diff options
Diffstat (limited to '30075-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 30075-h/30075-h.htm | 12354 |
1 files changed, 6177 insertions, 6177 deletions
diff --git a/30075-h/30075-h.htm b/30075-h/30075-h.htm index 8ab771c..7a44418 100644 --- a/30075-h/30075-h.htm +++ b/30075-h/30075-h.htm @@ -1,6177 +1,6177 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
-"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
-<head>
-<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
-<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Next-Door Neighbors, by By Belle K. Maniates.</title>
-
-<style type="text/css">
- @media screen {
- hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none;border-top:thin dashed silver;}
- .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; text-indent: 0; 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;}
- .pncolor {color: silver;}
- }
- @media print {
- hr.pb {border:none;page-break-after: always;}
- .pagenum { display:none; }
- }
- body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;}
- p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;}
-
- blockquote {display: block; margin: .75em 5%; font-size: 90%;}
- h1 {font-size:1.8em;}
- h1,h2,h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal;}
- h2 {font-size:1.6em;}
- h3 {font-size:1.4em;}
- hr.p10 {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width: 5%;}
- p.tp {font-size:1em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center;}
-
- .caption {font-size: 90%; text-align:center;}
- .chsp {margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;}
- .figcenter {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center; width: auto;}
- .figtag {height: 1px;}
- .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;}
- .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;}
- a {text-decoration: none;}
- p.cg {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: left; width: 101%;}
- p.ralign {text-align: right !important;}
- span.rindent11 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 4.4em; display: block; float: right;}
- span.rindent4 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 1.6em; display: block; float: right;}
- span.rindent6 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 2.4em; display: block; float: right;}
- span.rindent8 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 3.2em; display: block; float: right;}
- table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;}
- td.chalgn {text-align:right; margin-top:0; padding-right:1em;}
-</style>
-
-</head>
-<body>
-<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30075 ***</div>
-
-<h1>OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS</h1>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:10px;'>By Belle K. Maniates</p>
-<table summary=''><tr><td>
-<p class='cg'>AMARILLY OF CLOTHES-LINE ALLEY<br />
-MILDEW MANCE<br />
-OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS</p>
-</td></tr></table>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-000.jpg' alt='' title='' width='338' height='453' /><br />
-<p class='caption'>
-“What’s your rush?” I asked, when I had overtaken him.<br />
-<span class='smcap'>Frontispiece.</span> <i>See page 114.</i><br />
-</p>
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:2.2em;margin-top:40px;margin-bottom:20px;'>Our Next-Door<br />Neighbors</p>
-<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:10px;'>By</p>
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:20px;'>Belle Kanaris Maniates</p>
-<p class='tp' >With illustrations by</p>
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:larger;'>Tony Sarg</p>
-<div style='margin:25px auto; text-align:center;'>
-<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-001.jpg' />
-</div>
-<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:40px;font-size:1.3em;'>Boston<br />
-Little, Brown, and Company<br />
-1917</p>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<p class='tp' ><i>Copyright, 1917</i>,</p>
-<p class='tp' ><span class='smcap'>By Little, Brown, and Company.</span></p>
-<hr class='p10' />
-<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:20px;'><i>All rights reserved</i></p>
-<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:60px;'>Published February, 1917</p>
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:40px;'>Norwood Press<br />
-Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Cushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.<br />
-Presswork by The Colonial Press, Boston, Mass., U.S.A.</p>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'>
-<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-002.jpg' />
-</div>
-<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>I</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>About Silvia and Myself</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I__ABOUT_SILVIA_AND_MYSELF'>1</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>II</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Introducing Our Next-door Neighbors</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II__INTRODUCING_OUR_NEXTDOOR_NEIGHBORS'>9</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>III</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Are Pestered by Polydores</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III__IN_WHICH_WE_ARE_PESTERED_BY_POLYDORES'>28</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IV</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Take Boarders</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_BOARDERS'>45</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>V</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Take a Vacation</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_A_VACATION'>62</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VI</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>A Flirt and a Woman-Hater</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI__A_FLIRT_AND_A_WOMANHATER'>78</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VII</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which Nothing Much Happens</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII__IN_WHICH_NOTHING_MUCH_HAPPENS'>91</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VIII</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Ptolemy Disappears and I Visit a Haunted House</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII__PTOLEMY_DISAPPEARS_AND_I_VISIT_A_HAUNTED_HOUSE'>100</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IX</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We See Ghosts</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX__IN_WHICH_WE_SEE_GHOSTS'>124</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>X</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Make Some Discoveries</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X_IN_WHICH_WE_MAKE_SOME_DISCOVERIES'>139</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XI</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>A Bad Means to a Good End</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI__A_BAD_MEANS_TO_A_GOOD_END'>153</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XII</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>“<span class='smcap'>Too Much Polydores</span>”</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII__TOO_MUCH_POLYDORES'>165</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIII</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Rob’s Friend the Reporter</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII__ROBS_FRIEND_THE_REPORTER'>174</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIV</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>A Midnight Excursion</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV__A_MIDNIGHT_EXCURSION'>196</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XV</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>What Miss Frayne Found Out</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV__WHAT_MISS_FRAYNE_FOUND_OUT'>204</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVI</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Ptolemy’s Tale</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI__PTOLEMYS_TALE'>214</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVII</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>All About Uncle Issachar’s Visit</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII__ALL_ABOUT_UNCLE_ISSACHARS_VISIT'>230</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVIII</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which I Decide on Extreme Measures</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII__IN_WHICH_I_DECIDE_ON_EXTREME_MEASURES'>255</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIX</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Which Has to Do with Some Letters</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX_WHICH_HAS_TO_DO_WITH_SOME_LETTERS'>268</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XX</td>
- <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>“The Money We Earnt for You”</span></td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX_THE_MONEY_WE_EARNT_FOR_YOU'>277</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'>
-<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-003.jpg' />
-</div>
-<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Illustrations' style='margin:1em auto;'>
-<col style='width:75%;' />
-<col style='width:25%;' />
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>“What’s your rush?” I asked, when I had overtaken him.</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_1'><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>Uncle Issachar</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_2'>10</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>Dr. Felix Polydore</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_3'>23</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>“Lucien Wade!” she gasped. “Here are our letters to Beth and Rob.”</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_12'>81</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>He pleaded eloquently to be taken with us.</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_17'>103</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>I babbled aimlessly to myself and then managed to pull together and beat it to the lake</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_20'>127</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>The landlady intears waylaid me</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_21'>133</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>I had to carry Diogenes most of the way</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_28'>169</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>Now and then above his howls, I heard Silvia’s plaintive protests outside the door</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_31'>193</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>I held out my hand, which he shook solemnly, but with an injured air</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_38'>225</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>“He went to the front window and dropped a young kitten down on the old gent’s head.”</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_41'>243</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
- <td valign='top' align='left'>“We heard a suppressed sneeze, and Rob pulled Emerald from underneath.”</td>
- <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_44'>257</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
-<p style='text-align:center;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:1.4em;'>OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOURS</p>
-<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'>
-<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-004.jpg' />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_I__ABOUT_SILVIA_AND_MYSELF' id='CHAPTER_I__ABOUT_SILVIA_AND_MYSELF'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter I</span></h2>
-<h3><i>About Silvia and Myself</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Some people have children born unto
-them, some acquire children and
-others have children thrust upon
-them. Silvia and I are of the last named
-class. We have no offspring of our own,
-but yesterday, today, and forever we have
-those of our neighbor.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span></div>
-<p>We were born and bred in the same little
-home-grown city and as a small boy, even,
-I was Silvia’s worshiper, but perforce a
-worshiper from afar.</p>
-<p>Her upcoming had been supervised by a
-grimalkin governess who drew around the
-form of her young charge the awful circle
-of exclusiveness, intercourse with child-kind
-being strictly prohibited.</p>
-<p>Children are naturally gregarious little
-creatures, however, and Silvia on rare
-occasions managed to break parole and
-make adroit escape from surveillance.
-Then she would speed to the top of the
-boundary wall that separated the stable
-precincts from an alluring alley which
-was the playground of the plebeian progeny
-of the humble born.</p>
-<p>To the circle of dirty but fascinating
-ragamuffins she became an interested tangent,
-a silent observer. Here I had my
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
-first meeting with her. I was not of her
-class, neither was I to the alley born, but
-sailed in the sane mid-channel that ameliorates
-the distinction between high and
-low life.</p>
-<p>On this eventful day I was taking a
-short cut on my way to school. One of
-the group of alleyites, with the inherent
-friendliness of the unchartered but big-hearted
-members of the silt of the stream
-of humans, had proffered to little Silvia
-a chip on which was a patch of mud designed
-to become a fruitcake stuffed with
-pebbles in lieu of raisins and frosted with
-moistened ashes. Before the enticing
-pastime of transformation was begun,
-however, Silvia was swiftly snatched from
-the contaminating midst and borne away
-over the ramparts.</p>
-<p>Thereafter I haunted the alley, hoping
-for another glimpse of the little picture
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
-girl on the wall. At last I attained my
-desire. One Saturday afternoon I saw her
-coming, alone, down a long rosebush bordered
-path. A thrill ran through me.
-Our eyes met. Yet all I found to say
-was: “C’mon over.”</p>
-<p>She responded to this invitation and I
-helped her over the wall. She looked
-longingly at the Irish playing in the mud,
-but a clean sandpile in my own backyard
-not far away seemed to me a more fitting
-environment for one so daintily clad.</p>
-<p>We played undisturbed for a never-to-be-forgotten
-half hour and then they found
-her out. Reprimanding voices jangled and
-the whole world was out of tune.</p>
-<p>Thereafter a strict watch was kept on
-little Silvia’s movements and I saw her
-only at rare intervals, when she was
-going into church or as she rode past our
-house. She always remembered me and
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span>
-on such meetings a faint, reminiscent smile
-lighted the somber little face and her
-eyes met mine as if in a mysterious promise.</p>
-<p>She grew up an outlawed, isolated child
-deprived of her birthright, but in spite of
-the handicaps of so barren a childhood,
-she achieved young womanhood unspoiled
-and in possession of her early democratic
-tendencies.</p>
-<p>When I was making a modest start
-in a legal way, her parents died and left
-her with that most unprofitable of legacies,
-an encumbered estate. Then I dared
-to renew our acquaintance begun on the
-sandpile. She went to live with a poor
-but practical relation and was initiated
-into the science of stretching an inadequate
-income to meet everyday needs.
-In time I wooed and won her.</p>
-<p>We set up housekeeping in a small,
-thriving mid-Western city where I secured
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>
-a partnership in a legal firm. Silvia
-had all the requisites of mind and manner
-and Domestic Science necessary to a
-“hearth-and home-” maker.</p>
-<p>We lived in a house which was one of
-many made to the same measure with
-the inevitable street porch, big window,
-trimmed lawn in front and garden in
-the rear. We had attained the standard of
-prosperity maintained in our home town
-by keeping “hired help” and installing
-a telephone, so our social status was
-fixed.</p>
-<p>There was but one adjunct missing to
-our little Arcadia. While at a word or
-look children flocked to me like friendly
-puppies in response to a call, to Silvia
-they were still an unknown quantity.</p>
-<p>I had hoped that her understanding
-and love for children might be developed
-in the usual and natural way, but we had
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>
-now been married ten years and this hope
-had not been realized.</p>
-<p>She had tried most assiduously to cultivate
-an acquaintance with members of
-child-world, but into that kingdom there
-is no open sesame. The sure keen intuition
-of a child recognizes on sight a kindred
-spirit and Silvia’s forced advances
-met with but indifferent response. She
-wistfully proposed to me one day that we
-adopt a child. My doubts as to the
-advisability of such a course were confirmed
-by Huldah, our strong staff in
-household help. In our section of the
-country servants were generally quite conversant
-with the intimate and personal
-affairs of the home.</p>
-<p>“Don’t you never do it, Mr. Wade,” she
-counseled. “Ready-mades ain’t for the
-likes of her.”</p>
-<p>When, in acting on this advice, I vetoed
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span>
-Silvia’s lukewarm proposition, I was convinced
-of Huldah’s wisdom by seeing the
-look of relief that flashed into my wife’s
-troubled countenance, and I knew that
-her suggestion had been but a perfunctory
-prompting of duty.</p>
-<p>Time alone could overcome the effects of
-her early environment!</p>
-<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'>
-<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-005.jpg' />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></div>
-<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'>
-<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-006.jpg' />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_II__INTRODUCING_OUR_NEXTDOOR_NEIGHBORS' id='CHAPTER_II__INTRODUCING_OUR_NEXTDOOR_NEIGHBORS'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter II</span></h2>
-<h3><i>Introducing Our Next-door Neighbors</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>One morning Silvia and I lingered
-over our coffee cups discussing our
-plans for the coming summer, which
-included visits from my sister Beth and my
-college chum, Rob Rossiter. We wished
-to avoid having their arrivals occur
-simultaneously, however, because Rob was
-a woman-hater, or thought he was. We
-decided to have Beth pay her visit first
-and later take Rob with us on our vacation
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span>
-trip to some place where the fishing facilities
-would be to our liking. However,
-summer vacation time like our plans was
-yet far, vague and dim.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-007.jpg' alt='' title='' width='210' height='278' /><br />
-</div>
-<p>While I was putting on my overcoat,
-Silvia had gone to the window and was
-looking pensively at the vacant house next
-to ours.</p>
-<p>“I fear,” she said abruptly and irrelevantly,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
-“that we are destined to receive
-no part of Uncle Issachar’s fortune.”</p>
-<p>Uncle Issachar was a wealthy but eccentric
-relative of my wife. He had made us
-no wedding gift beyond his best wishes,
-but he had then informed us that at the
-birth of each of our prospective sons he
-should place in the bank to Silvia’s account
-the sum of five thousand dollars. We had
-never invited him to visit us or made any
-overtures in the way of communication with
-him, lest he should think we were cultivating
-his acquaintance from mercenary motives.</p>
-<p>While I was debating whether the
-lament in Silvia’s tone was for the loss of
-the money or the lack of children, she
-again spoke; this time in a tone which
-had lost its languor.</p>
-<p>“There is a big moving van in front of
-the house next door. At last we will
-have some near neighbors.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span></div>
-<p>“Are they unloading furniture?” I
-asked inanely, crossing to the window.</p>
-<p>“No; course not,” came cheerfully from
-Huldah, who had come in to remove the
-dishes. “Most likely they are unloading
-lions and tigers.”</p>
-<p>As I have already intimated, Huldah
-was a privileged servant.</p>
-<p>“They are unloading children!” explained
-Silvia, in a tone implying that
-Huldah’s sarcastic implication would be
-infinitely more preferable. “The van
-seems to be overflowing with them––a
-perfect crowd. Do you suppose the house
-is to be used as an orphan asylum?”</p>
-<p>“I think not,” I assured her as I counted
-the flock. Five children would seem like
-a crowd to Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Boys!” exclaimed Huldah tragically,
-as she joined us for a survey. “I’ll see that
-they don’t keep the grass off our lawn.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div>
-<p>Late that afternoon I opened the outer
-door of the dining-room in response to the
-rap of strenuously applied knuckles.</p>
-<p>A lad of about eleven years with the
-sardonic face of a satyr and diabolically
-bright eyes peered into the room.</p>
-<p>“We’re going to have soup for dinner,”
-he announced, “and mother wants to borrow
-a soup plate for father to eat his out of.”</p>
-<p>Silvia stared at him aghast. She seemed
-to feel something compelling in the boy’s
-personnel, however, and she went to the
-china closet and brought forth a soup plate
-which she handed to him without comment.</p>
-<p>In silence we watched him run across
-the lawn, twirling the plate deftly above
-his head in juggler fashion.</p>
-<p>The next day when we sat down to
-dinner our new young neighbor again
-appeared on our threshold.</p>
-<p>“Halloa!” he called chummily. “We
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
-are going to have soup again and we want
-a soup plate for father.”</p>
-<p>“Where is the one I loaned you yesterday?”
-demanded Silvia in a tone far
-below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, while
-her features assumed a frigidity that would
-have congealed father’s favorite sustenance
-had it been in her vicinity.</p>
-<p>“Oh, we broke that!” he casually and
-cheerfully explained.</p>
-<p>With much reluctance Silvia bestowed
-another plate upon the young applicant.</p>
-<p>“Wait!” I said as he started to leave,
-“don’t you want the soup tureen, too, or
-the ladle and some soup spoons?”</p>
-<p>“No, thank you,” he answered politely.
-“None of the rest of us like soup, so we
-dish father’s up in the kitchen. He
-doesn’t like soup particularly, but he eats
-it because it goes down quick and lets him
-have more time for work.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></div>
-<p>This time as he sped homeward, he
-didn’t spin the plate in air, but tried
-out a new plan of balancing it on a
-stick.</p>
-<p>“I think,” I suggested gently, when our
-young neighbor was lost to our sorrowful
-sight, “that it might be well to invest in
-another dozen or so of soup plates. I will
-see about getting them at wholesale rates.
-Our supply will soon give out if our new
-neighbors continue to cultivate the soup
-and borrowing habit.”</p>
-<p>“I will buy some at the five cent store,”
-replied Silvia. “I think I had better call
-upon them tomorrow and see what manner
-of people they can be.”</p>
-<p>When I came home the next day it was
-quite evident that she had called.</p>
-<p>“Well,” I inquired, “what do they keep––a
-soup house?”</p>
-<p>“They are literary people, the highest of
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
-high-brows. Their name is Polydore, and
-the head of the house–––”</p>
-<p>“Mr. or Mrs.?” I interrupted.</p>
-<p>“The head of the house,” pursued Silvia,
-ignoring my question, “is a collector.”</p>
-<p>“So I inferred. Has he a large collection
-of soup plates?”</p>
-<p>“She collects antiquities and writes their
-history. He pursues science.”</p>
-<p>“They were seemingly communicative.
-What did they look like?”</p>
-<p>“I didn’t see them. After I rang I heard
-a woman’s voice bidding some one not to
-answer the bell. She said she couldn’t be
-bothered with interruptions, so I went on
-up the street to call on Mrs. Fleming, who
-told me all about them. She was also refused
-admittance when she called. On my way
-home I met that boy––that awful boy–––”</p>
-<p>She paused, evidently overcome by the
-consideration of his awfulness.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></div>
-<p>“He had been digging bait––”</p>
-<p>Again she paused as if words were inadequate
-for her climax.</p>
-<p>“Well,” I encouraged.</p>
-<p>“He was carrying his bait––horrid,
-wriggling angleworms––in our soup
-plate!”</p>
-<p>“Then it is not broken yet!” I exclaimed
-joyfully. “Let us hope it is given
-an antiseptic bath before father’s next
-indulgence in consommé. After dinner I
-will go over and try my luck at paying my
-respects to the soup savant.”</p>
-<p>“They won’t let you in.”</p>
-<p>“In that case I shall follow their lead of
-setting aside all ceremony and formality
-and admit myself, as their heir apparent
-does here.”</p>
-<p>After dinner and my twilight smoke, I
-went next door, first asking Silvia if there
-was anything we needed that I could
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span>
-borrow, just to show them there were no
-hard feelings.</p>
-<p>My third vigorous ring brought results.
-A slipshod servant appeared and
-reluctantly seated me in the hall. She
-read with seeming interest the card I
-handed to her and then, pushing aside
-some mangy looking portières, vanished
-from view.</p>
-<p>She evidently delivered my card, for I
-heard a woman’s voice read my name,
-“Mr. Lucien Wade.”</p>
-<p>After another short interval the slovenly
-servant returned and offered me my
-card.</p>
-<p>“She seen it,” she assured me in answer
-to my look of surprise.</p>
-<p>She again put the portières between us
-and I was obliged to own myself baffled
-in my efforts to break in. I was showing
-myself out when my onward course was
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span>
-deflected by a troop of noisy children
-leaded by the soup plate skirmisher, who
-was the oldest and apparently the leader
-of the brood.</p>
-<p>“Oh, halloa!” he greeted me with the
-air of an old acquaintance, “didn’t you
-see the folks?”</p>
-<p>On my informing him that I had seen
-no one but the servant, he exclaimed:</p>
-<p>“Oh, that chicken wouldn’t know
-enough to ask you in! Just follow us.
-Mother wouldn’t remember to come out.”</p>
-<p>I was loth to force my presence on
-mother, but by this time my hospitable
-young friend had pulled the portières so
-strenuously that they parted from the pole,
-and I was presented willy nilly to the
-collector of antiquities, who had the
-angular sharp-cut face and form of a
-rocking horse. She was seated at a table
-strewn with books and papers, writing at
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
-a rate of speed that convinced me she was
-in the throes of an inspiration. I forebore
-to interrupt. My scruples, however, were
-not shared by her eldest son. He gave
-her elbow a jog of reminder which sent her
-pencil to the floor.</p>
-<p>“Mother!” he shouted in megaphone
-voice, “here’s the man next door––the
-one we get our soup plates from.”</p>
-<p>She looked up abstractedly.</p>
-<p>“Oh,” she said in dismayed tone, “I
-thought you had gone. I am very much
-engaged in writing a paper on modern
-antiquities.”</p>
-<p>I murmured some sort of an apology for
-my untimely interruption.</p>
-<p>“I am so absorbed in my great work,”
-she explained, “that I am oblivious to all
-else. I have the rare and great gift of
-concentration in a marked degree.”</p>
-<p>I was quite sure of this fact. She took
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span>
-another pencil from a supply box and
-resumed her literary occupation. As my
-presence seemed of so little moment, I
-lingered.</p>
-<p>“Mother,” shouted one of the boys,
-snatching the pencil from her grasp, “I’m
-hungry. I didn’t have any supper.”</p>
-<p>“Yes, you did!” she asserted. “I saw
-Gladys give you a bowl of bread and
-milk.”</p>
-<p>“Emerald took it away from me and
-drank it up.”</p>
-<p>“Didn’t neither!” denied a shaggy looking
-boy. “I spilled it.”</p>
-<p>He accompanied this denial by a fierce
-punch in his accuser’s ribs.</p>
-<p>“Here!” said the author of Modern
-Antiquities, taking a nickel from her
-pocket, “go get yourself some popcorn,
-Demetrius.”</p>
-<p>“I ain’t Demetrius! I’m Pythagoras.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span></div>
-<p>“It makes no difference. Go and get it
-and don’t speak to me again tonight.”</p>
-<p>The boy had already snatched the coin,
-and he now started for the exit, but his
-outgoing way was instantly blocked by a
-promiscuous pack of pugilistic Polydores,
-and an ardent and general onslaught
-followed.</p>
-<p>I endeavored to untangle the arms and
-legs of the attackers and the attacked in
-a desire to rescue the youngest, a child
-of two, but I soon beat a retreat, having
-no mind to become a punching bag for
-Polydores.</p>
-<p>The concentrator at the writing table,
-looking up vaguely, perceived the general
-joust.</p>
-<p>“How provoking!” she exclaimed indignantly.
-“I was in search of an antonym
-and now they’ve driven it out of my
-memory.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span></div>
-<p>I politely offered my sympathy for her loss.</p>
-<p>“Did you ever see such misbehaved
-children?” she asked casually and impersonally
-as she calmly surveyed the
-free-for-all fight.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-008.jpg' alt='' title='' width='157' height='293' /><br />
-</div>
-<p>“Children always misbehave before company,”
-I remarked propitiatingly. “Of
-course they know better.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></div>
-<p>“Why no, they don’t!” she declared,
-looking at me in surprise, “they–––”</p>
-<p>At this instant the errant antonym
-evidently flashed upon her mental vision
-and her pencil hastened to record it and
-then flew on at lightning speed.</p>
-<p>I was about to try to make an escape
-when a momentary cessation of hostilities
-was caused by the entrance of a moth-eaten,
-abstracted-looking man. As the
-<i>two-year-old</i> hailed him as “fadder”, I
-gathered that he was the person responsible
-for the family now fighting at his feet.</p>
-<p>“What’s the trouble?” he asked helplessly.</p>
-<p>“She gave Thag a nickel,” explained the
-eldest boy, “and we want it.”</p>
-<p>The man drew a sigh of relief. The
-solution of this family problem was instantly
-and satisfactorily met by an impartial
-distribution of nickels.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span></div>
-<p>With demoniac whoops of delight, the
-contestants fled from the room.</p>
-<p>I introduced myself to the man of the
-house, who seemed to realize that some
-sort of compulsory conventionalities must
-be observed. He looked hopelessly at his
-wife, and seeing that she was beyond response
-to an S O S call to things mundane,
-he frankly but impressively informed me
-that I must expect nothing of them socially
-as their lives were devoted to research
-and study. The children, however,
-he assured me, could run over frequently
-to see us.</p>
-<p>I instinctively felt that my call was considered
-ended, so I took my departure. I
-related the details of my neighborly visit
-to Silvia, but her sense of humor was not
-stirred. It was entirely dominated by her
-dread of the young Polydores.</p>
-<p>“How many children are there?” she
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
-asked faintly. “More than the five you
-said you counted that first day?”</p>
-<p>“They seemed not so many as much.
-That is, though I suppose in round
-numbers there are but five, yet each of
-those five is equal to at least three ordinary
-children.”</p>
-<p>“Are they all boys? Huldah says the
-youngest wears dresses.”</p>
-<p>“Nevertheless he is a boy. They are all
-unmistakably boys. I think they must
-have been born with boots on and,” conscious
-of the imprints of my shins, “hobnail
-boots at that. Even the youngest, a
-two-year old, seems to have been graduated
-from Home Rule.”</p>
-<p>“I can’t bear to think of their going to
-bed hungry,” she said wistfully. “Think
-of that unnatural mother expecting them
-to satisfy their hunger by popcorn.”</p>
-<p>“They didn’t though,” I assured her.
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
-“I saw them stop a street vender below
-here and invest their nickels in hot
-dogs.”</p>
-<p>“Hot dogs!” repeated Silvia in horror.</p>
-<p>“Wienerwursts,” I hastened to interpret.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-009.jpg' alt='' title='' width='323' height='257' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-010.jpg' alt='' title='' width='344' height='116' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_III__IN_WHICH_WE_ARE_PESTERED_BY_POLYDORES' id='CHAPTER_III__IN_WHICH_WE_ARE_PESTERED_BY_POLYDORES'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter III</span></h2>
-<h3><i>In Which We Are Pestered by Polydores</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Our life now became one long round
-of Polydores. They were with us
-burr-tight, and attached themselves
-to me with dog-like devotion, remaining
-utterly impervious to Silvia’s aloofness
-and repulses. At last, however, she succumbed
-to their presence as one of the
-things inevitable.</p>
-<p>“The Polydores are here to stay,” she
-acknowledged in a calmness-of-despair voice.</p>
-<p>“They don’t seem to be homebodies,”
-I allowed.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></div>
-<p>The children were not literary like the
-other productions of their profound
-parents, but were a band of robust, active
-youngsters unburdened with brains, excepting
-Ptolemy of soup plate fame. Not
-that he betrayed any tendencies toward a
-learned line, but he was possessed of an
-occult, uncanny, wizard-like wisdom that
-was disconcerting. His contemplative eyes
-seemed to search my soul and read my inmost
-thoughts.</p>
-<p>Pythagoras, Emerald, and Demetrius,
-aged respectively nine, eight, and seven,
-were very much alike in looks and size,
-being so many pinched caricatures of their
-mother. To Silvia they were bewildering
-whirlwinds, but Huldah, who seemed to
-have difficulty in telling them apart, always
-classified them as “Them three”, and
-Silvia and I fell into the habit of referring
-to them in the same way. Huldah could
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
-not master the Polydore given names either
-by memory or pronunciation. Ptolemy,
-whose name was shortened to “Tolly” by
-Diogenes, she called “Polly.” When she
-was on speaking terms with “Them three”
-she nicknamed them “Thaggy, Emmy, and
-Meetie.”</p>
-<p>Diogenes, the two-year old, was a Tartar
-when emulating his brothers. Alone, he
-was sometimes normal and a shade more
-like ordinary children.</p>
-<p>When they first began swarming in
-upon us, Silvia drew many lines which,
-however, the Polydores promptly effaced.</p>
-<p>“They shall not eat here, anyway,”
-she emphatically declared.</p>
-<p>This was her last stand and she went
-down ingloriously.</p>
-<p>One day while we were seated at the
-table enjoying some of Huldah’s most
-palatable dishes, Ptolemy came in. There
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
-ensued on our part a silence which the lad
-made no effort to break. Silvia and I
-each slipped him a side glance. He stood
-statuesque, watching us with the mute
-wistfulness of a hungry animal. There
-were unwonted small red specks high upon
-his cheekbones, symptoms, Silvia thought,
-of starvation.</p>
-<p>She was moved to ask, though reluctantly
-and perfunctorily:</p>
-<p>“Haven’t you been to dinner, Ptolemy?”</p>
-<p>“Yes,” he admitted quickly, “but I
-could eat another.”</p>
-<p>Assuming that the forced inquiry was
-an invitation, before protest could be
-entered he supplied himself with a plate
-and helped himself to food. His need and
-relish of the meal weakened Silvia’s fortifications.</p>
-<p>This opening, of course, was the wedge
-that let in other Polydores, and thereafter
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
-we seldom sat down to a meal without the
-presence of one or more members of the
-illustrious and famished family, who made
-themselves as entirely at home as would
-a troop of foraging soldiers. Silvia gazed
-upon their devouring of food with the
-same surprised, shocked, and yet interested
-manner in which one watches the
-feeding of animals.</p>
-<p>“I suppose he ought not to eat so many
-pickles,” she remarked one day, as Emerald
-consumed his ninth Dill.</p>
-<p>“You can’t kill a Polydore,” I assured her.</p>
-<p>I never opened a door but more or less
-Polydores fell in. They were at the left
-of us and at the right of us, with Diogenes
-always under foot. We had no privacy.
-I found myself waking suddenly in the
-night with the uncomfortable feeling that
-Ptolemy lurked in a dark corner or two
-of my bedroom.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span></div>
-<p>Even Silvia’s boudoir was not free from
-their invasion. But one door in our house
-remained closed to them. They found no
-open sesame to Huldah’s apartment.</p>
-<p>“I wish she would let me in on her system,”
-I said. “I wonder how she manages
-to keep them on the outside?”</p>
-<p>“I can tell you,” confided Silvia. “Emerald
-and Demetrius went in one day and
-she dropped Demetrius out the window
-and kicked Emerald out the door. You
-know, Lucien, you are too softhearted to
-resort to such measures.”</p>
-<p>“I was once,” I confessed, “but I think
-under Polydore régime I am getting stoical
-enough to follow in Huldah’s footsteps
-and go her one better.”</p>
-<p>Our conversation was interrupted by
-the entrance of Diogenes.</p>
-<p>Silvia screamed.</p>
-<p>Turning to see what the latest Polydore
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
-perpetration might be, I saw that Diogenes
-was frothing at the mouth.</p>
-<p>“Oh, he’s having a fit!” exclaimed
-Silvia frantically. “Call Huldah! Put
-him in a hot bath. Quick, Lucien, turn
-on the hot water.”</p>
-<p>“Not I,” I refused grimly. “Let him
-have a fit and fall in it.”</p>
-<p>“He ain’t got no fit,” was the cheerful
-assurance of Pythagoras, as he sauntered in.</p>
-<p>“Your mother would have one,” I told
-him, “if she could hear your English.”</p>
-<p>“What is the matter with him?” asked
-Silvia. “Does he often foam in this way?”</p>
-<p>“He’s been eating your tooth powder,”
-explained Pythagoras. “He likes it ’cause
-it tastes like peppermint, and then he
-drank some water before he swallowed
-the powder and it all fizzed up and run out
-his mouth.”</p>
-<p>“I wondered,” said Silvia ruefully,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
-“what made my tooth powder disappear
-so rapidly. What shall I do!”</p>
-<p>“Resort to strategy!” I advised. “Lock
-up your powder hereafter and fill an empty
-bottle with powdered alum or something
-worse and leave it around handy.”</p>
-<p>“Lucien!” exclaimed my wife, who could
-not seem to recover from this latest annoyance,
-“I don’t see how you can be so
-fond of children. I did hope––for your
-sake and––on account of Uncle Issachar’s
-offer that I’d like to have one––but I’d
-rather go to the poorhouse! I’d almost lose
-your affection rather than have a child.”</p>
-<p>“But, Silvia!” I remonstrated in dismay,
-“you shouldn’t judge all by these.
-They’re not fair samples. They’re not
-children––not home-grown children.”</p>
-<p>“I should say not!” agreed Huldah,
-who had come into the room. “They are
-imps––imps of the devil.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span></div>
-<p>I believe she was right. They had a
-generally demoralizing effect on our household.
-I was growing irritable, Silvia careworn.
-Even Huldah showed their influence
-by acquiring the very latest in slang
-from them. Once in a while to my amusement
-I heard Silvia unconsciously adopting
-the Polydore argot.</p>
-<p>As the result of their better nourishment
-at our table, the imps of the devil
-daily grew more obstreperous and life
-became so burdensome to Silvia that I
-proposed moving away to a childless neighborhood.</p>
-<p>“They’d find us out,” said Silvia wearily,
-“wherever we went. Distance would be
-no obstacle to them.”</p>
-<p>“Then we might move out of town, as a
-last resort,” I suggested. “Rob says he
-thinks there is a good legal field in–––”</p>
-<p>“No, Lucien,” vetoed Silvia. “You’ve
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span>
-a fine practice here, and then there’s that
-attorneyship for the Bartwell Manufacturing
-Company.”</p>
-<p>My hope of securing this appointment
-meant a good deal to us. We were now
-living up to every cent of my income
-and though we had the necessities, it was
-the luxuries of life I craved––for Silvia’s
-sake. She was a lover of music and we
-had no piano. She yearned to ride and
-she had no horse. We both had longings
-for a touring-car and we wanted to travel.</p>
-<p>“I’ve thought of a scheme for a little
-respite from the sight and sound of the
-Polydores,” I remarked one day. “We’ll
-enter them in the public school. There
-are four more weeks yet before the long
-summer vacation.”</p>
-<p>“That would be too good to be true,”
-declared Silvia. “Five or six hours each
-day, and then, too, their deportment will
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
-be so dreadful that they will have to stay
-after school hours.”</p>
-<p>I thought more likely their deportment
-would lead to suspension, but forbore to
-wet-blanket Silvia’s hopes.</p>
-<p>I made my second call upon the male
-head of the House of Polydore to recommend
-and urge that its young scions be
-sent to the public school. I had misgivings
-as to the outcome of my proposition,
-as the Polydore parents believed
-themselves to be the only fount of learning
-in the town. To my surprise and
-intense gratification, my suggestion met
-with no objections whatever. Felix Polydore
-referred me to his wife and said he
-would abide by her decision. I found her,
-of course, buried in books, but remembering
-Ptolemy’s mode of gaining attention,
-I peremptorily closed the volume she was
-studying.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span></div>
-<p>My audacity attained its object and I
-proferred my request, laying great stress
-on the quietude she would gain thereby.
-She replied that attendance at school would
-doubtless do them no harm, although she
-expressed her belief that the most thorough
-educations were those obtained outside of
-schools.</p>
-<p>Silvia was wafted into the eighth heaven
-of bliss and then some, as the result of my
-diplomatic mission. Of course the task of
-preparing pupils out of the pestiferous
-Polydores devolved upon her, but she was
-actively aided by the eager and willing
-Huldah and between them they pushed the
-project that promised such an elysium with
-all speed. The prospective pupils themselves
-were not wildly enthusiastic over this
-curtailment of their liberty, but Huldah
-won the day by proposing that they carry
-their luncheon with them, promising an
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
-abundant supply of sugared doughnuts
-and small pies.</p>
-<p>Pythagoras foresaw recreation ahead in
-the opportunity to “lick all the kids,”
-and I assumed that Ptolemy had deep
-laid schemes for the outmaneuvering of
-teachers, but as his left hand never made
-confidant of his right, I could not expect to
-fathom the workings of his mind.</p>
-<p>Early on a Monday morning, therefore,
-our household arose to lick our Polydore
-protégés into a shape presentable for admission
-to school. It took two hours to
-pull up stockings and make them stay
-pulled, tie shoestrings, comb out tangles,
-adjust collars and neckties, to say nothing
-of vigorous scrubbings to five grimy faces
-and ten dirt-stained hands.</p>
-<p>At last with an air of achievement Silvia
-corralled her round-up and unloaded the
-four eldest upon the public school and then
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
-proceeded to install the protesting Diogenes
-in a nursery kindergarten. Huldah
-stood in the doorway as they marched off
-and sped the parting guests with a muttered
-“Good riddance to bad rubbish.”</p>
-<p>Silvia returned radiant, but her rejoicing
-was shortlived. She had scarcely taken
-off her hat and gloves when the four oldest
-came trooping and whooping into the house.</p>
-<p>“What’s the matter?” gasped Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Got to be vaccinated,” explained
-Ptolemy with an appreciative grin. Of all
-the Polydores he was the one who had least
-objected to scholastic pursuits, but he
-seemed quite jubilant at our discomfiture.</p>
-<p>We were somewhat reluctant to undertake
-the responsibility of their inoculation,
-especially after Ptolemy told us that his
-mother didn’t believe in vaccination.</p>
-<p>“I’ll take ’em down and get ’em vaccinated
-right,” declared Huldah. “Their
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span>
-ma won’t never notice the scars, and if
-one of you young uns blabs about it,”
-she added, turning upon them ferociously,
-“I’ll cut your tongue out.”</p>
-<p>“Suppose there should be some ill result
-from it,” said Silvia apprehensively.</p>
-<p>“Don’t you worry!” exclaimed Huldah.
-“Most likely it won’t amount to anything.
-It’ll take some new kind of scabs to work
-in these brats. They’re too tough to take
-anything. Come on now with me,” she
-commanded, “and after it’s done, I’ll
-get you each an ice cream sody.”</p>
-<p>Through Huldah’s efficiency the vaccination
-was quickly accomplished and
-the children of our neighbor were reluctantly
-accepted by the school authorities.</p>
-<p>The Polydores were not parted by reason
-of dissimilarity of age or learning, as
-they were put into the ungraded room.
-To keep them there enrolled taxed to the
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span>
-utmost our ingenuity in the way of framing
-excuses for their repeated cases of
-tardiness and suspension.</p>
-<p>Silvia felt a little remorseful when she
-listened to the tale of woe recited to her
-by their teacher at a card party one Saturday
-afternoon.</p>
-<p>“She said,” my wife repeated, “that
-yesterday Pythagoras brought two mice to
-school in his marble-bag and let them loose.
-She doesn’t believe in corporal punishment,
-but she determined to experiment with its
-effect on Pythagoras, so she kept him and
-Emerald, who was slightly implicated, after
-school and sent the latter out to get a
-whip. When he came back he said: ‘I
-couldn’t find any stick, but here’s some
-rocks you can throw at him,’ and handed
-her a hat full of stones. This made her
-too hysterical to try her experiment, so
-she took away his recess for a week.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span></div>
-<p>“We ought to make her a present,” I
-observed.</p>
-<p>“She said,” continued Silvia, “that they
-had given her nervous prostration, but
-she had no time to prostrate, and if she
-didn’t succeed in getting them graded by
-the coming fall term, she should accept an
-offer of marriage she had received from a
-cross-eyed man, and you know how unlucky
-that would be, Lucien!”</p>
-<p>“We may be driven to worse things than
-that by fall,” I replied ruefully.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-011.jpg' alt='' title='' width='337' height='143' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-012.jpg' alt='' title='' width='299' height='194' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_IV__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_BOARDERS' id='CHAPTER_IV__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_BOARDERS'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter IV</span></h2>
-<h3><i>In Which We Take Boarders</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Four weeks of unalloyed bliss and
-then the summer vacation times
-arrived, bringing joy to the heart
-of the Polydores and the teacher of the
-ungraded room, but deep gloom to the
-hearthside of the Wades.</p>
-<p>One misfortune always brings another.
-A rival applicant received the coveted attorneyship
-and we bade a sad farewell to piano,
-saddle-horse, automobile and journey, the
-furnishings to our Little House of Dreams.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span></div>
-<p>“I did want you to have a car, Lucien,”
-sighed Silvia, regretfully, “and you worked
-so hard this last year, you need a trip.
-Won’t you go somewhere with Rob––without
-me?”</p>
-<p>I assured her it would be no vacation
-without her.</p>
-<p>“Do you know, Lucien,” she proposed
-diffidently, “I think it would be an excellent
-plan to invite Uncle Issachar to visit
-us. He knows no more about children than
-I do––than I did, I mean, and if he should
-see the Polydores he’d give us five thousand
-each for the children we didn’t have.”</p>
-<p>I wouldn’t consent to this plan. I had
-met Uncle Issachar once. He was a crusty
-old bachelor with a morbid suspicion that
-everyone was working him for his money.
-I don’t wonder he thought so. He had no
-other attractions.</p>
-<p>Perceiving the strength of my opposition
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
-Silvia sweetly and sagaciously refrained
-from further pressure.</p>
-<p>“We should not repine,” she said. “We
-have health and happiness and love.
-What are pianos and cars and trips compared
-to such assets?”</p>
-<p>What, indeed! I admitted that things
-might be worse.</p>
-<p>Alas! All too soon was my statement
-substantiated. That night after we had
-gone to bed, I heard a taxicab sputtering
-away at the house next door.</p>
-<p>“The Polydores must have unexpected
-guests,” I remarked.</p>
-<p>“I trust they brought no children with
-them,” murmured Silvia drowsily.</p>
-<p>The next morning while we were at
-breakfast, the odor of June roses wafting
-in through the open window, the delicious
-flavor of red-ripe strawberries tickling our
-palate, and the anticipation of rice griddle-cakes
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
-exhilarating us, the millennium
-came.</p>
-<p>For the five young Polydores bore down
-upon us <i>en masse</i>.</p>
-<p>“Father and mother have gone away,”
-proclaimed Ptolemy, who was always
-spokesman for the quintette.</p>
-<p>This intelligence was of no particular
-interest to us––not then, at least. We
-rarely saw father and mother Polydore,
-and they were apparently of no need to
-their offspring.</p>
-<p>Ptolemy’s next announcement, however,
-was startling and effective in its dramatic
-intensity.</p>
-<p>“We’ve come over to stay with you
-while they are away.”</p>
-<p>I laughed; jocosely, I thought.</p>
-<p>Silvia paid no heed to my forced hilarity,
-but ejaculated gaspingly:</p>
-<p>“Why, what do you mean!”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></div>
-<p>“They have gone away somewhere,”
-enlightened our oracle. “They went to the
-train last night in a taxi. They have gone
-somewhere to find out something about
-some kind of aborigines.”</p>
-<p>“Which reminds me,” I remarked reminiscently,
-“of the man who traveled far
-and vainly in search of a certain plant
-which, on his return, he found growing
-beside his own doorstep.”</p>
-<p>Silvia paid no heed to my misplaced
-pleasantry. She was right––as usual. It
-was no time for levity.</p>
-<p>“I don’t see,” spoke my unappreciative
-wife, addressing Ptolemy, “why their absence
-should make any difference in your
-remaining at home. Gladys can cook your
-meals and put Diogenes to bed as usual.”</p>
-<p>“Gladys has gone,” piped Demetrius.
-“She left yesterday afternoon. She was
-only staying till she could get her pay.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span></div>
-<p>“Father forgot to get another girl in her
-place,” informed Ptolemy, “and he forgot
-to tell mother he had forgotten until just
-before they went to the train. She said it
-didn’t matter––that we could just as well
-come over here and stay with you.”</p>
-<p>“She said,” added Pythagoras, “that
-you were so crazy over children, that
-probably you’d be glad to have us stay
-with you all the time.”</p>
-<p>My last strawberry remained poised in
-mid-air. It was quite apparent to me now
-that there was nothing funny about this
-situation.</p>
-<p>“Milk, milk!” whimpered Diogenes, pulling
-at Silvia’s dress and making frantic
-efforts to reach the cream pitcher.</p>
-<p>Huldah had come in with the griddle-cakes
-during this avalanche of news.</p>
-<p>“Here, all you kids!” commanded our
-field marshal, as she picked up Diogenes,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
-“beat it to the kitchen, and I’ll give you
-some breakfast. Hustle up!”</p>
-<p>The Polydores, whose eyes were bulging
-with expectancy and semi-starvation, tumbled
-over each other in their eagerness to
-“hustle up and beat it to the kitchen.”
-Our oiler of troubled waters followed, and
-there was assurance of a brief lull.</p>
-<p>“What shall we do!” I exclaimed helplessly
-when the door had closed on the
-last Polydore. I felt too limp and impotent
-to cope with the situation. Not so
-Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Do!” she echoed with an intensity of
-tone and feeling I had never known her to
-display. “Do! We’ll do something, I am
-sure! I will not for a moment submit to
-such an imposition. Who ever heard of
-such colossal nerve! That father and
-mother should be brought back and prosecuted.
-I shall report them to the Society
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span>
-for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
-But we won’t wait for such procedure.
-We’ll express each and every Polydore to
-them at once.”</p>
-<p>“I should certainly do that P.D.Q. and
-C.O.D.,” I acquiesced, “if the Polydore
-parents could be located, but you know
-the abodes of aborigines are many and
-scattered.”</p>
-<p>My remarks seemed to fall as flat as
-the flapjacks I was siruping.</p>
-<p>Silvia arose, determination in every lineament
-and muscle, and crossed the room.
-She opened the door leading into the kitchen.</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy,” she demanded, “where have
-your father and mother gone?”</p>
-<p>He came forward and replied in a voice
-somewhat smothered by cakes and sirup.</p>
-<p>“I don’t know. They didn’t say.”</p>
-<p>“We can find out from the ticket-agent,”
-I optimistically assured her.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></div>
-<p>“They never bother to buy tickets. Pay
-on the train,” Ptolemy explained.</p>
-<p>My legal habit of counter-argument asserted
-itself.</p>
-<p>“We can easily ascertain to what point
-their baggage was checked,” I remarked,
-again essaying to maintain a rôle of good
-cheer.</p>
-<p>But the pessimistic Ptolemy was right
-there with another of his gloom-casting
-retaliations.</p>
-<p>“They only took suit-cases and they
-always keep them in the car. Here’s a
-check father said to give you to pay for
-our board. He said you could write in
-any amount you wanted to.”</p>
-<p>“He got a lot of dough yesterday,” informed
-Pythagoras, “and he put half of it
-in the bank here.”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy handed over a check which was
-blank except for Felix Polydore’s signature.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></div>
-<p>“I don’t see,” I weakly exclaimed when
-my wife had closed the kitchen door, “why
-she put them off on <i>us</i>. Why didn’t she
-trade her brats off for antiques?”</p>
-<p>Silvia eyed the check wistfully. I could
-read the unspoken thought that here, perhaps,
-was the opportunity for our much-desired
-trip.</p>
-<p>“No, Silvia,” I answered quickly, “not
-for any number of blank checks or vacation
-trips shall you have the care and annoyance
-of those wild Comanches.”</p>
-<p>“I know what I’ll do!” she exclaimed
-suddenly. “I’ll go right down to the intelligence
-office and get anything in the
-shape of a maid and put her in charge of
-the Polydore caravansary with double
-wages and every night out and any other
-privileges she requests.”</p>
-<p>This seemed a sane and sensible arrangement,
-and I wended my way to my
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
-office feeling that we were out of the
-woods.</p>
-<p>When I returned home at noon, I found
-that we had only exchanged the woods for
-water––and deep water at that.</p>
-<p>I beheld a strange sight. Silvia sat by
-our bedroom window twittering soft, cooing
-nonsensical nothings to Diogenes, who
-was clasped in her arms, his flushed little
-face pressed close to her shoulder.</p>
-<p>“He’s been quite ill, Lucien. I was
-frightened and called the doctor. He said
-it was only the slight fever that children are
-subject to. He thought with good care
-that he’d be all right in a few days.”</p>
-<p>“Did you succeed in getting a cook to
-go to the Polydores?” I asked anxiously.
-“You’ll need a nurse to go there, too, to
-take care of Diogenes.”</p>
-<p>She looked at me reproachfully and rebukingly.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span></div>
-<p>“Why, Lucien! You don’t suppose I
-could send this sick baby back to that uninviting
-house with only hired help in
-charge! Besides, I don’t believe he’d stay
-with a stranger. He seems to have taken
-a fancy to me.”</p>
-<p>Diogenes confirmed this belief by a
-languid lifting of his eyelids, as he feelingly
-patted her cheek with his baby fingers.</p>
-<p>I forebore to suggest that the fancy
-seemed to be mutual. Diogenes, sick, was
-no longer an “imp of the devil”, but a
-normal, appealing little child. It occurred
-to me that possibly the care of a sick
-Polydore might develop Silvia’s tiny germ
-of child-ken.</p>
-<p>“Keep him here of course,” I agreed,
-“but––the other children must return
-home.”</p>
-<p>“Diogenes would miss them,” she said
-quickly, “and the doctor says his whims
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
-must be humored while he is sick. He is
-almost asleep now. I think he will let me
-put him down in his own little bed. Ptolemy
-brought it over here. Pull back the
-covers for me, Lucien. There!”</p>
-<p>Diogenes half opened his eyes, as she
-laid him in the bed and smiled wanly.</p>
-<p>“Mudder!” he cooed.</p>
-<p>Silvia flushed and looked as if she dreaded
-some expression of mirth from me. Relieved
-by my silence and a suggestion of
-moisture in the region of my eyes––the
-day was quite warm––she confessed:</p>
-<p>“He has called me that all the morning.”</p>
-<p>“It would be a wise Polydore that knows
-its own parents,” I observed.</p>
-<p>The slight illness of Diogenes lasted three
-or four days. I still shudder to recall the
-memory of that hideous period. Silvia’s
-time and attention were devoted to the
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
-sick child. Huldah was putting in all her
-leisure moments at the dentist’s, where
-she was acquiring her third set of teeth,
-and joy rode unconfined and unrestrained
-with our “boarders.”</p>
-<p>Polydore proclivities made the Reign of
-Terror formerly known as the French
-Revolution seem like an ice cream festival.
-I don’t regard myself as a particularly
-nervous man, but there’s a limit! Their
-war whoops and screeches got on my
-nerves and temper to the extent of sending
-me into their midst one evening brandishing
-a whip and commanding immediate
-silence. I got it. Not through fear of
-chastisement, for fear was an emotion
-unknown to a Polydore, but from astonishment
-at so unexpected a procedure
-from so unexpected a source. Heretofore
-I had either ignored them or frolicked
-with them. Before they had recovered
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
-from their shock, Silvia appeared on the
-scene.</p>
-<p>“Diogenes,” she informed them, “was
-not used to such unwonted quiet, and was
-fretting at the unaccustomed stillness.
-Would the boys please play Indian or some
-of their games again?”</p>
-<p>The boys would. I backed from the
-room, the whip behind me, carefully kept
-without Silvia’s angle of vision. Before
-Ptolemy resumed his rôle of chief, he bestowed
-a knowing and maddening wink
-upon me.</p>
-<p>I wished that we had remained neighbor-less.
-I wished that the aborigines would
-scalp Felix Polydore and the writer of
-Modern Antiquities. Then we could land
-their brats on the Probate Court. I wished
-that this were the reign of Herod. I vowed
-I would backslide from the Presbyterian
-faith since it no longer included in its
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
-articles of belief the eternal damnation of
-infants. How long, O Catiline, would––</p>
-<p>A paralyzing suspicion flashed into the
-maelstrom of my vituperative maledictions.
-I rushed wildly upstairs to our combination
-bedroom, sickroom, and nursery, where
-Silvia sat like a guardian angel beside the
-Polydore patient.</p>
-<p>“Silvia,” I shouted excitedly, “do you
-suppose those diabolical Polydore parents
-purposely played this trick on us? Was
-it a premeditated Polydore plan to abandon
-their young? And can you blame
-them for playing us for easy marks? Could
-any parents, Polydore, or otherwise, ever
-come back to such fiends as these?”</p>
-<p>“Hush!” she cautioned, without so much
-as a glance in my direction. “You’ll wake
-Diogenes!”</p>
-<p>Wake Diogenes! Ye Gods! And she
-had also implored the brothers of Diogenes
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
-to continue their anvil chorus! This took
-the last stitch of starch from my manly
-bosom. Spiritless and spineless I bore all
-things, believed all things––but hoped
-for nothing.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-013.jpg' alt='' title='' width='228' height='246' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
-<img src='images/illus-014.jpg' alt='' title='' width='341' height='181' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_V__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_A_VACATION' id='CHAPTER_V__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_A_VACATION'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter V</span></h2>
-<h3><i>In Which We Take a Vacation</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Diogenes finally convalesced to
-his former state of ruggedness and
-obstreperousness. He continued,
-however, to cling to Silvia and to call her
-“mudder.” To my amusement the other
-children followed suit and she was now
-“muddered” by all the Polydores.</p>
-<p>“I am glad,” I remarked, “that they
-scorn to include me in their adoption. I
-wouldn’t fancy being ‘faddered’ by the
-Polydores.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span></div>
-<p>“You won’t be,” Ptolemy, appearing
-seemingly from nowhere, assured me.
-“We’ve named you stepdaddy.”</p>
-<p>“If it be possible, Silvia,” I implored,
-“let this cup pass from me.”</p>
-<p>“I am going down to the intelligence
-office today,” replied Silvia soothingly.
-“Diogenes is well enough to go home now,
-and I can run over there every evening
-and see that he is properly put to bed.”</p>
-<p>I went down town feeling like a mule
-relieved of his pack.</p>
-<p>When I came home that afternoon, I found
-Silvia sitting on the shaded porch serenely
-sewing. A Sabbath-like stillness pervaded.
