the boat inland, she got her left oar tangled
+between the water and the boat, so it seemed to her, and lost her hold of
+it. In a moment it was overboard and floating on the lake.
+
+Leaning over the side of the boat, she made a grasp at the oar, but it was
+too far for her to reach it; and then, by a spasmodic movement of the
+other oar, the distance was increased.
+
+The bishop's face grew pale. As he looked at her he saw that she was
+moving away from the floating oar, and now he understood why she had
+progressed so well. There was a considerable current in the lake which had
+carried her along, and was now moving the heavy boat much faster than it
+moved the oar. What should he tell her to do? If she could put her single
+oar out at the stern, she might scull the boat; but he was sure she did
+not understand sculling, and to try it she would have to stand up, and
+this would be madness.
+
+She now took the other oar from the rowlock, and was about to rise, when
+the bishop shouted to her.
+
+"What are you going to do?" he cried.
+
+"I am going to the stern," she said, "to see if I cannot reach that oar
+with this one. Perhaps I can pull it in."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, don't do that!" he cried. "Don't stand up, or the boat
+will tip, and you will fall overboard."
+
+"But what can I do?" she called back. "I can't row with one oar."
+
+"Try rowing a little on one side, and then on the other," said he.
+"Perhaps you can bring in the boat in that way."
+
+She followed his suggestion, but very awkwardly, and he saw plainly that
+she was tired. Instead of approaching the shore, the boat continued to
+float down the lake.
+
+Margery turned again. "Bishop," she cried, "what shall I do? I must do
+something, or I can't get ashore at all."
+
+She did not look frightened; there was more of annoyance in her
+expression, as if she thought it impertinent in fate to treat her in this
+way, and she would not stand it.
+
+"If I had thought of the current," said the bishop to himself, "I would
+never have let her go out alone, and she can't be trusted in that boat
+another minute longer. She will do something desperate." So saying, the
+bishop took off his hat and threw it on the ground. Then he unbuttoned his
+coat and began to take it off, but he suddenly changed his mind. Even in
+that wilderness and under these circumstances he must appear respectable,
+so he buttoned his coat again, hastily took off his shoes, and, without
+hesitating, walked into the water until it was above his waist, and then
+calling to Margery that he was coming to her, he began to swim out into
+the lake. He did not strike out immediately for the boat, but directed his
+course towards the floating oar. Turning his head frequently towards
+Margery, he could see that she was sitting perfectly still, watching him,
+and so he kept on with a good heart.
+
+The bishop was a powerful swimmer, but he found great difficulty in making
+his way through the water, on account of the extreme tightness of his
+clothes. It seemed to him that his arms and legs were bandaged in splints,
+as if he had been under a surgeon's care; but still he struck out as well
+as he could, and in time reached the oar. Pushing this before him to the
+boat, Margery took hold of it.
+
+"You swim splendidly," said she. "You can climb in right here."
+
+But the bishop knew better than that, and worked his way round to the
+stern, and after holding on a little while to get his breath, he managed
+to clamber into the boat.
+
+"Was the water very cold?" said she.
+
+On his replying that it was, she said she thought so because he seemed
+stiff.
+
+"Now, Miss Dearborn," said he, "I have made the stern seat very wet, but I
+don't believe you will mind that, and if you will sit here I will take the
+oars and row you in."
+
+[Illustration: "BUT THE BISHOP KNEW BETTER"]
+
+"Oh, I think I can do that myself," said Margery. "I am rested now, and I
+am ever so much obliged to you for getting my oar for me."
+
+Under almost any circumstances the bishop could smile, and now he smiled
+at the ridiculousness of the idea of Margery's rowing that boat back
+against the current, and with him in it.
+
+"Indeed," said he, "I must insist. I shall freeze to death if I don't warm
+myself by exercise." So, reaching out his hand, he assisted Margery to the
+stern, and seating himself in her place, he took the oars, which she had
+drawn in.
+
+"I don't see why I could not make the boat go along that way," said she,
+as they began to move steadily towards the camp. "I believe I could do it
+if people would only let me practise by myself; but they always want to
+show me how, and I hate to have anybody show me how. It is funny," she
+continued, "that you seem so very wet all but your collar. That looks as
+smooth and nice as if it had just come from the laundry."
+
+The bishop laughed. "That is because it is gutta-percha," he said,
+"intended for rough use in camp; but the rest of my habiliments were not
+intended for wet weather."
+
+"And you have no hat," said she. "Doesn't the sun hurt your head?"
+
+"My head does feel a little warm," said he, "but I didn't want to row back
+to the place where I left my hat. It was not a good landing-place, after
+all. Besides," he said to himself, "I never thought of my hat or my
+shoes."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE BISHOP ENGAGES THE ATTENTION OF THE GUIDES
+
+
+When the boat touched the shore Margery ran to the cabin to assure Mrs.
+Archibald of her safety, if she had been missed.
+
+The bishop was sticking the stake in the hole from which he had pulled it,
+when Martin came running to him.
+
+"That's a pretty piece of business!" cried the young man. "If you wanted
+to go out in the boat, why didn't you come to me for the key? You've got
+no right to pull up the stakes we've driven down. That's the same thing as
+stealing the boat. What's the matter? Did you tumble overboard? You must
+be a pretty sort of an oarsman! If the ladies want to go out in the boat,
+I am here to take them. I'd like you to understand that."
+
+As has been said before, the bishop could smile under almost any
+circumstances, and he smiled now, but at the same time his brow wrinkled,
+which was not common when he smiled.
+
+"I am going down to the shore to get my hat and shoes," he said, "and I
+would like you to come along with me. I can't stand here and talk to
+you."
+
+"What do you want?" said Martin.
+
+"Come along and see," said the bishop; "that is, if you are not afraid."
+
+That was enough, and the young man walked behind him until they reached
+the spot where the bishop had taken to the water. Then he stopped, and
+explained to Martin all that had happened.
+
+"Now," said he, "what have you got to say?"
+
+Martin, now that he knew that the bishop had plunged into the water for
+the sake of the beautiful Margery, was more jealously angry than when he
+had supposed he had merely taken her out to row.
+
+"I haven't anything to say," he answered, shortly, "except that parsons
+had better attend to their own business, if they have any, and let young
+ladies and boats alone."
+
+"Oh, that's all, is it?" said the bishop, and with a quick step forward he
+clutched the young man's arm with his right hand, while he seized his belt
+with the other, and then with a great heave sent him out into the water
+fully ten feet from the shore. With a splash like a dropped anchor Martin
+disappeared from view, but soon arose, his head and shoulders above the
+surface, where he stood for a moment, spluttering and winking and almost
+dazed.
+
+The bishop stood on the bank and smiled. "Did you fall overboard?" said
+he. "You must be a pretty sort of a boatman!"
+
+Without replying, Martin began to wade ashore.
+
+"Come on," said the bishop; "if you can't get up the bank, I'll help
+you."
+
+But Martin needed no help; he scrambled to the bank, shook himself, and
+then advanced upon the bishop, fire in his eye and his fist clinched.
+
+"Stop, young man," said the other. "It would not be fair to you if I did
+not tell you that I am a boxer and a heavy-weight, and that I threw you
+into the water because I didn't want to damage your face and eyes. You
+were impertinent, but I am satisfied, and the best thing you can do is to
+go and change your clothes before any one sees you in that plight. You are
+better off than I am, because I have no clothes with which to make a
+change." So saying, he sat down and began to put on his shoes.
+
+Martin stood for a moment and looked at the bishop, he thought of Margery
+and a possible black eye, and then he walked as fast as he could to his
+tent to get some dry clothes. He was very wet, he was very hot, he was
+very angry, and what made him more angry than anything else was a respect
+for the bishop which was rising in him in spite of all his efforts to keep
+it down.
+
+When Mr. Archibald and his party came back to camp late in the afternoon,
+Margery, who had already told her story to Mrs. Archibald, told it to each
+of the others. Mr. Archibald was greatly moved by the account of the
+bishop's bravery. He thoroughly appreciated the danger to which Margery
+had been exposed. There were doubtless persons who could be trusted so sit
+quietly in a little boat with only one oar, and to float upon a lake out
+of sight and sound of human beings until another boat could be secured and
+brought to the rescue, but Margery was not one of these persons. Her
+greatest danger had been that she was a child of impulse. He went
+immediately to Camp Roy to see the bishop and express his gratitude, for
+no matter how great the foolish good-nature of the man had been, his brave
+rescue of the girl was all that could be thought of now.
+
+[Illustration: "WITH A GREAT HEAVE SENT HIM OUT INTO THE WATER"]
+
+He found the bishop in bed, Mr. Clyde preparing the supper, and Mr.
+Raybold in a very bad humor.
+
+"It's the best place for me," said the bishop, gayly, from under a heavy
+army blanket. "My bed is something like the carpets in Queen Elizabeth's
+time, and this shelter-tent is not one which can be called commodious, but
+I shall stay here until morning, and then I am sure I shall be none the
+worse for my dip into the cold lake."
+
+As Mr. Archibald had seen the black garments of the bishop hanging on a
+bush as he approached the tent, he was not surprised to find their owner
+in bed.
+
+"No," said the bishop, when Mr. Archibald had finished what he had to say,
+"there is nothing to thank me for. It was a stupid thing to launch a young
+girl out upon what, by some very natural bit of carelessness, might have
+become to her the waters of eternity, and it was my very commonplace duty
+to get her out of the danger into which I had placed her; so this, my dear
+sir, is really all there is to say about the matter."
+
+Mr. Archibald differed with him for about ten minutes, and then returned
+to his camp.
+
+Phil Matlack was also affected by the account of the rescue, and he
+expressed his feelings to Martin.
+
+"He pulled up the stake, did he?" said Phil. "Well, I'll make him pull up
+his stakes, and before he goes I've a mind to teach him not to meddle with
+other people's affairs."
+
+"If I were you," said Martin, "I wouldn't try to teach him anything."
+
+"You think he is too stupid to learn?" said Matlack, getting more and more
+angry at the bishop's impertinent and inexcusable conduct. "Well, I've
+taught stupid people before this."
+
+"He's a bigger man than you are," said Martin.
+
+Matlack withdrew the knife from the loaf of bread he was cutting, and
+looked at the young man.
+
+"Bigger?" said he, scornfully. "What's that got to do with it? A load of
+hay is bigger than a crow-bar, but I guess the crow-bar would get through
+the hay without much trouble."
+
+"You'd better talk about a load of rocks," said Martin. "I don't think
+you'd find it easy to get a crow-bar through them."
+
+Matlack looked up inquiringly. "Has he been thrashing you?" he asked.
+
+"No, he hasn't," said Martin, sharply.
+
+"You didn't fight him, then?"
+
+"No, I didn't," was the answer.
+
+"Why didn't you? You were here to take charge of this camp and keep things
+in order. Why didn't you fight him?"
+
+"I don't fight that sort of a man," said Martin, with an air which, if it
+were not disdainful, was intended to be.
+
+Matlack gazed at him a moment in silence, and then went on cutting the
+bread. "I don't understand this thing," he said to himself. "I must look
+into it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE WORLD GOES WRONG WITH MR. RAYBOLD
+
+
+The next morning Mr. Archibald started out, very early, on a fishing
+expedition by himself. He was an enthusiastic angler, and had not greatly
+enjoyed the experience of the day before. He did not object to shooting if
+there were any legitimate game to shoot, and he liked to tramp through the
+mountain wilds under the guidance of such a man as Matlack; but to keep
+company all day with Raybold, who, in the very heart of nature, talked
+only of the gossip of the town, and who punctuated his small talk by
+intermittent firing at everything which looked like a bird or suggested
+the movements of an animal, was not agreeable to him. Clyde was a better
+fellow, and Mr. Archibald liked him, but he was young and abstracted, and
+the interest which clings around an abstracted person who is young is
+often inconsiderable, so he determined for one day at least to leave Sir
+Cupid to his own devices, for he could not spend all his time defending
+Margery from amatory dawdle. For this one day he would leave the task to
+his wife.
+
+That day Mr. Raybold was in a moody mood. Early in the morning he had
+walked to Sadler's, his object being to secure from the trunk which he had
+left there a suit of ordinary summer clothes. He had come to think that
+perhaps his bicycle attire, although very suitable for this sort of life,
+failed to make him as attractive in the eyes of youth and beauty as he
+might be if clothed in more becoming garments. It was the middle of the
+afternoon before he returned, and as he carried a large package, he went
+directly to his own camp, and in about half an hour afterwards he came
+over to Camp Rob dressed in a light suit, which improved his general
+appearance very much.
+
+In his countenance, however, there was no improvement whatever, for he
+looked more out of humor than when he had set out, and when he saw that
+Mrs. Archibald was sitting alone in the shade, reading, and that at a
+considerable distance Harrison Clyde was seated by Margery, giving her a
+lesson in drawing upon birch bark, or else taking a lesson from her, his
+ill-humor increased.
+
+"It is too bad," said he, taking a seat by Mrs. Archibald without being
+asked; "everything seems to go wrong out here in these woods. It is an
+unnatural way to live, anyhow, and I suppose it serves us right. When I
+went to Sadler's I found a letter from my sister Corona, who says she
+would like me to make arrangements for her to come here and camp with us
+for a time. Now that suits me very well indeed. My sister Corona is a very
+fine young woman, and I think it would be an excellent thing to have two
+young ladies here instead of one."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "that might be very pleasant. I should be glad
+for Margery to have a companion of her own sex."
+
+"I understand precisely," said Raybold, nodding his head sagaciously; "of
+her own sex. Yes, I see your drift, and I agree with you absolutely. There
+is a little too much of that thing over there, and I don't wonder you are
+annoyed."
+
+"I did not say I was annoyed," said Mrs. Archibald, rather surprised.
+
+"No," he answered, "you did not say so, but I can read between the lines,
+even spoken lines. Now when I heard that my sister wanted to come out
+here," he continued, "at first I did not like it, for I thought she might
+be some sort of a restraint upon me; but when I considered the matter
+further, I became very much in favor of it, and I sent a telegram by the
+stage telling her to come immediately, and that everything would be ready
+for her. My sister has a sufficient income of her own, and she likes to
+have everything suited to her needs. I am different. I am a man of the
+world, and although I do not always care to conform to circumstances, I
+can generally make circumstances conform to me. As Shakespeare says, 'The
+world is my pottle, and I stir my spoon.' You must excuse my quoting, but
+I cannot help it. My life work is to be upon the stage, and where one's
+mind is, there will his words be also."
+
+Mr. Raybold was now in a much more pleasant mood than when he came to sit
+in the shade with Mrs. Archibald. He was talking; he had found some one
+who listened and who had very little to say for herself.
+
+"Consequently," he remarked, "I ordered from Mr. Sadler the very best tent
+that he had. It has two compartments in it, and it is really as
+comfortable as a house, and as my sister wrote that she wished a female
+attendant, not caring to have her meals cooked by boys--a very flippant
+expression, by-the-way--I have engaged for her a she-guide."
+
+"A what?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"A person," said he, "who is a guide of the female gender. She was the
+wife of a hunter who was accidentally shot, Sadler told me, by a young man
+who was with him on a gunning expedition. I told Sadler that it was
+reprehensible to allow such fellows to have guns, but he said that they
+are not as dangerous now as they used to be. This is because the guides
+have learned to beware of them, I suppose. This woman has lived in the
+woods and knows all about camp life, and Sadler says there could not be a
+better person found to attend a young lady in camp. So I engaged her, and
+I must say she charged just as much as if she were a man."
+
+"Why shouldn't she," said Mrs. Archibald, "if she is just as good?"
+
+To this remark Raybold paid no attention. "I will tell you," he said,
+"confidentially, of course, and I think you have as much reason to be
+interested in it as I have, why I came to view with so much favor my
+sister's coming here. She is a very attractive young woman, and I think
+she cannot fail to interest Clyde, and that, of course, will be of
+advantage to your niece."
+
+"She is not my niece, you know," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Well," said he, "it is all the same. 'Let it be a bird wing or a flower,
+so it pleases'--a quotation which is also Avonian--and if Clyde likes
+Corona he will let Miss Dearborn alone. That's the sort of man he is."
+
+"And in that case," said Mrs. Archibald, "I suppose you would not be
+unwilling to provide Margery with company."
+
+"Madam," said the young man, leaning forward and fixing his eyes upon the
+ground, and then turning them upon her without moving his face towards
+her, "with me all that is a different matter. I may have occasion later to
+speak to you and your husband upon the subject of Miss Dearborn."
+
+"In which case," said Mrs. Archibald, quickly, "I am sure that my husband
+will be very glad to speak to you. But why, may I ask, were you so
+disturbed when you came here, just now? You said the world was going
+wrong."
+
+"I declare," said he, knitting his brows and clapping one hand on his
+knee, "I actually forgot! The world wrong? I should say it was wrong! My
+sister can't come, and I don't know what to do about it."
+
+"Can't come?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Of course not," said he, all his ill-humor having returned. "That fellow,
+the bishop, is in our camp and in Clyde's bed. Clyde foolishly gave him
+his bed because he said the cook-tent was too cramped for a man to stay in
+it all day."
+
+"Why need he stay?" asked Mrs. Archibald. "Has he taken cold? Is he
+sick?"
+
+"No indeed," said Raybold. "If he were sick we might send for a cart and
+have him taken to Sadler's, but the trouble is worse than that. His
+clothes, in which he foolishly jumped into the water, have shrunken so
+much that he cannot get them on, and as he has no others, he is obliged to
+stay in bed."
+
+"But surely something can be done," said Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"No," he interrupted, "nothing can be done. The clothes have dried, and if
+you could see them as they hang up on the bushes, you would understand why
+that man can never get into them again. The material is entirely
+unsuitable for out-door life. Clyde proposes that we shall lend him
+something, but there are no clothes in this party into which such a
+sausage of a man could get himself. So there he is, and there, I suppose,
+he will remain indefinitely; and I don't want to bring my sister to a camp
+with a permanently occupied hospital bed in it. As soon as I agreed to
+Corona's coming I determined to bounce that man, but now--" So saying, Mr.
+Raybold rose, folded his arms, and knit his brows, and as he did so he
+glanced towards the spot where Margery and Clyde had been sitting, and
+perceived that the latter had departed, probably to get some more birch
+bark; and so, with a nod to Mrs. Archibald, he sauntered away, bending his
+steps, as it were accidentally, in the direction of the young lady left
+alone.
+
+When Mr. Archibald heard, that evening, of the bishop's plight and
+Raybold's discomfiture, he was amused, but also glad to know there was an
+opportunity for doing something practical for the bishop. He was beginning
+to like the man, in spite of his indefiniteness, so he went to see the
+bedridden prelate who was neither sick nor clerical, and with very little
+trouble induced him to take a few general measurements of his figure.
+
+"It is so good of you," said the delighted recumbent, "that I shall not
+say a word, but step aside in deference to your conscience, whose
+encomiums will far transcend anything I can say. You will pardon me, I am
+sure, if I make my measurements liberal. The cost will not be increased,
+and to live, move, and breathe in a suit of clothes which is large enough
+for me is a joy which I have not known for a long time. Shoes, did you
+say, sir? Truly this is generosity supereminent."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Archibald, laughing, "and you also shall have a new hat. I
+will fit you out completely, and if this helps you to make a new and a
+good start in life, I shall be greatly gratified."
+
+"Sir," said the bishop, the moisture of genuine gratitude in his eyes,
+"you are doing, I think, far more good than you can imagine, and pardon me
+if I suggest, since you are going to get me a hat, that it be not of
+clerical fashion. If everything is to be new, I should like everything
+different, and I am certain the cost will be less."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald. "I will now make a list of what you need,
+and I will write to one of my clerks, who will procure everything."
+
+When Mr. Archibald went back to his camp he met Raybold, stalking moodily.
+Having been told what had been done for the bishop's relief, the young man
+was astonished.
+
+"A complete outfit, and for him? I would not have dreamed of it; and
+besides, it is of no use; it must be days before the clothes arrive, and
+my sister wishes to come immediately."
+
+"Do you suppose," exclaimed Mr. Archibald, "that I am doing this for the
+sake of your sister? I am doing it for the man himself."
+
+When Mr. Archibald told his wife of this little interview they both
+laughed heartily.
+
+"If Mr. Raybold's sister," said she, "is like him, I do not think we shall
+care to have her here; but sisters are often very different from their
+brothers. However, the bishop need not prevent her coming. If his clothes
+do not arrive before she does, I am sure there could be no objection to
+her tent being set up for a time in some of the open space in our camp,
+and then we shall become sooner acquainted with her; if she is a suitable
+person, I shall be very glad indeed for Margery to have a companion."
+
+"All right," said Mr. Archibald; "let her pitch her tent where she
+pleases. I am satisfied."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE ASSERTION OF INDIVIDUALITY
+
+
+It was a week after her brother had sent her his telegram before Miss
+Corona Raybold arrived at Camp Rob, with her tent, her outfit, and her
+female guide. Mrs. Archibald had been surprised that she did not appear
+sooner, for, considering Mr. Raybold's state of mind, she had supposed
+that his sister had wished to come at the earliest possible moment.
+
+"But," said Raybold, in explaining the delay, "Corona is very different
+from me. In my actions 'the thunder's roar doth crowd upon the lightning's
+heels,' as William has told us."
+
+"Where in Shakespeare is that?" asked Mrs. Archibald.
+
+Mr. Raybold bent his brow. "For the nonce," said he, "I do not recall the
+exact position of the lines." And after that he made no more Avonian
+quotations to Mrs. Archibald.
+
+The arrival of the young lady was, of course, a very important event, and
+even Mr. Archibald rowed in from the lake when he saw her caravan
+approaching, herself walking in the lead. She proved to be a young person
+of medium height, slight, and dressed in a becoming suit of dark blue. Her
+hair and eyes were dark, her features regular and of a classic cut, and
+she wore eye-glasses. Her manner was quiet, and at first she appeared
+reserved, but she soon showed that if she wished to speak she could talk
+very freely. She wore an air of dignified composure, but was affable, and
+very attentive to what was said to her.
+
+Altogether she made in a short time an extremely favorable impression upon
+Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, and in a very much less time an extremely
+unfavorable impression upon Margery.
+
+Miss Raybold greeted everybody pleasantly, even informing Matlack that she
+had heard of him as a famous guide, and after thanking Mr. and Mrs.
+Archibald for their permission to set up her tent on the outskirts of
+their camp, she proceeded to said tent, which was speedily made ready for
+her.
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine, her guide, was an energetic woman, and under her orders
+the men who brought the baggage bestirred themselves wonderfully.
+
+Just before supper, to which meal the Raybolds and Mr. Clyde had been
+invited, the latter came to Mr. Archibald, evidently much troubled and
+annoyed.
+
+"I am positively ashamed to mention it to you, sir," he said, "but I must
+tell you that Raybold has ordered the men who brought his sister's tent to
+bring our tent over here and put it up near her's. I was away when this
+was done, and I wish to assure you most earnestly that I had nothing to do
+with it. The men have gone, and I don't suppose we can get it back
+to-night."
+
+Mr. Archibald opened his eyes very wide. "Your friend is certainly a
+remarkable young man," said he, "but we must not have any bad feeling in
+camp, so let everything remain as it is for to-night. I suppose he wished
+to be near his sister, but at least he might have asked permission."
+
+"I think," said Clyde, "that he did not so much care to be near his sister
+as he did to be away from the bishop, who is now left alone in our little
+shelter-tent."
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "Well," said he, "he will come to no harm, and we
+must see that he has some supper."
+
+"Oh, I shall attend to that," said Clyde, "and to his breakfast also. And,
+now I come to think of it, I believe that one reason Raybold moved our
+tent over here was to get the benefit of his sister's cook. The bishop did
+our cooking, you know, before he took to his bed."
+
+That evening Miss Raybold joined the party around the camp-fire. She
+declared that in the open air she did not in the least object to the use
+of tobacco, and then she asked Mr. Archibald if his two guides came to the
+camp-fire after their work was done.
+
+"They do just as they please," was the answer. "Sometimes they come over
+here and smoke their pipes a little in the background, and sometimes they
+go off by themselves. We are very democratic here in camp, you know."
+
+"I like that," said Miss Raybold, "and I will have Mrs. Perkenpine come
+over when she has arranged the tent for the night. Arthur, will you go and
+tell her?"
+
+Her brother did not immediately rise to execute this commission. He hoped
+that Mr. Clyde would offer to do the service, but the latter did not
+improve the opportunity to make himself agreeable to the new-comer, and
+Raybold did the errand.