-Not a Polydore in sight or sound.</p>
-<p>“Oh!” I cried buoyantly. “The Polydores
-have been returned to their home
-station!”</p>
-<p>“No,” she replied calmly. “They told
-me at the intelligence office that it would
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span>
-be absolutely impossible to persuade, bribe,
-or hire a servant to assume the charge of
-the Polydore place.”</p>
-<p>“I suppose,” I said glumly, “that Gladys
-gave the job a double cross. But will you
-please account for the phenomenon of the
-utter absence of Polydores at the present
-period? Has Huldah at last carried out
-her oft-repeated threat of exterminating
-the Polydore race?”</p>
-<p>“Pythagoras,” explained Silvia dejectedly,
-“has gone to the doctor’s. He broke
-his wrist this morning. Diogenes is lost
-and Emerald has gone to look for him––”</p>
-<p>“Oh, why hunt him up?” I remonstrated.
-“Maybe Emerald, too, will get lost or
-strayed or stolen.”</p>
-<p>“Huldah,” continued Silvia, “has locked
-Demetrius in the cellar. I am unable to
-report on Ptolemy. Huldah is half sick,
-but she won’t go to bed. She said no beds
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
-in Bedlamite for her. But I have a wonderful
-plan to suggest. There is relief in sight
-if you will consent.”</p>
-<p>“I will consent to any committable
-crime on the calendar,” I assured her,
-“that will lead to the parting of the Polydore
-path from ours. Divulge.”</p>
-<p>“We both need a change and rest. Today
-I heard of a most alluring, inexpensive,
-unfrequented resort called Hope Haven.
-Unfashionable, fine fishing, beautiful scenery,
-twelve miles from a railroad, and a
-stage stops there but once a day.”</p>
-<p>“If there is such a place, we’ll go there
-at once, though why such an enticing spot
-should be unfrequented is beyond me. Do
-we leave the Polydores to their fate, or as
-a town charge?”</p>
-<p>“We’ll leave them to Huldah. She
-offered to keep them here if we’d take
-the outing. She said she’d either give
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
-them free rein or beat their brains out.”</p>
-<p>“Then I see where the Polydores land
-in a juvenile jail, or else I return to defend
-Huldah for a charge of murder. We’ll
-take our departure by night––tomorrow
-night––and like the Arabs, or the Polydore
-parents, silently steal away.”</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” said Silvia constrainedly, when
-we had arranged the details of our plan, “if
-you wouldn’t object too much, I should
-like to take Diogenes with us. He hasn’t
-missed his mother, but I really believe he’d
-be homesick without me.”</p>
-<p>“Take him, of course,” I said. “He’s
-manageable away from the others. I
-plainly see you’ve formed the Polydore
-habit, and maybe a partial parting from
-the Polydores would be wiser, but we’ll
-take Diogenes as an antidote against
-too perfect a time. But I forgot to tell
-you that I had a letter from Rob today.
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
-He plans to come and make his visit now
-and will arrive next Monday. I’ll write
-him to join us at Hope Haven. You must
-write down again for me the route we take
-to get there.”</p>
-<p>Silvia laughed hopelessly.</p>
-<p>“It never rains but it pours. I had a
-letter from Beth this afternoon, and she
-says she would like to come to us now.
-She arrives Monday. Here is her letter.”</p>
-<p>“Great minds! It is quite a coincidence,”
-I declared.</p>
-<p>“I thought it would be so nice to have
-Beth go with us to this resort.”</p>
-<p>“It can’t be done,” I said. “That is,
-they can’t both go. I am not going to let
-even Rob Rossiter slight my sister.”</p>
-<p>“Still it would be a triumph to have her
-change his mind––or his heart. You
-know a woman-hater always succumbs to
-the right girl.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></div>
-<p>“In books, yes!”</p>
-<p>I had been scanning Beth’s letter and I
-laughed derisively as I read aloud: “‘I am
-so curious to see those next-door children.
-When you first wrote of the “Polydores”
-I never once thought of them as children.’”</p>
-<p>“She thought exactly right,” I told
-Silvia, and then continued reading: “‘I
-supposed them to be something like tadpoles
-or polliwogs. I really think I shall
-enjoy them.’”</p>
-<p>“It would serve her right,” I said, “to
-let her come and stay with them here in
-our absence. She’d get the cure for enjoyment
-all right. Rob wrote of them in
-the same strain and says he, too, is curious
-to meet the missing links.”</p>
-<p>“Does she know,” asked Silvia, “how
-Rob regards women?”</p>
-<p>“No; I’ve always made some excuse to
-her for not having them meet. I didn’t
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
-want to hear her make disparaging remarks
-about him, and she is such a flirt, she’d try
-to draw him out and he would shut up like
-a clam.”</p>
-<p>“Well, I think,” decided Silvia, “that the
-best way out of it is to write Rob to postpone
-his visit and I will write Beth to come
-direct to Hope Haven.”</p>
-<p>“Yes,” I agreed, “that will be fine. She
-shall have charge of dear little Di and
-study the evolutions of the Polydores later.”</p>
-<p>I approved this plan. So we wrote our
-letters and stealthily, but joyously, prepared
-for our getaway, leaving the house
-like thieves in the night and bearing the
-sleeping cherub, Diogenes.</p>
-<p>Silvia sighed in relief when we were
-aboard the train.</p>
-<p>“I feel quite chesty,” she declared, “at
-being smart enough to outwit Ptolemy, the
-wizard.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span></div>
-<p>“I have the feeling,” I observed forebodingly,
-“that they may be on the train
-or underneath it.”</p>
-<p>The next morning we reached Windy
-Creek, the station nearest our destination,
-and continued our journey by stage.</p>
-<p>“People will think you have consoled
-yourself very speedily for the death of
-your first husband,” I observed, as we were
-en route.</p>
-<p>“Why, what do you mean, Lucien?”</p>
-<p>“You know Diogenes addresses me as
-stepdaddy. It is the only word he speaks
-plainly.”</p>
-<p>“Oh!” she exclaimed in perturbation,
-“I never thought of that! Well, we can
-explain to everyone, or I’ll teach them to
-leave off the ‘step.’”</p>
-<p>“Not on your life!” I demurred.</p>
-<p>“He had better call you Lucien, then.
-Emerald calls his father ‘Felix.’”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span></div>
-<p>She at once began her tutelage of the bewildered
-Diogenes. After several stabs at
-pronouncing Lucien he managed to evolve
-“Ocean” to which he sometimes affixed
-“step” so that people to whom he was not
-explained doubtless thought me the latest
-thing in dances.</p>
-<p>Hope Haven was like most resorts––a
-place safe to shun. There was a low, flat
-stretch of woods in which a clearing had
-been made for a barn-like structure called
-a hotel, with rooms rough and not always
-ready. The beautiful recreation grounds
-mentioned in the advertising matter consisted
-of a plowed field worked over into a
-space designated as a tennis court and a
-grass-grown croquet ground.</p>
-<p>“Anyway,” claimed Silvia hopefully,
-“it’s a treat to see woods, water, and sky
-unconfined.”</p>
-<p>She devoted the remainder of the morning
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span>
-to unpacking and after luncheon set
-off to explore the woods, borrowing from
-the landlady a little cart for Diogenes to
-ride in. My plan to go in swimming was
-delayed by my garrulous landlord.</p>
-<p>I was just starting for the lake when I
-heard sounds from the woods that alarmed
-the landlord but which I instantly recognized
-as the Polydore yell. A moment
-later I saw Silvia emerging at full speed
-into the open, drawing the cart in which
-Diogenes was doubled up like a jackknife.
-I hastened to meet them.</p>
-<p>“Oh, Lucien,” exclaimed my wife tearfully,
-“we are bitten to bits! Just look
-at poor little Di!”</p>
-<p>I lifted the howling child from the cart.
-His face, neck, and hands were stringy and
-purplish––a cross between an eggplant
-and a round steak.</p>
-<p>“Mosquitoes!” explained Silvia. “They
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span>
-came in flocks and they advertised particularly
-‘no mosquitoes.’”</p>
-<p>A dour-faced guest paused in passing.</p>
-<p>“There aren’t––many,” she declared.
-“Very few, in fact, compared to the number
-of black flies, sand fleas, and jiggers. However,
-you’ll find more discomfort from the
-poison ivy, I imagine.”</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” began Silvia in lament.</p>
-<p>“Never mind!” I hastened to console,
-“you are out of the woods now, and you
-won’t have to go in again. I presume they
-have an antidote up at the house. I’ll
-give you and Diogenes first aid and then
-we will all go down to the lake shore. You
-can both sit on the dock and watch me
-swim.”</p>
-<p>They both brightened up, and when we
-reached the hotel the landlady provided
-a soothing lotion for the bites and stings.</p>
-<p>By the time we had started for the lake,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span>
-the afflicted two were in holiday spirit
-again.</p>
-<p>I sought cover in a small shed called a
-bath-house and got into my swimming outfit
-and shot out from the dipping end of the
-diving-board into the water. When I came
-to the surface, Silvia, sitting beside Diogenes
-on the dock, shrieked wildly.</p>
-<p>“Oh, Lucien, there are snakes all around
-you! Come out, quick!”</p>
-<p>“They are only water snakes,” I assured
-her.</p>
-<p>“I don’t care what kind they are. They
-are snakes just the same.”</p>
-<p>Diogenes instantly began to bellow for
-me to hand him a snake to play with.</p>
-<p>“He recognizes his own,” I told Silvia,
-who, however, saw nothing amusing in my
-implication.</p>
-<p>When I came out of the water, the temperature
-had climbed several degrees and
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
-we were glad to seek the hotel parlor, which
-was cool and damp.</p>
-<p>After dinner Silvia put Diogenes to bed
-and we sat out on the veranda. I was enjoying
-my evening smoke and the feel of
-the night wind in my face. Silvia had just
-finished telling me that merely to be away
-from the Polydores was Paradise enough
-for her, and that she didn’t care very much
-about the woods, anyway––the lake was
-sufficient, when her optimism was rudely
-jolted by the shrill, shudder-sending song
-of the festive mosquito.</p>
-<p>She fled into the parlor. The landlady,
-who seemed to have a panacea for all ills,
-suggested that she might tack mosquito
-netting around the little balcony extending
-from our bedroom, and then she could sit
-there in comfort when the mosquitoes
-bothered.</p>
-<p>“That’s what the last lady that had that
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
-room did,” she said, “but when she left,
-she took the netting with her. We keep a
-supply in our little store.”</p>
-<p>Silvia immediately sought the hotel store
-and bought a quantity of the netting and a
-goodly stock of the mosquito lotion.</p>
-<p>That night as I was drifting into slumber,
-Silvia remarked: “Only one of the
-things I heard and read about this place is
-true.”</p>
-<p>“Which one?” I asked between winks.</p>
-<p>“That it was unfrequented. I have seen
-only three guests besides us so far. How do
-they make it pay?”</p>
-<p>“The hotel is evidently only a side issue,”
-I replied.</p>
-<p>“To what?”</p>
-<p>“To the store. Think of the quantities
-of lotion and netting they must sell in
-the season, which, you must know, is in the
-fall. The hunting, the landlord tells me, is
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
-very good, and his hotel is quite popular in
-October and November.”</p>
-<p>“I think we had better stay, Lucien.
-Mosquitoes don’t poison you.”</p>
-<p>“Even if they did,” I declared, “as a
-choice between them and the Polydores I
-would say, ‘Oh, Mosquito, where is thy
-sting?’”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_10' id='linki_10'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-015.jpg' alt='' title='' width='198' height='311' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_11' id='linki_11'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-016.jpg' alt='' title='' width='339' height='169' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_VI__A_FLIRT_AND_A_WOMANHATER' id='CHAPTER_VI__A_FLIRT_AND_A_WOMANHATER'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter VI</span></h2>
-<h3><i>A Flirt and a Woman-Hater</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>The next morning I arose early and
-screened in the little birdhouse balcony.
-There was a large piece of
-netting left and Silvia converted it into a
-robe and headgear for the swaddling of
-Diogenes.</p>
-<p>“He looks like the Bride of Lammermoor,”
-I declared, as he went forth in this
-regalia.</p>
-<p>“Well, that’s preferable to looking like a
-pest-house patient, as he did yesterday.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span></div>
-<p>His first-aid costume didn’t find favor
-with the landlady, as it would seem indicative
-to the newly arrived of the features
-of the place. However, before another
-stage-coming was due, Di had rent
-his garment sufficiently to make it useless
-is a “skeeter skirt.”</p>
-<p>During the morning I enjoyed my solitary
-swim with the snakes. Diogenes
-played football with the croquet balls and
-bruised one of his toes, besides hitting the
-landlady’s child in the eye. Silvia went
-for a walk which had been pictured in the
-advertisements. She speedily returned, her
-ardor dampened.</p>
-<p>“There are so many sticks and stones
-and rocks,” she said in a discouraged tone,
-“that there was no pleasure in walking.
-I nearly sprained my ankle.”</p>
-<p>“Well, the real sport we haven’t tried
-yet,” I said. “We’ll get a boat and take
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
-Diogenes and go for a row on the lake.”</p>
-<p>This proposition met with instant favor.
-I put Silvia and Diogenes in the stern of the
-boat and pulled for the opposite shore. My
-endeavors to gain this point were balked by
-Silvia’s remarkable conceptions of the art
-of steering craft. She was so serenely
-satisfied, however, with the way she performed
-her duties and the aid she thought
-she was giving me, that I forbore to
-criticize.</p>
-<p>In order to achieve a few strokes in the
-right direction, I asked her to get me a
-cigar from an inside pocket of my coat,
-which was on the seat in front of her.
-Then came the blight to our bliss. She
-looked in the wrong pocket and instead
-of producing a cigar, she extracted two
-letters with seals unbroken.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_12' id='linki_12'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
-<img src='images/illus-017.jpg' alt='' title='' width='357' height='391' /><br />
-<p class='caption'>
-“Lucien Wade!” she gasped. “Here are our letters to Beth and Rob.”<br />
-</p>
-</div>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span></div>
-<p>“Lucien Wade!” she gasped. “Here
-are our letters to Beth and Rob. Well, it
-is my fault. I should have known better
-than to give them to you.”</p>
-<p>“The plot thickens,” I replied thoughtfully.</p>
-<p>“This is Monday. They must both be
-at the house now. What will they think!”</p>
-<p>“They will think we didn’t receive their
-letters.”</p>
-<p>“Isn’t it unfortunate––” she began.</p>
-<p>“No,” I replied. “I am not sure but
-what it is a good thing. It will give Rob
-a jolt to see that girls can be as nice as Beth
-is, and as for her, she is quite able to take
-care of the situation where a man is concerned.”</p>
-<p>“But we must have Beth here. Maybe
-you’d better telegraph her.”</p>
-<p>“Huldah understands conditions. She
-will send Beth on here.”</p>
-<p>The next morning we took Diogenes and
-went down the road to meet the stage. As
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
-it came around the curve, we saw there
-were three passengers.</p>
-<p>“Tolly!” cried Diogenes with an ecstatic
-whoop.</p>
-<p>“Beth!” recognized Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Rob!” I ejaculated.</p>
-<p>The stage stopped to allow us to get in.</p>
-<p>Mutual explanations followed. Ours
-were brief and substantiated by the documents
-in evidence.</p>
-<p>“Now,” I said turning threateningly to
-Ptolemy, “what did you come here for?”</p>
-<p>“To show them,” indicating Beth and
-Rob, “how to get here and to look after
-Di so you and mudder could enjoy your
-vacation,” he replied glibly.</p>
-<p>Beth laughed mirthfully.</p>
-<p>“Check! Lucien.”</p>
-<p>“Didn’t Huldah warn you,” I asked her,
-“that our whereabouts were to remain unknown?”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></div>
-<p>“Ptolemy,” she replied, “is evidently a
-mind reader, for he told me where you were
-before I saw Huldah.”</p>
-<p>“Why, Ptolemy, how did you know where
-we were?” asked Silvia.</p>
-<p>“I was on top of the porch when you
-told stepdaddy about coming. I didn’t
-tell the others. I won’t bother you any.
-And I know how to look after Di. You
-won’t send me back, mudder,” he pleaded,
-looking wistfully at the foam-crested water
-of the little lake.</p>
-<p>I wondered mutely if Silvia could resist
-the appeal in the eyes of the neglected boy
-when he turned his imploring gaze to hers,
-and the delight depicted in Diogenes’ eyes
-at “Tolly’s” arrival. She could not.</p>
-<p>“You may stay as long as we do,” she
-said slowly, “if you are a good boy and will
-not play too rough with Diogenes.”</p>
-<p>We had reached the hotel by this time,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
-and with a wild “ki yi” Ptolemy dashed
-for the shore, dragging the delighted Diogenes
-with him.</p>
-<p>“It’s only fair to Huldah to take one
-more off her hands,” Silvia said apologetically.</p>
-<p>“Them Three is what bothers me,” I
-complained. “If they, too, follow after,
-Heaven help them! I won’t.”</p>
-<p>“It’s a good arrangement all around,”
-declared Rob. “I judge it takes a Polydore
-to understand his ilk, so the kids can pair
-off together. Miss Wade will be company
-for you, while Lucien and I go fishing.”</p>
-<p>He looked keenly at Beth as he spoke,
-but Beth was looking demurely down and
-made no sign of having heard him.</p>
-<p>Silvia and I went with Beth to her room,
-and then she told her story.</p>
-<p>“Knowing Lucien’s failing, I was not
-surprised at receiving no response to my
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
-letter. When I got out of the cab in front
-of your house, a wild-looking boy, very bas-relief
-as to eyes, and who I felt sure must
-be Ptolemy of the Polydores, appeared.
-As soon as he saw me he gave utterance
-to a blood-curdling yell of––‘Here she
-is!’</p>
-<p>“In response to his call three of his understudies
-came on with headlong greeting.</p>
-<p>“‘You are Beth, aren’t you?’ Ptolemy
-asked me. Then he drew me aside and in
-mysterious whispers told me where you
-were and that you had written me to join
-you here. He added that stepdaddy never
-remembered to mail letters. I went within
-and interviewed Huldah who confirmed
-his information.</p>
-<p>“Presently I saw a taxi stop before the
-house.</p>
-<p>“‘That’s him!’ exclaimed Ptolemy.</p>
-<p>“‘Him who?’ I asked.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span></div>
-<p>“‘Rob somebody––stepdaddy’s college
-chum. He wrote he was coming, and they
-thought they had postponed him.’</p>
-<p>“With a sprint of speed the four Polydores
-surrounded your Mr. Rossiter, all
-talking at once. I came to the rescue, of
-course, and explained the situation, and we
-decided to follow you.</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy was promoter for the trip and
-suggested the advisability of his accompanying
-us as courier and future nursemaid to
-Diogenes. He was intending to come anyway,
-but thought he’d wait for us. He
-had all his belongings packed.”</p>
-<p>“He hasn’t many except those he had
-on,” said Silvia thoughtfully.</p>
-<p>“He has some swimming trunks, two
-collars, two shirts, some mismated socks,
-homemade fishing tackle and a battered
-baseball bat. We came away surreptitiously
-to escape detection by the trio left
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
-behind. I knew you wouldn’t welcome
-his presence––but he said he was coming
-anyway, so we thought we might as well
-bring him and express him back.”</p>
-<p>After visiting with Beth for a few moments,
-Silvia and I withdrew to talk matters
-over confidentially.</p>
-<p>“All’s well that ends well,” I quoth.</p>
-<p>“It hasn’t ended yet,” reminded Silvia.
-“I trust Ptolemy didn’t reveal what you
-said about Rob’s being a woman-hater and
-Beth a flirt.”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy conveniently appeared just then,
-as he generally did in the midst of private
-interviews. Silvia asked him if he had
-repeated those remarks to Beth or Rob.</p>
-<p>“Why, no,” he said. “I knew you didn’t
-want her to know, because stepdaddy said
-so, and I thought he wouldn’t like to be
-called that, and I wasn’t going to give Beth
-away to him.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></div>
-<p>“You’re all right, Ptolemy!” I exclaimed,
-for the first time awarding him
-approbation.</p>
-<p>Out on the veranda we met Rob.</p>
-<p>“Say, those Polydores certainly have
-the punch and pep,” he declared. “I’d
-like to have fetched the whole bunch along
-with me.”</p>
-<p>“If you had,” I replied dryly, “our life’s
-friendship would have died on the spot.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_13' id='linki_13'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-018.jpg' alt='' title='' width='263' height='266' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_14' id='linki_14'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-019.jpg' alt='' title='' width='367' height='130' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_VII__IN_WHICH_NOTHING_MUCH_HAPPENS' id='CHAPTER_VII__IN_WHICH_NOTHING_MUCH_HAPPENS'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcaplc'>CHAPTER VII</span></h2>
-<h3><i>In Which Nothing Much Happens</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>“Why Hope Haven?” asked Rob
-reflectively, when he had taken
-inventory of the possibilities
-of the resort.</p>
-<p>“Because,” sighed Silvia, “so many
-hopes––vacation hopes––must have been
-buried here.”</p>
-<p>Rob was of an investigating turn of
-mind, however, and he had heard from a
-native of H. H., as he had abbreviated the
-place, that there was a smaller lake, abounding
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
-in fish, farther on through the forest.
-It was so strongly fortified, however, by
-the formidable battalions of sharp-shooting
-insects that but few fishermen had ever
-been able to lay siege to it.</p>
-<p>Rob and I being poison proof decided to
-try our luck and pitch camp for a few days
-on the shores of this hidden treasure. As
-we had to send to town by the stage driver
-for the necessary supplies, we remained in
-H. H. the remainder of the day.</p>
-<p>We at once paired off in Noah’s most
-approved style as Rob had outlined. Beth
-and Ptolemy went up shore, sticks and
-stones and rocks being no obstacles to their
-feet. Rob and I sought the society of the
-snakes, while Silvia and Diogenes, mosquito-netted,
-watched a game of croquet.</p>
-<p>We dined without the pleasure of the
-society of Ptolemy and Diogenes, who had
-been invited to sit at the table with the
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
-landlady’s children. I might state, incidentally,
-that the invitation was never
-repeated.</p>
-<p>Beth was quite excited over her walk.</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy and I,” she boasted, “made
-more of a discovery than Mr. Rossiter did.
-We found a haunted house, a perfectly
-haunted house.”</p>
-<p>“I am not surprised,” declared Silvia.
-“You couldn’t expect any other kind of a
-house in such a region.”</p>
-<p>“Where is it?” I asked, “and what is
-it haunted by?”</p>
-<p>“Insects,” suggested Silvia.</p>
-<p>“You go around shore about two miles,
-only it’s farther, as you have to make so
-many ups and downs over the rocks. Then
-you leave the shore and go through a
-low marshy stretch, sort of a Dismal
-Swamp, and then up a hill. After Ptolemy
-and I climbed to the top, we looked
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
-down and saw, hidden in a clump of lonely
-looking poplars, a small, rudely built house.
-We went down to explore and had hard
-work making our way through a thick
-growth of––everything. We crawled
-under some tangled vines and came up
-on the steps. The house was vacant, although
-there were a few old pieces of
-furniture––a couple of cots, a cook-stove,
-table, and chairs.</p>
-<p>“On our way home we met a woman
-who gave us a history of the house. An
-old miser lived there long ago. One night
-he was robbed and murdered, and his
-ghost still haunts the place. No one
-ventures in its vicinity, and she said most
-likely we were the first people who had
-gone there since the tragedy. She told
-us of a nearer way to reach it. You take
-the road to Windy Creek, and about two
-miles below here, turn into a lane and
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
-then go through a grove and over a
-hill.”</p>
-<p>“You don’t really believe the story, that
-is, the ghost part of it?” asked Rossiter.</p>
-<p>“N––o,” allowed Beth. “Still, I’d like
-to. It makes it interesting. Ptolemy and
-I are going down there some night to see
-if we can find the ghost.”</p>
-<p>“You won’t see one,” I assured her.
-“Ptolemy’s presence would be sufficient
-to keep even a ghost in the background.”</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy’s a peach,” declared Beth
-emphatically.</p>
-<p>“If he were older, you wouldn’t think
-so,” said Rob.</p>
-<p>“Why not?” asked Beth in surprise,
-or seeming surprise.</p>
-<p>He smiled enigmatically, and irrelevantly
-asked her if she wouldn’t really be afraid
-to go to the haunted house at night with
-only Ptolemy for protection.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span></div>
-<p>She assured him she shouldn’t be afraid
-of a ghost if she saw one, and that she
-shouldn’t be afraid to go alone.</p>
-<p>Throughout the evening, which we
-spent in rowing, walking, and later at a
-little impromptu supper, I was interested
-in observing the puzzling behavior of Beth
-and my chum. I had expected that he
-would avoid her as much as possible and
-speak to her only when common politeness
-made conversation obligatory, and
-that she, a born coquette, would seek to
-add his scalp to her collection. Instead,
-to my surprise, their rôles were reversed.
-He appeared interested in her every remark
-and looked at her often and intently.
-He was quite assiduous in his attentions
-which, strange to say, she discouraged,
-not with the deep design of a flirt to increase
-his ardor, but with a calm firmness
-that admitted of no doubt as to her feelings.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span></div>
-<p>“Your sister,” he remarked to me as
-we were walking down to the lake for a
-swim just before going to bed, “is a very
-unusual type.”</p>
-<p>“Not at all!” I assured him. “Beth is
-the true feminine type which you have
-never taken the trouble to know.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, come, Lucien! Not feminine,
-you know. Though she is inconsistent.”</p>
-<p>I resented the imputation hotly, but he
-only laughed and said that he guessed it
-was true that a man didn’t understand the
-women in his family as well as an outsider
-did.</p>
-<p>“You think,” I said, “just because she
-says she isn’t afraid of ghosts––”</p>
-<p>“Not at all,” he denied. “That wasn’t
-the reason, but––I like her type, though
-I always supposed I wouldn’t. It is a
-new one to me––anyway. I didn’t
-think so young a girl as she––”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span></div>
-<p>Our discussion was cut short by the
-inevitable, ever-present Ptolemy, who
-came running up to us, clad in about four
-inches of swimming trunks.</p>
-<p>“Why aren’t you in bed?” I demanded.</p>
-<p>“I was in bed, but it was so warm I
-couldn’t sleep, and I went to the window
-and saw you coming down here, so I thought
-I’d come, too.”</p>
-<p>I repeated Rob’s remarks to Silvia when
-I returned to our room, and she betrayed
-Beth’s confidences in regard to Rob.</p>
-<p>“She says she would like him if it were
-not for one trait that she dislikes more
-than any other in a man and that it was
-sufficient in her estimation to counterbalance
-all his good qualities.”</p>
-<p>“What can she mean?” I asked bewildered.
-“I don’t see a flaw in Rob,
-except for his being a woman-hater, and
-he surely hasn’t betrayed that fact to her,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
-judging from his manner toward her. I
-think he is making an effort to be nice to
-her on my account, and she doesn’t appreciate
-it.”</p>
-<p>“I asked her what the flaw was, and she
-flushed and said she couldn’t tell me.”</p>
-<p>“Well, I guess all around it is a good
-thing we are going off on our fishing expedition.
-I don’t want my friend turned
-down by my sister, and I don’t want my
-friend calling my sister a new type and
-unfeminine.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_15' id='linki_15'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-020.jpg' alt='' title='' width='152' height='196' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_16' id='linki_16'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-021.jpg' alt='' title='' width='360' height='116' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_VIII__PTOLEMY_DISAPPEARS_AND_I_VISIT_A_HAUNTED_HOUSE' id='CHAPTER_VIII__PTOLEMY_DISAPPEARS_AND_I_VISIT_A_HAUNTED_HOUSE'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcaplc'>CHAPTER VIII</span></h2>
-<h3><i>Ptolemy Disappears and I Visit a Haunted House</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>When Rob and I, with our camping
-outfit, drove off through the
-woods, Ptolemy’s eyes followed
-us so enviously and he pleaded so eloquently
-to be taken with us that Rob
-was actually on the point of considering
-it.</p>
-<p>“See here, Rob Rossiter!” I exclaimed,
-“This is my vacation and all I came to
-this God-forsaken place for was to escape
-the Polydores. If he goes, I stay. You
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span>
-know I’ve always tried to meet issues,
-but this antique family has got me going.”</p>
-<p>“All right,” he yielded.</p>
-<p>After a drive of a few miles we came
-to the lake and pitched our tent. Two
-days of ideal camp life followed. The
-weather was fine, Rob was a first-class
-cook, and the sport was beyond our most
-optimistic expectation. We landed enough
-of the Friday food to satisfy the most
-fastidious fishing fiend, and the mosquitoes,
-finding we were impervious to their
-stings, finally let us alone.</p>
-<p>I forgot all business cares and disappointments,
-yes, even the Polydores; but on
-the morning of the third day Rob began
-to show signs of restlessness and spoke
-of the likelihood of my wife’s being lonely.</p>
-<p>“Not with Beth and Ptolemy in calling
-distance,” I told him.</p>
-<p>“But they will be off together,” he
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span>
-replied, “and your wife will be alone with
-that <i>enfant terrible</i>. I fancy, too, that
-your sister isn’t exactly a companion for
-your wife.”</p>
-<p>“Well, that shows how little you know
-her. She and Silvia are great friends.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, yes, of course they are friendly,
-but I mean their tastes are so different,
-and they are so unlike. Your sister doesn’t
-care for domesticity.”</p>
-<p>“Sure she does. You have turned the
-wrong searchlight on Beth. If you knew
-her, you’d like her.”</p>
-<p>“I do like her,” he declared. “It’s too
-bad she––”</p>
-<p>He stopped abruptly and quickly
-changed the conversation. In spite of
-my efforts to renew the controversy about
-Beth, he refused to return to the subject.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_17' id='linki_17'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span>
-<img src='images/illus-022.jpg' alt='' title='' width='336' height='477' /><br />
-<p class='caption'>
-He pleaded eloquently to be taken with us.<br />
-</p>
-</div>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span></div>
-<p>In the afternoon, when I was doing a
-little scale work preparatory to cooking,
-a messenger from the hotel drove up with
-a note from Silvia which I read aloud:</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy has been missing for twenty-four
-hours. We are in hopes he has
-joined you. If not, what shall I do?”</p>
-<p>“We’ll go back with you,” said Rob to
-the man. “Just lend a hand here and
-help us pull up these tent stakes.”</p>
-<p>“What’s Ptolemy to me or I to him?”
-I asked with a groan, “can’t we give him
-absent treatment?”</p>
-<p>“You’re positively inhuman, Lucien,”
-protested Rob. “The boy may be at
-the bottom of the lake.”</p>
-<p>“Not he! He was born to be hung.”</p>
-<p>All this time, however, I had been active
-in making preparations for departure, as
-I knew that Silvia would feel that we were
-responsible for Ptolemy’s safety, and her
-anxiety was reason enough for me to hasten
-to her.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></div>
-<p>Rob was quite jubilant on our return trip
-and declared that the fish came too easily
-and too plentifully to make it real sport,
-but I felt that I had another grudge to be
-charged up to the fateful family.</p>
-<p>We found Silvia pale from anxiety, Beth
-in tears, and Diogenes loudly clamoring for
-“Tolly.” We learned that the afternoon
-before, Silvia and Beth had gone with the
-landlady for a ride, leaving Diogenes in
-Ptolemy’s care, but on their return at
-dinner time, Diogenes was playing alone
-in the sandpile.</p>
-<p>Nothing was thought of Ptolemy’s absence
-until bedtime, and they had then
-sent out searching parties to the woods
-and the lake shores. Finally it occurred
-to Beth that he might have gone to join
-Rob and me, so they sent the messenger
-to investigate.</p>
-<p>“He must be lost in the woods
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
-somewhere,” said Beth tearfully, “and he will
-starve to death.”</p>
-<p>Rob actually touched her hand in his
-distress at her grief.</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy is too smart to get lost anywhere,”
-I declared. “He knows fully as
-much about woodcraft as he does about
-every other kind of craft. He’s one of
-his mother’s antiquities personified. But
-haven’t you been able to find anyone who
-saw him after you went for your ride?”</p>
-<p>“No; even the hotel help were all out
-on the lake.”</p>
-<p>“And he left Diogenes here, absolutely
-unguarded?”</p>
-<p>“Well!” admitted Silvia, “he tied Diogenes
-to a tree near the sandpile.”</p>
-<p>“Then he must have gone away with
-malice aforethought,” I said, “and Diogenes
-is the only one who knows anything
-about his last movements.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></div>
-<p>I lifted the child to my knee, and speaking
-more gently to him than I had ever
-done, I asked:</p>
-<p>“Di, did you and Tolly play in the
-sandpile yesterday?”</p>
-<p>He was quite emphatic in his affirmative.</p>
-<p>“Well, tell Ocean: Did Tolly go away
-and leave you?”</p>
-<p>“Tolly goed away,” he confirmed.</p>
-<p>“Oh, Lucien!” protested Beth, laughing.
-“He’s too little to know what you are
-talking about or to remember.”</p>
-<p>“Lucien’s ruling passion strong in death,”
-murmured Rob. “He can’t help cross-examining
-the cradle even!”</p>
-<p>“Which way,” I resumed, ignoring these
-interruptions, “did Tolly go––that way?”
-pointing towards the woods.</p>
-<p>“No! Tolly goed––” and he trailed off
-into his baby jargon which no one could
-understand, but he pointed to the lake.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></div>
-<p>“What did he say when he went away;
-when he tied the rope around you?”</p>
-<p>“Bye-bye.”</p>
-<p>“What else?”</p>
-<p>Diogenes’ intentions to be communicative
-were certainly all right, but not a
-word was intelligible. As he kept picking
-at his dress and pointing to it, I finally
-prompted:</p>
-<p>“Did Tolly pin a paper to Di’s dress?”</p>
-<p>“‘m––h’––m.”</p>
-<p>“Bravo, Lucien!” applauded Rob.
-“They say you can induce a witness to
-admit anything.”</p>
-<p>“What did Di do with the paper?” I
-continued.</p>
-<p>The word he wanted evidently being
-beyond his vocabulary and speech, he
-made a rotary motion with his fist. The
-gesture conveyed nothing to our minds,
-but was instantly recognized and interpreted
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
-by the landlady’s little girl, who
-said he meant a windmill such as she had
-sometimes made for him.</p>
-<p>“What did Di do with the windmill?”
-I asked.</p>
-<p>He pointed to the sandpile, which I
-investigated and found a stick planted
-therein. I pulled it up and saw a pin
-sticking in the end of it. Further excavation
-revealed a crumpled piece of paper
-on which was written in Ptolemy’s round
-hand:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p>“Want to see kids. Am going home.
-Tell Beth I bet she dasent go to the haunted
-house alone at night. Ptolemy.”</p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>“Poor Huldah!” sighed Silvia.</p>
-<p>“I thought he was having the time of
-his life here,” said Rob.</p>
-<p>“He was sore,” declared Beth, “because
-you and Lucien wouldn’t take him with
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
-you on the fishing trip. He was moping
-by himself all the morning.”</p>
-<p>“Trying to think up some new deviltry,”
-I theorized, “to make us feel bad.”</p>
-<p>“No,” asserted Silvia, “I think he really
-misses the boys. The Polydores, for all
-their scrappings, are very clannish. But
-how do you suppose he got down to Windy
-Creek?”</p>
-<p>“He could catch plenty of rides along
-the way, but what is puzzling me is how
-he got the money to pay his fare.”</p>
-<p>“He seemed very well provided with
-cash,” informed Rob. “I tried to pay
-for his ticket down here, but he insisted
-on buying it himself.”</p>
-<p>Silvia worried so much about what
-might happen to him en route that after
-dinner I motored to Windy Creek with
-some tourists who had stopped at the
-hotel in passing.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></div>
-<p>I called up long distance and after some
-delay got in communication with our house.
-Ptolemy himself answered and assured me
-he had arrived all “hunky doory”, that
-Huldah, who was out on an errand, was
-“hunky doory”, and that the kids were
-all “hunky doory.” In fact, his cheerful
-tone indicated that the whole universe
-was in the beatific state described by his
-expressive adjective.</p>
-<p>I was really ripping mad at his taking
-French leave and so giving Silvia cause
-for her anxiety, but I forbore to reprimand
-him by word or tone, lest he get even by
-“coming back” literally. I did tell him
-how the loss of the note for twenty-four
-hours had caused a general excitement,
-but he felt no remorse for his share in the
-situation, blaming Diogenes entirely and
-bidding me “punch the kid’s face” for
-unpinning the note.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></div>
-<p>On my return from Windy Creek I was
-fortunate enough to fall in with a farmer
-who lived near the hotel. He was driving
-some sort of a machine he called an <i>autoo</i>.
-He was an old-timer in the vicinity and
-related the past, present, and pluperfect of
-all the residents on the route. I had a
-detailed and vivid account of the midnight
-visitor of the haunted house.</p>
-<p>“I’d jest naturally like to see what there
-is to it,” he said. “Not that I am afeerd
-at all, only it’s sort of spooky to go to a
-lonesome place like that all alone. If I
-could git some one to go with me, I’d tackle
-the job, but I vum if every time I perpose
-it to anyone they don’t make some excuse.”</p>
-<p>“I’m on,” I declared. “I don’t dread
-ghosts near as much as I do some living
-folks I know.”</p>
-<p>“Right you air,” chuckled the old man.
-“If you say so we’ll go right off now jest
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span>
-as sure as shootin’. We may be ghosts
-ourselves tomorrow.”</p>
-<p>I assured him I was quite ready to encounter
-the ghost, so he jubilantly turned
-the machine from the road into a grass-grown
-lane. We zigzagged for some distance
-and then got out and went on foot
-through a grove. The moon and the stars
-were half veiled by some light, misty clouds,
-so that the little house didn’t show up
-very clearly, but as we came to the top
-of the hill, we saw something that shook
-even my well-behaved nerves.</p>
-<p>From a window in the roof-room extended
-a white arm and hand, with index
-finger pointing threateningly and directly
-toward us.</p>
-<p>My farmer friend turned quickly and
-fled toward the grove. I followed fleetly.
-“What’s your rush?” I asked, when I
-had overtaken him.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span></div>
-<p>“I just happened to remember,” he explained
-gaspingly, “that there’s a pesky
-autoo thief in these ’ere parts. Bukins
-had his stole jest last night.”</p>
-<p>The lights on his machine must have
-reassured him as to its safety when we
-emerged from the woods into the open, but
-he didn’t lessen his speed. We got in the
-“autoo” and soon said good-by to the
-lane. At one time I believed it was
-good-by to everything, but at last we
-gained the highway, right side up.</p>
-<p>“Well!” I said, when we were running
-normally again on terra firma, “that
-was some little old ghost,––beckoned to
-us to come right in, too!”</p>
-<p>“You seen it then!” he exclaimed excitedly.
-“I’m mighty glad I had an eyewitness.
-Folks wouldn’t believe me.”</p>
-<p>“They probably won’t believe me,
-either,” I assured him. “I am a lawyer.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span></div>
-<p>“You don’t tell me! Well, it did jest
-give me a start for a minute. I’d like to
-hev gone in and seen it nigh to, if I hadn’t
-happened to think of this ’ere autoo. You
-see I ain’t got it all paid for yet. I’m jest
-clean beat. You don’t mind my takin’
-a leetle pull at a stone fence, do you?”</p>
-<p>“I guess not,” I assented somewhat
-dubiously, however. “That was a rail
-fence we took a pull at back in the lane,
-wasn’t it? Of course, if we shouldn’t
-happen to clear the stone fence as well
-as we did the rail fence, it might be more
-disastrous.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, land!” he said with a cackling
-laugh, “I ain’t meanin’ that kind of a
-fence. I mean the kind you––Say!
-You ain’t one of them teetotalers, be you?”</p>
-<p>“Only in theory,” I replied, “but this
-stone fence drink is a new one on me.
-What’s it like?”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span></div>
-<p>He stopped the “autoo” and pulled a
-bottle from an inner pocket.</p>
-<p>“You kin taste it better than I kin tell
-it,” he declared. “Take a pull––a condumned
-good one.”</p>
-<p>I rarely imbibed, confining my indulgences
-to the demands of necessity, but I
-thought that the flight of Ptolemy, the
-ghostly encounter, and my Mazeppa––wild
-ride all combined to constitute an occasion
-adequate to call for a bracer in the shape
-of a stone fence, or anything he might
-produce.</p>
-<p>I took what I considered a “condumned
-good one” from the bottle and it nearly
-strangled me, but I followed the aged
-stranger’s advice to take another to “cure
-the chokes” caused by the first one. On
-general principles I took a third and then
-reluctantly returned him the bottle.</p>
-<p>“Here’s over the moon,” he jovially
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span>
-exclaimed as he proceeded to make my
-attempt at a “condumned good one”
-appear most niggardly.</p>
-<p>“May I ask,” I inquired when my feeling
-of nerve-tense strain had vanished, and
-I felt as if I were treading thin air, “just
-what is in a stone fence?”</p>
-<p>“Well, what do you think?” he asked
-slyly.</p>
-<p>“I think the very devil is in it,” I replied.</p>
-<p>“Well, mebby,” he admitted. “It’s
-two-thirds hard cider and one-third whisky.
-It’s a healthy, hearting drink and yet
-it has a leetle come back to it––a sort
-o’ kick, you know. But this is where I
-live,” pointing to a farmhouse well back
-from the road, “but I am goin’ to run you
-on to your tavern though.”</p>
-<p>The hotel was dark, save for a light in
-my room. I invited him in, but he was
-anxious to “git hum and tell the folks”,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span>
-so I gave him some cigars and went in to
-“tell my folks.”</p>
-<p>I found them in the room waiting for
-me. That is, Beth was in the room, sitting
-by the table and pretending to read. Silvia
-and Rob were out in the little balcony.
-They came inside as soon as they heard my
-voice.</p>
-<p>“Oh, was he there?” asked Silvia anxiously.</p>
-<p>“Yes,” I replied. “He answered the
-telephone himself.”</p>
-<p>I was feeling quite exhilarated by this
-time. My wife looked a perfect vision to
-me. Beth, I thought, was some sister,
-and Rob the best fellow in the world. Even
-the Polydores at long range, and under
-the ameliorating influence of stone fences,
-seemed like fine little fellows––rather active
-and strenuous, to be sure, but only as
-all wholesome children should be.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span></div>
-<p>Silvia was relieved at the announcement
-of Ptolemy’s safety, but very much disappointed
-that I did not succeed in interviewing
-Huldah and finding out something
-about domestic affairs.</p>
-<p>I assured her that everything was “hunky
-doory” at home, praised the telephone
-service, my expedition to town, and painted
-my return ride with “the honest farmer”
-in glowing terms. I was suddenly halted in
-my eulogy by becoming aware of an amazed
-expression on my wife’s countenance, a
-most suspicious glance in Beth’s wide-open
-eyes, and a very knowing wink from
-Rob.</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” said Silvia severely, “I believe
-you’ve been drinking. I certainly
-smell spirits.”</p>
-<p>“Maybe you do,” I replied jocosely.
-“I certainly saw spirits. I went to the
-haunted house on my way back.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span></div>
-<p>“I thought Windy Creek was a dry
-town,” remarked Rob innocently.</p>
-<p>“It is,” I assured him, “but I rode home
-with an old man––a farmer.”</p>
-<p>“Does he run a blind pig?” asked Rob.</p>
-<p>“It was more like a pig in a poke,” I
-replied.</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” exclaimed Silvia reproachfully,
-“you told me two years ago, after
-that banquet to the Bar, that you were
-never going to touch wine or whisky again.
-What did that horrid old man give you?”</p>
-<p>“A stone fence. That’s what he said
-it was anyway.”</p>
-<p>“It’s a new one on me,” commented
-Rob.</p>
-<p>“There was a new toast went with it.
-He drank to ‘over the moon.’”</p>
-<p>“You must have gone there all right and
-taken all the shine from the moon-man,”
-said Rob.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span></div>
-<p>“Lucien,” asked Beth, “did you really
-go to that haunted house?”</p>
-<p>Again I was moved to eloquence, and I
-told of the farmer’s yearning, the fulfillment,
-the beckoning hand and the beating
-of the retreat at length.</p>
-<p>“Are you sure,” asked Rob, “that you
-didn’t take that stone fence before you
-visited the haunted house?”</p>
-<p>“I know,” I replied, loftily, “that a
-lawyer’s word is worthless, but seeing is
-believing. We will all visit the haunted
-house tomorrow night and I’ll make good
-on ghosts.”</p>
-<p>This plan was unanimously approved,
-and then Silvia suggested that she thought
-I had better go to bed. I had no particular
-objection to doing so.</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” she said solemnly, when we
-were alone, “I want you to promise me
-something. I want you to give me your
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span>
-word that you will never take another
-stone wall.”</p>
-<p>I did this most readily.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_18' id='linki_18'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-023.jpg' alt='' title='' width='307' height='284' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_19' id='linki_19'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-024.jpg' alt='' title='' width='378' height='100' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_IX__IN_WHICH_WE_SEE_GHOSTS' id='CHAPTER_IX__IN_WHICH_WE_SEE_GHOSTS'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter IX</span></h2>
-<h3><i>In Which We See Ghosts</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>The next morning Rob tried earnestly
-and vainly to drive a wedge in
-Beth’s good graces, but she treated
-him with a casual tolerance that finally
-put him in an ill humor which he took out
-on me with many a gibe at my “stone fence
-spirit.”</p>
-<p>Men of my profession who have to deal
-with facts rather than fancy are not believers
-in the supernatural. I was sure
-that the extending arm and the beckoning
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span>
-finger were there, but belonged to no
-ghost. It might have been a curtain
-blowing out the window or a fake of some
-kind. But I knew that unless there was
-some kind of a showing in a ghostly way
-that night, I should never hear the last of
-my stone fence indulgence, so I resolved
-to make a preliminary visit alone by daylight
-and rig up something white to substantiate
-my spectral narrative.</p>
-<p>I didn’t find an opportunity to escape
-unseen until late in the afternoon, when I
-went, ostensibly, for a solitary row on the
-lake.</p>
-<p>I landed and came by a circuitous route
-to the haunted house. The calm security
-of sunshine, of course, prevented any shivers
-of anticipation such as I had experienced
-the night before. On passing one of the
-windows on my way to the front entrance,
-I glanced in, stopped in sheer fright, stooped
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
-and backed to the next window, which was
-screened by a labyrinth of vines through
-which I peered. I am sure I lost my Bloom
-of Youth complexion for a few moments.
-I babbled aimlessly to myself and then
-managed to pull together and beat it to
-the lake with as much speed as my farmer
-friend had shown in his retreat. I made the
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
-boat and the hotel in double quick time.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_20' id='linki_20'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-025.jpg' alt='' title='' width='324' height='296' /><br />
-</div>
-<p>I felt no misgivings now as to the promise
-of a sensation that night, and that sustaining
-thought was all that propped my flagging
-spirits throughout the day, but I
-resolved to keep my little party at safe
-distance from the house.</p>
-<p>“Say we keep our nocturnal noctambulation
-under our hats,” proposed Rob.</p>
-<p>When this proposition was translated to
-Silvia, she entirely approved, so, committing
-Diogenes to the Polydores’ Providence, we
-left the hotel at half past eleven for a row
-on the lake by moonlight.</p>
-<p>When we descended the slope leading
-to the House of Mystery, I cautioned silence
-and a “safety-first” distance.</p>
-<p>“Ghosts are easily vanished,” I informed
-them. “They don’t seek limelight,
-and I want you to be sure to see
-this one.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></div>
-<p>As we came to the untrodden undergrowth
-we heard a weird, wailing sound
-that would have curdled my blood had I
-not glanced in the window that afternoon
-and so, in a measure, been prepared for
-this––or anything.</p>
-<p>“Look!” whispered Beth. “The arm!”</p>
-<p>Silvia looked at the roof window and with
-a stifled shriek of terror turned and fled up
-the hill, Rob chivalrously pursuing her.</p>
-<p>Beth was pale, but game.</p>
-<p>“What can it be, Lucien?” she whispered.
-“Do we dare go in to see?”</p>
-<p>“I wouldn’t, Beth,” I vetoed quickly.
-“Maybe some lunatic or half-witted person
-has taken up abode here.”</p>
-<p>“Lucien!” called Rob peremptorily.</p>
-<p>I turned quickly. He was at the top of
-the hill, half supporting Silvia. I ran
-toward them, followed by Beth.</p>
-<p>“It isn’t a ghost, of course, Silvia,” I
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
-said soothingly, and then repeated my supposition
-about the lunatic.</p>
-<p>“Of course I don’t believe in ghosts,”
-said Silvia shudderingly, “but it’s an awful
-place and those sounds are like those I
-have heard in nightmares.”</p>
-<p>“We’ll hurry back to the hotel and forget
-all about it,” I urged.</p>
-<p>I rowed the boat and Silvia sat opposite
-me. Beth and Rob were in the stern
-and I had to listen to their conversation.</p>
-<p>“Of course I felt a little creepy,” she admitted,
-“but then I like to feel that way,
-and I wasn’t afraid.”</p>
-<p>“No, of course, you wouldn’t be,” he
-replied somewhat ironically. “You’re the
-new woman type.”</p>
-<p>“No, I am not,” she denied. “I wish
-I were. Silvia’s really the strong-minded
-type.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span></div>
-<p>“She didn’t act the part when she saw
-the ghost,” he retorted.</p>
-<p>“It’s very unusual for her nerves to give
-way. Silvia’s quite a surprise to me this
-summer, but I think those funny Polydores
-have upset her more than Lucien realizes.”</p>
-<p>I wondered if she were right, and once
-again murderous wishes toward the Polydores
-entered my brain, and I made renewed
-vows about disposing of them on
-our return home.</p>
-<p>One thing, however, had been accomplished
-by our expedition. Silvia was more
-lenient in her judgment on my indulgences
-of the preceding night.</p>
-<p>By the time we pulled in at the landing,
-Silvia had recovered her equilibrium.</p>
-<p>“Lucien, what the devil do you suppose
-was in that house?” asked Rob, when we
-were putting up the boat.</p>
-<p>“Loons and things,” I allowed.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span></div>
-<p>“But what was that white arm?”</p>
-<p>“Some fake thing the village wag has
-put up to scare the natives.”</p>
-<p>Next morning’s stage brought some new
-arrivals, and among them were two college
-students who at once were claimed by Beth.
-She played tennis with one and later went
-rowing with the other. Rob smoked and
-sulked, apart.</p>
-<p>My farmer friend had been garrulous
-and rumors of the ghost and the haunted
-house had come to the ears of the hotel
-inmates, thereby causing a pleasurable
-stir of excitement. A number of them
-announced their intention of visiting the
-place. They asked me to be their guide,
-but I refused.</p>
-<p>“It was interesting,” I said, “but I think
-it would be a bore to see the same ghost
-twice.”</p>
-<p>“I am sure I don’t care to go again,” was
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
-Silvia’s emphatic reply when asked to be
-one of the party.</p>
-<p>“Ghosts are scientifically admitted and
-explained,” growled Rob, “so I don’t see
-anything to be excited about.”</p>
-<p>Beth accepted the offer of escort of one
-of the students, so Silvia, Rob, and I remained
-at home. The night was quite
-cool, and we played cards in our room.
-When the party returned, Beth joined us.
-She looked rather out of sorts.</p>
-<p>“Oh, yes,” she replied in answer to
-Silvia’s eager inquiry. “We saw the ghost.
-I don’t know whether it was the same
-little old last night’s ghost or a new one.
-He showed more of himself this time though.
-He had two arms and a veiled head out of
-the window. As soon as our crowd glimpsed
-it, they all fled quicker than we did last
-night. Those two students fell all over
-each other and left me in the lurch.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span></div>
-<p>“What could you expect,” asked Rob,
-“from such ladylike things? They ought
-to be kept in the confines of the croquet
-ground. If they are a fair specimen of
-the kind you have met, no wonder you––”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_21' id='linki_21'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-026.jpg' alt='' title='' width='309' height='287' /><br />
-</div>
-<p>He stopped abruptly.</p>
-<p>“No wonder what?” she asked quickly.</p>
-<p>“Nothing,” he replied glumly.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span></div>
-<p>When I came down to breakfast the
-next morning, the landlady in tears waylaid
-me.</p>
-<p>“Oh, Mr. Wade,” she began in trouble-telling
-tone, “this affair about the ghost is
-going to hurt my business. Some of those
-folks say they are going home, and they
-will tell others and––”</p>
-<p>“I’ll fix the ghost story. Just leave it to
-me!” I assured her optimistically, as we
-went into the dining-room.</p>
-<p>There were only enough guests to fill one
-long table, and every one was excitedly
-dissecting the ghost.</p>
-<p>I took my seat and also the floor.</p>
-<p>“I hate to dispel your illusions,” I said
-cheerfully, “but the fact is, I made a daylight
-investigation of the haunted house.
-First I looked in the window and I saw––”</p>
-<p>“Oh, what did you see?” chorused a
-dozen or more expectant voices.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></div>
-<p>“A lot of––mice.”</p>
-<p>“Oh!” came in disappointed and skeptical
-tones.</p>
-<p>“But, the ghost, Mr. Wade?”</p>
-<p>“Yes! The arms and the head?”</p>
-<p>“A fake figure put up by some practical
-joker for the purpose of frightening timid
-people and encouraging the credulous. I
-didn’t want to spoil your little picnic, so
-I kept still.”</p>
-<p>“Those sounds, Lucien!” reminded
-Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Were from a cat chorus. They were
-prowling about the house.”</p>
-<p>“You’re sure some lawyer, Mr. Wade,”
-doubtfully complimented my grateful landlady,
-as we went out of the room after
-breakfast.</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” asked Rob <i>sotto voce</i>, joining
-me on the veranda, “why don’t the cats
-you speak of catch that lot of mice?”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></div>
-<p>Fortunately Beth came up to us, and I
-didn’t have to explain.</p>
-<p>“Oh!” she said with a shudder. “I’ll
-never go near that awful place! I’d rather
-see a perfectly good ghost, or a loon, or a
-lunatic any day than a mouse.”</p>
-<p>“You’re surely not afraid of a mouse!”
-exclaimed Rob.</p>
-<p>“Why not?” she asked coolly as she
-walked on.</p>
-<p>“I told you she was feminine,” I reminded
-him.</p>
-<p>He shook his head.</p>
-<p>“I can’t understand,” he remarked, “why
-a girl who is afraid of mice should be––”</p>
-<p>“You don’t understand anything about
-women,” I interrupted.</p>
-<p>“You’re right, Lucien. I don’t, but
-your sister is surely the greatest enigma of
-them all.”</p>
-<p>I rented the stone fence farmer’s “autoo”
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
-and took Silvia and Diogenes to a neighboring
-town that afternoon. We didn’t
-get back to the hotel until dinner time.</p>
-<p>“What have you been up to all day,
-Rob?” I asked.</p>
-<p>“Numerous things. For one, I strolled
-down to the haunted house.”</p>
-<p>“What did you see?” cried the women.</p>
-<p>“I saw four––”</p>
-<p>“Ghosts?” asked Beth.</p>
-<p>I shot him a warning glance.</p>
-<p>“Young tomcats playing tag with the
-mice.”</p>
-<p>I corralled Rob outside after dinner.</p>
-<p>“For Heaven’s sake!” I implored.
-“Don’t disturb Silvia’s peace of mind.
-Did you go inside?”</p>
-<p>“No; I was sorely tempted to, but refrained
-out of deference to the evident
-wishes of my host, but really, Lucien, we
-should––”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></div>
-<p>“I have only ten more days off, Rob.
-Don’t make any unpleasant suggestions.”</p>
-<p>“I won’t,” he said promptly.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_22' id='linki_22'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-027.jpg' alt='' title='' width='223' height='266' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_23' id='linki_23'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-028.jpg' alt='' title='' width='349' height='109' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_X_IN_WHICH_WE_MAKE_SOME_DISCOVERIES' id='CHAPTER_X_IN_WHICH_WE_MAKE_SOME_DISCOVERIES'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter</span> X</h2>
-<h3><i>In Which We Make Some Discoveries</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Diogenes, who, for a Polydore, had
-been quite placid since Ptolemy’s
-departure, caused a commotion
-by disappearing the next morning. As he
-was possessed of a deep desire to go in the
-lake and get a little snake, he had been,
-when not under strict surveillance, tied to
-a tree with enough leeway in the length of
-rope to allow him to play comfortably.</p>
-<p>By some means he had managed to work
-himself loose from the rope and had evidently
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
-followed Ptolemy’s example. I suggested
-calling up Huldah and asking if he
-had arrived yet, but I met with such chilling
-glances from Silvia and Beth that I got
-busy and organized searching parties, who
-reluctantly and lukewarmly engaged in the
-pursuit. Rob and I took the shore. After
-we had walked some little distance, we
-met a woman and stopped for inquiry.
-She said she had seen a child of about two
-years, clad in a blue and white striped dress
-and a big hat, going over the hill in company
-with a boy of about eight.</p>
-<p>“Are you going on to the hotel?” I
-asked.</p>
-<p>On her replying that she was, I told her
-to inform them that she had met me and
-that the lost child was located.</p>
-<p>Rob and I then kept on over the hill, and
-when we neared the haunted house, we
-heard hair-raising sounds.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span></div>
-<p>“If I hadn’t been here before,” remarked
-Rob, “I should think that Sitting Bull had
-been reincarnated and was reviving the
-warrior war whoops.”</p>
-<p>We paused on the threshold. A human
-windmill of whirling legs and arms––Polydore
-legs and arms––flashed before our
-eyes.</p>
-<p>“Stop!” I thundered.</p>
-<p>The flying wheel of arms and legs slacked,
-ran a few times, then slowly stopped, and
-the Polydore quintette assumed normal
-positions.</p>
-<p>“Halloa, stepdaddy!”</p>
-<p>A landslide composed of Emerald, Pythagoras,
-and Demetrius started toward
-me. I side-stepped and let Rob receive
-the charge.</p>
-<p>“Line them up now, for attention,” I
-directed Ptolemy. “I have something to
-say to you all.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></div>
-<p>Ptolemy knocked the three terrors up
-against the wall, and I picked up Diogenes,
-who had a bump as big as an egg on his
-head.</p>
-<p>“I told you,” said Ptolemy to Pythagoras,
-“that if you brought Di down here
-they’d get on our trail. He wanted to see
-Di,” he explained, “so he sneaked over
-there and got him.”</p>
-<p>“We were wise before today,” I informed
-him. “I saw you all day before
-yesterday.”</p>
-<p>“And I discovered you yesterday,” added
-Rob.</p>
-<p>Ptolemy looked rather crestfallen, and
-then, seeming to consider that my discovery
-had been succeeded by inaction, which must
-mean non-interference, he heartened up.</p>
-<p>“Now,” I demanded, “I want you to
-begin at the time you left the hotel and tell
-me everything and why you did it.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span></div>
-<p>“I wasn’t having any fun after you two
-went off camping,” he began lugubriously.
-“I couldn’t hang around women folks all
-the time. I wanted boys to play with.”</p>
-<p>I saw a gleam of sympathy and understanding
-come into Rob’s eyes.</p>
-<p>“A harem of hens,” he muttered.</p>
-<p>“I knew we could all have a grand time
-here and not be a bother to mudder, or
-Huldah or anyone, and it seemed too bad
-for this nice house to be empty, and no
-one anywhere else wanting us.”</p>
-<p>I felt my first gleam of pity for a Polydore
-and wiped Diogenes’ dirty, moist face
-carefully with my handkerchief.</p>
-<p>“So I went home and told Huldah I had
-come after the boys to take them back
-with me.”</p>
-<p>“And told her we had sent for them?”
-I asked sharply.</p>
-<p>He flushed slightly at my tone.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span></div>
-<p>“No; I didn’t tell her so. She got that
-idea herself, and I didn’t tell her different.”</p>
-<p>“When did you come?”</p>
-<p>“I came the same night that you telephoned,
-and took the train you and mudder
-came on. We got to Windy Creek in the
-morning. We fetched all our stuff here
-from home. I bought it.”</p>
-<p>“Right here,” I said, “tell me where you
-got the money to buy your stuff and to pay
-your fare here.”</p>
-<p>“I cashed father’s check.”</p>
-<p>“I didn’t know he left you one.”</p>
-<p>“He didn’t, except the one he gave me
-to give you for our board. You told
-mudder you wouldn’t touch it, and it seemed
-a pity not to have it working.”</p>
-<p>Visions of a future Polydore doing the
-chain and ball step flashed before my vision.</p>
-<p>“And they cashed it for you at the
-bank?”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></div>
-<p>“Sure. Father always has me cash his
-checks for him.”</p>
-<p>“What amount did you fill in?” I asked
-enviously.</p>
-<p>“One hundred dollars. There’s a lot
-more in the bank, too.”</p>
-<p>“How did you get your truck here
-from Windy Creek?” asked Rob.</p>
-<p>“We divided it up and each took a
-bunch and started on foot, and some people
-in an automobile, going to the town past
-here, took us in and brought us as far
-as the lane. We’ve been having a fine
-time.”</p>
-<p>“What doing?” asked Rob interestedly.</p>
-<p>“Fishing, sailing on a raft, playing in
-the woods all day and––”</p>
-<p>“Playing ghost at night,” said Pythagoras
-with a grin.</p>
-<p>“Who made that ghost in the window?”
-I demanded.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></div>
-<p>“I did. I rigged up an arm and put it
-out the window the afternoon I left, hoping
-Beth would come down and see it, but
-we’ve got a jim dandy one now.”</p>
-<p>“That was quite a shapely arm,” said
-Rob. “Where did you learn sculpturing?”</p>
-<p>“Oh, I rigged it up,” he said casually.</p>
-<p>“What did you bring in the way of
-supplies?”</p>
-<p>“Bacon, crackers, beans, candy, popcorn,
-gum, peanuts, pickles, candles, matches,
-and butter,” was the glib inventory.</p>
-<p>“You may stay here,” I said, “until we
-go home, but you are not to stir away from
-the woods about here and not on any
-account to come near the hotel, or let it
-be known that you are here. And you are
-to end this ghost business right off. Now,
-Di, we’ll go home to mudder.”</p>
-<p>“No!” bawled Di. “Stay with boys.
-Mudder come here.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></div>
-<p>At least this was Ptolemy’s interpretation
-of his protest.</p>
-<p>I threatened, Rob coaxed, and Ptolemy
-cuffed, but every time I started to leave
-and jerk him after me, he uttered such
-demoniac yells I was forced to stop.</p>
-<p>“Wish it was night,” said Emerald
-regretfully. “Wouldn’t he scare folks
-though! How does he get his voice up so
-high?”</p>
-<p>“Poor little Di!” said a voice commiseratingly
-from the doorway. “Was
-Ocean plaguing him?”</p>
-<p>Beth gathered the child in her arms,
-and his howls changed to sobs. Rob
-stood petrified with amazement at her
-appearance.</p>
-<p>“Don’t want to go,” said Diogenes
-between gulps.</p>
-<p>“Needn’t go!” promised Beth. “Stay
-here with me, and we’ll have dinner with
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span>
-the boys and then we’ll go home and get
-some ice cream.”</p>
-<p>“All yite,” agreed the appeased Polydore.</p>
-<p>“May Lucien and I stay to dinner,
-too?” asked Rob humbly.</p>
-<p>“No,” she replied icily.</p>
-<p>“But, Beth,” I remonstrated. “Silvia
-will be worrying about Di. How can we
-explain?”</p>
-<p>“Silvia has gone to Windy Creek for the
-day. You see, I met that woman you
-sent to the hotel, and she told me she saw
-Di going over the hill with a boy, and I
-suddenly seemed to smell one of your
-mice, so I sent the woman on her way,
-and told Silvia you and Rob had found
-Diogenes. Just then some people she
-knew came along in a car and asked her
-to go to Windy Creek. I made her go and
-told her I’d look after Di.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span></div>
-<p>“You’re a brick, Beth!” applauded
-Ptolemy.</p>
-<p>“If you boys will be very careful and not
-let anyone besides us know you are here,
-so mudder will not hear of it, for though
-she’d like to see you”––this without a
-flicker or flinch––“we want her to have a
-nice rest. I’ll come over every day except
-tomorrow and bring things from the hotel
-store, and bake up cookies and cake for
-you.”</p>
-<p>A yell of approval went up.</p>
-<p>“Why can’t you come tomorrow?”
-asked the greedy Demetrius.</p>
-<p>“Because I’ve promised to go to the
-other end of the lake on a picnic. All
-the people at the hotel are going.”</p>
-<p>“I’ll come tomorrow and spend the
-whole day with you,” promised Rob.
-“We’ll have a ride in the sailboat and do
-all sorts of things.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></div>
-<p>“Why, aren’t you going on that infernal
-picnic?” I asked.</p>
-<p>“No; I’ll have all the picnic I want
-over here. Like Ptolemy I feel that I
-want to play with some of my own kind.”</p>
-<p>Beth looked at him approvingly; then
-she said a little sarcastically:</p>
-<p>“Maybe you’ll change your mind––about
-going on the picnic, I mean––when
-you see the new girl who just came to the
-hotel on the morning stage. She’s a
-blonde, and not peroxided, either.”</p>
-<p>“That would certainly drive him down
-here, or anywhere,” I laughed.</p>
-<p>“Oh, don’t you like blondes?” she asked
-innocently.</p>
-<p>“He doesn’t like––” I began, but
-Ptolemy rudely interrupted with an elaborate
-description of a new kind of fishing
-tackle he had bought.</p>
-<p>Then Beth bade Pythagoras build a fire
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
-in the cook-stove while she set the room to
-rights.</p>
-<p>“We’ll eat out of doors,” she said, “I
-think it would be more appetizing.”</p>
-<p>“How did you get here?” Rob asked
-her as we were leaving.</p>
-<p>“I rowed over.”</p>
-<p>“May I come over and row you back?”
-he asked pleadingly.</p>
-<p>She hesitated, and then, realizing that
-she could scarcely manage a boat and
-Diogenes at the same time, assented, bidding
-him not come, however, until five
-o’clock.</p>
-<p>“She’ll have enough of the Polydores
-by that time,” I said to Rob on our way
-home.</p>
-<p>“Do you know,” he said reflectively,
-“I like Ptolemy. There’s the making of
-a man in him, if he has only half a chance.
-I didn’t suppose your sister understood
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span>
-children so well or was so fond of them.
-She looked quite the little housewife, too.”</p>
-<p>“You’d discover a lot of things you
-don’t know, if you’d cultivate the society
-of women,” I informed him.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_24' id='linki_24'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-029.jpg' alt='' title='' width='256' height='214' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_25' id='linki_25'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-030.jpg' alt='' title='' width='345' height='114' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XI__A_BAD_MEANS_TO_A_GOOD_END' id='CHAPTER_XI__A_BAD_MEANS_TO_A_GOOD_END'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XI</span></h2>
-<h3><i>A Bad Means to a Good End</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>When we were setting out on the
-proposed picnic the next day,
-Rob made himself extremely unpopular
-by announcing his intention to spend
-the day otherwise. The new blonde girl
-gave him fetching glances of entreaty which
-he never even saw. He made another sensation
-by proposing to keep Diogenes with
-him. To Silvia’s surprise, Diogenes voiced
-his delight and chattered away, I suppose,
-about playing with the boys, but fortunately
-no one understood him.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span></div>
-<p>“Won’t you change your mind and
-come, too?” he asked Beth.</p>
-<p>She seemed on the point of accepting
-and then firmly declined.</p>
-<p>When we returned at six o’clock, Rob
-and Diogenes were awaiting us. There
-was something in Rob’s eyes I had not seen
-there before. He had the look of one in
-love with life.</p>
-<p>“Did you have a nice time playing solitaire?”
-asked Silvia.</p>
-<p>“I had a very nice time,” he replied
-with a subtle smile, “but I didn’t play
-solitaire. You know I had Diogenes.”</p>
-<p>“Diogenes apparently had a good time,
-too,” said Silvia, looking at the child, who
-was certainly a wreck in the way of garments.
-“What did you do all day, Rob?”</p>
-<p>“We went out on the water, played
-games, and had a picnic dinner outdoors.”</p>
-<p>“You had huckleberry pie for one thing,”
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span>
-she observed, with a glance at Diogenes’
-dress, “and jelly for another, and––”</p>
-<p>“Chicken, baked potatoes, milk, cake,
-and ice cream,” he finished.</p>
-<p>“Where did you get ice cream?” she asked.</p>
-<p>“I went down to a dairy farm and got
-a gallon.”</p>
-<p>“A gallon!” she exclaimed. “For you
-and Diogenes?”</p>
-<p>“We didn’t eat it all,” he said guardedly.
-“I gave what we didn’t eat to some stray
-boys.”</p>
-<p>“I hope Di won’t be ill.”</p>
-<p>“He won’t,” asserted Rob. “I am sure
-he is made of cast iron.”</p>
-<p>Throughout dinner Rob remained in high
-spirits. He kept eyeing Beth in a way
-that disconcerted her, and then suddenly
-he would smile with the expression of one
-who knows something funny, but intends
-to keep it a secret.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span></div>
-<p>Presently Silvia left us and went upstairs
-to give Diogenes a bath before she
-put him to bed.</p>
-<p>“You’ve had two days’ freedom from
-the last of the Polydores,” I called after
-her. “Doesn’t it seem delightful?”</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” she answered slowly, “I’ve
-really missed the care of him. I was lonesome
-for him all day.”</p>
-<p>“He isn’t such a bad little kid when he is
-out from Polydore environment,” I admitted,
-regretting that he had been restored
-to it.</p>
-<p>“Now tell us all about your day with the
-boys,” Beth asked Rob, when we were
-left alone. “It really does seem too bad
-to keep a secret from Silvia, and yet it
-is a case of where ignorance is bliss––”</p>
-<p>“It would be folly to be otherwise,”
-finished Rob. “Well, Diogenes and I left
-here with a boat load of supplies in the
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
-way of provender and things for the boys.
-I had to tie Diogenes in the boat, of course,
-so he would not try some aquatic feat. He
-objected and yelled like a fiend all the
-way. I was glad there was no one at the
-hotel to come out and arrest me for cruelty
-to children. Of course before we landed,
-his cries were heard by his brothers and
-they were all at the water’s edge. They
-made mulepacks of themselves and transferred
-the commissary supplies. The ice
-cream and bats and balls which I found at
-the store made quite a hit.</p>
-<p>“We played baseball, fished, and had a
-spread on the shore. Then Ptolemy and
-I rowed out to where the sailboat was. I
-explained the mysteries of the jib and he
-caught on instantly. We took in the other
-Polydores and sailed for a couple of hours.
-Then we all went in swimming.”</p>
-<p>“Not Diogenes!”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></div>
-<p>“Certainly. I tucked him under my
-arm and he seemed perfectly at home, although
-greatly disappointed because we
-didn’t succeed in catching a snake.</p>
-<p>“I finally landed them all safely under
-the roof of the Haunted House, and
-Ptolemy assured me it was the best day of
-his young life. In appreciation of the
-diversions I had afforded him, he made a
-confession which proved such good news
-to me that I was a lenient listener and
-exacted no penalty.”</p>
-<p>“What was it?” I asked.</p>
-<p>“He told me that on the day of Miss
-Wade’s and my arrival at your house, he
-had made a misstatement to each of us
-and had not repeated to us accurately what
-he had overheard you telling Silvia when
-he was on the porch roof. Miss Wade,
-what did he tell you about me?”</p>
-<p>“He said that Lucien said that your only
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span>
-failing was that you were daffy over women
-and made love to every one you saw.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, Beth!” I cried, light bursting in,
-“and you believed that little wretch?”</p>
-<p>“I did.”</p>
-<p>“Then that is why you have been so––”</p>
-<p>“Yes––so––” repeated Rob grimly.</p>
-<p>“Well, I never did have any use for a
-man-flirt, and I was awfully disappointed,
-for I had thought from what Rob said
-that you were a man’s man.”</p>
-<p>“And then, of course, when for the first
-time in my life I began being interested in
-a woman––in you––I played right into
-that little scamp’s hands.”</p>
-<p>“He is a man’s man, Beth,” I said
-warmly. “What Ptolemy heard me say
-was that Rob was a woman-hater.”</p>
-<p>“I am not!” declared Rob indignantly––“just
-a woman-shyer, but I haven’t
-finished with Ptolemy’s confession. I
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
-wonder, now, if either of you can guess
-what he told me was Miss Wade’s characteristic.”</p>
-<p>“I don’t dare guess,” laughed Beth.</p>
-<p>“What I did say about Beth was that
-she was a born flirt.”</p>
-<p>“I am not!” protested my sister, in resentment.</p>
-<p>“I should prefer that appellation to the
-one he gave you. He said you were
-strong-minded and a man-hater.”</p>
-<p>Even Beth saw the irony of this.</p>
-<p>“I asked him,” continued Rob, “what
-his motive was, and he said ‘Stepdaddy
-didn’t want Beth to know about the man-hater
-business,’ so he took that means of
-throwing you off the track.</p>
-<p>“I took the occasion to talk to him like
-a Dutch uncle, though I don’t know
-exactly what that is. I think it was the
-first time anything but brute force had
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
-been tried on him. I must have touched
-some little flicker of the right thing in
-him, for he was really contrite and seemed
-to sense a different angle of vision when I
-explained to him what havoc could be
-worked by the misinformation of meddlers.
-He promised me he’d try to overcome his
-tendency to start things going wrong.”</p>
-<p>I made no comment, but it occurred to
-me that Ptolemy was a shrewd little fellow,
-and that there had been wisdom back of
-his strategic speeches to Beth and Rob,
-for he had taken the one sure course to
-make them both “take notice.”</p>
-<p>“So, Beth,” said Rob, and her name
-seemed to come quite handily to him,
-“can’t we cut out the past ten days and
-begin our acquaintance right?”</p>
-<p>“I think we can,” she answered.</p>
-<p>“I had better go upstairs,” I suggested,
-“and tell Silvia that Diogenes doesn’t
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span>
-need a bath, seeing he has been in swimming.”</p>
-<p>Neither of them urged me to remain, so
-I went up to our room and found Silvia
-tucking Diogenes under cover.</p>
-<p>“What did you come up for?” she asked.
-“I was just coming down to join you.”</p>
-<p>“Beth is treating Rob so––differently,
-that I thought it well to retreat.”</p>
-<p>“I am so glad! Whatever came over
-the spirit of her dreams?”</p>
-<p>“They’ve just discovered in the course
-of conversation that Ptolemy as usual
-crossed the wires and told Beth Rob was
-a flirt, and then informed Rob that Beth
-was strong-minded and a man-hater.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, the little imp!” she exclaimed indignantly.</p>
-<p>“I don’t know. It worked, anyway, so
-Ptolemy was the bad means to a good
-end.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></div>
-<p>“How did they ever happen to discover
-what he had done?”</p>
-<p>“They caught on from something Rob
-said,” I told her, feeling again guilty at
-keeping my first secret from her.</p>
-<p>“It will be a fine match for Beth,” said
-Silvia. “Rob is such a splendid man,
-and then he has plenty of money. He
-can give her anything she wants.”</p>
-<p>I winced. I think Silvia must have
-been conscious of it, even though the room
-was dark, for she came to me quickly.</p>
-<p>“I wish I could give you––everything––anything––you
-want, Silvia.”</p>
-<p>“You have, Lucien. The things that
-no money could buy––love and protection.”</p>
-<p>Well, maybe I had. I had surely given
-her protection from the Polydores, though
-she didn’t know to what extent.</p>
-<p>“I am going to give you more material
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span>
-things, though, Silvia. When we go home,
-I shall start to work in earnest and see if
-I can’t get enough ahead to make a good
-investment I know of.”</p>
-<p>“I’d rather do without the necessities
-even, Lucien, than to have you work any
-harder than you have been doing. We
-must let well enough alone.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_26' id='linki_26'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-032.jpg' alt='' title='' width='157' height='254' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_27' id='linki_27'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-031.jpg' alt='' title='' width='342' height='124' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XII__TOO_MUCH_POLYDORES' id='CHAPTER_XII__TOO_MUCH_POLYDORES'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XII</span></h2>
-<h3>“<i>Too Much Polydores</i>”</h3>
-</div>
-<p>The next morning at breakfast, Beth
-announced that she and Rob were
-going to spend the day camping in
-the woods.</p>
-<p>Silvia and I tried not to look significantly
-at each other, but Beth was very keen.</p>
-<p>“We will take Diogenes with us,” she
-instantly added.</p>
-<p>“Oh, no!” protested Silvia. “He’ll be
-such a bother. And then he can’t walk
-very far, you know.”</p>
-<p>“He’ll be no bother,” persisted Beth.
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span>
-“And we’ll borrow the little cart to draw
-him in.”</p>
-<p>“Yes,” acquiesced Rob. “We sure
-want Diogenes with us.”</p>
-<p>“I’ll have them put up a lunch for you,”
-proposed Silvia.</p>
-<p>“No,” Rob objected. “We are going to
-forage and cook over a fire in the woods.”</p>
-<p>“Then,” I proposed to Silvia with alacrity,
-“we’ll have our first day alone together––the
-first we have had since the
-Polydores came into our lives. I’ll rent the
-‘autoo’ again, and we will go through the
-country and dine at some little wayside inn.”</p>
-<p>“Get the ‘autoo’, now, Lucien,” advised
-Beth privately, “and make an early start,
-so Rob and I can take supplies from the
-store without arousing Silvia’s suspicions.”</p>
-<p>“I don’t believe,” said Silvia disappointedly,
-when we were “autooing” on
-our way, “that they are in love after all,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
-or that he has proposed, or that he is going
-to.”</p>
-<p>“Where did you draw all those pessimistic
-inferences from?” I asked.</p>
-<p>“From their both being so keen to take
-Diogenes with them.”</p>
-<p>“Diogenes would be no barrier to their
-love-making,” I told her. “He couldn’t
-repeat what they said; at least, not so
-anyone could understand him.”</p>
-<p>Many miles away we came upon a picturesque
-little old-time tavern where we
-had an appetizing dinner, and then continued
-on our aimless way. It was nearly
-ten o’clock when we returned to the hotel,
-where the owner of the “autoo” was waiting.</p>
-<p>Rob came down the roadway.</p>
-<p>“Where’s Beth?” asked Silvia.</p>
-<p>“She has gone to bed. The day in the
-open made her sleepy.”</p>
-<p>When Silvia had left us, the old farmer
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
-said with a chuckle: “I can’t offer you another
-swig of stone fence.”</p>
-<p>“It’s probably just as well you can’t,”
-I replied.</p>
-<p>“I’d like to be introduced to one,” said
-Rob, who appeared to be somewhat downcast.
-“I sure need a bracer.”</p>
-<p>“What’s the matter, Rob?” I asked
-when we were lighting our pipes. “A
-strenuous day? Two in rapid ‘concussion’
-with the Polydores must be nerve-racking.”</p>
-<p>“Yes; I admit there seemed to be ‘too
-much Polydores.’ We all had a happy reunion,
-and I devoted the forenoon to the
-entertainment of the famous family so I
-could be entitled to the afternoon off to
-spend with Beth. At noon we built a fire
-and cooked a sumptuous dinner. Beth
-baked up some things to keep them supplied
-a couple of days longer. After dinner
-I asked her to go for a row. She insisted
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span>
-on taking Diogenes along, and the
-others all followed us on a raft. So I
-decided to cut the water sports short, and
-Beth and I started for a walk in the woods.
-Three or more were constantly right on
-our trail. I begged and bribed, but to
-no avail. They were sticktights all right,
-and,” he added morosely, “she seemed
-covertly to aid and abet them. When we
-started for home, I found that the young
-fiends had broken the cart, so I had to
-carry Diogenes most of the way, and of
-course he bellowed as usual at being parted
-from the whelps.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_28' id='linki_28'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-033.jpg' alt='' title='' width='177' height='289' /><br />
-</div>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></div>
-<p>“They aren’t such ‘fine little chaps’
-after all,” I couldn’t resist commenting.
-“Familiarity breeds contempt, you see. I
-am sorry Diogenes had so much of their
-society. He’ll be unendurable tomorrow.
-Well, you had some day!”</p>
-<p>“So did the Polydores. Demetrius and
-Diogenes fell in the fire twice. Emerald
-threw a finger out of joint, but Ptolemy
-quickly jerked it into place. Pythagoras
-was kicked off the raft twice, following a
-mutiny. Demetrius threw a lighted match
-into the vines and set fire to the house.
-They said it was a ‘beaut of a day’, though,
-and urged us to come tomorrow and repeat
-the program. By the way, they went
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
-across the lake on their raft yesterday and
-bought a tent of some campers. They have
-pitched it in the woods beyond the house.”</p>
-<p>When I went upstairs Silvia met me
-disconsolately.</p>
-<p>“He didn’t propose,” she said disappointedly.
-“She wouldn’t let him.”</p>
-<p>“Did you wake her up to find out?” I
-asked.</p>
-<p>“She hadn’t gone to bed and she wasn’t
-sleepy. She was trimming a hat.”</p>
-<p>“Why wouldn’t she let him propose, if
-she cares for him?” I asked perplexedly.</p>
-<p>“Well, you see,” explained Silvia, “that
-when a girl––a coquette girl like Beth––is
-as sure of a man as she is of Rob, she
-gets a touch of contrariness or offishness
-or something. She said it would have been
-too prosaic and cut and dried if they had
-gone away for a day in the woods and come
-back engaged. She wants the unexpected.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span></div>
-<p>“Do you think she loves him?” I asked
-interestedly.</p>
-<p>“She doesn’t say so. You can’t tell
-from what she says anyway. Still, I think
-she is hovering around the danger point.”</p>
-<p>“She’d better watch out. Rob isn’t
-the kind of a man who will stand for too
-much thwarting,” I replied.</p>
-<p>“If he’d only play up a little bit to some
-one else, it would bring things to a climax,”
-said my wife sagely.</p>
-<p>“There’s no one else to play up to. The
-blonde left today because it was so slow
-here.”</p>
-<p>“Maybe some new girl will come tomorrow,”
-said Silvia, “or there’s that
-trim little waitress who is waiting her way
-through college. He gave her a good big tip
-yesterday. I think I will give him a hint.”</p>
-<p>“It wouldn’t help any. He wouldn’t
-know how to play such a game if you could
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
-persuade him to try. He’d probably tell
-the girl his motive in being attentive to her
-and then she’d back out. Maybe, after
-all, Beth doesn’t love him.”</p>
-<p>“I think she does,” replied my wife,
-“because she is getting absent-minded.
-She let Diogenes go too near the fire. His
-shoes are burned, his hair singed, and his
-dress scorched. He woke up when I came
-in and he was so cross. He acted just
-the way he does when he is with his
-brothers.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_29' id='linki_29'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-034.jpg' alt='' title='' width='256' height='218' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_30' id='linki_30'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-035.jpg' alt='' title='' width='361' height='118' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XIII__ROBS_FRIEND_THE_REPORTER' id='CHAPTER_XIII__ROBS_FRIEND_THE_REPORTER'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XIII</span></h2>
-<h3><i>Rob’s Friend the Reporter</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Silvia’s vague prophecy was fulfilled.
-When the event of the day,
-the arrival of the stage, occurred, a
-solitary passenger alighted, a slim, alert,
-city-cut young woman.</p>
-<p>She looked us all over––not boldly, but
-with a business-like directness as if she
-were taking inventory of stock, or acting
-as judge at a competition. When her
-blue eyes lighted on Rob, they darkened
-with pleasure.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></div>
-<p>“Oh, Mr. Rossiter!” she exclaimed,
-“this is better than I hoped for.”</p>
-<p>They shook hands with the air of being
-old acquaintances, and he introduced her to
-us as “Miss Frayne, from my home town.”</p>
-<p>She went into the office, registered, and
-sent her bag to her room. Then she asked
-Rob if she might have a talk with him.</p>
-<p>They walked away together down to
-the shore and she was talking to him quite
-excitedly. Rob suddenly stopped, threw
-back his head and laughed in the way
-that it is good to hear a man laugh.</p>
-<p>“Miss Frayne must be a wit,” observed
-Beth dryly.</p>
-<p>I looked at her keenly. Something in
-her eyes as she gazed after the retreating
-couple told me that Silvia’s surmise was
-right, and that Miss Frayne might be just
-the little punch needed to send Beth over
-the danger point.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span></div>
-<p>“I rather incline to the belief that
-Ptolemy told the truth in the first place,”
-she continued, and then looked disappointed
-because I did not contradict her.</p>
-<p>I decided not to reveal, for the present
-anyway, what I knew of Miss Frayne, of
-whom I had often heard Rob speak.</p>
-<p>“She can’t be going to stay long,” said Silvia
-hopefully. “She didn’t bring a trunk.”</p>
-<p>“She doesn’t need one,” replied Beth.
-“She is probably one of those mannish
-girls who believe in a skirt and a few
-waists for a wardrobe.”</p>
-<p>When Rob and the newcomer returned,
-he seemed to be monopolizing the conversation
-in a very emphatic and earnest
-manner. As they came up the steps to the
-veranda, we heard her say:</p>
-<p>“Very well, Mr. Rossiter, I will do just
-as you say. I have perfect confidence in
-your judgment.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span></div>
-<p>They passed on into the hotel and
-Beth jumped up and went down toward
-the lake.</p>
-<p>“Did you ever hear Rob speak of this
-Miss Frayne?” asked Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Often. She is engaged to his cousin,
-and is a reporter on a big newspaper.”</p>
-<p>“Why didn’t you say so? Oh, Lucien,”
-she continued before I could speak, “were
-you really shrewd enough to see which way
-the wind was blowing?”</p>
-<p>“Sure. After you set my sails for me
-last night.”</p>
-<p>Just then Rob came out of the hotel.</p>
-<p>“Say, Lucien, I want to see you a minute.
-Come on down the road.”</p>
-<p>“We’ve got some work ahead,” he said
-when we were out of Silvia’s hearing.</p>
-<p>“What’s up?” I asked.</p>
-<p>“Miss Frayne is up––and doing. What
-do you suppose her paper sent her here for?”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span></div>
-<p>“For a rest, or to write up the mosquitoes
-of H. H.”</p>
-<p>“H. H. is all right, only it happens they
-stand for Haunted House.”</p>
-<p>“Not really?”</p>
-<p>“Yes, really. The rumors of the house
-and the ghost, greatly elaborated, of course,
-reached the Sunday editor of the paper
-Miss Frayne is on, and he sent her up here
-to revive the story of the murder, translate
-the ghost, and get snapshots of the house.
-She was quite keen to have me take her
-there at once, so she could commence her
-article, but I headed her off, so she wouldn’t
-discover the summer boarders at the hotel
-annex. I assured her that daytime was
-not the time to gather material and the
-only way she could get a proper focus on
-the ghost and acquire the thrills necessary
-for an inspiration was to see the place
-first by night.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span></div>
-<p>“If she would view Fair Melrose aright,”
-I quoted, “she must visit it in the pale
-moonlight, but you were very clever to
-delay her visit long enough for us to get
-over there and warn the enemy. If she
-had gone down there and caught the
-Polydores unawares, she would have come
-back here and revealed our secret, and
-there would be the end of Silvia’s vacation.”</p>
-<p>“To tell the truth, Lucien, I wasn’t
-thinking so much of that as I was of Miss
-Frayne’s interests. You see she has come
-a long ways for a story and if it collapsed
-from her ghostly expectations to a showdown
-of four healthy boys, the blow might
-mean a good deal to her in a business way.
-I think we had better let Ptolemy plant a
-ghost just once more for her. You know
-you made him take a reef in the flapping of
-ghostly garments. Can’t we resurrect the
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
-specter and restore the wails just for tonight,
-and bring her over here at the
-witching hour?”</p>
-<p>“Sure we will,” I agreed heartily. “She
-shall have her ghost and all the trappings.
-It will give the Polydores the time of their
-lives.”</p>
-<p>“Let’s go over there now and put Ptolemy
-next so he can get busy on his spirits.”
-We went down to the shore and pulled
-off. Midway across the lake, Rob suddenly
-rested on his oars and asked:</p>
-<p>“Where did Beth go?”</p>
-<p>“Back to first principles,” I replied.
-“She thinks, judging from your excited,
-earnest manner in addressing Miss Frayne
-and your rushing frantically away for a
-walk with her before she had removed the
-travel dust, that Ptolemy was quite correct,
-after all, in declaring you to be a
-‘ladies’ man.’”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span></div>
-<p>“Didn’t you explain to her who Miss
-Frayne was?” he asked.</p>
-<p>“No,” I replied. “I am on my vacation
-and I am not doing any explaining, professionally
-or otherwise.”</p>
-<p>He swung the boat around.</p>
-<p>“Starboard!” I cried. “Don’t you
-know a trump card when you see it?”</p>
-<p>Again he rested on his oars and stared
-at me.</p>
-<p>“What do you mean, Lucien? If you
-have a grain of hope for me, please let me
-in.”</p>
-<p>I repeated Silvia’s theories.</p>
-<p>“I am not going to win her that way,”
-he said slowly, “not by playing a part.”</p>
-<p>“Well,” I declared, “if you go back to
-the hotel now, you can’t explain Miss
-Frayne to Beth, because she went for a
-walk with old Professor Treadtop.”</p>
-<p>He turned the boat again.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></div>
-<p>“Silvia won’t come to the Haunted
-House, will she?” he asked.</p>
-<p>“No, indeed. Nothing would induce
-her to.”</p>
-<p>“Then you bring Miss Frayne here tonight
-and I’ll bring Beth. And I’ll be sure
-that there are no double boats lying around
-loose. I’ll have two at the dock, see?”</p>
-<p>“I see your system,” I replied, “but I
-am not sure how I can explain Miss Frayne
-to Silvia. Silvia is not in the least narrow-minded,
-but still to leave the hotel at
-midnight with a perfectly strange young
-woman––”</p>
-<p>“You can tell her I want a clear field for
-Beth. She will see it is in a good cause.”</p>
-<p>The Polydores greeted us rapturously
-and roughly. When I had restored order,
-and they were once more right side up, I
-addressed the chief of the bandits.</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy,” I began, “a young lady,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span>
-who is a reporter for a big newspaper, has
-come from many miles away to write up
-the haunted house and the ghost, and they
-will be pictured out in the Sunday edition.”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy’s eyes glistened, and “Them
-Three” were instantly “at attention.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, say, stepdaddy,” begged the young
-chief, “let me play ghost right for her, just
-once, will you?”</p>
-<p>“You may for tonight,” I said, “but
-you will have to be very careful and not
-overdo the matter, for she isn’t the kind
-that is easily fooled. She’s had to keep
-her eyes and wits sharpened, else she
-wouldn’t be on a newspaper, so I want
-you to be very careful and not bungle.
-Make a neat job of it.”</p>
-<p>“I’ll do it up brown, you bet!” he cried
-gleefully.</p>
-<p>“Naw, do it up white,” drawled Pythagoras.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span></div>
-<p>“Show me your ghost stuff by daylight,”
-I demanded, “and let me see how you are
-going to rig him up.”</p>
-<p>He brought forth a head and shoulders
-and arms that were ghastly even in sunlight,
-and proceeded to explain them.</p>
-<p>“I got this skull out of father’s study,
-and the arms came off a skeleton mother
-had in her antiquities. I dressed them
-up in a pillow case and the white cotton
-gloves are Huldah’s. I can get some
-phosphorus in the woods and put it in the
-eyes. And Demetrius bought two electric
-flashlights yesterday, and Pythagoras
-can snap them once in a while from the
-lower windows.”</p>
-<p>“You are some little property man,”
-said Rob in admiration. “But tell me
-who produces those heart-rending
-shrieks?”</p>
-<p>“That was Pythagoras who did the high
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span>
-ones. And Em came in with low groans.
-Show ’em, boys.”</p>
-<p>Pythagoras uttered high-trebled, thin-toned
-whines and ever and anon Emerald
-added a <i>basso profundo</i> accompaniment,
-making a combination that was most trying
-to the ears at close range.</p>
-<p>“I don’t know,” said Rob, “as I want
-Beth subjected to such a realistic performance.
-We will loiter in the distance.”</p>
-<p>“Your rehearsal,” I assured Ptolemy,
-“is very good, but you must remember
-that Miss Frayne is used to encountering
-things far more terrible than ghosts. She
-may insist on coming right in here to investigate.
-Of course, if she does, I can’t
-refuse or she’ll think I am afraid, or else
-that I put up a fake ghost here, myself.”</p>
-<p>“We’ll lock the door with a chair,” suggested
-Emerald.</p>
-<p>“She’ll be quite capable of breaking into
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span>
-a little house like this, but I’ll keep her
-back until you have time to haul in your
-ghost and make a quick and quiet getaway
-by a back window. Then another thing,
-she’ll be over here tomorrow morning to
-take some pictures of the house, so by sunrise
-I want you all to take up your abode
-in the tent you have in the woods and
-stay there until I come and tell you the
-coast is clear.”</p>
-<p>“We’re dead on,” assured Ptolemy.
-“I’m glad there’s going to be something
-doing. We’re getting tired of being here
-alone. I had to tie Demetrius up this
-morning. He was bound to go over to
-the hotel and see mudder.”</p>
-<p>“Don’t one of you dare to make such an
-attempt,” I said peremptorily. “You keep
-right on here for a few days. Some of us,
-either Rob, or Beth and I will drop over
-every day. If you play your ghost just
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span>
-as I tell you and keep out of sight, I’ll
-bring you over some ice cream tomorrow.”</p>
-<p>“Bring me a bigger bat.”</p>
-<p>“Bring me a mitt.”</p>
-<p>“Bring me a boat,” came in chorus from
-Ptolemy, Emerald, and Demetrius.</p>
-<p>“What’ll you give me to stay here?”
-asked Pythagoras, who was a born bargain-driver.</p>
-<p>“I’ll give you a licking if you don’t stay,”
-was the only offer he gleaned from me.</p>
-<p>“Be good boys,” adjured the softhearted
-Rob, “and I’ll bring you everything
-I can find at the hotel.”</p>
-<p>It was long past the luncheon hour
-when we returned. We found Miss Frayne
-wondering at Rob’s sudden disappearance
-and Beth was accordingly mystified.</p>
-<p>I planted myself directly in front of
-Miss Frayne.</p>
-<p>“May I take you to the haunted house
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
-tonight at the yawning churchyard hour?”
-I asked. “I am most eminently fitted to
-be your guide, for I was the first one of
-this assembly to see the ghost <i>in toto</i>.”</p>
-<p>“He saw it over a stone fence,” remarked
-Rob.</p>
-<p>“Indeed you may, thank you very
-much,” she said enthusiastically.</p>
-<p>Silvia’s face was a study.</p>
-<p>“And will you come with me, Beth?”
-asked Rob. “Of course, the ghost is an
-old story to us, but we really should hover
-in Lucien’s wake out of regard to the
-conventions.”</p>
-<p>“Is Miss Frayne interested in ghosts?”
-asked Beth.</p>
-<p>Miss Frayne turned and answered the
-question.</p>
-<p>“Not personally,” she admitted frankly,
-“but the newspaper I am on is, and they
-sent me up here to get a story.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span></div>
-<p>“Oh, you are a reporter?”</p>
-<p>“Yes; on the <i>Times</i>.”</p>
-<p>“She won’t be one long, though,” asserted
-Rob cheerfully, “because she is
-going to marry my cousin in the fall.”</p>
-<p>Beth’s expression remained neutral at
-the announcement, but I noticed throughout
-the afternoon that she was extremely
-affable toward Miss Frayne, and that she
-had the whiphand again with Rob, and
-meanwhile he seemed to be gathering a
-grim determination to do or die.</p>
-<p>“Lucien, how did you come to ask Miss
-Frayne to go to that awful place tonight?”
-asked Silvia when we had gone to our room
-for a siesta, which seemed impossible by
-reason of the bellowing of Diogenes, who
-balked at being required to lie down.</p>
-<p>“Rob asked me to,” I informed her,
-when I had cowed Diogenes, “so he could
-have a free field for Beth. I believe he
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
-planned this expedition so he could storm
-the citadel.”</p>
-<p>She reflected.</p>
-<p>“Well, maybe he is wise. Girls like
-Beth have to be taken by storm sometimes.
-I shouldn’t wonder if Rob could
-be a bit of a bully, too, but––”</p>
-<p>She ended her speculations in a shriek.</p>
-<p>“Oh, Lucien! Diogenes has jumped out
-the window.”</p>
-<p>We rushed down stairs, Silvia informing
-the guests in transit of the awful catastrophe.</p>
-<p>Silvia paused at the door opening on to
-the veranda.</p>
-<p>“I can’t see him,” she said faintly,
-closing her eyes. “You’ll have to tend to
-it alone, Lucien.”</p>
-<p>Beth was already at the telephone,
-which connected with the country doctor’s.
-Rob joined me. We located our window,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
-and began hunting underneath for the
-pieces.</p>
-<p>“Where in the world do you suppose he
-landed?” asked Rob.</p>
-<p>Just then the missing one came around
-the house clasping a bologna sausage in
-his fist.</p>
-<p>“Ye Gods and little Polydores!” exclaimed
-Rob.</p>
-<p>I caught Diogenes by the arm and
-rushed him in to Silvia.</p>
-<p>I found her in company with an old
-colored mammy, who was laundress for
-the hotel.</p>
-<p>“Sho’,” she was saying, “I done gwine
-by de windah with ma baby cab full o’
-cloes, an’ dis yer white chile done come
-tumblin’ down an’ fall right in ma cab.
-Now, what do you think o’ dat? I reckon
-I was nevah so done clean skeert afoah
-in ma life. An’ ef de chile didn’t grab one
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
-of ma bolognas and done git out de cab
-an’ run around de house.”</p>
-<p>“Oh,” cried Silvia, “poor little baby!
-Come to mudder. Lucien, where are you
-going with him?”</p>
-<p>I had picked up the acrobatic Polydore
-and was going up the stairs two at a
-time. I gained our room, locked the
-door and proceeded to give the “poor
-little baby” all that was coming to him.
-Now and then above his howls, I heard
-Silvia’s plaintive protests outside the door,
-but I finished my job completely and
-satisfactorily, and laid the penitent Polydore
-in his little bed. Then I went out into
-the hall, feeling better than I had in months.</p>
-<p>Silvia essayed to pass me, but I took
-her arm and led her to a recess in the hall.</p>
-<p>“I am convinced,” I told her, “that we
-have Diogenes as a permanent pensioner
-on our hands, so it was up to me to show
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
-him where to get off. You can’t go to him
-for a quarter of an hour.”</p>
-<p>We went down stairs and I was sure I
-read suppressed regret in the faces of most
-of the guests at learning of the soft place
-in which Diogenes’ lot had been cast.
-Silvia tearfully told Rob and Beth of my
-cruelty.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_31' id='linki_31'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-036.jpg' alt='' title='' width='228' height='299' /><br />
-</div>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span></div>
-<p>“Do him good!” approved Rob heartily.</p>
-<p>“How mean men are!” declared Beth
-indignantly. “I am going up and comfort
-the poor little thing.”</p>
-<p>I held up the key to the room with a
-grin, and she had to content herself by
-making unkind remarks about me.</p>
-<p>At the expiration of the allotted time, I
-handed Silvia the key. She took it from
-me without a word or a look. It was
-quite evident I was in wrong.</p>
-<p>In half an hour my wife came down,
-carrying Diogenes, who, dressed in fresh
-white clothes, was a good picture of an
-angel child. She passed me and went to
-a remote corner of the veranda and sat
-down. When he spied me, he leaped from
-her arms and ran to me.</p>
-<p>“Ocean,” he said propitiatingly, “me
-love oo.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></div>
-<p>I took him up. His arms clasped about
-my neck, and over his curly head, I winked
-at Silvia and Beth.</p>
-<p>Rob roared.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_32' id='linki_32'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-037.jpg' alt='' title='' width='227' height='213' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_33' id='linki_33'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-038.jpg' alt='' title='' width='353' height='129' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XIV__A_MIDNIGHT_EXCURSION' id='CHAPTER_XIV__A_MIDNIGHT_EXCURSION'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XIV</span></h2>
-<h3><i>A Midnight Excursion</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>The night was Satan’s own: dark,
-wind-shrieking, and Polydorish.
-No one saw us leave the hotel when,
-at a late hour, we started on our little
-excursion. On account of the darkness
-and the poor landing near the haunted
-house, we decided to go by the overland
-route. I managed to purloin a lantern
-from the kitchen to light our path.</p>
-<p>Rob and Beth kept behind Miss Frayne
-and myself, and in spite of the wildness of
-the weather, he was evidently pleading his
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span>
-suit, for now and then above the roar of
-the wind, I heard his ardent voice. Apparently
-Beth had not yet given him any
-encouragement.</p>
-<p>Going down the lane my lantern underwent
-a total eclipse, so we had a Jordan-like
-road to travel. Miss Frayne was
-quite impervious to unfavorable conditions,
-as it was a matter of bread and butter to
-her, she said, and she was accustomed to
-braving worse storms than this, and anyway
-she hadn’t come here for a summer picnic.</p>
-<p>When we came into the grove it was so
-dark, I lost my bearings.</p>
-<p>“Why didn’t we bring a flashlight?”
-asked Beth.</p>
-<p>“There were none at the hotel,” I told
-her.</p>
-<p>“I know some boys,” said Rob with a
-little laugh, “who would have lent us one––maybe.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span></div>
-<p>Fortunately we were well provided with
-safety matches and after striking a box or
-so, we gained the open. A rise of ground
-hid the house, but when we climbed to the
-top, the ghost loomed up ghastlier than
-ever.</p>
-<p>I felt the business-like Miss Frayne start
-and shiver as a little scream escaped her.
-I didn’t wonder. Even I, knowing that it
-was an illusion and a snare, felt my flesh
-creeping as I looked at the ghastly thing in
-the window.</p>
-<p>Every now and then according to schedule
-a light flashed from the windows below.
-And then came the blood-curdling sounds––whimpers
-and groans that were rivaling
-the whistling of the wind.</p>
-<p>“This is awful!” said Miss Frayne in a
-hoarse whisper.</p>
-<p>“Do you want to go inside the house?”
-I asked.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span></div>
-<p>“No––o! I couldn’t. Not tonight.”</p>
-<p>We were some little in advance of Rob
-and Beth. When one spectral sound came
-like a tense whisper, Miss Frayne turned
-and fled, and of course I followed her. We
-could not see our two companions, but
-suddenly in an interim of wind and ghost
-whispers, we heard Beth say:</p>
-<p>“Yes, Rob. I think we should really
-be cosier in a story-and-a-half cottage than
-we should in a bungalow.”</p>
-<p>“Ye Gods!” muttered Miss Frayne, “did
-he propose in the face of that awful Thing?”</p>
-<p>“Ship ahoy!” I called.</p>
-<p>“Oh, didn’t you go inside?” asked Rob.</p>
-<p>“Go in! I wouldn’t go inside that place;
-not if I lose my job on the paper. What
-can it be? You don’t seem to mind it,
-Miss Wade.”</p>
-<p>“Well, you know,” said Beth apologetically,
-“this is my third performance.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span></div>
-<p>We were now down the hill out of sight
-of the gruesome, ghastly window display,
-and Miss Frayne gained courage as we
-retreated.</p>
-<p>“Of course I don’t believe in ghosts,”
-she said, “but what do you suppose that
-is?”</p>
-<p>“I had a theory,” I said, “that it is the
-work of a lunatic, but I’ve since concluded
-it is due to practical jokers. I’ll tell you
-what I’ll do. If you wait here, I’ll investigate
-and see what I can find out for you.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, would you really dare, Mr. Wade?
-I don’t believe men ever have creepy
-nerves,” she exclaimed.</p>
-<p>I began to feel ashamed of my deception.</p>
-<p>“I wouldn’t go, Lucien,” warned Rob,
-coming to my rescue. “There may be a
-gang of desperadoes in there, or counterfeit
-money-makers, or something of that kind.
-Besides, I have a far more interesting piece
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
-of news than anything the ghost could
-give you.”</p>
-<p>“Rob!” protested Beth.</p>
-<p>“We know it already,” I laughed. “It’s
-to be a story-and-a-half high.”</p>
-<p>“I think I am getting material for quite
-a story,” declared Miss Frayne.</p>
-<p>I knew Beth’s dislike of scenes and display
-of emotions––mock heroics––she
-called them, so I made no congratulatory
-speeches of the bless-you-my-children order,
-but presently under the cover of darkness,
-I felt a little hand slipped in mine, and my
-clasp was eloquent of what I felt.</p>
-<p>“I hope,” said Miss Frayne, “that daylight
-will make me so ashamed of my
-cowardice that I can come down here and
-take some pictures and go inside the
-house.”</p>
-<p>“We’ll all come with you,” promised
-Beth. “There’s safety in numbers.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></div>
-<p>When we were back at the hotel I managed
-to have a few words with Rob before
-we went upstairs.</p>
-<p>“Bless the ghost!” he said cheerily.
-“When Beth first glimpsed it, she just
-turned and fell into my arms. She was
-really frightened for the first time. I shall
-feel under obligations to Ptolemy for a
-lifetime.”</p>
-<p>“Thank goodness!” I ejaculated fervently,
-“that I am under no obligations to
-a Polydore. Ptolemy certainly did put
-up the most ghastly thing in the way of
-ghosts. The lights in the eyes of the
-skeleton were frightful.”</p>
-<p>“Did you see the ghost?” asked Silvia
-sleepily, when I came in.</p>
-<p>“Yes; same old ghost, only more of
-him,” I assured her.</p>
-<p>She was asleep before I had uttered this
-reply.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span></div>
-<p>“Silvia,” I said, “I have a more startling
-piece of news for you than that.”</p>
-<p>She sat bolt upright.</p>
-<p>“Are they engaged, Lucien?”</p>
-<p>“They are. They are building their
-castle––I mean their story-and-a-half
-cottage already.”</p>
-<p>Alas for my own desire to sleep! I had
-so effectually awakened Silvia that she
-planned Beth’s trousseau, the wedding,
-honeymoon, and the furnishing of their
-house before she subsided.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_34' id='linki_34'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-039.jpg' alt='' title='' width='324' height='221' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_35' id='linki_35'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-040.jpg' alt='' title='' width='366' height='133' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XV__WHAT_MISS_FRAYNE_FOUND_OUT' id='CHAPTER_XV__WHAT_MISS_FRAYNE_FOUND_OUT'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XV</span></h2>
-<h3><i>What Miss Frayne Found Out</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>We had planned to go to the haunted
-house at nine o’clock the next
-morning, but owing to my dissipation
-of the night before, it was long
-after the appointed hour when Silvia awoke
-me.</p>
-<p>I hurried down stairs and ate my breakfast
-in solitude. I inquired for Beth and
-Rob, but the waitress told me they had left
-the dining-room at seven o’clock and gone
-for a walk in the woods. She said it with
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span>
-a knowing smile that told me she, too, must
-be a “sister of the Golden Circle.”</p>
-<p>“And Miss Frayne?” I asked.</p>
-<p>“She went down the road over an hour
-ago.”</p>
-<p>Evidently her courage had come up with
-the sun. I was greatly disturbed at the
-chance of her stumbling over one or more
-Polydores, and Rob didn’t want to let the
-cat out of the bag until her article was
-written, as he believed that if the ghostly
-spell were broken, she would lose her
-“punch.”</p>
-<p>I was unable to think of any plausible
-explanation to offer Silvia as to why I
-should start in pursuit, and I wished all
-sorts of dire calamities on Rob’s blond
-head. Lovers were surely blind and selfish.</p>
-<p>About ten o’clock they came strolling
-in.</p>
-<p>“We didn’t know it was so late,” said
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span>
-Beth cheerfully, “but the boys will keep
-in the woods all right.”</p>
-<p>“With her nose for news, there is no
-telling how far into the woods Miss Frayne’s
-investigation will take her.”</p>
-<p>“Say we go down by the lane and meet
-her,” proposed Beth, “so that if she has
-run across the boys we can explain to her
-why we desire secrecy from Silvia.”</p>
-<p>“You and Rob go,” I advised. “It
-would seem odd to Silvia if we didn’t ask
-her to go with us.”</p>
-<p>So the newly engaged couple started
-down the road, but in their self-absorption
-they didn’t notice the turn to the lane, and
-they got half way to Windy Creek before
-they came back to earth and the hotel.