+
+Harrison Clyde was sitting by Margery, and Margery was giving a little
+attention to what he said to her and a great deal of attention to Corona
+Raybold.
+
+"More self-conceit and a better-fitting dress I never saw," thought
+Margery; "it's loose and easy, and yet it seems to fit perfectly, and I do
+believe she thinks she is some sort of an upper angel who has condescended
+to come down here just to see what common people are like."
+
+Corona talked to Mr. Archibald. It was her custom always to talk to the
+principal personage of a party.
+
+"It gives me pleasure, sir," said she, "to meet with you and your wife. It
+is so seldom that we find any one--" She was interrupted by Mrs.
+Perkenpine, who stood behind her.
+
+The she-guide was a large woman, apparently taller than Matlack. Her
+sunburnt face was partly shaded by a man's straw hat, secured on her head
+by strings tied under her chin. She wore a very plain gown, coarse in
+texture, and of a light-blue color, which showed that it had been washed
+very often. Her voice and her shoes, the latter well displayed by her
+short skirt, creaked, but her gray eyes were bright, and moved about after
+the manner of searchlights.
+
+"Well," said she to Miss Raybold, "what do you want?"
+
+Corona turned her head and placidly gazed up at her. "I simply wished to
+let you know that you might join this company here if you liked. The two
+men guides are coming, you see."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine glanced around the group. "Is there any hunting stories to
+be told?" she asked.
+
+Mr. Archibald laughed. "I don't know," he said, "but perhaps we may have
+some. I am sure that Matlack here has hunting stories to tell."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine shook her head. "No, sir," said she; "I don't want none of
+his stories. I've heard them all mostly two or three times over."
+
+"I dare say you have," said Phil, seating himself on a fallen trunk, a
+little back from the fire; "but you see, Mrs. Perkenpine, you are so
+obstinate about keepin' on livin'. If you'd died when you was younger, you
+wouldn't have heard so many of those stories."
+
+"There's been times," said she, "when you was tellin' the story of the
+bear cubs and the condensed milk, when I wished I had died when I was
+younger, or else you had."
+
+"Perhaps," said Miss Raybold, in a clear, decisive voice, "Mr. Matlack may
+know hunting stories that will be new to all of us, but before he begins
+them I have something which I would like to say."
+
+"All right," said Mrs. Perkenpine, seating herself promptly upon the
+ground; "if you're goin' to talk, I'll stay. I'd like to know what kind of
+things you do talk about when you talk."
+
+"I was just now remarking," said Miss Corona, "that I am very glad indeed
+to meet with those who, like Mr. and Mrs. Archibald, are willing to set
+their feet upon the modern usages of society (which would crowd us
+together in a common herd) and assert their individuality."
+
+Mr. Archibald looked at the speaker inquiringly.
+
+"Of course," said she, "I refer to the fact that you and Mrs. Archibald
+are on a wedding-journey."
+
+At this remark Phil Matlack rose suddenly from the tree-trunk and Martin
+dropped his pipe. Mr. Clyde turned his gaze upon Margery, who thereupon
+burst out laughing, and then he looked in amazement from Mr. Archibald to
+Mrs. Archibald and back again. Mrs. Perkenpine sat up very straight and
+leaned forward, her hands upon her knees.
+
+"Is it them two sittin' over there?" she said, pointing to Margery and
+Clyde. "Are they on a honey-moon?"
+
+"No!" exclaimed Arthur Raybold, in a loud, sharp voice. "What an
+absurdity! Corona, what are you talking about?"
+
+To this his sister paid no attention whatever. "I think," she said, "it
+was a noble thing to do. An assertion of one's inner self is always noble,
+and when I heard of this assertion I wished very much to know the man and
+the woman who had so asserted themselves, and this was my principal reason
+for determining to come to this camp."
+
+"But where on earth," asked Mr. Archibald, "did you hear that we were on a
+wedding-journey?"
+
+"I read it in a newspaper," said Corona.
+
+"I do declare," exclaimed Mrs. Archibald, "everything is in the
+newspapers! I did think that we might settle down here and enjoy ourselves
+without people talking about our reason for coming!"
+
+"You don't mean to say," cried Mrs. Perkenpine, now on her feet, "that you
+two elderly ones is the honey-mooners?"
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Archibald, looking with amusement on the astonished faces
+about him, "we truly are."
+
+"Well," said the she-guide, seating herself, "if I'd stayed an old maid as
+long as that, I think I'd stuck it out. But perhaps you was a widow,
+mum?"
+
+"No, indeed," cried Mr. Archibald; "she was a charming girl when I married
+her. But just let me tell you how the matter stands," and he proceeded to
+relate the facts of the case. "I thought," he said, in conclusion, turning
+to Matlack, "that perhaps you knew about it, for I told Mr. Sadler, and I
+supposed he might have mentioned it to you."
+
+"No, sir," said Matlack, relighting his pipe, "he knows me better than
+that. If he'd called me and said, 'Phil, I want you to take charge of a
+couple that's goin' honey-moonin' about twenty-five years after they
+married, and a-doin' it for somebody else and not for themselves,' I'd
+said to him, 'They're lunatics, and I won't take charge of them.' And
+Peter he knows I would have thought that and would have said it, and so he
+did not mention the particulars to me. He knows that the only things that
+I'm afraid of in this world is lunatics. 'Tisn't only what they might do
+to me, but what they might do to themselves, and I won't touch 'em."
+
+"I hope," said Mrs. Archibald, "that you don't consider us lunatics now
+that you have heard why we are here."
+
+"Oh no," said the guide; "I've found that you're regular common-sense
+people, and I don't change my opinions even when I've heard particulars;
+but if I'd heard particulars first, it would have been all up with my
+takin' charge of you."
+
+"And you knew it all the time?" said Clyde to Margery, speaking so that
+she only could hear.
+
+"I knew it," she said, "but I didn't think it worth talking about. Do you
+know Mr. Raybold's sister? Do you like her?"
+
+"I have met her," said Clyde; "but she is too lofty for me."
+
+"What is there lofty about her?" said Margery.
+
+"Well," said he, "she is lofty because she has elevated ideas. She goes in
+for reform; and for pretty much all kinds, from what I have heard."
+
+"I think she is lofty," remarked Margery, "because she is stuck-up. I
+don't like her."
+
+"It is so seldom," Corona now continued, "that we find people who are
+willing to assert their individuality, and when they are found I always
+want to talk to them. I suppose, Mr. Matlack, that your life is one long
+assertion of individuality?"
+
+"What, ma'am?" asked the guide.
+
+"I mean," said she, "that when you are out alone in the wild forest,
+holding in your hand the weapon which decides the question of life or
+death for any living creature over whom you may choose to exercise your
+jurisdiction, absolutely independent of every social trammel, every bond
+of conventionalism, you must feel that you are a predominant whole and not
+a mere integral part."
+
+"Well," said Matlack, speaking slowly, "I may have had them feelin's, but
+if I did they must have struck in, and not come out on the skin, like
+measles, where I could see 'em."
+
+"Corona," said her brother, in a peevish undertone, "what is the good of
+all that? You're wasting your words on such a man."
+
+His sister turned a mild steady gaze upon him. "I don't know any man but
+you," she said, "on whom I waste my words."
+
+"Is assertin' like persistin'?" inquired Mrs. Perkenpine at this point.
+
+"The two actions are somewhat alike," said Corona.
+
+"Well, then," said the she-guide, "I'm in for assertin'. When my husband
+was alive there was a good many things I wanted to do, and when I wanted
+to do a thing or get a thing I kept on sayin' so; and one day, after I'd
+been keepin' on sayin' so a good while, he says to me, 'Jane,' says he,
+'it seems to me that you're persistin'.' 'Yes,' says I, 'I am, and I
+intend to be.' 'Then you are goin' to keep on insistin' on persistin'?'
+says he. 'Yes,' says I; and then says he, 'If you keep on insistin' on
+persistin' I'll be thinkin' of 'listin'.' By which he meant goin' into the
+army as a regular, and gettin' rid of me; and as I didn't want to be rid
+of him, I stopped persistin'; but now I wish I had persisted, for then
+he'd 'listed, and most likely would be alive now, through not bein' shot
+in the back by a city fool with a gun."
+
+"I do not believe," said Mrs. Archibald to her husband, when they had
+retired to their cabin, "that that young woman is going to be much of a
+companion for Margery. I think she will prefer your society to that of any
+of the rest of us. It is very plain that she thinks it is your
+individuality which has been asserted."
+
+"Well," said he, rubbing his spectacles with his handkerchief before
+putting them away for the night, "don't let her project her individuality
+into my sport. That's all I have to say."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A NET OF COBWEBS TO CAGE A LION
+
+
+"I think there's something besides a lunatic that you are afraid of," said
+Martin to Matlack the next morning, as they were preparing breakfast.
+
+"What's that?" inquired the guide, sharply.
+
+"It's that fellow they call the bishop," said Martin. "He put a pretty
+heavy slur on you. You drove down a stake, and you locked your boat to it,
+and you walked away as big as if you were the sheriff of the county, and
+here he comes along, and snaps his fingers at you and your locks, and, as
+cool as a cucumber, he pulls up the stake and shoves out on the lake, all
+alone by herself, a young lady that you are paid to take care of and
+protect from danger."
+
+"I want you to know, Martin Sanders," said Matlack, "that I don't pitch
+into a man when he's in his bed, no matter what it is that made him take
+to his bed or stay there. But I'll just say to you now, that when he gets
+up and shows himself, there'll be the biggest case of bounce in these
+parts that you ever saw."
+
+"Bounce!" said Martin to himself, as he turned away. "I have heard so much
+of it lately that I'd like to see a little."
+
+Matlack also communed with himself. "He's awful anxious to get up a
+quarrel between me and the parson," he thought. "I wonder if he was too
+free with his tongue and did get thrashed. He don't show no signs of it,
+except he's so concerned in his mind to see somebody do for the parson
+what he ain't able to do himself. But I'll find out about it! I'll thrash
+that fellow in black, and before I let him up I'll make him tell me what
+he did to Martin. I'd do a good deal to get hold of something that would
+take the conceit out of that fellow."
+
+Mr. Arthur Raybold was a deep-minded person, and sometimes it was
+difficult for him, with the fathoming apparatus he had on hand, to
+discover the very bottom of his mind. Now, far below the surface, his
+thoughts revolved. He had come to the conclusion that he would marry
+Margery. In the first place, he was greatly attracted by her, and again he
+considered it would be a most advantageous union. She was charming to look
+upon, and her mind was so uncramped by conventionalities that it could
+adapt itself to almost any sphere to which she might direct it. He
+expected his life-work to be upon the stage, and what an actress Miss
+Dearborn would make if properly educated--as he could educate her! With
+this most important purpose in view, why should he waste his time? The
+Archibalds could not much longer remain in camp. They had limited their
+holiday to a month, and that was more than half gone. He must strike now.
+
+The first thing to do was to get Clyde out of the way; then he would speak
+to Mr. Archibald and ask for authority to press his suit, and he would
+press that suit as few men on earth, he said to himself, would be able to
+press it. What girl could deny herself to him when he came to her clad not
+only with his own personal attributes, but with the fervor of a Romeo, the
+intellectuality of a Hamlet, and the force of an Othello?
+
+The Clyde part of the affair seemed very simple; as his party would of
+course have their own table Clyde would see his sister at every meal, and
+as Corona did not care to talk to him, and must talk to somebody, she
+would be compelled to talk to Clyde, and if she talked to Clyde and looked
+at him as she always did when she talked to people, he did not see how he
+could help being attracted by her, and when once that sort of thing began
+the Margery-field would be open to him.
+
+He excused himself that morning for hurriedly leaving the breakfast-table
+by saying that he wished to see Mr. Archibald before he started out
+fishing.
+
+He found that gentleman talking to Matlack. "Can I see you alone, sir?"
+said Raybold. "I have something of importance I wish to say to you."
+
+"Very good," said the other, "for I have something I wish to say to you,"
+and they retired towards the lake.
+
+"What is it?" inquired Mr. Archibald.
+
+"It is this," said Raybold, folding his arms as he spoke. "I am a man of
+but few words. When I have formed a purpose I call upon my actions to
+express it rather than my speech. I will not delay, therefore, to say to
+you that I love your ward, and my sole object in seeking this interview is
+to ask your permission to pay my addresses to her. That permission given,
+I will attend to the rest."
+
+"After you have dropped your penny in the slot," remarked Mr. Archibald.
+"I must say," he continued, "that I am rather surprised at the nature of
+your communication. I supposed you were going to explain your somewhat
+remarkable conduct in bringing your tent into my camp without asking my
+permission or even speaking to me about it; but as what you have said is
+of so much more importance than that breach of good manners I will let the
+latter drop. But why did you ask my permission to address Miss Dearborn?
+Why didn't you go and do it just as you brought your tent here? Did you
+think that if you had a permit from me for that sort of sport you could
+warn off trespassers?"
+
+"It was something of that kind," said Raybold, "although I should not have
+put it in that trifling way."
+
+"Then I will remark," said Mr. Archibald, "that I know nothing of your
+matrimonial availability, and I do not want to know anything about it. My
+wife and I brought Miss Dearborn here to enjoy herself in the woods, not
+to be sought in marriage by strangers. For the present I am her guardian,
+and as such I say to you that I forbid you to make her a proposal of
+marriage, or, indeed, to pay her any attentions which she may consider
+serious. If I see that you do not respect my wishes in this regard, I
+shall ask you to consider our acquaintance at an end, and shall dispense
+with your visits to this camp. Have I spoken plainly?"
+
+The knitted brows of Raybold were directed towards the ground. "You have
+spoken plainly," he said, "and I have heard," and with a bow he walked
+away.
+
+As he approached his tent a smile, intended to be bitter, played about his
+features.
+
+"A net of cobwebs," he muttered, "to cage a lion!"
+
+The weather had now grown sultry, the afternoon was very hot, and there
+was a general desire to lie in the shade and doze. Margery's plans for a
+siesta were a little more complicated than those of the others. She longed
+to lie in a hammock under great trees, surrounded by the leafy screens of
+the woodlands; to gaze at the blue sky through the loop-holes in the
+towering branches above her, and to dream of the mysteries of the forest.
+
+"Martin," said she, to the young guide, "is there a hammock among the
+things we brought with us?"
+
+His face brightened. "Of course there are hammocks," he said. "I wonder
+none of you asked about them before."
+
+"I never thought of it," said Margery. "I haven't had time for lounging,
+and as for Aunt Harriet, she would not get into one for five dollars."
+
+"Where shall I hang it?" he asked.
+
+"Not anywhere about here. Couldn't you find some nice place in the woods,
+not far away, but where I would not be seen, and might have a little time
+to myself? If you can, come and tell me quietly where it is."
+
+"I know what she means," said Martin to himself. "It's a shame that she
+should be annoyed. I can find you just such a place," he said to Margery.
+"I will hang the hammock there, and I will take care that nobody else
+shall know where it is." And away he went, bounding heart and foot.
+
+In less than a quarter of an hour he returned. "It's all ready, Miss
+Dearborn," he said. "I think I have found a place you will like. It's
+generally very close in the woods on a day like this, but there is a
+little bluff back of us, and at the end of it the woods are open, so that
+there is a good deal of air there."
+
+"That is charming," said Margery, and with a book in her hand she
+accompanied Martin.
+
+They were each so interested in the hammock business that they walked side
+by side, instead of one following the other, as had been their custom
+heretofore.
+
+"Oh, this is a delightful place!" cried Margery. "I can lie here and look
+down into the very heart of the woods; it is a solitude like Robinson
+Crusoe's island."
+
+"I am glad you like it," said Martin. "I thought you would. I have put up
+the hammock strongly, so that you need not be afraid of it; but if there
+is any other way you want it I can change it. There is not a thing here
+that can hurt you, and if a little snake should happen along it would be
+glad to get away from you if you give it a chance. But if you should be
+frightened or should want anything you have only to call for me. I shall
+hear you, for I shall be out in the open just at the edge of the woods."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Margery; "nothing could be nicer than this,
+and you did it so quickly."
+
+He smiled with pleasure as he answered that he could have done it more
+quickly if it had been necessary; and then he retired slowly, that she
+might call him back if she thought of anything she wanted.
+
+Margery lay in the hammock, gazing out over the edge of the bluff into the
+heart of the woods; her closed book was in her hand, and the gentle breeze
+that shook the leaves around her and disturbed the loose curls about her
+face was laden with a moist spiciness which made her believe it had been
+wandering through some fragrant foliage of a kind unknown to her, far away
+in the depths of the forest, where she could not walk on account of the
+rocks, the great bushes, and the tall ferns. It was lovely to lie and
+watch the leafy boughs, which seemed as if they were waving their
+handkerchiefs to the breeze as it passed.
+
+"I don't believe," she said to herself, as she cast her eyes upward
+towards an open space above her, "that if I were that little white cloud
+and could float over the whole world and drop down on any spot I chose
+that I could drop into a lovelier place than this." Then she brought her
+gaze again to earth, and her mind went out between the shadowy trunks
+which stretched away and away and away towards the mysteries of the
+forest, which must always be mysteries to her because it was impossible
+for her to get to them and solve them--that is, if she remained awake. But
+if Master Morpheus should happen by, she might yet know everything--for
+there are no mysteries which cannot be solved in dreams.
+
+Master Morpheus came, but with him came also Arthur Raybold; not by the
+little pathway that approached from the direction of the lake, but parting
+the bushes as if he had been exploring. When she heard footsteps behind
+her, Margery looked up quickly.
+
+"Mr. Raybold!" she exclaimed. "How on earth did you happen here?"
+
+"I did not happen," said he, wiping his brow with his handkerchief. "I
+have been looking for you, and I have had tough work of it. I saw you go
+into the woods, and I went in also, although some distance below here, and
+I have had a hard and tiresome job working my way up to you; but I have
+found you. I knew I should, for I had bent my mind to the undertaking."
+
+"Well, I wish you hadn't," said Margery, in a vexed tone. "I came here to
+be alone and take a nap, and I wish you would find some other nice place
+and go and take a nap yourself."
+
+He smiled deeply. "That would not answer my purpose at all," said he.
+"Napping is far from my desires."
+
+"But I don't care anything about your desires," said Margery, in a tone
+which showed she was truly vexed, "I have pre-empted this place, and I
+want it to myself. I was just falling into a most delightful doze when you
+came, and I don't think you have any right to come here and disturb me."
+
+"The sense of right, Miss Dearborn," said he, "comes from the heart, and
+we do not have to ask other people what it is. My heart has given me the
+right to come here, and here I am."
+
+"And what in the name of common-sense are you here for?" said Margery.
+"Speaking about your heart makes me think you came here to make love to
+me. Is that it?"
+
+"It is," said he, "and I wish you to hear me."
+
+"Mr. Raybold," said she, her eyes as bright, he thought, as if they had
+belonged to his sister when she was urging some of her favorite views upon
+a company, "I won't listen to one word of such stuff. This is no place for
+love-making, and I won't have it. If you want to make love to me you can
+wait until I go home, and then you can come and speak to my mother about
+it, and when you have spoken to her you can speak to me, but I won't
+listen to it here. Not one word!"
+
+Thus did the indignant craftiness of Margery express itself. "It's a good
+deal better," she thought, "than telling him no, and having him keep on
+begging and begging."
+
+"Miss Dearborn," said Raybold, "what I have to say cannot be postponed.
+The words within me must be spoken, and I came here to speak them."
+
+With a sudden supple twist Margery turned herself, hammock and all, and
+stood on her feet on the ground. "Martin!" she cried, at the top of her
+voice.
+
+Raybold stepped back astonished. "What is this?" he exclaimed. "Am I to
+understand--"
+
+Before he had time to complete his sentence Martin Sanders sprang into the
+scene.
+
+"What is it?" he exclaimed, with a glare at Raybold, as if he suspected
+why he had been called.
+
+"Martin," said Margery, with a good deal of sharpness in her voice, "I
+want you to take down this hammock and carry it away. I can't stay here
+any longer. I thought that at least one quiet place out-of-doors could be
+found where I would not be disturbed, but it seems there is no such place.
+Perhaps you can hang the hammock somewhere near our cabin."
+
+Martin's face grew very red. "I think," said he, "that you ought not to be
+obliged to go away because you have been disturbed. Whoever disturbed you
+should go away, and not you."
+
+Now Mr. Raybold's face also grew red. "There has been enough of this!" he
+exclaimed. "Guide, you can go where you came from. You are not wanted
+here. If Miss Dearborn wishes her hammock taken down, I will do it." Then
+turning to Margery, he continued: "You do not know what it is I have to
+say to you. If you do not hear me now, you will regret it all your life.
+Send this man away."
+
+"I would very much like to send a man away if I knew how to do it," said
+Margery.
+
+"Do it?" cried Martin. "Oh, Miss Dearborn, if you want it done, ask me to
+do it for you!"
+
+"You!" shouted Raybold, making two steps towards the young guide; then he
+stopped, for Margery stood in front of him.
+
+"I have never seen two men fight," said she, "and I don't say I wouldn't
+like it, just once; but you would have to have on boxing-gloves; I
+couldn't stand a fight with plain hands, so you needn't think of it.
+Martin, take down the hammock just as quickly as you can. And if you want
+to stay here, Mr. Raybold, you can stay, but if you want to talk, you can
+talk to the trees."
+
+Martin heaved a sigh of disappointment, and proceeded to unfasten the
+hammock from the trees to which it had been tied. For a moment Raybold
+looked as if he were about to interfere, but there was something in the
+feverish agility of the young guide which made his close proximity as
+undesirable as that of a package of dynamite.
+
+Margery turned to leave the place, but suddenly stopped. She would wait
+until Martin was ready to go with her. She would not leave those two young
+men alone.
+
+Raybold was very angry. He knew well that such a chance for a private
+interview was not likely to occur again, and he would not give up. He
+approached the young girl.
+
+"Margery," he said, "if you--"
+
+"Martin," she cried to the guide, who was now ready to go, "put down that
+hammock and come here. Now, sir," she said, turning to Raybold, "let me
+hear you call me Margery again!"
+
+She waited for about a half a minute, but she was not called by name. Then
+she and Martin went away. She had nearly reached the cabin before she
+spoke, and then she turned to the young man and said: "Martin, you needn't
+trouble yourself about putting up that hammock now; I don't want to lie in
+it. I'm going into the house. I am very much obliged to you for the way
+you stood by me."
+
+"Stood by you!" he exclaimed, in a low voice, which seemed struggling in
+the grasp of something which might or might not be stronger than itself.
+"You don't know how glad I am to stand by you, and how I would always--"
+
+"Thank you," said Margery; "thank you very much," and she walked away
+towards the cabin.
+
+"Oh, dear!" she sighed, as she opened the door and went in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A MAN WHO FEELS HIMSELF A MAN
+
+
+Towards the end of the afternoon, when the air had grown cooler, Mr.
+Archibald proposed a boating expedition to the lower end of the lake. His
+boat was large enough for Matlack, the three ladies, and himself, and if
+the two young men wished to follow, they had a boat of their own.
+
+When first asked to join the boating party Miss Corona Raybold hesitated;
+she did not care very much about boating; but when she found that if she
+stayed in camp she would have no one to talk to, she accepted the
+invitation.
+
+Mr. Archibald took the oars nearest the stern, while Matlack seated
+himself forward, and this arrangement suited Miss Corona exactly.
+
+The boat kept down the middle of the lake, greatly aided by the current,
+and Corona talked steadily to Mr. Archibald. Mrs. Archibald, who always
+wanted to do what was right, and who did not like to be left out of any
+conversation on important subjects, made now and then a remark, and
+whenever she spoke Corona turned to her and listened with the kindest
+attention, but the moment the elder lady had finished, the other resumed
+her own thread of observation without the slightest allusion to what she
+had just heard.
+
+As for Mr. Archibald, he seldom said a word. He listened, sometimes his
+eyes twinkled, and he pulled easily and steadily. Doubtless he had a good
+many ideas, but none of them was expressed. As for Margery, she leaned
+back in the stern, and thought that, after all, she liked Miss Raybold
+better than she did her brother, for the young lady did not speak one word
+to her, nor did she appear to regard her in any way.
+
+"But how on earth," thought Margery, "she can float over this beautiful
+water and under this lovely sky, with the grandeur of the forest all about
+her, and yet pay not the slightest attention to anything she sees, but
+keep steadily talking about her own affairs and the society she belongs
+to, I cannot imagine. She might as well live in a cellar and have
+pamphlets and reformers shoved down to her through the coal-hole."
+
+Messrs. Clyde and Raybold accompanied the larger boat in their own skiff.