-Miss Frayne still had not shown up, and I
-began to have misgivings lest the Polydores
-had locked her up in the house, but
-finally just as we were having a happy
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span>
-family gathering and discussing the new
-event under the shade of the one resort
-tree, she came excitedly up to us.</p>
-<p>“Such an interesting morning as I have
-had!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “I
-made some corking pictures of the place,
-and I’ve found out about not only that
-ghost, but all ghosts––the whole race of
-ghosts.”</p>
-<p>I hurriedly interrupted her and made
-elaborate and jumbled apologies for not
-keeping our engagement, which evidently
-bored her and mystified Silvia.</p>
-<p>“I am glad I went alone,” she finally
-replied. “Otherwise I might not have
-got such an interesting interview.”</p>
-<p>Beth, Rob, and I made frantic and appealing
-gestures to her behind Silvia’s
-back, but she didn’t seem to notice them.</p>
-<p>“Whom did you interview, the ghost?”
-asked Silvia.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></div>
-<p>“No, indeed. Some very interesting and
-unusual people who are staying there.”</p>
-<p>I threw her a wildly beseeching glance
-and Beth and Rob began at the same time
-to ply her with distracting questions. I
-think she seemed to divine that there was
-something in the situation that was not
-to be explained, but Silvia interrupted
-them.</p>
-<p>“Do let Miss Frayne tell us about her
-interview,” she said. “We all seem to be
-very talkative today.”</p>
-<p>I saw there was no way to dodge the
-dénouement, so I awaited the finale in
-dread desperation. It proved to be more
-of a stunner than I had expected.</p>
-<p>“I went down the lane,” she said, “and
-through the grove, up the little hill, and
-laughed at myself for the hallucinations
-of the night before. There were no ghosts
-visible and the door to the haunted house
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span>
-was hospitably open. I stood on the hill
-long enough to make some pictures and
-then went on. I walked up the steps
-fearlessly and looked within. A woman,
-an untidy, disheveled-looking woman, sat
-at a table writing furiously in just the same
-breathless way I write when I have a scoop,
-and the presses are waiting open-mouthed
-for my copy.</p>
-<p>“She looked up and scowled at my intrusion.</p>
-<p>“‘Don’t bother me,’ she said, and continued
-writing.</p>
-<p>“I went through the house and came
-outside again where I met an absent-minded,
-spectacled man. I told him who
-I was and of my object in coming to the
-house. Then he showed signs of coming to.</p>
-<p>“‘Oh, the ghost!’ he said. ‘That is
-what brought me here. My wife is interested
-in more tangible, more material
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span>
-things. We have just returned from a long
-journey, and when we were nearly to our
-destination, our place of residence, I happened
-to read in a paper about this haunted
-house and its apparition, so we came right
-up here this morning to remain overnight
-and see if the article were true.’</p>
-<p>“I told him how successful I had been
-and he became quite alert and enthusiastic.
-He showed me why I should not have been
-alarmed, because ghosts, he said, were
-scientific facts. He then explained to me
-at length how the gases from the dead
-arise and form a nebulous vapor or a vaporous
-nebula. It sounded very simple and
-plausible when he told me, but I can’t seem
-to remember it. Fortunately I have it all
-down in writing.”</p>
-<p>Silvia’s eyes and mine had met in speechless
-horror since she had mentioned the
-“writing woman.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></div>
-<p>“Lucien!” Silvia now said in a tragic,
-hoarse whisper––“the Polydores!”</p>
-<p>“Oh, do you know them?” asked Miss
-Frayne. “Dr. Felix Polydore, the eminent
-LL.D. or something like that.”</p>
-<p>“The whole family are D’s,” I said.</p>
-<p>“His wife is the highest of high-brows,
-and they are averse to interviews. They
-moved to a small city sometime ago to be
-secluded. Just think of my opportunity!
-I have them headlined! ‘The Haunted
-House of Hope Haven. Ghost that appears
-at midnight scientifically explained
-by the distinguished Dr. Felix Polydore.’”</p>
-<p>“I think we are in luck,” I said to Silvia,
-on second thoughts. “We will take them
-home by the nape of the neck and deliver
-their children into their keeping to have
-and to hold.”</p>
-<p>“I can’t turn Diogenes over to them,”
-she said plaintively.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></div>
-<p>“Diogenes!” repeated Miss Frayne in
-astonishment.</p>
-<p>I then narrated to her the history of
-our next-door neighbors, and how they
-planted their five children upon us.</p>
-<p>“We had better go down at once and see
-them,” said Silvia, “before they escape.
-No telling where they might take it in their
-heads to go.”</p>
-<p>“We will,” I said, “we’ll go soon after
-luncheon.”</p>
-<p>“Thrice blessed haunted house,” quoted
-Rob. “It gave me Beth, and it has restored
-the parents of the wise Ptolemy and
-‘Them Three.’”</p>
-<p>“And gave me a ripping story,” said
-Miss Frayne.</p>
-<p>Just then the gong sounded, and after
-luncheon while I was comfortably tipped
-back in a chair, my feet on the veranda
-rail, seeing in the smoke from my pipe
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span>
-dream visions of Polydoreless days, a faint
-cry from Silvia brought me back to earth.</p>
-<p>“Lucien, look!”</p>
-<p>I looked.</p>
-<p>My chair came down to all fours and my
-feet slipped from the rail.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_36' id='linki_36'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-041.jpg' alt='' title='' width='220' height='230' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_37' id='linki_37'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-042.jpg' alt='' title='' width='359' height='115' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XVI__PTOLEMYS_TALE' id='CHAPTER_XVI__PTOLEMYS_TALE'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XVI</span></h2>
-<h3><i>Ptolemy’s Tale</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Four defiant, determined-looking
-Polydores came up the steps and
-bore down upon us. Then Silvia
-as usual thought she saw land ahead.</p>
-<p>“Oh, boys,” she asked hopefully, “did
-your father send for you to meet him here?
-And when is he going to take you home?”</p>
-<p>“Didn’t I tell you,” I thundered at
-Ptolemy, “that you were not to leave that
-house––”</p>
-<p>“It left us,” interrupted Emerald with
-a grin.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span></div>
-<p>“Went up in smoke,” added Pythagoras
-blithely, “ghost and all.”</p>
-<p>“Four minutes quicker,” said Demetrius,
-“and it would have took father and mother,
-too.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, is it the haunted house they are
-talking about?” asked Miss Frayne joyfully.
-“What a story I’ll have!”</p>
-<p>Life to Miss Frayne seemed to be one
-story after another. Well, it was certainly
-becoming the same way to us.</p>
-<p>“Did the ghost set fire to the house?”
-asked Beth.</p>
-<p>“What are you all talking about,” demanded
-Silvia, “and how did you know
-these boys were there? How long have
-you been here?” she asked, turning to
-Ptolemy.</p>
-<p>“I told you,” I repeated angrily to the
-subdued boy, “not to leave. Those were
-plain orders. If the house did burn up,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span>
-you could have stayed in your tent in the
-woods.”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy’s lips twitched faintly.</p>
-<p>“The house burned up and all our
-clothes and our stuff to eat, and our bats
-and things, and father and mother went
-away and I didn’t know what to do, so––I
-came here. But we’ll go back to our
-own house. We have learned to cook.
-Come on, boys.”</p>
-<p>“You’ll stay right here with me, son,”
-and Rob’s hand came down intimately
-on Ptolemy’s shoulder.</p>
-<p>“It isn’t likely we’ll turn them out into
-the woods, when they haven’t a roof over
-their heads,” declared Silvia, drawing
-Emerald to her side.</p>
-<p>“I think you are absolutely inhuman,
-Lucien,” cried Beth. “I don’t see what has
-changed you so,” and she proceeded to make
-room for Pythagoras in the porch swing.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span></div>
-<p>“Did the fire scare you?” asked Miss
-Frayne gently, as she put her arms about
-Demetrius.</p>
-<p>“Et tu, Brute? Well, I plainly see
-this is no place for an inhuman, childless,
-married man,” I said with a laugh, walking
-down the veranda.</p>
-<p>In the doorway I met Diogenes, who
-raised his chubby arms invitingly.</p>
-<p>“Up, up, Ocean!” he begged sweetly.</p>
-<p>I lifted him to my shoulder, and then
-turned and walked triumphantly back to
-the family group.</p>
-<p>“Now,” I said, “here is the whole
-d-dashed family. And I propose that each
-keep unto his charge the child he has now
-under his wing.”</p>
-<p>Miss Frayne quickly relinquished the
-dirty Demetrius. Beth shrank away from
-Pythagoras.</p>
-<p>As I seated myself still holding Diogenes,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span>
-his brothers sprang toward him in greeting,
-but he spat at one, kicked at another, and
-pulled the hair of a third, although he patted
-Ptolemy’s cheek gently.</p>
-<p>“Now, we’ll have this affair thrashed
-out,” I declared in my most authoritative,
-professional manner, and I then proceeded
-to explain to Silvia the housing of the Polydores,
-and our strategies to keep their
-arrival a secret simply on her account.</p>
-<p>“Because you know,” interpolated Beth,
-with a consideration for the feelings of the
-young Polydores––a consideration they
-had never before encountered––“we
-wanted you to have a nice rest.”</p>
-<p>Silvia looked quite penitent and remorseful
-for her seeming lack of appreciation of
-our combined efforts. When I had answered
-all her inquiries satisfactorily, Miss Frayne’s
-curiosity regarding the progeny of the eminent
-Polydores had to be fully relieved.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span></div>
-<p>“And do you mean that the scribbling
-lady I saw at the table is really the mother
-of these five boys?” she asked, unable to
-grasp the fact.</p>
-<p>“Yes; and the father hereof is the man
-who explained the ghosts to you so scientifically
-that you cannot remember what
-he said. Now, Ptolemy, we’ll hear your
-story of the fire and the whereabouts of
-your parents. Take your time and tell
-it accurately.”</p>
-<p>“Well, you see we did just as you said
-to, and took the ghost out of the window
-and went out to the woods early this
-morning so as not to let the paper lady
-see us.”</p>
-<p>“Oh!” cried Miss Frayne, “am I the
-paper lady? I begin to see daylight.
-Are these boys the ghost perpetrators, and
-were you in on the put-up job?”</p>
-<p>“You’re a good guesser,” I replied.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span></div>
-<p>“And why wasn’t I taken into your
-confidence?”</p>
-<p>“For two reasons. First, because
-your friend Rob said you’d get better
-results for copy––more inspirations and
-thrills, if you weren’t behind the scenes
-on the ghost business,––and then we
-didn’t want to tell you about the presence
-of the Polydores lest inadvertently you
-betray the fact to my wife. Now, proceed,
-Ptolemy.”</p>
-<p>“After we were in the woods, I heard
-an automobile coming down the lane, and
-I went up near the edge of the woods and
-peeked out behind a tree, and pretty soon
-I saw father and mother come over the hill
-and go in our haunted house, so I came up
-there and hid under the window and heard
-mother say: ‘What an ideal place to
-write this is. It looks as if I might really
-get a chance to write unmo––’</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span></div>
-<p>“‘––lested,’” I finished for him.</p>
-<p>“I guess so,” he allowed. “Well, she
-began writing, so I didn’t go in, but when
-father came outside I went up to him and
-told him you and mudder were at the hotel
-and that we were all with you. He told
-me they came up here to write an article
-for some big magazine about the ghost.
-He hired an automobile down at Windy
-Creek to bring them up to the house and
-the man was going to come back for them
-tomorrow morning. I didn’t let on the
-ghost was a fake, because I thought he’d
-be so disappointed to have all his trouble
-for nothing, and he’d be mad at me for
-swiping his skull. I told him a paper lady
-was coming and then I went back to the
-woods. He went down with me to see the
-boys, and he said he would come back and
-have lunch with us. Mother doesn’t ever
-stop to eat at noon when she is writing.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span></div>
-<p>“He went back and talked to the paper
-lady and pretty soon he came down and
-ate with us. I told him all about how we
-couldn’t get any girl to do the work for us
-and so we had been living with you, and
-how Di got sick and mudder was all worn
-out taking care of him and came down
-here to rest, and that you wouldn’t cash
-the check, so I did and was spending it and
-he said that was all right.” Here Ptolemy
-flashed me a most triumphant glance.</p>
-<p>“He said you must be paid for all your
-expense and trouble, so he made out a
-check and gave it to me and told me to
-make mudder a nice present. He ain’t
-so bad when he ain’t thinking about dead
-stuff. When he felt in his pocket for his
-check book, he found a letter he had got
-yesterday and forgotten to open, so he
-read it then and found it was from some
-magazine, and the man said he’d pay his
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span>
-and mother’s expenses to go to Chili and
-write up some stuff about––something.
-So father said they must go at once.”</p>
-<p>“Not to Chili!” I exclaimed.</p>
-<p>“Yes; we all went up to the house with
-him and I took mother’s pencil and paper
-away so she would have to listen. She
-was wild for Chili, and I had to go and hunt
-up a farmer who had a machine to take
-them down to Windy Creek. Father
-signed another blank check for you and said
-you could board us with it or do anything
-you thought best.</p>
-<p>“Then mother took a lot of papers out
-of her bag, some stuff she had written and
-didn’t get suited with, and she stuffed them
-in the stove and set fire to them. Then
-we all went down to the lane to see father
-and mother off and when we got back the
-house was on fire. The chimney burned
-out.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span></div>
-<p>“Guess mother must have written some
-hot stuff,” said Emerald.</p>
-<p>“It was burning so fast,” continued
-Ptolemy, “that we didn’t dast go in to
-save anything and all our food and clothes
-and balls and bats and fishing tackle are
-gone, and we didn’t know what to do, or
-what to eat, and so––we came here.”</p>
-<p>“You did just right, Ptolemy,” I admitted.
-“I shouldn’t have called you down––not
-until I heard your story, anyway.”</p>
-<p>I held out my hand, which he shook
-solemnly, but with an injured air.</p>
-<p>“Do you mean to tell me,” asked Miss
-Frayne, “that your father and mother
-went away without seeing the baby?”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy flushed a little.</p>
-<p>“You see,” he explained apologetically,
-“mother gets woolly when she writes and
-she’s forgotten there’s Di. She thinks
-Demetrius is the youngest. She’s mad
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span>
-about writing. If she sees a blank
-paper anywhere, she ain’t happy until she
-has written something on it, and the sight
-of a pencil makes her fingers itch.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_38' id='linki_38'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-043.jpg' alt='' title='' width='206' height='276' /><br />
-</div>
-<p>“Take warning, Miss Frayne,” I said,
-“and don’t get too literary.”</p>
-<p>“Some day,” resumed Ptolemy,
-“mother’ll get the antiques all out of
-her system and then she’ll remember us.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span></div>
-<p>I liked the boy’s defense of his mother,
-and I began to see that Rob was right in
-thinking there were possibilities in the
-lad, but it was Silvia’s influence that had
-developed them, for in the days when he
-borrowed soup plates of us, there had been
-no redeeming trait that I could discern.</p>
-<p>And while I was recalling this, I heard
-Silvia saying to him kindly: “And in the
-meantime, I’ll be ‘mudder’ to you.”</p>
-<p>“So will I,” chimed in Beth.</p>
-<p>“I’ll be a big brother,” offered Rob.</p>
-<p>“I’ll be next friend, Ptolemy,” I contributed.</p>
-<p>Strange to say, my offer seemed to make
-the most impression on him. He came to
-me and gazed into my eyes earnestly.</p>
-<p>“I’ll do just as you say,” he promised.</p>
-<p>“Where do we’uns come in?” asked
-Pythagoras, with one of his satanic grins.</p>
-<p>Miss Frayne saved the day.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span></div>
-<p>“You all come in with me,” she said, “and
-have lunch. I haven’t eaten since breakfast,
-and I understand there is warm ginger cake
-and huckleberry pie. Aren’t you hungry?”</p>
-<p>“You bet,” spoke up Pythagoras. “We
-only had coffee, peanuts, and beans down in
-the woods, and father ate the beans and
-drank all the coffee.”</p>
-<p>“We’re out of the frying pan into the
-fire,” said Silvia woefully, when we were
-alone.</p>
-<p>“I wish the Polydore parents had gone
-up in smoke,” I declared.</p>
-<p>“Then your last hope of getting rid of
-the children would have gone up in smoke,
-too,” argued Beth.</p>
-<p>“No; in case of the demise of their
-parents, we could have turned them over
-body and soul to the probate court,” I
-informed her.</p>
-<p>“We will fill out this blank check for
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span>
-any amount, Lucien,” declared Silvia,
-“that will induce a housekeeper to take
-charge of their house. I shall keep
-Diogenes, though, until he is older.”</p>
-<p>“I wouldn’t mind Ptolemy, either,” I
-admitted. “I shall be interested in seeing
-what I can make of him, and he hasn’t a
-bad influence over Diogenes, but I’ll be
-hanged if anything would induce me to
-have ‘Them Three’ Chessy cats running wild
-over us. They can live in their house alone,
-or be put in a reformatory. We won’t
-have them. We’re under no obligations,
-pecuniary or moral, to look after them.”</p>
-<p>“I think, Lucien, we might as well go
-home now. We’ve had a good rest and a
-good time, and I am anxious to be back
-and see how Huldah is getting on.”</p>
-<p>As Huldah had never mastered two of
-the three R’s, we had not been able to
-receive any reports from her.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span></div>
-<p>“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” proposed
-Beth. “Rob and I will take all the Polydores
-save Diogenes, and go home tomorrow
-and prepare the house and Huldah
-for the overflow. Then you two can come
-on with Diogenes the next day.”</p>
-<p>“Good idea, Beth!” I approved. “I’d
-hate to face Huldah, unprepared, with the
-return of the Polydores <i>en masse</i>.”</p>
-<p>“I am glad,” said Silvia, “that Huldah
-has been having a rest from them for a
-few days.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_39' id='linki_39'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-044.jpg' alt='' title='' width='166' height='214' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_40' id='linki_40'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-045.jpg' alt='' title='' width='350' height='124' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XVII__ALL_ABOUT_UNCLE_ISSACHARS_VISIT' id='CHAPTER_XVII__ALL_ABOUT_UNCLE_ISSACHARS_VISIT'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XVII</span></h2>
-<h3><i>All About Uncle Issachar’s Visit</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>The next morning’s stage carried
-seven passengers to Windy Creek,
-as Miss Frayne with a big roll of
-“copy” also took her departure.</p>
-<p>Diogenes had been quite docile and
-amenable to my rule since the licking I
-gave him, so we had a pleasant and
-comfortable return journey on the following
-day.</p>
-<p>“I hope, Lucien,” said Silvia, “you
-won’t refuse to cash this check for a good
-amount. The Polydore parents may never
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span>
-show up, and it’s only right we should be
-reimbursed for their keep.”</p>
-<p>“I will cash it,” I assured her, “and use
-it for a housekeeper or else send the boys
-off to a school. I should like very much
-to have it out with Felix Polydore, but,
-as you suggest, I may never have the
-opportunity to see him at close range.”</p>
-<p>Beth, Rob, and Ptolemy met us at the
-station.</p>
-<p>“Where are ‘Them Three’?” I asked
-hopefully.</p>
-<p>“Huldah is feeding them little pies hot
-from the kettle––the kind she cooks like
-doughnuts, you know.”</p>
-<p>“Huldah cooking for ‘Them Three’!”
-I exclaimed. “She must have passed into
-her second childhood. She grudged them
-even an apple to piece on.”</p>
-<p>“She has pampered them ever since our
-return,” said Rob.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span></div>
-<p>“Poor Huldah! She must indeed be
-afflicted with softening of the brain,” I
-decided.</p>
-<p>“She has probably been so lonely, shut
-in here by herself,” said Silvia, “that
-even ‘Them Three’ looked good to her.”</p>
-<p>In the hallway Huldah met us. She
-was beaming with pleasure, but except in
-her bearing toward the children, she was
-quite normal.</p>
-<p>“We’ve all had a real good rest,” she
-observed, “and you do look so well, Mrs.
-Wade. My! but this place has been
-lonesome. I’m glad we’re all together
-again.”</p>
-<p>“Now, Silvia, shut your eyes,” directed
-Beth, “and come into the library.
-Ptolemy has bought you a present with the
-check his father gave him.”</p>
-<p>“Beth helped me pick it out,” said
-Ptolemy.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span></div>
-<p>Beth led the way into the library, and
-we followed.</p>
-<p>“Open your eyes.”</p>
-<p>Silvia gave a little cry of pleasure, and
-looking over her shoulder, I beheld a
-baby grand piano.</p>
-<p>“Oh, Ptolemy!” she cried, giving him a
-fervent kiss and fond hug, “I can never
-let you do so much.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, yes,” he said, flushing a little under
-the endearments which were doubtless the
-first ever bestowed upon him. “Father’s
-got a whole lot of money grandpa left him
-and it’s fixed so he can’t draw out only so
-much each year. He said the board and
-bother of us was worth more than this and
-we’ll all enjoy the music. But Thag and
-Em and Dem ain’t to touch it. I’ll
-knock tar out of the first one that comes
-near it.”</p>
-<p>I was disconsolate. I didn’t see how we
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span>
-could return it and I didn’t want the Polydore
-web woven any tighter. To think of
-Silvia’s receiving from them what it had
-been my longing to give her! But as I
-was to learn later, she was to acquire much
-more than a piano from the eminent
-family.</p>
-<p>After dinner Silvia asked Huldah to
-come in and hear the music, and when
-Silvia’s repertoire was exhausted, we gave
-our faithful servant all the little details of
-our trip which Beth had not supplied.</p>
-<p>“Now tell us, Huldah, how things went
-along here,” said Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Well, you think some wonderful things
-happened to you all on your trip mebby––ghosts
-and proposals,” looking at Beth
-and Rob, “and fires and Polydores, but
-back here in this quiet house something
-happened that has your ghosts and things
-skinned by a mile.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span></div>
-<p>“Oh, dear!” cried Silvia apprehensively,
-“what is it?”</p>
-<p>“Break it very gently, Huldah,” I
-cautioned. “You know we’ve borne a
-good deal.”</p>
-<p>“Your uncle Issachar was here for a
-couple of days.”</p>
-<p>She certainly had made a sensation.</p>
-<p>“Not Uncle Issachar! Not here?” exclaimed
-Silvia incredulously.</p>
-<p>“Yes, ma’am. He came the next day
-after Beth and Mr. Rossiter and Polly
-left. I told him you’d gone away for a
-little vacation and rest. I didn’t let on
-that I knew where you had gone, because
-I didn’t want him straggling up there, too,
-or sending for you to come back. He
-said your absence would make no difference
-to his plans; that he never let nothing
-do that. He come to pay a visit and he
-should pay one.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span></div>
-<p>“Yes,” said Silvia feebly. “That
-sounds like Uncle Issachar.”</p>
-<p>“I told him to make himself perfectly
-at home; that every one did that to this
-place, and he said he would. I’d just
-slicked up the big front room upstairs
-and I seen to it that he had everything
-all right. I cooked the best dinner I
-knew how, and he said it was the first
-white man’s meal he had eat since his ma
-died, so I found out what she used to cook
-and fed him on it. Them three kids and
-him eat like they was holler. I guess if
-Polly hadn’t took them away your grocery
-bill would ’a looked like Barb’ry
-Allen’s grave.</p>
-<p>“Well, as I was saying, your uncle he
-eat till he got over his grouches, and like
-enough he’d be here eating yet, if he hadn’t
-got a telegraph to hit the line for home,
-some big business deal, he said, and I
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span>
-guess it was a great deal, for he licked his
-chops and smacked his lips over it, and he
-give me a ten dollar bill to get a new dress
-and each of Them Three one dollar fer
-candy.”</p>
-<p>“The old tightwad!” I exclaimed. “It
-was your cooking, sure, that made him
-loosen up that way.”</p>
-<p>“Tightwad nothing!” she declared indignantly.
-“You won’t think he was tight-wadded
-when you read this here letter he
-left for you. He told me what was in it,
-and I’ve just been busting to tell it to
-Beth, but I waited for you to know it
-first.”</p>
-<p>With great excitement Silvia opened the
-letter, read it, gasped, re-read it, and then
-in consternation handed it to me.</p>
-<p>“Read it aloud, Lucien,” she bade.
-“Maybe I can believe it then.”</p>
-<p>This was the letter.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span></div>
-<blockquote>
-<p>“My dear Niece:</p>
-<p>“I was sorry not to see you, but glad to
-learn that, as every wise and good woman
-should do, you are raising a fine family––a
-family of <i>sons</i>, which is what our country
-most needs. Your son Pythagoras informed
-me that you had taken your oldest
-child, Ptolemy, and your youngest, Diogenes,
-with you, I am glad you left three
-such promising samples for me to see.</p>
-<p>“As you have five sons, I have, agreeable
-to my promise, placed in your name in
-the First National Bank of your city the
-sum of twenty-five thousand dollars.</p>
-<p class='ralign'>“Your affectionate uncle,<br />
-“Issachar Innes.”</p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>“Huldah,” I asked, “did you tell him
-the Polydores were our children?”</p>
-<p>“Me?” she repeated indignantly. “Me
-tell a lie like that! No; I didn’t get no
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span>
-chance to tell him anything about them.
-‘Them Three’ done the telling. The first
-thing that one”––pointing to Pythagoras––“said
-was, ‘Mudder went away and took
-the baby, Diogenes, with her.’ And then
-that next one”––indicating Emerald––“said:
-‘Yes, and our oldest brother,
-Ptolemy, went on with Beth to see them.’</p>
-<p>“The old gent asked them all their names
-and ages and he was so pleased and said he
-thought it was just fine for you to raise five
-sons, so I didn’t have no heart to tell him
-no different. ‘Twan’t none of my business
-anyhow. Then ‘Them Three’ kept talking
-about stepdaddy, and your Uncle Issachar
-asks ‘Who the devil is he? Did my
-niece marry again?’ And I told him as how
-Mr. Wade was all the husband you ever had,
-and that stepdaddy was nothing but a sort
-of pet-name the kids had give Mr. Wade.”</p>
-<p>“I told him,” said Demetrius, “that
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span>
-stepdaddy was cross to us sometimes and
-not as nice as mudder, and he said––”</p>
-<p>“You shut up,” commanded Huldah
-quickly, “and let me talk.”</p>
-<p>“No,” I intercepted, “I’d really be
-interested in hearing what he told Uncle
-Issachar. What was it, Demetrius, that
-your great-uncle said to you?”</p>
-<p>“He said,” stated the imp, darting his
-tongue out in triumph at his victory over
-Huldah, “that he always thought you was
-a stiff.”</p>
-<p>“He didn’t say nothing of the kind!”
-declared Huldah. “He said you was stiff-necked,
-and that he presumed you would
-act more like a stepfather than the real
-thing. Well, as I was saying, he asked
-their names, and he liked them fine. Said
-they were so classy.”</p>
-<p>“Didn’t he say classic, Huldah?” inquired
-Rob.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span></div>
-<p>“Mebby. What’s the difference?”
-snapped Huldah.</p>
-<p>“None,” I assured her quickly, dodging
-a definition.</p>
-<p>“She told him––” began Emerald.</p>
-<p>“You shut up,” again adjured Huldah,
-“or I’ll never bake you one of those small
-pies no more.”</p>
-<p>“Oh, please, Huldah,” I coaxed. “Let
-us hear everything. I’ve always told you
-my life’s secrets, and I don’t mind what
-you or the boys told him.”</p>
-<p>“Well, I suppose what he was going to
-tattle was that I thought the old gent
-might feel hurt, ’cause none of them was
-named after him, so I told him Polly’s
-middle name was Issachar.”</p>
-<p>“Why, Huldah,” remonstrated Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Well, he’s always wanted a middle
-name, and he’s never been baptized, so
-you can stick it in and have him ducked
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span>
-next Sunday and then that will square
-that. ‘Them Three’ stuck to him like
-a hive of bees, and I was scairt for fear
-they’d let the cat out of the bag, and so
-long as they had put it in, I thought it
-might just as well stay in, but they were
-just as slick as grease in all they said.
-They’ll hang in that rogues’ gallery yet.”</p>
-<p>“I suppose they were pretty––strenuous,”
-said Silvia with a sigh.</p>
-<p>“They was more than that. The first
-afternoon right after dinner when he was
-sitting on the front porch, sleeping peaceful
-and snoring, that there one––” pointing
-to Pythagoras––</p>
-<p>“Tattle-tale!” he began, but I administered
-a cuff and he subsided into surprised
-silence.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_41' id='linki_41'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span>
-<img src='images/illus-046.jpg' alt='' title='' width='360' height='464' /><br />
-<p class='caption'>
-“He went to the front window and dropped a young kitten down on the old gent’s head.”<br />
-</p>
-</div>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></div>
-<p>“He,” said Huldah, looking pleased at
-this little attention to the boy, “went to
-the front window and dropped a young
-kitten down on the old gent’s head. It
-clawed something fierce. We had just got
-things going smooth again when Emmy
-got one of his earaches. I roasted an
-onion and put in his ear, and what did he
-do but take it out of his ear and slip it down
-your poor uncle’s back.”</p>
-<p>“Why didn’t you beat them?” I asked
-indignantly.</p>
-<p>“Because the old gent did that. He put
-’em across his knee, and believe me, it was
-some licking they caught. They didn’t
-let out a whimper and that pleased him.”</p>
-<p>“Huh!” said Emerald. “Thag don’t
-know how to cry. He hasn’t got any tears,
-and old Uncle Iz didn’t hurt me, because,
-you see, when I heard Thag getting his,
-I went and stuffed the Declaration of Independence,
-that book of stepdaddy’s that
-Demetrius tore the pictures out of, in my
-pants.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span></div>
-<p>“Go on!” urged Rob delightedly.
-“What else did you all do? Uncle must
-have had some time. It would make a
-fine scenario. ‘The first visit of the rich
-uncle.’”</p>
-<p>“Well,” resumed Huldah. “One of ’em
-put red pepper in the old man’s bed, and
-he like to sneeze his head off, but he said
-as how sneezing was healthy, and showed
-you’d got rid of a cold.”</p>
-<p>“He never got on to the pepper,” said
-Demetrius gleefully.</p>
-<p>“In the morning, that second one put a
-toad in his new uncle’s pocket, and Emmy
-broke his specs. Then Meetie he dropped
-his watch. They used his razor to cut the
-lawn with. And then they took him down
-to the creek to go fishing, and they put the
-fish in Uncle’s silk hat, and and–––”</p>
-<p>“Stop!” implored Silvia, who was now
-in tears. “Uncle Issachar believes them
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span>
-mine! Ours! And that I brought them
-up! Oh, why did we ever go away?”</p>
-<p>“Oh, pshaw,” exclaimed Huldah comfortingly,
-“he said you had brung them up
-fine; that they were no mollycoddles or
-Lizzie boys, and he didn’t suppose you had
-so much sense as to leave them natural.”</p>
-<p>“A left-handed one for mudder,” laughed
-Beth.</p>
-<p>“He must be a very peculiar man––ready
-for the asylum, I should say,” commented
-Rob.</p>
-<p>“He would have been if he’d stayed any
-longer, or else I would have been,” declared
-Huldah.</p>
-<p>“Couldn’t you make them behave, someway?”
-asked Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Well, at first I tried to, and every time
-I pinched one of ’em when the old gent
-wasn’t looking, or knocked ’em down when
-I got ’em alone, they would threaten to tell
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span>
-who they was, and then when I seen how
-your uncle liked the way they acted, I just
-let ’em go it, head on. And seeing as how
-they each brung you five thousand, I’ve
-treated ’em best I know how. They’re
-worth it, now. They done one thing more
-that was awful. Could you stand it to
-hear?” turning to Silvia.</p>
-<p>“Please, Silvia,” implored Rob.</p>
-<p>“Well,” argued Silvia faintly. “I suppose
-we might as well know the worst.”</p>
-<p>“You see the old gent didn’t always get
-up to breakfast with the kids and one morning
-when I brought in the cakes Emmy
-looked up and grinned. I nearly dropped
-the plate. He had both sets of the old
-man’s false teeth in his mouth. I got ’em
-back in his room without his waking, but
-I’d have liked a picture of Emmy.”</p>
-<p>“Pythagoras,” I demanded, when we
-had recovered from this recital, “why
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span>
-didn’t you tell him who you were, and how
-you all came to be here with us?”</p>
-<p>“Because she is our mudder, and we are
-going to stay with her, always. We’ve
-got a snap. So has father and mother.
-And Ptolemy told us that if you ever got
-any kids, you’d get five thousand each for
-them, and I thought we’d just make that
-much for you. So we played Uncle Iz
-for it. Easy money, all right, all right.”</p>
-<p>“Talk about fine financiering,” quoth
-Rob. “‘Them Three’ will surely land on
-Wall Street.”</p>
-<p>But poor Silvia had no heart for humor
-and was weeping silently.</p>
-<p>“Why, look here, my dear,” I said in
-consolation, “this is a very simple matter
-to adjust. In the morning when you feel
-better, just write a full explanation of the
-affair and inclose your check for twenty-five
-thousand.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span></div>
-<p>Silvia quickly wiped away her tears.</p>
-<p>“I’ll do it tonight, Lucien. I feel better
-now. I never thought of writing.”</p>
-<p>Huldah and “Them Three” looked most
-lugubrious.</p>
-<p>“The old skinflint won’t miss it as much
-as I would a penny,” declared our faithful
-handmaiden. “And I’m sure you’ve earnt
-that twenty-five thousand if anyone ever
-did. You’ve had as much care and worry
-about them brats as you would if they’d
-been your own.”</p>
-<p>“Huldah,” I said severely, “there is a
-pretty stiff penalty for obtaining money
-under false pretences.”</p>
-<p>“After all the pains we took to make
-things lively for him, so he wouldn’t get
-bored and think he was having a poor time!”
-regretted Pythagoras.</p>
-<p>“And us watching every word we spoke
-so as not to give it away,” wailed Emerald.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span></div>
-<p>“Cake’s all dough,” muttered Demetrius.</p>
-<p>Ptolemy regarded the three disapprovingly.
-He had the old inscrutable look,
-the look that foreboded mischief, in his eyes.</p>
-<p>“You bungled, you fool kids!” he said
-in disgust, “and Huldah, what did you
-want to let on to mudder for that he thought
-we was hers? You ought to have torn up
-the note he left and just said he’d put
-twenty-five thousand in the bank for her.”</p>
-<p>“Huh! you’re just jealous because you
-weren’t in the Uncle Izzy deal yourself,”
-jeered Pythagoras. “You always think
-you’re the only one that can do anything
-right.”</p>
-<p>“I wish you had been here, Polly,” said
-Huldah, “I am sure you could have worked
-it through somehow.”</p>
-<p>“I wish I had stayed and put it across,”
-he answered. “If you and the kids would
-only learn not to blab everything you know.
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span>
-It’s the only way to work anything. Minute
-you tell a thing, it’s all off.”</p>
-<p>There was still a great deal of development
-work to be put on Ptolemy’s moral standard.</p>
-<p>“You’ll find, my lad,” remonstrated
-Rob, “that honesty is the best policy.”</p>
-<p>“I’d have been perfectly honest about
-it,” he defended. “I would have told him
-the truth, and how our parents had deserted
-us, and how mudder took us in when we
-were homeless and was bringing us up like
-her own because she hadn’t got any, and
-how stepdaddy wanted to turn us out, and
-she wouldn’t let him, and then he would
-have decided against stepdaddy and given
-mudder the money so she could keep us.”</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy,” I said warningly, “there is a
-way of telling the truth, or rather of coloring
-white lies with enough truth to make
-them deceive, that is more dishonorable
-than an out and out lie.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span></div>
-<p>“Tell me, Ptolemy,” asked Silvia, “how
-did you know about that offer of five thousand
-dollars for each child?”</p>
-<p>“I overheard it,” he said guardedly;
-“but I can’t remember where.”</p>
-<p>“He heard me say so,” confessed Huldah.</p>
-<p>“It was when he first come here and he
-was making us so much trouble, and I told
-him it was too bad we had to have other
-folks’ brats around when, if we only had
-our own, they’d be bringing in something.”</p>
-<p>The recital now broke up and Silvia sat
-down to write a long explanatory letter to
-Uncle Issachar. The next morning I procured
-her a check from the First National
-Bank and she filled it out.</p>
-<p>“Oh!” she said with indrawn breath,
-when she had asked me how to write
-twenty-five thousand dollars, “I never expected
-to be able to sign my name to a
-check for such an amount.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span></div>
-<p>“You never will again, I fear,” was my
-sad prophecy.</p>
-<p>“It must feel rich,” said Beth, “just to
-have a large check pass through your
-fingers.”</p>
-<p>“Them Three” came the nearest to tears
-that they were able to do.</p>
-<p>“We worked so hard for it,” they sighed.</p>
-<p>“So did I!” muttered Huldah.</p>
-<p>“I couldn’t live a double life,” declared
-Silvia.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_42' id='linki_42'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-048.jpg' alt='' title='' width='217' height='215' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_43' id='linki_43'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-047.jpg' alt='' title='' width='336' height='89' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII__IN_WHICH_I_DECIDE_ON_EXTREME_MEASURES' id='CHAPTER_XVIII__IN_WHICH_I_DECIDE_ON_EXTREME_MEASURES'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XVIII</span></h2>
-<h3><i>In Which I Decide on Extreme Measures</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Everyone in our house, which was
-now filled to overflowing––in fact,
-there were Polydores on sofas and
-in beds on the floor––save Silvia and
-myself, was on the alert for a response to
-the letter during the succeeding few days.
-Knowing Uncle Issachar, we felt sure he
-would make no response, or notice the
-matter in any way save to cash the check
-promptly.
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span></p>
-<p>The monotony was somewhat relieved
-by the difficulties under which Beth and
-Rob were pursuing their courtship. On
-the third evening succeeding our return,
-Silvia and I started upstairs early to give
-them a chance to have the exclusive use of
-the library, the Polydores having all been
-sent to bed. As we were making some
-plausible excuse for going to our room,
-Beth remarked with a smile:</p>
-<p>“Your motive in retiring so early is commendable,
-but of no particular benefit to
-Rob and me. The Polydores, like the poor,
-we always have with us.”</p>
-<p>“I saw that every one of them except
-Ptolemy was in bed at eight o’clock last
-night and the night before,” said Silvia.
-“You don’t mean to tell me––”</p>
-<p>“Yes, I do mean,” laughed Beth. “Not
-Ptolemy, though. He has become too
-dignified to spy on us, but last night as we
-sat here on the settee, we heard a suppressed
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span>
-sneeze, and Rob pulled Emerald
-from underneath.”</p>
-<p>“How in the world did he ever squeeze
-under there?” I asked, gazing at the
-slight space between the floor and settee.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_44' id='linki_44'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-049.jpg' alt='' title='' width='357' height='266' /><br />
-</div>
-<p>“He did look a little flattened, as if he
-had been put in a letter press,” said Rob.
-“I gave him a dime to go to bed and stay
-there. Beth and I had just resumed our
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span>
-conversation when a still, small voice said:
-‘I’ll go to bed for a dime, too.’ I then
-hauled Demetrius from behind the davenport.”</p>
-<p>“And the night before,” said Beth, “when
-we were sitting on the porch, Pythagoras
-rolled off the roof, where he had been listening
-to us, and came down into the vines.”</p>
-<p>“Now I’ll stop that,” I declared. “I’ll
-tie them in their beds and lock the doors
-and windows.”</p>
-<p>“No,” refused Rob. “I’d like to try
-to circumvent them by their own weapons
-of wits. I have a little plan which I don’t
-dare whisper to you lest their long-range
-ears get in their work. We are just about
-to start for a walk.”</p>
-<p>“In this pouring rain!” protested Silvia.</p>
-<p>“We like the rain,” he replied, “and we––are
-not going far.”</p>
-<p>Pythagoras entered the room just then
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span>
-and looked astounded and disappointed
-when he saw Beth and Rob departing.</p>
-<p>“We are going out to a small party,”
-Rob remarked to me, casually.</p>
-<p>It was after eleven when we heard them
-returning.</p>
-<p>“Do you suppose they have been walking
-all this time?” said Silvia in concern.
-“Beth wore no rubbers.”</p>
-<p>The next day was Sunday and Huldah
-put into execution a plan for procuring
-one happy hour each week. This plan was
-the admission of the Polydores, <i>en masse</i>,
-to one of the Sunday schools. She chose
-the church most remote from home so they
-would be a long time going and coming,
-which she said would “help some.”</p>
-<p>“Now,” said Beth, as she watched them
-march away, “I can dare to tell you where
-we spent last evening. We were at the
-Polydore house next door. There is a little
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span>
-vine-screened porch on the other side of
-the house. Rob managed to open one
-of the windows and brought out a couple
-of chairs. It was as snug as could be.”</p>
-<p>“I’ll corral them every night,” I said,
-“until you make your getaway, and I’ll
-give you the key so you can go inside when
-it is cool or stormy.”</p>
-<p>“We’ll go around the block by way of
-precaution,” said Rob.</p>
-<p>Presently Huldah returned from the
-Sunday school with triumphant mien.</p>
-<p>“They made them all into one class and
-put a redheaded woman with spectacles
-in for their teacher. I gave them street
-car tickets to come home on.”</p>
-<p>When the Polydores returned, however,
-they were dragging Diogenes along and he
-looked quite weary.</p>
-<p>“Didn’t you come home on the street
-car?” I asked Ptolemy.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span></div>
-<p>“No; we sold our tickets and got ice
-cream sodas,” he explained. “We took
-turns carrying Diogenes on our backs.”</p>
-<p>“You only had one ticket for yourself,
-and two half fares for Thag and Emmy,”
-said Huldah suspiciously. “I thought
-Meetie and Di could ride free. You
-couldn’t have sold them tickets for enough
-for sodies.”</p>
-<p>“Rob gave us three nickels to put in the
-plate,” said Pythagoras. “We only put in
-one of them, seeing we were all in one family
-and one class. That gave us four nickels
-for ice cream sodas and the clerk gave
-Di half a glass some one had left.”</p>
-<p>“I gave you a penny for Di to put in,”
-said Huldah. “What did you do with
-that?”</p>
-<p>“We wanted him to put it in, and when
-they took up the collection, he wouldn’t
-give it,” said Emerald. “I tried to take
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span>
-it away from him and he swallowed it.
-The redhead teacher was awful scared,
-but I told her he was used to swallowing
-things and that you said he carried a whole
-department store in his insides.”</p>
-<p>“Poor little Di,” said Silvia; “it’s the
-only way he has of keeping things away
-from you all.”</p>
-<p>That night I saw to it personally that
-each and every Polydore was in his little
-bed. It should have aroused my suspicions
-that none of them rebelled, or had
-evinced the slightest degree of interest or
-curiosity when Beth and Rob announced
-their intention of going out for the evening.</p>
-<p>At ten-thirty the lovers returned, bringing
-in Pythagoras, who was clad in his
-pajamas.</p>
-<p>“Where did you pick him up?” I asked
-in astonishment.</p>
-<p>“He picked us up,” said Beth.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span></div>
-<p>“He was wise, maybe, in discovering
-where we were,” said Rob, “but he fell
-down when he tried to work off the ghost
-screeches on us. We recognized them at
-once, and ran him down inside, so our
-party broke up.”</p>
-<p>“Come here, Pythagoras,” I commanded.</p>
-<p>He obeyed promptly and fearlessly.</p>
-<p>“How did you know they were there,
-and when did you go over there?”</p>
-<p>“I was playing over in our house today,”
-he replied, “and I found one of Beth’s
-hairpins with the little stones in, in the big
-chair, so I knew that was where they hid
-last night. As soon as you went down stairs
-tonight, I got out the window and slid down
-the roof and came over to scare them.”</p>
-<p>“You’ve missed a lot of sleep the last
-few nights,” I said quietly, “so you will
-have to make it up. You can stay in bed
-all day tomorrow.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span></div>
-<p>“Hold on, Lucien!” exclaimed Rob.
-“Tomorrow’s the big baseball game of
-the season, and I promised to take them all.”</p>
-<p>“So much the better,” I said. “He
-will learn to mind.”</p>
-<p>Pythagoras looked as if he had been
-struck, and quickly put his arms across
-his eyes. In a moment his shoulders were
-heaving. At last I had found a vulnerable
-spot in the stoic, and I began to relent.</p>
-<p>“See here, Pythagoras,” I said, “if I let
-you up in time to go to the game, will you
-promise me something?”</p>
-<p>“Anything,” came in a muffled voice.</p>
-<p>“Will you promise not to spy on Beth
-and Rob and keep Emerald and Demetrius
-from doing it?”</p>
-<p>“Yes,” he promised quickly, his arm
-coming down and his face brightening.
-“Sure I will, but I did want to hear what
-they said.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span></div>
-<p>“Why?” asked Rob interestedly.</p>
-<p>“We’re getting up a show, and Em is
-going to take the part of a girl and he spoons
-with Tolly, and we didn’t know what to
-have them say to each other.”</p>
-<p>“I’ll rehearse you on the play, and
-prompt you,” said Beth with a little
-giggle.</p>
-<p>“Come on upstairs with me now,” I
-said to Pythagoras.</p>
-<p>When I landed him at his door, he leaned
-up against me, and rubbed his cheek against
-my arm.</p>
-<p>“Thank you for letting me go to the
-game,” he said.</p>
-<p>I found myself responding to his affectionate
-advance. This would clearly never
-do. I couldn’t let another Polydore squeeze
-himself into my regard.</p>
-<p>“Silvia,” I said abruptly, as I came into
-our room, “we must really make some immediate
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span>
-plan for disposing of the Polydores,
-or, at least, of ‘Them Three.’”</p>
-<p>“Huldah is managing them tolerably
-well,” demurred Silvia. “Since they depreciated
-in market value from five thousand
-per to nothing, she has resumed her
-former harsh treatment of them.”</p>
-<p>“Well, we are not going to keep them,”
-I replied with finality. “We are under no
-obligations to do so. I am going to put them
-in a school for boys and use the blank check
-Felix Polydore left to pay for their tuition.”</p>
-<p>“I suppose that is what we will have to
-do,” she admitted with a little sigh. “Yet,
-Lucien, it doesn’t seem quite right. If
-they are in a boys’ school, they will keep
-on right along the same lines. They need
-home influence and contact with women.
-Demetrius is fond of music and will sit
-still and listen when I play. Emerald
-obeyed me today the first time I spoke,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span>
-and I even thought I saw a glimmer of good
-in Pythagoras.”</p>
-<p>I didn’t tell her that this glimmer was
-what had decided me to dispose of him.</p>
-<p>“It would, doubtless, be better for them
-to stay,” I admitted, “but I am not going to
-be a martyr to the cause. They are going.”</p>
-<p>The next morning I wrote for catalogues
-and prospectus to the different schools,
-and I felt as if three old men of the sea
-had been lifted from my shoulders.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_45' id='linki_45'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-050.jpg' alt='' title='' width='197' height='246' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_46' id='linki_46'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-051.jpg' alt='' title='' width='365' height='153' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_WHICH_HAS_TO_DO_WITH_SOME_LETTERS' id='CHAPTER_XIX_WHICH_HAS_TO_DO_WITH_SOME_LETTERS'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter</span> XIX</h2>
-<h3><i>Which Has to Do with Some Letters</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>One morning when I came down to
-my office, I found a letter postmarked
-from the city in which
-Uncle Issachar lived addressed to me. I
-opened it and found inclosed, with seal
-unbroken, the letter Silvia had mailed to
-her uncle and which she had marked “personal.”
-There was a note addressed to
-me accompanying it:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span></div>
-<p>“Dear Sir:</p>
-<p>“I am returning herewith your personal
-letter to Mr. Innes, as he has gone to
-South America and left no forwarding
-address. Should such be received from
-him at any future date, you will be duly
-notified thereof.</p>
-<p class='ralign'>“Very truly yours,<span class='rindent8'> </span><br />
-“Chester K. Winslow,<span class='rindent6'> </span><br />
-“Secretary.”<span class='rindent4'> </span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>I read the above to Silvia at luncheon.
-She was grievously disappointed because
-her uncle had not received her letter of
-explanation.</p>
-<p>“It is most fortunate,” she said, “that
-I sent it in one of your office envelopes.”</p>
-<p>As usual, she had found the bright spot
-she always looked for and generally discovered.</p>
-<p>“I wouldn’t care,” she said, “to have
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span>
-Uncle Issachar’s private secretary or the
-dead-letter office know all our private
-affairs, but I shall feel like an impostor
-until Uncle Issachar is undeceived.”</p>
-<p>“I feel a hunch,” said Rob, “that Uncle
-Issachar will run across Doctor Felix and his
-wife down there in Chili and find you out.”</p>
-<p>“He may run across the Polydores,” I
-replied, “but he’ll never find out from
-them that they are the parents of Silvia’s
-children. They would not mention a subject
-in which they have so little interest.”</p>
-<p>“But,” argued Beth, “naturally they’d
-tell him where they lived, and then, of
-course, he’d say he had a niece living in
-the same town. They would inquire her
-name and inform him that they were her
-near neighbors, and then he’d tell them
-what fine sons you have, and then, of course,
-the Polydores would claim their own.”</p>
-<p>“Which theory goes to show,” said
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span>
-Silvia, “how little you know Uncle Issachar
-and the Polydore seniors. He would
-not think of speaking to strangers, and if
-he did, he wouldn’t say any of those usual
-conversational things you mentioned. The
-Polydores wouldn’t be interested, in the
-least, in knowing he had a niece unless she
-happened to know something about
-antiques, and if he should describe her
-children, she wouldn’t recognize them.”</p>
-<p>After luncheon I went out on the porch.
-While I sat there, the mail carrier came
-along and handed me a letter––a returned
-letter. It was directed in Ptolemy’s round
-hand to Mr. Issachar Innes. He had
-evidently used the envelope to Silvia’s
-letter to her uncle as his model, for the
-address was written in the same way.
-“Personal” was added in the left-hand
-corner, and his name and our house number
-was in the upper left-hand corner.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span></div>
-<p>I went into the library where my wife,
-Beth, Rob, and Ptolemy were sitting.</p>
-<p>“Ptolemy,” I said, handing him the
-letter, “here is your communication to
-Uncle Issachar, returned.”</p>
-<p>He lost some of his usual <i>sang froid</i>
-and appeared quite disconcerted.</p>
-<p>“Why, Ptolemy,” exclaimed Silvia in
-consternation, “what in the world did
-you write to Uncle Issachar about?”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy had recovered and was quite
-himself again.</p>
-<p>“About us,” he said innocently. “As
-the oldest of our family, I thought I ought
-to do a little explaining.”</p>
-<p>“And I think,” I said, looking at him
-keenly, “that we have the right to know
-what your explanation was.”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy handed me over the letter.</p>
-<p>“Read it aloud,” he said, with the air
-of one who is proud of his productions.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></div>
-<p>Rob’s eyes shone in anticipation.</p>
-<p>I broke the seal. A note from the
-secretary fell out. It was an apology for
-not returning the letter sooner, but it had
-been inadvertently mislaid. I then read
-aloud the letter Ptolemy had written:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p>“Dear Uncle Issachar</p>
-<p>“I am sorry Diogenes and I were away
-when you were here. You thought the
-others were fine, but you should have
-seen––Diogenes. I hope you will send
-mudder back her check, because there is lots
-of things she needs, and it takes a lot of
-money to take care of all us. You see
-our own father and mother don’t want to
-be bothered with us and they went away
-and left us, and so we are living with
-mudder the same as if we were really her
-adopted children, and if her own would
-have been worth five thousand per to you,
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span>
-I think her adopted children ought to be
-worth half as much anyway, so it would
-only be fair to send her a check for $12,500
-anyway, and if you are a good sport like
-the kids said you were, you’ll send back
-her check.</p>
-<p class='ralign'>“Yours truly,<span class='rindent11'> </span><br />
-“P. Issachar Polydore Wade.”<span class='rindent4'> </span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>Rob’s laughter was so free and spontaneous
-that I had to join in against my
-will. Ptolemy, who had seemed a little
-apprehensive of the verdict, looked accordingly
-relieved.</p>
-<p>“That’s a fine letter, young man,” approved
-Rob. “Stepdaddy ought to take
-you into his law firm.”</p>
-<p>“No,” declared Beth. “I think Ptolemy
-has inherited his mother’s gift. He
-should be a writer.”</p>
-<p>“Not on your life!” cried Ptolemy with
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span>
-feeling. “I want to live things instead
-of writing about them.”</p>
-<p>A tear or two came into Silvia’s eyes.</p>
-<p>“It was very sweet in you, Ptolemy, to
-try to get the money for mudder.”</p>
-<p>I felt that all this commendation was
-bad for Ptolemy, and that it was up to
-me to take a reef in his sails.</p>
-<p>“It was a well-meant letter, Ptolemy,”
-I said, “and I know that your motive was
-unselfish, but it is very poor policy to
-meddle in other people’s affairs. Meddlers
-are mischief makers in spite of their
-good intentions. I am very glad it did
-not fall into Uncle Issachar’s hands.”</p>
-<p>Ptolemy looked sufficiently squelched.</p>
-<p>“By the way, Silvia,” I said. “I wrote
-Mr. Winslow and told him not to forget
-to forward Uncle Issachar’s address as soon
-as he possibly could do so, as I had matters
-of importance to communicate to him.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span></div>
-<p>“He may travel about like father and
-mother,” said Ptolemy, again regaining
-confidence, “so why don’t you put that
-check for twenty-five thousand in the
-Savings Department and get the interest
-on it anyway?”</p>
-<p>“I think, Ptolemy,” said Rob, “that you
-are too good a financier, after all, to become
-a lawyer. I will go back to my first
-conviction that you should be a promoter.”</p>
-<p>“We’ll give him to Uncle Issachar,” I
-proposed, “for a partner.”</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_47' id='linki_47'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-053.jpg' alt='' title='' width='271' height='218' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_48' id='linki_48'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-052.jpg' alt='' title='' width='326' height='114' /><br />
-</div>
-<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'>
-<a name='CHAPTER_XX_THE_MONEY_WE_EARNT_FOR_YOU' id='CHAPTER_XX_THE_MONEY_WE_EARNT_FOR_YOU'></a>
-<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter</span> XX</h2>
-<h3><i>“The Money We Earnt for You”</i></h3>
-</div>
-<p>Life went on uneventfully save for
-the dire doings of “Them Three.”