+It was an unwieldy craft, with but one pair of oars, and as the two young
+men were not accustomed to rowing together, and as Mr. Raybold was not
+accustomed to rowing at all and did not like it, Mr. Clyde pulled the
+boat. But, do what he could, it was impossible for him to get near the
+other boat. Matlack, who was not obliged to listen to Miss Corona, kept
+his eye upon the following skiff, and seemed to fear a collision if the
+two boats came close together, for if Clyde pulled hard he pulled harder.
+Arthur Raybold was not satisfied.
+
+"I thought you were a better oarsman," he said to the other; "but now I
+suppose we shall not come near them until we land."
+
+But the Archibald party did not land. Under the guidance of Matlack they
+swept slowly around the lower end of the lake; they looked over the big
+untenanted camp-ground there; they stopped for a moment to gaze into the
+rift in the forest through which ran the stream which connected this lake
+with another beyond it, and then they rowed homeward, keeping close to the
+farther shore, so as to avoid the strength of the current.
+
+Clyde, who had not reached the end of the lake, now turned and determined
+to follow the tactics of the other boat and keep close to the shore, but
+on the side nearest to the camp. This exasperated Raybold.
+
+"What are you trying to do?" he said. "If you keep in the middle we may
+get near them, and why should we be on one side of the lake and they on
+the other?"
+
+"I want to get back as soon as they do," said Clyde, "and I don't want to
+pull against the current."
+
+"Stop!" said Raybold. "If you are tired, let me have the oars."
+
+Harrison Clyde looked for a minute at his companion, and then deliberately
+changed the course of the boat and rowed straight towards the shore,
+paying no attention whatever to the excited remonstrances of Raybold. He
+beached the boat at a rather poor landing-place among some bushes, and
+then, jumping out, he made her fast.
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Raybold, as he scrambled on shore. "Is she
+leaking more than she did? What is the matter?"
+
+"She is not leaking more than usual," said the other, "but I am not going
+to pull against that current with you growling in the stern. I am going to
+walk back to camp."
+
+In consequence of this resolution the two young men reached Camp Rob about
+the same time that the Archibald boat touched shore, and at least an hour
+before they would have arrived had they remained in their boat.
+
+The party was met by Mrs. Perkenpine, bearing letters and newspapers. A
+man had arrived from Sadler's in their absence, and he had brought the
+mail. Nearly every one had letters; there was even something for Martin.
+Standing where they had landed, seated on bits of rock, on the grass, or
+on camp-chairs, all read their letters.
+
+While thus engaged a gentleman approached the party from the direction of
+Camp Roy. He was tall, well built, handsomely dressed in a suit of
+light-brown tweed, and carried himself with a buoyant uprightness. A neat
+straw hat with a broad ribbon shaded his smooth-shaven face, which
+sparkled with cordial good-humor. A blue cravat was tied tastefully under
+a broad white collar, and in his hand he carried a hickory walking-stick,
+cut in the woods, but good enough for a city sidewalk. Margery was the
+first to raise her eyes at the sound of the quickly approaching
+footsteps.
+
+"Goodness gracious!" she exclaimed, and then everybody looked up.
+
+For a moment the new-comer was gazed upon in silence. From what gigantic
+bandbox could this well-dressed stranger have dropped? Then, with a loud
+laugh, Mr. Archibald cried, "The bishop!"
+
+No wonder there had not been instant recognition. The loose, easy-fitting
+clothes gave no hint of redundant plumpness; no soiled shovel-hat cast a
+shadow over the smiling face, and a glittering shirt front banished all
+thought of gutta-percha.
+
+"Madam," exclaimed the bishop, raising his hat and stepping quickly
+towards Mrs. Archibald, "I cannot express the pleasure I feel in meeting
+you again. And as for you, sir," holding out his hand to Mr. Archibald, "I
+have no words in which to convey my feelings. Look upon a man, sir, who
+feels himself a man, and then remember from what you raised him. I can say
+no more now, but I can never forget what you have done," and as he spoke
+he pressed Mr. Archibald's hand with an honest fervor, which distorted for
+a moment the features of that gentleman.
+
+From one to the other of the party the bishop glanced, as he said, "How
+glad, how unutterably glad, I am to be again among you!" Turning his eyes
+towards Miss Raybold, he stopped. That young lady had put down the letter
+she was reading, and was gazing at him through her spectacles with calm
+intensity. "This lady," said the bishop, turning towards Raybold, "is your
+sister, I presume? May I have the honor?"
+
+Raybold looked at him without speaking. Here was an example of the silly
+absurdity of throwing pearls before swine. He had never wanted to have
+anything to do with the fellow when he was in the gutter, and he wanted
+nothing to do with him now.
+
+With a little flush on her face Mrs. Archibald rose.
+
+"Miss Raybold," she said, "let me present to you"--and she hesitated for a
+moment--"the gentleman we call the bishop. I think you have heard us speak
+of him."
+
+"Yes," said Miss Raybold, rising, with a charming smile on her handsome
+face, and extending her hand, "I have heard of him, and I am very glad to
+meet him."
+
+"I have also heard of you," said the bishop, as he stood smiling beside
+Corona's camp-chair, "and I have regretted that I have been the innocent
+means of preventing you for a time from occupying your brother's camp."
+
+"Oh, do not mention that," said Corona, sweetly. "I walked over there
+yesterday, and I think it is a great deal pleasanter here, so you have
+really done me a favor. I am particularly glad to see you, because, from
+the little I have heard said about you, I think you must agree with some
+of my cherished opinions. For one thing, I am quite certain you favor the
+assertion of individuality; your actions prove that."
+
+"Really," said the bishop, seating himself near her, "I have not given
+much thought to the subject; but I suppose I have asserted my
+individuality. If I have, however, I have done it indefinitely. Everybody
+about me having some definite purpose in life, and I having none, I am, in
+a negative way, a distinctive individual. It is a pity I am so different
+from other people, but--"
+
+"No, it is not a pity," interrupted Corona, the color coming into her
+cheeks and a brighter light into her eyes. "Our individuality is a sacred
+responsibility. It is given to us for us to protect and encourage--I may
+say, to revere. It is a trust for which we should be called to account by
+ourselves, and we shall be false and disloyal to ourselves if we cannot
+show that we have done everything in our power for the establishment and
+recognition of our individuality."
+
+"It delights me to hear you speak in that way," exclaimed the bishop. "It
+encourages and cheers me. We are what we are; and if we can be more fully
+what we are than we have been, then we are more truly ourselves than
+before."
+
+"And what can be nobler," cried Corona, "than to be, in the most
+distinctive sense of the term, ourselves?"
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Archibald walked together towards their cabin.
+
+"I want to be neighborly and hospitable," said he, "but it seems to me
+that, now that the way is clear for Miss Raybold to move her tent to her
+own camp and set up house-keeping there, we should not be called upon to
+entertain her, and, if we want to enjoy ourselves in our own way, we can
+do it without thinking of her."
+
+"We shall certainly not do it," said his wife, "if we do think of her. I
+am very much disappointed in her. She is not a companion at all for
+Margery; she never speaks to her; and, on the other hand, I should think
+you would wish she would never speak to you."
+
+"Well," said her husband, "that feeling did grow upon me somewhat this
+afternoon. Up to a certain point she is amusing."
+
+Here he was interrupted by Mrs. Perkenpine, who planted herself before
+him.
+
+"I s'pose you think I didn't do right," she said, "'cause, when that big
+bundle came it had your name on it; but I knew it was clothes, and that
+they was for that man in our camp, and so I took them to him myself. I
+heard Phil say that the sooner that man was up and dressed, the better it
+would be for all parties; and as Martin had gone off, and there wasn't
+nobody to take his clothes to him, I took them to him, and that's the long
+and short of it."
+
+"I wondered how he got them," said Mr. Archibald, "but I am glad you
+carried them to him." Then, speaking to his wife, he added, "It may be a
+good thing that I gave him a chance to assert his individuality."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MRS. PERKENPINE ASSERTS HER INDIVIDUALITY
+
+
+About half an hour after the beginning of the conversation between the
+bishop and Miss Corona, Mrs. Perkenpine came to the latter and informed
+her that supper was ready, and three times after that first announcement
+did she repeat the information. At last the bishop rose and said he would
+not keep Miss Raybold from her meal.
+
+"Will you not join us?" she asked. "I shall be glad to have you do so."
+
+The bishop hesitated for a moment, and then he accompanied Corona.
+
+As Mrs. Perkenpine turned from the camp cooking-stove, a long-handled pan,
+well filled with slices of hot meat, in her hand, she stood for a moment
+amazed. Slowly approaching the little table outside of the tent were the
+bishop and Miss Raybold, and glancing beyond them towards the lake, she
+saw Clyde and Raybold, to whom she had yelled that supper was ready, the
+one with his arms folded, gazing out over the water, and the other
+strolling backward and forward, as if he had thought of going to his
+supper, but had not quite made up his mind to it.
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine's face grew red. "They are waitin' for a chance to speak
+to that Archibald gal," she thought. "Well, let them wait. And she's
+bringing him! She needn't s'pose I don't know him. I've seen him splittin'
+wood at Sadler's, and I don't cook for sech." So saying, she strode to
+some bushes a little back of the stove, and dashed the panful of meat
+behind them. Then she returned, and seizing the steaming coffee-pot, she
+poured its contents on the ground. Then she took up a smaller pan,
+containing some fried potatoes, hot and savory, and these she threw after
+the meat.
+
+The bishop and Corona now reached the table and seated themselves. Mrs.
+Perkenpine, her face as hard and immovable as the trunk of an oak,
+approached, and placed before them some slices of cold bread, some butter,
+and two glasses of water.
+
+Still earnestly talking, her eyes sometimes dimmed with tears of
+excitement as she descanted upon her favorite theories, Corona began to
+eat what was before her. She buttered a slice of bread, and if the bishop
+chanced to say anything she ate some of it. She drank some water, and she
+talked and talked and talked. She did not know what she was eating. It
+might have been a Lord Mayor's dinner or a beggar's crust; her mind took
+no cognizance of such an unimportant matter. As for her companion, he knew
+very well what he was eating, and as he gazed about him, and saw that
+there were no signs of anything more, his heart sank lower and lower; but
+he ate slice after slice of bread, for he was hungry, and he hoped that
+when the two young men came to the table they would call for more
+substantial food.
+
+But long before they arrived Corona finished her meal and rose.
+
+"Now that we have had our supper," she said, "let us go where we shall not
+be annoyed by the smell of food, and continue our conversation."
+
+"Is it possible," thought the bishop, "that she can be annoyed by the
+smell of hot meat, potatoes, and coffee? I suppose the delicious odor
+comes from the other supper-table. Heavens! Why wasn't I asked there?"
+
+There was a dreadful storm when Raybold and Clyde came to the table; but
+Mrs. Perkenpine remained hard and immovable through it all.
+
+"Your sister and that tramp has been here," said she, "and this is all
+there is left. If you keep your hogs in your house, you can't expect to
+count on your victuals."
+
+Some more coffee was made, and that, with bread, composed the young men's
+supper.
+
+When Arthur Raybold had finished his meal, he walked to the spot where
+Corona and the bishop were conversing, and stood there silently. He was
+afraid to interrupt his sister by speaking to her, but he thought that his
+presence might have an effect upon her companion. It did have an effect,
+for the bishop seized the opportunity created by the arrival of a third
+party, excused himself, and departed at the first break in Corona's flow
+of words.
+
+"I wish, Arthur," she said, "that when you see I am engaged in a
+conversation, you would wait at least a reasonable time before
+interrupting it."
+
+"A reasonable time!" said Raybold, with a laugh. "I like that! But I came
+here to interrupt your conversation. Do you know who that fellow is you
+were talking to? He's a common, good-for-nothing tramp. He goes round
+splitting wood for his meals. Clyde and I kept him here to cook our meals
+because we had no servant, and he's been in bed for days because he had no
+clothes to wear. Now you are treating him as if he were a gentleman, and
+you actually brought him to our table, where, like the half-starved cur
+that he is, he has eaten up everything fit to eat that we were to have for
+our supper."
+
+"He did not eat all of it," said Corona, "for I ate some myself; and if he
+is the good-for-nothing tramp and the other things you call him, I wish I
+could meet with more such tramps. I tell you, Arthur, that if you were to
+spend the next five years in reading and studying, you could not get into
+your mind one-tenth of the serious information, the power to reason
+intelligently upon your perceptions, the ability to collate, compare, and
+refer to their individual causes the impressions--"
+
+"Oh, bosh!" said her brother. "What I want to know is, are you going to
+make friends with that man and invite him to our table?"
+
+"I shall invite him if I see fit," said she. "He is an extremely
+intelligent person."
+
+"Well," answered he, "if you do I shall have a separate table," and he
+walked away.
+
+As soon as he had left Corona, the bishop repaired to the Archibalds'
+cooking-tent, where he saw Matlack at work.
+
+"I have come," he said, with a pleasant smile, "to ask a very great favor.
+Would it be convenient for you to give me something to eat? Anything in
+the way of meat, hot or cold, and some tea or coffee, as I see there is a
+pot still steaming on your stove. I have had an unlucky experience. You
+know I have been preparing my own meals at the other camp, but to-day,
+when Mrs. Perkenpine brought me my clothes, she carried away with her all
+the provisions that had been left there. I supped, it is true, with Miss
+Raybold, but her appetite is so delicate and her fare so extremely simple
+that I confidentially acknowledge that I am half starved."
+
+During these remarks Matlack had stood quietly gazing at the bishop. "Do
+you see that pile of logs and branches there?" said he; "that's the
+firewood that's got to be cut for to-morrow, which is Sunday, when we
+don't want to be cuttin' wood; and if you'll go to work and cut it into
+pieces to fit this stove, I'll give you your supper. You can go to the
+other camp and sleep where you have been sleepin', if you want to, and in
+the mornin' I'll give you your breakfast. I 'ain't got no right to give
+you Mr. Archibald's victuals, but what you eat I'll pay for out of my own
+pocket, considerin' that you'll do my work. Then to-morrow I'll give you
+just one hour after you've finished your breakfast to get out of this camp
+altogether, entirely out of my sight. I tried to have you sent away
+before, but other people took you up, and so I said no more; but now
+things are different. When a man pulls up what I've drove down, and sets
+loose what I've locked up, and the same as snaps his fingers in my face
+when I'm attendin' to my business, then I don't let that man stay in my
+camp."
+
+"Excuse me," said the bishop, "but in case I should not go away within the
+time specified, what would be your course?"
+
+In a few brief remarks, inelegant but expressive, the guide outlined his
+intentions of taking measures which would utterly eliminate the physical
+energy of the other.
+
+"I haven't taken no advantage of you," he said, "I haven't come down on
+you when you hadn't no clothes to go away in; and now that you've got good
+clothes, I don't want to spile them if I can help it; but they're not
+goin' to save you--mind my words. What I've said I'll stick to."
+
+"Mr. Matlack," said the bishop, "I consider that you are entirely correct
+in all your positions. As to that unfortunate affair of the boat, I had
+intended coming to you and apologizing most sincerely for my share in it.
+It was an act of great foolishness, but that does not in the least excuse
+me. I apologize now, and beg that you will believe that I truly regret
+having interfered with your arrangements."
+
+"That won't do!" exclaimed the guide. "When a man as much as snaps his
+fingers in my face, it's no use for him to come and apologize. That's not
+what I want."
+
+"Nevertheless," said the bishop, "you will pardon me if I insist upon
+expressing my regrets. I do that for my own sake as well as yours; but we
+will drop that subject. When you ask me to cut wood to pay for my meals,
+you are entirely right, and I honor your sound opinion upon this subject.
+I will cut the wood and earn my meals, but there is one amendment to your
+plan which I would like to propose. To-morrow is Sunday; for that reason
+we should endeavor to make the day as quiet and peaceable as possible, and
+we should avoid everything which may be difficult of explanation or
+calculated to bring about an unpleasant difference of opinion among other
+members of the party. Therefore, will you postpone the time at which you
+will definitely urge my departure until Monday morning?"
+
+"Well," said Matlack, "now I come to think of it, it might be well not to
+kick up a row on Sunday, and I will put it off until Monday morning; but
+mind, there's no nonsense about me. What I say I mean, and on Monday
+morning you march of your own accord, or I'll attend to the matter
+myself."
+
+"Very good," said the bishop; "thank you very much. To-morrow I will
+consider your invitation to leave this place, and if you will come to Camp
+Roy about half-past six on Monday morning I will then give you my
+decision. Will that hour suit you?"
+
+"All right," said Matlack, "you might as well make it a business matter.
+It's going to be business on my side, I'd have you know."
+
+"Good--very good," said the bishop, "and now let me get at that wood."
+
+So saying, he put down his cane, took off his hat, his coat, his
+waistcoat, his collar, and his cravat and his cuffs; he rolled up his
+sleeves, he turned up the bottoms of his trousers, and then taking an axe,
+he set to work.
+
+In a few minutes Martin arrived on the scene. "What's up now?" said he.
+
+"He's cuttin' wood for his meals," replied Matlack.
+
+"I thought you were going to bounce him as soon as he got up?"
+
+"That's put off until Monday morning," said Matlack. "Then he marches.
+I've settled that."
+
+"Did he agree?" asked Martin.
+
+"'Tain't necessary for him to agree; he'll find that out Monday morning."
+
+Martin stood and looked at the bishop as he worked.
+
+"I wish you would get him to cut wood every day," said he. "By George, how
+he makes that axe fly!"
+
+When the bishop finished his work he drove his axe-head deep into a stump,
+washed his hands and his face, resumed the clothing he had laid aside, and
+then sat down to supper. There was nothing stingy about Matlack, and the
+wood-chopper made a meal which amply compensated him for the deficiencies
+of the Perkenpine repast.
+
+When he had finished he hurried to the spot where the party was in the
+habit of assembling around the camp-fire. He found there some feebly
+burning logs, and Mr. Clyde, who sat alone, smoking his pipe.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked the bishop. "Where are all our friends?"
+
+[Illustration: "'WHERE ARE ALL OUR FRIENDS?'"]
+
+"I suppose they are all in bed," said Clyde, "with the bedclothes pulled
+over their heads--that is, except one, and I suspect she is talking in her
+sleep. They were all here as usual, and Mr. Archibald thought he would
+break the spell by telling a fishing story. He told me he was going to try
+to speak against time; but it wasn't of any use. She just slid into the
+middle of his remarks as a duck slides into the water, and then she began
+an oration. I really believe she did not know that any one else was
+talking."
+
+"That may have been the case," said the bishop; "she has a wonderful power
+of self-concentration."
+
+"Very true," said Clyde, "and this time she concentrated herself so much
+upon herself that the rest of us got away, one by one, and when all the
+others had gone she went. Then, when I found she really had gone, I came
+back. By-the-way, bishop," he continued, "there is something I would like
+to do, and I want you to help me."
+
+"Name it," said the other.
+
+"I am getting tired of the way the Raybolds are trespassing on the
+good-nature of the Archibalds, and, whatever they do, I don't intend to
+let them make me trespass any longer. I haven't anything to do with Miss
+Raybold, but the other tent belongs as much to me as it does to her
+brother, and I am going to take it back to our own camp. And what is more,
+I am going to have my meals there. I don't want that wooden-headed Mrs.
+Perkenpine to cook for me."
+
+"How would you like me to do it?" asked the bishop, quickly.
+
+"That would be fine," said Clyde. "I will help, and we will set up
+house-keeping there again, and if Raybold doesn't choose to come and live
+in his own camp he can go wherever he pleases. I am not going to have him
+manage things for me. Don't you think that you and I can carry that tent
+over?"
+
+"With ease!" exclaimed the bishop. "When do you want to move--Monday
+morning?"
+
+"Yes," said Clyde, "after breakfast."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE HERMITS ASSOCIATE
+
+
+During the next day no one in camp had reason to complain of Corona
+Raybold. She did not seem inclined to talk to anybody, but spent the most
+of her time alone. She wrote a little and reflected a great deal,
+sometimes walking, sometimes seated in the shade, gazing far beyond the
+sky.
+
+When the evening fire was lighted, her mood changed so that one might have
+supposed that another fire had been lighted somewhere in the interior of
+her mental organism. Her fine eyes glistened, her cheeks gently reddened,
+and her whole body became animated with an energy created by warm
+emotions.
+
+"I have something I wish to say to you all," she exclaimed, as she reached
+the fire. "Where is Arthur? Will somebody please call him? And I would
+like to see both the guides. It is something very important that I have to
+say. Mrs. Perkenpine will be here in a moment; I asked her to come. If Mr.
+Matlack is not quite ready, can he not postpone what he is doing? I am
+sure you will all be interested in what I have to say, and I do not want
+to begin until every one is here."
+
+Mr. Archibald saw that she was very much in earnest, and so he sent for
+the guides, and Clyde went to call Raybold.
+
+In a few minutes Clyde returned and told Corona that her brother had said
+he did not care to attend services that evening.
+
+"Where is he?" asked Miss Raybold.
+
+"He is sitting over there looking out upon the lake," replied Clyde.
+
+"I will be back almost immediately," said she to Mr. Archibald, "and in
+the mean time please let everybody assemble."
+
+Arthur Raybold was in no mood to attend services of any sort. He had spent
+nearly the whole day trying to get a chance to speak to Margery, but never
+could he find her alone.
+
+"If I can once put the matter plainly to her," he said to himself, "she
+will quickly perceive what it is that I offer her; and when she clearly
+sees that, I will undertake to make her accept it. She is only a woman,
+and can no more withstand me than a mound of sand built by a baby's hand
+could withstand the rolling wave."
+
+At this moment Corona arrived and told him that she wanted him at the
+camp-fire. He was only a man, and could no more withstand her than a mound
+of sand built by a baby's hand could withstand the rolling wave.
+
+When everybody in the camp had gathered around the fire, Corona, her
+eye-glasses illumined by the light of her soul, gazed around the circle
+and began to speak.
+
+"My dear friends," she said, "I have been thinking a great deal to-day
+upon a very important subject, and I have come to the conclusion that we
+who form this little company have before us one of the grandest
+opportunities ever afforded a group of human beings. We are here, apart
+from our ordinary circumstances and avocations, free from all the trammels
+and demands of society, alone with nature and ourselves. In our ordinary
+lives, surrounded by our ordinary circumstances, we cannot be truly
+ourselves; each of us is but part of a whole, and very often an entirely
+unharmonious part. It is very seldom that we are able to do the things we
+wish to do in the manner and at times and places when it would best suit
+our natures. Try as we may to be true to ourselves, it is seldom possible;
+we are swept away in a current of conventionality. It may be one kind of
+conventionality for some of us and another kind for others, but we are
+borne on by it all the same. Sometimes a person like myself or Mr.
+Archibald clings to some rock or point upon the bank, and for a little
+while is free from the coercion of circumstances, but this cannot be for
+long, and we are soon swept with the rest into the ocean of conglomerate
+commonplace."
+
+"That's when we die!" remarked Mrs. Perkenpine, who sat reverently
+listening.
+
+"No," said the speaker, "it happens while we are alive. But now," she
+continued, "we have a chance, as I said before, to shake ourselves free
+from our enthralment. For a little while each one of us may assert his or
+her individuality. We are a varied and representative party; we come from
+different walks of life; we are men, women, and--" looking at Margery, she
+was about to say children, but she changed her expression to "young
+people." "I think you will all understand what I mean. When we are at our
+homes we do things because other people want us to do them, and not
+because we want to do them. A family sits down to a meal, and some of them
+like what is on the table, some do not; some of them would have preferred
+to eat an hour before, some of them would prefer to eat an hour later; but
+they all take their meals at the same time and eat the same things because
+it is the custom to do so.
+
+"I mention a meal simply as an instance, but the slavery of custom extends
+into every branch of our lives. We get up, we go to bed, we read, we work,
+we play, just as other people do these things, and not as we ourselves
+would do them if we planned our own lives. Now we have a chance, all of
+us, to be ourselves! Each of us may say, 'I am myself, one!' Think of
+that, my friends, each one! Each of us a unit, responsible only to his or
+her unity, if I may so express it."
+
+"Do you mean that I am that?" inquired Mrs. Perkenpine.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Corona.
+
+"Is Phil Matlack one?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"All right," said the female guide; "if he is one, I don't mind."
+
+"Now what I propose is this," said Corona: "I understand that the stay in
+this camp will continue for about a week longer, and I earnestly urge upon
+you that for this time we shall each one of us assert our individuality.
+Let us be what we are, show ourselves what we are, and let each other see
+what we are."
+
+"It would not be safe nor pleasant to allow everybody to do that," said
+Mr. Archibald. He was more interested in Miss Raybold's present discourse
+than he had been in any other he had heard her deliver.
+
+"Of course," said she, "it would not do to propose such a thing to the
+criminal classes or to people of evil inclinations, but I have carefully
+considered the whole subject as it relates to us, and I think we are a
+party singularly well calculated to become the exponent of the
+distinctiveness of our several existences."
+
+"That gits me," said Matlack.
+
+"I am afraid," said the speaker, gazing kindly at him, "that I do not
+always express myself plainly to the general comprehension, but what I
+mean is this: that during the time we stay here, let each one of us do
+exactly what he or she wants to do, without considering other people at
+all, except, of course, that we must not do anything which would interfere
+with any of the others doing what they please. For instance--and I assure
+you I have thought over this matter in all its details--if any of us were
+inclined to swear or behave disorderly, which I am sure could not be the
+case, he or she would not do so because he or she would feel that, being
+responsible to himself or herself, that responsibility would prevent him
+or her from doing that which would interfere with the pleasure or comfort
+of his or her associates."
+
+"I think," said Mrs. Archibald, somewhat severely, "that our duty to our
+fellow-beings is far more important than our selfish consideration of
+ourselves."
+
+"But reflect," cried Corona, "how much consideration we give to our
+fellow-beings, and how little to ourselves as ourselves, each one. Can we
+not, for the sake of knowing ourselves and honoring ourselves, give
+ourselves to ourselves for a little while? The rest of our lives may then
+be given to others and the world."
+
+"I hardly believe," said Mr. Archibald, "that all of us clearly understand
+your meaning, but it seems to me that you would like each one of us to
+become, for a time, a hermit. I do not know of any other class of persons
+who so thoroughly assert their individuality."
+
+"You are right!" exclaimed Corona. "A hermit does it. A hermit is more
+truly himself than any other man. He may dwell in a cave and eat
+water-cresses, he may live on top of a tall pillar, or he may make his
+habitation in a barrel! If a hermit should so choose, he might furnish a
+cave with Eastern rugs and bric-a-brac. If he liked that sort of thing, he
+would be himself. Yes, I would have all of us, in the truest sense of the
+word, hermits, each a hermit; but we need not dwell apart. Some of us
+would certainly wish to assert our individuality by not dwelling apart
+from others."
+
+"We might, then," said Mr. Archibald, "become a company of associate
+hermits."
+
+"Exactly!" cried Corona, stretching out her hands. "That is the very
+word--associate hermits. My dear friends, from to-morrow morning, until we
+leave here, let us be associate hermits. Let us live for ourselves, be
+true to ourselves. After all, if we think of it seriously, ourselves are
+all that we have in this world. Everything else may be taken from us, but
+no one can take from me, myself, or from any one of you, yourself."
+
+The bishop now rose. He as well as the others had listened attentively to
+everything that had been said; even Arthur Raybold had shown a great deal
+of interest in his sister's remarks.
+
+"You mean," said the bishop, "that while we stay here each one of us shall
+act exactly as we think we ought to act if we were not influenced by the
+opinions and examples of others around us, and thus we shall have an
+opportunity to find out for ourselves and show others exactly what we
+are."
+
+"That is it," said Corona, "you have stated it very well."
+
+"Well, then," said the bishop, "I move that for the time stated we
+individually assert our individuality."
+
+"Second the motion," said Mr. Archibald.
+
+"All in favor of this motion please say 'Aye,'" said Corona. "Now let
+everybody vote, and I hope you will all say 'Aye,' and if any one does not
+understand, I will be happy to explain."
+
+"I want to know," said Phil Matlack, rising, "if one man asserts what you
+call his individ'ality in such a way that it runs up agin another man's,
+and that second man ain't inclined to stand it, if that--"
+
+"Oh, I assure you," interrupted the bishop, "that that will be all right.
+I understand you perfectly, and the individualities will all run along
+together without interfering with each other, and if one happens to get in
+the way of another it will be gently moved aside."
+
+"Gently!" said Matlack, somewhat satirically. "Well, all right, it will be
+moved aside. I am satisfied, if the rest are."
+
+"Now all in favor say 'Aye,'" said Corona.
+
+They all said "Aye," except Mrs. Perkenpine, who said "Me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+MARGERY'S BREAKFAST
+
+
+Very early the next morning Margery pushed wide open the window of her
+studio chamber. The sash was a large one, and opened outward on hinges.
+She looked out upon the dewy foliage, she inhaled the fragrance of the
+moist morning air, she listened to the song of some early birds, and then,
+being dressed for the day, she got on a chair, stepped on the window-sill,
+and jumped out. She walked quietly round the cabin and went out towards
+the lake. She had never seen the woods so early in the day. All the space
+between the earth and the sky seemed filled with an intoxicating coolness.
+She took off her hat and carried it in her hand; the sun was not yet high
+enough to make it necessary to put anything between him and her.
+
+"This is what I am," said Margery to herself as she stepped blithely on.
+"I never knew before what I am. I am really a dryad under difficulties."
+
+Presently, to her amazement and his amazement, she saw Martin. She went
+towards him.
+
+"Oh, Martin," she said, "are you up so early?"
+
+He smiled. "This is not early for me," he answered.
+
+"And Mr. Matlack, is he up?"
+
+"Oh yes, he is up, and gone off to attend to some business."
+
+"Well, really!" exclaimed Margery. "I thought I was the first one out in
+the world to-day. And now, Martin, don't you want to do something for me?
+I did not think it would happen, but I am really dreadfully hungry, and
+couldn't you give me my breakfast now, by myself, before anybody else? I
+am not particular what I have--anything that is easy to get ready will
+do--and I would like it down at the very edge of the lake."
+
+"You shall have it!" exclaimed Martin, eagerly. "I will get it ready for
+you very soon, and will bring it to you. I know you like bread and butter
+and jam, and there is some cold meat, and I will boil you an egg and make
+some coffee."
+
+"That will be lovely," said Margery, "and I will go down by the lake and
+wait. I do believe," she said to herself as she hurried away, "that this
+hermit business is the only sensible thing that ever came into the head of
+that classic statue with the glass fronts."
+
+Very soon Martin appeared with a rug, which he said she would want if she
+were going to sit on the ground; and then he ran away, but soon came back
+with the breakfast. Margery was surprised to see how tastefully it was
+served.
+
+"You could not have done it better," she said, "if you had been a"--she
+was about to say waiter, but as she gazed at the bright, handsome face of
+the young man she felt that it would hurt his feelings to use such a word,
+so she suddenly changed it to woman.
+
+"If it is done well," he said, "it is not because I am like a woman, but
+because you are one."
+
+"What does that mean?" thought Margery; but she did not stop to consider.
+"Thank you very much," she said. "Here is where I am going to eat, and
+nobody will disturb me."
+
+"Do you wish anything else?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she. "I have everything I want; you know I take only one cup of
+coffee."
+
+He did know it; he knew everything she took, and as he felt that there was
+no excuse for him to stay there any longer, he slowly walked away.
+
+The place Margery had chosen was a nice little nook for a nice little
+hermit. It was a bit of low beach, very narrow, and flanked on the shore
+side by a row of bushes, which soon turned and grew down to the water's
+edge, thus completely cutting off one end of the beach. At the other end
+the distance between the shrubbery and the water was but a few feet, so
+that Margery could eat her breakfast without being disturbed by the rest
+of the world.
+
+Reclining on the rug with the little tray on the ground before her, and
+some green leaves and a few pale wild flowers peeping over the edge of it
+to see what she had for breakfast, Margery gave herself up to the
+enjoyment of life.
+
+"Each, one," she said aloud; "I am one, and beautiful nature is another.
+Just two of us, and each, one. Go away, sir," she said to a big buzzing
+creature with transparent wings, "you are another, but you don't count."
+
+Arthur Raybold was perhaps the member of the party who was the best
+satisfied to be himself. He had vowed, as he left the camp-fire the night
+before, that his sister had at last evolved an idea which had some value.
+Be himself? He should think so! He firmly believed that he was the only
+person in the camp capable of truly acting his own part in life.
+
+Clyde had told him that on this morning he was going to move the tent over
+to their own camp, and though he had objected very forcibly, he found that
+Clyde was not to be moved, and that the tent would be. In an angry mood he
+had been the first one of the Associated Hermits to assert his
+individuality. He made up his mind that he would not leave the immediate
+atmosphere of Margery. He would revolve about her in his waking hours and
+in his dreams, and in the latter case he would revolve in a hammock hung
+between two trees not far from his sister's tent; and as he was not one
+who delayed the execution of his plans, he had put up the hammock that
+night, although his tent was still in Camp Rob. He had not slept very
+well, because he was not used to repose in a hammock; and he had risen
+early, for, though wrapped in a blanket, he had found himself a little
+chilly.
+
+Starting out for a brisk walk to warm himself, he had not gone far before
+he thought he heard something which sounded like the clicking of knife and
+fork and dish. He stopped, listened, and then approached the source of the
+sounds, and soon stood at the open end of Margery's little beach. For a
+few moments she did not know he was there, so engrossed was her mind with
+the far-away shadows on the lake, and with the piece of bread and jam she
+held in her hand.
+
+"Oh, happy Fates!" he exclaimed. "How have ye befriended me! Could I have
+believed such rare fortune was in store for me?"
+
+At the sound of his voice Margery turned her head and started, and in the
+same instant she was on her feet.
+
+"Margery," he said, without approaching her, but extending his arms so
+that one hand touched the bushes and the other reached over the water, "I
+have you a gentle prisoner. I consider this the most fortunate hour of my
+whole existence. All I ask of you is to listen to me for ten minutes, and
+then I will cease to stand guard at the entrance to your little haven, and
+although you will be free to go where you please, I know you will not go
+away from me."
+
+Margery's face was on fire. She was so angry she could scarcely speak, but
+she managed to bring some words to her lips to express her condition of
+mind.
+
+"Mr. Raybold," she cried, "if I ever hear any more of that horrid trash
+from you I will speak to Mr. Archibald, and have him drive you out of this
+camp. I haven't spoken to him before because I thought it would make
+trouble and interfere with people who have not done anything but what is
+perfectly right, but this is the last time I am going to let you off, and
+I would like you to remember that. Now go away this instant, or else step
+aside and let me pass."
+
+Raybold did not change his position, but with a smile of indulgent
+condescension he remarked:
+
+"Now, then, you are angry; but I don't mind that, and I am quite sure you
+do not mean it. You see, you have never heard all that I have to say to
+you. When I have fully spoken to you, then I have no fear--"
+
+He had not finished his sentence, when Margery dashed into the water,
+utterly regardless of her clothes, and before the astonished intruder
+could advance towards her she had rushed past him, and had run up on dry
+land a yard or two behind him. The water on the shelving beach was not
+more than a foot deep, but her mad bounds made a splashing and a
+spattering of spray as if a live shark bad been dropped into the shallow
+water. In a moment she had left the beach and was face to face with
+Martin, pale with fright.
+
+"I thought you had tumbled in!" he cried. "What on earth is the matter?"
+
+She had no breath to answer, but she turned her head towards the lake, and
+as Martin looked that way he saw Raybold advancing from behind the bushes.
+It required no appreciable time for the young guide to understand the
+situation. His whole form quivered, his hands involuntarily clinched, his
+brows knitted, and he made one quick step forward; but only one, for
+Margery seized him by the wrist. Without knowing what he was doing, he
+struggled to free himself from her, but she was strong and held him fast.
+
+"I must go to my tent," she gasped. "I am all wet. Now promise me that you
+will not say a thing or do a thing until I see you again. Promise!"
+
+For a moment he seemed undecided, and then he ceased his efforts to get
+away, and said, "I promise."
+
+Margery dropped his arm and hurried towards the cabin, hoping earnestly
+that the Archibalds were not yet up.
+
+"This is a gay and lively beginning for a hermit," she thought, as she
+made her way around the house, "and I don't see how on earth I am ever
+going to get through that window again. There is nothing to stand on. I
+did not expect to go back until they were all up."
+
+But when she reached the window there was a stout wooden stool placed
+below it.
+
+"Martin did that," she thought, "while I was at my breakfast. He knew I
+must have come through the window, and might want to go back that way. Oh
+dear!" she sighed. "But I am sure I can't help it." And so, mounting from
+the stool to the window-sill, she entered her room.
+
+Having given his promise, Martin turned his back upon the sombre young
+man, who, with folded arms and clouded brow, was stalking towards the
+tents at the other end of the camp.
+
+"If I look at him," said Martin, "it may be that I could not keep my
+promise."
+
+It was about half an hour afterwards, when Martin, still excited and still
+pale, was getting ready for the general breakfast, forgetting entirely
+that he was a hermit, and that some of the other hermits might have
+peculiar ideas about their morning meal, that Phil Matlack arrived on the
+scene. Martin was very much engrossed in his own thoughts, but he could
+not repress an inquiring interest in his companion.
+
+"Well," said he, "did you bounce him?"
+
+Matlack made no answer, but began to cut out the top of a tin can.
+
+"I say," repeated Martin, "did you bounce him, or did he go without it?"
+
+Without turning towards the younger man, Matlack remarked: "I was
+mistaken. That ain't fat; it's muscle."
+
+"You don't mean to say," exclaimed Martin, in astonishment, "that he
+bounced you out of that camp!"
+
+"I don't mean to say nothin'," was the reply, "except what I do say; and
+what I say is that that ain't fat; it's muscle. When I make a mistake I
+don't mind standin' up and sayin' so."
+
+Martin could not understand the situation. He knew Matlack to be a man of
+great courage and strength, and one who, if he should engage in a personal
+conflict, would not give up until he had done his very best. But the
+guide's appearance gave no signs of any struggle. His clothes were in
+their usual order, and his countenance was quiet and composed.
+
+"Look here," cried Martin, "how did you find out all that about the
+bishop?"
+
+Matlack turned on him with a grim smile. "Didn't you tell me that day you
+was talkin' to me about the boat that he was a tough sort of a fellow?"
+
+"Yes, I did," said the other.
+
+"Well," said Matlack, "how did you find that out?"
+
+Martin laughed. "I shouldn't wonder," he said, "if we were about square.
+Well, if you will tell me how you found it out, I will tell you how I
+did."
+
+"Go ahead," said the other.
+
+"The long and short of my business with him," said Martin, "was this: I
+went with him down to the lake, and there I gave him a piece of my mind;
+and when I had finished, he turned on me and grabbed me with his two hands
+and chucked me out into the water, just as if I had been a bag of bad meal
+that he wanted to get rid of. When I got out I was going to fight him, but
+he advised me not to, and when I took a look at him and remembered the
+feel of the swing he gave me, I took his advice. Now what did he do to
+you?"
+
+"He didn't do nothin'," said Matlack. "When I got to the little tent he
+sleeps in, there he was sittin' in front of it, as smilin' as a basket of
+chips, and he bade me good-mornin' as if I had been a tenant comin' to pay
+him his rent; and then he said that before we went on with the business
+between us, there was some things he would like to show me, and he had 'em
+all ready. So he steps off to a place a little behind the tent, and there
+was three great bowlders, whopping big stones, which he said he had
+brought out of the woods. I could hardly believe him, but there they was.
+'You don't mean,' says I, 'that you are goin' to fight with stones;
+because, if you are, you ought to give me a chance to get some,' and I
+thought to myself that I would pick up rocks that could be heaved. 'Oh
+no,' says he, with one of them smiles of his--'oh no; I just want to open
+our conference with a little gymnastic exhibition.' And so sayin', he
+rolled up his shirt-sleeves--he hadn't no coat on--and he picked up one of
+them rocks with both hands, and then he gave it a swing with one hand,
+like you swing a ten-pin ball, and he sent that rock about thirty feet.
+
+"It nearly took my breath away, for if I had to move such a stone I'd want
+a wheelbarrow. Then he took another of the rocks and hurled it right on
+top of the first one, and it came down so hard that it split itself in
+half. And then he took up the third one, which was the biggest, and threw
+it nearly as far, but it didn't hit the others. 'Now, Mr. Matlack,' says
+he, 'this is the first part of my little programme. I have only one or two
+more things, and I don't want to keep you long.' Then he went and got a
+hickory sapling that he'd cut down. It was just the trunk part of it, and
+must have been at least three inches thick. He put the middle of it at the
+back of his neck, and then he took hold of the two ends with his hands and
+pulled forward, and, by George! he broke that stick right in half!
+
+"Then says he, 'Would you mind steppin' down to the lake?' I didn't mind,
+and went with him, and when we got down to the water there was their boat
+drawed up on the shore and pretty nigh full of water. 'Mr. Clyde brought
+this boat back the other day,' says he, 'from a place where he left it
+some distance down the lake, and I wonder he didn't sink before he got
+here. We must try and calk up some of the open seams; but first we've got
+to get the water out of her.' So sayin', he squatted down on the ground in
+front of the boat and took hold of it, one hand on one side of the bow and
+one on the other, and then he gave a big twist, and just turned the boat
+clean over, water and all, so that it lay with its bottom up, and the
+water running down into the lake like a little deluge.
+
+"'That ought to have been done long ago,' says he, 'and I'll come down
+after a while and calk it before the sun gets on it.' Then he walked back
+to camp as spry as a robin, and then says he, 'Mr. Matlack, my little
+exhibition is over, and so we'll go ahead with the business you proposed.'
+I looked around, and says I: 'Do you find that little tent you sleep in
+comfortable? It seems to me as if your feet must stick out of it.' 'They
+do,' says he, 'and I sometimes throw a blanket over them to keep them dry.
+But we are goin' to make different arrangements here. Mr. Clyde and I will
+bring down his tent after breakfast, and if Mr. Raybold doesn't choose to
+occupy it, Mr. Clyde says I may share it with him. At any rate, I've
+engaged to attend to the cookin' and to things in general in this camp
+durin' the rest of the time we stay here.'
+
+"'And so Mr. Clyde is tired of trespassin', is he?' says I. 'Yes, he is,'
+says he; 'he's a high-minded young fellow, and doesn't fancy that sort of
+thing. Mr. Raybold slept last night in a hammock, and if that suits him,
+he may keep it up.' 'If I was you,' says I, 'if he does come back to the
+camp, I'd make him sleep in that little tent. It would fit him better than
+it does you.' 'Oh no,' says he, 'I don't want to make no trouble. I'm
+willin' to sleep anywhere. I'm used to roughin' it, and I could make
+myself comfortable in any tent I ever saw.' 'Well,' says I, 'that was a
+very pretty exhibition you gave me, and I am much obliged to you, but I
+must be goin' over to my camp to help get breakfast.' 'If you see Mr.
+Clyde,' says he, 'will you kindly tell him that I will come over and help
+him with his tent in about an hour?' To which I said I would, and I left.
+Now then, hurry up. Them hermits will want their breakfasts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+MARTIN ASSERTS HIS INDIVIDUALITY
+
+
+"Good-morning," said Mr. Clyde, as he approached Mr. and Mrs. Archibald,
+seated opposite each other at their breakfast-table. "So you still eat
+together? Don't ask me to join you; I have had my breakfast."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Archibald, "we did think that, as we were hermits, we
+ought to eat in some separate, out-of-the-way fashion; but we could not
+think of any, and as we were both hungry and liked the same things, we
+concluded to postpone the assertion of our individualities."
+
+"And Miss Dearborn?" asked Clyde.
+
+"Oh, she had her breakfast long ago, so she told us," said Mrs. Archibald.
+"I suppose she took some bread and jam, for I do not know what else she
+could have had."
+
+"As for me," said Clyde, "I thought I would do something of the sort. I
+like an early breakfast, and so I turned out, more than an hour ago and
+went to look up Mrs. Perkenpine; and I might as well say, sir, that I am
+now looking for the bishop to come and help me carry our tent back to our
+own camp, where he is going to cook for us. I never wanted to be a
+trespasser on your premises, and I don't intend to be such any longer."
+
+"That's the right feeling," said Mr. Archibald; "although, in fact, it
+doesn't make any difference to us whether your party camps here or not. At
+first I thought it would, but I find it does not."
+
+"By which he means," said Mrs. Archibald, "that if you want to go away he
+is perfectly willing to have you stay, but if you don't want to go away he
+doesn't like it, and would have you move."
+
+Clyde laughed. "I haven't anything to say for the others," he answered,
+"but as long as I have a camp of my own I think I ought to live there."
+
+"But how about Mrs. Perkenpine?" asked Mrs. Archibald. "Did you find her
+willing to wait on you, one at a time?"
+
+"Not exactly," said Clyde. "I discovered her, by her kitchen tent, hard at
+work eating her own breakfast. I must have looked surprised, for she lost
+no time in telling me that she was a hermit, and was living for one person
+at a time--herself first--and that she was mighty glad to get a chance to
+have her breakfast before anybody else, for she was always hungry and
+hated waiting. I looked at the table, and saw that she had the breakfast
+ready for the whole party; so I said, 'I am a hermit too, and I am living
+for myself, and so I am going to sit down and eat.' 'Squat,' said she, and
+down I sat; and I had the best meal of her cooking that I have yet tasted.
+I told her so, and she said she shouldn't wonder. 'Because,' said she, 'I
+cooked this breakfast for myself--me, one--and as I wasn't thinkin' what
+other people 'd like, I got things a little more tasty than common, I
+guess.'"
+
+"And what does she expect Miss Raybold and her brother to do?" asked Mrs.
+Archibald.
+
+"When she had finished she got up," Clyde answered, "and went away, merely
+remarking that the victuals were there, and when the others were ready for
+them they might come and get them."
+
+"I hope," said Mr. Archibald, "that Matlack will not fancy that sort of a
+hermit life. But as for me, I am greatly taken with the scheme. I think I
+shall like it. Is Miss Raybold about yet?"
+
+"I see nothing of her," said Clyde, looking over towards her tent.
+
+"Good," said Mr. Archibald, rising. "Harriet, if you want me, I shall be
+in my cave."
+
+"And where is that?" she asked.
+
+"Oh, I can't say exactly where it will be," he answered, "but if you will
+go down to the shore of the lake and blow four times on the dinner-horn
+I'll come to you, cave and all. I can easily pull it over the water."
+
+"You forget," said Mrs. Archibald, with a smile, "that we are associate
+hermits."
+
+"No, I do not," said her husband, "I remember it, and that is the reason I
+am off before Miss Raybold emerges upon the scene."
+
+"I do not know," said Mrs. Archibald to Clyde, "exactly how I am going to
+assert myself to-day, but I shall do it one way or the other; I am not
+going to be left out in the cold."
+
+Clyde smiled, but he had no suggestion to offer; his mind was filled with
+the conjecture as to what sort of a hermit life Margery was going to lead,
+and if she had already begun it. But just then the bishop came up, and
+together they went to carry the tent back to Camp Roy.
+
+It was at least an hour afterwards, and Mrs. Archibald was comfortably
+seated in the shade darning stockings, with an open book in her lap.
+Sometimes she would read a little in the book and then she would make some
+long and careful stitches in the stocking, and then she would look about
+her as if she greatly enjoyed combining her work and her recreation in
+such a lovely place on such a lovely summer morning. During one of these
+periods of observation she perceived Corona Raybold approaching.
+
+"Good-morning," said the elder lady. "Is this your first appearance?"
+
+"Yes," said Corona, with a gentle smile. "When I woke this morning I found
+myself to be an individual who liked to lie in bed and gaze out through an
+open fold in my tent upon the world beyond, and so I lay and dozed and
+gazed, until I felt like getting up, and then I got up, and you cannot
+imagine how bright and happy I felt as I thought of what I had been doing.
+For one morning at least I had been true to myself, without regard to
+other people or what they might think about it. To-morrow, if I feel like
+it, I shall rise at dawn, and go out and look at the stars struggling with
+Aurora. Whatever my personal instincts happen to be, I shall be loyal to
+them. Now how do you propose to assert your individuality?"
+
+"Unfortunately," said Mrs. Archibald, "I cannot do that exactly as I would
+like to. If we had not promised my daughter and her husband that we would
+stay away for a month, I should go directly home and superintend my
+jelly-making and fruit-preserving; but as I cannot do that, I have
+determined to act out my own self here. I shall darn stockings and sew or
+read, and try to make myself comfortable and happy, just as I would if I
+were sitting on my broad piazza, at home."
+
+"Good!" said Corona. "I think it likely that you will be more true to
+yourself than any of us. Doubtless you were born to be the head of a
+domestic household, and if you followed your own inclination you would be
+that if you were adrift with your family on a raft in the middle of the
+ocean. Now I am going away to see what further suggestions my nature has
+to offer me. What is Mr. Archibald doing?"