-Knowing that they were to be sent
-to school, they were having their last fling
-at life untrammeled. September came,
-and Rob set the day for his departure, as
-he was going home to arrange his affairs,
-so he and Beth could leave for an extended
-honeymoon trip. I planned to go with
-Rob and install the Polydore three in their
-distant school. They were so despondent
-at leaving, as the time drew near, that a
-<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span>
-feeling of gloom hung over the household,
-all the members of which, even to Huldah,
-urged me to relent. But I remained adamant
-until the evening before the day set
-for the dissolution of the Polydore family,
-when something happened that changed
-all our plans.</p>
-<p>We were assembled in the library in a
-state of forced cheerfulness when the doorbell
-rang. I answered it, and receipted
-for a telegram which I opened and read in
-the hall. It was from Chester K. Winslow.</p>
-<p>“Silvia,” I said gravely, as I returned
-to the library, “your Uncle Issachar is
-dead. Died in South America. Heart disease.
-Very sudden.”</p>
-<p>Conflicting emotions were depicted in
-Silvia’s expression.</p>
-<p>The thought uppermost in all our minds
-was expressed simultaneously by “Them
-Three.”</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span></div>
-<p>“Gee! Then you can keep the money
-we earnt for you.”</p>
-<p>“You know,” interpolated Rob in soft-pedaled
-tone, “they are going to train
-school children toward the military––teach
-the young ideas how to shoot, as it were.
-It won’t be long before they are ordered
-to Mexico to protect us.”</p>
-<p>“If Them Three ever meets that there
-Viller man,” commented Huldah confidently,
-“the fur will fly some.”</p>
-<p>“Lucien,” said Silvia thoughtfully, “we
-are under obligations to these children,
-you see, after all.”</p>
-<p>“Yes,” I acknowledged with a sigh,
-“seeing they are now ours, bought and
-paid for, I suppose we’ll have to treat them
-as such.”</p>
-<p>“You wouldn’t send your own kids
-away to school,” said Pythagoras significantly.</p>
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span></div>
-<p>“No,” I reluctantly allowed, answering
-the protest of Pythagoras, “and we won’t
-send you. You will all go to the public
-school tomorrow.”</p>
-<p>The deafening Polydore powwow that
-followed made me hope that Uncle Issachar
-had met with his just deserts.</p>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_49' id='linki_49'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-054.jpg' alt='' title='' width='184' height='275' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></div>
-<div class='figtag'>
-<a name='linki_50' id='linki_50'></a>
-</div>
-<div class='figcenter'>
-<img src='images/illus-055.jpg' alt='' title='' width='104' height='139' /><br />
-</div>
-<hr class='pb' />
-<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:20px;'><i>“By the author of “Mildew Manse.”</i></p>
-
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:20px;'>AMARILLY OF CLOTHES-LINE ALLEY</p>
-
-<p class='tp' ><i>By</i> BELLE K. MANIATES</p>
-<p class='tp' >Illustrated. 12mo. $1.00 <i>net</i>.</p>
-
-<p>A book for the many who are weary of problem novels.
-How prosperity came to the Jenkins family, how Amarilly
-got an education, how the Boarder married Lily Rose
-and built the Annex, and the adventures of the rector’s
-surplice, are told in a wholesome little story, between
-whose covers await many laughs, and a tear or two as well.</p>
-
-<p>Amarilly is blessed with a large family and amiable neighbors,
-and their doings are amusing, but her fancies and devices
-are captivating.... The little heroine is all right.––<i>New
-York Sun.</i></p>
-
-<p>The sort of story which pulls at the heartstrings of all
-readers who like a real and genuine character.... No one can
-afford to miss the sweet humor and helpful cheeriness which
-the author serves in generous measure.––<i>Boston Globe</i>.</p>
-
-<p>“Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley” is a dear companion for
-vacation days and comes deservedly under the books of real
-amusement.... Dear Amarilly! she brightens every hour
-spent with her.––<i>Buffalo News</i>.</p>
-
-<p class='tp' style='font-size:larger;'>LITTLE, BROWN & CO., <span class='smcap'>Publishers</span></p>
-<p class='tp' ><span class='smcap'>34 Beacon Street, Boston</span></p>
-
-<!-- generated by ppg.rb version: 3.14 -->
-<!-- timestamp: Thu Sep 24 06:15:03 -0400 2009 -->
-
-<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30075 ***</div>
-</body>
-</html>
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Our Next-Door Neighbors, by By Belle K. Maniates.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + @media screen { + hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none;border-top:thin dashed silver;} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; text-indent: 0; 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;} + .pncolor {color: silver;} + } + @media print { + hr.pb {border:none;page-break-after: always;} + .pagenum { display:none; } + } + body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} + + blockquote {display: block; margin: .75em 5%; font-size: 90%;} + h1 {font-size:1.8em;} + h1,h2,h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal;} + h2 {font-size:1.6em;} + h3 {font-size:1.4em;} + hr.p10 {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width: 5%;} + p.tp {font-size:1em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center;} + + .caption {font-size: 90%; text-align:center;} + .chsp {margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;} + .figcenter {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center; width: auto;} + .figtag {height: 1px;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + a {text-decoration: none;} + p.cg {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: left; width: 101%;} + p.ralign {text-align: right !important;} + span.rindent11 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 4.4em; display: block; float: right;} + span.rindent4 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 1.6em; display: block; float: right;} + span.rindent6 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 2.4em; display: block; float: right;} + span.rindent8 {margin: 0; padding:0; text-indent:0; width: 3.2em; display: block; float: right;} + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + td.chalgn {text-align:right; margin-top:0; padding-right:1em;} +</style> + +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30075 ***</div> + +<h1>OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS</h1> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:10px;'>By Belle K. Maniates</p> +<table summary=''><tr><td> +<p class='cg'>AMARILLY OF CLOTHES-LINE ALLEY<br /> +MILDEW MANCE<br /> +OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBORS</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-000.jpg' alt='' title='' width='338' height='453' /><br /> +<p class='caption'> +“What’s your rush?” I asked, when I had overtaken him.<br /> +<span class='smcap'>Frontispiece.</span> <i>See page 114.</i><br /> +</p> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:2.2em;margin-top:40px;margin-bottom:20px;'>Our Next-Door<br />Neighbors</p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:10px;'>By</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;margin-bottom:20px;'>Belle Kanaris Maniates</p> +<p class='tp' >With illustrations by</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:larger;'>Tony Sarg</p> +<div style='margin:25px auto; text-align:center;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-001.jpg' /> +</div> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:40px;font-size:1.3em;'>Boston<br /> +Little, Brown, and Company<br /> +1917</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' ><i>Copyright, 1917</i>,</p> +<p class='tp' ><span class='smcap'>By Little, Brown, and Company.</span></p> +<hr class='p10' /> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:20px;'><i>All rights reserved</i></p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:60px;'>Published February, 1917</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:40px;'>Norwood Press<br /> +Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Cushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.<br /> +Presswork by The Colonial Press, Boston, Mass., U.S.A.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-002.jpg' /> +</div> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>I</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>About Silvia and Myself</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I__ABOUT_SILVIA_AND_MYSELF'>1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>II</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Introducing Our Next-door Neighbors</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II__INTRODUCING_OUR_NEXTDOOR_NEIGHBORS'>9</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>III</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Are Pestered by Polydores</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III__IN_WHICH_WE_ARE_PESTERED_BY_POLYDORES'>28</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Take Boarders</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_BOARDERS'>45</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>V</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Take a Vacation</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_A_VACATION'>62</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>A Flirt and a Woman-Hater</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI__A_FLIRT_AND_A_WOMANHATER'>78</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which Nothing Much Happens</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII__IN_WHICH_NOTHING_MUCH_HAPPENS'>91</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Ptolemy Disappears and I Visit a Haunted House</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII__PTOLEMY_DISAPPEARS_AND_I_VISIT_A_HAUNTED_HOUSE'>100</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We See Ghosts</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX__IN_WHICH_WE_SEE_GHOSTS'>124</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>X</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which We Make Some Discoveries</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X_IN_WHICH_WE_MAKE_SOME_DISCOVERIES'>139</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>A Bad Means to a Good End</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI__A_BAD_MEANS_TO_A_GOOD_END'>153</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>“<span class='smcap'>Too Much Polydores</span>”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII__TOO_MUCH_POLYDORES'>165</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Rob’s Friend the Reporter</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII__ROBS_FRIEND_THE_REPORTER'>174</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>A Midnight Excursion</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV__A_MIDNIGHT_EXCURSION'>196</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>What Miss Frayne Found Out</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV__WHAT_MISS_FRAYNE_FOUND_OUT'>204</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Ptolemy’s Tale</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI__PTOLEMYS_TALE'>214</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>All About Uncle Issachar’s Visit</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII__ALL_ABOUT_UNCLE_ISSACHARS_VISIT'>230</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>In Which I Decide on Extreme Measures</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII__IN_WHICH_I_DECIDE_ON_EXTREME_MEASURES'>255</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>Which Has to Do with Some Letters</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX_WHICH_HAS_TO_DO_WITH_SOME_LETTERS'>268</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'><span class='smcap'>“The Money We Earnt for You”</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX_THE_MONEY_WE_EARNT_FOR_YOU'>277</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-003.jpg' /> +</div> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Illustrations' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<col style='width:75%;' /> +<col style='width:25%;' /> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“What’s your rush?” I asked, when I had overtaken him.</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_1'><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>Uncle Issachar</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_2'>10</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>Dr. Felix Polydore</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_3'>23</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“Lucien Wade!” she gasped. “Here are our letters to Beth and Rob.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_12'>81</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>He pleaded eloquently to be taken with us.</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_17'>103</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>I babbled aimlessly to myself and then managed to pull together and beat it to the lake</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_20'>127</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>The landlady intears waylaid me</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_21'>133</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>I had to carry Diogenes most of the way</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_28'>169</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>Now and then above his howls, I heard Silvia’s plaintive protests outside the door</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_31'>193</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>I held out my hand, which he shook solemnly, but with an injured air</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_38'>225</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“He went to the front window and dropped a young kitten down on the old gent’s head.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_41'>243</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left'>“We heard a suppressed sneeze, and Rob pulled Emerald from underneath.”</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_44'>257</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div> +<p style='text-align:center;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:1.4em;'>OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOURS</p> +<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-004.jpg' /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_I__ABOUT_SILVIA_AND_MYSELF' id='CHAPTER_I__ABOUT_SILVIA_AND_MYSELF'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter I</span></h2> +<h3><i>About Silvia and Myself</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Some people have children born unto +them, some acquire children and +others have children thrust upon +them. Silvia and I are of the last named +class. We have no offspring of our own, +but yesterday, today, and forever we have +those of our neighbor.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span></div> +<p>We were born and bred in the same little +home-grown city and as a small boy, even, +I was Silvia’s worshiper, but perforce a +worshiper from afar.</p> +<p>Her upcoming had been supervised by a +grimalkin governess who drew around the +form of her young charge the awful circle +of exclusiveness, intercourse with child-kind +being strictly prohibited.</p> +<p>Children are naturally gregarious little +creatures, however, and Silvia on rare +occasions managed to break parole and +make adroit escape from surveillance. +Then she would speed to the top of the +boundary wall that separated the stable +precincts from an alluring alley which +was the playground of the plebeian progeny +of the humble born.</p> +<p>To the circle of dirty but fascinating +ragamuffins she became an interested tangent, +a silent observer. Here I had my +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span> +first meeting with her. I was not of her +class, neither was I to the alley born, but +sailed in the sane mid-channel that ameliorates +the distinction between high and +low life.</p> +<p>On this eventful day I was taking a +short cut on my way to school. One of +the group of alleyites, with the inherent +friendliness of the unchartered but big-hearted +members of the silt of the stream +of humans, had proffered to little Silvia +a chip on which was a patch of mud designed +to become a fruitcake stuffed with +pebbles in lieu of raisins and frosted with +moistened ashes. Before the enticing +pastime of transformation was begun, +however, Silvia was swiftly snatched from +the contaminating midst and borne away +over the ramparts.</p> +<p>Thereafter I haunted the alley, hoping +for another glimpse of the little picture +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span> +girl on the wall. At last I attained my +desire. One Saturday afternoon I saw her +coming, alone, down a long rosebush bordered +path. A thrill ran through me. +Our eyes met. Yet all I found to say +was: “C’mon over.”</p> +<p>She responded to this invitation and I +helped her over the wall. She looked +longingly at the Irish playing in the mud, +but a clean sandpile in my own backyard +not far away seemed to me a more fitting +environment for one so daintily clad.</p> +<p>We played undisturbed for a never-to-be-forgotten +half hour and then they found +her out. Reprimanding voices jangled and +the whole world was out of tune.</p> +<p>Thereafter a strict watch was kept on +little Silvia’s movements and I saw her +only at rare intervals, when she was +going into church or as she rode past our +house. She always remembered me and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span> +on such meetings a faint, reminiscent smile +lighted the somber little face and her +eyes met mine as if in a mysterious promise.</p> +<p>She grew up an outlawed, isolated child +deprived of her birthright, but in spite of +the handicaps of so barren a childhood, +she achieved young womanhood unspoiled +and in possession of her early democratic +tendencies.</p> +<p>When I was making a modest start +in a legal way, her parents died and left +her with that most unprofitable of legacies, +an encumbered estate. Then I dared +to renew our acquaintance begun on the +sandpile. She went to live with a poor +but practical relation and was initiated +into the science of stretching an inadequate +income to meet everyday needs. +In time I wooed and won her.</p> +<p>We set up housekeeping in a small, +thriving mid-Western city where I secured +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span> +a partnership in a legal firm. Silvia +had all the requisites of mind and manner +and Domestic Science necessary to a +“hearth-and home-” maker.</p> +<p>We lived in a house which was one of +many made to the same measure with +the inevitable street porch, big window, +trimmed lawn in front and garden in +the rear. We had attained the standard of +prosperity maintained in our home town +by keeping “hired help” and installing +a telephone, so our social status was +fixed.</p> +<p>There was but one adjunct missing to +our little Arcadia. While at a word or +look children flocked to me like friendly +puppies in response to a call, to Silvia +they were still an unknown quantity.</p> +<p>I had hoped that her understanding +and love for children might be developed +in the usual and natural way, but we had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span> +now been married ten years and this hope +had not been realized.</p> +<p>She had tried most assiduously to cultivate +an acquaintance with members of +child-world, but into that kingdom there +is no open sesame. The sure keen intuition +of a child recognizes on sight a kindred +spirit and Silvia’s forced advances +met with but indifferent response. She +wistfully proposed to me one day that we +adopt a child. My doubts as to the +advisability of such a course were confirmed +by Huldah, our strong staff in +household help. In our section of the +country servants were generally quite conversant +with the intimate and personal +affairs of the home.</p> +<p>“Don’t you never do it, Mr. Wade,” she +counseled. “Ready-mades ain’t for the +likes of her.”</p> +<p>When, in acting on this advice, I vetoed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span> +Silvia’s lukewarm proposition, I was convinced +of Huldah’s wisdom by seeing the +look of relief that flashed into my wife’s +troubled countenance, and I knew that +her suggestion had been but a perfunctory +prompting of duty.</p> +<p>Time alone could overcome the effects of +her early environment!</p> +<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-005.jpg' /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></div> +<div style='margin:10px auto; text-align:center;'> +<img alt='emblem' src='images/illus-006.jpg' /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_II__INTRODUCING_OUR_NEXTDOOR_NEIGHBORS' id='CHAPTER_II__INTRODUCING_OUR_NEXTDOOR_NEIGHBORS'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter II</span></h2> +<h3><i>Introducing Our Next-door Neighbors</i></h3> +</div> +<p>One morning Silvia and I lingered +over our coffee cups discussing our +plans for the coming summer, which +included visits from my sister Beth and my +college chum, Rob Rossiter. We wished +to avoid having their arrivals occur +simultaneously, however, because Rob was +a woman-hater, or thought he was. We +decided to have Beth pay her visit first +and later take Rob with us on our vacation +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span> +trip to some place where the fishing facilities +would be to our liking. However, +summer vacation time like our plans was +yet far, vague and dim.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-007.jpg' alt='' title='' width='210' height='278' /><br /> +</div> +<p>While I was putting on my overcoat, +Silvia had gone to the window and was +looking pensively at the vacant house next +to ours.</p> +<p>“I fear,” she said abruptly and irrelevantly, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span> +“that we are destined to receive +no part of Uncle Issachar’s fortune.”</p> +<p>Uncle Issachar was a wealthy but eccentric +relative of my wife. He had made us +no wedding gift beyond his best wishes, +but he had then informed us that at the +birth of each of our prospective sons he +should place in the bank to Silvia’s account +the sum of five thousand dollars. We had +never invited him to visit us or made any +overtures in the way of communication with +him, lest he should think we were cultivating +his acquaintance from mercenary motives.</p> +<p>While I was debating whether the +lament in Silvia’s tone was for the loss of +the money or the lack of children, she +again spoke; this time in a tone which +had lost its languor.</p> +<p>“There is a big moving van in front of +the house next door. At last we will +have some near neighbors.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span></div> +<p>“Are they unloading furniture?” I +asked inanely, crossing to the window.</p> +<p>“No; course not,” came cheerfully from +Huldah, who had come in to remove the +dishes. “Most likely they are unloading +lions and tigers.”</p> +<p>As I have already intimated, Huldah +was a privileged servant.</p> +<p>“They are unloading children!” explained +Silvia, in a tone implying that +Huldah’s sarcastic implication would be +infinitely more preferable. “The van +seems to be overflowing with them––a +perfect crowd. Do you suppose the house +is to be used as an orphan asylum?”</p> +<p>“I think not,” I assured her as I counted +the flock. Five children would seem like +a crowd to Silvia.</p> +<p>“Boys!” exclaimed Huldah tragically, +as she joined us for a survey. “I’ll see that +they don’t keep the grass off our lawn.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div> +<p>Late that afternoon I opened the outer +door of the dining-room in response to the +rap of strenuously applied knuckles.</p> +<p>A lad of about eleven years with the +sardonic face of a satyr and diabolically +bright eyes peered into the room.</p> +<p>“We’re going to have soup for dinner,” +he announced, “and mother wants to borrow +a soup plate for father to eat his out of.”</p> +<p>Silvia stared at him aghast. She seemed +to feel something compelling in the boy’s +personnel, however, and she went to the +china closet and brought forth a soup plate +which she handed to him without comment.</p> +<p>In silence we watched him run across +the lawn, twirling the plate deftly above +his head in juggler fashion.</p> +<p>The next day when we sat down to +dinner our new young neighbor again +appeared on our threshold.</p> +<p>“Halloa!” he called chummily. “We +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span> +are going to have soup again and we want +a soup plate for father.”</p> +<p>“Where is the one I loaned you yesterday?” +demanded Silvia in a tone far +below thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, while +her features assumed a frigidity that would +have congealed father’s favorite sustenance +had it been in her vicinity.</p> +<p>“Oh, we broke that!” he casually and +cheerfully explained.</p> +<p>With much reluctance Silvia bestowed +another plate upon the young applicant.</p> +<p>“Wait!” I said as he started to leave, +“don’t you want the soup tureen, too, or +the ladle and some soup spoons?”</p> +<p>“No, thank you,” he answered politely. +“None of the rest of us like soup, so we +dish father’s up in the kitchen. He +doesn’t like soup particularly, but he eats +it because it goes down quick and lets him +have more time for work.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></div> +<p>This time as he sped homeward, he +didn’t spin the plate in air, but tried +out a new plan of balancing it on a +stick.</p> +<p>“I think,” I suggested gently, when our +young neighbor was lost to our sorrowful +sight, “that it might be well to invest in +another dozen or so of soup plates. I will +see about getting them at wholesale rates. +Our supply will soon give out if our new +neighbors continue to cultivate the soup +and borrowing habit.”</p> +<p>“I will buy some at the five cent store,” +replied Silvia. “I think I had better call +upon them tomorrow and see what manner +of people they can be.”</p> +<p>When I came home the next day it was +quite evident that she had called.</p> +<p>“Well,” I inquired, “what do they keep––a +soup house?”</p> +<p>“They are literary people, the highest of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span> +high-brows. Their name is Polydore, and +the head of the house–––”</p> +<p>“Mr. or Mrs.?” I interrupted.</p> +<p>“The head of the house,” pursued Silvia, +ignoring my question, “is a collector.”</p> +<p>“So I inferred. Has he a large collection +of soup plates?”</p> +<p>“She collects antiquities and writes their +history. He pursues science.”</p> +<p>“They were seemingly communicative. +What did they look like?”</p> +<p>“I didn’t see them. After I rang I heard +a woman’s voice bidding some one not to +answer the bell. She said she couldn’t be +bothered with interruptions, so I went on +up the street to call on Mrs. Fleming, who +told me all about them. She was also refused +admittance when she called. On my way +home I met that boy––that awful boy–––”</p> +<p>She paused, evidently overcome by the +consideration of his awfulness.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></div> +<p>“He had been digging bait––”</p> +<p>Again she paused as if words were inadequate +for her climax.</p> +<p>“Well,” I encouraged.</p> +<p>“He was carrying his bait––horrid, +wriggling angleworms––in our soup +plate!”</p> +<p>“Then it is not broken yet!” I exclaimed +joyfully. “Let us hope it is given +an antiseptic bath before father’s next +indulgence in consommé. After dinner I +will go over and try my luck at paying my +respects to the soup savant.”</p> +<p>“They won’t let you in.”</p> +<p>“In that case I shall follow their lead of +setting aside all ceremony and formality +and admit myself, as their heir apparent +does here.”</p> +<p>After dinner and my twilight smoke, I +went next door, first asking Silvia if there +was anything we needed that I could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span> +borrow, just to show them there were no +hard feelings.</p> +<p>My third vigorous ring brought results. +A slipshod servant appeared and +reluctantly seated me in the hall. She +read with seeming interest the card I +handed to her and then, pushing aside +some mangy looking portières, vanished +from view.</p> +<p>She evidently delivered my card, for I +heard a woman’s voice read my name, +“Mr. Lucien Wade.”</p> +<p>After another short interval the slovenly +servant returned and offered me my +card.</p> +<p>“She seen it,” she assured me in answer +to my look of surprise.</p> +<p>She again put the portières between us +and I was obliged to own myself baffled +in my efforts to break in. I was showing +myself out when my onward course was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span> +deflected by a troop of noisy children +leaded by the soup plate skirmisher, who +was the oldest and apparently the leader +of the brood.</p> +<p>“Oh, halloa!” he greeted me with the +air of an old acquaintance, “didn’t you +see the folks?”</p> +<p>On my informing him that I had seen +no one but the servant, he exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh, that chicken wouldn’t know +enough to ask you in! Just follow us. +Mother wouldn’t remember to come out.”</p> +<p>I was loth to force my presence on +mother, but by this time my hospitable +young friend had pulled the portières so +strenuously that they parted from the pole, +and I was presented willy nilly to the +collector of antiquities, who had the +angular sharp-cut face and form of a +rocking horse. She was seated at a table +strewn with books and papers, writing at +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span> +a rate of speed that convinced me she was +in the throes of an inspiration. I forebore +to interrupt. My scruples, however, were +not shared by her eldest son. He gave +her elbow a jog of reminder which sent her +pencil to the floor.</p> +<p>“Mother!” he shouted in megaphone +voice, “here’s the man next door––the +one we get our soup plates from.”</p> +<p>She looked up abstractedly.</p> +<p>“Oh,” she said in dismayed tone, “I +thought you had gone. I am very much +engaged in writing a paper on modern +antiquities.”</p> +<p>I murmured some sort of an apology for +my untimely interruption.</p> +<p>“I am so absorbed in my great work,” +she explained, “that I am oblivious to all +else. I have the rare and great gift of +concentration in a marked degree.”</p> +<p>I was quite sure of this fact. She took +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span> +another pencil from a supply box and +resumed her literary occupation. As my +presence seemed of so little moment, I +lingered.</p> +<p>“Mother,” shouted one of the boys, +snatching the pencil from her grasp, “I’m +hungry. I didn’t have any supper.”</p> +<p>“Yes, you did!” she asserted. “I saw +Gladys give you a bowl of bread and +milk.”</p> +<p>“Emerald took it away from me and +drank it up.”</p> +<p>“Didn’t neither!” denied a shaggy looking +boy. “I spilled it.”</p> +<p>He accompanied this denial by a fierce +punch in his accuser’s ribs.</p> +<p>“Here!” said the author of Modern +Antiquities, taking a nickel from her +pocket, “go get yourself some popcorn, +Demetrius.”</p> +<p>“I ain’t Demetrius! I’m Pythagoras.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span></div> +<p>“It makes no difference. Go and get it +and don’t speak to me again tonight.”</p> +<p>The boy had already snatched the coin, +and he now started for the exit, but his +outgoing way was instantly blocked by a +promiscuous pack of pugilistic Polydores, +and an ardent and general onslaught +followed.</p> +<p>I endeavored to untangle the arms and +legs of the attackers and the attacked in +a desire to rescue the youngest, a child +of two, but I soon beat a retreat, having +no mind to become a punching bag for +Polydores.</p> +<p>The concentrator at the writing table, +looking up vaguely, perceived the general +joust.</p> +<p>“How provoking!” she exclaimed indignantly. +“I was in search of an antonym +and now they’ve driven it out of my +memory.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span></div> +<p>I politely offered my sympathy for her loss.</p> +<p>“Did you ever see such misbehaved +children?” she asked casually and impersonally +as she calmly surveyed the +free-for-all fight.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-008.jpg' alt='' title='' width='157' height='293' /><br /> +</div> +<p>“Children always misbehave before company,” +I remarked propitiatingly. “Of +course they know better.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></div> +<p>“Why no, they don’t!” she declared, +looking at me in surprise, “they–––”</p> +<p>At this instant the errant antonym +evidently flashed upon her mental vision +and her pencil hastened to record it and +then flew on at lightning speed.</p> +<p>I was about to try to make an escape +when a momentary cessation of hostilities +was caused by the entrance of a moth-eaten, +abstracted-looking man. As the +<i>two-year-old</i> hailed him as “fadder”, I +gathered that he was the person responsible +for the family now fighting at his feet.</p> +<p>“What’s the trouble?” he asked helplessly.</p> +<p>“She gave Thag a nickel,” explained the +eldest boy, “and we want it.”</p> +<p>The man drew a sigh of relief. The +solution of this family problem was instantly +and satisfactorily met by an impartial +distribution of nickels.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span></div> +<p>With demoniac whoops of delight, the +contestants fled from the room.</p> +<p>I introduced myself to the man of the +house, who seemed to realize that some +sort of compulsory conventionalities must +be observed. He looked hopelessly at his +wife, and seeing that she was beyond response +to an S O S call to things mundane, +he frankly but impressively informed me +that I must expect nothing of them socially +as their lives were devoted to research +and study. The children, however, +he assured me, could run over frequently +to see us.</p> +<p>I instinctively felt that my call was considered +ended, so I took my departure. I +related the details of my neighborly visit +to Silvia, but her sense of humor was not +stirred. It was entirely dominated by her +dread of the young Polydores.</p> +<p>“How many children are there?” she +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span> +asked faintly. “More than the five you +said you counted that first day?”</p> +<p>“They seemed not so many as much. +That is, though I suppose in round +numbers there are but five, yet each of +those five is equal to at least three ordinary +children.”</p> +<p>“Are they all boys? Huldah says the +youngest wears dresses.”</p> +<p>“Nevertheless he is a boy. They are all +unmistakably boys. I think they must +have been born with boots on and,” conscious +of the imprints of my shins, “hobnail +boots at that. Even the youngest, a +two-year old, seems to have been graduated +from Home Rule.”</p> +<p>“I can’t bear to think of their going to +bed hungry,” she said wistfully. “Think +of that unnatural mother expecting them +to satisfy their hunger by popcorn.”</p> +<p>“They didn’t though,” I assured her. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span> +“I saw them stop a street vender below +here and invest their nickels in hot +dogs.”</p> +<p>“Hot dogs!” repeated Silvia in horror.</p> +<p>“Wienerwursts,” I hastened to interpret.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-009.jpg' alt='' title='' width='323' height='257' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-010.jpg' alt='' title='' width='344' height='116' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_III__IN_WHICH_WE_ARE_PESTERED_BY_POLYDORES' id='CHAPTER_III__IN_WHICH_WE_ARE_PESTERED_BY_POLYDORES'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter III</span></h2> +<h3><i>In Which We Are Pestered by Polydores</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Our life now became one long round +of Polydores. They were with us +burr-tight, and attached themselves +to me with dog-like devotion, remaining +utterly impervious to Silvia’s aloofness +and repulses. At last, however, she succumbed +to their presence as one of the +things inevitable.</p> +<p>“The Polydores are here to stay,” she +acknowledged in a calmness-of-despair voice.</p> +<p>“They don’t seem to be homebodies,” +I allowed.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></div> +<p>The children were not literary like the +other productions of their profound +parents, but were a band of robust, active +youngsters unburdened with brains, excepting +Ptolemy of soup plate fame. Not +that he betrayed any tendencies toward a +learned line, but he was possessed of an +occult, uncanny, wizard-like wisdom that +was disconcerting. His contemplative eyes +seemed to search my soul and read my inmost +thoughts.</p> +<p>Pythagoras, Emerald, and Demetrius, +aged respectively nine, eight, and seven, +were very much alike in looks and size, +being so many pinched caricatures of their +mother. To Silvia they were bewildering +whirlwinds, but Huldah, who seemed to +have difficulty in telling them apart, always +classified them as “Them three”, and +Silvia and I fell into the habit of referring +to them in the same way. Huldah could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span> +not master the Polydore given names either +by memory or pronunciation. Ptolemy, +whose name was shortened to “Tolly” by +Diogenes, she called “Polly.” When she +was on speaking terms with “Them three” +she nicknamed them “Thaggy, Emmy, and +Meetie.”</p> +<p>Diogenes, the two-year old, was a Tartar +when emulating his brothers. Alone, he +was sometimes normal and a shade more +like ordinary children.</p> +<p>When they first began swarming in +upon us, Silvia drew many lines which, +however, the Polydores promptly effaced.</p> +<p>“They shall not eat here, anyway,” +she emphatically declared.</p> +<p>This was her last stand and she went +down ingloriously.</p> +<p>One day while we were seated at the +table enjoying some of Huldah’s most +palatable dishes, Ptolemy came in. There +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span> +ensued on our part a silence which the lad +made no effort to break. Silvia and I +each slipped him a side glance. He stood +statuesque, watching us with the mute +wistfulness of a hungry animal. There +were unwonted small red specks high upon +his cheekbones, symptoms, Silvia thought, +of starvation.</p> +<p>She was moved to ask, though reluctantly +and perfunctorily:</p> +<p>“Haven’t you been to dinner, Ptolemy?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” he admitted quickly, “but I +could eat another.”</p> +<p>Assuming that the forced inquiry was +an invitation, before protest could be +entered he supplied himself with a plate +and helped himself to food. His need and +relish of the meal weakened Silvia’s fortifications.</p> +<p>This opening, of course, was the wedge +that let in other Polydores, and thereafter +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span> +we seldom sat down to a meal without the +presence of one or more members of the +illustrious and famished family, who made +themselves as entirely at home as would +a troop of foraging soldiers. Silvia gazed +upon their devouring of food with the +same surprised, shocked, and yet interested +manner in which one watches the +feeding of animals.</p> +<p>“I suppose he ought not to eat so many +pickles,” she remarked one day, as Emerald +consumed his ninth Dill.</p> +<p>“You can’t kill a Polydore,” I assured her.</p> +<p>I never opened a door but more or less +Polydores fell in. They were at the left +of us and at the right of us, with Diogenes +always under foot. We had no privacy. +I found myself waking suddenly in the +night with the uncomfortable feeling that +Ptolemy lurked in a dark corner or two +of my bedroom.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span></div> +<p>Even Silvia’s boudoir was not free from +their invasion. But one door in our house +remained closed to them. They found no +open sesame to Huldah’s apartment.</p> +<p>“I wish she would let me in on her system,” +I said. “I wonder how she manages +to keep them on the outside?”</p> +<p>“I can tell you,” confided Silvia. “Emerald +and Demetrius went in one day and +she dropped Demetrius out the window +and kicked Emerald out the door. You +know, Lucien, you are too softhearted to +resort to such measures.”</p> +<p>“I was once,” I confessed, “but I think +under Polydore régime I am getting stoical +enough to follow in Huldah’s footsteps +and go her one better.”</p> +<p>Our conversation was interrupted by +the entrance of Diogenes.</p> +<p>Silvia screamed.</p> +<p>Turning to see what the latest Polydore +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span> +perpetration might be, I saw that Diogenes +was frothing at the mouth.</p> +<p>“Oh, he’s having a fit!” exclaimed +Silvia frantically. “Call Huldah! Put +him in a hot bath. Quick, Lucien, turn +on the hot water.”</p> +<p>“Not I,” I refused grimly. “Let him +have a fit and fall in it.”</p> +<p>“He ain’t got no fit,” was the cheerful +assurance of Pythagoras, as he sauntered in.</p> +<p>“Your mother would have one,” I told +him, “if she could hear your English.”</p> +<p>“What is the matter with him?” asked +Silvia. “Does he often foam in this way?”</p> +<p>“He’s been eating your tooth powder,” +explained Pythagoras. “He likes it ’cause +it tastes like peppermint, and then he +drank some water before he swallowed +the powder and it all fizzed up and run out +his mouth.”</p> +<p>“I wondered,” said Silvia ruefully, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +“what made my tooth powder disappear +so rapidly. What shall I do!”</p> +<p>“Resort to strategy!” I advised. “Lock +up your powder hereafter and fill an empty +bottle with powdered alum or something +worse and leave it around handy.”</p> +<p>“Lucien!” exclaimed my wife, who could +not seem to recover from this latest annoyance, +“I don’t see how you can be so +fond of children. I did hope––for your +sake and––on account of Uncle Issachar’s +offer that I’d like to have one––but I’d +rather go to the poorhouse! I’d almost lose +your affection rather than have a child.”</p> +<p>“But, Silvia!” I remonstrated in dismay, +“you shouldn’t judge all by these. +They’re not fair samples. They’re not +children––not home-grown children.”</p> +<p>“I should say not!” agreed Huldah, +who had come into the room. “They are +imps––imps of the devil.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span></div> +<p>I believe she was right. They had a +generally demoralizing effect on our household. +I was growing irritable, Silvia careworn. +Even Huldah showed their influence +by acquiring the very latest in slang +from them. Once in a while to my amusement +I heard Silvia unconsciously adopting +the Polydore argot.</p> +<p>As the result of their better nourishment +at our table, the imps of the devil +daily grew more obstreperous and life +became so burdensome to Silvia that I +proposed moving away to a childless neighborhood.</p> +<p>“They’d find us out,” said Silvia wearily, +“wherever we went. Distance would be +no obstacle to them.”</p> +<p>“Then we might move out of town, as a +last resort,” I suggested. “Rob says he +thinks there is a good legal field in–––”</p> +<p>“No, Lucien,” vetoed Silvia. “You’ve +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span> +a fine practice here, and then there’s that +attorneyship for the Bartwell Manufacturing +Company.”</p> +<p>My hope of securing this appointment +meant a good deal to us. We were now +living up to every cent of my income +and though we had the necessities, it was +the luxuries of life I craved––for Silvia’s +sake. She was a lover of music and we +had no piano. She yearned to ride and +she had no horse. We both had longings +for a touring-car and we wanted to travel.</p> +<p>“I’ve thought of a scheme for a little +respite from the sight and sound of the +Polydores,” I remarked one day. “We’ll +enter them in the public school. There +are four more weeks yet before the long +summer vacation.”</p> +<p>“That would be too good to be true,” +declared Silvia. “Five or six hours each +day, and then, too, their deportment will +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span> +be so dreadful that they will have to stay +after school hours.”</p> +<p>I thought more likely their deportment +would lead to suspension, but forbore to +wet-blanket Silvia’s hopes.</p> +<p>I made my second call upon the male +head of the House of Polydore to recommend +and urge that its young scions be +sent to the public school. I had misgivings +as to the outcome of my proposition, +as the Polydore parents believed +themselves to be the only fount of learning +in the town. To my surprise and +intense gratification, my suggestion met +with no objections whatever. Felix Polydore +referred me to his wife and said he +would abide by her decision. I found her, +of course, buried in books, but remembering +Ptolemy’s mode of gaining attention, +I peremptorily closed the volume she was +studying.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span></div> +<p>My audacity attained its object and I +proferred my request, laying great stress +on the quietude she would gain thereby. +She replied that attendance at school would +doubtless do them no harm, although she +expressed her belief that the most thorough +educations were those obtained outside of +schools.</p> +<p>Silvia was wafted into the eighth heaven +of bliss and then some, as the result of my +diplomatic mission. Of course the task of +preparing pupils out of the pestiferous +Polydores devolved upon her, but she was +actively aided by the eager and willing +Huldah and between them they pushed the +project that promised such an elysium with +all speed. The prospective pupils themselves +were not wildly enthusiastic over this +curtailment of their liberty, but Huldah +won the day by proposing that they carry +their luncheon with them, promising an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span> +abundant supply of sugared doughnuts +and small pies.</p> +<p>Pythagoras foresaw recreation ahead in +the opportunity to “lick all the kids,” +and I assumed that Ptolemy had deep +laid schemes for the outmaneuvering of +teachers, but as his left hand never made +confidant of his right, I could not expect to +fathom the workings of his mind.</p> +<p>Early on a Monday morning, therefore, +our household arose to lick our Polydore +protégés into a shape presentable for admission +to school. It took two hours to +pull up stockings and make them stay +pulled, tie shoestrings, comb out tangles, +adjust collars and neckties, to say nothing +of vigorous scrubbings to five grimy faces +and ten dirt-stained hands.</p> +<p>At last with an air of achievement Silvia +corralled her round-up and unloaded the +four eldest upon the public school and then +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span> +proceeded to install the protesting Diogenes +in a nursery kindergarten. Huldah +stood in the doorway as they marched off +and sped the parting guests with a muttered +“Good riddance to bad rubbish.”</p> +<p>Silvia returned radiant, but her rejoicing +was shortlived. She had scarcely taken +off her hat and gloves when the four oldest +came trooping and whooping into the house.</p> +<p>“What’s the matter?” gasped Silvia.</p> +<p>“Got to be vaccinated,” explained +Ptolemy with an appreciative grin. Of all +the Polydores he was the one who had least +objected to scholastic pursuits, but he +seemed quite jubilant at our discomfiture.</p> +<p>We were somewhat reluctant to undertake +the responsibility of their inoculation, +especially after Ptolemy told us that his +mother didn’t believe in vaccination.</p> +<p>“I’ll take ’em down and get ’em vaccinated +right,” declared Huldah. “Their +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span> +ma won’t never notice the scars, and if +one of you young uns blabs about it,” +she added, turning upon them ferociously, +“I’ll cut your tongue out.”</p> +<p>“Suppose there should be some ill result +from it,” said Silvia apprehensively.</p> +<p>“Don’t you worry!” exclaimed Huldah. +“Most likely it won’t amount to anything. +It’ll take some new kind of scabs to work +in these brats. They’re too tough to take +anything. Come on now with me,” she +commanded, “and after it’s done, I’ll +get you each an ice cream sody.”</p> +<p>Through Huldah’s efficiency the vaccination +was quickly accomplished and +the children of our neighbor were reluctantly +accepted by the school authorities.</p> +<p>The Polydores were not parted by reason +of dissimilarity of age or learning, as +they were put into the ungraded room. +To keep them there enrolled taxed to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +utmost our ingenuity in the way of framing +excuses for their repeated cases of +tardiness and suspension.</p> +<p>Silvia felt a little remorseful when she +listened to the tale of woe recited to her +by their teacher at a card party one Saturday +afternoon.</p> +<p>“She said,” my wife repeated, “that +yesterday Pythagoras brought two mice to +school in his marble-bag and let them loose. +She doesn’t believe in corporal punishment, +but she determined to experiment with its +effect on Pythagoras, so she kept him and +Emerald, who was slightly implicated, after +school and sent the latter out to get a +whip. When he came back he said: ‘I +couldn’t find any stick, but here’s some +rocks you can throw at him,’ and handed +her a hat full of stones. This made her +too hysterical to try her experiment, so +she took away his recess for a week.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span></div> +<p>“We ought to make her a present,” I +observed.</p> +<p>“She said,” continued Silvia, “that they +had given her nervous prostration, but +she had no time to prostrate, and if she +didn’t succeed in getting them graded by +the coming fall term, she should accept an +offer of marriage she had received from a +cross-eyed man, and you know how unlucky +that would be, Lucien!”</p> +<p>“We may be driven to worse things than +that by fall,” I replied ruefully.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-011.jpg' alt='' title='' width='337' height='143' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-012.jpg' alt='' title='' width='299' height='194' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_IV__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_BOARDERS' id='CHAPTER_IV__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_BOARDERS'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter IV</span></h2> +<h3><i>In Which We Take Boarders</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Four weeks of unalloyed bliss and +then the summer vacation times +arrived, bringing joy to the heart +of the Polydores and the teacher of the +ungraded room, but deep gloom to the +hearthside of the Wades.</p> +<p>One misfortune always brings another. +A rival applicant received the coveted attorneyship +and we bade a sad farewell to piano, +saddle-horse, automobile and journey, the +furnishings to our Little House of Dreams.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span></div> +<p>“I did want you to have a car, Lucien,” +sighed Silvia, regretfully, “and you worked +so hard this last year, you need a trip. +Won’t you go somewhere with Rob––without +me?”</p> +<p>I assured her it would be no vacation +without her.</p> +<p>“Do you know, Lucien,” she proposed +diffidently, “I think it would be an excellent +plan to invite Uncle Issachar to visit +us. He knows no more about children than +I do––than I did, I mean, and if he should +see the Polydores he’d give us five thousand +each for the children we didn’t have.”</p> +<p>I wouldn’t consent to this plan. I had +met Uncle Issachar once. He was a crusty +old bachelor with a morbid suspicion that +everyone was working him for his money. +I don’t wonder he thought so. He had no +other attractions.</p> +<p>Perceiving the strength of my opposition +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span> +Silvia sweetly and sagaciously refrained +from further pressure.</p> +<p>“We should not repine,” she said. “We +have health and happiness and love. +What are pianos and cars and trips compared +to such assets?”</p> +<p>What, indeed! I admitted that things +might be worse.</p> +<p>Alas! All too soon was my statement +substantiated. That night after we had +gone to bed, I heard a taxicab sputtering +away at the house next door.</p> +<p>“The Polydores must have unexpected +guests,” I remarked.</p> +<p>“I trust they brought no children with +them,” murmured Silvia drowsily.</p> +<p>The next morning while we were at +breakfast, the odor of June roses wafting +in through the open window, the delicious +flavor of red-ripe strawberries tickling our +palate, and the anticipation of rice griddle-cakes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +exhilarating us, the millennium +came.</p> +<p>For the five young Polydores bore down +upon us <i>en masse</i>.</p> +<p>“Father and mother have gone away,” +proclaimed Ptolemy, who was always +spokesman for the quintette.</p> +<p>This intelligence was of no particular +interest to us––not then, at least. We +rarely saw father and mother Polydore, +and they were apparently of no need to +their offspring.</p> +<p>Ptolemy’s next announcement, however, +was startling and effective in its dramatic +intensity.</p> +<p>“We’ve come over to stay with you +while they are away.”</p> +<p>I laughed; jocosely, I thought.</p> +<p>Silvia paid no heed to my forced hilarity, +but ejaculated gaspingly:</p> +<p>“Why, what do you mean!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span></div> +<p>“They have gone away somewhere,” +enlightened our oracle. “They went to the +train last night in a taxi. They have gone +somewhere to find out something about +some kind of aborigines.”</p> +<p>“Which reminds me,” I remarked reminiscently, +“of the man who traveled far +and vainly in search of a certain plant +which, on his return, he found growing +beside his own doorstep.”</p> +<p>Silvia paid no heed to my misplaced +pleasantry. She was right––as usual. It +was no time for levity.</p> +<p>“I don’t see,” spoke my unappreciative +wife, addressing Ptolemy, “why their absence +should make any difference in your +remaining at home. Gladys can cook your +meals and put Diogenes to bed as usual.”</p> +<p>“Gladys has gone,” piped Demetrius. +“She left yesterday afternoon. She was +only staying till she could get her pay.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span></div> +<p>“Father forgot to get another girl in her +place,” informed Ptolemy, “and he forgot +to tell mother he had forgotten until just +before they went to the train. She said it +didn’t matter––that we could just as well +come over here and stay with you.”</p> +<p>“She said,” added Pythagoras, “that +you were so crazy over children, that +probably you’d be glad to have us stay +with you all the time.”</p> +<p>My last strawberry remained poised in +mid-air. It was quite apparent to me now +that there was nothing funny about this +situation.</p> +<p>“Milk, milk!” whimpered Diogenes, pulling +at Silvia’s dress and making frantic +efforts to reach the cream pitcher.</p> +<p>Huldah had come in with the griddle-cakes +during this avalanche of news.</p> +<p>“Here, all you kids!” commanded our +field marshal, as she picked up Diogenes, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span> +“beat it to the kitchen, and I’ll give you +some breakfast. Hustle up!”</p> +<p>The Polydores, whose eyes were bulging +with expectancy and semi-starvation, tumbled +over each other in their eagerness to +“hustle up and beat it to the kitchen.” +Our oiler of troubled waters followed, and +there was assurance of a brief lull.</p> +<p>“What shall we do!” I exclaimed helplessly +when the door had closed on the +last Polydore. I felt too limp and impotent +to cope with the situation. Not so +Silvia.</p> +<p>“Do!” she echoed with an intensity of +tone and feeling I had never known her to +display. “Do! We’ll do something, I am +sure! I will not for a moment submit to +such an imposition. Who ever heard of +such colossal nerve! That father and +mother should be brought back and prosecuted. +I shall report them to the Society +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span> +for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. +But we won’t wait for such procedure. +We’ll express each and every Polydore to +them at once.”</p> +<p>“I should certainly do that P.D.Q. and +C.O.D.,” I acquiesced, “if the Polydore +parents could be located, but you know +the abodes of aborigines are many and +scattered.”</p> +<p>My remarks seemed to fall as flat as +the flapjacks I was siruping.</p> +<p>Silvia arose, determination in every lineament +and muscle, and crossed the room. +She opened the door leading into the kitchen.</p> +<p>“Ptolemy,” she demanded, “where have +your father and mother gone?”</p> +<p>He came forward and replied in a voice +somewhat smothered by cakes and sirup.</p> +<p>“I don’t know. They didn’t say.”</p> +<p>“We can find out from the ticket-agent,” +I optimistically assured her.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span></div> +<p>“They never bother to buy tickets. Pay +on the train,” Ptolemy explained.</p> +<p>My legal habit of counter-argument asserted +itself.</p> +<p>“We can easily ascertain to what point +their baggage was checked,” I remarked, +again essaying to maintain a rôle of good +cheer.</p> +<p>But the pessimistic Ptolemy was right +there with another of his gloom-casting +retaliations.</p> +<p>“They only took suit-cases and they +always keep them in the car. Here’s a +check father said to give you to pay for +our board. He said you could write in +any amount you wanted to.”</p> +<p>“He got a lot of dough yesterday,” informed +Pythagoras, “and he put half of it +in the bank here.”</p> +<p>Ptolemy handed over a check which was +blank except for Felix Polydore’s signature.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></div> +<p>“I don’t see,” I weakly exclaimed when +my wife had closed the kitchen door, “why +she put them off on <i>us</i>. Why didn’t she +trade her brats off for antiques?”</p> +<p>Silvia eyed the check wistfully. I could +read the unspoken thought that here, perhaps, +was the opportunity for our much-desired +trip.</p> +<p>“No, Silvia,” I answered quickly, “not +for any number of blank checks or vacation +trips shall you have the care and annoyance +of those wild Comanches.”</p> +<p>“I know what I’ll do!” she exclaimed +suddenly. “I’ll go right down to the intelligence +office and get anything in the +shape of a maid and put her in charge of +the Polydore caravansary with double +wages and every night out and any other +privileges she requests.”</p> +<p>This seemed a sane and sensible arrangement, +and I wended my way to my +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span> +office feeling that we were out of the +woods.</p> +<p>When I returned home at noon, I found +that we had only exchanged the woods for +water––and deep water at that.</p> +<p>I beheld a strange sight. Silvia sat by +our bedroom window twittering soft, cooing +nonsensical nothings to Diogenes, who +was clasped in her arms, his flushed little +face pressed close to her shoulder.</p> +<p>“He’s been quite ill, Lucien. I was +frightened and called the doctor. He said +it was only the slight fever that children are +subject to. He thought with good care +that he’d be all right in a few days.”</p> +<p>“Did you succeed in getting a cook to +go to the Polydores?” I asked anxiously. +“You’ll need a nurse to go there, too, to +take care of Diogenes.”</p> +<p>She looked at me reproachfully and rebukingly.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span></div> +<p>“Why, Lucien! You don’t suppose I +could send this sick baby back to that uninviting +house with only hired help in +charge! Besides, I don’t believe he’d stay +with a stranger. He seems to have taken +a fancy to me.”</p> +<p>Diogenes confirmed this belief by a +languid lifting of his eyelids, as he feelingly +patted her cheek with his baby fingers.</p> +<p>I forebore to suggest that the fancy +seemed to be mutual. Diogenes, sick, was +no longer an “imp of the devil”, but a +normal, appealing little child. It occurred +to me that possibly the care of a sick +Polydore might develop Silvia’s tiny germ +of child-ken.</p> +<p>“Keep him here of course,” I agreed, +“but––the other children must return +home.”