+
+Mrs. Archibald smiled. She knew what Corona's nature would suggest if she
+met a man who could talk, or rather, listen. "Oh, his nature has prompted
+him to hie away to the haunts of game, and to stay there until he is half
+starved."
+
+Miss Raybold heaved a little sigh. "I see very few persons about here,"
+she said--"only the two guides, in fact."
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "the bishop has gone to help Mr. Clyde with
+his tent."
+
+Corona moved slowly away, and as she walked her nature suggested that she
+would better eat something, so she repaired to the scene of Mrs.
+Perkenpine's ordinary operations. There she found that good woman
+stretched flat on her back on the ground, fast asleep. Her face and body
+were shaded by some overhanging branches, but her great feet were
+illumined and gilded by the blazing sun. On a camp table near by were the
+remains of the breakfast. It had been there for two or three hours. Arthur
+Raybold had taken what he wanted and had gone, and before composing
+herself for her nap Mrs. Perkenpine had thrown over it a piece of
+mosquito-netting.
+
+Corona smiled. "Their natures are coming out beautifully," she said. "It
+really does me good to see how admirably the scheme is unfolding itself."
+She sat down and ate what she could find to her taste, but it was not
+much. "I shall send for some fruit and some biscuit and some other little
+things," she thought, "that I can keep in my tent and eat when I please.
+That will suit me much better than the ordinary meals." Then, without
+awakening Mrs. Perkenpine, she strolled away, directing her steps towards
+Camp Roy.
+
+When Margery had gone to her room, and had changed her wet clothes, she
+was thoroughly miserable. For some time she sat on the side of her little
+cot, unwilling to go out, on account of a nervous fear that she might meet
+Mr. Raybold. Of course, if he should again speak to her as he had done,
+she would immediately appeal to Mr. Archibald, but she did not want to do
+this, for she had a very strong desire not to make any trouble or
+divisions in the camp; so she lay down to think over the matter, and in
+less than two minutes she was asleep. Mrs. Archibald had come to call her
+to breakfast, but upon being told that she had been up ever so long, and
+had had her breakfast, she left the girl to her nap.
+
+"I shall sleep here," thought Margery, "until they have all gone to do
+whatever it is they want to do, and then perhaps I may have a little
+peace."
+
+When she awoke it was nearly eleven o'clock, and she went immediately to
+her little side window, from which she could see the lake and a good deal
+of the camp-ground. The first thing which met her reconnoitering gaze was
+a small boat some distance out on the lake. Its oars were revolving
+slowly, something like a pair of wheels with one paddle each, and it was
+occupied by one person. This person was Arthur Raybold, who had found the
+bishop calking the boat, and as soon as this work was finished, had
+moodily declared that he would take a row in her. He had not yet had a
+chance to row a boat which was in a decent condition. He wanted to be
+alone with his aspirations. He thought it would be scarcely wise to
+attempt to speak to Margery again that morning; he would give her time for
+her anger to cool. She was only a woman, and he knew women!
+
+"It's that Raybold," said Margery. "He knows no more about rowing than a
+cat, and he's floating sideways down the lake. Good! Now I can go out and
+hope to be let alone. I don't know when he will ever get that boat back
+again. Perhaps never."
+
+She was not a wicked girl, and she did not desire that the awkward rower
+might never get back; but still she did not have that dread of an accident
+which might have come over her had the occupant of the boat been a brother
+or any one she cared very much about. She took a novel, of which, during
+her whole stay in camp, she had read perhaps ten pages, and left the
+cabin, this time by the door.
+
+"How does your individuality treat you?" asked Mrs. Archibald, as Margery
+approached her.
+
+"Oh, horribly, so far," was the answer; "but I think it is going to do
+better. I shall find some nice place where I can read and be undisturbed.
+I can think of nothing pleasanter such a morning as this."
+
+"I am very much mistaken in your nature," thought Mrs. Archibald, "if that
+is the sort of thing that suits you."
+
+"Martin," said Margery, not in the least surprised that she should meet
+the young guide within the next three minutes, "do you know of some really
+nice secluded spot where I can sit and read, and not be bothered? I don't
+mean that place where you hung the hammock. I don't want to go there
+again."
+
+Martin was pale, and his voice trembled as he spoke. "Miss Dearborn," said
+he, "I think it is a wicked and a burning shame that you should be forced
+to look for a hiding-place where you may hope to rest undisturbed if that
+scoundrel in the boat out there should happen to fancy to come ashore. But
+you needn't do it. There is no necessity for it. Go where you please, sit
+where you please, and do what you please, and I will see to it that you
+are not disturbed."
+
+"Oh, no, no!" exclaimed Margery. "That would never do. I know very well
+that you could keep him away from me, and I am quite sure that you would
+be glad to do it, but there mustn't be anything of that kind. He is Miss
+Raybold's brother and--and in a way one of our camping party, and I don't
+want any disturbances or quarrels."
+
+Martin's breast heaved, and he breathed heavily. "I have no doubt you are
+right," he said--"of course you are. But I can tell you this: if I see
+that fellow troubling you again I'll kill him, or--"
+
+"Martin! Martin!" exclaimed Margery. "What do you mean? What makes you
+talk in this way?"
+
+"What makes me?" he exclaimed, as if it were impossible to restrain his
+words. "My heart makes me, my soul makes me. I--"
+
+"Your heart? Your soul?" interrupted Margery. "I don't understand."
+
+For a moment he looked at the astonished girl in silence, and then he
+said: "Miss Dearborn, it's of no use for me to try to hide what I feel. If
+I hadn't got so angry I might have been able to keep quiet, but I can't do
+it now. If that man thinks he loves you, his love is like a grain of sand
+compared to mine."
+
+"Yours?" cried Margery.
+
+"Yes," said Martin, his face pallid and his eyes sparkling, "mine. You may
+think it is an insult for me to talk this way, but love is love, and it
+will spring up where it pleases; and besides, I am not the common sort of
+a fellow you may think I am. After saying what I have said, I am bound to
+say more. I belong to a good family, and am college bred. I am poor, and I
+love nature. I am working to make money to travel and become a naturalist.
+I prefer this sort of work because it takes me into the heart of nature. I
+am not ashamed of what I am, I am not ashamed of my work, and my object in
+life is a nobler one, I think, than the practice of the law, or a great
+many other things like it."
+
+Margery stood and looked at him with wide-open eyes. "Do you mean to say,"
+she said, "that you want to marry me? It would take years and years for
+you to become naturalist enough to support a wife."
+
+"I have made no plans," he said, quickly, "I have no purpose. I did not
+intend to tell you now that I love you, but since I have said that, I will
+say also that with you to fight for there could be no doubt about my
+success. I should be bound to succeed. It would be impossible for me to
+fail. As for the years, I would wait, no matter how many they should be."
+
+He spoke with such hot earnestness that Margery involuntarily drew herself
+a little away from him. At this the flush went out of his face.
+
+"Oh, Miss Dearborn," he exclaimed, "don't think that I am like that man
+out there! Don't think that I will persecute you if you don't wish to hear
+me; that I will follow you about and make your life miserable. If you say
+to me that you do not wish to see me again, you will never see me again.
+Say what you please, and you will find that I am a gentleman."
+
+She could see that now. She felt sure that if she told him she did not
+wish ever to see him again he would never appear before her. But what
+would he do? She was not in the least afraid of him, but his fierce
+earnestness frightened her, not for herself, but for him. Suddenly a
+thought struck her.
+
+"Martin," said she, "I don't doubt in the least that what you have said to
+me about yourself is true. You are as good as other people, although you
+do happen now to be a guide, and perhaps after a while you may be very
+well off; but for all that you are a guide, and you are in Mr. Sadler's
+employment, and Mr. Sadler's rights and powers are just like gas escaping
+from a pipe: they are everywhere from cellar to garret, so to speak, and
+you couldn't escape them. It would be a bad, bad thing for you, Martin, if
+he were to hear that you make propositions of the kind you have made to
+the ladies that he pays you to take out into the woods to guide and to
+protect."
+
+Martin was on the point of a violent expostulation, but she stopped him.
+
+"Now I know what you are going to say," she exclaimed, "but it isn't of
+any use. You are in his employment, and you are bound to honor and to
+respect him; that is the way a guide can show himself to be a gentleman."
+
+"But suppose," said Martin, quickly, "that he, knowing my family as he
+does, should think I had done wisely in speaking to you."
+
+A cloud came over her brow. It annoyed her that he should thus parry her
+thrust.
+
+"Well, you can ask him," she said, abruptly; "and if he doesn't object,
+you can go to see my mother, when she gets home, and ask her. And here
+comes Mr. Matlack. I think he has been calling you. Now don't say another
+word, unless it is about fish."
+
+But Matlack did not come; he stopped and called, and Martin went to him.
+
+Margery walked languidly towards the woods and sat down on the projecting
+root of a large tree. Then leaning back against the trunk, she sighed.
+
+"It is a perfectly dreadful thing to be a girl," she said; "but I am glad
+I did not speak to him as I did to Mr. Raybold. I believe he would have
+jumped into the lake."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE INDIVIDUALITY OF PETER SADLER
+
+
+"Martin," said Matlack, sharply, before the young man had reached him, "it
+seems to me that you think that you have been engaged here as lady's-maid,
+but there's other things to do besides teaching young women about trees
+and fishes. If you think," continued Matlack, when the two had reached the
+woodland kitchen, "that your bein' a hermit is goin' to let you throw all
+the work on me, you're mistaken. There's a lot of potatoes that's got to
+be peeled for dinner."
+
+Without a word Martin sat down on the ground with a pan of potatoes in
+front of him and began to work. Had he been a proud crusader setting forth
+to fight the Saracens his blood could not have coursed with greater warmth
+and force, his soul could not have more truly spurned the earth and all
+the common things upon it. What he had said to Margery had made him feel
+ennobled. If Raybold had that instant appeared before him with some
+jeering insult, Martin would have pardoned him with lofty scorn; and yet
+he peeled potatoes, and did it well. But his thoughts were not upon his
+work; they were upon the future which, if he proved himself to be the man
+he thought himself to be, might open before him. When he had finished the
+potatoes he put the pan upon a table and stood near by, deep in thought.
+
+"Yes," said he to himself, "I should go now. After what I have said to her
+I cannot stay here and live this life before her. I would wait on her with
+bended knee at every step, but with love for her in my soul I cannot wash
+dishes for other people. I have spoken, and now I must act; and the
+quicker the better. If all goes well I may be here again, but I shall not
+come back as a guide." Then a thought of Raybold crossed his mind, but he
+put it aside. Even if he stayed here he could not protect her, for she had
+shown that she did not wish him to do it in the only way he could do it,
+and he felt sure, too, that any further annoyance would result in an
+appeal to Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Well," said Matlack, sharply, "what's the matter with you? Don't you
+intend to move?"
+
+"Yes," said Martin, turning quickly, "I do intend to move. I am going to
+leave this camp just as soon as I can pack my things."
+
+"And where in the name of thunder are you goin' to?"
+
+"I'm going to Sadler's," said Martin.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"On my own business," was the reply.
+
+Matlack looked at him for a moment suspiciously. "Have you got any
+complaints to make of me?" he said.
+
+"No," said Martin, promptly, "not one; but I have affairs on hand which
+will take me off immediately."
+
+"Before dinner?" asked Matlack.
+
+"Yes," said the other, "before dinner; now."
+
+"Go ahead then," said Matlack, putting some sticks of wood into the stove;
+"and tell Sadler that if he don't send me somebody before supper-time to
+help about this camp, he'll see me. I'll be hanged," he said to himself,
+as he closed the door of the stove, "if this isn't hermitism with a
+vengeance. I wonder who'll be the next one to cut and run; most likely it
+will be Mrs. Perkenpine."
+
+Early in the afternoon, warm and dusty, Martin presented himself before
+Peter Sadler, who was smoking his pipe on the little shaded piazza at the
+back of the house.
+
+"Oh, ho!" said Peter. "How in the name of common-sense did you happen to
+turn up at this minute? This is about as queer a thing as I've known of
+lately. What did you come for? Sit down."
+
+"Mr. Sadler," said Martin, "I have come here on most important business."
+
+"Lake dry?" asked Peter.
+
+"It is a matter," said Martin, "which concerns myself; and if all the
+lakes in the world were dry, I would not be able to think about them, so
+full is my soul of one thing."
+
+"By the Lord Harry," said Peter, "let's have it, quick!"
+
+In a straightforward manner, but with an ardent vehemence which he could
+not repress, Martin stated his business with Peter Sadler. He told him how
+he loved Margery, what he had said to her, and what she had said to him.
+
+"And now," said the young man, "I have come to ask your permission to
+address her; but whether you give it or not I shall go to her mother and
+speak to her. I know her address, and I intend to do everything in an
+honorable way."
+
+Peter Sadler put down his pipe and looked steadfastly at the young man. "I
+wish to Heaven," said he, "that there was a war goin' on! I'd write a
+letter to the commander-in-chief and let you take it to him, and I'd tell
+him you was the bravest man between Hudson Bay and Patagonia. By George! I
+can't understand it! I can't understand how you could have the cheek, the
+unutterable brass, to come here and ask me--me, Peter Sadler--to let you
+court one of the ladies in a campin'-party of mine. And, what's more, I
+can't understand how I can sit here and hear you tell me that tale without
+picking up a chair and knocking you down with it."
+
+"Mr. Sadler," said Martin, rising, "I have spoken to you fairly and
+squarely, and if that's all you've got to say, I will go."
+
+"Sit down!" roared Peter, bringing his hand upon the table as if he would
+drive it's legs through the floor. "Sit down, and listen to what I have to
+say to you. It's the strangest thing that ever happened to me that I am
+not more angry with you than I am; but I can't understand it, and I pass
+it by. Now that you are seated again, I will make some remarks on my side.
+Do you see that?" said he, picking up a letter on the table. "Do you see
+who it is addressed to?"
+
+"To me!" exclaimed Martin, in surprise.
+
+"Yes, it's to you," said Peter, "and I wrote it, and I intended to send it
+by Bill Hammond this afternoon. That's the reason I was surprised when I
+saw you here. But I'm not goin' to give it to you; I'd rather tell you
+what's in it, now you are here. Before I knew you were the abject
+ninnyhammer that you have just told me you are I had a good opinion of
+you, and thought that you were cut out to make a first-class traveller and
+explorer--the sort of a fellow who could lead a surveying expedition
+through the wilderness, or work up new countries and find out what they
+are made of and what's in them. Only yesterday I heard of a chance that
+ought to make you jump, and this morning I wrote to you about it. A friend
+of mine, who's roughed it with me for many a day, is goin' to take an
+expedition down into New Mexico in the interests of a railroad and minin'
+company. They want to know everything about the country--the game, fish,
+trees, and plants, as well as the minerals--and it struck me that if you
+are not just the kind of man they want you could make yourself so in a
+very short time. They'd pay you well enough, and you'd have a chance to
+dip into natural history, and all that sort of thing, that you had no
+reason to expect for a dozen years to come, if it ever came. If such a
+chance had been offered to me at your age I wouldn't have changed lots
+with a king. All you've got to do is to pack up and be off. The party
+starts from New York in just three days; I'll give you a letter to Joe
+Hendricks, and that'll be all you want. He knows me well enough to take
+you without a word. If you haven't got money enough saved to fit yourself
+out for the trip I'll lend you some, and you can pay me back when they pay
+you. You can take the train this afternoon and maybe you can see Hendricks
+to-night. So pack up what you want and leave what you don't want, and I'll
+take care of it. I'll write to Hendricks now."
+
+Many times did the face of Martin flush and pale as he listened. A vision
+of Paradise had been opened before him, but he felt that he must shut his
+eyes.
+
+"Mr. Sadler," he said, "you are very kind. You offer me a great thing--a
+thing which two weeks ago I should have accepted in the twinkling of an
+eye, and would have thanked you for all the rest of my life; but I cannot
+take it now. With all my heart I love a woman; I have told her so, and I
+am now going on the path she told me to take. I cannot turn aside from
+that for any prospects in the world."
+
+Peter Sadler's face grew red, and then it grew black, and then it turned
+red again, and finally resumed its ordinary brown.
+
+"Martin Sanders," said he, speaking quietly, but with one hand fastened
+upon the arm of his chair with a grasp which a horse could not have
+loosened, "if you are cowardly enough and small enough and paltry enough
+to go to a girl who is living in peace and comfort and ask her to marry
+you, when you know perfectly well that for years to come you could not
+give her a decent roof over her head, and that if her family wanted her to
+live like a Christian they would have to give her the money to do it with;
+and if you are fool enough not to know that when she sent you first to me
+and then to her mother she was tryin' to get rid of you without hurtin'
+your feelin's, why, then, I want you to get out of my sight, and the
+quicker the better. But if you are not so low down as that, go to your
+room and pack up your bag. The coach will start for the train at three
+o'clock, and it is now nearly half-past two; that will just give me time
+to write to Hendricks. Go!"
+
+Martin rose. Whatever happened afterwards, he must go now. It seemed to
+him as if the whole world had suddenly grown colder; as if he had been
+floating in a fog and had neared an iceberg. Could it be possible that she
+had spoken, as she had spoken, simply to get rid of him? He could not
+believe it. No one with such honest eyes could speak in that way; and yet
+he did not know what to believe.
+
+In any case, he would go away in the coach. He had spoken to Sadler, and
+now, whether he spoke to any one else or not, the sooner he left the
+better.
+
+When he came to take the coach, Peter Sadler, who had rolled himself to
+the front of the house, handed him the letter he had written.
+
+"I believe you are made of the right kind of stuff," he said, "although
+you've got a little mouldy by bein' lazy out there in the woods, but
+you're all right now; and what you've got to do is to go ahead with a
+will, and, take my word for it, you'll come out on top. Do you want any
+money? No? Very well, then, goodbye. You needn't trouble yourself to write
+to me, I'll hear about you from Hendricks; and I'd rather know what he
+thinks about you than what you think about yourself."
+
+"How little you know," thought Martin, as he entered the coach, "what I am
+or what I think about myself. As if my purpose could be changed by words
+of yours!" And he smiled a smile which would have done justice to Arthur
+Raybold. The chill had gone out of him; he was warm again.
+
+On the train he read the letter to Hendricks which Peter Sadler had given
+to him unsealed. It was a long letter, and he read it twice. Then he sat
+and gazed out of the window at the flying scenery for nearly half an hour,
+after which he read the letter again. Then he folded it up and put it into
+his pocket.
+
+"If she had given me the slightest reason to hope," he said to himself,
+"how easy it would be to tear this letter into scraps."
+
+Now an idea came into his mind. If he could see her mother quickly, and if
+she should ignore his honorable intentions and refuse to give him the
+opportunity to prove that he was worthy of a thought from her and her
+daughter, then it might not be too late to fall back on Peter Sadler's
+letter. But he shook his head; that would be dishonorable and unworthy of
+him.
+
+He shut his eyes; he could not bear to look at the brightness of the world
+outside the window of the car. Under his closed lids there came to him
+visions, sometimes of Margery and sometimes of the forests of New Mexico.
+Sometimes the visions were wavering, uncertain, and transitory, and again
+they were strong and vivid--so plain to him that he could almost hear the
+leaves rustle as some wild creature turned a startled look upon him.
+
+That night he delivered his letter to Mr. Hendricks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A TRANQUILLIZING BREEZE AND A HOT WIND
+
+
+After Martin had left her, Margery sat on the root of the tree until Mr.
+Clyde came up and said he had been wondering what had become of her.
+
+"I have been wondering that, myself," she said. "At least, I have been
+wondering what is going to become of me."
+
+"Don't you intend to be a hermit?" said he.
+
+She shook her head. "I don't think it is possible," she answered. "There
+is no one who is better satisfied to be alone, and who can make herself
+happier all by herself, and who, in all sorts of ways, can get along
+better without other people than I can, and yet other people are
+continually interfering with me, and I cannot get away from them."
+
+Clyde smiled. "That is a pretty plain hint," he said. "I suppose I might
+as well take it, and go off to some hermitage of my own."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" said Margery. "Don't be so awfully quick in coming to
+conclusions. I do feel worried and troubled and bothered, and I want some
+one to talk to; not about things which worry me, of course, but about
+common, ordinary things, that will make me forget."
+
+A slight shade came over the face of Mr. Clyde, and he seated himself on
+the ground near Margery. "It is a shame," said he, "that you should be
+worried. What is it in this peaceable, beautiful forest troubles you?"
+
+"Did you ever hear of a paradise without snakes?" she asked. "The very
+beauty of it makes them come here."
+
+"I have never yet known any paradise at all," he replied. "But can't you
+tell me what it is that troubles you?"
+
+Margery looked at him with her clear, large eyes. "I'll tell you," she
+said, "if you will promise not to do a single thing without my
+permission."
+
+"I promise that," said Clyde, eagerly.
+
+"I am troubled by people making love to me."
+
+"People!" exclaimed Clyde, with a puzzled air.
+
+"Yes," said she. "Your cousin is one of them."
+
+"I might have supposed that; but who on earth can be the other one?"
+
+"That is Martin," said Margery.
+
+For a moment Mr. Clyde did not seem to understand, and then he exclaimed:
+"You don't mean the young man who cuts wood and helps Matlack?"
+
+"Yes, I do," she answered. "And you need not shut your jaw hard and grit
+your teeth that way. That is exactly what he did when he found out about
+Mr. Raybold. It is of no use to get angry, for you can't do anything
+without my permission; and, besides, I tell you that if I were condemned
+by a court to be made love to, I would much rather have Martin make it
+than Mr. Raybold. Martin is a good deal more than a guide; he has a good
+education, and would not be here if it were not for his love of nature. He
+is going to make nature his object in life, and there is something noble
+in that; a great deal better than trying to strut about on the stage."
+
+"And those two have really been making love to you?" asked Clyde.
+
+"Yes, really," she answered. "You never saw people more in earnest in all
+your life. As for Mr. Raybold, he was as earnest as a cat after a bird. He
+made me furiously angry. Martin was different. He is just as earnest, but
+he is more of a gentleman; and when I told him what I wanted him to do, he
+said he would do it. But there is no use in telling your cousin what I
+want him to do. He is determined to persecute me and make me miserable,
+and there is no way of stopping it, except by making a quarrel between him
+and Uncle Archibald. It is a shame!" she went on, "Who could have thought
+that two people would have turned up to disturb me in this way."
+
+"Margery," said Mr. Clyde, and although he called her by her Christian
+name she took no notice of it, "you think you have too many lovers: but
+you are mistaken. You have not enough; you ought to have three."
+
+She looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"Yes," he said, quickly, "and I want to be the third."
+
+"And so make matters three times as bad as they were at first?" she
+asked.
+
+"Not at all," said he. "When you have chosen one of them, he could easily
+keep away the two others."
+
+"Do you mean," said Margery, "that if I were to agree to have three, and
+then, if I were to ask you to do it, you would go away quietly with one of
+the others and leave me in peace with the third one?"
+
+Mr. Clyde half smiled, but instantly grew serious again, and a flush came
+on his face. "Margery," said he, "I cannot bear trifling any more about
+this. No matter what anybody has said to you, whether it is any one in
+this camp or any one out of it, there is not a man in this world who--"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Clyde," interrupted Margery, "you must not sit there and speak to
+me in such an excited way. If any one should see us they would think we
+were quarrelling. Let us go down to the lake; the air from the water is
+cool and soothing."
+
+Together they walked from under the shade of the tree, and so wended their
+way that it brought them to a mass of shrubbery which edged the water a
+little distance down the lake. On the other side of this shrubbery was a
+pretty bank, which they had seen before.
+
+"It always tranquillizes me," said Margery, as they stood side by side on
+the bank, "to look out over the water. Doesn't it have that effect on
+you?"
+
+"No!" exclaimed Clyde. "It does not tranquillize me a bit. Nothing could
+tranquillize me at a moment like this. Margery, I want you to know that I
+love you. I did not intend to tell you so soon, but what you have said
+makes it necessary. I have loved you ever since I met you at Peter
+Sadler's, and, no matter what you say about it, I shall love you to the
+end of my life."
+
+"Even if I should send you away with one of the others?"
+
+"Yes; no matter what you did."
+
+"That would be wrong," she said.
+
+"It doesn't matter. Right or wrong, I'd do it."
+
+Margery gave him a glance from which it would have been impossible to
+eliminate all signs of admiration. "And if I were to arrange it
+otherwise," she said, "would you undertake to keep the others away?"
+
+There was no answer to this question, but in a minute afterwards Clyde
+exclaimed: "Do you think any one would dare to come near you if they saw
+you now?"
+
+"Hardly," said Margery, raising her head from his shoulder and looking up
+into his sparkling eyes. "Really, Harrison, you ought not to speak in such
+a loud voice. If Aunt Harriet were to hear you she might dare to come."
+
+Margery was late to dinner, although the horn was blown three times.
+
+Much to the surprise of his wife, Mr. Archibald returned to camp about an
+hour before dinner.
+
+"How is this?" she exclaimed. "Wasn't the fishing good?"
+
+"I have had a disagreeable experience," he said, "and I will tell you
+about it. I was fishing in a little cove some distance down the lake and
+having good sport, when I heard a thumping, and looking around I saw
+Raybold in a boat rowing towards me. I suppose he thought he was rowing,
+but he was really floating with the current; but as he neared me he
+suddenly pulled his boat towards me with such recklessness that I was
+afraid he would run into me. I considered his rowing into the cove to be a
+piece of bad manners, for of course it would spoil my fishing, but I had
+no idea he actually intended to lay alongside of me. This he did, however,
+and so awkwardly that his boat struck mine with such force that it half
+tipped it over. Then he lay hold of my gunwale, and said he had something
+to say to me.
+
+"I was as angry as if a man in the street had knocked my hat down over my
+eyes and said that he did so in order to call my attention to a
+subscription paper. But this indignation was nothing to what I felt when
+the fellow began to speak. I cannot repeat his words, but he stated his
+object at once, and said that as this was a good opportunity to speak to
+me alone, he wished to ask me to remove what he called the utterly useless
+embargo which I had placed upon him in regard to Margery. He said it was
+useless because he could not be expected to give up his hopes and his
+plans simply because I objected to them; and he went on to say that if I
+understood him fully, and if Margery understood him, he did not believe
+that either of us would object. And then he actually asked me to use my
+influence with her to make her listen to him. From what he said, I am sure
+he has been speaking to her. I did not let him finish, but turned and
+blazed at him in words as strong as would come to me. I ordered him never
+to speak to me again or show himself in my camp, and told him that if he
+did either of these things he would do them at his peril; and then, for
+fear he might say something which would make me lose control of myself, I
+jerked up my anchor and rowed away from him. I didn't feel like fishing
+any more, and so I came back."
+
+"His behavior is shameful," said Mrs. Archibald. "And what is more, it is
+ridiculous, for Margery would not look at him. What sort of a man does he
+think you are, to suppose that you would give your permission to any one,
+no matter who he might be, to offer marriage to a young lady in your
+charge? But what are you going to do about it? I think it very likely he
+will come to this camp, and he may speak to you."
+
+"In that case I shall have him driven out," said Mr. Archibald, "as if he
+were a drunken vagabond. Personally I shall have nothing to do with him,
+but I shall order my guides to eject him."
+
+"I hope that may not be necessary," said his wife. "It would make bad
+feeling, and deeply wound his sister, for it would be the same thing as
+putting her out. She talks too much, to be sure, but she is a lady, and
+has treated us all very courteously. I wish we could get through the rest
+of our stay here without any disturbance or bad feeling."
+
+"I wish so too, with all my heart," said her husband. "And the only thing
+necessary to that end is that that ass Raybold shall keep out of my
+sight."
+
+It was about two o'clock that afternoon, and Mrs. Archibald, under her
+tree, her basket of stockings all darned and her novel at its culminating
+point of interest, was the only visible occupant of Camp Rob, when Corona
+Raybold came walking towards her, an obvious purpose in her handsome face,
+which was somewhat flushed by exercise.
+
+"I do not think," she said, as soon as she was near enough for Mrs.
+Archibald to hear her, "that the true purpose and intention of our plan is
+properly understood by all of the party. I think, after some explanation,
+everything will go well, but I have been endeavoring for the last
+half-hour to find Mrs. Perkenpine, and have utterly failed. I am very
+hungry, but I can discover nothing to eat. All our stores appear to be
+absolutely raw, or in some intermediate state of crudity. I intend to
+order some provisions in cans or boxes which will be at all times
+available, but I have not done so yet, and so I have come over to speak to
+you about the matter. Did your guides prepare your dinner as usual?"
+
+"Oh yes," said Mrs. Archibald. "A hermit life seems to make no difference
+with Mr. Matlack. We become associates at meal-times, but, as you see, we
+have separated again."
+
+"I must instil into Mrs. Perkenpine's mind," said Corona, "that, in order
+thoroughly to act out her own nature, she must cook and do other things of
+a domestic character. Of course she will do those things in her own way;
+that is to be expected; but she must do them. It is impossible to imagine
+a woman of her class whose soul is not set more or less upon domestic
+affairs. I will instance Mr. Matlack. His nature belongs to the woods and
+the out-of-door world, and that nature prompts him to cook what he
+shoots."
+
+Mrs. Archibald laughed. "I think his nature is a very good one," she said,
+"and I will go with you to find him and see if he cannot give you a
+luncheon, if not a dinner."
+
+"Thank you very much," said Corona; "but indeed I do not wish to trouble
+you. I will go to him myself. You are very kind, but it is not in the
+least degree necessary for you to accompany me. A cup of tea and some
+little trifle is all I shall ask him for."
+
+For a moment Mrs. Archibald hesitated, and then she said, "As we are
+hermits, I suppose we must not keep together any more than we can help,
+and so I will let you go alone."
+
+Corona found Phil Matlack by his kitchen tent, busily engaged in rubbing
+the inside of a large kettle. He was not in a good humor. The departure of
+Martin had thrown all the work of his camp upon him, and now the
+appearance of a person from another camp requesting to be fed aroused him
+to absolute anger. He did not scold, for it would have been impossible to
+look at that beautiful and imperturbable face and say hard words to it. He
+did not refuse the cup of tea or the bread-and-butter for which he was
+asked, and he even added some cold meat; but he indignantly made up his
+mind that he would stand no more of this nonsense, and that if necessary
+he would go to Sadler and throw up the job. He had not engaged to cook for
+three camps.
+
+[Illustration: "'HAVEN'T TRIED IT'"]
+
+Miss Raybold did not appear to notice his state of mind, and ate heartily.
+She thought it was fortunate that he happened to have the kettle on the
+stove, and she asked him how he liked the hermit life--the living for
+himself alone.
+
+"Haven't tried it," he answered, curtly.
+
+"I understand," said Corona, "you have had to live too much for other
+people; but it is too soon to expect our plan to run smoothly. In a short
+time, however, we shall be better able to know our own natures and show
+them to others."
+
+"Oh, I can do that," said he; "and I am goin' to, precious soon."
+
+"I have no doubt of it," she answered. "And now can you tell me where Mr.
+Archibald has gone? I did not see him this morning, and there are some
+matters I wish to speak to him about."
+
+"No, miss," said Matlack, promptly, "I don't know where he is. He's a real
+hermit. He's off by himself, most likely miles away."
+
+Corona reflected. "Mr.--the bishop? Have you seen him? He may be able
+to--"
+
+The guide grinned grimly. He had seen the man of muscle--not
+fat--conversing that morning with Corona, and an hour afterwards he had
+seen him, not in the same place, but in the same companionship, and it
+gave him a certain pleasure to know that the man who could heave rocks and
+break young trees could not relieve himself from the thralls of the lady
+of the flowing speech.
+
+"The bishop?" said he. "Don't you know where he went to?"
+
+"He left me," she answered, "because he was obliged to go to prepare
+dinner for my brother and Mr. Clyde; but he is not in Camp Roy now, for I
+went there to look for Mrs. Perkenpine."
+
+"Well," said the wicked Matlack, pointing to the spot where, not long
+before, Margery had found a tranquillizing breeze, "I saw him going along
+with a book a little while ago, and I think he went down to the shore,
+just beyond that clump of bushes over there. He seems to be a man who
+likes readin', which isn't a bad thing for a hermit."
+
+"Thank you," said Miss Raybold, rising. "I do not care for anything more.
+You are very kind, and I am quite sure I shall not have to trouble you
+again. To-morrow everything will be running smoothly."
+
+Matlack looked at her as she quietly walked away. "She's a pretty sort of
+a hermit," he said to himself. "If she really had to live by herself she'd
+cut out a wooden man and talk to it all day. It won't be long before she
+accidentally stumbles over that big fellow with his book."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+MRS. PERKENPINE FINDS OUT THINGS ABOUT HERSELF
+
+
+The mind of the guide was comforted and relieved that he had got the
+better of the bishop in one way, although he could not do it in another.
+But he did not relinquish his purpose of putting an end to the nonsense
+which made him do the work of other people, and as soon as he had set his
+kitchen in order he started out to find Mrs. Perkenpine. A certain amount
+of nonsense from the people in camp might have to be endured, but nonsense
+from Mrs. Perkenpine was something about which Peter Sadler would have a
+word to say.
+
+Matlack was a good hunter. He could follow all sorts of tracks--rabbit
+tracks, bird tracks, deer tracks, and the tracks of big ungainly
+shoes--and in less than half an hour he had reached a cluster of
+moss-covered rocks lying some distance back in the woods, and approached
+by the bed of a now dry stream. Sitting on one of these rocks, her back
+against a tree, her straw hat lying beside her, and her dishevelled hair
+hanging about her shoulders, was Mrs. Perkenpine, reading a newspaper. At
+the sound of his footsteps she looked up.
+
+"Well, I'll be bound!" she said. "If I'd crawl into a fox-hole I expect
+you'd come and sniff in after me."
+
+Matlack stood and looked at her for a moment. He could not help smiling at
+the uncomfortable manner in which she was trying to make herself
+comfortable on those rough rocks.
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, Mrs. Perkenpine," he said, "you'll get yourself
+into the worst kind of a hole if you go off this way, leavin' everything
+at sixes and sevens behind you."
+
+"It's my nater," said she. "I'm findin' it out and gittin' it ready to
+show to other people. You're the fust one that's seed it. How do you like
+it?"
+
+"I don't like it at all," said the guide, "and I have just come to tell
+you that if you don't go back to your tent and cook supper to-night and
+attend to your business, I'll walk over to Sadler's, and tell Peter to
+send some one in your place. I'm goin' over there anyway, if he don't send
+a man to take Martin's place."
+
+"Peter Sadler!" ejaculated Mrs. Perkenpine, letting her tumbled newspaper
+fall into her lap. "He's a man that knows his own nater, and lets other
+people see it. He lives his own life, if anybody does. He's individdle
+down to the heels, and just look at him! He's the same as a king. I tell
+you, Phil Matlack, that the more I knows myself, just me, the more I'm
+tickled. It seems like scootin' round in the woods, findin' all sorts of
+funny hoppin' things and flowers that you never seed before. Why, it
+'ain't been a whole day since I begun knowin' myself, and I've found out
+lots. I used to think that I liked to cook and clean up, but I don't; I
+hate it."
+
+Matlack smiled, and taking out his pipe, he lighted it and sat down on a
+rock.
+
+"I do believe," he said, "that you are the most out and out hermit of the
+whole lot; but it won't do, and if you don't get over your objections to
+cookin' you'll have to walk out of these woods to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine sat and looked at her companion a few moments without
+giving any apparent heed to his remarks.
+
+"Of course," said she, "it isn't only findin' out what you be yourself,
+but it's lettin' other people see what you be. If you didn't do that it
+would be like a pot a-b'ilin' out in the middle of a prairie, with nobody
+nearer nor a hundred miles."
+
+"It would be the same as if it hadn't b'iled," remarked Matlack.
+
+"That's jest it," said she, "and so I ain't sorry you come along, Phil,
+so's I can tell you some things I've found out about myself. One of them
+is that I like to lie flat on my back and look up at the leaves of the
+trees and think about them."
+
+"What do you think?" asked Matlack.
+
+"I don't think nothin'," said she. "Just as soon as I begin to look at
+them wrigglin' in the wind, and I am beginnin' to wonder what it is I
+think about them, I go slam bang to sleep, and when I wake up and try to
+think again what it is I think, off I go again. But I like it. If I don't
+know what it is I think, I ought to know that I don't know it. That's what
+I call bein' really and truly a hermick."
+
+"What else did you find out?" inquired Matlack.
+
+"I found out," she answered, with animation, "that I admire to read
+anecdotes. I didn't know I cared a pin for anecdotes until I took to
+hermickin'. Now here's this paper; it came 'round the cheese, and it's got
+a good many anecdotes scattered about in it. Let me read one of them to
+you. It's about a man who made his will and afterwards was a-drivin' a
+horse along a road, and the horse got skeered and ran over his executor,
+who was takin' a walk. Then he sung out, 'Oh, bless my soul!' says he. But
+I'll read you the rest if I can find it."
+
+"Never mind about the anecdote," said Matlack, who knew very well that it
+would take Mrs. Perkenpine half an hour to spell out twenty lines in a
+newspaper. "What I want to know is if you found out anything about
+yourself that's likely to give you a boost in the direction of that
+cookin'-stove of yourn."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine was a woman whose remarks did not depend upon the remarks
+of others. "Phil Matlack," said she, gazing fixedly at his pipe, "if I had
+a man I'd let him smoke just as much as he pleased and just where he
+pleased. He could smoke afore he got up, and he could smoke at his meals,
+and he could smoke after he went to bed, and, if he fancied that sort of
+thing, he could smoke at family prayers; it wouldn't make no difference to
+me, and I wouldn't say a word to him agin' it. If that was his
+individdlety, I'd say viddle."
+
+"And how about everything else?" asked Matlack. "Would you tell him to
+cook his own victuals and mend his clothes accordin' to his own nater?"
+
+"No, sir," said she, striking with her expansive hand the newspaper in her
+lap--"no, sir. I'd get up early in the mornin', and cook and wash and bake
+and scour. I'd skin the things he shot, and clean his fish, and dig bait
+if he wanted it. I'd tramp into the woods after him, and carry the gun and
+the victuals and fishin'-poles, and I'd set traps and row a boat and build
+fires, and let him go along and work out his own nater smokin' or in any
+other way he was born to. That's the biggest thing I've found out about
+myself. I never knowed, until I began, this mornin', explorin' of my own
+nater, what a powerful hard thing it is, when I'm thinkin' of my own
+individdlety, to keep somebody else's individdlety from poppin' up in
+front of it, and so says I to myself, 'If I can think of both them
+individdleties at the same time it will suit me fust-rate.' And when you
+come along I thought I'd let you know what sort of a nater I've got, for
+it ain't likely you'd ever find it out for yourself. And now that we're in
+that business--"
+
+"Hello!" cried Matlack, springing to his feet. "There is somebody callin'
+me. Who's there?" he shouted, stepping out into the bed of the stream.
+
+A call was now heard, and in a few moments the bishop appeared some
+distance below.
+
+"Mr. Matlack," he said, "there's a man at your camp inquiring for you. He
+came from Sadler's, and I've been looking high and low for you."
+
+"A man from Sadler's," said Matlack, turning to Mrs. Perkenpine, "and I
+must be off to see him. Remember what I told you about the supper." And so
+saying, he walked rapidly away.
+
+Out in the open Matlack found the bishop. "Obliged to you for lookin' me
+up," he said, "it's a pity to give you so much trouble."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it!" exclaimed the bishop. "You cannot understand,
+perhaps, not knowing the circumstances, but I assure you I never was more
+obliged to any one than to that man who wants to see you and couldn't find
+you. There was no one else to look for you, and I simply had to go."
+
+"You are not goin' to walk back to camp?" inquired Matlack.
+
+"No," replied the bishop, "now that I am here, I think I will go up the
+lake and try to find a very secluded spot in the shade and take a nap."
+
+The guide smiled as he walked away. "Don't understand!" said he. "You've
+got the boot on the wrong leg."
+
+Arrived at his tent, Matlack found Bill Hammond, a young man in Sadler's
+service, who informed him that that burly individual had sent Martin away
+in the stage-coach, and had ordered him to come and take his place.
+
+"All right," said Matlack. "I guess you're as good as he was, and so you
+can settle down to work. By-the-way, do you know that we are all hermits
+here?"
+
+"Hermits?" said the other. "What's that?"
+
+"Why, hermits," said Matlack, "is individ'als who get up early in the
+mornin' and attend to their own business just as hard as they can, without
+lookin' to the right or left, until it's time to go to bed."
+
+The young man looked at him in some surprise. "There's nothing so very
+uncommon in that," said he.
+
+"No," replied the guide, "perhaps there ain't. But as you might hear them
+talkin' about hermits here, I thought I'd tell you just what sort of
+things they are."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A DISSOLVING AUDIENCE
+
+
+When a strange young man assisted Matlack at the supper-table that
+evening, Mr. Archibald asked what had become of Martin.
+
+"Peter Sadler has sent him away," answered the guide. "I don't know where
+he sent him or what he sent him for. But he's a young man who's above this
+sort of business, and so I suppose he's gone off to take up something
+that's more elevated."
+
+"I am sorry," said Mrs. Archibald, "for I liked him."
+
+Mr. Archibald smiled. "This business of insisting upon our own
+individualities," he said, "seems to have worked very promptly in his
+case. I suppose he found out he was fitted for something better than a
+guide, and immediately went off to get that better thing."
+
+"That's about the size of it," said Matlack.
+
+Margery said nothing. Her heart sank. She could not help feeling that what
+she had said to the young man had been the cause of his sudden departure.
+Could he have done such a thing, she thought, as really to go and ask Mr.
+Sadler, and, having found he did not mind, could he have gone to see her
+mother? Her appetite for her supper departed, and she soon rose and
+strolled away, and as she strolled the thought came again to her that it
+was a truly dreadful thing to be a girl.
+
+Having received no orders to the contrary, Matlack, with his new
+assistant, built and lighted the camp-fire. Some of the hermits took this
+as a matter of course, and some were a little surprised, but one by one
+they approached; the evening air was beginning to be cool, and the
+vicinity of the fire was undoubtedly the pleasantest place in camp. Soon
+they were all assembled but one, and Mrs. Archibald breathed freer when
+she found that Arthur Raybold was not there.
+
+"I am delighted," said Corona, as soon as she took her usual seat, which
+was a camp-chair, "to see you all gather about the fire. I was afraid that
+some of you might think that because we are hermits we must keep away from
+each other all the time. But we must remember that we are associate
+hermits, and so should come together occasionally. I was going to say
+something to the effect that some of us may have misunderstood the true
+manner and intent of the assertions of our individualities, but I do not
+now believe that this is necessary."
+
+"Do you mean by all that," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "that I cooked the
+supper?"
+
+"Yes," said Miss Raybold, turning upon her guide with a pleasant smile,
+"that is what I referred to."
+
+"Well," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "I was told that if I didn't cook I'd be
+bounced. It isn't my individdlety to cook for outsiders, but it isn't my
+individdlety to be bounced, nuther, so I cooked. Is that bein' a
+hermick?"
+
+"You have it," cried Mr. Archibald, "you've not only found out what you
+are, but what you have to be. Your knowledge of yourself is perfect. And
+now," he continued, "isn't there somebody who can tell us a story? When we
+are sitting around a camp-fire, there is nothing better than stories.
+Bishop, I dare say you have heard a good many in the course of your life.
+Don't you feel like giving us one?"
+
+"I think," said Corona, "that by the aid of stories it is possible to
+get a very good idea of ourselves. For instance, if some one were to
+tell a good historical story, and any one of us should find himself or
+herself greatly interested in it, then that person might discover, on
+subsequent reflection, some phase of his or her intellect which he or she
+might not have before noticed. On the other hand, if it should be a
+love story, and some of us could not bear to hear it, then we might
+also find out something about ourselves of which we had been ignorant.
+But I really think that, before making any tests of this sort, we
+should continue the discussion of what is at present the main object
+of our lives--self-knowledge and self-assertion. In other words, the
+emancipation of the individual. As I have said before, and as we all
+know, there never was a better opportunity offered a group of people
+of mature minds to subject themselves, free of outside influences, to a
+thorough mental inquisition, and then to exhibit the results of their
+self-examinations to appreciative companions. This last is very important.
+If we do not announce to others what we are, it is of scarcely any use to
+be anything. I mean this, of course, in a limited sense."
+
+"Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, abruptly, "do you remember where I left my
+pipe? I do not like this cigar."
+
+"On the shelf by the door of the cabin," she replied. "I saw it as I came
+out."
+
+Her husband immediately rose and left the fire. Corona paused in her
+discourse to wait until Mr. Archibald came back; but then, as if she did
+not wish to lose the floor, she turned towards the bishop, who sat at a
+little distance from her, and addressed herself to him, with the idea of
+making some collateral remarks on what she had already said, in order to
+fill up the time until Mr. Archibald should return.
+
+Mrs. Archibald thought that her husband had been a little uncivil; but
+almost immediately after he had gone, she, too, jumped up, and, without
+making any excuse whatever, hurried after him.
+
+The reason for this sudden movement was that Mrs. Archibald had seen some
+one approaching from the direction of Camp Roy. She instantly recognized
+this person as Arthur Raybold, and felt sure that, unwilling to stay
+longer by himself, he was coming to the camp-fire, and if her husband
+should see him, she knew there would be trouble. What sort of trouble or
+how far it might extend she did not try to imagine.
+
+"Hector," she said, as soon as she was near enough for him to hear her,
+"don't go after the pipe; let us take a moonlight walk along the shore. I
+believe it is full moon to-night, and we have not had a walk of that sort
+for ever so long."
+
+"Very good," said her husband, turning to her. "I shall be delighted. I
+don't care for the pipe, and the cigar would have been good enough if it
+had not been for the sermon. That would spoil any pleasure. I can't stand
+that young woman, Harriet; I positively cannot."
+
+"Well, then, let us walk away and forget her," said his wife. "I don't
+wonder she annoys you."
+
+"If it were only the young woman," thought Mrs. Archibald, as the two
+strolled away beneath the light of the moon, "we might manage it. But her
+brother!"
+
+At the next indication of a pause in Corona's discourse the bishop
+suddenly stood on his feet. "I wonder," he said, "if there is anything the
+matter with Mrs. Archibald? I will step over to her cabin to see."
+
+"Indeed!" said Corona, rising with great promptness, "I hope it is nothing
+serious. I will go with you."
+
+Margery was not a rude girl, but she could not help a little laugh, which
+she subdued as much as possible; Mr. Clyde, who was sitting near her,
+laughed also.
+
+"There is nothing on earth the matter with Aunt Harriet," said Margery.
+"They didn't go into the cabin; I saw them walking away down the shore."
+
+"How would you like to walk that way?" he asked. "I think their example is
+a very good one."
+
+"It is capital," said Margery, jumping up, "and let's get away quickly
+before she comes back."
+
+They hurried away, but they did not extend their walk down the lake shore
+even as far as Mr. and Mrs. Archibald had already gone. When they came to
+the bit of beach behind the clump of trees where the bishop had retired
+that afternoon to read, they stopped and sat down to watch the moonlight
+on the water.
+
+Matlack and Mrs. Perkenpine were now the only persons at the camp-fire,
+for Bill Hammond, as was his custom, had promptly gone to bed as soon as
+his work was done. If Arthur Raybold had intended to come to the
+camp-fire, he had changed his mind, for he now stood near his sister's
+tent, apparently awaiting the approach of Corona and the bishop, who had
+not found the Archibalds, and who were now walking together in what might
+have been supposed, by people who did not know the lady, to be an earnest
+dialogue.
+
+Mr. Matlack was seated on his log, and he smoked, while Mrs. Perkenpine
+sat on the ground, her head thrown back and her arms hugging her knees.
+
+"Phil," said she, "that there moon looks to me like an oyster with a
+candle behind it, and as smooth and slippery as if I could jest swallow it
+down. You may think it is queer for me to think such things as that, Phil,
+but since I've come to know myself jest as I am, me, I've found out
+feelin's--"
+
+"Mrs. Perkenpine," said Matlack, knocking the ashes out of his pipe,
+"there's a good many things besides moons that I can't swallow, and if
+it's all the same to you, I'll go to bed."
+
+"Well," she exclaimed, looking after him, "his individdlety is the
+snapshortest I ever did see! I don't believe he wants to know hisself. If
+he did, I'm dead sure I could help him. He never goes out to run a camp
+without somebody to help him, and yet he's so everlastin' blind he can't
+see the very best person there is to help him, and she a-plumpin' herself
+square in front of him every time she gits a chance." With that reflection
+she rose and walked away.
+
+"I tell you, Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, when he and his wife had
+returned from their walk and were about to enter the cabin, "something
+must be done to enable us to spend the rest of our time here in peace.