</p> +<p>“Diogenes would miss them,” she said +quickly, “and the doctor says his whims +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +must be humored while he is sick. He is +almost asleep now. I think he will let me +put him down in his own little bed. Ptolemy +brought it over here. Pull back the +covers for me, Lucien. There!”</p> +<p>Diogenes half opened his eyes, as she +laid him in the bed and smiled wanly.</p> +<p>“Mudder!” he cooed.</p> +<p>Silvia flushed and looked as if she dreaded +some expression of mirth from me. Relieved +by my silence and a suggestion of +moisture in the region of my eyes––the +day was quite warm––she confessed:</p> +<p>“He has called me that all the morning.”</p> +<p>“It would be a wise Polydore that knows +its own parents,” I observed.</p> +<p>The slight illness of Diogenes lasted three +or four days. I still shudder to recall the +memory of that hideous period. Silvia’s +time and attention were devoted to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span> +sick child. Huldah was putting in all her +leisure moments at the dentist’s, where +she was acquiring her third set of teeth, +and joy rode unconfined and unrestrained +with our “boarders.”</p> +<p>Polydore proclivities made the Reign of +Terror formerly known as the French +Revolution seem like an ice cream festival. +I don’t regard myself as a particularly +nervous man, but there’s a limit! Their +war whoops and screeches got on my +nerves and temper to the extent of sending +me into their midst one evening brandishing +a whip and commanding immediate +silence. I got it. Not through fear of +chastisement, for fear was an emotion +unknown to a Polydore, but from astonishment +at so unexpected a procedure +from so unexpected a source. Heretofore +I had either ignored them or frolicked +with them. Before they had recovered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +from their shock, Silvia appeared on the +scene.</p> +<p>“Diogenes,” she informed them, “was +not used to such unwonted quiet, and was +fretting at the unaccustomed stillness. +Would the boys please play Indian or some +of their games again?”</p> +<p>The boys would. I backed from the +room, the whip behind me, carefully kept +without Silvia’s angle of vision. Before +Ptolemy resumed his rôle of chief, he bestowed +a knowing and maddening wink +upon me.</p> +<p>I wished that we had remained neighbor-less. +I wished that the aborigines would +scalp Felix Polydore and the writer of +Modern Antiquities. Then we could land +their brats on the Probate Court. I wished +that this were the reign of Herod. I vowed +I would backslide from the Presbyterian +faith since it no longer included in its +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span> +articles of belief the eternal damnation of +infants. How long, O Catiline, would––</p> +<p>A paralyzing suspicion flashed into the +maelstrom of my vituperative maledictions. +I rushed wildly upstairs to our combination +bedroom, sickroom, and nursery, where +Silvia sat like a guardian angel beside the +Polydore patient.</p> +<p>“Silvia,” I shouted excitedly, “do you +suppose those diabolical Polydore parents +purposely played this trick on us? Was +it a premeditated Polydore plan to abandon +their young? And can you blame +them for playing us for easy marks? Could +any parents, Polydore, or otherwise, ever +come back to such fiends as these?”</p> +<p>“Hush!” she cautioned, without so much +as a glance in my direction. “You’ll wake +Diogenes!”</p> +<p>Wake Diogenes! Ye Gods! And she +had also implored the brothers of Diogenes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span> +to continue their anvil chorus! This took +the last stitch of starch from my manly +bosom. Spiritless and spineless I bore all +things, believed all things––but hoped +for nothing.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-013.jpg' alt='' title='' width='228' height='246' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span> +<img src='images/illus-014.jpg' alt='' title='' width='341' height='181' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_V__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_A_VACATION' id='CHAPTER_V__IN_WHICH_WE_TAKE_A_VACATION'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter V</span></h2> +<h3><i>In Which We Take a Vacation</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Diogenes finally convalesced to +his former state of ruggedness and +obstreperousness. He continued, +however, to cling to Silvia and to call her +“mudder.” To my amusement the other +children followed suit and she was now +“muddered” by all the Polydores.</p> +<p>“I am glad,” I remarked, “that they +scorn to include me in their adoption. I +wouldn’t fancy being ‘faddered’ by the +Polydores.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span></div> +<p>“You won’t be,” Ptolemy, appearing +seemingly from nowhere, assured me. +“We’ve named you stepdaddy.”</p> +<p>“If it be possible, Silvia,” I implored, +“let this cup pass from me.”</p> +<p>“I am going down to the intelligence +office today,” replied Silvia soothingly. +“Diogenes is well enough to go home now, +and I can run over there every evening +and see that he is properly put to bed.”</p> +<p>I went down town feeling like a mule +relieved of his pack.</p> +<p>When I came home that afternoon, I found +Silvia sitting on the shaded porch serenely +sewing. A Sabbath-like stillness pervaded. +Not a Polydore in sight or sound.</p> +<p>“Oh!” I cried buoyantly. “The Polydores +have been returned to their home +station!”</p> +<p>“No,” she replied calmly. “They told +me at the intelligence office that it would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span> +be absolutely impossible to persuade, bribe, +or hire a servant to assume the charge of +the Polydore place.”</p> +<p>“I suppose,” I said glumly, “that Gladys +gave the job a double cross. But will you +please account for the phenomenon of the +utter absence of Polydores at the present +period? Has Huldah at last carried out +her oft-repeated threat of exterminating +the Polydore race?”</p> +<p>“Pythagoras,” explained Silvia dejectedly, +“has gone to the doctor’s. He broke +his wrist this morning. Diogenes is lost +and Emerald has gone to look for him––”</p> +<p>“Oh, why hunt him up?” I remonstrated. +“Maybe Emerald, too, will get lost or +strayed or stolen.”</p> +<p>“Huldah,” continued Silvia, “has locked +Demetrius in the cellar. I am unable to +report on Ptolemy. Huldah is half sick, +but she won’t go to bed. She said no beds +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span> +in Bedlamite for her. But I have a wonderful +plan to suggest. There is relief in sight +if you will consent.”</p> +<p>“I will consent to any committable +crime on the calendar,” I assured her, +“that will lead to the parting of the Polydore +path from ours. Divulge.”</p> +<p>“We both need a change and rest. Today +I heard of a most alluring, inexpensive, +unfrequented resort called Hope Haven. +Unfashionable, fine fishing, beautiful scenery, +twelve miles from a railroad, and a +stage stops there but once a day.”</p> +<p>“If there is such a place, we’ll go there +at once, though why such an enticing spot +should be unfrequented is beyond me. Do +we leave the Polydores to their fate, or as +a town charge?”</p> +<p>“We’ll leave them to Huldah. She +offered to keep them here if we’d take +the outing. She said she’d either give +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +them free rein or beat their brains out.”</p> +<p>“Then I see where the Polydores land +in a juvenile jail, or else I return to defend +Huldah for a charge of murder. We’ll +take our departure by night––tomorrow +night––and like the Arabs, or the Polydore +parents, silently steal away.”</p> +<p>“Lucien,” said Silvia constrainedly, when +we had arranged the details of our plan, “if +you wouldn’t object too much, I should +like to take Diogenes with us. He hasn’t +missed his mother, but I really believe he’d +be homesick without me.”</p> +<p>“Take him, of course,” I said. “He’s +manageable away from the others. I +plainly see you’ve formed the Polydore +habit, and maybe a partial parting from +the Polydores would be wiser, but we’ll +take Diogenes as an antidote against +too perfect a time. But I forgot to tell +you that I had a letter from Rob today. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span> +He plans to come and make his visit now +and will arrive next Monday. I’ll write +him to join us at Hope Haven. You must +write down again for me the route we take +to get there.”</p> +<p>Silvia laughed hopelessly.</p> +<p>“It never rains but it pours. I had a +letter from Beth this afternoon, and she +says she would like to come to us now. +She arrives Monday. Here is her letter.”</p> +<p>“Great minds! It is quite a coincidence,” +I declared.</p> +<p>“I thought it would be so nice to have +Beth go with us to this resort.”</p> +<p>“It can’t be done,” I said. “That is, +they can’t both go. I am not going to let +even Rob Rossiter slight my sister.”</p> +<p>“Still it would be a triumph to have her +change his mind––or his heart. You +know a woman-hater always succumbs to +the right girl.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></div> +<p>“In books, yes!”</p> +<p>I had been scanning Beth’s letter and I +laughed derisively as I read aloud: “‘I am +so curious to see those next-door children. +When you first wrote of the “Polydores” +I never once thought of them as children.’”</p> +<p>“She thought exactly right,” I told +Silvia, and then continued reading: “‘I +supposed them to be something like tadpoles +or polliwogs. I really think I shall +enjoy them.’”</p> +<p>“It would serve her right,” I said, “to +let her come and stay with them here in +our absence. She’d get the cure for enjoyment +all right. Rob wrote of them in +the same strain and says he, too, is curious +to meet the missing links.”</p> +<p>“Does she know,” asked Silvia, “how +Rob regards women?”</p> +<p>“No; I’ve always made some excuse to +her for not having them meet. I didn’t +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span> +want to hear her make disparaging remarks +about him, and she is such a flirt, she’d try +to draw him out and he would shut up like +a clam.”</p> +<p>“Well, I think,” decided Silvia, “that the +best way out of it is to write Rob to postpone +his visit and I will write Beth to come +direct to Hope Haven.”</p> +<p>“Yes,” I agreed, “that will be fine. She +shall have charge of dear little Di and +study the evolutions of the Polydores later.”</p> +<p>I approved this plan. So we wrote our +letters and stealthily, but joyously, prepared +for our getaway, leaving the house +like thieves in the night and bearing the +sleeping cherub, Diogenes.</p> +<p>Silvia sighed in relief when we were +aboard the train.</p> +<p>“I feel quite chesty,” she declared, “at +being smart enough to outwit Ptolemy, the +wizard.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span></div> +<p>“I have the feeling,” I observed forebodingly, +“that they may be on the train +or underneath it.”</p> +<p>The next morning we reached Windy +Creek, the station nearest our destination, +and continued our journey by stage.</p> +<p>“People will think you have consoled +yourself very speedily for the death of +your first husband,” I observed, as we were +en route.</p> +<p>“Why, what do you mean, Lucien?”</p> +<p>“You know Diogenes addresses me as +stepdaddy. It is the only word he speaks +plainly.”</p> +<p>“Oh!” she exclaimed in perturbation, +“I never thought of that! Well, we can +explain to everyone, or I’ll teach them to +leave off the ‘step.’”</p> +<p>“Not on your life!” I demurred.</p> +<p>“He had better call you Lucien, then. +Emerald calls his father ‘Felix.’”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span></div> +<p>She at once began her tutelage of the bewildered +Diogenes. After several stabs at +pronouncing Lucien he managed to evolve +“Ocean” to which he sometimes affixed +“step” so that people to whom he was not +explained doubtless thought me the latest +thing in dances.</p> +<p>Hope Haven was like most resorts––a +place safe to shun. There was a low, flat +stretch of woods in which a clearing had +been made for a barn-like structure called +a hotel, with rooms rough and not always +ready. The beautiful recreation grounds +mentioned in the advertising matter consisted +of a plowed field worked over into a +space designated as a tennis court and a +grass-grown croquet ground.</p> +<p>“Anyway,” claimed Silvia hopefully, +“it’s a treat to see woods, water, and sky +unconfined.”</p> +<p>She devoted the remainder of the morning +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span> +to unpacking and after luncheon set +off to explore the woods, borrowing from +the landlady a little cart for Diogenes to +ride in. My plan to go in swimming was +delayed by my garrulous landlord.</p> +<p>I was just starting for the lake when I +heard sounds from the woods that alarmed +the landlord but which I instantly recognized +as the Polydore yell. A moment +later I saw Silvia emerging at full speed +into the open, drawing the cart in which +Diogenes was doubled up like a jackknife. +I hastened to meet them.</p> +<p>“Oh, Lucien,” exclaimed my wife tearfully, +“we are bitten to bits! Just look +at poor little Di!”</p> +<p>I lifted the howling child from the cart. +His face, neck, and hands were stringy and +purplish––a cross between an eggplant +and a round steak.</p> +<p>“Mosquitoes!” explained Silvia. “They +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span> +came in flocks and they advertised particularly +‘no mosquitoes.’”</p> +<p>A dour-faced guest paused in passing.</p> +<p>“There aren’t––many,” she declared. +“Very few, in fact, compared to the number +of black flies, sand fleas, and jiggers. However, +you’ll find more discomfort from the +poison ivy, I imagine.”</p> +<p>“Lucien,” began Silvia in lament.</p> +<p>“Never mind!” I hastened to console, +“you are out of the woods now, and you +won’t have to go in again. I presume they +have an antidote up at the house. I’ll +give you and Diogenes first aid and then +we will all go down to the lake shore. You +can both sit on the dock and watch me +swim.”</p> +<p>They both brightened up, and when we +reached the hotel the landlady provided +a soothing lotion for the bites and stings.</p> +<p>By the time we had started for the lake, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span> +the afflicted two were in holiday spirit +again.</p> +<p>I sought cover in a small shed called a +bath-house and got into my swimming outfit +and shot out from the dipping end of the +diving-board into the water. When I came +to the surface, Silvia, sitting beside Diogenes +on the dock, shrieked wildly.</p> +<p>“Oh, Lucien, there are snakes all around +you! Come out, quick!”</p> +<p>“They are only water snakes,” I assured +her.</p> +<p>“I don’t care what kind they are. They +are snakes just the same.”</p> +<p>Diogenes instantly began to bellow for +me to hand him a snake to play with.</p> +<p>“He recognizes his own,” I told Silvia, +who, however, saw nothing amusing in my +implication.</p> +<p>When I came out of the water, the temperature +had climbed several degrees and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span> +we were glad to seek the hotel parlor, which +was cool and damp.</p> +<p>After dinner Silvia put Diogenes to bed +and we sat out on the veranda. I was enjoying +my evening smoke and the feel of +the night wind in my face. Silvia had just +finished telling me that merely to be away +from the Polydores was Paradise enough +for her, and that she didn’t care very much +about the woods, anyway––the lake was +sufficient, when her optimism was rudely +jolted by the shrill, shudder-sending song +of the festive mosquito.</p> +<p>She fled into the parlor. The landlady, +who seemed to have a panacea for all ills, +suggested that she might tack mosquito +netting around the little balcony extending +from our bedroom, and then she could sit +there in comfort when the mosquitoes +bothered.</p> +<p>“That’s what the last lady that had that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span> +room did,” she said, “but when she left, +she took the netting with her. We keep a +supply in our little store.”</p> +<p>Silvia immediately sought the hotel store +and bought a quantity of the netting and a +goodly stock of the mosquito lotion.</p> +<p>That night as I was drifting into slumber, +Silvia remarked: “Only one of the +things I heard and read about this place is +true.”</p> +<p>“Which one?” I asked between winks.</p> +<p>“That it was unfrequented. I have seen +only three guests besides us so far. How do +they make it pay?”</p> +<p>“The hotel is evidently only a side issue,” +I replied.</p> +<p>“To what?”</p> +<p>“To the store. Think of the quantities +of lotion and netting they must sell in +the season, which, you must know, is in the +fall. The hunting, the landlord tells me, is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span> +very good, and his hotel is quite popular in +October and November.”</p> +<p>“I think we had better stay, Lucien. +Mosquitoes don’t poison you.”</p> +<p>“Even if they did,” I declared, “as a +choice between them and the Polydores I +would say, ‘Oh, Mosquito, where is thy +sting?’”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_10' id='linki_10'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-015.jpg' alt='' title='' width='198' height='311' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_11' id='linki_11'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-016.jpg' alt='' title='' width='339' height='169' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_VI__A_FLIRT_AND_A_WOMANHATER' id='CHAPTER_VI__A_FLIRT_AND_A_WOMANHATER'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter VI</span></h2> +<h3><i>A Flirt and a Woman-Hater</i></h3> +</div> +<p>The next morning I arose early and +screened in the little birdhouse balcony. +There was a large piece of +netting left and Silvia converted it into a +robe and headgear for the swaddling of +Diogenes.</p> +<p>“He looks like the Bride of Lammermoor,” +I declared, as he went forth in this +regalia.</p> +<p>“Well, that’s preferable to looking like a +pest-house patient, as he did yesterday.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span></div> +<p>His first-aid costume didn’t find favor +with the landlady, as it would seem indicative +to the newly arrived of the features +of the place. However, before another +stage-coming was due, Di had rent +his garment sufficiently to make it useless +is a “skeeter skirt.”</p> +<p>During the morning I enjoyed my solitary +swim with the snakes. Diogenes +played football with the croquet balls and +bruised one of his toes, besides hitting the +landlady’s child in the eye. Silvia went +for a walk which had been pictured in the +advertisements. She speedily returned, her +ardor dampened.</p> +<p>“There are so many sticks and stones +and rocks,” she said in a discouraged tone, +“that there was no pleasure in walking. +I nearly sprained my ankle.”</p> +<p>“Well, the real sport we haven’t tried +yet,” I said. “We’ll get a boat and take +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span> +Diogenes and go for a row on the lake.”</p> +<p>This proposition met with instant favor. +I put Silvia and Diogenes in the stern of the +boat and pulled for the opposite shore. My +endeavors to gain this point were balked by +Silvia’s remarkable conceptions of the art +of steering craft. She was so serenely +satisfied, however, with the way she performed +her duties and the aid she thought +she was giving me, that I forbore to +criticize.</p> +<p>In order to achieve a few strokes in the +right direction, I asked her to get me a +cigar from an inside pocket of my coat, +which was on the seat in front of her. +Then came the blight to our bliss. She +looked in the wrong pocket and instead +of producing a cigar, she extracted two +letters with seals unbroken.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_12' id='linki_12'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span> +<img src='images/illus-017.jpg' alt='' title='' width='357' height='391' /><br /> +<p class='caption'> +“Lucien Wade!” she gasped. “Here are our letters to Beth and Rob.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span></div> +<p>“Lucien Wade!” she gasped. “Here +are our letters to Beth and Rob. Well, it +is my fault. I should have known better +than to give them to you.”</p> +<p>“The plot thickens,” I replied thoughtfully.</p> +<p>“This is Monday. They must both be +at the house now. What will they think!”</p> +<p>“They will think we didn’t receive their +letters.”</p> +<p>“Isn’t it unfortunate––” she began.</p> +<p>“No,” I replied. “I am not sure but +what it is a good thing. It will give Rob +a jolt to see that girls can be as nice as Beth +is, and as for her, she is quite able to take +care of the situation where a man is concerned.”</p> +<p>“But we must have Beth here. Maybe +you’d better telegraph her.”</p> +<p>“Huldah understands conditions. She +will send Beth on here.”</p> +<p>The next morning we took Diogenes and +went down the road to meet the stage. As +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span> +it came around the curve, we saw there +were three passengers.</p> +<p>“Tolly!” cried Diogenes with an ecstatic +whoop.</p> +<p>“Beth!” recognized Silvia.</p> +<p>“Rob!” I ejaculated.</p> +<p>The stage stopped to allow us to get in.</p> +<p>Mutual explanations followed. Ours +were brief and substantiated by the documents +in evidence.</p> +<p>“Now,” I said turning threateningly to +Ptolemy, “what did you come here for?”</p> +<p>“To show them,” indicating Beth and +Rob, “how to get here and to look after +Di so you and mudder could enjoy your +vacation,” he replied glibly.</p> +<p>Beth laughed mirthfully.</p> +<p>“Check! Lucien.”</p> +<p>“Didn’t Huldah warn you,” I asked her, +“that our whereabouts were to remain unknown?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></div> +<p>“Ptolemy,” she replied, “is evidently a +mind reader, for he told me where you were +before I saw Huldah.”</p> +<p>“Why, Ptolemy, how did you know where +we were?” asked Silvia.</p> +<p>“I was on top of the porch when you +told stepdaddy about coming. I didn’t +tell the others. I won’t bother you any. +And I know how to look after Di. You +won’t send me back, mudder,” he pleaded, +looking wistfully at the foam-crested water +of the little lake.</p> +<p>I wondered mutely if Silvia could resist +the appeal in the eyes of the neglected boy +when he turned his imploring gaze to hers, +and the delight depicted in Diogenes’ eyes +at “Tolly’s” arrival. She could not.</p> +<p>“You may stay as long as we do,” she +said slowly, “if you are a good boy and will +not play too rough with Diogenes.”</p> +<p>We had reached the hotel by this time, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span> +and with a wild “ki yi” Ptolemy dashed +for the shore, dragging the delighted Diogenes +with him.</p> +<p>“It’s only fair to Huldah to take one +more off her hands,” Silvia said apologetically.</p> +<p>“Them Three is what bothers me,” I +complained. “If they, too, follow after, +Heaven help them! I won’t.”</p> +<p>“It’s a good arrangement all around,” +declared Rob. “I judge it takes a Polydore +to understand his ilk, so the kids can pair +off together. Miss Wade will be company +for you, while Lucien and I go fishing.”</p> +<p>He looked keenly at Beth as he spoke, +but Beth was looking demurely down and +made no sign of having heard him.</p> +<p>Silvia and I went with Beth to her room, +and then she told her story.</p> +<p>“Knowing Lucien’s failing, I was not +surprised at receiving no response to my +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +letter. When I got out of the cab in front +of your house, a wild-looking boy, very bas-relief +as to eyes, and who I felt sure must +be Ptolemy of the Polydores, appeared. +As soon as he saw me he gave utterance +to a blood-curdling yell of––‘Here she +is!’</p> +<p>“In response to his call three of his understudies +came on with headlong greeting.</p> +<p>“‘You are Beth, aren’t you?’ Ptolemy +asked me. Then he drew me aside and in +mysterious whispers told me where you +were and that you had written me to join +you here. He added that stepdaddy never +remembered to mail letters. I went within +and interviewed Huldah who confirmed +his information.</p> +<p>“Presently I saw a taxi stop before the +house.</p> +<p>“‘That’s him!’ exclaimed Ptolemy.</p> +<p>“‘Him who?’ I asked.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span></div> +<p>“‘Rob somebody––stepdaddy’s college +chum. He wrote he was coming, and they +thought they had postponed him.’</p> +<p>“With a sprint of speed the four Polydores +surrounded your Mr. Rossiter, all +talking at once. I came to the rescue, of +course, and explained the situation, and we +decided to follow you.</p> +<p>“Ptolemy was promoter for the trip and +suggested the advisability of his accompanying +us as courier and future nursemaid to +Diogenes. He was intending to come anyway, +but thought he’d wait for us. He +had all his belongings packed.”</p> +<p>“He hasn’t many except those he had +on,” said Silvia thoughtfully.</p> +<p>“He has some swimming trunks, two +collars, two shirts, some mismated socks, +homemade fishing tackle and a battered +baseball bat. We came away surreptitiously +to escape detection by the trio left +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span> +behind. I knew you wouldn’t welcome +his presence––but he said he was coming +anyway, so we thought we might as well +bring him and express him back.”</p> +<p>After visiting with Beth for a few moments, +Silvia and I withdrew to talk matters +over confidentially.</p> +<p>“All’s well that ends well,” I quoth.</p> +<p>“It hasn’t ended yet,” reminded Silvia. +“I trust Ptolemy didn’t reveal what you +said about Rob’s being a woman-hater and +Beth a flirt.”</p> +<p>Ptolemy conveniently appeared just then, +as he generally did in the midst of private +interviews. Silvia asked him if he had +repeated those remarks to Beth or Rob.</p> +<p>“Why, no,” he said. “I knew you didn’t +want her to know, because stepdaddy said +so, and I thought he wouldn’t like to be +called that, and I wasn’t going to give Beth +away to him.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span></div> +<p>“You’re all right, Ptolemy!” I exclaimed, +for the first time awarding him +approbation.</p> +<p>Out on the veranda we met Rob.</p> +<p>“Say, those Polydores certainly have +the punch and pep,” he declared. “I’d +like to have fetched the whole bunch along +with me.”</p> +<p>“If you had,” I replied dryly, “our life’s +friendship would have died on the spot.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_13' id='linki_13'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-018.jpg' alt='' title='' width='263' height='266' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_14' id='linki_14'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-019.jpg' alt='' title='' width='367' height='130' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_VII__IN_WHICH_NOTHING_MUCH_HAPPENS' id='CHAPTER_VII__IN_WHICH_NOTHING_MUCH_HAPPENS'></a> +<h2><span class='smcaplc'>CHAPTER VII</span></h2> +<h3><i>In Which Nothing Much Happens</i></h3> +</div> +<p>“Why Hope Haven?” asked Rob +reflectively, when he had taken +inventory of the possibilities +of the resort.</p> +<p>“Because,” sighed Silvia, “so many +hopes––vacation hopes––must have been +buried here.”</p> +<p>Rob was of an investigating turn of +mind, however, and he had heard from a +native of H. H., as he had abbreviated the +place, that there was a smaller lake, abounding +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span> +in fish, farther on through the forest. +It was so strongly fortified, however, by +the formidable battalions of sharp-shooting +insects that but few fishermen had ever +been able to lay siege to it.</p> +<p>Rob and I being poison proof decided to +try our luck and pitch camp for a few days +on the shores of this hidden treasure. As +we had to send to town by the stage driver +for the necessary supplies, we remained in +H. H. the remainder of the day.</p> +<p>We at once paired off in Noah’s most +approved style as Rob had outlined. Beth +and Ptolemy went up shore, sticks and +stones and rocks being no obstacles to their +feet. Rob and I sought the society of the +snakes, while Silvia and Diogenes, mosquito-netted, +watched a game of croquet.</p> +<p>We dined without the pleasure of the +society of Ptolemy and Diogenes, who had +been invited to sit at the table with the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span> +landlady’s children. I might state, incidentally, +that the invitation was never +repeated.</p> +<p>Beth was quite excited over her walk.</p> +<p>“Ptolemy and I,” she boasted, “made +more of a discovery than Mr. Rossiter did. +We found a haunted house, a perfectly +haunted house.”</p> +<p>“I am not surprised,” declared Silvia. +“You couldn’t expect any other kind of a +house in such a region.”</p> +<p>“Where is it?” I asked, “and what is +it haunted by?”</p> +<p>“Insects,” suggested Silvia.</p> +<p>“You go around shore about two miles, +only it’s farther, as you have to make so +many ups and downs over the rocks. Then +you leave the shore and go through a +low marshy stretch, sort of a Dismal +Swamp, and then up a hill. After Ptolemy +and I climbed to the top, we looked +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +down and saw, hidden in a clump of lonely +looking poplars, a small, rudely built house. +We went down to explore and had hard +work making our way through a thick +growth of––everything. We crawled +under some tangled vines and came up +on the steps. The house was vacant, although +there were a few old pieces of +furniture––a couple of cots, a cook-stove, +table, and chairs.</p> +<p>“On our way home we met a woman +who gave us a history of the house. An +old miser lived there long ago. One night +he was robbed and murdered, and his +ghost still haunts the place. No one +ventures in its vicinity, and she said most +likely we were the first people who had +gone there since the tragedy. She told +us of a nearer way to reach it. You take +the road to Windy Creek, and about two +miles below here, turn into a lane and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +then go through a grove and over a +hill.”</p> +<p>“You don’t really believe the story, that +is, the ghost part of it?” asked Rossiter.</p> +<p>“N––o,” allowed Beth. “Still, I’d like +to. It makes it interesting. Ptolemy and +I are going down there some night to see +if we can find the ghost.”</p> +<p>“You won’t see one,” I assured her. +“Ptolemy’s presence would be sufficient +to keep even a ghost in the background.”</p> +<p>“Ptolemy’s a peach,” declared Beth +emphatically.</p> +<p>“If he were older, you wouldn’t think +so,” said Rob.</p> +<p>“Why not?” asked Beth in surprise, +or seeming surprise.</p> +<p>He smiled enigmatically, and irrelevantly +asked her if she wouldn’t really be afraid +to go to the haunted house at night with +only Ptolemy for protection.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span></div> +<p>She assured him she shouldn’t be afraid +of a ghost if she saw one, and that she +shouldn’t be afraid to go alone.</p> +<p>Throughout the evening, which we +spent in rowing, walking, and later at a +little impromptu supper, I was interested +in observing the puzzling behavior of Beth +and my chum. I had expected that he +would avoid her as much as possible and +speak to her only when common politeness +made conversation obligatory, and +that she, a born coquette, would seek to +add his scalp to her collection. Instead, +to my surprise, their rôles were reversed. +He appeared interested in her every remark +and looked at her often and intently. +He was quite assiduous in his attentions +which, strange to say, she discouraged, +not with the deep design of a flirt to increase +his ardor, but with a calm firmness +that admitted of no doubt as to her feelings.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span></div> +<p>“Your sister,” he remarked to me as +we were walking down to the lake for a +swim just before going to bed, “is a very +unusual type.”</p> +<p>“Not at all!” I assured him. “Beth is +the true feminine type which you have +never taken the trouble to know.”</p> +<p>“Oh, come, Lucien! Not feminine, +you know. Though she is inconsistent.”</p> +<p>I resented the imputation hotly, but he +only laughed and said that he guessed it +was true that a man didn’t understand the +women in his family as well as an outsider +did.</p> +<p>“You think,” I said, “just because she +says she isn’t afraid of ghosts––”</p> +<p>“Not at all,” he denied. “That wasn’t +the reason, but––I like her type, though +I always supposed I wouldn’t. It is a +new one to me––anyway. I didn’t +think so young a girl as she––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span></div> +<p>Our discussion was cut short by the +inevitable, ever-present Ptolemy, who +came running up to us, clad in about four +inches of swimming trunks.</p> +<p>“Why aren’t you in bed?” I demanded.</p> +<p>“I was in bed, but it was so warm I +couldn’t sleep, and I went to the window +and saw you coming down here, so I thought +I’d come, too.”</p> +<p>I repeated Rob’s remarks to Silvia when +I returned to our room, and she betrayed +Beth’s confidences in regard to Rob.</p> +<p>“She says she would like him if it were +not for one trait that she dislikes more +than any other in a man and that it was +sufficient in her estimation to counterbalance +all his good qualities.”</p> +<p>“What can she mean?” I asked bewildered. +“I don’t see a flaw in Rob, +except for his being a woman-hater, and +he surely hasn’t betrayed that fact to her, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +judging from his manner toward her. I +think he is making an effort to be nice to +her on my account, and she doesn’t appreciate +it.”</p> +<p>“I asked her what the flaw was, and she +flushed and said she couldn’t tell me.”</p> +<p>“Well, I guess all around it is a good +thing we are going off on our fishing expedition. +I don’t want my friend turned +down by my sister, and I don’t want my +friend calling my sister a new type and +unfeminine.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_15' id='linki_15'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-020.jpg' alt='' title='' width='152' height='196' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_16' id='linki_16'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-021.jpg' alt='' title='' width='360' height='116' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_VIII__PTOLEMY_DISAPPEARS_AND_I_VISIT_A_HAUNTED_HOUSE' id='CHAPTER_VIII__PTOLEMY_DISAPPEARS_AND_I_VISIT_A_HAUNTED_HOUSE'></a> +<h2><span class='smcaplc'>CHAPTER VIII</span></h2> +<h3><i>Ptolemy Disappears and I Visit a Haunted House</i></h3> +</div> +<p>When Rob and I, with our camping +outfit, drove off through the +woods, Ptolemy’s eyes followed +us so enviously and he pleaded so eloquently +to be taken with us that Rob +was actually on the point of considering +it.</p> +<p>“See here, Rob Rossiter!” I exclaimed, +“This is my vacation and all I came to +this God-forsaken place for was to escape +the Polydores. If he goes, I stay. You +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span> +know I’ve always tried to meet issues, +but this antique family has got me going.”</p> +<p>“All right,” he yielded.</p> +<p>After a drive of a few miles we came +to the lake and pitched our tent. Two +days of ideal camp life followed. The +weather was fine, Rob was a first-class +cook, and the sport was beyond our most +optimistic expectation. We landed enough +of the Friday food to satisfy the most +fastidious fishing fiend, and the mosquitoes, +finding we were impervious to their +stings, finally let us alone.</p> +<p>I forgot all business cares and disappointments, +yes, even the Polydores; but on +the morning of the third day Rob began +to show signs of restlessness and spoke +of the likelihood of my wife’s being lonely.</p> +<p>“Not with Beth and Ptolemy in calling +distance,” I told him.</p> +<p>“But they will be off together,” he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span> +replied, “and your wife will be alone with +that <i>enfant terrible</i>. I fancy, too, that +your sister isn’t exactly a companion for +your wife.”</p> +<p>“Well, that shows how little you know +her. She and Silvia are great friends.”</p> +<p>“Oh, yes, of course they are friendly, +but I mean their tastes are so different, +and they are so unlike. Your sister doesn’t +care for domesticity.”</p> +<p>“Sure she does. You have turned the +wrong searchlight on Beth. If you knew +her, you’d like her.”</p> +<p>“I do like her,” he declared. “It’s too +bad she––”</p> +<p>He stopped abruptly and quickly +changed the conversation. In spite of +my efforts to renew the controversy about +Beth, he refused to return to the subject.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_17' id='linki_17'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +<img src='images/illus-022.jpg' alt='' title='' width='336' height='477' /><br /> +<p class='caption'> +He pleaded eloquently to be taken with us.<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span></div> +<p>In the afternoon, when I was doing a +little scale work preparatory to cooking, +a messenger from the hotel drove up with +a note from Silvia which I read aloud:</p> +<p>“Ptolemy has been missing for twenty-four +hours. We are in hopes he has +joined you. If not, what shall I do?”</p> +<p>“We’ll go back with you,” said Rob to +the man. “Just lend a hand here and +help us pull up these tent stakes.”</p> +<p>“What’s Ptolemy to me or I to him?” +I asked with a groan, “can’t we give him +absent treatment?”</p> +<p>“You’re positively inhuman, Lucien,” +protested Rob. “The boy may be at +the bottom of the lake.”</p> +<p>“Not he! He was born to be hung.”</p> +<p>All this time, however, I had been active +in making preparations for departure, as +I knew that Silvia would feel that we were +responsible for Ptolemy’s safety, and her +anxiety was reason enough for me to hasten +to her.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></div> +<p>Rob was quite jubilant on our return trip +and declared that the fish came too easily +and too plentifully to make it real sport, +but I felt that I had another grudge to be +charged up to the fateful family.</p> +<p>We found Silvia pale from anxiety, Beth +in tears, and Diogenes loudly clamoring for +“Tolly.” We learned that the afternoon +before, Silvia and Beth had gone with the +landlady for a ride, leaving Diogenes in +Ptolemy’s care, but on their return at +dinner time, Diogenes was playing alone +in the sandpile.</p> +<p>Nothing was thought of Ptolemy’s absence +until bedtime, and they had then +sent out searching parties to the woods +and the lake shores. Finally it occurred +to Beth that he might have gone to join +Rob and me, so they sent the messenger +to investigate.</p> +<p>“He must be lost in the woods +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +somewhere,” said Beth tearfully, “and he will +starve to death.”</p> +<p>Rob actually touched her hand in his +distress at her grief.</p> +<p>“Ptolemy is too smart to get lost anywhere,” +I declared. “He knows fully as +much about woodcraft as he does about +every other kind of craft. He’s one of +his mother’s antiquities personified. But +haven’t you been able to find anyone who +saw him after you went for your ride?”</p> +<p>“No; even the hotel help were all out +on the lake.”</p> +<p>“And he left Diogenes here, absolutely +unguarded?”</p> +<p>“Well!” admitted Silvia, “he tied Diogenes +to a tree near the sandpile.”</p> +<p>“Then he must have gone away with +malice aforethought,” I said, “and Diogenes +is the only one who knows anything +about his last movements.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></div> +<p>I lifted the child to my knee, and speaking +more gently to him than I had ever +done, I asked:</p> +<p>“Di, did you and Tolly play in the +sandpile yesterday?”</p> +<p>He was quite emphatic in his affirmative.</p> +<p>“Well, tell Ocean: Did Tolly go away +and leave you?”</p> +<p>“Tolly goed away,” he confirmed.</p> +<p>“Oh, Lucien!” protested Beth, laughing. +“He’s too little to know what you are +talking about or to remember.”</p> +<p>“Lucien’s ruling passion strong in death,” +murmured Rob. “He can’t help cross-examining +the cradle even!”</p> +<p>“Which way,” I resumed, ignoring these +interruptions, “did Tolly go––that way?” +pointing towards the woods.</p> +<p>“No! Tolly goed––” and he trailed off +into his baby jargon which no one could +understand, but he pointed to the lake.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></div> +<p>“What did he say when he went away; +when he tied the rope around you?”</p> +<p>“Bye-bye.”</p> +<p>“What else?”</p> +<p>Diogenes’ intentions to be communicative +were certainly all right, but not a +word was intelligible. As he kept picking +at his dress and pointing to it, I finally +prompted:</p> +<p>“Did Tolly pin a paper to Di’s dress?”</p> +<p>“‘m––h’––m.”</p> +<p>“Bravo, Lucien!” applauded Rob. +“They say you can induce a witness to +admit anything.”</p> +<p>“What did Di do with the paper?” I +continued.</p> +<p>The word he wanted evidently being +beyond his vocabulary and speech, he +made a rotary motion with his fist. The +gesture conveyed nothing to our minds, +but was instantly recognized and interpreted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +by the landlady’s little girl, who +said he meant a windmill such as she had +sometimes made for him.</p> +<p>“What did Di do with the windmill?” +I asked.</p> +<p>He pointed to the sandpile, which I +investigated and found a stick planted +therein. I pulled it up and saw a pin +sticking in the end of it. Further excavation +revealed a crumpled piece of paper +on which was written in Ptolemy’s round +hand:</p> +<blockquote> +<p>“Want to see kids. Am going home. +Tell Beth I bet she dasent go to the haunted +house alone at night. Ptolemy.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“Poor Huldah!” sighed Silvia.</p> +<p>“I thought he was having the time of +his life here,” said Rob.</p> +<p>“He was sore,” declared Beth, “because +you and Lucien wouldn’t take him with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +you on the fishing trip. He was moping +by himself all the morning.”</p> +<p>“Trying to think up some new deviltry,” +I theorized, “to make us feel bad.”</p> +<p>“No,” asserted Silvia, “I think he really +misses the boys. The Polydores, for all +their scrappings, are very clannish. But +how do you suppose he got down to Windy +Creek?”</p> +<p>“He could catch plenty of rides along +the way, but what is puzzling me is how +he got the money to pay his fare.”</p> +<p>“He seemed very well provided with +cash,” informed Rob. “I tried to pay +for his ticket down here, but he insisted +on buying it himself.”</p> +<p>Silvia worried so much about what +might happen to him en route that after +dinner I motored to Windy Creek with +some tourists who had stopped at the +hotel in passing.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></div> +<p>I called up long distance and after some +delay got in communication with our house. +Ptolemy himself answered and assured me +he had arrived all “hunky doory”, that +Huldah, who was out on an errand, was +“hunky doory”, and that the kids were +all “hunky doory.” In fact, his cheerful +tone indicated that the whole universe +was in the beatific state described by his +expressive adjective.</p> +<p>I was really ripping mad at his taking +French leave and so giving Silvia cause +for her anxiety, but I forbore to reprimand +him by word or tone, lest he get even by +“coming back” literally. I did tell him +how the loss of the note for twenty-four +hours had caused a general excitement, +but he felt no remorse for his share in the +situation, blaming Diogenes entirely and +bidding me “punch the kid’s face” for +unpinning the note.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></div> +<p>On my return from Windy Creek I was +fortunate enough to fall in with a farmer +who lived near the hotel. He was driving +some sort of a machine he called an <i>autoo</i>. +He was an old-timer in the vicinity and +related the past, present, and pluperfect of +all the residents on the route. I had a +detailed and vivid account of the midnight +visitor of the haunted house.</p> +<p>“I’d jest naturally like to see what there +is to it,” he said. “Not that I am afeerd +at all, only it’s sort of spooky to go to a +lonesome place like that all alone. If I +could git some one to go with me, I’d tackle +the job, but I vum if every time I perpose +it to anyone they don’t make some excuse.”</p> +<p>“I’m on,” I declared. “I don’t dread +ghosts near as much as I do some living +folks I know.”</p> +<p>“Right you air,” chuckled the old man. +“If you say so we’ll go right off now jest +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span> +as sure as shootin’. We may be ghosts +ourselves tomorrow.”</p> +<p>I assured him I was quite ready to encounter +the ghost, so he jubilantly turned +the machine from the road into a grass-grown +lane. We zigzagged for some distance +and then got out and went on foot +through a grove. The moon and the stars +were half veiled by some light, misty clouds, +so that the little house didn’t show up +very clearly, but as we came to the top +of the hill, we saw something that shook +even my well-behaved nerves.</p> +<p>From a window in the roof-room extended +a white arm and hand, with index +finger pointing threateningly and directly +toward us.</p> +<p>My farmer friend turned quickly and +fled toward the grove. I followed fleetly. +“What’s your rush?” I asked, when I +had overtaken him.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span></div> +<p>“I just happened to remember,” he explained +gaspingly, “that there’s a pesky +autoo thief in these ’ere parts. Bukins +had his stole jest last night.”</p> +<p>The lights on his machine must have +reassured him as to its safety when we +emerged from the woods into the open, but +he didn’t lessen his speed. We got in the +“autoo” and soon said good-by to the +lane. At one time I believed it was +good-by to everything, but at last we +gained the highway, right side up.</p> +<p>“Well!” I said, when we were running +normally again on terra firma, “that +was some little old ghost,––beckoned to +us to come right in, too!”</p> +<p>“You seen it then!” he exclaimed excitedly. +“I’m mighty glad I had an eyewitness. +Folks wouldn’t believe me.”</p> +<p>“They probably won’t believe me, +either,” I assured him. “I am a lawyer.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span></div> +<p>“You don’t tell me! Well, it did jest +give me a start for a minute. I’d like to +hev gone in and seen it nigh to, if I hadn’t +happened to think of this ’ere autoo. You +see I ain’t got it all paid for yet. I’m jest +clean beat. You don’t mind my takin’ +a leetle pull at a stone fence, do you?”</p> +<p>“I guess not,” I assented somewhat +dubiously, however. “That was a rail +fence we took a pull at back in the lane, +wasn’t it? Of course, if we shouldn’t +happen to clear the stone fence as well +as we did the rail fence, it might be more +disastrous.”</p> +<p>“Oh, land!” he said with a cackling +laugh, “I ain’t meanin’ that kind of a +fence. I mean the kind you––Say! +You ain’t one of them teetotalers, be you?”</p> +<p>“Only in theory,” I replied, “but this +stone fence drink is a new one on me. +What’s it like?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span></div> +<p>He stopped the “autoo” and pulled a +bottle from an inner pocket.</p> +<p>“You kin taste it better than I kin tell +it,” he declared. “Take a pull––a condumned +good one.”</p> +<p>I rarely imbibed, confining my indulgences +to the demands of necessity, but I +thought that the flight of Ptolemy, the +ghostly encounter, and my Mazeppa––wild +ride all combined to constitute an occasion +adequate to call for a bracer in the shape +of a stone fence, or anything he might +produce.</p> +<p>I took what I considered a “condumned +good one” from the bottle and it nearly +strangled me, but I followed the aged +stranger’s advice to take another to “cure +the chokes” caused by the first one. On +general principles I took a third and then +reluctantly returned him the bottle.</p> +<p>“Here’s over the moon,” he jovially +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +exclaimed as he proceeded to make my +attempt at a “condumned good one” +appear most niggardly.</p> +<p>“May I ask,” I inquired when my feeling +of nerve-tense strain had vanished, and +I felt as if I were treading thin air, “just +what is in a stone fence?”</p> +<p>“Well, what do you think?” he asked +slyly.</p> +<p>“I think the very devil is in it,” I replied.</p> +<p>“Well, mebby,” he admitted. “It’s +two-thirds hard cider and one-third whisky. +It’s a healthy, hearting drink and yet +it has a leetle come back to it––a sort +o’ kick, you know. But this is where I +live,” pointing to a farmhouse well back +from the road, “but I am goin’ to run you +on to your tavern though.”</p> +<p>The hotel was dark, save for a light in +my room. I invited him in, but he was +anxious to “git hum and tell the folks”, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +so I gave him some cigars and went in to +“tell my folks.”</p> +<p>I found them in the room waiting for +me. That is, Beth was in the room, sitting +by the table and pretending to read. Silvia +and Rob were out in the little balcony. +They came inside as soon as they heard my +voice.</p> +<p>“Oh, was he there?” asked Silvia anxiously.</p> +<p>“Yes,” I replied. “He answered the +telephone himself.”</p> +<p>I was feeling quite exhilarated by this +time. My wife looked a perfect vision to +me. Beth, I thought, was some sister, +and Rob the best fellow in the world. Even +the Polydores at long range, and under +the ameliorating influence of stone fences, +seemed like fine little fellows––rather active +and strenuous, to be sure, but only as +all wholesome children should be.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span></div> +<p>Silvia was relieved at the announcement +of Ptolemy’s safety, but very much disappointed +that I did not succeed in interviewing +Huldah and finding out something +about domestic affairs.</p> +<p>I assured her that everything was “hunky +doory” at home, praised the telephone +service, my expedition to town, and painted +my return ride with “the honest farmer” +in glowing terms. I was suddenly halted in +my eulogy by becoming aware of an amazed +expression on my wife’s countenance, a +most suspicious glance in Beth’s wide-open +eyes, and a very knowing wink from +Rob.</p> +<p>“Lucien,” said Silvia severely, “I believe +you’ve been drinking. I certainly +smell spirits.”</p> +<p>“Maybe you do,” I replied jocosely. +“I certainly saw spirits. I went to the +haunted house on my way back.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span></div> +<p>“I thought Windy Creek was a dry +town,” remarked Rob innocently.</p> +<p>“It is,” I assured him, “but I rode home +with an old man––a farmer.”</p> +<p>“Does he run a blind pig?” asked Rob.</p> +<p>“It was more like a pig in a poke,” I +replied.</p> +<p>“Lucien,” exclaimed Silvia reproachfully, +“you told me two years ago, after +that banquet to the Bar, that you were +never going to touch wine or whisky again. +What did that horrid old man give you?”</p> +<p>“A stone fence. That’s what he said +it was anyway.”</p> +<p>“It’s a new one on me,” commented +Rob.</p> +<p>“There was a new toast went with it. +He drank to ‘over the moon.’”</p> +<p>“You must have gone there all right and +taken all the shine from the moon-man,” +said Rob.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span></div> +<p>“Lucien,” asked Beth, “did you really +go to that haunted house?”</p> +<p>Again I was moved to eloquence, and I +told of the farmer’s yearning, the fulfillment, +the beckoning hand and the beating +of the retreat at length.</p> +<p>“Are you sure,” asked Rob, “that you +didn’t take that stone fence before you +visited the haunted house?”</p> +<p>“I know,” I replied, loftily, “that a +lawyer’s word is worthless, but seeing is +believing. We will all visit the haunted +house tomorrow night and I’ll make good +on ghosts.”</p> +<p>This plan was unanimously approved, +and then Silvia suggested that she thought +I had better go to bed. I had no particular +objection to doing so.</p> +<p>“Lucien,” she said solemnly, when we +were alone, “I want you to promise me +something. I want you to give me your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span> +word that you will never take another +stone wall.”</p> +<p>I did this most readily.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_18' id='linki_18'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-023.jpg' alt='' title='' width='307' height='284' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_19' id='linki_19'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-024.jpg' alt='' title='' width='378' height='100' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_IX__IN_WHICH_WE_SEE_GHOSTS' id='CHAPTER_IX__IN_WHICH_WE_SEE_GHOSTS'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter IX</span></h2> +<h3><i>In Which We See Ghosts</i></h3> +</div> +<p>The next morning Rob tried earnestly +and vainly to drive a wedge in +Beth’s good graces, but she treated +him with a casual tolerance that finally +put him in an ill humor which he took out +on me with many a gibe at my “stone fence +spirit.”</p> +<p>Men of my profession who have to deal +with facts rather than fancy are not believers +in the supernatural. I was sure +that the extending arm and the beckoning +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +finger were there, but belonged to no +ghost. It might have been a curtain +blowing out the window or a fake of some +kind. But I knew that unless there was +some kind of a showing in a ghostly way +that night, I should never hear the last of +my stone fence indulgence, so I resolved +to make a preliminary visit alone by daylight +and rig up something white to substantiate +my spectral narrative.</p> +<p>I didn’t find an opportunity to escape +unseen until late in the afternoon, when I +went, ostensibly, for a solitary row on the +lake.</p> +<p>I landed and came by a circuitous route +to the haunted house. The calm security +of sunshine, of course, prevented any shivers +of anticipation such as I had experienced +the night before. On passing one of the +windows on my way to the front entrance, +I glanced in, stopped in sheer fright, stooped +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +and backed to the next window, which was +screened by a labyrinth of vines through +which I peered. I am sure I lost my Bloom +of Youth complexion for a few moments. +I babbled aimlessly to myself and then +managed to pull together and beat it to +the lake with as much speed as my farmer +friend had shown in his retreat. I made the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +boat and the hotel in double quick time.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_20' id='linki_20'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-025.jpg' alt='' title='' width='324' height='296' /><br /> +</div> +<p>I felt no misgivings now as to the promise +of a sensation that night, and that sustaining +thought was all that propped my flagging +spirits throughout the day, but I +resolved to keep my little party at safe +distance from the house.</p> +<p>“Say we keep our nocturnal noctambulation +under our hats,” proposed Rob.</p> +<p>When this proposition was translated to +Silvia, she entirely approved, so, committing +Diogenes to the Polydores’ Providence, we +left the hotel at half past eleven for a row +on the lake by moonlight.</p> +<p>When we descended the slope leading +to the House of Mystery, I cautioned silence +and a “safety-first” distance.</p> +<p>“Ghosts are easily vanished,” I informed +them. “They don’t seek limelight, +and I want you to be sure to see +this one.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></div> +<p>As we came to the untrodden undergrowth +we heard a weird, wailing sound +that would have curdled my blood had I +not glanced in the window that afternoon +and so, in a measure, been prepared for +this––or anything.</p> +<p>“Look!” whispered Beth. “The arm!”</p> +<p>Silvia looked at the roof window and with +a stifled shriek of terror turned and fled up +the hill, Rob chivalrously pursuing her.</p> +<p>Beth was pale, but game.</p> +<p>“What can it be, Lucien?” she whispered. +“Do we dare go in to see?”</p> +<p>“I wouldn’t, Beth,” I vetoed quickly. +“Maybe some lunatic or half-witted person +has taken up abode here.”</p> +<p>“Lucien!” called Rob peremptorily.</p> +<p>I turned quickly. He was at the top of +the hill, half supporting Silvia. I ran +toward them, followed by Beth.</p> +<p>“It isn’t a ghost, of course, Silvia,” I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +said soothingly, and then repeated my supposition +about the lunatic.</p> +<p>“Of course I don’t believe in ghosts,” +said Silvia shudderingly, “but it’s an awful +place and those sounds are like those I +have heard in nightmares.”</p> +<p>“We’ll hurry back to the hotel and forget +all about it,” I urged.</p> +<p>I rowed the boat and Silvia sat opposite +me. Beth and Rob were in the stern +and I had to listen to their conversation.</p> +<p>“Of course I felt a little creepy,” she admitted, +“but then I like to feel that way, +and I wasn’t afraid.”</p> +<p>“No, of course, you wouldn’t be,” he +replied somewhat ironically. “You’re the +new woman type.”</p> +<p>“No, I am not,” she denied. “I wish +I were. Silvia’s really the strong-minded +type.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span></div> +<p>“She didn’t act the part when she saw +the ghost,” he retorted.</p> +<p>“It’s very unusual for her nerves to give +way. Silvia’s quite a surprise to me this +summer, but I think those funny Polydores +have upset her more than Lucien realizes.”</p> +<p>I wondered if she were right, and once +again murderous wishes toward the Polydores +entered my brain, and I made renewed +vows about disposing of them on +our return home.</p> +<p>One thing, however, had been accomplished +by our expedition. Silvia was more +lenient in her judgment on my indulgences +of the preceding night.</p> +<p>By the time we pulled in at the landing, +Silvia had recovered her equilibrium.</p> +<p>“Lucien, what the devil do you suppose +was in that house?” asked Rob, when we +were putting up the boat.</p> +<p>“Loons and things,” I allowed.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span></div> +<p>“But what was that white arm?”</p> +<p>“Some fake thing the village wag has +put up to scare the natives.”</p> +<p>Next morning’s stage brought some new +arrivals, and among them were two college +students who at once were claimed by Beth. +She played tennis with one and later went +rowing with the other. Rob smoked and +sulked, apart.</p> +<p>My farmer friend had been garrulous +and rumors of the ghost and the haunted +house had come to the ears of the hotel +inmates, thereby causing a pleasurable +stir of excitement. A number of them +announced their intention of visiting the +place. They asked me to be their guide, +but I refused.</p> +<p>“It was interesting,” I said, “but I think +it would be a bore to see the same ghost +twice.”</p> +<p>“I am sure I don’t care to go again,” was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span> +Silvia’s emphatic reply when asked to be +one of the party.</p> +<p>“Ghosts are scientifically admitted and +explained,” growled Rob, “so I don’t see +anything to be excited about.”</p> +<p>Beth accepted the offer of escort of one +of the students, so Silvia, Rob, and I remained +at home. The night was quite +cool, and we played cards in our room. +When the party returned, Beth joined us. +She looked rather out of sorts.</p> +<p>“Oh, yes,” she replied in answer to +Silvia’s eager inquiry. “We saw the ghost. +I don’t know whether it was the same +little old last night’s ghost or a new one. +He showed more of himself this time though. +He had two arms and a veiled head out of +the window. As soon as our crowd glimpsed +it, they all fled quicker than we did last +night. Those two students fell all over +each other and left me in the lurch.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span></div> +<p>“What could you expect,” asked Rob, +“from such ladylike things? They ought +to be kept in the confines of the croquet +ground. If they are a fair specimen of +the kind you have met, no wonder you––”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_21' id='linki_21'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-026.jpg' alt='' title='' width='309' height='287' /><br /> +</div> +<p>He stopped abruptly.</p> +<p>“No wonder what?” she asked quickly.</p> +<p>“Nothing,” he replied glumly.