+This is our camp, and we want it for ourselves. If a good companionable
+fellow like the bishop or that young Clyde happens along, it is all very
+well, but we do not want all sorts of people forcing themselves upon us,
+and I will not submit to it."
+
+"Of course we ought not to do that," said she, "but I hope that whatever
+you do, it will be something as pleasant as possible."
+
+"I will try to avoid any unpleasantness," said he, "and I hope I may do
+so, but---- By-the-way, where is Margery?"
+
+"I think she must be in bed," said Mrs. Archibald; then stepping inside,
+she called, "Margery, are you there?"
+
+"Yes, Aunt Harriet," replied Margery, "I am here."
+
+"She must have found it dreadfully stupid, poor girl!" said Mr.
+Archibald.
+
+The lights were all out in the Archibalds' cabin, and still Miss Raybold
+and the bishop walked up and down the open space at the farther end of the
+camp.
+
+"Corona!" exclaimed her brother, suddenly appearing before them, "I have
+told you over and over again that I wish to speak to you. Are you never
+going to stop that everlasting preaching and give me a chance to talk to
+you?"
+
+"Arthur!" she exclaimed, sharply, "I wish you would not interrupt me in
+this way. I had just begun to say--"
+
+"Oh, my dear Miss Raybold," cried the bishop, "do not let me prevent you
+from speaking to your brother. Indeed, it is growing late, and I will not
+trespass longer on your time. Good-night," and with a bow he was gone.
+
+"Now just see what you have done!" said Corona, her eye-glasses brighter
+than the moon.
+
+"Well, it is time he was going," said her brother. "I have something very
+important to say to you. I want your good offices in an affair more worthy
+of your thoughts than anything else at this moment."
+
+"Whatever it is," she said, turning away from him, "I do not want to hear
+it now--not a word of it. You have displeased me, Arthur, and I am going
+to my tent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+A MOONLIGHT INTERVIEW
+
+
+Mrs. Archibald retired to her cabin, but she did not feel in the least
+like going to bed. Her husband had long been asleep in his cot, and she
+still sat by the side of the little window looking out upon the
+moon-lighted scene; but the beauty of the night, if she noticed it at all,
+gave her no pleasure. Her mind was harassed and troubled by many things,
+chief among which was her husband's unfinished sentence in which he had
+said that he would try to avoid any unpleasantness, but at the same time
+had intimated that if the unpleasant thing were forced upon him he was
+ready to meet it.
+
+Now, reason as she would, Mrs. Archibald could not banish from her mind
+the belief that Arthur Raybold would come to their camp some time during
+the next day. In fact, not having heard otherwise, she supposed he had
+come to the camp-fire that night. She was filled with anger and contempt
+for the young man who was determined to force himself on their party in
+this outrageous manner, and considered it shameful that their peaceful
+life in these woods had been so wickedly disturbed. No wonder she did not
+want to sleep; no wonder she sat at the window thinking and thinking.
+
+Presently she saw some one walking over the open space towards the cabin,
+and she could not fail to recognize the figure with the long stride, the
+folded arms, and the bowed head. He passed the window and then he turned
+and repassed it, then he turned and walked by again, this time a little
+nearer than before.
+
+"This is too much!" said Mrs. Archibald. "The next thing he will be
+tapping at her window. I will go out and speak my mind to him."
+
+Opening the door very softly, and without even stopping to throw a shawl
+over her head and shoulders, Mrs. Archibald stepped outside into the
+night. Raybold was now at a little distance from the cabin, in the
+direction of Camp Roy, and was just about to turn when she hurried up to
+him.
+
+"Mr. Raybold," she said, speaking low and rapidly, "if you possessed a
+spark of gentlemanly feeling you would be ashamed to come into this camp
+when you have been ordered out of it. My husband has told you he does not
+want you here, and now I tell you that I do not want you here. It pains me
+to be obliged to speak to any one in this manner, but it is plain that no
+other sort of speech will affect you. Now, sir, I know your object, and I
+will not have you wandering up and down here in front of our cabin. I wish
+you to go to your own camp, and that immediately."
+
+Raybold stood and listened to her without a word until she had finished,
+and then he said:
+
+"Madam, there has been a good deal of talk about knowing ourselves and
+showing ourselves to others. Now I know myself very well indeed, and I
+will show myself to you by saying that when my heart is interested I obey
+no orders, I pay no attention to mandates of any sort. Until I can say
+what I have to say I will watch and I will wait, but I shall not draw
+back."
+
+For the first time in fifteen years Mrs. Archibald lost her temper. She
+turned pale with anger. "You contemptible scoundrel! Go! Leave this camp
+instantly!"
+
+He stood with arms folded and smiled at her, saying nothing. She trembled,
+she was so angry. But what could she do? If she called Mr. Archibald, or
+if he should be awakened by any outcry, she feared there would be
+bloodshed, and if she went to call Matlack, Mr. Archibald would be sure to
+be awakened. But at this moment some one stepped up quickly behind
+Raybold, and with a hand upon his shoulder, partly turned him around.
+
+"I think," said the bishop, "that I heard this lady tell you to go. If so,
+go."
+
+"I did say it," said Mrs. Archibald, hurriedly. "Please be as quiet as you
+can, but make him go."
+
+"Do you hear what Mrs. Archibald says?" asked the bishop, sternly.
+"Depart, or--"
+
+"Do you mean to threaten me?" asked Raybold.
+
+The bishop stepped close to him. "Will you go of your own accord," he
+asked, "or do you wish me to take you away?"
+
+He spoke quietly, but with an earnestness that impressed itself upon
+Raybold, who made a quick step backward. He felt a natural repugnance,
+especially in the presence of a lady, to be taken away by this big man,
+who, in the moonlight, seemed to be bigger than ever.
+
+"I will speak to you," said he, "when there are no ladies present." And
+with this he retired.
+
+"I am so much obliged to you," said Mrs. Archibald. "It was a wonderful
+piece of good fortune that you should have come at this minute."
+
+The bishop smiled. "I am delighted that I happened here," he said. "I
+heard so much talking this evening that I thought I would tranquillize my
+mind by a quiet walk by myself before I went to bed, and so I happened to
+see you and Raybold. Of course I had no idea of intruding upon you, but
+when I saw you stretch out your arm and say 'Go!' I thought it was time
+for me to come."
+
+"I feel bound to say to you," said Mrs. Archibald, "that that impertinent
+fellow is persisting in his attentions to Miss Dearborn, and that Mr.
+Archibald and I will not have it."
+
+"I imagined that the discussion was on that subject," said the bishop,
+"for Mr. Clyde has intimated to me that Raybold has been making himself
+disagreeable to the young lady."
+
+"I do not know what we are going to do," said Mrs. Archibald,
+reflectively; "there seems to be no way of making an impression upon him.
+He is like his sister--he will have his own way."
+
+"Yes," said the bishop, with a sigh, "he is like his sister. But then, one
+might thrash him, but what can be done with her? I tell you, Mrs.
+Archibald," he said, turning to her, earnestly, "it is getting to be
+unbearable. The whole evening, ever since you left the camp-fire, she has
+been talking to me on the subject of mental assimilation--that is, the
+treatment of our ideas and thoughts as if they were articles of
+food--intellectual soda biscuit, or plum pudding, for instance--in order
+to find out whether our minds can digest these things and produce from
+them the mental chyme and chyle necessary to our intellectual development.
+The discourse was fortunately broken off for to-night, but there is more
+of it for to-morrow. I really cannot stand it."
+
+"I wouldn't stand it," said Mrs. Archibald. "Can't you simply go away and
+leave her when she begins in that way?"
+
+The bishop shook his head. "No," he said, "that is impossible. When those
+beautiful eyes are fixed upon me I cannot go away. They charm me and they
+hold me. Unless there is an interruption, I must stay and listen. The only
+safety for me is to fly from this camp. At last," he said, smiling a
+little sadly, "I am going to go. I did not want to do this until your camp
+broke up, but I must."
+
+"And you are really going to-morrow?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," he said. "I have positively decided upon that."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it," she said. "Good-night."
+
+When Mrs. Archibald entered her cabin she found her husband sleeping
+soundly, and she again sat down by the window. There was no such thing as
+sleep for her; her mind was more tossed and troubled than it had been
+before she went out. The fact that the bishop was going away made the
+matter worse, for just as she had found out that he was willing to help
+her, and that he might be able to keep Raybold away from them without
+actual violence--for she saw that the young boaster was afraid of him--he
+had told her he must leave, and in her heart she did not blame him. With
+great fear and anxiety she looked forward to the morrow.
+
+It was about two o'clock when Mrs. Archibald suddenly arose from her seat
+by the window and lighted a candle. Then she pulled down the shades of the
+windows, front and back, after which she went to her husband's cot and put
+her hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Hector," said she, "wake up."
+
+In a moment Mr. Archibald was staring at her. "What is the matter?" he
+exclaimed. "Are you sick?"
+
+"No," said she, "but I have something very important to say to you. I want
+you to get up and go away with me, and take Margery."
+
+Mr. Archibald sat up in bed. He was now in full possession of his senses.
+"What!" said he, "elope? And where to?"
+
+"Yes," said she, "that is exactly what I mean, and we will go to Sadler's
+first, and then home."
+
+"Do you mean now?" said he.
+
+"Yes--that is, as soon as it is light," she replied.
+
+"Are you positively sure you are awake, Harriet?" asked Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Awake!" she said. "I have not been asleep to-night. Don't you see I am
+dressed?" And she drew a chair to the bedside and sat down. "I know more
+about what is going on than you do, Hector," she said, "and I tell you if
+we stay any longer in this camp, there is going to be great trouble. That
+young Raybold pays no attention to what you said about keeping away from
+us. He comes here, when he pleases, and he says he intends to come. I
+asked you to take a walk with me this evening because I saw him coming to
+the camp-fire and I knew that you would resent it. To-night I saw him
+walking up and down in front of our cabin, and I believe he intended to
+try to speak to Margery. I went out to him myself, and he was positively
+insulting. If the bishop had not happened to come up, I believe he would
+have stayed here and defied me. But he made him go.
+
+"Now that you know this, Hector, it is very certain that there will be
+trouble between you and that young man, and I do not want that. And,
+besides that, there is his sister; she is as determined to preach as he is
+to speak to Margery. The bishop says he can't stand her any longer, and he
+is going away to-morrow, and that will make it all the worse for
+us--especially for you, Hector. I cannot endure this state of things; it
+has made me so nervous I cannot get to sleep, and, besides, it is not
+right for us to keep Margery where she must be continually guarded from
+such a man. Now it may seem foolish to run away, but I have thought over
+the matter for hours and hours, and it is the only thing to do; and what
+is more, it is very easy to do. If we announce that we are going, we will
+all go, and the chief cause of quarrels and danger will go with us. I know
+you, Hector; you will not stand his impertinence.
+
+"It will be daylight between three and four o'clock, and we three can
+start out quietly and have a pleasant walk to Sadler's. It is only four
+miles, and we can take our time. We need not carry anything with us but
+what we choose to put in our pockets. We can pack our bags and leave them
+here, and Mr. Sadler will send for them. When we get there we can go to
+bed if we like, and have time enough for a good sleep before breakfast,
+and then we can take the morning stage and leave this place and everybody
+in it. Now please don't be hasty and tell me all this is foolish.
+Remember, if you stay here you have a quarrel on your hands, and I shall
+have hours of misery until that quarrel is settled; and no matter how it
+is settled, things will be disagreeable afterwards."
+
+"Harriet," said Mr. Archibald, suddenly twisting himself so that he sat on
+the side of the bed, "your idea is a most admirable one. It suits me
+exactly. Let us run away. It is impossible for us to do anything better
+than that. Have you told Margery?"
+
+"No," she answered, "but I will go to her at once."
+
+"Be quick and quiet, then," said her husband, who had now entered fully
+into the spirit of the adventure; "nobody must hear us. I will dress, and
+then we will pack."
+
+"Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, after three times shaking the sleeping
+girl, "you must get up. Your uncle and I are going away, and you must go
+with us."
+
+Margery turned her great eyes on Mrs. Archibald, but asked no questions.
+
+"Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "we cannot stay in this camp any longer, on
+account of Mr. Raybold and various other things. Matters have come to a
+crisis, and we must go, and more than that, we must slip away so that the
+others may not go with us."
+
+"When?" asked Margery, now speaking for the first time.
+
+"As soon as it is daylight."
+
+"So soon as that?" said the girl, a shadow on her brow which was very
+plain in the light of the candle which Mrs. Archibald had brought with
+her. "Surely not before breakfast?"
+
+"Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, a little sharply, "you do not seem to
+understand--you are not awake; we must start as soon as it is light. But
+we cannot discuss it now. We are going, and you must go with us. You must
+get up and pack your things in your bag, which we shall send for."
+
+Suddenly a light came into Margery's eyes and she sat up. "All right,"
+said she, "I will be ready as soon as you are. It will be jolly to run
+away, especially so early in the morning," and with that she jumped out of
+bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+AN ELOPEMENT
+
+
+A little more than an hour after Mrs. Archibald had made known her project
+to her husband the three inhabitants of the cabin stole softly out into
+the delicate light of the early dawn.
+
+Mr. Archibald had thought of leaving a note for Matlack, but his wife had
+dissuaded him. She was afraid that the wrong person might get hold of it.
+
+"When we are safely at Sadler's," she said, "we can send for our bags,
+with a note to Matlack. It will not matter then who knows." She had a firm
+belief in the power of the burly keeper of the inn to prevent trouble on
+his premises.
+
+With careful but rapid steps the little party passed along the open
+portion of the camp, keeping as far as possible from the tent wherein
+reposed Corona and Mrs. Perkenpine, and soon reached the entrance of the
+wood road. Here it was not quite so light as in the open, but still they
+could make their way without much trouble, and after a few minutes'
+walking they felt perfectly safe from observation, and slackening their
+pace, they sauntered along at their ease.
+
+The experience was a novel one to all of them; even Mr. Archibald had
+never been in the woods so early in the morning. In fact, under these
+great trees it could scarcely be said to be morning. The young light which
+made its uncertain way through the foliage was barely strong enough to
+cast a shadow, and although these woodland wanderers knew that it was a
+roadway in which they were walking, that great trees stood on each side of
+them, with branches reaching out over their heads, and that there were
+bushes and vines and here and there a moss-covered rock or a fallen tree,
+they saw these things not clearly and distinctly, but as through a veil.
+But there was nothing uncertain about the air they breathed; full of the
+moist aroma of the woods, it was altogether different from the noonday
+odors of the forest.
+
+Stronger and stronger grew the morning light, and more and more clearly
+perceptible became the greens, the browns, and the grays about them. Now
+the birds began to chatter and chirp, and squirrels ran along the branches
+of the trees, while a young rabbit bounced out from some bushes and went
+bounding along the road. This early morning life was something they had
+not seen in their camp, for it was all over before they began their day.
+There was a spring by the roadside, which they had noticed when they had
+come that way before, and when they reached it they sat down and ate some
+biscuit which Mrs. Archibald had brought with her, and drank cool water
+from Mr. Archibald's folding pocket-cup.
+
+The loveliness of the scene, the novelty of the experience, the feeling
+that they were getting away from unpleasant circumstances, and in a
+perfectly original and independent fashion, gave them all high spirits.
+Even Mrs. Archibald, whose sleepless night might have been supposed to
+interfere with this morning walk, declared herself as fresh as a lark, and
+stated that she knew now why a lark or any other thing that got up early
+in the morning should be fresh.
+
+They had not left the spring far behind them when they heard a rustling in
+the woods to the right of the road, and the next moment there sprang out
+into the open, not fifty feet in front of them, a full-grown red deer.
+They were so startled by this apparition that they all stopped as if the
+beautiful creature had been a lion in their path. For an instant it turned
+its great brown eyes upon them, and then with two bounds it plunged into
+the underbrush on the other side of the road. Mrs. Archibald and Margery
+had never before seen a deer in the woods.
+
+The young girl clapped her hands. "It all reminds me of my first night at
+the opera!" she cried.
+
+Two or three times they rested, and they never walked rapidly, so it was
+after five o'clock when the little party emerged into the open country and
+approached the inn. Not a soul was visible about the premises, but as they
+knew that some one soon would be stirring, they seated themselves in three
+arm-chairs on the wide piazza to rest and wait.
+
+Peter Sadler was an early riser, and when the front hall door was open he
+appeared thereat, rolling his wheeled chair out upon the piazza with a
+bump--though not with very much of a bump, for the house was built to suit
+him and his chair. But he did not take his usual morning roll upon the
+piazza, for, turning his head, he beheld a gentleman and two ladies fast
+asleep in three great wicker chairs.
+
+"Upon my soul!" he exclaimed. "If they ain't the Camp Robbers!" At this
+exclamation they all awoke.
+
+Ten minutes after that the tale had been told, and if the right arm of Mr.
+Sadler's chair had not been strong and heavy it would have been shivered
+into splinters.
+
+"As usual," cried the stalwart Peter, "the wrong people ran away. If I had
+seen that bicycle man and his party come running out of the woods, I
+should have been much better satisfied, and I should have thought you had
+more spirit in you, sir, than I gave you credit for."
+
+"Oh, you mistake my husband altogether!" cried Mrs. Archibald. "The
+trouble with him is that he has too much spirit, and that is the reason I
+brought him away."
+
+"And there is another thing," exclaimed Margery. "You should not say Mr.
+Raybold and his party. He was the only one of them who behaved badly."
+
+"That is true," said Mrs. Archibald. "His sister is somewhat obtrusive,
+but she is a lady, gentle and polite, and it would have been very painful
+to her and as painful to us had it been necessary forcibly to eject her
+brother from our camp. It was to avoid all this that we--"
+
+"Eloped," interjected Mr. Archibald.
+
+[Illustration: "'IF THEY AIN'T THE CAMP ROBBERS!'"]
+
+The good Peter laughed. "Perhaps you are right," said he. "But I shall
+have a word with that bicycle fellow when he comes this way. You are an
+original party, if there ever was one. First you go on somebody else's
+wedding-journey, and then you elope in the middle of the night, and now
+the best thing you can do is to go to bed. You can have a good sleep and a
+nine-o'clock breakfast, and I do not see why you should leave here for two
+or three days."
+
+"Oh, we must go this morning," said Mrs. Archibald, quickly. "We must go.
+We really cannot wait until any of those people come here. It makes me
+nervous to think about it."
+
+"Very good, then," said Peter. "The coach starts for the train at
+eleven."
+
+Mrs. Archibald was a systematic woman, and was in the habit of rising at
+half-past seven, and when that hour arrived she awoke as if she had been
+asleep all night. Going to the window to see what sort of a day it was,
+which was also her custom, she looked out upon the lawn in front of the
+house, and her jaw dropped and her eyes opened. There she beheld Margery
+and Mr. Clyde strolling along in close converse. For a moment she was
+utterly stupefied.
+
+"What can this mean?" she thought. "How could they have missed us so soon?
+We are seldom out of our cabin before eight o'clock. I cannot comprehend
+it!" And then a thought came to her which made her face grow pale. "Is it
+possible," she said to herself, "that any of the others have come? I must
+go immediately and find out."
+
+In ten minutes she had dressed and quietly left the room.
+
+When Margery saw Mrs. Archibald descending the piazza, steps, she left Mr.
+Clyde and came running to meet her.
+
+"I expect you are surprised to see me here," she said, "but I intended to
+tell you and Uncle Archibald as soon as you came down. You see, I did not
+at all want to go away and not let Mr. Clyde know what had become of me,
+and so, after I had packed my bag, I wrote a little note to him and put it
+in a biscuit-box under a stone not far from my window, which we had
+arranged for a post-office, just the day before."
+
+"A post-office!" cried Mrs. Archibald.
+
+"Yes," said Margery. "Of course there wasn't any need for one--at least we
+did not suppose there would be--but we thought it would be nice; for, you
+must know, we are engaged."
+
+"What!" cried Mrs. Archibald. "Engaged? Impossible! What are you talking
+about?"
+
+"Yes," said Margery, "we are really engaged, and it was absolutely
+necessary. Under ordinary circumstances this would not have happened so
+soon, but as things were it could not be delayed. Mr. Clyde thought the
+matter over very carefully, and he decided that the only way to keep me
+from being annoyed and frightened by Mr. Raybold was for him to have the
+right to defend me. If he told Mr. Raybold I was engaged to him, that of
+course would put an end to the young man's attentions. We were engaged
+only yesterday, so we haven't had any time to tell anybody, but we
+intended to do it to-day, beginning with you and Uncle Archibald. Harrison
+came over early to the post-office, hoping to find some sort of a note,
+and he was wonderfully astonished when he read what was in the one I put
+there. I told him not to say anything to anybody, and he didn't, but he
+started off for Sadler's immediately, and came almost on a run, he says,
+he was so afraid I might go away before he saw me."
+
+"Margery," exclaimed the elder lady, tears coming into her eyes as she
+spoke, "I am grieved and shocked beyond expression. What can I say to my
+husband? What can I say to your mother? From the bottom of my heart I wish
+we had not brought you with us; but how could I dream that all this
+trouble would come of it?"
+
+"It is indeed a very great pity," said Margery, "that Mr. Clyde and I
+could not have been engaged before we went into camp; then Mr. Raybold
+would have had no reason to bother me, and I should have had no trouble
+with Martin."
+
+"Martin!" cried Mrs. Archibald. "What of him?"
+
+"Oh, he was in love with me too," replied the young girl, "and we had
+talks about it, and I sent him away. He was really a young man far above
+his station, and was doing the things he did simply because he wanted to
+study nature; but of course I could not consider him at all."
+
+"And that was the reason he left us!" exclaimed Mrs. Archibald. "Upon my
+word, it is amazing!"
+
+"Yes," said Margery; "and don't you see, Aunt Harriet, how many reasons
+there were why Mr. Clyde and I should settle things definitely and become
+engaged? Now there need be no further trouble with anybody."
+
+Distressed as she was, Mrs. Archibald could not refrain from smiling. "No
+further trouble!" she said. "I think you would better wait until Mr.
+Archibald and your mother have heard this story before you say that."
+
+Mr. Archibald was dressing for breakfast when his wife told him of
+Margery's engagement, and the announcement caused him to twirl around so
+suddenly that he came very near breaking a looking-glass with his
+hair-brush. He made a dash for his coat. "I will see him," he said, and
+his eyes sparkled in a way which indicated that they could discover a
+malefactor without the aid of spectacles.
+
+"Stop!" said his wife, standing in his way. "Don't go to them when you are
+angry. We have just got out of trouble, and don't let us jump into it
+again. If they are really and truly engaged--and I am sure they are--we
+have no authority to break it off, and the less you say the better. What
+we must do is to take her immediately to her mother, and let her settle
+the matter as best she can. If she knows her daughter as well as I do, I
+am sure she will acquit us of all blame."
+
+Mr. Archibald was very indignant and said a great deal, but his wife was
+firm in her counsel to avoid any hard words or bad feeling in a matter
+over which they had now no control.
+
+"Well," said he, at last, "I will pass over the whole affair to Mrs.
+Dearborn, but I hope I may eat my breakfast without seeing them. Whatever
+happens, I need a good meal."
+
+When Mr. Archibald came out of the breakfast-room, his mind considerably
+composed by hot rolls and coffee, he met Margery in the hall.
+
+"Dear Uncle Archibald," she exclaimed, "I have been waiting and waiting
+for you. I hope you are not angry. Please be as kind to us as you can, and
+remember, it was just the same with us as it was with you and Aunt
+Harriet. You would not have run away from the camp in the middle of the
+night if you could have helped it, and we should not have been engaged so
+suddenly if we could have helped it. But we all had to do what we did on
+account of the conduct of others, and as it is settled now, I think we
+ought all to try to be as happy as we can, and forget our troubles. Here
+is Harrison, and he and I both pray from the bottom of our hearts that you
+will shake hands with him. I know you always liked him, for you have said
+so. And now we are both going to mother to tell her all about it."
+
+"Both?" said Mr. Archibald.
+
+"Yes," said Margery; "we must go together, otherwise mother would know
+nothing about him, and I should be talking to no purpose. But we are going
+to do everything frankly and openly and go straight to her, and put our
+happiness in her hands."
+
+Mr. Archibald looked at her steadfastly. "Such ingenuousness," he said,
+presently, "is overpowering. Mr. Clyde, how do you do? Do you think it is
+going to be a fine day?"
+
+The young man smiled. "I think it is going to be a fine lifetime," said
+he.
+
+The party was gathered together on the piazza, ready to take the coach.
+The baggage had arrived from the camp in a cart; but Phil Matlack had not
+come with it, as he remained to take down his tent and settle affairs
+generally. They were all sorry not to see him again, for he had proved
+himself a good man and a good guide; but when grown-up married people
+elope before daybreak something must be expected to go wrong. Hearty and
+substantial remembrances were left for him, and kind words of farewell for
+the bishop, and even for Miss Corona when she should appear.
+
+Peter Sadler was loath to part with his guests. "You are more interesting
+now than ever you were," he said, "and I want to hear all about that
+hermit business; you've just barely mentioned it."
+
+"My dear sir," said Mr. Archibald, with a solemn visage, "sooner or later
+Miss Corona Raybold will present herself at this inn on her way home. If
+you want to know anything about her plan to assist human beings to assert
+their individualities, it will only be necessary to mention the fact to
+her."
+
+"Good-bye, then," said Peter, shaking hands with Mr. and Mrs. Archibald.
+"I don't know what out-of-the-way thing you two will do next, but,
+whatever it is, I hope it will bring you here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+MRS. PERKENPINE DELIGHTS THE BISHOP
+
+
+It was the bishop who first appreciated the fact that a certain air of
+loneliness had descended upon the shore of the lake. He had prepared
+breakfast at his camp, but as Mr. Clyde did not make his appearance he
+went to Camp Rob to look for him. There he saw Matlack and his assistant
+busy in their kitchen tent, and Mrs. Perkenpine was also engaged in
+culinary matters. He had left Arthur Raybold asleep at Camp Roy, but of
+the ladies and gentleman who were usually visible at the breakfast-hour at
+Camp Rob he saw no signs, and he approached Mrs. Perkenpine to inquire for
+Clyde. At his question the sturdy woman turned and smiled. It was a queer
+smile, reminding the bishop of the opening and shutting of a farm gate.
+
+"He's a one-er," said she. "Do you suppose he could ketch a rabbit, no
+matter how fast he ran?"
+
+"Come, now," said the bishop, "he wasn't trying to do that?"
+
+"He was either doin' that, or else he was runnin' away. I seed him early
+this mornin'--I wasn't up, but I was lookin' round--and I thought from the
+way he was actin' that he'd set a rabbit-trap and was goin' to see if he'd
+caught anything, and pretty soon I seed him runnin' like Sam Hill, as if
+his rabbit had got away from him. But perhaps it wasn't that, and maybe
+somebody skeered him. Anyway, he's clean gone."
+
+The bishop stood and reflected; the affair looked serious. Clyde was a
+practical, sensible fellow--and he was gone. Why did he go?
+
+"Have you seen any of the Archibalds yet?" he asked.
+
+"No," said she; "I guess they're not up yet, though it's late for them. My
+young woman ain't up nuther, but it ain't late for her."
+
+The bishop walked slowly towards the cabin and regarded it earnestly.
+After a few minutes inspection he stepped up to the door and knocked. Then
+he knocked again and again, and hearing nothing from within he became
+alarmed, and ran to Matlack.
+
+"Hello!" he cried. "Something has happened to your people, or they have
+gone away. Come to the cabin, quick!"
+
+In less than a minute Matlack, the bishop, and Bill Hammond were at the
+cabin, and the unfastened door was opened wide. No one was in the house,
+that was plain enough, but on the floor were four bags packed for
+transportation.
+
+Matlack looked about him, and then he laughed. "All right," said he;
+"there ain't no need of worryin' ourselves. They haven't left a thing of
+theirs about, everything's packed up and ready to be sent for. When people
+do that, you may be sure nothing's happened to them. They've gone off, and
+I bet it's to get rid of that young woman's preachin'. But I don't blame
+them; I don't wonder they couldn't stand it."
+
+The bishop made no reply. Remembering his recent conversation with Mrs.
+Archibald, he believed that, if they had quietly gone away, there was a
+better reason for it than Miss Raybold's fluency of expression. It was
+possible that something might have happened after he had retired from the
+scene the night before, for when he went to sleep Raybold was still
+walking up and down in the moonlight.
+
+His mind was greatly disturbed. They were gone, and he was left. "What are
+you going to do?" he asked Matlack.
+
+"Nothin' just now," said the guide. "If they don't send for their things
+pretty soon, I'll go over to Sadler's and find out what's the matter. But
+they're all right. Look how careful them bags is strapped up!"
+
+The bishop left the cabin and walked thoughtfully away in the direction of
+Camp Roy. In two minutes he had made up his mind: he would eat his
+breakfast--he could not travel upon an empty stomach--and then he would
+depart. That was imperative.
+
+When he reached the camp he found that Raybold had risen and was pouring
+out for himself a bowl of coffee. Seeing the bishop approach, the young
+man's face grew dark, as might have been expected from the events of the
+night before, and he hurriedly placed some articles of food upon a plate,
+and was about leaving the stove when the bishop reached him. Raybold
+turned with a frown, and what was meant to be a glare.
+
+"I shall bide my time," said he, and with his coffee and his plate he
+retired to a distance.
+
+The bishop smiled but made no answer, and sat down and ate his meal in
+peace; then he prepared to depart. He had nothing but a little bag, and it
+did not take long to put in order the simple culinary department of the
+camp. When all was done he stood for some minutes thinking. There was a
+path through the woods which led to the road, so that he might go on to
+Sadler's without the knowledge of any one at Camp Rob, but he felt that he
+ought to see Matlack and tell him that he was going. If anything went
+wrong at Camp Roy he did not wish to be held responsible for it. Mr.
+Archibald could afford to go away without saying anything about it, but he
+could not, and, besides, if he should happen to see Miss Raybold it would
+be far more gentlemanly to tell her that he was going and to bid her
+goodbye, than to slip off through the woods like a tramp. He would go,
+that he was determined upon; but he would go like a man.
+
+When he reached Camp Rob the first person he saw was Miss Raybold,
+standing near her tent with a roll of paper in her hand. The moment she
+perceived him she walked rapidly towards him.
+
+"Good-morning," she said. "Did you know that the Archibalds had gone? I
+never was so amazed in all my life. I was eating my breakfast when a man
+and a cart drove up to their cabin, and Mrs. Perkenpine, running to see
+what this meant, soon came back and told me that the family of three had
+departed in the night, and had sent this cart for their baggage. I think
+this was a very uncivil proceeding, and I do not in the least understand
+it. Can you imagine any reason for this extremely uncourteous action?"
+
+The bishop could imagine reasons, but he did not care to state them.
+
+"It may be," he said, with a smile, "that they discovered that their
+natures demanded hotel beds instead of camp cots, and that they
+immediately departed in obedience to the mandates of their
+individualities."
+
+"But in so doing," said Miss Raybold, "they violated the principles of
+association. Our scheme included mutual confidence as well as
+self-investigation and assertion. I must admit that Mr. Archibald
+disappointed me. I think he misunderstood my project. By holding one's
+self entirely aloof from humanity one encourages self-ignorance. But
+perhaps our party was somewhat too large--the elements too many and
+inharmonious--and I see no reason why we who remain should relinquish our
+purpose. I believe it will be easier for us to become truly ourselves than
+when our number was greater, and so I propose that we make no change
+whatever in our plans; that we live on, for the time agreed upon, exactly
+as if the Archibalds were here. And now, if you have a few minutes to
+spare, I would like to read you something I wrote this morning before I
+left my tent. I was awake during the night, and thought for a long time
+upon the subject of mental assimilation, the discussion of which we did
+not finish last evening, and this morning, while my thoughts were fresh, I
+put them upon paper, and now I would like to read them to you. Isn't there
+some shady place where we might sit down? There are two camp-chairs; will
+you kindly place them under this tree?"
+
+The bishop sighed, but he went for the chairs. It would be too hard for
+him to tell her he was going to leave the camp, and he would not try to do
+it. He would slip off as soon as he had a chance, and leave a note for
+her. She would not perhaps like that, but it was the best he could do.
+
+The reading of the paper occupied at least half an hour, and when it was
+finished, and Corona had begun to make some remarks on a portion of it
+which she had not fully elaborated, Mrs. Perkenpine approached, and stood
+before her.
+
+"Well, miss," said she, "I'm off."
+
+Miss Raybold fixed her eye-glasses upon her. "What do you mean?" she
+asked.
+
+"I'm goin' back to Sadler's," she replied. "Phil's goin', and I'm goin'.
+He's jest told me that the cart's comin' back for the kitchen fixin's and
+his things, and him and Bill Hammond is goin' to Sadler's with it; and if
+he goes, I goes."
+
+This speech had a very different effect upon its two hearers. Corona was
+as nearly angry as her self-contained nature would permit; but, although
+he did not allow his feelings to betray him, the bishop was delighted. Now
+they must all go, and that suited him exactly.
+
+"It is a positive and absolute breach of contract!" exclaimed Miss
+Raybold. "You agreed to remain in my service during my stay in camp, and
+you have no right to go away now, no matter who else may depart."
+
+Mrs. Perkenpine grinned. "That sort of thing was all very well a week
+ago," said she, "but it won't work now. I've been goin' to school to
+myself pretty steady, and I've kept myself in a good deal, too, for not
+knowin' my lessons, and I've drummed into me a pretty good idea of what I
+be, and I can tell you I'm not a woman as stays here when Phil Matlack's
+gone. I'm not a bit scary, but I never stayed in camp yet with all
+greenhorns but me. When I find myself in that sort of a mess, it's my
+nater to get out of it. Phil says he's goin' to start the fust thing this
+afternoon, and that's the time I'm goin', and so, if you would like to go,
+you can send word by that man in the cart to have you and your things sent
+for, and we can all clear out together."
+
+"Positively," exclaimed Corona, turning to the bishop, "this is the most
+high-handed proceeding I ever heard of!"
+
+"That's 'xactly what I think," said Mrs. Perkenpine; "it most takes my
+breath away to think how high-handed I am. Before I knowed myself I
+couldn't have been that way to save my skin. There didn't use to be any
+individdlety about me. You might take a quart of huckleberries and ask
+yourself what it was particular 'bout any one of them
+huckleberries--'xceptin' it might be green, and it's a long time since I
+was that way--and you'd know jest as much about that huckleberry as I
+knowed about myself. Now it's different. It's just the same as if there
+was only one huckleberry in a quart box, and it ain't no trouble to see
+all around that."
+
+"I think, Miss Raybold," said the bishop, "that this good woman has
+prosecuted her psychical researches with more effect than any of us."
+
+"Bosh!" exclaimed Miss Raybold. "Do you really think I must leave this
+camp at the dictation of that person?"
+
+"'Scuse me," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "but I'm goin' to scratch things
+together for movin'. We'll have dinner here, and then we'll pack up and be
+off as soon as the carts come. That's what Phil says he's goin' to do."
+
+With a satisfied mind and internal gratitude to Mrs. Perkenpine, who had
+made everything easy for him, the bishop endeavored to make Corona feel
+that, as her departure from the camp was inevitable, it would be well not
+to disturb her mind too much about it. But it was of no use trying to
+console the lady.
+
+"It is too bad," she said; "it is humiliating. Here I believed that I was
+truly myself; that I was an independent entity; that I was free to assert
+my individual nature and to obey its impulses, and now I find that I am
+nothing but the slave of a female guide. Actually I must obey her, and I
+must conform to her!"
+
+"It is true," said the bishop, musingly, "that although we may discover
+ourselves, and be greatly pleased with the prospect of what we see, we may
+not be permitted to enter into its enjoyment, and must content ourselves
+with looking over the fence and longing for what we see."
+
+Corona faintly smiled. "When we have climbed high enough to see over that
+fence," she said, "it becomes our duty to break it down."
+
+"When I was in England," said the bishop, "I saw a fence--an oak
+fence--which they told me had stood for four hundred years. It looked
+awfully tough, and it now reminds me of some of the manners and customs of
+civilization."
+
+"When you were in England," said Corona, "did you visit Newnham College?"
+
+He never had. But she told him that she had been there for two years. "And
+now," she continued, "there may be time enough before I must pack up my
+effects to finish what I was going to say to you about approximate
+assimilations."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE HERMITS CONTINUE TO FAVOR ASSOCIATION
+
+
+When the Archibald party reached the capital city of their State, the four
+of them took a carriage and drove immediately to the Dearborn residence.
+Margery had insisted that Mr. Clyde should go with them, so that he and
+she should present themselves together before her parents. In no other way
+did she believe that the subject could be properly presented. The
+Archibalds did not object to this plan; in fact, under the circumstances,
+they were in favor of it. During the journey young Clyde had produced a
+very favorable impression upon them. They had always liked him well
+enough, and now that they examined his character more critically, they
+could not fail to see that he was a kind-hearted, gentlemanly young man,
+intelligent and well educated, and, according to private information from
+Margery, his family was of the best.
+
+Arrived at the Dearborn door, they found the house in the possession of
+one female servant, who informed them that Mr. Dearborn was in Canada, on
+a fishing expedition; that Mrs. Dearborn had gone to attend some sort of a
+congress at Saratoga, and that she did not expect to be at home until the
+following Friday, three days after, which was the day on which she had
+expected her daughter to be brought back to her. This was disheartening,
+and the four stood upon the steps irresolute. Margery ought to go to her
+mother, but neither of the Archibalds wished to go to Saratoga, nor could
+they despatch thither the prematurely betrothed couple.
+
+"I know what we must do," said Mrs. Archibald, "we must go home."
+
+"But, my dear," said her husband, "we agreed to stay away for a month, and
+the month is not yet up."
+
+"It doesn't matter," said she. "Kate and her husband will take us in for
+the few days left. When we explain all that we have gone through, she will
+not be hard-hearted enough to make us go to a hotel until Friday; Margery
+can come with us."
+
+Margery turned upon Mrs. Archibald a pair of eyes filled with earnest
+inquiry.
+
+"I know what you want," said Mrs. Archibald. "No, he can go to a hotel in
+the town; and I shall write to your mother to come to us as soon as she
+returns; then you two can present yourselves together according to your
+plans. There is no use talking about it, Hector; it is the only thing we
+can do."
+
+"We shall break our word to the newly married," said her husband. "Isn't
+there a State law against that?"
+
+"When we made that arrangement," said his wife, going down the steps, "we
+did not know our individual selves; now we do, and the case is different.
+Kate will understand all that when I explain it to her."
+
+They drove back to the station, and took a train for home.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Bringhurst were sitting in the cool library about nine
+o'clock that evening; he was reading while she was listening, and they
+were greatly astonished when they heard a carriage drive up to the front
+door. During their domestic honey-moon they had received no visitors, and
+they looked at each other and wondered.
+
+"It is a mistake," said he; "but don't trouble yourself. Mary has not gone
+to bed, and she will hear the bell."
+
+But there was no bell; the door was opened, and in came father and mother,
+followed by a strange young couple.
+
+"It is wonderful!" exclaimed Kate, when at last everybody had been
+embraced or introduced. "A dozen times during the last week have we talked
+about the delight it would give us if our father and mother could be here
+to be entertained a little while as our guests in our own house--for you
+gave it to us for a month, you know. But we refrained from sending you an
+invitation because we did not want to cut off your holiday. And now you
+are here! The good fairies could not have arranged the matter better."
+
+When all the tales had been told; when the assertion of individuality and
+the plans of hermit association had been described and discussed, and the
+young Bringhursts had told how they, too, without knowing it, had been
+associate hermits, devoting their time not to the discovery of their own
+natures, but of the nature of each other, and how perfectly satisfied they
+had been with the results, it was very late, and young Clyde was not
+allowed to go out into the darkness to find a hotel.
+
+It was on Thursday afternoon that Mrs. Dearborn arrived at the Archibalds'
+house. The letter she had received had made her feel that she could not
+wait until the end of the congress.
+
+"Now, mother," said Margery, when the two were alone together, "you have
+seen him and you have talked to him, and Uncle Hector has told you how he
+went to the office of Glassborough & Clyde and found he was really their
+nephew, and all about him and his family; and you have been told precisely
+why it was necessary that we should engage ourselves so abruptly on
+account of the violent nature of Mr. Raybold and the trouble he might
+cause, not only to us, but to dear Aunt Harriet and Uncle Archibald. And
+now we come just like two of your own children and put the whole matter
+entirely into your hands and leave you to decide, out of your own heart,
+exactly when and where we shall be married, and all about it. Then, when
+father comes home, you can tell him just what you have decided to do. You
+are our parents, and we leave it to you."
+
+"What in the world," said Mrs. Dearborn, an hour later, when she was
+talking to the two married ladies of the household, "can one do with a
+girl like that? I do not believe dynamite would blow them apart; and if I
+thought it would I should not know how to manage it."
+
+"No," said Mrs. Archibald, "I am afraid the explosion would be as bad for
+you as it would be for them."
+
+"Don't try it," said Mrs. Kate. "I take a great interest in that budding
+bit of felicity; I consider it an outgrowth of our own marriage and
+honey-moon. When we sent out that wild couple, my father and mother, on a
+wedding-tour, we did not dream that they would bring back to us a pair of
+lovers, who never would have been lovers if it had not been for us, and
+who are now ready for a wedding-tour on their own account, as soon as
+circumstances may permit. And so, feeling a little right and privilege in
+the matter, I am going to ask you, Mrs. Dearborn, to let them be married
+here whenever the wedding-day shall come, and let them start out from this
+house on their marriage career. Now don't you think that would be a fine
+plan? I am sure your daughter will like it, when she remembers what she
+owes us; and if Mr. Clyde objects I will undertake to make him change his
+mind."
+
+When the plan was proposed in full counsel, it was found that there would
+be no need for the exercise of Mrs. Kate's powers of persuasion.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+About ten days after Mrs. Dearborn and Margery had returned to their home,
+and Clyde had followed, to move like a satellite in an orbit determined by
+Mrs. Dearborn, Mr. Archibald was surprised, but also very much pleased, to
+receive a visit from the bishop.
+
+"I could not refrain," said that expansive individual, "from coming to you
+as soon as circumstances would allow, and, while expressing to you the
+great obligations under which you have placed me, to confide to you my
+plans and my prospects. You have been so good to me that I believe you
+will be pleased to know of the life work to which I have determined to
+devote myself."
+
+"I am glad to hear," said the other, "that you have made plans, but you
+owe nothing to me."
+
+"Excuse me," said the bishop, "but I do. This suit of clothes, sir, is the
+foundation of my fortunes."
+
+"And well earned," said Mr. Archibald. "But we will say no more about
+that. Have you secured a position? Tell me about yourself."
+
+"I have a position," said the bishop. "But would you prefer that I tell
+you of that first, or begin at the beginning and briefly relate to you
+what has happened since I saw you last?"
+
+"Oh, begin at the beginning, by all means," said Mr. Archibald. "I was
+sorry to be obliged to leave you all so unceremoniously, and I greatly
+desire to know what happened after we left."
+
+"Very good, then," said the bishop, "I will give you our history in as few
+words as I can. On the afternoon after your departure we all went to
+Sadler's--that is, Miss Raybold and myself and the three guides; for
+Raybold, when he heard that Miss Dearborn and Mr. Clyde had gone,
+immediately left for Sadler's, hoping, I think, to find you all there.
+From what I heard, I think he and Peter Sadler must have had words. At any
+rate, he discovered that his case was hopeless, and he had himself driven
+to the station in a carriage, not choosing to wait until our arrival. I
+have since heard that he has determined to relinquish the law and devote
+himself to the dramatic arts.
+
+"For some reason or other, Peter Sadler was very glad to see me, and
+congratulated me heartily on the favorable change in my appearance. He
+called me his favorite tramp, and invited me to stop at his hotel for a
+time, but I consented to stay a few days only, for I felt I must go to see
+the gentleman to whom I wished to engage myself as librarian before my new
+clothes had lost their freshness. Miss Raybold arranged to stay at
+Sadler's for a week. She liked the place, and as she had planned to remain
+away from home for a fortnight, she did not wish to return before the time
+fixed upon. There were a good many people at Sadler's, but none of them
+seemed to interest her. She decidedly preferred to talk to Sadler or to
+me; but although Peter is a jolly fellow, and had some lively
+conversations with her, he does not seem to care for protracted mental
+intercourse, and it became so plain to me that she depended upon me, in so
+large a degree, for companionship and intellectual stimulus, that I did
+not leave as soon as I intended. It was on Wednesday, in fact, that I
+steeled my heart and told her that I must positively depart early the
+following morning, or I could not expect to reach my destination before
+the end of the week. It was that evening, however, that we became engaged
+to be married."
+
+"What?" cried Mr. Archibald. "Did you dare to propose yourself to that
+classic being?"
+
+"No," replied the other, "I cannot, with exactness, say that I did. It
+would be difficult, indeed, for me to describe the manner in which we
+arrived at this most satisfactory conclusion. Miss Raybold is a mistress
+of expression, and, without moving a hair's-breadth beyond the lines of
+maidenly reserve which always environ her, she made me aware, not only
+that I desired to propose marriage to her, but that it would be well for
+me to do so. There were objections to this course, which, as an honest
+man, I could not refrain from laying before her, and with my proposition I
+stated these objections, but they were overruled to my entire
+satisfaction, and she consented to become Mrs. Bishop."
+
+"Mrs. Bishop?" said the other, inquiringly.
+
+"Oh yes; Bishop is my name--Henry C. Bishop. It was this name which
+suggested the title which was playfully given to me. Before our compact
+was made I had told Miss Raybold all about my family. She did not ask me
+to do so, but I knew she desired the information, for I had learned to
+read those beautiful eyes."
+
+"But," said Mr. Archibald, "how about your position? Did you get the place
+as librarian?"
+
+"No," said the other, "I did not ask for it. The question of my vocation
+has been settled most admirably. There never was a human being more frank,
+more straightforward and pertinent than Miss Raybold. She knows what she
+wants, and she makes her plans to get it. With regard to means she is
+sufficiently endowed, but the life work to which she has devoted herself
+is far more than she can ever accomplish alone. She needs the constant
+assistance of a sympathetic and appreciative nature, and that, I am happy
+to say, I am able to give to her; and were I to devote myself to any other
+calling which would interfere with that assistance, I should be doing her
+a positive wrong. Therefore, should I state it in definite words, I should
+say that I am to become my wife's private secretary. That is my position,
+and it suits me admirably; and I may add that Corona assures me that she
+is thoroughly well pleased. We are to be married in the fall, and I hope
+it will not be long before we shall have the pleasure of meeting again our
+former companions of the hermit camp."
+
+"By-the-way," said Mr. Archibald, as his visitor was about to leave, "tell
+me something of Matlack. I had a great liking for our guide."
+
+"All that I can tell you is this," said Mr. Bishop, smiling: "Not long
+after we arrived at Sadler's, he went to Peter and asked him if he
+intended to send out a camping party to any considerable distance. It so
+happened that a couple of gentlemen were going to a point on the very
+limits of Sadler's jurisdiction, and with them Matlack petitioned to go,
+although another guide had been appointed. I made inquiries, and found
+that, for some reason, probably connected with the persistencies of the
+female sex, Matlack had become a sort of Daniel Boone and wanted to go
+away as far as possible from his kind."
+
+"I hope," said Mr. Archibald, "that our example has not made a real hermit
+of him. Good-bye. I am very sorry that Mrs. Archibald is not at home; but
+in both our names I wish you and your future wife the best of good
+fortunes."
+
+"Father," exclaimed Mrs. Kate, when she heard of this interview, "now you
+must grant me one more favor! Here is another pair of lovers who owe
+everything to our honey-moon and your wedding-tour. We ought to know them,
+for we made them what they are. So let us invite them here, and let them
+be married from this house. I do not believe Miss Raybold has a proper
+home of her own; and, in any case, the only way they can pay us what they
+owe us is to give us the pleasure of seeing them wedded here."
+
+Mr. Archibald rose to his feet. "No, madam!" said he. "I am willing, to a
+certain extent, to make this house a source of hymeneal felicity, but I
+draw the line at the bishop. I do not intend that my home shall become a
+matrimonial factory!"
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+By MARIA LOUISE POOL
+
+THE RED-BRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD.
+  Illustrated by Clifford Carleton. $1 50.
+
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+
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+
+Novels. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental.
+
+The author's narrative gift is as nearly perfect as one could
+wish.--_Chicago Interior._
+
+Miss Pool's novels have the characteristic qualities of American
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+instinct with American feeling and purpose.--_New York Tribune._
+
+Miss Pool is one of the most distinctive and powerful of novelists
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+By MARY E. WILKINS
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+SILENCE, and Other Stories. Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 25.
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+--_N. Y. Times._
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+By RICHARD HARDING DAVIS
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+Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental
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+
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+THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF AN OLD MAID.
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