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span></div> +<p>When I came down to breakfast the +next morning, the landlady in tears waylaid +me.</p> +<p>“Oh, Mr. Wade,” she began in trouble-telling +tone, “this affair about the ghost is +going to hurt my business. Some of those +folks say they are going home, and they +will tell others and––”</p> +<p>“I’ll fix the ghost story. Just leave it to +me!” I assured her optimistically, as we +went into the dining-room.</p> +<p>There were only enough guests to fill one +long table, and every one was excitedly +dissecting the ghost.</p> +<p>I took my seat and also the floor.</p> +<p>“I hate to dispel your illusions,” I said +cheerfully, “but the fact is, I made a daylight +investigation of the haunted house. +First I looked in the window and I saw––”</p> +<p>“Oh, what did you see?” chorused a +dozen or more expectant voices.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span></div> +<p>“A lot of––mice.”</p> +<p>“Oh!” came in disappointed and skeptical +tones.</p> +<p>“But, the ghost, Mr. Wade?”</p> +<p>“Yes! The arms and the head?”</p> +<p>“A fake figure put up by some practical +joker for the purpose of frightening timid +people and encouraging the credulous. I +didn’t want to spoil your little picnic, so +I kept still.”</p> +<p>“Those sounds, Lucien!” reminded +Silvia.</p> +<p>“Were from a cat chorus. They were +prowling about the house.”</p> +<p>“You’re sure some lawyer, Mr. Wade,” +doubtfully complimented my grateful landlady, +as we went out of the room after +breakfast.</p> +<p>“Lucien,” asked Rob <i>sotto voce</i>, joining +me on the veranda, “why don’t the cats +you speak of catch that lot of mice?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></div> +<p>Fortunately Beth came up to us, and I +didn’t have to explain.</p> +<p>“Oh!” she said with a shudder. “I’ll +never go near that awful place! I’d rather +see a perfectly good ghost, or a loon, or a +lunatic any day than a mouse.”</p> +<p>“You’re surely not afraid of a mouse!” +exclaimed Rob.</p> +<p>“Why not?” she asked coolly as she +walked on.</p> +<p>“I told you she was feminine,” I reminded +him.</p> +<p>He shook his head.</p> +<p>“I can’t understand,” he remarked, “why +a girl who is afraid of mice should be––”</p> +<p>“You don’t understand anything about +women,” I interrupted.</p> +<p>“You’re right, Lucien. I don’t, but +your sister is surely the greatest enigma of +them all.”</p> +<p>I rented the stone fence farmer’s “autoo” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span> +and took Silvia and Diogenes to a neighboring +town that afternoon. We didn’t +get back to the hotel until dinner time.</p> +<p>“What have you been up to all day, +Rob?” I asked.</p> +<p>“Numerous things. For one, I strolled +down to the haunted house.”</p> +<p>“What did you see?” cried the women.</p> +<p>“I saw four––”</p> +<p>“Ghosts?” asked Beth.</p> +<p>I shot him a warning glance.</p> +<p>“Young tomcats playing tag with the +mice.”</p> +<p>I corralled Rob outside after dinner.</p> +<p>“For Heaven’s sake!” I implored. +“Don’t disturb Silvia’s peace of mind. +Did you go inside?”</p> +<p>“No; I was sorely tempted to, but refrained +out of deference to the evident +wishes of my host, but really, Lucien, we +should––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></div> +<p>“I have only ten more days off, Rob. +Don’t make any unpleasant suggestions.”</p> +<p>“I won’t,” he said promptly.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_22' id='linki_22'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-027.jpg' alt='' title='' width='223' height='266' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_23' id='linki_23'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-028.jpg' alt='' title='' width='349' height='109' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_X_IN_WHICH_WE_MAKE_SOME_DISCOVERIES' id='CHAPTER_X_IN_WHICH_WE_MAKE_SOME_DISCOVERIES'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter</span> X</h2> +<h3><i>In Which We Make Some Discoveries</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Diogenes, who, for a Polydore, had +been quite placid since Ptolemy’s +departure, caused a commotion +by disappearing the next morning. As he +was possessed of a deep desire to go in the +lake and get a little snake, he had been, +when not under strict surveillance, tied to +a tree with enough leeway in the length of +rope to allow him to play comfortably.</p> +<p>By some means he had managed to work +himself loose from the rope and had evidently +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +followed Ptolemy’s example. I suggested +calling up Huldah and asking if he +had arrived yet, but I met with such chilling +glances from Silvia and Beth that I got +busy and organized searching parties, who +reluctantly and lukewarmly engaged in the +pursuit. Rob and I took the shore. After +we had walked some little distance, we +met a woman and stopped for inquiry. +She said she had seen a child of about two +years, clad in a blue and white striped dress +and a big hat, going over the hill in company +with a boy of about eight.</p> +<p>“Are you going on to the hotel?” I +asked.</p> +<p>On her replying that she was, I told her +to inform them that she had met me and +that the lost child was located.</p> +<p>Rob and I then kept on over the hill, and +when we neared the haunted house, we +heard hair-raising sounds.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span></div> +<p>“If I hadn’t been here before,” remarked +Rob, “I should think that Sitting Bull had +been reincarnated and was reviving the +warrior war whoops.”</p> +<p>We paused on the threshold. A human +windmill of whirling legs and arms––Polydore +legs and arms––flashed before our +eyes.</p> +<p>“Stop!” I thundered.</p> +<p>The flying wheel of arms and legs slacked, +ran a few times, then slowly stopped, and +the Polydore quintette assumed normal +positions.</p> +<p>“Halloa, stepdaddy!”</p> +<p>A landslide composed of Emerald, Pythagoras, +and Demetrius started toward +me. I side-stepped and let Rob receive +the charge.</p> +<p>“Line them up now, for attention,” I +directed Ptolemy. “I have something to +say to you all.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></div> +<p>Ptolemy knocked the three terrors up +against the wall, and I picked up Diogenes, +who had a bump as big as an egg on his +head.</p> +<p>“I told you,” said Ptolemy to Pythagoras, +“that if you brought Di down here +they’d get on our trail. He wanted to see +Di,” he explained, “so he sneaked over +there and got him.”</p> +<p>“We were wise before today,” I informed +him. “I saw you all day before +yesterday.”</p> +<p>“And I discovered you yesterday,” added +Rob.</p> +<p>Ptolemy looked rather crestfallen, and +then, seeming to consider that my discovery +had been succeeded by inaction, which must +mean non-interference, he heartened up.</p> +<p>“Now,” I demanded, “I want you to +begin at the time you left the hotel and tell +me everything and why you did it.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span></div> +<p>“I wasn’t having any fun after you two +went off camping,” he began lugubriously. +“I couldn’t hang around women folks all +the time. I wanted boys to play with.”</p> +<p>I saw a gleam of sympathy and understanding +come into Rob’s eyes.</p> +<p>“A harem of hens,” he muttered.</p> +<p>“I knew we could all have a grand time +here and not be a bother to mudder, or +Huldah or anyone, and it seemed too bad +for this nice house to be empty, and no +one anywhere else wanting us.”</p> +<p>I felt my first gleam of pity for a Polydore +and wiped Diogenes’ dirty, moist face +carefully with my handkerchief.</p> +<p>“So I went home and told Huldah I had +come after the boys to take them back +with me.”</p> +<p>“And told her we had sent for them?” +I asked sharply.</p> +<p>He flushed slightly at my tone.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span></div> +<p>“No; I didn’t tell her so. She got that +idea herself, and I didn’t tell her different.”</p> +<p>“When did you come?”</p> +<p>“I came the same night that you telephoned, +and took the train you and mudder +came on. We got to Windy Creek in the +morning. We fetched all our stuff here +from home. I bought it.”</p> +<p>“Right here,” I said, “tell me where you +got the money to buy your stuff and to pay +your fare here.”</p> +<p>“I cashed father’s check.”</p> +<p>“I didn’t know he left you one.”</p> +<p>“He didn’t, except the one he gave me +to give you for our board. You told +mudder you wouldn’t touch it, and it seemed +a pity not to have it working.”</p> +<p>Visions of a future Polydore doing the +chain and ball step flashed before my vision.</p> +<p>“And they cashed it for you at the +bank?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></div> +<p>“Sure. Father always has me cash his +checks for him.”</p> +<p>“What amount did you fill in?” I asked +enviously.</p> +<p>“One hundred dollars. There’s a lot +more in the bank, too.”</p> +<p>“How did you get your truck here +from Windy Creek?” asked Rob.</p> +<p>“We divided it up and each took a +bunch and started on foot, and some people +in an automobile, going to the town past +here, took us in and brought us as far +as the lane. We’ve been having a fine +time.”</p> +<p>“What doing?” asked Rob interestedly.</p> +<p>“Fishing, sailing on a raft, playing in +the woods all day and––”</p> +<p>“Playing ghost at night,” said Pythagoras +with a grin.</p> +<p>“Who made that ghost in the window?” +I demanded.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></div> +<p>“I did. I rigged up an arm and put it +out the window the afternoon I left, hoping +Beth would come down and see it, but +we’ve got a jim dandy one now.”</p> +<p>“That was quite a shapely arm,” said +Rob. “Where did you learn sculpturing?”</p> +<p>“Oh, I rigged it up,” he said casually.</p> +<p>“What did you bring in the way of +supplies?”</p> +<p>“Bacon, crackers, beans, candy, popcorn, +gum, peanuts, pickles, candles, matches, +and butter,” was the glib inventory.</p> +<p>“You may stay here,” I said, “until we +go home, but you are not to stir away from +the woods about here and not on any +account to come near the hotel, or let it +be known that you are here. And you are +to end this ghost business right off. Now, +Di, we’ll go home to mudder.”</p> +<p>“No!” bawled Di. “Stay with boys. +Mudder come here.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></div> +<p>At least this was Ptolemy’s interpretation +of his protest.</p> +<p>I threatened, Rob coaxed, and Ptolemy +cuffed, but every time I started to leave +and jerk him after me, he uttered such +demoniac yells I was forced to stop.</p> +<p>“Wish it was night,” said Emerald +regretfully. “Wouldn’t he scare folks +though! How does he get his voice up so +high?”</p> +<p>“Poor little Di!” said a voice commiseratingly +from the doorway. “Was +Ocean plaguing him?”</p> +<p>Beth gathered the child in her arms, +and his howls changed to sobs. Rob +stood petrified with amazement at her +appearance.</p> +<p>“Don’t want to go,” said Diogenes +between gulps.</p> +<p>“Needn’t go!” promised Beth. “Stay +here with me, and we’ll have dinner with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span> +the boys and then we’ll go home and get +some ice cream.”</p> +<p>“All yite,” agreed the appeased Polydore.</p> +<p>“May Lucien and I stay to dinner, +too?” asked Rob humbly.</p> +<p>“No,” she replied icily.</p> +<p>“But, Beth,” I remonstrated. “Silvia +will be worrying about Di. How can we +explain?”</p> +<p>“Silvia has gone to Windy Creek for the +day. You see, I met that woman you +sent to the hotel, and she told me she saw +Di going over the hill with a boy, and I +suddenly seemed to smell one of your +mice, so I sent the woman on her way, +and told Silvia you and Rob had found +Diogenes. Just then some people she +knew came along in a car and asked her +to go to Windy Creek. I made her go and +told her I’d look after Di.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span></div> +<p>“You’re a brick, Beth!” applauded +Ptolemy.</p> +<p>“If you boys will be very careful and not +let anyone besides us know you are here, +so mudder will not hear of it, for though +she’d like to see you”––this without a +flicker or flinch––“we want her to have a +nice rest. I’ll come over every day except +tomorrow and bring things from the hotel +store, and bake up cookies and cake for +you.”</p> +<p>A yell of approval went up.</p> +<p>“Why can’t you come tomorrow?” +asked the greedy Demetrius.</p> +<p>“Because I’ve promised to go to the +other end of the lake on a picnic. All +the people at the hotel are going.”</p> +<p>“I’ll come tomorrow and spend the +whole day with you,” promised Rob. +“We’ll have a ride in the sailboat and do +all sorts of things.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></div> +<p>“Why, aren’t you going on that infernal +picnic?” I asked.</p> +<p>“No; I’ll have all the picnic I want +over here. Like Ptolemy I feel that I +want to play with some of my own kind.”</p> +<p>Beth looked at him approvingly; then +she said a little sarcastically:</p> +<p>“Maybe you’ll change your mind––about +going on the picnic, I mean––when +you see the new girl who just came to the +hotel on the morning stage. She’s a +blonde, and not peroxided, either.”</p> +<p>“That would certainly drive him down +here, or anywhere,” I laughed.</p> +<p>“Oh, don’t you like blondes?” she asked +innocently.</p> +<p>“He doesn’t like––” I began, but +Ptolemy rudely interrupted with an elaborate +description of a new kind of fishing +tackle he had bought.</p> +<p>Then Beth bade Pythagoras build a fire +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span> +in the cook-stove while she set the room to +rights.</p> +<p>“We’ll eat out of doors,” she said, “I +think it would be more appetizing.”</p> +<p>“How did you get here?” Rob asked +her as we were leaving.</p> +<p>“I rowed over.”</p> +<p>“May I come over and row you back?” +he asked pleadingly.</p> +<p>She hesitated, and then, realizing that +she could scarcely manage a boat and +Diogenes at the same time, assented, bidding +him not come, however, until five +o’clock.</p> +<p>“She’ll have enough of the Polydores +by that time,” I said to Rob on our way +home.</p> +<p>“Do you know,” he said reflectively, +“I like Ptolemy. There’s the making of +a man in him, if he has only half a chance. +I didn’t suppose your sister understood +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +children so well or was so fond of them. +She looked quite the little housewife, too.”</p> +<p>“You’d discover a lot of things you +don’t know, if you’d cultivate the society +of women,” I informed him.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_24' id='linki_24'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-029.jpg' alt='' title='' width='256' height='214' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_25' id='linki_25'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-030.jpg' alt='' title='' width='345' height='114' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XI__A_BAD_MEANS_TO_A_GOOD_END' id='CHAPTER_XI__A_BAD_MEANS_TO_A_GOOD_END'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XI</span></h2> +<h3><i>A Bad Means to a Good End</i></h3> +</div> +<p>When we were setting out on the +proposed picnic the next day, +Rob made himself extremely unpopular +by announcing his intention to spend +the day otherwise. The new blonde girl +gave him fetching glances of entreaty which +he never even saw. He made another sensation +by proposing to keep Diogenes with +him. To Silvia’s surprise, Diogenes voiced +his delight and chattered away, I suppose, +about playing with the boys, but fortunately +no one understood him.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span></div> +<p>“Won’t you change your mind and +come, too?” he asked Beth.</p> +<p>She seemed on the point of accepting +and then firmly declined.</p> +<p>When we returned at six o’clock, Rob +and Diogenes were awaiting us. There +was something in Rob’s eyes I had not seen +there before. He had the look of one in +love with life.</p> +<p>“Did you have a nice time playing solitaire?” +asked Silvia.</p> +<p>“I had a very nice time,” he replied +with a subtle smile, “but I didn’t play +solitaire. You know I had Diogenes.”</p> +<p>“Diogenes apparently had a good time, +too,” said Silvia, looking at the child, who +was certainly a wreck in the way of garments. +“What did you do all day, Rob?”</p> +<p>“We went out on the water, played +games, and had a picnic dinner outdoors.”</p> +<p>“You had huckleberry pie for one thing,” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +she observed, with a glance at Diogenes’ +dress, “and jelly for another, and––”</p> +<p>“Chicken, baked potatoes, milk, cake, +and ice cream,” he finished.</p> +<p>“Where did you get ice cream?” she asked.</p> +<p>“I went down to a dairy farm and got +a gallon.”</p> +<p>“A gallon!” she exclaimed. “For you +and Diogenes?”</p> +<p>“We didn’t eat it all,” he said guardedly. +“I gave what we didn’t eat to some stray +boys.”</p> +<p>“I hope Di won’t be ill.”</p> +<p>“He won’t,” asserted Rob. “I am sure +he is made of cast iron.”</p> +<p>Throughout dinner Rob remained in high +spirits. He kept eyeing Beth in a way +that disconcerted her, and then suddenly +he would smile with the expression of one +who knows something funny, but intends +to keep it a secret.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span></div> +<p>Presently Silvia left us and went upstairs +to give Diogenes a bath before she +put him to bed.</p> +<p>“You’ve had two days’ freedom from +the last of the Polydores,” I called after +her. “Doesn’t it seem delightful?”</p> +<p>“Lucien,” she answered slowly, “I’ve +really missed the care of him. I was lonesome +for him all day.”</p> +<p>“He isn’t such a bad little kid when he is +out from Polydore environment,” I admitted, +regretting that he had been restored +to it.</p> +<p>“Now tell us all about your day with the +boys,” Beth asked Rob, when we were +left alone. “It really does seem too bad +to keep a secret from Silvia, and yet it +is a case of where ignorance is bliss––”</p> +<p>“It would be folly to be otherwise,” +finished Rob. “Well, Diogenes and I left +here with a boat load of supplies in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span> +way of provender and things for the boys. +I had to tie Diogenes in the boat, of course, +so he would not try some aquatic feat. He +objected and yelled like a fiend all the +way. I was glad there was no one at the +hotel to come out and arrest me for cruelty +to children. Of course before we landed, +his cries were heard by his brothers and +they were all at the water’s edge. They +made mulepacks of themselves and transferred +the commissary supplies. The ice +cream and bats and balls which I found at +the store made quite a hit.</p> +<p>“We played baseball, fished, and had a +spread on the shore. Then Ptolemy and +I rowed out to where the sailboat was. I +explained the mysteries of the jib and he +caught on instantly. We took in the other +Polydores and sailed for a couple of hours. +Then we all went in swimming.”</p> +<p>“Not Diogenes!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></div> +<p>“Certainly. I tucked him under my +arm and he seemed perfectly at home, although +greatly disappointed because we +didn’t succeed in catching a snake.</p> +<p>“I finally landed them all safely under +the roof of the Haunted House, and +Ptolemy assured me it was the best day of +his young life. In appreciation of the +diversions I had afforded him, he made a +confession which proved such good news +to me that I was a lenient listener and +exacted no penalty.”</p> +<p>“What was it?” I asked.</p> +<p>“He told me that on the day of Miss +Wade’s and my arrival at your house, he +had made a misstatement to each of us +and had not repeated to us accurately what +he had overheard you telling Silvia when +he was on the porch roof. Miss Wade, +what did he tell you about me?”</p> +<p>“He said that Lucien said that your only +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +failing was that you were daffy over women +and made love to every one you saw.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Beth!” I cried, light bursting in, +“and you believed that little wretch?”</p> +<p>“I did.”</p> +<p>“Then that is why you have been so––”</p> +<p>“Yes––so––” repeated Rob grimly.</p> +<p>“Well, I never did have any use for a +man-flirt, and I was awfully disappointed, +for I had thought from what Rob said +that you were a man’s man.”</p> +<p>“And then, of course, when for the first +time in my life I began being interested in +a woman––in you––I played right into +that little scamp’s hands.”</p> +<p>“He is a man’s man, Beth,” I said +warmly. “What Ptolemy heard me say +was that Rob was a woman-hater.”</p> +<p>“I am not!” declared Rob indignantly––“just +a woman-shyer, but I haven’t +finished with Ptolemy’s confession. I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +wonder, now, if either of you can guess +what he told me was Miss Wade’s characteristic.”</p> +<p>“I don’t dare guess,” laughed Beth.</p> +<p>“What I did say about Beth was that +she was a born flirt.”</p> +<p>“I am not!” protested my sister, in resentment.</p> +<p>“I should prefer that appellation to the +one he gave you. He said you were +strong-minded and a man-hater.”</p> +<p>Even Beth saw the irony of this.</p> +<p>“I asked him,” continued Rob, “what +his motive was, and he said ‘Stepdaddy +didn’t want Beth to know about the man-hater +business,’ so he took that means of +throwing you off the track.</p> +<p>“I took the occasion to talk to him like +a Dutch uncle, though I don’t know +exactly what that is. I think it was the +first time anything but brute force had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span> +been tried on him. I must have touched +some little flicker of the right thing in +him, for he was really contrite and seemed +to sense a different angle of vision when I +explained to him what havoc could be +worked by the misinformation of meddlers. +He promised me he’d try to overcome his +tendency to start things going wrong.”</p> +<p>I made no comment, but it occurred to +me that Ptolemy was a shrewd little fellow, +and that there had been wisdom back of +his strategic speeches to Beth and Rob, +for he had taken the one sure course to +make them both “take notice.”</p> +<p>“So, Beth,” said Rob, and her name +seemed to come quite handily to him, +“can’t we cut out the past ten days and +begin our acquaintance right?”</p> +<p>“I think we can,” she answered.</p> +<p>“I had better go upstairs,” I suggested, +“and tell Silvia that Diogenes doesn’t +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span> +need a bath, seeing he has been in swimming.”</p> +<p>Neither of them urged me to remain, so +I went up to our room and found Silvia +tucking Diogenes under cover.</p> +<p>“What did you come up for?” she asked. +“I was just coming down to join you.”</p> +<p>“Beth is treating Rob so––differently, +that I thought it well to retreat.”</p> +<p>“I am so glad! Whatever came over +the spirit of her dreams?”</p> +<p>“They’ve just discovered in the course +of conversation that Ptolemy as usual +crossed the wires and told Beth Rob was +a flirt, and then informed Rob that Beth +was strong-minded and a man-hater.”</p> +<p>“Oh, the little imp!” she exclaimed indignantly.</p> +<p>“I don’t know. It worked, anyway, so +Ptolemy was the bad means to a good +end.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></div> +<p>“How did they ever happen to discover +what he had done?”</p> +<p>“They caught on from something Rob +said,” I told her, feeling again guilty at +keeping my first secret from her.</p> +<p>“It will be a fine match for Beth,” said +Silvia. “Rob is such a splendid man, +and then he has plenty of money. He +can give her anything she wants.”</p> +<p>I winced. I think Silvia must have +been conscious of it, even though the room +was dark, for she came to me quickly.</p> +<p>“I wish I could give you––everything––anything––you +want, Silvia.”</p> +<p>“You have, Lucien. The things that +no money could buy––love and protection.”</p> +<p>Well, maybe I had. I had surely given +her protection from the Polydores, though +she didn’t know to what extent.</p> +<p>“I am going to give you more material +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span> +things, though, Silvia. When we go home, +I shall start to work in earnest and see if +I can’t get enough ahead to make a good +investment I know of.”</p> +<p>“I’d rather do without the necessities +even, Lucien, than to have you work any +harder than you have been doing. We +must let well enough alone.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_26' id='linki_26'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-032.jpg' alt='' title='' width='157' height='254' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_27' id='linki_27'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-031.jpg' alt='' title='' width='342' height='124' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XII__TOO_MUCH_POLYDORES' id='CHAPTER_XII__TOO_MUCH_POLYDORES'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XII</span></h2> +<h3>“<i>Too Much Polydores</i>”</h3> +</div> +<p>The next morning at breakfast, Beth +announced that she and Rob were +going to spend the day camping in +the woods.</p> +<p>Silvia and I tried not to look significantly +at each other, but Beth was very keen.</p> +<p>“We will take Diogenes with us,” she +instantly added.</p> +<p>“Oh, no!” protested Silvia. “He’ll be +such a bother. And then he can’t walk +very far, you know.”</p> +<p>“He’ll be no bother,” persisted Beth. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span> +“And we’ll borrow the little cart to draw +him in.”</p> +<p>“Yes,” acquiesced Rob. “We sure +want Diogenes with us.”</p> +<p>“I’ll have them put up a lunch for you,” +proposed Silvia.</p> +<p>“No,” Rob objected. “We are going to +forage and cook over a fire in the woods.”</p> +<p>“Then,” I proposed to Silvia with alacrity, +“we’ll have our first day alone together––the +first we have had since the +Polydores came into our lives. I’ll rent the +‘autoo’ again, and we will go through the +country and dine at some little wayside inn.”</p> +<p>“Get the ‘autoo’, now, Lucien,” advised +Beth privately, “and make an early start, +so Rob and I can take supplies from the +store without arousing Silvia’s suspicions.”</p> +<p>“I don’t believe,” said Silvia disappointedly, +when we were “autooing” on +our way, “that they are in love after all, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span> +or that he has proposed, or that he is going +to.”</p> +<p>“Where did you draw all those pessimistic +inferences from?” I asked.</p> +<p>“From their both being so keen to take +Diogenes with them.”</p> +<p>“Diogenes would be no barrier to their +love-making,” I told her. “He couldn’t +repeat what they said; at least, not so +anyone could understand him.”</p> +<p>Many miles away we came upon a picturesque +little old-time tavern where we +had an appetizing dinner, and then continued +on our aimless way. It was nearly +ten o’clock when we returned to the hotel, +where the owner of the “autoo” was waiting.</p> +<p>Rob came down the roadway.</p> +<p>“Where’s Beth?” asked Silvia.</p> +<p>“She has gone to bed. The day in the +open made her sleepy.”</p> +<p>When Silvia had left us, the old farmer +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span> +said with a chuckle: “I can’t offer you another +swig of stone fence.”</p> +<p>“It’s probably just as well you can’t,” +I replied.</p> +<p>“I’d like to be introduced to one,” said +Rob, who appeared to be somewhat downcast. +“I sure need a bracer.”</p> +<p>“What’s the matter, Rob?” I asked +when we were lighting our pipes. “A +strenuous day? Two in rapid ‘concussion’ +with the Polydores must be nerve-racking.”</p> +<p>“Yes; I admit there seemed to be ‘too +much Polydores.’ We all had a happy reunion, +and I devoted the forenoon to the +entertainment of the famous family so I +could be entitled to the afternoon off to +spend with Beth. At noon we built a fire +and cooked a sumptuous dinner. Beth +baked up some things to keep them supplied +a couple of days longer. After dinner +I asked her to go for a row. She insisted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span> +on taking Diogenes along, and the +others all followed us on a raft. So I +decided to cut the water sports short, and +Beth and I started for a walk in the woods. +Three or more were constantly right on +our trail. I begged and bribed, but to +no avail. They were sticktights all right, +and,” he added morosely, “she seemed +covertly to aid and abet them. When we +started for home, I found that the young +fiends had broken the cart, so I had to +carry Diogenes most of the way, and of +course he bellowed as usual at being parted +from the whelps.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_28' id='linki_28'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-033.jpg' alt='' title='' width='177' height='289' /><br /> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span></div> +<p>“They aren’t such ‘fine little chaps’ +after all,” I couldn’t resist commenting. +“Familiarity breeds contempt, you see. I +am sorry Diogenes had so much of their +society. He’ll be unendurable tomorrow. +Well, you had some day!”</p> +<p>“So did the Polydores. Demetrius and +Diogenes fell in the fire twice. Emerald +threw a finger out of joint, but Ptolemy +quickly jerked it into place. Pythagoras +was kicked off the raft twice, following a +mutiny. Demetrius threw a lighted match +into the vines and set fire to the house. +They said it was a ‘beaut of a day’, though, +and urged us to come tomorrow and repeat +the program. By the way, they went +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span> +across the lake on their raft yesterday and +bought a tent of some campers. They have +pitched it in the woods beyond the house.”</p> +<p>When I went upstairs Silvia met me +disconsolately.</p> +<p>“He didn’t propose,” she said disappointedly. +“She wouldn’t let him.”</p> +<p>“Did you wake her up to find out?” I +asked.</p> +<p>“She hadn’t gone to bed and she wasn’t +sleepy. She was trimming a hat.”</p> +<p>“Why wouldn’t she let him propose, if +she cares for him?” I asked perplexedly.</p> +<p>“Well, you see,” explained Silvia, “that +when a girl––a coquette girl like Beth––is +as sure of a man as she is of Rob, she +gets a touch of contrariness or offishness +or something. She said it would have been +too prosaic and cut and dried if they had +gone away for a day in the woods and come +back engaged. She wants the unexpected.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span></div> +<p>“Do you think she loves him?” I asked +interestedly.</p> +<p>“She doesn’t say so. You can’t tell +from what she says anyway. Still, I think +she is hovering around the danger point.”</p> +<p>“She’d better watch out. Rob isn’t +the kind of a man who will stand for too +much thwarting,” I replied.</p> +<p>“If he’d only play up a little bit to some +one else, it would bring things to a climax,” +said my wife sagely.</p> +<p>“There’s no one else to play up to. The +blonde left today because it was so slow +here.”</p> +<p>“Maybe some new girl will come tomorrow,” +said Silvia, “or there’s that +trim little waitress who is waiting her way +through college. He gave her a good big tip +yesterday. I think I will give him a hint.”</p> +<p>“It wouldn’t help any. He wouldn’t +know how to play such a game if you could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span> +persuade him to try. He’d probably tell +the girl his motive in being attentive to her +and then she’d back out. Maybe, after +all, Beth doesn’t love him.”</p> +<p>“I think she does,” replied my wife, +“because she is getting absent-minded. +She let Diogenes go too near the fire. His +shoes are burned, his hair singed, and his +dress scorched. He woke up when I came +in and he was so cross. He acted just +the way he does when he is with his +brothers.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_29' id='linki_29'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-034.jpg' alt='' title='' width='256' height='218' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_30' id='linki_30'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-035.jpg' alt='' title='' width='361' height='118' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIII__ROBS_FRIEND_THE_REPORTER' id='CHAPTER_XIII__ROBS_FRIEND_THE_REPORTER'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XIII</span></h2> +<h3><i>Rob’s Friend the Reporter</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Silvia’s vague prophecy was fulfilled. +When the event of the day, +the arrival of the stage, occurred, a +solitary passenger alighted, a slim, alert, +city-cut young woman.</p> +<p>She looked us all over––not boldly, but +with a business-like directness as if she +were taking inventory of stock, or acting +as judge at a competition. When her +blue eyes lighted on Rob, they darkened +with pleasure.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span></div> +<p>“Oh, Mr. Rossiter!” she exclaimed, +“this is better than I hoped for.”</p> +<p>They shook hands with the air of being +old acquaintances, and he introduced her to +us as “Miss Frayne, from my home town.”</p> +<p>She went into the office, registered, and +sent her bag to her room. Then she asked +Rob if she might have a talk with him.</p> +<p>They walked away together down to +the shore and she was talking to him quite +excitedly. Rob suddenly stopped, threw +back his head and laughed in the way +that it is good to hear a man laugh.</p> +<p>“Miss Frayne must be a wit,” observed +Beth dryly.</p> +<p>I looked at her keenly. Something in +her eyes as she gazed after the retreating +couple told me that Silvia’s surmise was +right, and that Miss Frayne might be just +the little punch needed to send Beth over +the danger point.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span></div> +<p>“I rather incline to the belief that +Ptolemy told the truth in the first place,” +she continued, and then looked disappointed +because I did not contradict her.</p> +<p>I decided not to reveal, for the present +anyway, what I knew of Miss Frayne, of +whom I had often heard Rob speak.</p> +<p>“She can’t be going to stay long,” said Silvia +hopefully. “She didn’t bring a trunk.”</p> +<p>“She doesn’t need one,” replied Beth. +“She is probably one of those mannish +girls who believe in a skirt and a few +waists for a wardrobe.”</p> +<p>When Rob and the newcomer returned, +he seemed to be monopolizing the conversation +in a very emphatic and earnest +manner. As they came up the steps to the +veranda, we heard her say:</p> +<p>“Very well, Mr. Rossiter, I will do just +as you say. I have perfect confidence in +your judgment.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span></div> +<p>They passed on into the hotel and +Beth jumped up and went down toward +the lake.</p> +<p>“Did you ever hear Rob speak of this +Miss Frayne?” asked Silvia.</p> +<p>“Often. She is engaged to his cousin, +and is a reporter on a big newspaper.”</p> +<p>“Why didn’t you say so? Oh, Lucien,” +she continued before I could speak, “were +you really shrewd enough to see which way +the wind was blowing?”</p> +<p>“Sure. After you set my sails for me +last night.”</p> +<p>Just then Rob came out of the hotel.</p> +<p>“Say, Lucien, I want to see you a minute. +Come on down the road.”</p> +<p>“We’ve got some work ahead,” he said +when we were out of Silvia’s hearing.</p> +<p>“What’s up?” I asked.</p> +<p>“Miss Frayne is up––and doing. What +do you suppose her paper sent her here for?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span></div> +<p>“For a rest, or to write up the mosquitoes +of H. H.”</p> +<p>“H. H. is all right, only it happens they +stand for Haunted House.”</p> +<p>“Not really?”</p> +<p>“Yes, really. The rumors of the house +and the ghost, greatly elaborated, of course, +reached the Sunday editor of the paper +Miss Frayne is on, and he sent her up here +to revive the story of the murder, translate +the ghost, and get snapshots of the house. +She was quite keen to have me take her +there at once, so she could commence her +article, but I headed her off, so she wouldn’t +discover the summer boarders at the hotel +annex. I assured her that daytime was +not the time to gather material and the +only way she could get a proper focus on +the ghost and acquire the thrills necessary +for an inspiration was to see the place +first by night.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span></div> +<p>“If she would view Fair Melrose aright,” +I quoted, “she must visit it in the pale +moonlight, but you were very clever to +delay her visit long enough for us to get +over there and warn the enemy. If she +had gone down there and caught the +Polydores unawares, she would have come +back here and revealed our secret, and +there would be the end of Silvia’s vacation.”</p> +<p>“To tell the truth, Lucien, I wasn’t +thinking so much of that as I was of Miss +Frayne’s interests. You see she has come +a long ways for a story and if it collapsed +from her ghostly expectations to a showdown +of four healthy boys, the blow might +mean a good deal to her in a business way. +I think we had better let Ptolemy plant a +ghost just once more for her. You know +you made him take a reef in the flapping of +ghostly garments. Can’t we resurrect the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +specter and restore the wails just for tonight, +and bring her over here at the +witching hour?”</p> +<p>“Sure we will,” I agreed heartily. “She +shall have her ghost and all the trappings. +It will give the Polydores the time of their +lives.”</p> +<p>“Let’s go over there now and put Ptolemy +next so he can get busy on his spirits.” +We went down to the shore and pulled +off. Midway across the lake, Rob suddenly +rested on his oars and asked:</p> +<p>“Where did Beth go?”</p> +<p>“Back to first principles,” I replied. +“She thinks, judging from your excited, +earnest manner in addressing Miss Frayne +and your rushing frantically away for a +walk with her before she had removed the +travel dust, that Ptolemy was quite correct, +after all, in declaring you to be a +‘ladies’ man.’”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span></div> +<p>“Didn’t you explain to her who Miss +Frayne was?” he asked.</p> +<p>“No,” I replied. “I am on my vacation +and I am not doing any explaining, professionally +or otherwise.”</p> +<p>He swung the boat around.</p> +<p>“Starboard!” I cried. “Don’t you +know a trump card when you see it?”</p> +<p>Again he rested on his oars and stared +at me.</p> +<p>“What do you mean, Lucien? If you +have a grain of hope for me, please let me +in.”</p> +<p>I repeated Silvia’s theories.</p> +<p>“I am not going to win her that way,” +he said slowly, “not by playing a part.”</p> +<p>“Well,” I declared, “if you go back to +the hotel now, you can’t explain Miss +Frayne to Beth, because she went for a +walk with old Professor Treadtop.”</p> +<p>He turned the boat again.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></div> +<p>“Silvia won’t come to the Haunted +House, will she?” he asked.</p> +<p>“No, indeed. Nothing would induce +her to.”</p> +<p>“Then you bring Miss Frayne here tonight +and I’ll bring Beth. And I’ll be sure +that there are no double boats lying around +loose. I’ll have two at the dock, see?”</p> +<p>“I see your system,” I replied, “but I +am not sure how I can explain Miss Frayne +to Silvia. Silvia is not in the least narrow-minded, +but still to leave the hotel at +midnight with a perfectly strange young +woman––”</p> +<p>“You can tell her I want a clear field for +Beth. She will see it is in a good cause.”</p> +<p>The Polydores greeted us rapturously +and roughly. When I had restored order, +and they were once more right side up, I +addressed the chief of the bandits.</p> +<p>“Ptolemy,” I began, “a young lady, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +who is a reporter for a big newspaper, has +come from many miles away to write up +the haunted house and the ghost, and they +will be pictured out in the Sunday edition.”</p> +<p>Ptolemy’s eyes glistened, and “Them +Three” were instantly “at attention.”</p> +<p>“Oh, say, stepdaddy,” begged the young +chief, “let me play ghost right for her, just +once, will you?”</p> +<p>“You may for tonight,” I said, “but +you will have to be very careful and not +overdo the matter, for she isn’t the kind +that is easily fooled. She’s had to keep +her eyes and wits sharpened, else she +wouldn’t be on a newspaper, so I want +you to be very careful and not bungle. +Make a neat job of it.”</p> +<p>“I’ll do it up brown, you bet!” he cried +gleefully.</p> +<p>“Naw, do it up white,” drawled Pythagoras.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span></div> +<p>“Show me your ghost stuff by daylight,” +I demanded, “and let me see how you are +going to rig him up.”</p> +<p>He brought forth a head and shoulders +and arms that were ghastly even in sunlight, +and proceeded to explain them.</p> +<p>“I got this skull out of father’s study, +and the arms came off a skeleton mother +had in her antiquities. I dressed them +up in a pillow case and the white cotton +gloves are Huldah’s. I can get some +phosphorus in the woods and put it in the +eyes. And Demetrius bought two electric +flashlights yesterday, and Pythagoras +can snap them once in a while from the +lower windows.”</p> +<p>“You are some little property man,” +said Rob in admiration. “But tell me +who produces those heart-rending +shrieks?”</p> +<p>“That was Pythagoras who did the high +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span> +ones. And Em came in with low groans. +Show ’em, boys.”</p> +<p>Pythagoras uttered high-trebled, thin-toned +whines and ever and anon Emerald +added a <i>basso profundo</i> accompaniment, +making a combination that was most trying +to the ears at close range.</p> +<p>“I don’t know,” said Rob, “as I want +Beth subjected to such a realistic performance. +We will loiter in the distance.”</p> +<p>“Your rehearsal,” I assured Ptolemy, +“is very good, but you must remember +that Miss Frayne is used to encountering +things far more terrible than ghosts. She +may insist on coming right in here to investigate. +Of course, if she does, I can’t +refuse or she’ll think I am afraid, or else +that I put up a fake ghost here, myself.”</p> +<p>“We’ll lock the door with a chair,” suggested +Emerald.</p> +<p>“She’ll be quite capable of breaking into +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +a little house like this, but I’ll keep her +back until you have time to haul in your +ghost and make a quick and quiet getaway +by a back window. Then another thing, +she’ll be over here tomorrow morning to +take some pictures of the house, so by sunrise +I want you all to take up your abode +in the tent you have in the woods and +stay there until I come and tell you the +coast is clear.”</p> +<p>“We’re dead on,” assured Ptolemy. +“I’m glad there’s going to be something +doing. We’re getting tired of being here +alone. I had to tie Demetrius up this +morning. He was bound to go over to +the hotel and see mudder.”</p> +<p>“Don’t one of you dare to make such an +attempt,” I said peremptorily. “You keep +right on here for a few days. Some of us, +either Rob, or Beth and I will drop over +every day. If you play your ghost just +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +as I tell you and keep out of sight, I’ll +bring you over some ice cream tomorrow.”</p> +<p>“Bring me a bigger bat.”</p> +<p>“Bring me a mitt.”</p> +<p>“Bring me a boat,” came in chorus from +Ptolemy, Emerald, and Demetrius.</p> +<p>“What’ll you give me to stay here?” +asked Pythagoras, who was a born bargain-driver.</p> +<p>“I’ll give you a licking if you don’t stay,” +was the only offer he gleaned from me.</p> +<p>“Be good boys,” adjured the softhearted +Rob, “and I’ll bring you everything +I can find at the hotel.”</p> +<p>It was long past the luncheon hour +when we returned. We found Miss Frayne +wondering at Rob’s sudden disappearance +and Beth was accordingly mystified.</p> +<p>I planted myself directly in front of +Miss Frayne.</p> +<p>“May I take you to the haunted house +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +tonight at the yawning churchyard hour?” +I asked. “I am most eminently fitted to +be your guide, for I was the first one of +this assembly to see the ghost <i>in toto</i>.”</p> +<p>“He saw it over a stone fence,” remarked +Rob.</p> +<p>“Indeed you may, thank you very +much,” she said enthusiastically.</p> +<p>Silvia’s face was a study.</p> +<p>“And will you come with me, Beth?” +asked Rob. “Of course, the ghost is an +old story to us, but we really should hover +in Lucien’s wake out of regard to the +conventions.”</p> +<p>“Is Miss Frayne interested in ghosts?” +asked Beth.</p> +<p>Miss Frayne turned and answered the +question.</p> +<p>“Not personally,” she admitted frankly, +“but the newspaper I am on is, and they +sent me up here to get a story.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span></div> +<p>“Oh, you are a reporter?”</p> +<p>“Yes; on the <i>Times</i>.”</p> +<p>“She won’t be one long, though,” asserted +Rob cheerfully, “because she is +going to marry my cousin in the fall.”</p> +<p>Beth’s expression remained neutral at +the announcement, but I noticed throughout +the afternoon that she was extremely +affable toward Miss Frayne, and that she +had the whiphand again with Rob, and +meanwhile he seemed to be gathering a +grim determination to do or die.</p> +<p>“Lucien, how did you come to ask Miss +Frayne to go to that awful place tonight?” +asked Silvia when we had gone to our room +for a siesta, which seemed impossible by +reason of the bellowing of Diogenes, who +balked at being required to lie down.</p> +<p>“Rob asked me to,” I informed her, +when I had cowed Diogenes, “so he could +have a free field for Beth. I believe he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +planned this expedition so he could storm +the citadel.”</p> +<p>She reflected.</p> +<p>“Well, maybe he is wise. Girls like +Beth have to be taken by storm sometimes. +I shouldn’t wonder if Rob could +be a bit of a bully, too, but––”</p> +<p>She ended her speculations in a shriek.</p> +<p>“Oh, Lucien! Diogenes has jumped out +the window.”</p> +<p>We rushed down stairs, Silvia informing +the guests in transit of the awful catastrophe.</p> +<p>Silvia paused at the door opening on to +the veranda.</p> +<p>“I can’t see him,” she said faintly, +closing her eyes. “You’ll have to tend to +it alone, Lucien.”</p> +<p>Beth was already at the telephone, +which connected with the country doctor’s. +Rob joined me. We located our window, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span> +and began hunting underneath for the +pieces.</p> +<p>“Where in the world do you suppose he +landed?” asked Rob.</p> +<p>Just then the missing one came around +the house clasping a bologna sausage in +his fist.</p> +<p>“Ye Gods and little Polydores!” exclaimed +Rob.</p> +<p>I caught Diogenes by the arm and +rushed him in to Silvia.</p> +<p>I found her in company with an old +colored mammy, who was laundress for +the hotel.</p> +<p>“Sho’,” she was saying, “I done gwine +by de windah with ma baby cab full o’ +cloes, an’ dis yer white chile done come +tumblin’ down an’ fall right in ma cab. +Now, what do you think o’ dat? I reckon +I was nevah so done clean skeert afoah +in ma life. An’ ef de chile didn’t grab one +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span> +of ma bolognas and done git out de cab +an’ run around de house.”</p> +<p>“Oh,” cried Silvia, “poor little baby! +Come to mudder. Lucien, where are you +going with him?”</p> +<p>I had picked up the acrobatic Polydore +and was going up the stairs two at a +time. I gained our room, locked the +door and proceeded to give the “poor +little baby” all that was coming to him. +Now and then above his howls, I heard +Silvia’s plaintive protests outside the door, +but I finished my job completely and +satisfactorily, and laid the penitent Polydore +in his little bed. Then I went out into +the hall, feeling better than I had in months.</p> +<p>Silvia essayed to pass me, but I took +her arm and led her to a recess in the hall.</p> +<p>“I am convinced,” I told her, “that we +have Diogenes as a permanent pensioner +on our hands, so it was up to me to show +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span> +him where to get off. You can’t go to him +for a quarter of an hour.”</p> +<p>We went down stairs and I was sure I +read suppressed regret in the faces of most +of the guests at learning of the soft place +in which Diogenes’ lot had been cast. +Silvia tearfully told Rob and Beth of my +cruelty.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_31' id='linki_31'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-036.jpg' alt='' title='' width='228' height='299' /><br /> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span></div> +<p>“Do him good!” approved Rob heartily.</p> +<p>“How mean men are!” declared Beth +indignantly. “I am going up and comfort +the poor little thing.”</p> +<p>I held up the key to the room with a +grin, and she had to content herself by +making unkind remarks about me.</p> +<p>At the expiration of the allotted time, I +handed Silvia the key. She took it from +me without a word or a look. It was +quite evident I was in wrong.</p> +<p>In half an hour my wife came down, +carrying Diogenes, who, dressed in fresh +white clothes, was a good picture of an +angel child. She passed me and went to +a remote corner of the veranda and sat +down. When he spied me, he leaped from +her arms and ran to me.</p> +<p>“Ocean,” he said propitiatingly, “me +love oo.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span></div> +<p>I took him up. His arms clasped about +my neck, and over his curly head, I winked +at Silvia and Beth.</p> +<p>Rob roared.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_32' id='linki_32'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-037.jpg' alt='' title='' width='227' height='213' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_33' id='linki_33'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-038.jpg' alt='' title='' width='353' height='129' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIV__A_MIDNIGHT_EXCURSION' id='CHAPTER_XIV__A_MIDNIGHT_EXCURSION'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XIV</span></h2> +<h3><i>A Midnight Excursion</i></h3> +</div> +<p>The night was Satan’s own: dark, +wind-shrieking, and Polydorish. +No one saw us leave the hotel when, +at a late hour, we started on our little +excursion. On account of the darkness +and the poor landing near the haunted +house, we decided to go by the overland +route. I managed to purloin a lantern +from the kitchen to light our path.</p> +<p>Rob and Beth kept behind Miss Frayne +and myself, and in spite of the wildness of +the weather, he was evidently pleading his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +suit, for now and then above the roar of +the wind, I heard his ardent voice. Apparently +Beth had not yet given him any +encouragement.</p> +<p>Going down the lane my lantern underwent +a total eclipse, so we had a Jordan-like +road to travel. Miss Frayne was +quite impervious to unfavorable conditions, +as it was a matter of bread and butter to +her, she said, and she was accustomed to +braving worse storms than this, and anyway +she hadn’t come here for a summer picnic.</p> +<p>When we came into the grove it was so +dark, I lost my bearings.</p> +<p>“Why didn’t we bring a flashlight?” +asked Beth.</p> +<p>“There were none at the hotel,” I told +her.</p> +<p>“I know some boys,” said Rob with a +little laugh, “who would have lent us one––maybe.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span></div> +<p>Fortunately we were well provided with +safety matches and after striking a box or +so, we gained the open. A rise of ground +hid the house, but when we climbed to the +top, the ghost loomed up ghastlier than +ever.</p> +<p>I felt the business-like Miss Frayne start +and shiver as a little scream escaped her. +I didn’t wonder. Even I, knowing that it +was an illusion and a snare, felt my flesh +creeping as I looked at the ghastly thing in +the window.</p> +<p>Every now and then according to schedule +a light flashed from the windows below. +And then came the blood-curdling sounds––whimpers +and groans that were rivaling +the whistling of the wind.</p> +<p>“This is awful!” said Miss Frayne in a +hoarse whisper.</p> +<p>“Do you want to go inside the house?” +I asked.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span></div> +<p>“No––o! I couldn’t. Not tonight.”</p> +<p>We were some little in advance of Rob +and Beth. When one spectral sound came +like a tense whisper, Miss Frayne turned +and fled, and of course I followed her. We +could not see our two companions, but +suddenly in an interim of wind and ghost +whispers, we heard Beth say:</p> +<p>“Yes, Rob. I think we should really +be cosier in a story-and-a-half cottage than +we should in a bungalow.”</p> +<p>“Ye Gods!” muttered Miss Frayne, “did +he propose in the face of that awful Thing?”</p> +<p>“Ship ahoy!” I called.</p> +<p>“Oh, didn’t you go inside?” asked Rob.</p> +<p>“Go in! I wouldn’t go inside that place; +not if I lose my job on the paper. What +can it be? You don’t seem to mind it, +Miss Wade.”</p> +<p>“Well, you know,” said Beth apologetically, +“this is my third performance.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span></div> +<p>We were now down the hill out of sight +of the gruesome, ghastly window display, +and Miss Frayne gained courage as we +retreated.</p> +<p>“Of course I don’t believe in ghosts,” +she said, “but what do you suppose that +is?”</p> +<p>“I had a theory,” I said, “that it is the +work of a lunatic, but I’ve since concluded +it is due to practical jokers. I’ll tell you +what I’ll do. If you wait here, I’ll investigate +and see what I can find out for you.”</p> +<p>“Oh, would you really dare, Mr. Wade? +I don’t believe men ever have creepy +nerves,” she exclaimed.</p> +<p>I began to feel ashamed of my deception.</p> +<p>“I wouldn’t go, Lucien,” warned Rob, +coming to my rescue. “There may be a +gang of desperadoes in there, or counterfeit +money-makers, or something of that kind. +Besides, I have a far more interesting piece +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +of news than anything the ghost could +give you.”</p> +<p>“Rob!” protested Beth.</p> +<p>“We know it already,” I laughed. “It’s +to be a story-and-a-half high.”</p> +<p>“I think I am getting material for quite +a story,” declared Miss Frayne.</p> +<p>I knew Beth’s dislike of scenes and display +of emotions––mock heroics––she +called them, so I made no congratulatory +speeches of the bless-you-my-children order, +but presently under the cover of darkness, +I felt a little hand slipped in mine, and my +clasp was eloquent of what I felt.</p> +<p>“I hope,” said Miss Frayne, “that daylight +will make me so ashamed of my +cowardice that I can come down here and +take some pictures and go inside the +house.”</p> +<p>“We’ll all come with you,” promised +Beth. “There’s safety in numbers.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></div> +<p>When we were back at the hotel I managed +to have a few words with Rob before +we went upstairs.</p> +<p>“Bless the ghost!” he said cheerily. +“When Beth first glimpsed it, she just +turned and fell into my arms. She was +really frightened for the first time. I shall +feel under obligations to Ptolemy for a +lifetime.”</p> +<p>“Thank goodness!” I ejaculated fervently, +“that I am under no obligations to +a Polydore. Ptolemy certainly did put +up the most ghastly thing in the way of +ghosts. The lights in the eyes of the +skeleton were frightful.”</p> +<p>“Did you see the ghost?” asked Silvia +sleepily, when I came in.</p> +<p>“Yes; same old ghost, only more of +him,” I assured her.</p> +<p>She was asleep before I had uttered this +reply.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span></div> +<p>“Silvia,” I said, “I have a more startling +piece of news for you than that.”</p> +<p>She sat bolt upright.</p> +<p>“Are they engaged, Lucien?”</p> +<p>“They are. They are building their +castle––I mean their story-and-a-half +cottage already.”</p> +<p>Alas for my own desire to sleep! I had +so effectually awakened Silvia that she +planned Beth’s trousseau, the wedding, +honeymoon, and the furnishing of their +house before she subsided.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_34' id='linki_34'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-039.jpg' alt='' title='' width='324' height='221' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_35' id='linki_35'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-040.jpg' alt='' title='' width='366' height='133' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XV__WHAT_MISS_FRAYNE_FOUND_OUT' id='CHAPTER_XV__WHAT_MISS_FRAYNE_FOUND_OUT'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XV</span></h2> +<h3><i>What Miss Frayne Found Out</i></h3> +</div> +<p>We had planned to go to the haunted +house at nine o’clock the next +morning, but owing to my dissipation +of the night before, it was long +after the appointed hour when Silvia awoke +me.</p> +<p>I hurried down stairs and ate my breakfast +in solitude. I inquired for Beth and +Rob, but the waitress told me they had left +the dining-room at seven o’clock and gone +for a walk in the woods. She said it with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +a knowing smile that told me she, too, must +be a “sister of the Golden Circle.”</p> +<p>“And Miss Frayne?” I asked.</p> +<p>“She went down the road over an hour +ago.”</p> +<p>Evidently her courage had come up with +the sun. I was greatly disturbed at the +chance of her stumbling over one or more +Polydores, and Rob didn’t want to let the +cat out of the bag until her article was +written, as he believed that if the ghostly +spell were broken, she would lose her +“punch.”</p> +<p>I was unable to think of any plausible +explanation to offer Silvia as to why I +should start in pursuit, and I wished all +sorts of dire calamities on Rob’s blond +head. Lovers were surely blind and selfish.</p> +<p>About ten o’clock they came strolling +in.</p> +<p>“We didn’t know it was so late,” said +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +Beth cheerfully, “but the boys will keep +in the woods all right.”</p> +<p>“With her nose for news, there is no +telling how far into the woods Miss Frayne’s +investigation will take her.”</p> +<p>“Say we go down by the lane and meet +her,” proposed Beth, “so that if she has +run across the boys we can explain to her +why we desire secrecy from Silvia.”</p> +<p>“You and Rob go,” I advised. “It +would seem odd to Silvia if we didn’t ask +her to go with us.”</p> +<p>So the newly engaged couple started +down the road, but in their self-absorption +they didn’t notice the turn to the lane, and +they got half way to Windy Creek before +they came back to earth and the hotel. +Miss Frayne still had not shown up, and I +began to have misgivings lest the Polydores +had locked her up in the house, but +finally just as we were having a happy +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span> +family gathering and discussing the new +event under the shade of the one resort +tree, she came excitedly up to us.</p> +<p>“Such an interesting morning as I have +had!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “I +made some corking pictures of the place, +and I’ve found out about not only that +ghost, but all ghosts––the whole race of +ghosts.”</p> +<p>I hurriedly interrupted her and made +elaborate and jumbled apologies for not +keeping our engagement, which evidently +bored her and mystified Silvia.</p> +<p>“I am glad I went alone,” she finally +replied. “Otherwise I might not have +got such an interesting interview.”</p> +<p>Beth, Rob, and I made frantic and appealing +gestures to her behind Silvia’s +back, but she didn’t seem to notice them.</p> +<p>“Whom did you interview, the ghost?” +asked Silvia.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span></div> +<p>“No, indeed. Some very interesting and +unusual people who are staying there.”</p> +<p>I threw her a wildly beseeching glance +and Beth and Rob began at the same time +to ply her with distracting questions. I +think she seemed to divine that there was +something in the situation that was not +to be explained, but Silvia interrupted +them.</p> +<p>“Do let Miss Frayne tell us about her +interview,” she said. “We all seem to be +very talkative today.”</p> +<p>I saw there was no way to dodge the +dénouement, so I awaited the finale in +dread desperation. It proved to be more +of a stunner than I had expected.</p> +<p>“I went down the lane,” she said, “and +through the grove, up the little hill, and +laughed at myself for the hallucinations +of the night before. There were no ghosts +visible and the door to the haunted house +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span> +was hospitably open. I stood on the hill +long enough to make some pictures and +then went on. I walked up the steps +fearlessly and looked within. A woman, +an untidy, disheveled-looking woman, sat +at a table writing furiously in just the same +breathless way I write when I have a scoop, +and the presses are waiting open-mouthed +for my copy.</p> +<p>“She looked up and scowled at my intrusion.</p> +<p>“‘Don’t bother me,’ she said, and continued +writing.</p> +<p>“I went through the house and came +outside again where I met an absent-minded, +spectacled man. I told him who +I was and of my object in coming to the +house. Then he showed signs of coming to.</p> +<p>“‘Oh, the ghost!’ he said. ‘That is +what brought me here. My wife is interested +in more tangible, more material +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +things. We have just returned from a long +journey, and when we were nearly to our +destination, our place of residence, I happened +to read in a paper about this haunted +house and its apparition, so we came right +up here this morning to remain overnight +and see if the article were true.’</p> +<p>“I told him how successful I had been +and he became quite alert and enthusiastic. +He showed me why I should not have been +alarmed, because ghosts, he said, were +scientific facts. He then explained to me +at length how the gases from the dead +arise and form a nebulous vapor or a vaporous +nebula. It sounded very simple and +plausible when he told me, but I can’t seem +to remember it. Fortunately I have it all +down in writing.”</p> +<p>Silvia’s eyes and mine had met in speechless +horror since she had mentioned the +“writing woman.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span></div> +<p>“Lucien!” Silvia now said in a tragic, +hoarse whisper––“the Polydores!”</p> +<p>“Oh, do you know them?” asked Miss +Frayne. “Dr. Felix Polydore, the eminent +LL.D. or something like that.”</p> +<p>“The whole family are D’s,” I said.</p> +<p>“His wife is the highest of high-brows, +and they are averse to interviews. They +moved to a small city sometime ago to be +secluded. Just think of my opportunity! +I have them headlined! ‘The Haunted +House of Hope Haven. Ghost that appears +at midnight scientifically explained +by the distinguished Dr. Felix Polydore.’”</p> +<p>“I think we are in luck,” I said to Silvia, +on second thoughts. “We will take them +home by the nape of the neck and deliver +their children into their keeping to have +and to hold.”</p> +<p>“I can’t turn Diogenes over to them,” +she said plaintively.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></div> +<p>“Diogenes!” repeated Miss Frayne in +astonishment.</p> +<p>I then narrated to her the history of +our next-door neighbors, and how they +planted their five children upon us.</p> +<p>“We had better go down at once and see +them,” said Silvia, “before they escape. +No telling where they might take it in their +heads to go.”</p> +<p>“We will,” I said, “we’ll go soon after +luncheon.”</p> +<p>“Thrice blessed haunted house,” quoted +Rob. “It gave me Beth, and it has restored +the parents of the wise Ptolemy and +‘Them Three.’”</p> +<p>“And gave me a ripping story,” said +Miss Frayne.</p> +<p>Just then the gong sounded, and after +luncheon while I was comfortably tipped +back in a chair, my feet on the veranda +rail, seeing in the smoke from my pipe +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +dream visions of Polydoreless days, a faint +cry from Silvia brought me back to earth.</p> +<p>“Lucien, look!”</p> +<p>I looked.</p> +<p>My chair came down to all fours and my +feet slipped from the rail.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_36' id='linki_36'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-041.jpg' alt='' title='' width='220' height='230' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_37' id='linki_37'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-042.jpg' alt='' title='' width='359' height='115' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVI__PTOLEMYS_TALE' id='CHAPTER_XVI__PTOLEMYS_TALE'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XVI</span></h2> +<h3><i>Ptolemy’s Tale</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Four defiant, determined-looking +Polydores came up the steps and +bore down upon us. Then Silvia +as usual thought she saw land ahead.</p> +<p>“Oh, boys,” she asked hopefully, “did +your father send for you to meet him here? +And when is he going to take you home?”</p> +<p>“Didn’t I tell you,” I thundered at +Ptolemy, “that you were not to leave that +house––”</p> +<p>“It left us,” interrupted Emerald with +a grin.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span></div> +<p>“Went up in smoke,” added Pythagoras +blithely, “ghost and all.”</p> +<p>“Four minutes quicker,” said Demetrius, +“and it would have took father and mother, +too.”</p> +<p>“Oh, is it the haunted house they are +talking about?” asked Miss Frayne joyfully. +“What a story I’ll have!”</p> +<p>Life to Miss Frayne seemed to be one +story after another. Well, it was certainly +becoming the same way to us.</p> +<p>“Did the ghost set fire to the house?” +asked Beth.</p> +<p>“What are you all talking about,” demanded +Silvia, “and how did you know +these boys were there? How long have +you been here?” she asked, turning to +Ptolemy.</p> +<p>“I told you,” I repeated angrily to the +subdued boy, “not to leave. Those were +plain orders. If the house did burn up, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span> +you could have stayed in your tent in the +woods.”</p> +<p>Ptolemy’s lips twitched faintly.</p> +<p>“The house burned up and all our +clothes and our stuff to eat, and our bats +and things, and father and mother went +away and I didn’t know what to do, so––I +came here. But we’ll go back to our +own house. We have learned to cook. +Come on, boys.”</p> +<p>“You’ll stay right here with me, son,” +and Rob’s hand came down intimately +on Ptolemy’s shoulder.</p> +<p>“It isn’t likely we’ll turn them out into +the woods, when they haven’t a roof over +their heads,” declared Silvia, drawing +Emerald to her side.</p> +<p>“I think you are absolutely inhuman, +Lucien,” cried Beth. “I don’t see what has +changed you so,” and she proceeded to make +room for Pythagoras in the porch swing.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span></div> +<p>“Did the fire scare you?” asked Miss +Frayne gently, as she put her arms about +Demetrius.</p> +<p>“Et tu, Brute? Well, I plainly see +this is no place for an inhuman, childless, +married man,” I said with a laugh, walking +down the veranda.</p> +<p>In the doorway I met Diogenes, who +raised his chubby arms invitingly.</p> +<p>“Up, up, Ocean!” he begged sweetly.</p> +<p>I lifted him to my shoulder, and then +turned and walked triumphantly back to +the family group.</p> +<p>“Now,” I said, “here is the whole +d-dashed family. And I propose that each +keep unto his charge the child he has now +under his wing.”</p> +<p>Miss Frayne quickly relinquished the +dirty Demetrius. Beth shrank away from +Pythagoras.</p> +<p>As I seated myself still holding Diogenes, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span> +his brothers sprang toward him in greeting, +but he spat at one, kicked at another, and +pulled the hair of a third, although he patted +Ptolemy’s cheek gently.</p> +<p>“Now, we’ll have this affair thrashed +out,” I declared in my most authoritative, +professional manner, and I then proceeded +to explain to Silvia the housing of the Polydores, +and our strategies to keep their +arrival a secret simply on her account.</p> +<p>“Because you know,” interpolated Beth, +with a consideration for the feelings of the +young Polydores––a consideration they +had never before encountered––“we +wanted you to have a nice rest.”</p> +<p>Silvia looked quite penitent and remorseful +for her seeming lack of appreciation of +our combined efforts. When I had answered +all her inquiries satisfactorily, Miss Frayne’s +curiosity regarding the progeny of the eminent +Polydores had to be fully relieved.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span></div> +<p>“And do you mean that the scribbling +lady I saw at the table is really the mother +of these five boys?” she asked, unable to +grasp the fact.</p> +<p>“Yes; and the father hereof is the man +who explained the ghosts to you so scientifically +that you cannot remember what +he said. Now, Ptolemy, we’ll hear your +story of the fire and the whereabouts of +your parents. Take your time and tell +it accurately.”</p> +<p>“Well, you see we did just as you said +to, and took the ghost out of the window +and went out to the woods early this +morning so as not to let the paper lady +see us.”</p> +<p>“Oh!” cried Miss Frayne, “am I the +paper lady? I begin to see daylight. +Are these boys the ghost perpetrators, and +were you in on the put-up job?”</p> +<p>“You’re a good guesser,” I replied.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span></div> +<p>“And why wasn’t I taken into your +confidence?”</p> +<p>“For two reasons. First, because +your friend Rob said you’d get better +results for copy––more inspirations and +thrills, if you weren’t behind the scenes +on the ghost business,––and then we +didn’t want to tell you about the presence +of the Polydores lest inadvertently you +betray the fact to my wife. Now, proceed, +Ptolemy.”</p> +<p>“After we were in the woods, I heard +an automobile coming down the lane, and +I went up near the edge of the woods and +peeked out behind a tree, and pretty soon +I saw father and mother come over the hill +and go in our haunted house, so I came up +there and hid under the window and heard +mother say: ‘What an ideal place to +write this is. It looks as if I might really +get a chance to write unmo––’</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span></div> +<p>“‘––lested,’” I finished for him.</p> +<p>“I guess so,” he allowed. “Well, she +began writing, so I didn’t go in, but when +father came outside I went up to him and +told him you and mudder were at the hotel +and that we were all with you. He told +me they came up here to write an article +for some big magazine about the ghost. +He hired an automobile down at Windy +Creek to bring them up to the house and +the man was going to come back for them +tomorrow morning. I didn’t let on the +ghost was a fake, because I thought he’d +be so disappointed to have all his trouble +for nothing, and he’d be mad at me for +swiping his skull. I told him a paper lady +was coming and then I went back to the +woods. He went down with me to see the +boys, and he said he would come back and +have lunch with us. Mother doesn’t ever +stop to eat at noon when she is writing.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span></div> +<p>“He went back and talked to the paper +lady and pretty soon he came down and +ate with us. I told him all about how we +couldn’t get any girl to do the work for us +and so we had been living with you, and +how Di got sick and mudder was all worn +out taking care of him and came down +here to rest, and that you wouldn’t cash +the check, so I did and was spending it and +he said that was all right.” Here Ptolemy +flashed me a most triumphant glance.</p> +<p>“He said you must be paid for all your +expense and trouble, so he made out a +check and gave it to me and told me to +make mudder a nice present. He ain’t +so bad when he ain’t thinking about dead +stuff. When he felt in his pocket for his +check book, he found a letter he had got +yesterday and forgotten to open, so he +read it then and found it was from some +magazine, and the man said he’d pay his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span> +and mother’s expenses to go to Chili and +write up some stuff about––something. +So father said they must go at once.”</p> +<p>“Not to Chili!” I exclaimed.</p> +<p>“Yes; we all went up to the house with +him and I took mother’s pencil and paper +away so she would have to listen. She +was wild for Chili, and I had to go and hunt +up a farmer who had a machine to take +them down to Windy Creek. Father +signed another blank check for you and said +you could board us with it or do anything +you thought best.</p> +<p>“Then mother took a lot of papers out +of her bag, some stuff she had written and +didn’t get suited with, and she stuffed them +in the stove and set fire to them. Then +we all went down to the lane to see father +and mother off and when we got back the +house was on fire. The chimney burned +out.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span></div> +<p>“Guess mother must have written some +hot stuff,” said Emerald.</p> +<p>“It was burning so fast,” continued +Ptolemy, “that we didn’t dast go in to +save anything and all our food and clothes +and balls and bats and fishing tackle are +gone, and we didn’t know what to do, or +what to eat, and so––we came here.”</p> +<p>“You did just right, Ptolemy,” I admitted. +“I shouldn’t have called you down––not +until I heard your story, anyway.”</p> +<p>I held out my hand, which he shook +solemnly, but with an injured air.</p> +<p>“Do you mean to tell me,” asked Miss +Frayne, “that your father and mother +went away without seeing the baby?”</p> +<p>Ptolemy flushed a little.</p> +<p>“You see,” he explained apologetically, +“mother gets woolly when she writes and +she’s forgotten there’s Di. She thinks +Demetrius is the youngest. She’s mad +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span> +about writing. If she sees a blank +paper anywhere, she ain’t happy until she +has written something on it, and the sight +of a pencil makes her fingers itch.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_38' id='linki_38'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-043.jpg' alt='' title='' width='206' height='276' /><br /> +</div> +<p>“Take warning, Miss Frayne,” I said, +“and don’t get too literary.”</p> +<p>“Some day,” resumed Ptolemy, +“mother’ll get the antiques all out of +her system and then she’ll remember us.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span></div> +<p>I liked the boy’s defense of his mother, +and I began to see that Rob was right in +thinking there were possibilities in the +lad, but it was Silvia’s influence that had +developed them, for in the days when he +borrowed soup plates of us, there had been +no redeeming trait that I could discern.</p> +<p>And while I was recalling this, I heard +Silvia saying to him kindly: “And in the +meantime, I’ll be ‘mudder’ to you.”</p> +<p>“So will I,” chimed in Beth.</p> +<p>“I’ll be a big brother,” offered Rob.</p> +<p>“I’ll be next friend, Ptolemy,” I contributed.</p> +<p>Strange to say, my offer seemed to make +the most impression on him. He came to +me and gazed into my eyes earnestly.</p> +<p>“I’ll do just as you say,” he promised.</p> +<p>“Where do we’uns come in?” asked +Pythagoras, with one of his satanic grins.</p> +<p>Miss Frayne saved the day.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span></div> +<p>“You all come in with me,” she said, “and +have lunch. I haven’t eaten since breakfast, +and I understand there is warm ginger cake +and huckleberry pie. Aren’t you hungry?”</p> +<p>“You bet,” spoke up Pythagoras. “We +only had coffee, peanuts, and beans down in +the woods, and father ate the beans and +drank all the coffee.”</p> +<p>“We’re out of the frying pan into the +fire,” said Silvia woefully, when we were +alone.</p> +<p>“I wish the Polydore parents had gone +up in smoke,” I declared.</p> +<p>“Then your last hope of getting rid of +the children would have gone up in smoke, +too,” argued Beth.</p> +<p>“No; in case of the demise of their +parents, we could have turned them over +body and soul to the probate court,” I +informed her.</p> +<p>“We will fill out this blank check for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span> +any amount, Lucien,” declared Silvia, +“that will induce a housekeeper to take +charge of their house. I shall keep +Diogenes, though, until he is older.”</p> +<p>“I wouldn’t mind Ptolemy, either,” I +admitted. “I shall be interested in seeing +what I can make of him, and he hasn’t a +bad influence over Diogenes, but I’ll be +hanged if anything would induce me to +have ‘Them Three’ Chessy cats running wild +over us. They can live in their house alone, +or be put in a reformatory. We won’t +have them. We’re under no obligations, +pecuniary or moral, to look after them.”</p> +<p>“I think, Lucien, we might as well go +home now. We’ve had a good rest and a +good time, and I am anxious to be back +and see how Huldah is getting on.”</p> +<p>As Huldah had never mastered two of +the three R’s, we had not been able to +receive any reports from her.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span></div> +<p>“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” proposed +Beth. “Rob and I will take all the Polydores +save Diogenes, and go home tomorrow +and prepare the house and Huldah +for the overflow. Then you two can come +on with Diogenes the next day.”</p> +<p>“Good idea, Beth!” I approved. “I’d +hate to face Huldah, unprepared, with the +return of the Polydores <i>en masse</i>.”</p> +<p>“I am glad,” said Silvia, “that Huldah +has been having a rest from them for a +few days.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_39' id='linki_39'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-044.jpg' alt='' title='' width='166' height='214' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_40' id='linki_40'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-045.jpg' alt='' title='' width='350' height='124' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVII__ALL_ABOUT_UNCLE_ISSACHARS_VISIT' id='CHAPTER_XVII__ALL_ABOUT_UNCLE_ISSACHARS_VISIT'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XVII</span></h2> +<h3><i>All About Uncle Issachar’s Visit</i></h3> +</div> +<p>The next morning’s stage carried +seven passengers to Windy Creek, +as Miss Frayne with a big roll of +“copy” also took her departure.</p> +<p>Diogenes had been quite docile and +amenable to my rule since the licking I +gave him, so we had a pleasant and +comfortable return journey on the following +day.</p> +<p>“I hope, Lucien,” said Silvia, “you +won’t refuse to cash this check for a good +amount. The Polydore parents may never +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span> +show up, and it’s only right we should be +reimbursed for their keep.”</p> +<p>“I will cash it,” I assured her, “and use +it for a housekeeper or else send the boys +off to a school. I should like very much +to have it out with Felix Polydore, but, +as you suggest, I may never have the +opportunity to see him at close range.”</p> +<p>Beth, Rob, and Ptolemy met us at the +station.</p> +<p>“Where are ‘Them Three’?” I asked +hopefully.</p> +<p>“Huldah is feeding them little pies hot +from the kettle––the kind she cooks like +doughnuts, you know.”</p> +<p>“Huldah cooking for ‘Them Three’!” +I exclaimed. “She must have passed into +her second childhood. She grudged them +even an apple to piece on.”</p> +<p>“She has pampered them ever since our +return,” said Rob.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span></div> +<p>“Poor Huldah! She must indeed be +afflicted with softening of the brain,” I +decided.</p> +<p>“She has probably been so lonely, shut +in here by herself,” said Silvia, “that +even ‘Them Three’ looked good to her.”</p> +<p>In the hallway Huldah met us. She +was beaming with pleasure, but except in +her bearing toward the children, she was +quite normal.</p> +<p>“We’ve all had a real good rest,” she +observed, “and you do look so well, Mrs. +Wade. My! but this place has been +lonesome. I’m glad we’re all together +again.”</p> +<p>“Now, Silvia, shut your eyes,” directed +Beth, “and come into the library. +Ptolemy has bought you a present with the +check his father gave him.”</p> +<p>“Beth helped me pick it out,” said +Ptolemy.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span></div> +<p>Beth led the way into the library, and +we followed.</p> +<p>“Open your eyes.”</p> +<p>Silvia gave a little cry of pleasure, and +looking over her shoulder, I beheld a +baby grand piano.</p> +<p>“Oh, Ptolemy!” she cried, giving him a +fervent kiss and fond hug, “I can never +let you do so much.”</p> +<p>“Oh, yes,” he said, flushing a little under +the endearments which were doubtless the +first ever bestowed upon him. “Father’s +got a whole lot of money grandpa left him +and it’s fixed so he can’t draw out only so +much each year. He said the board and +bother of us was worth more than this and +we’ll all enjoy the music. But Thag and +Em and Dem ain’t to touch it. I’ll +knock tar out of the first one that comes +near it.”</p> +<p>I was disconsolate. I didn’t see how we +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span> +could return it and I didn’t want the Polydore +web woven any tighter. To think of +Silvia’s receiving from them what it had +been my longing to give her! But as I +was to learn later, she was to acquire much +more than a piano from the eminent +family.</p> +<p>After dinner Silvia asked Huldah to +come in and hear the music, and when +Silvia’s repertoire was exhausted, we gave +our faithful servant all the little details of +our trip which Beth had not supplied.</p> +<p>“Now tell us, Huldah, how things went +along here,” said Silvia.</p> +<p>“Well, you think some wonderful things +happened to you all on your trip mebby––ghosts +and proposals,” looking at Beth +and Rob, “and fires and Polydores, but +back here in this quiet house something +happened that has your ghosts and things +skinned by a mile.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span></div> +<p>“Oh, dear!” cried Silvia apprehensively, +“what is it?”</p> +<p>“Break it very gently, Huldah,” I +cautioned. “You know we’ve borne a +good deal.”</p> +<p>“Your uncle Issachar was here for a +couple of days.”</p> +<p>She certainly had made a sensation.</p> +<p>“Not Uncle Issachar! Not here?” exclaimed +Silvia incredulously.</p> +<p>“Yes, ma’am. He came the next day +after Beth and Mr. Rossiter and Polly +left. I told him you’d gone away for a +little vacation and rest. I didn’t let on +that I knew where you had gone, because +I didn’t want him straggling up there, too, +or sending for you to come back. He +said your absence would make no difference +to his plans; that he never let nothing +do that. He come to pay a visit and he +should pay one.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span></div> +<p>“Yes,” said Silvia feebly. “That +sounds like Uncle Issachar.”</p> +<p>“I told him to make himself perfectly +at home; that every one did that to this +place, and he said he would. I’d just +slicked up the big front room upstairs +and I seen to it that he had everything +all right. I cooked the best dinner I +knew how, and he said it was the first +white man’s meal he had eat since his ma +died, so I found out what she used to cook +and fed him on it. Them three kids and +him eat like they was holler. I guess if +Polly hadn’t took them away your grocery +bill would ’a looked like Barb’ry +Allen’s grave.</p> +<p>“Well, as I was saying, your uncle he +eat till he got over his grouches, and like +enough he’d be here eating yet, if he hadn’t +got a telegraph to hit the line for home, +some big business deal, he said, and I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span> +guess it was a great deal, for he licked his +chops and smacked his lips over it, and he +give me a ten dollar bill to get a new dress +and each of Them Three one dollar fer +candy.”</p> +<p>“The old tightwad!” I exclaimed. “It +was your cooking, sure, that made him +loosen up that way.”</p> +<p>“Tightwad nothing!” she declared indignantly. +“You won’t think he was tight-wadded +when you read this here letter he +left for you. He told me what was in it, +and I’ve just been busting to tell it to +Beth, but I waited for you to know it +first.”</p> +<p>With great excitement Silvia opened the +letter, read it, gasped, re-read it, and then +in consternation handed it to me.</p> +<p>“Read it aloud, Lucien,” she bade. +“Maybe I can believe it then.”</p> +<p>This was the letter.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span></div> +<blockquote> +<p>“My dear Niece:</p> +<p>“I was sorry not to see you, but glad to +learn that, as every wise and good woman +should do, you are raising a fine family––a +family of <i>sons</i>, which is what our country +most needs. Your son Pythagoras informed +me that you had taken your oldest +child, Ptolemy, and your youngest, Diogenes, +with you, I am glad you left three +such promising samples for me to see.</p> +<p>“As you have five sons, I have, agreeable +to my promise, placed in your name in +the First National Bank of your city the +sum of twenty-five thousand dollars.</p> +<p class='ralign'>“Your affectionate uncle,<br /> +“Issachar Innes.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>“Huldah,” I asked, “did you tell him +the Polydores were our children?”</p> +<p>“Me?” she repeated indignantly. “Me +tell a lie like that! No; I didn’t get no +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span> +chance to tell him anything about them. +‘Them Three’ done the telling. The first +thing that one”––pointing to Pythagoras––“said +was, ‘Mudder went away and took +the baby, Diogenes, with her.’ And then +that next one”––indicating Emerald––“said: +‘Yes, and our oldest brother, +Ptolemy, went on with Beth to see them.’</p> +<p>“The old gent asked them all their names +and ages and he was so pleased and said he +thought it was just fine for you to raise five +sons, so I didn’t have no heart to tell him +no different. ‘Twan’t none of my business +anyhow. Then ‘Them Three’ kept talking +about stepdaddy, and your Uncle Issachar +asks ‘Who the devil is he? Did my +niece marry again?’ And I told him as how +Mr. Wade was all the husband you ever had, +and that stepdaddy was nothing but a sort +of pet-name the kids had give Mr. Wade.”</p> +<p>“I told him,” said Demetrius, “that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span> +stepdaddy was cross to us sometimes and +not as nice as mudder, and he said––”</p> +<p>“You shut up,” commanded Huldah +quickly, “and let me talk.”</p> +<p>“No,” I intercepted, “I’d really be +interested in hearing what he told Uncle +Issachar. What was it, Demetrius, that +your great-uncle said to you?”</p> +<p>“He said,” stated the imp, darting his +tongue out in triumph at his victory over +Huldah, “that he always thought you was +a stiff.”</p> +<p>“He didn’t say nothing of the kind!” +declared Huldah. “He said you was stiff-necked, +and that he presumed you would +act more like a stepfather than the real +thing. Well, as I was saying, he asked +their names, and he liked them fine. Said +they were so classy.”</p> +<p>“Didn’t he say classic, Huldah?” inquired +Rob.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span></div> +<p>“Mebby. What’s the difference?” +snapped Huldah.</p> +<p>“None,” I assured her quickly, dodging +a definition.</p> +<p>“She told him––” began Emerald.</p> +<p>“You shut up,” again adjured Huldah, +“or I’ll never bake you one of those small +pies no more.”</p> +<p>“Oh, please, Huldah,” I coaxed. “Let +us hear everything. I’ve always told you +my life’s secrets, and I don’t mind what +you or the boys told him.”</p> +<p>“Well, I suppose what he was going to +tattle was that I thought the old gent +might feel hurt, ’cause none of them was +named after him, so I told him Polly’s +middle name was Issachar.”</p> +<p>“Why, Huldah,” remonstrated Silvia.</p> +<p>“Well, he’s always wanted a middle +name, and he’s never been baptized, so +you can stick it in and have him ducked +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span> +next Sunday and then that will square +that. ‘Them Three’ stuck to him like +a hive of bees, and I was scairt for fear +they’d let the cat out of the bag, and so +long as they had put it in, I thought it +might just as well stay in, but they were +just as slick as grease in all they said. +They’ll hang in that rogues’ gallery yet.”</p> +<p>“I suppose they were pretty––strenuous,” +said Silvia with a sigh.</p> +<p>“They was more than that. The first +afternoon right after dinner when he was +sitting on the front porch, sleeping peaceful +and snoring, that there one––” pointing +to Pythagoras––</p> +<p>“Tattle-tale!” he began, but I administered +a cuff and he subsided into surprised +silence.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_41' id='linki_41'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span> +<img src='images/illus-046.jpg' alt='' title='' width='360' height='464' /><br /> +<p class='caption'> +“He went to the front window and dropped a young kitten down on the old gent’s head.”<br /> +</p> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span></div> +<p>“He,” said Huldah, looking pleased at +this little attention to the boy, “went to +the front window and dropped a young +kitten down on the old gent’s head. It +clawed something fierce. We had just got +things going smooth again when Emmy +got one of his earaches. I roasted an +onion and put in his ear, and what did he +do but take it out of his ear and slip it down +your poor uncle’s back.”</p> +<p>“Why didn’t you beat them?” I asked +indignantly.</p> +<p>“Because the old gent did that. He put +’em across his knee, and believe me, it was +some licking they caught. They didn’t +let out a whimper and that pleased him.”</p> +<p>“Huh!” said Emerald. “Thag don’t +know how to cry. He hasn’t got any tears, +and old Uncle Iz didn’t hurt me, because, +you see, when I heard Thag getting his, +I went and stuffed the Declaration of Independence, +that book of stepdaddy’s that +Demetrius tore the pictures out of, in my +pants.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span></div> +<p>“Go on!” urged Rob delightedly. +“What else did you all do? Uncle must +have had some time. It would make a +fine scenario. ‘The first visit of the rich +uncle.’”</p> +<p>“Well,” resumed Huldah. “One of ’em +put red pepper in the old man’s bed, and +he like to sneeze his head off, but he said +as how sneezing was healthy, and showed +you’d got rid of a cold.”</p> +<p>“He never got on to the pepper,” said +Demetrius gleefully.</p> +<p>“In the morning, that second one put a +toad in his new uncle’s pocket, and Emmy +broke his specs. Then Meetie he dropped +his watch. They used his razor to cut the +lawn with. And then they took him down +to the creek to go fishing, and they put the +fish in Uncle’s silk hat, and and–––”</p> +<p>“Stop!” implored Silvia, who was now +in tears. “Uncle Issachar believes them +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span> +mine! Ours! And that I brought them +up! Oh, why did we ever go away?”</p> +<p>“Oh, pshaw,” exclaimed Huldah comfortingly, +“he said you had brung them up +fine; that they were no mollycoddles or +Lizzie boys, and he didn’t suppose you had +so much sense as to leave them natural.”</p> +<p>“A left-handed one for mudder,” laughed +Beth.</p> +<p>“He must be a very peculiar man––ready +for the asylum, I should say,” commented +Rob.</p> +<p>“He would have been if he’d stayed any +longer, or else I would have been,” declared +Huldah.</p> +<p>“Couldn’t you make them behave, someway?” +asked Silvia.</p> +<p>“Well, at first I tried to, and every time +I pinched one of ’em when the old gent +wasn’t looking, or knocked ’em down when +I got ’em alone, they would threaten to tell +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span> +who they was, and then when I seen how +your uncle liked the way they acted, I just +let ’em go it, head on. And seeing as how +they each brung you five thousand, I’ve +treated ’em best I know how. They’re +worth it, now. They done one thing more +that was awful. Could you stand it to +hear?” turning to Silvia.</p> +<p>“Please, Silvia,” implored Rob.</p> +<p>“Well,” argued Silvia faintly. “I suppose +we might as well know the worst.”</p> +<p>“You see the old gent didn’t always get +up to breakfast with the kids and one morning +when I brought in the cakes Emmy +looked up and grinned. I nearly dropped +the plate. He had both sets of the old +man’s false teeth in his mouth. I got ’em +back in his room without his waking, but +I’d have liked a picture of Emmy.”</p> +<p>“Pythagoras,” I demanded, when we +had recovered from this recital, “why +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span> +didn’t you tell him who you were, and how +you all came to be here with us?”</p> +<p>“Because she is our mudder, and we are +going to stay with her, always. We’ve +got a snap. So has father and mother. +And Ptolemy told us that if you ever got +any kids, you’d get five thousand each for +them, and I thought we’d just make that +much for you. So we played Uncle Iz +for it. Easy money, all right, all right.”</p> +<p>“Talk about fine financiering,” quoth +Rob. “‘Them Three’ will surely land on +Wall Street.”</p> +<p>But poor Silvia had no heart for humor +and was weeping silently.</p> +<p>“Why, look here, my dear,” I said in +consolation, “this is a very simple matter +to adjust. In the morning when you feel +better, just write a full explanation of the +affair and inclose your check for twenty-five +thousand.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span></div> +<p>Silvia quickly wiped away her tears.</p> +<p>“I’ll do it tonight, Lucien. I feel better +now. I never thought of writing.”</p> +<p>Huldah and “Them Three” looked most +lugubrious.</p> +<p>“The old skinflint won’t miss it as much +as I would a penny,” declared our faithful +handmaiden. “And I’m sure you’ve earnt +that twenty-five thousand if anyone ever +did. You’ve had as much care and worry +about them brats as you would if they’d +been your own.”</p> +<p>“Huldah,” I said severely, “there is a +pretty stiff penalty for obtaining money +under false pretences.”</p> +<p>“After all the pains we took to make +things lively for him, so he wouldn’t get +bored and think he was having a poor time!” +regretted Pythagoras.</p> +<p>“And us watching every word we spoke +so as not to give it away,” wailed Emerald.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span></div> +<p>“Cake’s all dough,” muttered Demetrius.</p> +<p>Ptolemy regarded the three disapprovingly. +He had the old inscrutable look, +the look that foreboded mischief, in his eyes.</p> +<p>“You bungled, you fool kids!” he said +in disgust, “and Huldah, what did you +want to let on to mudder for that he thought +we was hers? You ought to have torn up +the note he left and just said he’d put +twenty-five thousand in the bank for her.”</p> +<p>“Huh! you’re just jealous because you +weren’t in the Uncle Izzy deal yourself,” +jeered Pythagoras. “You always think +you’re the only one that can do anything +right.”</p> +<p>“I wish you had been here, Polly,” said +Huldah, “I am sure you could have worked +it through somehow.”</p> +<p>“I wish I had stayed and put it across,” +he answered. “If you and the kids would +only learn not to blab everything you know. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span> +It’s the only way to work anything. Minute +you tell a thing, it’s all off.”</p> +<p>There was still a great deal of development +work to be put on Ptolemy’s moral standard.</p> +<p>“You’ll find, my lad,” remonstrated +Rob, “that honesty is the best policy.”</p> +<p>“I’d have been perfectly honest about +it,” he defended. “I would have told him +the truth, and how our parents had deserted +us, and how mudder took us in when we +were homeless and was bringing us up like +her own because she hadn’t got any, and +how stepdaddy wanted to turn us out, and +she wouldn’t let him, and then he would +have decided against stepdaddy and given +mudder the money so she could keep us.”</p> +<p>“Ptolemy,” I said warningly, “there is a +way of telling the truth, or rather of coloring +white lies with enough truth to make +them deceive, that is more dishonorable +than an out and out lie.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span></div> +<p>“Tell me, Ptolemy,” asked Silvia, “how +did you know about that offer of five thousand +dollars for each child?”</p> +<p>“I overheard it,” he said guardedly; +“but I can’t remember where.”</p> +<p>“He heard me say so,” confessed Huldah.</p> +<p>“It was when he first come here and he +was making us so much trouble, and I told +him it was too bad we had to have other +folks’ brats around when, if we only had +our own, they’d be bringing in something.”</p> +<p>The recital now broke up and Silvia sat +down to write a long explanatory letter to +Uncle Issachar. The next morning I procured +her a check from the First National +Bank and she filled it out.</p> +<p>“Oh!” she said with indrawn breath, +when she had asked me how to write +twenty-five thousand dollars, “I never expected +to be able to sign my name to a +check for such an amount.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span></div> +<p>“You never will again, I fear,” was my +sad prophecy.</p> +<p>“It must feel rich,” said Beth, “just to +have a large check pass through your +fingers.”</p> +<p>“Them Three” came the nearest to tears +that they were able to do.</p> +<p>“We worked so hard for it,” they sighed.</p> +<p>“So did I!” muttered Huldah.</p> +<p>“I couldn’t live a double life,” declared +Silvia.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_42' id='linki_42'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-048.jpg' alt='' title='' width='217' height='215' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_43' id='linki_43'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-047.jpg' alt='' title='' width='336' height='89' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII__IN_WHICH_I_DECIDE_ON_EXTREME_MEASURES' id='CHAPTER_XVIII__IN_WHICH_I_DECIDE_ON_EXTREME_MEASURES'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter XVIII</span></h2> +<h3><i>In Which I Decide on Extreme Measures</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Everyone in our house, which was +now filled to overflowing––in fact, +there were Polydores on sofas and +in beds on the floor––save Silvia and +myself, was on the alert for a response to +the letter during the succeeding few days. +Knowing Uncle Issachar, we felt sure he +would make no response, or notice the +matter in any way save to cash the check +promptly. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span></p> +<p>The monotony was somewhat relieved +by the difficulties under which Beth and +Rob were pursuing their courtship. On +the third evening succeeding our return, +Silvia and I started upstairs early to give +them a chance to have the exclusive use of +the library, the Polydores having all been +sent to bed. As we were making some +plausible excuse for going to our room, +Beth remarked with a smile:</p> +<p>“Your motive in retiring so early is commendable, +but of no particular benefit to +Rob and me. The Polydores, like the poor, +we always have with us.”</p> +<p>“I saw that every one of them except +Ptolemy was in bed at eight o’clock last +night and the night before,” said Silvia. +“You don’t mean to tell me––”</p> +<p>“Yes, I do mean,” laughed Beth. “Not +Ptolemy, though. He has become too +dignified to spy on us, but last night as we +sat here on the settee, we heard a suppressed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span> +sneeze, and Rob pulled Emerald +from underneath.”</p> +<p>“How in the world did he ever squeeze +under there?” I asked, gazing at the +slight space between the floor and settee.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_44' id='linki_44'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-049.jpg' alt='' title='' width='357' height='266' /><br /> +</div> +<p>“He did look a little flattened, as if he +had been put in a letter press,” said Rob. +“I gave him a dime to go to bed and stay +there. Beth and I had just resumed our +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span> +conversation when a still, small voice said: +‘I’ll go to bed for a dime, too.’ I then +hauled Demetrius from behind the davenport.”</p> +<p>“And the night before,” said Beth, “when +we were sitting on the porch, Pythagoras +rolled off the roof, where he had been listening +to us, and came down into the vines.”</p> +<p>“Now I’ll stop that,” I declared. “I’ll +tie them in their beds and lock the doors +and windows.”</p> +<p>“No,” refused Rob. “I’d like to try +to circumvent them by their own weapons +of wits. I have a little plan which I don’t +dare whisper to you lest their long-range +ears get in their work. We are just about +to start for a walk.”</p> +<p>“In this pouring rain!” protested Silvia.</p> +<p>“We like the rain,” he replied, “and we––are +not going far.”</p> +<p>Pythagoras entered the room just then +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span> +and looked astounded and disappointed +when he saw Beth and Rob departing.</p> +<p>“We are going out to a small party,” +Rob remarked to me, casually.</p> +<p>It was after eleven when we heard them +returning.</p> +<p>“Do you suppose they have been walking +all this time?” said Silvia in concern. +“Beth wore no rubbers.”</p> +<p>The next day was Sunday and Huldah +put into execution a plan for procuring +one happy hour each week. This plan was +the admission of the Polydores, <i>en masse</i>, +to one of the Sunday schools. She chose +the church most remote from home so they +would be a long time going and coming, +which she said would “help some.”</p> +<p>“Now,” said Beth, as she watched them +march away, “I can dare to tell you where +we spent last evening. We were at the +Polydore house next door. There is a little +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span> +vine-screened porch on the other side of +the house. Rob managed to open one +of the windows and brought out a couple +of chairs. It was as snug as could be.”</p> +<p>“I’ll corral them every night,” I said, +“until you make your getaway, and I’ll +give you the key so you can go inside when +it is cool or stormy.”</p> +<p>“We’ll go around the block by way of +precaution,” said Rob.</p> +<p>Presently Huldah returned from the +Sunday school with triumphant mien.</p> +<p>“They made them all into one class and +put a redheaded woman with spectacles +in for their teacher. I gave them street +car tickets to come home on.”</p> +<p>When the Polydores returned, however, +they were dragging Diogenes along and he +looked quite weary.</p> +<p>“Didn’t you come home on the street +car?” I asked Ptolemy.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span></div> +<p>“No; we sold our tickets and got ice +cream sodas,” he explained. “We took +turns carrying Diogenes on our backs.”</p> +<p>“You only had one ticket for yourself, +and two half fares for Thag and Emmy,” +said Huldah suspiciously. “I thought +Meetie and Di could ride free. You +couldn’t have sold them tickets for enough +for sodies.”</p> +<p>“Rob gave us three nickels to put in the +plate,” said Pythagoras. “We only put in +one of them, seeing we were all in one family +and one class. That gave us four nickels +for ice cream sodas and the clerk gave +Di half a glass some one had left.”</p> +<p>“I gave you a penny for Di to put in,” +said Huldah. “What did you do with +that?”</p> +<p>“We wanted him to put it in, and when +they took up the collection, he wouldn’t +give it,” said Emerald. “I tried to take +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span> +it away from him and he swallowed it. +The redhead teacher was awful scared, +but I told her he was used to swallowing +things and that you said he carried a whole +department store in his insides.”</p> +<p>“Poor little Di,” said Silvia; “it’s the +only way he has of keeping things away +from you all.”</p> +<p>That night I saw to it personally that +each and every Polydore was in his little +bed. It should have aroused my suspicions +that none of them rebelled, or had +evinced the slightest degree of interest or +curiosity when Beth and Rob announced +their intention of going out for the evening.</p> +<p>At ten-thirty the lovers returned, bringing +in Pythagoras, who was clad in his +pajamas.</p> +<p>“Where did you pick him up?” I asked +in astonishment.</p> +<p>“He picked us up,” said Beth.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span></div> +<p>“He was wise, maybe, in discovering +where we were,” said Rob, “but he fell +down when he tried to work off the ghost +screeches on us. We recognized them at +once, and ran him down inside, so our +party broke up.”</p> +<p>“Come here, Pythagoras,” I commanded.</p> +<p>He obeyed promptly and fearlessly.</p> +<p>“How did you know they were there, +and when did you go over there?”</p> +<p>“I was playing over in our house today,” +he replied, “and I found one of Beth’s +hairpins with the little stones in, in the big +chair, so I knew that was where they hid +last night. As soon as you went down stairs +tonight, I got out the window and slid down +the roof and came over to scare them.”</p> +<p>“You’ve missed a lot of sleep the last +few nights,” I said quietly, “so you will +have to make it up. You can stay in bed +all day tomorrow.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span></div> +<p>“Hold on, Lucien!” exclaimed Rob. +“Tomorrow’s the big baseball game of +the season, and I promised to take them all.”</p> +<p>“So much the better,” I said. “He +will learn to mind.”</p> +<p>Pythagoras looked as if he had been +struck, and quickly put his arms across +his eyes. In a moment his shoulders were +heaving. At last I had found a vulnerable +spot in the stoic, and I began to relent.</p> +<p>“See here, Pythagoras,” I said, “if I let +you up in time to go to the game, will you +promise me something?”</p> +<p>“Anything,” came in a muffled voice.</p> +<p>“Will you promise not to spy on Beth +and Rob and keep Emerald and Demetrius +from doing it?”</p> +<p>“Yes,” he promised quickly, his arm +coming down and his face brightening. +“Sure I will, but I did want to hear what +they said.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span></div> +<p>“Why?” asked Rob interestedly.</p> +<p>“We’re getting up a show, and Em is +going to take the part of a girl and he spoons +with Tolly, and we didn’t know what to +have them say to each other.”</p> +<p>“I’ll rehearse you on the play, and +prompt you,” said Beth with a little +giggle.</p> +<p>“Come on upstairs with me now,” I +said to Pythagoras.</p> +<p>When I landed him at his door, he leaned +up against me, and rubbed his cheek against +my arm.</p> +<p>“Thank you for letting me go to the +game,” he said.</p> +<p>I found myself responding to his affectionate +advance. This would clearly never +do. I couldn’t let another Polydore squeeze +himself into my regard.</p> +<p>“Silvia,” I said abruptly, as I came into +our room, “we must really make some immediate +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span> +plan for disposing of the Polydores, +or, at least, of ‘Them Three.’”</p> +<p>“Huldah is managing them tolerably +well,” demurred Silvia. “Since they depreciated +in market value from five thousand +per to nothing, she has resumed her +former harsh treatment of them.”</p> +<p>“Well, we are not going to keep them,” +I replied with finality. “We are under no +obligations to do so. I am going to put them +in a school for boys and use the blank check +Felix Polydore left to pay for their tuition.”</p> +<p>“I suppose that is what we will have to +do,” she admitted with a little sigh. “Yet, +Lucien, it doesn’t seem quite right. If +they are in a boys’ school, they will keep +on right along the same lines. They need +home influence and contact with women. +Demetrius is fond of music and will sit +still and listen when I play. Emerald +obeyed me today the first time I spoke, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span> +and I even thought I saw a glimmer of good +in Pythagoras.”</p> +<p>I didn’t tell her that this glimmer was +what had decided me to dispose of him.</p> +<p>“It would, doubtless, be better for them +to stay,” I admitted, “but I am not going to +be a martyr to the cause. They are going.”</p> +<p>The next morning I wrote for catalogues +and prospectus to the different schools, +and I felt as if three old men of the sea +had been lifted from my shoulders.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_45' id='linki_45'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-050.jpg' alt='' title='' width='197' height='246' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268' name='page_268'></a>268</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_46' id='linki_46'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-051.jpg' alt='' title='' width='365' height='153' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_WHICH_HAS_TO_DO_WITH_SOME_LETTERS' id='CHAPTER_XIX_WHICH_HAS_TO_DO_WITH_SOME_LETTERS'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter</span> XIX</h2> +<h3><i>Which Has to Do with Some Letters</i></h3> +</div> +<p>One morning when I came down to +my office, I found a letter postmarked +from the city in which +Uncle Issachar lived addressed to me. I +opened it and found inclosed, with seal +unbroken, the letter Silvia had mailed to +her uncle and which she had marked “personal.” +There was a note addressed to +me accompanying it:</p> +<blockquote> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span></div> +<p>“Dear Sir:</p> +<p>“I am returning herewith your personal +letter to Mr. Innes, as he has gone to +South America and left no forwarding +address. Should such be received from +him at any future date, you will be duly +notified thereof.</p> +<p class='ralign'>“Very truly yours,<span class='rindent8'> </span><br /> +“Chester K. Winslow,<span class='rindent6'> </span><br /> +“Secretary.”<span class='rindent4'> </span></p> +</blockquote> +<p>I read the above to Silvia at luncheon. +She was grievously disappointed because +her uncle had not received her letter of +explanation.</p> +<p>“It is most fortunate,” she said, “that +I sent it in one of your office envelopes.”</p> +<p>As usual, she had found the bright spot +she always looked for and generally discovered.</p> +<p>“I wouldn’t care,” she said, “to have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span> +Uncle Issachar’s private secretary or the +dead-letter office know all our private +affairs, but I shall feel like an impostor +until Uncle Issachar is undeceived.”</p> +<p>“I feel a hunch,” said Rob, “that Uncle +Issachar will run across Doctor Felix and his +wife down there in Chili and find you out.”</p> +<p>“He may run across the Polydores,” I +replied, “but he’ll never find out from +them that they are the parents of Silvia’s +children. They would not mention a subject +in which they have so little interest.”</p> +<p>“But,” argued Beth, “naturally they’d +tell him where they lived, and then, of +course, he’d say he had a niece living in +the same town. They would inquire her +name and inform him that they were her +near neighbors, and then he’d tell them +what fine sons you have, and then, of course, +the Polydores would claim their own.”</p> +<p>“Which theory goes to show,” said +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span> +Silvia, “how little you know Uncle Issachar +and the Polydore seniors. He would +not think of speaking to strangers, and if +he did, he wouldn’t say any of those usual +conversational things you mentioned. The +Polydores wouldn’t be interested, in the +least, in knowing he had a niece unless she +happened to know something about +antiques, and if he should describe her +children, she wouldn’t recognize them.”</p> +<p>After luncheon I went out on the porch. +While I sat there, the mail carrier came +along and handed me a letter––a returned +letter. It was directed in Ptolemy’s round +hand to Mr. Issachar Innes. He had +evidently used the envelope to Silvia’s +letter to her uncle as his model, for the +address was written in the same way. +“Personal” was added in the left-hand +corner, and his name and our house number +was in the upper left-hand corner.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span></div> +<p>I went into the library where my wife, +Beth, Rob, and Ptolemy were sitting.</p> +<p>“Ptolemy,” I said, handing him the +letter, “here is your communication to +Uncle Issachar, returned.”</p> +<p>He lost some of his usual <i>sang froid</i> +and appeared quite disconcerted.</p> +<p>“Why, Ptolemy,” exclaimed Silvia in +consternation, “what in the world did +you write to Uncle Issachar about?”</p> +<p>Ptolemy had recovered and was quite +himself again.</p> +<p>“About us,” he said innocently. “As +the oldest of our family, I thought I ought +to do a little explaining.”</p> +<p>“And I think,” I said, looking at him +keenly, “that we have the right to know +what your explanation was.”</p> +<p>Ptolemy handed me over the letter.</p> +<p>“Read it aloud,” he said, with the air +of one who is proud of his productions.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span></div> +<p>Rob’s eyes shone in anticipation.</p> +<p>I broke the seal. A note from the +secretary fell out. It was an apology for +not returning the letter sooner, but it had +been inadvertently mislaid. I then read +aloud the letter Ptolemy had written:</p> +<blockquote> +<p>“Dear Uncle Issachar</p> +<p>“I am sorry Diogenes and I were away +when you were here. You thought the +others were fine, but you should have +seen––Diogenes. I hope you will send +mudder back her check, because there is lots +of things she needs, and it takes a lot of +money to take care of all us. You see +our own father and mother don’t want to +be bothered with us and they went away +and left us, and so we are living with +mudder the same as if we were really her +adopted children, and if her own would +have been worth five thousand per to you, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span> +I think her adopted children ought to be +worth half as much anyway, so it would +only be fair to send her a check for $12,500 +anyway, and if you are a good sport like +the kids said you were, you’ll send back +her check.</p> +<p class='ralign'>“Yours truly,<span class='rindent11'> </span><br /> +“P. Issachar Polydore Wade.”<span class='rindent4'> </span></p> +</blockquote> +<p>Rob’s laughter was so free and spontaneous +that I had to join in against my +will. Ptolemy, who had seemed a little +apprehensive of the verdict, looked accordingly +relieved.</p> +<p>“That’s a fine letter, young man,” approved +Rob. “Stepdaddy ought to take +you into his law firm.”</p> +<p>“No,” declared Beth. “I think Ptolemy +has inherited his mother’s gift. He +should be a writer.”</p> +<p>“Not on your life!” cried Ptolemy with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span> +feeling. “I want to live things instead +of writing about them.”</p> +<p>A tear or two came into Silvia’s eyes.</p> +<p>“It was very sweet in you, Ptolemy, to +try to get the money for mudder.”</p> +<p>I felt that all this commendation was +bad for Ptolemy, and that it was up to +me to take a reef in his sails.</p> +<p>“It was a well-meant letter, Ptolemy,” +I said, “and I know that your motive was +unselfish, but it is very poor policy to +meddle in other people’s affairs. Meddlers +are mischief makers in spite of their +good intentions. I am very glad it did +not fall into Uncle Issachar’s hands.”</p> +<p>Ptolemy looked sufficiently squelched.</p> +<p>“By the way, Silvia,” I said. “I wrote +Mr. Winslow and told him not to forget +to forward Uncle Issachar’s address as soon +as he possibly could do so, as I had matters +of importance to communicate to him.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span></div> +<p>“He may travel about like father and +mother,” said Ptolemy, again regaining +confidence, “so why don’t you put that +check for twenty-five thousand in the +Savings Department and get the interest +on it anyway?”</p> +<p>“I think, Ptolemy,” said Rob, “that you +are too good a financier, after all, to become +a lawyer. I will go back to my first +conviction that you should be a promoter.”</p> +<p>“We’ll give him to Uncle Issachar,” I +proposed, “for a partner.”</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_47' id='linki_47'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-053.jpg' alt='' title='' width='271' height='218' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_48' id='linki_48'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-052.jpg' alt='' title='' width='326' height='114' /><br /> +</div> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_XX_THE_MONEY_WE_EARNT_FOR_YOU' id='CHAPTER_XX_THE_MONEY_WE_EARNT_FOR_YOU'></a> +<h2><span class='smcap'>Chapter</span> XX</h2> +<h3><i>“The Money We Earnt for You”</i></h3> +</div> +<p>Life went on uneventfully save for +the dire doings of “Them Three.” +Knowing that they were to be sent +to school, they were having their last fling +at life untrammeled. September came, +and Rob set the day for his departure, as +he was going home to arrange his affairs, +so he and Beth could leave for an extended +honeymoon trip. I planned to go with +Rob and install the Polydore three in their +distant school. They were so despondent +at leaving, as the time drew near, that a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span> +feeling of gloom hung over the household, +all the members of which, even to Huldah, +urged me to relent. But I remained adamant +until the evening before the day set +for the dissolution of the Polydore family, +when something happened that changed +all our plans.</p> +<p>We were assembled in the library in a +state of forced cheerfulness when the doorbell +rang. I answered it, and receipted +for a telegram which I opened and read in +the hall. It was from Chester K. Winslow.</p> +<p>“Silvia,” I said gravely, as I returned +to the library, “your Uncle Issachar is +dead. Died in South America. Heart disease. +Very sudden.”</p> +<p>Conflicting emotions were depicted in +Silvia’s expression.</p> +<p>The thought uppermost in all our minds +was expressed simultaneously by “Them +Three.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span></div> +<p>“Gee! Then you can keep the money +we earnt for you.”</p> +<p>“You know,” interpolated Rob in soft-pedaled +tone, “they are going to train +school children toward the military––teach +the young ideas how to shoot, as it were. +It won’t be long before they are ordered +to Mexico to protect us.”</p> +<p>“If Them Three ever meets that there +Viller man,” commented Huldah confidently, +“the fur will fly some.”</p> +<p>“Lucien,” said Silvia thoughtfully, “we +are under obligations to these children, +you see, after all.”</p> +<p>“Yes,” I acknowledged with a sigh, +“seeing they are now ours, bought and +paid for, I suppose we’ll have to treat them +as such.”</p> +<p>“You wouldn’t send your own kids +away to school,” said Pythagoras significantly.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span></div> +<p>“No,” I reluctantly allowed, answering +the protest of Pythagoras, “and we won’t +send you. You will all go to the public +school tomorrow.”</p> +<p>The deafening Polydore powwow that +followed made me hope that Uncle Issachar +had met with his just deserts.</p> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_49' id='linki_49'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-054.jpg' alt='' title='' width='184' height='275' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span></div> +<div class='figtag'> +<a name='linki_50' id='linki_50'></a> +</div> +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-055.jpg' alt='' title='' width='104' height='139' /><br /> +</div> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:20px;'><i>“By the author of “Mildew Manse.”</i></p> + +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:20px;'>AMARILLY OF CLOTHES-LINE ALLEY</p> + +<p class='tp' ><i>By</i> BELLE K. MANIATES</p> +<p class='tp' >Illustrated. 12mo. $1.00 <i>net</i>.</p> + +<p>A book for the many who are weary of problem novels. +How prosperity came to the Jenkins family, how Amarilly +got an education, how the Boarder married Lily Rose +and built the Annex, and the adventures of the rector’s +surplice, are told in a wholesome little story, between +whose covers await many laughs, and a tear or two as well.</p> + +<p>Amarilly is blessed with a large family and amiable neighbors, +and their doings are amusing, but her fancies and devices +are captivating.... The little heroine is all right.––<i>New +York Sun.</i></p> + +<p>The sort of story which pulls at the heartstrings of all +readers who like a real and genuine character.... No one can +afford to miss the sweet humor and helpful cheeriness which +the author serves in generous measure.––<i>Boston Globe</i>.</p> + +<p>“Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley” is a dear companion for +vacation days and comes deservedly under the books of real +amusement.... Dear Amarilly! she brightens every hour +spent with her.––<i>Buffalo News</i>.</p> + +<p class='tp' style='font-size:larger;'>LITTLE, BROWN & CO., <span class='smcap'>Publishers</span></p> +<p class='tp' ><span class='smcap'>34 Beacon Street, Boston</span></p> + +<!-- generated by ppg.rb version: 3.14 --> +<!-- timestamp: Thu Sep 24 06:15:03 -0400 2009 --> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30075 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |